Wilson This Week

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Wilson This Week -- Feb. 11, 2026

Nominate our best, brightest, most deserving now

Do you know a person, a group or a business who are working earnestly, steadily, and in the background to make Wilson a nicer place to live? Let’s celebrate them! Nominations are open now for the 55th Human Relations Awards Celebration, sponsored by the Human Relations Commission, and the DisABILITY Awards, presented by the Wilson Committee for Persons with Disabilities. The award program will be in late March, but let’s focus for now on Monday, Feb. 23, the deadline to honor those who deserve the spotlight. This is an easy way to recognize those who are giving a little more. Anyone may know the neighbor who mows yards for people out of town, a coworker organizing meal trains for a family battling cancer, or a restaurant owner who is willing to take a chance on an employee with differing abilities. Everyday heroes are all around us. They don’t ask for applause, but they will get it in March. Every nominee is honored at Wilson’s night of stars. The night’s main prize is the Paul Lee Stevens Humanitarian of the Year Award, named in honor of a well-known humanitarian and typically given to honor a lifetime of giving unselfishly to help the neediest in our community. The event also includes Community Service awards, which are given to outstanding youth, adult or group volunteers. These also honor new initiatives, those working for social justice, and civil servants who go above and beyond their job duties. The DisABILITY awards go to individuals, groups, businesses and educators who are helping people with disabilities find acceptance, education and employment opportunities and live full lives. More information and nomination forms can be found here. We will share more information about the awards program on March 27 closer to that date. For more information, call the City of Wilson’s Human Relations Office (252) 399-2308.

Council meets Feb. 19

City Council will hold its monthly night meeting next Thursday, Feb. 19, beginning at 7 p.m. at Wilson City Hall, 112 Goldsboro St. E. The agenda will be finalized and posted by Monday, Feb. 16.

Watch in person or online

The public is always welcome to attend, but we also make meetings available to watch live online or later. This link will go live right before the meeting begins next Thursday.

Some online payments temporarily unavailable

Some city online payments are not available now due to a major outage from one of the city's payment processing vendor. The outage is with the company that processes payments, not with the city. The city’s website and MyWilson are up and running.

Only credit card payments are affected, including utility payments, Greenlight payments, and payment for building permits and inspections.

Utility and Greenlight bills can be paid through Express Pay by calling 252-399-2200, option 1. Credit card payments are accepted through Express Pay. The drive-thru kiosk located at the Customer Service Center is also available and will take credit card payments. Customers can also pay in person at the Customer Service Center, which is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.

If your payments are on autopay and you have a payment scheduled in the next week, Customer Service staff will reach out to you.

We are investigating options for alternate arrangements for permits and inspections and will provide more information when available.

Cold weather heating up utility bills 

The highest utility bills of the year come in January and February, and this year is no exception. Frigid lows in January and the first part of February will affect your usage and the amount of upcoming utility bills. 

Heating is always the highest part of a utility bill in our part of the country, and when it's very cold outside, it's a challenge for any heating system to keep up. Think of it like walking a treadmill at a 3-5 mph pace; if you suddenly add a 5-10% climb, it becomes much harder to keep up the pace. A common measure of usage is the difference in the outside temperature and your thermostat setting. During the snow in January there were days when that difference was 50 degrees, even if your thermostat is set on the recommended setting. Your heating system was working nearly every hour of every day, which spikes the amount of electricity or natural gas used. 

The only bright spot is the spring months typically have much milder temperatures and lower utility bills. 

The calendar below shows low temperatures for each day in January. The darker blue on the day, the colder the recorded low temperature for that day. The darkest blue shows a low temperature of 25 or below. 

Help shape the future of downtown Wilson

During downtown Wilson’s recent rebrand surveys, many residents shared concerns about parking. We heard you. As downtown continues to grow and evolve, the City of Wilson is updating its Downtown Parking Plan to better serve residents, businesses, employees, and visitors. We’re studying current and future parking demand to improve accessibility, signage, and communication. Your feedback is an important part of this process—please take a few minutes to complete the online survey and share your thoughts:

Looking ahead to spring events 

Spring is just around the corner, and Wilson has a full calendar of events to enjoy:

• March 7 - Compost and Fuel Recycling
• March 20 - Arbor Day celebration
• March 21 - ArtSpin: A Downtown Art Experience 
• March 24 - Easter Egg Dash

We hope to see you out and about this season!