Ahead of Biden's visit, what Wilmington projects are in dire need of federal funding?

With President Joe Biden coming to Wilmington Thursday to address environmental issues and highlight ways his administration has helped repair the country's aging infrastructure, there are many different issues that could be of focus.

Biden is expected arrive around 3 p.m. and his remarks could address many issues impacting the city and surrounding Cape Fear region.

Here are some of the issues:

Cape Fear Memorial Bridge

While the N.C. Department of Transportation works on finishing up a $7.1 million preservation project on the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge, Wilmington officials have been discussing what it would take to build a new bridge to replace the 55-year-old downtown span.

With a potential cost over $400 million, one idea considered is to pay for it via a toll bridge, but local officials have spoken out in opposition to the idea.

Local officials will most likely have to tap into other sources of funding, including at the federal level, to build a new crossing.

PFAS filtration

Because Biden's visit will be focusing on environmental issues, it is likely that per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including GenX, could be a topic of discussion.

The StarNews published a story seven years ago that water in the Cape Fear River downstream of Chemours' Fayetteville Works Plant contained high levels of the, at the time, unknown chemicals.

Now, the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority and H2GO that serve New Hanover and Brunswick counties, respectively, have boosted their infiltration systems to remove the manmade "forever chemicals" from public drinking water supplies. But ratepayers are on the hook for the upgrades, and new PFAS drinking water standards recently announced by the EPA could mean additional expenses for many municipal water systems.

Offshore wind

Offshore wind farms are planned along the coast of North Carolina to send "green" power onshore to meet the state's expected increase in demand on its power grid.

The goal is to help North Carolina meet its future power needs while reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

While the financial aspect of offshore wind is still uncertain, and work on the pair of wind farms off Brunswick County is still in the very early planning stages, Katharine Kollins, president of the Southeastern Wind Coalition, said that offshore wind needs to be a key component in meeting the state's decarbonizing goals in House Bill 951.

New Hanover County Schools' budget shortfall

New Hanover County Schools has been trying to find ways to address its $20 million budget crisis due to COVID-19 ESSER funds running out as well as the school district borrowing out of its fund balance in recent years.

Now, the school district could be receiving help from the New Hanover County commissioners to save 76 of the original 279 positions that otherwise would have had to be cut. The district also plans to cut 170 of the 279 positions by the end of June, with 80-90 of those positions already vacant.

Community members and those who work in education have been outspoken about the need for more funding at the local and state level, but with the extreme budget shortfall, public education could be on another area of discussion at the federal level.

Affordable housing

With a rising population, finding affordable housing in Wilmington has become a larger issue. In 2021, a study by Wilmington and New Hanover County's joint Workforce Housing Advisory Committee revealed that the county needs over 10,000 additional housing units over the next decade.

Nonprofit organizations and churches have recently been actively working on creating workforce housing for individuals so that they can afford to live the area they work in. Organizations have also been working on creating housing for low-income individuals.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Wilmington, NC issues that Joe Biden could discuss during visit