Public Notices

Updated road impacts

PENDER COUNTY – Pender County Emergency Management urges motorists to stay alert to flooded roadways. As promised, Pender County Emergency Management issued an updated list of roads that are impacted by the recent heavy rains.

“We will continue to monitor roads within Pender County to keep our citizens informed,” Carson Smith, Interim Emergency Manager, said. “We urge motorists if they see swift-moving water on the roadways to turn around, don’t drown.”

Smith said currently the following roads are affected by flooding as of 3 p.m., Feb. 19:

• Riverview Drive along the river
• 485-510 block River Trail
• 0-245 block Rebecca Kennedy Rd
• 500-5100 block Heading Bluff Road
• Patriots Hall Drive past the Ranger Station
• All of Caldonia Creek Rd
• All of Northeast Drive
• 100-849 block Old Blake House Road
• 1500 block of S. Shore Drive
• 1600 block of S. Shore Drive
• 1900 block of S. Shore Drive
• 2400 block of S. Shore Drive
• 2800 block of S. Shore Drive
• 250 Horseshoe Loop
• Old Savanah Road 100 Yards west of Van Eden Rd (Wash Out)
• Juniper Lane at the turn
• Whitestocking Rd near Chorley Drive
• Whitestocking Rd at Mack Williams

“Flooded roadways can make a road surface unstable and drivers may not be aware of dangers beneath the water,” Smith said. “It’s safer to find an alternative route.”

Motorists can find travel alerts and road closures on the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s site, www.DriveNC.gov.

Smith said, based upon the weather forecast, some areas in Pender County will experience river flooding through next weekend.

Pender County Emergency Management will update any changes in road conditions this Saturday and Sunday.

Visit www.FIMAN.nc.gov for the latest flood information from the state’s network of more than 500 river, stream and coastal gauges.

For more information, watch our Pender County Emergency Management website or Facebook. If you have not signed up for the CodeRed alert system, register for free at https://pendercountync.gov/em/notices-base/ or call 910-259-1210 for details.

BURGAW – January 14-15, Commissioner Jackie Newton represented Pender County as a voting delegate for the 2021 North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) Legislative Goals Conference on Jan. 14-15.

During the virtual conference, county delegates across North Carolina came together to participate in a series of voting sessions to develop NCACC’s legislative agenda, which will guide county advocacy efforts at the state and federal levels of government. The full list of approved goals is available here.

“Representing Pender County Government and working toward common goals for the betterment of our residents is extremely important to me and my fellow commissioners,” said Jackie Newton, Pender County Commissioner.

On Sept. 21, 2020, the Pender County Board of Commissioners adopted a resolution with their proposed legislative goals which were then submitted to the NCACC for consideration. A copy of Pender County’s Legislative Goals Resolution can be viewed here.

Delegates finalized a slate of dozens of goals including longstanding priorities on expanding broadband access, funding for public school facilities, and efforts to preserve and expand local revenue for counties. Counties also voted to support new goals to address challenges that emerged because of the pandemic, including food insecurity. Counties adopted a new goal to support food supply chain initiatives and funding for North Carolina food banks as well as other equipment, supplies, and other nonrecurring expenses. This goal will further NCACC President Ronnie Smith’s yearlong Resilience Initiative to strengthen North Carolina’s food ecosystem.

Legislative goals pertinent to Pender County include but are not limited to the following goals:

• Agriculture Goal AG-2:  Support legislation to protect all farming operations from nuisance lawsuits.
• Environmental Goal, EN-5: Seek legislation to provide additional resources for preventative storm damage maintenance to clear debris to help prevent flood damage in low-lying areas.
• General Government Goal, GG-1: Seek legislation funding and all efforts to expand digital broadband capability to the unserved and underserved residents and GG5: Support legislation to remove inequities and inconsistencies in the current state economic tier program.
• Health and Human Resources Goal, HHS-4 Seek additional funding and preserve block grant allocations to increase access to high quality childcare, early childhood education, child welfare services, adult protective services and guardianship.
• Justice and Public Safety Goal, JPS-4: Support legislation and state funding to provide early intervention services through the Juvenile Crime Prevention Councils, and support increased state funding for the prevention, intervention and treatment of adolescent substance use disorders, gang involvement and domestic violence; and requires the Department of Public Safety to evaluate and update the amount of local matches for JCPC funding.
• Public Education, Goal PE-5: Support legislation to provide exceptions to the K-3 class size mandate including but not limited to lack of school facility space and availability of qualified teachers.

The conference also featured remarks by Governor Roy Cooper, North Carolina Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger, and North Carolina Speaker of the House, Tim Moore. Governor Cooper committed to supporting county needs related to vaccine distribution and announced that the state will begin vaccinating individuals 65 and older. He called for robust investments in broadband and other vital infrastructure and emphasized the importance of addressing gaps in healthcare coverage, especially considering the pandemic. Cooper also discussed the state’s progress in implementing disaster recovery programs including the Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery and Hazard Mitigation programs. Senator Berger expressed interest in hearing county priorities, including issues related to authority for local taxes. He also acknowledged the challenges counties are facing because of the pandemic and its economic impact. Speaker Moore pledged to continue to work for robust school capital funding and said the North Carolina House of Representatives is working to distribute more funding to local government and small businesses to address COVID-19 challenges.

The Legislative Goals Conference is the final step in comprehensive, grassroots process, which began in July. Every county is invited to submit proposals, which are approved by their Board of County Commissioners. This year, NCACC received hundreds of goal proposals, which were initially reviewed and vetted by NCACC’s seven Steering Committees. Then, the Legislative Goals Committee reviewed and refined the goals and recommended the package to the NCACC Board of Directors. In December, the Board approved the goals package for consideration by voting delegates at the Legislative Goals Conference.

About the NCACC: The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) is a bipartisan organization, which represents the official voice of all 100 counties on issues considered by the General Assembly, Congress, and federal and state agencies. The Association provides expertise to counties in the areas of advocacy, research, risk management and education and leadership training.

BURGAW – As the deadline for tax payments come due in January, the Pender County Tax Office has created a Fast Pay Window as well as extended office hours.

Office hours on Tuesdays will be extended until 7 p.m. at the tax office beginning Dec. 1, through Jan. 5, 2021.

“We will remain open until 7 p.m. to better serve our residents,” said Justian Pound, Pender County Tax Administrator.

In addition to extended Tuesday hours, the tax office will offer a Fast Pay Window for taxpayers who come prepared with a check or credit card with a single-pay statement. This express window is available for anyone who wants to pay the full amount and doesn’t have questions regarding the tax bill.

“We urge residents who want to use the Fast Pay Window to skip the line and pay without delays,” said Pound. “For citizens who wish to pay in person, we want to make this easy and safe during the pandemic.”

For safety’s sake during the pandemic and upcoming colder weather, the tax office personnel urges residents to conduct tax business soon to avoid long lines.

The Pender County tax office is located at 300 E. Freemont St. in Burgaw.

Information is also available online at pendercountync.gov/Government/Departments/TaxAssessing.aspx.

Winston-Salem-based Pender Commerce Partners 1 LLC is now in the process of acquiring additional land at Pender Commerce Park in order to develop its second speculative industrial building there in two years. Fresh off the completion of its 127,356 sq.-ft. spec facility at Lot 2 in the park, the company, which consists of Ramm Capital Partners LLC and Taylor Development Group LLC, is now in the due diligence period for 20 acres on Lot 6 to construct a 180,000 sq.-ft. building.

“We are very excited to continue investing in Southeastern North Carolina,” says Chris Ramm, Manager of Ramm Capital Partners, LLC and COO of Taylor Development Group. “There is significant interest in our initial project thanks to Cape Fear Commercial and Wilmington Business Development. We want to leverage this momentum into our next project on Lot 6 in Pender Commerce Park. We have assembled a fantastic development team that we are extremely proud of, led by Landmark Builders. All of us are looking forward to our next Wilmington project and sharing more details in the near future.”

Pender Commerce Park has become one of the state’s most active industrial parks. With Ramm’s planned investment on Lot 6, Pender Commerce Park will boast nearly $115 million of capital investment, 800,000 sq.-ft. under roof and more than 600 jobs. As important, the investment puts Pender County and its partners at Wilmington Business Development (WBD) in a better position to recruit additional industrial employers to the region.

“We enthusiastically welcome the continued investment by Chris Ramm and his partners in Pender Commerce Park,” says WBD CEO Scott Satterfield. “There was a time when industrial inventory was a weakness for our region, but thanks to the vision of developers like Chris that is changing. Demand for and now availability of ready-to-go industrial space has energized our recruitment of major employers to Greater Wilmington.”

In the mid-2000s, Pender County leaders partnered with WBD in charting a vision for the Commerce Park as regional infrastructure upgrades began to take shape. “With plans for I-140 and utility improvements along US 421 in the works, we saw the potential of that property as a destination for a variety companies,” said George Brown, chairman of the Pender County Board of Commissioners. “This latest investment by Chris Ramm and his partners keeps the momentum going and enhances the park as a regional economic engine.”

The new building can also be considered by existing industry in the region as companies look for readily available industrial space to expand. That’s why both this facility and the initial investment by Pender Commerce Partners 1 LLC are built to be flexible. The buildings are designed in a way that can accommodate single users or multiple tenants.

“The industrial market in Greater Wilmington is as strong as I’ve ever seen it,” says Paul Loukas, broker-in-charge at Cape Fear Commercial. He cites a 5% to 6% vacancy rate once the former Vertex Building is taken out of the mix. Loukas and colleague Will Leonard will continue their brokerage relationship with Chris Ramm at Lot 6. “We are seeing a large amount of interest from tenants in the 30,000 to 60,000 sq.-ft. range, as well as much larger users. WBD has done a fantastic job assisting us in generating several of our larger prospects,” Leonard says. “Being able to potentially house both puts us in a prime position to attract industry.”

Ramm with Taylor Development Group, LLC put a stake in the ground of the region’s real estate market nearly four years ago with acquisitions of Class A office buildings at Landfall Park and Third and Grace in downtown Wilmington. After noticing a scarcity of available industrial space equipped with today’s amenities, Ramm began working with Cape Fear Commercial on opportunities to build high-quality spec space. Pender Commerce Park was the ideal place.

Ramm’s continued investment also fits nicely into WBD’s product development strategy and helps further execute the vision Pender County leaders have set for Pender Commerce Park. In less than a decade, the property has attracted food processing, assembly, distribution and corporate headquarter operations. “Chris Ramm’s investment on both projects is timely – the region will have attractive, available industrial space just as U.S. industry looks to re-shape supply chains and tailor their expansion strategies for the post-pandemic economy,” Satterfield says.

Wilmington Business Development oversees business recruitment and industrial retention for the City of Wilmington, New Hanover County and Pender County. A private, non-profit organization founded in 1956, WBD supports members, partners and allies through an array of technical expertise, leadership resources and value-added business services. Visit www.wilmingtonbusinessdevelopment.com to learn more.