Page 2 The Shoreline January 2005
Life at Town Hall - Big Town, Little Town
By Joan Lamson, Mayor
Have you ever lived in a big town? Many of
my Pine Knoll Shores neighbors lived in, or
close to, large cities before moving here. I
would have to include myself in that group,
too. We are glad to be away from the traffic,
away from the noise, away from the hustle
and bustle of crowded stores and crowded
streets. And away from cold weather and
snow, for those of us who moved here from
“up north.”
We might appreciate a slower life style,
more time for recreational activities, a little
less concrete and fewer tall buildings but
there’s one area where there are still a lot of
similarities between the big city and a small
town and that’s town government. City Hall
and Town Hall have quite a bit in common.
The scale of services between the two is quite
different but the array is just about the same.
Both sizes of municipalities have employees
Police Report
Submitted by Chief Culpepper
The Pine Knoll Shores Police De
partment responded to 74 calls for service
during November. These included 10 Fire/
EMS assists, 9 motorist assists, 6 town ordi
nance violations and 21 well-being checks.
Eighteen citations were issued for speeding,
one for driving while impaired, two driving
without license, and one seatbelt violation.
Also reported were cases of break
ing and entering. The country club was bro
ken into and some items taken. A local resi
dence was entered and two unlocked vehicles
in a resident’s driveway were entered. One
business and six residences were found unse
cured.
Fire & EMS
Report
Submitted by Bruce Flynt, Acting Director
of Emergency Services
The department responded to 17 calls dur
ing November. Of these, 10 required emer
gency medical response and 7 were fire emer
gencies.
We need Emergency Fire & EMS Volun
teers! If you have any interest in joining, we
need you NOW!
Note: It requires a special type of person to
take on the responsibility of preserving life.
The training is extensive and the hours are
long; but the rewards are everlasting.
If you have not received your File of Life
packet, please pick one up today.
so there’s the need for management of per
sonnel policies and human resources. Both
have a need to provide adequate public safety,
so there’s a police department, a fire depart
ment and an emergency medical squad. Both
have zoning ordinances, building codes,
streets, public buildings and public areas.
Some have parks and recreation, some have
schools, some have cemeteries, and some
have utilities. There’s still a need for plan
ning, maintenance and all of that “Public
Works” stuff in both models.
All towns, large or small, have to
consider the future and what will be their
sources of revenue. Whether a town is grow
ing fast, slowly, or is stagnant, the cost of
providing needed services to citizens will
surely rise over time. Pine Knoll Shores is
unlikely to attract much industry to help pay
for these increased costs. In fact, the design of
Iron Steamer Continued from Page I
from the wreck of the Prevensey, a Civil
War era iron-hulled steamship with side
paddle wheels that had been built in England.
The ship ran aground off Pine Knoll Shores in
July, 1864 after being attacked while appar
ently trying to run th6 Union blockade of
southern ports.
The wreck lies off the end of the Iron
Steamer Pier and could be seen at low tide
from one of the now-missing wings of the
pier. The remains of the ship attract marine
life, making the pier a good fishing spot.
the town precludes that. We are unlikely to
annex nearby unincorporated areas because
there aren’t any. More importantly, most of
us chose to live here for exactly those rea
sons. The task for us will be to manage
growth at a moderate level although that will
be difficult if we have another year of 30 new
homes. What we can do, though, is to be sure
that our leaders work with our citizens to
develop a clear vision of just what we want
our town to be, that we have sound, enforce
able ordinances to protect this vision, and
strong, trained staff to carry it out. I encour
age you to participate in the current Land Use
Planning Project to put in “your two-cents
worth” of opinion about what kind of a town
you want to live in. Call Town Hall 247-4353
for information about dates and times of Land
Use Plan Committee meetings or check the
town website at www.townofpks.com.
Anglers came from far and wide to cast their
lines over its rails.
PKS Mayor Joan Lamson noted that one
possible outcome from removal of the pier is
that sand could then be pumped onto that
section of the shore if and when the planned
renourishment of the Pine Knoll Shores beach
is carried out. If the pier remained in place,
sand would not be pumped onto the beach for
500 feet on either side of the span so as not to
interfere with use of the pier for fishing. With
the pier gone, that 1,000-foot stretch could be
renourished like the rest of the beach.
Editorial Board
Managing Editor
Bill White 240-1300
Feature Editor
Sue Christman 240-2556
Production Editors
Diane Donovan 247-6409
Carolyn Rife 727-5034
Editors at Large
Dick Reeves 247-2947
Bob Ruggiero 247-7208
Circulation Manager
Yvette Bannon 240-1528
Contributing Reporters
Yvette Bannon 240-1528
Marge Green 726-9966
Beth LaBrie 240-2966
Barbara Millhaven 240-0678
Sigrid Schneider 247-9495
E-mail: shoreline@townofpks.com
Published by
ISHiopper
1423 South Glenbumie Rd., New
Bern, 633-1153
The Year That Was
Continued From Page 1
the great curb appeal of ingenious and
imaginative decoration of mail boxes, en
trances and flags, statues and other enhance
ments.
We are a community that not only
cares for its own but generously contributes
to those less fortunate among us - Hospice,
domestic violence, Martha’s Mission,
Carteret General, the Soup Kitchen, the Com
munity College and many other worthwhile
charities.
We also know how to have fun,
whether it be the great prime rib dinners at the
BBCC, a beer and snack at the BT, the many
golf and tennis tournaments, outings, pic
nics, clubs, parades and even informal get-
togethers.
Lastly, The Shoreline is back and
better than ever. Perhaps the most significant
thing about The Shoreline is that there hasn’t
been a single letter of complaint. That would
not have been true a year or two ago.
Yes, it has been a very good year.
Let’s make 2005 even better.
Habitat Dedicates “Jeremiah House”
The Elbert Family will be “Home for the Holidays!” The dedicated construction volunteers
with Crystal Coast Habitat for Humanity have just put the finishing touches on to complete
this building project. There was a dedication ceremony at the completed home on Sunday,
December 19. Those who helped Habitat throughout this project attended the celebration and
welcomed the family into their new home.
The name “Jeremiah House” comes from scripture, Jeremiah 1:7, “say not, I am too
young,” and was given by the Annunciation Catholic youth group. To prove that they were not
too young to help fund the building of a Habitat Home the group raised over $23,000 during
a two year period before starting the project this year. Now, with the help of the community,
the Elbert family will be in their home for the holidays.
yiith the peir home already reduced to rubble (foreground), the Iron Steamer Pier itself awaits the attention of demolition crews.