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TownTalk: City Council And Regional Water

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The Henderson City Council is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. today (Monday, July 11) for its regular monthly meeting, and tops on the agenda is the swearing-in of the newly elected council members.

Outgoing council member William Burnette will be recognized for his time on the council and then Ola Thorpe-Cooper, Sara Coffey, Garry Daeke and Lamont Noel, who beat Burnette for the Ward 2 seat in the May 17 primary, all will be sworn in.

Because the primary elections were delayed until May, Burnette’s term in office was a little longer than normal and Noel’s term will be a little shorter, but terms of office should be back in synch by the 2024 election cycle.

Among agenda items to be discussed include a grant proposal to provide “stop sticks” for use by local law enforcement to aid in car chases and a clarification of council members’ involvement on various boards and committees.

The recommendation before the council during the meeting will be that no more than four council members serve on a single committee or board and that council members not serve on any citizen committee in a role other than ex officio (non-voting) capacity.

Also before the council for its approval are the minutes from the June 13 meeting, which includes an update regarding the Kerr Lake Regional Water expansion project and extension of Franklin County’s current contract.

Vance, Granville and Warren counties share ownership of the water facility, with Vance County being the managing partner; Franklin County is a customer and recently asked for a seventh amendment to its agreement that spells out a request for 3.45 million gallons of water a day – up from the 450,000 gallons a day it currently receives.

The amendment states that Franklin County be granted an extension of the current contract of $4.37 per gallon, effectively freezing the price it will pay for water for the 48 months after the current contract ends.

The water plant expansion project has been years in the making, but according to the minutes from the June 13 meeting, City Manager Terrell Blackmon said “there seems to be a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel regarding the KLRW expansion.”

According to the minutes, the KLRW advisory board voted to accept the GMP for the upgrade and funding has been secured for the project. Next steps include approval from the Local Government Commission and then in a few months’ time, pulling permits for the actual work to begin, hopefully in early 2023.

“At this time, no rate changes are scheduled but there will be increases once the $79,605,000 project begins,” the minutes stated.

Council members in attendance voted unanimously to approve the resolution; Council Member Garry Daeke was absent from the June meeting.

The latest Henderson City Council news and concerns about the Regional Water System.

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Find A Blood Drive And Donate In July To Help Avoid Summer Shortage

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There are several blood drives scheduled for the area, and the American Red Cross could use your help. June’s donations were down by 12 percent, and donations are desperately needed to prevent a blood shortage this summer, according to information from Cally Edwards, regional communications director for the American Red Cross Eastern North Carolina.

Following is a list of upcoming blood drives in the four-county area:

Vance

Thursday, July 21

  • 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.,Raleigh Road Baptist Church, 3892 Raleigh Rd., Henderson
  • 1:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., Kerr Lake Country Club, 600 Hedrick Rd., Henderson

Granville

Friday, July 22

  • 2 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Creedmoor United Methodist Church, 214 Park Ave., Creedmoor

Warren

Friday, July 22

  • 2:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., Norlina Fire Department, 102 Center St., Norlina

Franklin

Saturday, July 23

  • 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Maple Springs Baptist Church, 1938 NC Hwy 56 E, Louisburg

 

There are several ways to register to give blood, Edwards said in a press release. Donors can download the American Red Cross Blood Donor app, visit http://RedCrossBlood.org  or call 1.800.REDCROSS (800.733.2767).

Save time at the appointment by completing the pre-donation reading and health history questionnaire online. Before you arrive. Visit

https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/manage-my-donations/rapidpass.html

or use the blood donor app to complete the pre-donation checklist.

Individuals who donate blood during the month of July are entered into a chance to win a Shark Week merchandise package, thanks to a partnership with Discovery. The package includes a beach bike, smokeless portable fire pit, paddle board, kayak and a $500 gift card to put toward additional accessories.

All donors who come in between July 21-24 get a Shark Week t-shirt while supplies last, she said.

The Local Skinny! Around Old Granville: Place Names

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What’s in a name?

So many places within the four-county area got their names as a way to honor prominent families of the day; landowners who donated land for the railroad to come through back in the late 1880s, for example, resulted in town names like Stovall, Townsville and Stem.

An area hit the “big time” when it got a post office, and local historian and Thornton Library’s North Carolina Room specialist Mark Pace said the names that postmasters chose resulted in names like Dabney, Epsom and others. Pace and WIZS’s Bill Harris combed through a list of townships and communities – some still in existence and others lost to time and progress – during Thursday’s Around Old Granville segment of The Local Skinny!

Take Dabney, for instance. When a post office was established there, the postmaster renamed the community of Herndon (president of the railroad)to Dabney to honor William Dabney, a state geologist who “found some pretty neat things” in the 1880s and 1890s. Dabney later moved to Texas and became a prominent professor and university president.

And the community known as Mobile, for example, never had its own post office, but got its name because of the ties to Mobile, Alabama that the Hawkins family, a prominent African American family in Henderson, had.

More recently, the Granville County town of Butner gets its name from Camp Butner, an Army base constructed in 1942. Maj. Gen. Henry W. Butner, from Stokes County, NC, had died just a few years earlier and officials thought it fitting to name the base for someone from North Carolina, Pace said. Butner served in World War I and was noted for developing artillery for the Army, he added.

“It was run by the state of North Carolina until it was incorporated in 2007,” Pace said, making it the third newest town in the state.

The Umstead brothers – John and William B. – used their political influence to get the government to building the base in Granville County, where land was cheap and the camp could be relatively secluded but in close proximity to a large city (Durham).

The origin of Butner’s next-door neighbor, Creedmoor, isn’t quite so clear. There are several theories out there, Pace said, but he suspects that the town got its name from a famous gun range on Long Island, NY called Creedmoor Gun Range. There were a lot of gun enthusiasts in the area when Creedmoor was incorporated in 1911, he added.

The Lyons family established a post office in 1886 and there’s a Lyon Station Road located nearby.

William Thomas Stem was a big farmer in Granville County and he gave land for the railroad to come through. The name Stem replaced an earlier community called Tally Ho, which was a stagecoach stop. Tally Ho Road and Tally Ho township serve as reminders today.

There is a similar situation up in the northern part of Granville County, in the Sassafras Fork township. That name, Pace said, goes back to the late 1700s, but the town name was changed to Stovall to honor John W. Stovall who donated the land for, you guessed it, the railroad to come through to connect Clarksville and Oxford.

Communities like Gela near Stovall, Zacho near Wilton and Woodsworth near Townsville are just a few examples of communities that just sort of died off, Pace said. In the case of Woodsworth, Pace said, the family for which the community is named, moved to Arkansas but the name stuck. Zacho had a post office, and was located south of Wilton going toward the Tar River. Until just a few years ago, there had been a one-room shed that served as a post office.

There may have been only one Zacho, but several counties claim communities called Sandy Creek, Pace said.

There’s one in Vance, one in Warren and one in Franklin, he said. And they’re located near each other geographically, which could muddy the waters for genealogy researchers who are trying to find where ancestors lived or where they may be buried.

The oldest place name with European origin is Nutbush creek. William byrd doing dividing line between nc and va. Surveying in 1722.

Came to a creek in northern vance co. had a lot of hazel nut. So they just  called it Nutbush creek.

“The oldest place name with a European origin,” Pace said, “is Nutbush Creek,” located in the general area of Williamsborough north of Henderson. William Byrd was surveying the area that created the North Carolina-Virginia state line in 1722.

“He came to a creek in northern Vance County that had a lot of hazel nut trees,” Pace explained. “So they just called it Nutbush Creek.”

Sometimes names come about as a matter of practicality.

 

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TownTalk: 11 Year Old Varonica Mitchell Attracts National Spotlight

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Like a lot of other kids her age, Varonica Mitchell was excited recently because she was getting a new phone.

But how many other 11-year-olds have a resume that lists accomplishments including actress, musician, dancer and, wait for it…stand-up comedian?

Varonia, or V V, as her family calls her, can be seen in her one-man, er, one-girl show on all the different social media platforms. Simply called “The V V Show,” viewers can click on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to see what the vivacious V V currently is up to. She has 37,000 followers, just within that past 18 months.

She chatted with John C. Rose recently for a TownTalk segment that aired Thursday and he asked her what she enjoyed most.

“I think I like dancing most,” she said after a little thought. “Shout out to my mom’s  iDance Praise Academy,” she added.

Whether she’s dancing, modeling, cheerleading, playing the drums or performing her original skits, Varonica gives it her all. Her infectious energy bubbles up when she speaks about the show. She’s developed several characters that she has introduced on her show: there’s Grandma Roseanne and Granny Rowann but she said a lot of folks are partial to Mr. Egg Nog.

“My friends like him,” she said. “His favorite word is ‘Well,’” she said, uses her best gravelly, old codger voice to drag out the word. “Mr. Egg Nog has a big stomach and a beard,” she said. “He tells me he’s supposed to eat healthy, but he doesn’t. He eats everything.”

Varonica gets into costume to portray the characters, and the rest of her family pitches in before and after production. Her dad does the videoing and posting and her mom helps her with her outfits. And when they’re on the road, older sister tutors her so she doesn’t fall behind on school work.

“My mom, my dad and my sister inspire me. Also Kevin Hart,” she added, giving a nod to the comedian, with whom she shares a common attribute – height. Hart, a world-famous comedian, stands at 5-foot-2; Varonica checks in – so far – at 4-foot-5.

“He inspires little kids who want to be comedians,” she said, but even if you don’t want to be a comedian, he still makes them laugh.

And if Varonica creates a similar path for herself, she is well on the way.

When asked what she thought she’d be doing in 5 or 10 years, she got quiet for a moment before she answered. “I will be an independent woman,” she predicted. “I will be doing movies, series…my mom will probably be kicking me out of the house by then,” she said.

But as long as Varonica keeps doing what she’s doing, her future surely is on a sharp upward trajectory.

“It’s me, being myself. Mmm hmmm.”

Learn more about Varonica and “The V V Show” on any of the following:

www.instagram.com/_thevvshow_/

The VV Show – YouTube

www.facebook.com/thevvshow

Google: http://g.co/kgs/Lds9wG

 

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Local Businesses Asked To Donate Items For New Teacher Welcome Bags

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The Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce is preparing 130 welcome bags for the new teachers preparing to come to work in the Vance County area.

But the Chamber needs your help! If your business would like to donate an item to help fill these bags, please contact us at 252.438.8414 or bring the items (in quantities of 130, please) to the Chamber office, 414 S. Garnett St., no later than Friday, July 8.

The schools include those in Vance County Public Schools as well as Henderson Collegiate, Crossroads Christian School, Kerr-Vance Academy and Vance Charter School.

Some suggestions for donations include: pens, pencils, pads, hand sanitizer, coupons /discount cards, key chains, etc.

The Chamber staff thanks you in advance for your kind donation.

Register For Chamber’s W.O.V.E.N. Meeting Aug. 3

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The August Lunch and Learn meeting of WOVEN (Women of Vance Empowered Networking) is scheduled for Aug. 3 at the Vance-Granville Community College Civic Center.

The meeting begins at 12 noon. Cost is $20 per person and includes lunch. Staff from Maria Parham Health will discuss the importance of women’s health care in a program titled “Self Care Isn’t Selfish.”

As female business professionals, we all have put our health on the back burner from time to time. This hour-long networking opportunity will give you professional advice on the importance of taking care of yourself.

Registration is required by July 27 and payment is preferred prior to the event.

Register at https://business.hendersonvance.org/events/details/woven-self-care-isn-t-selfish-the-importance-of-women-s-health-care-1997 or email sandra@hendersonvance.org or hailey@hendersonvance.org.

TownTalk: Looking To The Future Of Area Transportation

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Imagine driving to the train station in downtown Henderson to begin your daily commute to your job in the Triangle. You hop on the commuter rail, which whizzes past the stopped traffic along U.S. 1 and Capital Boulevard as you approach your destination.

For regional planner Sam Boswell, that is no longer a pie-in-the-sky notion, but what could be reality in, say, another 10 years or so.

Boswell is a regional planner who concentrates on transportation for the Kerr Tar COG. He told WIZS’s Bill Harris Wednesday that he sees his job as a balancing act to ensure that the COG provides and promotes projects for all parts of the region, not just the ones that are experiencing the burgeoning growth right now.

The Kerr Tar COG, which serves Vance, Granville, Warren, Franklin and Person counties, stays up-to-date on NC DOT projects, such as the S-Line Rail Project slated to run through Henderson and points north, participation in a regional greenway project and an alternative to the gas tax, which helps to fund transportation projects and maintenance.

Individuals have an opportunity to ask questions, voice concerns and hear updates from the NC DOT as it hosts an open house during the week of July 25-29. Folks can drop in to Div. 5 offices, 2612 N. Duke St., in Durham any time between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. during that week, Boswell said.

Part of his job, he said, is to help municipalities and counties with projects and to explore ways to have a regional effect, “a grouping of services to benefit the region.” That sometimes proves difficult, he said, explaining that municipalities may not reap a direct benefit from a project that is not geographically nearby.

Take the S-Line rail project, for example. This project will connect Raleigh and Richmond and completing the Southeast rail corridor that then can feed into the much-used Northeast rail corridor.

“It’s a big deal, for sure,” Boswell said, adding that there’s a great deal of excitement around the project.

In addition to reducing commute times and the number of vehicles on the road, a passenger rail brings with it other benefits. “If you’ve got a train stop, you’ve got people leaving and people coming in,” he explained. That means riders can choose to get off at the Henderson or Norlina stations, “put a break in their trip and visit local businesses,” spending money and adding to the local economies.

There’s another exciting possibility for transportation of a slower nature – bicycle and pedestrian traffic along a greenway. The East Coast Greenway feasibility study is underway now. It’s mostly a biking trail, but there’s a walking route as well, Boswell said. The greenway extends through 400 cities from Florida to Maine, sort of like the Appalachian Trail, and the American Tobacco Trail in Durham makes up 27 or so miles of the greenway trail, he added.

“We’re working with a team of consultants to see how we can make that happen in the Kerr Tar region,” he said. Right now, there’s a section between Butner and Oxford in Granville County, but the COG is waiting to hear from another grant opportunity to continue the study on a bigger scale – building a greenway trail from Oxford north to Virginia and from Oxford to Henderson.

These projects, and others on the horizon, signal change for the area. Boswell said, like it or not, as the Triangle continues to expand, it’s important to keep the transportation system updated – even trying to stay ahead of the growth that is surely coming.

In addition to new projects like the rail line, it’s also critical to keep existing roads in good repair and able to handle the increasing volume of traffic.

“People are going to start moving in here,” Boswell said of the Kerr Tar region. What planners have to try to figure out is how to make adjustments to the infrastructure to accommodate those people.

More people means more vehicles using the roads, but not necessarily producing more revenue through the gas sales tax. More hybrid and electric vehicles means less money spent on gas, he explained. So the DOT is re-examining an idea previously studied that would generate revenue based on the number of miles a driver drives as opposed to how much gas he pumps into his tank.

“Right now, money for construction projects comes from the gas tax,” Boswell explained. As vehicles become more fuel efficient or not dependent at all on gas, drivers “aren’t paying their fair share…and the burden falls on some drivers more than others.”

DOT looked at it a few years ago.

Is it more equitable or sustainable to pay per mile than per gallon of gasoline? That’s one of the questions being considered in the study, he said.

The study has slots for 450 participants throughout the state, which will run from the end of July through October. Participants will get a device of some sort that will connect to the vehicle’s odometer or otherwise track the miles driven.

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