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Revised rules for travel trailer parks and campgrounds are now in place for unincorporated areas of Dare County.

Dare’s Board of Commissioners adopted on Oct. 19 the rules as recommended by the county’s Planning Board.

The major ordinance addition to the new rules is defining and permitting camping cabins or alternative camping units in travel trailer parks.

Camping cabins are described as 600 square feet enclosed with 300 square feet not enclosed. The facility may or may not have kitchen and bathroom facilities. Camping cabins or alternative camping units must be constructed according to North Carolina State residential codes, the Dare County Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance and all other applicable federal, state and local regulations.

On a 4-3 vote the Planning Board recommended that a maximum of 50% of a travel trailer park can contain camping cabins.

However, a second advertised version of the regulations called for no cap.

During the required hearing, John Robbins advocated a 70% cap. A property owner had advocated for no cap.

Joe Thompson wrote an email supporting RV parks. He has filed a sketch plan for a 26-site RV park at the Avon Pier. The sketch plan is up for review before the county planning board Nov. 9.

The commissioners unanimously adopted the ordinance with the 50-50 split. However, the commissioners instructed staff to revisit the percentage issue and return in December with a report.

The commissioners adopted an amendment to the capital project ordinance and authorized county manager Robert L. Outten to sign Barnhill Contracting Change Order #01 for the new College of The Albemarle academic building.

At the construction site, demolition of existing school buildings and site preparation is underway. DH Griffin, the subcontractor for demolition and abatement, discovered two undisclosed items requiring abatement and remediation. Both require a cost increase change order.

The subcontractor found 588 feet of piping with asbestos bag insulation. The piping was hidden by walls and ceilings.

The gym floor was epoxy. The contractor knew to test the floor material. The test showed mercury, requiring remediation which involved using specialty-lined trucks and disposal in a special landfill in Alabama. The change order requires an additional $140,311.

Dare County was awarded a $1 million grant from the NC Office of Recovery and Resiliency. The grant will be used for:

– $55,000 for an Emergency Management vehicle requested but not included in the FY2021 budget;

– $166,456 for debris costs from Hurricane Dorian ineligible for reimbursement per FEMA; and

– $778,544 for economic relief to General Fund, to be used for general payroll obligations.

The board unanimously authorized Outten to sign the grant agreement and adopted a budget amendment.

In the consent agenda, the board:

– Adopted a budget amendment awarding $24,000 to the Board of Elections for expenses responding to the coronavirus during the 2020 federal election cycle. These additional grant funds bring the total awarded to the Board of Elections to $100,351.

– Approved a grant for the Division of Public Health totaling $60,376 which will be used to purchase a generator for the Nags Head clinic and for salary/benefits of current staff working directly with COVID-19 response.

– Approved a budget amendment from the Public Health Division for buying for additional vaccines listed below:

• HPV vaccine. Due to an increase in the number of parents asking about HPV vaccines, which is a 2-3 dose schedule, depending on the age and making sure the division can meet the demand for the additional doses.
• MenB (Meningococcal B) vaccine. Parents are seeing TV commercials and posters at the Public Health clinic and are asking for it for college-age students. Some colleges require or strongly recommend the vaccine.
• Meningococcal vaccine. To meet mandated school requirements for 7th and 12th grade students.
• Shinrix (Shingles) vaccine due to an increase in demand.

At the request of Outten, the commissioners allocated spending up to $70,000 helping day care facilities with expenses for personal protective equipment and staff expenses. The expenditure is possible because of new CARES Act guidelines.

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