Dear Beacon Readers:
We will not be publishing today or over the weekend. We will resume reporting next week at a date to be determined.
Tropical Storm Fay is now soaking the mid-Atlantic coastline and expected to make landfall tonight in New Jersey. We should have a hot and mostly sunny weekend.
Be well and stay safe.
Ann, 7/10/20
Fifteen people ranging in age from 17 to 65+ tested positive for COVID-19 today in Dare County, while a single-day record high 2,039 cases were reported in North Carolina, according to the dashboards of the respective departments of Health and Human Services.
Today’s staggering numbers locally and statewide attest to widespread prevalence of the new coronavirus. The 15 new COVID-19 cases reported today in Dare County represent the second highest single-day case total, after the 16 new cases reported on July 1.
It is hardly surprising that the NCDHHS also reported a record-high number of single-day hospitalizations of 1,034, an increase of 40 over yesterday’s total, which had broken the previous record for single-day hospitalizations.
Hospitalizations statewide have doubled in the past two months, according to NCDHHS dashboard records.
Of the 15 new cases in Dare County, 10 are residents and five are nonresidents. All of the residents are in home isolation, according to the DCDHHS dashboard, and it appears all of the nonresidents have transferred to isolation in their home counties.
Because some of the nonresidents who were previously in isolation, both in Dare County and in their home counties, have recovered from COVID-19, we cannot be certain by just looking at the dashboard numbers that all of the new cases are isolated outside of the area.
The 15 new cases—six men and nine women—range in age as follows:
*One is 17 years old
*Two are between ages 18 and 24
*Six are between ages 25 and 49 (the age group that is driving the case increase nationwide)
*Three are between ages 50 and 64
*Three are age 65 or older
The COVID-19 case total in Dare County is now 171.
Today’s 2,039 new cases at the statewide level are 8.1 percent of the 1,121,811 diagnostic tests that reportedly were completed. Twenty more people have died since yesterday in North Carolina because of COVID-19, bringing fatalities to 1,461.
Dare County Health Director Dr. Sheila Davies will give some details tomorrow about the COVID-19 cases that have been diagnosed locally since Tuesday. So far, there have been 21.
Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 7/9/20
Five more Dare County residents and one nonresident have tested positive locally for COVID-19, according to today’s Dare County Dept. of Health and Human Services’ dashboard, bringing the case total to 156.
The six people vary widely in age, with two being 17-year-olds, one being between the ages of 18 and 24, one between the ages of 25 and 49, and two between 50 and 64. Three are males, three females, and all are in home isolation. The nonresident has transferred to his/her home county.
Statewide, the news is that hospitalizations continue to increase, reaching 994 during the last 24-hour reporting period, which is a single-day high.
The N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services reports 1,435 new confirmed COVID-19 cases today, among 1,096,682 completed tests, for a positive-test rate of about 5.65 percent. Twenty-one more people died as a result of COVID-19, bringing fatalities in North Carolina to 1,441.
The Beacon, 7/8/20
Twenty-eight minutes into its meeting last night, the Southern Shores Town Council adjourned to hold a closed session with Town Attorney Ben Gallop, the subject of which Mayor Tom Bennett described only in terms of a N.C. law that addresses attorney-client privileged consultations by public bodies.
Nearly an hour later—54 minutes to be precise (from 5:58 p.m. to 6:52 p.m.)—the five Council members returned, and the meeting resumed without any mention of the closed session, much less an apology to the viewing taxpayer/property-owner public who waited patiently in front of a blank Zoom screen for the continuation of what was supposed to be a routine Town Council meeting with a closed session at the end of the business agenda.
Those hardy few spectators who had shown up to attend the 5:30 p.m. meeting at the Pitts Center were no longer there. That I still was did not make me happy.
I am going to abandon my editorial “we” briefly to say that I was angry and offended by this unnecessary and inconsiderate hour-long delay. What were Council members thinking? . . . Indeed, were they thinking?
The disrespect the Council showed the public left me, as I said in an impromptu public comment during the second comment period, “flabbergasted.” Council members apparently thought nothing of wasting an hour of people’s time while they “consulted.” I think what they did was grossly inappropriate.
In nearly six years of regular attendance at Town Council meetings, I have only seen the Town Council adjourn into a closed session with Mr. Gallop once during the conduct of business, and that was to discuss a zoning text amendment about non-conforming lots that was scheduled for a vote. That contentious issue consumed maybe 30-40 minutes behind closed doors and resulted in the Council devising a plan of action.
Last night, Mayor Bennett made a motion early in the meeting to amend the agenda to hold a closed session “pursuant to N.C. General Statutes sec. 143-318.11(a)(3) to consult with” Mr. Gallop “to preserve the attorney-client privilege between the attorney and the public body,” after the first public comment period and before the business portion of the meeting. Such scheduling is unprecedented.
The other four Council members readily agreed, without question, suggesting that they had all discussed this move before the meeting.
Before the first public comment period, Police Chief David Kole and SSVFD Chief Ed Limbacher gave their monthly reports and thus were spared the inconvenience and aggravation of the long wait.
Deputy Town Manager/Planning Director Wes Haskett also gave a report, but he returned for the business meeting. I know this because I heard his voice, but I never actually saw him.
The Town Council persists in using technology with a stagnant camera that remains fixed on only one angle. Most prominent in the picture are the backs of the Finance Officer and the Town Manager. Mr. Haskett was off-camera in the invisible periphery.
My thought at home, seated in front of my laptop, was that perhaps Mr. Gallop had to leave early. Why else would the Council interrupt a business meeting to discuss the “handling or settlement of a claim, judicial action, mediation, arbitration, or administrative procedure,” all of which constitute the subject matter of a sec. 143-318.11(a)(3) closed session?
Mr. Gallop did not depart early.
If, in fact, the closed session concerned an “existing lawsuit,” the Mayor was required by state law to identify the parties in the lawsuit when he moved to adjourn. This is black-letter law in N.C.G.S. sec. 143-318.11(c).
Not only did he not give a case name, he offered no explanation for why he wanted to move the attorney-client privileged closed session that had been scheduled at the end of the meeting—notice of which was given to all members of the public for more than a week—to the middle of the meeting.
When the meeting did end, about 7:45 p.m., the Mayor moved to go into another closed session, this time for a “personnel matter,” pursuant to N.C.G.S. sec. 143-318.11(a)(6).
N.C. law requires a “public body’s” motion to hold a closed session to “cite one or more of the permissible purposes” listed in N.C. G.S. sec. 143-318.11(a).
Nowhere in the (a)(6) subsection do the words “personnel matter” appear.
The statutory language proffered there is “to consider the qualifications, competence, performance, character, fitness, conditions of employment . . . etc.” and other such specific issues that may be discussed outside of the public’s purview.
In fact, the statute specifically says that “general personnel policy issues” may not be considered in a closed session.
The Mayor’s sloppy motion shorthand is unacceptable. It is just another way to withhold from the public information—to which it is entitled—about town business.
I abhor both the intrusive closed session, which placed an undue burden on the public, and the Mayor’s lack of professionalism, regardless of why it occurred.
‘ELECTRONIC MEETINGS’
Speaking about sloppy, it is long past time for the Town Council to cease perpetuating the fiction that it is holding “electronic meetings.” None of the Town Council members or Town staff members appear by electronic means. The Council is holding in-person meetings and relegating the public to remote status.
In so doing, once again, it is the Council’s convenience that is being served before accommodation and consideration for the public.
That the Town Council, Town Finance Officer, and Town Manager again sat last night at folding tables arranged on the Pitts Center floor in a square-like configuration, rather than on the dais and on the sideline (for staff), with chairs set out at six-foot intervals for audience members, is astounding. They are discouraging public participation with their coffee klatch setup.
For an example of how the seating should be arranged, we refer them to videos of the June 17 and July 1 meetings of the Nags Head Board of Commissioners, with whom new Town Manager Cliff Ogburn is very familiar. There was ample space at both of these meetings for members of the public to attend and observe infection-control measures, such as safe physical distancing.
Nags Head also live-streams its meetings in real time. The camera moves with the speaker, who is not only visible, but clearly audible.
Southern Shores should consider doing the same. Last night again, four off-camera speakers—Mr. Haskett, Chiefs Kole and Limbacher, and a citizen speaker—were very difficult to hear. The audio on the meeting You Tube videotape, which has already been posted online, is not much better.
Nags Head’s commissioners also dress in business attire and are very mindful of their audience and of Robert’s Rules of Procedure.
I don’t recall a single time last evening when Mayor Bennett asked “All opposed?” after taking an “All in favor” vote and either hearing or assuming unanimity.
He also doesn’t bother to restate motions before calling for a vote.
Further, it would be a courtesy if the Mayor were to recognize at the start of the meeting who is present, inasmuch as the Zoom public cannot see everyone.
The Beacon has written before about what we call sloppiness in Town Council proceedings. Perhaps Mr. Ogburn, with the excellent experience he gained as town manager of Nags Head, can effect a change.
SOUTH DOGWOOD TRAIL CURBING AND WIDENING THE ROAD
Steve House, a member of the Dare County Board of Commissioners and a Southern Shores resident—although he did not state his address, and Mayor Bennett did not ask him to comply with this public-comment etiquette—complained last night about the new curbing on South Dogwood Trail that was installed because of the sidewalk design.
Mr. House described the new curbing as “very sharp” in areas and asked Town Council members to check out tire marks on the curbs for themselves.
(We have previously heard complaints from other property owners about the new narrowness of the road and scraps against the curbs.)
“I just replaced a rim on my truck,” Mr. House said, that was damaged when it came up against a new curb.
Unfortunately, Mr. House’s assumed answer to this problem created by Town Engineer Joe Anlauf, who recently had his contract extended two years, is not one that has enjoyed support among property owners.
“I know you’re looking at widening the road,” said Mr. House, when he put in a plug for fixing the curbs.
If that is the case, then Mr. House knows something the public does not know. The Town has never publicly said it would be widening South Dogwood Trail.
The Dogwood Trails Task Force, a Town Council-appointed committee that surveyed property owners about the possibility and design of sidewalks on the Dogwood trails, expressly concluded that the public opposes widening South Dogwood Trail. A wider road would encourage faster traffic and further nonresidents’ perception of the road as a thoroughfare.
That Mr. Anlauf could not figure out how to install curbs without narrowing the road is baffling to us. Couldn’t he have narrowed the five-foot-wide sidewalk, in certain locations, instead of the road?
(BTW, Mr. House is running against Democrat Kathy McCullough-Testa, also of Southern Shores, in November to retain his seat.)
RETURN OF CURBSIDE RECYCLING: On a positive note, Mr. Haskett reported that he expects to be able to deliver to the Town Council at its Aug. 4 meeting an amended contract with Bay Disposal & Recycling that would bring true recycling back to Southern Shores. The contract would provide for Bay Disposal’s collection of the Town’s curbside recyclables and their delivery to a recycling process center in Portsmouth owned by Recycling & Disposal Services, Inc.
Since last December, Bay Disposal has transported the Town’s recyclables to an incinerator at a waste-to-energy facility in Portsmouth, not to a recycling center. (The Beacon has written extensively about the recycling crisis in Southern Shores and on the Outer Banks, generally. Please scan the archives for background.)
We will elaborate in the days ahead about some of the business that arose last night after the closed session. As we predicted earlier, all budget amendments and resolutions passed unanimously.
***
COMING UP SOON: “From Ice Cream to Tacos: How a Former Planning Board Chairman Opened the Door to Fast Food in Southern Shores.”
Yes, that really is a Taco Bell opening soon in front of the Marketplace.
Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 7/8/20; revised 7/9/20
Four more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Dare County—all of them between the ages of 25 and 49—according to today’s Dare County Dept. of Health and Human Services’ dashboard.
The case total locally is now 150, 82 residents and 68 nonresidents.
“The majority of cases continue to experience mild to moderate symptoms,” Dr. Sheila Davies, director of the DCDHHS, also reported today, but a “few cases have experienced severe illness.”
Two of the currently 40 active cases—one Dare County resident and one nonresident—are hospitalized in critical condition outside of the area, Dr. Davies said in her regular Tuesday update. These hospitalizations have been long-term.
Of the four new cases reported today, two are Dare County residents, and two are not. Three are men, and one is a woman, according to the dashboard.
All four are in home isolation in their respective resident counties.
Since Dr. Davies’s last update on Friday, 24 new COVID-19 cases have been diagnosed locally—11 residents and 13 nonresidents. She detailed the circumstances of the 24 cases as follows:
Of the 11 residents:
*Two are family members: One acquired the virus by community spread and infected the other. They are both symptomatic.
*Four are close contacts who acquired the virus by direct contact with cases whose results were previously reported on the dashboard. They are all symptomatic.
*Four are not connected and acquired the virus by community spread. They are all symptomatic.
*One is asymptomatic and acquired the virus by community spread.
Of the 13 nonresidents:
*Six are close contacts who acquired the virus by direct contact with the people who infected the first group of four residents above. Four of them are symptomatic, and two are not.
*One is asymptomatic and acquired the virus by direct contact with another person whose result was previously reported on the dashboard.
*Five are not connected and acquired the virus by community spread. All of them are symptomatic.
*One acquired the virus by direct contact with a family member and is asymptomatic.
What jumps out at us is that 50 percent of these 24 people are believed to have acquired the virus by community spread. One more acquired COVID-19 after coming in direct contact with a family member who had acquired it by community spread.
UPCOMING TESTING EVENTS
COVID-19 diagnostic testing appointments still remain for Thursday’s testing event at Fessenden Center in Buxton, which starts at 10 a.m. All of the antibody appointments have been filled.
Of the 344 antibody tests conducted at the first local antibody testing clinic, held June 30 in Kill Devil Hills, only eight were positive. Seven people tested positive for COVID-19 among the 379 diagnostic tests done at the same event.
Another COVID-19 antibody and diagnostic testing clinic will be held next Tuesday, July 14, at 1 p.m., at the Dare County Parks & Recreation facility, 602 Mustian St., in Kill Devil Hills.
Appointments are required of all registrants, and only permanent Dare County residents age 10 or older may register. To schedule an appointment for this Thursday’s or next Tuesday’s event, you may call (252) 475-5008, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 7/7/20
We would like to remind you that the Southern Shores Town Council meets for its regular monthly meeting today at 5:30 p.m. in the Pitts Center. Please see The Beacon, 7/4/20, for a preview of the agenda, or click on the following link:
In-person attendance at the meeting will be limited by physical-distancing requirements. If you have a Zoom account, you may access the meeting in real-time on that website with the meeting ID 985-6739-9679 and the password 623394.
For any questions about participation in the meeting please contact Town Clerk Sheila Kane at skane@southernshores-nc.gov. All public comments that you would like to have read into the record should be emailed to Ms. Kane, too.
This will be new town manager Cliff Ogburn’s first Town Council meeting since he started work last month. The Council will hold a workshop session on Tuesday, July 21.
***
LOCAL MEDIA have reported that the Dare County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved yesterday a settlement in a federal lawsuit filed by non-resident Dare County property owners who claimed that their constitutional rights were violated when the County prevented them from accessing their properties from March 20 until the week of May 4.
According to The Outer Banks Voice, Dare County agreed in the settlement to classify and treat non-resident property owners as if they were residents in future public-health emergencies and to pay $16,500 in legal costs.
The settlement only applies to public-health emergencies as defined by the World Health Organization, Dare County Attorney Bobby Outten told The Voice, and does not affect how non-resident Dare County property owners will be treated during hurricanes or other natural disasters.
Mr. Outten also told The Voice that the settlement is not an admission of fault or liability on the part of Dare County.
See The Voice at https://www.outerbanksvoice.com/2020/07/06/dare-county-agrees-to-classify-nrpos-as-resident-property-owners-in-future-health-emergencies/.
This lawsuit, known as Bailey v. Dare County, is separate from the class action lawsuit, Blackburn et al v. Dare County et al, filed in federal court May 15 that seeks monetary damages from the County and the six beach towns for denying non-resident property owners access to their properties. (See The Beacon, 6/6/20.)
The Beacon, 7/7/20
Ten more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Dare County, most of them under the age of 25, according to today’s Dare County Dept. of Health and Human Services’ dashboard, while hospitalizations statewide hit a single-day record high of 982.
The case total in Dare County is now 146.
Of the 10 new COVID-19 cases in Dare County, four are county residents, and six are nonresidents; five are males and five are females.
Seven of the new cases are between ages 18 and 24; and the remaining three are a 17-year-old, a person between ages 25 and 49, and a person between ages 50 and 64.
The four Dare County residents are in home isolation locally, as are four of the nonresidents. Two nonresidents have transferred to isolation in their home counties.
The North Carolina COVID-19 dashboard reports 1,546 new COVID-19 cases today, out of 15,008 completed tests, for a positive-test rate of 10 percent—the first time the rate has been in the double-digits since June 8.
In the past two months, the single-day positive-test rate has been 10 percent or higher only twice. (The Beacon’s records do not go back before May 4.) Any rate above 5 percent is worrisome to public-health officials.
Dr. Sheila Davies, director of the DCDHHS, will detail the mode of transmission in the COVID-19 cases reported since last Friday in her videotaped update tomorrow.
Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 7/6/20
Two male 17-year-olds are among the three new COVID-19 cases reported today by the Dare County Dept. of Health and Human Services. The other case is a man between the ages of 18 and 24.
Two of the three youths are Dare County residents, and the third is a non-resident. All three young men are in home isolation in Dare County.
The total number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 locally is now 136.
Today’s dashboard also shows that five residents who were in home isolation in Dare County have recovered or been symptomatically cleared. There currently are 32 active COVID-19 cases in the county.
The Beacon, 7/5/20
Good afternoon, everyone:
From what we observed and heard from Southern Shores residents, yesterday’s left-turn prohibition produced mixed results, but, generally, it had a positive effect.
Some of you reported traffic backups on the northern end of Sea Oats Trail that started as early as 9 a.m.—for those closest to Duck Road—and did not subside until 5:30 p.m.
Sea Oats Trail resident Ursula Bateman said that as of 1:30 p.m. her street was “wall-to-wall” with traffic, the backup of which she estimated started around 10:30 a.m.
Many drivers, Ms. Bateman said, came up from Sound View Trail, in the belief they could save time by taking that semi-circular road that connects to Sea Oats Trail at both ends. This is a regular occurrence on summer weekends, she said.
Ms. Bateman also reported witnessing her first “bathroom break” on the lawn across the street from her home around 11:30 a.m.
On Hillcrest Drive, however, the traffic backups were sporadic, not continuous. By 5:30-6 p.m. yesterday, Vicky Green, who lives on Hillcrest Drive near the tennis courts, said it was “all clear.”
“Traffic was not bad at all during the day,” Ms. Green observed.
Others saw motorists turning around at the Marketplace, at Duck Woods Drive, and even in the middle of U.S. Hwy. 158 before the “Welcome to Southern Shores” sign in order to double back to South Dogwood Trail and turn right.
Michael Walton, who watched nine vehicles turn around in Duck Woods Drive in an estimated span of 10 minutes, said the first driver in the line “actually sat in the 158 turn lane into Duck Woods so long she either fell asleep or was ‘recalculating.’”
It is a shame she did not recalculate and head east on U.S. 158. Others might have followed.
Still others witnessed motorists traveling to Food Lion and then turning around, which is a predictable detour that cannot be prevented.
Recalling the June 2018 and last month’s no-left-turn weekends, we would say that the U-turn frequency yesterday was much higher than previously experienced.
Perhaps the fact that it was the Fourth of July, and more people were on the road than typically are in June, influenced the increase. No question, there was a steady flow of motorists using the cut-through route yesterday after having turned around to avoid the left-turn prohibition.
We did not hear yesterday from anyone on Wax Myrtle Trail, Juniper Trail/Trinitie Trail, or Duck Road. We hope no news was good news.
Despite the earlier arrivals and the U-turners, we think the volume of cut-through traffic yesterday was less than it would have been without the left-turn prohibition in effect. The traffic-count data will tell us more.
People tend to try to arrive on a Saturday, especially when it is a holiday, early enough so that they can enjoy the evening in the Outer Banks.
Based on the traffic volume alone, the barrels blocking the left-turn lane could have been removed at 6 p.m.
In June 2018, the left-turn prohibition was in effect from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. We are not sure why the Town Council elected to try different hours. It is an issue worth discussing.
Please weigh in with your comments about yesterday’s no-left-turn experience.
Today, we experienced a rush of motorists leaving the beach via Hickory Trail between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m., but the arriving traffic has been very slight. It is peaceful on the road. We suspect the traffic flow on U.S. Hwy 158-east is moving well.
If you would like to submit a public comment about the NLT weekend to the Town Council for its Tuesday meeting, you may email Town Clerk Sheila Kane at skane@southernshores-nc.gov. Use the subject line, “Public Comment for July 7 Town Council Meeting” and be sure to include your name and address.
Remember, you will not receive an acknowledgment of your email until Tuesday because Town Hall is closed tomorrow.
You also may appear in person to comment. The meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. in the Pitts Center. Seating will be limited by social-distancing restrictions.
Thank you, everyone. Enjoy your Sunday.
Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 7/5/20
Seven more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Dare County, all of them under the age of 50, according to today’s Dare County Dept. of Health and Human Services’ dashboard. The local case total is now 133.
Three of the seven new cases are Dare County residents, and four are non-residents. All of them are in isolation in Dare County, the dashboard reports.
Five of the seven cases are between the ages of 18 and 24, and two are between the ages of 25 and 49. Three are men, and four are women.
In other local COVID-19 news, one of the three Dare County residents who were hospitalized out of the area, as of yesterday, has transferred to home isolation, according to the dashboard.
Statewide, the N.C. Dept. of Health and Human Services reported 1,413 new cases today, out of 19,003 completed tests, for a 7.4 percent positive-test rate. There are now 945 COVID-19-related hospitalizations statewide, six fewer than yesterday. Three more COVID-19-related deaths have occurred in North Carolina, bringing fatalities to 1,395.
Ann G. Sjoerdsma, 7/4/20
The Southern Shores Beacon 