February Town Board Meeting

Last night's (Feb 2) meeting of Oriental's Town Board was another discouraging excursion into recriminations. Most of the acrimony was on the sidelines, but for those who have been following town affairs, it was evident.

In January, one of the commissioners voted against adopting the minutes. Last night, all of the commissioners rejected the minutes. There was a lot of back and forth about audits and bookkeeping. One of the commissioners suggested scheduling a mid term audit, though exactly what the problem is to which that would be a solution was not apparent. In any event, she got no support for the idea.

Not brought up explicitly, but implicit in the agenda meeting and in other discussions is an alleged requirement for emergency access to the town manager's inner sanctum. Again, it is unclear what the problem is to which this is the solution. Nor does the discussion address the very real problem of protecting the integrity of sensitive personal and financial information which it is the town's duty to protect and of which the town manager is the custodian.

We need to get beyond the blame game and associated personal acrimony and into the business of identifying problems and developing solutions.

I have some ideas, which I will share over the next few days.

In the meantime, I have to get ready for a meeting.

South Avenue and Commissioner Styron

I just saw today's edition of the Pamlico News and noticed on page 5 the statement that "Defendants named in the suit are Lacy B. Henry and spouse, Judy B. Henry and Sherrill Styron and spouse Phyllis H. Styron."

The Styrons are no longer defendants.

Sherrill Styron was named in the original suit because he and his wife then owned a small piece of land which included two hundredths of an acre within the South Avenue right of way. The late Garland Fulcher acquired the two hundredths of an acre by quitclaim deed from Ann Wadley Wing about 1995 and combined it with an adjacent tract fronting on the harbor. He transferred ownership to Sherrill Styron before the town filed its suit. Sherrill Styron sold the parcel afterwards to Chris Fulcher, disclosing in the deed that there may be encumbrances on the property.

Neither Sherrill Styron nor Chris Fulcher responded to the suit, and as a result the town won with respect to that parcel. That two hundredths of an acre is no longer at issue. Both Sherrill Styron and Chris Fulcher acted properly, and the town no longer has any dispute with either of them concerning South Avenue.

South Avenue: The Fence

The fence at the end of South Avenue has been there, as best I can tell from correspondence, since 1992. It is entirely within the boundaries of the town's rights of way for South Avenue and Avenue A.

The fence needs to come down as soon as possible after the Superior Court judge signs the final order carrying out the decision of the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Before removing the fence, there is a significant task that needs to be done - clean up the mess along the waterline and in the underbrush behind the fence. There may be residual machinery and other junk remaining from when the marine railway last operated. Under the terms of the last lease to Mr. Henry, anything remaining on the right of way at expiration of the lease belongs to the town.

Rather than wait until the town is able to obtain a clean-up grant, it seems to me a good idea to have a clean-up party. I would be happy to collect names of Oriental residents willing to volunteer to help in the clean-up. Drop a line to me, David Cox at cox.d.r@att.net. I'll collect the names and pass them on to town hall.

You can read more about this case at TownDock.Net

Petition Denied!

In the case of The Town of Oriental v Lacy M. Henry over South Avenue, the North Carolina Supreme Court today announced it has denied Mr. Henry's petition for a discretionary review of last year's unanimous decision by the Court of Appeals in the town's favor. That leaves only the signing of an order by the Superior Court judge to complete the town's suit against Mr. Henry.

No More Dithering on the Duck Pond

It looked for awhile like the town of Oriental might once again dither on the restoration of Raccoon Creek, affectionately known as the Duck Pond. Early Monday morning, though, Mayor Bill Sage is reported to have signed the Authorization Document to seek funds from the state for project planning.

This process has been dragging out for years. Neighbors have pleaded with the town to close Main Street at the Duck Pond, perhaps replacing it with a footbridge or bicycle bridge, high enough to paddle a small boat under. The street is flooded and impassible often enough that the neighbors want it closed.

Two years ago a Duck Pond Committee was formed. They worked with an engineering firm to develop a plan, which was presented to the public. When completed, the Duck Pond restoration would result in an attractive park-like setting in the heart of the old village, attracting residents and visitors alike.

To complete the project, the town needs grant money. The first grant submission ran into problems, and it was withdrawn. But it is important to keep the project alive. In particular, we need to remind the North Carolina Clean Water Trust Fund that we are serious about pursuing the project.

Last Thursday at the Oriental Town Board agenda meeting, Commissioner Bohmert briefed the board on a grant opportunity requiring the original proposal to be split into more manageable chunks. The first chunk would be a planning grant, which would require NO matching funds from the town. The engineering firm is preparing the grant application, and needed a signed authorization document no later than Monday, February 1.

The ensuing discussion was disappointing. Mayor Sage refused to sign the authorization on the grounds he does not understand the "functions and obligations" the town must "proceed with diligence to perform" if the grant is made.

From where I was sitting, the functions and obligations seemed pretty obvious. We would be requesting a grant to perform planning. The obligation pretty clearly is to spend the money and manage the effort to insure a plan is delivered.

The mayor has since relented and signed the document. It is on its way.

If this document had not been signed, in the normal course of events, it could be another year before a grant opportunity occurs. And the town would have no plan.

That is why it sometimes takes so long for the town to do things.


P.S. Main street was impassible this weekend.

Another Take on Adulthood

Rudyard Kipling lived until 1936, but was a nineteenth century man. He set down his take on leadership and adulthood in a poem reflecting what we may think of as traditional values. It also reflected the unthinking misogyny of his time. It never occurs to him that leadership qualities might apply to women as well as men.

Still, it is worth reflecting on his thoughts.

If

by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Adult Supervision?

In yesterday's New York Times, columnist Thomas L. Friedman asked, rhetorically: "Aren't there any adults here?"

He was talking about the economy and referring to the Congress and other political and financial elites, but the question has broader application.

Friedman quotes Dov Seidman, C.E.O. of LRN, talking about two kinds of values: "situational values" and "sustainable values."

Leaders guided by situational values act however the situation allows, regardless of the wider or longer term interests of their communities. The governing thought:"I'll be gone when the bill comes due." A variation of this attitude in my naval experience was "it won't happen on my watch, and I don't care what happens on the next guy's watch."

Those guided by sustainable values say, instead, "I will never be gone. I will always be here. I must behave in ways that sustain - my employees, my customers, my suppliers, my environment, my country and future generations."

Those guided by sustainable values are the adults in society. They are the nonagenarians who plant trees. They exhibit what we used to call (in the Navy) "forehandedness." They look ahead. They build for the future. We need more adults.

North Carolina's ICW: Neglected Economic Engine

What would you think of an infrastructure project that reduces petroleum imports, reduces congestion on I-95 and 17 without expensive and disruptive construction, and brings sustainable jobs to thirteen counties in Eastern North Carolina? How could that be done? Improve and expand the North Carolina portion of the Atlantic Section of the Intracoastal Waterway as an integral part of the North Carolina and national transportation system.

Advantages:

• Water transport of cargo is the most fuel efficient and lowest cost method. A gallon of fuel moves a ton of cargo eight times as far on water as on land;
• Water transport is by far the least costly and safest of all transportation modes and has the lowest environmental impact;
• A single barge carries as much cargo as 58 trucks; typical tows are from four to fifteen barges – a single tug and fifteen barge tow replaces 870 trucks;
• USDOT projects truck traffic on I-95 will double by 2030 increasing an average of 10,000 trucks per day, equivalent to a dozen fifteen barge tows;
• Increased ICW traffic would offer the opportunity for steel barge and tug construction and maintenance, barge cleaning and storage operations and related economic development opportunities in Eastern North Carolina.

Problems:

• Decades of neglect of the ICW, lack of funding for maintenance dredging, postponed modernization projects, lack of official advocacy by the State of North Carolina;
• Failure to view the ICW as part of an integrated transportation system: the State agency that interfaces with US Corps of Engineers is Fish and Wildlife, not DOT;
• Failure to involve counties and regional councils of government (COGs): the only NC commission with ICW responsibility is the Morehead City Navigation and Pilotage Commission, with responsibility as far as Aurora, but whose membership is required to be from Carteret County (ICW transits 13 counties);
• Shortage of intermodal transshipment facilities at railheads and ocean ports;
• Failure to adapt highway asset management strategies to waterway infrastructure analysis

Recommendations:

• Create a North Carolina ICW Commission with membership from each of the 13 bordering counties, regional COGs and rural transportation planning organizations (RPOs) to develop a comprehensive, coordinated plan for water transport, integrated with land transportation planning and economic development planning;
• Investigate opportunities for intermodal transshipment facilities at Washington, New Bern, Morehead City, Jacksonville, Wilmington, Southport and other locations along the ICW with rail and truck facilities;
• Charge NCDOT with task of ICW transportation planning;
• Assign a cabinet level official to interface with US Army Corps of Engineers

For more information, consult the following:

Waterways Council, Inc., (WCI), the national public policy organization that advocates for a properly funded and well-maintained system of inland waterways and ports.
Bluewater Charts & Books Newsletter -Following the Intracoastal Folly: What is happening to keep the waterway running
NC State Ports Authority - 21stCentury Transportation Intermodal Committee - February 21, 2008 Report

North Carolina Coastal Federation
US Army Corps of Engineers: Inland Navigation - Value to the Nation
North Carolina Beach, Inlet & Waterway Association