Duck recognized for accounting software change

A larger than usual crowd filled the Paul F. Keller Meeting Hall for the June 5 regular Duck Town Council meeting.

Among the early agenda items was a special presentation to the Town of Duck by two North Carolina League of Municipalities representatives.

Perry James, a municipal accounting services senior consultant, congratulated Duck Town Council and town staff for implementing a new Municipal Accounting Software System. James used a series of PowerPoint slides to explain several software components, including overestimating expenses and underestimating revenues, managing actual-to-budget results monthly, knowing when debt is an appropriate tool and exercising proper asset and liability management.

Also representing the league was Mary Hogan, supervisor of accounting, who then presented Duck finance administrator Jessica Barnes with a framed certificate in recognition of the software conversion.

According to James, Duck is now one of 50 North Carolina towns to have already undergone a software conversion or are scheduled to complete the transition shortly.

The North Carolina League of Municipalities serves as a support organization for cities and towns in the state with education and training programs, technical assistance and research services to enable member cities and towns better serve their residents and improve quality of life.

Digging into the regular agenda, council held a lengthy hearing on special use permit applications from Un Yong Karl and Eva Chin for 1156 Duck Road, and the Four Seasons Property Owners Association common property at 0 Duck Road with adjoining property owners Matthew and Jenna McDermott at 102 Amy Lane. Both requests were for additional fill and retaining walls in excess of allowable limits.

Since the two projects were related, and had similar facts and testimony, council considered the requests in a joint hearing.

Although council had already approved fill and bulkhead work for the 1156 Duck Road property in 2023, a contractor error resulted in a wall that encroached some 16 to 18 feet onto the adjoining Four Seasons property at 0 Duck Road.

According to testimony from the half dozen or more people that spoke, the unique topography of the land and the excessive undergrowth there helped contribute to the construction error, which in turn has caused considerable erosion to the bluff in that area.

The two applications in front of council Wednesday aimed at resolving the error with an extended bulkhead across the remainder of the Four Seasons property that tied into an existing bulkhead on the adjoining McDermott property.

Not at all happy to fix a construction error by authorizing an exception to town guidelines, council had several questions related to the two projects before being convinced the requested fill was the minimum required and the walls would be no higher than necessary.

After two hours of testimony, a couple of question and answer sessions, review of documentation, and discussion, council approved the 1156 Duck Road request to construct a two-tiered bulkhead system with a five foot lower wall and four foot upper wall and a connecting stair access to the shoreline with an added condition that the town attorney help work out the wording to resolve any erosion issues with an adjoining property.

In a separate decision, council then authorized the special use permit request to complete construction of a bulkhead system on the Four Seasons Property Owners Association property at 0 Duck Road with an eight foot tall by 43 foot long bulkhead with up to five feet of fill.

Following a much quicker public hearing, council approved a special use permit application from Mark Wishner to construct a two-tiered retaining wall system at 109 Settlers Lane. The upper wall is to be up to 13 feet high and the lower retaining wall up to seven feet high with the appropriate fill behind each.

Next up, town manager Drew Havens presented his proposed FY 2024-25 budget ordinance and 2025-2029 capital improvement plan.

FY 2024-25 BUDGET ORDINANCE GENERAL FUND REVENUES

Ad Valorem Taxes $4,741,190
MSD Taxes $1,012,675
Local Government Sales Tax $1,900,000
Real Estate Transfer Tax $375,000
Occupancy Tax $2,000,000
Grants $42,549
ABC and Beer & Wine $92,500
Utility Taxes $410,000
Permits and Fees $208,000
Interest and Asset Sales $330,000
Transfers $496,764
Debt Proceeds $124,762
Fund Balance Appropriated $0
Other Revenue $109,160

TOTAL REVENUES $11,842,599

FY 2024-25 BUDGET ORDINANCE GENERAL FUND EXPENDITURES

Governing Body $154,751
Administration $427,390
Finance & Human Resources $251,261
Legal $65,460
Public Facilities $670,362
Information Technology $178,111
Police $2,238,842
Fire $2,065,851
Inspections $253,479
Ocean Rescue $764,500
Streets & Highways $137,634
Sanitation $1,442,775
Environmental Protection $845,604
Community Development $391,069
Communications & Special Events $511,405
Transfers $1,348,855
Contingency $95,251

TOTAL EXPENDITURES $11,842,599

In his review of the budget, Havens explained that although there are changes within some departments, there are no planned changes in the overall number of town staff.

There is, however, a slight increase in the tax rate, raising it to $0.25, which is still the second lowest rate in Dare County.

The 31 projects in the recommended FY 2025-29 CIP total $34,361,600 and are grouped into six department groups:
Public Facilities — $13,567,800 — 40%
Environmental Protection — $12,851,500 — 37%
Streets and Highways — $4,530,200 — 13%
Fire — $2,552,000 — 7%
Police — $617,600 — 2%
Parks — $242,500 — 1%

Council approved both the budget ordinance and CIP before discussing a proposed ordinance change extending the current 10 p.m. limit on outdoor music and entertainment to 12:01 a.m. only on January 1.

At council’s request, staff surveyed various groups with 174 responses. After hearing from residents, non-residents, visitors, business owners, employees and Southern Shores residents who visit Duck every New Year’s Eve, there were 77 percent in favor of the change and 23 percent opposed.

It was, however, the exact opposite response from council, with only Kevin Lingard, who started the discussion, in favor of the change.

With no motion offered, council then instructed town attorney Robert B. Hobbs Jr. quit working on and dismiss a legal challenge by Duck to a North Carolina House budget bill that impacted local zoning regulations. It was pointed out that there has been new legislation that repealed zoning restrictions making it a moot issue.

Other action by council included approving a personnel policy change making the probationary period six months for all employees and a language change for name clearing hearings, a legal opportunity for employees who feel they were wrongly dismissed or demoted to publicly clear his or her name, and the approval of a three item consent agenda: May 1 regular session minutes, acceptance of a $1 million NC Emergency Management Disaster Relief and Mitigation Fund Grant for expenses related to the NC 12 Resiliency Project, and a budget amendment for the grant money.

The final council action was to enter a closed session to discuss a legal matter.

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