Global Agenda Invading Currituck County?

Well...sure, why not?

Citizens: UN plan taints Currituck UDO rewrite

By Cindy Beamon

The Daily Advance

Thursday, February 16, 2012

CURRITUCK — A United Nations “plan” to subvert private land ownership worldwide is filtering its way into Currituck County, a few residents told county officials at two recent meetings.

Ben Rolfes of Moyock, who created a protest group called Currituck Citizens against U.N. Agenda 21, said the county may have been affected by international policy without local officials being aware of it.

He has asked Currituck commissioners and planning board members to delay action on its rewrite of the Unified Development Ordinance until they have considered his objections. Tuesday, Planning Board members voted 4-3 to table the UDO rewrite until they meet with commissioners to review the massive 550-page county document. The joint meeting is scheduled for Feb. 20 at 5:30 p.m. at the Currituck Historic Courthouse.

U.N. Agenda 21 is likely to be one item discussed at the joint meeting.

“I think it’s a concern,” said Planning Board member Manly West.

Rolfes said he doesn’t believe Currituck officials had any “malice or ill intent” when they decided to update the UDO.

“Rather we feel that they have been duped by Clarion Associates, a known entity issuing U.N. agenda objectives,” said Rolfes, who referred local officials to a YouTube link on the subject. The site connects Clarion Associates, a Chapel Hill consulting firm hired by Currituck County for the UDO rewrite, with the United Nations’ International Council on Local Environmental Initiatives.

Craig Richardson, vice president with Clairon Associates, said Wednesday that allegations on the video are “completely false and pretty ridiculous.” He said Clarion has neither received nor donated any money to ICLEI.

He also denies any subversive international agenda.

He said the UDO rewrite has been a “locally driven” document with a reported 45 public meetings over the past two years.

“This has been a very open process,” said Richardson.

Moyock resident Toni Tabb said she was concerned as well about Agenda 21’s impact on Currituck’s UDO rewrite. She said the ultimate goal of U.N. Agenda 21 is to push growth into urban areas and abolish private land ownership, all under the guise of “green” initiatives. She read a resolution approved by the Republican National Committee in January 2012 that said the U.N. Agenda 21 is a “comprehensive plan of extreme enviromentalism, social engineering and global political control.”

Tabb said both Democrats and Republicans have objected to the United Nation’s plan being “covertly pushed into local communities across the United States.” They often use words like “sustainable development” and “smart growth” to disguise their true intentions, she said.

Planning Board Chairman Joe Kovacs asked for specifics about what part of the Currituck UDO concerned Tabb and Rolfes.

He said the proposed UDO did not promote the high density that Tabb said was part of the U.N. Agenda 21. Proposed zoning districts in Currituck — with two to three units per acre the maximum allowed — “is not what I call high density,” said Kovacs.

Legislation gets approval to increase Wild Horse population

In a significant step for the preservation of the Corolla Wild Horses, the US House of Representatives voted unanimously to increase the size of the herd thereby allowing them a better chance to thrive and survive. Kudos to Karen McCalpin and the Corolla Wild Horse Fund for their efforts. The bill next goes to the Senate where hopefully it will be approved as well. See the article below:

House OKs act increasing size of wild herd

By Cindy Beamon
The Daily Advance
Tuesday, February 7, 2012

COROLLA — Legislation to protect the free-roaming wild mustangs on the Currituck Outer Banks won support from the U.S. House of Representatives Monday.

The Corolla Wild Horses Protection Act passed the House with unanimous support and now moves to the U.S. Senate for consideration.

The legislation sets up a new public-private management plan for the wild horses that scientists say is needed to keep the herd from becoming extinct.

Karen McCalpin, executive director of the Corolla Wild Horse Fund, said the House’s approval of the proposed law is an important step toward saving the wild horses.

“The fact that it was a unanimous vote speaks volumes,” said McCalpin.

U.S. Congressman Walter B. Jones, who sponsored the bill, said in an interview Tuesday that he expects North Carolina U.S. Sens. Kay Hagan and Richard Burr will back the legislation.

Jones said with pressing national issues before the Senate, he doesn’t expect the legislation will be considered before summer.

Jones said the Corolla Wild Horse Fund’s offer to pay for the herd’s management should work in the legislation’s favor.

“I am sure Currituck County can energize the Senate just like they did in the House,” he said.

The proposed management plan would raise the maximum herd size from 60 horses to up to 130. Equine genetic scientist have found that at least 110 horses are needed to prevent the herd’s genetic collapse. In addition, the plan would expand the herd’s genetic pool by introducing mares from the wild mustang herd at Shackleford Banks in Cape Lookout National Seashore.

McCalpin said the Corolla Wild Horse Fund is already taking steps to prepare for the introduction of horses from Shackleford Banks.

The Wild Horse Fund will be slowly trimming its herd of 136 horses to around 120, she said.

One way they do that is by sending human-friendly horses to Martin Community College where they are saddle-trained to make them “more appealing for adoption.”

The herd manager will also begin contraception procedures this week to keep down numbers, she said. A small dart, filled with contraceptives, is shot into the horses’ hind quarters to prevent new births. McCalpin said the procedure is approved by animal rights groups.

The procedure begins now while the number of tourists on the Outer Banks has waned. The task would be impossible in the summer when so many visitors were nearby, she noted.

Roadwork to begin on Ocean Pearl Road

After several years of effort and regulatory hurdles, it appears that the first efforts in maintaining and straightening the roads in the off road 4x4 area of Carova are finally getting underway. I applaud the County's willingness to maintain these roads at no direct expense to the property owners...and coming in under budget for Phase I. See the recent article below.

Carova sand road repairs coming

By Cindy Beamon
The Daily Advance
Sunday, February 5, 2012

CAROVA — Work may begin soon on a sand road in Carova riddled with potholes, some big enough to swamp a truck.

The county has accepted a $123,000 bid for repairs to Ocean Pearl Road, a three-mile sand road running behind the dunes at the beach resort.

The project will begin at Wild Horse Estates and continue north to the Virginia state line. Work could begin in two to three weeks and be completed in a few months, said Commissioner Vance Aydlett.

County officials say the road improvements are needed so that fire, rescue and law enforcement vehicles can access homes and vacation rentals on the off-road beaches.

Residents have complained that vehicles risk losing their transmissions in some of the big dips.

The work includes filling in potholes with sand from high-ground shoulders at the road’s southern end. Shallow swales will be dug on each side for drainage.

“It’s going to make a major difference, I believe,” Aydlett said.

Initially, the county had planned a deeper drainage system to prevent possible road flooding. That plan was rejected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers because of the potential impact on wetlands.

One section of the road south of Wild Horse Estates in North Swan Beach will not be repaired because the Corps has determined it is mostly wetlands.

It appears there may be some money left over for a little extra road work nearby.

The low bid for the project was half of what the county had budgeted. The county will need to subtract its cost for re-designing the project, but there should be some money left over, Aydlett said. The Carova Beach Roads Service District could opt to use that money to repair some of the east-west roads that connect to Ocean Pearl, said Aydlett.

Randall Spencer said he and fellow members of the Carova Beach Roads Service District will be deciding which roads will take top priority.

“We’ll be trying to find out what is the next worst road. We have a lot of choices,” Spencer said.

Aydlett said he has sought repairs for Ocean Pearl Road since being elected in 2008. The first step was creating the service district that recommended improvements to Ocean Pearl Road as the “main north-south road through Carova.”

Plans to improve the road have run into several snags — first how to fund the improvements and later over the Corps’ objections.