The Town Manager’s Office has published the Recommended Annual Operating Budget for Fiscal Year 2020-2021.
The budget will be presented at the May 19, 2020 Town Council Regular Meeting. and The Town Council will hold Budget Work Session on May 20, 2020 from 9am to 5pm at Town Hall.
Read MoreThe Blood Connection is teaming up with the Garner Police Department to host a blood drive during the 2020 National Law Enforcement Week. The drive will be held on Wednesday, May 13 from 2-7 p.m.
Read Morethe April 21 Town Council meeting is still scheduled to be held, but we expect it to happen remotely. We will have details soon about how the public can view the meeting and submit public comments in advance of it.
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The Town's spring unprepared trash and yard waste collection, which was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will resume April 27. Here are the routes remaining to be collected: Thursday (Purple and Yellow), Friday (Brown and Blue) and Tuesday (Green, Gold and Tan). It may take several weeks to cover these remaining routes. We appreciate your patience as crews work to provide this special service.
Read MoreThe Town of Garner is updating its Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), which governs land use and development regulations in the Town’s jurisdiction. The UDO update will be guided by the Garner Forward Comprehensive Plan.
Public input is an important part of the UDO update, and members of the public are invited to attend a first public meeting--an online forum--to learn about the update process and timeline. This virtual meeting will be hosted by our consulting team from Stewart, Inc., and will be held on April 15 at 2 p.m.
Read MoreFor the first time, in 2020 the U.S. Census Bureau will accept responses online. The process will be quick and secure.
You can respond to the census in less time than it takes to finish your morning coffee. You’ll still be able to respond by mail.
Read MoreTHIS RELEASE IS FROM 2/26/2020 AND IS OUTDATED. PLEASE VISIT THE FOLLOWING LINK FOR UP TO DATE INFORMATION.
Read MoreWe're heading over to the senior center for their Black History Month Celebration in this edition of Garner Update. We'll also check in at town hall where Garner Magnet High and South Garner High students visited and took part in a mock town council meeting through their leadership academy. And learn how you can view the Wake Transit draft plan for 2021 and see how Garner fits into the bigger picture of local transit.
Read MoreThe Town of Garner unanimously approved the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department’s Comprehensive Plan in January.
Read MoreThe first edition of Garner Update in 2020 takes a look at our annual celebration honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We'll also preview Garner Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources popular Groundhog Day event at White Deer Park and don't forget to purchase your tickets now to the next Broadway Voices show coming to the Garner Performing Arts Center next month..
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Garner Police investigators have filed charges in the December 28th reported home invasion at 108 Cedar Lane. Devon Christopher Reese, 23, of Apex, was charged with Felony Breaking and Entering with Intent to Terrorize or Injure, First Degree Kidnapping, and Attempted First Degree Rape.
Read MoreGarner certainly was on the move in 2019. Check out this terrific video and enjoy a look back at all the great things that happened in our dynamic town in 2019.
Read MoreThe Town of Garner's 2019 Popular Annual Financial Report (PAFR), for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019, is now available.
Read MoreIn the last Garner Update of 2019 we welcome our newly elected officials that were sworn into office this month. We'll also recap the historic depot move and tell you what the future plans are for the depot and caboose in downtown Garner. We hope everyone has a wonderful time celebrating with friends and family this holiday season.
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The cancellation of the Garner Christmas Parade which was scheduled for December 7th became the topic of the night at the Garner Town Council Meeting on Monday December 2. Members of the community gathered to share their concerns as new council members were sworn in.
After serving 12 years on the council, Ken Marshburn was sworn in as mayor. Also sworn in were new council members Demian Dellinger, Elmo Vance, and Phil Matthews.
Kathy Behringer was elected to serve as Mayor Pro Tem.
Outgoing mayor Ronnie Williams and council member Buck Kennedy were recognized for their service.
Eight people made public comments and the meeting is available for viewing below.
Councilmembers seated during the decision said the issue should have been discussed months before, spoke on the length of the parade route and the difficulty in securing an event that is not contained to one location, and said that law enforcement provided the information that led to the cancellation.
Possible litigation issues coupled with complaints from Garner residents about the inclusion of controversial groups were said to also be a part of the issues surrounding the parade while the safety of children seemed to be a unanimous and paramount concern of everyone involved in the decision, council and staff.
Credible threats gleaned through law enforcement monitoring of social media and online forums and websites weighed heavily; threats similar to those made against the Wake Forest Christmas parade which Wake Forest officials had initially signaled would continue in the aftermath of Garner’s cancellation.
However, Wake Forest officials announced the cancellation of their Christmas parade on December 4th, providing the following statement found here.
Public comments ranged from anger at cancellation of the parade and bowing threats by outsiders to condemnation of certain groups participating at all. Nearly all were deeply concerned with the precedent set by the cancellation and implications for the future of the parade and other town events.
Watch Public Comments in their entirety below.
With councilmembers and the mayor newly inducted and given the sensitive and passionate nature of the town’s decision to cancel the Christmas Parade, Mayor Mashburn suspended protocol and allowed each councilmembers to make a brief statement after the petitions and comments from the public. Selected are presented below comments below.
“I think people get misled because they think ‘oh they made some comments on facebook and twitter’. These groups, there are all kinds of chat rooms on the dark side of the internet that not only the Garner police monitor; SBI monitors, high patrol monitors. Chief Binns shared some information with us that you are not going to find on facebook and twitter...The difference in Pittsboro, in Chapel Hill, in Durham, and in Charlottesville is this: they were all adults. The parade involves kids, this is why I’m so upset…I wish we had discussed this months ago.”
𑁋Council member Gra Singleton
“To echo what’s already been said, it was a tough decision...It’s one that we have to look at in the future...We should be celebrating peace, we’re looking at frustration and anger right now...It’s imperative that a lesson has been learned, that we have to think things through, and make those hard decisions early on, and debate them out early on so that this will not happen again.”
𑁋Council member Elmo Vance
“I’d rather err on the side of personal safety for the good citizens of this town, rather than to be known as a town where a terrible tragedy occurred. I think if some of you visited the good people in Charlottesville today you would hear of the trauma that many are still undergoing as a result of the bad things that have happened in terms of their reputation...I do think that we will have an opportunity as a new council to discuss some of these very concerns that have been mentioned here this evening. I don’t personally believe that this is the end of our Christmas parade, and I will do all I can as mayor to either put together an organization or group that can basically study and look at this issue...This was not a flippant decision, it wasn’t based on skewed information, it was based on very solid information as far as I’m concerned and indicates that public safety is something that we can’t guarantee.”
𑁋 Mayor Ken Marshburn
Watch full Town Council Member statements below
The Garner News is continuing to gather verified information and will continue its coverage of the Christmas Parade issue as it continues in to 2020.
The Town of Garner has decided to cancel the 2019 Garner Christmas Parade, which was scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 7, due to concern that the event could be targeted for disruption.
Read MoreDon't miss out on the latest episode of Garner Update. We're recapping the latest municipal election results and saying farewell to Garner's Chief of Police, Brandon Zuidema. Take a closer look inside the new Amazon Fulfillment Center on Jones Sausage Road and be sure to head out to our next Pop-Up Town Hall where we'll be focusing on the town's partnership with Garner Fire-Rescue. Finally, The Wall that Heals is making it's way to Garner. Learn more about why the traveling monument is stopping in our All-America City next year.
Read MoreGarner celebrated its heroes on Monday, Nov. 11 during its 11th annual Veterans Day Observance at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
Read MoreCindy Parsons, who is an advocate for recovering U.S. military personnel, will be the featured speaker Monday at the Town of Garner’s annual Veterans Day observance at Aversboro Road Baptist Church.
Read MoreIn this episode of Garner Update Arlie Kidd takes you behind the scenes of a new play coming to the GPAC, we'll catch up with Garner Police and learn about their partnership with the Ring App and don't forget about downtown Garner's Trick- or- Eat food truck rodeo happening this weekend on Main Street.
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