Contractor: Marshallese project should be finished by Nov. deadline

The Burke County contractor helping a group of Marshall Islanders stay in their home — a church in the George Hildebrand Community — said the project is advancing, and he’s hopeful it will be complete in time to meet the November deadline issued by the Burke Board of Commissioners.

Curt Abee agreed last month to help finance and oversee repairs to the Marshallese New Beginnings Church, the former home of George Hildebrand Elementary prior to the new school’s construction.

“We’re still thinking that the November time frame that the commissioners gave should be enough to get them up to code,” Abee said. “I’d like to be done before then, but it could take longer because of all the subs’ (subcontractors) schedules. But we should be finished or real close to finished by that time.”

Nine families of church members — around 60 people — have been living at the site for several years.

Burke County inspectors have repeatedly found a plethora of code violations that make the structure unsafe for human habitation.

The county communicated with the Marshallese about the seriousness of the danger for nearly three years, but the group did not make substantial progress toward correcting the problems.

That eventually led to an order to vacate the premises.

Thanks in large part to Abee’s intervention, the commissioners voted last month to extend the deadline six months, giving the group until Nov. 12 to get the building up to code. Abee put up the $150,000 he estimates the repairs will cost.

Initially, Abee hoped to temporarily relocate two families at a time, but he was able to double that after locating suitable temp housing — a pair of converted Norfolk Southern rail cars that can accommodate four families.

The cars cannot be legally used as permanent dwellings in North Carolina but are fine for temporary usage.

Abee said he hopes to have the first set of families moved into the rail cars this week, but that can’t happen until electricity is run to the temporary units. He said Marshallese pastor Tommy Liabwij is working with Rutherford Electric Membership Corporation to complete that process.

Both housing units have air conditioning, a necessity with summer weather in full swing. The units have heat as well, but Abee said he hopes to have the entire process complete before they have to use it.

The campus consists of a main church building, which dates back to 1935, and an annex, which has been converted to apartments. The county has said the group can still legally meet for church services, but the annex is not fit for occupation.

Abee stressed the fact this is a bare-bones project. The repairs will be functional only and not cosmetic. “Honestly, it’s not going to look much different than it is now,” he said.

The important thing, he said, is keeping the families safe.

The Marshallese Church is a Christian church comprised of people from the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The country and the U.S. have had a compact of free association since 1986. That means people from the Marshalls can migrate freely to the U.S.

In the years following World War II, the U.S. conducted numerous nuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands.

Some of the islands became completely uninhabitable, and generations of Marshallese people have felt the effects of the testing in the form of leukemia, cancer, and birth defects.

A group of the church’s neighbors established a GoFundMe for the congregation, but it has raised only $4,300 of its $100,000 goal. Abee added he hopes folks will pitch in to help the effort but hasn’t had much response.