N.C.
board upholds denial of
candidate's challenge
At
an "emergency" meeting
conducted online Wednesday
afternoon, the N.C. Board
of Elections upheld the
Johnston election board's
decision last week to deny
Ronald Johnson's challenge
of David Marshburn's
candidacy for a seat on
the Johnston County Board
of Education.
Mr. Johnson had contended
that Mr. Marshburn's
principal residence is
outside the bounds of a
newly established district
for choosing a
school-board member from
the Clayton area. Mr.
Marshburn countered with
evidence that he has moved
his residence from an
apartment attached to his
office in Smithfield to a
house he has rented in
Clayton.
"It may be distasteful" to
move one's residence
simply to run for a
particular office "but
it's not illegal," said
Kevin Lewis, a member of
the state board who made
the motion to uphold the
Johnston board's decision.
Mr. Johnson had appealed
the county board's ruling
to the state board, which
took less than 30 minutes
to hear his argument and a
rebuttal from Jack O'Hale,
Mr. Marshburn's attorney.
As the county board had
done last week, the state
board also voted 4-0 to
affirm Mr. Marshburn's
eligibility as a
Clayton-district
candidate.
READ the
rationale behind last
week's decision by
Johnston's Board of
Elections>
COLD ENOUGH TO MAKE SNOW – IN
SMITHFIELD!
The
outdoor temperature got
down into the low-20s
Wednesday morning,
enabling occupants of this
residence on Stevens
Street to turn on a
snow-making device. Based
on what we saw, or didn't
see, last winter, this may
be the only way we'll get
scenes like this in the
season at hand.
Frigid-weather forecast prompts
county to list
shelters
Johnston County Emergency Services is advising individuals seeking warmth from the cold due to EXTREME TEMPERATURES forecast this week to take refuge inside the Johnston County Courthouse 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday or the Public Library in Downtown Smithfield 9-5:30 Monday-Friday, 9-1 Saturday. The Smithfield Rescue Mission at 523 Glenn Street is operating under "white flag" conditions. Those seeking overnight emergency shelter can contact the Rescue Mission at 919-934-9257, after hours at 919-437-9689.
County
funds replacement
Broadband contractor
Brightspeed project includes 10,026
sites around
Smithfield
The
County Commissioners this
week approved a $500,000
grant to a replacement
contractor for extending
Internet Broadband service
to unserved and
under-served areas of
Johnston County.
Brightspeed is a
Charlotte-based company
that two years ago
acquired the Internet
customer base of Lumen
Technologies, the parent
company of telephone
provider CenturyLink.
Brightspeed has been
chosen by the state to
take over projects
originally granted to
Cloudwyze, Inc. but later
withdrawn.
Johnston's County
Commissioners had agreed
two years ago to
contribute $500,000 to
whichever company was
chosen to receive a GREAT
grant from the
N.C. Department of
Information Technology’s
Broadband Infrastructure
Office.
(GREAT stands for Growing
Rural Economies with
Access to Technology).
Brightspeed's Steve Brewer
told commissioners at
Tuesday's meeting that a
state grant of $4 million
coupled with Johnston's
$500,000 contribution
would enable the company
to extend fiber-based
Internet service to 3,920
locations lacking
Broadband service that
meets federal standards.
Many of those locations
are in the Four Oaks and
Benson areas, according to
a map he showed the board.
In addition to that, Mr.
Brewer said, Brightspeed
plans to spend $5.5
million on its own to
bring fiber-optic cable
service to another 22,000
locations in Johnston,
including 10,026 in the
Smithfield area.
The county's $500,000
contribution will be
covered by federal
COVID-relief funds
allotted to Johnston from
the American Rescue Plan
Act of 2021.
Audit
report shows steady
growth in General Fund
balance
Commissioners
received the annual audit
of county finances that
provides further evidence
of a remarkable
improvement in the
county's fiscal status in
recent years.
The report for fiscal year
2022-23 which ended last
June 30 shows a General
Fund balance of
$241,676,492 – up more
than $29 million from the
previous year and almost
triple the balance of
about $84 million at the
end of fiscal 2018-19.
Alan Thompson, a principal
in the auditing firm of
Thompson, Price, Scott,
Adams & Company based
in Whiteville, also noted
a "dramatic change" in
earnings on surplus cash
invested from the General
Fund: from just $315,841
in fiscal 2021-22 to more
than $7.7 million this
past year.
The auditor pointed to a
property-tax collection
rate exceeding 99% in
recent years as one of the
key reasons for the
county's improving fiscal
condition.
"We are very fortunate to
have the staff we have,"
stated Commissioner Dickie
Braswell in response to
Mr. Thompson's report.
Funding
approved for design of
Cleveland High addition
Commissioners
approved a request from
Johnston County Public
Schools to provide up to
$350,000 for design
services required for a
proposed 24-classroom
addition to Cleveland High
School.
Brooks Moore, the school
system's chief of facility
design and construction,
told commissioners he's
figuring on design fees
reaching $563,850, which
is 5% of the project's
estimated construction
cost of $11,277,000, but
hopes he can negotiate a
reduction in pricing for
preliminary services.
Mr. Moore gave
commissioners an updated
report showing Cleveland
High's current enrollment
of 1,897 is 600 students
above the school's built
capacity. As a result, 21
classrooms at Cleveland
are being housed in 11
mobile units, he said.
Funding for the Cleveland
addition may come from
another proposed
school-bond issue that's
expected to come before
Johnston's voters this
November.
NC
42 from Clayton westward
is now "Veterans
Parkway"
Commissioners
gave unanimous approval to
the name as part of the
re-numbering of NC Highway
42 from US 70 Business in
Clayton to the Wake County
Line as NC 36. That's
being done to avoid
confusion with the
roadway's interchange with
the US 70 Clayton bypass
which has been designated
as Future Interstate 42.
SHERIFF & EMERGENCY SERVICES IN
NEW QUARTERS
The
staffs of the Johnston
County Sheriff's
Department as well as
Emergency Services have
moved into the brand-new
Public Safety Center on US
70 Business East, and
9-1-1 Communications will
join them there in
February, County Manager
Rick Hester said this
week. The new center is
situated in front of the
recently opened Johnston
County Detention Center.
Opening the two facilities
has cleared out
considerable space inside
the Johnston County
Courthouse where
renovations will follow to
provide more room for
judicial services and
other county offices.
"Those preparations will
begin soon, " Mr. Hester
noted.
ESSER
paying for HVAC upgrades
at eight schools
It's
federal money from the
Elementary and Secondary
School Emergency Relief
Fund set up by Congress in
response to the COVID-19
pandemic. Among the
priorities for use of that
money is replacement of
aging HVAC (heating,
ventilation,
air-conditioning) systems
in public-school
buildings.
The Johnston County Board
of Education, at its
monthly meeting held last
Thursday instead of
Tuesday because of a
severe-weather alert,
awarded two contracts from
this county's pot of ESSER
money:
• For $3,259,000 MSS
Solutions of Charlotte
will do equipment
replacements at four
elementary schools: West
Smithfield,
Glendale-Kenly, River
Dell, and Riverwood.
• For $3,745,195
Engineering Control
Solutions of Fuquay-Varina
will replace systems at
four middle schools:
Benson, Four Oaks, McGee's
Crossroads, and Riverwood.
Previously awarded
contracts for replacing
HVAC equipment with ESSER
funds included work at South
Smithfield
Elementary School.
Another $313,252 from
ESSER funding was approved
by the board at last
week's meeting to purchase
materials for after-school
tutoring in math at
Johnston's middle schools.
That money comes from
$844,799 designated for
additional instruction to
address "learning loss" in
math resulting from
COVID's disruption of
academic advancement in
2020-21.
A total of $113.3 million
has been allotted to
Johnston County from
ESSER. A report to the
school board last fall
said $54.3 million had
been spent as of September
30, leaving about $58.7
million to be committed by
the end of September 2024.
New
Cleveland Road school to
be Swift Creek
Elementary
The
Board of Education
approved that name for the
new school about to be
built beside Cleveland
Road northwest of
Smithfield. Brooks Moore,
the school system's chief
of facility design and
construction, said the
name was chosen because of
the school site's
proximity to Swift Creek
and a nearby middle school
by that name.
It's to be built with
funds from the school-bond
issue approved by
Johnston's voters in
November 2022. With
capacity for 939 students.
Mr. Moore said the new
school will "eliminate up
to 40 mobile classroom
trailers" and relieve
overcrowding at Wilson's
Mills, Polenta, Cleveland,
West View, McGee's
Crossroads, Dixon Road,
and Four Oaks elementary
schools.
Architect's rendering
of what's to be built as
Swift Creek Elementary
School.
Neuse
River flooding less
frequent the past 2 years
The
Neuse River at Smithfield
rose to a depth of 17.33
feet last Sunday – the
first measurement above
the local flood stage of
15 feet since last May,
according to data posted
online by the National
Weather Service.
Sunday's event was only
the third time the level
has topped 15 feet since
2021, when the Neuse rose
above flood stage on seven
occasions. That occurred
four times in 2020,
including a high of 21.26
in early February that
year.
The record flood on the
Neuse at Smithfield was
29.09 feet measured after
Hurricane Matthew's
passage through the region
in October 2016. Hurricane
Fran's flood reached 27.4
feet in September 1996
followed by Floyd's 26.72
feet in 1999.
The National Weather
Service not only records
flood levels but also
projects what's just ahead
of us. A chart
posted online shows
the river reaching and
remaining at the 15.9-foot
mark this weekend.
The Girl Scout Hut is reflected in the Neuse
River's backup into the
Spring Branch floodway
below Riverside Drive
and South Second Street
this past Monday.
WHAT'S COMING UP
Town
Council to hear 222-lot
subdivision request
Tuesday
The
Smithfield Town Council's
regular monthly meeting,
postponed from January 9
because of a severe-weather
alert, begins at 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday at Town Hall. The
agenda includes a public
hearing on a request to
rezone 138.63 acres on the
east side of Buffalo Road
near Holland Drive to allow
222 single-family
residential lots.
VIEW the
complete agenda that's
posted on the town's
website>
Johnston
Schools to honor
students and staff
Tuesday
Johnston
County Public Schools will
host a special celebration
for students and staff who
have received recognition at
district, state, and
national levels at 6 p.m.
Tuesday at Smithfield-Selma
High School. Notice of the
event doesn't list the names
of those to be honored at
the event, which will be
live-streamed
DEATHS
& FUNERALS
A
WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE
EDITOR
Education
Lottery's Johnston
County numbers
We
ranked 13th among the
state's 100 counties in
ticket sales for the N.C.
Education Lottery with $86,405,735.50
collected by merchants
here during the 2022-23
fiscal year. Wake County
topped the list with sales
of $350,217,725.50.
So the question is: How
much of that money
actually comes to the aid
of schools and students
here?
With guidance from Stephen
Britt, chief of finance
for Johnston County Public
Schools, I found some
numbers on the N.C.
Lottery's website. In 2022
our schools and students
got $14,331,902. That's
about 16.5%
of the amount of lottery
ticket sales here in FY
2022-23.
How was that $14.3 million
spent? The lottery's
summary shows the biggest
chunk – almost $9.1
million – went for
"non-instructional
personnel" followed by
more than $2.9 million for
school construction,
repairs, and renovations.
The rest of the money went
for the Pre-K program for
disadvantaged
four-year-olds, for
college scholarships to
493 students, for
"need-based aid" to 678
students attending
colleges in the UNC
system, and for
transportation.
Of course, lottery
proceeds aren't the
biggest source of state
funding of public
education. Much, much more
comes in the form of
enrollment-based
allocations from the
annual state budget. Even
so, the ballyhooed lottery
looks like an inefficient
means of raising revenue
for education, not to
mention evidence that
lower-income folks are the
major consumers of lottery
tickets.
That $86.4 million spent
on tickets here last
fiscal year produced just
six winners of $100,000 or
more. How does that stack
up with the TV ads
portraying N.C. Lottery
winners in glamorous
stories of rags to riches?
What's more heartening is
what Johnston County's
commissioners have done to
fund public education in
recent years. This year's
county budget allocates
$82.8 million to Johnston
County Public Schools –
almost six times as much
as the yearly amount we
get from the N.C.
Education Lottery.
VIEW N.C.
Lottery's latest summary
of funding for Johnston
County's schools>
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