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Last evening (May 2, 2022) County Manager McMillen presented the recommended FY22-23 budget to the board of commissioners.  The complete budget document is available on the county website.  Click here for the document.  

For information on the 2024 Tax Revaluation Process click here.

NOTICE TO BIDDERS
Sealed proposals will be received until 2:00pm on March 22, 2022, in the Vance County Administrative Conference Room, at 122 Young St, Henderson, NC for the construction of the Vance County Department of Social Services Relocation – Head Start Renovation at which time and place bids will be publicly opened and read.

Department of Social Services Relocation
Vance County Head Start Renovations
Vance County

The Project includes approximately 8,840 square feet of renovation area including one classroom wing and a small area of the senior center, and an ADA ramp out of the Gymnasium. Renovations consist primarily of selective demolition and associated new work, some new finishes, new exterior windows and doors, and all associated plumbing, mechanical, electrical and fire alarm work. Limited site work is also included.

Bids will be received for Single Prime Contracts. All proposals shall be lump sum.

Pre-Bid Meeting

An open Pre-bid Meeting will be held at 2:00pm on March 15, 2022, at the project site located at 500 N Beckford Drive, Henderson, NC 27536. The meeting will address project specific questions, issues, bidding procedures and bid forms.

Complete plans, specifications and contract documents will be open for inspection in the offices of Oakley Collier Architects, P.A., 109 Candlewood Rd, Rocky Mount, North Carolina 27804 at 252-937-2500, and in the plan rooms of the Carolinas Associated General Contractors, Raleigh, NC, in the local North Carolina offices of Dodge Data & Analytics, and in the Eastern Regional Office of Construction Market Data in Norcross, GA and in Minority Plan Rooms in the NC Institute of Minority Economic Development, Inc in Durham, NC and in East Coast Digital – Minority Plan Room Provider, Greenville, NC.

Complete plans and specifications for this project are available free of charge for a Digital Download or for $350.00 (refundable) deposit by cash or certified check for hard copies. Either format can be obtained from Oakley Collier Architects, 109 Candlewood Road, Rocky Mount, NC 27804 (252.937.2500) beginning March 3, 2022, during normal office hours. Plans will also be available in the plan rooms of the Carolinas Associated General Contractors, Raleigh, NC, in the local North Carolina offices of Dodge Data & Analytics, and in the Construct Connect in Norcross, GA and in Minority Plan Rooms in the NC Institute of Minority Economic Development, Inc in Durham, NC and in East Coast Digital – Minority Plan Room Provider, Greenville, NC.

All contractors are hereby notified that they must have proper license as required under the state laws governing their respective trades.

General contractors are notified that Chapter 87, Article 1, General Statutes of North Carolina, will be observed in receiving and awarding general contracts. General contractors submitting bids on this project must have license classification for “Unlimited”.

Each proposal shall be accompanied by a cash deposit or a certified check drawn on some bank or trust company insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, of an amount equal to not less than five percent (5%) of the proposal or in lieu thereof a bidder may offer a bid bond of five percent (5%) of the bid executed by a surety company licensed under the laws of North Carolina to execute such bonds, conditioned that the surety will, upon demand forthwith make payment to the obligee upon said bond if the bidder fails to execute the contract in accordance with the bid bond. Said deposit shall be retained by the Owner as liquidated damages in event of failure of the successful bidder to execute the contract within ten days after the award or to give satisfactory surety as required by law.

A Performance Bond and a Payment Bond will be required for one hundred percent (100%) of the contract price.

Payment will be made based on ninety-five percent (95%) of monthly estimates and final payment made upon completion and acceptance of work.

No bid may be withdrawn after the scheduled closing time for the receipt of bids for a period of 60 days.

The owner reserves the right to reject any or all bids and to waive informalities.

Owner: Jordan McMillen, County Manager
Vance County
122 Young St, Suite B
Henderson, NC 27536

Architect: Oakley Collier Architects, PA
109 Candlewood Rd
Rocky Mount, NC 27804

The County Commissioners will hold their annual planning retreat from 9AM to 2PM on Thursday, March 3rd.  The meeting will occur in the commissioners meeting room and they intend to discuss results from the salary survey, review financial and budget outlook, review proposed Capital Projects, and establish goals for the coming year.

Due to the inclement weather, the commissioners meeting scheduled for this evening (January 3, 2022) has been postponed until next Monday, January 10, 2022 at 6PM.

CLICK HERE FOR UPDATED ELECTORAL DISTRICTS MAP APPROVED 11/17/2021

PRINTABLE MAPS (BY DISTRICT)

District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7

REDISTRICTING PROCESS AND RESOURCES
2020 Census results require Vance County to redraw existing districts for the Board of County Commissioners and the Board of Education.  The county held three public listening sessions (September 28th, October 11th, and October 18th) which led to the development of three potential options for district changes.  On 11/17/2021 the commissioners approved the revised electoral districts which were in line with Option C below.  The links below provide the various options that were developed.

• CLICK HERE FOR: OPTION A-1 REDISTRICTING CHANGES
• CLICK HERE FOR: OPTION B-1 REDISTRICTING CHANGES
• CLICK HERE FOR: OPTION C REDISTRICTING CHANGES

REFERENCE MAPS AND DATA
CLICK HERE FOR: CHART – CENSUS 2020 – POPULATION BY ELECTORAL DISTRICT
CLICK HERE FOR: MAP – CURRENT VANCE COUNTY ELECTORAL DISTRICTS
CLICK HERE FOR: MAPS – CENSUS 2020 – POPULATION
CLICK HERE FOR: MAP – 2020 CENSUS BLOCKS – SHADED DISTRICTS
CLICK HERE FOR: MAP – 2020 CENSUS BLOCKS – OUTLINED DISTRICTS

BASIS FOR REDRAWING DISTRICT LINES
I. POPULATION EQUALITY – ONE PERSON, ONE VOTE.
The U.S. Supreme Court has held state elected governing bodies must have population equality among election districts, often referred to as the principle of “one person, one vote.” In Reynolds v. Sims, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires population equality in state legislative districts. Article II, Sections 3 and 5 of the N.C. Constitution also requires that both houses of the North Carolina legislature must be redistricted according to population. The U.S. Supreme Court has applied these principles to county and municipal elections districts as well.

II. CALCULATION OF IDEAL POPULATION AND DEVIATION FROM THE IDEAL
To comply with the “one person, one vote” standard, an ideal population is established for each district by dividing the population by the number of elected officials to be elected from districts. Based on 2020 census data, North Carolina is the 10th largest state in the nation, with a total Vance County population of 42,578. There are seven members of the County Commission and School Board elected from districts and thus the ideal population for the districts is 6,083. The lowest population district three is 94% of that ideal or 5,732 and the highest population district seven is 113% of the ideal or 6,880. The chart below shows the approximate population deviation in each of the seven current county commissioner/school board districts.

Some deviation from precisely equal districts is permitted for state and local government bodies. A series of rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court has established that an overall range of population deviation from the ideal population of less than 10 percent will not be a prima facie violation of the Equal Protection Clause. (Brown vs. Thompson, 462 U.S. 835 (1983)). The N.C. Constitution has been interpreted to require a stricter standard, however. In 2002, the N.C. Supreme Court in Stephenson v. Bartlett, required that no State House or State Senate district may have a census population that is five percent (5%) greater or five percent (5%) smaller than the ideal population for a House or Senate district. No North Carolina case has held this to be the standard for local elected districts however, among election law practitioners it is considered prudent to draft districts to meet both the 10% overall deviation range required by federal law and the plus or minus 5% required by state law. The 10% deviation range for Vance County would be 608 voters. The 5% deviation range would be 304.

III. TRADITIONAL REDISTRICTING CRITERIA
As a legal matter the one-person one vote standard, the Voting Rights Act standards, the equal protection standards and the political gerrymandering standards are required by law. Even if a jurisdiction adheres to these legal standards, a jurisdiction may voluntarily adopt additional criteria for a jurisdiction which are “second order” standards. Put differently after a plan has satisfied the legal requirements a jurisdiction if it plans to consistently apply a standard can adopt additional criteria by which to guide the map drawer. A few of these are listed below:

1. Compactness
2. Contiguity
3. Maintaining communities of interest
4. Maintaining the least change in current election districts
5. Protecting incumbent commissioners by not placing two existing commissioners in the same new districts
6. Using whole precincts to make election administration easier and avoid voter confusion

The decision to adopt additional redistricting criteria is a discretionary one with the county commission.

Click here for more information.

You can download the RFP here.

Click Here for the Open Broadband August, 2021 Newsletter.  Open Broadband continues making progress to bring high speed wireless internet service to the unserved and underserved areas of Vance County

Vance County and the City of Henderson have partnered with Open Broadband to provide free public Wi-Fi in downtown Henderson.  Service is available outdoors along Garnett Street from Rose Avenue to Orange Street.  Service is also available surrounding the County Courthouse and Plaza, City Hall, the City Police Station, McGregor Hall and Perry  Memorial Library.  The network name is Open Henderson and can be accessed free of charge!

Additionally, Vance County has partnered with Open Broadband and has provided free public Wi-Fi in Kittrell.  Service in Kittrell is available in the Dollar General, Kittrell Grocery, Shell gas station and post office parking lots along US 1 South.  The network name is Open Kittrell and can be accessed free of charge!