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It’s a Daily Grind The Daily Grind coffee shop in Surf City wakes up the beach each morning. with hot coffee and more. Read about the business on page 1B.
Volume 44, No. 35
POST Voice The Pender-Topsail
&
Thursday, May 28, 2015
With beautiful weather for the holiday weekend, Memorial Day beachgoers crowded Pender County beaches and got cash registers ringing as the summer season began on a high note. Surf City officials braced for the crowds that visit the island during the holiday weekend. “It was a challenge, but a good challenge,” said Surf City Mayor Zander Guy. “Challenge is a learning curve, and we had a very steep learning curve last weekend. It was good for the merchants and good for
Eastern Regionals The Lady Pirate softball team plays in a best of three series this week in the East Regionals. Read more in sports on 10A.
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Traffic, crowds jam beach on Memorial Day weekend By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher
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Remembering those who gave all
business.” Guy said there was a lot on congestion and delays due to traffic, as is expected on a Memorial Day weekend with good weather. “When you are on an island that is three-quarters of a mile wide and 26 miles long and there are only two ways to get on and off, we are grateful that people think that much of us to come here,” Guy said. “The weather was picture-perfect and I got some emails from people from folks about the traffic problems and I tried to address them and tell them what we are trying to do. Every year, it’s a learning process.”
Work progresses on Burgaw restaurants From Staff Reports Taco Bell developers have submitted a traffic impact analysis for the site beside McDonalds in Burgaw. “I think if they are doing a traffic impact analysis, they are serious about the location,” said Burgaw Planning Director Rebekah Roth. “The biggest issue along that corridor is traffic. It’s an early hurdle as well.
The traffic conflicts at that intersection come into play regardless of what business is there. We will have to see what they are able to do with the recommendations.” Bojangles contractors have removed the house formerly on the site are have cleared the land. “They have all their permits in place,” Roth said. Staff photo by Andy Pettigrew
Town hall meeting in Hampstead May 28 16th District State Representative Chris Millis will hold a town hall meeting May 28 at 6:30 p.m. at the Pender County Government Annex in Hampstead. Millis will bring a report on his work in the State House as well as be available to answer questions.
The Hampstead American Legion Post 167 color guard brings in the flags to start the Post’s annual Memorial Day ceremony at the Hampstead Village gazebo Saturday. See more photos of the event on Facebook.
Balanced budget, no tax increase for Burgaw By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher The town of Burgaw will have a balanced budget with no increase in taxes for the
upcoming fiscal year, according to town manager Chad McEwen. Town residents will see an increase in sewer rates, thanks to a rate hike from Wallace. “There will be an increase of 10 percent in sewer rates. That will not affect water rates,” McEwen said. “We had a budget workshop Wednesday and the proposed budget is balanced and contains no tax increase. There is no net increase in the number of town employees and the fund balances are still strong. It’s been a relatively smooth process – one of the easier budgets to
get together.” Burgaw has been wrangling with Wallace for months over the sewer rate increase. McEwen says town officials are still not satisfied with Wallace’s explanation for the increase. “We are still going through the information we requested from Wallace. We are trying to work through it so we can all understand the justification for the increase. We are not there yet,” McEwen said. “We shouldn’t be treated as any other customer. We built the collection system all the way to Wallace. We should only deal with actual increases in
operating costs at the waste water plant. Every other expense should be factored out except the pure treatment cost at the plant.” Progress on police chief search McEwen says the town has received 25 to 30 applications for the chief of police position and he is working through the applications. “We have several potential applicants for chief that we are interested in interviewing. For the patrol positions, we have several candidates we have interviewed and we are doing
Continued on page 2A
Truck driver charged in fatal Hampstead crash
Staff photo by Andy Pettigrew
The smell of hot fish and hushpuppies filled the air as Pender County Shriners held a fish fry in Burgaw last Friday. See more photos of the event on page 15A and Facebook.
From Staff Reports The driver of a truck involved in a multiple-vehicle accident on U.S. Hwy. 17 in Pender County May 23 has been charged in the crash, which resulted in the deaths of two children. According to District Attorney Ben David, the driver of the truck, Matthew Deans, 28, of Wilmington, has been charged with misdemeanor death by vehicle and failure to
reduce speed. David says more charges are pending. The crash occurred at Hwy. 17 and Sloop Point Loop Road. According to the N.C. Highway Patrol, the commercial box truck was traveling south on 17 and failed to reduce speed at the traffic light, causing the crash involving three other vehicles. Gentry Eddings, a worship
Continued on page 2A
Matthew Deans
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