Proposed
hotel's delay triggers
pending legal action
The
Smithfield Town Council
held a special session
last week to address a new
contract proposed by the
county for allocating
sewage-treatment
capacities among several
neighboring towns.
Smithfield's elected
leaders don't like it.
They fumed about it for
two and a half hours
before moving into closed
session to discuss
potential legal action
against the county. They
came out swinging.
What
precipitated the showdown
is "Johnston County's
failure to approve
sewer allocation to a new
economic development
project, Home2 Suites
hotel, to be located on
Towne Centre Place in
Smithfield," Town Manager
Mike Scott explained in
announcing the council's
unanimous decision to take
"appropriate legal
action." He said the
county "is withholding
available sewer
allocation" for the Home2
Suites project "for the
sole purpose of
influencing Smithfield’s
decision whether to enter
into a more restrictive
contract with Johnston
County for sewer
allocation for future
development."
The Town Council approved
a permit for the new
hotel's construction a
year ago.
At last week's open
session, council members
expressed displeasure with
several terms in the
county's new contract, but
the main point of
contention is a rationing
of future sewage-treatment
capacity among the towns
of Smithfield, Selma, Pine
Level, and Four Oaks with
the stipulation that
requests for additional
treatment allocations must
be purchased with "bulk
capacity fees" to help the
county finance future
expansion of its
sewage-treatment
facilities (a new county
plant is currently under
construction near the
landfill west of
Smithfield, and plans are
already in the making for
an expansion there in the
not-too-distant future).
Councilman Travis Scott
was most adamant in
denouncing the county's
stand. He said
Smithfield's residents
"should be given some
consideration" for the
town's "gift" of its
sewage-treatment facility
to the county in 1979 in a
move to extend the plant's
service beyond Smithfield.
"To be blunt," he
exclaimed, "they've got a
gun to the Town of
Smithfield's head."
Meanwhile, the towns of
Four Oaks and Pine Level
have accepted the county's
agreement. The Town of
Selma, like Smithfield,
has not.
Both the County
Commissioners and
Smithfield's council held
closed sessions at the end
of their regular
first-of-the-month
meetings on Tuesday of
this week to discuss
attorney-client matters in
private as allowed by
state law. Neither took
any action following those
sessions.
Acknowledging the tiff
with Smithfield,
Commissioners' Chairman
Butch Lawter offered words
of conciliation at the
close of the county
board's Tuesday evening
session. "We want to see
our towns succeed," he
said, "and if the towns
are succeeding, then the
county is succeeding."
Downtown
loses one
restaurant, gains
another
Simple
Twist, a stalwart in the
recent restaurant
renaissance in Downtown
Smithfield, has moved on,
but already has a
replacement.
Tandoori Trail offers
"stylish upscale casual
dining serving a variety
of North Indian Mughlai
& Awadhi grill
dishes," notes a Facebook
post by Sarah Edwards,
executive director of the
Downtown Smithfield
Development Corporation.
Owners of the business are
VK and Karuna Kuma.
(Photo from Sarah
Edwards)
Tandoori Trail occupies
the former Simple Twist
space at 227 East Market
Street. It's open
Monday-Saturday 11:30 a.m.
to 9 p.m. and Sunday
11:30-7.
Simple Twist, meanwhile,
continues to operate
restaurants in the 40/42
commercial district in
Cleveland Township and
also in Dunn. Another
location in Clayton's
Riverwood community has
also been closed.
Downtown
"social district" heads
toward approval
The
Smithfield Town Council
appears ready to adopt an
ordinance creating a
"social district" in the
heart of Downtown. Allowed
under new state
legislation adopted last
year, a social district is
"a defined area in which a
person may consume
alcoholic beverages sold
by a (state ABC)
permittee... and may
include both indoor and
outdoor areas of
businesses within or
contiguous to the defined
area during the days and
hours set by the local
government."
Sarah
Edwards, director of the
Downtown Smithfield
Development Corporation
(DSDC), presented a plan
for such a district here
at Tuesday's Town Council
session. Its boundaries
would include businesses
and sidewalks along Market
Street from the Neuse
River to Fourth Street,
Third Street from Bridge
to Johnston streets, and
the Town Commons from the
amphitheater to the Little
Brown Jug.
The plan initially called
for the district's open
hours to extend from 10
a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days
a week, but the proposed
starting time was changed
by consensus of the
council to noon each day.
The council voted 4-2 in
favor of an ordinance
establishing the district,
but that fell short of
five affirmative votes
required for adoption on
first reading. Councilmen
John Dunn, Steve Rabil,
Sloan Stevens, and Roger
Wood voted yes; David
Barbour and Marlon Lee
voted no. Councilman
Travis Scott was absent.
As a result, the council
may revisit the matter at
next month's meeting when
a simple majority vote
will suffice for approval.
Councilman Stevens was
most vocal in support of
the social-district idea.
"Smithfield has a bad
history of not supporting
restaurants," he declared.
"We need to help these
guys get more foot traffic
here," referring to
half-a-dozen local
eateries presently
operating Downtown.
Councilman Barbour cited
negatives associated with
alcohol-driven social
districts. "Increase foot
traffic at the cost of how
many young lives?" he
asked. "We can do the
wrong things for the right
motives," he said after
reading out loud portions
of a report from the UNC
Injury Prevention Research
Center about the dangers
of increased youth
exposure to alcoholic
beverages.
"Why do we have to have
alcohol" to promote
economic development?
Councilman Lee asked. He
also brought up a concern
for pedestrian safety
related to Market Street's
traffic issues.
Ms. Edwards listed
municipalities in the
region that already have
social districts in place,
including
next-door-neighbor Selma
along with Wilson, Garner,
Wendell, Raleigh, and
Cary. She said they report
few problems related to
the districts.
VIEW details
of the social-district
proposal presented to
the Town Council>
Town,
NCDOT agree to reduce
speed limit on West
Market
In
addition to a reduction in
the speed limit from 45 to
35 on a short stretch of
NC 210 beyond two new
subdivisions under
construction, the Town
Council has also approved
reducing the limit from 45
to 35 on West Market
Street (US 70 Business)
from the 210 intersection
to the Neuse River bridge.
Planning Director Stephen
Wensman had recommended
the reduction on NC 210
last month, and the
council asked if the
35-mph zone could be
extended eastward to the
start of a 25-mph zone
Downtown. Mr. Wensman
reported Tuesday that
NCDOT had quickly
authorized the change. The
council added its
approval.
Mr. Wensman said the
change will take effect as
soon as NCDOT erects new
signs.
Some
Downtown businesses may
get town's trash service
The
council approved a
recommendation from Town
Manager Mike Scott to
allow restaurants, shops,
and offices in the heart
of Downtown to request
garbage and trash pickup
by the town's Public Works
Department. They'll be
charged the same monthly fees
for service as the
town's residents and
churches pay.
The manager's proposal
covers businesses in the
200 and 300 blocks of East
Market Street and the 100
block of South Third where
merchants have been
placing waste materials
into the town's pedestrian
trash bins and onto
sidewalks. "It's gotten
out of control," Mr. Scott
told the council.
Businesses that choose not
to sign up for the town's
service will be required
to use dumpsters provided
by contracted trash
collectors, and staff
believes there's ample
room behind most
businesses to station
those dumpsters, Mr. Scott
said. "I don't think
they'll get a better deal"
than what the town offers,
"so I imagine they'll take
advantage of it," he
added.
Appointments
to Planning Board,
Recreation Committee
The
council approved Tara
Meyer as an in-town
representative on the
Smithfield Planning Board
and three new members of
the town's Recreation
Advisory Committee:
Allison Byrd along with
two high-school
representatives, Whitley
Kate Moore and John Arthur
Gaskins.
Community
Park soccer field to get
drainage repairs
The
council awarded a $21,138
contract to low-bidder JP
Edwards, Inc. to repair
drainage issues at the
Community Park's main
soccer field. "The
(southeast) corner has
settled over time, making
that end of the soccer
field unusable most of the
time due to wetness as
well as water standing
long the sidewalk that
leads to the greenway,"
noted Parks and Recreation
Director Gary Johnson in a
memo to the council. "This
area is difficult to
maintain (mow) and is a
harbor for mosquitoes."
Five
upcoming outdoor events
get required permits
The
council approved permits
for the following special
events:
• Help Thy
Neighbor Poker Run,
fund-raising event hosted
by Angela Roberts at
Bulldog Harley-Davidson,
1043 Outlet Center Drive,
9-5 Saturday, September
16.
• Smithfield-Selma
High School Homecoming
Parade, M.
Durwood Stephenson Parkway
and Kellie Drive,
4:30-5:30 p.m. Friday,
October 6.
• Ava Gardner
Festival, movie
with food trucks at Neuse
River Amphitheater,
6:30-9:30 p.m. Friday,
October 6.
• Family Days
Super Carnival,
conducted by Inner Shows,
Carolina Premium Outlets,
October 18-29.
• JoCo Works
Career Expo,
hosted by Triangle East
Economic Development
Foundation, Johnston
Community College, 8 a.m
to 3 p.m. Thursday and
Friday, November 2-3.
Another record for Johnston: 108,537
employed
The
N.C. Department of Commerce
(NCDC) reports that 108,537
Johnstonians held jobs in
July – up from the previous
record high of 106,840 in
June. Even so, the monthly
jobless rate was unchanged
at 3.3% as the number of
unemployed Johnstonians rose
to 3,748 of a total labor
force estimated by the state
at 112,285. Statewide,
July's unemployment rate was
unchanged at 3.6%. The
nationwide rate for the
month dropped a decimal
point to 3.5%.
NCDC reports that the number
of workers employed
statewide has increased by
98,709 since July a year ago
– to a new total of
5,099,279. Johnston County
contributed to that increase
by adding 4,104 jobs over
the past year.
August brought 9.5 inches of rain
(but not a record)
Cornell
Cox's Backyard Weather
Station in South
Smithfield measured 9.5
inches of rainfall during
the month of August –
including 5.5 inches that
descended upon us the last
five days of the month,
thanks in part to Tropical
Storm Idalia. That brought
our year-to-date total to
39.51 inches, which is
above our eight-month
average of 34.26 inches,
according to U.S.
Climate Data.
Wettest August on record?
Likely the 22.8 inches
that was measured here in
August 1955.
In
this case, the warning
doesn't apply
Susan Lassiter pulled
out her smart phone to record
this encounter near the shore
of Wilson's Pond in South
Smithfield. Is the heron
finding the situation
humorous?
WHAT'S COMING
UP
Farmers
Market returns to Third
Street Saturday morning
Three
more offerings for
this season's Farmers
Market in Downtown
Smithfield, starting with
this Saturday's
installment from 9 a.m. to
2 p.m. on South Third
Street. The second and
fourth Saturday of the
month schedule continues
September 23 and concludes
October 14.
9/11
remembrance at Town Hall
Park Saturday afternoon
The
ceremony will honor first
responders, who achieved
national hero status after
the horrendous attacks on
New York City's World
Trade Center on September
11, 2001. Saturday's
remembrance begins at 2
p.m. Lunch will be
provided. Sponsors include
local Rotary clubs plus
several businesses and
individuals.
School
board's regular monthly
meeting next Tuesday
The
Johnston County Board of
Education will convene at
4 p.m. Tuesday in the
Evander S. Simpson
Building on US 70 Business
east of Smithfield. The
board normally spends the
first hour in closed
session, with the business
section open to the public
following around 5 p.m. VIEW the
agenda once it's
posted>
DEATHS & FUNERALS
A
WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE
EDITOR
Here's
a ray of hope for a
calmer Market Street
The
Town Council's action this
week to reduce the speed
limit on West Market
Street's approach into
Downtown is a welcome step
toward "traffic calming"
on Smithfield's main
street. Will it work?
We'll see.
What would be better is
shortening the green-light
timing for traffic racing
through town. The effect
of the current setup is
clearly evident to those
of us who have to wait and
wait for the signals to
give us the go-ahead to
move across Market Street.
And now we have another
concern, this one
regarding pedestrian
safety as the Town Council
appears on the verge of
establishing a "social
district" as a means of
increasing "foot traffic"
in the heart of Downtown.
Alcohol consumption and
careless driving are never
a good mix.
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the SMITHFIELD
WEEKLY SUN
|
Johnston
County Public Schools at the
end of the day Wednesday
reported an enrollment of
36,877 students – down 82
from last year's Day 6 total
of 36,959 (schools opened
August 30 with two weekdays
off since then, one for last
week's hurricane threat and
the other for the Labor Day
holiday). A key number for
determining state funding
allotments to North
Carolina's public schools is
the total for Day 10, coming
up next Tuesday. Last year's
10th-day enrollment here was
37,307.