WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH — Wrightsville Beach Park improvement project, budget ordinances and pay for ocean rescue teams were highlights of discussion from one area beach town this week.
On Jan. 7, the Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen met and passed all action items unanimously. This included bulkhead replacements along Banks Channel and closing the water and sewer fund. Also passed was a $1 pay raise for ocean rescue team members.
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However, a park improvement project to make the greenspace more accessible, walkable, and usable was tabled for further discussion.
Here is the breakdown:
Starting pay for lifeguards
The board voted unanimously to raise the starting pay for lifeguards by 4.6%, bringing it up from $19.50 an hour to $20.50 an hour. It would also raise the pay for other ocean rescue positions by a dollar.
The new pay for the other positions is broken down as follows:
- Second year lifeguard: $21 an hour
- Second year lifeguard with EMT training: $21.50 an hour
- Rotator/Zone supervisor: $23 an hour
- Lieutenant: $24 an hour
The goal of the pay raise is to compete with neighboring beaches, like Kure and Carolina. In Carolina Beach, the starting pay is $19 an hour, plus the cost of living. In Kure Beach, the starting pay is between $19.50 and $20 an hour.
“[It] would keep us competitive in what is really a limited applicant pool,” Ocean Rescue Director Sam Proffitt said. “We are competing for the same people in the area.”
The salary raise does not require a budget ordinance, as the total temporary salary budget, needed for seasonal jobs, is $342,000 — the raise would add an additional $12,600 to the $272,000 already in use for the seven- or eight-person ocean rescue team’s salary for a total of $284,600. The room occupancy tax, which garnered a $2.3 million revenue, subsidizes the budget for the salary.
“Are we better than Carolina Beach?” Alderman Todd Schoen, who was elected this past November, asked.
“We’re always better,” Proffitt replied.
Park improvement project
Wrightsville Beach’s parks and recreation committee unanimously approved a motion Dec. 22 to push the park improvement project forward for a vote at the aldermen meeting. The committee is hoping to improve Wrightsville Beach Park, including a multi-use path, multi-purpose turf field, a completely paved and lined parking lot by the pickleball field, and replacing the park entrance sign.
The committee then asked the board to consider an application for the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund, a North Carolina program that grants money to local governments to improve parks and public access. The grant application would request $500,000 from the state, while the town would pay just under $1.5 million.
The cost breakdown puts the multi-use path at the most expensive with $565,000, followed by the parking lot at $485,000 and the new multi-purpose field at $438,000. Amenities like the park sign, benches, water fountain, and lighting will cost $100,000, while design and oversight costs are at $50,000.
If Wrightsville Beach applies for and then receives the grant, work on the park would not begin until fall of 2026, as the money is not awarded until August of this year.
The board unanimously decided to table the discussion in order for the planning board to look at plans, though the parks and recreation committee hopes to submit the application by March. Thus, it would need to complete site plans in February. Concerns raised about the project include what strings would be attached to the grant and whether the plans were within the town’s guidelines for park improvement and public access developments.
Mayor Pro Tem Jeff DeGroote also brought up the committee’s “master plan” and whether the proposed improvements all fell under that guideline.
Neither the sign change nor the multi-purpose field are included, but Town Manager Haynes Brigman noted all four items on the park improvement plans were also in Wrightsville Beach’s capital improvement plan. Work has started on the multi-use path, with design negotiated with Cape Fear Engineering.
“I will say that we got a PARTF grant award about four years ago,” Brigman said, referring to the path from Salisbury Street to the park’s restroom facility, a $397,538 award. “I don’t want to put a damper on the situation, but it is unlikely that we would even be awarded the grant. I don’t want to get anybody’s hopes up.”
Budget ordinance on bulkhead repair
The board of aldermen voted unanimously in favor of allocating $600,000 for the bulkhead repair projects on Oxford Street and Fayetteville Street along Banks Channel. The design, created by Andrew Consulting Engineers — known for work at the New Hanover County Historic Courthouse and main library — includes new sheet pile headwalls with helical tiebacks, associated storm drainage improvements, and access stairs.
Bulkheads help prevent erosion of roads and shorelines, and given the antiquated infrastructure of the town, which dates back to the Sixties and Eighties, the structures are in need of repair and replacement.
Because of the cost of the project, as well as the requirement to bid out the project to contractors, the town is completing the bulkhead repairs and replacements in phases.
The first phase of the bulkhead repair project was completed in 2024 by Evans and Sons, and according to Brigman, the plan for the town is to complete two bulkhead repairs a year moving forward.
This is the second phase of the repairs, so the second set of repairs.
The bids for the project opened for the second time on Dec. 17, 2025, as the town only received one bid during the first go. According to General Statute § 143‑132, there is a minimum requirement of three bids and state statute also dictates that bids need to be competitive. The town received two bids during the second opening, which is what the town chose to move forward with, and were able to argue that under state law, it was competitive enough to choose from, according to Brigman.
Span Builders LLC, which specializes in bridge improvements, was awarded the contract from the town and engineering firm at $517,300. The contract stipulates 120 days of construction from the builder. The additional funds were allocated in order to have a contingency plan to account for unforeseen subsurface or environmental conditions.
The project should be completed before Memorial Day.
The collective replacement of the decaying bulkheads around Wrightsville Beach, in particular along Banks Channel was supposed to be paid for by a federal grant, but the funding award was delayed until 2028.
“We don’t feel like we can wait with the condition of some of these bulkheads until 2028 to figure out whether or not we’ll be awarded those grant funds,” Brigman said to council.
Alderman Margaret Baggett, elected for her first term in November, suggested the board of aldermen meet with the planning board — and town staff — to be able to address issues proactively. Baggett campaigned on proactive and preventative infrastructure.
“So we might be able to repair them before they reach the need of replacement,” Baggett said.
Budget ordinance to close the water and sewer fund
The board is tidying up loose ends upon its transferring of water utilities to Cape Fear Public Utility Authority — completed in November.
The town was unable to keep up with the construction needed for the aging utility infrastructure and needed a more sustainable water supply. New water and sewer mains will be constructed and completed by mid-2026.
As part of administrative needs, the aldermen voted unanimously to close the Water and Sewer Fund — known as Fund 30 — and for the billing jurisdiction to be officially transferred to CFPUA. All customer accounts have to be at a zero balance by the time the transfer and construction is complete per the agreement with CFPUA, so the town will finish collecting outstanding bills as needed.
Once the money in arrears is paid, it will be transferred to the town’s general fund, since the water and sewer fund no longer exists as of the Jan. 7 vote. Residents are urged to set up accounts with CFPUA to begin autopay for their water and wastewater bills.
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