Meeting Notes

We added basic notes about county government meetings to our coverage. If you have additional story ideas, please send them to reporter and photographer Eleazar “El” Yisrael at (252) 258-9434 or [email protected]

The Pamlico County Board of Commissioners held a regular bimonthly meeting April 7, 2025. The next regular meeting of the Pamlico County Board of Commissioners will be Monday, April 21 at 7 p.m. at the Pamlico County Courthouse Annex.

• Sheriff Chris Davis presented an update/report to the county. He discussed an increase in police calls, response time, the camera system in the jail and desire to update the system, the downsides of inmate transport concerning the time it takes and “insufficient” monetary value of it and mentioned that most police cars are at least $50,000.  He also discussed the hiring and retention of police officers.

Consent Agenda (routine items voted on that usually don’t require discussion)

• Commissioners denied a request to accept an untimely Builder Property Tax Exclusion application from Streamline Developers, LLC. They stated that they did not want to make a habit of approving untimely applications and that businesses have to show good cause. This case lacked a good cause, they said.

• Commissioners approved the release of 2024 tax refund payment. An error made by clerical reasons by the county and corrected, and refund to Mr. and Mrs. Burns.

• Commissioners approved the appointment of Violet Ollison to the North Carolina Senior Tar Heel Legislature (NCSTHL). The NCSTHL was authorized by the North Carolina General Assembly “to assess the needs of older citizens, promote citizen involvement and advocacy concerning aging issues, and provide information and education to older adults on legislative process and matters being considered by the NC General Assembly.” Each county in NC is delegated one representative.

• Commissioners approved Julie Rahm, Mark Lee and Michael Hagar to the Planning Board.

• Commissioners approved a fireworks display at Camp Seagull and Camp Seafarer.

• Commissioners approved the North Carolina Department of Public Safety Juvenile Crime Prevention Council request to support Pamlico Stillwaters, Pamlico Teen Court, and Pamlico Juvenile Crime Prevention Council (JCPC) Administrative funds.

  • Pamlico County received a total finding of $219,797 from the NC JCPC and other sources/grants.

  • The county approved to fund $7,602.00 for the 2025-2026 fiscal government year.

Correspondence Agenda (discussion required, not routine)

• Commissioners said the director of Pamlico County Veterans Services can apply for a $3,500 grant to assist in training, travel, officer furniture and office supplies.

• Commissioners approved support for NC Senate Bill 248. According to the board, North Carolina Senate Bill 248 will authorize the Register of Deeds in the State of North Carolina to issue birth records for adopted individuals and make the records available to the local government. Currently the Adopted Records must be accessed by the North Carolina Office of Vital Statistics in Raleigh, North Carolina. The hope is that this legislative change would streamline government services, reduce wait times and foster efficiency within the statewide vital records system.

• Commissioners approved a Motorola Solutions equipment lease purchase agreement for the Sheriff Department. The cost is $324,936.25, including $47,214.00 in interest to lease the replacement of the jail records management system and sheriff office’s records management system.

  • They state that the system is necessary for the new Pamlico County Emergency Operations Center/911 building to be able to communicate with the Pamlico County Sheriff’s Office and the Pamlico County Jail.

  • The county decided that in an ideal situation it would buy the system up front, but decided to lease it due to budget concerns.

• Commissioners approved Emergency Management to provide an informal bid on Low Voltage Wiring for the new Emergency Operations Center/911 Building Project.

  • A formal bid means creating bid documents and requiring people to apply. The informal bid process involves reaching out to people the county knows to get quotes.

• Commissioners approved Pamlico County Office of Planning and Economic Development to apply for $110,00 in new NC Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) Funding for a Coastal Area Management Act (CAMA) “Plan Update.”

  • Pamlico County currently has $30,000.00 funding from the Resilient Community Capacity Grant from the North Carolina Department of Commerce which can be used on this project. $110,000.00 plus $30,000.00 in funding will allow the county to fully update the plan with a technical consultant. The maximum funding request for this project will be $140,000.00 with a $10,000.00 contingency. There is no cash or in-kind match required from the applicants or contractors.

  • They intend to update land use plans required by the county, laying out guidelines for what land owners can and can’t do.

• The county tabled a lease agreement with Pamlico’s new county library building.

  • Craven-Pamlico Library requested a 100-year lease. The county decided to review the specific number of years that the county will lease the new library building and will also go over the utility cost of the library’s new building, including the water and sewer.

  • The library system is a non-profit and isn't owned by the county, but the renovated building that houses the library will be owned by the county. The renovations were funded by the library, not the county.

• The county denied a closed session request regarding a federal opioid lawsuit. The county lawyer suggested that Pamlico not take part in this particular set of opioid lawsuits because the details are not yet publicly available. The county is already involved in this lawsuit, it is recommended that they withdraw. Pamlico already has money from other previous opioid lawsuits.

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