County
lands another large
distribution center
Located
just east of Benson near
the interchange of I-95
and I-40, Crosspoint
Logistics Center will be a
massive distribution
center projected to employ
as many as 300 persons
after it becomes
operational a year from
now. It's being built by
Edgewater Ventures, a
Raleigh-based commercial
real-estate developer.
Johnston's County
Commissioners approved
property-tax incentives
for the project following
a public hearing Monday
morning.
READ MORE
about it on the county's
economic-development
website>
2022 ELECTION REPORT
13
running for school
board; just 2 town
contests
On
Johnston County ballots
for the May 17 elections
are 13 candidates for
three seats on the
county's Board of
Education, 25 candidates
for one North Carolina
seat in the United States
Senate (11 Democrats, 14
Republicans), 13
candidates for the
District 13 seat in the
U.S. House of
Representatives (5
Democrats, 8 Republicans),
plus a number of other
state and local contests.
At the same time, we've
got 11 candidates for
various local offices –
all incumbents – who have
filed without any
opposition in this year's
elections: Superior Court
Judge Tom Lock,
District Court Judge Joy
Jones, District
Attorney Susan
Doyle, County
Commissioners Butch
Lawter and Dickie
Braswell, Clerk
of Superior Court Michelle
Ball, Register
of Deeds Craig
Olive, Sheriff
Steve Bizzell,
Smithfield Mayor Andy
Moore and Town
Councilmen Marlon
Lee and Travis
Scott.
Meanwhile, three incumbent
office holders – school
board members Terri
Sessoms and Board Chairman
Todd Sutton along with
Smithfield Town Councilman
David Stevens – are not
seeking re-election.
While candidates in most
contested races must first
win nomination in separate
Democratic and Republican
primary elections in May
(runoffs in June if
necessary), the 13
candidates in the
nonpartisan school-board
primary are seeking to be
among the top six
finishers
who'll make the ballot for
November's General
Election.
There's a Republican
primary contest for the
District 5 seat on the
Johnston County Board of
Commissioners, but the
winner will face no
opposition in November
since no Democrat filed
for that position.
Smithfield's
nonpartisan municipal
election –
postponed from last
November because of
delayed U.S. Census
results that could have
affected voting districts
(but didn't) – will
produce immediate winners
of two contested Town
Council seats. As a
result, they will begin
their new terms of office
in June along with the
uncontested candidates for
two other council seats
and the mayor's chair.
If you're not yet
registered to vote in
Johnston County, you have
until April 22 to sign up
at the Board of Elections
office on South Second
Street in Smithfield.
FINAL
LIST OF FILINGS for
contested seats in
districts
that include Smithfield
(excluding statewide
contests):
D denotes Democrat, R
denotes Republican
asterisk (*) denotes
incumbent
Smithfield
Town Council
voting restricted to
residents of each
district
District 2 (South
Smithfield) – Sloan
Stevens, Chestnut Drive
Elizabeth Anne Temple,
Chestnut Drive
District 4 (West
Smithfield) –
David Barbour (*), Whitley
Drive
Doris Louise Wallace,
Roderick Drive
Johnston
County Board of
Education
Stuart
Ashby Lee, S. Second
Street, Smithfield
Rick Mercier, Fireweed
Place, Clayton
Terry Tippett, Simon Road,
Middlesex (O'Neals
Township)
Joe Preston, Carissa
Drive, Smithfield
Melissa Bowers, Glamorgan
Drive, Clayton
Kevin Donovan, Stevens
Sausage Road, Smithfield
George M. Brewer, Bonnie
Avenue, Smithfield
Jenn Gurley, Castleberry
Road, Clayton
Jennifer Slabaugh, Jacobs
Court, Archer Lodge
Aldostin Byrd (*), P.O.
Box, Clayton
Mark Lane, Yelverton Grove
Road, Smithfield
John Fischer, Norwood
Drive, Clayton
Michelle Antoine, Plaza De
Luke Square, Claytron
Johnston County
Board of Commissioners
District
5 seat – Patrick Harris
(*) (R), Crescent Drive,
Smithfield
Jyl Burgener (R), Aviary
Court, Clayton (Cleveland
Township)
U.S. House of
Representatives,
District 13
Wiley Nickel (D), Raleigh
Nathan Click (D), Raleigh
Denton Lee (D), Killarney
Lane, Clayton
Sam Searcy (D), Holly
Springs
Ms. Jamie Campbell Bowles
(D), Salemburg
DeVan
Barbour IV (R), P.O. Box,
Benson
Chad
Slotta (R), Holly Springs
Kelly
Kathleen Daughtry (R),
P.O. Box, Smithfield
Kent
Keirsey (R), Chapel Hill
Bo
HInes (R), Winston-Salem
Jessica
Morel (R), Fayetteville
Renee Elmers (R), Dunn
Kevin Alan Wolff (R), Apex
N.C.
Senate, District 10
Gettys
Cohen Jr. (D), Aspen
Drive, Smithfield
Jill
Homan (R), Heart Wood
Court, Archer Lodge
Matt
Ansley (R), Fawn Lane,
Archer Lodge
Benton
Sawrey (R), Riverglade
Drive, Clayton
N.C.
House of
Representatives,
District 28
Wendy Ella May (D), P.O.
Box, Micro
Larry
C. Strickland (*) (R),
P.O. Box, Pine Level
James
Davenport (R), Harvey
Road, Kenly
Superior
Court Judge, District
11B (new Johnston County
seat)
Paul
A. Holcombe (R), P.O. Box,
Clayton
Steven
Walker (R), McCormick
Drive, Selma
District
Court Judge (Johnston
County seat)
Travis
Wheeler (R), P.O. Box,
Smithfield
Charlene
B. Nelson (R), Charleston
Drive, Clayton
District
Court Judge (Harnett-Lee
seat)
Jason
P. Kimble (R), Lillington
Brian
E. Lewis (R), Sanford
VIEW
the list of all candidates
for local, regional, and
statewide offices that
will appear on Johnston
County ballots May 17>
CORONAVIRUS REPORT
"Good
news: Things are looking
much better"
That
was the opening statement
from a relieved Dr.
Marilyn Pearson, the
county's public-health
director, in her monthly
report to County
Commissioners on Monday.
Johnston County saw more
than 12,000 new cases of
COVID-19 in January
reduced to less than 3,000
in February, while
Johnston's infection rate
per 100,000 persons has
dropped from more than
1,000 a month ago to 202
in the latest reporting
period, Dr. Pearson told
the board.
More good news: Johnston
had fewer than 10
COVID-related admissions
to hospitals last week,
with less than 10% of all
hospital patients
undergoing COVID
treatments. "We're in the
yellow right now," Dr.
Pearson said, with
Johnston's COVID-positive
testing rate down to 6%
from 30% a month ago,
which classified us as a
"red" county.
This morning's report from Johnston County
Public Schools showed 18
active cases among
students and 4 among
staffs, slightly up from
a total of 19 last week.
Just 2 active cases were
reported among students
and staff at schools in
our immediate area – one
at Wilson's Mills
Elementary, the other at
Smithfield Middle.
VIEW the
school system's COVID
dashboard with data for
all schools>
And for the record:
Johnston's Board of
Education voted at
Tuesday's monthly meeting
to keep in place the mask
optional policy
for students and staff in
schools and on buses, this
time with board member Kay
Carroll joining his
colleagues in support
after he cited data that
moves Johnston County out
of a category of "high"
COVID spread. (Last year's
General Assembly enacted a
state law requiring school
boards to vote on the mask
issue at least once a
month.)
CORONAVIRUS
weekly
measurements |
Case total
since 3-20
(last week) |
Deaths
since 3-20
(last week) |
Hospital
patients
(last week) |
Fully vaccinated *
[got boosters] |
| JOHNSTON COUNTY |
56,101
( 55,752) |
436
(434) |
9
(17) |
112,319: 54%**
[40,000] |
| NORTH CAROLINA |
2,604,971
(2,592,991) |
22,864
(22,671) |
1,093
(1,461) |
6,431,148: 61%**
[3,183,855] |
| UNITED STATES |
79,406,602
(79,143,885) |
963,819
(954,519) |
|
216,355,844: 66%** |
| WORLDWIDE |
451,853,411
(441,139,258) |
6,024,492
(5,977,162) |
|
10,649,012,600
total doses |
* 2 doses
Moderna or Pfizer
vaccines or 1 dose
Johnson &
Johnson vaccine
** Percentage of
total population
(all ages)
Data provided
by: County
of Johnston at
4:45 p.m. March 8
N.C.
Department of
Health and Human
Services at
12:05 p.m. March 9
Johns
Hopkins
University at
8:21 a.m. March 10 |
Keeping
schools up with growth:
$720 million
That's
the estimated cost of
building six new schools,
expanding six others, and
other
"infrastructure/modernization
improvements" to keep up
with Johnston County's
predicted population surge
over the next 10 years.
Brooks Moore, the school
system's chief of
facilities and
construction, presented
that staff recommendation
to Johnston's Board of
Education Tuesday, based
on a recent report from
OREd, the county's
long-time consultant on
future school needs.
The "greatest need" in the
immediate future, Mr.
Brooks said, is a new high
school in the Wilson's
Mills-Powhatan area
followed by new elementary
schools in the vicinity of
Swift Creek Middle School
in Cleveland Township, an
area between Clayton's
Cooper and Riverwood
schools, in the Reedy
Creek area, and the East
Clayton-Archer Lodge area,
plus a new middle school
near the new Thanksgiving
Elementary School east of
Clayton.
Mr. Moore said 22 of
Johnston's present-day
schools are "over
capacity" for students, 13
are "at capacity," while
just 10 have room for more
students. As a result,
Johnston has 186 mobile
units for students in 201
classrooms, he said.
"We have to do something
substantial because the
growth is substantial," he
told the board, noting
that Johnston will have a
"shortage of seats" for
students that will exceed
9,000 by 2029 unless
proposed new facilities
are built.
Board member Kay Carroll,
who heads a committee
working with county
commissioners on the size
of a school-bond issue to
put before Johnston's
voters in the November
General Election, said
$250 million seems to be a
starting point in those
discussions. Reaching that
$720-million mark, he
said, is "not going to be
done overnight," which
means voters will be asked
to approve additional bond
issues before the decade's
end.
Meanwhile, there's another
avenue for raising part of
that funding:
$150
million sought from
state for school needs
The
state's 2021-22 budget
adopted by the N.C.
General Assembly includes
$395 million for
public-school construction
projects. Johnston County
is applying for more than
$150 million of what's
available statewide.
Johnston's County
Commissioners agreed
Monday to put up more than
$22.5 million in required
local matching funds – in
case Johnston's full
request is granted.
"Clearly we're not going
to get all that," said
Commissioner Fred Smith, a
former state legislator.
He asked who would make
the decision about which
of Johnston's eight
projects would be funded
if only part of the
county's request wins
approval.
Brooks Moore, chief of
facilities and
construction for Johnston
County Public Schools,
said the projects will be
submitted in separate
grant applications. The
state will decide which of
those, if any, merit
approval – "needs based,"
he said.
Johnston County's request
includes the following
projects listed in the
order presented to
commissioners (estimated
cost includes state
grant plus local match):
• Cleveland High
School –
24-classroom addition,
$17,460,000.
• Smithfield-Selma
High School –
auditorium expansion,
$9,450,000.
• Cooper Academy
(elementary
school in Clayton) –
complete replacement of
existing classroom
facilities with a single
new building, $30,000,000.
• Cleveland
Middle School –
16-classroom addition,
$10,500,000.
• Benson
Elementary –
12-classroom addition,
$9,460,000.
• Four Oaks
Middle –
18-classroom addition,
$14,250,000.
• Corinth-Holders
Elementary –
10-classroom addition,
$7,780,000.
• Princeton
Elementary –
12-classroom addition,
$11,000,000.
Mr. Moore told
commissioners a decision
on the county's request
should come in mid-April
since grant applications
must be submitted to the
N.C. Department of Public
Instruction by March 15.
COVID-RELATED
RENTAL ASSISTANCE NEARS
END OF THE LINE
Also at Monday's morning
session, the County
Commissioners approved
Finance Director Chad
McLamb's recommendation to
stop accepting
applications at 5 p.m.
this Friday for the
county's Emergency
Rental and Utility
Assistance Program
since Johnston's
allocation of $11.3
million in federal aid is
about to be exhausted. He
said more than 2,000
Johnston households will
have received aid once all
payments have been
distributed.
Even so, the county
continues to offer aid for
mortgage assistance, with
$571,000 of $900,000
allotted to Johnston
distributed so far, Mr.
McLamb reported. Both
programs were set up to
help households hardest
hit by the coronavirus
pandemic.
Summaries of
all matters considered by
the Board of Commissioners
at Monday's two sessions
are posted on the county's
website>
As
the seasons change,
so do the signs in
yards
of our satisfied
customers.
www.CallPernell.com
WHAT'S
COMING UP?
Daylight
Saving Time returns
Sunday
It's
time to "Spring Forward"
by setting your timepieces
ahead one hour Saturday
night so you'll be on time
for church Sunday morning
(March 13). "Fall Back" to
Standard Time won't return
until the first Sunday in
November – eight months
from now.
County
Commissioners schedule
retreat at Campbell
The
board's Strategic Planning
Session will be conducted
next Thursday and Friday
(March 17-18) at 10 a.m.
both days in Marshbanks
Hall on the campus of
Campbell University in
Buies Creek (143 Main
Street). Limited seating
will be available for the
public, yet the sessions
will be live-streamed on the
county's YouTube
channel>
DEATHS
& FUNERALS
Click
on the name to read an
obituary, usually posted
by the funeral home
DAVID KEITH
DANIELS, 54 – died
March 5
ANTHONY
(TONY) CRAIG ROBERTSON,
80 – died March 5
LEOLA MAE
ROBINSON SANDERS, 100
– died March 3
DOROTHY ANN
LASSITER BLACKMON, 95
– died March 2
THE
PRICE OF RUSSIA'S
INVASION OF UKRAINE
Gasoline
selling here for more than
four dollars a gallon?!
This Tuesday afternoon
scene at convenience
stores near Market
Street's interchange with
I-95 looks like something
from California or New
York or some other place
where these prices are
historically much higher
than what we're used to.
The question on everyone's
mind is how long will this
international political
(and economic) crisis go
on?
A
WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE
EDITOR
Another
industry incentive
without public perusal
Johnston's
County Commissioners on
Monday approved another
tax-rebate agreement to
secure a new industry
following a public hearing
that drew no comments from
the public.
But what else would you
expect since the hearing's
public notice put out last
week omitted the project's
details. All it gave us
was less than transparent
verbage about an unnamed
company proposing to build
an "industrial logistics
facility in the Banner
Township of Johnston
County."
We didn't know until
Monday's hearing that
Edgewater Ventures, in
return for county
property-tax rebates of
50% over five years, plans
to invest $38 million in a
500,000-square-foot
building at Benson by the
end of 2023 and employ 300
persons by the end of 2026
with salaries reaching
Johnston's average of
$43,000.
As is the case with all
such incentive agreements,
it's unlikely anyone would
have turned up at Monday's
hearing to object to the
promise of that many
good-paying jobs coming to
Johnston County.
Still, the public ought to
know exactly what its
elected leaders are
considering before they
act, rather than learn
about the particulars
after the deal is done.
I've heard the official
defense of the current
practice time and again –
that secrecy is required
for successful
negotiations to land an
industrial prospect in a
highly competitive market.
But wouldn't democracy be
better served if the
commissioners' approval of
these contracts required a
second vote for final
ratification, perhaps 30
days or so after the
public hearing?
A
chance to have your say
on two plans in the
making
"Walkability"
is the word associated
with a nationwide movement
to make things safer – and
more enjoyable – for
pedestrians and bicyclists
(like me). Both the Town
of Smithfield and the
County of Johnston have
studies going on now to
see what you and I want
done about it locally,
including online surveys
with looming deadlines:
Smithfield
Pedestrian Plan
– March 14 (next Monday)
is the deadline for
completing a survey to see
which projects are most
favored (attendance was
sparse at a couple of
public forums on proposals
being considered).
Here's
another chance to put in
your two cents'
worth>
Clayton-Smithfield
Neuse River Trail
Connection –
March 25 is the deadline
to register your
preferences for this
envisioned project, which
would close the gap
between existing paved
riverwalks at Smithfield
and Clayton.
Project
details along with
access to the survey are
posted on a NCDOT
website>
 For more than 30 years the Rotary Club of Central
Johnston County
has organized
this event to
raise money for
scholarships
awarded to
deserving
graduates of
Johnston
County's high
schools as well
as students
attending
Johnston
Community
College – more
than a million
dollars' worth
since the
event's
establishment.
This year's
event will be
held FRIDAY,
APRIL 8 at
the Country Club
of Johnston
County.
If you'd like to
participate as a
supporting
sponsor or a
player, contact
Tournament Chair
Joy Callahan:
919-818-7376;
e-mail jtc93@ymail.com> |
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