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Local News

  • Calabash names new administrator; terminates part-time employee

    CALABASH—Town commissioners have hired a new town administrator.

    Vincent Long III of Pinehurst accepted the commissioners’ offer and signed a contract Monday afternoon.

    His first day as town administrator will be next Tuesday, July 1, interim town clerk Kelley Southward said.

    Long previously has worked as an administrator at several “fairly large” towns and small cities out-of-state, including California, Mayor Pro Tem Forrest King said Tuesday.

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  • Planning and zoning board seeks better input for consultant

    CAROLINA SHORES—Planning and zoning board members say they need better details from applicants who want to guide improvements of the town’s land use ordinance.

    While the town has received four applications for the consulting position, board chairman Jim Hartnett said the board does not have enough information from most of them.

    At the board’s June 18 workshop, “we all came to the conclusion there is not enough information to make an affirmative recommendation to the board of commissioners,” Hartnett said Monday.

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  • Town to act on measures against dumping Powell Bill, annexations

    CAROLINA SHORES—Town commissioners are to vote on resolutions opposing pending legislative bills that eliminate Powell Bill paving funds and place a moratorium on involuntary annexations.

    Commissioners will consider the proposed resolutions at their monthly meeting at 3 p.m. Tuesday, July 1, at town hall, 200 Persimmon Road.

    Carolina Shores deputy town clerk Lisa Anglin said last week the tentative agenda for commissioners’ monthly meeting includes a measure opposing state House Bill 2751, “Highway Fund Name Changes.”

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  • Holden Beach Commissioners pass $13 million budget without tax increase

    Holden Beach Commissioners voted 4-1 to approve a $13,001,205 budget for the next fiscal year at their meeting Tuesday night in the Holden Beach Chapel Fellowship Hall.

    The budget has no tax increase, but the water rate goes up 20 cents per 1,000 gallons.

    Commissioner Gary Staley cast the lone dissenting vote, saying he was glad residents won’t face a tax increase but he still thought things could have been cut from the budget.

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  • Budget increased; takes over fire department

    OCEAN ISLE BEACH—Town commissioners approved the budget for the 2008-2009 fiscal year Tuesday.

    The $11,932,798 budget includes a 1-cent increase to 9 cents per $100 of valuation.

    Earlier this month, Mayor Debbie Smith said the town did not want to propose a tax increase, but with increased costs and budget shortfalls facing the town, there was no other option.

    One of the new costs facing the town is the takeover of the Ocean Isle Beach Fire Protection Association, effective July 1. The town will assume a $198,000 deficit when it takes over the department.

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  • NO PARKING: Parking at OIB boat ramp costs man $170

    OCEAN ISLE BEACH—Ray Blanchette knows he did the wrong thing when he parked his car in the off-limits Intracoastal Waterway boat ramp parking lot one recent Saturday night.

    The Sunset Beach retiree knows it for a fact, because state wildlife officer Charles Hinson handed him a ticket imposing a $50 fine, plus $120 court costs.

    Blanchette said he parked in the off-limits lot for about 30 minutes while he walked over to the nearby Ocean Isle Fishing Center to check on tournament results. When he returned to his car around 8:30 p.m., Hinson gave him a citation.

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  • Ocean Isle Beach to have Fourth of July parade

    Ocean Isle Beach will celebrate Independence Day with its sixth annual Fourth of July Parade, sponsored by the Ocean Isle Property Owners Association.

    Parade chairman Lynda Eagle said individual streets such as Scotland, Richmond and Laurinburg used to have their own Fourth of July parades. Having one parade for the entire town was an event the property owners association decided it would like to sponsor, Eagle said.

    The parade now draws both locals and visitors, as more than 700 people participated in the parade last year and even more lined the streets and watched.

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  • Judge dismisses 'spot zoning' lawsuit against Town of Shallotte

    A judge has ruled in favor of the town of Shallotte and dismissed a lawsuit filed by two Shallotte Point residents who protested a rezoning that would allow condominium development near their home.

    Husband and wife Chris Musi and Pam Sabalos, who live on Riverbend Drive, filed suit last year against the town of Shallotte, claiming the town’s rezoning of land on the street for the proposed Holden’s Landing condominium project was “arbitrary” and amounted to illegal “spot zoning.”

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  • HUD dismisses Cardinal Pointe complaints; resident vows to fight on

    The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has dismissed a complaint by a Cardinal Pointe resident who claimed she received unfair treatment from managers of the Shallotte apartment complex.

    The complainant, Amy Bass, said this week she plans to file for reconsideration and is also consulting with state disability rights officials about other options.

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  • Town of Shallotte celebrates firefighters, new fire station

    SHALLOTTE—Firefighters stood at attention in the truck bay of the new fire station Thursday, receiving commendations from their chief and town staff.

    It was the first-ever achievement ceremony for the Shallotte firefighters and Fire Corps members, but it won’t be the last, officials say.

    Fire chief Paul Dunwell, Mayor Pro Tem Buddy Kelly and town administrator Paul Sabiston honored all the firefighters—full- and part-time, volunteers and paid staff—with achievement certificates.

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