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I hope we are all having a mild winter wherever we are.
Only six weeks until pitchers and catchers report. Here are
some of the things going on in Pine Knoll Shores.
Clearing of trees on south (ocean) side of Highway 58.
We met with Carteret-Craven Electric Cooperative (CCEC)
in late November to discuss their proposal to remove all
vegetation from the asphalt to the far edge of the right of
way on the south side of Highway 58. Our goal was to see
if they would consider options other than simply clear cutting an area that acts as a sound
buffer and privacy barrier for many. The good news is that it appears they will work with us
to look at less severe ways tor them to gain access to their lines across the entire length of
the town.
The proposed course of action involves clearing a lane under the lines which would allow
access for maintenance, and hopefully maintain a portion of the buffer between this lane
and the road. While this would unquestionably cause the removal of some of the barrier for
private property, it is considerably less severe than the initial proposal from CCEC.
We are going to identify approximately three-quarters of a mile for clearing such a lane
this winter. This lane does not need to be contiguous. Additionally, I have asked CCEC to
give the trees an extra-close cut town wide during their normal annual winter trimming.
The reason for this: several long-time residents and property managers have told ipe that
while they believe we have been very fortunate not to have experienced a major hurricane
in a long time, a secondary effect is exceptional tree growth over time. Anyone familiar with
the brown-out effect of hurricanes knows what this is. As one experienced resident put it, it
is Mother Natures way of trimming vegetation.
After we clear the lane described above and CCEC does some significant trimming,
we will reassess next year and see what is working. We have mailed letters to all affected
property owners (or property managers in the case of condominiums) and are going to do
our best to ensure the effects of this are minimalized.
Sidewalks on Highway 58. As we go to press, the sidewalk segment from Mimosa Drive
to Arborvitae Drive is being constructed. Vegetation removal has been completed, and we
are presently adjusting the elevation of the sidewalk with fill. By springtime all of us will
have the ability to move from the town hall (or the aquarium, library and public safety
building) to Atlantic Beach without walking on Highway 58. Additionally, we are awaiting a
January announcement on the North Carolina State Transportation Improvement Program
grant results. The segment that we have identified to be
constructed next is from the public safety building west to , K - >
the Clam Digger, on the north side of the road. We are not
confident this project will be funded, but we are hopeful.
Pine Knoll Shores meetings: see them from home via
webinar. Over the past few years we have strived to increase
communications with our citizens through social media.
Webinars, which are live audio and video streaming, are part
of this effort. While town board meetings may not be the most
exciting events on the social calendar, you can view a topic of
interest via webinar from the comfort of home. Recently I was
on 1-95 traveling south from Washington, DC, and I was able
to hear a discussion of a meeting between the town’s Strategic
Planning Committee and the Board of Commissioners. Town
Planner Scott Sherrill has been tweaking the system and the
audio is now very good. A picture of the meeting that I saw
on my iPad while traveling by car accompanies this article.
Prior to a meeting. Town Clerk Sarah Williams sends out a
town-wide email containing the meeting agenda and a link
to register for the webinar. If you wish to be on that email list,
please ask to be added as shown at the end of this article.
Summer intern from UNC. We are considering hiring
another summer intern from the graduate program at UNC-
Chapel Hill. We have had very good luck with this program
with our two previous hires. One resulted in the hiring of Scott
Sherrill, who is now our town planner. Last year’s intern helped
us on several projects as well. If anyone is interested in housing
a Chapel Hill graduate student next summer, please let me know.
Next dinner with the mayor for out-of-town homeowners.
In February we will host our third annual dinner with the
mayor in the greater Raleigh area. We started these a few
years ago as an outreach tool to our second-home owners.
Webinar image as it appeared on an iPad screen during a recent town committee meeting.
—Image provided by Brian Kramer
annual Board of Commissioners offsite planning meeting, making it a great way to be kept
informed on where the town is focused in the new calendar year. We normally send out
word on this event via email, so if you are not signed up on the town email list, please do so
as shown below.
Canal dredging. Dredging of designated areas of the Pine Knoll Shores canal will start
very soon. Both Pine Knoll Association and Bogue Pines HOAs are dredging areas which
they selected to help their boaters gain access to the sound. As has been done in the past,
the town will help secure grant funding for this.
Town email list. If you want to be on the email distribution list for periodic Pine Knoll
Shores messages, email admin@townofpks.com with your request.
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January 2017 I The Shoreline
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