What's
going on with RECYCLING
around here?
A
Weekly Sun
reader, Jane Hawk, asked
about the status of local
government's recycling
programs: "Please
look into the lack of
recycling in Johnston
County. We need to have
better results,"
she wrote. Here's what I
found:
First of all,
let's look at the Town
of Smithfield's program,
which consists of curbside
residential
collection of plastic
containers once weekly and
receipt of everything else
in dumpsters lined up
beneath a shelter beside
the Public Works Garage at
Buffalo and Hospital
roads. Only town residents
and businesses may use
those dumpsters (IDs are
usually checked), and the
yard is only open for
public use Wednesdays and
Saturdays.
The plastics are collected
by the town on the same
day each neighborhood's
garbage and yard debris is
picked up.
The town hauls the stuff
to one of three places,
reports Town Manager Mike
Scott:
(1) Johnston County
Landfill – 38.7 tons of
plastics plus 650 scrap
tires this past year. The
county charges the town a
tipping fee based on the
weight of the waste, and
the town bears the fuel
and manpower costs of
hauling loads to the
landfill off NC 210 west
of Smithfield. The
county's charges to the
town run about $240,000
annually, Mr. Scott
reported. Those expenses
are covered by monthly
refuse pickup fees the
town charges its
residential and commercial
utility customers.
(2) Sonoco (not Sunoco,
the oil company), a
recycler with a Raleigh
operation – 5,780 pounds
of cardboard and 12,380
pounds this past year of
what are termed as
"co-mingled materials"
including glass bottles,
newspapers and magazines,
and whatever else may be
thrown into those
dumpsters. Sunoco charges
the town to accept and
separate those products
for recycling. "In the
last year we were charged
$390.82 for the service,"
Mr. Scott noted.
(3) OmniSource, a metal
recycler with an operation
on Wal-Pat Road here –
16,040 pounds of "shredder
steel," 980 pounds of
aluminum cans, and 2,540
pounds of other metals
this past year for which
the town was paid about
$1,950, Mr. Scott said.
And what is the
County of Johnston doing
these days?
Besides accepting and
burying garbage and trash
at its large landfill from
municipalities like
Smithfield and contract
haulers like Waste
Management, the county
operates a dozen
"convenience 
centers,"
mostly in rural areas
outside the towns, where
Johnston residents may
dispose of household
garbage and trash on their
own. That privilege
requires purchase of a
vehicle decal at a cost of
$100 annually. (County
of Johnston photo)
At the same time, the
county accepts a host of
recyclable materials free
of charge from
anyone, regardless of
place of residence – and
that includes automobile
tires, lead batteries and
motor oil, household
appliances, TVs and
computers, herbicide and
pesticide containers, and
scrap metal.
Brian Beasley, the
county's solid-waste
director, said Johnston
transports, on average,
about 22 large containers
weekly – each weighing
about 1,800 pounds – to
three commercial operators
that accept, and pay for,
a variety of discarded
materials: OmniSource at
Smithfield, Wise Recycling
at Clayton, and Foss
Recycling at Wilson.
Depending on market
conditions, "we can receive
anywhere from 1.5 cents
per pound to 8 cents per
pound," Mr. Beasley
said. "We average around
4.5 to 5 cents per pound
for recycled scrap metal
and appliances."
He said the county
recycled 358.38 tons of
appliances and 977.79
tons of scrap metal
collected at its
convenience centers and
the landfill last fiscal
year.
VIEW MORE
DETAILS about the
county's services,
including operating
hours>
Leaders
confront Johnston's
workforce challenges
At a
gathering of local
business leaders this
week, a consultant laid
out what he thinks is in
store for Johnston
County's workforce future.
"We’re
all now in post-post-COVID
and beginning to see what
changes came out of the
pandemic might become
permanent,” said Ted
Abernathy, founder of
Economic Leadership LLC, a
Raleigh consulting firm
hired to forge some
strategies for Johnston
County to pursue.
He recommended increased
focus on education and
training at the K-12 and
community-college levels.
"Only about a quarter of
all jobs in America need a
four-year degree," he said
in calling for more
work-based learning,
apprenticeships, and
"career coaching." (Photo
from JoCo Economic
Development)
READ A
SUMMARY of his
presentation provided in
a news release from the
Johnston County Office
of Economic
Development>
Johnston's
jobless rate down to
2.8% in December
Johnston
County's unemployment rate
dropped from 3.4% in
November to 2.8% in
December when 103,824
Johnstonians held jobs and
2,983 were looking for
work, according to the
latest monthly report from
the N.C. Department of
Commerce, released this
week. The
statewide rate for December
was 3.2% while the
nationwide rate was 3.5%.
Johnston's labor force
(number employed plus number
unemployed) has grown from
102,678 in December 2021 to
106,807 at the end of 2022.
The number of employed
Johnstonians topped 100,000
for the first time this past
year.
Smithfield's
Exit 95 gets its 10th
multi-story hotel
Tru
by Hilton is the newest
addition to the village of
hotels that have arisen on
the west side of the I-95
interchange at US 70
Business. It was
"officially" opened with a
ribbon-cutting ceremony
staged last Thursday by the
Triangle East Chamber of
Commerce.
Tru at
Smithfield has 91 guest
rooms and is pet friendly,
according to the Johnston
County Visitors Bureau. Its
game room includes a large
mural depicting buildings in
Downtown Smithfield.
(Hilton website photo)
Meanwhile,
an 11th hotel at Exit 95
is on the way. The
Smithfield Town Council
recently granted an
exception to its
building-height ordinance
to allow construction of a
five-story Home2Suites by
Hilton designed to reach
70 feet in height. It will
go up beside a
two-year-old, five-story
Hampton Inn (another
member of the Hilton
chain) that also exceeds
the town's 40-foot
ordinance limit.
HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS REPORT
Memorable weekend for
Smithfield-Selma
athletics
On
top of the SSS swim team's
championship came the
first victory of the
season for the Spartan
boys' basketball team – in
overtime, no less – on the
night of the dedication of
the court in memory of the
late Carl Spargins,
beloved basketball coach
and athletic director at
the high school.
During the
ceremony between last
Friday's games, Hannah
Spragins (right)
is shown expressing her
family's gratitude for the
honor given to her father,
who died in October 2021.
(Photo by
SSS student Paola Jimenez
Arreaga)
Following the ceremony, the
Spartan boys pulled out a
63-60 victory over the team
from Wilson County's Fike
High. Leading the SSS attack
were Elijah Bailey and Luke
Woodall with 15 points apiece;
Jordan White added 11.
The Spartan boys lost
Tuesday's game at West
Johnston 65-43, pushing their
season's record to 1-18 and
3-A conference record to 1-10.
Bailey led SSS with 14 points
versus the Wildcats.
Meanwhile, the SSS girls' team
remains winless at 0-16
overall and 0-11 in conference
play after a 66-20 loss to
Fike on Friday and a 50-4
defeat at West Johnston on
Tuesday.
EIGHT FROM WINNING SWIM TEAM ADVANCE
TO REGIONALS
Seven of them are pictured
here: (left to right)
Jimena Garcia Ortega, Angela
Garcia Contreras, Megan Denny,
Emily Stuckey, Teagan Farrell,
Elizabeth King, and Brielle
DuBois. Francesca DiGiovanni (not
pictured) will be
joining them to compete in the
N.C. 3-A East Regionals this
Friday. The other members of
the conference champion
Smithfield-Selma swim team are
Chloe Ellis, Alley Cavanaugh,
Izzie Evans, Rebecca King,
Trista Leach, and Hailey
Stephens.
Neuse
Charter basketball
boys get two more
victories
The
Cougar boys' basketball
team won two more games
this past week – both at
home – improving their
record to 20-3 overall,
7-0 in 1-A conference
play.
Neuse Charter crushed
North Duplin 86-47 last
Friday and Hobbton 74-45
on Tuesday. Sire Holmes
scored 27 in Friday's game
and 23 on Tuesday. Darian
Murray scored 15 on
Friday; Jayvin Bradley and
Donollyn Tyrell had 10
apiece. In Tuesday's
contest, Bradley had 16
points and Tyrell 11.
The Cougar girls are 11-10
overall, 3-4 in conference
games after a 54-36 loss
to North Duplin on Friday
and 60-37 triumph over
Hobbton on Tuesday. Cayley
Cochran had 11 points for
Neuse Charter on Friday
and 21 on Tuesday. Olivia
Sheppard scored 20 in the
win against Hobbton.
January's
rainfall was less than
the past two years
According
to Cornell Cox's Backyard
Weather Station in South
Smithfield, the first
month of 2023 brought us a
modest 3.72 inches of rain
– less than the 4.87
inches for January 2022
that included a 4-inch
snowfall and only half of
the January 2021 total of
6.84 inches. Average
annual rainfall around
here is just under 48
inches, so we've got a
ways to go to avoid
another drier-than-normal
year. Any snow coming our
way this winter? Don't
hold your breath.
County
reports sewage spill
from pipeline to
treatment plant
Here's
the required public notice
from the County of
Johnston:
"The Johnston County wastewater collection system had a discharge of untreated wastewater on January 26 of an estimated 12,000 gallons in the vicinity of 1000 East Huntley Street, Smithfield. The untreated wastewater discharged into a tributary to the Neuse River. The discharge was a result of a pipeline material failure." (Huntley Street is a dirt road that leads from US 301 to the county's regional sewage-treatment plant on the Neuse River southwest of town.)
WHAT'S
COMING UP?
Johnston
County Commissioners
meet twice on Monday
The
Board of Commissioners
will hold its regular
first-Monday-of-the-month
sessions at 10 a.m. and 6
p.m. at the Courthouse.
Agendas for the two
meetings were not prepared
in time for publication
here. You should be able
to access those agendas
once they're posted from this
link to the county's
website>
Board
of Education's monthly
meeting coming this
Tuesday
The
Johnston County Board of
Education will hold its
regular monthly meeting a
week earlier than usual:
this Tuesday at the schools'
headquarters on US 70
Business east of Smithfield.
The meeting starts with a
closed session at 4 p.m.
followed by the open
business session around 5
p.m.
VIEW
the agenda once it's
posted on the school
system's website>
Town
Council: short agenda
for Tuesday's monthly
session
Two
public hearings are
scheduled at the outset of
the meeting, which begins
at 7 p.m. at Town Hall.
The first concerns a
request from William R.
(Bill) Andrews to amend
the town's Unified
Development Ordinance to
allow "accessory dwelling
units" in R20-A
residential zoning
districts (a change that
was proposed but removed
from the 2020 UDO update).
The second hearing is
required for annexation of
16.2 acres of undeveloped
town-owned property
between Barbour Road and
Poplar Creek "for future
trail and utilities."
VIEW the
complete agenda posted
on the town's
website>
DEATHS
& FUNERALS
Click
on the name to read an
obituary, usually posted
by the funeral home
PATRICIA
(PAT) BROUGHTON HARRIS,
75 – died January 31
DEBORAH JEAN
BUNN, 60 – died
January 28
KING GODWIN,
85 – died January 27
RONALD
TUDDERRY SMITH II, 36
– died January 27
MARIE
SANDERS BARBOUR,
92 – died
January 26
GENIE THOMAS
GRIMES, 74 – died
January 26
GERALD
RAIFORD WILLIAMS, 75
– died January 26
"Building the Black Community 1865-1900" is the opening panel for the recently opened
Johnston County Museum's
section on local
African-American
history.
A
WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE
EDITOR
New
museum introduces us to
Black History Month
May
I recommend a visit this
weekend to the new
Johnston County Museum
Downtown as your
introduction to this
year's Black History Month
observance here. It's
housed in a section of the
former Roses department
store building a block
east of the Johnston
County Heritage Center,
its parent.
A walk through the museum
is a chronological walk
through Johnston's
history. There's a
prominent section on the
county's African-American
story and another
storyboard about black
Johnstonians serving in
World War II.
One of my
favorite stories in the
main display is this one
about a 19th Century
Smithfieldian named Bryant
Alford, for it tells of a
time during decades just
after the Civil War when
African-Americans could be
successful in every
respect, even among whites
in a small southern town
like ours.
Here's more of the text
shown here that tells
Bryant Alford's story:
"...While there are no
municipal records, it was
recalled by old-timers in
1934 that he was Mayor of
Smithfield during the
Reconstruction period.
According to the U.S.
Census of 1870 Alford had
a cotton gin, saw mill,
and a store where he sold
'fancy goods.'
"He was also a building
contractor and in 1871
built a covered bridge
over the Neuse River to
replace the one destroyed
by Confederates to slow
the advance of Union
troops in 1865.... (And)
for many years Alford and
his wife Polly operated a
Third Street restaurant
which was a mecca for
whites on court days."
EDITOR'S ADDENDUM: You can
still see a remnant of
Alford's covered bridge (shown
in a c.1900 postcard
reproduced above)
at the end of Bridge
Street beside the river.
There stands one of two
surviving stone abutments
that held up not only the
covered bridge but for a
short time in the early
20th Century a steel truss
bridge.
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