Price takes part in planning Princeton’s future
By Sarah A. Wise
NL Staff Writer
Planning Board Chairman Marshall Price says he’s always been what you’d call a civic-minded individual.
“I’ve always believed in being involved in the community you live in,” he said.
One way Marshall has gotten involved since he moved to Princeton was by serving as a member of the Princeton Planning Board.
As a member, he has input on zoning and other issues that affect the development of this growing town. Over the years, he said he’s worked on projects such as proposing a tower ordinance, serving as a part of the water and sewer task force, and helping to develop plans for future growth and development in the town.
Though the board doesn’t make the final decisions, it makes educated recommendations to the town board on development issues. The town board has the final say.
Marshall said he had only been living in Princeton a short time when he was approached about being on the board.
“It wasn’t long after we moved here eight years ago that I got asked to be on the board,” he said. “Another member had left to run for a county-wide office, and they asked me to replace him.”
In 2003, Marshall stepped up to fill the role of chairman after his predecessor Micky Smith vacated the position.
Before moving to Princeton, Marshall lived in Benson, He said he considers Benson his hometown, though he lived in several places growing up.
“My father was a Baptist preacher,” he said, “so I was born in Rocky Mount, and we moved to Mingo in Sampson County for a while. We lived in Oxford, too, before we came to Benson.”
He considers Benson the place he grew up because he spent the most of his life living there. It was in Benson where Marshall first became involved in civic organizations, serving with the fire and rescue departments.
While he had settled in Benson, his father had begun preaching at Princeton Baptist Church, and he would attend the services. It was then that he met his wife Leigh Anne.
After they married, the two moved to Benson and continued to attend church in Princeton. But when their first daughter was on the way, the Prices decided it was time to move out of Marshall’s bachelor pad and into a home.
“I tried my best to find a house in Benson,” Marshall said. They looked at a few houses in the area, but the two kept coming back to the house they had first looked at, on Walnut Street in Princeton.
“She was in love with the house the first time we saw it,” he said. “It just worked out for us to get this house, so we moved here and I’ve loved it in Princeton ever since.
The Prices and their two daughters, Macie, 7, and Anna, 13, still live in the same house on Walnut Street. The girls attend Princeton School, which Marshall points to as one of the unique benefits of Princeton life.
“I really like that the school contains all the grades,” he said. “We’ll go to games and Macie knows just about as many twelfth graders as she does third graders.”
Over time, Marshall said he’s grown to call Princeton his home, and tries to do what he can to give back to his community.
He and his family are very involved in Princeton Baptist Church. Marshall serves as a chairman of deacons at the church and also runs the sound system for the services several weekends in the month.
Marshall has also been a member of the Johnston County Advisory Committee, as well as volunteering with the community pool in the summer.
As for the future of the town he serves, Marshall said he would like to see some growth, but not too much.
“I’d like to see some things happen out on Highway 70,” he said, “and we need to get on the ball with that property behind Bojangles. Princeton could really use a good industry as well.”
Despite the need for growth, Price does lament one of the side effects of growth in the community – the impending division of the school. However, he feels that the town will still retain the same character that makes it a great place to live.
“We’ve got a good little town here,” he said.
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