County Commissioners - Regular Meeting

everybody to the December uh 15, 2025 meeting of the Clark County Board of Commissioners. Commissioner Quinn, will you lead us in the pledge of allegiance? Yes, sir. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. We will now have Billy Mkeley do the invitation. Invocation.

All right. Amen. You might get that job more often, Billy. I was short and sweet.

There you go. All right. Well, now turn it over to the county attorney for the election of the chairman. Thank you so much, uh, Commissioner Chadwick and all of our commissioners and everyone who's here this evening. Our first item of business at this first meeting in December, um, by statute is to elect a chairman of the board of commissioners to serve for the next year for each of the meetings. Um, at this time, I would like to open the board uh the the process for the board to make nominations for chairman. I like to nominate Chris Chav.

Are there any other nominations

before he backs out? WE'RE GONNA CALL THE VOTE BEFORE he runs out of the room. Okay. All those in favor of Chris Chadwick for another term as chairman. All opposed. And it passes. Congratulations, Chairman Chadwick. And I will send the meeting back to your hands. You got to love to be mommy. Uh, is there a nomination for vice chairman? Mr. Chairman, I'll nominate Commissioner Mansfield to stay in the vice chair seat.

I'll second that and move to close the nominations. All in favor, vice chair Mansfield. That's it. Thank you very much. Congratulations. Okay. Uh, everybody keep your cell phones on vibrate, please. And the conflict of interest statement as required by North Carolina General Stat General Statute 153A-39, first order. Oh, I'm on the wrong statute. All right, next one. In accordance with the state government ethics act, it is a duty of every board member to avoid both conflicts of interest and the appearance of conflict. Does any board member have any known conflict of interest or appearance of conflict with respect to any matter coming before the board this evening? If so, please identify the conflict and refrain from any undue participation in the particular matter. All good. Is there a motion to adopt the agenda?

Make a motion. Second. Motion by Commissioner Moore, seconded by Commissioner Quinn. All in favor? All right. Is there a motion to adopt the consent agenda? So moved. Motion by Commissioner Wal, seconded by Commissioner Moore. All in favor? All right. Next, we have public comment. if you will come to the podium and state your name and address for the record. Uh, first up is Mr. Chuck Linder.

Good evening. Name is Chuck Linder, 123 Central Drive, Atlantic Beach. I really appreciate the opportunity to speak. As you have seen me here before, we're going to advocate for the youth of the county. Uh we came before you with a proposal in the spring looking at opportunities to build more athletic fields which I think are sorely needed for the children in our community. We would like to encourage you and I know you ladies and gentlemen have a difficult job with funding but if you could increase the funding for parks and rec so we can open those opportunities for playgrounds and athletic fields. We do have u looking into the spring we're looking at record registration. We're anticipating 30 teams which is going to be difficult to find enough fields to operate on. We also uh as a little side note I did have a 9 lb 9 ounce grandson born in November. I do hope he stays here in Carter County as a future taxpayer and we just need to work on getting some more fields and opportunities to keep these children here in Carter County. let them go off to college somewhere, but let them come back and raise more families here in Cy County. With that, I wish you folks a very merry Christmas, happy and safe New Year. Thank you very much.

Thank you, M. Chuck. Congratulations. Merry Christmas. Next, Mr. Brian Nicolo. Brian, we were worried about you last month there. You weren't here. Missed last month. I should have been here.

Thank you everybody. Hey, my name is Brian Niclu at 1420 Salter Path Road, Indian Beach. Um, I just rise tonight to make some general comments. Uh, first of all, want to wish everybody a merry Christmas and pray everybody has a healthy and happy, prosperous new year. Um, you know, we here in Carter County, we're blessed. We live in paradise, but we're all bombarded with the news, national news, local news. Today, we lost the Duncan House. It's a a loss and we're praying for that family. But more so about our children like the gentleman just spoke. We need things here in Carter County for our children. I think it's a great time to be alive, but be cautious of the news that's being bombarded to you and your children are hearing it and listening to it. Um, one thing I I say that and then here I go. I'm going to talk about a couple negative things. We want to keep our gold star mom Tina Peters in mind. She's still incarcerated. President Trump pardoned her and he's promised a a truckload full of 2020 election evidence of the fraud that uh I believe exists and I think we'll all see soon. But Tina Peters exposed this in Colorado. So I'm asking everybody tonight look up, call the governor of Colorado, call the secretary of state, ask her to have some heart and release her from incarceration. Uh we can all do it. Let's all get get on the phones and make those calls. Um, as we move into uh going on, we talk about 23 December 1913. Um, and this on this date, the Federal Reserve was enacted, right? Isn't that kind of odd? That date, two days before Christmas, Woodro Wilson signed in the Federal Reserve Act. And how many people know that this is private bankers, a conglomerate of 12 banks that run our that print our money? It's unconstitutional, but educate your children on the Constitution. Let's start learning about the Federal Reserve because that's going to be in the headlines here soon, too. Now, with that negative stuff behind us, here's here's the good news. We're coming in or we're

in our Jubilee year. This is our 250th year. Uh Carter County, we need to celebrate. We really need to uh pass on what uh what brought us here today and how and the people who have sacrificed so much to make us free and to uh re-educate ourselves on some of these constitutional things that we should know even as an adult. I think I read the constitutional pamphlet from front to back at 57 years old. That's pretty sad. I'm embarrassed to say it. But we don't. We say it's unconstitutional, but do we really know what constitutional is? Let's start teaching and uh educating ourselves and our children about how what it means to be free and how thankful and grateful we all should be. Um, and with that, I'll go ahead and wrap it up early. I think I hopefully didn't go over time, but again, merry Christmas. Happy New Year and thank you for letting me talk to you tonight.

Thank you, Brian. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas.

Next, we have Chief Deputy John Nyberg. At least I didn't have to go first. Um, Chairman Chadwick, commissioners, thank you for letting us be here. Uh, we'd like to share some, uh, holiday shopping safety tips and travel tips from the sheriff's office. Uh, we're lucky enough to have our uh, state chapter of the sheriff's association provides us with ideas to do these things. So, we like to share those with the public. Um it's a it's a stressful time for some people and then you have a lot of people that are at the shopping malls. Um it it can get kind of hectic. So you want to make sure uh that you're paying attention to what's going on around you. Keep your purses and wallets close to your body and avoid putting your phones in your back pocket. That's a primary place where people will take it out of your back pocket because they bump into you if you're in a large crowd. Never argue over merchandise. It's never a good idea to do that. They'll make more. Stay away uh stay aware of your surroundings. Like I mentioned earlier, uh let a friend or family member know where you're going and how long you plan to be there and when you might be home. Um secure your shopping bags out of sight. Uh, if you have a trunk to put them in, put them in the trunk. Uh, if you have a SUV, put them in the back where it's harder to see the items that you've purchased so nobody will try to steal out of your car. Only remove your uh, credit or debit card when you're at the cashier. When the cashier asks you to pay for it, that's when you take the card out because if you're standing there holding it, somebody's probably going to try to take it from you, especially if you're in a large crowd. Uh, if you see suspicious behavior, try to report it. Don't go get involved in

it. Try to report it to the authorities and let us go take care of it. Um, now more than ever, people uh shop online instead of in stores. So, uh, some cyber safety tips. Um, shop on only secure, trusted websites marked with HTTPS or a lock symbol. Uh, keep records of your purchases and regularly monitor your uh, bank and credit card statements. Use secure home Wi-Fi rather than public networks. Research unfamiliar retailers and ensure they're legitimate before buying uh products. With buying online, that means you're getting them delivered to your house. So, uh it's a good idea to consider installing security cameras, uh video doorbells to deter thieves, uh use motion activated lights to deter potential thieves. Um give delivery drivers instructions on where to leave packages in hidden or odd locations so they're not just sitting right out there from the street view. One of the things that's a a constant uh reminder or problem for the sheriff's office is scams. These scams, they ramp up during these holiday seasons. uh sheriff's office or any other law enforcement agency will never ask you for money or currency transaction by email, text, or phone calls. Do not give these people money or any other information about yourself. If you have any ideas and somebody's trying to pressure you to give them money to get you out of something, you need to contact the sheriff's office or a local law enforcement agency. Um they also have the ability to spoof phone numbers. So, it'll look like the phone number is coming from the sheriff's office. You just need to remember that we will never ask for money.

Um, that's that's usually unusual for me to go over time unlike the sheriff. Anyway,

holiday travel, make sure your vehicle's in good working order. Plan your route and be prepared for changing weather conditions. Um, if involved in an accident, contact N or dial 911 or STAR HP. Uh, the road be patient on the roadways. I mean, it's the construction and everything else makes it very stressful. You're going to encounter uh road rage and and um uh aggressive driving. Don't engage with those people. Call 911 or Star HP and report them so that somebody from law enforcement can go take care of it. And I'll close with this. Um, on behalf of Asa Buck and the Carter County Sheriff's Office, merry Christmas.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, John. That buzzer was there for your predecessor just to keep you on on time there. Sometimes he got longwinded.

Okay. Next, we have the recognition of the Jamie Hicks Long Employee of the Month for October, November, and December, Mr. Nick Wilson. All right, good evening everyone. Um, tonight we're here to recognize the recipients of the Jamie Hicks Long Employee of the Month Award for the fourth quarter of 2025. Uh, this award highlights those who go above and beyond in their roles making a real difference in our community. And we're proud to honor three individuals whose dedication and hard work are making a significant impact here in Carter County. Uh we're going to first start off with our October October honor Josh Lewis. Uh he's a program coordinator with our parks and recreation department. Josh has made a big impact across our department by stepping in wherever needed to ensure our program programs succeed. He's always ready to fill in any role from score scorekeeping at beach volleyball to supervising the gym during basketball season, teaching tennis lessons and supporting major events like the Special Olympics and senior games. He handles all these responsibilities while also running his own programs, always with a positive attitude. This past summer, Josh launched the Down East Adventures program, a mobile summer camp for youth ages 9 to 15. Based out of Eastern Park and Smyrna, the camp takes participants on trips across the county from the Cape to local spots like MacDaddyy's Arcade, offering a great experience for kids throughout Carter County. He also created the corn I'm sorry, Core Sound cornhole league, which just wrapped up its second successful season at the Marshall Picnic Area. This league has quickly become popular community activity bringing people together for friendly competition with teams of all ages. It's a fun way for residents to connect all set on the backdrop of Carter's fall sunsets. So for his excellent teamwork, program development and dedication to the community, we are

proud to recognize Josh Lewis. So at this time, please congrat please join me in congratulating Josh on this well-deserved honor. You don't go nowhere.

All right. So, we're moving on to November honore Joanne Malshagen, uh, income maintenance supervisor with social services. Joanne has dedicated nearly 30 years of serving the people of Carter County. In her role at DSS, she supervises a team of case workers in the food and nutrition services and program integrity, making sure eligibility is determined correctly and that program rules are followed. She manages the workflow, provides guidance and training, and oversees complex cases, all while maintaining high standards of service. Joanne has also contributed to the development of policies and procedures that continue to improve how we serve the community. Even as Joanne approaches retirement, she remains actively involved in professional development and leadership groups, setting a great example for her team. She continues to mentor her colleagues and supports the department's overall success. Her work has shaped DSS and the impact of her efforts will continue to benefit the community for years to come. So for her dedication to her team and her years of service to the people of Carter County, we're proud to recognize Joanne Mole Shagen as the employee of the month for November. Congratulations, Joanne. Honey.

All right. Now, we're going to turn to our December honore, uh, Millie Sparks, programs and outreach manager for the public library system. Millie plays a key role in connecting residents with library services. She coordinates outreach efforts like helping seniors attend the history talks through SECATs, leading a book club at the Leon Man Junior Enrichment Center and offering craft programs at Bowford Landing. Millie also worked with the team that brought the Smithsonian travel exhibit to the Bowford branch earlier this year. As manager of the summer reading program, Millie designs programs that fit local needs from visits by historians and storytellers to magicians and university partners, creating a fun and educ educational experience for families. Millie also leads the reading for feeding initiative where children log reading hours to earn canned goods for donation. This program continues to grow each year, especially during the holiday season, supporting local families in need. Her work takes her all over the county from assisting branches with special requests to meeting groups at schools and senior centers. She also shares her writing at the library's writer read program and has been invited to speak at the upcoming friends of the library meeting. So for her dedication to continued service, we're proud to recognize Millie Sparks as our December employee of the month.

Okay. You want to stay and watch the meeting? You don't have to. You can watch it on or YouTube. Next, we have recognition of the public works department mosquito control team, Mr. Matt Renal.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, commissioners. Uh, tonight we just like to recognize one team that also go often goes unnoticed. Uh there are numerous county agencies that deserve praise for the service they provide to the community, but this team, the mosquito control team, we'd like to recognize this evening because they are typically working very odd hours of the day. This team scour all unincorporated areas of Carter County to reduce the nuisance and health risk associated with mosquito populations. And this team is comprised of two full-time staff and nine part-time staff that operate from half an hour before sunset to half an hour before sunrise beginning in May. typically through parts of November. This team's experience with mosquito control ranges from one year to over 30 years. They routinely cover over 80,000 miles per season, driving at a fun 10 to 15 miles per hour during application, working over 10,000 hours as most people are at home with family or at least enjoying a pillow somewhere. There are 150 households that requested to not receive treatment. So, this team diligently identifies methods to avoid those homes while contining to the other homes and businesses in the area. They respond to over 850 special requests online and over the phone each year, such as heavier than normal mosquito infestation following a storm to treating areas prior to weddings, funerals, and family reunions. So, tonight we would just like to call out uh those who are in attendance, and we're going to ask y'all to come up for a quick photo. Sorry,

I got it right here. Don't mind too much. You don't mind reading off the names. Before I begin, I will say in my district, the mosquito control people were very important and we got a lot of lowline areas and uh they all do an excellent job. I had a man call me one time from South River. I could tell by his accent that he weren't from South River. He had just arrived and he had a bad mosquito problem. I said, "Well, do you want me to have those mosquitoes killed or you just want me to have them run off?" He said, "I don't care what you do. I just want them gone." So I called Tony Kahune. I said, "Tony, go park in that man's driveway and make sure he gets a good blasting." And he did that and no more phone calls the rest of the season. So the mosquito people are very important.

They're great. Yeah, Billy and Lester and Jenny run an awesome crew. Lester is a head man. He does a great job. And of course, Billy back there, Miss Jeannie Beam, I'll just come down there. You keep all straight. So that's probably extra.

There you go. Mr. Richard Bright. 30 years. Said 30. Thank you, Richard.

Sorry, we can't do anymore. There's some rules against that now. I think Bruce Dunley Parker's Island. Straight Parker's Island. Straight.

Miss Karen Smith, Cedar Island, and Rodney Smith. Come on down. Water.

Ed Wallace. I had retired from communications for how many years, Ed? 10 years. 10 years. You were there my whole life. 21 years.

Lester Murphy, the big dog back there in the back. Lester keeps the program going, fills all the trucks up, keeps you straight, Billy. If it's late at night or the weekend, I call you and let you be the bad guy. Our very own Billy Mley who keeps it all going. Chinatown, Mr. Glenn Clark,

David Hall, David retired from town. Thank you all very much. We get a picture. Appreciate all you do. Right there in the middle.

THANK YOU. MERRY CHRISTMAS. We appreciate the board. Merry Christmas, sir. Appreciate you all. Merry Christmas. Thank you. Merry Christmas. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Merry Christmas. Thanks, Billy. Thanks.

You could watch it on Spectrum. All right. Next, we have presentation and consideration for adoption of the Corett County comprehensive transportation plan. It's Amanda Killian.

Hello everyone. Thank you so much for having us here today. My name is Amanda Kian and I work for the transportation planning division at NC DOT. I also have Heml Shaw here with me. Um she works in TPD at NC DOT as well. We have Patrick Flanigan here. who works for the county and then we have Mickey Anderson who works for the Down East Rural Planning Organization. Um so today we're here to seek adoption of this plan. Uh we've been going around to all the towns and they have all adopted. Um but first I'll give a little bit of a background of what a CTP is just to refresh your memory. I'll go through kind of you know the progress that we made and then the recommendations. Um so just refresh your memory a CTP is a high level long range needsbased plan. Um it comes before any prioritization or funding. So this is just very early stage planning. Um it's developed by NC DOT but also the Downey rural planning organization Carter County all the municipalities the stakeholders and the public. Um and we're just looking to put together consensus on a future transportation system. Um but again these are just kind of ideas. This is very early stage planning. Um, so here's our timeline. Um, so we started this back in summer of 2020. We did all the map setup and the analysis. Um, there were some delays due to COVID and staff turnover. So in October of 2023, we picked things back up. We met monthly with our steering committee um, which we had, you know, people from all the different towns or most of the towns um, that came out to those and we did engineering analysis and we put together our draft recommendations. And then back in May of this year, we held four public input sessions where we had poster boards and um the public had come out. Um I know some of y'all came out to that. So yeah. Um so the next steps, like I said, we've um presented for all the different towns and all 11 towns have adopted this plan. Um so we will be going to the Down East

Rural Planning Organization and seeking their endorsement. Um we're also talking to you here today and hopefully we'll seek your adoption of this plan. Um and then we'll go to adoption from the North Carolina Board of Transportation and then everything will be finalized. We'll have a user friendly booklet that will be posted online. Um currently all the draft maps are posted online so anyone can see them. Um yeah and again this will just support better um future funding opportunities but these are just ideas. This is all most of these projects haven't been funded. Um there are a few projects from the state transportation improvement program that um have begun to be funded and so we include those as well. how it ties together. Um, but most of these projects haven't been funded yet. Um, so we have all the recommendations in here and these should be very familiar hopefully at this point. Um, so I'll just kind of click through these slides. Um, and y'all should have them in your packet as well. Um, are there any questions on any of these projects or any questions on what the CTP is?

Questions on this particular part or the whole plan? Um just uh I guess we have the bike and ped recommendations listed after this. Um question.

Okay. Um here we have our our map of the bike and pen recommendations. I know this is just kind of the zoomed out version. Um but all everything is available online um for you to view and we've been showing it all at all the sessions and to all the towns. Um, so we have lots of really good bike impedations in here that hopefully can go for funding in the future. And we also just wanted to show you the facility types map because this will be in the final comprehensive transportation plan. Um, this is just showing what the future roadways will be for the area. And then we also have the public transportation and rail recommendations map. We don't have any recommendations, but we do show the existing rail line in here. So we just wanted to show that to you as well. Um, are there any questions on anything in this plan or um, yeah, anything you'd like to discuss?

Having got these listed out, are these in a particular priority? No, these are just ideas. So, this is before any of the prioritization of funding and this is all conceptual I mean at this point. Yes. So, you're going to see the improvement or either an addition of an emerald aisle bridge. You're going to see the Mid Island Bridge. You're going to see the Swansboro bypass. You're going to see um the Newport bypass. All of that's in here. And correct me if I'm wrong, but it has to be listed as a concept for it to ever go further than this.

So, this is a good first step if you ever want to go for funding in the future. can help support that, but it doesn't mean it's necessarily going to be built. So, yeah. Okay. I have a comment. So, as far as the middle of the island bridge, I mean, is there any way that we could make that or propose that to be a toll bridge so that maybe would score higher in the funding mechanism so it would they collect tolls until they sunseted and they recoup the cost of the construction so it's not such a burden to the state. So maybe it ranks higher in potential funded projects. Yeah, I'll have Patrick speak on that one.

Thank you, Commissioner Mansfield. Patrick Flanigan with the county. Um, that's a great idea. That is not necessarily in this document. This document allows us to do a study that would go for exactly what you're asking for. So that's the next step in the process getting the concept here and then we request a study that would look at tolling and how that would work for that particular project. Does that make sense?

It does. So I just wanted to make sure that was part of discussions moving forward. Obviously, this has been passed by most towns and more than likely we're going to pass this here tonight. But I won't concerns on record that I think that that economically makes more sense to the government if they have skin in the game locally and the visitors helping pay for the expense. Yes, sir. Absolutely.

Bridge. My other concerns I mentioned at one of the other meetings right there at 305 that the proposed was to talk about that to be a lefthand turn. And I think that's an awful idea. I mean, that school, there's multiple schools that go through that intersection on a daily basis twice a day. And to make that a lefthand turn to go towards Highway 24 is an awful idea. Not to mention all the fact that all the people east of where the 305 number is that come up Country Club Road from all the way down in neighborhoods of South Shores, Blair Farm, Country Club, Hedrickk Estates, Country Club Run. All of those families go to Walmart on a daily basis. And why would we reroute them to an area that's going to go as a bypass around town and make them turn? Why would you not do a traffic circle there or a p overpass that comes up from the north, goes over the road to the south, it merges back into the east where it's not a another stoplight um to have traffic turning. And then the other concern that I had is that big dash behind your head or straight ahead on 305 to not be limited access like the current Bridges Street extension because all that property on the north and south of that street now become unusable and undevelopable and and Morhead City doesn't have that much room to grow with Bogue Sound being to the south and the Newport River being to the north along with additional wetlands and flood elevation concerns that for to make have future housing those tracks need to be accessible and for industrial tracks for businesses to move a move here need to be accessible. Currently, right now, if you travel up

and down Bridges Street Extension, generally the traffic is way lighter than it is on a rental street or highway 70 because if somebody needs to go somewhere, all the businesses, all the places they need to stop are on that road. And and the whole point for doing additional road is to help with traffic to alleviate those concerns and disperse the traffic throughout the community, not have it bottleneck down Highway 7. So those are some really good points to the first project you're talking about. Um when that remember that was funded at one time and it has now fallen out of the stip. So when we go back to getting that want to make sure if I'm going to approve this it's on record.

Yes sir. Absolutely. That is definitely something we can have a conversation about when that project is in the design phase and looking at that particular intersection. As to your second point right now the plan is just identifying that route as a four lane. And so it can be a boulevard and have uh you know access unlike the existing bridge street extension. That's still absolutely a possibility.

I know you knew you've heard me rant before, but I think it's important I mean for the the city to be able to grow and to grow their tax base and for economic development and for housing concerns. I mean it's we talk about affordable housing all the time and then we design plans to discourage it. Uh yes, if you would please uh elaborate a little bit about number 324.

Uh that highway 58 corridor here on the western end of the county where it's a one of the fastest growing regions in the county. Highway 58 has become rather problematic as far as amount of traffic. I just want to hear what A little bit more detail about that proposal.

3243 swans for a bypass.

Yeah, I can talk more about bypass. I don't know if that number um but yeah, we just saw there was a need for this um just to relieve some of the congestion on NC24. Um, so after much discussion and modeling, we included this in here, but there's that giant disclaimer there. You know, the none of the alignment or anything has been decided yet. There, this project has not been funded. Um, so we just simply were trying to show it on the map somehow. Okay. Um, but there would be a huge detailed analysis that would go into that if it were funded. Um, yeah, it would take a long time. We would have to go through, you know, environmental and all these different things. Um, but we simply just wanted to show it on the map. So that's why we have that giant gray

kind of section around it. Um, and the disclaimer as well, but this project has not been funded or anything. Um, it's just due to the need of congestion on NC24. How about the 324 on the highway? I don't see a right up on 32. I don't I don't either. I see. Okay. So 324 is proposed as a boulevard. So med four lane divided. So we are recommending needs it needs improvements to accommodate the future traffic and if I remember correctly at the first public workshop we received several comments for that. Okay great okay I just want to clarify that that would eventually be four lane if it were ever funded

that's the vision that's the need for the vision yes it is much needed um as a bandit project it might be initially a widened to three lane adding a turn lanes where needed and in the future when the need is there uh we may expand to the four lane. So we are putting the 2050 vision as a four lane. Thank you. Got a couple of questions. 333 looks like it's going to bypass go around the back side of pelleter cross 58 and then that's the swansboro bypass you're talking about. That's right.

Okay. My concern uh I have a couple of concerns here. One, the third bridge I think is much needed over to Bogue Banks. Uh like Vice Chairman Mansfield stated, uh is there a path from the new Havlock bypass through the woods over to 101? Is is that kind of in the works? It is illustrated here. Um you go back the first

321 320 37 Yes, this one it's called Northern Cartrite bypass and we have listed it and it's carried over from the previous comprehensive transportation planed there. So, are we waiting on funding or are we talking about widening 101 to bring some truck traffic alleviate that from going downtown Morehead City bringing that down 101 to a port that way? Yes, sir. So, we are actually currently doing two feasibility studies that NC DOT is is assisting with. One that looks at upgrading existing 70 where the Havlock bypass ties in to somewhere in the vicinity of McCabe Road

and the other is looking at the new location as you're talking about that would cut across and connect into 101 at some point. And the reason we're doing that is trying to figure out which one we want to push for funding for. So, this is going to give us a lot of information and data on what the potential impacts might be, what the cost of the two versions are, and that will help inform us on which one we'd like to pursue.

Okay. And my last uh statement is not really much about the planning, but uh highway 70 also the scenic byway u and by the way we have probably the best district engineer Gordy Yur in the whole state. He does excellent job but Gordy has to get a permit from KMA to repair the shoulder road. We have no shoulder. Matter of fact, the the shoulder's gone and the pavement there's holes under the pavement. So the current process is for the state to get a permit from the state to repair the state's road. And that just does not make sense to me. And he can only repair 100 200 feet at a time. So they have to move down there, mobilize all that heavy equipment, work for two or three days, and then they leave while they wait to get another 100 200 feet done. So we the DOT needs to have the big dogs go talk to the legislators. And when you're uh getting a permit to maintain a public road, you shouldn't need a permit. I mean, I mean, it's just crazy to me to all the bureaucracy that goes into that. So, if we could uh pass that on to whoever and just make it the DOT ought to be exempt from fixing the shoulder of the road. So,

one other question I didn't see in the plan, but what what is the status of the bridge to be four lane like the old bridge like the new one here in B So, that one also was previously in the DOT 10-year funding budget and it has lost its funding at this point. So, it's another one. Yes, it's another one that we're trying to push to get back into the step. You're talking about a Morhead Bridge. There were like a couple days ago, there was a wreck on top of the bridge. Everybody had to go all the way around Mil Creek. We desperately need a four-lane bridge there as well. Absolutely. Yes, sir.

All right. Thank you, Patrick. We know you're on top of it. Mr. Chairman, I'd like to make a motion to adopt the Carter County Comprehensive Transportation Plan as presented through the December 15th Commission meeting 2025 with all of the noted comments to pass along with that motion by Vice Chairman Mansfield. Is there a second? Second. Seconded by Commissioner Quinn. Any further discussion? All in favor? Thank you all. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Next, uh, we have a either to accept or reject the unsolicited offer to purchase county property located at 517 Sudter Street, Buffer, for 225,000 and adoption of a resolution 2025-R9 authorizing the sale pursuant to North Carolina General Statute 160A-269. Mr. Nick Wils.

All right. Thank you all. Um, so the staff had received an unsolicited offer, I think it's sometime in October, for 225,000 to purchase county owned property at 517 Cedar Street. Um, I've got I'll do a little property overview and some of the financial facts of the history of it. So 517 Cedar Street used to be the first flight bank building across the street if you're familiar with that. We acquired it April of 2011 for 185,000. Currently, we're just using it for public parking and some county storage, furniture file, stuff like that. Uh we've got one offer of 225,000 from uh Miss Juliana Katherine Styron. Uh she's the member manager of Styvern Partners LLC. Uh this is the picture of the property in front of it. We have an aerial shot of it as well. Um so basically the upset bid process what you uh the board approved back in Octo November. Uh we followed the sale process of 68269. We initiated the sales process with that resolution 255 on November 17th. That was the last board meeting. Uh it was published in the news time news times on November 23rd. That kicked off the 10-day process and the upset bid process and we adjusted it gave a couple more days due to u Thanksgiving holiday. So we end up having 12 days. No qualifying upset bids were received. When I say no, no other bids were received in this. So, the original offer of 225 for Miss Styron um is the highest and final offer and just in conditions and future use um the building will be sold as is if it's approved. It's in very poor condition. The buyer estimates to roughly 25,000 to rehab it inside, probably more than that per the letter. And um and there's significant draining issues and an estimated 125,000 repair cost. Basically, they want to turn it into a law office. So, you have the uh resolution in your packet and we're asking for a motion to accept or

reject the offer. Okay. Is there a motion? Chairman, uh, I move to accept the offer of the 225 225,000 from Styron Partners LLC through its member managed Juliana Katherine Styron to adopt resolution 2025 R9 approving the sale of county owned property located at 517 Cedar Street, Bowfort, and to authorize the county manager to execute the purchase sale agreement and all documents necessary to complete the transaction. Okay. Motion by Commissioner Wal. Is there a second?

I'll second. Seconded by Commissioner Shen. Is there any discussion? All in favor? Any opposed? Eyes have. Thank you. Thank you, Nick. Next we have the manager's report.

Thank you. Thank you, Chairman Chadwick and Board of Commissioners. I have a couple of announcements for everyone this evening. First of all, we're we're very pleased to announce that the county has once again won the designation of a Coast Guard county, and that is in recognition for the strong partnership and support we have with the Coast Guard and those who serve in the Coast Guard. And that designation um has now been renewed for the next five years. So, we're very proud of that. Um a couple of other announcements for the public. You heard this evening a speaker about parks and ball fields uh for kids. If this is something that's important to you, we strongly urge you to go to our parks and recreation web page right now. We are doing our parks and recreation master plan and there is an online survey that we would like to invite citizens to fill out to let us know what you want in recreation. And this is really important that hear from as many folks as we can. Um there's also um a list on the web page, I believe, of the public meetings that you could attend to also give additional input. Um a tax office reminder, not such a happy thing to talk about at Christmas, but we don't want you to pay interest on your taxes. Your 2025 property taxes, um the the bills originally go out at the 1 of September, but regardless of whether or not you that bill. Just keep in mind your property taxes are due no later than January 5th, 2026 if you want to avoid the interest payment. And the way that the state of North Carolina has set up property taxes, the interest acrru

to your account. So, make sure that you get in if you haven't already and pay those personal and real property property taxes no later than January 5th, 2026. Um, our website also has payment options that you can follow and has some tax office contact information if you have questions. Um, a couple of schedule changes over the Christmas holidays. Um, so so much of our staff can be with family. Most of our offices will will closed December 24th through 26 in celebration of Christmas. Obviously, our emergency services and law enforcement officers will be um continuing to do the important work that they do. We will also be closed January 1st for New Year's Day and we do wish everyone a very safe and happy new year. For solid waste, we also have some other scheduled changes. All of our solid waste and landfill fac will close at 12 p.m. So, noon on Christmas Eve, December 24th. Our convenient sites are open from 8 a.m. to noon on Christmas Eve and on New Year's Eve, but all sites will be closed all day Christmas Day and New Year's Day. And again, this is listed on our website if you need to refer to that. Finally, we we invite you to go see our new veteran services office. It has uh been moved to 3615 Arendel Street in Morhead City, right across from the hospital. We're very excited to offer that new facility to better serve our veterans. And that's all I have for tonight.

Can I make a point of clarification? So, the Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are on a Wednesday, correct? Yes. So, I mean, I think it's important to note that that that 8 to 12 is normally it's not even open till 1. So, it's going to flip-flop and be open that morning, not those afternoons. That is correct. Yes. For the public to That's right. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Any questions on the manager?

Next, we have appointments. First one is the beach commission, Mr. John Broad. I have a question. So Nick, is that one for two appointments or is that one the first one of each commission? So it is for both of Mr. Chair.

We have two seats. Mr. John Broadman, appointment to field an unexpired term as a representative through January 31st, 2027 and Mr. Dean Barber appointment to a new three-year term as a pineal shores representative. All in favor of those two, gentlemen, they have it. Next is the board of equalization and review Thomas Roberts reappoint as an alternate for a one-year term and Daniel Bartellini reappointment as an alternate for a one-year term. All in favor, Mr. Roberts, Mr. They have it. Next is Carter Healthcare Board of Trustees reappointment to a three-year term. Mr. Will Rogers and Mr. Jim Bailey reappointment to a three-year term and Mr. John Floyd will be a new appointment to a three-year term. All in favor of Mr. Rogers, Mr. Bailey, and Mr. Floyd. Next we have Consolidated Human Services Board Betsy Daniels appointment as a registered nurse nurse representative for a four-year term. All in favor of Miss Daniels. Next we have the Juvenile Crime Prevention Council, Miss Brooke Lane, appointment as a substance abuse representative through June 30th of 2026. and Tamia Strayhorn, appointment to fill a unexpired term as a health department design through June 30th, 2027. And Melissa Ward, appointment to fill an unexpired term as a mental health agency design through June 30th of 2027. All in favor of those. Next, we have the Tourism Development Authority, Mr. Clark Merl reappointment to a three-year term as at large member. Judy, I don't know how to say her last name, but Kosski, how's she?

Yeah, that's that pretty good. Uh, appointment to a three-year term as a hospitality association member and James Wax appointment to a three-year term as a board of realtors member. All in favor of those folks. And that next Mr. Broadman is already on the beach commission. That's all of the appointments. Okay. All right. Next, we have commissioner comment. Commissioner Wald, you want to start us off?

Good evening. Thank you for attending tonight or listening online uh or on uh Spectrum, which I've said three times tonight. um for getting kickback or merry Christmas to me.

So anyway, merry Christmas everyone. Thank you, Chuck. Thank you for continuing to uh ring the bell on the fields and the and I clearly know being on the hope mission board and being involved in uh substance abuse agencies in the county, we need to get our kids started on the right on the right foot and that's that's the way we do it. Um, Brian, thanks for being here again. Did he leave? He comes and goes. Um, Chief Deputy Nyberg, thank you for being here tonight. Merry Christmas. And, uh, thank you for the cautionary tales. Uh, hopefully we don't fall prey to them. Employees of the month, Josh, Joanne, and Millie. We're proud to recognize our uh, county employees. We hope that we are um seeking and gaining uh loyalty and faithfulness with our employees and we appreciate you. Merry Christmas. Um and the mosquito control team. I need to re meet uh Richard Bright. He works in my district and uh I know exactly uh what they do out there and I appreciate them. So, thank you very much. Merry Christmas and happy new year.

Thank you, Commissioner Wald. Commissioner Moore.

Okay. Good afternoon. I too like to uh congratulate u the uh employees of Jamie Hicks uh employees of the month Josh Lewis Joanne Moen and Millie Sparks. Um and also the the county uh mosquito control team. Uh quite a few of them. Uh thank for all the good work that they do. Uh really helps out in the county. And I I personally like to every county employee uh that what they do for our county for the past year. A lot of good work and we've got some good employees and it sure does show. U like to thank Chief Deputy John Nber for coming over and giving us those safety tips. Can't stress that enough. There's a lot of stuff going on out there in the in the public that we have to make sure that you We're aware of what's happening and the stuff that he's run over I feel is is good good stuff that didn't put forward and we need to take apply that what we've got going on in in our counties and around wherever you're at and when it comes to the public things happen just a few seconds. So stay on top of that. Take what he said to heart and be safe with that. U when it comes to our I just want to thank the board for working the way they have worked this year together and uh it's it's just amazing what you can see done when you got people working together and I thank you all for that. Uh I just wish everyone a happy uh Christmas, happy new year, stay safe and uh enjoy your families. Thank you.

Thank you Commissioner Moore. Commissioner Quinn.

Thank you Mr. Chairman, you I will echo the comments from the my pre the previous commissioners and certainly congratulations to all those employees of the month and all the hard work that they do and dedication to our county and our citizens. Uh I want to also point out and thank uh members of the park and recreation parks and recreation. been out at Western Park doing some much needed repairs to fencings um out at the park and so hopefully get that taken care of it to really become a safety issue to a certain degree. Thank you Chief Deputy John Nyberg for the public safety tips. Um echo also the manager's comment about the new veterans facility out on the Carter Community College campus. It's a great location. It's right on right at the college campus. is right across the road from the hospital. Fantastic um facility to serve our county's veterans. Really, really proud of that. And I just want to conclude by saying, you know, merry Christmas to all of our residents, neighbors, friends, family. Uh this is a season, a time to reflect what brings us together, community, kindness, and shared responsibility. I'm grateful for the dedication of our county staff, public servants, first responders, volunteers, and local businesses that that work to keep our county strong uh on a daily basis. And as we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ with loved ones, let us also remember those in need and look ahead to the new year with hope uh and purpose. So, I'm wishing you peace, good health, and joy. Merry Christmas and prosperous and happy new year. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Quinn. Commissioner Clark. Well, is as is my habit, I'll try to be brief, but as I've gotten older, this this is this has not always been the case, but as I've gotten older, that horrific droning noise that you hear when a mosquito guy comes down your street has become somewhat melodic to me. as uh as I think of all the the death and destruction that it's wreaking on the mosquito population, I find solace and comfort. So, um it hasn't always been that way, but probably in the past 10 or 15 years, the more I've been bitten. And uh you haven't always lived to sea level.

That's right. That's true. And owning property extremely down east will really bring that to bear. But so, it was kind of kind of cool. I I didn't know the folks that came out tonight, but to know, you know what, I've seen them out in the middle of the night and I've heard that drowning and like I said, it didn't bother me. It was peaceful. Oh, yeah. Some more are going to die. So, um I do appreciate the award to them and the work that they do. And uh thank you for letting me present. Thank you, Commissioner Clark. Commissioner Shen, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I don't think I can add any more to Commissioner Clark's gratitude to team

but I'm most most appreciative of as well and also the the rest of the staff and congratulations to the employees of the month Mr. Miss Mo and Miss Sparks. Lot of gratitude. Thank you for what you do. Thank you to all the staff. You all do a great job. Great teamwork. Everybody works together well from my perspective anyway. So wish everybody happy new year. Merry Christmas. Hope your holidays are safe and you get plenty of time to spend friends and family and loved ones. So that I'll chairman. Thank you very much. Thank you, Commissioner Shin, Vice Chairman Mansfield.

In an effort to not be repetitive and redundant, I thank all the commissioners for their great comments, even Commissioner Clarks, and I agree with everything they've said, I want to wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year. May God bless all of you. Thank you.

Thank you, Vice Chairman Mansfield. I too would like to wish everybody a merry Christmas. We got a great team. I'd like to thank my fellow commissioners for either having faith in me or not want to be momicked yourself with the extra means, but uh I think we do have a good team up here and our senior team with Sharon and D and Matt and Nick. U I think we had a great year and I know that the years to come are going to be uh much better. Uh Mr. Chuck, the parks, I think everybody on this board, we've actually looked at some more land. We've partnered with Richie Pal uh with the school system. We all we all want to do some more parks and more fields for our kids and you we've run a couple of pieces of property down and it didn't work out but we are actively looking and we depend on you and the community to maybe point us in the right direction if a spot you know comes available. Uh, I did have the opportunity to uh attend a fundraiser in the western part of the county with Commissioner David Quinn and Chief Deputy John Nyberg at Ricky Taylor uh place where they raised money for underprivileged uh children for their Christmas present. Uh we had probably 75

about 75 people there raised over $15,000. uh a great great benefit to help our children that are a little bit less fortunate here at the end of the year and uh it was just really touching to uh to be a part of that. So there's nothing further to come before the board. What's that? No, we don't say that. Uh I want to wish everybody a merry Christmas and a happy new year and uh we appreciate y'all coming. We appreciate y'all coming tonight. Is there a motion to

I would set you up for success, not failure.