Tag Archive for: #cityofhenderson

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The Local Skinny! Leadership Positions Open In the City of Henderson

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Vance County and the City of Henderson face several key leadership positions – the openings are the result of different circumstances, and local governments are coping with the vacancies as they continue to look for qualified applicants to fill the jobs.

It was announced last week that Jordan McMillen would be leaving his post as county manager to become manager of the town of Butner.

And Curtis Tyndall has been acting fire chief, but Terrell Blackmon said now the city has begun a search for a permanent chief, following the death of Steve Cordell.

Blackmon said the city continues to operate without a city engineer, a job that has been vacant for a couple of years. The water and street staffs depend on “on-call” engineers, and Blackmon stated that the city has a “very competent engineering staff that handles all of the day-to-day activities.” Public Works Director Andy Perkinson retired in January and the Human Resources Director, Elgin Ward, is set to retire in August.

Blackmon spoke at the recent West End Community Watch meeting and discussed the openings and the effect they have on city operations.

“We are getting ready to advertise for a fire chief, as well as a human resources director. The HR Director will be retiring in August, but we intend to begin recruiting for that position at the same time that we advertise for a fire chief. We have several engineers that we use on-call and for projects that have been handling the professional engineering work for the city,” Blackmon stated in an email to WIZS Monday.

He added that although the position hasn’t been filled, there are several potential candidates whom city staff have spoken with about the job.

henderson.nc.gov/departments/human_resources/jobs.php

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TownTalk: City Manager Blackmon on Community Wide Cleanup And Other Topics

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As drivers make their way through the city on the morning of Friday, April 21, chances are they’ll see some roadside crews picking up trash. It’s all part of the Community Cleanup event, scheduled to coincide with NC DOT’s spring Litter Sweep and Earth Day.

City Manager Terrell Blackmon invites business owners, employees and other individuals to join in the larger community cleanup event when they reach their morning destinations, whether it’s their road front footage once they get to work or back in their neighborhoods after dropping the kids at school.

Crews from the city will be joined by business people, school groups and others beginning at 8 a.m. next Friday, strategically scheduled to coincide with the statewide cleanup effort, Blackmon explained.

Blackmon was a guest on TownTalk and spoke about the upcoming cleanup effort as well as several items presented to the City Council during the Monday evening meeting, including recommendations from the Public Safety Committee, which met April 5 to discuss several topics, including using opioid settlement funds, construction of a communications tower and grant funding to reduce gun violence.

Community Cleanup Event

The cleanup effort does more than simply get trash off the street, Blackmon said.

It checks off a box of one of the city’s strategic goals, for one. “We want to improve the image and perception of our city,” Blackmon said.

The cleanup also builds community among its businesses and residents who are “working together to make our community a more aesthetically pleasing community,” he said.

Groups will be venturing out into the West End area this time, and Blackmon said any individual or group is welcome to participate “to just clean up in your neighborhood or in front of your business,” he said.

The middle and high schools will be participating, as well as several elementary schools.

The decision was made to move the cleanup event from Saturday to Friday to give more business people a chance to participate, but also to provide a “visual” for weekly commuters.
“What an impact it could be, doing it on Friday during rush hour,” Blackmon said.

Visit henderson.nc.gov for details of the cleanup event or contact City Clerk Tracey Kimbrell at 252-430-5705 or traceykimbrell@henderson.nc.gov.

City Council action

Three items on the consent agenda included information from the Public Safety Committee, and Blackmon said all three were approved at the April 10 meeting.

  • The city will participate in the second-wave allocation from the multi-billion-dollar opioid settlement. Henderson is one of just a few municipalities that applied for, and received, funding. North Carolina will divvy up the second allocation of about $600 million, and Henderson will get another $166,000 over a multi-year period aimed at reducing the opioid epidemic.
  • The city also approved working with N.C. Central University to request a grant from the Homeland Security’s Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grant to focus on reducing gun violence, which the City Council identified as a public health crisis in 2022. A group of community representatives studying gun violence supports a variety of awareness and prevention activities in schools and other places to educate youth and the community as a whole.
  • The city approved a $3 million grant application through U.S. Rep. Don Davis to install a communications tower behind the North Henderson ballparks. If selected, the city will partner with Vance County to come up with a 25 percent match for the project, or about $375,000 each. The proposed location would provide close to a 100-mile radius coverage area, which local law enforcement and first responders sorely need to have effective, reliable communication when responding to emergencies. The project could be completed as early as 2024.

 

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TownTalk: NARCAN The Subject Of Public Safety Committee Meeting

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The Public Safety Committee of the City of Henderson met Wednesday to discuss several topics including planning for how to spend money coming the city’s way from the second wave of the national opioid settlement.

Sara Coffey chairs the committee, which includes Melissa Elliott, Lamont Noel and Jason Spriggs. They were joined by City Manager Terrell Blackmon and assistant manager Paylor Spruill to discuss possible uses for the money, which is expected to be about $166,000. The city of Henderson got more than $200,000 in the first wave of the opioid settlement.

The city is one on only a handful of municipalities to get an appropriation – the bulk of the $600 million of North Carolina’s second-wave allotment goes to counties – Blackmon said.

And the money is supposed to be spent on treatment for those with opioid addiction, he noted.

One form of treatment is administration of NARCAN, which reverses the overdose effect of opioids. It’s a nasal spray and is fairly simple to administer.

Perhaps some of the funds – which the city will receive over the course of time and not in a lump sum – could be used to purchase NARCAN and have it available for use by police officers, first responders and even in schools.

This approach would satisfy the requirement that the money be used in ways that help people affected by opioids. Spruill said in the meeting that an over-the-counter form will be available soon.

The medicine causes no harm if administered to someone who isn’t in an opioid crisis, but it can be life-saving if administered to someone who is overdosing.

Coffey said she would hope the money would be used to help prevent more opioid issues in the community; she said first responders and the hospital deal with overdoses every single day.

This topic is on the agenda for the April 10 City Council meeting.

 

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Henderson Community Cleanup Day April 21

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Join the City of Henderson in a community-wide Cleanup Day on Friday, April 21.
It’s a great way for individuals, businesses and other groups to come together to spiff up city roadsides, neighborhoods and commercial spaces.
The cleanup event really proves the adage “many hands make light work,” and City Manager Terrell Blackmon said participants can request trash bags that the city will provide. Filled bags left in pre-designated areas will be picked up by city employees as well.
“This event will be a great opportunity for you to show your community pride and help to improve the appearance of our community, which also helps change the perception of how others view our city,” Blackmon stated.
This local event is timed to coincide with NC DOT’s “Litter Sweep” Program and to celebrate Earth Day.
Local business owners are encouraged to join in by picking up litter outside your business, or along any city or state road where your business is located.
For more information on how you can get involved, please contact Henderson City Clerk Tracey Kimbrell at 252-430-5705 or traceykimbrell@henderson.nc.gov.

TownTalk: Henderson Police Considering Installation Of License Plate Readers

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Update 9:45 p.m. Monday:

The Henderson City Council unanimously approved, with two council people absent, both measures presented in more detail in the original noon news update listed below.

With those votes of approval, each sworn Henderson Police officer will receive $6,456 more in base salary except for exempt staff like captains, assistant chief positions and HPD Chief Marcus Barrow.  It sounded like from what City Manager Terrell Blackmon said during the meeting, those command positions would soon also receive a comparable increase and that it may be the same amount of $6,456.  In addition, the funding equivalent of the annual pay and benefits of one police officer, which is already funded but an unfilled position, will be used to implement the License Plate Readers.

Barrow said in the meeting that his patrol and investigation divisions need the most help right now.  He said the LPRs would help in both those areas and thus the whole police department.

The LPRs are electronic data, and Barrow said it was electronic data that led to the arrest of the three suspects in the recent Gholson Avenue homicides.

Chief Barrow provided a few additional facts the public may like to hear as well.

He said, “They are visible.  They are not hidden from the public.  They are motion sensitive.  They are not constantly recording.  They are identical to what is used at the toll booths.  This is not for speeding.  It will not take pictures of people, just motor vehicles.  This is the least invasive.”

He said to be fair the placement of the devices would be totally data driven.

Original Update Noon Monday:

The Henderson City Council is expected to act tonight on a couple of requests aimed at giving local law enforcement officers more money in their pockets and an additional tool to help them in their job of keeping the city safe.

The police department is allotted 52 sworn law enforcement positions, but it currently has about a dozen vacancies. In two separate requests spelled out in tonight’s agenda information packet, Chief Marcus Barrow wants to take the equivalent of one police officer’s salary – $66,000 – and use it to place throughout the city 25 camera-like devices that can read license plates.

Barrow, along with city staff, want to take some of that unused money from the salary pot and put it to work to help the current officers who patrol the city’s streets and neighborhoods.

The license plate readers, or LPRs, are small and only weigh about 3 pounds but they can have a powerful impact. Police can enter license plate information into the system and the LPR will “look” for matching tags. Whether it’s a stolen vehicle or a vehicle associated in other criminal activity, the LPR can help police narrow down searches.

Flock Safety will provide 25 license plate readers for the police department to use, and will in essence, take the place of one law enforcement officer.

Numerous nearby municipalities are already using Flock Safety or have contracted with them for deployment in the near future. Local law enforcement is in constant contact with those agencies to help solve crimes that travel through various jurisdictions.

“Filling positions has become increasingly difficult, and law enforcement agencies across the nation are seeking alternative solutions to supplement their shortages with technology and tools to assist their workforce,” states information from the council’s agenda packet.

But additional technology isn’t the only thing that Barrow is asking council members to consider: He wants them to bump up the salaries of current sworn officers by more than $6,000 to make the base pay more competitive with nearby agencies.

The city raised the base pay a couple of years ago, and Barrow said that helped retention rates tremendously. But now, surrounding agencies are upping their game and implementing pay adjustments of their own.

“We are just past the midterm of our fiscal year and anticipate a $400,000 to $500,000 surplus in our approved salaries, wages and benefits. With most agencies in the Wake County area at a $50,000 starting salary, and comparable sized agencies at or near this mark, it is necessary that we develop a salary adjustment that will align with the market trend to help with officer retention and recruitment,” as stated by Barrow and other city staff in information included in the agenda packet.

The salary adjustment of $6,456 for each sworn employee would bring the hiring salary for an entry-level sworn officer to $48,959 – just shy of Wake County agencies, but more in line with neighboring counties’ pay rates.

“If nothing is done, we expect shortages to continue and retention efforts to dwindle as competing agencies further the gap,” according to the agenda information.

If implemented this month, March 2023, the total cost, including benefits but not including the pending retirement of a lieutenant in March or April, is approximately $102,000. In FY 23-24, the total increase would be $315,000 in the Salary/Wage line item.

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Excellence in Financial Reporting to City of Henderson, NC

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The Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada has awarded the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting to the City of Henderson, NC.

Congratulations to Finance Director Joey Fuqua and the City staff including City Manager Terrell Blackmon.

The City’s annual comprehensive financial report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2021 was judged by an impartial panel and found to meet the high standards of the program.

The recognition comes primarily because the financial report demonstrated “a constructive spirit of full disclosure to clearly communicate its financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read the report,” according to a press release from the GFOA.

This represents the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting.

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Kimbrell Appointed To Serve As City Clerk

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The Henderson City Council officially appointed Tracey Kimbrell to the position of clerk to the board at its meeting Monday.

Kimbrell has served as interim clerk to the board since November, after previous clerk Esther McCrackin retired in late October.

John C. Rose and Bill Harris spoke with Kimbrell by phone earlier today and they reported she sounded enthusiastic about her new role.

In addition to her service to the city council, she will report to City Manager Terrell Blackmon for the day-to-day duties, just as other department directors. In a resolution approved by the Council, Kimbrell will serve at the pleasure of the Council for an indefinite term.

According to the agenda information, the city conducted a search for qualified candidates to fill the position and determined that Kimbrell was the most qualified.

Although it wasn’t something that she necessarily planned for, she said this was an opportunity she didn’t want to pass up.

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TownTalk: Andy Perkinson Reflects On Public Works Service

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Growing up, Andy Perkinson watched his daddy work tobacco. By watching, and working, he developed a strong work ethic. But he also listened to his father, who told him to find a job that had some benefits and some retirement.

“I listened to him,” Perkinson told John C. Rose on Monday’s TownTalk. “I’m grateful that I did.”

Perkinson, who turns 51 next month, recently retired from a career with the City of Henderson.

He started out in 1993 as a maintenance worker. But when he officially retired on Jan. 1, held the position of public works director.

“The city was good to me,” Perkinson said, but added that he felt he also was good to the city. “Whatever I did, I did it with my whole heart,” he said.

City employees are responsible for everything from maintaining city cemeteries to fixing broken water mains, with lots of other things in between.

All the city’s department heads have great responsibilities, he said, it’s the public works director that responds to calls for service from everywhere.

A city’s public works director has got “everybody to worry about – police, fire, recreation,” Perkinson said.

The utilities and public works groups were combined under previous city manager Frank Frazier, which Perkinson said was a way to get employees cross-trained so they could multi-task or fill in where needed.

Whether dealing with a water main break or other problem that is going to result in an interruption of service, Perkinson said often the actual repair was the easy part.

“The repair isn’t the hard part,” he said. “It’s getting to it.”

Placing a call to 811 is a critical step to knowing where all the other utility lines are located. Having the right inventory in the warehouse is another key component to timely restoration of the service.

“If we didn’t have it in the warehouse and couldn’t fix it, it means people would be without service for an extended time,” Perkinson said.

Handling administrative tasks as public works director probably wasn’t tops on Perkinson’s list of things to do, but he did them, and credited the city staff for incredible support while he was learning the role.

Mayor Eddie Ellington reflected on Perkinson’s time with the city.

“I tell you, we already miss him,” Ellington said in a recent interview with WIZS News. “Andy was a guy (who) would delegate, but he would also get his hands dirty,” the mayor said.

Ellington said he happened to stop by the site of a city repair crew and asked where Perkinson was. “He pops up out of the ditch and says ‘I’m right here,’” Ellington said with a chuckle.

 

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The Local Skinny! City Of Henderson Financial Health

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The city of Henderson is in pretty good financial shape, according to a recent report presented by the auditor who completed the annual comprehensive study.

Bryon Scott delivered the positive news to City Council members during its November meeting, and he said the only bit of information that concerned him was uncollected taxes.

In the fiscal year ending June 2022, the city’s uncollected taxes were just more than 3 percent, according to minutes from the city council meeting. When that 3 percent threshold is passed, it triggers the state to require a letter stating the reason for going over the 3 percent mark.

Mayor Eddie Ellington thanked Finance Director Joey Fuqua and the finance department staff for all their hard work in helping with the audit process.

Council Member Mike Rainey moved the approval of the report, seconded by Council Member Ola Thorpe-Cooper. The vote to approve was unanimous.

Highlights of the report:

  • The five-year trend for the total fund balance is about $12.3 million. Of that amount, in 2022, the unavailable fund balance was roughly $3.2 million in 2022, up from $2.4 million in 2018.
  • The city’s General Fund available fund balance is about 55 percent of General Fund expenditures.
  • Regional Water System fund has the largest cash balance followed by the General Fund.  Regional Water also had largest fund balance.
  • The city’s tax collection percentage rate is 97.57 percent.  The city’s largest debt type is business debt.  The remaining 16% of debt is governmental.  Ad Valorem taxes is the City’s largest revenue, with the second-largest revenue being intergovernmental (distributions from the state). Tax from sales and services is third.
  • Public Safety is the largest General Fund expenditure, followed by transportation.  The third-largest expenditure is Recreation and Parks.

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