- Message from Mayor Allen
- Town Updates
- COVID-19 Update
- Vision 2030
- Upcoming Events
- Road Repairs
- Board of Commissioner's Meeting
- Meetings
- Project Updates
- Website
- Staffing
- Town Sign
- Program Event Updates
- Brunswick Riverwalk at Belville
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Greetings,
As this year quickly moves along, I want to take a moment to extend our Town's thoughts and prayers to the victims of the EF-3 tornado that hit Ocean Ridge Plantation in Ocean Isle Beach and especially to the friends and family of Phyllis and Rich O'Conner and Barry Glick. At least 60 homes were damaged by the devastating storm, something we are all too familiar with right here in our community of Olde Towne, a community that is still recovering from the tornado that hit us last year. There are several organizations that are assisting in the recovery, including the Red Cross and church organizations. As of this writing, the County is not requesting any additional help or resources but we are working at the Town to set-up some relief efforts to help our fellow Brunswick County residents.
Despite this tragedy, your Town continues to move forward on several fronts! This month alone, we have launched our new website, completed our new Town Sign, are working hard on improvements at the park, including lighting, upgrading the Duke Educational Pavilion and addressing road repair issues.
Our Vision 2030 Plan is also gathering steam! After several virtual meetings with our Steering Committee and Stakeholders, we have collected an incredible amount of positive and helpful input for the direction of our Town and now begin the public comments phase of the process in March. I want to personally thank Adrienne Harrington and Robin Sparks for their hard work and dedication to this project - they have both jump-started this process that would not be as far along as it is without them. Thank you, ladies!!
We have a lot of exciting things beginning as the weather warms up so please stay tune and hold on tight!!
Take care of each other!
Sincerely,
Mike Allen, Mayor
Town of Belville
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On Friday, February 26th, Governor Cooper issued Executive Order 195 allowing bars to begin indoor service at 30% capacity for a maximum of 250 people. He also extended on-site alcohol sales to 11 pm from the previous 9 pm. Outdoor bars can operate at 50% capacity. Outdoor gatherings were raised from 25 to 50 people and restaurants, breweries and wineries, retail shops, gyms, museums, aquariums, barbers and personal care businesses, pools and outdoor amusement parks were also raised to 50% capacity.
The State has authorized counties to move to Group 3 (Front Line Workers and Child Care/Pre K-12) as of February 24th while continuing to vaccinate Groups 1 and 2 which includes older adults (65 years or older, regardless of health status or living situation). Click here for more details.
As a reminder, you are not limited to receiving your vaccinations in the county that you live in. New Hanover is also offering vaccinations and you can sign up for emails of their availability here.
Novant Health has also provided a great resource to review whether or not your symptoms may be COVID-19. Click here to check your symptoms and for further guidance.
County Alert System Map
North Carolina, as well as Brunswick County, has seen a significant drop in COVID-19 cases from last month. However, this does not mean we are out of the woods yet so please continue to practice the 3-W's: Wear a Mask - Wash your Hands - Wait: Practice Social Distancing.
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Red means there is a critical community spread. Counties have a percent positive rate of 10% or higher, a case rate of 200 and a high impact on county hospitals.
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Orange means substantial community spread. They have a percent positive rate of 8% to 10%, 101 to 200 case rate and moderate impact on hospitals.
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Yellow means there is significant community spread.
Currently, Brunswick County has dropped back to Orange.
Additional information and updates can be found here and at the following links:
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The Vision 2030 Plan will kick-off the public input period on March 1, 2021, and will include two outdoor drop-in style meetings with social distancing measures in place. There will be a public survey available online, and hard copies will be provided. We also hope to have a webinar recording for residents to view before taking the survey.
We look forward to hearing the public’s opinion and Vision for our town.
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We continue to be limited to the number of town activities we can provide due to the COVID restrictions that are in place. However, we are continuing to plan our Founder's Day and Christmas events factoring in the possibility of long-term COVID restrictions. |
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(1) Gregory Road – Weather has hampered the continuing work on Gregory Road though NCDOT has completed repairs to the entrance apron and H2GO has made significant improvements to the drainage as well. Hopefully, as the weather improves, we will continue to see more improvements to the roadway leading to and including access to the new RO Plant currently under construction.
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(2) S Olde Towne Wynd – The repairs to this area are complete
(3) Highland Shores - A report of a pothole in Highland Shores was reported and repaired. Investigation revealed this may be an on-going issue so further work and review is scheduled.
Special Note: Some of you may have noted work being conducted in River Ridge along the drainage ditches and wood line along Eastwood Road and Pine Branches Drive in River Ridge. This is part of the work H2GO is doing as part of their RO Plant and that will greatly assist us with some of the drainage problems in the area.
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Board of Commissioner's Meeting |
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On Monday, February 22nd, at our monthly Belville Board of Commissioners Meeting, the Board received updates on several projects, road repairs, local transportation issues, and on-going concerns with the COVID-19 pandemic and response, including vaccine availability and distribution. Updates were provided on finalizing the Special Events Planning Guidance Document and the launch of the public participation phase of the Vision 2030 Plan.
The Board filled two positions on the ABC Board. This included Richard Trexler, a returning Board Member, and Robert "Gene" Ward, who has been very active in both civic and community events in the past, as well as bringing a significant amount of business experience to the Board. Both these individuals will be sworn in to their positions at the next ABC Board Meeting.
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The Parks and Recreation Board vacancy was filled by Mary Anne Fagerquist whose enthusiastic support of maintaining and securing Belville's Greenspace and excitement to fill the position brought a smile to everyone in attendance. She brings several years of community involvement and planning experience and will be a great addition to the Park Board! |
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A resolution was read thanking former Town Commissioner and Parks and Recreation Liaison Kent Goodman for the donation of his time and creativity for beautifying the entrance to our Town at River Road, Town Hall, the Town Sign, and various projects at the Brunswick Riverwalk. Kent has also helped with the landscaping around the new Town Sign and is talking about offering free gardening and planting lessons for interested individuals at the Duke Educational Pavilion when upgrades are completed. Kent, ever humble, was not in attendance at the meeting but will be formally be recognized once he is! |
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Finally, the Board recognized Brenda Williams for her six years of dedicated service to the Town in a variety of positions. Prior to assuming her new position as Deputy Town Clerk and Tax Collector, she was the friendly face that greeted you when you entered Town Hall. We take pride in the exceptional quality of employees who work for you, our citizens of Belville and thank Brenda for her outstanding dedication, hard work and tenure over the last 6 years. |
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Monthly Meetings Schedule
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Planning Board Meeting - March 2nd at 6:30 PM
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Parks and Recreation Board - March 11th at 6:00 PM
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ABC Board - March 16th at 6:30 PM
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Board of Commissioners – March 22nd at 6:30 PM
Please check with the Town or follow press releases and notifications for meeting cancellations and changes.
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(1) Website Redesign – On February 17th, our website went live. This user-friendly and modern website is designed specifically for the public to surf and easily locate information about the Town. Special thanks goes out to the Mayor Pro Tem, Chuck Bost, the multiple individuals who took part in this redesign, and to our Town Manager, Athina Williams, for her tenacity and persistence on this project. Please visit us at www.townofbelville.com and add us to your bookmarks!!
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(2) Town Sign – The last two phases of our new Town Sign - addition of the columns and flag poles - are complete. This new sign is a far improvement from our previous one and proudly proclaims that you have entered the Town of Belville. Additional landscaping will be done by Kent Goodman, who once again generously donated his time and service to this and many other projects!
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The continuing COVID-19 pandemic has made the future of any events in the near future questionable. However, as stated, the Staff explores the options of some events being held virtually with the hopefully expectation of possibly hold live events in the summer. Tentative events could include additional movie nights as a starter. |
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Brunswick Riverwalk at Belville |
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For additional updates and information about our Park, please visit our Facebook Page!!
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o Duke Energy Educational Pavilion
It has been a long-time goal of our Town to have a facility in our Park that offers educational events and lessons to our local schools, capitalizing on the natural beauty and resources of our riverfront area. In cooperation with Duke Energy, this lead to the building of our Educational Pavilion located along the Parks boardwalk. We were unable to complete all the facilities in the pavilion ... until now! Shortly, we will begin finishing the bathroom and some of the educational equipment that will hopefully allow us to begin offering classes once the COVID restrictions are lifted. Finger's crossed!
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o Lighting
Duke Energy also up-graded our Park's lighting to new, brighter and more cost efficient LED lights. Not only does this illuminate the Park better, adding an improved level of security for our patrons, but are more energy efficient and have a longer life span. Additionally, they benefit environmental and conservational concerns, reducing the energy demands on our power grid.
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o Improved Wi-Fi
With the assistance of ATMC, we introduced wi-fi to park visitors last year and, this year, ATMC has graciously upgraded our service, providing faster speed and more bandwidth. Again, this amazing partnership with ATMC does not go unappreciated and words cannot sufficiently express the gratitude we have for their continued support in our on-going park improvements!
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o Riverwalk Farmers' Market
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o Riverwalk Veterans' Memorial
Come visit our Veteran's Memorial, located in the back of our Town Park. For more information on adding a name to our memorial, please contact Jim Bucher or go directly to Polar Engraving to place your order.
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