Carova Beach Service District on the table...Again

At a recent Board of Commissioner's meeting, Commissioner Aydlett directed staff to begin the process to form the Carova Beach Service District. With a second from Commissioner O’Neal, the motion carried. What does that mean?? Well, it appears sentiment in the Carova Beach subdivision favors a Service District to address infrastructure issues on its roads. It appears at this time, no other subdivisions such as Swan Beach, North Swan Beach, etc.. will be included in the proposal. I emailed Commissioner Aydlett as to some of the particulars and it seems that an advisory board will be established to spearhead the effort. His email reply stated that:

The advisory board for the Corova Beach Service District will be comprised as follows 3- fulltime Corova beach residents, 1- non-resident home/property owner in Corova, 1- member of the Volunteer Fire Department, 1- member of the county EMS Department and one representative of the sheriffs department. The purpose is outlined in a document that Gwen Tatum has in the managers office. This document will be available for review and comment during a four week period before it goes for a public hearing. The extent and scope of the service district will be defined by the advisory board who will make recommendations as to these things.

The referenced document is a Resolution establishing the Service District. I obtained a copy of the draft below:

RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING AND CREATING THE CAROVA BEACH ROAD SERVICE DISTRICT

WHEREAS, Chapter 153A, Article 16 of the North Carolina General Statues,
authorizes counties within North Carolina, to define service districts to finance, provide, or maintain for such districts one or more services, facilities, or functions in addition to or to a greater extent than those financed, provided or maintained for the entire county; and,

WHEREAS, said statutes further provide that the county may define a
service district for the purpose of street maintenance and removal of junk automobiles; and

WHEREAS, acting in response to a need for action in order to protect and maintain public safety, address increasing traffic demands resulting from property development within the Carova Beach area and to preserve and protect private property rights through the re-establishment of rights-of-way thus ending travel across private property, the Board of Commissioners for the County of Currituck has determined that the creation of a service district for street maintenance and removal of junk automobiles will be for the benefit of those properties located within the service district boundaries and adjacent thereto; and

WHEREAS, the Board of Commissioners for the County of Currituck
finds that the proposed district is in need of projects and programs to the standards of G.S. 153A-301(b) and (c) to a demonstrably greater extent than the remainder of the county to meet the needs and goals set forth above and, further, that a county is statutorily limited to establishing such projects and programs only within an area of the county having characteristics of the proposed service district area and thus it is impossible to provide the planned services on a countywide basis; and

WHEREAS, it is economically feasible to provide the proposed services within the district without an annual tax levy as property within the district is dedicated as street rights-of-way with an assessed valuation of zero and the County of Currituck has identified Occupancy Tax revenue as a source of funding to provide street maintenance and junk automobile removal services within the district; and

WHEREAS, there is a demonstrable demand and need for the services proposed within the district as set forth and incorporated into a report which has been available for public inspection in the office of the Clerk to the Board of Commissioners for four (4) weeks prior to the public hearing on the matter of the establishment of the service district which report is incorporated herein by reference; and

WHEREAS, the Board of Commissioners for the County of Currituck has caused a notice of such hearing to be duly published in a newspaper having general circulation in the County of Currituck, said hearing having been conducted on ________________, 2009, and the County Attorney has certified to the Board of Commissioners that the mailing of notice of hearing has been completed, all in conformity to G.S.153A-302(c);


NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY the Board of Commissioners for the County of Currituck, North Carolina that:

Section 1. The County of Currituck has fully complied with each and every requirement of Chapter 153A, Article 16 of the North Carolina General Statutes and the Board of Commissioners determines and finds the same as a fact.

Section 2. The Carova Beach Service District for street maintenance and removal of junk automobiles is hereby established and created consisting of the rights-of-way of in Carova Beach as more particularly shown on the map attached hereto as Exhibit A and incorporated herein by reference.

Section 3. The County of Currituck may allocate to the Carova Beach Road Service District any revenue whose use is not otherwise restricted by law including, but not limited to, Occupancy Tax in order to finance, provide or maintain for the district, services provided therein, in addition to or to a greater extent than those financed, provided or maintained for the entire county.

Section 4. There is created a Carova Beach Road Service District Advisory Board comprised of seven members appointed by and serving at the Currituck County Board of Commissioners. Three members shall be residents of Carova Beach Subdivision, one member shall be an absentee owner of property in Carova Beach Subdivision, one member shall be a representative of the Carova Beach Volunteer Fire Department, Inc., one member shall be a representative of Currituck County Emergency Medical Services and one member shall be a representative of the Currituck County Sheriff’s Department.

The Carova Beach Road Service District Advisory Board shall have the following responsibilities:

a. assess road rights-of-way comprising the service district;

b. develop a prioritized list of road rights-of-way in need of maintenance and the type of maintenance or improvement recommended;

c. prepare and submit to the Currituck County Board of Commissioners a report of advisory board assessment and recommendation;

d. monitor and report to the Currituck County Board of Commissioners the status and progress of approved road maintenance and improvement projects; and

e. any other tasks or responsibilities requested by the Currituck County Board of Commissioners related to the purpose for the service district.


ADOPTED the ____ day of _____________, 2009.


_________________________________
Chairman, Board of Commissioners

ATTEST:

_____________________________
Clerk to the Board

(County Seal)

I am not sure on how the determinations were made as to establishing a SD in Carova and not the other subdivisions, but Carova does have the overwhelming number of issues concerning the roads. More to come...