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Wilson This Week -- April 19, 2022

City Council tours Foundation YMCA; Celebrates Pine Nash Development Milestones

The Wilson City Council recently toured all of the projects included in the Pine Nash development in downtown Wilson. On Thursday, April 7 they toured the Foundation YMCA, specifically to learn more about the future aquatics programs that will offered in the facility. After the tour, they continued their breakfast meeting and considered an agreement with the Foundation Y to provide aquatics programming to the Wilson community outside of YMCA membership. The new facility will operate like a public pool with full access to the pool available without becoming a YMCA member. The city will provide an annual allocation of $150,000 in exchange for the pool’s public access.

City Council members approved the agreement with several changes to the draft prepared by the YMCA. The YMCA board will now consider the changes, and the City Council may need another vote to approve.

“This vote is not necessarily final,” said Grant Goings, Wilson City Manager. “The two boards are still in the back-and-forth stage with the agreement, so the Council’s action on Thursday may need to be revisited at a future meeting.”

The fate of the City’s two current public pool was not discussed at Thursday’s meeting. The pools will operate during the summer 2022 season as planned. The Council will discuss the Reid Street and Recreation Park pools in the fall, once the Foundation YMCA is open.

On Friday, April 8, members of the City Council, along with community leaders and development partners, celebrated the completion of Wilson’s first parking deck and the start of construction on the Centro at Pine Nash. While construction of the parking deck is now complete, a few necessary items will be completed before the deck opens to the public in May. A groundbreaking was held for the Centro at Pine Nash project, with construction expected to be complete in 2024.

Free Paper Shredding

In association with Spring Clean Up Week there will be a free Paper Shredding event at 1501 Ward Blvd (old Wilson Mall) near Abrams in the vacant parking lot on Saturday, April 30, 8 am to noon.

Free Mulch Giveaway

Also with Spring Clean Up Week, the city's environmental services department will have a Mulch Giveaway at Toisnot Park, 1500 NE Corbett Ave., on Saturday, April 30, 8 am to noon.

City Council meets this Thursday

The Wilson City Council is set to meet this Thursday. Agenda items include new rules for food trucks, rezoning requests at 5333 N.C. Highway 58 and 1300 Tobacco Road, and a condemnation notice for 1310 Nash St. SE. The public is welcome to attend the meeting which begins at 7 p.m., City Hall, 112 Goldsboro St. E, (enter via the alleyway). The meeting will also be broadcast online and on Wilson's Channel 8.

Busy Spring Weekend in Wilson

This Thursday, April 21, Gig in the Park concert series starts back up. With the Band of Oz kicking off the spring season. Wilson Downtown Development and the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park are your hosts for this FREE spring concert series. You'll be rocking to the best of the 80s and 90s, R&B, Soul, Funk, the British Invasion, and East Coast Beach Music while chowing down from a wide selection of food trucks. Ice cold beverages for the adults and fun activities for the kiddos! ~ Bring a chair or blanket ~ ID required to purchase beer/wine ~ No outside beverages or coolers ~ Check ExploreWilson.com after 10am on concert day in case of inclement weather

This Friday, April 22, we will meet everyone out at the Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park for another Movie in the Park, 2021's "Cruella,"  a live action Disney film starring Emma Stone as the young Cruella de Vil of the “101 Dalmatians” film. Emma Stone was nominated for a 2022 Golden Globe for the movie, which is also certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. These movies are shown on an inflated screen in the park, and the sound is projected from speakers. People are welcome to arrive as early as 7 p.m. and set up blankets or lawn chairs to sit and watch. The movies begin after sunset, around 8 p.m. You can bring your own refreshments (no alcohol, please), but 3 Stars Kettle Corn will be on site selling popcorn and drinks. Other food options surrounding the park will be The Hub (pizza) and food trucks, Aroma De Cuba and Taste of Texas.

This Saturday, April 23, in lieu of Fair Housing Month the city of Wilson Human Relations office and Community Development and Revitalization office in partnership with the Wilson Housing Authority, and Wilson Community Improvement Association brings you a Steps To Home Ownership Workshop. Free event. Pre-Registration is Required, call 252-399-2308 Topics will include: - Steps to Home Buying - Establish and maintain good credit habits and scores - Start repairing damaged credit - Start budgeting and developing a savings plan

NC Department of Transportation Spring Litter Sweep

The 2022 Spring Litter Sweep is taking place April 16-30​. ​​​Traditionally scheduled for the last two weeks of April and September, Litter Sweep is the N.C. Department of Transportation’s biannual statewide roadside litter removal initiative. Residents throughout the state participate in local efforts to help clean up North Carolina's roadways.  In addition to volunteers, NCDOT maintenance crews devote one week of their time to pick up litter and collect orange bags placed on the roadsides by volunteer pickups. Volunteers are provided cleanup supplies, such as reversible orange/blue trash bags, gloves and orange safety vests​ from their local NCDOT County Maintenance Yard office. Our Wilson NC DOT Coordinator is Sybil Stancil at 252-462-2582 or contact through the NCDOT website https://www.ncdot.gov/initiatives-policies/environmental/adoptahighway/Pages/coordinators.aspx For supplies, contact the NCDOT County Maintenance Office at 252-640-6460.

Spring Clean Up Week | April 25 - 29

Each spring, the City of Wilson hosts a week-long Spring Clean Up week, a time for Wilson residents to clean out all the bulky items and junk accumulated over the winter. We also host events like the Shred-a-Thon and Mulch Giveaway. Spring Clean Up Week coincides with the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Spring Litter Sweep, helping us focus on sprucing up our homes and our community. This year, Spring Clean-Up Week will be April 24-30. Beginning Monday, environmental services crews will collect: Furniture and bulky items (chair, table, sofa, etc.), which are loadable by two people Appliances and other “white goods” (stove, water heater, washer, dryer, etc.) Tires Other junk Yard waste including pine straw, leaves, clippings & limbs Car frames and construction debris will not be collected. Please separate items for Spring Clean-Up Week from normal garbage and recyclable containers. Place items behind the curb, three feet from trees, mailboxes and utility poles, and out of storm drains, gutters and sidewalks.

Register for Gig East Summit | May 20

Transforming E.A.S.T. is Gig East’s 2022 Summit, a full day of Entrepreneurship, Art, Science, and Technology. A day to inspire, create, and ignite Wilson’s innovative spirit. Explore Wilson’s arts community, tech culture, and coworking space, the Gig East Exchange. You’ll hear from the featured keynote, Kenia Thompson, one panel of local innovators, and attend interactive breakout sessions across two tracks for community leaders, entrepreneurs, artists, and tech lovers alike. All events are free and everyone is welcome.