Posted on September 17, 2020
The town of Sunset Beach plans to cancel a public hearing addressing a preliminary assessment resolution for the town’s future dredging project.
Assistant town administrator Lisa Anglin sent out a notice Saturday stating it had come to the town’s attention that Mary’s and Turtle creeks were inadvertently omitted as areas intended to be dredged in the preliminary assessment resolution. Therefore, she said town council will cancel the Sept. 26 hearing at its upcoming bimonthly meeting next Tuesday, Sept. 22, and will consider adopting a revised resolution establishing a new public hearing date.
The hearing was scheduled to take place in the bay area of the town’s main fire station at 102 Shoreline Drive W. At the Sept. 8 council meeting, Anglin said notices were being mailed to more than 200 people and that the hearing would be open to “anybody” and not just affected property owners.
Council didn’t address how that will be handled under current statewide COVID restrictions limiting indoor gatherings to 25 people and outdoor gatherings to 50 people, even though they discussed at length how those measures will be in place for regular town meetings, with the public relegated to a separate room and masks and social distancing required. It was stated that masks will be required at the public hearing.
Former town councilman Richard Cerrato and resident Richard Hilderman have taken issue with the town scheduling the hearing during a pandemic and have repeatedly questioned the dredging project in general.
“The pressure by those on the council that will financially and navigationally benefit is obvious; placing our citizens and staff in pandemic jeopardy when you don’t even have any final financial data or project approval,” Cerrato wrote Friday in an email to town officials.
Hilderman asked whether it wouldn’t be more logical to have a hearing after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approves the town dredging permit.
Source: brunswickbeacon
