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Public Notices

Pender Correctional Institution takes a proactive approach to COVID-19

Four offenders have been diagnosed with Coronavirus

BURGAW –Leadership for the Pender Correctional Institution, a North Carolina Division of Prisons facility, has taken proactive measures to contain and reduce the spread of Coronavirus.

“Currently, the prison has four confirmed cases of COVID-19,” said Carolyn Moser, Pender County Health and Human Services director. “The prison medical staff is proactive and collaborating with the health department’s communicable disease staff.”

The North Carolina Department of Public Safety is taking a proactive and aggressive approach to protect staff and offenders, prison officials state.

Among the actions taken include:

• A moratorium on accepting offenders from county jails;
• Suspension of visitation and offender outside work assignments;
• Medical screenings for all staff entering the prison;
• Reducing offender interactions;
• Providing additional Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to staff.

North Carolina Department of Public Safety said during the COVID-19 pandemic, the top priority is the safety and health of employees, those incarcerated, and the general public.

“Confirmed cases of COVID-19 within the Pender Correctional Institution are included in the Pender County case count.” Moser said. “The offenders are residents of Pender County and all tests results are recorded with the Pender County Health Department.”

Additional food benefits for children impacted by the pandemic

NCDHHS to Provide Additional Food Benefits for More than 800,000 Children Impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic

RALEIGH:  Governor Roy Cooper announced today that North Carolina has been approved for the new Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program, to help families purchase food for children impacted by school closings due to COVID-19. NCDHHS is working to operationalize the program and families will begin to receive this benefit in coming weeks.

“So many families are in need, especially with so many out of work right now. This approval helps people get assistance faster to feed their families,” said Governor Cooper.

The program provides a benefit on an EBT card to North Carolina families whose children are eligible for free and reduced lunch at school. Families will receive $250 in P-EBT benefits per child, provided in two installments, with the possibility of an additional benefit if North Carolina schools are closed beyond May 15. Families will be able to use the P-EBT benefit to purchase food items at EBT authorized retailers, including most major grocery stores.

Families will not need to apply for the P-EBT program. P-EBT eligible families already receiving Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) benefits will receive an additional benefit on their existing EBT card. P-EBT eligible families not already enrolled in FNS will be mailed a new EBT card in the next few weeks. Families who receive a new EBT card will receive a letter from DHHS in the mail explaining how to activate and use their card.

“As our schools closed, many families across the state worried about where their next meals would come from—and we knew we had to take action,” said NC Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen, M.D. “The P-EBT program will provide extra help buying groceries for the families of the more than 800,000 children who normally receive free and reduced lunch at school.”
North Carolina is one of the first four states to receive federal approval from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide P-EBT benefits, which are entirely federally funded.

The new P-EBT program is in addition to other services families may be participating in. As announced previously on March 30, 2020, all families that receive Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) will receive the maximum amount allowed for March and April 2020 for their household size. Families are encouraged to continue utilizing feeding programs at local school and community meal sites for free, nutritious meals for children.

Need health insurance? You have options!

NEED HEALTH INSURANCE?

You have health insurance options. If you have recently lost or can no longer afford your health insurance, or even if you are trying to purchase health insurance for the first time, you have options to make sure that you and your family have access to care. Find out more at healthcare.gov.

You have health insurance options. If you have recently lost your health insurance, you can no longer afford it, or even if you are trying to buy medical insurance for the first time, you have options to ensure that you and your family have access to health care: 

Health Insurance Options Form English

Health Insurance Options Form Spanish 

 

USDA announces a new food assistance program to support farm families and rural communities

The US Department of Agriculture announced a new program, Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. The $19 billion program is designed to support farm families, producers, and rural communities.

In the program, $16 billion is designated for direct support to farm families and ranchers, based on losses impacted by the pandemic.

While working with local food banks, faith-based organizations and community relief, $3 billion will purchase meat, produce, and dairy products for distribution to Americans in need.

For more information about the program, click here.

Important information regarding the program include:

Feeding Kids and Families

  • USDA expanded flexibilities and waivers in all 50 states and territories to ensure kids and families who need food can get it during this national emergency.
  • USDA is partnering with the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty, McLane Global, PepsiCo, and others to deliver more than 1,000,000 meals a week to students in a limited number of rural schools closed due to COVID-19.
  • USDA expanded an innovative SNAP online grocery purchase pilot program in Arizona and California, Florida and Idaho, and DC and North Carolina, in addition to Alabama, Iowa, Nebraska, New York, Oregon and Washington.

Actions to Ensure a Strong Food Supply Chain

Whole of Government Response in Rural America

  • USDA released The COVID-19 Federal Rural Resource Guide (PDF, 349 KB), a first-of-its-kind resource for rural leaders looking for federal funding and partnership opportunities to help address this pandemic.
  • USDA opened a second application window (April 14, 2020 to July 13, 2020) for $72 million of funding under the Distance Learning and Telemedicine (DLT) grant program.
  • USDA Rural Development lenders may offer 180-day loan payment deferrals without prior agency approval for Business and Industry Loan Guarantees, Rural Energy for America Program Loan Guarantees, Community Facilities Loan Guarantees, and Water and Waste Disposal Loan Guarantees.
  • USDA will use the $100 million provided for the ReConnect Program in the CARES Act to invest in qualified 100 percent grant projects.

For all the information on USDA’s work during the COVID-19 pandemic and resources available, please visit www.usda.gov/coronavirus.

USDA_COVID-19_Fed_Rural_Resource_Guide

May planning board and board of adjustment meetings cancelled

BURGAW – The Pender County Planning Board, which was scheduled for May 5, has been cancelled, as well as the Pender County Board of Adjustment meeting that was scheduled for May 20.

“We regret the cancellations due to COVID-19 but want to ensure that the public has every opportunity to participate effectively and safely,” said Travis Henley, Pender County’s Interim Planning Director.

The Pender County Board of Adjustment had no scheduled cases. The next scheduled meeting of the Board of Adjustment is currently set for June 17.

The Pender County Planning Board agenda will carry over into the next meeting, which is currently scheduled for June 2.

For more information, please call the Pender County Planning and Community Development Department at 910-259-1202.

Advertisement for Bids: Hampstead/Scott’s Hill Well Project

Pender County, Burgaw, NC, Pender County Utilities

Hampstead/Scott’s Hill Well Project

ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS

PUBLIC BID OPENING

Sealed Bids for the construction of the Hampstead/Scott’s Hill Well Project will be received, by Pender County on May 12, 2020 until 2:00 p.m. local time, at which time the Bids received will be “publicly” opened and read via a web-based meeting utilizing Microsoft Teams. Interested parties wishing to join the web-based public reading of the bids received may do so by sending an email request to the following email address no later than May 11, 2020, 5:00 p.m. local time.  Note that a physical meeting will not be held for the bid opening and only the web-based meeting will be conducted.

jfitzsimmons@mckimcreed.com

A Microsoft Teams link will be sent to all parties who provide an email address for the bid opening no later than 10:00 a.m. local time on May 12, 2020. Parties may utilize this link to join the web-based Microsoft Teams meeting. Interested parties are advised that only audio may be available due to limitations with Microsoft Teams video capability. Consequently, the public bid opening will be conducted via audio and interested parties may only hear the reading of the bids as video may not be available.

PRE-BID CONFERENCE

A pre-bid conference will be held at 10:00 AM local time on April 28, 2020. The pre-bid conference will be conducted via a web-based meeting utilizing Microsoft Teams. Interested parties wishing to join the web-based pre-bid conference may do so by sending an email to the following email address no later than April 27, 2020 2:00 p.m. local time. Note that a physical meeting will not be held for the pre-bid conference and only the web-based meeting will be available to interested parties.

jfitzsimmons@mckimcreed.com

A Microsoft Teams link will be sent to all parties who provide an email address for the pre-bid conference no later than 8:30 a.m. local time on April 28, 2020. Parties will utilize this link to join the web-based Microsoft Teams meeting. Interested parties are advised that only audio may be available due to limitations with Microsoft Teams video capability. Consequently, the pre-bid conference will be conducted via audio and interested parties may only hear the pre-bid conference as video may not be available. Attendance at the pre-bid conference is not mandatory.

The Project consists of the construction of:

  • Two (2) finished water production supply wells and associated appurtenances
  • Pre-fabricated well house buildings
  • Chemical Feed Systems
  • Electrical and control systems for well system operation
  • Approximately 600 linear feet of Water Main Distribution Piping

Bids will be received for a single prime Contract. Bids shall be as indicated in the Bid Form. Bidders are not required to be pre-qualified in order to submit a bid for the Hampstead/Scott’s Hill Well Project. Contractor is advised and shall meet the following project schedule for execution and completion of the project:

  • Pre-Bid Conference         April 28, 2020 10:00 a.m. local time
  • Public Bid Opening         May 12, 2020 2:00 p.m. local time
  • Notice of Award              June 2, 2020
  • Notice to Proceed           June 15, 2020

Prospective bidders may obtain copies of the Bidding Documents by contacting the Issuing Office for the Bidding Documents at: McKim & Creed, Inc., 243 N. Front Street, Wilmington, NC 28401, Jamie Mabe Fitzsimmons, 910-343-1048, jfitzsimmons@mckimcreed.com. Physical copies of the Bidding Documents will not be available for review at the Issuing Office.

Bidding Documents may also be examined on the Pender County website at the following link. Physical copies of the Bidding Documents will not be available for review at the offices of Pender County:

https://pendercountync.gov/utl/

Bidding Documents will be provided no later than April 20, 2020, at Carolinas Plan Room, 2527 S. 17th Street, Wilmington, NC 28401; online at Carolinas AGC www.cagc.org; Prospective Bidders should contact these entities to determine availability for obtaining or viewing the documents.

Bidding Documents are available on compact disc (as portable document format (PDF) files for a non-refundable charge of $100.00, including shipping via overnight express service. Alternatively, printed Bidding Documents may be obtained from the Issuing Office via mail, upon Issuing Office’s receipt of payment for the Bidding Documents. The non-refundable cost of printed Bidding Documents is $200.00 per set, payable to “McKim & Creed, Inc.”, plus a non-refundable shipping charge. Upon Issuing Office’s receipt of payment, printed Bidding Documents will be sent via the prospective Bidder’s delivery method of choice; the shipping charge will depend on the shipping method chosen. The date that the Bidding Documents are transmitted by the Issuing Office will be considered the prospective Bidder’s date of receipt of the Bidding Documents. Partial sets of Bidding Documents will not be available from the Issuing Office. Neither Owner nor Engineer will be responsible for full or partial sets of Bidding Documents, including Addenda if any, obtained from sources other than the Issuing Office.

Owner: Pender County Utilities

By:        Kenny P. Keel PE

Title:     Director

+ + END OF ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS + +

Gov. Cooper shares a path forward for North Carolina – testing, tracing, and trends

RALEIGH: Governor Roy Cooper today charted a path forward for eventually easing certain COVID-19 restrictions while still protecting North Carolinians from a dangerous second wave of the virus.

“This virus is going to be with us until there is a vaccine, which may be a year or more away,” said Governor Cooper. “That means that as we ease restrictions, we are going to enter a new normal. We want to get back to work while at the same time preventing a spike that will overwhelm our hospitals with COVID-19 cases.”

Expert modeling has shown it would be dangerous to lift the restrictions all at once because it would increase the chances that hospitals become overwhelmed and unable to care for severely ill patients. Cooper emphasized that changes in restrictions must protect public health, especially those who are most vulnerable to severe illness, including people over age 65, those with underlying health conditions and people living in congregate settings.

“Experts tell us it would be dangerous to lift our restrictions all at once. Rather than an on/off light switch, we are viewing this as a dimmer switch that can be adjusted incrementally,” said Governor Cooper.

In order to ease restrictions, the state needs to make more progress in three areas: testing, tracing and trends.

TESTING
State planning relies on an increase in testing capabilities to identify, isolate and track new cases of COVID-19. This means having the supplies and lab capacity to do more testing across the state. Dr. Mandy Cohen, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, has brought together laboratory partners from the public and private sector to coordinate efforts to ensure testing – diagnostic and antibody – is widely available across the state while also conserving protective equipment.

TRACING
Tracing requires the state to boost the public health workforce and ability to trace contacts of new cases of COVID-19. Contact tracing can be effective at containing new outbreaks, but it requires more personnel. When a person tests positive, the tracing efforts will help identify who that individual may have been in contact with so those people can get tested and take the right precautions. NC DHHS is working with its partners to increase this critical piece of our public health workforce. New digital tools can also help scale this effort.

TRENDS
In order to ease restrictions, the state needs to understand how COVID-19 is impacting the state and impacting specific populations and regions of the state to determine when to strengthen or ease social distancing policies. Trends that will influence policy decisions will be based on data like the new positive cases, hospitalizations, deaths, as well as available supply of personal protective equipment, hospital capacity.

“Because we acted early and because we acted together, we have averted the devastating scenarios we have seen playing out in other parts of our country and across the globe. We now need to look ahead at how we stay ahead of the curve. Widespread testing, aggressive contact tracing, and data-informed policy decisions are our best tools to keep our communities safe and protect our frontline workers,” said NC Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy Cohen, MD.

Make sure the information you are getting about COVID-19 is coming directly from reliable sources. For more information on public health, please visit the CDC’s website at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus and NCDHHS’ website at www.ncdhhs.gov/coronavirus, which includes daily updates on positive COVID-19 test results in North Carolina.

For more information about economic relief, child care and food services, the state COVID-19 website at www.nc.gov/covid19 includes daily updates on COVID-19 assistance.

Help for small businesses and the unemployed

Tips For Small Businesses_041420

 

The Small Business Owners Guide to the CARES Act

If COVID-19 has impacted your business, there’s assistance available. We are providing links to the various agencies where you may apply or simply learn more about the programs. The booklets in this post are helpful guides.

Non-profit organizations suffering losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic are eligible for assistance from the SBA. For more details, click here. https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2020-04/SBA%20Faith-Based%20FAQ%20Final.pdf

NC COVID-19 Rapid Recovery Loan is a program for all North Carolina businesses with loans up to $50,000. https://www.ncifund.org/what-we-do/covid-19-loans
• Businesses and individuals may obtain information and loan applications by calling the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 or 1-800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing, or by emailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Loan application forms can also be downloaded atdisasterloan.sba.gov. Here’s a link for more information on low-interest loans. https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/

• The Small Business Administration offers information for businesses impacted by COVID-19. Click here for the link. https://www.sba.gov/page/coronavirus-covid-19-small-business-guidance-loan-resources.

• Available from the Cape Fear Community College Small Business Center are numerous free online classes to help small businesses deal with the COVID-19 crisis and the economic havoc it has played upon us. Take advantage of these FREE classes to help you navigate through these uncharted waters of a pandemic. https://cfcc.edu/small-business-center

• Be sure to visit SCORE, a free service with helpful links designed for your success. This national resource with an office in the Cape Fear Region offers many helpful tips, webinars, and links to business resources. https://www.score.org/

• For business loan information, ThreadCapital will offer guidance. It’s a free service. https://www.threadcap.org/

• If you must lay-off employees who will file for unemployment, please list COVID-19 as the reason for the ‘separation’ and instruct your employees to do the same. We were told by the NC Department of Commerce this will expedite an overwhelmed process. https://des.nc.gov/apply-unemployment

• N.C. State Extension has an extensive page of resources for our farm families and agricultural sector, including information on food safety and supply chain issues. https://strawberries.ces.ncsu.edu/2020/03/covid-19-farming-resources/

• A reminder from the IRS about the distribution of Economic Impact Payments authorized by the CARES Act, are being distributed automatically, with no action required for most people. Here’s more information about the payments, who qualifies and how they’ll be distributed. An important reminder: individuals on Social Security who have not filed tax returns ARE eligible for the payments. If social security checks are automatically deposited into a bank account, recipients need not file a tax return.  https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/economic-impact-payments-what-you-need-to-know. 

• Treasury and IRS have also launched the Employee Retention Credit, designed to encourage businesses to keep employees on their payrolls during the pandemic. The refundable tax credit is 50 percent of up to $10,000 in wages paid by an eligible employer whose business has been financially impacted by COVID-19. Updates on the implementation of this credit and other information can be found on the Coronavirus page of IRS.gov. It’s important to remember that businesses that receive Paycheck Protection Program loans are not eligible to receive the Employee Retention Credit. https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-employee-retention-credit-available-for-many-businesses-financially-impacted-by-covid-19

The Small Business Administration has a link that goes directly to the loan page and describes each they are offering. https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/loans/coronavirus-relief-options For help with applying for the SBA Loan, call 800-659-2955.  You can also use a text telephone (TTY) by calling 1-800-877-8339.
If unable to reach someone from SBA PLEASE UTLILIZE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING RESOURCES (depending on size of company) Contact your local location based on your county and schedule an online counseling session:
FEWER than 9 Employees – Contact the local – SBC – Small Business Center Network – https://www.ncsbc.net/DocumentMaster.aspx?doc=1003
MORE than 10 Employees – Contact the local – SBTDC – Small Business Technology Development Center – http://www.sbtdc.org/erfc/
In the Cape Fear Region call Don Spry – Tel: 910-398-0746; email: don.spry@sba.gov ; Fax: 202-292-3787

-Unemployment

There has been a long wait time for calls to the Unemployment Office, please try to do as much as you can online.
N.C. Division of Employment Security – 888.737.0259 https://des.nc.gov/

  • If you have lost your job or been laid off, file an Unemployment Insurance (UI) claim.
    If you are not eligible for UI benefits, the business owner and/or employee may be eligible for Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA). DUA is a federal program that provides temporary payments to people in a federally declared disaster area whose employment has been lost or interrupted as a direct result of the disaster. Business owners that are self-employed, farmers, or commercial fishermen, who are unemployed as a direct result of the disaster may be eligible.
  • How do I apply for DUA? – What is Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA)?
    You can file online. Once you have created an online account, file for unemployment and choose the appropriate reason for losing your job. If you have difficulty filing online, you may contact the DUA Hotline at 1-866-795-8877 Employee Call Center 866-278-3822

Pender County staff will continue to compile new information throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We would like to thank Congressman Rouzer’s office, Small Business Administration, SCORE, and Cape Fear Community College Small Business Center for sharing this useful information.

 

Post storm clean-up starts in Pender County

BURGAW – Homeowners impacted by the April 13 tornado and high winds can take their construction debris to Pender County’s Solid Waste Transfer Station.

The Hampstead Transfer Station, located at 250 Transfer Station Rd. off US Hwy 17, will accept household items, carpet or rugs, appliance and metals, tires without rims, construction debris and broken-down pallets.

The transfer station will not accept brick, cement, and mortar, yard vegetation, paint, oil, gasoline, explosives and hazardous materials, batteries or electronics.

Loads up to 200 lbs. are free per day. However, larger loads are charged $78 a ton. No cash is accepted. The transfer station accepts Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or checks.

Call the Hampstead Transfer Station Scale House at 910-270-5011.

The transfer station scale house is open Mondays – Saturdays 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. The website is: https://pendercountync.gov/sw/transfer-station-scale-facility/.

Residents who have Solid Waste Decals may use the Burgaw, Willard and Rocky Point Convenience Sites to dispose of large household items, construction debris in the construction debris bins. Loads must be under 200 lbs. once a day. For locations of the convenience sites, visit https://pendercountync.gov/sw/convenience-centers/.

Branch and Brush Debris Depot, a new Hampstead-based business located at 21435 U.S. 17, will accept any vegetative debris that can be burned. The company charges a minimum of $20 per trailer. Pull-up service is available Mondays – Fridays, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., Saturdays, 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. For more information call 910-581-1719.

American Property Experts, 606 Sunny Vale Dr. in Wilmington, will accept yard waste for a fee of $25 per pick-up truck load.

Vegetative debris may be burned within the state fire marshal guidelines found at https://www.ncforestservice.gov/burn_permits/burn_permits_main.htm.

Hampstead and Burgaw libraries added to state broadband map

BURGAW – Recently the NC Department of Information Technology updated their Broadband Infrastructure Interactive Map. However, Pender County officials discovered Hampstead and Burgaw libraries were not listed.

“This was an important detail – especially now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, that our students need Internet to accomplish their schoolwork,” said Erik Harvey, Pender County IT director.

Harvey and his staff worked with the NC Department of Information Technology to update the map to correctly reflect the locations of the Burgaw and Hampstead libraries.

To find free Internet connectivity, visit the interactive map at https://www.ncbroadband.gov/covid19broadband/.

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