A shopping variety The Scotts Hill Market features a variety of vendors with everything from antique furniture to clothing. Read about the market on 1C.
Volume 44, No.23
POST Voice The Pender-Topsail
&
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Pender in the playoffs The Pender High School Patriot cagers knocked Trask out of the state playoffs and advanced to the next round. Read more on page 1B
50 Cents
The Media of Record for the People of Pender County
Contract approved for Surf City school property purchase
Ready, set, go!
School officials to meet with BOC Mar. 16 to seek funding By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher
Staff photo by Andy Pettigrew
Students at South Topsail Elementary School rush off the starting line for the annual Stingray Shuffle half-mile run last Saturday. The event was moved from the morning to afternoon after a school make-up day was scheduled for Saturday. See more photos of the event on page 4C and on Facebook.
Engineered beach is designed to slow wave action
Topsail Beach’s renourishment work is ‘benchmark project’ By Tammy Proctor Post & Voice Staff Writer When it comes to beach nourishment, the Town of Topsail Beach could write the “how to” book. Topsail Beach has a year-round population of approximately 500 residents. In the summer, the population grows significantly. Residents and visitors come for the beaches and the sound and all amenities the water has to offer. The town’s beaches and waterway will have plenty to offer, thanks to the nourishment project. “This is a benchmark project,” said Chris Gibson, the president of TI Coastal. He is also the engineer on the project. TI Coastal, Inc., the town’s engineering contractor, has worked with Topsail Beach for more than 4 years. This project is “most unique,” said Gibson. Topsail Beach’s project is the first to utilize legislation sponsored by state legis-
lators Harry Brown, Chris Millis, and Bill Rabon. “This is the first time the state costsharing fund with a beach renourishment component has been used,” said Gibson. TI Coastal’s staff has successfully completed the first beach nourishment project in Topsail Beach’s history. Yet, beach nourishment started back in 2003 when housing values started to increase. Topsail Beach leaders set aside 4 cents of every 1 one-hundredth of valuation for a beach fund. As property valuations fluctuated, pennies were being accumulated. Topsail Beach’s beach nourishment projects have not caused an increase in property taxes. “In 2010 to 2011, we put 1 million tons of sand on the beach,” said Julian Bone, a town commissioner. Topsail Beach has an “engineered beach” in which wave action is slowed. “It’s simple physics,” said Bone. “We constructed a long sloping beach so that
the waves break out in the water. The wave energy dissipates.” When Hurricane Irene struck the region in 2011, Topsail Beach suffered some damage, but the engineered beach qualified the town for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) monies to rebuild. The Town of Topsail Beach was paid $6 million in FEMA money. The town put approximately 300,000 yards of sand to repair damaged areas. Using the FEMA money, plus funds from the state dredging fund, the town has been able to fund the dredging project that started last November. “Today our beach is 150 yards wide, with good dune structure, and a 4-foot sloop,” said Bone. “The dredging deepens New Topsail Inlet and cleared sand from Topsail Creek, and Banks Channel.” “The quality of sand is very good,” said Gibson. “It is uniquely finer, uniform in size and it behaves differently.” Topsail Inlet is 150 feet wide and 17 feet
Continued on page 2A
The Pender County Board of Education gave a nod Monday night with an option to purchase a tract of land off Atkinson Loop Road in Surf City for a new school. The exact cost of the 97-acre property depends on the amount of usable land located on the tract. The contract price is $10,000 per usable acre. Land that cannot be developed will not be included in the sale. “Right now we are working out the easements to the property. We have several options for getting into the property,” said school board member Tom Roper. “One of the options is more attractive – it’s a little longer and would allow us to stretch out traffic and pick up lines better.” School officials will meet with Pender County Commissioners at the board’s Mar. 16 meeting to ask for funding for the land purchase. “We don’t have a penny for funding yet. We are hoping we can get this ball rolling. They can’t release any bonds until they get a project and we have projects ready to go,” Roper said. “We continue to get overcrowded, and the cost of money continues to potentially go up and we want to get this moving.” The school board also approved design contracts for bond projects with three architectural firms. Little and Associates will design construction projects for Burgaw Middle, Cape Fear Elementary, Cape Fear Middle, Pender High, and West Pender Middle for a total of $1.2 million. SfL+a Architects will design the Penderlea project for $1.5 mission, and LS3P will be the architectural firm to design the new Surf City school for $1.7 million.
Fugitive arrested in Surf City From Staff Reports U.S. Marshals arrested a man in Surf City wanted on drug charges in Virginia. James Roberts, 28, was wanted out of Fanquier County, Virginia for manufacturing meth at a residence. The U.S. Marshals set up surveillance last night outside the Gateway Apartments near the Family Dollar on N.C. Hwy.. 50. Reports say Roberts was arrested at the apartments about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. According to Surf City police, Roberts told authorities he had a car that was being used as a mobile meth lab, prompting police to secure the vehicle and block off the area around the car.
Burgaw Walmart begins hiring By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher The new Burgaw Walmart has begun taking employment applications, according to Rosemary Pittman, manager of the Burgaw office of the N.C. Division of Workforce Solutions. “I met with the new store manager and they are taking applications now and we are helping people with that in our office,” Pittman said. “They will start interviewing in the next week or so and start the hiring process. They plan to have employees on board in mid-April to help get the store ready to open in May.” Pittman says anyone wanting to apply should come to the Burgaw employment office. About 80 employees will be hired, and the base pay is $10 per hour and up.
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The Topsail Beach renourishment project is the first project to use the state cost-sharing fund.
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