Non-resident property owners are prohibited from entering Dare County and the Currituck County Outer Banks, starting tonight (Friday) at 10.
The Dare County Control Group decided to invoke this further restriction on visitors after meeting this evening to receive an update on COVID-19. Currituck County followed suit by amending its declaration of emergency to extend its visitor prohibition to restrict non-resident property owners.
This new measure is being taken in order to reduce “the number of individuals in the county and ultimately [reduce] potential virus spread and the burden on our healthcare system,” according to COVID-19 Bulletin #10 of the Dare County Emergency Management.
Previous restrictions on mass gatherings and visitor entry remain in place.
SOUTHERN SHORES TOWN COUNCIL MEETING CANCELED
The Southern Shores Town Council canceled its March 24 workshop meeting session today, presumably at a special meeting it held at 3 p.m.
The Beacon will not report on today’s Council special meeting, which you may view on a videotape accessible through the Town website homepage. We will tell you that only Mayor Tom Bennett, Mayor Pro Tem Elizabeth Morey, and Councilman Matt Neal attended for the Town Council, and that Interim Town Manager Wes Haskett and Town Clerk Sheila Kane were also present.
The Beacon believes that the holding of a public meeting like this one solely for the purpose of voting upon business that members of the Council have already deliberated upon and decided, outside the purview of public scrutiny, makes a mockery of open meeting laws. Our current state of emergency did not justify the Council’s actions.
At the very least, the so-called “meeting packet” that was posted online hours before the meeting should have contained the exact language that the three Council members planned to approve.
The Beacon also does not believe this meeting should have been held. We are in a critical containment period with the coronavirus, and all infectious disease experts are advising Americans to “shelter in place” now.
INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE TAX FILING DATE EXTENDED
The Internal Revenue Service has extended the tax return filing deadline, as well as the tax payment deadline, as The Beacon reported yesterday, to July 15.
Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 3/20/20
The Southern Shores Beacon 