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PCCS sale Oct. 3
POST Voice
Pender County Christian Services is planning a big pre-Christmas sale Oct. 3. PCCS has inventory from The Carousel Collection closing. The sale will be held at the Depot in Burgaw. Read more on page 1B.
Volume 45, No. 50
Commissioners approve deputy for DSS office Pender County Commissioners approved a request to hire a full-time sheriff ’s deputy for security at the Burgaw Department of Social Services office. Health and Human Services Director Carolyn Moser said the recent DSS assessment contained a number of concerns regarding safety at the DSS office. Neighboring counties use security officers at DSS offices, but Moser was concerned with the supervision of an officer. “I contacted the Sherrif and asked if he would be willing to let the officer be housed through the Sheriff ’s Department so he can maintain the certifications and qualifications,” Moser said. “The DSS budget will pay for this.” Sheriff Carson Smith told the board if Moser could fund it, he would put a deputy in the DSS office.
Overtime win
The Pender-Topsail
&
Thursday, September 17, 2015
The Pender Patriots picked up a big win in overtime against North Duplin last week in football action. Topsail and Pender will be at home this Friday. Read more in sports on page 8A.
Remembering 9-11
“If you can fund this, I can easily have a deputy in the DSS office Monday through Friday during their normal hours,” Smith said. Commissioner Demetrice Keith asked Smith where the deputy would work at DSS and how employees could get help if they were in their offices when a problem arose. “It would be like the SRO deputies in the schools. They work for me, but they need to be where the principal and administration needs them unless it becomes a conflict or doesn’t make sense to us. With DSS, it would be where whoever is in charge of the campus needs them. I would leave that up to them.” Smith said he would look into having a call button system in the individual offices at DSS for employees to alert the deputy if there was a problem. The Sheriff said the cost of placing a deputy at DSS would be about $50,000 per year.
Board says more information needed Adoption of a resolution opposing offshore exploration and drilling was tabled for lack of motion at the September Topsail Beach Board of Commissioners meeting. The board felt more information was needed before they could act. During public comment Mr. Kevin Piacenza the Off Shore Drilling Campaign Coordinator of The Surfrider Foundation Cape Fear Chapter urged the board to join more than 70 communities along the shore line including Oak Island, who have an economic and cultural connection to the ocean. “The rewards are not worth the risks.” said Mr. Piacenza. “North Carolina is the sixth most traveled to state in the nation. The rate of tourism receipts in the state is growing eight to ten percent a year and is projected to continue. Ocean based industries account for $2.2 billion dollars in GDP of the state annually. In short it doesn’t make good sense economically.” With a prediction of 1,200 jobs over seven years, and public monies topping out at $11 million dollars back to the
state, the commissioners were informed that North Carolina does not have a revenue sharing deal with the federal government at the current 50-mile boundary from the shoreline, to do so the boundary would have to become three miles. “If Gover nor McCrory knows we don’t have revenue sharing, why would he be for this? We voted against seismic testing in 2013 but not offshore drilling,” said Commissioner Julian Bone. Commissioner Tom Eggleston said the vote was premature. “What would be worse to me then offshore drilling are wind farms 12 to 14 miles out that are 650 feet above the ocean. They would look like giant erector sets out there,” said Eggleston. “You can say about the BP Oil leak and the Exxon Valdez, that’s two in about 30 years. We don’t have enough information to vote yet. This is a knee jerk reaction.” C o m m i s s i o n e r Mor ton Blanchard said natural gas will be a big factor in electric power plants. “If a coal burning plant is changed over to natural gas it will cut emissions by 60
Continued on page 3A
Brown calls for school flu shots By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher Pender County Commissioner George Brown called for county school officials to allow flu shots to be administered in schools. “I talked to a school board members today and they were in agreement with me. I would like to send a letter requesting one more time to allow the Health Department to go into the schools and provide flu shots. I’m amazed how this got stopped the first time,” Brown said. “I have approached the superintendent several times and the same answer is always there – the liability issue. We allow the Red Cross into the schools for blood drives but we can’t get a flu shot in the schools.” Brown said absenteeism is very high among students and staff during flu season and the availability of flu vaccine would help this problem. The Board of Commissioners agreed to allow County Manager Randall Woodruff to send a letter to Superintendent Dr. Terri Cobb asking to allow the Health Department to provide flu shots to students with parents approval. Dr. Cobb could not be reached for comment by press time.
Motion to oppose offshore drilling tabled at Topsail By Barbara Hazle Contributing Writer
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The color guard of American Legion Post 167 in Hampstead opens the 9-11 memorial service Sept. 11. Pender County Sheriff Carson Smith (right) was the speaker at the service.
Emergency Management keeps an eye on the sky Topsail Beach accepts bid on turtle hospital building By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher
With the Atlantic hurricane season hitting its peak in midSeptember, Pender County Emergency Management is prepared should a tropical storm take aim at the county. Director Tom Collins says the county is ready for a storm should one come – plans are in place for a storm event and can be quickly put into effect. Most of the preparation and training for hurricanes takes place outside of the actual season. “Whether the storm hits us or not, we have to do a lot of preparation. A lot of our assets are on contract, such as our generators, and we make sure they are working and ready. What is so important is that we try to contact our special needs residents that will need assistance. If it looks like the storm is bearing down on us, we start looking
at the special needs population. We make sure we have them taken care of and then we start looking at the general population.” When a storm threatens the southeast coast, Emergency Management ramps up their efforts about five days out from the forecast landfall. “When we fall within the National Weather Service’s possible landfall within five days, that is when we begin to get going,” Collins said. “About three or two days out,
we will begin to staff our shelters. By the time we pull the trigger on an evacuation, the shelters will be open and ready. We will have all the generators deployed and ready.” Collins says his office works with the beach towns to coordinate evacuation efforts. “People who live along the coast know what to do when a storm comes. They start putting up their lawn furniture, trash cans and such,” Collins said. “Anything that might blow around and cause damage.” When an evacuation is declared, Collins says it is a good idea to heed the warnings and leave for a shelter. It’s not likely residents will be forced to leave their homes in the event of an evacuation. But Collins says under new state law, if you chose to ignore the evacuation order, law enforcement has the
Continued on page 7A
By Barbara Hazle Contributing Writer At the September meeting of the Topsail Beach Board of Commissioners meeting, the board split 3-2 to accept a bid to purchase the former turtle hospital building. Without a last minute upset bid, the 900-square-foot building at 822 Carolina Avenue and Crews Avenue sold for $172,000. Due to repairs needed to the sea wall, the dock and the building itself Commissioner Eggleston described it as a liability not an asset. That
Continued on page 14A
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