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On April 2, 2025, Manteo commissioners unanimously approved a special use permit for the Dare County Schools Early College.

A formal quasi-judicial hearing was held. After a thorough explanation of the hearing process by town attorney Ben Gallop, town manager Melissa Dickerson and Dare project and purchasing manager Dustin Peele were sworn in to provide information.

Dickerson shared findings of fact, read the list of attachments to the permit and then addressed the recommended conditions for the permit.

The attachments include Dare County special use permit application, Dare County Capital Improvement Plan Committee minutes, site plan, landscape plan and lighting plan, B-2 General Business District ordinance, parking standards, lighting ordinance, screening and landscaping ordinance, lighting specifications and wastewater calculations.

As to the wastewater calculations, in a letter dated Jan. 15, 2025, Timmons Group pegged the maximum number of students in the Early College at 350. State regulations give the design daily flow for a school with a cafeteria and no gymnasium as 12 gallons per student. “At a maximum of 350 students, the daily design flow for the facility will be 4,200 gallons per day.”

Information included in the formal decision attest to the review work done by the town’s staff and committees, like the Preservation and Architectural Review Committee and the Planning and Zoning Committee.

The conditions accompanying the permit are summarized as:

– Exterior construction activities limited to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. or dusk whichever occurs first.

– Temporary construction office permitted. Must be removed within 14 days of project completion.

– Parking lot lighting to be directed to minimize glare on public roads and adjacent properties.

– Landscaping installed per Manteo comments on revisions.

– Southernmost curb cut to remain for emergency vehicle access. Geo web material recommended for surface.

– Site is mixed use with both early college/high school and College of The Albemarle students. While construction is underway, early college students will use existing facilities.

– Utility plans must meet town’s utility ordinance specifications.

The early college structure will be 25,735 square feet with 92 parking spaces provided.

No person spoke at the evidentiary hearing.

In new business, the commissioners entered a memorandum of understanding with College of The Albemarle for basic law enforcement training. Manteo Police Chief Brad Eilert is serving as interim program director for the training program, a position he is qualified to hold. In order to facilitate the program’s continuation, Eilert is spending two days a week at Currituck County airport where the class is taught. Eilert will be in the position until May 22, 2025.

In the current class are six cadets from Dare County, including three from the Kitty Hawk Police Department; two from the Southern Shores Police Department; one from the Dare County Sheriff’s Office. The class has a total of 19 cadets drawn from the region.

The commissioners approved Resolution 2025-02 asking the state’s General Assembly to enact local legislation granting Manteo, Dare County and the county’s other municipalities “express authorization … to construct, finance, manage, or otherwise provide housing for employees of the county and municipal governments thereby ensuring the stability and effectiveness of critical public services.”

The board adopted a budget amendment accepting $6,500 from College of The Albemarle for the services of Eilert, who refused the funds. The town will use the monies for vehicle supplies and maintenance. The amendment also received a Public Access Grant of $95,738 for the redecking of the Lighthouse Pier.

In her manager’s report, Dickerson mentioned:

– cleanup of the Manteo Cemetery by Public Works.

– strategic planning survey had 277 responses, with the majority living in Manteo.

– At the wastewater plant, an electrical inspection is underway on the UV project.

– Mainstreet Advisory Board is working on a special events manual.

– A NCDOT Share the Road grant has given 100 bicycle helmets to the Town.

In the April 2 consent agenda, adopted unanimously, the commissioners approved a proclamation for Fair Housing Month, a proclamation for Child Abuse Prevention Month, and the fiscal year 2026 budget for the Government Education Access Committee Current TV.

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