Urgent Election Info...Wrightsville Beach

In those years when there is no Presidential Election, we all suffer from low voter turnout!

Why don't we vote? 
Don't we think it matters?

Not voting can be disastrous; many Executive, Legislative and Judicial government positions are up for grabs, that can and will have an enormous impact on our daily lives going forward. 

Mayors, Aldermen, Councilmen... the people who govern our local communities are seeking our vote.... and our vote as singular and individual as it is, may make all the difference in the outcome... and for years to come.

Think about it, years to come! How we are taxed and what gets done with those tax dollars is what's at stake. Will it be spent strategically or perhaps frivolously? 


Critical Election at Hand in Wrightsville!

In Wrightsville Beach we do in fact have a rather critical election at hand. 

The current Board of Alderman in Wrightsville Beach have been predominately a 3 to 2 vote to stall that has stalled the strategic direction of WB time and again. It has been painful to attend the BOA Monthly meetings and observe the performance of Aldermen Collins, Mills and King.. they simply have refused to engage and address critical issues in our town. They have hidden behind their moronic moniker of being fiscal conservatives and thus has been a simpleton's dodge for let's avoid addressing the issues.

say it ain't so!

Let the future  Boards deal with this stuff... "we can look good just holding the world as is". But in a community that has in excess of $3 Billion in Real Estate Value and a year round population on 2500 that swells to 25,000 to 30,000 in season, and is in the path of potentially severe storms, we the citizens can not depend on "just holding things in place". We need active management of our strategic issues., planning for that rainy day and engagement with the regional, state and federal agencies and private partnerships. Whether you own property and live here, own property and visit here, rent here or just love to visit, the issues of Wrightsville Beach as a resort destination community loom before us. 

We now have up for election 2 Alderman seats.  Filling these seats with experience, demonstrated commitment and simple listening and engagement with the citizens is critical!

Good News!

We have 2 extremely qualified and tested candidates to take on those 2 Alderman seats.

Bill Sisson for WB Alderman on FB &
billsissonforalderman.blogspot .com

Bill Sisson our incumbent Alderman is running for re-election  

Re-Elect Lisa Weeks for Wrightsville Beach Alderman on FB &
lisa4alderman.com

Lisa Weeks a previous 
Alderman is seeking re-election.

       These two individuals Lisa Weeks and Bill Sisson are neighbors you will see around our town, engaged in speaking with citizen and our businesses in town before during and after election day, They are on the Loop, out on the water, at the beach and in committee meetings of other important organizations and government agencies, at beach sweeps and town fund raising events. Checkout their postings on Facebook etc. as noted above they have shared their views

unlike other candidates. 

Bill Sisson as been own most active Alderman, he has been Driving a regional coalition to delay the Biggert Waters Flood Insurance and he has succeeded. He has also been the Alderman focused on NC DOT projects and prioritization that effect WB . 

Lisa Weeks beyond her previous Alderman years 2 years ago has not rested for one moment. The Wrightsville Beach Foundation, Taste of Wrightsville  Beach, Masonboro Island, Hospice of Cape Fear have all had Lisa's experienced leadership hand at play. These 2 candidates are all about leadership.

 They spend their time connected to the citizens and the issues we face. Their Heart, Minds and Interests are focused on the community interests of the People of Wrightsville Beach.

Talk is cheap ... action speaks volumes!

           A comparison of Lisa and Bill to the other candidates (Andy Hall & Hank Miller for Alderman as well as the uncontested Mayor Candidate Bill Blair) will easily show that Lisa and Bill have "the" track record of open government, strategic thinking and engagement on Wrightsville issues and above all an absolute commitment of their time in seeing things through. 

          In the world of politics and government "talk is cheap". The track record of Lisa and Bill is clearly refreshing when it comes to our future needs.

I Voted

When we fail to vote we fail to push elections in the direction that we may want to see driving our future.

Please Vote.

Please vote for our 2 Alderman Candidates 

Lisa Weeks and Bill Sisson 

Please share this post with your friends who care about Wrightsville Beach.

 Thanks for reading, we encourage everyone to view the TOWB BOA Monthly Meetings ( Go to Livestream.com search Wrightsville Beach) to validate how local government has performed.

From the whole team at WrightsvilleView.blogspot.com we welcome your comments.

Noah, Liz, Ned, Mike and quite a few other who encourage us. 

Danger Zone ...Improving Downtown Section of Wrightsville

Waynick, Causeway, Lumina
By Wrightsville Beach Foundation

Finally, a pathway towards improving the Waynick/Causeway/Lumina intersection at Wrightsville Beach.

But, your help is needed! 

The Board of Alderman need our input on seeking Grant funding to make this all happen.

Anyone near this intersection ...

• walking,
• strollering 
• jogging 
• biking 
• dog walking 
• parking 
• skateboarding 
• eating an ice cream cone
• driving 
• or even daydreaming of a day the beach

      ..............has experienced some aspect of the Dangers it can present.

This spot is a hub for people both in and out of vehicles. It is central to restaurants and shops, It is the gateway for going to the beach, heading to the south end or starting a long slow look for a parking spot.


The Wrightsville Beach Town officials will hold a Public Hearing  at Town Hall  Thursday October 24, 2013 at 6 pm.

****PUBLIC HEARING***** TO RECEIVE INPUT FOR A 2014 SURFACE TRANSPORATION PROGRAM – DIRECT ATTRITUBALE (STP-DA) GRANT APPLICATION FOR INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENTS TO THE CAUSEWAY DRIVE/WAYNICK AVENUE INTERSECTION AND PEDESTRIAN FACILITY IMPROVEMENTS BETWEEN THIS INTERSECTION AND STONE STREET

The Town of Wrightsville Beach is considering applying for a STP-DA Grant for intersection improvements to the Causeway Drive/Waynick Avenue intersection and for pedestrian improvements between this intersection and Stone Street.  The Town is seeking input on this project.  Attached is a conceptual rendering of those improvements.  The grant application is for $292,000 and requires a match of 20% or $58,400.  The total cost of the project could approach $400,000 due to needed utility improvements in the area. 

Please plan to attend and give your input. Without citizen input, there is little hope for change. This intersection needs safety, logistic and aesthetic improvement. It needs our input and support.

Thanks for reading, hope to see you at the Public Hearing,

Liz

18 Seconds more ... could mean Life or Death

Changing a posted speed limit in a town or neighborhood can be a contentious matter. A real hot potato type issue. These days the emphasis always seems to be about faster, faster, faster! So when the public seeks to slow things down and reduce the speed it is worth noting... it is even worth listening.

On October 10, 2013  in Wrightsville Beach Town Hall Chambers, there was be a Public Hearing about the idea of reducing the speed limit along West Salisbury Street from 45 to 35 mph.

The citizens registered their opinion loud and clear,

"Reduce the Speed, Make it consistent, Make It Safe"!

The NC-DOT even recommended this change NOW! Not Later, Not after further studies, but NOW!

This is driven by safety. The statistics, that Vehicle Speed Kills pedestrians and bicyclists, are well established. AAA, NTSB, CDC and many other organizations all have had a hand in evaluating reducing the risk of Severe Injury and Death due to collisions with vehicles is the goal. Make it Safe!

The increased travel time due to this speed limit reduction is 18 to 20 seconds, that is a moot point.

The good news is the motion to reduce the speed was passed by the Board.

Hopefully, this change will make it easier and safer for pedestrians and bicyclists to use this corridor and to cross Salisbury Street.

BTW... it is NC State Law to stop in both directions for people in designated crosswalks. Just like we need to do for a stopped school bus.

Thanks for reading and please have a safe walk, jog or ride at Wrightsville Beach.

Liz

OOPS! ... note this important change to our last post

 With reference to our last post about the Biggert- Waters National Flood Insurance Reform Bill 2012

Storm Erosion

Please use this email contact for sending your flood insurance email to Senator Burr.

Christopher_Toppings@Burr.Senate.Gov

Sorry, my bad, Noah

Urgent Issue Regarding National Flood Insurance Rates

Urgent issue regarding Flood Insurance Rates and Real Estate Values

Dear Neighbors….Property Owners living in or near flood zones,

            This is to inform you about significant changes in the National Flood Insurance Program that will have grave economic consequences to all of us with property on or near any flood-able stream, creek, river, bay, sound or ocean etc. in the United States. This is an issue of national scope. .

 There is an important action that each of you (husbands, wives, adult children) need to take to protect your financial assets including your real estate. It is important to send a short email to our North Carolina Congressional Representatives (Senators Burr and Hagan, Congressman McIntyre), seeking their support to delay implementation of the Biggert Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act 2012.

I will briefly outline the history, consequences and the simple action steps that you should take.

History- In July 2012 the President signed a Transportation Bill (HR 4348) tucked quietly into the pages of that bill is a section known as Biggert Waters. This sub-section was virtually unread by our representatives prior to approval and is only now (over 12 months later) being put under the light of scrutiny, regarding the implications that will effect our homes across the nation..

Biggert Waters – This Bill was driven by the massive financial loses in the National Flood Insurance Program experienced from Hurricanes Katrina and Super Storm Sandy. The goal is to make the program financially solvent by immediately canceling or reducing subsidies of the flood insurance premium rates. Rates will immediately jump to be on full risk premium basis for business properties, non-primary residence or upon sale of a home. Primary Residence currently insured will have a 20% jump each year until the full risk premium is reached (estimated to take 4 -5 years).

Consequences – While the goal of financial solvency is noble the implementation, which begins this coming October, will have significant consequences...our insurance premiums will jump. The amount of increase, will vary with the location of your home to the water, the amount of open water your home faces (susceptibility to wave action), the elevation above sea level and the height of your first floor.

Estimates are that some rates could be in the range of $10,000 to 30,000 per year.

This will have, not only a direct impact on our pocket books but also effect real estate values until this turmoil stabilizes in perhaps 5+ years.

Clearly the consequences of this Bill were never understood and now time is of the essence to take action. Only Congress can stop of delay this situation.

Further Biggert Waters Information- On the Town of Wrightsville Beach website TOWB.ORG at the lower right corner (homepage) you can find some presentation materials that show some examples of rate estimates and specific houses here in Wrightsville.

Actions: Please send an email to our Federal Representatives requesting a delay in the implementation of Biggert Waters until the economic implications are more clearly understood.

Congressman McIntyre - Andrew.Simpson@mail.house.gov
Senator Hagan - andrew_devlin@hagan.senate.gov
Senator Burr - matthew_dockham@Burr.senate.gov

*****Sample Text for email****: follows

Dear Senator (Burr) :

I am writing to ask for your help in mitigating the negative economic impacts The Biggert-Waters amendment (National Flood Insurance Program) to the 2012 Surface Transportation Bill will cause in my town.

By removing grandfathering provisions for existing policy holders who built their homes according to the State Building Codes in effect at the time of construction the amendment needlessly penalizes our citizens for following the law.  Furthermore by lowering the substantial improvement threshold from the historical limit of 50% to 30% those who try to meet current standards are also penalized.

All businesses are excluded from the program and even pre-FIRM, primary dwellings are not exempt from the effects of this bill.  It still allows base rates for risk classes to increase up to 20% per year.  If new flood risk maps change the risk class of a dwelling this increase would be further exacerbated.

This legislation would have a negative effect on land values, businesses, home prices and construction.

I urge you to support legislation to retain the Flood Insurance Program but to at least delay implementing the Biggert-Waters provisions until a thorough evaluation of the economic effects of its impact can be evaluated and to further modify its requirements to reduce these negative effects.

Yours truly,

John Q. Public

XX North Lumina Street,, Wrightsville Beach, NC

Thanks for reading and taking action on this matter, our personal resources and our community’s real estate value is at stake.

And a special thanks to Wrightsville Beach Alderman Bill Sisson who has been an important leader in this effort across the Town of Wrightsville Beach and across New Hanover County.

Respectfully,

Noah Bridges

A Message from the Mayor of Wrightsville Beach

Memories of Wrightsville past

The link below will take you to the Town of Wrightsville Beach Website. Specifically it takes you to the Mayor's page where he has posted a message about 2012 and some insights looking at 2013.

Also note there are 3 tabs at the bottom of his page, worth taking a look at, especially the one noting and thanking the numerous volunteers who help build our quality of life here.

http://www.towb.org/Board/MayorsPage/tabid/185/Default.aspx

Thanks for reading.   Noah

Wrightsville Beach Bridge Traffic a key issue online ...at the Chat!

For some WB citizens the premier event for this past  Thursday evening  was the online "Chat with the Chief". 

For an hour and fifteen minutes the Chief chaired a lively interaction between meeting participants both in the room and in cyberspace. 

Using the new Livestream system setup in Town Hall Chanbers, the Chief gave a short presentation covering the status of plans to improve traffic flow headed both on an off the island. An especially contentious issue raised by attendees and acknowledged by Chief House are those drivers who speed up the right hand lane and then cut into the line of waiting traffic. Clearly a road rage inducing behavior given the frustrations building over the traffic snarl that's bee with us for many months now. Great weekend weather has brought out the best of us out physically and at times the worst of us mentally. 

Traffic Cones

WBPD, working with Wilmington & NH County, Plans call for cutting down the right lane, with traffic cones, as well as officers directing traffic on both side of the bridge. There are also plans to adjust the traffic light sequence along Eastwood  road as may be needed. It must be underscored that State roads 76 & 74 are just that State roads and that means NCDOT... they are also in charge of the bridge project which is a root cause of the traffic.

The Chief took a range of question from the room and as well from email, phone-in and text-in... 

"pretty cool how this cyber- technology has quickly taken hold in the Town of Wrightsville Beach" 

Questions, many all to familiar, ranged from late night noise, littering and obnoxious behavior, to speeding, bicycling issues, using 911 and illegal drug issues and trespassing..

My personal opinion: (I was a Livestream & email participant)

• Chief Dan House, once again, proved his commitment to communicating and being accessible to the community. This brief quarterly opportunity, through the "Chat" format, is an easy and productive way to gain understanding and to have a direct impact on WBPD focus. Fell free to give your feedback directly to him dhouse@towb.org

• The use of the new electronic tools of video streaming and phone-in/text-in/email... while they may need a little tweaking, will greatly expand the possibilities of engagement across our community. (The Chief acknowledged afterwards offline that they would be looking at improvements in audio especially). 

Finally: If you need to contact the WBPD, even for a non-emergence complaint, use 911 ... if it's not an emergency... say "This is not an emergency" the dispatcher will determine if they can take the call at that moment or not. That's how the system for Wrightsville Beach is designed to work.

Till next time,thanks for reading.  Noah

A chat worth having...Chief Dan House TOWB PD

http://new.livestream.com/accounts/1650123/events/1828470(highlight , right click and "Go to")

Community+Dialogue+Technology = Quality of Life

Even before he joined the Town of Wrightsville Beach as Police Chief, Dan House was engaged in outreach to the community.  As part of the interview process to get the job, he along with the other finalist candidate, met in an open public forum with residents interested in knowing more about their future Chief.


Something quite obvious at that meeting and continuing since has been his ease and desire to speak with the people. He has been conducting quarterly "Chats with the Chief" at Town Hall, since he came on board in July 2011. He has, as well, been out and about town regularly meeting with citizens.

"I prefer not to have people come to see me but rather I go see them. If I can see, from their deck what they are dealing with I am that much wiser and able to affect solutions".  Chief Dan House

Outreach is a critical way of operating, in order to be properly in touch with issues, whether for the local citizens, public at large, our merchants, restaurant, taxis and vacationers.

What gets measured gets done
 The Department's Quarterly Reports as well as the testimony at the Public Town Meeting, including the PD Strategic Plan will attest to a positive change in our local law enforcement. The focus, the tools and the motivation of the team and officer demeanor have all been under a change management whirlwind, under Chief House's leadership. From bike patrol, to beach patrol, to open patrol car windows, to summer uniforms and police officer engagement and skills assessment the TOWB PD are on a trajectory to stepping up to best in class. Even the simple things like consolidating intra-department communications and aligning crime statistics with patrol strategies and tactics has achieved important results. Those results relate directly to improved Quality of Life.

What's hot and what's not
In no small way, change like this comes because of the input and support of the citizens. This is where we citizens enter the picture, through our willingness to "Chat with the Chief". These chats have proved a good forum to gain understanding, raise and discuss issues and needs as well as build rapport. It also helps to clarify and set priorities in a community of 2,500 and can swell to estimates of 35,000 plus in season and holiday weekends..

(Not to mention when the only bridge access to the island is down to one lane!... or the local elementary school went from one campus to two due to overcrowding and is now in the shadow of the Sandy Hook, CT deaths presents an increased security challenge or the latest drug problem "bath salts" and the bizarre behaviors that come with it's arrival here at the beach). 

It can be helpful to understand what's hot and what's not when it comes to defining the goals and prioritizing an officer's time.

Some good workable solutions often come from the citizens directly.

The Chief includes a drive down the beach through and about town as part of his daily commute to work.

"I get to see first hand the condition of the beach and town, I get to see any specific   issues reported over night and I find people wave me down and approach me on their beach walk to chat. Citizens seem to appreciate the informality of the contact versus coming to the police department. It is a great opportunity". Chief Dan House

Beyond the engagement of the local citizens, the Chief has explicitly reached out to local merchants, most specifically the beach bars and restaurants and taxi providers to address some nagging issues.  The result was common understanding, setting expectations and implementable plans. Designated taxi stands with clear rules regarding pick-up and drop-off , police presence/engagement at beach bars and patrol/ enforcement on the beach have come under focus.

"We now meet with the local merchants before the season starts and before each of the big weekends to share expectations and plans, and of course traffic due to ongoing bridge construction is a critical issue". Chief Dan House

Some pre-thoughts and tips on the upcoming Livestream Chat 

A few helpful hints to connect with http://new.livestream.com/accounts/1650123/events/1828470
(highlight, right click, select "GoTo"

• go to the above link, you will need to sign-up with Livestream (It Is Free!). This is easy and you only need to have your email address or your facebook account
• Once signed up you can designate that you wish to follow Wrightsville Beach streaming events. This will result in your receiving notices of upcoming TOWB broadcasts. 

(note: you can also view the archived video stream after the original streaming date; currently there is a BOA Mtg and the Lanier Parking/BOA Workshop both from  Jan 2013)

• Specifically regarding the Live stream "Chat with the Chief" ,,,generally a video streaming is a one way communication outward to the audience, but this is supposed to be a Chat! So to make this truly a chat there are three important ingredients... please choose one

1. show up at at Town Hall at 6:00 pm January 31, 2013 prepared to converse with the Chief (reserved seating is not available) or

2. Send the Chief an email with your comment/ questions in advance dhouse@towb.org  or

3. Phone-in to the Chief during the meeting with your questions or comments      
910-622-8594

(note: this last point about phoning in is still being worked on, if it is available, the Chief will announce the Phone-in number is ready to go during the live meeting)

So there we have it, fellow citizens, another step forward to assist us in building and maintaining our engagement in local government... and that has a direct impact on our Quality of Life.

Finally I would like to acknowledge and thank the following:

• the great gift from our fellow citizen Bill Columbus in donating the video equipment and streaming service to TOWB
• the efforts of Neal Briggi and the Henderson Street League for the Environment and Responsible Government and the many other citizens for advocating for video streaming 
• the demonstrated commitment of Chief Dan House to proactively engage with  the community.

Happy viewing and chatting.

Thanks for Reading, your comments are welcome.. Noah