Pactiv Evergreen has filed a request with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality to make “major” modifications to the discharge permit for its wastewater treatment facility in Canton.  

After twin tragedies in 2021 and 2023, the town of Canton still has a substantial list of ongoing projects in various stages of completion — in addition to the usual long-range planning initiatives most municipalities at some point undertake.

Just months after a staff realignment meant to free up then-Town Manager Nick Scheuer to focus on recovery and resiliency efforts in the wake of twin tragedies, Scheuer has submitted his resignation to Canton’s town attorney and governing board. 

In the past, Canton required that a request to use public spaces for events be submitted four months in advance. Thursday night’s council meeting changed that. The newly adopted special events outdoor policy lowered the submission requirement to 60 days to 120 days. 

A rezoning of the former paper mill parcel in Canton has replaced an expiring industrial development moratorium, maintaining the town’s limited control of the site despite the possibility of an impending sale to a developer with unknown intentions. 

With the eyes of the state, the region and the county on the Town of Canton — flood recovery is approaching its third year and the sting of losing a major employer last June is still fresh — Canton’s governing board took the opportunity to reiterate its core missions of transparency and accountability during a special called meeting on the morning of July 16.  

Administrators for the Town of Canton have presented a conservative fiscal year 2024-25 budget that seeks some sense of sustainability after last year’s closing of the Pactiv Evergreen paper mill, which created a substantial revenue deficit and has now forced the small town to plan for a huge new expense it’s never had to worry about before.

Amid ongoing restructuring, Pactiv Evergreen presented its first quarter earnings report on May 2, missing earnings targets and revealing flagging revenue at least partially attributable to the closing of its Canton paper mill last year. 

Ever since Pactiv Evergreen announced back on March 6, 2023, that it would shutter its paper mill in Canton, town officials have been bracing for the budgetary impact that the closure would cause.

Canton is paying homage to some of this nation’s most vital founding documents through the installation of Charters of Freedom settings at the town’s museum next to the former town hall building.