THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 5, 1995 TAG: 9512050315
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MANTEO LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
The Dare County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Monday to proceed with a takeover of the Cape Hatteras Water Association.
A three-member committee will be named to work out details of the merger agreement with the utility, which serves Frisco, Avon, Buxton and Hatteras Village.
Once approved, the CHWA's facilities will require a major upgrade, including a new reverse-osmosis plant, and improvements to waterlines. The projected cost of the project, according to county finance officials, is $10 million.
Dare County Commission Chairman Robert V. ``Bobby'' Owens said that the county is prepared to bite the bullet.
``We have a moral obligation to the people of Hatteras Island to provide them with water service,'' Owens said. ``It's like an education system in a big county. It's expensive to educate every child in a big county, but the system has an obligation to do that. We have that same kind of obligation to the people of Hatteras Island for water.''
A major concern for commissioners is a projected shortfall in net revenues, when compared with expected debt service.
Dare County Finance Officer David Clawson said net revenues would fall short of debt service by $900,000 annually.
``If I was a business person, I'd have to look at it hard,'' Owens said. ``People have said - and I've said it in the past - that government should be run like a business, but the fact is, you can't run government like a business. You have to meet the needs of the people.''
Owens said one of the commission's goals is to provide water service for all parts of the county. He also reissued a call for a county-wide water authority.
``We need to establish a water authority, and get the politics out of it,'' Owens said.
In other business, the commission went on record as opposing the removal of sandbags along a re-routed portion of North Carolina Route 12. The county may pursue an injunction to block state and federal attempts to remove the bags.
``I think the board should fight the removal of the bags as vigorously as we can,'' Owens said. ``I don't know why they want to remove something that's proven to be effective.''
Commissioner Sammy Smith agreed, and said the county should proceed with legal efforts to block sandbag removal. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the North Carolina Division of Coastal Management, and The North Carolina Department of Transportation want to remove the sandbags and replace them with a two-tiered sand berm.
``I think we should go ahead today and try to get an injunction,'' Smith said. ``We're not just dealing with the state on this, we're dealing with the federal government.''
In other action, the commission re-elected Owens as chairman and Clarence Skinner as vice-chairman. Owens also said he would run for re-election to the commission in 1996. But the 62-year-old Owens also said it would be his last run for countywide office.
``My family thinks I shouldn't run,'' Owens said. ``I still maintain the right to change my mind. But there are some projects dealing with education, water and other areas that I'd like to see completed.''
In other business the commission, by a 6-1 vote, approved a $36,000 budget amendment to pay for bleachers for the Manteo High School baseball field. by CNB