WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH — With summer on the horizon, town leaders approved various spending measures and planned for the season at a government meeting this week.
The Wrightsville Beach aldermen met Thursday evening with a hefty agenda. The board approved a land-use request from the new owners of Tower 7, deliberated on controversial event applications and took positions on more than half a million dollars in new spending.
New use approved for Tower 7
Father-son duo Joel and Ross Tomaselli purchased the Tower 7 building in downtown Wrightsville Beach from the Saffo family in May. Ross, a member of the firm Cadence Realty, then asked the town to let him build four residences — in lieu of the existing office space — on the top floor.
- Cadence Realty’s office was previously located in the Tower 7 building. Freshman Wilmington City Council member Luke Waddell is the firm’s principal broker; on Thursday, Waddell attended the meeting in support of the application, but did not speak on it during the public hearing.
- David Squires, the town’s chief of police, wrote that the proposal could lead to more noise complaints, with the added residences being in the most lively spot of downtown. Town leaders also worried about putting more residential parking passes on the street through proposals like this one.
- The board approved the text amendment from the applicants, setting the stage for the Tower 7 mixed-use redesign.
Ocean Rescue spending
In an early signal that the missed cycle of beach renourishment on Wrightsville Beach this year could take a toll, the interim fire chief told the board that erosion had made parts of the beach inaccessible to the four-wheel-drive truck.
- With $30,000, ocean rescue could purchase an ATV capable of weaving through tight spots on the beach, according to town officials. It could also fund increased lifeguard patrols adjacent to Masonboro Inlet on the south end — a potentially dangerous swimming area.
- “I can attest this will be a challenging summer,” town manager Tim Owens told the board. “And this will likely help a little bit.”
New parking lot and new contractor
The director of Wrightsville Beach Public Works, Bill Squires, has previously told town leaders a shortage in staff is affecting the department’s operations. He returned to the board Thursday to request $80,000 to contract with a janitorial services company.
- The company ServiceMaster was the only one to submit a proposal to the town. “This is a highly qualified company that has a staff of 45 employees and currently provides similar services to other public venues such as the Battleship North Carolina and Fort Fisher Aquarium,” according to the agenda. The company would clean and re-stock restrooms daily. Squires added the restroom-cleaning division of public works is currently short three employees.
- The town has also made progress on plans that would add parking adjacent to town hall and expand the parking next to Wrightsville Beach Park.
- Wrightsville Beach received one bid for the project, estimated to cost around $450,000. To not disrupt activities during the summer months, the reconstruction of the Wrightsville Beach Park lot will be scheduled largely during the winter months. The other half of the plan, more parking around town hall, could move forward sooner. “The Board could still continue to move forward with the new parking lot adjacent to the Town Hall,” according to the agenda.
Pivot Parking
Every year, according to Owens, the town’s parking contractor supplies a list of new gear that would assist their work. Pivot Parking has requested the town purchase one additional license plate recognition camera, and one additional golf cart.
- The price for the new gear was set at $70,000, and would be paid with excess parking revenues.
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