The Ice Cream Float A local teen has a unique summer business serving vacationers sweet and ice-cold treats. Read about the Ice Cream Float boat on Page 3A.
Volume 43, No. 44
POST Voice The Pender-Topsail
&
Practices open this week Fall high school sports in Pender County will begin practices on Friday. Games are just a few weeks away. Read about it in sports on 1B.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
The Media of Record for the People of Pender County
50 Cents
School bond meetings focus on enrollment growth, facility needs
Saturday morning street music
Commissioners to discuss bond proposal at August meetings By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher
Staff photo by Andy Pettigrew
Noah Harrell and Alison Gayle bring music and philisophy to the streets of Burgaw on a sunny Saturday morning.
School’s in session at Surf City Surf School By Tammy Proctor Post & Voice Staff Writer Cody Leutgens and Brian Bedson opened Surf City’s newest business last week. Surf City Surf School is now in session. The two 25 year-olds give private and group surf lessons. “We specialize in professional surfing instruction,” said Bedson. “We get to watch people smile.” “People who think they could never surf succeed,” said Leutgens. “It’s a sport for anybody.” Leutgens and Bedson are locals, born and breed. Both attended Topsail schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. They grew up surfing in the waters off Topsail Island. Being locals give them an-
lessons, they teach students about tides, what makes a good wave to catch, and the techniques surfers need. They grew up around the water. Now it’s their classroom. “I think I started surfing as soon as I walked,” said Leutgens. Bedson said he started surfing in the sixth grade. It was his favorite past time while he worked at The Bistro, managing the kitchen at night and surfing during the day. “I’m a morning person,”
Continued on page 3A
Pender County school officials held a series of three public information meetings this week on the subject of the proposed school bond. The School Board held public meetings at Trask, Topsail, and Pender high schools. School board chairman Karen Rouse told the group meeting at Trask Monday night the details of the proposed $75 million bond were preliminary. Board member Tom Roper added the meetings were early in the bond approval process. “School is out and November is still a way off. But the commissioners wanted us to have public meetings right away,” Roper said. There are two meetings remaining the Pender County Commissioner’s approval process for the bond. Commissioners will receive public input on the bond at their Aug. 4 meeting and will vote on the bond Aug. 18. Staff photo by Andy Pettigrew Superintendent Dr. Pender County school suTerri Cobb led the Mon- perintendent Dr. Terri Cobb day meeting at Trask speaks at Monday’s school High School with a pre- bond meeting at Trask High sentation that outlined School the bond proposal and emphasized the growth experienced by Pender schools. Cobb said enrollment system wide has grown by more than 700 students since 2009 and expected to exceed 9,000 students in the 2014-15 school year. Growth projections show a minimum of 275 additional students each year for the next 10 years. The bond proposal includes a new K-8 school in the Surf City area, and a complete renovation of the Penderlea School. The proposal also includes renovations at Burgaw Middle School, West Pender Middle, and Pender High School. Cape Fear Elementary and Middle School will receive additions to increase student capacity. The question was asked what will happen if the bond is not approved. Roper said schools would have to resort to mobile classrooms to provide space for the growing student population. Mobile classrooms cost about $50,000 each. “The reality is we would have a situation like what we had at Topsail High a few years ago with about 1,300 students at a school built for five to six hundred. We would have mobile classrooms everywhere and an infrastructure disaster,” Roper said. “The least expensive alternative is putting up mobile classrooms.” The last of the three scheduled bond public meetings will be at Pender High July 31.
Staff photo by Tammy Proctor
Cody Leutgens and Brian Bedson opened Surf City Surf School last week. advantage. They understand the combination of southwestern winds and the direction in
which the beach faces creates perfect waves. They know how the waves break. During
Facility will feature innovative green technology
County wastewater plant on schedule By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher Pender County’s wastewater treatment plant continues to take shape at the Pender Progress Industrial Park. Utilities Director Michael Mack says construction is on schedule for completion of the project, which will feature innovative green technology used to process wastewater. “The collection system is in
at Commerce Park. The waterlines are in. The phase one, which is the holding tank for R.C. Creations will be in place by Oct. 1,” Mack said. R.C. Creations, the seafood processing facility currently under construction at Pender Commerce Park, will begin production before the wastewater plant comes online. Wastewater from the plant will be pumped into a holding tank and then trucked by tanker
to Wallace to its wastewater plant for processing. This will continue until the wastewater plant at the industrial park is completed. Mack says the county is working through the permits needed to move the wastewater to Wallace, where the county already has Staff photo by Andy Pettigrew wastewater capacity. “We did get formal notifica- Burgaw Police Chief Montrina Sutton stands beside the Cram the Cruiser car outside the police station. The police department will continue to collect school supplies for tion of our fourth and final
Continued on page 9A
local students through Aug. 15. Bring donations of supplies to the station during business hours.
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