Page 2 The Shoreline February 2005 Life at Town Hall - Meetings, Meetings, Meetings By Joan Lamson, Mayor Sometimes it seems like life at Town Hall is just one meeting after another. A typical day might be an early meeting in Morehead City followed by a scheduled meeting at Town Hall, followed by a much-needed meet ing with Town Administrator, Betty Carr, to go over what happened at the end of the day yesterday and what else is on the schedule for today, plus what needs to be done on the next project, then on to a lunch meeting (Rotary, if it’s Tuesday), maybe a phone meeting with a commissioner, and then another commis sioner dropping in, and a citizen who has something to discuss, and a few phone calls to set up meetings for next week and I think you can see where this is going, right? Let me speak in support of meetings lest you think I am complaining. I believe meetings are the best way to get things done. Meetings are powerful things. The anatomy of a meeting - an agenda, recognition of who is present and who is absent, a brief statement reconfirming the purpose of the meeting, some dialogue about what we have already done (perhaps the minutes of the last meet ing) or want to do, the statement of the issue, discussion, consensus or agreement to con tinue, identification of the next steps and setting the date for the next meeting all work together to move a project along. Fire & EMS Report By Bruce Flynt, acting Emergency Services Director Pine Knoll Shores Fire and EMS responded to eight fire calls and 16 EMS calls for the month of December. Three fire calls were mutual aid to Atlantic Beach, one mutual aid to Salter Path, one illegal burning without a permit, one illegal burning on private property. We had a response on December 29,2004 to Pelican Point to a fully involved fire of a residence which was under construction. At this time the cause of fire is under investigation. Pine Knoll Shore Fire and EMS responded to 16 calls. Eleven calls were Advanced Life Support calls, five were Basic Life Support, 11 transports and 5 refusals. December was a busy month for Fire and EMS personnel. 2004 Annual Statistics Total Numtaer of Calls Fire EfV/IS Total Training Hours Fire & EMS T raining Miscellaneous Rire Pront/lnspections Total Dollar Loss Total Property Value 233 ea T9-4 3860 603 3066 191 48 S270.000.00 S2.s00.000.00 F^ira Calls 11 19 18 22 16 Informal meetings work toward a purpose as well. Brief messages passed along, obser vations of situations, opinions, ideas, com ments, and even jokes add to the mix of information, lend insight or just lighten the day which is sometimes much needed. These meetings “on the fly” can be more valuable than one might imagine if encouraged and considered seriously (even the jokes.) So, if you are told the Mayor is “in a meeting” just please know that the Mayor looks forward to a meeting with you, too. And if the Mayor is not in? Well, perhaps the Mayor is escaping meetings.. .for just a little while. Dick Wiker Mrs. Mary Wiker wishes to thank the community of Pine Knoll Shores for “your love and prayers that have given me so much support after the death of my beloved husband Dick.” The Wikers, married for 62 years, moved to Pine Knoll Shores 21 years ago after Dick’s retirement from Coming Glass, where he worked for 41 years. They had made their home before that in Painted Post in upstate New York. Dick, like his wife, was active in many phases of community life. His friends in such groups as Bogue Banks Country Club and the Ancient Mariners Bowling League will miss his companionship, his subtle wit and his quiet good humor. Dick was 84. The, 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 Milhaven 240-0678 Sigrid Schneider 247-9495 E-mail: shoreline@townofpks.com Published by IShopper 3200 Wellons Blvd., New Bern, 633-1153 So, Just What is the Right-of-Way? By Joe Culpepper, Chris Jones and Joan Lamson Jan Feb Mar /Vpr May Jun Jul Sep Oct IMov Oec EMS Calls _36 I a M B Bi Ji Jan Fel3 Mar Apr May Jun Jul i'Vug Sep Oct Nov Oec You might have thought that there is a 10 foot right-of-way on each side of every street. Wrong! The rights-of-way of town streets vary in width depending on the location. Major streets and highways, residential and subdivision streets differ considerably in footage. Subdivision street layouts, except private subdivisions, must follow the width indicated by location on any official plans or maps for the town. The rights-of-way are also on a map recorded at the courthouse in Beaufort. Here are some of the guidelines. For Highway 58 (AKA Salter Path Rd.) the right-of-way is 100 feet including the street itself - even where town streets meet the highway. Also, contrary to popular belief, the street is NOT always in the center of the right- of-way, confusing the issue even further. Some of the town streets are 60 feet wide and some are not. All of Mimosa Blvd. is 80 feet wide and the entrance to Oakleaf Dr. from Salter Path Rd. is 80 feet wide to Fair way Villas. Pine Knoll Blvd. is 100 feet wide and Roosevelt Blvd. is 100 feet wide. You can use the location of water meters as a “rule of thumb” marker, but a more certain way is to locate the iron pipe that marks the comer of each property and is shared by the neighbor ing property. The important thing to remember is that the Rights-of-way can be used for parking except for the hours from midnight to 6:00 a.m. and NO PART of the vehicle can extend onto the paved portion of the public street. I