Drawing of were the wooden Hatteras ramp will be constructed at the narrow entrance to Freeman Park.
Ramp From page 1-A problems occur. The ramp will provide a solid driving surface for those vehicles in the narrow access/egress area of the Park and should alleviate traffic backups during peak times. Town Manager Michael Cramer explained Friday March
Pool From page 2-A Council member Leann Pierce answered, "I would like to see a safe place for our children to learn to swim and families to spend quality time. With
K9 From page 1-A Recently it was also determined that Chief would be retiring. Juel said that K-9's can cost upwards of $12,000 each. She works at First Citizen's Bank in Carolina Beach where an account has been setup to take donations from the public to help fund replacement of the two K9's. Checks can be made out to Carolina Beach Police K9 Unit and dropped off at the bank or mailed to 612 North Lake Park Blvd, Carolina Beach, NC 28428. Juel said they still want to obtain vests for the new dogs and hope they can work with companies who may donate the vests.
OSHA From page 1-A from utility poles on Lake Park Boulevard. The Inspector initially approached the work site because he observed the Contractor being driven from one electrical pole to the next while riding in the bucket of the work truck, which was in the down position. In addition, the Inspector observed our employee not wearing a hard hat in a work zone." Cramer explained, "Management was called to the work site,
Parking From page 1-A SP Plus Municipal Services is responsible for ticket issuance, ticket payments, appeals, as well as, meter collection and maintenance. The Town has 13 pay parking lots that use single pay-stations to issues parking receipts that are placed on the dashboard. The price is $1.50 an hour up to $8 for all day parking. You may pay using $10, $5, $1, nickels, dimes and quarters. Visa and Master Card may be used as well. Take note that pay-stations do not give change. Parking fees restart at 8:00 AM in all of the Town's parking lots and parking meters. Parking for more than 24 hours at a time is not permitted. All parking spaces designated "Handicap" are free with the display of a handicap parking placard. Parking meters are used at some short-term parking lots and parking spaces along various streets throughout Town. The price is $1.50 an hour and
executed." Cramer explained Friday that, "As of today the fabrication of the ramp mats is approximately 80% complete. The contractor has revised their schedule at our request, so that the completion of the installation of the ramps will happen before Easter weekend. In order to facilitate this revised schedule the Town will CLOSE FREEMAN PARK to vehicle traffic between April 7th and April 16th. Signs indicating the closure have been placed at Town Hall, Parking Office, Recreation Center and at the four commercial locations where Freeman Park Passes are sold. We have also installed two variable message board signs, one on Carl Winner Ave. and one on Canal Dr., to alert the public to the closure. A Press Release has been sent to all media outlets advertised on Facebook and the Town Website. We regret the closure was necessary, but we anticipate that this project will improve the traffic flow between the dunes during our peak season." Ben Hooks of Lumina Builders, Inc. - the company contracted to build the ramp - told Town officials earlier this month if weather cooperates they can complete the work before the
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Gazette, April 2, 2014
busy Easter break. If work can't be completed they could return after Easter break to finish up. Freeman Park is historically extremely busy during the Easter holiday weekend if the weather is warm and sunny. Freeman Park, located beyond the end of Canal Drive on the Northern End of Pleasure Island, is largely outside of the Town's jurisdiction. They have authority to manage the area as a park. That was granted to them by the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners some years ago. There is a fee charged for vehicle access to drive on the beachfront within the park. The Town, by it's own admission,
doesn't charge people to walk into the park. They can only charge for four-wheel drive vehicle access. The entrance to Freeman Park is narrow with two lanes of traffic for vehicles entering and leaving the beach. During periods of dry weather the sand becomes soft and can lead to vehicles becoming stuck in those lanes causing long lines of traffic to backup within the park and on Canal Drive until a tow truck can arrive to pull a vehicle free. Installing a wooden Hatteras ramp within that narrow corridor would allow vehicles to move more freely and avoid timely traffic backups.
erty tax rates if success doesn't materialize. True, the loan to the government comes from a bank, but in this case the bank knows the Town has something private businesses don't have; taxing authority. In the case of government, the bank isn't at risk, the taxpayers fill
that gap through their property taxes of which the Town has to set high enough to cover all debts. Since this pool has been in the planning process since early 2012, one would have thought some outside financial institution would have been consulted.
28th, "Implementation of the new Hatteras Ramp is proceeding well. At the January 14 Council Meeting, the Town Council elected to decline the grant and proceed with construction of the ramp with Town funds during the off season and complete the project prior to Memorial Day." He explained, "The town received three informal bids and
awarded the service contract to the lowest responsive bidder, which was Lumina Builders, Inc. at a cost of $118,700.00. At the February 11, 2014 Town Council Meeting, council approved the budget adjustment moving $120,000 from the General Fund Fund Balance to the project account for the Hatteras Ramp. A purchase order was cut and contracts have been
that said, I have to look at it through the eyes of a business person and a taxpayer. I would have to be convinced that we as a community can afford this project and the citizens are in favor of it. I am not in favor of creating a tax burden on our citizens. I would like to see
alternative funding with grants, private enterprise, or county participation." The Council will consider the project at their upcoming April 8th regular monthly meeting at 6:30 PM at Town Hall in the Council meeting room.
She said fundraising events are being planned. The first will be an informational table and raffle at the 18th Annual Chowder Cook-off on April 12th at the Carolina Beach Lake. Other events will be announced at a later date. Carolina Beach Police Chief Kenneth Hinkle said the K9 program began in 2003 and explained, "Our level of training and dedication far exceeds that of the majority of K-9 units across the nation. It is for that reason that defense attorneys in this area do not challenge our dogs or K-9 handlers." He explained, "Due to the increase in civil liability over the years, the training and requirements of police service dogs have increased exponentially. Carolina Beach Police Department's K-9 unit has been on the
forefront of this training movement by continually learning and adapting new training methods. Not only have we trained our own service dogs throughout our history but we also assist other agencies in their training as well." He explained, "Currently the K-9 team has completed 124 vehicle "sniffs", assisted on 15 calls with other agencies, and completed 15 tracks, 2 article searches, 100 building searches and 10 narcotic deployments to residences. Our K-9 teams are on call 24 hours a day and respond to all routine calls as well as K-9 specific calls." Hinkle explained, "Since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, the world has observed an increase in the need for police service dogs all over the world. Due to this need, the price for police service dogs has
risen dramatically and continues to rise. We save the Town... and its citizens a large portion of this price by training the dogs ourselves. We rely on donations for the purchase of the dogs only. Due to current budget cuts the Town is unable to provide funds to allocate for the purchase of a new dog." He explained, "Sergeant Sowards's K-9 partner is going to be 9-years old this year. Although Jenna is still doing very well on the street it is and has been our Department's policy to retire service dogs who have reached Jenna's age. We need to have a replacement as soon as possible to ensure the survival of the K-9 unit." For more information on how to held with fundraising, Stefanie can be reached at 910264-8189 or by email at
and after much discussion and a review of the Owner’s Manual of the Dur-A-Lift truck, it was determined that the manufacturer did not specifically state a person could not ride in the bucket while in the down position. By this point it was clear, however, that our employee did violate a couple of OSHA standards for working safely. Pictures were taken of the work site." Cramer explained the Town received notice on February 21st, the Town was charged with three OSHA violations of the "Serious" classification based on the inspector's report of the
November 21, 2013 violations. The penalty for the violations was $4,000. Cramer explained, "The Directors of the Public Works and Public Utilities Departments, as well as the Supervisor of the work crew sited in the violation, all met on numerous occasions to discuss the violations and determine what indeed happened and how these violations could have occurred with a work crew that was trained to work safely. The employee on the work crew that day received a Written Warning for violation of Company Policy for not wearing his hard hat in a
work zone. Management additionally determined that the appropriate PPE was not on hand for the employee to utilize in the event the truck was to become electrically charged by the Contractor working in the bucket." He explained, "Finally, it was concluded that the worker had failed to set up a proper work zone with cones and tape to advise others of the work zone." He explained, "Based on these discussions, Management requested an Informal Conference with OSHA to discuss these violations and document what steps the Town had taken,
and continues to take, with regard to Worker Safety. This Informal Conference was held on March 14, 2014. In attendance were Gil DuBois, Mark Hewitt and myself. We met with Mr. Lafayette Adkinson/ District Supervisor with OSHA. The Town presented all the documentation to support what we had done to abate the violations observed in November, such as discussing the incident in detail with the Contractor, purchasing new PPE, writing procedures for utilizing the Bucket Truck, counseling employees on safe work zones, reviewing policy
and procedures, engaging a safety consultant, training employees, and acknowledging the Town’s desire to always protect our employees with a “Safety First’ commitment." Cramer explained that as a result of the conference, the fines were lowered by 50% to $2,000 but the "Serious" classification could not be reduced because of the involvement of electricity. The Town paid the fine which was charged to the Public Works Department. Cramer signed an Informal Settlement Agreement.
the meters accept nickels, dimes, and quarters. Meters will allow time in 2, 4 and 12-minute increments and accept Visa and Master Card. Again, meters do not give change. METERED SHORT TERM LOTS: 7HQQHVVHH $YH 2FHDQIURQW 2FHDQ %OYG 2FHDQIURQW 6RXWK &DUROLQD $YH Oceanfront 7H[DV $YH 2FHDQIURQW $ODEDPD $YH 2FHDQIURQW METERED STREET PARKING: +DUSHU $YH HDVW RI /DNH Park Blvd. &DUROLQD %HDFK $YH 1RUWK - On street ends at beach access areas. +DPOHW $YH &DUROLQD %HDFK $YH 6RXWK - on street ends at beach access areas. 6RXWK /DNH 3DUN %OYG from Driftwood Ave. to Carolina Sands. 2 HOUR TIMED FREE PARKING: 6RXWK /DNH 3DUN %OYG
Harper Ave. to Fayetteville Ave. &DSH )HDU %OYG IURP &DQDO Dr. to 3rd St. You are required to move your vehicle to another block before the expiration of the specified time restriction. PAY STATION LOTS: &DQDO /RW &DQDO 'U 6DQG 3LSHU /RW 6DQG 3LSHU /Q EHWZHHQ &Dnal Dr. and Carolina Beach Ave. North. No Parking after 9:00 pm )LVKHUPDQ /RW &DQDO 'ULYH QH[W WR 6FRWFKman :HHNV /RW &DUO :LQQHU $YH QH[W WR Town Marina 0DULQD /RW &RUQHU RI &DUO :LQQHU $YH and Myrtle Ave. across from Town Marina 7RZQ +DOO /RW &DQDO 'ULYH EHKLQG 0F'RQalds 3DOPV /RW &RUQHU RI &DQDO DQG +DUSHU 0DFN V /RW &KDUORWWH $YH LQ IURQW RI WKH
Marriott +DPOHW /RW +DPOHW $YH EHDFK DFFHVV $ODEDPD /RW DFURVV WKH street from the beach on Alabama Ave. +2125 %2; /27 ($8 Flat rate. Valid all Day) $WODQWD /RW &RUQHU RI $WODQWD $YH DQG South Lake Park Blvd +DUERU 0DVWHU /RW DFURVV from Harbor Master's Restaurant on Canal Dr. Violations will result in a $15.00 ticket if paid within 72 hours. After three days the ticket automatically jumps to $25.00. If you have three or more outstanding tickets, your vehicle may get the boot, also known as a vehicle immobilization device that will only be removed when the tickets are paid within 24 hours. After that, the vehicle may be towed away at the owners expense until the fines are paid. According to a release issued earlier this week, SP+ Municipal Services, an operating division of SP Plus Corporation, has
partnered with Duncan Solutions and the Town of Carolina Beach to install 162 new Liberty® Single-Space meters to Carolina Beach, NC. The technologically advanced meters will increase motorist convenience by offering multiple payment options. Local motorists should quickly adapt to the change since the colorcoded key panel and large LCD screen facilitate a transaction in three easy steps. In addition, the new meters offer solar-powered, real-time wireless communications that will lower maintenance needs and make parking management more efficient. The new meters will accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, and coin payment. To assist motorists, SP+ Municipal Services initiated a Meter Hotline program that serves as a customer service and repair hotline. The Meter Hotline routinely fields questions about rates, meter enforcement hours and general questions about the meters themselves (including assisting with paying newer technol-
ogy meters for those unfamiliar). Given the high level of tourism in Carolina Beach, this program will result in a higher customer satisfaction and well educated consumers. The hotline also allows for expedited repairs, increased revenues and ensures, in many cases, that meters can be fixed in under twenty minutes. SP+ Municipal Services began managing the Town of Carolina Beach parking in January. As part of the partnership, the Company is helping to finance 60 of the 162 meters at no cost to the city. SP+ Regional Manager Bob Kamper said, “We are expecting both local residents and tourists to find the newly installed meters easy to use. The upgraded meter technology allows for a variety of payment options and will bring efficiency and convenience to the city and ultimately deliver superior customer service. With all this in mind, we believe we will see a drop in the number of parking violations and ticketing.”
Editorial From page 2-A In government, if a venture doesn't succeed, the loan still has to be paid and the shareholders have to, by force of law, pay for it in their prop-
K-9 Officer Jenna.
K-9 Officer Chief.