Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/599598
8 NOVEMBER 11-17, 2015 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Parks & Rec Issues Heat Up The Fayetteville City Council is taking charge of a 2016 Parks Bond Referendum. Council has one new member as it heads into a new two-year term of office, with Kirk deViere's election to succeed Kady- Ann Davy. During the recent work session, the councilappeared to be impatient with the city's management team. Deputy City Manager Kristoff Bauer in particular drew the ire of Mayor Nat Robertson and Councilmen Jim Arp and Mitch Colvin. Arp told his colleagues he wasn't "…going to take his (expletive) lip" anymore, accus- ing Bauer of playing a shell game and of using smoke and mirrors to explain four possible referendum funding scenarios to council. The presentation at the work session went into great detail, but Bauer's PowerPoint was confusing to the council. Members also contend the administra- tion has taken liberties with the budget preparation that council did not authorize. For example, council members learned, to their surprise, that the administra- tion decided to pay for a new fire station by taking out a 15-year loan. Council unanimously thought they had authorized a cash payment for the fire house. City Manager Ted Voorhees wasn't at the last work session. Bauer asked council to hold their ques- tions until the end of his presentation, but that didn't work out. Councilman Mitch Colvin insisted on asking questions as they arose. Robertson agreed. Council member Larry Wright asked his colleagues to stop being disrespectful to one another. Arp was frustrated that the manager's office hasn't prepared any data for the council concerning the cost to operate new facilities that are in line for fund- ing by the bond issue. Arp wants his colleagues to slow the planning process down even if it means putting off the bond vote until next November. Mayor Robertson told Up & Coming Weekly "Council is being pigeon-holed into action now to meet the March deadline." Fire Department Harnesses Technol- ogy to Make City Safer The Fayetteville Fire Department is using a new technology to enhance emergency responses. Fire Chief Ben Major says the department no longer dispatches units based only on zones where fire houses are located. Instead, it sends units closest to the scenes using GPS technology. All fire engines, rescue units and squads have been outfitted with automatic vehicle locators. In 2010, the Cumberland County Public Safety Task Force recommended that all city and county emergency units have au- tomatic vehicle locators. Emergency Ser- vices Director Randy Beeman expects the system to be fully implemented by early 2016. There are 17 fire stations spread across Fayetteville. The department was recognized by the State Insurance Com- missioner for achieving a Public Protection Classification One from the Insurance Services Office. Only a handful of other fire departments in the state have acquired the distinction including Greensboro, Charlotte and now Fayetteville. There are fewer than 50 ISO-1 rated fire departments in the entire nation. The agency formed in 1971 as an advisory and rating organization for the property/casualty insurance industry to provide statistical and actuarial services and to assist insurance companies in meeting state regulatory requirements. The ISO-1 rating means that, among other things, commercial insurance rates are among the lowest available. ISO looks at three aspects of a community's fire- suppression system in determining its risk rating: 911 dispatch, the fire department and available water supply. The Fayetteville Fire Department was in- ternationally accredited by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International in 2011. The CFAI provides templates and tools that organizations embrace with a desire to provide effective and efficient services to the community. Labor Secretary Under Scrutiny RALEIGH - Is North Carolina Labor Secretary Cherie Berry doing her job on behalf of workers, or is she sym- pathetic to the business community? Recently retired State Rep. Rick Gla- zier of Fayetteville says the evidence suggests it's the latter. Last month The News & Observer of Raleigh last month published a series of articles on Berry's tenure concluding that for years the Labor Department has rarely pushed uncooperative companies to settle debts with their employees. The newspaper reviewed reports from nearly 50 cases in fiscal year 2014 that resulted in little or no money for workers. Berry, a Republican, has been in office for 15 years. Glazier, who is considered an expert in labor law and who is now the Executive Director of the N.C. Justic Center, said "I am very concerned that there is lit- tle substantive work being done to enforce the wage and safety and health statutes in the state in an aggressive manner." When The News & Observer found problems within the Wage and Hour Division, Berry blamed them on the former administrator, Val Eucare. She brought in a new administrator in March and, in a recent interview, vowed to make improvements. Eucare said he resigned Dec. 31. He said problems within the unit had mounted for years, and despite his constant requests for help to the depart- ment's top brass, he got none. "With (Berry), Wage and Hour … is at the bot- tom of the totem pole," Eucare said. Since 2006, the state has paid at least $72 million to 17 companies that ended up failing to pay workers' wages they earned in 2014. The state expected those companies to deliver through the Medicaid federal/state health plan for the poor and LOCAL NEWS BRIEFS by JEFF THOMPSON JEFF THOMPSON, Senior News Reporter. 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