The Town of Southern Shores has released its list of accomplishments and notable achievements from 2023:
• The first townwide beach nourishment project was completed in March of 2023. 1,048,400 cubic yards of beach fill was placed along the Town’s 3.8 miles of oceanfront shoreline.
• Town Staff, Volunteers with Better Beaches, the SSCA, various other volunteer groups, and a contractor helped to stabilize the shoreline by planting over 240,000 sprigs of beach grass.
• To help build and maintain a dune 5,500 feet of beach sand fence was installed.
• The Town purchased 13 Skyline Drive, a 1955 Frank Stick Flat Top home. The property had been the Outer Banks Community Foundation office for eight years. The Town has plans in place to return the property to a residence that can be offered as temporary employee housing to recruit new Police Officers.
• The Police Department secured a grant for a large portion of funding towards a new K-9 and training for its handler. PO Thomas Long will serve as our K-9 Officer with his K-9, Arty. Officer Long and Arty were voted, by their peers, as Best Tracking & Detection K9 Team, out of 19 teams.
• A new Police Officer Recruit position was created and has been filled. This position allows the Police Department to contract with an applicant before they enter Basic Law Enforcement Training. While the Police Officer Recruit is training to become a Law Enforcement Officer for the Town, they can orient and familiarize themselves with the Department.
• The Public Works Department shop building has been upgraded. The remodel provided an office, bathroom, and provided conditioned break/meeting room space. Previously, there was no onsite space for staff to hold training, meetings, or breaks.
• Upgrades to the Pitts Center Council Meeting Room were completed that added a new exit, meeting recording space, and provided some cosmetic improvements to interior walls.
• In October the Town received another outstanding audit. Revenues exceeded expenditures by about $1.3 million and fund balance grew by nearly the same amount. The Town remains in an excellent financial position.
• A financial software program aimed at making the budget more transparent and readable was implemented.
• The Planning Department made significant progress in completing an update to the 2012 CAMA Land Use Plan.
• Kimley-Horn has made significant progress towards permitting and designing a cored slab bridge to replace the culvert at Trinitie Trail and Juniper Trail.
• Over 3 miles of roads were either repaved or patched. This year marked the second of a 10-year plan to upgrade pavement conditions of our streets.
• To become more competitive in pursuing grant opportunities, the Town was selected by the North Carolina Leage of Municipalities to be partner with a firm for assistance.
• With funding through a Dare County Tourism Impact Grant, the town nearly completed a multi-use-path along the east side of NC12 from Triangle Park to East Dogwood Trail. A second grant will continue this path along the west side of NC 12 from East Dogwood Trail to Hickory Trail.
• The Police Department began participating in Project Lifesaver which is a program that assists with locating people that are prone to wondering, such as those with Alzheimer’s or Down’s syndrome.
• The Town hosted 15 American Red Cross Blood Drives
• 30,000 users have viewed and engaged with the new Town Website.