Tag Archive for: #wizsnews

Review of City of Henderson Public Hearing on Budget

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The City of Henderson had a public hearing on Thursday regarding the Fiscal Year 2026-27 Budget.

(Our WIZS written coverage will appear here soon.)

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TownTalk: Franklin County Sends Letter To KLRWS For Terms To Be Met

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In a letter to the owners of the Kerr Lake Regional Water System dated May 21, Franklin County Manager Ryan Preble posed a couple of possible solutions to his county’s need for more water.

The six-page letter recounted efforts undertaken by Franklin County over the past almost 20 years to find a way to bring more water to an area experiencing explosive growth, seemingly with no end in sight.

Preble sent the letter to City Manager Paylor Spruill, Warren County Manager Crystal Smith and Oxford City Manager Brent Taylor – Henderson is a 60 percent owner of the KLRWS and Warren County and the City of Oxford each have a 20 percent share in ownership.

In March, Franklin County asked the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for its own allocation of water from Kerr Lake – 16.7 million gallons a day. That request will be considered but no answer is expected for more than a year.

The regional water system is undergoing an expansion that will increase capacity to 20 million gallons per day, but Preble’s letter states that it would be too costly and impractical for Franklin County to pay as a customer.

In his conclusion, Preble offers the three water system owners “options” and gives the three entities 30 days to accept the terms.

Here’s an excerpt from the letter:

“Franklin has been in discussions within the region about short-term and long-term water supply for at least 19 years (since 2007). Henderson supplies Franklin with an additional 450,000 GPD but that is all Henderson is willing to do given the size of its water distribution infrastructure. Franklin respects that. Short-term, Franklin cannot pay $35 million for 2.5 MGD when there are other potential sellers at a lower cost. Franklin is open to regional discussions, but KLRWS must either agree to sell at an agreed-upon fair market value of a 51% stake in KLRWS or sell a lower percentage interest but give Franklin the right to expand at its cost to develop additional capacity that belongs to Franklin (the Basic Terms). If either of these options are amenable, we would like to discuss terms to move this forward. Any business formation issues (create an authority or a joint venture) are irrelevant unless Franklin is going to solve its supply challenge with a regional solution.

Please indicate your willingness to accept the Basic Terms within thirty (30) days of the date of this letter, by June 21, 2026. If you would like to setup (sic) a meeting after accepting the Basic Terms, please let me know.”

Find the full text of the letter here https://www.franklincountync.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2089/Letter-from-County-Manager-Ryan-Preble-on-Regional-Water-Discussions—May-21-2026-PDF

 

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Cooperative Extension with Nitasha Kearney: Go For Health Summer Opportunities

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Nitasha Kearney, on the Vance County Cooperative Extension Report:

This segment talks about a few things and events happening with Cooperative Extension’s Go For Health Programs during the summer.

Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.

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Cooperative Extension with Jamon Glover: The Pressure to Provide

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Jamon Glover, on the Vance County Cooperative Extension Report:

We begin a brand new series titled, “Money, Manhood, and Fatherhood”. We discuss in part 1 of this series on the pressure of providing for your family.

Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.

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Home And Garden Show: Garden Tips For Keeping Plants Healthy In Summer Heat, Drought

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Like a lot of other folks tending gardens and lawns around here, Sam Franklin of Franklin Brothers Nursery is hopeful that the weather forecast is accurate and the area is going to get some much-needed rainfall over the next week or so.

Franklin has been in the plant business for more than 50 years and he said he’s proud of the relationship that his nursery has with the community.

“We try to set ourselves apart with customer service,” Franklin said on Wednesday’s Home and Garden show. “We want every gardener to be as successful as possible.”

A couple of helpful tips Franklin has for those who are trying to keep lawns green, flowers growing and gardens producing include:

  • Using mulch in flower and vegetable beds to help keep moisture in the ground.
  • Water early in the day and water deeply – water new plants 2-3 times a week and established plants weekly
  • Remove weeds that steal precious moisture from desired plantings
  • Don’t skip a watering. Try to keep moisture even – don’t wait until plants are very dry to water and don’t over-water in a single application

There’s still time to plant more summer vegetable plants – can you really have too many tomatoes, cucumbers or peppers? Now through the end of June is the perfect time to consider adding some of those summertime favorites to extend your harvest season.

These summer favorites like the summer heat, Franklin said, as long as they stay properly hydrated.

“There’s nothing like growing your own produce,” Franklin said.

The nursery has plenty of whatever you need to plant, from vegetables and herbs to succulents, annuals and perennials, as well as roses, shrubs and trees. And most of them are grown right here in Vance County, Franklin said.

Visit www.franklinbrothers.com or, better yet, come on out for a visit. The nursery is located at 3193 Vicksboro Rd. “If you’ve never been out, you’ll be amazed at what you see.”

The phone number is 252.492.6166.

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TownTalk: Vance County Water District Offers Debt Forgiveness Program For Eligible Customers

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The Vance County Water District has a forgiveness program in place in an effort to help residents with outstanding balances erase that debt and tap on to the water line.

Enterprise Fund and Special Projects Director Frankie Nobles said the water bill forgiveness program will erase 75 percent of the customer’s outstanding balance.

“We’re trying to help some customers that want water but they haven’t paid their $30 a month fees like they should have,” Nobles said.

These customers started the process to tap into the water line once it was available, and that’s when they began receiving that monthly $30 accessibility fee.

For whatever reason, there are customers who didn’t complete the process to tap into the water line, but they kept accumulating the monthly accessibility fee.

Now – several years later, in some cases – customers find themselves with outstanding balances.

Nobles said customers who are interested in completing the process to tap into the county water line can pay 25 percent of what they owe and they’ll be connected.

The offer will be in effect through March 2027.

The county also has slashed the normal $1,795 tap fee down to $125, which will remain in place until the current water expansion project in Kittrell is completed. Nobles said should be in mid-September 2026.

The Kittrell expansion is the fifth phase the county has undertaken to try to get more water throughout the county. Nobles said more than 23.6 miles of water line is involved. A final total won’t be available until the project is completed, he added, but the price tag is more than $10 million.

“We’re getting there,” he said. “It just takes a while to get it done because of the cost.”

Nobles said the county initially loses money, but added that as more customers come on line, the county can make that money back. “That’s what we’re trying to do, add customers to our system and that really helps cover all of our costs.”

He gets calls each week from residents who have problems with their wells and ask about county access to provide clean drinking water.

“We want to be able to help the citizens in the community that do want water and (who) are having issues with their well,” he said. “We want to help as much as we can.”

The county contracts with Envirolink to handle repairs, leaks, and meter installation. Contact Envirolink at 252.235.4900 or toll-free at 888.754.9878 to learn more. The email is customerservice@envirolinkinc.com

Nobles said he also is available to try to help answer residents’ questions. Contact him at 252.738.2005.

 

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TownTalk: Henderson City Budget Public Hearing Set For 6 P.M. Thursday, May 21

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Henderson Mayor Melissa Elliott has scheduled a special called meeting of the City Council for Thursday, May 21 at 6 p.m. in order to hold a public hearing on the proposed FY 2027 budget.

The meeting will be held in City Council Chambers at 134 Rose Ave.

This is the time for the public to ask questions about the proposed budget, and there is no need to sign up ahead of time.

The meeting also will be livestreamed live on the city’s YouTube channel for viewing only. If you want to speak during the hearing, you’ll have to attend in person.

City Finance Director Joey Fuqua presented the proposed $51.7 million budget to Council at its May meeting; since then, the City Council has had a couple of budget workshops as it works through the approval process. The new fiscal year begins on July 1.

Find the livestream at https://www.youtube.com/@CityofHenderson-NC.

 

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