11/25/20: N.C. AND DARE COUNTY POST MORE GRIM COVID-19 STATISTICS ON THANKSGIVING EVE; 8TH LOCAL RESIDENT IS HOSPITALIZED. Plus Town Council To Tackle MSDs At Meeting Next Tuesday.

The COVID-19-positive test results of 16 more people were reported today by Dare County, including a local man age 65 or older who has been hospitalized.

There are now eight Dare County residents in hospitals outside of the area being treated for COVID-19, according to the Dare County Dept. of Health and Human Services dashboard. Most of them have been under hospital care for weeks.

The COVID-19 statistics statewide were just as grim today as the N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services reported 4,212 new cases and a record-high 1,811 hospitalizations.

On Monday, when 200 fewer people with COVID-19 were in the hospital, NCDHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen said that the state’s hospitals were “starting to feel the strain” of patient capacity.

The hospitalized Dare County man was one of four men in the oldest age group reported today by the DCDHHS to have tested COVID-19-positive. Three of the four are locals.

Overall, nine of the 16 new cases are Dare County residents. Two of them are girls age 17 or younger; three are in the 25-49 age group; and one is in the 50-to-64 age group.

The Beacon will be taking a break tomorrow from COVID-19, as will the N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services. The DCDHHS gave no indication today as to whether it will be observing a holiday tomorrow from COVID-19 metrics, but we anticipate it will.

TOWN COUNCIL MEETING, TUES., DEC. 1, 5:30 p.m.

When The Beacon resumes publication over the weekend, we will be considering another grim topic: the designation of “municipal service districts” for the purpose of assessing higher taxes on some Southern Shores property owners to pay for the 2022 beach nourishment project.

In a display of holiday spirit, the Southern Shores Town Council will conclude this tumultuous year, which is heading toward a crisis ending, at its meeting next Tuesday by suggesting boundary lines for MSDs near and on the oceanfront.

The Council will meet Dec. 1 at 5:30 p.m. in the Pitts Center. Its meeting is open to the public, with COVID-19 safety protocol in place. Everyone must wear a mask. The meeting also will be available to view by live stream.

We believe the timing of the Town Council’s boundary/tax-rate exercise calls for sarcasm. The Council has delayed consideration of MSDs for months, most recently canceling its Nov. 17 workshop, which had been informally noticed as a forum for their discussion.

The Town Council spent a total of 47 minutes meeting in public in November.

The cost of the beach nourishment project, the details of which the Town Council has never specifically approved, is estimated to be about $16 million, of which Dare County presumably will pay a sizeable portion—although the Town has not yet secured a commitment from the county for a sum certain.

We also wonder what happened to the wording of the draft perpetual and irrevocable easement, last discussed at the Council’s Oct. 6 meeting, that the Town would like oceanfront property owners to grant without compensation.

We will discuss MSDs and the process of creating them, as well as highlight other business on the Council’s agenda, in a blog before the meeting.

You may access the Council’s agenda here: https://www.southernshores-nc.gov/wp-content/uploads/minutes-agendas-newsletters/Agendas_2020-12-01.pdf.

The meeting packet is available here: https://www.southernshores-nc.gov/wp-content/uploads/minutes-agendas-newsletters/Meeting-Packet_2020-12-01.pdf.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 11/25/20