Tuscarora Nation welcomed to
"Celebrate Smithfield"
Mayor
Andy Moore (second from
right) and Heritage
Center Director Todd Johnson
(left) greet Robert
Chavis, John Chavis, and
Samuel Pedro of the
Tuscarora Nation of North
Carolina at last Saturday's
first "Celebrate Smithfield
International Culture Fair."
The event – put together by
the Johnston County Arts
Council, the Johnston County
Heritage Center, and the
Downtown Smithfield
Development Corporation and
staged inside a number of
Downtown shops, restaurants,
and museums – showcased
performers and exhibitions by
persons of several
nationalities who inhabit our
region. The Tuscarora women
and children shown in action
below were doing the tribal
"Mosquito Dance" inside the
Johnston County Museum.
Smithfield
prioritizes stepped-up
street resurfacing
As
much as $5 million may
be spent from reserve
funds
At
last Thursday's opening
round of discussions about
the town's budget for
fiscal 2025-26, the
Smithfield Town Council
tackled an issue that's
been building up for some
time: worsening
deterioration of the
town's streets as annual
state allocations for
their maintenance
continues to fall short of
what's needed to keep up
with repairs
(to streets like
long-neglected Chestnut
Drive shown below).
Town
Manager Mike Scott said he
and Public Works Director
Lawrence Davis are working
on a plan to catch up by
taking as much as $5
million from the town's
General Fund Balance.
First up, as early as this
spring, is a
million-dollar project to
repair Outlet Center
Drive.
Manager Scott said he
expects the town to
receive about $440,000 in
Powell Bill
street-maintenance funds
from the state this year.
Taking a sizeable
appropriation from the
town's reserves to augment
the state's allocation
"still leaves us in good
shape" financially, he
said.
Councilmen Travis Scott
and David Barbour wanted
to do more than
appropriate additional
money for street work.
They suggested the town
employ its own "road
specialist" with an
engineering background and
purchase the necessary
equipment to do the paving
without contractors hired
once or twice a year to do
the work.
The councilmen contended a
town-employed crew could
do the resurfacing quicker
at less cost. "What we've
got is just not quality,"
Councilman Scott said in
reference to some
contractors' previous work
here.
"Let's get together a plan
and see how much it's
going to be" regarding
cost, said Mayor Andy
Moore, urging more paving
to be done before next
winter's cold weather
precludes asphalt
application.
Fire
chief asks for 15 more
firefighters; 21 now on
staff
Chief
Jeremey Daughtry asked the
Town Council to authorize
employment of 15
additional firefighters,
preferably with a federal
grant the town could
request from FEMA (the
Federal Emergency
Management Agency facing
an uncertain future under
the Trump Administration).
The Fire Department
presently employs 21
firefighters, providing
manpower for three shifts
of seven firefighters
based at the town's two
fire stations. They are
supplemented by 10
volunteers, Chief Daughtry
noted.
The chief said the Town of
Clayton's fire department
handled 3,569 incidents
this past year with 50
firefighters and six
part-timers. He said
Smithfield's department
last year handled 3,315
incidents, with a staff
less than half the size of
Clayton's.
Chief Daughtry recommended
the council hire a grant
writer to seek federal aid
once the town gets word
that FEMA funding is
available. Council members
indicated they would look
favorably on that request
once the time comes for
action.
Budgeting
"revenue neutral" after
revaluation not so
simple
Town
Manager Scott briefed the
council about the impact
of the county's recent
revaluation of real estate
for property taxation.
Preliminary numbers show
total valuations in
Smithfield have risen from
$1,255,503,987 in 2024 to
$2,142,040,760 this year –
an increase of 70.6%.
The question before the
Town Council this spring
is what tax rate should be
adopted for the coming
year's budget that
generates at least as much
revenue as last year's
assessments, which were
based on a rate of 57
cents per $100 valuation.
What complicates the
calculation of a new rate
is the fact that
revaluation may
dramatically affect real
estate but not business
"personal property," which
the state requires to be
revalued annually and
therefore doesn't change
appreciably from year to
year. Town Manager Scott
used the new Amazon center
as an example. It has a
real-estate valuation of
about $80 million but a
"personal property"
valuation of $110 million
on the equipment that's
housed there.
That means a "revenue
neutral" tax rate applied
only to the huge increase
in Smithfield's total
real-estate valuation
would likely reduce
significantly the
"personal property" tax
bills for large operations
like Amazon, Mr. Scott
pointed out.
What
about anticipated hikes
in Smithfield's utility
fees?
Town
Manager Scott presented
numbers on what changes
the town expects for
utility fees imposed on
Smithfield in the year
ahead:
• A 6% hike in wholesale
electric rates charged by
ElectriCities, a
cooperative that provides
power to a number of the
state's municipalities
(Duke Energy is the source
for electricity purchased
by the Town of
Smithfield).
• A 7% increase in
wholesale fees charged by
the County of Johnston for
treatment of Smithfield's
sewage.
• A 5% hike in landfill
"tipping" fees charged by
the county for disposal of
garbage and other "solid
waste" matter.
How the Town Council
decides to pass along
those rate increases to
Smithfield's households
and businesses will be
determined by budgetary
decisions to be made
during the weeks just
ahead. New fees will
likely take effect July 1,
the start of the 2025-26
fiscal year for both
county and town
governments.
Council
schedules second budget
session for this Monday
The
Town Council recessed
Tuesday night's meeting
until 6:30 p.m. Monday at
Town Hall to continue
deliberations about the
town's 2025-26 budget.
Meanwhile, the first of
four budget forums for
citizens begins at 6 p.m.
today (Thursday) at the
Sarah Yard Center beside
Smith-Collins Park.
Council OKs townhouses in place of
apartments
Similar proposal for acreage near
Amazon rejected last
fall
Reversing
a decision on a similar
request in October, the
Smithfield Town Council
Tuesday night voted 5-1
to allow the developer
of Finley Landing to
abandon its initial plan
for 360 apartments to
add 141 townhouses and
19 single-family houses.
Already under
construction at Finley
Landing are 89
single-family dwellings
and 220 townhouses on
the site across from
Amazon on US 70 Business
West.
(The additional
townhouses and
single-family units
will be built in the
bottom section of the
revised subdivision
plan shown here.)
Councilman David
Barbour, West
Smithfield's district
representative, repeated
a concern about a
shortage of apartments
here that led to the
council's unanimous vote
against last year's
similar proposal for
more townhouses in place
of apartments. And yet
the only vote cast
against the change
approved Tuesday came
from Marlin Lee
(Councilman Travis Scott
was absent.)
Micah Woodard, a newly
employed town planner,
pointed out that the
revised plan approved
Tuesday retains a
swimming pool, tot lot,
and dog park which were
part of the apartment
plan, and those
amenities will be open
to all residents of the
subdivision. Another
plus under the new plan,
he said, are
five-foot-wide sidewalks
on both sides of all the
streets.
Finley Landing is being
developed by Carolina
Land Group, LLC of Cary.
Here's the layout
for Buffalo Ridge – on
the west side Buffalo
Road (right). The
Neuse River is just
off this plat on the
left; Buffalo Creek,
also not shown, is
below.
Preliminary plat approved for 210
houses at Buffalo
Ridge
The council without dissent approved the
layout for 210
single-family houses on
a 140-acre tract that
stretches from Buffalo
Road to the Neuse River
between Holland Drive to
the north and Buffalo
Creek to the south.
Buffalo Ridge will have
two Buffalo Road
entrances with turn
lanes onto streets 27
feet wide with curbs and
gutters and sidewalks.
To comply with the
town's development code,
63 lots located within a
floodplain will be
raised two feet.
The new subdivision will
have a landscaped buffer
including a berm behind
10 houses backing up to
Buffalo Road. A
landscaped buffer
including a fence will
be built behind houses
adjacent to existing
residences on Holland
Drive.
Buffalo Ridge is a
project of Smithfield
Land Group, LLC based in
West End, N.C.
Council endorses Smithfield-Benson
trail planning
Despite reservations about its course through
town expressed by South
Smithfield's Councilman
Sloan Stevens, the
council voted 5-1 to add
its endorsement to
preliminary plans for a
bicycle and pedestrian
trail linking Smithfield
to Four Oaks and Benson.
"I have a concern about
some of the path," said
Mr. Stevens, referring
to a potential routing
along South Second and
Wellons streets before
entering undeveloped
woodlands and
floodplains to reach a
crossing of the Neuse
River.
VIEW the
"preferred route
alternative" posted on
the county's
website>
Town Manager Mike Scott
said the town's
endorsement of the
preliminary plan is
necessary if he council
wants to have a say in
the trail's actual
course. "It's a good
thing for Smirthfield,"
he said.
Councilman David Barbour
cast the sole vote
against the plan's
endorsement – on grounds
that the trail's
planners hadn't taken
into consideration the
town's current effort to
expand its network of
trails, including a
paved path beside Market
Street west of the river
that's moving toward
construction in the near
future.
The proposed
Smithfield-to-Benson
trail would become part
of the East Coast
Greenway network of
trails stretching from
Maine to Florida.
Town annexes West Smithfield acreage
the town owns
The 11.58 acres of undeveloped land stand
across Barbour Road from
residences already
withing the town's
corporate limits.
Planner Woodard said the
town has no immediate
plans for its use. A
park or a water tower
are possibilities, he
noted.
This photo appeared
on a front page of The
Smithfield Herald in
1935 when the
Howell Theatre opened.
The marquee out front
was removed many years
ago.
Residents fear pending sale will end
theatre's 90-year run
Amy Purdue, a resident of Church Street close
to Downtown, told the
Town Council Tuesday
night she has begun
circulating a petition
already signed by more
than 1,200 persons
objecting to a pending
sale of the Howell
Theatre to a church she
says would "gut" the
facility and thereby
take away "an important
part of our downtown and
our community."
"We understand this is a
private business
transaction," she said,
but asked the council to
"do everything that's in
your ability to save the
theatre." Ms. Purdue
suggested the town help
the church (which was
not named during
Tuesday's discussion)
find a more suitable
location elsewhere in
Smithfield. "There are
more appropriate places
for churches to be
located," she declared.
Mayor Andy Moore said he
was sympathetic, noting
"I had the first date
with my wife" at the
Howell. "There's not a
whole lot we can do," he
told Ms. Purdue, "but I
would love to see it
continue as a theatre or
something else for
public use."
Jeff Hamilton asked if
the town had a rule
prohibiting churches
within its downtown
historic district. Mayor
Moore said the town once
had such a restriction
but it was nullified by
a state law enacted by
the N.C. General
Assembly several years
ago.
Downtown Development's
Director Heidi Gilmond
later in the week issued
a statement about the
pending transaction,
including these
comments:
The theater has been
for sale for four
years and the owner
has reached out to
community leaders and
organizations that he
thought would be
interested or a good
fit to buy it over
that time.
Unfortunately, no one
made an offer to him
until the church came
along....
When I learned that
he'd accepted an
offer, I put the word
out with some
fellow non-profit
leaders to see if
there was any way we
could put
something together
to counter the offer.
I know there are many
people in this
community that would
like to keep the
theater and
would invest in
its future, but
finding someone
willing to take the
leap and make a
counter offer has been
challenging. I know
that the owner would
like nothing more than
for it to remain a
theater and all of us
believe that it should
too....
Here are some of the
"players" in the
robotics program based
at Smithfield-Selma
High School: (left to
right) Jayden
Thompson, Rachel
Priest, Jordan Watts,
Aynsleigh Agbayani,
and Abdrabo Alwahishi.
(Photo and story from
SSS)
Sixth consecutive award for robotics
team at SSS
By Lizbeth
Espinoza Segueda and
Eli Spottswood
On March 8th and 9th, First Robotics
Competition (FRC) Team
6004 f(x) competed in
Catawba County
Competition at the
Hickory Convention
Center. They received
the Imagery Award, which
is presented to the team
with the most impressive
branding and theming.
Winning this award is a
remarkable achievement
for f(x) Robotics as it
marks the sixth
consecutive year they
have received this
prestigious honor.
In addition, the team's
coach, D.J. Brooks, was
nominated to be a
semi-finalist for the
Woodie Flowers Award,
which recognizes
effective communication
in the art and science
of engineering and
design as a mentor,
fostering a love for
Science, Technology,
Engineering, Arts, and
Mathematics (STEAM) in
the team. D.J. has
dedicated a decade of
his time, and the team
is incredibly proud of
this achievement.
Throughout this season,
f(x) has been working
closely with rookie
sister FRC Team Chaos
Theory, a brand-new FRC
team founded by f(x)
Robotics under the N.C.
Robotics Initiative,
which teaches students
new to FIRST and STEAM
the basic engineering
skills needed at a
slower pace before
moving on to f(x)
Robotics. This was Chaos
Theory’s first
competition, achieving
massive success. After
making it through
qualifications, f(x)
Robotics was first pick
and Chaos Theory was
second pick for the 6th
Ranking alliance, an
outstanding achievement
for both teams.
After a great first
match of the 2025
season, f(x) Robotics
and Chaos Theory will be
competing again Saturday
and Sunday at D.H.
Conley High School in
Greenville.
Schools' gender-discrimination rules
left intact
The Johnston County Board of Education's
three-member Policy
Committee decided last
Thursday to leave
references to "sexual
orientation" and "gender
identity" in the school
system's
anti-discrimination
policy after the board's
attorney recommended no
action to remove them.
"I know there has been a lot of confusion
with executive orders
and various information
coming from the Federal
Government,"
stated Katie
Cornetto of Raleigh's
Poyner Spruill law firm.
"At this time, the law
has not changed and I
would recommend that the
Policy Committee
consider not changing
the language in the
policy... unless and
until the federal and
state laws change."
Eliminating the "gender"
references from the
policy was on the school
board's agenda for last
week's monthly meeting
but sent back to the
board's Policy Committee
after defenders of the
LGBTQ+ community
objected to the change.
That committee is
chaired by Kevin
Donovan. The other
members are Michelle
Antoine and Lyn Andrews,
the school board's
chair.
WHAT'S COMING UP
Listed
here are community
events open to the
public free of admission
charge:
Second
"River Jam" concert
series opens here this
Friday
Spare
Change, a "local favorite
variety band," will
perform at 7 p.m. Friday
at the Neuse River
Amphitheater to lead off a
second season of outdoor
shows put together by the
Smithfield Parks &
Recreation Department. The
remaining schedule:
Country Music's R.T.
Johnson on April 18,
"N.C.'s #1 Beach Band" the
Embers on May 16, and
"summertime fun band"
Liquid Pleasure on June
20.
County
Commissioners' two-day
planning retreat next
week
The
Johnston County Board of
Commissioners will convene
next Wednesday and
Thursday (March 26-27) at
the Workforce Development
Center at Clayton for the
board's annual Strategic
Planning Retreat. The
sessions will begin at 9
a.m. both days and will be
live-streamed on the Johnston
County YouTube
channel>
A
WORD (OR TWO) FROM
THE EDITOR
What's
the purpose of the
Choice Plus Academy?
A
reader took offense with a
choice of words in last
week's edition when this
reporter described
Johnston County's Choice
Plus Academy as "an
alternative school for
misfits." It's not
entirely clear to me who's
assigned to Choice Plus,
but I gather it's
primarily for students who
behave badly and are given
this alternative classroom
setting in place of being
banned from attending
public schools.
My dictionary defines
"misfit" as "one who
is poorly adapted to a
situation or environment."
My use of the term was
certainly not intended to
show disrespect to anyone
who fits that definition.
I'm glad our school system
seeks to help rather than
ostracize young people in
trouble.
Unable to find a
meaningful description of
Choice Plus on the
Johnston County Public
Schools website, I reached
out to the school system's
administration for a
description. Here's what I
got in response:
Choice
Plus Academy is a 6-12
Alternative School
with Johnston County
Public Schools. There
are three ways
students can attend
Choice Plus
Academy. Many
students attend Choice
Plus Academy as a
"Choice" program due
to its small class
sizes, flexible
schedule, and
individualized
instruction. The
remaining students are
assigned to Choice
Plus Academy through
disciplinary
reassignment,
long-term suspension,
and through the
guidelines of Policy
Code 3470:
Alternative Learning
Programs/Schools.
It's
important to understand
the alternative school's
purpose just now
as our Board of Education
wrestles with how best to
relieve Choice Plus of its
cramped quarters in the
former Smithfield
Elementary building on
Rose Street.
It's equally important to
understand the purpose of
the Innovation Academy at
South Campus, which
occupies space that once
housed the school system's
disciplinary program for
students with behavior
problems. Innovation
Academy is also "an
alternative school," but
it's for students already
motivated to excel
academically, not for
students in need of
behavior adjustment.
One of the options under
consideration to give
Choice Plus more classroom
space is to switch places
with Innovation Academy,
which has a passionate
following among parents
and students who don't
want that program
uprooted. Whatever the
board decides to do, it
ought to make things
better for both groups of
students.
SPRING IS HERE!
Early-March
bloomers like these
ornamental trees in a yard
beside South Smithfield's
Hood Street have hung on
to witness Spring's
arrival, which officially
took place here at 5:01
a.m. Eastern Daylight Time
this morning (Thursday).
Subscribers
to this edition: 1,589
MISS
A PREVIOUS EDITION?
You'll find
it in the Weekly
Sun archives>
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