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AHOSKIE – After several months of legwork, the town of Ahoskie is taking the next step in putting together a stormwater action plan.

At their meeting here Monday night (March 17), the Ahoskie Town Council formally selected RK&K of Raleigh as the firm handling the engineering and design plans of the project.

A stormwater action plan details strategies to manage stormwater runoff in an effort to minimize its negative impacts – to include flooding and erosion – on the environment and communities, while also protecting public health and safety.

After completing phases one and two of the NC Resilient Coastal Communities Program, Ahoskie was awarded a $500,000 grant to fund the engineering and design portion of the project. The grant requires no match from the town of Ahoskie.

Upon approval by the Council, the town has already used $20,000 of that grant to pay the Mid-East Commission for their role as the grant administrator. RK&K, who previously partnered with the Mid-East Commission to serve Ahoskie through phases one and two, will receive the remainder ($480,000) of the grant funding to pay for their engineering and design work.

Per its contract with the town, RK&K will evaluate and inventory roadside ditches, storm drainage systems, cross pipes, and tributaries within Ahoskie’s corporate limits. The inventory will include any potential private drainage ditches. Owners of those parcels will be notified of possible entry by RK&K staff.

The scope of work by RK&K also involves an Easement Acquisition Plan. That part of the project includes research on the existence and adequacy of easements needed for the repair and maintenance of ditches and tributaries within the town limits. It will identify easement gaps and provide cost estimates for the acquisition of the needed easements.

According to the project’s timeline, the fieldwork by RK&K staff will occur between April 14 and June 3 followed by a draft plan submitted for the town to review on Sept. 19. The final plan is to be submitted by Oct. 1o. RK&K staff is to have 100 percent of the design plans finalized by Jan. 23, 2026.

On a motion from Councilman Charles Reynolds and a second by Councilman David Hunt, the RK&K engineering/design contract for $480,000 to complete the Storm Water Action Plan was approved without objection.