The Pender County Board of Commissioners on Oct. 20 approved a multi‑component recruitment and retention package for Pender EMS and Pender County Fire that commissioners and department leaders said is intended to stop an ongoing wave of resignations and to recruit certified personnel.

The board voted to fund the package after more than an hour of discussion over the size and structure of the proposal, equitable treatment of frontline staff versus administrative employees, and whether the package should be larger or more comprehensive. Commissioners directed county staff to examine county‑wide pay and benefits to reduce disparities and to return with options.

What the board approved: the package presented to the commissioners included several elements intended to recruit or up‑skill operational personnel — sign‑on or training incentives and a request to fund an on‑site Advanced EMT (AEMT) training class — and additional money aimed at retention. During discussion commissioners asked staff to restore an item they had earlier removed from the proposal: holiday parity (bringing operational staff holiday entitlements into alignment with county administrative employees). County staff said that inclusion of the holiday parity item raised the cost of the originally proposed package substantially, but that the board could fund the fuller package if it wished.

Chief Haraway of Pender EMS told the board the application process for recruits was open and that a planned AEMT class would allow the county to obtain certified advanced providers locally rather than repeatedly hiring and retraining staff from outside. “We actually ran 5 applicants through a CPAP today,” Chief Haraway said during questioning.

Commissioner Robert Tate pushed for a larger and faster approach: he asked the board to restore the original larger proposal, require a 24‑month service commitment for employees who take sign‑on incentives, and to ask HR to evaluate county‑wide incentive options for other critical jobs.

Opposition and concern: some commissioners and members of the public argued the initial $2,000 per hire sign‑on figure was too small to be effective and that offering richer incentives in one department without comparable measures for other county employees could create morale and fairness issues. Commissioners also discussed operational changes proposed by the EMS/fire leadership — including a move to a 24‑on/72‑off schedule for EMS and consideration of a 48/96 schedule for firefighters — and said those scheduling changes, together with pay and benefit improvements, could improve retention.

Board directions and next steps: commissioners asked county HR staff to prepare a county‑wide review of compensation and benefits so the board could consider consistent, equitable incentives across departments. Staff also was asked to clarify legal and fiscal impacts of reinstating holiday parity for operational staff and to return with amended cost estimates. Chief Haraway said an on‑site AEMT class would cost roughly $57,000 and that if the board did not approve that funding the department would need to find other budget sources or cut training elsewhere.

Why it matters: commissioners and department leaders framed the package as an immediate rescue measure for understaffed emergency services that have seen staff leave for other employers. The approved funding was presented as a stopgap to prevent further vacancies while the county develops longer‑term pay and staffing reforms.