[{"_1":2,"_111":-5,"_112":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87,99],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6576061,"mediaKeyId","3176437-23bfbf10d1b8d882898fb84b8f881412","parentId",3176437,"title","Emergency management and fire marshal outline rising mission workload, EOC and equipment needs","audioSeconds",689,"startMs",16259000,"endMs",16948000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=3176437-23bfbf10d1b8d882898fb84b8f881412&start=16259&end=16948","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3176437-23bfbf10d1b8d882898fb84b8f881412/thumbnail_16259000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6576061/Pender-County/North-Carolina/Emergency-management-and-fire-marshal-outline-rising-mission-workload-EOC-and-equipment-needs","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6576061-58f9cae12d3d966961ccf199b67fbf7e/orig.mp4?Expires=1770981075&Signature=aTCIWcfolJiDKttITnAJufLYYYDFj6krTGaYStkHdXq26GD3EVBc8q3GgolbHosAbpxYvblErdPncxWpp-FP1~SFtecXA-LHFwVTxYWHT7aEgmHWRhHvD2W7GztsIsNmSik~jvGvalKUsZCBZhkFQrePmY9PuE91KOT9a0jIq3jRD~Zuz1my6XyV00UyFNWS~HT6RNwVN~P9w59t0wsRHSCQ9ndQ6LVRYv7hB0om7cX0BOa8TYC-REi3Z0DwwaAog1jB-ihGpTs8JhSvURyA~Gxc3uTxvNqP4UjfFV0pPfu~fp93-ot7v5tXfaViP23jJPo7lR9loW-sZ626017xXw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Pender County","date","2025-05-02T00:45:33.143Z","article","Pender County's emergency management director and the county fire marshal briefed commissioners on mission activity, equipment and staffing needs tied to an active year of responses and to the county's growth.

Emergency management summary: The county director reported that the office answered or supported more than 100 missions in the most recent calendar period and that the office activated alerting systems more than 200 times this year for on-call requests from partner agencies. The office asked the county for a modest operational contingency of $35,000 to cover startup and activation costs during incidents, and it described capital priorities that include mobile command capability and river-gauge monitoring.

River gauges and flood monitoring: Emergency management presented a plan to expand river gauges around the county; county staff said the FY25-26 packet includes funding for a gauge at Lanes Ferry and noted a plan to use available project funds to install multiple gauges in a single year if state partners will assume maintenance. The director said the gauges are intended to provide upstream data to help decision-making during high-water events.

Warehouse, equipment and mobile command: The office listed capital items and logistics priorities including a covered storage pad for storm equipment, mobile lighting towers, and radio/vehicle repeater work to improve in-vehicle radio range for first responders; some items were proposed earlier but cut in the packet.

Staffing and on-call coverage: The emergency-management office is a small team that currently shares on-call duties; the director said the office's two-person core logged about 1,200 on-call hours beyond normal work-time in the last 12 months and requested an additional coordinator position (with vehicle) as its top staffing priority. Commissioners and staff discussed grant opportunities, shared regional resources and the need to stagger equipment replacement to manage long-term capital costs.

Fire marshal highlights: The fire marshal reported the new stand-alone office completed 1,376 inspections in the last reporting period and has begun aligning fee schedules with neighboring counties. The marshal said the office is handling mandatory inspections for schools, childcare and foster-care homes and has taken point on community-risk reduction programs (car-seat checks, smoke-alarm canvasses and senior-safety outreach) partnered with the Red Cross, State Farm and other nonprofits. The marshal requested that the board consider moving the marshal's salary closer to peer averages for comparable jurisdictions and pointed to a conservative estimate that a formal permit/fee program could capture roughly $90,000 annually for county services if the county chooses to charge for non-routine operational permits.

Ending: County staff and the departments will pursue grant opportunities, confirm maintenance commitments for gauges with state partners, and return to the commissioners with detailed cost estimates and recommendations on the coordinator position and capital items.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","May 1st, 2025 Board of Commissioners Budget Work Session","oneSentenceSummary","Pender County emergency management and the county fire marshal described increasing mission activity, proposed river-gauge deployments, and one recommended additional coordinator position to sustain emergency operations and on-call coverage.","taxTitle","Pender County, North Carolina","taxId",75713,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6576066,"Sheriff warns county is understaffed; requests more patrol deputies amid overtime costs and 911 staffing concerns",521,10275000,10796000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3176437-23bfbf10d1b8d882898fb84b8f881412&start=10275&end=10796","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3176437-23bfbf10d1b8d882898fb84b8f881412/thumbnail_10275000.jpg","/articles/6576066/Pender-County/North-Carolina/Sheriff-warns-county-is-understaffed-requests-more-patrol-deputies-amid-overtime-costs-and-911-staffing-concerns","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6576066-f321e990b043af76f66146b1eec9c076/orig.mp4?Expires=1770981075&Signature=KrBG4k3eH4N4-obVa8Uq2IjnIkpLdRmgokWP8F4YP-l1Kv8X5lHBb9FWw2Yg-tPnkWBm0wf8CYDgvps4m0nvfdcY4maoUMryMM95TSdqu2-6bzdT14meX4Gy0~i2vOnuPGJxOTdJE3gfQjX-yU718OuT-zd5CpTjG036oERl2gf3jzJC~voDacFQIb4B5TVyYEx4VtTnVAsh4VwLHQNvVbrdUG1joZqhJTRH~UPkN1L6SGXxXCfRn8RHG3uLcqgDWuTv46tXazXMibSCd-~VJtXf0SKTcUWwYXR7NpMmn1P9QciaZYOmKrCQQMsfRRfA3Y5HZu0F1Ji7lusSAf3mfA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Pender County sheriff briefed the commission on staffing shortfalls across patrol, investigations and detention, and urged the board to consider additional positions and pay adjustments to improve recruitment and retention.

The sheriff said the office originally requested eight new patrol deputies but recognizes budget constraints; he emphasized the operational gap in light of county growth, saying the current staffing translates to \"1 deputy for every 10,000 citizens\" under the department's calculations. He added investigators are carrying large caseloads, reporting roughly \"350 cases assigned to each detective\" last year.

Ongoing operational pressures: the sheriff and staff described persistent overtime: the budget packet and presenters noted roughly $800,000 in overtime so far in FY2024 (a multi-hundred-thousand-dollar annual pattern). The sheriff and commissioners agreed that persistent vacancies force overtime and reduce the ability to staff normal shifts.

Telecommunicator and detention staffing: the sheriff and county staff reported several vacancies in key units: six vacancies in 9-1-1 telecommunicators, four in school resource officers (SROs), two in patrol (with applicants in process), and four detention vacancies. The sheriff flagged the build-out of the new Law Enforcement Center (LEC) as a staffing driver: the LEC will have more beds and operational capacity and the department needs to plan training pipelines and hires in advance of opening.

Pay and recruitment discussion: Commissioners asked about starting pay and competitiveness with neighboring counties. The sheriff and commissioners discussed county pay ranges, noting Onslow County's recent increases; one commissioner urged raising deputy starting salaries toward $58,000 to improve recruitment and reduce overtime costs. The sheriff confirmed competitive pay would help but said qualified applicants remain limited; county staff and the sheriff agreed further analysis of pay compression and total compensation is necessary before changing salary schedules.

Ending: Commissioners asked county staff to run the numbers on potential salary increases and to continue working with the sheriff on vacancy filling and overtime management. The sheriff reiterated the need for additional deputies, detectives and support staff to maintain public safety as the county grows.","The county sheriff told commissioners the department's workload and case assignments outpace current staffing and asked for additional patrol deputies and a lieutenant for training/standards, noting heavy overtime and shortages in investigators and telecommunicators.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6576071,"Pender County fire departments present operating and capital requests; several chiefs cite staffing and equipment needs",2158,4154000,6312000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3176437-23bfbf10d1b8d882898fb84b8f881412&start=4154&end=6312","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3176437-23bfbf10d1b8d882898fb84b8f881412/thumbnail_4154000.jpg","/articles/6576071/Pender-County/North-Carolina/Pender-County-fire-departments-present-operating-and-capital-requests-several-chiefs-cite-staffing-and-equipment-needs","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6576071-679bf0b73fd64c8baac3b900286f4a24/orig.mp4?Expires=1770981075&Signature=hZc4lfmhOMQTXcKYP2NDMs2Pdo4-6MHYmAlVGORxMGJdNSBhLMsVAQLC~wLKr~E~o6VxISZDCDPA0D9JUUYJ2hubJwznZZ4bgnw~Q1j2eyKJrwMV8hKN20wT~YR1o19X2nZRxAPQuIVVLak1uGaDjjH2HvluwJZuZGn~lQAuvZ1QBVEoHUxfZ7Hzxx298S-n~RFm38SHU~FEi5xX9iusf-VFjhjrLCOpYlRdhxIntbeC7XD-19HvmdNZK8JToQRryrxL5PNsakzZi1vSh079MLCYX716W5IlfCVkuM54dVgxmINlskSujf7nD1QY8F-KqRjVprHwwE28x5Sfmylqcw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Fire chiefs and volunteer leaders from Atkinson, Wallace, Rocky Point, Pender Central (Virdot/Pender Central), Maple Hill, Surf City (Northeast Pender) and Penderly delivered their FY25-26 budget presentations to the Pender County Board of Commissioners, describing local needs for staffing retention, equipment replacement and station improvements.

Atkinson Fire Department Chief Rutherford said his district covers about 30 square miles in Pender County and two square miles in a neighboring county. The department asked the county to continue a $138,000 general-fund contribution for paid staffing and requested a $13,243 increase to help with equipment upgrades; the chief said the department has about 24 volunteers and six paid staff.

Wallace Fire Department Chief Tyler Johnson presented a volunteer-operated department that responds to roughly 350 calls a year within its Duplin–Pender district. He said the department is replacing air packs and radios and asked the board to keep the prior tax rate; the county's portion of Wallace's fire-budget request was listed in the packet as $19,833.

Rocky Point Fire Department asked the county again for a general-fund contribution; its proposed budget shows a projected fire-tax revenue of about $787,000 and a request for $250,000 from the county (county staff presented a balanced proposal at $150,000 for the commission packet). The department said it planned to use part of its projected fund balance to buy two quicker-response vehicles (QRVs) and identified payroll and volunteer stipends as large expense items. Chief Short reported roughly 661 calls in the prior year.

Pender Central (Virgoth) and Maple Hill chiefs described staffing and equipment plans. Pender Central said it responded to 271 incidents in its district last year (about 41% of its department's responses) and is seeking additional personnel to meet NFPA staffing expectations; Maple Hill highlighted achieving an ISO Class 4 rating and described a plan to preserve its paid staffing contract while continuing grant-supported equipment purchases.

Surf City Fire Department, which manages the Northeast Pender Fire District under a county partnership, presented a multi-year staffing and capital plan. Chief Wilson said the department's FY25-26 priorities include adding three captain positions (about $200,000), one firefighter ($48,000), Station 205 expansion ($1.5 million), SCBA replacement ($600,000) and other vehicle and facility investments. Wilson emphasized that the Northeast Pender Fire District generates only about $310,000 in tax revenue (roughly 8% of the department's roughly $4 million budget) while the department responds to a large share of calls outside town limits; he asked the county to supplement the district with a $300,000 general-fund contribution in addition to the district tax revenue.

Across presentations, chiefs and commissioners raised common themes: aging apparatus and radios, SCBA and air-pack replacement cycles, volunteer recruitment and retention, the cost and timing of station renovations, and the tension between capital needs and constrained county funding. Several chiefs requested multi-year approaches to raise stipends and gradually bring coaching and other supplements up to competitive regional levels.

Ending: Commissioners heard chiefs' requests and asked staff to confirm spreadsheet details and revenue assumptions; officials flagged the need to reconcile grant awards and county contributions before making final budget choices.","Multiple volunteer and combination fire departments told commissioners their FY25-26 budgets ask the county to maintain current support and, in several cases, to add modest increases for staffing, equipment and station improvements.",{"_33":100,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":101,"_41":102,"_43":103,"_45":104,"_47":105,"_49":106,"_51":107,"_53":108,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":109,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":110,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6576075,"Pender County Schools asks county for increased supplements, staffing and $11.7 million in capital projects",1600,782000,2382000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=3176437-23bfbf10d1b8d882898fb84b8f881412&start=782&end=2382","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/3176437-23bfbf10d1b8d882898fb84b8f881412/thumbnail_782000.jpg","/articles/6576075/Pender-County/North-Carolina/Pender-County-Schools-asks-county-for-increased-supplements-staffing-and-117-million-in-capital-projects","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6576075-f63cea2d97789bd353f32949bcf8e9c3/orig.mp4?Expires=1770981075&Signature=VamSbY5~vkCP0XWjj2cOuTF-Wf4lylUEwWYzcJvbHFskCgRhvdMMuWVAVQ2tcZheb3NrtanVSBCKatf-S9XVEbyyJkj-GqUyX1L2slaBs0SMsssTQsGIt5XBvpvr2Miks9oK~y1X9PDmdW4H7REr2JEEunvr9ZEFU4UnFVEuK~zFgUDEBf7evBxbdTHQJkjf6s6DA7OJ7I3QOFKRKYamD0XpcF1pGNDPRQ9h-AS5jv4T7eLytXPvHi49iRKbgA6YDHJKqJdiXPle4Y2x3dk~mpDyhiS5VNa7HMZtEOVUHCh-zccJBC2F5V46Rc5HhRXLwWry9QS46q0GgVzUtdob0g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Pender County Schools Superintendent Doctor (name not specified) told the county commission that the district's proposed FY2025-26 current expense and capital budgets aim to keep staff in place and advance student supports while absorbing state and health-care cost increases. The district is asking the county to fund a combination of current-expense increases (to maintain existing staff and proposed supplements) and a first-year capital request totaling $11,731,301.

The superintendent said the district lost federal ESSER funds and that local support helped retain positions tied to those grants: \"we were able to keep many of our employees that were tied into it.\" He credited county funding for preserving positions such as nurses and for supporting transportation and technology improvements the board requested this year.

The district framed its current-expense case around three priorities: recruitment, retention and instructional support. The budget proposal includes raising the local supplement for certified staff from 10% to 11% and for classified staff from 5% to 6%, increasing coaching stipends, adding assistant principals to move toward a 1:400 administrator-to-student ratio, and creating advanced teaching roles. The superintendent described the last measure as a way to \"keep our best teachers in the classroom\" by offering higher pay and leadership responsibilities without pushing them into administration.

Why it matters: Pender County Schools reports 10,737 average daily membership (ADM), and the district said the state's change to pay schools in arrears increases budgeting uncertainty: \"if you're gaining students, you just kind of have to suffer it out until the end of the year.\" The district also faces rising retirement contribution rates and higher health insurance costs; county staff presenting the slides said hospitalization per employee is projected to rise from about $8,095 to roughly $8,500 and retirement contributions are expected to increase by 0.63 percentage points.

Capital summary and requests: The superintendent presented a five-year capital improvement plan. For FY25-26 the district requested $11,731,301 for items including $100,000 for engineering/architectural services, roughly $1 million for furniture modernization, $5,623,000 for deferred maintenance projects, $1,790,000 for HVAC work, $1,480,000 for technology as part of a seven-year refresh (cameras, student and teacher devices), $398,000 for transportation fleet replacements and an activity bus, and $725,000 for facility repairs. He told the commissioners the district previously received $2.9 million per year and that the FY25-26 request leaves a gap of $8,831,301 relative to that baseline.

Questions from commissioners ranged across teacher pay and retention, redistricting tied to the new K-8 school, construction progress on the K-8 site and bus-driver recruitment. On bus drivers, the superintendent said the district is \"marketing those positions,\" has increased pay for drivers, and plans a three-tier bell schedule on the east side to reduce the number of buses and offer more full‑time positions with benefits.

The superintendent also flagged a $900,000 federal grant (over three years) to support advanced teaching roles that requires local matching funds of roughly $75,000 per year. He described proposed program investments including STEM, fine arts and student support positions and transition/ACT boot camps for students that site-based teams requested.

Ending: The presentation closed with the superintendent offering to provide additional detail on costs and to answer follow-up questions; commissioners asked staff to model the fiscal impact of reinstating a former graduate-degree supplement for teachers and to return with numbers.

","Pender County Schools Superintendent presented the district's FY25-26 budget request to the commissioners, asking the county to help cover rising retirement and health costs, fund modest local supplement increases and support a $11.73 million first-year capital plan.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Emergency management and fire marshal outline rising mission workload, EOC and equipment needs

Sheriff warns county is understaffed; requests more patrol deputies amid overtime costs and 911 staffing concerns

Pender County fire departments present operating and capital requests; several chiefs cite staffing and equipment needs

Pender County Schools asks county for increased supplements, staffing and $11.7 million in capital projects