Tag Archive for: #wizsnews

Cooperative Extension with Michael Ellington: Chase Away the Winter Blues

/by

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!

 

The Local Skinny! Council Approves UDO To Update Zoning, Development Ordinances

/by

UPDATED: Dec. 9, 2024 – 11 PM

The Henderson City Council adopted a unified development ordinance – UDO – which updates a number of zoning and subdivision ordinances, many of which have been in place since the 1970’s.

City staff and planners have spent the last year working with Insight Planning Consultants to develop the UDO. The price tag for the contract with the consultants is $99,000, which included the UDO the comprehensive plan adopted in July 2022.

The UDO is designed to be a comprehensive document that brings together the full complement of, in this case, city regulations regarding zoning and subdivisions as one way to bring consistency to regulations with regard to property development, design guidelines, sign regulations among others.

In a 4-3 vote, Council members decided to end a decades-long agreement with the county to provide building code services. City Manager Terrell Blackmon explained that the termination should take place Dec. 31, 2024, meaning the services would end in June 2025.

Blackmon said currently, the county collects the fees, and the next six months would be used to determine whether the city can undertake code enforcement on its own, or whether it could contract the services of another provider.

Blackmon also said the city could choose to renegotiate with the county to provide services.

Fees would generate revenue to help offset the costs of having city personnel do the work that now is being done by the county.

Council members Garry Daeke, Lamont Noel and Sam Seifert voted against the move.

During the discussion before the vote was taken, Mayor Melissa Elliott called the current situation “antiquated” and said the city “shouldn’t stay in a chokehold with the county.”

In other business before the Council:

  • Finance Director Joey Fuqua and auditor Alan Thompson shared information about the annual audit, which included no findings – good news for the city’s accounting of funds. In fact, Blackmon remarked that in addition to having no findings, the city managed to put about $4.7 million in fund balance.
  • A recommendation passed to place 2 all-way stops on West Young Avenue, following a traffic study to look into safety and visibility concerns. The signs will go up at the High Street and McBorne Street intersections.

————————————–

Original Update Dec. 9, 2024 – 12 Noon

The Henderson City Council will meet at 6 p.m. tonight for its regular monthly meeting. There will be a public hearing to receive comments about the unified development ordinance – UDO – before the Council considers whether to adopt a plan that updates to a number of zoning and subdivision ordinances, many of which have been in place since the 1970’s.

City staff and planners have spent the last year working with Insight Planning Consultants to develop the UDO. The price tag for the contract with the consultants is $99,000, and included the UDO the comprehensive plan which was adopted in July 2022.

The UDO is designed to be a comprehensive document that brings together the full complement of, in this case, city regulations regarding zoning and subdivisions as one way to bring consistency to regulations with regard to property development, design guidelines, sign regulations among others.

Attend the meeting in person or view via livestream at https://henderson.nc.gov/. Click on City Council Meeting on the right side of the page to find the link.

CLICK PLAY for update!

CLICK PLAY for original update!

TownTalk: Farm City Luncheon Held At Farmers Market

/by

The folks who gathered at the Vance County Regional Farmers Market for the Farm-City luncheon were treated to some good ol’ Southern style food – fried chicken, barbecue, with all the fixin’s, but surely the sweet treat came when local historian Mark Pace shared a brief – but comprehensive – history of agriculture in the area we call home.

There is little doubt that agriculture has been a major player in this area since before the county was established – tobacco was king, but over the years, other products have provided livelihoods.

The Continental Plant Co. in Kittrell touted “the largest stock of choice strawberry plants in the world,” or so a headline on the cover of the spring 1898 catalogue reported.  The company shipped plants all over the continent – $1.25 per 1,000 plants.

The Blacknalls ran 3,000 acres for the Continental Plant Co., Pace said. “They shipped all over the world because of the railroad,” he said.

J.P. Taylor started his tobacco operation in Vance County, which later morphed into Universal Leaf.

E.G. Davis had a side-hustle with his chicken farming business, Pace said. Locals will know where it was located: That’s right – Chicken Farm Road.

The cotton crop helped create the mills that, for years, churned out products for the textile industry. Back in the 1840’s, cotton was selling for between 7 cents and 8 cents a pound, Pace said.

“Just about every farm had a little grove of mulberry trees,” he said. What likes mulberry trees? Silkworms. And, though brief, there was a large silk industry in the area. No wonder – at that time, a pound of silk was worth $4 a pound.

A lot of good farmland now rests below Kerr Lake, that manmade resource that has been the source of water and recreation for many since the late 1950’s.

And nobody is surprised to hear statistics of decreasing farm ownership, given the rise of residential housing and other development that has no association with agriculture.

The Vance County Farm Bureau provided a snapshot of information about agricultural production in the county, all conveniently located on paper placemats on the luncheon tables.

The average farm size is about 225 acres, down by almost 20 percent from 2017.

The county has just more than 38,000 acres of farmland, but that figure is down a whopping 42 percent from just seven years ago.

There are 108 female farmers and 172 male farmers, and 88 new and beginning farmers in the county.

Farmers are increasingly aging out of their chosen livelihood – it’s a hard job that often takes a toll on health and finances. Today’s farms may look different than those of decades past, but agriculture continues to be strong in Vance County.

Extension Horticulture Agent Michael Ellington said it’s important to know the history of agriculture in our county, and it’s equally important that farmers provide mentorship to the next generation to make sure that agriculture’s future remains bright.

Listen to Pace’s talk in its entirety at www.wizs.com.

CLICK PLAY!

Cooperative Extension With Wayne Rowland: Small Fruit Orchards

/by

Cooperative Extension

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!

SportsTalk: Louisburg College Football Headed To JUCO National Title Game

/by

UPDATE – FINAL SCORE 

College of DuPage 31

Louisburg College 14

Hurricanes finish the season at 8-3

Congratulations on a Great Season Louisburg!

Go Hurricanes!

••••••••••••••••••••••••• 

SportsTalk on WIZS 12:30 p.m. M-Th

Louisburg College Head Football Coach Quinderra Spellman joins SportsTalk with Scout Hughes and George Hoyle to talk about the Hurricanes great season, as they prepare for the NJCAA DIII National Championship Game.

Louisburg College will play the College of DuPage this Saturday, December 7th, 2024 in the NJCAA DIII Football National Championship Game. Kickoff will be at 1:00pm EST. The game will be broadcasted live on ESPN+. For those that want to cheer on the Hurricanes in Chicago the address to the stadium is College of DuPage Stadium, College Rd, Glen Ellyn, IL 60137.

Go Hurricanes!

CLICK PLAY!

Vance County Logo

The Local Skinny! Vance County Commissioners Give Bonuses To All County Employees

/by

All Vance County employees will get a one-time bonus in next week’s pay period – $500 for all part-time staff and $1,000 for full-time staff. The approximately $280,000 will come from the fund balance.

The Vance County Board of Commissioners approved a recommendation from the Human Resources Committee presented by Assistant County Manager Jeremy Jones at their regular monthly meeting on Monday.

County Manager C. Renee Perry recommended that the board cease paying exempt employees overtime pay when they volunteer to take extra shifts because of staffing shortages; rather, they will get comp time for the additional hours worked.

Perry told the board that is what is spelled out in the county’s personnel policy, but that policy hasn’t been followed for several years.

This comes amidst a countywide salary study, the results of which are not yet available. “I believe that when the study is done, it will fix itself,” she said of the overtime issue and the pay scale for employees.

As part of internal control procedures, Perry said she reviews employee timesheets and can see the hours that staff turn in. “Now that we’re catching it, we need to go with the personnel policy,” she told commissioners. My recommendation is to stop the straight time pay,” she said. “Consistency is key.”

Money to fund the overtime had been available from lapsed salaries and from funds allocated for positions that have not been filled, but Perry said not all departments have those extra funds.

“It’s not fair to pay one group and not another,” she said.

CLICK PLAY!

TownTalk: Oxford’s “The Sacred Witness” Military Art Mural

/by

About half a block off one of the main downtown streets in Oxford is something quite unique – in fact, it’s the first of its kind for the city. It’s a mural with a military theme and it tells a story that artist Aletha Williams wants to share with the community.

An unveiling was held at 4 p.m. Thursday to officially introduce to the public the 1200-square foot creation, during which Williams planned to talk about the significance of the mural and why it’s important to her and to other military veterans who may struggle to re-enter civilian life.

As a disabled military veteran, she said she has struggled with mental health issues associated with her service and with several traumatic events in her life. She said she understands only too well the difficulties veterans face as they leave family, friends and community and enter military service, and then when they come back home. The challenges are many and they can take their toll, she said. This mural captures some of the feelings and emotions of a veteran’s journey.

The mural is located at 117 Wall St., on one of the exterior brick walls of Tobacco Wood Brewing Co. Williams said it took her and a small team of volunteers and another artist 35 workdays to complete.

The team helped until the project was close to halfway finished, and then Williams took over from there to complete.

When you visit the mural – and Williams invites ex-military and civilians alike to stop by, take a look and reflect on its message – you’ll see painted near the middle an open book. That’s where the title of the artwork will be written: The Sacred Witness.

No matter how the art speaks to those who come to view it, Williams said “it will mean something to everyone,” soldier or not. She wants the mural to stand for the community coming together to support veterans and their service.

All branches of the military are represented in the mural, she said, as the “story” unfolds across the brick wall in a collage effect.

Williams moved to the area a couple of years ago from the state of Washington, and since then, she’s been working on a way to show support for military veterans.

Once the mural was down on paper, it went before city leaders for approval. With a grant from the N.C. Arts Council and “a collaboration of partners,” the labor of love was transformed into a work of art.

“For me, art allows me to be in that sweet spot…I can just be my natural, authentic self,” Williams said.

Whatever emotions the mural may evoke, Williams encourages viewers to just pause for a moment and reflect on how to support veterans in a positive manner as they find their way as a member of the community and transition from military service.

When she’s not creating murals, Williams concentrates on being an integrative wellness life coach and completing a doctorate in body wellness. Her business is called Inner Starr Compass Healing. Learn more at https://www.innerstarrcompasshealing.com/.

Post a photo and leave a comment about your experience with the mural on her Facebook and Instagram accounts:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/innerstarrcompasshealing

https://www.instagram.com/innerstarrcompasshealing/

CLICK PLAY!