Union County
Boys Soccer Player of the Year: Chris O’Grady
A Year in Features Take a look back at our top community stories of 2014 page 10
page 20 Serving Indian Trail, Marvin, Stallings, Waxhaw, Weddington and Wesley Chapel
Locally Owned & Operated www.unioncountyweekly.com
Volume 10, Number 1 • Dec. 31, 2014 to Jan. 7, 2015
Audit of Providence Volunteer Fire Department reveals concerns with funding by Ryan Pitkin ryan@unioncountyweekly.com
WEDDINGTON – According to an audit and assessment of the Providence Volunteer Fire Department (PVFD) carried out by McGrath Consulting Group (MCG) in November, a tax increase implemented in 2012 to help pay for fire services, including the recent purchase and renovation of the PVFD, has been insufficient in doing so. The consultant firm was commissioned by the town of Weddington to give the town council and mayor a clearer view of whether the PVFD was performing at the highest level of service in the most cost-effective manner. They also made observations of Wesley Chapel Volunteer Fire Department (WCVFD) and Stallings Volunteer Fire Department (SVFD), which also serve Weddington. In July 2012, the town changed the overall structure of its fire services by creating a municipal fire department structure and contracting the services of the three departments named above. With this change came a tax increase of $.022 for every $100 of property valuation in Weddington. According to the report, “the implemented tax increase, which has not increased over time, has been insufficient to cover the cost of the contracted fire services.” The report recommends changes that could help Weddington (see Providence on page 4)
Photo courtesy of Providence Volunteer Fire Department’s Facebook page
Sending a Message by Ryan Pitkin ryan@unioncountyweekly.com
MONROE - Seventeen-year-old Olin Austin said that he enjoyed giving back “before all this.” It’s typical that the soft-spoken high school senior could passively describe his summer-long battle with cancer in just three words before moving on
to discuss what he’s really passionate about: helping kids who are still sick. Olin, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer on June 1, 2014 and then returned to the Union Academy football field by mid-September after nine weeks of chemotherapy, said he enjoys giving children who are still struggling with cancer “a light at the end of the tunnel,”
Teenage cancer survivor spearheads letter-writing campaign to help make wishes come true by showing them through his example that they can beat the illness and live a normal life. Austin recently spearheaded a letter writing campaign to help the Macy’s Believe campaign, which donates a dollar to the Make-A-Wish Foundation for every “Letter to Santa” received from children.
Thanks to Olin’s efforts, students from all three Union Academy schools pitched in and were able to contribute nearly 5,000 letters to the campaign. But it’s not Olin’s first time helping kids in need. He is the president of the Facilitation Club at Union Academy High School, which focuses on doing (see Make-A-Wish on page 3)
INDEX: News Briefs, 6; Crime Blotter, 7; Education, 12; Honor Rolls, 13; Rev. Tony, 16; Calendar, 18; Sports, 20; Classifieds, 23
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