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At the opening of the Dec. 6, 2021 meeting, the Dare County Board of Commissioners retained its leadership, re-electing Robert L. Woodard as chairman and Wally Overman as vice chairman.

Woodward was nominated by Overman and commissioner Jim Tobin nominated Overman.

The board awarded a bid for the Buxton-Avon beach nourishment project and delved into three planning matters.

The Buxton/Avon beach nourishment project bids were opened Nov. 17, 2021. Three corporations submitted bids. At the recommendation of the county’s consultant Coastal Science and Engineering, the commissioners awarded the contract to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company for work in 2022.

The bid award for the 2022 contract is $25.87 million for pumping 1 million cubic yards of sand on the Avon beach and 1.2 million cubic yards on the beach from Haulover in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore to just past the old U.S. Coast Guard station in Buxton.

The Great Lakes Dredge and Dock bid is $3.6 million lower than the estimates from the county’s consultant and FEMA, which will be funding a portion of the Buxton re-nourishment project.

The commissioners also authorized county manager Robert L. Outten to proceed with a contract for the county’s debt related to the project, subject to the Local Government Commission’s approval Feb. 1, 2022.

Outten thanked U.S. Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis and U.S. Representative Greg Murphy for assistance in breaking a Washington, D.C. logjam at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Local Corps employees worked over Thanksgiving to issue the permit required for the Local Government Commission filing.

The commissioners approved two development projects and sent another to public hearing.

Hatteras Island Reserve (Phase 2) is a seven-lot residential subdivision slated for Hatteras village. The project was before the commissioners because the layout calls for common driveways. Two NC 12 cuts for the common driveways eliminate direct highway access for four road-front lots. The county’s planning board recommended the project, which will have further zoning review as plans are submitted for individual residential structures.

The commissioners approved the use of common driveways for lots 5 through 11 and declared that the common driveways do not endanger or diminish public safety and welfare.

Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative was granted a special use permit to build an operation facility on vacant land in the R-2-A zoning district in Buxton. The parcel address is 47159 Light Plant Rd., Buxton.

The 7,400 square foot building will provide office space, conference rooms, a large kitchen, restrooms and multiple truck bays.

The special use permit requires that all Coastal Area Management Act and Dare County building permits be obtained prior to any development and within 36 months of Dec. 6, 2021; that all gravel parking, driveways and drive aisles meet NCDOT and emergency vehicle load requirements; that all light fixtures are installed without light illuminating or reflecting on adjacent property or public right-of-way; that chain link security fence shall be installed and maintained along all property lines and that those lines directly adjacent to residential property have opaque chain link fence privacy slats installed; that no parking or staging of trucks or equipment take place in the right of way along Light Plant Road; and that the Dare County Planning Department will monitor the site.

A public hearing was set for Jan. 3, 2022 to hear a request from property owner Daniel Kerlakian to permanently close the unimproved eastern terminus and cul-de-sac portion of Beacon Road in Rodanthe. Kerlakian owns an oceanfront cottage and closing the cul-de-sac would permit septic systems to be moved to the west.

The Dare commissioners canceled the regular meeting scheduled for Dec. 20.

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