Two upcoming meetings will address local issues

Two separate meetings scheduled for Monday, Feb. 25, at the Rodanthe-Waves-Salvo Community Building will address issues that are important to Hatteras Island.

Newly elected state Rep. Paul Tine will host a Hatteras Community Coffee from 9:30 until 10:30 a.m. 

The purpose is to hear concerns and ideas from the people of Hatteras Island and provide updates on any state activity in the area.  Tine will be joined by Jerry Jennings, District 1 engineer for the North Carolina  Department of Transportation, and Lee Nettles, managing director of the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau. 

At 11 a.m., the newly expanded Dare County Citizens’ Committee to Replace the Bonner Bridge will have its first meeting.

The group is a grassroots community group first formed under the auspices of the county in the spring of 2006 to advocate for the immediate replacement of the aging Herbert C. Bonner Bridge over Oregon Inlet.

Since DOT issued a record of decision on the bridge replacement project in 2010, the group has been less active and not met as often.

But at the meeting of the Dare County Board of Commissioners on Monday, Feb. 18, the group was expanded to include discussion of other access to Hatteras Island issues, especially the Highway 12 corridor and DOT’s plan to address the hotspots in a phased approach.

The group has not yet written a new mission statement or specifically listed its goals and priorities, but that process will begin with the first meeting on Monday.

Beth Midgett of Hatteras village continues as chairperson of the committee.

Midgett said earlier this month that the committee supports DOT’s plan to replace the bridge and address the hotspots on Highway 12 and that she hopes the newly expanded group will address such issues as public safety and the island’s economy until all phases of the project are in place.  That could be four or five years away.

New members appointed to the committee are Joe Thompson, John Head, GeeGee Rosell, Jeffrey Delmonte, and Susan Flythe.  They join current committee members, including Natalie Kavanagh, Susie Perry, Scott Leggat, Wayne Midgette, and Wayne Mathis.

All of the meetings are open to the public.