Filling a vacancy
Onslow County Board of Commissioners will start the year with a tough decision: appointing a successor for the seat vacated by the death of former commissioner Lionell Midgett on Nov. 23 after his battle with cancer.
Commissioners set a Dec. 31 deadline for any Onslow County resident and registered Republican to submit letters of intent for the seat, for which at least a dozen names had been submitted to the county in December.
Commissioners will meet 7 p.m. Jan. 5 at Jacksonville City Hall at 815 New Bridge St. possibly to make an appointment. Commissioners have 60 days after the vacancy to fill the position, according to N.C. General Statutes.
The appointment is slated to be made by a vote by ballot at the meeting.
Commission Chairwoman Barbara Ikner recently told The Daily News that the appointment differs from an employee’s hire, which would allow for thorough review.
Onslow County Tax Office must be open to confirm residence and Onslow County Board of Elections will be used to confirm party registration, Ikner said.
Midgett’s service went beyond his commission seat, to which he was elected to a third term in 2012 with two years remaining. The successor will serve the term’s remainder.
Midgett, a former banker and Onslow County native, served on six local committees and was the county’s voting delegate to the N.C. Association of County Commissioners.
Locally, Midgett was the commissioner appointed to panels for: Jacksonville Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization; Topsail Island Shoreline Commission; Aging Planning Board; Eastern Carolina Council’s Down East Rural Transportation Planning Organization; Onslow County Partnership for Children; and the Tourism Advisory Board.
County schools mull realignment
Onslow County Board of Education is considering a realignment of school districts as a last resort to address overpopulation at three campuses.
The decision would go before the board in January and would apply to assignments the next academic year.
Three overcrowded schools — Richlands High School, Trexler Middle School and Carolina Forest Elementary School — would be affected by the realignment, according to a letter dated Dec. 12 by Steve Myers, the Onslow County Schools assistant superintendent for auxiliary systems.
Onslow County schools have redistricted often in years when a new school opened, said Pam Thomas, chairwoman of Onslow County Board of Education. The last redistricting that Thomas recalled was the 2009 opening of Stateside Elementary School — a “feeder school” near the border of the Jacksonville and Richlands school districts, according to information from the Trexler Middle School website.
On Sept. 25, the 20th day of class, Onslow County schools had 323 more students than last year. The system’s 37 elementary, middle and high schools and learning centers had roughly that same amount of growth last year, schools spokeswoman Suzie Ulbrich previously told The Daily News.
An agreement between the Board of Education and Onslow County Board of Commissioners compels school leaders to pursue alternative solutions to enrollment growth before building new schools, Thomas said.
Thomas said redistricting is slated to be discussed during board of education meetings in January. The board is scheduled to hold a special meeting 9 a.m. Jan. 9 at the Family Education Center at 200 Broadhurst Road in Jacksonville. A public hearing is slated for redistricting 5:30 p.m. Jan. 12 at Blue Creek Elementary School at 1260 N.C. 53, according to information from the system’s website. The board’s regular meeting will follow the public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 12, also at Blue Creek Elementary School.
Two community meetings are slated in January before the school board meeting to address concerns about redistricting. The meetings will allow residents to review plans that the board will consider, according to information on the board’s website.
All residents — including those who are not parents of students — are invited to attend, Ulbrich said.
A redistricting notice was posted on the Richlands High School website indicating a letter would be sent to parents that week. The notice also indicates the locations and times of the community meetings, which also are listed on the county schools system’s website.
The first meeting will be 6:30 p.m. Jan. 6 at Carolina Forest Elementary at 141 Carolina Forest Blvd.
The second meeting will be at 7 p.m. Jan. 8 at Nine Mile Community Center at 1047 Ben Williams Road in Richlands.
To submit written suggestions about the redistricting study, email Redistricting2014@Onslow.K12.NC.US.
New roads slated
State funding — proposed in a draft in December — would generate road construction for Jacksonville over most of the next decade.
New laws passed last year changed the funding formula for state roads to projects based on need rather than geographic area, said Anthony Prinz, administrator of Jacksonville Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization.
The new rule, the Strategic Transportation Investments Law, is the guide for a draft for statewide roadwork funding over the next decade. That guide spurred the 10-year State Transportation Improvement Plan on Dec. 4, according to the document by N.C. Department of Transportation.
The document revealed that Jacksonville and Wilmington are slated — pending public comment and further review through June — for more roadwork funding than other cities and rural areas in Eastern North Carolina and elsewhere in the state, including New Bern, Goldsboro, Greenville and Rocky Mount.
The draft, if approved, would add the following projects to the state-funded road projects: Jacksonville Parkway extension from Western Boulevard to U.S. 17 would receive $70.9 million with construction slated for 2024; N.C. 111 extension from U.S. 258 to Gum Branch Road across New River would create another bypass around the city and a new bridge over the New River at a cost of $30.2 million with construction slated for 2023; a new interchange at Air Station New River at U.S. 17 would cost $25.8 million with construction slated for 2020; Ridge Road realignment would cost $1.86 million with construction slated for 2021; N.C. 172 widening between N.C. 210 and base gate would cost $3.2 million with construction slated for 2017.
Airport redevelopment
Albert J. Ellis Airport Director Chris White said the hub’s $43.9 million redevelopment would be complete by this year’s end.
A new general aviation executive terminal will be built at the airport as part of the overall redevelopment plan, which includes construction of: two terminals, paved surfaces to each; taxiways; aircraft hangars; a runway extension; and new aircraft-control tower. Aircraft aprons — paved surfaces on which jets “park, load and taxi” — will be added for both new terminals, White said.
The entire redevelopment is slated for completion in “late 2015,” he added. Early fall is the passenger terminal’s anticipated completion date while the general aviation executive terminal likely will be built by late July.
Town Dock
The New Year is expected to bring the permanent opening of a town dock along the Swansboro waterfront.
The dock is currently open on a temporary basis under a 90-day certificate of occupancy as the town and property owner continue efforts to ensure the dock located at the foot of Church Street stays open permanently.
Discussions have taken a positive turn in recent weeks, but for much of 2014 the dock project was a source of contention as the town raised issues with the lease agreement with the owners of Port O’ Swannsborough shops, partners on the project.
Questions remain regarding funding and whether the town will be using its largest funding source, a $100,000 Boating Infrastructure Grant (BIG) grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to cover the cost of the project.
The BIG grant requires that the 10-slip docking facility be used for transient boaters but also allows for day dockage as an incidental use.
Walmart coming?
The question of the New Year for Swansboro residents may be the same as it was for 2014: Will a Walmart store be coming to town?
The answer remains tied up in a legal battle between the town and Swansboro Investors LLC, the developers for the project.
Swansboro Investors is seeking to build a Walmart Supercenter store on a 20-acre tract of land on N.C. 24 at Norris Road in the town’s extraterritorial planning jurisdiction.
A central issue of the legal complaint filed by Swansboro Investors LLC has been a 90-day building moratorium enacted by the town on the permitting of new construction in excess of 40,000 square feet. The intent was to give town officials time to evaluate the impact of large-scale building project.
The moratorium ended July 15 after town commissioners voted to adopt the 40,000-square-foot building size limit.
Swansboro Investors LLC had filed a Planned Building Group application with the town on May 16, just after public notice was made of a public hearing on the proposed moratorium. The developers filed the legal complaint June 30 saying the project is exempt from the moratorium and sought a court order enjoining enforcement of the moratorium.
While the judge denied the request to overturn the moratorium it did not prohibit the developers from submitting a building application.
Swansboro Investors LLC has filed an amended complaint and made a number of requests for information from the town regarding the matter, which remains in court.
Public Safety building
The year 2015 will bring the police and fire departments in the Town of Swansboro under one roof.
As 2014 neared an end, the Swansboro Board of Commissioners gave the OK to plans to a renovation project that will expand the existing fire station.
With the renovation, the facility will transition to a Public Safety building housing both the police and fire departments.
The award of a $369,768 to L.A. Downey Son allows for construction to begin. The project will include the addition of about 1,800 square feet of space at the northeast corner of the building.
Construction is expected to begin early this year and work will take 6 to 8 months to complete.
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