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uly’s Town Board Meeting clocked in at just over an hour.

Present were Mayor Sally Belangia, Commissioners Breena Litzenberger, Allen Price, Charlie Overcash, Frank Roe, and Bonnie Crosser. Also in attendance: Town Manager Diane Miller, Finance Officer Lisa Millington. No police officers were present.

Meeting Recap:
• November election of commissioners will be limited to in-person voting only
• Two public hearings are scheduled for the August meeting to discuss a charge for the electric charging station and for to charge for a paper version of the water bill
• Oriental will join the North Carolina Department of Public Safety (NC DPS) Mutual Aid System
• Harbor Waterfront will schedule a workday to clean up embedded bricks and debris submerged at the kayak launch at the Wildlife Ramp

Public Comments:

Gregory Bohmert provided information to Commissioners regarding a green and white boat located in Clancy’s Marina (owned by Gregory and Candy Bohmert). Bohmert assured the Board the boat was not “necessarily abandoned.”

He told Commissioners that the boat has an owner and is being worked on by “one of our elderly eccentrics whom has the hope of sailing it to Tahiti.”

Electric Vehicle Charging Station Fee Proposal

Oriental has two electric vehicle charging stations: one at town dock #2 and one at Town hall. Neither have been charging charging customers to use them. They was installed in 2017, when there were no charging stations between Kinston and Oriental. Both are level 2 charging stations, which typically can take several hours for a full charge. Oriental pays software fees and $2,080 in operating fees annually for both.

Manager Miller shared examples of how the Board could approach fees for electrical vehicle charging. “There are so many ways that you can do that you can do it.” She said the Town could charge by kilowatt hour, or use tiered pricing, or price by the hour.

“New Bern charges one dollar an hour,” Miller said. She suggested $5 for every plug in would cover the fees. Commissioner Breena Litzenberger asked, “Do we know how people are using the charging stations?” Miller said, “Some top off, most plug in and go to the Brewery.” She also said some leave their cars plugged in all night. Commissioner Charlie Overcash said he liked the simplicity of the $5 fee. Motion was approved to charge a $5 fee for electrical vehicle charging at both locations, pending a public hearing.

Charges for Printed & Mailed Water Bills May be Coming

Town Hall had to switch to a new printer for mailed water bills when the company they were using went out of business. Currently, residents receive a paper water bill, even if they are signed up to receive their bill by email.

“Everybody’s going to receive the paper bill until the new printing company and our software company can get their act together,” Miller said. “They [the printing and software companies] are actively working to get that connection, so until that point everybody’s going to get paper bills.”

Manager Miller said it costs the town $1.21 just for the paper and postage – not including the time it takes to create and check the bills. A motion was approved to charge a fee to residents who continue to request a printed paper water bill. A public hearing will be held at August’s meeting to discuss the matter publicly, and determine the final fee. Changes will go into effect after the issues with the printing and software companies are resolved.

Upcoming Election in November will be In-Person Voting

Municipal elections are being held this year. The Town pays for those elections, and this Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 to move the elections to even years, ostensibly to help mitigate the cost.

Manager Miller reported the addition of absentee, early, and mail-in voting would cost Town an additional $4,000, increasing the cost of this year’s election to around $8,000. Miller explained the extra costs include an additional twelve people on duty for fourteen days.

The motion passed four to one to limit voting to in-person with Commissioner Crosser opposed.

Auxiliary Board Reports

Harbor Waterfront Shoreline Updates A diver performed the annual inspection of all Town owned pilings, seawalls, and rivets. Town Manager Miller said Oriental “lost a fishing pier once because the big metal rivets that held it together were not tight – so we have things inspected and tightened.”

Miller said the diver inspects for other issues such as worms in the pilings, found on town dock 1 on Hodges Street in early 2024. A report from the diver is expected soon.

The new seawall, looking left.

The new seawall, looking right.

Community Workday to Clean up around the Kayak Launch
A seawall of rip-rap was built a few feet from the shoreline near the small boat launch at the Wildlife Ramp on Midyette Street. The water around the small boat ramp, also referred to as the kayak launch, is still littered with piles of bricks left over from the old Oriental Bridge.

When clearing the bricks, “the excavator was allowed to pick up anything above the water line, but nothing that was embedded,” Manager Miller said. “When they tried to remove big piles of bricks that were mortared together – the piles fell apart.”

The Town Manager said when weather conditions are right, a community workday will be scheduled to remove the loose bricks and clean up the area.

Bricks near the Kayak Launch.

John Bond Beach is in Need of a Solution
Harbor Waterfronts Advisory Committee member Jim Kellenberger reported the current suggestion for erosion protection that they have for John Bond Beach will not work. John Bond Beach, also known as Minuscule Beach, is located on Neuse Drive between Vandemere Street and Ragan Road.

A meeting has been scheduled to “make some decisions about the godforsaken channel beside John Bond Beach,” he said. Kellenberger mentioned a parallel bulkhead as an option. “The suggestions we have do not work – I will take the heat,” Kellenberger said.

Kellenberger announced Emily Fritz had joined the Harbor Waterfronts Advisory Committee. “It is good to see some youth.”

Parks and Recreation Board Elects a New Chairwoman
Barbara Miller is the new chairperson of the Parks and Recreation Committee. Former chair Vicki Rasmussen will still serve on the committee as a member.

Commissioner Bonnie Crosser was asked to rejoin Parks and Recreation as the Commissioner liaison. She had resigned that position in January 2025 after her revision to the Parks and Recreation Ordinance was tabled for further review. (That revision included charging any violators of the ordinance up to $500 – for acts such as leaning a bike against a tree and not riding bikes single-file in the right-hand lane.)

Crosser agreed to rejoin the Parks and Recreation Committee as the Commissioner liaison.

Ginty the dragon on the backstop of the horseshoe pits.

Ginty the Dragon at the Horseshoe Pits
Barbara Miller designed and painted Ginty the Dragon on the backstops of the horseshoe pits at the Recreation & Dog Park on Straight Road. The dragon was named in honor of president Tom Ginty who helped restore the pits.

Potholes at the Dog Park
“There is a road in Oriental that may soon become impassable due to erosion and potholes,” said Vicki Rasmussen of the Parks and Recreation committee. She suggested “a few loads of crush and run could provide much needed relief.” Manager Miller is following up with Pamlico County to determine who has responsibility for maintaining the road.

Tourism Board Places Ad in Our State Magazine
Marsha Paplham, Chairwoman of the Tourism Board reported the ad in Our State Magazine will come out in September to support the Ol’ Front Porch Festival. Paplham reported that the impression count on the Ol’ Front Porch web site is at about 2,000 per video. Paplham said “Next quarter the Tourism board will probably focus more on the Arts and the Theater.” Miller asked if the metrics included the Oriental town web site because the town web site was “getting slammed.” Paplham said it did not. Overcash asked if there was social media tied to the Our State Magazine ad and Paplham said it was not, she added that “social media can be a lovely format or very ugly.”

Tree Board is Busy
Manager Miller said that the Tree board is normally budgeted for $4,000 annually. In June, $3,600 was spent to remove three trees and for July an additional three trees have been identified as problematic.

Two of the trees are on private property and are dropping limbs the right-of-way and must be addressed due to liability. Registered letters were sent but the homeowners have not replied. Miller is consulting with the town’s attorney on whether the town can remove the trees and charge the cost to the land owners.

Oriental Joins the NC DPS Mutual Aid System

The North Carolina Department of Public Safety Mutual Aid System is a voluntary agreement among North Carolina local governments to provide mutual aid and assistance in restoring water and sewer in the event of natural disasters and other emergencies. All 100 counties, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and nearly three-fourths of the 650 municipalities have signed the mutual aid agreement.

This is an agreement among North Carolina’s cities and counties to help one another during and after disasters with policies and procedures to address logistics, deployment, compensation and liability issues. Motion to join was approved. Manager Miller volunteered to attend any meetings required.

Budget Updates

Miller said “sales and use tax is two months behind, this week we received $24,275 – we are a few hundred dollars short of our goal.” She reported there is one more month to collect the occupancy tax. “The majority of Oriental’s revenue is tied to property taxes which are collected in October, November, December.”

Most of the “once a year expenses such as memberships and licenses are due on July 1” – before the property taxes are collected. Miller said the budget is tight until all the property taxes are collected.

“I have some good news today,” reported Miller. “Interest earnings are up 201%,” and “water revenues look great – look to be ahead of the game.”

Water Advisory Board Updates on Water Treatment Plant, Valve and Booster Projects

Commissioner Crosser reported the Water Advisory Board is reviewing two engineering contracts. She said, “approving the contract for the water treatment plant should happen very quickly.”

For the Valve Project the timeline is more complicated. Daniel Early, Director of Public Works and Water Advisory Board member, is reviewing the contract. Once completed, state agencies will also have to review the project, adding at least 30 to 60 days before bidding can occur.

Crosser said the pump supplier for the booster project is “missing in action” due to the tariff situation and a lack of communication with TRC Construction – “so we’re going to have to go out and look for a new supplier for the pumps for the booster station.” TRC Construction is the engineering firm contracted to work on the project. Crosser said this would put the project 30 days behind schedule.

Once construction on White Farm Road starts for the valve project, residents will see “some things torn up in a lot of different places,” said Miller.

LAS Water Treatment
Public works is using Liquid Ammonium Sulfate (LAS) at the water treatment plant. It’s inclusion has reduced the amount of water used to flush the lines, per Commissioner Crosser.

Dates to Know

The next Town Board Meeting will be Tuesday, August 12 at 6p.

Related Information

• July Meeting Agenda
• Consent Agenda
• Manager’s Report
• Auxiliary Board Minutes
• Harbor Waterfronts Committee Ordinance Revision Proposal
• Budget Amendment
• Contracts for Water Plant and Dive Inspections
• Capital Reserve Addition PFAS
• NC Mutual Aid Water Systems Agreement
• 2025 Election Agreement
• Electric Vehicle Revenue Options
• Police Report

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Story & photos by Laurie Stahlmann

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Posted Tuesday July 29, 2025 by Keith N. Smith