The Craven County Commissioners received public comment and discussed several topics on Jan. 5, including renovations to a well pump, sale of county-owned property and other items.
The Craven County Board of Commissioners approved budget amendments for well pump renovations and calendar/donation checks to the sheriff’s office; received a presentation on 4-H youth development; approved the sale of county-owned surplus real estate; received an update from the tax administrator; and discussed other matters during their meeting on Jan. 5, 2026 at the Administration Building in New Bern, NC.
Craven County Recreational Vehicle Park
The board held a public hearing to receive input on the proposed Craven County Recreational Vehicle Park ordinance and no one from the public spoke.
Cooperative Extension 4-H Youth Development
Ashley Brooks, the NC Cooperative Extension Agent for 4-H Youth Development, talked about the National 4-H Poultry and Egg Conference where Elizabeth Peluso won reserve champion in the National Egg Chef Challenge and Lexi Gilkey Lexi Gilkey won 3rd place with her team among other national honors in the National Poultry Judging Competition. The Board of Commissioners recognized Peluso and Gilkey with certificates of achievement.
Public comment
No one spoke during the Petition of Citizens portion of the meeting.
Consent Agenda
The Board of Commissioners approved the Consent Agenda with Tim Mason (District 1), Vice-Chairman Jason Jones (District 2), Shevel “Sherry” Hunt (District 5), Chadwick Howard (District 6) and Chairman Denny Bucher (District 7) voting yes. Beatrice Smith (District 3) and Etteinne “ET” Mitchell (District 4) were absent. The agenda included the approval of the Dec. 15 regular meeting minutes; tax releases and refunds; set public hearings for the Community Development Block Grant application, the Community Development Block Grant CARES Act (COVID), and the 2021 Community Development Block Grant Program amendment; and approved donations and checks that the Craven County Sheriff received donations totaling $750 from Craven County citizens and the annual calendar donation of $10,000. The checks will be used towards the purchase of a variety of items needed by the Sheriff’s Office, at the Sheriff’s discretion, according to information in the meeting packet.
Recreational Vehicle Park Ordinance
Commissioner Bucher suggested that the board postpone hearing a presentation on the proposed Craven County Recreational Vehicle Park Ordinance until the Jan. 20 meeting because commissioners Smith and Mitchell were not present. The board approved a motion to postpone the presentation.
According to information in the meeting packet, “The purpose of this Article is to regulate and control the design of minimum standards of Recreational Vehicle Parks in order to promote the health, safety, and general welfare of the inhabitants of the County.”
Water
Water Superintendent Elliot Thomas reported that the Davis Well Pump was taken down in October 2025 because there were vibrations in the bearings of the motor. He said the pump, which is located off Dover Road in the Jasper area, is part of the wellfield that serves the northwest part of Craven County. He recommended cleaning the well and replacing the pump.
Commissioner Mason asked if CRU (Charles R. Underwood Inc.) was the only contractor capable of doing the work.
The superintendent said, “They’re not the only contractor capable, but we are under contract with CRU for our yearly inspections of our pumps and our motors.”
“Okay. So, they know the system,” Tim Mason said.
The Board of Commissioners approved a budget amendment in the amount of $80,415 to cover the cost.
Appointments
Denny Bucher announced pending positions on the Craven Aging Planning Board, Craven County Clean Sweep Committee, Juvenile Crime Prevention Council, and the Volunteer Agricultural District.
Without naming any names, the chairman said they had one of their members who wanted to be renominated to the Havelock Library Board.
Commissioner Howard said he will nominate her and Bucher said she will be appointed by acclimation.
Commissioner Hunt was seeking reappointment, according to information in the meeting packet.
Bucher said they would have an upcoming appointment (Jedediah Stancil) for the Fort Barnwell EMS Paramedic seat on the Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council at a future meeting.
County attorney’s report
Craven County Attorney Arey Grady recommended that the commissioners approve the sale of county-owned surplus real estate on Biddle Road (in Dover) – parcel ID number 3-021-022, which the county had acquired through the tax foreclosure process. He said the tax value of the property is $10,800. They received an initial offer of $3,200 and the final bid was $15,000. The board unanimously voted to approve the sale.
Petition of Citizens
A resident asked the commissioners to address issues that he has had with a mobile home park.
The chairman said he owned property within a half a mile. He said they pulled about 20 vacant trailers out of there at the county’s expense that people were living in that shouldn’t have been. He said they have a process that they have to follow and it takes time.
“To all of you, I just want you to know that we don’t normally comment after public comment. That’s not our (inaudible) but in this case, because we’re so aware and frustrated, I wanted to make that point to you…” Commissioner Bucher said.
Another resident talked about his religious views.
A citizen said he felt that he had been retaliated against by some state officials for speaking about his experience with the process of trying to rebuild his house in New Bern’s historic district after Hurricane Florence. He asked the chairman to call the U.S. Congressman on his behalf.
Tax collection
Craven County Tax Administrator Leslie Young said the county is growing and the busiest time for the tax office is when they return from the Christmas holiday. She said this year, they had cross trained three people to be able to meet the needs of this collection. She said on the morning of Dec. 29, seven people were working four windows, the phone lines were ringing, and they also had a lot of electronic work with accepting payments collecting taxes non-stop.
She said it was a huge resource “for the county to acquire the parking area to provide free parking to the taxpayers,” it allowed things to move sufficiently and smoothly. She said she would request the same arrangement in years to come. Leslie Young also said the lines went into the parking lot and she and the chief appraiser worked the lines by accepting payments from people who didn’t need a receipt right away. She thanked the county staff, sheriff and commissioners for their help. She also talked about real estate values and the market.
Editor’s note: On Jan. 21, 2026, NewBernNow.com asked the New Bern Board of Aldermen, city manager, and mayor in an email if the city entered into an agreement to lease or sell parking spaces in the Pollock/Craven Street parking lot to Craven County within the last year?
City of New Bern Public Information Officer Colleen Roberts replied, “Craven County rented it for 3.5 days to reserve spaces for people paying annual taxes at the adjacent tax office.”
A copy of a city invoice dated Oct. 23, 2025, shows Craven County paid the city of New Bern $1,128 to rent 47 parking spaces in the Pollock/Craven Street for eight hours on Dec. 29 and 30, 2025 and Jan. 5, 2026, which cost $8 per space per day. An invoice dated Dec. 22, 2025, shows the county paid New Bern $188 to rent 47 spaces for four hours at $1 per hour on Dec. 31.
County manager’s report
County Manager Jack Veit said the Havelock Bypass opened in December.
The Board of Commissioners’ meeting agendas, minutes and packets can be found here, and videos can be found here.
By Wendy Card, editor. Send an email with questions or comments.