Two COVID-19 cases at Manteo Middle School were reported yesterday by the Dare County school system, and the Dare County health department announced 11 new COVID-19 cases, as the autumn surge of the coronavirus disease continued locally.

[After this article was posted, the DCDHHS reported seven new COVID-19 cases, six of them residents, and all but two between the ages of 25 and 49.]

The middle school is expected to be open for classes tomorrow, after a deep cleaning today by the Dare County Schools district safety team, according to an email sent yesterday to families of Dare County students by School Superintendent John Farrelly.

Fifty-one people have been identified as direct contacts of the two middle-school cases, who were not identified as students or staff, and have been directed to quarantine, Mr. Farrelly also reported.

Eight of the 11 people whose positive tests for COVID-19 appeared on the Dare County Dept. of Health and Human Services dashboard yesterday are local residents, but none is a child.

Last week, however, the DCDHHS reported six cases of COVID-19 among Dare County children age 17 or younger.

Nine of the 11 new cases reported yesterday are in the 25-to-49 age group, which has been driving the pandemic statewide and nationally. The other two are in the 50-to-64 age group.

Although none of the newly reported cases yesterday or Friday was hospitalized, the DCDHHS dashboard now shows that four local residents—an increase of one since last Thursday’s update–are in the hospital because of COVID-19.

THE GOVERNOR’S NOV. 5 COVID-19 BRIEFING

It was not until a reporter asked Governor Roy Cooper at his Nov. 5 briefing how he intended to “depoliticize” the coronavirus pandemic that the newly reelected head of state said anything about people’s political outlooks. He did not comment on the “politics” of mask-wearing; he just advocated for the practice.

In its reporting Thursday on the Governor’s 30-minute briefing, The Raleigh News & Observer emphasized his response to this question—which was the last one he took—and presented what we believe now, after viewing the meeting videotape, was a skewed view of the Governor’s message. We quoted The N&O as a source on the briefing and feel compelled to set the record straight.  

In his response to a question about “depoliticizing” the pandemic now that the election is over, Governor Cooper said that he believes depoliticization will be “a natural occurrence” and more people will begin to look at the pandemic “wholistically,” for example, seeing the pandemic and the repressed economy as connected.

The Governor earlier reiterated his preventive message of wearing a mask and social distancing and said, as he has said on numerous occasions, that “facts” and “scientific data” will guide his decision-making going forward.

“Our numbers remain high,” he said, in reference to daily COVID-19 case reports statewide. “. . . We need to get these numbers down, and we know how” [Observing] the three Ws.”

North Carolina hit a single-day record high of 2,908 COVID-19 cases on Friday, and had more than 4,700 more cases reported over the weekend, and its COVID-19 positive rate has been between 6 and 7 percent for the past week.

In her presentation of North Carolina’s COVID-19 metrics, Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services, used her catch phrase, “behind the mask,” to advise how people can protect themselves and stop the spread of the virus.

“If they don’t live with you, get behind the mask,” Dr. Cohen said to discourage people from socializing without protection with people who do not live in their own households.

Advocating that people should “take care of others” by taking the “simple, low-cost precaution” of mask-wearing, she said, “Show that we care about each other by getting behind the mask.”

Dr. Cohen also stressed that a person could be infected by COVID-19 “for many, many days” and not show any symptoms.

Governor Cooper said he understands that life with COVID-19 is “difficult and tiring,” and he relates to “the frustration and fatigue” people must feel, but he encouraged all North Carolinians to continue to be “vigilant.”

The Governor’s current executive order, which has North Carolina “paused” in Phase Three of its reopening, is set to expire this Friday at 5 p.m. It is likely that the pause will be extended for another two or three weeks.

HOW YOU CAN GET TESTED

In response to a question from a reader last week about how you can get tested for COVID-19 in Dare County, we offer the following information, which is available on the DCDHHS website athttps://www.darenc.com/departments/health-human-services/coronavirus/covid-19-testing-copy:

If you have symptoms, the DCDHHS advises you to call your doctor’s office to discuss them. This consultation is being called a triage.

Clinicians can consider testing for COVID-19 any patient who has a fever of 100.4 degrees F. or higher; a cough; chills, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing; muscle pain; a headache; a sore throat and/or new loss of or alteration of taste or smell.

In assessing patients, clinicians (healthcare providers) observe testing guidelines issued by the NCDHHS and are testing every day in Dare County.

If you are symptomatic and have been evaluated in a phone triage by a healthcare provider as being in need of a test, you may be tested at one of the following testing centers, instead of in your doctor’s office, but you should call ahead:

Beach Medical, Nags Head, call (252) 261-4187

Outer Banks Urgent Care, Kitty Hawk, call (252) 449-7474

Outer Banks Urgent Care Center & Family Medicine, Nags Head, (252) 261-8040

Surf Pediatrics & Medicine (for established patients only), Kill Devil Hills, (252) 449-5200

At least this is how I read the DCDHHS’s information on testing. I have only known individuals who have been tested in their physicians’ offices; all have received their results within two days.

If you are asymptomatic, you have only one option, as far as I can tell, and that is to go to the Outer Banks Testing Center in Nags Head. Call (252) 449-6175.

In last week’s briefing, Dr. Cohen recommended that people get a COVID-19 “screening test” before traveling or gathering with a group for the holidays.

For answers to any questions you may have, call the DCDHHS COVID-19 Call Center, at (252) 475-5008. The center is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Once you are tested, the DCDHHS advises, you are considered a Person Under Investigation and are required to isolate immediately at home and to remain in isolation until your test results are returned as negative or, in the event of a positive result, the following has occurred:

*You have had no fever for at least 72 hours, without using medicine to reduce your fever, AND

*Other symptoms have improved, AND

*At least seven days have passed since your symptoms first appeared.

The best advice about testing is: Call ahead.

Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 11/8/20

The repaving of U.S. Hwy. 158 is expected to be completed by Nov. 25, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Southern Shores Town Manager Cliff Ogburn reported to the Town Council Wednesday evening in a meeting that lasted only 47 minutes and may have been dampened by an election hangover.

Or perhaps the relentlessly bad news about COVID-19, and the fact that the meeting had no in-person audience, cast a lethargic pall over the proceedings. The Town Council had a decidedly low-key session with little give-and-take among themselves or with staff. We view such as a meeting as a lost opportunity to communicate with, and inform, the public, which is unseen, but still present.

Mayor Pro Tem Elizabeth Morey did address the COVID-19 situation locally in a general sense, at the end of the meeting, as she did at a previous meeting, saying “It’s starting to hit close to home” and asking people to be “vigilant.”

Mayor Tom Bennett reinforced Ms. Morey’s message with more specific direction, advising, “Don’t leave your mask at home and don’t leave yourself vulnerable, if you can possibly help it.”

We also commend all of the Town Council members and the Town staff for wearing facial coverings throughout the meeting, including when they were speaking. Only the Town Manager let down a bit in the latter regard, and we are uncertain about how William Norrell, who substituted for Town Attorney Ben Gallop, appeared because his face was blocked by an overhead monitor on the live-stream video we viewed. (Thank you, Mr. Ogburn, for introducing him.)

Not only does wearing masks show mindfulness about how COVID-19 spreads, it models respectful, safe, and conscientious behavior.

[UPDATE SINCE OUR EARLIER POST: North Carolina today broke its previous single-day record of 2,885 COVID-19 cases, with 2,908 newly reported COVID-19 cases, according to the N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services dashboard. While we were writing this report, the Dare County HHS department updated its dashboard with eight more COVID-19-positive cases, seven of them local residents.]  

In considering what to write about the Council’s regular November meeting, we decided that the most useful news to impart was Mr. Ogburn’s announcement of a deadline for the bypass roadwork, which initially had people delayed an hour in getting across the Wright Memorial Bridge.

The Town Manager said that the resurfacing project was actually ahead of schedule, but work at the main intersection at the Welcome Center (pictured above) may lag a bit behind.

You also might be interested to know that the Town issued the highest number of permits this year last month when it issued 66, according to Planning Director and Deputy Town Manager Wes Haskett, who said there is “a lot going on in town right now, development-wise.”

Twenty-nine of the permits were building permits, Mr. Haskett said, and 21 were trade permits.

The Council approved the appointment of Janis Collins, a fairly new Chicahauk homeowner, to the Planning Board as the second alternate, but it did so in what we consider lackluster fashion. Mr. Haskett proposed the appointment without giving any biographical details about Ms. Collins, and the Council did not thank Ms. Collins or welcome her to government service.

Perhaps with an actual audience, they would have been more mindful of the occasion. Every Town Council meeting is an opportunity for the Council members and the staff to speak directly to the public, as well as the creation of a public record for historical purposes.

We wish to thank Ms. Collins, whom we do not know, for volunteering to serve as an alternate on the Planning Board, which plays a very important role in the Town’s development future—if it ever meets again. The five-member Planning Board also serves as the Town’s Board of Adjustment.    

Mr. Haskett did not give an update on the CodeWright Town Code rewrite project, which he told us a month ago was back in CodeWright’s court—Town Attorney Ben Gallop having finally critiqued the proposed changes to the zoning chapter of the Code.

BEACH NOURISHMENT MONIES; UNASSIGNED FUNDS

Perhaps the most momentous decision the Council made Wednesday evening was to resolve unanimously that the Town will not pay for any capital expenditures incurred during its 2022 beach-nourishment project “with funds currently on hand.”  

This would include monies in the Town’s general fund, which annually receives at least $2 million in revenue from occupancy, sales, and land-transfer taxes, more than $3 million from ad valorem taxes, and another $1 million in assorted other revenues, as well as the multi-million-dollar surplus in the Unassigned Fund Balance.

“The general fund isn’t paying for any portion” of the project, Mr. Ogburn said.

All of the expenses that the Town is currently paying for the as-yet-undefined beach-nourishment project will be “recaptured” in the “borrowing,” he said in explaining Resolution 2020-11-01, which declares the Town’s intent to reimburse itself, up to a maximum of $10 million.

In the “borrowing” presumably means that Southern Shores property owners primarily will be footing the bill with increased taxes.

The resolution that the Council approved appears on its face to be a perfunctory bit of business, undertaken in compliance with N.C. Treasury regulations, but its import and necessity should have been explained to the public by Mr. Ogburn or Town Finance Director Bonnie Swain.

The public also deserves a financial update about the 2022 project. The Town Council unanimously approved in the spring “pursuing” a beach-nourishment project—without choosing one of the options recommended by its coastal engineering consultant–and authorized spending money to hire a financial consultant, but it has not informed the public of the financing plan.

In a summary accompanying the reimbursement resolution, the Town Manager estimated the project costs to be $16,196,500. Is that total in today’s dollars or in yesterday’s dollars, as estimated by Ken Willson of Coastal Protection and Engineering of N.C., formerly known as APTIM? Will tomorrow’s dollars be the same?

How much of that $16 million-plus has Dare County pledged to contribute? How much will Southern Shores property owners be paying in increased taxes, and when will the Town inform them? How will the $1.4 million state grant that the Town just received be used?

Dare County Manager Bobby Outten has said previously that $7 to $7.5 million from the county’s beach nourishment fund, which is financed by occupancy taxes, might be available for the Southern Shores project, but the actual contribution has not been publicly announced. Has the county made a commitment?

All we ever hear at Town Council meetings is how much Mr. Willson is billing the Town for project permitting and design “tasks.” The overall project has yet to be brought into focus.

Also seeming to be important was the Town Council’s unanimous decision Wednesday to amend Town policy on the Unassigned (or Undesignated, or Unreserved) Fund Balance to specify that the minimum balance that must be maintained is now $3 million, an increase of $1.25 million, and to include some broad language about the fund’s purpose being for emergencies.

Councilman Matt Neal astutely pointed out that when the resolution establishing a $1.75 million minimum balance in the fund was approved in 2012, during Hal Denny’s tenure as mayor, it contained the proviso that the Town Council annually review the policy. Needless to say, such review has not occurred.

Thanks to Mr. Neal, the Council approved the changes in the policy with the understanding that it would revisit the policy in a year, thus safeguarding the Town from the “unforeseeable.”

***  

The most confusing decision the Council made Wednesday occurred within the first five minutes of the meeting when Mayor Bennett seemed to move twice to amend the consent agenda–by eliminating one of the four items in the agenda–without ever soliciting approval of the amended agenda. Or he did, but then he didn’t.

You can watch the videotape and be the judge as to what the Council members passed by vote: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4cSvr0KtRY The Mayor misspoke, and no one corrected him.

The consent agenda contained four FY 2020-21 budget amendments, which The Beacon highlighted in a report 11/1/2, for: 1) $43,521 to hire and fund a new police officer for six months; 2) $5800 to redesign and modernize the Town’s website; 3) $250,000 to set up a beach nourishment fund; and 4) $8,000 to pay for cemetery maintenance.

After Mr. Ogburn asked the Council to move the cemetery fund request to new business, the consent agenda was “amended” to just three budget amendments, which the Council may or may not have approved unanimously. Certainly, its intent was to do so, but the Mayor actually pronounced one motion to have been approved twice.

The funds for all of these amendments are being transferred out of the Town’s Unassigned Fund Balance, which, as of June 30, had a shade under $6 million in it.

The Town maintains a separate cemetery fund, which, according to Mr. Ogburn, has $58,000 in it.

The Public Works Dept. had asked that $8,000 from this fund be appropriated for replacing stone in the driveway, grinding some tree stumps, and repairing some markers at the cemetery.

Mr. Ogburn amended this amount to $2,000, deleting from the budget request monies for the driveway resurfacing. The Town Council approved this lesser amount.

On a personal note, and speaking as a frequent visitor to the cemetery, I am more concerned about the grounds being kept free of tree debris and litter than I am about the condition of the driveway. A dirt road enhances the rustic look of the cemetery, which is part of its appeal to me.

***

The Town Council has canceled its Nov. 17 workshop session. When it meets Dec. 1, we hope to hear updates on both the CodeWright project and the traffic study.

From our perspective, there is even now too much cut-through traffic on the Town’s residential streets. Council members and Town staff should inform themselves by observing a week-day morning cut-through rush at the South Dogwood-East Dogwood trails and East Dogwood-Hickory trails intersections. There is an afternoon rush, too, but it is not as heavy.

The character of Southern Shores is being seriously compromised year-round by excessive traffic.

Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 11/6/20

First Flight High School in Kill Devil Hills is closed today for deep cleaning after the Dare County school system received a report of a lab-confirmed COVID-19 case among its population. The high school is expected to reopen Monday.

The closure follows the shutdown yesterday of Manteo High School, where three COVID-19 cases among staff and/or students were reported this week by the Dare County Dept. of Health and Human Services. (See The Beacon, 11/5/20.)

In an email sent last evening to families of Dare County students, Superintendent John Farrelly reportedly said that contact tracing by DCDHHS had resulted in the identification of 30 people associated with the FFHS case, all of whom are now in quarantine.

Contact tracing of the three COVID-19 cases associated with Manteo High School resulted in the quarantining of 75 people.  

Single-day COVID-19 case totals have been increasing statewide and in Dare County since October and the onset of cooler weather, as people increasingly congregate indoors for social gatherings without observing basic precautions to thwart transmission of the disease.

After reporting a single-day record high 24 COVID-19-positive cases on Tuesday and 16 more cases on Wednesday, the DCDHHS dashboard reported seven more lab-confirmed cases yesterday, of whom six are locals.

One of the newly diagnosed Dare County residents is age 17 or younger, and a shocking three are age 65 or older. All seven are in home isolation.

The N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services reported a near-record high single-day COVID-19 case total yesterday of 2,859. The record high of 2,885 cases was set on Oct. 29. (See The Beacon, 11/5/20.)

Newly reelected Governor Roy Cooper and NCDHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen held a briefing yesterday afternoon to update the discouraging disease metrics and to reinforce a message of “vigilance,” as the Governor said.

We did not view the briefing in real time and will bring you highlights in our weekend COVID-19 update.

The Governor reportedly called for an end to a “politicized” response to the pandemic, according to The Raleigh News & Observer. He singled out North Carolinians who choose not to wear a face covering “based on a political outlook,” The N&O said.

With the election over, “[W]e don’t have to worry about that [politics],” he reportedly said, “and we can move forward with facts and science.”

The Beacon, 11/6/20

Because three of the newly reported COVID-19 cases in Dare County this week are linked to Manteo High School, the school will be closed today for students and staff in order for the building to be deep-cleaned and sanitized, according to a report from OBX Today. It is expected to reopen tomorrow.

In the past two days, the Dare County Dept. of Health and Human Services has reported 40 new COVID-19 cases. Five of them are Dare County residents who are age 17 or younger.

After conducting contact tracing, the DCDHHS identified 75 direct contacts of the three cases associated with the high school, all of whom must begin quarantining immediately, OBX Today reported.

In announcing the closure, the Dare County school system did not specify whether the three people who tested positive are students, staff, or both.

UPDATE TO REPORT: The N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services reported today 2,859 new COVID-19 cases across the state, a figure that is the second highest single-day total recorded since March when case reporting began. On Oct. 29, the NCDHHS reported 2,885 new COVID-19 cases statewide. October single-day case totals are dwarfing the single-day totals reported in July, when cases were thought to be at their peak.

There currently are 1,193 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in North Carolina, and 4,548 North Carolinians have died as a result of the disease, according to the NCDHHS dashboard. The daily positive rate, which calculates the percentage of COVI-19-positive tests among the total number of tests administered, has consistently been near or above 6 percent for weeks. Today’s rate was 6.6 percent; yesterday’s rate was 7.4 percent. The NCDHHS’s goal is 5 percent or lower.

THE BEACON, 11/5/20

The post-Halloween spike in new COVID-19 cases continued today in Dare County, with the report of 16 more people testing positive for the disease, including 13 locals.

Yesterday, the Dare County Dept. of Health and Human Services reported a record single-day high of 24 new COVID-19 cases, a total that topped the previous record of 16 cases set in July.

Dr. Sheila Davies, director of the DCDHHS, also cited in her Tuesday update a variety of social settings and activities–frequented and performed without wearing masks or observing social distancing–as responsible for the increase in transmission of the virus via direct contact with an infected person. Among the gatherings she mentioned were funerals, weddings, and get-togethers with family and friends.

Are the increased case numbers of the past two days an aberration or the new norm? Have people decided to eschew compliance with COVID-19 precautions?

The 13 Dare County residents newly diagnosed with COVID-19 include four youths age 17 or younger. The other nine people are one ages 18 to 24; four ages 25 to 49; and four ages 50 and 64.      

The three nonresidents include one person ages 25 to 49 and two people ages 50-64.

All are in home isolation.

Of the 57 Dare County residents who have active COVID-19, three remain hospitalized outside of the area.

THE BEACON, 11/4/20

Statewide election results from early voting and mail-in voting will be delayed tonight by at least 45 minutes, until 8:15 p.m., because of problems at one precinct, according to an afternoon update by The Raleigh News & Observer.

The N.C. State Board of Elections voted, 3-2, to extend the voting deadline today from 7:30 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. at one precinct in Sampson County, which is near Fayetteville, because of “technical glitches” experienced there this morning, Will Doran of The N&O reported.

The board’s vote was reportedly along political party lines, with its three Democratic members favoring the extension and its two Republican members opposing it.

There are more than 2,600 polling places statewide.

“Historically,” Mr. Doran explained, “once polls close on election night, state officials immediately release the results of early voting and mail-in voting [which have been previously tallied]. Then over the following few hours, the full Election Day results are reported as they become known.”

You may check election results on the state BOE’s dashboard at https://www.ncsbe.gov/results-data/election-results.

North Carolina will be among the earliest states to report results—just 45 minutes later than usual.

THE BEACON, 11/3/20

Dare County reported today a shocking, but sadly predictable, post-Halloween spike of 24 new COVID-19 cases, 14 of whom are in the 25-49 age group that has led the nation in case numbers since the pandemic began.

Needless to say, today’s case total set a new record high for single-day case reports in Dare County.

The previous single-day high was 16 cases, set on July 27

One non-resident man, age 65-or-older, was hospitalized, according to the Dare County Dept. of Health and Human Services dashboard, while the other 23 people were ordered to isolate at home.

The 24 cases are evenly split between Dare County residents and nonresidents, 12 to 12. Thirteen are male, and 11 are female.

Of the 12 local residents, eight, or two-thirds, are between the ages of 25 and 49. The remaining four take up the other age categories, with one person being age 17 or younger; ages 18 to 24; 50 to 64; and 65-or-older.

Of the 12 nonresidents, six, or half, are between the ages of 25 and 49; two are age 17 or younger; one is between the ages of 50 and 65; and a shocking three of them, including the hospitalized person, are in the higher risk age 65-or-older group.

Since Friday, 41 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Dare County, of whom 25 are local residents. Over the past two weeks, Dare has reported 101 new cases.

In her update today, Dr. Sheila Davies, director of the DCDHHS, said that the rise in cases is “not linked to testing.” It can be attributed, she said, “to more and more people gathering together and a lack of adherence to physical distancing and wearing masks.”

Positive cases associated with direct contacts over the past two weeks, she said, have been linked to “weddings, funerals, travel, co-workers, and gatherings of family members and friends.”

She also reported that about 40 percent of the people who tested positive for COVID-19 during the past two weeks did not know how they acquired the disease, a possible indication of community spread.

We remind people that the DCDHHS will be co-sponsoring a drive-thru COVID-19 testing event on Thursday in Nags Head. For more details, see The Beacon, 10/23/20.

Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 11/3/20

Polls opened today at 6:30 a.m. and will close at 7:30 p.m. All Southern Shores voters should go to the Kitty Hawk Elementary School to cast their ballots.

It is not too late to vote by absentee mail-in ballot. To be counted, absentee ballots must be postmarked by today and received by local election officials (Dare County Board of Elections) by Nov. 12.

More than 4.55 million North Carolinians have already voted in the 2020 general election, according to the N.C. State Board of Elections. That is roughly 64 percent of all registered voters in the state.

The state board expects to have 97 percent or more of the votes counted by Tuesday night, The Raleigh News & Observer reported yesterday.

We have a number of important state and local offices to decide today, including our next governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general; N.C. Supreme Court and N.C. Court of Appeals judges; our representatives in the N.C. Senate and House of Delegates; and our representative on the Dare County Board of Commissioners, who will have a voice in selecting the next chairperson of the BOC.

Altogether, we have more than 30 choices to make on the ballot.

Click here for a sample ballot: https://www.darenc.com/home/showdocument?id=7999.

You may view live national, state, and local election results in North Carolina tonight on the state election board’s dashboard at https://www.ncsbe.gov/results-data/election-results.

We would like to focus on just one of your choices: the U.S. Senate race. Its outcome is pivotal to determining which major political party “controls” that chamber.

U.S. SENATE RACE IN N.C.

There are 35 U.S. Senate seats up for election today—12 of them currently held by Democrats and 23 held by Republicans. Among the latter is North Carolina’s U.S. Senate seat held by Republican incumbent Thom Tillis, a first-termer who is facing a tough battle with Democrat Cal Cunningham.

Fifty-three Republicans, 45 Democrats, and two Independents who caucus with the Democrats currently occupy the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate, giving Republicans a 53-47 majority. The Independents are Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Senator Angus S. King Jr. of Maine.

If Democratic nominee Joe Biden wins the U.S. presidency, the Democrats will need to net three seats to gain control of the Senate. If President Trump wins reelection, Democrats would need four seats to gain control of the chamber. This is because the vice president presides over the U.S. Senate and votes to break a 50-50 tie.

Democratic challengers in Arizona, where a special election is taking place for the seat once held by the late Senator John McCain, and Colorado appear to have a good chance of defeating Republican incumbents, while only one Democratic incumbent, Doug Jones of Alabama, looks vulnerable, according to political polling.

North Carolina, Maine, and Iowa are Democrats’ top targets for defeating Republican incumbents.

Other U.S. Senate races being watched closely are those in Georgia, Michigan, South Carolina, and Texas, where polling shows the major candidates in close contention.

The race between Mr. Tillis and Mr. Cunningham is the most expensive U.S. Senate race in U.S. history, surpassing $285 million, according to yesterday’s News & Observer, which cited the Center for Responsive Politics as its source.

“Outside groups have poured hundreds of millions” of dollars into the race, The N&O reported.

The Iowa Senate race among Republican incumbent Joni Ernst, Democratic challenger Theresa Greenfield, and two third-party candidates is not far behind, with expenditures of more than $240 million, according to the Center’s website. See https://www.opensecrets.org/elections-overview/most-expensive-races?display=allcandsout.

Senator Tillis won election in 2014 by defeating incumbent Democratic Senator Kay Hagan by about 45,000 votes. Sadly, Ms. Hagan died at age 66 in 2019 from complications of Powassan virus, which she contracted from a tick bite.

If you vote today, we would love to hear from you about your experience. How long did you wait in line? What was the mood among voters? Were you comfortable with the COVID-19 precautions taken? And with the canvassing being done? How would you compare the polling place at the KHES to the longtime polling place at the Pitts Center?

Please send us a message on the blog page or share your comments on the Beacon Facebook page. We are interested only in your voting experience, not your political views.

Thanks to anyone who contributes. Have a great day.

Addendum: If you plan to follow closely the results in the presidential election, you may find this New York Times article, “What We’ll Know on Every Hour of Election Day and Night,” helpful: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/what-we-ll-know-on-every-hour-of-election-day-and-night/ar-BB1aE9RS?ocid=msedgdhp.

Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 11/3/20

Dare County reported 12 new COVID-19 cases over the weekend, including a local man age 65-or-older who has been hospitalized. The other 11 people are in home isolation.

Of the 12 cases, 10 are Dare County residents. All 12 of the people who tested positive for COVID-19 are at least 25 years old. 

The total number of COVID-19 cases reported in Dare County since March is now 709: 411 Dare County residents, and 298 nonresidents.

THE BEACON

Southern Shores “is not Mayberry” and needs two police officers on duty “with supervision” 24/7, Police Chief David Kole argued to the Town Council at its Oct. 20 workshop in support of hiring at least one new officer during the current fiscal year.

The additional employee will bring the Southern Shores police complement to 13 officers, according to the Chief, who, although he alluded during his workshop presentation to a study supporting the addition of two officers, limited his request to just one, for now.

“It’s not Mayberry,” the Chief said. “. . . Bad things can happen to police, and things have gotten worse over the last two to three years.”

There are “a lot of arrests, a lot of drug work,” the Chief explained, but he offered no evidence of physical threats being made to, or violence committed upon, Southern Shores police officers.

Although the Chief emphasized the safety of police officers, he presented data at the workshop to suggest that the number of service calls the police handle justify the new hires. We would have liked to have seen better analytics in support of this contention. (See the next section, below.)

With 14 officers on the payroll, there would be 24/7 coverage of the Town by two duty officers and a third person supervising, a goal that Chief Kole said he has had since he first started working for Southern Shores 14 years ago.

Contrary to Town Manager Cliff Ogburn’s assertion that the Town Council had already “agreed to” a new police officer hire at its FY 2020-21 budget workshop, the Council did not consider expansion of the force in April because of concern over lost Town revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Council asked all Town departments to tighten their budgetary belts, and Chief Kole did not bring up the proposed new hires.

The Oct. 20 workshop was, in part, a forum for considering FY 2020-21 expenses that were tabled by departments. The Town Council, notably, did not vote on any of these measures. Mayor Tom Bennett either unilaterally directed Mr. Ogburn to follow up or advised him that “consensus” existed. 

Despite there being no critical discussion about the need for police force expansion and no formal vote, Mayor Bennett told Chief Kole that a “consensus” exists among Town Council members “that we need another police officer.”

Indeed, Councilman Matt Neal, an active participant in most Council business, was conspicuously silent on the issue, and Mayor Pro Tem Elizabeth Morey only asked the Chief after his presentation how long it would take for him to hire someone.

Nonetheless, the Chief’s request will be formally voted upon by the Council at its Nov. 4 meeting as one of a number of FY 2020-21 budget amendments before the town’s governing body. The Council will not take up each amendment separately, as it usually does, unless a member singles one out. Instead, a vote in favor of the “consent agenda” will result in approval of all four of the proposed budget amendments. (See the others below.)

Funding a new police officer for the remaining six months of the fiscal year will cost $43,521, according to the budget amendment prepared by Mr. Ogburn.

The money will come from the Town’s Unassigned Fund Balance, which the Council decided at its workshop—upon Mr. Ogburn’s suggestion—must maintain a minimum $3 million balance, an increase of $1.25 million over the balance it currently must maintain.

The Council also will take up Wednesday an amendment to the Unreserved Fund Balance Policy that increases the minimum balance of the fund and includes language to expand upon the use of the fund. It specifies, for example, that the fund be used to “guard against the effects of an economic downtown, [or] natural or other disasters.”

Councilman Neal suggested at the workshop that the policy be amended to specify that the fund is to be used for “hurricane relief.” He even endorsed setting aside $1 million for such relief, but neither of these suggestions translated to the written word. (The draft revised policy is on p. 27 of the meeting packet.)

The Town Council will meet at 5:30 p.m. in the Pitts Center. The meeting will be open to the public, subject to attendees wearing face coverings and observing social distancing. The meeting also may be live-streamed at https://www.youtube.com/user/TownofSouthernShores.

As usual, there will be two public-comment periods during the meeting. If you would like to submit comments, but not attend the meeting, you may email your comments to Town Clerk Sheila Kane at skane@southernshore-nc.gov. Comments must be limited to three minutes and be submitted to Ms. Kane by 5 p.m. Tuesday.

You may access the meeting agenda here: https://www.southernshores-nc.gov/wp-content/uploads/minutes-agendas-newsletters/Agendas_2020-11-04.pdf.

And the meeting packet of materials here: https://www.southernshores-nc.gov/wp-content/uploads/minutes-agendas-newsletters/Meeting-Packet_2020-11-04.pdf.

PUBLIC NOT ADEQUATELY INFORMED

We were disappointed by both the data presented by Chief Kole to buttress his argument for a new officer and by the Town’s technological display of the data. We were left with many questions—none of which was raised by Council members—and would like to see the data that the Chief offered available on the Town website.

Because of technological gaffes, we did not see the Southern Shores Police Dept.’s “mission statement” or “vision statement,” and the Chief did not read them aloud. He referred to “community policing,” as part of the vision, but he did not define it.

In 2018, the Chief said, the police department received 17,330 calls for service, of which 15,670 were “self-initiated,” and 1,660 were the result of 911 calls. In 2019, he said, the numbers were “very similar,” although 911 calls were “up a little bit.”

Unfortunately, the computer graphics that Chief Kole shared with the Town Council showing these numbers and whatever breakdowns accompanied them were not shown to the You Tube live-stream meeting audience. The same was true of a graphic that the Chief said broke down, on a weekly basis, the nature of the approximately 1,500 service calls that the police handle each month.

We were able to see “missing persons” and “noise complaints” on this screen, but nothing else. We would like very much to see the reasons for the calls and the number of calls received for each reason, as well as the amount of time spent on each call.

The Chief also did not define a “self-initiated” call. How does it occur? What law enforcement is involved in such a call? Are these primarily traffic-control problems? Motor-vehicle accidents? Overnight checks of vacant businesses? How much time is consumed, on average, by a “self-initiated” call vis-à-vis a 911 call? 

The technology improved when Chief Kole reached his graphics on the “total hours” that Southern Shores police officers “spent alone on a shift” in 2018 and 2019. Finally, we could see for ourselves in pie charts that the Chief displayed that in 2018, 54 percent of the duty hours were calculated to have been covered by two officers, while 46 percent were handled by one officer; and in 2019, the numbers were 56 percent and 44 percent, respectively.

There was no indication, unfortunately, of which hours of the day were covered by one officer, vis-a- vis two, and whether or not the “supply” of one or two officers met the “demand.” Being alone does not prove anything except that there was no backup. It does not establish that backup was necessary.

According to Chief Kole, the police department has three duty shifts: one from noon to midnight; another from midnight to noon; and a third “power shift” in the summer from 3 p.m. to 3 a.m. The power shift, he said, always has a supervisor on duty.

What happens during all of this time? What are the police doing? This is what the Chief did not adequately document or convey. We especially would like to know what they’re doing from midnight to 6 a.m. and how successful they are at closing cases with arrests, particularly, in burglaries.

We do not take for granted the protection and peace of mind that the Southern Shores police department gives Town residents. We need and depend upon a well-trained and adequately staffed police department. We would never advocate cutting corners to save a few nickels and dimes.

We also know that police work is potentially dangerous, and we would like to be informed about the dangers in our town that prompt Chief Kole to say, as he has on other public occasions, that “It’s a different world out there right now.”

Southern Shores may not be Mayberry anymore, but it’s not Manteo, which has a more diverse year-round population, or Nags Head, which is a much larger and more commercialized beach town, either.

What is so different and threatening in Southern Shores now? The drug scene? In a community policing model, shouldn’t residents know what that scene is?

Bottom line, for our money—and it is our money, both now and later when the police retire, courtesy of the Town of Southern Shores—the Town Council owes us responsible fiscal oversight of all Town departments, all of which must be held fully accountable, regardless of the role they play.

We are not satisfied that full accountability occurred in the consideration of the decision to hire another police officer. We know transparency did not.

ALSO ON THE AGENDA ARE THE FOLLOWING PROPOSED FY 2020-21 BUDGET AMENDMENTS:

*$5800 for redesign and modernization of the Town website: Mr. Ogburn said at the workshop that the current website design dates to 2011, but we can tell you that until former Councilmen Fred Newberry and Gary McDonald lobbied for a search engine on the site (some time in 2016-17), it did not have one. The site was ridiculously difficult to navigate. Mr. Ogburn described the relatively new search feature on the website now as “narrow” in its reach and not providing a very “thorough list.” It has been inadequate from its implementation. Many features on the website are deficient. It needs an overhaul.   

*$250,000 as an initial deposit into a Town “Beach Fund” to finance beach nourishment: Approval of this fund, which is being set up at the suggestion of financial people to underwrite future beach nourishment projects, will transfer $250,000 from the Town’s Unassigned Fund Balance to its Capital Reserve Fund to establish a line item for beach nourishment-related expenses. 

*$8,000 from the Town Cemetery Fund: The Town Public Works Dept. has requested $8,000 to pay for cemetery maintenance, including replacing the stone in the existing driveway, repairing markers, and grinding tree stumps, according to the Town Manager’s summary. (Speaking as someone who visits a grave in the cemetery, I see no reason to replace the existing driveway or to grind stumps, a process that leaves behind tree roots, which would seem to pose the most interference. This seems like unnecessary “make work” to me.) 

IN OTHER BUSINESS . . .

BEACH NOURISHMENT, WHAT ELSE?

The Town Council will vote Wednesday on a resolution to reimburse itself for “capital expenditures incurred in connection with a beach nourishment project from the proceeds of tax-exempt obligation.”

According to Mr. Ogburn’s item summary, the 2022 beach nourishment project is estimated to cost $16,196,500, and to date, the Town has spent $537,000 for permitting and design ($435,000), legal work ($32,000), and financial planning ($70,000).

The resolution states that the Town will not pay anything for the project, despite its flush general fund. Increased taxes will finance the Southern Shores project exclusively, it would seem. We have to make assumptions because the Town Council has yet to take a vote in regard to beach nourishment and its financing except general ones to “pursue” the former and consult with a consultant, who is biased in favor of special obligation bonds, about the latter. (The Town of Duck contributed monies from its general fund to pay for its 2017 beach nourishment.)

Although not yet announced, the Town Council previously discussed dedicating its Nov. 17 workshop to municipal service districts, which must be designated for purposes of levying taxes to pay for beach-nourishment special obligation bonds.

PLANNING BOARD APPOINTMENT

Planning Director and Deputy Town Manager Wes Haskett is expected to recommend that Janis Collins of Chicahauk be appointed to the Town Planning Board as the second alternate and that current second alternate, Robert McClendon, be appointed to the first alternate’s spot. Former First Alternate Lynda Burek was appointed on Aug. 18 to serve out the term of Board Member Don Sowder, who resigned Aug.1. Both Ms. Collins’s and Mr. McClendon’s terms will expire June 30, 2021.

AND FINALLY . . .

The live-stream videotape of the Oct. 20 workshop clearly showed two Town staff members not wearing protective masks. One of them never put on a face covering. The other intermittently wore one.

A Town Council member also removed a face covering during a break in the meeting and stood very near Police Chief Kole, whose back was to the camera, during a conversation with him.

These lapses are unacceptable.

We also are compelled to point out that during the break, Town Council members and the Police Chief continued to converse, but the sound on the live-stream feed was muted. Their postures suggested they were still talking Town business.

Regardless of what they were saying to each other, we see no reason for the video or audio of a live-streamed open governmental meeting ever to be turned off.     

Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 11/1/20