FRONT PAGE SPORTS OBITUARIES  FISHING COLUMN              Pier project will benefit public Last week’s announcement that the Emerald Isle-North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores pier project received $2.2 million in state funding is good news for the community. It will eventually offer much more, but this is a good project if for no other reason than it will help keep alive the tradition of pier fishing. While Emerald Isle is most fortunate to be home to one of the last remaining ocean fishing piers in Carteret or Onslow counties, it is no secret that the Bogue Inlet Fishing Pier could be sold if the right offer comes along. The owners of Bogue Pier have been very open about the prospect of the potential for a sale. When a deal to sell the pier and surrounding property appeared imminent a couple of years ago, the Stanley family did all it could to help the Town of Emerald Isle become part of the transaction as a way to preserve the town’s last ocean fishing pier as a public-friendly place. That effort and the fact that Emerald Isle’s elected officials had the foresight to purchase the old Emerald Isle Fishing Pier property – the current site of the Eastern Regional Access and future site of this project – back in 1996, certainly had a lot to do with the project earning funding. Public support is obvious. And, why wouldn’t it be? People love a pier. For folks who grew up on or visited North Carolina ’s coast, fishing piers – sometimes two or three – were within walking distance of one another. Many a young person made a friend with the words, “You want to take a walk on the pier?” As storms began taking their toll in the mid-1990s, the cost of repairs began to outweigh the revenue stream and a tradition of pier fishing and pier walking began to slip away. In the past five years or so, rocketing real estate prices made it all but impossible for pier owners to hang on to their investments with a clear conscience – the nest egg had reached the incubation point. That the Bogue Pier remains is rather amazing. And while we all hope that its operation is more than a “labor of love,” that it is profitable and worthwhile, we also understand the reality of the situation – at some point the family may not be able to turn down an offer. At that point, pier fishing in Emerald Isle would be a memory … except that the state has shown, through the Waterfront Access and Marine Industry Fund allocation, that there is a plan to provide a fishing pier for the public. Of course, this project will benefit more than pier fishermen and walkers. It will provide classroom space, exhibits, educational and instruction opportunities as well as access to Bogue Sound – all the things you would expect from an excellent organization like the North Carolina Aquarium. This project is a good thing for the people of our state.

Letters to the editor

To the editor:

In light of the economic downturn, it might be wise to shelve any town hall expansion indefinitely. Future tax revenues are going to fall and if we proceed with more capital expenditures, taxes will have to be increased again just to stay even.

Remodeling the former garment factory is not a good idea. It is beyond repair. The slab and maybe the electrical service could be saved. It is a big time money trap. The church is a church, not an office building and is just another variation of typical governmental money traps.

The question the town commissioners have to answer is would they put their own money into this project?

Elton Matheson

Emerald Isle

To the editor:

It is always rewarding when someone agrees with you. I’m in total agreement talk about reducing local government spending as well as the majority of the taxpayers throughout the country. It is good to me when our local politicians are challenged to correct the mess they have gotten us into.

There are many who are extremely concerned about the financial plight that we all face. Elected officials can find excuses to justify the expenditures of our money, but for the most part, their excuses are far from believable.

We have 21 candidates for Onslow County commissioner, let’s hope that the public will research where they stand on major county issues and select five with enough common sense and reason to see through the charade of some of the department heads’ unreasonable budget requests and have the backbone to make reasonable budget reductions that will benefit the taxpayers.

Our current commissioners have a spend-and-tax-property-owners philosophy. We look at an estimated $214 million long-term debt picture for projected county projects but we are still waiting to hear from what the cost will be to taxpayers. Prudent individuals determine if they have adequate capital to pay for long-term projects before implementing them. Our elected officials approve long-term projects first and then determine how much your taxes must be raised to pay the debt.

Some of us are old enough to have felt the effects of the Depression. We also witnessed first-hand the shortages of commodities during World War II. We adjusted to the situation and survived, therefore why shouldn’t our elected officials adjust to the situation by reducing local budgets, which would reduce the taxes and fees that taxpayers pay? Taxes can be reduced if we have commissioners with the backbone to instruct the county manager to reduce the budget by a percentage from the prior year and not take it out of the fund balance. It’s that simple.

If you believe we need improvement in the way our government and schools are operated, then we have to make changes with our vote at the ballot box. The best place to start is right here in Onslow County in the May primary.

Ken Silence

Jacksonville

To read all the editorials and letters to the editor, see the print edition of the Tideland News.

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Pelican's Perch

by Percy

Kathleen Olson thought she had hit it big when she and her two friends were able to buy second-row seats for the Phil Vassar concert at Virginia Tech a couple of weeks ago.

Little did she know that was only the beginning.

While Kathleen, a Swansboro High School graduate and now a sophomore at Va. Tech, was working out at the school gym the day of the concert, who should step onto the machine next to her but Phil Vassar.

After striking up a conversation, she moved on to the weight room – on Cloud Nine, I’m sure. Anyway, a few moments later, one of Phil’s entourage – it turned out to be the guitar player – stepped into the weight room to get her name and the names of her two friends so he could put them on the list of people allowed backstage.

Needless to say, it turned out to be a great show, on both sides of the stage, for Kathleen and her friends.

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I understand Josh Laws celebrated his 17^th birthday on Tuesday.

Our best wishes go out to the Swansboro student.