December 9,
2003 Agenda
December 9,
2003 Minutes
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Action Agenda
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MINUTES OF THE
REGULAR SCHEDULED MEETING
ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 19 – ZONING – TO REVISE THE DEFINITION AND REGULATION OF TEMPORARY SIGNS AND BANNERS and other exempt signs
WHEREAS, the Town of Emerald Isle previously enacted a zoning ordinance which includes regulations for temporary signs and banners and other exempt signs, and
WHEREAS, the Town of Emerald Isle seeks to clarify the language in the zoning ordinance which regulates the size, number and location of temporary signs and banners and other exempt signs, and
WHEREAS, the Planning Board has unanimously recommended these amendments for adoption by the Board of Commissioners,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Emerald Isle Board of Commissioners that
1. Chapter 19 – Zoning – Section 19-132, Definitions, is hereby amended to read as follows:
Temporary sign or banner:
A sign that is an advertising display constructed of cloth, canvas, fabric,
plastic, paper, plywood, or other material intended to be displayed
2. Chapter – Zoning – Section 19-134, Exceptions, is hereby amended to read as follows:
(3) Legal notices, identification, informational, or directional signs erected or required by governmental bodies or public utilities. Such signs may be placed in a street right-of-way; provided that the sign is placed in such a manner as to not obstruct driver vision of any vehicle entering a roadway from any street, alley, driveway, or parking lot.
(10) Temporary sign or banner as defined in Section 19-132.
3. The Town Clerk is authorized to number the section set forth above and insert the same as appropriate in the Town Code.
4. This ordinance shall become effective immediately upon its adoption. If any section, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance.
Adopted this the _________ day of ____________________, 2003, by a vote of
Commissioner(s) ________________________________________________voting for,
Commissioner(s) ________________________________________________ voting against, and
Commissioner(s) _________________________________________ absent.
______________________________ Arthur B. Schools, Jr., Mayor
ATTEST:
_____________________________ Rhonda Ferebee, Town Clerk Motion was made by Commissioner McElraft to open the Public Hearing. The Board voted unanimously 5-0 in favor. Motion carried. There were no comments from the public. Motion was made by Commissioner Farmer to close the Public Hearing. The Board voted unanimously 5-0 in favor. Motion carried. Commissioner McElraft asked Kim Hebert, who was in the audience, about ALS. She questioned whether six signs would be enough, to which Mrs. Hebert responded yes it would. Commissioner McElraft asked if five signs would be enough, to which Mrs. Hebert responded no. Commissioner McElraft then asked Mrs. Hebert if ten days after the event would give plenty of time to take the signs down, two days she felt was a little too strict. Mrs. Hebert said ten days would be perfect. Commissioner McElraft said she was asking this because ALS was their biggest fundraiser and it was so successful, and she didn’t want to compromise anything that they did with an ordinance that would be stricter than allowing what they allowed before. She also wanted to know if thirty days was plenty of time to have the signs up? Commissioner McElraft said she felt fourteen days was too few days. She felt they were so successful because they put them up early this time. Mrs. Hebert said she felt thirty days would be great. Mr. Reed commented that staff’s real goal was to come up with consistent language so they could treat ALS, and the Blood Drive and others consistently. He added they were more than comfortable with whatever number of signs, and the duration that the Town Board establishes. He felt it was important to consistently be able to give the parameters to groups and treat all fairly when they go to erect their banners. Commissioner Marks disagreed with the thirty days on the signs. She felt this was too long a period. She felt two weeks was plenty of time. She said when signs are left that long people tend to ignore and forget when the event was or is going to be. She felt it should be a shorter period and she could go with 4-5 days, but ten days to take down a sign was unreasonable. Motion was made by Commissioner McElraft to adopt the Ordinance Amending Chapter 19 – Zoning – To Revise the Definition and Regulation of Temporary Signs and Banners with the modifications just mentioned, that the signs can be up for thirty(30) days, that they are allowed up until ten (10) days after the event, and that there will be a maximum of six (6) signs or banners. The Board voted 4-1 in favor with Commissioner Eckhardt, Farmer, McElraft, and Messer voting in favor. Commissioner Marks voting against. Motion carried. 9. ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 19 – ZONING – TO REVISE THE REGULATIONS FOR BUFFERS IN BUSINESS DISTRICTS Kevin Reed, Planning Director, presented to the Board the proposed amendment to Chapter 19 – Zoning – To Revise the Regulations for Buffers in Business Districts. Mr. Reed noted that the Board at their last meeting on November 18, 2003, had discussed this proposed ordinance amendment which basically addressed the requirement for a vegetative buffer between commercial property when it abuts residential or institutional property. Mr. Reed noted this was not a substantive change to the ordinance but simply a matter of clarifying the language. Ultimately, he noted, this is approved as part of the commercial review process, and the ultimate decision for the approval of this does lie with the Town Board itself.ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 19 – ZONING – TO REVISE THE REGULATIONS FOR BUFFER AREAS IN BUSINESS DISTRICS WHEREAS, the Town of Emerald Isle previously enacted a zoning ordinance which includes regulations for buffer areas in commercial districts when they abut residential or institutional, and
WHEREAS, the Town of Emerald Isle seeks clarify the language for the requirement of buffer areas, and
WHEREAS, the Planning Board has unanimously recommended this amendment for adoption by the Board of Commissioners,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the Emerald Isle Board of Commissioners that
1. Chapter 19 – Zoning – Section 19-107, Business district dimensional requirements, be amended as follows:
(7) A buffer shall be required if commercial development abuts a residential or institutional lot. The buffer shall consist of one of the following: (1) a vegetative opaque screen six (6) feet in height; or, (2) an opaque fence six (6) feet in height. The buffer must be located along the perimeter of the project where it abuts the residential or institutional lot and the methods and materials of construction must be approved as part of the commercial development review process. The buffer must be maintained as constructed and replaced or repaired if destroyed or damaged by any means.
2. The Town Clerk is authorized to number the section set forth above and insert the same as appropriate in the Town Code.
3. This ordinance shall become effective immediately upon its adoption. If any section, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance.
Adopted this the _________ day of ____________________, 2003, by a vote of
Commissioner(s) ________________________________________________voting for,
Commissioner(s) ________________________________________________ voting against, and
Commissioner(s) _________________________________________ absent.
______________________________ Arthur B. Schools, Jr., Mayor ATTEST:
_____________________________ Rhonda Ferebee, Town Clerk Motion was made by Commissioner McElraft to open the Public Hearing. The Board voted unanimously 5-0 in favor. Motion carried. There were no comments from the public. Motion was made by Commissioner Farmer to close the Public Hearing. The Board voted unanimously in favor. Motion carried. Commissioner Messer asked Mr. Reed, concerning 19-107 on the second page, if the underlined was new, where the buffer must be maintained as constructed and replaced or repaired if destroyed or damaged by any means. Mr. Reed said that this was noted three times in his memo. The first time it appears in his memo it is actually how it appears in the town code. The second time is how staff proposed it originally to the Planning Board, and the third version with the underlined sections indicates a slight modification made by the Planning Board when they considered it. Commissioner McElraft asked, for clarification purposes, if opaque meant you could not see through it. Mr. Reed said that was correct. Commissioner McElraft said then a vegetative buffer that you couldn’t see through would have to be very thick. Mr. Reed said that was correct, and he added that including the language that it could be a vegetative screen or an opaque fence, he went back to town staff to determine how had this been interpreted in the past, and one of those two options was what was used in the past, they simply spelled it out this time to make it clear. Commissioner McElraft asked about opaque, the interpretation for the record, if you are standing up against vegetation you can obviously see through to the next side, so is that considered opaque? She said you’d have to have rows and rows of vegetation, and in the winter you see more than in the summer. Mr. Reed said that realistically to use a vegetative buffer it would be someone who is probably going to spend more money than they intend to and will do it for aesthetic reasons and will probably involve a combination of screening materials to truly get an opaque screen. Commissioner McElraft asked if the opaque part was new in the ordinance. Mr. Reed said they do say an opaque fence, they just don’t spell out it can be vegetative or constructed materials, opaque is currently in the language now. Commissioner McElraft asked about the added part, the materials of construction must be approved as part of the commercial development review process, whether that was new. Mr. Reed said the language states now that it is approved by the Board of Commissioners. Essentially they approve that as part of the commercial development review process. He noted when he first presented this to the Planning Board he was asked what the screen would look like. He responded that this would be something that would be decided as part of the commercial review process, and they wanted to be a little more explicit about it, so they included language that the methods and materials of construction must be approved. He added that whether that sentence is in there or not, the Board would be approving it as part of the commercial review process. They just simply spelled out that it is part of the commercial review process and that the methods and materials is a binding requirement. Commissioner McElraft said she wanted to make sure they would not dictate to someone in this. She would like for them to come to the Board to say this is what they want, and they either approve it or not. Mr. Reed said if this screen is required they would propose what type of screen, and if it meets the intent of the ordinance as being opaque, then hopefully the staff in working with the developer, the Planning Board, and ultimately the Town Board will all be in agreement with what is being proposed. Motion was made by Commissioner Messer to adopt the Ordinance Amending Chapter 19 – Zoning – To Revise the Regulations for Buffers in Business Districts. The Board voted unanimously 5-0 in favor. Motion carried. Mayor Schools at this time requested that Kim Hebert come forward. Mayor Schools mentioned his article in the Island Review this month, noting that the article was about Kim Hebert. He wanted for everyone to know that Kim was one of the people in Carteret County that was named Outstanding Caregiver of the Year by the Carteret County Mayor’s Committee for Disabilities, adding how proud we are to have her as a citizen of Emerald Isle, and how we appreciate all she does. Commissioner McElraft announced to the Board that Mayor Schools had been selected by the TDA (Tourism Development Authority) to be their Chairman. 10. PRESENTATION TO COMMISSIONERS ECKHARDT, FARMER, AND MARKS Mayor Schools presented plaques of appreciation to the outgoing Commissioners, Dick Eckhardt, Emily Farmer, and Dorothy “Doje” Marks. Mayor Schools thanked them all for time they spent with town business, their effort, hard work, and long hours. Mayor Schools turned the meeting over to Town Clerk Rhonda Ferebee, and there was a short break taken to prepare for the Installation of New Elected Officials. **BREAK (To prepare for Oaths) The meeting was called back to order by Town Clerk Rhonda Ferebee. 11. INSTALLATION OF NEW ELECTED OFFICIALS Rhonda Ferebee Town Clerk, at this time introduced Senior Resident Superior Court Judge for Carteret, Craven, and Pamlico Counties, the Honorable Benjamin G. Alford, who was in attendance to administer the Oaths of Office to the new elected officials. Judge Alford first administered the Oath of Office to Mayor Art Schools. The Oaths of Office were then administered to Commissioners Nita Hedreen, Robert Isenhour, Patricia McElraft, Floyd Messer, and John Wootten. Mayor Schools then asked for a motion to elect Mayor Pro-Tem. Motion was made by Commissioner McElraft to elect Floyd Messer as Mayor Pro-Tem. Commissioner McElraft said it was an honor to nominate Commissioner Messer. The Board voted 4-0 in favor with Commissioners Hedreen, Isenhour, McElraft, and Wootten in favor. Commissioner Messer abstained and his vote was therefore counted in favor. Motion carried. Judge Benjamin G. Alford then administered the Oath of Office to Mayor Pro-Tem Floyd Messer. Mayor Schools then called for a break at 7:40 p.m. for light refreshments. **BREAK (Light Refreshments Available)** Mayor Schools called the meeting back to order at 8:00 p.m. 12. PRELIMINARY/FINAL PLAT – SEA WATCH SUBDIVISION Kevin Reed, Planning Director, presented information to the Board concerning Sea Watch Subdivision. The Board is asked to approve both the preliminary and final plats for the proposed Sea Watch subdivision. Sea Watch is a 9 lot subdivision on 4 acres on the oceanfront west of Janell Lane. No private or public infrastructure is proposed, and the subdivision simply involves the creation of individual lot lines. The Town’s staff-level Technical Review Committee, the Town Engineer, and the Planning board have all reviewed the proposed subdivision and have found it to be in compliance with the applicable Town ordinances. Mr. Reed added that this property was rezoned several months ago to R-2 zoning to accommodate this proposed, anticipated development. The smallest lot that will be created contains 13,870 square feet and the largest lot contains 31,995 square feet. The minimum lot size for the R-2 zone is 12,500 square feet. The size and dimensions of each lot is in conformance with the Town’s requirements. Commissioner Isenhour asked Mr. Reed if all driveways would come out on Janell Lane. Mr. Reed said that it was anticipated that all 9 driveways would be served by the existing town street known as Janell Lane. Commissioner McElraft made the comment that this was a voluntary down zoning from the most commercialized property. It was a B-3 property and voluntarily the developer took it down to an R-2, and she thanked him for that. Motion was made by Commissioner Messer to approve the preliminary and final plats for Sea Watch Subdivision. The Board voted unanimously 5-0 in favor. Motion carried. 13. NC 58 SIDEWALK PROJECT – PHASE II DESIGN Frank Rush Town Manager discussed with the Board the information concerning the NC 58 Sidewalk Project – Phase II Design. Phase II of the NC 58 Sidewalk Project is scheduled to be constructed this winter, and the Board of Commissioners is asked to approve the proposed project design at the December 9 meeting. The Town received a $33,600 grant from NCDOT, matched with $8,400 of Town funds, to construct sidewalks along the north side of NC 58 from Live Oak Street west to Leisure Lane and from the Eagles Store west to Bogue Inlet Drive. The new sidewalks will be 6’ wide, and will tie into the new sidewalk between Bogue Inlet Drive and Live Oak Street that was completed this past summer. The project design includes the construction of a continuous concrete sidewalk across existing asphalt driveways in the project area. There are no asphalt driveway crossings necessary in the sidewalk segment between Live Oak Street and Leisure Lane, a distance of approximately 920 linear feet. There are a total of seven (7) asphalt driveway crossings necessary in the sidewalk segment between the Eagles Store and Bogue Inlet Drive, a distance of approximately 530 liner feet. These seven (7) driveway crossings serve four (4) existing commercial buildings. The NC 58 Committee recommended that the Town pursue the closure of some of these driveways, in cooperation with the affected businesses, in order to improve traffic flow, safety, and aesthetics along this stretch of NC 58. NCDOT and Town staff concurred with this recommendation, and we attempted to work with the owners / managers of Eagles, Mike’s Place, and Bert’s Surf Shop to eliminate one (1) of the two (2) existing driveways that serve these businesses in a manner that would be acceptable to these businesses. Specifically, we attempted to accomplish this without reducing the number of parking spaces available to these businesses. Despite our best efforts, we were unable to reach agreement on new driveway configurations that would allow the closure of existing driveways. In the case of Bert’s Surf Shop, the owner and manager of the store were not cooperative and would not discuss this issue with the Town. In the case of Mike’s Place, the owner was cooperative, however, after considerable analysis, we were simply unable to devise a new, one-driveway configuration that did not result in the loss of parking spaces. In the case of Eagles, the manager was cooperative, however, he indicated his ultimate decision would be tied to the decision by Mike’s Place. As a result, I am recommending to the Board of Commissioners that the Town proceed with Phase II of the NC 58 sidewalk project with the existing driveway configuration, and that the Town construct a continuous concrete sidewalk across the existing asphalt driveways at-grade as originally planned. (These driveway crossings would be identical to those constructed at Jordan’s Seafood, the Reel Outdoors, and other businesses adjacent to the Phase I sidewalk.) If the existing businesses currently served with more than one (1) driveway are ever redeveloped, it may be possible to limit the redevelopment to only one (1) driveway connection at that time and still achieve the same end results with regard to traffic flow, safety, and aesthetics. I would advise the Board of Commissioners in place at the time of redevelopment to attempt to achieve this goal at that time. Unfortunately, it does not appear to be feasible, nor fair to the existing businesses, to eliminate any existing driveways at this time. If the Board concurs with this recommendation, we will proceed with the bid process for Phase II of the sidewalk project. NCDOT will actually conduct the bid process and award the contract. I am hopeful we can begin construction sometime in January or February and complete construction prior to the annual St. Patrick’s Festival in March. Commissioner McElraft said that the last project was a little over budget and we had to pay more than our twenty percent. She asked if Mr. Rush anticipated any overages this time. Mr. Rush said that they based the grant requests on the bids received the last time. He said they actually bid out this phase of the project last year as an alternate and that is what the grant request is based on so they would go through another bid process that actually the NCDOT will coordinate, and they will award the contract. He said if on budget we could proceed with it, if it does not, then we can look at adding additional funds or possibly reducing the scope of the project, but he thought it would come in within budget, but it remains to be seen. Commissioner McElraft asked if the Powell Bill funds were sufficient to do this without shorting so much that we may not be able to fix potholes. She was worried about Powell Bill fund reserves with using a lot of this money for sidewalks, which she is in favor of, but feels they need to be careful and not deplete. Mr. Rush said as of June 30, they had a balance of approximately $70,000 in Powell Bill reserves, which he felt was a healthy level, and may allow them to do additional things down the road. He added that the $8,400 that was indicated as a match was included in the FY03-04 budget. Commissioner Wootten asked if there was a deadline on the grant in terms of getting this done. Mr. Rush said the DOT has a pot of money available for sidewalk projects each year, and we were trying to meet end of fiscal year schedule. He didn’t know the exact deadline, they had just gotten the award in August or September. Mayor Schools mentioned the problems last year with work occurring during the tourist season and felt if this is done it should be done before Easter. Commissioner Wootten wondered whether more time might bring more leverage to the business owners to solve the problem or if it was worth the delay, and he thought he was coming down on the side that it was not worth the delay over one driveway. Mr. Rush said he wished they could accomplish that change but he didn’t see any way to do it without harming those businesses. He said they had approached them about the same idea in Phase I of the project and didn’t get very far. Mayor Schools said that Mike’s Place was all for doing it but they could just not figure out how to do it. He (Mike's Place) wasn’t negative about it. Motion was made by Commissioner Wootten to approve the design for Phase II of the NC 58 Sidewalk Project as presented. The Board voted unanimously 5-0 in favor. Motion carried. 14. TOWN ADVISORY BOARDS AND COMMITTEES/COMMISSIONER APPOINTMENTS Commissioner Messer asked for conversation or suggestions from Commissioners as to boards and committees. Commissioner Messer began by stating that Mayor Schools and former Commissioner Eckhardt had been on the JLUS (Joint Land Use Study) Committee. Commissioner Messer recommended that Commissioner Wootten replace Mr. Eckhardt on the JLUS Committee. He added that former Commissioner Eckhardt had also served on the Audit Committee with him and he recommended that Commissioner Isenhour join Commissioner Messer on that committee. Mayor Schools said in regard to the JLUS Committee, that this would probably turn into a semi-BRAC Committee which is Base Realignment and Closure. He said twenty-five percent of the military bases in the United States were going to be closed. He said we don’t want Cherry Point to be part of this twenty-five percent. Cherry Point itself, he added, did not seem to be much at risk but the NADEP locations are going to be consolidated, so either this NADEP will grow or go away. He felt they needed to work hard because two of the biggest pushers for the economy are that, and tourism in Carteret County. Mayor Schools asked for a vote on the appointment of Commissioner Wootten to the JLUS Committee. The Board voted unanimously 5-0 in favor. Mayor Schools asked for a vote on the appointment of Commissioner Isenhour to the Audit Committee. The Board voted unanimously 5-0 in favor. Commissioner Hedreen said that she currently served on the Land Use Plan Committee. She said they had been holding regular monthly meetings for over a year, and numerous extra meetings. Committee members had worked very hard, facing tough issues, and the work is not done but is drawing to a close. She recommended that this committee be left just as it is. She said that she knew there was one commissioner that served on it, but she recommended that she continue to work with them. She also noted that the timeline would come very quickly that this document would have to be turned in to CAMA. She felt the committee should remain together so the document in the final Draft could be turned into the Planning Board in a February timeframe, so they could stay on top and would not have a learning curve if other members were to join. Commissioner Hedreen said the original timeline was to be finished in January, but it looked like it would take a little more time as survey results had to be compiled. Commissioner McElraft said Mr. Rush had suggested they have a joint meeting between the Planning Board and the Board of Commissioners after the Land Use Plan had been turned over to the Planning Board. Mr. Rush said he had provided the Board a copy of the revised schedule from Bill Farris. That schedule envisions a special joint meeting between the Land Use Plan Committee, the Planning Board, and the Town Board sometime in February. That is one approach the Board may want to take. Another approach is for the Land Use Plan Committee to make their recommendations to the Planning Board, and give the Planning Board an opportunity to review. He said at this point it was really up to the Board of Commissioners as to how they wanted to proceed in getting the recommended document to them, and the role they want the Planning Board to have in that. He said there is a deadline for the project to be completely finished by May 2004. He said it is anticipated at this time that the Board will take action on it sometime in March maybe at a Special Meeting. Commissioner McElraft said she would like for it to be finished with the Land Use Plan Committee,then go to the Planning Board. The Planning Board would then have a chance to look at it, and then a joint meeting. From that point on it would be Planning Board and Board of Commissioner’s, the Land Use Plan Committee would be finished. Mr. Rush said that being the consensus of the Board, they would develop a schedule to that end. Commissioner Hedreen added that the Planning Board had wanted to take a more active role in the entire process, but they had representatives, so she felt they would pleased to have a little more time and a lot of input into this project. Commissioner Wootten mentioned another committee, the Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee that was recently formed. He said this group supports the Highway 58 improvements so his recommendation is to encourage this group to stay together. Mayor Schools said the Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee had two meetings so far and had problems getting a quorum together but everyone on the committee that he had spoken with was very enthusiastic. He mentioned some of the comments made dealt with the bike path and sidewalks, and having planned activities for the Town. He felt they had a lot of good ideas. Mayor Schools asked for comments on the Community Appearance Committee. He felt there was not much interest out there to put this committee together. He recommended it be dropped at this time. Commissioner Hedreen asked if there was any overlap between Bicycle and Pedestrian and the Community Appearance. Mayor Schools said no, they were talking about things such as neighborhood of the month award, they just never had enough interest. Town Attorney Derek Taylor noted that since the Community Appearance Committee had been created officially by an action they may want to take an official action to abolish it. He added that you are not talking about appointments now you are actually dealing with getting rid of something the Board created. Motion was made by Commissioner Isenhour to abolish the Community Appearance Committee. The Board voted unanimously5-0 in favor. Motion carried. Commissioner McElraft said when she served her first term, a Planning Board was dismissed and she was very upset about it. She made comment at that time that she felt these were fine citizens, they should not be kicked off, and she agreed to this day that there are reasons to make sure that people understand that their serving the town has been appreciated. She said she had also learned over the past two terms from her fellow commissioners that when you have two different visions in a town you need to go with the vision that had the most support. The vision on November 4th is different than the vision that has been leading the town for the past two years. Commissioner McElraft asked if her fellow commissioner would dissolve the Planning Board that we have right now, ask those people to reapply, and anyone else who is interested. She said she felt a Planning Board and Board of Commissioners, not that they would agree on everything, but they should have the same vision. She thanked everyone who had served on the Planning Board, and hoped they would reapply and they would consider their applications the same way as anyone else willing to serve. She said she had learned through the process that you do have to have the same vision. She hoped her fellow commissioners would agree to do this and she would like to see Mr. Rush, Mr. Reed, and another commissioner serve with the Mayor on a nominating committee to accept the applications. She would also like to see if the people applying would write what they feel their vision is for Emerald Isle. Commissioner Isenhour said if they do this it would need to be done quickly so as not to be without a Planning Board for very long. Mr. Rush said the next Planning Board meeting was scheduled for December 22nd and then again on the fourth Monday in January. Commissioner McElraft said they couldn’t do anything until the January meeting as far as appointing anyone. Commissioner Wootten said his suggestion would be to appoint a new Planning Board at the Board of Commissioners January meeting. Mr. Rush said he felt that selection of the Planning Board members was best left to the elected officials, and he and Mr. Reed’s role should be as staff support. It was determined that the deadline for Planning Board applications would be January 7, 2004. Commissioner Hedreen was concerned about requiring people to write their vision because some who are very talented may not feel that they write eloquently enough to put their thoughts on a document that would be read by others. She felt this should be optional, and should not exclude them. Motion was made by Commissioner McElraft to dismiss the current Planning Board members with thanks for their service to this point, and a new Board would be appointed at the next meeting. Applications are to be applied to the Town Hall through the Town Manager’s office. This is to be effective immediately. As there would now be no December Planning Board meeting, Mr. Reed noted the most pressing item that had been to appear on the December Planning Board agenda was the rezoning application that had been submitted. Those individuals representing that application were present tonight, if they didn’t have a problem, staff certainly didn’t have a problem delaying until January. Commissioner Hedreen requested the applicant, since they were present tonight, could be asked how negatively, if at all, this delay would impact them. The applicant felt this delay would not be a problem. The Board voted unanimously 5-0 in favor. Motion carried. Commissioner McElraft said the Board would also be taking applications for a new Town Attorney. She added that Mr. Taylor had served the town well. She said they would take applications from any attorney’s office with Town Board experience, and she would like to see if her fellow commissioners agreed with this action. She would like to see if the Town Manager when looking at these application’s, would inquire about fees, and hopefully the town could save some money. Commissioner Wootten said the topic of attorney fees and cost effectiveness is almost a sore in the community that he heard expressed in the campaign over and over again. Therefore, he felt it appropriate to take a course like this so that facts could be put on the table to some degree, so that there is some treatment of the problem. He felt they should take the cheapest and the most effective, taking cost and experience, an attorney that would do the job for the Town. It is with that intent that he would agree to this action. He supported the Town Manager soliciting. He thought there should be two commissioners involved deeply in the process. His recommendation was Commissioner Messer and Commissioner Isenhour. Motion was made by Commissioner McElraft to take applications from any attorney interested in providing work for the Town, this to include applications from the current Town Attorney. The Board voted unanimously 5-0 in favor. Motion carried. Motion was made by Commissioner Wootten that the committee formed to interview attorneys’ would be Commissioner Messer and Commissioner Isenhour. The Board voted 4-0 in favor. Commissioner Isenhour abstained from voting therefore his vote was counted in favor. Motion carried. Attorney Taylor asked for clarification from the Board as to whether he should continue to serve as Town Attorney, to which the Board responded absolutely he should continue to serve as Town Attorney during this process. Commissioner Wootten said this should not be dragged out. He suggested the February meeting. Mr. Rush suggested that he would put together a request for qualifications and circulate that to the Board, and get that out as quickly as possible. Mayor Schools mentioned one other unannounced item. He drew attention to the artwork on the Town Hall wall. Mayor Schools informed everyone that this was the work of artist Hazel Foster, who was in attendance tonight. Mrs. Foster gave a public thank you for the Town making a space available to our local artists. The citizens in attendance gave her a round of applause to show their appreciation for displaying her art work. 15. COMMENTS FROM TOWN CLERK, TOWN ATTORNEY, AND TOWN MANAGER The Town Clerk had no comments. The Town Attorney had no comments. Town Manager Frank Rush said he was happy to report that the Towns claim to FEMA for the replacement of sand lost during Hurricane Isabel had been approved. After Hurricane Isabel, during a tour of the beach, they were pleased to find that the beach fared very well. They did find eight hot spots in the area between the Indian Beach town line and roughly the 4000 Block that did lose some sand. CSE after doing a beach profile survey calculated the Town lost approximately 128,000 cubic yards as a result of Isabel. In light of this, the Town had prepared a FEMA Beach Maintenance and Monitoring Plan, approved by the Board in July, which was one of the criteria for FEMA claims for nourishment sand. Also the fact that it was an engineered beach, designed by qualified coastal engineers contributed to that. He said a claim had been submitted to replace the 128,000 cubic yards of sand. He estimated the cost of that work to be $2.3 million. The claim was approved by FEMA. Approximately $832,000 of that is associated with the actual sand replacement, the engineering, and associated miscellaneous fees associated with the project. He said $1.5 million is associated with the dredge mobilization and demobilization. Mr. Rush said the Town is faced with two key issues in performing that work. One, is the large majority of the cost is associated with the mobilization and the demobilization. He would really like to see the Town avoid that expense for Federal and State governments that will ultimately pay this claim and the best way to do that would be to try and tag onto a nearby dredging contract. He said there will be dredging done at the Beaufort Inlet Harbor this winter. Weeks Marine is the successful bidder on that project. They will have at least one, and perhaps two hopper dredgers here during January, February and March, and it would be ideal to have them finish the work at the Beaufort Outer Harbor, of which it is believed that sand will be placed on the beach at Indian Beach. They would work hard to perhaps arrange for them to come to Emerald Isle and place that additional 128,000 cubic yards of sand in the hot spots. The sand source would be the offshore borrow areas that are currently permitted, which brings us to the next issue to be resolved which is permits. According to Mr. Rush there is a permit in place for the offshore borrow areas, it does not expire until December 31, 2004, however, it was for the one-time placement of sand on the beach, and if the Board concurs we’ll be working with the Division of Coastal Management and the Corps of Engineers to amend those permits so we can hopefully place 128,000 yards of sand on the beach from the offshore borrow areas. He added we are under a real tight timeframe to make that happen. The Town will have to go through a major permit modification process which is a minimum of 75 days, hopefully we could get a permit modification application in by January 1st. We’re still looking at mid-March before we’d have a decision. This is about a two-week job to do this work and we’d be pushing very close to the April 1st deadline. One of the components of the permit modification request might be an extension of the April 1st deadline to take it to perhaps April 15th or 30th. Those are the key issues involved in getting the work done this dredging season. Mr. Rush continued that if we are not able to pull all of this together then there is the possibility of doing the work next dredging season. As you know we are hoping to have a cutterhead dredge here working in Bogue Inlet and we could incorporate this work into that contract. More than likely we would still have to go offshore to get the sand for the FEMA work because there is a limit on the amount of sand taken out of the Bogue Inlet channel. He felt that either of those options should result in significantly decreased mobilization and demobilization costs. Mr. Rush said he was scheduled to meet with Tim Kana from CSE the next day to discuss details of putting together a permit modification request. He said if the Board would like to proceed with this, and make an attempt to pump sand on the beach this winter, he would need emergency authority from the Board to make a contract with CSE to get them started as quickly as possible. Commissioner McElraft said she was thrilled that they got the money. She said they weren’t sure if the FEMA Maintenance Plan would work, but Greg “Rudi” Rudolph did a great plan, it worked, and we got our FEMA money. She added we have an insurance policy on that beach, and it was really nice to see it in force. Commissioner Wootten said he gathered that Mr. Rush needed CSE’s help in drafting the permit application, therefore when he met with Tim Kana the next day he would want to strike a deal. Mr. Rush said he hoped to get close to that and be able to give him notice to proceed, subject to getting a formal proposal form, but he would like to work out as many details as possible. Commissioner Isenhour said it would be foolish to delay. He felt we should move forward as quickly as possible. Commissioner McElraft asked if the funds would come out of the FEMA money. Mr. Rush said a portion of the claim for the sand, engineering, and miscellaneous expenses was $832,000. FEMA has a check in route to us for 75% of that amount which is about $624,000. He said we definitely need CSE’s help with the permit modification permit. The good new is we have the data. It’s really a matter of repackaging previous information. Mayor Schools said he was all in favor of having CSE help put this together, but worse case scenario if somehow the sand did not wind up on the beach, then would the Town have to pay for that and refund all the money to FEMA. Mr. Rush said he didn’t know the answer to that question. Commissioner Wootten said that was probably a safe assumption but wondered what size was the risk. Mayor Schools agreed it was a small risk, but just felt it was something to be aware of though. Mr. Rush said if we are able to put something together for this dredging season, then CSE would be the logical choice to do the construction administration phase. Commissioner Wootten asked if Mr. Rush was asking for authority to proceed with CSE. Mr. Rush said he would like to have the Board’s approval to go ahead and get them started on preliminary work and then come back to the Board in January with an official proposal and contract, but perhaps they could give a top dollar amount to authorize for the first month. Commissioner Wootten felt they should give him the authority to take this from the permit phase through the first of January at least. He felt they should authorize Mr. Rush to do what he needed to do with CSE in order to make this happen by the first of January. Mr. Rush said our expenses would not exceed $100,000 in that timeframe. Commissioner McElraft asked what dollar figure had been used in the grant application for permitting. Mr. Rush said the total, which includes the construction administration, was 8% of the construction budget which was $171,275. Motion was made by Commissioner Wootten to authorize the Town Manager to incur costs up to $100,000 in the permit application process. The Board voted unanimously 5-0 in favor. Motion carried. Mr. Rush also mentioned the water tank land swap was approved by the North Carolina Council of State at their meeting on December 2nd. The new water tank will be located at Emerald Isle Woods. Mr. Rush discussed the status of the Land Use Plan survey results. He said an organization affiliated with N C State University will be doing the tabulation for us at a very reasonable cost that Bill Farris would absorb. The goal is to have the survey results by January 12th to have ready for the January 14th Land Use Plan Steering Committee members. Mr. Rush mentioned a meeting to be scheduled for the Board to have an opportunity to meet with CPE Tom Jarrett, Erin Haight. He intentionally has delayed the meeting until after December 26th when the public comment period ends on DEIS. He said there was a meeting the previous Thursday with the Project Delivery Team to discuss a mitigation plan and monitoring plan. There had been another meeting today with key representatives from Fish and Wildlife, North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, both Federal and State Marine Fisheries, and the meeting was very productive. 16. COMMENTS FROM BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS AND MAYOR Commissioner Wootten thanked everyone for all the help in getting him here. He said it was a big effort by a lot of people. Commissioner McElraft wanted to see if something could be done quickly in changing the fee for handicapped drivers on the beach. She would like to make the permit free. Her suggestion is that the handicap person must be in the car, and they need to patrol that. She felt that this is the only way the handicapped can get to the beach and she thought they should not be charged. Mr. Rush said the beach permits are actually part of the official fee schedule, and they could bring an amendment to the fee schedule at the next meeting. Mayor Schools said this was a special case and if someone wanted to make a motion he felt they could do that right now. Motion was made by Commissioner McElraft to make the fee free for handicapped drivers on our beaches, as long as they are in the vehicle. The Board voted unanimously 5-0 in favor. Motion carried. Commissioner McElraft mentioned a couple other things she would like to see done by the next meeting. She said there are three things that are extremely punitive to our citizens that were enacted in the Dunes and Vegetation, and also piers. She felt we needed to get back in line with Federal and State rules, so she would like for the Planning Director to bring something to the Planning Board at their January meeting discussing the cutting of trees in the 30 foot CAMA setback, and also on requiring a building permit. She said she had tried to modify the ordinance legislatively in her last term but was unable to do so, and she felt these two parts of the Dunes and Vegetation Ordinance were extreme. She would like to see if they could bring it before the Planning Board to take those two areas out. She said they would be in alignment with CAMA on the topping of trees and vegetation in the 30 foot setback, and also not requiring building permits for being able to get a septic tank. You can clear your lot, staying within our guidelines, without a building permit, and put in your septic tank. Commissioner McElraft also said in regard to the length of piers, CAMA says you can get to deep water with your pier even if it’s past the 400 foot area. She would like the Town Planner to bring something before the Planning Board at their January meeting to address this situation. Commissioner Messer thanked everyone for coming. He appreciated the support and encouraged everyone to feel free to call any of the Board if they have questions at any time. Commissioner Isenhour echoed Commissioner Wootten and Messer’s comments. He thanked everyone for their votes and help. He also thanked those who attended the hearing the previous night for the Bogue Inlet Draft EIS. It was hosted by the Corps of Engineers. He urged everyone to get involved in this process because it is important regardless of where you lived on the Island. Commissioner Isenhour also concurred with Commissioner McElraft’s comments concerning the Dunes and Vegetation, particularly as it relates to the 30 foot buffer on soundfront property, as well as the length of piers. Commissioner Hedreen thanked everyone for her seat here tonight. She added she was delighted, and she was also grateful and humble for their confidence. She asked that everyone give them a chance to listen to them, hear their concerns, and to act on them so the Town would be unified, working together toward common goals. Mayor Schools thanked everyone for putting him back up here. He said he had enjoyed the last two years and will enjoy the next two. Mayor Schools gave a special thanks to Pete Allen, who he added had become an even better friend during the election. Commissioner McElraft added her thanks to everyone for their support for all three terms. 17. ADJOURN Motion was made by Commissioner McElraft to adjourn the meeting. The Board voted unanimously 5-0 in favor. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted: Rhonda C. FerebeeTown Clerk |