Hundreds of joyful James Sprunt Community College students gathered along with family, friends and faculty at the Duplin Events Center on May 9. Proud family members and friends cheered from the stands as their graduates received their diplomas. To view more photos visit our Facebook page.
Duplin Sparklers brought home Neuse River Senior Games silver medals in the performing arts line dancing competition. The annual senior games took place at the Twin Rivers YMCA April 17 through May 9.
The Neuse River Senior Games promotes fun fitness and friendship for seniors 50 and up.
KENANSVILLE — Jasmine Savage, a member of the Duplin County administrative team, presented an employee survey report to the Board of County Commissioners during the May 6 meeting.
The survey’s purpose is to aid the county’s retention and recruitment efforts.
In the last three weeks, 244 employees have responded to the survey, which is divided in three areas listing short-term, medium-term, and long-term incentive categories.
Participating employees chose their preferences, rating them first, second, third and fourth. Employees also had the option to provide additional comments and list other benefits they thought would be helpful to the county in their recruitment and retention efforts.
Savage shared that in the short-term incentives category, employees chose from a personal holiday, an employee discount for lunch at various locations, one free meal a week at James Sprunt Community College and a family fun day. The personal holiday option received 186 votes, as the number one employees’ choice.
In the medium-term incentives, employees chose from an annual vacation buyback, flex work schedule, telework, and cell phone discount. Savage explained that for the vacation buyback the county would buy up to 40 hours and the balance of the employees’ time couldn’t fall below 80 hours.
A flex work schedule was the preferred incentive chosen by 123 employees.
County Manager Bryan Miller explained that a flex schedule could mean a half a day off on Fridays for county employees depending on what each department head deems as their most advantageous schedule.
“Some department heads won’t be able to allow their entire staff to leave for half a day on Friday. So, for those departments it might be a half a day Monday or a half a day Wednesday along with the half a day Friday. So, it’ll really be the department head’s decision on which day works best for them,” said Miller.
In the long-term incentives category, participants chose from having daycare for county employees, retiree insurance, 401K match contribution, and an after-school program.
“For these incentives, it was pretty much equal as far as how many people chose in each category as their first, second, third, and fourth choice, and we did leave an open comment section for employees to be able to provide us feedback. The salary increase was listed for a majority of the comments, but we have come to a conclusion that employees were not aware of the proposed increase after the last department head meeting on May 2. Department heads were given the okay to move forward with telling employees about the proposed increase. So they are now aware,” said Savage.
The proposed rate increase will be included in the county’s budget proposal for FY 2024-25 and is a 3% for Cost of Living Adjustment and a 2% Merit, according to County Assistant Manager Carrie Shields.
Among the comments written by employees in the survey were requests to have Easter Monday and the Wednesday before Thanksgiving as a paid holiday, a daycare for county employees to take their children, additional sick leave to help parents when they have sick children, and the ability to extend the gym membership to family members on county insurance who are over the age of 16.
“We’ll have many more discussions based on this data,” said Miller. “We wanted to put it in your hands so you could start thinking about it.”
Chairman Edwards asked Miller to look into what it would cost to fulfill some of the employees’ requests.
“I would like you to get back with us on the cost of making that happen and let’s see what we can pull off,” said Edwards.
In other business:
The board accepted a bid commissioning the MEP systems for the detention center project. This encompasses all building HVAC, domestic hot water, and lighting controls.
“The total bid was $54,000 with an add-on of $2,400 per additional visit. … It was distributed to probably 65 different companies and to the historically underutilized business community. We received two bids and this was the low bid for the project,” Miller said.
He also provided updates about the meeting with the residents of Calico Bay and Log Cabin Road for possible sewer solutions and the search grant.
“I think we’re positioning ourselves well to move forward with that project,” said Miller.
KENANSVILLE — James Preston Brown Jr., Issac “Leroy” Dewitt and Donna Sessoms Grubbs were recognized for their selfless dedication and contributions, through their volunteerism, to Duplin County at the May 6 County Commissioners meeting. The three volunteers are recipients of the 2024 Duplin Governor Volunteer Service Award. Faison Sea Scout Ship 5, while not present, was also recognized for their outstanding contributions and will be presented with the award at a future meeting.
Melisa Brown, Duplin County Senior Services director, introduced each of the three volunteers asking them to come to the front, where Chair Dexter Edwards presented them with the award and a commemorative pin.
The first volunteer was Brown, also known as Jimmy, he was recognized for his service in the following categories: Health and Human Services, Youth Service, Lifetime Achievement, Historically Underserved Population, and Senior Service.
“Mr. Jimmy has a passion to serve. When he retired, he became involved with Eastern Baptist Association and soon thereafter with Charity Mission Center. He has been an integral part of leading the ramp ministry for the last 10 years,” said Brown. “Mr. Jimmy serves others with love and compassion expanding outside Duplin County, serving in various capacities on national and international mission trips. The construction knowledge he has acquired, he shares with others to reach people with limited mobility. Although he does not share the personal cost and effort, it does not go unnoticed that if he sees a need outside of the ramp request, he will personally secure [it] for the individual. In addition, Mr. Jimmy’s knowledge and partnerships extend into the community, assisting the local senior center to decrease the waiting list for ramp projects.”
This last year alone, the 75-year-old volunteered 1,200 hours of service.
The next volunteer was Dewitt, he was recognized for his service in the following categories: Health and Human Services, Youth Service, Lifetime Achievement, Historically Underserved Population, and Senior Service.
Dewitt, a U.S. Army veteran, has served as a homebound meal volunteer delivering meals in the Warsaw community since 2005.
“Quite often Mr. Dewitt would pick up an extra rotation to deliver meals, offer additional assistance to the seniors served, such as a grocery store pickup, or change out a light bulb in the seniors’ home,” said Brown as she introduced him.
“For over 15 years, Mr. Dewitt has served as a Trustee in the [First Missionary Baptist Church], and still currently serves as a Deacon. He was instrumental with the Kid’s Café — an after-school program for grades 1-8 that was held at the First Missionary Baptist Church.”
Brown also shared that Dewitt is very generous with fundraising efforts in the Church and is always willing to help wherever needed in the community.
Dewitt has volunteered 520 hours of service.
The third volunteer introduced to the board was Grubbs. She was recognized for her service in the following categories: Health and Human Services, Youth Service, Senior Service and Other.
“Donna has a true servant’s heart. She leads her local Church mission ministry, spearheading several mission projects that serve participants from a variety of age groups. As a retired schoolteacher, she has a passion for children and adults. In 2022, Donna started the Adopt-a-tiger program with the local schools, currently at Kenansville Elementary and James Kenan High School.”
Brown explained that this initiative pairs a teacher with a church member who sends them cards of encouragement, and/or supplies and treats each month. “Currently, this project is blessing 200 teachers, and school support staff members,” Brown said.
According to Brown, Grubbs coordinated several efforts in the community, among them Operation Christmas Child, Easter Palooza Egg Hunt, and the annual food drive to support the Eastern Baptist Association.
“This year, approximately 300 items were collected and delivered. In addition, she serves on the Backpack Buddy Ministry for school children,” said Brown about Grubbs. “Each year, from January to April 15, you will find Donna alongside her husband assisting with the IRS Volunteer tax aide program. She most often will be the one outside gathering the intake and completing packets.”
Grubbs, who is a Regional Aging Advisory Committee delegate and a member of the Senior Services Aging Advisory Committee, volunteered 438 hours of service.
“We could not have the results we have in this county if it wasn’t for our volunteers,” said Chair Edwards as he thanked the three volunteers for their service and dedication.
Wallace Town Manager Rob Taylor gave town council members a first look at the proposed 2024-25 fiscal year budget, which includes an 8.5% increase in water and sewer rates, plus a $15 fee for vehicles registered within the town limits that would be added onto customers’ annual DMV tag fees.
Taylor presented the proposed budget to the council during the regular monthly meeting last Thursday, May 9. The public will have a chance to give feedback on the proposed budget at the next regular town council meeting, scheduled for 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 13.
“Overall, it is a $10.72 million budget, which is a 4.98% increase over last year,” Taylor told the council Thursday night. “A couple of revenue changes that I’m recommending… a municipal tag fee; every vehicle registered in the town would be charged a $15 flat fee that would be added to their DMV tax bill. I’m also looking at a water/sewer rate increase of 8.5%. That does sound pretty tough, but it’s needed.”
Taylor said that the increase in water/sewer rates was needed because the town has “just not been able to meet the numbers that we were anticipating.” Added to that, the town is taking on new debt to cover much-needed expansion. The increase would average about $5 or $6 a month on a customer’s utility bill, he said.
Taylor shared that he’d done a comparison of rates in neighboring towns and found that Wallace was somewhere in the middle. “Certainly, we’re not the lowest, but we’re far from being the highest as well,” he said.
In addition, Taylor suggested an increase in the storm water rates, from $4.85 per equivalent residential unit, to $5. He pointed out that the rate hasn’t increased since 2016, and the town has depleted its stormwater fund balance, so a rate increase is needed.
The town’s property tax rate will remain unchanged, pending a county reassessment that should be taking place within the next year or so, Taylor said.
The proposed budget also includes the following:
In other business at the May 9 meeting, the town council:
At last month’s town council meeting, there was a lengthy discussion on a possible downtown apartment ordinance, but Taylor said with the Strawberry Festival and other events, he and Planning Director Rod Fritz had not had time to investigate further by the May meeting. It will be on the agenda for the June meeting, he said.
The Duplin County Board of Commissioners and Board of Education held a joint meeting on Tuesday morning, May 14, during which the discussion centered around budgets for the two local government entities.
Duplin County Schools Chief Finance Officer Dawn George reported that the school system has requested a 10.66% increase in its budget this year, to $11,066,000. “What that represents is the increases to our recurring costs, which includes the state-mandated increase in salaries of about 3%,” George explained. “Retirement will go up approximately 1% and health insurance will go up about 7%.”
The DCS budget also includes a requested 20% increase in property insurance, and a 14% hike in utility costs.
George shared that the general fund balance is $6.4 million, of which $5.2 million is restricted for continuing expenses related to the pandemic. “We also have about $4.7 million in our special monies and grants fund balance,” she said. “We normally don’t have a balance that large in there, but the CARES funding allowed us to charge our grant costs.”
All of the CARES funding is currently allocated to projects that are already in progress and should be completed in the next six months to a year, George said.
The school system’s request also includes capital outlay funding. “This year, actually over the past two years, our prices for contracted services, equipment, vehicles and repair parts have escalated very quickly,” George said. “It’s escalated about an average of 50% so our request this year does include an increase of $495,000, which includes $125,000 for athletic capital expenses and $370,000 for improvement to sites, capital equipment and vehicles.”
School Board Member Pam Edwards explained to the commissioners that “the state will not allow you to spend any money —absolutely none — on athletics. It’s all got to be funded locally.”
The $250,000 set aside for athletics has not changed since it was implemented in 1991, Edwards said, with $200,000 going to the high schools and $50,000 going to the middle schools. Any other funding comes from local sources like booster clubs and donations.
Edwards also shared with the commissioners that there are parking issues at North Duplin and Beulaville Elementary Schools. The DOT is hopefully funding the project, which may get underway this summer, depending on state approval.
Commissioner Jesse Dowe requested that the school system look into addressing traffic at James Kenan High School as well. “I’d like for you to do a study to look at that and see if there’s a resolution that can be done,” Down said. “There have already been a few accidents out there.”
School Board Chairman Brent Davis shared that the school board has reached out to several municipalities to see if school resource officers (SROs) could be provided by town police forces, to help alleviate staffing issues with the Duplin County Sheriff’s Office.
County Manager Bryan Miller gave an overview of the county’s proposed budget for the coming fiscal year. “Now is really an exciting time to be part of Duplin County local government,” he said, adding that the county has recently opened a new transportation center, as well as a new animal services center. A new senior and veterans services center should open this fall.
The commissioners have also approved the detention center project, which it’s currently seeking grants and loans to build. The project will cost $42 million.
“One phrase everybody wants to hear: no tax increase,” Miller said. “That was one of our goals going through this, and I think initially, we achieved our goal of no tax increase.”
There will be an across-the-board 5% increase in employee pay, with a 3% cost-of-living adjustment and a 2% merit increase.
“When we started the budgeting process, we were about $11 million over budget, that meaning our expenses were about $11 million more than our revenues were,” Miller stated, adding that the budget committee cut over $8 million that county departments had requested.
“A lot of the capital, the debt service, was paid using our unrestricted general fund monies,” he explained. “Right now, the Board of Education has about a $6 million fund balance out of … sales tax. So instead of using the general fund monies, we used the monies that were dedicated for school capital.”
The county also used a process of putting more emphasis on accuracy of funds received, rather than following trend analysis, said Commissioner Dexter Edwards.
“The pattern’s always been overestimate your cost and underestimate your income, so you have extra money,” he said. “We’ve done that, year after year after year.”
The county commissioners and school board will hold another joint meeting in about six months’ time. The date for the next meeting has not yet been set.
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