Mill Pond Meeting Report | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Stan:

    Yesterday the second Mill Pond educational forum was held (at the Hilton DoubleTree hotel, Atlantic Beach).

    Several community leaders were in attendance, and the consensus appeared unanimous that this project makes no sense to Carteret County  -  economically, militarily or environmentally. The CNT will have a story about the event.

    Some notable observations:

    1 - Rep Pat McElraft assured the group of her opposition to this scheme, and explained several measures she was taking to stop it. She rightly cautioned that as serious a threat this is to Cherry Point, we shouldn't be putting all our eggs in one basket. We need to make a much broader case  -  and we have one.

    2 - Three different Carteret County Commissioners each spoke about their concerns with this project. Each also committed to fixing the Carteret Tall Structures Ordinance. Hopefully they will meet on this, this week. (I was asked to condense what is needed into Bullet Points: see this draft.)

    3 - The Commissioners were alerted to the fact that they needed to set up the Tall Structure Ordinance so that only the Commissioners could authorize any waivers from it.

    4 - It was stated that at the upcoming BRAC review that the air navigation problems created by Mill Pond could put Cherry Point in serious jeopardy for closure. This base provides something like $2 Billion to the local economy! [Note that the Cherry Point Air Show was just cancelled due to budget restrictions. The writing may be on the wall!]

    5 - Disappointment was expressed that ACT was not being proactive enough regarding the critical industrial wind energy matter  -  starting with the drafting of H484.

    6 - Since this is a major regional matter, the coastal counties should be working together to: a) each pass protective ordinances, b) get DENR to aggressively enforce H484, and c) to get the Legislators to fix Senate Bill 3 (e.g. with H298).

    7 - Carol Lohr (Head of Tourism Development Authority) and Woody Warren (President of Carteret EDC) agreed that Mill Pond was a major tourism threat. They will alert and engage their contacts about this matter.

    8 - Additional concerns were expressed about the negative impact that this industrial development will have on nearby property values. The solution is a strong Property Value Guarantee in the County's Ordinance.

    The Plan of Action was updated (see revised handout).

    Thanks for your support.


    John Droz, jr.
      physicist & environmental advocate

    We need several more volunteers to assist with this extraordinarily important community issue. If you have not specifically volunteered yet, please email me ASAP.