Public Notices

PENDER COUNTY –  With a probable tropical storm approaching this week, now is the perfect time to sign up for real-time public safety messages.

Pender County has contracted with Nixle to implement a Community Notification System to alert residents of localized emergencies and relevant community advisories. This will replace CodeRed which has been used by Pender County Emergency Management for several years.

“Our priority is the health and safety of our residents,” said Tommy Batson, Pender County Emergency Management Director. “We urge all of residents, businesses, and visitors of Pender County to register for this free community alert system.”

There are three ways to register:

Go to www.pendercountync.gov and sign up via the Nixle Widget

Text your Zip Code to 888777 from your mobile phone

Download the Everbridge (Nixle Alert) App on your mobile phone.

Once registered, residents will receive a confirmation text on their mobile device. Residents may also customize their alert settings by going to www.nixle.com to create a User Profile.

Landline telephone numbers are automatically updated every month and will receive voice alerts, so no action is necessary if a resident only uses a landline.

“This service is secure, reliable, and easy to use,” said Batson. “The service will alert residents to weather conditions, wildfires, and more by geographic location.”

All Alerts will be targeted geographically, allowing residents to receive localized, relevant alerts from Pender County. Alerts can be sent via Text messaging, Email, Voice, Web, Social Media, and the Nixle Mobile App in an instant.

Nixle, founded in 2009, is known for its data security. The company serves more than 7,200 agencies within the United States for emergency alerts.

For questions or concerns call Pender County Emergency Management at 910-259-1210.

Pender County spending increases by 14.7 percent to $189.66 million

PENDER COUNTY – Domestic and international visitors to and within Pender County spent $189.66 million in 2022, an increase of 14.7 percent from 2021. The data comes from an annual study commissioned by Visit North Carolina, a unit of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina.

“The tourism industry in Pender County continues to grow and once again, visitor spending hit an all-time high in our county,” said Tammy Proctor, Pender County Tourism Director. “Tourism is driven by natural resources and outdoor recreation, history, agriculture and aquaculture, and film. Pender County offers visitors all these attractions.”

The travel and tourism industry in Pender County directly employs more than 1,004. The total payroll generated by the tourism industry in Pender County was $39.6 million.

The state tax revenue generated in Pender County totaled $6.2 million through state sales and excise taxes, and taxes on personal and corporate income. About $8.9 million in local taxes were generated from sales and property tax revenue from travel-generated and travel-supported businesses. The taxes generated by visitors save each Pender County resident $231.98.

The statistics come from the “Economic Impact of Travel on North Carolina Counties 2022.” The study was prepared for Visit North Carolina by Tourism Economics in collaboration with the US Travel Association.

Statewide, visitor spending in 2022 rose 15.2 percent to reach a record $33.3 billion. Urban areas, which experienced a decline during the pandemic have rebounded.

“North Carolina’s tourism industry draws its success from the authentic culture and experiences that flourish across a spectrum of settings,” said Wit Tuttell, Visit NC’s executive director. “The new report from Tourism Economics shows growth beyond our celebrated mountains and beaches to our urban centers and surrounding suburban and rural counties. Tourism’s strength across the state underscores the industry’s role as an anchor of economic development. The money visitors spend benefits everyone by sustaining jobs and reducing the tax burden for every resident.”

“The tourism industry is vital to the economic development of our county,” said Proctor. “For the last five years, Pender County has set new visitor spending records and increased the number of jobs. That’s excellent economic development.”

UPDATE:

System Pressure Advisory – posted Aug. 16, 2023

Water customers of Pender County Utilities, in Pender County, including all customers except for the Hampstead area may be affected by low pressure or no water service.  Approximately 4000+ customers are impacted at this time on Aug. 16 at 3 a.m.

The water outage is due to the Main water transmission line on 421 that ruptured that feeds water from the west side to all of Pender County. Crews are out working, and some water flow has been established in those areas from other sources and looped areas

Water service will be returned upon completion of the work. Periods of low or no pressure in the distribution system increase the potential for back siphonage and the introduction of bacteria into the water system.

Therefore, consumers in the area noted above are advised to boil all water used for human consumption (including drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes, and food preparation) or use bottled water until this advisory is lifted. This advisory will be in effect for a minimum of 24 hours.

Vigorous boiling for one (1) minute should kill any disease-causing organisms that may be present in the water. Water customers are strongly urged to conserve water whenever possible.

This advisory remains in effect until further written notification is issued.

This advisory will go in effect on Wednesday 8-16-23 at 3 a.m. Testing will determine after 24 hours that water is safe for consumption or if another 24hrs the boil water will remain.

The N.C. Office of Digital Equity and Literacy is collecting information about all organizations offering services that help people get online across the state. We want to learn about organizations, businesses, and programs that support internet affordability, access to computers and digital devices, digital skills and literacy, tech support, and free wifi. All resources shared through this survey will be published publicly and used to identify assets and gaps in the state’s comprehensive Digital Equity Plan.

If you are an organization, business, school, or agency that offers any of these services, we ask you to complete this survey. You will be able to download your response for your records once you have completed it. The survey should take anywhere between 10-30 minutes to complete, depending on the number of programs you are including.

You can take the survey using this link:
Take the Survey

Or copy and paste the URL below into your internet browser:
https://ncsu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6t08BwvYUuxnmui?Q_DL=aUu9KMVYAEcofRK_6t08BwvYUuxnmui_CGC_P3G0kxgt6fOdkxt&Q_CHL=email

If you would like to review the questions in advance, please see the attached PDF document. Note that you will not be asked to answer all of the questions in this document, only ones that related to the services offered by your organization. You can use the table of contents to go to the relevant sections for your programs.