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Whitsett Town Council briefly discussed the proposed budget for 2009-10 at a meeting May 12.

The proposed $115,000 budget does not include tax or fee increases and has a $12,000 deficit.

“There is no fluff in it at all,” Councilman Ken Jacobs said. “It’s pretty much bare bones.”

The public hearing on the budget will be June 9.

The council also voted to award a one-year contract for garbage collection to Republic. Households will pay $9.45 per month. The fee has decreased from last year because fuel prices have gone down.

Cpl. Jeremy Fuller, crime prevention officer with the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department, spoke to residents about how to keep crime down by forming neighborhood watch groups within the Whitsett area.

“You’re going to be like my key players,” he told the 20 or so residents who came for the meeting. “We can’t be every place at one time, but we do our best.”

People should take the time to get to know who their neighbors are, Fuller said. Neighbors can help to deter crime by noticing if someone or something seems out of place, Fuller said.

“You’re not going to get in trouble for calling in a suspicious vehicle,” he said. “You need to watch out for one another.”

Whitsett has had four burglaries and two nonautomobile thefts in the past year, Fuller said.

“These numbers are good, but we don’t want to see any,” he said.
Neighborhood watch groups help build community pride and can be a springboard for community efforts other than crime prevention, Fuller said.

People interested in setting up a neighborhood watch group should call Fuller at 641-5313.

He also gave general safety and crime tips to residents, such as the importance of leaving the scene of a burglary untouched so detectives can collect evidence.

He also said a Guilford County deputy will come to a residence to survey the home and give suggestions to make it more secure.

He said addresses should be clearly marked so that emergency workers can find a home at night. House numbers should be on the mailbox and on or near the door. The fire department sells inexpensive address signs with reflective backing.

Other news from the meeting:

• Guilford County Department of Public Health has asked towns to ban tobacco use in the buildings and vehicles they own. Whitsett will have a public hearing on a no-tobacco policy June 9.
• The town will have a public hearing Tuesday on the town’s plans to pay the Benchmark company to continue pursuing a community development grant to help residents with contaminated wells.

Contact Jamie Kennedy Jones at jamie.kennedy@news-record.com or 449-4610