Making a
presentation to the County
Commissioners on Monday
about its Read To Grow
program, leaders of the
Johnston County Partnership
for Children said the agency
wants to focus in the year
ahead on serving youngsters
who’re going to be left out
of pre-K programs in
Johnston’s schools because
of budget cuts.
The county’s Board of
Education last week decided
to cut the number of
children served by the
school system’s pre-K
programs from 865 this
school year to 566 in the
coming year. School leaders
said the main reason
is an end to extra
federal aid resulting from
the coronavirus pandemic,
which appears to be on the
wane.
“We are positioned to be
able to reach those
children, but we need local
support to do that,” Candy
Scott, the Partnership’s
executive director, told
commissioners.
She didn’t say how much
county aid was being
requested. County Manager
Rick Hester said in a
follow-up message that the
agency had submitted an
application for $100,000 to
be included in the 2024-25
county budget. He said he
will make a recommendation
to commissioners on that
request later this
spring.
Karen Mills, the
Partnership’s operations
director who presented the
agency’s report to
commissioners Monday, said
65% of Johnston’s pre-K
youngsters are found to be
“kindergarten ready,” with
lower percentages at Read to
Grow “target schools,”
including West Smithfield
Elementary at 32% and South
Smithfield Elementary at
38%. She said “most of these
children are not in child
care” – a learning
gap at the heart of the
Partnership’s mission.
Making that situation worse
is a fear that one-third of
child-care facilities may be
closing when COVID-relief
aid runs out soon, Ms. Scott
added.
Some encouraging news heard
Monday: Children at the
Partnership’s target schools
have surpassed pre-COVID
scores for reading
proficiency, Ms. Mills said.
County
awarded $3.3-million grant
for Wilson’s Mills trail
It’s a Carbon
Reduction Grant coming out
of the federal
Infrastructure Investment
and Jobs Act of 2021,
administered by the N.C.
Department of
Transportation.
Austin Cross of the county’s
Parks and Open Space Program
told commissioners the
grant, which could amount to
as much as $3,368,549, is
being supplemented with up
to $592,500 from the East
Coast Greenway Alliance.
Another $249,642 is expected
from a county appropriation.
The money will be used to
build a greenway trail about
two miles in length along
the Neuse River on
a large tract of land
the county has purchased for
the new Wilson’s Mills High
School and a future middle
school. The trail would
likely be part of an
envisioned connection
between existing greenways
at Smithfield and Clayton.
County
adopts single fire-tax
district, 20-year utility
plan
Commissioners
finalized both of those
initiatives Monday evening
following previous hearings
that drew no opposition from
the general public.
The action to
establish a single
countywide district for a
supplemental property-tax
levy for fire-protection
services abolishes 26
separate funding
districts but leaves
intact fire-protection
insurance districts and the
departments that serve them.
The amount of the coming
year’s levy has yet to be
determined by commissioners.
The updated Capital
Improvements Plan for the
county’s Utilities
Department foresees water
and sewer infrastructure
projects totaling more than
$971 million through 2044.
That includes a new
sewage-treatment plant
already under construction
near the county’s landfill
west of Smithfield and a
plan to draw water from the
Neuse River at Richardson’s
Bridge for transmission to a
new treatment plant adjacent
to abandoned rock quarries
near Princeton.
High-school sophomore Ham & Yam
poster-design winner
Mariyah
Allen of South Johnston High
School submitted the winning
artwork for this year’s Ham
& Yam Festival. She
received a ceremonial check
for $300 from the Downtown
Smithfield Development
Corporation that was
presented by Mayor Andy
Moore at Tuesday’s Town
Council meeting. Modeling
T-shirts featuring her
poster are DSDC Board
Chairman John Bilott (left)
and Town Manager Mike Scott.
The contest was open to
high-school students
throughout Johnston County.
What will be the 38th annual
festival is set for
Saturday, May 5.
Festival
details including
entertainment lineup>
Town
seeks grant for a North
Smithfield fire station
Fire Chief
Jeremey Daughtry told the
Smithfield Town Council at
Tuesday’s meeting that “the
biggest need we have” in the
Fire Department is a third
fire station, this one in
North Smithfield.
Town Manager Mike Scott said
Congressman Wiley Nickel has
asked the town about its
project needs as he works on
this year’s round of federal
appropriations for local
governments in his district.
A grant for a new fire
station “would give us the
biggest bang for our buck,”
Mr. Scott said.
The council responded by
authorizing immediate
application for a federal
grant to help pay for
construction of the station.
Chief Daughtry said it would
cost about $4.1 million, not
including the purchase price
of a suitable site.
That site, he said, ought to
be in the vicinity of
Walmart and Lowes off North
Bright Leaf Boulevard.
That’s where the Fire
Department’s call volume has
grown the most in recent
years, and it would provide
convenient access to Durwood
Stephenson Parkway where
future commercial and
residential development is
anticipated, Chief Daughtry
noted.
The town opened its second
fire station in 2017
– in West Smithfield.
The main station, finished
in 1980, is located on
South Fourth Street
Downtown. In response to a
question from the council,
the chief said his
department’s call volume has
grown in recent years from
about 2,000 annually to
“close to 3,000” this
past year.
Town
accepts state
appropriations totaling
$7.15 million
The council
approved resolutions
accepting grants for
several Smithfield
projects included in the
2023-24 state budget
adopted by last year’s
session of the N.C.
General Assembly.
Of the
$7.15-million total, $6.25
million is for Water
Infrastructure projects:
• $1.4
million for Spring Branch
drainage repairs at Second
and Fourth streets.
• $1.1
million to finish the CSX
culvert-improvement
project in South
Smithfield.
• $2.5
million to replace “aged
sanitary sewer
infrastructure” between
Holding and Stevens
streets and between
Second Street and Crescent
Drive, plus pump-station
and outfall line
improvements.
• $500,000 for extension
of a water line to the
east of I-95 for future
development along Mallard
Road.
• $562,500 for
contingencies arising from
all of those projects.
• $187,500 for N.C.
Department of
Environmental Quality
administrative costs.
A “Directed Grant” of
$900,000 from the
2023 State Appropriations
Act includes:
• $300,000 for
construction of restrooms
for the Neuse River
Amphitheater.
• $450,000 for capital
improvements and equipment
“to support community
safety and accessibility.”
• $150,000 for a
fire-suppression system in
the Ava Gardner Museum.
10-lot subdivision plat in West
Smithfield approved
Following a
hearing that drew no
public opposition, the
council voted without
dissent in favor of a plan
for single-family houses
on lots covering 4.8 acres
of a 34-acre wooded tract
between Hillcrest Street
and the Neuse River. Most
of the acreage beyond the
proposed building
lots lies within the
river's 100-year
floodplain where
development will not be
permitted under terms of
the town’s approval of the
plan.
Three streets maintained
by the town are already in
place adjoining the lots
to be served, but the
developer – Market Street
1500, LLC of Smithfield
– will be required to
install an
upsized, 6-inch water
line to accommodate the
new residences.
A second hearing
held Tuesday –
on a request for
industrial zoning for 15
acres across Swift Creek
Road from Johnston
Regional Airport – also
drew no public opposition,
but the council postponed
acting on the request
until its May 7
meeting because the
applicant was not present.
Funding OK'd for billboards promoting
Downtown
Downtown
Development’s board had
requested up to $21,905 to
rent two billboard spots
beside I-95 for a year,
using part of a $40,000
“special projects” fund
approved by the Town
Council this past year but
not yet tapped. Instead,
the council authorized
using some of Smithfield’s
hotel-occupancy-tax
revenue for the
billboards, preferring to
reserve the $40,000 for
projects located Downtown.
Town Manager Mike Scott
learned Wednesday that the
Johnston County Visitors
Bureau already has six
billboards in place along
I-95 advertising
Smithfield, including one
specifically for Downtown
attractions. As a result,
the town may add just one
more to cover both
directions of travel, Mr.
Scott told the Weekly
Sun.
Failing sewer line at Talton Field
will be replaced
The council
approved paying $15,000 to
Stuckey’s Backhoe Service
of Princeton to replace a
faulty sewer line serving
restrooms at Talton Park,
a soccer field at the
intersection of Buffalo
Road and North Street.
Town Manager Scott said
most of the expense will
be covered by savings from
other projects that have
come in below budget since
last July 1.
Council will resume budget
deliberations on
Monday
The council
recessed Tuesday’s meeting
until 6:30 p.m. Monday to
continue deliberations
moving toward adoption of
the town’s budget for the
2024-25 fiscal year that
starts July 1. There was
some budget discussion at
the end of Tuesday’s
session following a budget
meeting last Thursday when
the council received
requests from several
non-profit organizations
that receive annual
contributions from the
town. No decisions have
been made on the coming
year’s budget so far.
Outdoor
pickleball courts are
“open for business”
A couple of tennis courts at Smithfield
Community Park have been
reconfigured into six
pickleball courts
outside the Recreation
& Aquatics Center,
where indoor
multi-purpose courts are
reserved for pickleball
on Tuesday mornings
only. Check on
scheduling by calling
the town’s Parks &
Recreation Department at
919-934-2148. (Photo
from Town of
Smithfield’s Facebook
page)
First-year
teacher at Smithfield
Middle is a winner
D’Andra
Garcia-Duhaney of Smithfield
Middle School was one of two
runners-up for this year’s
Outstanding First Year
Teacher Award presented by
Johnston County Public
Schools, which provided this
photo of her standing with
Superintendent Eric Bracy at
last Thursday’s
presentation.
She was awarded $250 from
the Johnston County
Education Foundation. First-place
winner James
Faggart Jr. of Corinth
Holders High received $500
from the Horace Mann
Educators Corporation.
Alyssa Martens of McGee’s
Crossroads Elementary was
the other runner-up.
This
year’s competition among
34
nominees included Smithfield-Selma
High’s Mia
Acquanita, South
Smithfield Elementary’s
Ellie Hwang, and Rachel Huff
of Wilson's Mills Elementary
School.
WHAT'S COMING UP
First
“River Jam” concert at
amphitheater Friday
evening
Actually, the
first concert in the new
series was scheduled in
March but postponed because
of the weather. This
Friday’s event features a
Country Music tribute band
– “Chasin’ Aldean: The
Jason Aldean Experience” –
performing at 6:30 p.m. at
the Neuse River Amphitheater
on Front Street. There’s no
charge for admission. The
series is being arranged by
the town’s Parks &
Recreation Department.
Smithfield’s
Earth Day Litter
Pick-Up Saturday
morning
Even
though next Monday is
Earth Day, the Town of
Smithfield has scheduled
its annual Litter Pick-Up
linked to the observance
from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.
this Saturday at three
starting points: Sarah
Yard Community Center at
Smith-Collins Park, Bob
Wallace Jaycee Kiddie Park
off South Second Street,
and Community Park off
Durwood Stephenson
Parkway. Anyone is welcome
to come out and help.
Johnston
Museum's Cold
War exhibit opens
Saturday
”Living Under a
Mushroom Cloud: The Early
Cold War Years” is the title
of the exhibit, which opens
at 11 a.m. Saturday inside
the Heritage Center’s
Johnston County Museum at
329 E. Market Street (in a
portion of the old Rose’s
building). Sula Hansley of
Four Oaks will be present
for the opening to share
stories of her journey from
war-torn Berlin to Johnston
County. There’s no charge
for admission.
School
board’s Legislative
Breakfast Monday morning
The Johnston
County Board of Education
will hold its Spring
Legislative Breakfast with
Johnston’s state
representatives at 8 a.m.
Monday in the school’s
Facility Services building
at 601 West Market Street in
Smithfield. The N.C. General
Assembly will reconvene
Wednesday for its
every-other-year “short
session."
WEEKLY BULLETIN
BOARD
Pasted
from postings on public
agencies' Facebook pages
DEATHS
& FUNERALS
A
WORD (OR TWO) FROM THE
EDITOR
How
the Public Library is
serving Smithfieldians
Opened in its
present-day quarters in
1967, the Public Library of
Johnston County and
Smithfield was a merger of
town and county libraries
that once stood side by side
in converted residential
structures. In the
beginning, the library was
equally funded from year to
year by the town and the
county, but that has changed
over the years, especially
over the past couple of
decades as Johnston County’s
population has mushroomed
outside the bounds of
Smithfield.
As a result, the library’s
operations this fiscal
year have been underwritten
with $750,000 from the
County of Johnston and
$285,000 from the Town of
Smithfield, plus another
$257,000 in aid from the
State of North Carolina.
And yet, some numbers
presented by Library
Director Johnnie Pippin
during a budget session of
the Town Council last week
show that Smithfield’s
residents are taking full
advantage of the library’s
services, perhaps as never
before.
Mr. Pippin’s report provides
these impressive statistics
for 2023:
• 39,856 items circulated to
Smithfield-area patrons – a
43% increase from 2022.
• 8,143 registered
cardholders who reside in
Smithfield’s ZIP code of
27577. That includes 4,844
“school accounts” for
students and 560 new
registered cardholders.
• 3,359 Smithfield-area
children taking part in 131
programs, including
“storytimes" (plus 202 teens
in 15 programs and 286
adults in 35 programs).
All that is being done with
a full-time staff of 11 and
five part-timers who
are serving patrons beyond
the realm of Smithfield as
the library’s local base
shares materials with
town-supported libraries in
Benson, Four Oaks, Kenly,
Princeton, and Selma.
For the year ahead, Mr.
Pippin includes
“beautification of exterior
building” and “replacement
of antiquated furniture” on
a list of projects to be
done. And his request
for aid from the Town
of Smithfield doesn’t ask
for an increase.
All that’s pretty
remarkable, wouldn’t you
agree?
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