Public Comments Highlight Community Frustrations Over Violence, Water Bills and Property Neglect

By Miles Layton

PLYMOUTH — A grieving family demanded a public apology from a local newspaper, a police captain defended his department’s response to recent shootings, and an engineer unveiled a nearly complete downtown transformation plan at a packed Plymouth Town Council meeting this week.

Captain Kevin Phelps of the Plymouth Police Department provided a detailed update on several recent shootings that have unnerved the community, telling council members that arrests have been made in connection with the Water Street incident while other investigations remain active and ongoing. See our story here about the recent shootings.

“The Main Street shooting incident is still under investigation, and it’s coming to a close,” Phelps told council. “Arrests have been made out of the unfortunate event that occurred down on Water Street.”

Phelps also pushed back against public criticism that officers had failed to respond to calls preceding the January 2nd shooting. He said he personally responded to a report of five to six males walking toward town, spent ten minutes in the area and made contact with multiple people before clearing the scene.

“When you open up the door and you don’t see an officer, that does not mean that we’re always not in the area,” he said. “We do respond to every 911 call that we get.”

He also clarified a January 7th incident on Washington Street, where a woman claimed officers never responded after she reported shots fired. Phelps said his sergeant was in the area, heard eight to ten shots, searched the area and was unable to locate anything. A second call revealed the woman’s house had been struck by gunfire — information she had not provided in her initial call.

“The dispatcher told her, ‘Well you failed to tell us that the first time at all,’” Phelps said. Shell casings were recovered and the investigation continues.

Mayor Crystal Davis praised the department and noted the difficulty of policing in a small, tight-knit community where witnesses fear retaliation.

“It’s not just a matter of them just snitching — they’re afraid,” Davis said. “This is a small town, and when someone tells somebody, someone automatically knows. These people talk, and that person will know. And now this person is scared that they have put their family in jeopardy.”

Phelps acknowledged that community cooperation is critical, revealing that the department’s biggest obstacle is not finding witnesses but keeping them in court.

“Ninety-nine percent of the information that we get comes from the community,” he said. “The question is, are they going to come to court and testify? If they don’t come to court and testify, they are not able to use that information, and that’s what we’re running into with a lot of our cases.”

He added that the department remains four officers short of full staff and is actively recruiting, with one cadet set to begin training at Beaufort Community College.

Family Demands Apology Over Slain Nephew’s Coverage

The most emotionally charged moment of the evening came during public comments, when Wanda Pettiford addressed the council on behalf of her family, who is mourning the death of Quadree Khalil Pettiford.

Pettiford did not direct her comments at the council itself but used the public forum to call on The Roanoke Beacon to issue a formal apology over how her nephew was characterized in a headline following his death.

“In an article published by The Roanoke Beacon, my nephew was described in the headline (Man jailed for murdering ex-girlfriend’s new beau) as a ‘new beau,’” she told council. “To our family, in the context of a young man who had just been murdered, it felt careless, heartless, dismissive, and deeply insensitive.”

She said the language was especially painful because Pettiford had lived with his 93-year-old grandmother.

“At this stage in her life, she should not have to open the newspaper and read that type of language about her grandson,” Pettiford said. “No grandmother should have to relive that grief through headlines that minimize the life of someone she loves.”

She also objected to the article linking Quadree’s story to a separate, unrelated shooting at the end of the piece.

“Words matter, especially in a small community like ours,” she said. “Tonight our family is simply asking for accountability and compassion. A public apology will not erase our loss, but it will show that dignity, empathy, and responsibility still matter in our community.”

And I’ll defend the Beacon. Good people work/report stories there — based on more than 30 years of journalism experience, the headline was an honest mistake. Newspapers are the first draft of history. I once used a play on words — the queen is dead, long live the newly crowned Jackson Apple Festival Queen — as the lead sentence of my story; very stupid and boy, did hear from the past queen’s mom. The Beacon is a good newspaper — and in this day and age, Plymouth/Washington County is lucky to still have a newspaper. And Wanda, I’m sorry for your family’s loss.

Resident Raises Policing, Gambling and Streetscape Concerns

Wayne Pittman used his public comment time to raise a trio of issues: public safety, the downtown streetscape and what he called the questionable economic benefit of gambling establishments in Plymouth.

On policing, Pittman said the community needs more than just officers on patrol — it needs organized civic engagement.

“What can we look forward to with policing here in town? How can it get better? Maybe get committees or something together to figure out what to do, because it’s always something going on that don’t need to be happening,” he said.

Pittman also expressed enthusiasm for the streetscape project (see more about that below) and tied it to a broader vision for the waterfront.

“It sounded good when they was talking about the streetscape out here, and I hope that the boardwalk continues on also,” he said. “That would be a big boost for the town.”

His sharpest comments were directed at gambling establishments operating in Plymouth, which he argued provide little measurable financial benefit to the community while draining money from local families.

“I just can’t see where the town benefits from it, because I don’t know of anything that’s collected out of that as far as revenues except property taxes,” Pittman said. “It don’t matter if it’s a gambling place or a daycare — you’re going to get the same amount of property taxes. So where is the revenue coming from?”

He argued the storefronts could be put to better community use.

“They could rent them to a daycare or anything and get the same dollar amount, and not in my opinion take money out of families’ pockets that don’t need to be spending it,” Pittman said. “They got families at home, children at home, and I just think the money needs to be wiser spent.”

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Downtown Streetscape Nears Bidding Stage

In a presentation that drew pointed questions from council members, engineer Lester Lowe of the Wooten Company reported that the Phase One downtown streetscape project has reached 90 percent completion in its design documents and is nearly ready to go out for bid.

“We’re at pretty much ninety percent level — kind of a review of where we are, where we’ve been, and what we have left to do,” Lowe told the council.

The project covers one block of Water Street from Adams Street to Washington Street on both sides, with extensions near the police department and across the park. Features include brick paver walkways in a basket weave pattern, 17-foot decorative pedestrian light poles, cherry trees in grated pits with up-lighting, benches, trash receptacles, and power pedestals capable of supporting food trucks up to 50 amps.

Lowe said the light poles will include banner zones, pre-wired speaker capability and receptacles for Christmas lights — features specifically requested by the town. He emphasized that every selection was made with future phases in mind.

“You don’t pick a brick type out that’s getting ready to be discontinued,” he said. “The idea is it will be expanded amongst all four blocks of downtown, hopefully in the near future.”

A public survey conducted during the design process drew 37 respondents, with nearly 100 percent expressing support for the project. Lowe noted that about a third of participants were from out of state, which he called a positive sign of visitor traffic.

The total project estimate stands at approximately $1,990,854 against $1,030,000 in grant funding, with the gap driven partly by items the grant does not cover, including trees and landscaping. Town Manager Joanne Floyd noted the town is also responsible for water service replacement along the corridor.

“Right now we’re paying about $10,000 a month for 82 lights down here that we’ve been leasing since about 1999 to 2000,” Floyd said. “So we’re going to get these replaced and hopefully in the future go ahead and get the rest of them replaced.”

A complication remains: broadband provider Brightspeed has claimed ownership of five utility poles along the project corridor and quoted the town $81,000 to relocate the lines. Floyd said staff is seeking documentation from Brightspeed to determine actual ownership and expects to bring the matter back to council by the end of the month.

Councilwoman Kim Williams raised concerns about the choice of cherry trees given their maintenance demands, suggesting a return to the holly trees currently in place.

“I have a cherry blossom, and it’s just a horrible mess,” she said. Lowe acknowledged the concern and said the town could substitute a different species since it is covering the tree costs out of its matching funds.

Lowe said the target construction timeline aims to begin after the Black Bear Festival, proceed one side of the street at a time to minimize business disruptions, and complete the work before Christmas.

Audit Reveals Billing Issues, Low Tax Collection Rate

A certified public accountant of Belhaven, Jeff Best presented the fiscal year 2024-2025 audit, revealing a healthy general fund balance but flagging recurring issues with utility billing and an 87.47 percent property tax collection rate that drew concern from council.

Best reported that the town’s unassigned fund balance of $2,446,000 exceeds total annual expenditures of $2,073,000 — a benchmark he described as a strong fiscal position.

However, auditors identified what they classified as a material weakness in utility billing, finding that two accounts among a sample of 40 were charged incorrect rates. The errors involved outside-city-limits customers who should have been billed double rates but were not. Auditors also found that adjustments to utility accounts were made without proper management approval.

Councilman John Shelton said the billing issues are a recurring source of constituent complaints.

“Every month, it seems a public comment comes in where somebody’s had an issue with their water bill, and they’ve gone to town hall to try to have it addressed,” he said. “We just need to make sure as a town that we’re consistent with how we address water bill adjustments.”

Floyd said billing staff is now required to manually test rate configurations every two to three months and that all account adjustments must receive management approval before being entered into the system.

She also acknowledged that meter reading delays — sometimes pushing billing cycles beyond the standard 28 to 31 days — are causing some customers to be pushed into higher usage tiers, inflating bills. The town is working to bring billing back in-house after a third-party vendor proved unreliable, and is exploring paperless billing, online payments and automatic draft options.

On the tax collection rate, Councilman Jerry Rhodes noted that comparable municipalities typically collect between 90 and 92 percent of property taxes.

“Based on what I am looking here, we’re leaving out about one hundred thousand dollars in uncollected taxes, which corresponds to about five cents on our tax rate,” Rhodes said.

Another council member noted the town has accumulated $761,263 in uncollected taxes over the past ten years. Floyd said staff is pursuing wage garnishments, bank attachments and debt set-off collections, and is working with a law firm on foreclosures — a process complicated by properties with large numbers of heirs attached to them.

Council voted unanimously to approve the amended audit contract with Best.

Other Business

In other public comments, Katie M. Davis of 109 Gurkin Lane asked the town to address a large tree on a town-owned lot that she said is dropping dangerous limbs near her home. Floyd said she would contact the public works director the following day to investigate.

Teresa Bennett of East Third Street asked code enforcement to address overgrown bushes on two abandoned or neglected properties near her home, saying the vegetation creates hiding spots that make her feel unsafe. Floyd confirmed the properties are already on the code enforcement list.

Scott Wenzel, a project manager with EDF Power Solutions, informed the council that crews will begin clearing a 100-foot transmission corridor connecting the Meacham Solar project south of town to a Dominion substation off Ken Trowbridge Road. He said the solar facility construction is not expected to begin before late 2025 or early 2026, with full completion targeted for 2028 or 2029. Wenzel noted the company has donated more than $80,000 to local charities and has sponsored the Black Bear Festival for at least three consecutive years.

Council also approved a Northeastern NC Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan and a municipal records retention schedule.

Plymouth has until April 2027 to bring its website into compliance with updated ADA accessibility requirements under a Department of Justice rule. Assistant Town Manager Dorinda Wallace is already working with the town’s IT vendor on a compliance plan.

Floyd announced a town-wide cleanup day is scheduled for May 2, with May 9 as a rain date. Mayor Davis encouraged residents to begin sprucing up their properties as warmer weather arrives, reminding landlords of their obligations and noting that town ordinances require upkeep of distressed properties as well.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​