WIZS Radio Local News Audio 06-09-23 Noon
Click Play to Listen. On Air at 8am, 12pm, 5pm M-F
WIZS Radio ~ 100.1FM/1450AM
Tag Archive for: #wizsnews
TownTalk: County Debates Future Of Vance Co. Fire Dept.
Chiefs from several of Vance County’s fire departments have voiced opinions and concerns regarding a proposal to restructure the county’s only full-time paid fire department and make it a combination of paid and volunteer staff.
That proposal, discussed in some detail at a meeting Wednesday of the county’s Public Safety Committee, will be presented to the full board of commissioners at a special called meeting on Wednesday, June 14.
If commissioners accept the proposal with its associated budget amendments to begin the restructure process, and then adopt the budget changes, the restructure plan would begin.
If the board does not accept the proposal and the budget draft that is before the commissioners now is adopted, no changes would be taking place – at least in the foreseeable future – for the Golden Belt Fire District.
Commissioner Dan Brummitt laid out the basic points of the plan during the 30-minute meeting, which includes hiring a consultant to help the county implement the restructuring process.
In a follow-up telephone conversation earlier today, Epsom Chief Powell Wilkins called the proposal a “vague” that will adversely affect people’s livelihoods. “We need to build off what we currently have,” Wilkins said, adding that “transitioning this department is not going to work.”
Wilkins further stated that business owners within the existing Golden Belt district need to be informed of the proposed restructuring, noting that this district includes areas where the county is seeing economic and industrial development.
Adam “Slug” Pegram, chief at Cokesbury and batallion chief at Vance County/Golden Belt, told WIZS today that his department doesn’t support the restructuring and stated such in a letter of support for the county fire department that was sent to commissioners.
This support is echoed at Bearpond Fire Department, where Billy Jenkins has been chief for two years. Jenkins told WIZS today that he and his team “didn’t want to lose that guaranteed response” that comes from the county/Golden Belt fire department.
“Our stance on redistricting is we want the closest fire truck (to respond) – that person on the 911 call deserves that.”
Doyle Karpunky, who is chief of the Vance County Rescue Squad, president of the Vance County Fire Association, also is president of the Bearpond board said decisions need to be made that are in the best interest of the county, not just one department.
Karpunky told WIZS today that Vance County is the only county among the state’s 100 counties that has this situation. “We are the only county in the state that spends that kind of money on a single department.”
He added that he wants all the departments to be treated equally within the county. Volunteer departments have to raise money to fill the gap that the standard $100,000 annual county allotment doesn’t cover.
“We don’t want to see anyone lose their job,” said Chad Blake, chief at Hicksboro. “At the end of the day, it’s about taking care of citizens.”
Brummitt said the proposal would not gut the Golden Belt Fire Department; rather, the positions would be reduced by attrition over time. According to Brummitt, the state fire marshal’s office has recommended that more volunteers be added to the Golden Belt roster during recent ISO inspections.
“We are not getting rid of the department, we are adding volunteers to support the department,” he reinterated in a phone conversation today with WIZS.
As the county grows, the idea is to have two paid staff at each of the county’s 10 fire departments, with the ultimate goal of having paid personnel in all the departments – a feat that could take years to achieve.
And if the four-call system is implemented, it would mean that four departments would response to a structure fire, Brummitt noted. And since Golden Belt sits in the central part of the county, it is more than likely going to be called on more often to be one of the four units responding.
Several in opposition to the proposal have mentioned increased difficulty in finding volunteers to provide much-needed support to the paid staff in fire department across the county, which seems to be a national trend.
CLICK PLAY!
SportsTalk: Wilkerson Wraps Up Junior Season At UNC
Colby Wilkerson saw much success during his time at Kerr-Vance Academy and that success has continued at UNC where Wilkerson is the starting shortstop. Wilkerson, who is a junior this year, and the Tar Heels just wrapped up the season making it into the NCAA Tournament. Wilkerson felt UNC was successful this season but didn’t quite get to where he had hoped this season. “Every season has goods and bads. We always want to get to Omaha,” Wilkerson said. Omaha is the site of the college baseball world series, and while UNC didn’t make it this year, Wilkerson did say one of the highlights of the year was his sacrifice bunt in the bottom of the ninth inning in a late regular season game against rival NC State to win the contest.
There were other highlights for Wilkerson including the opportunity to play another year, finishing the season healthy and contributing to other players success. Wilkerson said that every game is exciting for him and that he credits much of his personal success to having a good routine that he sticks to.
UNC will only lose three seniors for next season which could mean more wins on the diamond for the Tar Heels. “We hope to get a little better and be the last team standing,” Wilkerson concluded.
CLICK PLAY!
Cooperative Extension With Jamon Glover: Managing Stress
Listen live at 100.1 FM / 1450 AM / or on the live stream at WIZS.com at 11:50 a.m. Mon, Tues & Thurs.
Click Play!
Public Safety Committee Releases Fire Dept. Restructuring Plan To Be Sent To Commissioners
The county’s Public Safety Committee released a proposal Wednesday that it plans to submit to the board of commissioners that will begin the restructuring of the county’s fire departments, a move that includes a pay bump for part-time fire staff, a hiring freeze for open positions within the Vance County Fire Department and hiring a consultant to oversee the restructuring process.
The proposal will be presented to the board at a special called meeting on June 14; if it is approved, it would mean amendments to the county budget, which must be adopted by June 30.
More than 25 citizens attended the meeting, held in the commissioners’ conference room Wednesday afternoon, many of whom wore shirts bearing the names of the fire departments they represented: Cokesbury, Epsom, Bearpond, among others.
Commissioner Dan Brummitt said the proposal includes changing the Golden Belt fire district from its current independent, purely county, full-time, status to a split, paid, part-time, part-volunteer department.
Brummitt added that the committee’s proposal does not recommend moving staff from the Golden Belt district, but said the department will need to find additional volunteers.
Brummitt suggested that the department would have the next few months to find those volunteers; in October, the proposal calls for eliminating all paid part-time Vance County Fire Department (Golden Belt) positions. “Through attrition of full time employees, savings would be used to pay for part-time employees,” the proposal states.
Chris Wright, currently the county fire marshal and the county fire chief, expressed concern about the availability of volunteers to help staff the department.
“There are a lot of holes in this and a whole lot of legal liability,” Wright said of the proposal, which also includes separating the fire marshal job from the fire chief job.
As Brummitt explained the details of the plan, he said splitting these duties would mean the fire marshal could oversee all the county’s fire departments and be a liaison between them and the county. Both would be internal hires, he said.
The plan also calls for the Kerr Lake fire department to become a satellite of the Golden Belt department. Any department with a satellite department would get $10,000 added to the annual $100,000 county allotment. Plans will be in place to pay off the debt of the Kerr Lake substation from fire tax funds.
TownTalk: Men’s Homeless Shelter Seeks To Expand
When City Road Methodist Church merged with First United Methodist Church, it didn’t take long for someone to figure out that the now-vacant facility would make a perfect permanent location for the emergency men’s homeless shelter.
Community Partners of Hope, Inc. has overseen the shelter during the winter months out of the basement of First Presbyterian Church for 14 years, but the hope has long been to expand the shelter to operate all year long and to provide additional services for those who need help.
It’s a dream that Delthine Watson has had for some time, and that dream is coming closer and closer to becoming a reality.
Watson is Community Partners of Hope’s community network specialist and she said on Wednesday’s TownTalk that there will be an open house next weekend at the former church site to share the dream and vision to transform the building from a church sanctuary to a sanctuary of a different sort.
Board members, staff and others will be on hand Saturday, June 17 from 9 a.m. to 12 noon and again on Sunday, June 18, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. to answer questions about the transformation.
They’ve already chosen a name – City Road Center for Hope – Watson said. Now all they need is the money to make the necessary upgrades.
“We need $350,000 now – or soon – because we have to redo the building to make it a shelter,” Watson said. People already have been kind to offer services at low cost or no cost, but there’s still the cost of materials to consider, she said.
She hopes that all the work will be completed over the summer so the shelter will be able to open October 1 in its new location.
“If you’re homeless, come April 1, you’re still homeless,” Watson said, referring to the date that the shelter has closed in years past. She said she wants the shelter to be open 365 days a year, “to give our men some place to go. But while they’re there, we also want to provide them more services,” she said.
Whether it’s job skills or access to mental health services, the City Road Center for Hope is a spot where men experiencing homelessness can come for a range of services, from a meal and a warm bed and a clean change of clothes.
“That is our goal,” she said.
This is the only men’s shelter in the four-county area, Watson said, and they’ve accommodated men from as far away as Durham, Raleigh and southside Virginia.
“The need is very great,” she said. The City of Henderson is supporting the new shelter with $50,000, which is a great start. Watson hopes other community partners will step up and contribute as well.
Watson said the upcoming open house dates are for anyone with a desire to learn more about homelessness in Henderson and how the proposed shelter will serve that population.
“We can talk about it,” she said, “but come see it with your own eyes – come and visit and see.”
CLICK PLAY!
Home And Garden Show
On the Home and Garden Show with Vance Co. Cooperative Ext.
- Check squash for squash bugs
- Avoid hand watering.
- If you have young children or grand kids let them help you in the garden teach them how plants grow.
- Avoid excess mulch around trees and shrubs.
- Continue your succession vegetable planting
- Avoid herbicide applications on tall fescue lawns.
- Watering your garden thoroughly once a week is much better than watering just a little each day.
- Fertilize warm season lawns
- Check garden each day for harvestable vegetables ex Squash
- Shape up shrubbery
Click Play!
WIZS Radio Local News Audio 06-07-23 Noon
Click Play to Listen. On Air at 8am, 12pm, 5pm M-F
WIZS Radio ~ 100.1FM/1450AM
TownTalk: Vance County Considers Changes to Fire Service
The Vance County Commissioners met Monday night but the proposed budget was not adopted. Preparing a budget – whether for a county or any other organization, is sort of like making sausage…nobody wants to see it being made, but they all want to enjoy the end result.
The annual budget adoption process requires having a public hearing before the budget is approved, but not a single person addressed the board specifically about the budget last night.
And no member of the Vance County board of commissioners made a motion to adopt the budget.
Rather, it appears that the budget adoption is being held up by additional discussion that will take place tomorrow, June 7, at 4 p.m. during a meeting of the county’s Public Safety Committee.
Commissioner Dan Brummitt told WIZS News Tuesday that he hoped people interested in this topic will attend tomorrow’s meeting to learn more about plans for the fire tax rates and plans to restructure/redistrict fire departments across the county – this seems to be a sticking point in the passage of the 2023-24 budget.
ADVERTISEMENT
The issue of fire departments has long been a topic of discussion within the county – and Brummitt said there’s a “wildfire of misinformation” swirling about with regard to consolidation of departments, as well as getting more paid staff in place to bolster the largely volunteer organizations.
There’s talk of merging the county fire department and dissolving the Golden Belt district, but Brummitt said misinformation within the community is fueling unfounded rumors.
“I’ve talked to people in professional fire services, fire professionals throughout the region, “ Brummitt said in a telephone interview. “There’s merit in what we’re trying to do.” And, Brummitt contends, there are many options to consider.
Just what that is, however, remains to be seen. Brummitt said a written plan is not ready to be released to the public, but he said he hoped to have some details and accompanying budget figures at tomorrow’s meeting.
The commissioners will reconvene at 4 p.m. on June 14 in a special called meeting to consider any additional recommendations that come from the Public Safety Committee and could possibly adopt the budget at that time.
Commissioners have until June 30 to approve the 2023-24 budget, which currently is at $57.5 million.
If the proposed budget is adopted without changes, improvements to the county’s fire tax fund would help provide 24/5 coverage in the north and south of the county – that is, two additional full-time employees at both the Hicksboro and the Bearpond fire departments.
CLICK PLAY TO HEAR TOWNTALK FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION!
The Local Skinny! Perry Memorial Library Plans A Busy June For Kids
Young patrons who come to Perry Memorial Library, check out some books or other materials and then leave are missing out on a bunch of fun programs and activities that all happen inside the library.
Melody Peters, the library’s youth services director, reeled off a good-sized list on Tuesday’s segment of The Local Skinny!
This summer’s reading program is called “All Together Now,” has its official kickoff from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, June 13.
There will be carnival-style games, snacks and some cool swag for participants, including creating an origami butterfly to add to a mural.
Beginning June 14 and continuing on Wednesdays in June and July (except the week of July 4), Cooperative Extension representatives are going to have a Lunch and Learn from 12 noon to 2 p.m. The program is for youth in grades 6-8 and they’ll learn to cook something different each week. Register for the program with an email to ndkearney@ncat.edu.
Mother Goose Story Time resumes next week as well, with activities for the little guys, Peters said. There’s a 10 a.m. slot that is opening up on Thursdays at 10 a.m. for groups like day care centers and others; the 11 a.m. story time is for the public, she said.
Later on Thursdays – from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. – the Lego club meets at the library. Summertime activities include special challenges for the builders, as well as a variety of team-building exercises, all while enjoying playing with Legos. This club is for children in grades K-8.
The library will become a movie theater for awhile on June 20 when library staff present “Up,” a Disney Pixar film that Peters said is a perfectly wonderful flick. The movie begins at 2:30 p.m.
On June 27, the Greensboro-based bang “Big Bang Boom” will perform at the library beginning at 11 a.m.
Teen patrons – those youth in middle and high school – haven’t been left out, Peters said. She has created a coupon book, which encourages them to complete activities and get vouchers for free stuff from local vendors.
“We want kids to come in,” Peters said, and enjoy the library. Some of the activities, in addition to reading books, include telling a librarian a joke and creating a chalk drawing on the sidewalk and snapping a pic to share with library staff.
The goal is to submit two completed coupons each week in exchange for the gift voucher. The completed coupons will be put in the mix for a raffle of ear buds at the end of the summer.
“The more coupons in the box, the better the chance to win the raffle,” Peters said.
Read about all the programs and services at Perry Memorial Library at https://www.perrylibrary.org/
CLICK PLAY!