Camia Rhodes

The Wayne County Board of Commissioners recently approved an expansion of Ivey Drive in the ParkEast Industrial Park off U.S. 70 that will help with better access and traffic flow into the park. The commissioners during a June meeting approved a $1.5 million contract with the S.T. Wooten Corp. to extend Ivey Drive nearly one-half mile in the industrial park. S.T. Wooten was selected as providing the lowest bid out of seven companies that bid for the project.

The future Fremont elementary school in northern Wayne County remains under construction and is planned to be used as an emergency shelter during natural disasters. Tim Harrell, Wayne County Public Schools assistant superintendent for support services, said the 109,000-square-foot school building, on N.C. 222 near Interstate 795, will be able to house 750 people during an emergency.

The Wayne County Public Library was awarded a $50,000 grant that will help with starting a new program that helps children with learning challenges. The library has been awarded the Library Technical Services Act grant from the State Library of North Carolina that will allow the start of a Learning Studio Project that will become a resource center within the library children’s department.