Beaufort County Commissioners Discuss the Ongoing Ramifications of Northeast Elementary Built in Hell Swamp | Eastern NC Now

   Beaufort County Commissioners meet with the Beaufort County Board of Education, on December 20, 2011, to discuss a number of issues - one being the ongoing poor drainage of Northeast Elementary.

   At that meeting, Beaufort County Commissioners: Hood Richardson and Stan Deatherage discussed the ongoing ramifications, with the Beaufort County Board of Education, of their construction of Northeast Elementary in Hell Swamp. Northeast Elementary is sometimes referred as the "Hell Swamp School."

   The problem with Northeast Elementary, and the reason the school is often referred to as the "Hell Swamp School," is due to the school being built in poorly drained soils. When the school was built in its present location on the corner of Hwy. 264 East and Seed Tick Neck Road, in eastern Beaufort County, the school system found it necessary to spend around a million dollars just for site preparation. Now the school system needs another 250,000.00 to effect better drainage of the elementary school, or additional damage will be the resulting condition of the recently constructed school.
Beaufort County Commissioner explains to the Beaufort Board of Education, their superintendent, Don Phipps, and their architect that they need to rethink the way they plan to aid to the drainage of Northeast Elementary School: Above. Commissioner Richardson: "Why don't you just see how the surface water drains? And then decide whether you need a French Drain." Superintendent Phipps is equally adept at listening and speaking to make his point: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage

   Northeast Elementary was constructed shortly after Hurricane Floyd, September, 1999, flooded Belhaven Elementary. Rather than use available FEMA funding to renovate the existing school, Belhaven Elementary, located in downtown Belhaven, the Beaufort County Board of Education, around year 2000, resolved they would do better by coming to the county commissioners for matching funding to qualify for a much larger public largess from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) to build a new school at this exact location long known as "Hell Swamp."

   At that time, Commissioners Hood Richardson and Stan Deatherage strenuously objected to the school board's overarching desire to build this school in a location where there was predominately poorly drained soils, and insisted that the fact that this tract of land, being named "Hell Swamp," should have be a strong indicator that no 9 million dollar school should be built there. Regrettably, the school board was determined to move forward with their grand plan. At that time, a majority of Beaufort County's Commissioners voted to support that school board initiative; however, there were two commissioners who voted against this ill fated plan - Commissioners Richardson and Deatherage.