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The Pender-Topsail
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A bakery and restaurant that began in Southport and Elizabethtown has a franchise now open in Hampstead. Read about Burney’s Sweets and More on page 1B.
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Season winding down High school basketball and wrestling regular seasons are winding down and state playoffs and competition are ahead. Read more in sports on page 8A
Thursday, February 2, 2017
Volume 47, No. 17
Splashpad in Burgaw is part of larger project
Girl Scout cookie time
Pender residents urged to sign up for Code Red NWS weather radio transmitter out of service
By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher
Staff photo by Andy Pettigrew
It’s Girl Scout cookie time and young ladies are working cookie tables across Pender County. Scouts Jazmine Atkinson (left), and Leena Fleming from Troop 1124 in Burgaw were at the Tractor Supply in Rocky Point last weekend with plenty of the delicious treats. With them are their mothers, Misty Atkinson and Sabrina Fleming.
Girl Scout cookie booths open across Pender County From Staff Reports Customers looking to get their hands on the delicious new Girl Scout S’mores Cookie can rejoice! Girl Scout Cookie Booths are now open in Pender County Look for Girl Scout Cookie Booths weekends at the Burgaw Walmart, Piggly Wiggly, Tractor Supply in Rocky Point, Lanier’s Grocery in Maple Hill, Lowes Foods, Advance Auto,and CVS
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From Staff Reports The Pender County Office of Emergency Management urged residents to sign up for the free weather-alert system, CodeRed. “With the recent loss of the Winnabow transmitter, Pender County residents will not receive NOAA weather alerts on their weather radios,� said Tom Collins, Pender County Emergency Manager. “We urge our residents to sign up for CodeRed, a free alert system for Pender County.� Collins said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather radio transmitter in Winnabow is damaged. He said it was most likely damaged during Hurricane Matthew but the recent winter weather caused the failure. According to the National Weather Service, re pairs could take up to six months or more. CodeRed is an Emergency Notification System which enables the Pender County Office of Emergency Management to alert citizens to emergency situations via smartphone, text alert, or on a land line. “Residents can sign-up through our website from your smartphone or computer,� said Collins. “It’s a free service and it takes only minutes to register.� Collins said he urges residents to sign up today because the Winnabow transmitter will remain out of commission through the remainder of the winter, into spring thunderstorm and tornado weather, and possibly into the 2017 hurricane season. “The Winnabow transmitting tower serves Pender County, as well as Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, and N ew H a n ove r c o u n t i e s, � said Collins. “There is possible damage to the antennae, which is 450-ft. from the ground. The weather service believes there is significant damage to part of the antennae cable, which is 200-ft. below the antennae. It’s not an easy or overnight fix.� To register, visit the Pender County website at pendercountync.gov/CodeRed. Pender County Emergency Management is available to assist. Call the Emergency Management office at 910259-1210.
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Pharmacy in Hampstead. In Surf City, booths will be at the Lowes, and Surf City Crossing, Customers can also find Girl Scout Cookies near them by using the online Cookie Booth Locator, which can be found at www.nccoastalpines.org. Searching by zip code and mile radius, customers can filter to find the closest cookie booth and see available dates and times of when cookies will be sold.
Additionally, customers can work with local Girl Scouts to purchase cookies online through COCOdirect, an online selling platfor m that allows cookies to be ordered online and shipped directly to customers. The online selling platform gives Girl Scouts the opportunity to learn e-commerce skills by creating a virtual storefront, managing orders, and marketing to repeat customers.
Churches work in Hurricane Matthew recovery
Some tearouts, construction on hold until homes dry By Jefferson Weaver Contributing Writer
One of the hardest parts of rebuilding from Hurricane Matthew is underway across the area right now – waiting. “At a certain point, all you can do is wait while the structure dries out,� said Jerry Martin of the United Methodist Church Disaster Relief. Most of the volunteers working on home rebuilds in flooded areas of Pender are from either the N.C. Baptist Men’s Disaster Relief or the Methodist church. Thousands of homes across the area were flooded or seriously damaged by Hurricane Matthew in October. After sodden floor coverings, molding sheetrock and warped wood has been removed, Martin said, it’s just a matter of time before the remainder of a flooded structure is dried out enough for recovery to begin.
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does no good,â€? Martin said. “It takes a little while for it to dry out, and if it’s not dry when you put in the new, you’re just repeating the whole process in a few months.â€? Martin said he most familiar with efforts to repair flood damaged homes in eastern Bladen and Pender Push Mowerscounties. • Lawn Tractors • Zero Turn Methodist disaster recovery crews Trimmers & Chainsaws have at least 150 homes on their schedule for reconstruction, Martin said. He said he understands there are far more and elsewhere awaiting final gutting, drying and reconstruction. A major problem through the area, Martin said, is a trend first identified after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf States – the so-called “Vanishing Victims.â€? The situation occurs when people are displaced from their homes due to a “If you go back in immediately and begin putting in new materials, it just Continued on page 3A
Burgaw officials have a generally positive attitude toward the idea of a splashpad water park downtown. But there is still much information – mostly a solid cost estimate – that has to be gathered, before town commissioners will green light the project. Commissioners had the project on simmer since a group of Burgaw residents presented the idea to the board in 2016. Town Manager Chad McEwen says a location for the project has been chosen, but there is still a lot of preliminarily work to be done before the board can make a decision. The town is looking at the splashpad as part of a larger streetscape project along Courthouse Avenue, with the splashpad located on the lot now occupied by a doctor’s office. “We are looking at the feasibility of underground utilities in the area. Right now there has not been a firm decision to move forward,� McEwen said. “We are still in the due diligence phase, providing the board with information so they can make a decision. I will talk with the board at the February meeting about Duke Energy’s estimates on the cost of the underground utilities.� McEwen says moving utilities underground in that area of downtown is an idea the board has discussed for a number of years, and even without the splashpad project, the utility work is something commissioners are interested in. According to McEwen there are two different projects. “The demolition of the building on Courthouse Avenue, and the construction of the splashpad is one proj-
Continued on page 2A
Rouzer staff Burgaw visit Feb. 7
From Staff Mowers
Reports Congressman David Rouzer’s mobile office visit will be held Feb. 7 from 1-3 p.m. in the meeting room of the Burgaw Municipal Building located at 109 N Walker Street in Burgaw. This is an opportunity for constituents of Burgaw and Pender County to come by and speak with members of Rouzer’s staff regarding any federal issues and concerns they may have.
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