This week, the Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority, better known as WAVE, and continued the discussion of bus-stop benches — both official and unofficial.
For the past year, the Wilmington chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (ILM-DSA) have been building and installing benches, made by hand from largely recycled materials, at WAVE transit stops. The benches were painted in bright colors and usually featured slogans that aligned with the group’s values.
According to WHQR’s previous report on this, ILM-DSA began building the benches in response to a Port City Daily article that reported only 7% of WAVE’s over 430 stops have amenities of any kind. Some residents complained about the slogans painted on a few of the benches, including criticism of 'slumlords' and calls for rent freezes and mass social housing (other benches had more innocuous messages or drawings),
Earlier in August, the chapter’s benches were pulled from city and state-owned rights-of-way. First, the North Carolina Department of Transportation removed several benches located along state-maintained roads in Wilmington. Then the city followed closely after, removing the remaining benches.
This came after a DSA bench was stolen by the Proud Boys, who repainted it in their trademark black and gold colors, with the words "socialism is slavery." The Proud Boys' post on social media prompted Republican New Hanover County Commissioner Dane Scalise, currently running for state representative in House District 20, to request the removal of the benches to avoid any more acts of vandalism.
Ultimately, the benches were removed for technical reasons: they were placed without permission on government property and failed to meet engineering requirements.
At the WAVE meeting held Thursday afternoon, Ty Laird, an ILM-DSA representative, spoke in front of the board about their intentions with regard to the bench-building projects.
“There were a couple of benches, two benches, that had messaging about housing,” Laird said. “Twenty-eight of the 30 had positive messages like ‘You Are My Sunshine,’ or ‘Growing Community.’ Many of them just had doodles from children that were too young to even write words.”
“Many of the letters we got from people, and I'm sure those on City Council can attest to this, told us they felt joy and hope from seeing the positive messages and knowing someone in their community cared about them,” he said.
WAVE plans to install 19 bus shelters and 19 benches
At Thursday's meeting, Mark Hairr, the executive director of WAVE, didn’t beat around the bush while outlining the transit system’s current plans for adding amenities.
“To begin with, as was referenced earlier during public comment, there were some benches placed at WAVE bus stops by DSA. Those all have been removed,” Hairr said before bringing up to the board a current project, being funded with federal dollars and matched by the city and county, to install shelters and benches at a total of 38 bus stops.
Hairr said that the shelters were ordered earlier this year and are on track to be delivered in September. He added that the system is reviewing qualifications of engineering firms, and they expect to go into contract negotiations with the top-rated one.
Hairr said they plan to have a contract ready for the board’s approval by the September board meeting.
“This is’ll be a large contract, six figures, so it definitely requires it to come to the board for approval,” he said.
Hairr also said they’re looking at Requests for Proposals (RFPs), “because that's required to design the bus stop shelters, the pads, and all the information needed to install one at a bus stop.”
He said once everything is approved, they could move forward with the process in steps.
“So we want to phase it so we do fast- track ones first, and then there may be more complex sites that require a lot more work. So there'd kind of be three phases that we can attack this and start getting some in as soon as possible,” Hairr said.
According to Hairr, the six-figure engineering contract would cover analysis of site and soil conditions, allow engineers to clear zones according to traffic regulations, and look at making sure all structures complied with standards set by the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“The state requires a licensed North Carolina engineer to stamp the plans that are done for each bus stop,” Hairr added.
Adopt-An-Amenities Program
One other discussion that sprang from the bench issue was a proposal to revisit WAVE’s 2015 Adopt-An-Amenities program, which was introduced back then but never acted upon.
The program allows an entity outside of the transit system to donate a shelter or a bench, “essentially it covered two scenarios: one where it would be a covered shelter with a bench, lighting, and a trash receptacle on a concrete pad,” Hairr said. “The second option is a bus bench by itself with a trash receptacle on a concrete pad.”
However, the program does specifically state that an engineering site design is required for either option.
According to Hairr, the Eagle Scouts completed a bench building and installation project with WAVE under the adopt-an-amenity program around the time the program was first introduced.
Hairr noted that the Eagle Scouts’ bench, which he describes as “antiquey” — having brown, wooden slats with a black frame — still sits at the Canterwood Drive and Medical Center Drive stop.
Though, admittedly, WAVE currently has no consistent designs amongst existing transit stop benches and shelters, Hairr says the company would like to avoid “different groups donating different types [of benches], that we've always got to, you know, review the bench materials.”
Hairr hinted that WAVE’s preference would be “more of a financial donation.”
Wilmington City Manager Becky Hawke said, “that would probably be helpful to clarify in the language that's brought forward so that folks know what to expect and it's not, you know, ‘Hey, we've built a shelter,’ and then it doesn't end up being useful.”
WAVE staff would be open to an adopt-an-amenity program, Hairr said, as long as the board considers making some revisions to the stipulations of the program.
He said there needs to be some consideration over how exactly engineering design is defined, and whether the design would require a licensed North Carolina engineer to prepare the plans and submit them. He also raised concerns about adding plaques to the amenities.
“There is a provision that we think could be problematic with any kind of wording, text, images, plaques for certain groups, that certain [other] groups may oppose. So that could be an issue there in terms of putting plaques to recognize who is donating the bench or shelters," Hairr said.
New Hanover County Manager and WAVE Vice-Chair Chris Coudriet, asked whether WAVE would eventually own the amenities. Hairr confirmed, with Wilmington City Attorney Merdith Everhart, who also sits on the CFPTA board, adding that it is common across the state for transit systems to assume responsibility and ownership of adopted amenities.
“There is a liability that would come with that if it's not secured, if it winds up in the street, somebody falls over, you know. Those kinds of things we certainly have to consider if we take ownership of an amenity,” Hairr said.
Wilmington Councilmember Salette Andrews suggested that the board consider an Adopt-A-Stop model of fundraising as well, which had been discussed at the last Making Waves Foundation (a 501(c)3 private nonprofit) board meeting.
“We are unanimously, as the foundation, on board with essentially revising this program, both aspects of it, the Adopt-An-Amenity and Adopt-A-Stop,” Andrews said. “Because I think they're really aimed at different kinds of donors.”
It came up during the board’s discussion that the cost to build a new transit stop bench is expected to be $5,000. Andrews said the Adopt-A-Stop program would be best for donors who “maybe have more volunteer time than they have fundraising capacity.”
“I think that it would be up to the Making Waves Foundation to do the majority of the fundraising and the outreach and the marketing, but I think we leave all the technical stuff to the folks who do that best, you know, to WAVE themselves,” she said.
The board came to a consensus that WAVE would have their revisions presented to the board for approval by next month’s meeting on Sept. 24.
The DSA bench project in limbo
ILM-DSA representative Laird, who spoke to the board, told WHQR they hope WAVE would be open to working together on a proposal that benefits the working-class people of Wilmington.
“They have 38 or so benches going out next year,” he said. “But ours could be out tomorrow if we scrambled. And I don't think that those have to be counterintuitive.”
Laird noted that the DSA’s benches were always meant as a temporary solution until they were replaced by city and state-approved ones. He hopes the chapter can work with WAVE staff on this, but the discussion the board had reinforces his and other members of ILM-DSA’s belief that “states tend to just serve capital.”
“That's what I heard when they said the two options are: you either donate $5,000, or you own a concrete company and can donate pads; or you can go pick up trash for free,” Ty said.
