But
Councilman Travis Scott and
Sloan Stevens put forth a
motion to approve not only
the $10,000 raises but also
keep the signing
bonus in place to boost
the town’s recruitment
campaign. Councilmen John
Dunn, Marlon Lee, and Roger
Wood joined them in adopting
the motion. David Barbour
voted against it, pointing
out that Chief Hedrick had
stated the signing bonus
isn’t essential. (Councilman
Steve Rabil was absent.)
Town Manager
Scott said the raises can be
afforded in the coming
year’s budget without
increasing the property-tax
rate since he recently
learned from the County Tax
Office that revenue to the
town from that source in the
year ahead will likely reach
$8.4 million instead of the
$7.5 million he had
anticipated.
The $10,000 pay
raise puts the starting
salary for a Smithfield
police officer at $60,014.
Chief Hedrick presented a
graph to the council showing
that the elevated level
of starting pay puts
Smithfield up to what Cary,
Apex, and Rocky Mount are
offering. He said starting
pay at Clayton is currently
just below that.
Chief Hedrick
said the Smithfield
department’s biggest
competitor in landing and
retaining law-enforcement
personnel is the Johnston
County Sheriff’s Department,
which has pulled
Smithfield officers
away by offering higher pay.
Councilman Scott
forcefully declared that
other town departments are
facing similar struggles in
hiring and keeping staff.
“This is not just a Police
Department issue; it’s every
department. We have got to
fix this,” he exclaimed.
Manager’s
budget addresses salaries,
raises 401(k) match
Town Manager
Scott released Wednesday
morning his proposed
spending plan for fiscal
2024-25, the result of
several budget work sessions
held by the Town Council
since early April. Noting
that specific salary
adjustments are awaiting
results of a pay study
nearing completion, Mr.
Scott said his budget
includes funding to cover an
overall expense 5% above
this year’s total amount for
salaries (outside the Police
Department) and an increase
from 3% to 5% in the
town’s contribution to
employees’ 401(k) retirement
accounts.
Mr. Scott’s spending plan
maintains the town’s current
property-tax rate of 57
cents per $100 valuation yet
includes a 6% increase in
electric rates and a
55-cent increase in the
monthly yard-waste
collection fee – from $16 to
$16.55. He notes that sewer
fees will be adjusted
September 1 based on a
6% increase in what the town
is charged by the county for
wastewater disposal.
The Town Council will
conduct a public hearing on
the proposed budget at its
next scheduled meeting on
Tuesday, June 4. The budget
must be adopted by July 1,
the start of the new fiscal
year.
VIEW details
of the proposed budget
including the town
manager’s summary>
Council
OKs IT contract,
assistant manager
position
Following
recommendations from Town
Manager Scott, the Town
Council at its budget
session on Monday approved a
contract with VC3 , a
national company, to
“co-manage” the town’s
Internet Technology (IT)
services in place of a
previously budgeted
expenditure to employ a
full-time IT director.
An IT specialist presently
employed by the town will
remain in his position, and
the town will continue
own its “computer
infrastructure,” Mr. Scott
said. “I think it’s a good
thing to try,” he said of
the contracted service.
“We’ll see how it works.”
Annual cost of the
three-year contract is
$106,405 – about the same as
the cost, including salary
and benefits, of employing
an IT director, Mr. Scott
noted.
Turning to another personnel
matter, the council voted to
authorize a new position of
assistant town manager. Mr.
Scott had recommended the
move as part of a succession
plan in preparation for his
eventual retirement. He said
Monday that a particular
town employee already on
board would likely be chosen
to fill the assistant
manager’s job in addition to
the employee's present
duties.
Map shows properties outlined in yellow
that were rezoned this
week for a massive
multi-use development
with plans for 672
residential units in
the section between
Booker Dairy Road and
Durwood Stephenson
Parkway and commercial
buildings north and
east of the parkway.
Town OKs 163-acre North Smithfield
development
Approval came on
a 5-1 vote after lengthy
give and take between Town
Council members and
representatives of the
developer, Smithfield Growth
LLC, under a relative new
procedure
for “conditional
zoning” that allows
negotiations on specific
elements of a
proposed land-use plan.
A couple of large tracts
totaling 163.62 on both
sides of Durwood Stephenson
Parkway to the east of
Booker Dairy Road could host
as many as 627 dwelling
units – 209 single-family
houses, 94 townhouses, and
324 apartments – as well as
designated spaces for retail
businesses and “light”
industrial operations.
Residential building
lots as small as 4,200
square feet would be
permitted. Planning Director
Stephen Wensman said that’s
acceptable to staff because
the developer has agreed to
several amenities beyond the
town’s standards, including
sidewalks on both sides of
tree-lined streets, shorter
blocks, a “central park,”
and “high-quality” exterior
building materials.
Mr. Wensman described the
developer’s plan as
a “well thought out”
design that’s “urban,
walkable, and pedestrian."
Councilman Travis Scott cast
the only vote against the
project, voicing concerns
about the smaller lots and
the impact of so many houses
on traffic and drainage
in surrounding
neighborhoods. Adequate
parking for residents and
guests was another of his
concerns.
The developers agreed to
accept 20 conditions
attached to the project’s
approval by the planning
staff and council members.
Barring the use of
vinyl siding on the houses
was one. Requiring opaque
privacy fencing in
particular spots was
another. There was also a
prohibition on construction
traffic accessing the
development on Bayhill Drive
through the Booker Dairy
Plantation neighborhood.
Several more steps requiring
the town’s review and
approval will be required
before the developer can
move forward with the
project.
Two West Smithfield rezonings, annexation
approved
The council
approved two rezoning
requests in West Smithfield
– one for highway business
use, the other for
residential development –
along with a separate
request for voluntary
annexation to town of the
remaining 15 acres of an
envisioned industrial park
near the new Amazon
distribution center.
A 2.4-acre tract
at 1558 West Market Street
(US 70 Business) was rezoned
from R-20A residential to
B-3 business. The wooded,
vacant site once hosted a
residence, which has been
removed. The lot is
presently being offered for
sale.
Undeveloped
tracts totaling 9.6 acres
between Adams Street,
Hartley Drive, and Durwood
Stephenson Parkway were
rezoned to allow
multi-family and duplex
housing as well as
single-family dwellings. No
plan has been offered at
this point.
The council approved SST
Properties’ request for
annexation of 15 undeveloped
acres near the intersection
of 70 Business and
Stephenson Parkway.
That property, already
zoned for light industrial
uses, is next to 32 acres
owned by SST that had
previously been annexed.
Last weekend’s rainfall prompts drainage
complaints
Several
citizens appeared
before the council asking
for relief from street
flooding at the intersection
of North Fourth and Caswell
streets. “Why do we have to
sandbag our church?” asked
Edward Barfield,
speaking in behalf of First
Missionary Baptist Church
located on the corner.
"Water was way above my
ankles” following a downpour
last Saturday night, added
Robert Stanley.
Last weekend’s rainfall also
produced flooding in a
turning lane at the new
Amazon center beside US 70
Business, Town Manager Scott
noted in his monthly report
to the council. He said the
town is alerting the N.C.
Department of Transportation
about that trouble spot.
Meanwhile, the
council at its budget
session on Monday approved
spending $100,000 to upsize
drainage pipes beneath East
and West streets where
flooding has repeatedly
occurred. Last Saturday’s
rain event produced yet
another episode there, the
council was told.
Historical marker about Public Library’s
desegregation
As part of the
Consent Agenda at Tuesday’s
meeting, the council
approved a request from the
Johnston County Heritage
Commission to erect an
historical marker in the 200
block of Johnston Street
commemorating desegregation
of the Smithfield Public
Library in 1957. The town’s
library was housed in a
converted residence there
prior to its merger with the
county’s library,
consummated with the
opening of the Public
Library of Johnston County
and
Smithfield in 1967.
"Trusted
by families since
1977"
840
S. Bright Leaf Blvd.
• 919-934-7164
• www.carrollpharmacy.com
SHINGLES
& RSV
SHOTS DAILY – NO
APPOINTMENT NEEDED
County
considering bond issue
of $200-260 million
Schools
want $285
million, JCCollege
seeking $85 million
Johnston’s
County Commissioners got an
analysis from the county’s
financial
consultant Monday
evening confirming that
an immediate bond issue in
the range of $200 million to
$260 million could be
accommodated without any
negative impact on the
county’s AAA bond ratings
that were achieved this past
year.
Kyle Laux of
Davenport & Company was
apparently instructed to
prepare his report based on
those numbers.
The Johnston
County Board of Education
asked commissioners two
months ago to put a
$285-million bond referendum
on November’s General
Election ballot. Last month
Johnston Community College’s
trustees asked for a vote in
November on an $85-million
county bond issue.
Mr. Laux told
commissioners they need to
decide on the dollar amount
of the bond referendum and
adopt a resolution seeking
the N.C. Local Government
Commission’s approval at
their June 3 meeting to get
it on November’s ballot.
The county
should stay within certain
guidelines when considering
the size of another bond
issue, Mr. Laux advised. One
of those is to keep the
county’s net indebtedness
under 4% of the estimated
market value of taxable
property. A bond issue of
$200 million would raise the
county’s debt to 1.8% while
a $260-million issue would
raise it close to 2% – both
“well below” the 4%
limit, he noted.
Johnston
County’s recent achievement
of the highest credit
ratings issued by the major
bonding agencies should
translate into lower
interest rates on funds to
be borrowed if voters
authorize another bond
issue.
The county’s
voters approved a
$177-million issue in 2022
for capital projects for
Johnston’s public schools,
but school leaders have said
approval of subsequent bond
issues for new schools this
year and two years from now
will be needed to keep pace
with Johnston’s rapid
residential growth.
Manager’s proposed budget short of schools’
request
County Manager
Rick Hester on Wednesday
released his proposed
spending plan for the new
fiscal year that starts July
1. He recommends an increase
in the county’s
appropriation for operating
Johnston County Public
Schools but it’s well short
of what the Board of
Education has requested.
That’s standard procedure
for Mr. Hester,
who year in and year
out defers the final
school-funding decision to
the County Commissioners.
The current year’s county
budget earmarks $88,497,179
for school operations. The
school board has requested
an increase of $22.8
million to reach
$111,809,946. Mr. Hester is
recommending $93,322,000
– an increase of $4.8
million. The school board
has requested $28.8 million
from the county for capital
projects – up from $6
million appropriated in this
year’s county budget. Mr.
Hester proposes $3
million.
The county manager is
recommending 36 new
positions in the Department
of Social Services (some
covered by federal
reimbursements), nine new
positions in Public
Utilities, seven in
Emergency Services, five in
Public Health, four in 9-1-1
Communications, and one new
position in each of the
following departments:
Building Inspections,
Veterans Service Office,
Internal Audit, Board of
Elections, Technology
Services, and Solid Waste.
Mr. Hester’s budget is
balanced without a change in
the county’s property-tax
rate of 69 cents per $100
valuation. His proposal
includes a 14-cent
countywide fire-tax rate for
rural residents and
businesses, a $3-per-ton
increase in the landfill
tipping fee (which applies
to what the Town of
Smithfield pays the county),
and some fee increases in
Planning and Building
Inspections as well as
Public Utilities.
Missing from Mr. Hester’s
proposal is a mechanism to
replace revenue to be lost
with elimination of the
county’s vehicle-decal
system for disposing of
household wastes at rural
convenience centers. A fee
added to property-tax bills
has been suggested but isn’t
being advanced at this
point.
Mr. Hester said he is
deferring a recommendation
on amounts of pay
adjustments for county
employees until later in the
budget-making process, which
begins with a public hearing
before the commissioners on
Monday, June 3 followed by
budget sessions June 10 and
17. The budget must be
adopted before July 1.
County
leases office space in
Selma for Social
Services
The commissioners
at Monday evening’s
meeting approved a
three-year lease agreement
for a 7,500-square-foot
building in Selma to
relieve overcrowded
conditions in the county’s
Social Services
headquarters in
Smithfield. The county
will pay Visual
Enterprises LLC of Clayton
$120,000 a year for the
accommodations at 1420-A
South Pollock Street.
Meanwhile,
the county is purchasing
acreage adjacent to the
new Public Safety and
Detention centers on US 70
Business east of
Smithfield for additional
administrative facilities
apparently intended first
and foremost for a new
Social Services building.
Smithfield's Town Council
on Tuesday granted
rezoning of that site to
allow office and
institutional rather than
residential and
agricultural uses.
He’s
N.C. “Communications
Center Leader of the
Year"
The
County of Johnston’s 9-1-1
Director Brett Renfrow has
been named North Carolina's
"Communications Center
Leader of the Year.” The
honor was presented by the
National Emergency Number
Association's North
Carolina chapter at its
annual conference held in
Wilmington earlier this
month.
"The award is
presented to a manager or
director that goes above and
beyond the call of duty to
encourage, motivate, support
and mentor (his or her)
employees,” states an
announcement issued by the
county.
"I am blessed
beyond measure to work
alongside these incredible
individuals and have been
lucky to lead such a great
group of people that care
about their community,” Mr.
Renfrow said of the county’s
9-1-1 staff. "Of course I am
also thankful for the
support of my family,
friends, and our county
leadership.” LEARN MORE
about our 9-1-1
Communications
Center>
Business
Disputes • Injuries •
Family Law • Appeals
Strong in results.
Strong in experience.
Strong in integrity.
armstronglawyers.com •
919-934-1575
 |
 |
 |
 |
L.
Lamar
Armstrong Jr. |
Marcia
Armstrong |
L.
Lamar
Armstrong III |
Eason
Armstrong
Keeney |
WHAT'S COMING
UP
Annual Memorial Day ceremony at
Courthouse Monday
The
Johnston County Veterans
Council will host a Memorial
Day ceremony at 11 a.m.
Monday in the Superior
Courtroom at the Johnston
County Courthouse.
The event will feature
speakers representing all 15
veterans' organizations in
Johnston County. This
historical presentation will
include summaries of
prominent men and women who
lived in Johnston County and
died during wars in defense
of freedom. The
public is invited to attend
the event, which will
be live-streamed on the
county's YouTube
channel>
Public
meeting June 4 on
county’s transportation
plan
The County of
Johnston is hosting the
event from 6 to 8 p.m.
Tuesday, June 4 in the Tart
Building at Johnston
Community College’s
Smithfield campus. In the
making is a 25-year
Comprehensive Transportation
Plan including projects for
highways, bicycle and
pedestrian paths, public
transportation, and rail.
LEARN MORE
about it on the county’s
website>
DEATHS
& FUNERALS
Do we really
need a Downtown “social
district”?
It’s the name
given to a recent fad
promoting economic
development in the central
business districts of our
cities and towns that are
making a comeback as places
to go for leisure-time
activities. A more accurate
label would be “alcohol
consumption district” where
folks are allowed to stroll
the sidewalks with
“adult beverages” in hand as
they explore the shops and
eateries along the way.
The non-profit Downtown
Smithfield Development
Corporation brought
establishment of a social
district here to the Town
Council last September
and it won approval by a
simple majority votel. But
such an ordinance requires
approval by two thirds of
council members on a “second
reading,” and that vote has
been postponed a couple of
times since last fall as
Downtown leaders and town
staff have been tweaking
details in the original
proposal.
For instance, staff in the
Planning and Police
departments want to exclude
Sundays, except for special
events permitted by the Town
Council. That would allow
outdoor alcohol consumption
anywhere within the
district’s boundaries from
noon to 10 p.m. Monday
through Saturday week in and
week out.
The matter was withdrawn
from this week’s council
meeting agenda at the last
minute. Town Manager Mike
Scott explained to the
Weekly Sun that the
Downtown Development board
and the Town Council want to
hold a joint meeting in June
“to discuss goals and better
communication” before
bringing the social-district
proposal to a final vote.
But, is a full-time social
district really necessary in
Downtown Smithfield? Already
the council has been
approving permits on a
case-by-case basis that
allow beer and wine to be
sold and consumed during
special events like the Ham
& Yam Festival when
certain streets are closed
for pedestrian safety and
access to entertainment.
Isn’t that sufficient?
So far, police have reported
no serious problems related
to alcohol-consuming adults
at several such events in
recent months.
One of the major concerns
regarding a social district
here is the traffic along
Market Street. Despite those
new electronic signs
flashing a vehicle’s speed,
drivers of cars and
trucks big and small
continue to race through
town as traffic lights stay
green longer than what
appears reasonable.
Better to continue
permitting special events
including alcohol one at a
time, perhaps limiting their
scope to closed streets
south of Market.
The In &
Out Grill: an iconic
landmark bites the dust
Among its
treasured guests over the
years was home-grown
Hollywood movie star Ava
Gardner, shown here with her
brother Jack back in 1968
when he owned the place.
This photo comes from Reuben
Johnson’s collection
preserved at the Johnston
County Heritage Center. A
professional photographer
who lived nearby, Mr.
Johnson was invited to take
pictures of Ava with a
gathering of relatives and
friends during one of her
mostly discreet visits to
Smithfield. She died in 1990
in London, where she resided
during her
twilight years.
The In & Out, closed
some time ago after many
years as a popular young
people’s hang-out, came
tumbling down a couple of
weeks ago to make way for
expansion of an Enterprise
rent-a-car station.
The memories will linger on,
reinforced by photographs
like one above, which is
protected in perpetuity at
the Heritage Center.
Here’s the
spot where stood the In
& Out Grill
– near the corner of
Waddell Street and North
Bright Leaf Boulevard (US
301, once known as the
road to Selma).
Subscribers
to this edition: 1,542
MISS
A PREVIOUS EDITION?
You will
find it in the
Weekly Sun
archives>
the SMITHFIELD
WEEKLY SUN
|
