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he budget is approved, the Tourism Board appoints seven new members, and a revised CAMA permit comment request gets a revised response from the Harbor and Waterfronts Committee.

Commissioners Paul Jordan, Lou Ostendorff, Dan McGuire, Iris Cooper and Chris Moffat. Also in attendance were Town Manager Diane Miller, Finance Officer Lisa Millington, Officer Michael DeStefano. Mayor Sally Belangia was absent.

Meeting Recap

• Motion approved to adopt the budget amendment using the interim budget passed on June 26 as the 2026-27 fiscal year budget, using the “old” property values and raising the tax rate from 22 to 23 cents per $100.
• Eric Heden, National Weather Service Warning Coordination Meteorologist will present at Town hall’s Hurricane Preparedness meeting August 17, 6p.
• Motion approved to adopt new Tourism Ordinance and appoint new Tourism Board members
• Motion approved to spray for mosquitoes every Tuesday and Thursday, starting at 5:30a
• Motion approved to allow Harbor Waterfronts board to review Fulcher Seafood’s amended application to CAMA

Public Comments

Pat Allen commented on the CAMA permit request from Fulcher Seafood to dredge and expand their docks. He said, “what I do not know is, what benefit is that to the city of Oriental? Does it bring any additional revenue to the city of Oriental? Does it bring any extra jobs?”

Continuation of the Public Hearing on the 2026-27 Budget

Manager Miller reminded the Town Board an interim budget was adopted June 26 to run from July 1 to September 30.

She said the Governor signed SB 474 which includes Oriental in the property tax moratorium, meaning Oriental must use the previous property tax values for the current fiscal year. Oriental’s budget for 2026-27 fiscal year is $2,178,958. The millage rate increases to 23 cents per 100 dollars from 22 cents.

Tax rate comparison table included shown at Tuesday’s meeting showing the increase in taxes from 2025 to 2026.

The new property tax values “are changing all the time” Miller explained as property tax challenges come before the County. Miller said, “restricted reserves will be used to augment the budget leaving only an $849 increase.” Miller said the Board had worked hard and has provided “all of the things that everybody wanted to see,” including adding two new positions.

Sewer Rates Increase Slightly; All Other Fees Remain Unchanged
“We made no changes to any fee schedules, no water, development, planning — nothing. The sewer rates changed slightly: 25 cents per 1,000 gallons on the upper end users,” Miller explained. “Ninety percent of people run between 2,500 to 4,500 gallons which would result in a .75 cent increase. The sewer rate is controlled by the Bay River Metropolitan Sewer District and is a ‘pass through’ for Oriental.”

Miller said the County would approve a full fiscal year budget in August and we would know their rate at that time.

Motions approved for the 2026-27 interim budget, holiday and meeting schedules, the Chapter S sewer fees, and the rollover of the interim town budget into the fiscal year budget.

CAMA Permit Application to Expand Fulcher Seafood Docks

Fulcher Seafood has submitted a request to CAMA (Coastal Area Management Act) to obtain approval to expand their docks along the harbor jetty and to dredge along that dock. CAMA contacted Oriental for an opinion as the adjoining neighbor.

Town Manage Miller said a revised request had been received on July 11 and a response is due by August 11.

Miller said the Harbor and Waterfronts Committee (HWAC) had “delivered a very well curated, thoughtful response” to the Town Board on June 26 that focused on the following four areas:
• Negative effect on tourism
• Harm to other local businesses and residents
• Navigational safety hazards
• Environmental concerns, listing all of the previous environmental violations

The revised dock addition and improvements for Fulcher Point LLC / Fulcher Seafood.

The committee sent Miller additional information listing which sections of the application are not in compliance with CAMAs own rules. HWAC board member Breena Litzenberger noted that CAMAs rules state the dock can only be 400 feet, but the application is listing a 600 feet.

HWAC Chair Pat Stockwell reaffirmed they would review the revised application, add the additional section and schedule a meeting to review with members of the Town Board for alignment.

Commissioners thanked them for their work. Commissioner Don McGuire responded to Pat Allen’s question during Public Comments about what benefit this would bring to the Town.

“I can’t think of any benefits. There are no extra jobs. I do not see how it would impact our taxes. I understand all those boats are registered someplace else. It is a very good question, we should keep in mind. Maybe there are no benefits to the town of Oriental.”

Commissioner Ostendorff asked, “Why does Chris Fulcher want to build this now? He has been operating for decades without it. Is there a reason?”

Miller responded to both Commissioners. “I don’t know. The boats are registered in Beaufort and that is where they are located on a fairly regular basis.” The Town Manager is referring to the fact that taxes are paid to the county where the boats are registered. In this case, boats registered in Beaufort, NC pay taxes to Carteret County.

Motion was approved to have the Harbor Waterfronts Board review the amended application, and include the addition of CAMAs own rules, meet with Commissioners McGuire and Jordan who would sign off on the response and release it back to CAMA.

Updated Tourism Board Ordinance Adopted

Commissioner Iris Cooper introduced an updated ordinance for the Tourism Board.

Commissioner Moffat commented that the ordinance specified seven members although they had seven candidates and one current member. He requested the ordinance allow nine members. Jordan said one of the goals was to get more business owners involved with the Tourism Board.

A motion was approved to change the ordinance to allow nine members with staggered terms — three members with 3-year terms, three members with 2-year terms and three members with a 1-year term. Chair Kim Bell was reappointed to a 1-year term.

Appointed for a three-year term: Leslie Kellenburger, Karen Thomas, and Daniela Harrison.

Appointed for a two-year term: Mark Norman, Andrea Pape, and Nikki Kurdys.

Appointed for a one-year term: Kim Bell (Chair), Barbara Acosta Hong (reappointed).

There is a one-year seat left open.

Mosquito Spraying Increases

“We are not spraying at the optimal time,” said Manager Miller. “The solution is to spray at 5:30 in the morning. We are only spraying once a week, we can spray twice a week until we get the mosquito population under control. Moving the time will help us more than spraying more often. People cannot be out walking when the gator (spraying rig) comes around.”

Operators are licensed by that state and cannot spray at the water’s edge due to environmental regulations. If residents opt out, the operators skip their property.

Moffat asked for assurance residents would be notified through as many channels as possible. Motion approved to spray for mosquitoes twice a week, Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 5:30a to 7:15a. Miller said the public would be notified through several methods.

Streets Evaluated with Paving Contractor

Commissioner Jordan and Manager Miller met with a paving contractor to determine which streets get priority for paving. Streets reviewed: Main Street, Vandemere, Ragan, Mildred, and Church Street up to Freemason. Miller said one street was paved 14 years ago, and after 14 years, the street only has a couple of cracks.

“There are advantages to having a good road for 14 years versus a perfect road,” she said. “The good road is acceptable right up until a hurricane,” Miller concluded.

Previous experience with paving contractors resulted in “add-on” costs up to $120,000. Miller said they will build add-ons into the cost up front.

The Water Valve Project will also figure into the new paving. Roads will need to be dug up to install new water valves. Miller said they will prioritize the roads likely to need paving as they do not want to tear up the roads after repaving them.

Manager’s Report

Emergency Planning Updates FEMA suggests having an emergency heat plan. “Just like we have a hurricane plan, we will have a heat emergency plan,” Miller said.

The annual Hurricane Preparation Meeting is scheduled for August 17, 6p at Town Hall. Miller said new residents are encouraged to attend. Eric Heden, NWS Warning Coordination Meteorologist will be present to discuss what hurricanes do and how storm surge works. Manager Miller will explain what Oriental does differently.

Miller said, “after Hurricane season, if all the money is still available in the restricted fund, it may not be as crucial to keep 80% of the fund available for storms. It may be possible to have more money for paving available. However, we do not know what FEMA will do this year and need to keep storm or disaster money available.”

Financial Report
“Looking good. We have taken in more and spent less,” said Manager Miller. 80% of the Sales & Use Tax has been collected with two more months of collection left. 109% of property taxes was collected. The increase in property taxes is from new homes, permitting, and development of vacant lots. Miller said Cycle NC also made a positive difference, adding around $7,000 in revenue.

Auxiliary Board Reports

Water Advisory Board Chair Roger Huth said “procedures tell us we should have a stop date of December 8, 2026” (for the valve replacement project) and that it is still on track to be completed by the end of the year.

Water Board Project: Booster Station
Huth said he and other Town Board members had an opportunity to visit a booster station in Pamlico County. It was a pre-fabricated building, which the water board is considering. “We were all impressed with the concept. The question is,” Huth continued, “will it make sense from a cost or timing perspective?”

He said the next step is getting all the information to compare a pre-fabricated build to a traditional construction concept. “There are key differences in installation, we should have enough information to make a determination in the next few months.”

In 45 days, permits from NC DEQ (Department of Environmental Quality) and DWI (Division of Water Infrastructure) should be approved. A construction timeline can be built from there. Until the engineering and surveying is completed, Huth said it is difficult to know how much the Water Board has left to spend. They have a $5.4 million budget, thanks to a state-funded grant.

After the Water Valve Replacement and the Booster Station projects, Huth said the Water Advisory Board will know how much is left for the Water Treatment Plant renovations.

“Once we get to that point,” said Miller, “we will need to have the water retested because the composition has changed.”

Parks & Recreation Board
Chair Barbara Miller said the board has two new members.

Planning Board
Chair Allison DeWeese said that although the Planning Board had attempted to put restrictions on short term rentals like AirBnBs in 2024, the board was blocked from doing so by legislation. “We have been added to a bill to help us get around that and we should have control over our zoning again soon – if this bill passes.” DeWeese said she and the Town Board has been getting questions, and she wanted to clarify.

Miller explained that Oriental’s ordinance allows for short term rentals in every zone except R1. “And unless you take it out of R2, you’re not really gonna restrict anything. You can put rules on them, and that’s what the Planning Board was working on. It’s easier to go in and try to regulate what you have to have, to have an Airbnb – fire alarms, that kind of thing – than to try to wipe it out. The time to wipe it out of the zone was eight years ago.”

Board vacancies filled
Planning Board member Kathy Walters resigned on July 10. The Town Board had two candidate applications for the vacancy. Motion was approved to appoint Yvonne Jones.

Jim Blackerby was reappointed to the Harbor and Waterfronts Committee.

Rotary signs to be added near Oriental signs

Commissioner Cooper asked on behalf of the Rotary Club to add Rotary signs at the two town entrance signs. She disclosed she was a member of Rotary, as did Chris Moffat and Don McGuire. She added that Rotary would pay for the signs. There were no public comments. Motion was approved.

Absentee & Early Voting approved

Commissioners voted to allow absentee and early voting in the upcoming election. There is no cost to the Town as the municipal election coincides with State and Federal elections.

Police Report

Officer Michael DeStefano said that he and the Chief were working on a new SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for the Police Department.

He said the primary reason for the new process was that rules on evidence had changed since 2002. At June’s meeting Chief Wichrowski said the SOP had not been updated since the 1990s.

Manager Miller clarified that the department has always been compliant with state laws, as those supersede local laws.

Commissioner Comments

Commissioners thanked Town Manager Miller for her diligence in dealing with the budget, in spite of the many changes at the State level.

Dates to Know

The next Town Board Meeting will be Tuesday, August 11 at 6p.

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Story by Laurie Stahlmann

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Related Information

• July Meeting Agenda
• Consent Agenda
• Fiscal Year 2026-27 Budget
• Manager’s Report
• Auxiliary Board Reports
• Budget Adjustments End-of-Year
• CAMA Request Revision Response Final
• Tourism Draft Ordinance and Appointments
• Parrothead Regatta Dock Reservation Request
• Early and Absentee Voting for 2026 Elections

Posted Wednesday July 22, 2026 by Allison DeWeese