Amazon
says it'll be up and
running in early 2024
Town
joins county in
granting extension for
incentives
Speaking
for the company, regional
director Mike Limburg
assured the Smithfield
Town Council this week
that Amazon plans to begin
hiring and start
operations here during the
first quarter of 2024 even
though the company has
sought a two-year
extension of its original
incentives contract with
both the town and the
county.
Following last month's
approval by the County
Commissioners,
Smithfield's council
approved the extension at
Tuesday's monthly meeting,
although Councilman Sloan
Stevens voted against it.
"Amazon's not living up to
its contract," he said.
Mayor Andy Moore pointed
out that Amazon last year
and this year will have
paid more than $800,000 in
property taxes to the town
without the rebates
promised once the company
reaches its hiring goal of
500 employees. That's
because construction of
the distribution center in
West Smithfield is
finished – and operating
equipment is now in place,
Mr. Limburg reported.
The original contract with
the town and county
provides rebates of most
property taxes paid over a
seven-year period,
starting next year.
Because of staffing and
supply-chain issues
nationwide, Amazon asked
that the start of the
seven-year period be
delayed till 2026.
"We are now ready to move
forward," Mr. Limburg told
the council Tuesday. He
said the plan is to hire
100 at a time until the
employment goal is
reached. The first hiring
is "50-60 days out," he
said.
Meanwhile, Amazon's
investment pledge of at
least $100 million in the
local facility "has been
met," noted Chris Johnson,
the county's director of
economic development. That
goal is another
requirement in the
contract for incentive
payments from the town and
county.
Council
authorizes incentive pay
for police staffing
By
unanimous vote, the
council approved the
concept of offering
recruitment and retention
incentives as requested by
Chief Pete Hedrick to
restore Police Department
staffing to budgeted
levels.
His proposal calls for
hiring incentives of
$5,000 and retention
incentives amounting to
$7,500. Council members
debated whether the
payments should be made in
lump sums or spread out as
quarterly and possibly
monthly additions to
regular pay.
In the end, the council
endorsed the idea but left
details of how the
incentives will be
administered to Chief
Hedrick and Town Manager
Mike Scott (a former
police chief).
Smithfield's Police
Department currently has
13 vacancies among 37
full-time enforcement
positions. The police
chief and the town manager
agreed that budgeted funds
not being used because of
the vacancies would be
sufficient to cover the
cost of the incentives.
Three
more firefighters to be
hired with county aid
Fire
Chief Jeremey Daughtry
recommended the town use
$214,000 in extra aid
coming from the County of
Johnston for
fire-protection services
this fiscal year to employ
three additional
firefighters. The council
approved his request.
Currently, the Smithfield
Fire Department operates
with three 24-hour shifts,
each with six
firefighters. Adding three
firefighters would require
$185,267 annually for
salaries and benefits plus
$5,500 per fireman for
gear and uniforms, Chief
Daughtry noted. He said it
likely will take till
January to get the new
personnel in place.
The additional aid from
the county is the result
of a "funding matrix"
worked out by the chiefs
of Johnston's 23 fire
departments to make sure
all are operating with
acceptable standards of
service.
Street-paving
contract fulfilled with
leftover funds
The
council approved Town
Manager Mike Scott's
awarding of a $413,942
contract with Garris
Grading and Paving of
Farmville to resurface a
list of streets presented
last month by Public Works
Director Lawrence Davis.
Garris was the "lowest
responsible bidder," but
the total price exceeded
Powell Bill allocations in
the current town budget.
As a result, the council
concurred with the town
manager's recommendation
to take the balance needed
to take care of all the
streets on the list out of
Powell Bill reserves.
Resurfacing to be done
includes the 1000
block of Blount Street, 800
block of East Street, 700
block of Second Avenue, 300
block of Holt Street, 1300
and 1400 blocks of Vermont,
100 block of East Wilson,
the 18-47 block of Bradford,
52-59 block of Brookwood
Drive, 1-65 block of Sussex,
1-70 block of Towbridge, 200
block of South Roderick, 100
block of North Street, and
200 block of Longview Drive.
West
Market Street trail
advances with a split
vote
By
a vote of 5-2, the council
approved an agreement with
the N.C. Department of
Transportation to accept a
couple of federal grants
amounting to $1,875,520
for construction of a
paved pedestrian and
cycling trail along the
north side of West Market
Street from the Neuse
River bridge to the
Wilson's Mills Road
intersection.
Councilman Travis Scott
voiced concerns about the
project's scope and was
joined in opposing the
agreement by Councilman
Marlon Lee.
Councilman David Barbour,
who represents West
Smithfield, said residents
of his district,
especially children, need
the connection to the
heart of town to reach its
amenities. "It's costly,"
he conceded, but "at least
we're making progress to
make our town complete."
Legion
Hut to get roof
and rear-porch repairs
The
council approved two
contracts for repairs to
the former American Legion
Hut on Front Street – the
large "log cabin" owned by
the town and leased to the
Neuse Little Theatre.
Low-bidder Wayne Roofing
and Sheet Metal Co. of
Goldsboro will put on an
"elastomeric roof coating"
at a cost of $20,500.
Low-bidder Blueprint
Construction of Garner
will repair the building's
rear porch at a cost of
$36,429.
State
grant covers stormwater
infrastructure mapping
The
council approved a
two-year contract with
Surveying and Mapping, LLC
– a national company known
as SAM – to map
Smithfield's stormwater
infrastructure at a cost
of $241,378, which will be
covered by a grant from
the N.C. Department of
Environmental Quality. The
contractor based its
proposal on mapping 2,500
drainage structures around
town. It's part of a
state-mandated update of
the town's stormwater
management program.
Two
more state awards for
water and sewer systems
Once
again, the Town of
Smithfield has won two
awards from the N.C.
American Water Works
Association and Water
Environment Federation:
"Water Distribution System
of the Year" and "Sanitary
Sewer Collection System of
the Year," both in the
statewide "Small Utility"
category. Public Utilities
Director Ted Credle
pointed out that
Smithfield has won both
awards six out of the past
seven years.
School board adopts
electoral-districts
map
The
Johnston County Board of
Education has met the
state's deadline for
adopting a map of its
choosing to be used for
electing its members by
residency districts
starting next year. The
board's approval came
without a dissenting vote
at a special meeting
Wednesday morning (six of
the seven board members
took part; Mike Wooten was
absent).
Here are some key elements
of the adopted map:
• The county's eight high
schools are scattered
among seven districts.
While half of them are
within districts alone,
Smithfield-Selma High and
Princeton High share
District 6;
Corinth-Holders and North
Johnston high schools are
in District 2. District 1
presently has no high
school, but its territory
includes the site of a new
high school about to be
built at Wilson's Mills.
• Current board members
Kay Carroll and Mike
Wooten both reside within
District 3, and are
finishing up four-year
terms that expire in 2024.
Mr. Carroll told the
Weekly Sun
Wednesday afternoon that
he will not seek
re-election next year.
• Four other incumbent
board members are in
separate districts yet
reside close together:
Michelle Antoine and
Ronald Johnson in the
Clayton area, Lyn Andrews
and Mike Wooten in the
Princeton area.
•
The school board's
districts are not in line
with the county
commissioners' districts
as the board was under a
legislative mandate to
keep variances of
population within 5% when
comparing district totals.
During Wednesday's short
meeting, Michelle Antoine
and Kevin Donovan both
noted that most of the
public comments submitted
about three maps under
consideration favored the
map adopted by the board.
Board Chair Lyn Andrews
emphasized the fact that
the electoral districts
have no bearing on
school-attendance
districts as they
presently stand.
Besides Mr. Carroll and
Mr. Wooten, Ms. Andrews
and Ronald Johnson are the
other board members whose
positions will be up for
election next year.
Although candidates from
now on must run for
specific district seats,
the voting will remain
countywide and candidates
will continue to file
without regard to
political party
registration. Filing for
the 2024 elections is
coming up next month: Dec.
4-15.
Superintendent,
key aides get new
contracts, more pay
Johnston's
school board voted 5-2 at
last week's regular
monthly meeting to extend
the contracts of
Superintendent Eric Bracy,
Assistant Superintendent
David Pearce, and Chief of
Financial Services Stephen
Britt through June 30,
2027 and also increase
their salaries: for Dr.
Bracy – from $216,189 to
$249,099; for Dr. Pearce –
from $143,521 to $158,112;
for Mr. Britt – from
$143,519 to $158,112.
The board's action also
raises travel allowances
for Dr. Pearce and Mr.
Britt from $8,400 annually
to $11,888. Dr. Bracy's
yearly travel allowance
remains $10,800.
Board
members Michelle Antoine
and Ronald Johnston voted
against those changes
although there was no
discussion of the
contracts and pay
adjustments.
The salary increases for
the three administrators
along with raises for
teachers and all other
school-system employees
are retroactive to July 1,
the start of the 2023-24
fiscal year. The raises
weren't put in place
before now because the
N.C. General Assembly
didn't adopt the state
budget till late
September, and that
delayed filling in the
details necessary for
adoption of Johnston's
2023-24 school budget till
last week's meeting of the
Board of Education.
Board
approves twice-monthly
payrolls and "P-Cards"
Acting
on a recommendation from
Mr. Britt, the schools'
chief of financial
services, the board also
approved at last week's
meeting a move to
twice-monthly paychecks
for classified employees
(teaching assistants, bus
drivers, custodians,
cafeteria staff, and
others) and also
authorized staff usage of
credit cards known as
"P-Cards" for purchasing
school supplies and
contracted services.
The finance chief said
Bank of America would
provide the card-charging
service along with a 2%
cash-back rebate that
could bring in at least
$80,000 annually – enough
to cover the cost of
employing additional staff
to administer the
purchasing program as well
as the twice-monthly
payroll plan, which would
take effect next year.
Mr. Britt also recommended
the board replace a mobile
office behind the school's
administrative
headquarters with a
permanent structure to
house the additional staff
and others in the
cramped-for-space Finance
Department. But board
member Kay Carroll
suggested instead a larger
building project to
accommodate the schools'
present and future
staffing needs. Board
members agreed to get more
information from staff
regarding Mr. Carroll's
proposal.
Schools
will share eight
additional social
workers
Acting
on another personnel
matter at last week's
meeting, the board
approved hiring eight
additional social workers
under year-to-year
contracts with employment
agencies. Currently the
school system employs 16
social workers to cover
its 48 campuses. Cost of
the additional employees
could run as high as
$540,000, the board was
told – an expense to be
covered by federal
COVID-relief funding under
ESSER, the Elementary and
Secondary Schools
Emergency Relief act.
Board
tweaks book policy to
comply with new state
law
Among
several revisions to
Johnston County school
policies considered by the
Board of Education last
week was unanimous
adoption of a newly worded
rule regarding
"instruction on gender
identity, sexual activity,
or sexuality" that keeps
relevant books and other
materials away from
students in the elementary
grades.
Terry Tippett, who chairs
the school board's Policy
Committee, said the school
system's policy on
"Comprehensive Health
Education" was amended to
comply with the state's
newly adopted law known as
the "Parents' Bill of
Rights." More local policy
tweaks regarding that law
may be forthcoming, he
added.
Katie Cornetto, the school
board's attorney, said she
planned to meet with
Johnston's
elementary-school
principals this week to
talk about how they should
guide teachers in
fulfilling requirements of
the new law. She said that
will be a challenging
task.
MORE DETAILS about
policies considered by the
board last week appear in
attachments to "Consent
Items" posted with the
agenda for the Nov. 7
meeting>
SMITHFIELD-SELMA
HIGH SCHOOL
releases Principal's
List and Honor Roll
for the
first nine weeks of the
2023-24 academic
year>
19TH
ANNUAL SALUTE TO
JOHNSTON'S VETERANS
Smithfield's
Richard Black, a Navy
veteran of World War II
who's approaching his
100th birthday, gets a
salute from Sherrill G.
Stevens as he's recognized
as the oldest military
survivor in attendance at
last Friday's Veterans Day
observance at
Smithfield-Selma High
School. Hosted by Johnston
County Public Schools, this year's event was the first full-scale celebration to be held since 2019. The COVID pandemic forced events to be held virtually in 2020 and 2021, and last year Hurricane Nicole forced the event to be rescheduled on a smaller scale. (Photo
from Johnston County
Public Schools)
VIEW last week's hour-long event on the school system's YouTube channel>
WHAT'S COMING UP
County
Commissioners will get
opioid update Monday
The
Johnston County Board of
Commissioners will conduct
its regular third-Monday
meeting at 6 p.m. at the
Courthouse. The agenda
includes an update on the
county's Opioid Settlement
Funds Plan and reports on
state grants for parks and
open-space acquisition
projects. VIEW the
complete agenda for
Monday's meeting>
Thanksgiving holidays next week; Sun
will skip an edition
Thanksgiving
Day is coming up next
Thursday the 23rd. It's a
one-day holiday for banks
and the post office while
most government offices
and services will take
both Thursday and Friday
off and Johnston's schools
will be closed Wednesday,
Thursday, and Friday. The
Smithfield Weekly Sun
will observe the holiday
by not publishing next
Thursday, returning with
an edition two weeks from
now – on Thursday, Nov.
30.
Festival of Trees coming back to the
Medical Mall Dec. 4
The
Festival of Trees is
returning to Johnston
Medical Mall as a
fundraiser of the Johnston
Health Foundation. “We
welcome local businesses,
community organizations,
and individuals to
participate by sponsoring
a tree, lending their
decorating talents,
performing during the
festival, or taking a
stroll through the mall,”
said Allison Strickland,
director of the
foundation.
The money raised will go
toward screenings and
other access to health
care, scholarships to
under-served youth for
nutritional counseling and
fitness instruction, and
compassionate care at the
SECU Hospice House.
The centerpiece of the
festival will be the
15-foot-tall Tree of
Light, decorated by
Hospice House volunteers
in memory of loved ones.
Following an opening
ceremony at 6 p.m. Monday,
December 4, the Festival
of Trees will be open
without admission charge during
Medical Mall hours seven
days a week>
For more information about
the event, including a
form for making donations
online, visit this
page on the Johnston
Health Foundation's
website>
(Story & photo from Johnston Health
Foundation)
Johnston
County Arts
Cooperative Studio
cordially
invites you to our
annual
Christmas
Open House
Tuesday,
Nov. 28 – 4 until 6:30
pm
619
South Third Street,
Smithfield
Featured artists: Kathy Booth Jo
Lee Dee Lee
Linda Ridout
Michelle
Fields Laughinghouse
DEATHS
& FUNERALS
A
WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE
EDITOR
Thankful
for the presence of
these two institutions
Wow!
We've got a collegiate
school of engineering
right here in Smithfield,
North Carolina – with a
brand-new state-of-the-art
home base that ranks right
up there with what you'd
expect at a major
university, like N.C.
State.
But that's not all we've
got that sets us apart
from other communities our
size in Eastern North
Carolina. The other is the
medical institution in our
midst now known as UNC
Health Johnston.
Writing in the current
edition of its quarterly
report "Connect," CEO Tom
Williams notes that UNC
Health Johnston has
increased its workforce by
25% over the past five
years – to 1,950
employees, "and we're
still expanding."
And then he connects that
to Johnston Community
College (which hosts the
new engineering school),
pointing out that JCC
graduates in nursing and
other health-care
specialties "fill between
100 and 125 of our
openings every year."
Looking to the future, Mr.
Williams takes note of the
growing collaboration
among the community
college, Johnston County's
school system, and UNC
Health Johnston to attract
our youth into health-care
professions. An example of
that was the recent JoCo
WORKS event that brought
3,500 eighth-graders from
the county's public
schools to the JCC campus
to interact with
representatives from more
than 40 Johnston County
employers.
We're thankful Amazon has
helped put Smithfield
"back on the map" of
regional industrial
development, even if the
company has struggled to
start its operation here.
But Amazon's impact is
more symbol than substance
when you step back and
take a look at what
Johnston Community College
and UNC Health Johnston
have been doing to train
and provide better-paying
jobs with lasting value
for this community.
THANKSGIVING
TREAT?
Photo
posted on Facebook this
week was too good to pass
up:
That's Jamie Stanley,
president of the Rotary
Club of Central Johnston
County, stirring a big pot
of "Christmas soup"
alongside The Grinch at
last Saturday's Holiday
Bazaar in Downtown
Smithfield.
Word has it the mean
greenie in the Santa suit
was given sanctuary in one
of the Third Street stores
that helped host the
event, which took place
despite a pesky light
rain.
P.S.
In case you missed
the two
announcements above,
the Weekly Sun will be off next week in observance of
Thanksgiving.
Subscribers
to this edition: 1,476
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