Posted on November 11, 2021
EMERALD ISLE — Tuesday night, Emerald Isle commissioners will consider authorizing town manager Matt Zapp to apply for state funds for a dredging project to improve the channel to and from the regional boating access facility on Bogue Sound, just east of town hall.
The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in the commissioners’ meeting room beside the police department on the north side of Highway 58. It will also be virtual via GoToWebinar. To register to watch and listen online, visit register.gotowebinar.com/rt/1043108197618194192.
As envisioned, the state would pay the full $90,000 dredging cost. The facility is owned by the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.
Residents and visitors have clamored for the improvement recently. The town says the work is necessary because chronic shoaling is creating a boat-and-trailer logjam as boaters encounter shallow water leaving the facility and returning.
The proposal is to use a bucket dredge boat to remove 995 cubic yards of material from the channel, place the material on a barge, take it to shore and then truck it to a permitted disposal site.
Other items on the agenda Tuesday night include:
- Consideration of a resolution to use money from the town’s first American Recovery Plan Act disbursement to provide $2,400 bonuses to employees for hazardous work during the coronavirus pandemic. That equates to $100 per employee, per month for two years. The town received $588,794 in ARPA money this year and will get the same amount in 2022.
- Officially swear in Police Chief Mike Panzarella, who was first named interim chief earlier this summer, then promoted to chief last month.
- Recognize the service of outgoing Commissioner Jim Normile, who chose not to seek reelection in the Nov. 2 balloting.
Mr. Normile was appointed to his seat on the commission Aug. 27, 2014, following the death of Commissioner Nita Hedreen. He was then elected to two additional terms and has served as one of the town’s representatives on the Carteret County Beach Commission. He is now chairperson of that panel. He also served on the town planning board.
