Click here, or, if your aim is good, click the bear at left to see the PDF of the Master Parking Plan Advisory Committee’s recommendations to the Board of Aldermen on Nov. 21. A public hearing will be held on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018 at 7 p.m. at City Hall to gather public feedback and input to these recommendations. (Note: The presentation says Jan. 8. The public hearing is Jan. 9, 2018 at 7 p.m.) Read More →
The New Bern Police Department’s “Holiday Task Force” has been activated and includes a special deployment of officers to provide specific patrol in heavily trafficked areas during the holiday season. The task force operations began on Black Friday, Nov. 24, and will run through New Year’s Day, Jan. 1, 2018. The hours of deployment will vary based on seasonal activity and other factors that may affect the special operation. The task force is comprised of patrol and traffic enforcement officers, detectives, and others working in an undercover capacity to proactively monitor the targeted areas for opportunistic crimes. The Holiday Task Force is intended to provideRead More →
In 1992, the same year Bill Clinton was elected to his first term as president, the City of New Bern installed a software system called Banner. It’s still in use today, even though the software developer got out of the municipal software business long ago and focuses on education institutional software now. Only one person among the 450 who work at New Bern City Hall knows how to maintain the Banner system, and the company that makes it will stop supporting the version the city uses in early 2018. The city’s aging software system has been a subject of conversation by city leaders for atRead More →
Each December on National Wreaths Across America Day, wreath-laying ceremonies are held at Arlington National Cemetery, as well as over 1,200 additional locations in all 50 U.S. states, at sea, and abroad. This year, the event falls on Dec. 16, and one of the locations will be New Bern National Cemetery. Ken Dimpsey of National Wreaths Across America said there are four national cemeteries in North Carolina — New Bern, Wilmington, Salisbury and Raleigh. New Bern’s is the largest in the state, with 1,517 souls buried there. The organization is accepting donations of to cover the $15-per-live-wreath cost. “The main thing we’re trying to doRead More →
The city and N.C. Railroad Company are extending an agreement to allow refurbishment of the disused Union Station Train Depot off Queen Street until 2021. The project began in 2009 with “a couple of hiccups” along the way, said Alderman Dallas Blackiston, who has been involved in the project from the start, predating his term as alderman, which began in 2013. New Bern Preservation Foundation is in charge of the project and funding. It has a goal to raise $1.2 million to pay for a five-phase project to rehabilitate the railroad station, which, for a time, was the hub of transportation in New Bern thatRead More →
CITY OF NEW BERN BOARD OF ALDERMEN WORK SESSION NOVEMBER 21, 2017 – 6:00 P.M. CITY HALL COURTROOM 300 POLLOCK STREET 1. Presentation of Recommendations from the Master Parking Plan Advisory Committee. 2. Presentation on Financial Software System. (See Backup) 3. Consider Adopting a Resolution Approving a Contract with Tyler Technologies, Inc. for a Financial Software System. (See Backup) 4. Consider Adopting a Budget Ordinance to Establish the ERP Project Fund. (See Backup) 5. Consider Adopting a Resolution Approving a Declaration of Intent to Reimburse for the ERP Project. (See Backup) 6. Adjourn.Read More →
It’s been about a month since I launched my local news site, https://www.newbernpost.com, as a hobby and as a personal mission to keep a journalistic watch over local government since that responsibility has been shirked by the local corporate-owned news media, including the Sun Journal, where I was executive editor until last month. I don’t post every day … early on, I posted once or twice a week. This week, it looks like I will be posting most days. But this is a hobby, a spare time thing, and I have a day job and other responsibilities. Over the last two weeks of October, startingRead More →
By the time you read this, the City of New Bern should be the owner of 55 acres that will added to a planned mega-park off South Glenburnie Road that will total 888 acres with an amphitheater that seats at least 3,500 people. As announced in September, Martin Marietta has agreed to donate 55 acres of property at the quarry site off South Glenburnie Road for a park and outdoor amphitheater. Aldermen accepted the agreement Tuesday and the deal was expected to close on Wednesday. The agreement includes the following provisions: the park will be known as “Martin Marietta Park” and the name of theRead More →
This article is a stub while I wait to receive the news release from Billy Joiner. Meanwhile, here is his bio from the Town of Trent Woods website: Commissioner/Mayor Pro Tem “Resident for 39 years” Worked for Sprint for 37 years Married with 2 daughters, sons-in-law and 4 grandchildren Retired from the West of New Bern Volunteer Fire Department with 20 years Active member of Tabernacle Baptist Church Crossing Guard of Bangert Elementary School 20 years as a referee for youth basketball & umpire for youth baseball Serves on Town’s Citizens Emergency Response Team Shriner & Mason Serves on local Community Watch program Retired military E-8Read More →
New Bern Ward 3 Alderman ET Mitchell says she is running for the District 4 Craven County commissioner seat that Scott Dacey is giving up in his run for Congress. Mitchell said she would be a “voice of reason and common sense” on the Craven County Board of Commissioners. She joins Trent Woods Town Commissioner Billy Joiner in the District 4 race. Unofficial word of Mitchell’s candidacy has been spreading for about two months now. In fact, on my last day as executive editor at the Sun Journal on on Oct. 13, I alerted reporters there to keep an ear out for her announcement alongRead More →