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WARSAW — Questions about fines, delayed public records and financial oversight dominated a tense February meeting of the Warsaw Board of Commissioners, as town leaders confronted mounting concerns over transparency. Mayor Wesley Boykin and the board of commissioners centered much of the three-hour long meeting on governance and oversight.
A representative from McDavid Associates updated the board on the town’s wastewater pretreatment program, which has faced multi-year permit violations tied to industrial discharges.
Consultants told the board the town has authority to issue fines of up to $25,000 per day per violation under its approved enforcement response plan. However, the town has not issued formal fines to industrial users despite repeated violations, placing it out of compliance with its own adopted program.
“The town submitted that plan to the state. The state approved it. In as much as that, the town has not fined these industries. It is in violation of its own town adopted enforcement response plan,” said McDavid Associates. “We’ve got oodles of violations every day. So, I mean, you’re talking millions of dollars a month in potential fines … So that’s one of the problems we have between the town and the state that we’ve got to reconcile. It’s because we adopted rules that said we were going to issue fines.”
Instead, commissioners said costs associated with violations, including state-imposed penalties, have been “passed through” to industries as surcharges. Confusion arose during discussion over the distinction between fines and surcharges, with some board members stating they had previously been told industries were being fined.
Town officials said grace periods were allowed while facilities, including Villari and C2NC, constructed or upgraded pretreatment systems. One facility experienced equipment failures requiring additional investment before meeting standards.
The wastewater discussion preceded presentation of the town’s annual audit by Austin Eubanks of Thompson, Price, Scott & Adams for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025. Auditors confirmed that all procedures were completed with one notable deficiency: expenditures in the Memorial Park Project Fund occurred without an adopted budget ordinance. The board approved a required response letter to the Local Government Commission.
Financially, the General Fund reported approximately $3.9 million in revenues and a net decrease of about $173,000. The unassigned fund balance totaled $3.6 million, well above the Commission’s recommended minimum threshold. The town’s tax collection rate was 97.64%.
The Water and Sewer Fund reported roughly $3.18 million in operating revenues and $3.4 million in expenses, reflecting an operating loss before accounting for capital contributions.
Commissioners also revisited a proposed Cash Flow Policy governing how the town handles cash, checks and electronic payments. Concerns were raised about internal controls, documentation of shortages and whether the finance officer had formally vetted the policy. One commissioner warned that adopting financial control procedures without clear finance department certification could blur accountability and complicate future audits. The board ultimately approved the policy with one dissenting vote, noting concerns about staff involvement.
After a contentious meeting, Boykin stressed the importance of civility, collaboration, and timely citizen responses, particularly regarding Freedom of Information Act requests. He criticized delays in processing requests. This came after Jessica Thomas, representing the Duplin County NAACP and Cape Fear River Watch, notified the board that a public records request submitted on Oct. 20, 2025, concerning a wastewater discharge incident had not been fulfilled nearly four months later. She reported receiving acknowledgment of the request by the town manager and assurances of rolling production but no documents as of late-February.
