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Topsail Island pirates Pirates are alive and working the waters along the Intracoastal Waterway near Topsail Island. Read about the Belle of Topsail and the Raven pirates on page 1B
Volume 45, No. 47
POST Voice
Pender County Commissioners took the opportunity Monday at the end of their board meeting to fire a few volleys at the School Board over the cost of the mediation over the budget. Figures released last week showed the mediation cost county taxpayers a total of about $118,000. The mediation process was initiated by the School Board in July when school officials were unsatisfied with current expense and capital outlay funding from the county. “This was not anything this board of commissioners asked to happen or wanted to participate in, and are frustrated this amount of money has been incurred on the taxpayers,” said Commissioner George Brown.
The Pender-Topsail
&
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Volleyball action Pender County volleyball teams are back on the court with the beginning of school this week. Topsail, Pender, and Trask all saw action. Read more in sports beginning on page 8A.
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Commissioners speak out on cost of school mediation By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher
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“...we did participate, but not because we wanted to”
Pender County Commissioner George Brown “There was a mediation and we did participate, but not because we wanted to. We didn’t have a choice. It wasn’t an invitation. It wasn’t a can you come and sit down and talk with us. It was a forced mediation.” County Attor ney T rey Thruman concur red with Brown’s comments. “We are required by statute to participate in the mediation,” Thurman said. Pender County School Superintendent Dr. Terri Cobb pledged to work with the Board of Commissioners to develop a funding formula to meet the system’s needs.
Official says medical use is source
Syringes show up in Burgaw sewer system By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher Burgaw officials say a number of syringes have shown up at town waste water lift stations, giving rise to safety concerns. The syringes, town manager Chad McEwen says, appear to be of the type used by diabetics for insulin injection. They are a hazard both to town workers who have to remove them from the pump stations, as well as causing maintenance issues and damage to the pumps. “We have been able to iso-
late where they are coming from and we think they are coming from household use, not an institution,” McEwen said. “There is a biohazard with these things being disposed of in the sewer system because our guys have to go in and work on pumps and the presence of needles adds another biohazard component that is avoidable. Also the pumps are not designed to deal with hard objects. The won’t grind things up. In a 48-hour period, 25 needles showed up
Continued on page 3A
Photo contributed
Pender County School Superintendent Dr. Terri Cobb talks with second graders in Robin Brown’s class at South Topsail Elementary School. Pender County Schools began the new year Monday with enrollments expected to be up across the district. Actual enrollment figures won’t be available until the 10-day numbers are in.
Pender school-based health centers receive grant By Ashley Jacobs Post & Voice Staff Writer Pender Alliance for Teen Health (PATH) will be able to make a difference for more clients than earlier expected thanks to a $70,000 operating grant from The Cape Fear Memorial Foundation. The money will be used for school-based health centers (SBHCs) in Pender County, which provide quality health care to teens and their families who would otherwise find access to health care difficult. Cape
Fear Memorial Foundation believes in bringing health care into schools. SBHCs coordinate and collaborate
with school administration, teachers, nurses, psychologists and counselors to enhance the educational environment. “This award from the Cape Fear Memorial Foundation supports the actual nuts and bolts of our mission. They have a good understanding of what it takes to run an organization like PATH and are willing to offer organizational support, which is rate for most foundations,” said Sandy Rowe, PATH Executive Director.
Continued on page 3A
Name change could help Hampstead Bypass effort By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher
Hampstead resident and community activist Al Freimark says the Hampstead Bypass needs to be called something else – a new name to give the project more regional appeal. Freimark, who serves on the Wilmington Metropolitian Planning Organization (MPO) representing eastern Pender County, has been pushing for the bypass project for years. “We want to change the name of the project from the Photo contributed Hampstead Bypass to the Members of the Pender High School volleyball team delivered school supplies purchased and packed by the team Wilmington Metro Bypass. to Burgaw Elementary School Monday. The school supplies are part of the team’s community outreach effort. That’s what it really is,” Frei-
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mark said. “This way we may not be fighting as we have been. This will appeal to the people in Brunswick and New Hanover counties as well as Pender County. We need a bypass around the metro area of Wilmington, not just Hampstead.” Freimark says the project needs to be looked at on a larger scale, as part of a bypass system through the three counties. “If we can get the idea across and the name can convey the objective. Maybe we can get a little more attention in Raleigh, Freimark said. “We want to get this idea across to the people.”