AHOSKIE – The last time U.S. Congressman G.K. Butterfield visited the site of Ahoskie’s new wastewater treatment plant, he had a shovel in his hand to break ground on the state-of-the-art facility.

That was in September of last year.

Rep. Butterfield returns tomorrow (Thursday) morning where he plans to join local officials in touring the plant’s ongoing construction process. His schedule calls for a 10:30 a.m. briefing at the Ahoskie Town Hall followed by an on-site visit to the plant, one expected to be completed and on-line early next year.

While in town, Rep. Butterfield will also visit the ongoing construction at the Ahoskie Creek Recreational Complex. The current construction stage of the complex, priced at $1.6 million, includes three baseball/softball fields, a concession stand (complete with restroom facilities), a playground and a picnic shelter. That area, scheduled for completion in September, is located at the western end of Memorial Drive.

Earlier construction on the complex included soccer fields and the amphitheater. Phase two of the complex calls for a walking trail, splash (water) park, dog park and a parking lot.

The town’s largest project is the wastewater treatment plant. Funding for that facility – priced at $17.87 million – was partially linked to Rep. Butterfield’s efforts in Washington, DC. To date, the town has secured $1 million grants each from USDA-Rural Development and the North Carolina Rural Center; a $3 million grant from the Clean Water Management Trust Fund; $2.37 million from a loan increase (from a 2007 Bond Referendum) from USDA-Rural Development and a Community Development Block Grant in the amount of $250,908.

The lion’s share of the money needed to construct the plant comes from the issuance of up to $9,464,000 in a General Obligation Wastewater Bond at an interest rate that shall not exceed 5.5 percent. The Ahoskie Town Council approved that bond at a meeting in May of last year.

T.A. Loving of Goldsboro is serving as the general contractor along with numerous sub-contractors assembled at the construction site located at the town’s current wastewater facility off Johnny Mitchell Road.