Popular Annual Financial Report - 2017 For fiscal year ending June 30, 2017 | Page 8

FY 2016-17 MILESTONES
Garner is a town on the move, and Town staff take great pride in the quality of service
they provide. Here is a summary of the Town government’s and community’s major
accomplishments and accolades in FY 2016-17:
JULY 2016
Town officials and dignitaries broke ground on Garner’s
new Town Hall. The two-story, 25,000-square-foot
municipal building took approximately a year to
complete. It was funded by bonds approved by 75
percent of Town voters.
The Town Council decided unanimously to purchase
the 121-acre Meadowbrook Country Club for $2.9
million. The Town expects the property, located at
8025 Country Club Road, to be redeveloped as
a park, recreational facility or open space. There
is no timetable yet for that redevelopment. The
Town used fund balance to make the purchase and
reimbursed itself with proceeds from a loan. The loan
will be supported by park fees collected from new
developments in Town.
Town’s mission. The document aims to serve as a
roadmap for staff and the Town Council over a three-
to five-year period, with tasks established annually to
enable staff to complete initiatives identified in the
strategic plan.
NOVEMBER
Garner Volunteer Fire-Rescue, Inc., which provides
fire and first-responder service to Garner, improved
its insurance (ISO) rating from a class 4 in the Town
of Garner to a class 2 and its Wake County area
rating from a class 6 to class 4. The class 2 rating for
in-town service puts Garner Fire-Rescue in the top
1.6 percent of fire departments in the country.
MARCH 2017
The Garner Police Department earned its eighth
accreditation award from the Commission on
Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies
(CALEA), receiving the CALEA Certificate of
Advanced Meritorious Accreditation for having
been accredited for 15 or more continuous years.
The department comes up for reaccreditation on
three-year cycles. It is one of only a small percentage
of law enforcement agencies nationwide to have
CALEA accreditation.
The Town of Garner’s budget team earned the
Government
Finance
Officers
Association’s
Distinguished Budget Presentation Award for the
fourth consecutive year and the 19th time overall.
OCTOBER
Town elected officials, staff and dignitaries broke
ground on the Garner Recreation Center, to be
located at the corner of Main and Montague streets
in historic downtown Garner. Due to be completed by
summer 2018, the nearly 40,000-square-foot facility
will include a gymnasium with three regulation-size
high school basketball courts, an indoor walking track
and aerobics/fitness, art and multipurpose rooms.
The Town Council adopted a new strategic plan,
designed to be a multiyear representation of the
7
The new corporate headquarters for STOCK
America, Inc.—a leading producer of sterilization
equipment for the food and pharmaceutical
industries—opened in Garner’s Greenfield Park
North. The 17,000-square-foot headquarters brought
$2.2 million in new investment as well as 15 jobs to
Garner.
APRIL
Moody’s Investors Service upgraded the rating
on the Town’s $29.3 million in outstanding general
obligation bonds from Aa2 to Aa1. The upgrade is
2017 POPUL AR ANNUAL FINANCIAL REPORT