After more than 40 years at their Fire Tower Road post, Pitt County's foresters moved their headquarters to County Home Road last month and celebrated their new N.C. Division of Forest Resources facilities with a ceremony Thursday.

It was attended by division executives, county officials and rangers from several surrounding counties.

Michael Abramowitz/The Daily Reflector (ENLARGE)

The new Pitt County headquarters of the N.C. Forest Service consists of two buildings located on five acres at 5601 County Home Road. The state swapped two acres on heavily congested East Fire Tower Road for the wide-open property formerly owned by Harvey Lewis.

The rangers and their guests said they were impressed by the two new buildings on the 5-acre site and the generosity and business sense of a local landowner that made it possible at a fiscally challenging time for state and local governments, said Derrick A. Moore, the Pitt County ranger in charge of the new facilities.

"It's a huge improvement over what we had before," Moore said. "The old building wasn't in very good condition, and with all the heavy equipment that we move in and out, the location was unsafe after so much development and traffic in the area."

Dianne Beasley, assistant state forestry director, thanked the former landowner, Harvey Lewis, who offered the land at 5601 County Home Road in exchange for the two-acre parcel at 720 East Fire Tower Road.

In early 2006, Lewis approached Moore about buying the state-owned land. State officials and Lewis came to an agreement to swap the two sites. With oversight by Robert Gron, the division's facilities engineer and District Ranger Rodney Bell, construction by Custom Building Company began in November 2007 and was completed in March, followed by last month's move.

Pete West, president of Custom Building, credited much of the deal's success to Beasley's efforts at the state level.

"These people worked hard to push it through state government; Beasley is a get-it-done person," West said.

Beasley hopes counties statewide will look to the deal as a model for cooperative and mutually beneficial partnerships.

"This facility is a great example of how public agencies can work with private citizens and companies to benefit the citizens of North Carolina," she said.

Noel Lee, Pitt County's emergency management director, and Allen Everette, county fire marshal, agreed that the move will benefit county services.

"They offer a vital service to the county and the location gives them quicker access," Lee said.

Everette said the recent drought conditions underscore the value of the forest service and its staff.

"The Forest Resources Division plays a vital role because they are the ones we look to when dealing with brush fires and fires on wild lands. It's exciting to see them move into this nice facility," Everette said.

The fate of the actual fire tower beside the road that is its namesake is uncertain now, according to Moore. It has been out of use for some years, other than to hold the radio antenna, and now serves as little more than a liability to its new owner, he said.

Moore said that he and forestry officials planned for the future with this move. The post is surrounded by productive farm land and has plenty of space for maneuvering the large trucks and heavy equipment they now park in enclosed bays.

The main building, with offices, a conference room and a kitchen, sits beside the garage.

Moore said he knows that Pitt County's continuing development eventually will reach their location, but he believes they have a while to enjoy the open spaces.

"Maybe 10 or 20 years from now, we'll have subdivisions around us again, but I hope we won't have that dangerous traffic situation we had before," Moore said.