1 horeli The December 2007 • Vol. 4, No. 6 A Shoreline Community, Pine Knoll Shores, N.C. Town Hall 247-4353 Mayoral Election a Close Encounter; Edwards, Danehy Win Board Seats By Bill White It was a week before anyone could say with certainty who won the Nov. 6 mayoral election in Pine Knoll Shores. When the polls closed on Election Day, incumbent Mayor Joan Lamson led her opponent, Ken Jones, by eleven votes. In view of the closeness of the vote, and the possibility of challenges based on residential eligibility, the eventual outcome remained in doubt. When the Carteret County Board of Elections met a week later to certify the vote, Jones was on hand to challenge seven ballots, maintaining the votes were cast by people who were not actually residents of PKS. The residency question popped up in a number of coastal communities this year as leaders of condo associations, the majority of whose members have two homes, sought to have fellow owners transfer their voter registration to their shore properties, thereby permitting the condo interests to be better represented at the polls and, by extension, in the affairs of the communities involved. In the case of the PKS challenges, the elections board, which had expressed concerns about the residency questions in the days before the election, voted tmanimously to reject the Jones challenges on the grounds that he did not provide sufficient proof that the voters in question were not residents of the town. Bill Henderson, board chairman, noted that the burden of proof lies with the challenger, not the challenged. Both Jones and board members voiced the opinion that disproving residency would be a difficult thing to do, and board member Sue Verdon said the N.C. General Assembly needed to address the issue of people owning two homes and being able to change their registration (Mayoral Election) Continued on Page 2 It's all aboard as colorfully-garbed youngsters set out on a Halloween trick-or-treat hayride. (See story on page 4) An architect's rendering of the storm-resistant fishing pier the North Carolina Aquariums are ready to begin building in Nags Head. The aquariums plan a similar facility in Emerald Isle on Bogue Banks Storm-Resistant Fishing Pier On the Horizon By Bill White A new concrete, storm-resistant ocean fishing pier appears to be on the horizon for Bogue Banks as part of an initiative being pushed by the North Carolina Aquariums to build three such piers along the North Carolina Coast. The piers would be built as adjuncts to the three aquariums that now serve the state, one on Roanoke Island, another at Fort Fisher outside of Wilmington, and the third in Pine Knoll Shores. The three facilities, which opened in 1976 and recently underwent major expansions, attract more than a million visitors annually. The pier initiative is aimed at preserving for future generations a popular form of recreation that is threatening to vanish from the coast. Aquarium officials point out that a series of hurricanes in the late 1990s wiped out many of the fishing piers along the coast and that soaring real estate values have spelled the doom of many others in the last decade. The price of oceanfront real estate makes private investment in fishing piers unlikely. The prospect of a fishing pier able to stand up to the worst of weather and insulated from development pressures should be music to the ears of Pine Knoll Shores residents. Many of the nearly 500 PKS property owners who responded to the recent survey that sought to marshal (Storm-Resistant) Continued on Page 2 Standard Pre-Sort Permit #35 Atlantic Beach, NC 28512 Deadline for Jan. issue is Monday, Dec. 10 Deadline for Feb. issue is Monday, Jan. 21 Articles always welcome!