New Bern
Aldermen Bob Brinson resigned from the city's governing board on July 30 to fill Republican Sen. Jim Perry's vacancy in the state Senate. Perry, who served as chair of the Senate Finance Committee and as majority whip, resigned his position on July 2, after already announcing he was not running for reelection.
“I am entering a season of life where I will need more time to support those closest to me,” he said in his December 2023 announcement.
Brinson, who has represented Ward 6 in New Bern since 2022, was nominated by the 2nd Senatorial District Committee to represent Craven, Beaufort, and Lenoir counties for the remainder of Perry's term. Brinson is already a candidate for the seat in this year's election. He's running against Democrat Charles Dudley in a heavy GOP district.
"While my title may have changed, my dedication to the people of Eastern North Carolina has not,” Brinson said at his swearing-in ceremony on July 31.
This week, the Board of Aldermen set an application deadline to fill Brinson's Ward 6 seat. Only residents of Ward 6 can submit their credentials, and the Board will select his replacement. Deadline is August 23.
Greenville
At its August 5 regular meeting, Greenville Airport Authority Director Bill Hopper presented to the Council an update on the airport's business and expansion projects. Hopper said while ridership has remained relatively flat since dropping after the pandemic (to roughly 36,000 annually), the airport is continuing to look at finding new commercial flight destinations and projects to expand the airport's capacity. These include working to get direct flights to Washington, D.C., finding another servicer besides American, and proposed developments around the airport to build new hangars.
The executive director of city projects and recreation, Don Octigan, asked the Council to approve $45,000 for the Sports Complex Task Force, which is charged with recommending actions to the board for a new sports complex. The project is seen as part of the city's efforts to be a destination for sports tourism. The Council approved the request, which go toward consultants from Victus Advisors to collect public input. Victus has already conducted a $60,000 feasibility study that was presented at previous council workshops.
Lastly on August 5 at its regular meeting, the Council adopted a memorandum of agreement with NCDOT to repair the Oxford Bridge, a 58-year-old bridge that provides access to Brook Valley from East 10th Street and was closed in January due to structural deficiencies. NCDOT is funding and in charge of replacing the bridge. Since its closure, NCDOT made temporary fixes to allow traffic to cross.
In its workshop on August 5, the Council discussed an amendment to the city's planning and zoning ordinances to allow for mixed-use developments or structures that have businesses/offices on the ground floor and residential units on the upper floors. Also, the planning and development services department presented the year-old request from the council to evaluate creating a "Village of the Arts" district. Currently, the city does not allow those working from home to sell or display products on-site. The district would allow artists to do so within a specific geographic area. Chantae Gooby, chief planner, asked the Council how it would like to craft the ordinance, whether to limit it to a geographic area, and what limitations in terms of public displays, size, and hours of operation it would like to implement.
At its August 8 regular meeting, the Council held public hearings on a suite of economic incentive packages for manufacturers seeking to expand operations or move into the city.
- The city will grant $500,000 over 5-years to Nipro Medical Corporation, a Japanese medical device maker that will build its first North American manufacturing site in Greenville. The new facility is expected to generate 232 new jobs.
- $4,000 is slated to go to UNX-Chrsiteyns, a cleaning chemical company that is expanding its operations in Greenville. The company will also receive $75,000 from the state for the creation of 21 new jobs.
- The city is appropriating $50,000 over two years to Attends Healthcare Products, a company that makes hygiene products and is looking to introduce a new manufacturing line for adult incontinence products.
- Lastly, the city is allocating $100,000 annually for 5 years to Boviet Solar, a Vietnamese company that makes cells for solar panels. In total, the company will receive $2 million in state, county, and local incentives for a new production facility that is expected to create 908 jobs.
Jacksonville
The new Sports and Recreation Complex is moving into Phase II, following approval by the Jacksonville City Council on August 7. The multi-million dollar project is entering the design phase and will be soliciting public feedback. The park will be located on a 400-acre lot in northwest Jacksonville, at the end of Western Boulevard. In last month's Local Government Roundup, Director of Transportation Services Anthony Prinz said the estimated cost of the design phase will be nearly $2 million total, half of that coming from the City, the other half from the Jacksonville Tourism Development Authority. This phase will also help generate cost estimates and timelines for the project.
The Council heard a presentation on an affordable housing project from the Development Finance Initiative of UNC School of Government, an organization that helps cities with economic development goals. A year ago in September, the Council approved $1 million to jumpstart an affordable housing initiative, and now, DFI is identifying sites that could be suitable.
Most of Jacksonville's roads are in "fair" condition, according to a presentation by Public Services Director Wally Hansen. Hansen said the city is focused on maintaining roads that are just below that "fair" designation to prevent them from slipping into "failing" status, which would require more expensive repairs. He said the City will be experimenting with a new method to treat streets that is between 25% and 50% less expensive than traditional methods. He asked the council to consider that pilot project.
Beaufort
The Town of Beaufort temporarily abated concerns over the future of the town docks. Last month, Town Manager Todd Clark said there was no concrete solution to continue operating the docks after the lease agreement with Beaufort Waterfront Enterprises expires in December. The owner of BWE said he was seeking to retire and did not want to renew. Clark said repairs and operating expenses were too much for the town to take on and that a public-private partnership would still require $10 million in repairs. But, discussion on the topic is over, at least for now, as the town approved a one-year extension on the lease with BWE.
Kinston
The Kinston City Council allocated $20,000 toward the restoration of the Paramount Theatre. Located at 211 N. Queen St., the theatre opened in 1915, the Spanish-style building hosted vaudeville and movies until a three-alarm fire damaged it in the late 1940s. A group of people have been raising funds to repurpose the building since early 2023. The funds from the city will go toward repairing the theatre's roof, fixing leaks, and improving the HVAC system.
Goldsboro
The Goldsboro City Council selected a firm to take on the Big Ditch Design Project, a $600,000 flood mitigation project that will restore a concrete channel to a natural stream. The stream is an unnamed 2,300 channel that cuts through the Elmwood Terrace community and crosses three roads. The area is known for flooding, damaging homes, and closing roadways. As part of the project, the concrete brick walls will be removed and replaced with a sloped bank with native vegetation. No timeline on when the project will start or how long it will take was provided in the council's August 5 meeting.
Onslow County
Onslow County Schools have set up temporary classrooms at Coastal Elementary School to address overcrowding. A public information officer said the temporary fix helps create additional space where needed and avoids redrawing district lines.
The school system is the 11th largest in the state and has experienced rapid growth since 2020 when the Marine Special Operations closed its Southern California base and consolidated operations at Camp Lejeune.
Prior, the school district usually enrolled an additional 300 students each year, but in recent years that number has grown by two to three times, putting a strain on resources and available classrooms.
The Board of Commissioners took the first step toward financing $16 million for renovations and a small expansion to Northwood Park Middle School at its August 5 meeting. The county's interim finance director Pam Wortham said they will not likely need all of the funds, the request simply allows them to raise funds up to that limit in the form of bonds. The Board adopted the request and now it goes to the Local Government Commission for review before final approval by the board.
Wortham returned to the Board later in the meeting to present the county's audit findings. She said there were no red flags except that they submitted the audit late to the LGC. Late submissions allow the LGC to withhold a portion of the city/county's sales taxes, so Wortham requested the members of the board sign on to a letter that will be sent to the LGC.
Lastly, the County took in $560,960 in funds from an opioid settlement case against Kroger. Onslow County has so far received $3.2 million across all settlements, and is slated to receive more than $14 million over the next 15 years.
