Attorney
client privilege
and
we'll move on.
Uh
moment of silence right now.
Uh I don't know if anyone has someone
who's fallen on hard times or passed
away.
If you do,
uh let folks know, but if not, let's
have a moment of silence.
Uh
brings me forward and especially keep in
mind next month, September, means Yeah,
September 11th.
And of course you can ask
So, please remember
Thank you very much.
Pledge of allegiance.
» I pledge allegiance to the flag
>> [clears throat]
>> of the United States of America
and to the republic for which it stands,
one nation under God, indivisible, with
liberty and justice for all.
» All right, Susan Crumb.
I grew up in my local lines to the next
side, but I'm here to consider what's on
the agenda tonight. Which one?
I'll congratulate you on waiting till
the end of the season to put it on the
agenda, but thank you for putting it on
the agenda nonetheless.
Um
I'll I'll sit here with the support of
the Inner Education Partnership. I do
this every year. That should be no
surprise to you as well.
Um the Inner Education Partnership has
done a great job giving many grants for
uh teachers,
giving scholarships to students in
Hinder County regardless
of their um GPA,
regardless of their economic standing,
they are vetted by what they plan to do
with their life and how they plan
themselves and who stand, protect, and
enhance.
So, I think they're a very
I'm sorry to interrupt but I found it.
I think they're an amazing partnership
and they do a lot for the inner county
students and the school all across the
county.
So, I'm going to
absolutely support them.
Um on other notes, I would like to know
when we're going to get an update on our
traffic situation in Surf City.
And I would like to know when we're
going to get an update on any budget
amendments so that we're not using our
funds accordingly.
I'm going to stop now. Thank you.
Yeah, how much?
>> This is the one that was submitted
online for the noise ordinance.
Do you want me to read it?
>> Oh, I don't mind.
You can summarize it if you want.
>> It is from Daniel Arnold. He um
concerning the noise ordinance, the bass
levels are too high at the most musical
events around the town especially coming
from the Pirates Tavern.
That's actually what it was.
» Okay, so he thinks the hot noise is too
loud.
>> Mhm. And he wants to know how the
speakers are directed out to be directed
in. I actually think he's right.
I bet you do too.
>> I do.
>> What I read, the only difference between
our proposed changes to what
Mr. Arnold suggested was on the weekend.
I think the decibel level was the same
as what we're getting ready
to we got recommended tonight. But, when
was talking about changing the speakers,
that will make it less loud for where he
is, but it might make it louder for
somebody else. So,
that would be
>> Now, what it does is
Yeah.
>> Yeah.
This is the mayor's minute. Change it up
a little bit. Do a little work. New
mayor's minute. I'm going to update the
things that have been
and find the
Y'all have brought to our attention and
wanted us to follow through on that.
And then you will put it in there.
All right.
Continue on.
>> Sure. Um, we would like to just update a
few things, but um, first thing I would
like to do is I would like to introduce
our new building inspector and code
enforcement officer.
Um,
You read this back to them.
Um, so I'd like to uh, introduce Doug
Skipper. He's at the back of the room
here.
Uh, Doug comes to us with 12 years of
service with local government in various
roles, including facilities, grounds,
and street supervisor. He also has
emergency management experience, so
that's very helpful, certainly being
here in Topsail Coast.
Um, before local government, Doug spent
20 years as an outside plant
telecommunications system tech.
I'll let you ask him what that means.
I'm not going to sugarcoat that.
>> [laughter]
>> Uh, he is a North Carolina native and
has been a resident of the area for more
than 25 years. Um, and he actually
married his beautiful bride right here
in Topsail Beach at the Assembly
Building. So, we very much have some
ties here to Topsail Beach and hopefully
some love.
Another fun fact, Doug was actually
employed with the town way back in 2013
as a marina attendant. So,
>> [clears throat]
>> um, he started last Monday, hit the
ground running. He's already been a huge
asset to the Community Development uh,
Department and the town as a whole. So,
I am happy to welcome back the to the
Topsail team. And if you have the
opportunity at some point coming up, I'd
love you all to stop by and introduce
yourself and give him a warm Topsail
Beach welcome.
Doug, would you like to say anything?
» Well, I just want to say Topsail Beach
is the coolest beach town on the island.
You guys do a lot right down here,
obviously. I think you struck a good
balance down here and I'm
real happy to be a part of this good
team. You got a great municipal team
here. I've seen a few now, so I got a
pretty good gauge on that.
I can be of any help beyond my duties as
building inspector, please let me know.
>> Thank you, Doug.
>> You're welcome.
» Welcome to Topsail Beach. Full-time
employee.
>> And we're very excited.
Um and then secondly, um based on some
previous comments that we've had um
regarding the new legislation um
regarding occupancy tax, as we have
said, uh we've been trying to get kind
of to the bottom of that. And we we had
some a local act that we we weren't sure
how that was going to kind of co-mingle,
so we had to do some digging, but we
have finally gotten an interpretation on
that and I'm going to let Connie explain
that to you guys.
» Okay, so back in 1984,
we had a local act, the Topsail Beach
accommodation tax. And this act, in our
section
uh routine that Rochelle has just put up
on the screen for you, um it states that
under this act, all occupancy taxes so
received shall be used only for
tourism-related expenditures,
which expenditures shall include public
safety, police protection, fire
protection, public facilities and
utilities, health facilities, solid
waste, and sewage treatment, and the
control and repair of water front
erosion.
It shall not be proper for the town to
use any of these funds for services
normally provided by the town on behalf
of the citizens, unless these services
promote tourism and enlarge its economic
benefits by enhancing the ability of the
town to attract and provide with
tourists.
Um
the Senate bill 484,
this I feel that was connected in 1984
does simply receive that, and we are not
in violation, nor is our service city, I
believe.
We wanted to let everybody know that.
We're glad of that. So.
We did have our attorney was very
adamant in helping us get that
information, and we thank you, Mr.
Mayor.
>> You're welcome.
» Um another update that we would like to
give is that I think that some
information there is
certainly since the incident with the
fire on South Shore, there was some
concern as to, you know, that road being
blocked um with emergency services and
things like that. And one of the
concerns was our um landing zone if we
were to have to have a medical um
helicopter land here. Um
we all know, I think we've probably all
seen,
we've had to use
typically use the intersection of
Haywood and South Anderson.
Um right now there's a vacant lot there,
and I guess there was a lot of concern
of what happens if that lot develops and
we can no longer use that site. Um we
certainly have back ups. Rest assured.
Um I talked to Bo um at the fire
department. He let me know that our
primary location is at North Anderson
and Haywood Avenue. Um but if that road
is developed or if there's that
intersection
unusable for that purpose, a secondary
location is down at the intersection of
Florida and Ocean.
Um a larger section not on South
Anderson, but on Ocean.
Um and even a third location has been
designated down at the um cul-de-sac of
Monroe Lane.
So, um there is a fourth I'm not even
going to mention it cuz um we we all
probably never get there. But, there is
a even a fourth option. So, um these
three locations have all been all the
GPS coordinates have been sent in to
Kinder County Emergency Management.
Also, um
uh with their 911 center. They've even
been sent to the um private companies um
that that do the private you know, now a
lot of that is on private unfortunately
like AT&T and things like that. So, um
but just rest assured we we do have our
primary location, but we have many many
backups. Um if if it ever becomes
needed. So,
just want to make sure everybody's rest
assured with that.
>> Thank you.
Um and also to address some of the
traffic issues, you see DOT is
through our our planning organization
that we're part of has come up with
several uh different options that they know that we want to move forward.
However, it seems with close DOT. And um
the ones that we uh have been identified
um number one is the real
realignment of the
it's it's 210 and 60 interchange, but
not necessarily realignment but they're
adding another
to be able to pull off off 210 and come
to Medlin Avenue.
Medlin Drive.
So, there's going to be another
intersection there that will have to
relieve some of the traffic from
public's
intersection.
Uh the other is tied to that. This is
be bit longer range.
It is an improvement on Highway 17
coming in.
And that will go to like a dual lane
coming into our proper road.
17 and I think that was all that road
will be a four-lane road.
They could have changed but time is not
on our side.
Uh the work on the first item that it
has been approved for budget year is $24
million.
And that work
uh is supposed to start in 2030.
The
And so we're waiting to learn. And the
third item that that's on
the board right now is uh
I guess an extension of our road that
goes
uh you remember that IGA had the road in
front of it?
That might be resurrected again. So, we
would take a straight shot to our our
road through town. I guess so we can
avoid the roundabout. And they'll get to
the north section of the
town.
Uh I don't have any report on the
[clears throat] topic.
Monitoring the traffic
>> Um I can tell you that um
DOT wanted to conduct some
more studies um of the traffic
especially along the corridor section
coming onto the island.
Um and they requested that we hold off
on the flaggers
um while they conducted their survey.
Um they they were able to complete that.
We actually just got an email on August
4th um from the engineering firm that's
doing that study for DOT. And they were
able to complete all of that, but now
they need 2 weeks after that in order to
do their comparison so they can see you
know, the 2 weeks of what they did with
the signaling and things like that. And
they need 2 weeks behind it. So, we're
still looking at another, you know,
week
uh of that.
At that time after that, I think Kyle
and I have talked about getting back
together and trying to decide if maybe
we want to bring back the flaggers at
least for Labor Day weekend.
Um, but that would probably be the last
weekend that we would do it. Um, we do
today with the $30,000 that the board
approved for um, the traffic, um, we've
used 16,000 today. So, we do have some funding left over if you would like
to do the same thing
something.
If you will likely see them Labor Day
weekend, we think it will help to manage
the uh, heavier holiday traffic, um, but
that might be the last only last weekend
you see them back for this season.
>> So, the light on the bridge will remain
for a while.
Cuz I think that does help.
>> The light on the bridge has shown
they've got some some data to back that
up that it does seem to help helps
getting traffic on the island. It
doesn't necessarily help in, you know,
traffic getting off cuz I mean, it I'm
sorry, it helps getting off the island,
but it doesn't help necessarily getting
on the island. So, there's some
complaints that, you know, it backs
traffic up, um,
over the bridge and onto that corridor
area with the traffic light there. But,
it does help to get the traffic off of
the island.
Um, I think that what we found in our
preliminary, this, you know,
non-scientific study, um, and actually
what DMV has found as well is there just
gets to a point where there's so much
traffic saturation that it really
doesn't
There is no answer.
Um,
you know, we've all brainstormed, not
only Kyle and myself, but other other,
you know, DOTs and and other entities
trying to just throw spaghetti on the
wall what we can, you know, talk about.
Um,
so, there's some ideas and we're going
to continue to to write them all down.
If you have an idea, bring it to me.
We're going to write it all down and and
go through it. So, even if it seems
crazy, bring it to me. Um,
and you know, that's all we can do, but
there just gets to a point where there's
so much saturation with traffic that
I don't without more pavement
and more roads, I'm not sure what else
we can do.
» But they're going to resurrect the IGA
lane.
>> Do you mean coming
Would that work?
>> I have a I have a picture of it. If I
can if I can get it in up here quick and
I'll see if
you can do that.
Um basically what's going to happen is
where where we go to the roundabout,
there's going to be a secondary kind of
road that you could go straight towards
the IGA without having to enter the
roundabout.
>> That makes sense.
>> Uh well, anybody who anybody who would
want to go to the North end doesn't have
to go into the traffic circle.
>> What about Kinston Avenue where all
these people are coming from both ways
and hogging in if it's even straight,
it's still going to be a problem.
>> Yeah, that's Believe me, we've all
talked about that being a problem for
sure, but um
from what I understand again, I'm not a
traffic engineer, so I can't you know, I
can't speak to it, but um you know, I
said, "Why don't we they close that
off?" You know, so people don't come
into the right at the the circle, but
unfortunately by closing that off, you
push people the opposite way and then
into the downtown area where most of the
pedestrian traffic is in some cities.
So, at this point, that's not what they
want to do. They don't want to put that
the traffic there, but um they do know
that it's it's an issue. Um
So,
>> One or the other on the surface road.
Yeah, let's uh sorry, yeah, that
that's a long-term although that's not a
high priority right now, so on their
drawing board.
>> Okay.
» It's got to be a nightmare um
through there.
>> approve the regular agenda.
>> I make a motion to approve the regular
agenda.
>> I second that.
>> All in favor?
>> Aye.
» I'm for the ventures.
>> Help?
>> No.
>> Aye.
» Approval of the consent agenda.
» I can make a motion to approve the
consent agenda as presented.
>> Second.
>> Motion is second. All in favor?
>> Aye.
>> One One question on the on the vote. Are
the old Christmas trees on the
dumping ground there?
Do you think that's marketable?
>> We I don't know. Um I'm going to reach
out to our sales rep from our company
and see
if there is a market for that and
see what happens.
>> If it doesn't sell, where do we get rid
of it?
>> Good question.
Cuz it's taking up a lot of room.
>> It's a Christmas tree heaven.
>> Yeah.
» One
» Yeah, it's plastic and metal, so
>> Okay.
>> Next public hearing.
Uh
item nine.
Consider and vote on the funding request
for Inner Education Partnership.
>> Okay.
>> Thank you.
>> Everyone does stand.
» Welcome.
>> How are you everybody?
>> Great. Great.
>> Great.
Great.
» I'm going right to the week, okay?
>> Help Flags.
>> [clears throat]
>> That was established in 2015.
There abouts.
Um it's from an idea of educator and
high school scholarship support for
Pender County Schools by an individual
who actually had a child that was in
school with Topsail High School, and she
wanted to do something beyond the
boosters, which is a lot of athletic
focus, and she wanted something in more
of an academic achievement pathway.
Not only for the students who excels on
the field and on the court and had
straight A's and all of that, but
students that wanted to go to trade
school, that wanted to earn a trade, or
wanted to get a vocational degree, or
even a student who maybe was not the
best academically, but wanted to do
something.
So Pender Education Partnership started
out
as a small nonprofit organization held
by seven board members at the time, just
enough to get it started.
And I would like to share with you today
that 10 years later, effective last
year, May of 2025,
we have awarded over $300,000 to Pender
County Schools.
That is a consolidation of high school
seniors who submitted application and an
essay to our board for review and
approval, but also as a newly
implemented program, which supports
educators at the high schools to include
staff as well as teachers, librarians,
nurses,
uh counselors, anybody that has an idea
that is not supported by our district
funds in Pender County Schools
that would like to do something that
would impact a variety of students. It
can be a variant age, it can be a
variant of the target audience, your
STEM students, your
um robotics team, whatever it may be.
So we have allocated over $300,000 as of
this point to Pender Education
Partnership.
Fact number one, last year we designated
$18,000 in award for educator mini
grants. Fact number two, we awarded
$11,000 for senior high school
scholarships. Fact number three, we have
put 12 students in a forklift operator
certification training program,
otherwise known as lift, which is a
learning initiative for forklift
training that we are in partnership with
Coastal Pender Rotary and have been
since last year.
And the fourth thing I want to share is
we recently partnered with what they
call Root Ed. Root Ed is a new program
that actually is going to help third
graders in our area and it helps third
graders coming from out of our area to
learn about the different things there
are to do, like the Turtle Hospital and
Moores Creek Battleground and things of
that nature. So, we are now partnered
with Root Ed,
which also is part of Pender County
Tourism TDA.
The next thing I want to share with you
is the need is growing.
We are finding more and more students
that are reaching out for
need, financial need. Particularly with
the economy the way that it is right
now, it's not as affordable for a young
person to go off to college and have to
have a car or to be able to find a place
to live. Lord knows anybody that's seen
rent prices around, you have to rent now
for $2,000, $2,500.
Imagine being a young person 18, 19
years old and you're having to go and
find a place to stay, not in the dorm,
but in an apartment. You sometimes have
to have four and five roommates just to
be able to get by. That's the times
we're in right now. So, there is a need
for more scholarships for our high
school seniors.
In case you do not know this, there were
five high schools in Pender County. We
service Pender Innovative Learning
Academy. That is an online/in-person
facility for young people who experience
behavioral issues,
anxiety,
mental health. We don't want them
dropping out, so there is another
pathway for them to stay in school and
actually graduate,
but not have the challenges of the
awkwardness when it comes to social
behavior and having to interact and be
at a normal traditional public school
environment.
Pender Early College High School, that
is a dual enrollment program. This
facility is through Cape Fear Community
College. I wanted to share with you, I
found out today that out of the 250
enrolled students at Pender Early
College as of right now, 120 students
come from the east side of this county.
They're bust over to Pender Early
College every morning at 8:00 and
dropped off. They stay there until 3:15
in the afternoon. These young people are
taking classes that are college credit
classes while they're also earning their
high school diploma and their high
school credits.
Not everyone is cut out to be a dual
enrolled student. They're missing out on
a lot of things like athletics and those
curricular extracurricular programs and
organizations and things that people
typically do in a traditional high
school environment because
they are geared for excellence. I want
to share with you that some of these
students have gone on to some very very eloquent universities. We had one
that was from the Topsail Beach area,
Alan Miller. She was recognized with the
Historical Society. She just went not
too long ago to Cambridge, to England,
to the Art Institute.
And she has studied abroad. We had two
students this summer, one went to Italy,
one went to Germany.
We've had students go to Vanderbilt.
We've had young lady that got accepted
at Harvard. She's also taking classes
for Oxford. We have a young lady who
went to UPenn. We have a young man that
went University of Southern California.
We also have somebody that went to Duke
and we have several that go to Chapel
Hill and have been awarded the Morehead
Scholarship. And if you know anything
about Morehead came, that is a very, very strategic and tedious
process, an application, and it is only
for the Chapel Hill students. And it is
typically a full ride. And we've had two
students at Pender Early College that
have been recognized for Morehead came.
So,
to catch you up on what's going on this
side,
at Topsail High School, we recently
awarded
two $1,000 scholarships and four $500
scholarships. We were able to give a
thousand more dollars to each of the
schools this year by what we were able
to raise last year.
We typically have at least three from
each school. And if we are able to give
more, we definitely do that.
For the
Heide Trask High School, we had four
scholarships. We had two $1,000
recognition awards and then we had two
$500 recognition awards. For Pender High
School, we had four. We had two that
received 1,000 each and then two more
that received another 500.
And lastly, let's see.
The Jones Traweek Scholarship. We had
another individual that was awarded a
full ride, which is $20,000.
That is an endowment scholarship by
Mr. Bill Traweek and honor and in memory
of his friend that was a minority and he
passed away in a very tragic accident
and he continues to support our young
people with
their education. He takes one student
per year and he puts $20,000 in that
student and it's a full ride from the
time they start their college education
to the time they finish.
Mr. Traywick has since decided that
there is one young lady, the very first
award recipient of his scholarship, he
will continue to support as she is now
in grad school. She is a teacher, she
has her own classroom, and she is now
getting her master's and I have a
feeling she's probably going to get a
doctorate in education. But he's
continuing to pay for that for her
because
it's not cheap to go to school,
especially if you're going to somewhere
that is what we consider a high-end
elite university.
So,
if you don't leave me, listen to this.
My name is Yasser.
I come from College Park, Atlanta. I
moved to Burgaw to pursue my education.
And at Pender High School, I have been
able to gain many beneficial experiences
from clubs and activities like Beta, the
Four County Leadership Program, as well
as varsity football, track and field.
In high school, starting as a freshman
during the COVID years, I learned quite
quickly that things don't go as you
always plan. Growing up in a household
with five children, two who have autism,
one who needs a kidney, and not having
any money, I've learned that things are
quite difficult and you have to make
effort to make situations be better, not
only for yourselves, but for those
around you.
I work at Hardee's.
Not many people can say that with pride,
but I do because I help contribute to
pay the rent for my mom and dad in small
payments because I know they need it.
Schooling experiences at home have
prepared me for a life in college. A
scholarship is going to allow me to
pursue my education at North Carolina
A&T, majoring business analyst
analytics, and as a dual enrolled
student, I will also study some other
things at UNCW. This scholarship will
allow me to attend and work and do my
class work attentively and allow me to
continue to participate in small
projects in my community.
And one day, I'm going to be something.
Yashal was one of our recipients of
scholarship.
Meet this individual.
Both of my parents were school educators
and they worked all across the county
teaching in multiple elementary and
middle schools. I myself have attended
five different schools in Pender County
and I feel like I've gotten the best
education possible despite some of the
extenuating circumstances. We were
displaced during COVID.
We lost our and we also lost our home
during Florence.
For these factors alone, this has a
paramount effect on my education and as
well, it has made me into a much
stronger individual.
I am dual enrolled at Cape Fear
Community College and take advanced
placement classes. So, I have learned
how to successfully study and manage my
time.
Throughout my high school career, my
peers and I have identified a need for
classroom emergency kits in the case of
a school shooting. Not that anybody
wants to think about it, but these are
the times we're in.
With the help of the HOSA club advisor
and the PTSO and the administrative team
at Topsail High, we have been able to
supply every classroom with basic
emergency essentials and a tourniquet. I
also learned about Stop the Bleed.
That's the material we received from the
nursing staff at Topsail High School. I
never imagined I would be able to do
something like that and have that
experience that would stick with me for
the rest of my life as I continue to
pursue my career in health sciences.
After school, I have decided that I am
going to attend Campbell University and
major in pre-physical therapy. I'm
coming back to Pender County and I
intend to help stop the bleed, and I
also contend to advocate for more
emergency kits as we continue to face
these troubled times. I'm forever
indebted to staff members, coaches,
church leaders, and teachers that have
got me where I am, and I'm most grateful
to PEB for scholarship.
And one more.
As one who has moved as many as nine
times in my school years, Topsail High
School has definitely proved itself in
terms of its standards, opportunities,
and a level of care that has shown has
been shown from its faculty and
community. Topsail makes up its lack of
cultural diversity through its expansive
education system. All of my teachers
from history, English, and band have
integrated curriculum with different
cultures in mind and have provided
students the opportunity to take a
deeper dive as they desire more
appropriate resources. And as a minor
minority student, I greatly appreciate
that Topsail High School puts a focus on
diversity.
I have made a decision to become a
financial advisor.
I also want to come back into Pender
County and help educate the poor
communities about how to become
financially successful, budget planning,
setting up workshops, and even helping
people at the bank set up an account if
that's what I need to do.
The teachers at Topsail are very
knowledgeable in their field and are
dedicated to their students. Their level
of care and commitment for the students
is evident in their everyday
interactions, and they do make
everything better.
Personally, the band and JROTC has
propelled my preparation for continuing
my education to allow me to dig deeper
and learn about myself.
The band has shown me that I love music,
and I have now decided I'm pursuing
UNCW's music education program,
allowing me to share musical
appreciation to others around the
community, maybe even the country. JROTC
has given me spiritual insight into what
I need to know how I you to what I need
to do to be a leader and a teammate. All
of these lessons I have learned from my
experiences at Topsail High School.
I can make a genuine difference in the
world.
That is who receives our scholarships.
I can't tell you the countless essays
that we get. Sometimes we get 42,
sometimes we get 45.
I have read stories about
abuse at home.
I have read stories about
financial loss.
I've read
substance abuse issues.
I've read about homelessness.
These young people pour their hearts out
in these essays, and it is evident that
they need financial assistance.
I've had the opportunity to be the
president of Pender Education
Partnership going on 5 years now.
And sadly next year is my last year.
I don't know how they're going to do it.
I don't know what they're going to do,
but I want to go out with a bang.
So, I'm asking the town of Topsail Beach
to continue your support and allocate
the $5,000 that we need to continue to
do the work that we do because we are
making a difference.
» Any questions or
>> Mr. Chairman, I just like
>> Yes.
>> thoughts running through my head and do
it for a minute.
>> Oh, let me do that.
>> It's just it's easy for us sitting here
in a very affluent
part of Pender County is to wonder how
we benefit from from this because those
kids don't live
on Topsail Beach. And what I what I
would suggest is that
we have lots of people drive close to
the bridge every day to clean our houses
and provide construction services and
stuff to support the tourism that we
want to have top to be.
Those are the parents of these kids that
you're talking about.
>> Absolutely.
>> So,
it's an indirect benefit, but for the
parents to know that they have that kind
of support, I think that it's a really
big benefit to our county it is.
>> I want to make it very clear that the
Pender Education Partnership is not East
side versus West side.
We are one county. We are Pender strong.
We support students on the West side of
the county. We support students on the
East side of the county.
I realize that there is somewhat of a
Mason-Dixon line when you cross the
Lane's Ferry Bridge,
but the need is honestly the same on
this side of the county as it is on the
other side of the county when it comes
to these scholarships. It doesn't have
anything to do with infrastructure. It
doesn't have anything to do with what
was built in this school, what was fixed
in that school. That's not what it's
about.
I have no control over district funds. I
can't decide on what's being done in a
capital budget, but I can help drive
this, and that's what I intend to do.
So,
if you don't understand that honestly it
is a full circle because like he said, a
lot of these parents of these young
people are your people that work at the
grocery stores. They're your bank
tellers. They're your car salesmen. They
are your people who clean houses and
have cleaning businesses. They're your
dog groomers.
They're only trying to do what they can
to afford their child the opportunity to
go to school and not have to make the
choice between education and earning a
living.
You want to stand?
Please stand. Please stand.
Pender Education Partnership was
originally started by Susan Cream. She
is the originator of this foundation.
And I'm telling you right now,
my daughter was a recipient of a
scholarship for the CNA program.
And I got involved because as a single
mother, I struggled to help my daughter
pay for CNA.
And Susan talked me into putting in an
application. And I've been hooked ever
since.
I've been on the board I've been on the
board and I've been the president now
for this is going on 5 years. So,
it touched me
and it made me want to go into action
and I can only hope that the next
president will have as much fervor and zest and passion as I do.
Um but
>> What you said.
>> [clears throat]
>> I can't just sit there.
It's the teachers, too.
>> Yeah.
>> So, all the teachers in Pender County
schools spend ton of their money their
own money for our kids that all these
kids benefit from.
And they come and they send in their
little request. I would like to buy 12
blank kids and my kids can learn how to
do a clock painter
check. There you go. Here's your $150.
You can buy a bunch of potatoes.
It's It's anything. Anything to help the
kids learn. So, it's It is on this side
of the bridge, too, cuz I was on this
side of the bridge when I started it.
So,
it is on this side.
>> We have a lot of teachers that live on
this side of the county that either work
in elementary, middle, or high school.
And and they will tell you every year
they go to the Dollar General and they
buy supplies to put in the classroom. It
can be anything from baby wipes to the
tennis balls that go on the bottom of
the chairs to extra pencils to whatever
it may be.
But when it comes to field trips, when
it comes to technology, when it comes to
books, when it comes to fun things to do
in the classroom, they don't always have
that extra money. And that's where PEP
comes in. They fill out an application,
they tell us how much the dollar amount
is,
and we try to be as
even
as we can. We give everybody a cut-off
period,
and
we have awarded a lot of money, not only
to the high school seniors, but also to
the teachers.
And when Hurricane Florence came, a lot
of the Pender County staff, to include
custodians, janitors, teachers, staff
members, a lot of people were either
displaced, they had flooding, or
whatever. Instead of doing the educator
mini grants, we cut checks. We wrote
checks for $300, and we gave 69 checks
for $300 right before Christmas. They
could do whatever they wanted to do with
it. Buy gifts, pay a car payment, rent,
whatever you want to do. We felt like it
was the right thing to do. We had the
money,
so we did it.
We've been blessed.
We would like to continue to be blessed.
>> Thank you.
>> If anybody in this room would like to
contribute to PEP, it is the easiest
thing in the world to do. You can ask
Mr. Ed, he knows how. You either write a
check to Pender Education Partnership,
it can be any amount you want to. It is
tax
taxable, it is a tax write-off.
You go to First Citizens Bank, any of
those lovely people down there know our
account number, they'll take your money
anytime you get ready. We also are fancy
enough now that we have an online
contribution. You can go online, pay
with your credit card, it gives you a
receipt instantly to your email, and you
can use that as your tax write-off.
Any amount of money.
We were not going
to turn you away.
If you are sitting here, and you don't
have any children, you don't have any
grandchildren, you don't have any nieces
or nephews,
please consider leaving PEP an
endowment. That money will continue to
go, God forbid, after you're not here,
but you will be making an impact and it
will mean something. So,
please consider that as well.
>> Do we have a question for
» [laughter]
>> I'll leave you some of this.
» I have a I have a I'd like to make a
comment. Um
I It's not for you specifically, Tammy.
It's actually for all the nonprofits
that are requesting, it would include
Kathy. Philosophically, I'm struggling
with uh giving money to nonprofits.
We have two requests tonight. We
typically get four in a year.
Uh I believe the purpose of the
government is to collect taxes to fund
government services.
I believe government should do little
else. I don't see where funding
nonprofits
fits into that scenario. Individuals and
businesses give to nonprofits, which
they obviously do, and it's from their
earnings and profits. Um I have and will
continue to give to most of the local
nonprofits both time and money. Um
tonight I'm going to help Top Topsail
Turtle Project. Um but I'm not inclined
to give money as
that has been collected involuntarily
from others and and it I just don't see
how that goes how that makes any sense.
So, I'm I'm a no vote on financial
giving to nonprofits from the town.
Not not not specifically that one, but all of them. Just cuz I have a
philosophical problem with that.
>> Okay.
>> Make a motion to leave uh um
I get 500 1500 C. I get
>> I'll second the second.
>> All in favor?
>> I.
I with Alex.
So we have three two.
Yes.
I discuss, consider, and vote on Stony
Reflect for Historical Society of South
Laurel.
English.
» Evening.
>> Um
I really enjoyed that. Um
I It It kind of
I It reminded me that what I heard you
say tonight was different than what I
have on my tape.
Um
On Captain Hart, I represent the
Historical Society of South Laurel.
Um
good evening, everybody. Um
Allie Miller was mentioned. And because
of the support we get from
um the town,
uh we're able to give people We gave her
We provided her a scholarship this year,
as well as three other senior
from the South Laurel area high schools.
We do that every year.
And um we also
um provide for the aquarium program from
that support
uh every year. And I actually attended
one of those programs.
And I was so amazed at the input from
the children.
And they told me how much they enjoyed
it.
I really was amazed.
Um
and also, I think we uh support the uh
the Historical Society.
So,
anyway, okay, I'll read this really
boring thing because it nothing can say
what you said because you said it from
the heart. And uh and that's really
wonderful. Thank you for that. Thank you
for that.
I'll have to take lessons. Thank you.
Every time I come here, I'm learning
something.
It's one of the things that everybody
uh, for the opportunity to be here
tonight.
And, uh, we come before you again
tonight to ask for your support. But, I
want to begin by saying thank you
because of what I just said.
Scholarships that we provide,
the inquiring program,
um, we assist, uh, the town in every way
we can.
Uh, we're proud to be part of the
Topfield uh, our mission is to collect,
preserve, and promote the history of the
greater Topfield area. And we work hard
to make that history accessible to
residents, visitors, and future
generations.
Through the Missiles and More Museum,
our programs, lectures, exhibits, and
special events, we bring people into the
community throughout the year.
And those visitors don't just come to
visit the museum.
They eat at local restaurants,
shop in local stores, and stay in local
accommodations, and enjoy everything
Topfield has to offer.
So, while our purpose is preserving the
history, we also believe we contribute
to the economic and cultural vitality, sorry, vitality of the
community.
We also understand that the town does a
great deal for us. We are fortunate to
operate in a community that values its
history, and recognizes the importance
of preserving it.
We don't take that partnership for
granted.
As you have seen in the letter provided
to the council, we are requesting the
town continue its financial support for
the coming year.
That fund helps us provide programs,
exhibits, educational opportunities. As
I said, we, uh, this every year, we we,
um,
we award four scholarships. In this past
year, I believe they amounted to $16,000
and the year before as well.
Uh, we're very proud of what the
Historical Society has accomplished,
particularly particularly as we
celebrate 40 years of serving Coastal
Isle.
But we also recognize that none of this
happens alone. It takes the support of
our volunteers, our members, our
community partners, and the town of
Coastal Beach.
On behalf of the the Historical Society
of Coastal Isle, thank you for your past
support. Thank you for your partnership
we have today.
And we will thankfully ask for your
continuous financial support in the
coming year.
We appreciate everything you do for us
and for the community we all care so
much about.
Thank you very much. And does anybody
have any questions?
>> I do. Um
now that I'm looking at this,
I'm guessing the Autumn with Topsail is
the largest fundraiser that y'all have.
Is that correct?
>> in the past, yes. It's changing this
year. Oh, it's also
Well, because of um the structure the
changes made in structure. So, um the
100 the most of it would be 100 um
vendors in that area. I would imagine
prior to that
>> probably knows exactly how many.
More than anybody. Are they having to
cut it severely this year?
>> Not not severely. I think we're
down to like
in the past
>> Yeah.
>> Um I know we're down maybe 20 vendors or
something.
>> I think that we're only going to be able
to put vendors around the outside this
time.
Okay. So, that really cuts it down more
than 20.
>> No, we've identified additional spaces
for 10 more vendors that
>> Oh, that's good to hear. So, I'm a
little worried.
>> It's one of the things that I don't know
that we think about is what the town's
the services they provide with Autumn
with Topsail. Autumn with Topsail you
may not know this, but my favorite
weekend at Topsail it's fantastic, but
do you have any idea what do we spend to
support that in I guess fire police do
we have to pay the outside agencies
anything?
>> Um we don't pay the outside agencies
they do that under a mutual aid but we
do provide them food and water and all
of that we believe I've asked
for those numbers it's generally around
$500 for that but we do have to bring in
additional staff for policing here in
town and that usually typically runs
about $5,000 for the total event.
>> And then you this year we're giving them
that lot over there correct?
>> We are allowing them use of that for I
believe the vendor parking.
» I didn't know that.
>> Do you know off the top of your head
about how many spaces we have over
there?
>> I don't know about 18.
» [clears throat]
>> I I want to say
sure I recognize that the town's special
relationship here with the Historical
Society is more than more intertwined
than than most
the town uses the assembly building Auto
Topsail uses empty lot parking lot extra
police resources I would suggest in lieu
of financial assistance we let the town
manager and the president of the society
come up with an equitable agreement
regarding our needs and theirs.
» Is anybody
And I would like to recommend that we go
back to what we gave in 23 and 24 just
because we are giving
so much in services and
Historical Society is near and dear to
my heart my mom was involved in the
start of that and worked with the
Fort Fisher program and to be really too
old to be doing that so it's something
that's near and dear to me, but I think
y'all aren't in the financial struggle
today that you were 10 years ago. You
may be 10 years from now. We need to
re-evaluate, but the town is right now,
we got a lot on our plates, and we're
trying hard to juggle that with the tax
rate. So, I'd make a motion that we
provide 5,000 and continue with the
services we're providing with Dolly
Madison
and the parking lot.
>> There is a motion.
>> Second.
>> Is there a motion?
>> Second.
Any further discussion?
Everybody vote. All in favor?
>> Aye.
» Three to two. Passes. You find those.
>> I think I like to say that the
historical society is near and dear to
my family's heart, and we do support
them financially, and we'll continue.
And as of tonight, we will also
I
support that financially as well.
>> Thank you, Mr.
>> It's just a personal
decision, not a town decision.
>> Yeah.
>> Well, thank you all very much.
>> Thank you.
» Item number 11, parks and recreation
with council. Any report?
Okay, planning board.
» Good evening.
I'm going to talk about the objectives
of the planning board.
Um at our last meeting, we reviewed the
proposed wireless communication
structure and number that was presented
to us. Talk or actively about some of
the power and infrastructure that we may
have to deal with in the town.
Um
because state and federal law provides
with the appointment of violence and
infrastructure, the purpose is to make
sure that the town has clear standards
in place governing the location and the
design of these facilities. Most
importantly, to be consistent with the
law, but also protecting the character
of our community.
Much of our discussion focused on
identifying inconsistencies and areas
where the language can be clarified, and
our goal is simply to make sure the
ordinance is clear, that it's objective,
that it's enforceable, and that the
applicants understand what's expected so
that town staff can administer it
consistently without unnecessary gray
areas. So, we found
some revisions we asked the staff to
type back in May. We will be bringing
the amended language back
hopefully to you at the next meeting.
We'll review changes and assuming that
our concerns have been addressed, we
will be back in a position to bring a
recommendation to the ordinance. So.
Any questions?
>> Thank you, Zane. Glad to hear that.
Thank
>> Thank you.
» [laughter]
» The report. I've been doing them
for 15 years and she and I had a
conversation and
I asked her if she would send me a paper
and she gladly said yes. So,
very gracious. Um, also very
appreciative of Dev.
>> Thanks, Dev.
>> Okay.
>> Um, and community development can start
reading.
>> I can go over the college instead of
just me, the greenway.
But, I did want to bring to you guys
I've started working on the flood damage
prevention ordinance and I'm on page
the new 2026 model ordinance for flood
inspecting and I have a significant
amount of required language that our
ordinance does not contain. We have not
adopted a significant ordinance since
ordinance changes since 2013 and not
having this language could decrease
property owners flood insurance discount
to currently 20%
and put the town in a flood plain
writing and standing in jeopardy.
Considering the last update the
proposals have been tabled by the board
since 2022.
We will be requesting that the board
send this back to staff so that we can
begin the process through the planning
board once it's complete.
» Good morning. I understand the request
to that.
>> Send it back to
>> Do we need to make a motion to
>> We need a motion to
>> Yeah, and I'm not completely finished
with it yet. I've done the majority of
the changes. I just need to review the
changes that we have made through the
years to make sure that everything's
consistent and what's already there is
there.
Um I have reviewed
the public comments that we received
at both the several times that we met um
and address those concerns. If it was
recommended language and not required
language, I have not included it. That
was one of the things that we talked
about that, you know, everybody
expressly said they didn't want.
Everything that's already there will
stay there um
for the time being. And then like I
said, all the required language has been
added. It'll
be clearly defined what's required and
what is recommended.
So.
» Can we get a copy of
all of it? That's been quite a while.
We've had many many crises since then.
Could you send us back the language what
you're recommending so while the
planning board's looking at it, we can
get back up to speed on it?
>> Yes, once I get done comparing it to our
ordinance, I've got it.
Um I will You guys can get a copy of it
so that you can start running through
it. And like I said, it'll be
one color for required, one color for
recommended
and all of that. But, like I said, I've
not included the language that was very
expressly denied
by the board and
>> Um but that was that was that that was
recommended they or was that just likely
what we're looking at? As I recall is
you couldn't have more than 100
condition they on the ground level and
anything on the ground level
>> That was recommended like I believe we
took that out.
>> I know we took that out. But, was that
recommended by FEMA or federal?
>> FEMA itself.
>> Okay. Well, okay. So, we have the right
to say sorry FEMA we
>> Yeah, recommended we can say
>> Cuz I think that they were
putting us in a really difficult
position as far as what those people
down here already have.
>> Yeah. So, but we are we are very behind.
And I hope that if the mayor of Detroit
comes and joins us and takes a look, we
can get him in control. But, I'd like
to go ahead and take care of
>> So, it could
Steve, this is a very quick question.
There are a lot of things here
we talked about
the situations you can deal with.
Paramount, a good number of them
are some of the things within the FEMA
guidelines that reduces the allowed
density in certain areas that otherwise
would be allowed by FEMA zoning. They
would render certain properties as
non-conforming.
Do you know whether or not any of the
required language would have that
impact? The reason why I bring it up is
that it then puts you in a catch-22. You
want to comply with these federal
guidelines, but then you would also be
in violation of the prohibition against
downzoning legislature has imposed on
us.
So, I just I don't want to add to your
work.
I don't want to add to the complexity of
what you're doing already, but
unfortunately it is complex.
>> Right. And this This released after the
downzoning and everything else. So, I'm
sure some of that language has been
adjusted. I will reach out to him
um and make sure that we are covered in
that.
>> Yeah, it's not like we have large tracts
of land we're concerned about current
zoning, but
in fact it's there. Would be river
certain properties as
the board is
>> It would have been good of us to have
him review it before we send it to the
planning board.
>> So, it also would be good that we aren't
doing something that's going to come
back and bite us that we don't see from
a legal standpoint.
>> It will also be sent to our local FEMA
rep.
>> Okay.
>> So, that she can review it as well. Make
sure.
>> What can we um
>> Well, he has to. I don't have authority
to. He has to see it before we
>> Before we send it to her, let let Steve
go through it
and see if there's anything in there
that could trip us up. I don't know if
we need a motion to send it back
to you or not or not just go ahead and
we have to make these
amendments to it.
>> Being that we tabled it, I would feel
more comfortable if you guys made a
motion
>> Okay.
>> to send it back.
>> Do we make a motion to send it to Mr.
Coggins and once he's reviewed it,
provide his comments and then send it
back to you?
>> me first so I can finish it.
>> He can send it back, right.
>> Can he send it back to you, you finish
it and then you send it to him and then
>> I mean, I think it would be easier than
a three-step process if I finish it and
then send it to him and then he gives me
comments and then
Okay, then it goes to the planning
>> But then it
>> Look at it from a board of planning
board.
Yeah.
>> Is there a motion?
>> That's That was a motion. You got that.
>> [laughter]
>> Is there a motion and a second?
>> I'll repeat it.
>> Um
All in favor?
>> Aye.
>> Thank you.
>> Okay.
>> Can say uh that Riceville Beach has
spent a ton of time on these issues.
Um
and they're more than willing to share
with us
what they've been through and what their
recommendations are. That
seems helpful.
» You got the opening yet?
>> Yeah.
>> Immediately it's great.
>> Good then.
» If they
the IAS, there was not a meeting or do
you have
>> I have a couple of things.
>> Okay.
As always I'll be brief.
Um now um
we are going to have a meeting tomorrow.
We didn't have one last week.
And there's a couple of things I want to
bring to your attention. At the end of
our fiscal year
um the IAS fund had 9.2 million.
Uh we started the fiscal year at 6.2 so
the gain
was 3 million which pushes, thanks to
you guys,
uh pushes us on target for having 12
million next year when we have our next
project.
Uh our project will be in the fall of
'27 going into '28. Family Matters
project.
Probably get a $25 million project that
we need to be positioned
to ask for it and to get it done and
then be in a position for any sort of
emergency. So really thanks to you guys
for having the foresight to keep that
going.
Um
the other thing is that we've had a
water management task team and we Last
time we met was on July the 20th.
Uh we've reviewed all the information
that we put together through the Adorno
study.
Um we've taken a tour looking at some of
the outfalls that are backing up.
The water.
Um our own mayor is helping further the
cause on Rocky Mount and doing some
survey work on that.
We're trying to get it into a bundle so
that we know
for
water importation, this is a project we
need. For title backup, this is a
project we need. And pull together all
of this in terms of what the funding
will be required, so we're pushing this
down the road a little bit.
Um
the other thing is that uh switching
gears here a little bit, TI Coastal has
collected all the pre-storm,
pre-hurricane season data.
Um they haven't processed it all, but we
should be in within a week or so of
having new contour maps for the sound
and also on the beach, so that we know
how much sand we had in the beach
before any potential hurricane.
So, if we lose sand, we know how much
we've lost and what the value is. So,
we're making progress on that. And the
last thing I do want to report is the uh
TISPC next meeting is on August the
27th, but there's a big signing ceremony
at Surf City on Monday.
Um Surf City has been pursuing a 50-year
coastal storm damage mitigation project
for 20 years. And they are just on
Monday in a position to sign a
project partnership agreement.
But this is significant to us, too,
because we are putting sand on the
beach, we know we have a north-to-south
lateral flow of sand.
By them now having a 50-year project,
it's probably going to be 6 million
cubic yards.
It's going to help this whole island.
And so, I would invite you guys to come
on Monday at 10:00 to help Surf City
celebrate this milestone event. Uh it's
going to help us all in the end. Um
I think that's all I got.
Thank you very much for your time. Any
questions?
>> I would like to ask everyone in this
room to share with
your friends and neighbors and
uh anyone that's interested in what's
going on that our new water management
task force is is working extremely well
with BIS and with our board.
Real work's being done and
we're going to get real answers and real
projects going
for
flood mitigation that
comes with king tides and all that.
We're Y'all are doing great work and
things are happening. So, we're not
kicking the can down the road.
>> Thank you for that and I do want to
recognize Tom Herrick in public works.
Those people are opening the doors.
They're working with us. They're excited
about moving forward. So, thank Tom.
And I think we'll make a little comment.
>> Good.
>> I had a question.
>> Yes. So, so I have It sounds like Surf
City may be starting their project.
We're doing our
renourishment in a year and a half. Will
that have any impact on us? I don't know
if the ICW coastal is involved with
Will they be getting sand from anywhere
we are getting sand from?
>> Uh they're They're a 50-year project.
All the sand is coming offshore on the
hopper dredge.
And the offshore borrow site is off of
Leon.
So, [clears throat] they're going to
transport it all the way up there. That
sucks.
Um
whether that's going to have
implications for us down the road,
I don't know.
Um but adding more sand inventory into
the system
will have some impact.
>> And then we'll get that sand eventually,
right?
>> Eventually.
>> [laughter]
>> Yes. Um but it's but it's really good
>> The gift that keeps giving us.
>> It's really good for the entire island
because as we all know
you believe in um
storms I mean uh
storm water rise
and if you believe in
hurricanes and bigger storms,
this resiliency is what's going to keep
us together in the future.
>> Mr. Mayor, we had
I have a short question.
>> Thank you again. I I just received an
invitation that's coming within the next
couple of weeks on a ceremony that's
going to be at Surf City.
uh
>> that acknowledges their signing on with
Corps of Engineers for 50 year of being
of age coastal resilience
plan.
And I was wondering if uh your committee
has discussed the potential impacts that
would have on future projects on the
table.
I foresee this uh
only possible way to be sharing costs
doing projects all at the same time to
leverage the economies of scale and also
how it impact our current sands. Excuse
me.
>> I would say that all that is on the
table.
Um but right now we are dealing with the
world we've been living in.
Three years down the road when we
contemplate those
impacts,
we'll have a chance to reevaluate that.
It might be with more sand in in the in the system
that you have more frequent clean outs.
how
do we share that burden and how do we
distribute the sand
on the island?
I mean we've got
>> More sand in the system, what does that
mean? How does that happen?
>> Well, the sand that that is coming in
with a coastal storm damage mitigation
project
is being borrowed offshore and brought
onshore.
What we've been doing is taking sand out
of the inlet
and putting it on the shore. So
>> Oh, I know Surf City's kind of already
using that source as well.
» I don't know one said anything official
about that, but
maybe I'll be around BIS three years and
we get to talk about that.
But it's a it's great great thing. It's
a it it could open up a different
scenario.
I can tell you one thing.
In 1976,
my family in Sandbridge, Virginia had
bulkhead on the ocean.
1982, they got a 50-year CSDM project
and that bulkhead is under 12 ft of
sand.
That's the implication.
>> Where was that?
>> In Sandbridge Beach, Virginia. All the
north end properties.
About a mile and a half of bulkheaded on
the ocean.
And that's all back.
» Any further questions?
Thank you, Wayne.
Thank you, Mr.
Um
what day is on the public safety
building?
>> Yeah.
So, we are now meeting every 2 weeks.
And we actually just had a meeting this
morning, so this is all hot off the
press.
And it appears that we have pretty much
everything we need for to issue a
building permit.
The plans are with the contracted
building inspector now. He is reviewing
them, so
we anticipate being able to issue our
building permit here shortly for the
project. Thomas Construction has started
to prepare the tower to be used as their
construction office, their on-site
construction office
as the construction happens.
DOT permit has been submitted on July
20th and they have 30 days to turn that
around. So,
right now we're just waiting on that
one. But the big permit that we're
waiting for is our DEQ permit. We had
previously submitted that. They had some
comments regarding the storm water
system. We made the changes that they
wanted that they requested and we've
actually sent that back in on July 22nd.
Although they didn't actually um
I guess formally accept it until August
3rd. Um we are using the quick
permitting option, but so is everybody
else, so
>> [laughter]
>> I don't know how quick that will
actually be.
But we don't expect any additional
comments being they've already had their
one pass at it. We we that they'll won't
be able to issue it without any um any
further changes or modifications.
Um so we're hoping to have that permit
to us around Labor Day
time frame is what we're looking at. So
right now the target date to begin
construction is September 14th.
Um but again that's all subject really
on the DEQ permit. Um we we do have to
hold off for that.
So that's where we are right now.
>> I'm good. Well I hope we finally get
moving.
>> Well we're at the finish line.
>> All right.
>> We have about today.
>> [laughter]
>> Yeah we are talking about a ground break
ground breaking ceremony so we're hoping
to finalize those details and we'll have
that information out to the public.
» Very thanks.
I'm sitting here just considering vote
on noise ordinance.
>> Yes.
>> All right. So we've been discussing this
for a couple of months obviously based
on some public comments. Staff was
directed to kind of go back to our
current noise ordinance and try to see
if we can address the comments which
really initially were um
the decibel level is is set too high um
and the time at which the decibel level
could be elevated was too late. So um we
had
staff to come back I think at the
June meeting in order to bring some of
those amendments to you. Um after
further discussion at that meeting that
was also asked that we try to look at
how we can address the base frequency
that low level frequency that isn't
necessarily captured with um with the
way that the ordinance is written today.
And I have found out a lot more about
noise than I ever want to know but um
uh
>> [laughter]
>> basically I guess we'll I'll kind of try
to
tell you what I figured out. Um,
we have a noise uh
um measuring instrument. That noise
measuring instrument can measure
different types of of sounds. We have
the uh A weighting scale, which is what
we've been using. Um, and that basically
will measure the sound that sort of
matches how the human ear hears it. And
then there's a C weighting scale, and
this is the one that um basically
measures that lower level bass
frequency. So, um I thankfully I've been
able to work with Oh, where did he go?
Chief Lou Ellen.
He has been very instrumental in this um
in and trying to uh look up information.
He found that the scale that we have,
the noise metering system that we have,
can do both A and C.
So, what we did was we added those
definitions. Um, you'll see them in red
in your packet.
And then we also um
changed or added, I should say, some of
the decibel levels for the C rating.
Now, I will tell you that I'm not a
noise
expert. I don't know, you know, I'm I'm
sort of just
giving it my best shot here. Um, I did a
lot of digging into see what other
ordinances had. Um, I can tell you right
now that having a C-rated
decibel weighting um is not common at
all, certainly not at a beach community.
Um, the only three ordinances that I
found, not saying this is it, but the
only three I found is the bigger town,
the bigger communities, uh Raleigh,
Greensboro, and Charlotte.
I chose Raleigh. I looked at theirs, and
the only reason I thought was because I
had found a memo that they hired a sound
specialist.
I figured if if the sound specialist
suggested it, then that's probably where
we should at least start.
Um so that is and also not only that,
but it was already in line with what we
had proposed. So anyways, this is really
just my best guess. Um I would like to
Chief Llewellyn and I had talked about
the possibility of um the next time that
there's some sort of a a a event, a
band, or anything like that to do some
tests so we can see kind of where it
does fall in line with what we're
proposing. Um we are towards the end of
the season as Susan pointed out. I you
know, personally I would ask I would
like to see us be able to look at this a
little bit further, maybe do some
testing before we adopt it. But um we
certainly have that option to adopt
tonight and then we can always make
adjustments later if that's how you you
want to go. So
that's where we're at.
>> We've got the concert in the park in
a week. How could we use it then and
just see?
>> Absolutely.
>> Yeah.
And again, just to kind of see
where where where it falls with what we
have proposed cuz I truly don't know
what that's going to sound like.
>> Common sense says what Danny Arnold said
is correct. If you have your speakers
facing out like that
versus facing in, it's going to have a
big impact on the sound and I said it
before.
I was stunned at how loud and it's not
even the loud, the bump bump of that
bass is at 10:00 at night.
It'd make me crazy.
It's very similar to the sound when
they're putting in pilings at a house
right beside you.
>> I understand.
And I do want to say that I did reach
out to the local businesses to let them
know that this was on the agenda that
was going to be discussed and I um you them to either attend um or send in
any kind of comments that they have.
So, I did make them aware that it was
being discussed this evening.
>> And there were [clears throat] no examples
of
the difference between um
A and C in terms of decibels?
Well, you gave the examples
of what you would hear.
>> Mhm.
>> Uh but that that covers just the
>> Just the the A.
>> That's just the A.
>> That's correct. You're right.
Again, it was very difficult to find a
lot on the C weighted decibel system. It
just was. Um
So, but you know, again, that's just my
research. Um I think that's why I would
prefer instead again, I would prefer
that maybe we hold off on actual
adoption until we can do some tests to
see how close we are with what we're
proposing.
>> And we have the ability to read C C
weight?
>> We do. Yes. Yeah, like I said,
thankfully, um
people elements have been very
instrumental in in helping with this
ordinance, and also um the capabilities
of the instrument that we have.
>> I'm concerned about the A and the D
decibel C level.
Um
and what about at night?
>> This
>> Yeah.
>> You think it would if it carries through
from C to A, you know, it
A to C, that that'd be tough.
>> Yeah, and it is different. Um it's not
So, 60 uh
DBAs and 60 DBCs are very different. Um
but, you know, again, I I
from what my research is, um from what I
can tell, the C's, there's a filter on
the sound meter, they apply some sort of
a filter that kind of makes it more of a
uh even flow
of [clears throat] sound,
um rather than the the sharp
ups and downs that your hearing there's
traditionally.
So, again,
>> I was wondering if you'd say average is
out
high and low in a thump thump thump
>> thump
>> Yeah, there's a filter. Apparently,
there's some sort of filter that's
applied um that that helps to even out
the sound and it does I I don't know if
it how it how it measures that thump, but it evens out the sound.
>> All right. Now, we got to
go over there. I think I really teach it
an improvement in what people perceive.
>> I Again, I I would agree with you and it that's the reason why I think
that we still need a little bit more
research and maybe some field work
before before this is adopted in my
opinion.
>> But, you you mentioned that you used
Raleigh as the basis. Is there's Is that
where that 83 come from?
>> It is, but the reason why I
agree that, you know, Raleigh is a whole
different place than here, but the
reason why I did that was because their
DBAs were already very similar to our
DBAs.
>> But, we're comparing our DBs our C's
being higher.
>> But, that's how it's Again, I'm not a
noise ordinance, but that's our expert,
but that's sort of how it is. The A's
are typically in the ones I've seen, the
A's are lower than the C's.
>> Which constitutes
>> I Again, field testing.
>> I don't want to misinterpret your
research. I mean, when you said you
read Raleigh's ordinance, that was
exciting to me. I have used that word a
lot tonight, but
um
Do we agree that it's more important for
a small town
to get
the noise issues right than it is
a really large
metropolitan city. I mean,
Raleigh
you know, there's more than a million
people in there today now. Um
They're more complex. Their issues are
more complex. A million to
>> Oh, I would agree. I have no question.
>> But
I mean, just common sense tells me it's
more important
for the small town
to get the noise ordinance right than it
is noisy volume.
>> Yeah.
>> Does that make sense or
>> It does make sense. Um it just doesn't
seem that the DBC
is addressed in
>> Cuz we're not sophisticated
>> noise ordinances.
>> in these really small towns to get to
those issues.
>> Well, we're getting there. I'll tell you
that.
>> So
>> [laughter]
>> I don't
>> But what we're proposing is higher, it
looks like, than what they have in
Raleigh.
>> DB
>> So to me
the easier thing would be to
lower to where they are. They're at 70
and 75.
From 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Sunday
through Thursday.
And to 11:00. So they're the same during
the week as the weekend, correct?
>> Yes.
>> [clears throat]
>> So we're
>> We could also, you know, make some
amendments here
>> And that's what I'm going to say. I
would much rather
make them overly low
and come back and raise them than to
approve it and it's still
be as loud and obnoxious as it's been
cuz it's easier, I think, to bump them
back up
than to
dial them back down.
>> Sure. And and we also have Labor Day
coming up, so that might be a time at
which, you know, there'll be some bands
that we can do some more field testing
with.
>> I'd like to make a comment that
piggybacks on what Commissioner Best
said
in relation to us versus Raleigh.
I kind of doubt that there are people
living in the commercial districts in a
big town.
Whereas we have residents living above
their businesses. It's a I almost wonder
if we should just have one ordinance for
the entire town because there's no area
where there people don't live.
They they live in the commercial
district. And the sound impacts them the
same as it does the people in the
residential district.
I
>> Conversation
>> a big difference between us and
bigger towns.
Where commercial districts I think
residences are prohibited. There's zone
you cannot stay in a you can't you know
live in a resi- a commercial district. I
think
um or
Yeah.
So that's something I do we we might
want to consider is just having one
ordinance one you know one district one
zone
instead of two zones.
And um you know 11:00 is kind of late
for sleepy Hollow speech.
» Well again I think this is the time
where we can make some adjustments from
suggestions um from the board and then
kind of use those as field tests.
>> I don't really want to see it 80 which
is described as very loud and aggressive
anywhere in the town anytime.
>> [clears throat]
>> And we got that
in the commercial zone and the
residential zone.
>> So you want to lower the overall limits
is what I'm hearing.
>> be my thought.
» Test all those out.
What about the timing?
» Well we lowered from 11:00 to 10:00.
>> 10:00 p.m.
>> During the week.
>> Yeah during the Sunday through Thursday.
Again that was based on public comments.
» This might stupid, but
I just remember being at Quarter Moon
and I never thought that music was loud,
but then we were always
music was always shut down.
Uh you know, weekends. 10:00 or 9:00.
>> The police officer that's no longer with
us did that on a basis.
>> And and we'd like to say Quarter Moon
was the first to get a warning under but
when we started using the ear buds, but
we would kind of sneak in and tell them
we we try not to make a big deal of it,
but they were in violation of the times.
>> So what's the difference between that
and what we're talking about? It's
louder than at public. I mean, it's
almost like you
>> The bass and we um
The first warning had A and and even me
I measuring on C I don't have I couldn't
even tell you what it
anything to compare it to cuz we haven't
measured anything under C, but
supposedly A is more what we hear with
our the ear and C measures bass.
>> Is that it?
And that's the way
is in her neutrals is that bass boom this to me more obnoxious than the
music.
And you just like them all.
>> It just seems like we keep giving public
a break over what we enforced at Quarter
Moon. That's the way it seems to me.
>> They did warn the Quarter Moon. I know
they got a warning cuz I got a text and
one of them said they got a warning from
that American
very good friend of mine, so quite
amazing to me that she got my name out
of that, but
a lot of their problem was the band was
playing very loud and the band was
great. So they got a lot of more
attention than the public got from the
DJ, okay?
>> Right.
>> Um
>> Okay.
>> The difference
>> The streets or on the bars?
>> The difference both was probably. I
don't know, but I know they were in the
street.
>> [clears throat]
>> Um
» We keep the
decibel spread from 7:00
to 10:00 or 11:00. The same in
commercial district from
Sunday to Thursday and Friday and
Saturday.
>> So, no real difference between between
the week that the entire week the same.
>> Yeah.
>> Um from 7:00 to 10:00?
>> [clears throat]
» There was there was no difference there
between commercial and residential.
>> There is not a difference.
>> They're all the same.
>> Yeah.
And so, the time you want to drop it
from 11:00 lower and you want to hit
Yeah, twice to that.
>> But it's you asked about the bass. The
bass is bad. The DJ on the microphone
talking and getting the round the crowd
to recite the rest of the lyric.
>> Right.
>> Who do not carry a tune, that's equally
as bad. So, I can't pick one that's
worse than the other.
I think 75 80 is too too much. Too much.
I think 75 is allowed.
>> We will Yeah, we don't
That's the the problem with waiting is
by the time we make a decision next
meeting, the summer's over
and
the the club's closed
for the for the rest of the year. But we
That's all that we know enough about
decibels.
>> So, look at the chart you provided is
70.
Conversation difficulty raised voice
rated.
>> That's your decibel A, not B. We don't
really know what decibel C A sounds
like. That's why we In answer of
Commissioner Best's question,
but what wasn't given any type of rate
we just trying to figure it out. Well,
the times we measured and it could be
because there's
if we measure on Anderson's side,
there's you know, the building. If we
went to where it was open, it might be
higher. There's just a lot to it. We're
trying to take all the uh subjectivity
out of it.
And just trying to figure it out. You
know, it's a lot of it.
>> C at all over there?
>> We never have. This wasn't in our
ordinance.
>> So, what I would suggest and try again,
this is just my suggestion. You're
obviously
but
I understand that we want the overall
levels lowered. I think instead of
trying to sit here and pick if we're not
going to adopt tonight, instead of
trying to pick one, I understand we want
it lowered. Maybe just allow
us to do some field testing and and try
to base some kind of formulated
draft based on that. Um again, we don't
we we've never done C testing, so this
will be brand new for us. I don't even
know where to start my C testing. That
much.
Um this might be helpful to do some
field testing. Um we can lower the
overall limits when we come back with
the draft. Also, we'll have our field
testing results. And then um as I am
hearing, you guys want to have the
times 7:00 to 10:00 p.m. and cut off at
10:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.
>> I think that's more likely. I was like
Larry's and Alhambra, some of the music
is 7:00 to 10:00 and they might play a
little bit over.
» If it's 10:00
>> It's 10:00.
>> Well, I mean, you know, nobody's based
on that's always based on complaints as
well.
>> I think we need to
table this till next meeting. Invite
them to do the research on the decibel
C.
And we may just decide to drop the
commercial zone and just
monkey around with the residential time
frames and numbers.
I mean, I don't know. I
That's how I know we have enough
information to make a decision about
decibel C.
>> Well, I
>> I am informed a well-informed decision.
>> Yeah, and if we're going to make the
time zones all the same, then there
really isn't a lot of
distinction between residential and
commercial. So,
I could we could make a proposal.
>> Why don't you just do them exactly the
same as 7:00 in commercial 7:00 to 10:30
same as it is in residential.
>> You want 7:00 to 10:30 or 7:00 to 10:00?
>> I'd say 10:30.
>> Well, the residential does 10:30 on the
weekend some from Friday Saturday night.
So,
if you just drop the commercial zone and
maybe play figure out what decibels C is
supposed to sound what it sounds like
and whether or not it's that much
» But again,
75 decibels where it says significantly
raised voice.
I'll be honest, I've been to some of the
music venues down here where you just
had to walk outside
the fence standing area cuz the music
was too loud. Last time you were there,
the music was so loud you
had to walk farther away.
» While we were doing the testing,
somebody it's it's mostly mostly the
table was
and then
start talking.
You said the other table
>> Um
>> They could do the next one.
I'm on table.
I would suggest something to consider
and go over the technical memory
protection.
One guy speaks, one
person could
>> Toren, and I know we've had some recent
um
potential uh proposed changes to this,
but in essence what this is is uh at the
July meeting we um did a lot of text
amendments, we approved a lot of text
amendments uh to the town code
ordinances, and uh kind of like
dominoes, you know, one change and you
try to catch it all, but inevitably you
miss something. So, we did um come back
to realize that section 1-6F
needed to be amended uh so that there
was no inconsistencies with the newly
adopted uh amendments from last month.
Um you do have your draft in ahead of
you, but then I think that there's been
some further changes from Attorney
Coggins.
>> They were all uh technical amendments.
There were no substantive changes.
» Do we need a
>> I was making sure.
>> It It The changes were
» I would entertain a motion that we move
forward with the changes as
done by Mr. Coggins.
>> Second.
>> I have a motion and a second. Any Any
discussion?
All Let's have a vote. All in favor?
>> Aye.
>> Opposed?
>> And uh
>> You have
>> Thank you.
» I believe we're going to be coming in
under the Fort City
>> I want to
>> Thank you, Holly.
>> [laughter]
>> I think they hear by themselves.
>> I never buy stuff in the morning.
» We're starting at
>> CM Bible.
>> They do what?
>> They have a service in the morning at
8:00 and then stand by
>> You're voting
>> Any of us will do that service
>> I feel like we used to have a civil
liberty
>> We're going to end up at the park at
Copper Bottom
>> Okay. So, we won't be having that shift.
>> No, it's all right. It's going to come
>> Okay.
>> Wow.
>> Yeah.
>> It won't happen here.
Our staff will get up there and
>> Number 17, manager and attorney reports.
>> It's in the packet.
>> Okay.
>> which may or may not be in addition to
duties which I
bring in your presence
working on the finance to nail control
ordinance regarding specifically
chickens
for your consideration next month. I've
been assisting town manager with respect
to a vexing problem with respect to the
administration of the fire tax
eradication of particular residence and
advise to staff regarding the occupancy
tax of the slope.
» You have anything?
>> Yes.
» Then?
>> I don't have anything additional other
than what was in my report unless you
have questions, but
I did send the
DOT proposed DOT drawing for the circle
the amendment. So, I wanted to show that
to you because I know I said I'd find
it. There you go.
Um so, as you see where the the red line is there instead of going
through the circle go to the north end.
Essentially, you would be able to take
that straight through road.
That would take you to the street like a
stop light there and go to the north end
that way. They're hope they're trying to
keep
you know, trying to keep so many cars
out of the roundabout the roundabout.
So, anyway, I just wanted to show that.
>> Okay.
>> While you have that up I spoke with one of the commission
councilman in the city and one of the
ideas they had is a place closing
Kingston which appears to be objected to
by a number of things to preventing left
turns when you're going north on South
Shore
so that you can't jump in line. It So,
that's one way of skinning the cat so to
speak. Possibly.
>> And and basically that would be that the
people who are in in that parking lot
can come out and get into the line to
get into the circle. That and then but
you can't get out of the line and go
down the ocean road and jump back in
ahead of people. That's what that is.
Hope this makes some sense.
But anyway, that's that. This is all
public information, so
>> Can you Can Can any
observation
extended observation been made from the
traffic coming from the north?
That is just every time I go to that
circle there's a line just pouring in as
they would cut ahead of you. You're
coming around the circle and they would
cut ahead in front of you and you slam
on brakes. But the north traffic north
traffic coming from the north is just I
don't think anybody's considering that
and it needs to be looked at seriously.
>> Well, I mean I think that they're
looking at all of it, but you're you are
correct. I mean that that traffic coming
into that circle
>> Nobody goes across the north route, so
they don't come.
Well, we I I happen to go I have been
around there this week
and
we had gone around to rush on the other side of the circle
and we came back there was no traffic
basically coming to the circle.
But when we got around the circle coming
back this way, it was backed up to the
tennis court.
And it was because people were coming
around
by my hand they come through
IGA. They come through there and come
and
turn around and get get right back in
and and there's no end and there's no
close lines.
I'm looking it's a wonder somebody
hadn't had some
real problems up there.
They
>> I agree. There's there they are they are
trying to to find solutions to ease that
traffic. Um again, you know, and
one bite of the apple at a time.
They have removed all the pedestrian
traffic. That's helped a lot as well.
You know, the pedestrian traffic that
was um in the circle, the crosswalks and
all that. They've removed that and it is
their intention to keep that closed
for good. So, that's one of the other,
you know, ways. They're little things
that at a time, but it's helping.
>> What about the land about on the the other side?
>> They haven't restricted that traffic
yet.
>> wheelchairs and strollers and dogs.
So, that's some of the way now.
>> Sure, yeah.
» That's all I had left there personally.
» And we're uh
>> We had told you your parking is
interior lots. That lot right here.
>> That's the one lot that they carry with
>> We we've categorized it as interior.
Yes, there are others along with it in
the same category.
We just wanted to make sure we pulled
that one out so we could see.
» There's a couple of comments.
>> Yeah, we'll take it in here.
>> Public comments.
>> Yeah, I'm just
» I don't have to say anything because you
already know how I feel about it. I'm
talking in my face.
What I do want to say is congratulations
Kim Llewellyn.
Very happy to see you as our interim. I
hope that you will make him permanent.
That is my biggest recommendation that I
can give you other than the ones that
you already know.
>> Okay.
>> I like
what they said.
>> Thanks for holding your tongue.
>> You're welcome. [laughter]
>> It's got a big hole in it right now.
>> Good analogy.
» And mayor and commissioner reports.
>> Council are you?
I want to remind everybody that
Congressman David Rouzer will be
cutting the ribbon Monday 10:00 a.m.
And right next to Surf City Pier for
their
beautiful new beach nourishment project.
If you could be there
support what they're
about to embark on, I know they would
appreciate it.
>> I'm very thankful for that.
>> [laughter]
» All right, thank you everybody for
coming out and watching online. I want
to
say one thing about the turtles. I wore
a shirt for this reason. As most of you
know, it's turtle nesting season. I want
to make this shout-out to Debbie and
Andy who are the Topsail Beach
coordinators for Topsail Turtle Project.
Currently on the beach every morning and
every night since about mid-July and
they will continue that to the end of
August. So, they're taking naps midday
to make this all happen. This year there
have been to this point 145 nests.
That's the third highest on record, I
think, and the most since 2019. We
usually average 98. So, in there 34 in
Topsail Beach. So, um just keep that in
mind
if you have a home near the oceanfront
or on the oceanfront, keep your lights
dim. Those little hatchlings will head
for your house. They won't see the moon,
especially when there's a new moon. Uh
so, well, we had a
that happened 2 weeks ago. They just
went They Somebody shot off fireworks of
all things right as they were coming out
and they just went everywhere. So, if
you could um
help the little turtles get in the
ocean.
» Um I just want to shout out to John
Gunter. I just want to acknowledge I was
against paid parking. So far this year
we've made 205,000.
So,
John, it was a good idea. Um
secondly,
well, and if we've still got and that's
this
calendar year even though we're on a
fiscal year. It's just too hard to think
fiscal year. Now, I also want to second
welcoming um Chief Llewellyn to your
first official
Board of Commissioners meeting. I know
it's been a blast and I think we've gone
out of our way to make it a fun and
exciting first week for you. So, yeah.
» Yeah.
Well, to those of you who don't even
know what the Patriot Council of
Governments is, uh, just know that I'm
your representative of that body, which,
uh, provides the various kinds of
support to the municipalities and the
four counties around us.
And, uh, that's why I attend their board
meetings every once in a while. I did
this week and I have a, you know, a page
with the report written out, but I'm
going to skip that, uh, considering what
we've been through tonight. And I just
wanted to give you the the bottom line
on that was that, uh, this month the
Council of Governments had to select a
new attorney to support them.
And, uh, they pointed out that they
interviewed three very competent, uh,
well-established
attorney firms and they selected Brown
Greene Locey as their firm, uh, with
Steve Coggins, uh, mentoring
uh, J.D. uh,
Fisher Fisher
uh, as uh, the primary attorney. So, um,
I think they made a really good choice
there and I told them that.
Glad to like to stay.
>> Thank you, Commissioner Gunter. It's not
a burden, it's very gratifying.
>> [laughter]
» You didn't know you were in that much
venture then, huh?
>> No, I wasn't I wasn't aware of it.
Commissioner's input.
» Came after you your selection was
announced to board.
» I just appreciate everyone coming out. I
think we did some good things tonight. I
know everybody doesn't agree with maybe
us giving money to a non-profit, but I
think we are we are a town and and we're
part of the community council. We're
part of the community, so I think giving
back to the community
is is important as well. So, thank you
guys for coming.
>> Thanks, Jim. Okay, gentlemen, I am I'm
again appreciate everyone showing up
tonight. Uh
it was a
kind of a streamline uh agenda, but we
got through it. Uh there's some couple
of little stumbling points, but I think
it went well.
And uh we're all the way through the
summer. And uh it's it's
been kind of a challenge in some cases,
and I think our biggest uh takeaway for
the summer is the traffic.
And uh it's not going to go away and and
so we now would have to see how we deal
with it. But, um
there's a couple of other little issues,
but you know, we still live in paradise.
And again, Chief, welcome. I know you
got your hands full, but
I think you're you're up for the task.
>> I think that's great to see.
Thank you all for coming. I make a
motion to adjourn.
>> I make the motion we adjourn.
>> Okay, motion seconded. All in favor?
Aye.
Adjourned.
» Next meeting