Page 2 The Shoreline July 2008
June Commissioners Meeting
By Yvette Bannen
The commissioners' meetings were
held on the summer schedule with the
work session at 1 p.m. and the regular
meeting at 7 p.m. at town hall. There was
a public hearing on the fiscal year 2008-
2009 budget. Commissioner Edwards
mentioned that the sales & use tax will
be going away and the revenue stream
will have to be increased.
A comment and suggestion was made
to consider installing a yield sign instead
of the proposed stop sign at Fairways
Court.
Chair of the recreational advisory
committee Jo-Ann Shallcross thanked
the volunteers, support people and
participants in the Hope for the Warriors
kayak race. She reported that $700 was
raised from the event.
Greg "Rudi" Rudolph spoke about
the coastal "protect the beach" website
that contains maps that can be enlarged
as well as other information. He then
delivered a power point presentation
on the static line of vegetation that dealt
with state rules for oceanfront setbacks.
It was noted that there are presently 19
non-conforming houses on the beach and
16 do not have room to move back in the
event of a disaster.
The town manager Brian Kramer
reported that after reviewing applications
for a town auditor he was recommending
the firm of Martin Starnes & Associates,
CPAs be awarded the contract for one
year. The firm has extensive experience
with towns of a similar size.
Commissioner Danehy reported that The
Shorelin mailing list is being examined
for duplicate names in order to reduce
the amount of postage paid.
The planning board's subcommittee
on stormwater has gotten some helpful
information from other communities. The
re-zoning of 110 Salter Path Road has been
approved by the planning board with no
conditional use and a public hearing is
scheduled on July 8.
Because there was a $32,000 shortfall
last year, the waste disposal fee will be
increased by $15 to $160 for residential
households. This was approved. A water
availability fee of $10.10 per month was
approved and will be charged to residents
(approximately 80) who are not connected
to the town's water system. All residents
pay this base amount in their water bill to
cover water used in hydrants.
Three contracts were approved for 2008-
2009: an emergency pumping contract
for stormwater with Godwin Pumps; a
phase I clearing contract for emergency
access has been awarded to Garrison
Construction of Newport; and a phase II
vegetative and debris removal contract
was awarded to Ceres Environmental
Services of Sarasota, Florida and this
will probably be subcontracted to a local
business.
A report on the Mimosa Blvd bridge was
given. The town manager. Commissioner
Edwards and public services director
Ernie Rudolph met with an engineering
firm. DOT agrees that the bridge needs to
be replaced. There is no line item in the
budget to fund any work in 2008-2009.
Because the communities of Pine Knoll
Shores, Indian Beach and Salter Path did
not receive the full measure of sand during
the beach re-nourishment of 2001-2002,
both Indian Beach and Salter Path have
agreed to pursue a declaratory ruling
from the state that would invalidate the
static line of vegetation currently in place
for the three communities. A request to
have Pine Knoll Shores become the third
party to this declaratory ruling failed. Two
commissioners favored the request while
three were opposed. The main concern is
unwise seaward development.
By a vote of 3-2 a motion to accept the
2008-2009 budget with a tax rate of 11.5
cents per $100 of evaluation passed.
Police Report
During May, there were 119 calls
for service including five accidents,
three assist other agencies, seven assist
fire/EMS, three domestic calls, 11 town
ordinance violations, 43 welfare checks,
six alarms and two unlocked doors.
Seventy-seven citations involving 93
charges were issued for three driving
while impaired, 16 speeding, ten driving
with a suspended license, 12 seatbelt
violations, three drug violations, ten
alcohol violations and 39 other; 28
warning tickets were issued.
There were 76 residence checks and 369
business checks during May.
Police Chief Culpepper addressed the
anonymous letter to the editor in the
Sunday paper of June 8. He noted that an
investigation is on-going and indicated
that the alleged behavior will not be
tolerated from police officers in Pine
Knoll Shores.
Emergency
Services
During May, there were 49 calls for
service; EMS had 18 calls and 11 patients
were transported, eight of them requiring
paramedic assistance.
The fire department had 31 calls for
service including ten activated alarms,
16 service calls, two structure fires, two
outside fires and one HAZMAT call. May
training consisted of 249 hours.
A reminder was given that, when
requested, the fire department will
conduct a house survey to identify
questionable wiring or other potential
hazards.
Director of emergency services Bill
Matthias mentioned that we are now in
hurricane season and it is time to plan
and prepare. See separate article on
preparations for hurricane season.
Editorial Board
Managing Editor
Bill White 726-7412
Charlie McBriarty 726-0602
Feature Editor
Sue Christman 622-3840
Production Editor
Carolyn Rife 727-5034
Editors at Large
Bob Ruggiero 247-7208
Carla Dowler 808-3945
Jane Ashland 808-3661
Circulation Manager
Yvette Bannen 240-1528
Contributing Reporters
Cierra Tomaso
Yvette Bannen 240-1528
Barbara Milhaven 240-0678
Richard Seale 726-0478
Jacquie Pipkin
Phyllis Makuck 726-8776
Photographer
Kathy Foy
E-mail:
shoreline@townofpks.com
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