PENDER COUNTY — Twelve community organizations, playground enhancements and public safety equipment will be funded in Pender County, as allocated in the state budget.
Overall, the county will receive $620,000. Funding requests focused on community organizations, recreation and public safety. The county could not include K-12 public education funding or utility infrastructure funding in the request. These appropriations have their own funding process and categories within the budget.
The largest appropriation is coming in at $350,000, to go toward playground equipment in the Long Creek and Maple Hill communities and park enhancements such as ground resurfacing.
Long Creek and Maple Hill will each receive $125,000 for new parks, which are in the early planning process. They were identified as a community need in the 2022 Parks and Recreation Master Plan however, there is currently no construction timeline.
County spokesperson Brandi Cobb told Port City Daily the money would likely be used to purchase playsets for the respective locations.
$100,000 will be used to resurface the ground of all existing county parks to improve accessibility and safety.
Additionally the county received $200,000 in various grants to be split among 12 local organizations. $50,000 will go to the Town of Wallace Airport, while $35,000 is going to the Wilmington Area Rebuilding Ministry.
The Town of Wallace Airport did not get back to Port City Daily’s questions on what the funding would be used for by time of press.
In addition, $20,000 will be given to the United Way of the Cape Fear Area.
Cobb told PCD the funds were requested by the county to make up for funding that local non-profits and non-government agencies did not receive in the county budget.
In the 2025-26 fiscal year Pender County allotted $2.2 million to outside agencies. This funding was almost completely cut in the budget as presented by county manager Colby Sawyer, to ensure there was no tax increase. However, during a June meeting to approve the budget, commissioners agreed to take $50,000 from the $50.6 million fund balance to put towards outside agencies. Specific organizations and allocations were not decided.
The state budget also appropriated $70,000 for a self-contained breathing apparatus fill station for Pender County Emergency Services on the west side of the county. SCBAs are respirators that provide breathable air. Emergency personnel often wear these when entering a site with smoke or toxic gas.
The SCBA fill station allows emergency personnel to refill their SCBA air tanks after extended operations such as structural fires.
The SCBA is a substitute for a current filling system that is old and up to be replaced. It will be housed at a firehouse on the West side of Pender.
“This funding will make a meaningful difference in the lives of the residents these organizations serve, in our county parks, and in the daily work of our emergency services personnel,” County Manager Colby Sawyer said in a statement.
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