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MINUTES OF ANNUAL PLANNING RETREAT
OF THE EMERALD ISLE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
MONDAY JANUARY 28, 2002 1:00 P.M. TOWN HALL
The Emerald Isle Board of Commissioners reconvened their recessed annual
planning retreat of January 25, 2002 at 1:00 P.M. on Monday, January 28, 2002
immediately following the Special Joint Meeting between the Board of
Commissioners and Planning Board.
All board members were present. Town
staffs present were Carolyn Custy Town Clerk, Frank Rush Town Manager, and Carol
Angus of the Inspections Department.
The purpose of this meeting was to conclude the discussions for planning
purposes for forth coming years.
Garbage Collection - The board discussed the problem with garbage
collection and dropping of garbage onto streets and right-of-ways when putting
cans back into racks. A suggestion
was made to try and work this out with Waste Industries.
Mr. Danny Taylor from the Inspections Department will be making one more
sweep of the town in regard to compliance with the new procedures that began a
few months ago.
Garbage cans are being added to the street side of the walkways.
Citizen comment was there does not seem to be enough containers at
walkways on the beach.
One board member commented that a lot of the stuff in the trash cans is
recyclable.
Budget - Discussion took
place on possible budget cuts this year and the Fund Balance account.
It was noted that the Town should be at about 24% on Fund Balance this
year and this puts the town in good shape.
It was noted that the Institute of Government and the North Carolina
Municipal Council (bond rating agency) recommend a higher percentage for coastal
towns.
Savings on Budget items The
Internet system for the Town has been reworked with a savings of several
thousand dollars per year. The
telephone system was discussed and quotes will be taken. The filling of vacant
positions should be looked at closely before they are filled. All budget
requests for FY 2002-2003 will be carefully screened and cuts will be made where
appropriate.
Process of Budget The
board discussed the process for a budget. Department
Heads will submit their budget requests to Mr. Rush where he will prepare a
preliminary budget for the board to work on.
Mr. Rush at a later date will present a time frame to the board.
The new budget must be approved by June 30, 2002.
Mr. Bill Reist, resident of
Woodcliff Drive, notified the board that word is out that there is going to be
an approximate 4 to 5 cents increase in the tax rate. He noted the board may get a lot of public input and
encourages citizens to come take a look at the budget.
Lot Sizes The size of
lots was briefly discussed. Issue
is lots with less than 75 foot across the front (as in Pie shaped lots) have to
build on back of lot to meet setback lines and those with 75-foot frontage build
on the front. Trees have to be
removed for those building further back and filling is usually involved.
It was suggested that the ordinances related to this issue be looked at
for possible amendment to eliminate the rule of 75 feet width.
DOT TH0ROUGHFARE - It is
not known where this issue stands at this time.
The CVS entrance is being looked
into by Mr. Conrad. He is trying to come up with a one-way solution that will
minimize congestion at the entrance.
Briefly discussed was the issue a
left turn lane at Islander Drive and a closed loop traffic system.
The Islander Drive turn lane would not be of any benefit.
The closed loop traffic system comes with a price tag of about $300,000
which funds for these improvements is about 3 years down the road.
A question was posed as to how
Cedar Point got free sidewalks? It
is not known for sure they were free. Mr.
Rush will check to see if they indeed were.
We may want to ask DOT for sidewalks for Emerald Isle.
Beach and Sound Access There
are some sound side accesses that have never been opened.
Some are fairly easy to open, and others will require a lot of work. The
policy in the past has been that if the neighborhood improves the access, the
town will consider taking over the maintenance.
The Town Manager was instructed to proceed with opening up accesses
within the present town policy, and to keep the board informed as they are done.
PHASE II STORM WATER PROGRAM Several larger cities, i.e.
Charlotte, Raleigh, etc., are eligible for Phase II Storm Water Program which is
the permitting process. However,
Emerald Isle has not been included at this time but may become a part of Phase
II. Deadline for permitting is
March of 2003. The program includes Public Education, correction of discharges,
which would be things like sewer systems that are tied into storm water systems,
car washes, hazardous chemicals from industrial sewers, reworking the Storm
Water Ordinance, etc. There appear
to be nothing listed in the requirement that would prove to be major for the
town. The biggest thing is public
education.
POOPER-SCOOPER LAW Enforcement was discussed briefly relating
to horses on the beach and dogs. Agreement
was that horses need to be added to the pooper-scooper law, warn people for a
while and then citations issued.
Other item discussed were the irrigation system and water sources for the
system on Emerald Drive from the bridge to Coast Guard Road, feasibility of down
sized police vehicles, the number of vehicles and the financing of them.
Discussed addressing the issue of house numbers and proper placement (at
end of driveways), beachfront houses numbers on both the street and beachside.
Public comments were received from Mr. Bill Reist, Woodcliffe Drive
relative to keeping informed on the Cherry Point/Super Hornet situation.
There being no further discussion, Commissioner McElraft made a
motion to adjourn, seconded by Commissioner Farmer and the boards vote was
unanimous, with a vote of 5-0.
Meeting was adjourned at 3:15 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Carolyn K. Custy, CMC
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