CAMA plan goes back for revision

Havelock commissioners haggled over the language in a land use plan during Monday night's meeting and decided changes are needed.

Board members and Mayor Jimmy Sanders worried that certain wording in the plan, required under the Coastal Area Management Act, would tie the hands of future boards with policies that weren't in the best interests of the city when dealing with growth issues.

"I don't thing the General Assembly intended tor CAMA to tell us what kind of capital improvement plan we have to have," Sanders said. "I don't think that this board or any future board needs to be tied down with a policy that says we've got to provide fire and rescue outside the city. That's our goal, but our objective is to serve the residents of Havelock."

The plan, nearly an inch thick, is supposed to represent the direction the city intends to go with its growth and land use through 2020. Production of the document has been in the works since 2006.

Scott Chase, city planner, will work on an updated version that will be presented at the board's July 28 meeting for approval. The plan must be submitted to the Coastal Resources Commission by July 30.

Also during Monday night's meeting, City Manager Jim Freeman said he anticipated a sewer service agreement with New Bern in about a week.

The plan sets Catfish Lake Road as a dividing line for service between the two cities and allows for a 16-inch sewer line to connect Havelock to New Bern's system, thus easing capacity problems with the Havelock sewer system while allowing for future customers west of the city.

Freeman said three new developers have expressed interest in tying in to the line.

"I do believe there is a win-win out there," Freeman said.

In other business Monday night, the board:

• decided to install a new water meter and backflow valve to replace one that broke this spring at the Greenfield Heights subdivision. Ned Cieszko, the developer of the system that is outside city limits, is asking the city to take over the water system. To do so would require annexation, something that is opposed by some residents there.

Commissioners instructed Freeman to inform Cieszko that he would have to pay to upgrade the system to city standards, and residents would have to pay three times the normal rate for water as within the city if the city took over the system.

• scheduled a public hearing for 7 p.m. July 28 on annexation of land for the new west end fire station

• scheduled a public hearing on proposed financing of a new phone system for 7 p.m. Aug. 25.

• decided to dispose of the city's old gas tank, which was struck by lightning last year. The city has been using Fuel-Man cards for eight months, which allow city employees to fill city vehicles at local gas stations. The new system allows for cleaner accounting and tighter controls on the quantity of gas used, according to John Quill, public works director.

• decided to draw up a contract for participation in the Web-based media production company CGI. Diane Miller, city spokeswoman, told the board that the company would provide five videos about the city, including a welcome from the mayor, all at no cost to the city.