The Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen will address several issues during its Dec. 10 meeting, including whether to approve further studies on Wrightsville Beach’s former landfill, remove pedestrian signals on Causeway Drive and increase the town’s sand fund.
Further studies needed on town’s old landfill
The location of Wrightsville Beach’s old landfill off Military Cuttoff, located at 910 Old MacCumber Station Road, north of Sir Tyler Drive, needs more testing before the town can determine what to do with it.
In the second of two studies performed on the 5-acre site so far, Catlin Engineering found the site contained “what you would typically expect from hurricane landfill debris, nothing sinister.”
“It’s not a clean bill of health,” a Catlin Engineering representative added, “but it’s about as close as I can expect to get.”
Still, the North Carolina Department of Waste Management alerted the town it requires more information, like an estimation of the volume of waste present at the site and an analysis of soil samples for metals, ammonia, nitrate and sulfate. During the board’s Dec. 10 meeting, the aldermen will vote to allow town manager Tim Owens to negotiate a new quote and scope of work with Catlin Engineering.
Once studies are completed, the town can decide whether to sell the site or leave it alone. If the town wants to sell it, it can be cleaned up first or sold as is. The town can fund the cleanup out of its own budget or apply for help from the state, but if the town uses state money the site can’t be redeveloped.
Removing pedestrian signals on Causeway
The board will decide whether the town should remove two older blinking pedestrian signals on Causeway Drive because, town manager Owens stated in a memo, there is no rational engineering reason for their current location.
Flashing pedestrian signals are typically installed at high-visibility crosswalks, Owens stated. One is located on Highway 76 opposite Surfberry and Mellow Mushroom, the second one runs between the Landing and Intracoastal Realty’s Wrightsville sales office. Even though the two southern lanes are marked school crossing, this is not a school crossing, Mayor Bill Blair said Tuesday. The school crossing is located at the new hawk light in front of Hardee Hunt and Williams. The North Carolina Department of Transportation pays to maintain and power the signals. The NCDOT has agreed to remove the two older signs at no cost to the town because of the money it would save without the signals.
Stashing away more for sand
For years, Wrightsville Beach has been stashing away money to fund beach renourishment in the event federal and state funding disappears. Dec. 10 the aldermen will vote whether to increase their yearly deposit even more to keep up with beach renourishment costs rising to $10 million per project.
The town’s sand fund currently contains $692,415, $350,000 of which was accrued last year due to a parking meter rate increase. This year, the town budgeted setting aside $400,000, but Owens is recommending the board increase that to $437,500.
That figure was established deliberately. If federal and state funding run out, New Hanover County room occupancy taxes would pay 82.5 percent of each project while the town chipped in 17.5 percent, or roughly $1.75 million.
Since renourishment projects occur every four years, adding $437,500 to the fund every year would allow the town to pay its 17.5 percent allocation.
email [email protected]
