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City manager updates residents on recycling calendar, Black History Month, Falls Road bridge and right-of-way signs
Summary
City manager Peter Varney briefed the council on the 2025 garbage and recycling calendar, new website features, local Black history tied to Cedar Hill Cemetery, a planned NCDOT Falls Road bridge replacement beginning in 2027, and enforcement of right-of-way sign prohibitions under the land development code.
City Manager Peter Varney used the council’s Feb. 10 meeting to pass along several community updates, including a mailed 2025 garbage and recycling calendar, a new city website feature, local Black history tied to Cedar Hill Cemetery and a North Carolina Department of Transportation project to replace the Falls Road bridge over the Tar River.
Varney said the 2025 garbage and recycling calendar was mailed in December with utility bills and that residents who did not receive a copy can call the number shown on the city materials. He added that the city’s new website will include an interactive calendar on the environmental services page.
In recognition of Black History Month, Varney told the council the history of Cedar Hill Cemetery. He said the town appointed a biracial cemetery committee in 1890, and on May 11, 1892 the town purchased two acres near Pine View Cemetery to establish a public cemetery for African Americans called Cedar Hill Cemetery. Varney described subsequent actions in 1915 and 1916 where lots were moved and reallocated and noted that Peter Darden, an early trustee who later became Rocky Mount’s first African American town board representative, was buried in the Cedar Hill Addition on Feb. 9, 1922.
Varney also reported that the North Carolina Department of Transportation will replace the Falls Road bridge over the Tar River beginning in 2027 at a cost of about $8,000,000. “It will be closed for about 12 to 15 months during construction,” Varney said. Staff said a roughly 3-mile detour will be put in place and the project includes a multi-use path and sidewalk connections. Varney told the council the city successfully urged DOT to allow an existing suspended water line to remain attached to the bridge because relocating it would be prohibitively expensive.
Finally, Varney said the city will address a rise in signs placed in the public right-of-way, noting that the Land Development Code prohibits such signs and that city crews may remove them to improve visibility and reduce clutter.
Council members thanked Varney for the history briefing and for the updates; Councilman Knight and Councilman Blackmore both praised the manager for sharing the local history.
