South Avenue Update

Last night at the regular Oriental Board of Commissioners meeting, attendees were shown a detailed survey of the area surrounding the intersection of South Avenue and Avenue A. The survey was done in support of the contract being negotiated between the town and Mr. Chris Fulcher. The contract itself has apparently not been completed, but some provisions can be deduced from details on the survey. Here is the survey:

I see several potential problems with the proposal as reflected in the survey.

Oriental's Parks and Rec board met this morning at 8:00 to review the plans. There is a brief account here at Town Dock. The main issues were summarized as follows:

"Like some of the public — such as Oriental resident and long-time sailor Art Tierney — who were at the meeting, a majority of the Parks and Rec Board questioned whether the town was getting adequate land and water rights and maneuvering room for visiting boats in the exchange.

"One issue: how savvy were town officials when they negotiated the deal. When asked this morning why the town hadn’t done a real estate appraisal on the land that Chris Fulcher would gain in the land swap, Town Commissioner Larry Summers dismissed the idea and reiterated his position that the right of way land was worth nothing to the town."

I will address these issues over the next day or so.