To Open or Not To Open....
The benchmark of opening the island when repairs to Hwy 12 were complete, got "washed away" over the weekend. LOL.*
At Monday night's special meeting of the Hyde County Board of Commissioners, the bulk of the 2-hour meeting was spent discussing whether or not to open Ocracoke to the visiting public.
They decided to decide later.
There will be another special meeting of the Hyde County Board of Commissioners on Wednesday, November 20th at 6pm at the Community Center. The topic will be whether or not to open Ocracoke.... you get the idea...
Before the weekend's nor'easter, we all expected Hwy 12 on Ocracoke to be open to traffic on November 22nd and for that event to trigger the lifting of the evacuation order that keeps visitors away.
Kris Noble reported that she'd had two phone conferences with NCDOT, the ferry division, and the Park Service since the nor'easter, but the assessment of the damage is difficult because the area was still experiencing overwash as of Monday afternoon.
"The vast majority, maybe 80% of the sand placed there was washed away," she said. "DOT has no idea of the damage to the pavement under the sand."
She said the sandbag contractor was already back at work. The road will not open by the 22nd; indeed, the DOT can't give a date yet.
"This recent weekend storm was an eye-opener for me, and should be for everyone," said commissioner Tom Pahl, who represents Ocracoke. "After Hurricane Florence [in September 2018], the road and dune repair held through the winter right up until Dorian, and we were confident that it would hold. Now the repair work from Dorian has already sustained damage. We need to think about the viability of Hwy 12 going forward. We need a meeting in the near future to talk about the longterm plans for this section of Hwy 12 and Ocracoke's reliance on it for transportation infrastructure."
But for now... "I'd like to bring this information about the road to the Ocracoke Control Group," Tom said. "As of 5pm today, the DOT report was inconclusive. They need a few more days before they can give us a timeline."
He added, "I know there are concerns with kicking the can down the road. There's a question of Hwy 12 reliablity; we could have another nor'easter anytime. There's no guarantee the road will stay open all winter so we need to consider reopening in another light. We had linked the opening of the island to the opening of 12, but that's when we thought the road would be reliable. We need to re-open and soon. I'd like to hear more from DOT, but I'm willing to agree on an opening date regardless of the road."
Tom then suggested a meeting at the end of the week, by which time he hoped to have more information from DOT and the Control Group.
Commissioners Ben Simmons and Shannon Swindell pushed for picking a date last night and sticking to the 22nd or soon after.
"We'll have to deal with [Hwy 12] longterm, putting off opening won't make it any better," said Ben Simmons. "It the reality of a barrier island that we're facing."
Commissioner Topping said that he's heard from constituents that "Most people say the island is in shambles, and there was debris floating down the road during the nor'easter. The island's not ready to accept visitors. We're in a bind, health and safety-wise. We need to look at that moreso than Hwy 12."
Discussions ensued.... about ferries (can we get more of them?), the unreliability of Hwy 12 (it's always overwashed; we've been open before without that access), supplies (how can we get them to Ocracoke? if it's hard now, it will be worse with the island open), liability (is the county liable if people visit, but can't get off the island for an emergency?), public awareness (can we let potential visitors know that the island has limited medical aid?)....
At one point, James Topping made a motion to table the re-opening discussion until the December 2nd regular board meeting of the BOC, and Tom seconded it. After more discussion, Tom rescinded his second and the motion died, followed by a motion to recess the meeting and resume it on Wednesday.
Tom said he was moved by Ben and Shannon's arguments.
"Every day we wait, we're killing people," Ben said. "There's gonna be debris over there for months. People would rather get an answer this week. People who are hurting want to make money. It's not right that a government body is hindering them from making a living."
Shannon suggested 8am Sunday for the opening. "If it's safe for residents and kids to get back and forth on bikes and golf carts, it's safe for visitors," he said, adding, "I'm well beyond my comfort level to wait any longer."
Both Ben and Shannon recommended a free market approach of supply and demand for visitors and businesses.
Several people made public comments.
I went first, and made a comment not germane to this article. More later.
Darlene Styron spoke out against opening because Ocracoke is already having issues getting trucks and volunteers here with the number of ferry runs we have now.
Ivey Belch also commented that it's hard to get people to the island to work or volunteer, and most can't do it in a day and have to spend the night.
Gregory Brown, a contractor staying on the island, said that opening the island to visitors would affect the prices he would have to charge his clients. He and all his crew paying rent to stay in a cottage, they are eating out, and they can get their supplies here without paying the ferry tolls, a cost he would have to pass on to customers. Opening the island might mean that his crew would be bumped out of their houses by visitors with standing contracts. He also mentioned that all the contractors on the island now are vetted and wouldn't be after opening.
Connie Leinbach invited the 3 commissioners (Ben Simmons, Shannon Swindell, James Topping) who haven't been to Ocracoke since Dorian struck to come over and take a look.
Robin Macek commented that she's having a hard time getting supplies here for her repair work and that needs to be considered. She also suggested the commissioners get a vote from the community about how they feel about opening.
B.J. Oelschlegel asked if the county could really be legally released from liability by issuing a waiver or warning.
Then we all pushed in our chairs and stood around and talked for a long time.
Putting in my two cents re: Robin's comment: coming to meetings, calling commissioners, and making public comments IS how the community votes. If you have an opinion about all this, let Tom know. (860-933-0259). He told me after the meeting, that, indeed, people do call.
See you Wednesday night!
*joke credit to Tom Pahl
