National Public Works Week Is Here

It's National Public Works Week across the United States.

This week, and every week, the City of Sanford would like to express its gratitude to its public works professionals for helping to maintain the health, safety, and well-being of our citizens.

Facilities and services wouldn't be possible without the dedicated efforts of public works officials, engineers, managers, and employees from state and local government, as well as the private sector.

These are the folks who are responsible for and must plan, design, build, operate, and maintain transportation, water supply, sewage, and refuse disposal systems, public buildings, and other structures and facilities essential to serving our citizens.

And though their work often goes unnoticed, public works professionals are usually first responders to emergencies. For example, if a storm knocks down trees and power lines, your public works department moves them so that rescue workers can get past.

So when you encounter public works professionals this week, feel free to thank them for all of their hard work!

Sanford Looking To Strengthen Chinese Ties

Sanford may soon join the ranks of Pinehurst and Durham by establishing a Sister City relationship with a city in China – if the Carolina China Council gets its wish.

The Council, chaired by Senator Harris Blake and represented locally by Dr. Bud Marchant of Central Carolina Community College, promotes cultural opportunities and the exchange of college and K-12 students between the United States and China.

For Sanford, the Council has chosen Yixing, a city with 1.24 million people. Despite its size, Yixing has quite a lot in common with our city. For example, Yixing is the capital of pottery in China and is known as being well centered for commerce, tourism, and more.

The Sanford City Council recently agreed to support the Council’s request to link Sanford and Yixing, providing Dr. Marchant with a letter of agreement to proceed with the process of establishing a formal relationship.

Working in Sanford's favor is CCCC's Confucius Classroom, a program that allows college and high school students, business people, and the general public to learn more about China. Participants get a better understanding of the country by exploring its history, traditions, and language.

If the Chinese government approves Yixing as a Sister City, Sanford could see exchange students and more from the city as early as 2014.

New Flags For Sanford

If you drove along certain segments of Main Street and Horner Boulevard on Saturday (which was Armed Forces Day), you were treated to the City's newest program -- flag displays.

To show its patriotism and honor our military forces, the City of Sanford will display flags along major traffic intersections on designated days. The flags will be raised at sunrise and lowered at sunset, according to the U.S. Flag Code.

When & Where

Flags will be flown on the following days:

• Martin Luther King Day
• Presidents Day
• Armed Forces Day
• Flag Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Patriot Day
• Columbus Day
• Election Day
• Veterans Day

You'll see the new flags at these intersections:

• Broadway Road and Nash Street (3 flags)
• Broadway Road and Rosser Road (3)
• Main Street and Horner Blvd (4)
• Main Street and Dalrymple Street (4)
• Main Street and Lee Avenue (4)
• Main Street and Woodland Avenue (4)
• Every stop light from Horner Blvd and Bragg Street to Horner Blvd and Hall Avenue (4 each).

[Tell your friends and family about the City's new flag program by sharing this graphic.]

Questions?

Want to know more about the flag program or have questions about when they'll be displayed? Call the Public Works Service Center at 919-775-8247.

Yearly Litter Sweep

If you were in downtown Sanford yesterday, you might have seen a group of young people in orange vests hard at work.

That was the the Sanford/Lee County Youth Council performing their annual clean-up. Participating in the event were Caitlin Claffey, Max Hogan, Kaity Marsh, Allie Eyers, Hunter Godwin, Tashari Wells-Tucker, Patrick Duffy and Allegra Hogan.

As a thank you, Yarborough’s Homemade Ice Cream & Grill treated the group to sweet treats.

Interested in joining the Youth Council? Contact Lesa Price (email or 919-718-4670) or Karen Kennedy (email or 919-777-1113) for more information.

More Trees in Sanford

In an effort to become a Tree City USA, the City of Sanford has planted three more trees this week.

The trees of choice are the Green Vase variety of Zelkova, a popular option for parking lots, sidewalks, and other urban areas.

Two of the newly planted trees will replace two trees that were damaged in the high winds that wreaked havoc in Sanford a few weeks ago.

These trees are located at the top of the Sanford Police Department's parking lot and were originally planted in honor of Roscoe C. Petty, who passed away from cancer on January 28, 2006 after serving on the Sanford Police Department for 35 years.

A third tree was planted at the bottom of the Sanford Police Department's lot. It will fill in an empty area and create a more lush, shady area for parking.