Pender County Commissioner comments on playground equipment investigation

HAMPSTEAD, NC (WWAY) — WWAY has an update to a story we told you about last week in Pender County involving old playground equipment at a Hampstead park that was deemed unsafe.

Law enforcement is looking into how the park equipment, which belongs to the county, was transferred to a nearby neighborhood.

Last week, Beth Butler thanked Commissioner Randy Burton publicly during a commissioner’s meeting for giving her neighborhood the old playground equipment from Kiwanis Park.

But to give this playground equipment away is considered illegal, as the old playground equipment is considered “surplus property.”

During a candidate forum held Thursday night for Pender County commissioners, a question was asked about their thoughts on the investigation.

Commissioner Randy Burton spoke briefly about the investigation.

“As far as the playground equipment, I don’t have much further to say other than the statement that the county manager put out,” Burton said. “That the question about the equipment went to the parks director, the county manager, and the county attorney. And what happened after that equipment was demoed or whatever happened, happened.”

According to state law, surplus property should either be sold to the highest bidder or trashed, but it appears the policy wasn’t followed.