County OKs boat-ramp project

Published 5:37 pm Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Beaufort County is seeking grant funds to help buy land for a new boating-access area in the Pamlico Beach area of the county.

During its meeting Monday, the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted for the county to apply for $345,100 from the N.C. Division of Coastal Management through its Public Beach and Coastal Waterfront Access Program. The county’s contribution would be $60,900, for a total of $406,000 to use for acquiring the land needed for the project. The Mid-East Commission is helping the county prepare and submit the application.

The county has seven public boat ramps, according to Ben Rogers, a planning technician with the Mid-East Commission. The boating-access area would be built adjacent to Wright’s Creek in the Pamlico Beach area. The boating-access area would be off Wilkins Road.

Louis and Belinda Hopkins own the property being sought. It’s assessed value, according to Beaufort County records, is $406,000.

The document about the project states, “Once development of the property begins, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission has proposed construction of a public access boat ramp large enough to facilitate larger watercraft than the current on-site ramp.”

The Town of Bath supports the project that includes boat ramps and an area for the fishing.

“Prior to Hurricane Irene the ramp at Wright’s (C)reek was a very busy facility. Due to the extreme damage to the fish house, the facility has not been repaired nor reopened. The ramp remains, however many visitors choose not to use the ramp due to no lights and concerns about safety around the ramp area. Some fishermen actually choose to travel to another county to launch,” wrote Bubs Carson, Bath’s town administrator in a letter to Beaufort County Manager Randell Woodruff. “Should this site be upgraded to other NC Wildlife ramps, I expect a great deal of tourists as well as local people would once again travel to this area of our county.”

Carson said he’s spoken with countless fishermen in the area who support the proposed project.

About Mike Voss

Mike Voss is the contributing editor at the Washington Daily News. He has a daughter and four grandchildren. Except for nearly six years he worked at the Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va., in the early to mid-1990s, he has been at the Daily News since April 1986.
Journalism awards:
• Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service, 1990.
• Society of Professional Journalists: Sigma Delta Chi Award, Bronze Medallion.
• Associated Press Managing Editors’ Public Service Award.
• Investigative Reporters & Editors’ Award.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Public Service Award, 1989.
• North Carolina Press Association, Second Place, Investigative Reporting, 1990.
All those were for the articles he and Betty Gray wrote about the city’s contaminated water system in 1989-1990.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Investigative Reporting, 1991.
• North Carolina Press Association, Third Place, General News Reporting, 2005.
• North Carolina Press Association, Second Place, Lighter Columns, 2006.
Recently learned he will receive another award.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Lighter Columns, 2010.
4. Lectured at or served on seminar panels at journalism schools at UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Maryland, Columbia University, Mary Washington University and Francis Marion University.