Cyber Week...
DAILY DEALS Check Our Facebook Page Daily
513 Roland Ave Surf City, NC (910) 328-2105 www.shopthebee.com
Save up to 75% OFF!
8211 W Market St #BB Wilmington, NC (910) 319-7693
Hurricane Matthew did a great deal of damage in western Pender County along the Black River. Read about how neighbors are helping neighbors recover from the ood on 1B.
Volume 47, No.9
POST Voice The Pender-Topsail
Good neighbors
&
Thursday, December 1, 2016
All-County Football The Pender County high school football season is over and this week the Post & Voice has its picks for the All-County Football Team. Read more in sports on page 8A.
DOT to combine Hampstead projects
Christmas on the Courthouse Square
By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher
Staff photos by Andy Pettigrew
Burgaw Attorney Kent Harrell (above) checks out the program for the annual Burgaw Christmas Tree Lighting Nov. 25. Harrell led the program on the Courthouse Square. Pender Tourism Director Tammy Proctor (left) helps children with coloring at the Tourism ofďŹ ce the night of the event. See more photos on Facebook.
%
By Lori Kirkpatrick Post & Voice Staff Writer
Everybody says, ‘We’re a professional agency.’ The question is, how do you determine whether you’re a professional agency, and who is the person who comes in and measures that? So we decided to see what’s available out there and to find out who can measure this,� said Shanahan. After some discussion with chiefs from other police departments who had received accreditation, Surf City did some research on the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) to learn about its national accreditation program. Shanahan’s department was interested in the pro-
" & & &! "&!
gram they offered. However, a big drawback was the cost, which would have been close to $50,000. Looking for a less expensive alternative, they decided to contact the NC League of Municipalities for direction. “We reached out to them about seven months ago. We found out they were trying to put a professional program together that was basically consistent with what the national accreditation program was offering, but at no cost. The collective group that put these measurements together is a group of chiefs of police from NC. They came out and did an initial assessment a few months back, and they found some deficiencies and things that we needed to change,� said Shanahan. Shanahan said that the focus was primarily on policies and procedures. The team examined liability issues, such as use of force, pursuit driving policies and building security. They looked at field training programs and canine programs. Other areas
ITĘźS TIME TO GET -
! ! ! ! & ! & ! " # $
The North Carolina Department of Transportation has combined several Hampstead traffic construction projects. The Hampstead Bypass project and the U.S. 17 median project have been combined to accelerate both projects. DOT officials say combining the projects will move the bypass project up by five years. It will also allow the projects to be completed in phases with less impact to the traveling public. It is planned to have at least one lane of the bypass in both directions open before beginning work on the U.S 17 median project to give drivers an alter nate route to avoid congestion through Hampstead. The bypass project, with a total cost of $132.7 million, has right-of-way acqusition scheduled to begin in 2018 with contracts to be awarded in 2020. The median project, costing nearly $20 million, will be on the same schedule.
addressed were how citizen complaints and use of force complaints are handled, as well as disciplinary proceedings. The team assessed their
Continued on page 3A
“These projects will still be separate, with different contractors,� said Commissioner David Williams. The median project will absolutely make travel safer. You just may have to allow more time to get through there.� Williams referenced a similar project in Leland in the Waterford area. “It may be a little more inconvienece if you want to go from one shop to another on the other side of the street. But it works,� said Williams. “It is effective. It is really dangerous pulling out into Hampstead traffic on U.S. 17. You may have to get out of bed a little earlier, but in the grand scheme of things, we have to do this the safest way possible.� The Dan Owen connection to Factory Road is also being accelerated due to major safety concerns with drivers attempting left turns out of Factory Road onto U.S 17. The DOT is finalizing plans for the project and completion of the connector is expected late in 2017.
Pender hurt by state tier system, commissioner says By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher
Surf City police receive accreditation from state Surf City Police Department will soon be recognized for achieving accreditation from the Nor th Carolina League of Municipalities. The department will be presented with the professional standard acknowledgment at the upcoming Surf City Town Hall meeting Dec. 7. The N.C. League of Municipalities is a membership association of more than 540 cities, towns and villages across the state that promotes good government by offering non-partisan advocacy, insurance and other services. Its relatively new accreditation program seeks to establish best professional practices by assessing the policies and procedures of agencies and working with them to make improvements. Surf City Police Chief Ron Shanahan said that the department first started looking into accreditation last year. “Law enforcement agencies are obviously held to a higher standard of professionalism.
50 Cents
The Media of Record for the People of Pender County
Changes in the ranking system state government uses to categorize counties will move Pender County from the 79th most distressed county in the state to the 78th and keep Pender a Tier 3 county. Currently the N.C. Department of Commerce annually ranks
the state’s 100 counties based on economic well-being and assigns each a Tier designation. The 40 most distressed counties are designated as Tier 1, the next 40 as Tier 2 and the 20 least distressed as Tier 3. County Tiers are calculated using four factors: s!VERAGE UNEMPLOYMENT
Continued on page 2A
Push Mowers • Lawn Tractors • Zero Turn Mowers Trimmers & Chainsaws
SALES • SERVICE • PARTS • DELIVERY Financing Available
Staff photo by Andy Pettigrew
The new Surf City bridge takes shape as the structure begins to move over the water on the mainland side. The new bridge is expected to open to trafďŹ c by September 2019 and will be the ďŹ rst over the Intracoastal Waterway to support bicycle, pedestrian, and vehicle trafďŹ c.
THE BEST FOR LESS
Ask about our end-of-season clearance on select products.
Find us on Facebook www.facebook.com/PostVoice
WHITE TRACTOR CO. INC.
whitetractorcompany.com
(WY "Y 0ASS 3 "URGAW s
For a limited time at participating local independent Husqvarna dealers only.