North Carolina editorial roundup

Recent editorials from North Carolina newspapers:

Sept. 18

StarNews of Wilmington on a commission’s decision not to delay a vote on selling a county-run hospital:

By refusing simply to delay the vote on one of the most complex, consequential and controversial issues ever considered here, the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners has unnecessarily fomented distrust and contempt for itself, as well as for the leadership of New Hanover Regional Medical Center.

It could easily have been avoided. The commissioners and other local governing bodies routinely postpone votes, especially ones of such magnitude, sometimes to gather more information, sometimes just to assure the public that a decision is not being rushed.

With an outcry from residents as well as the largest organization of doctors in the county - the NHRMC medical staff - we had hoped the commissioners would delay action on the resolution they passed Monday night by 3-2 vote, a measure that could end up being the first step in selling the county-owned health care network.

From the time plans to explore the hospital’s future were announced, three of the five commissioners have said there was no reason to slow down. County and hospital leaders have insisted that the resolution was required before further options could be considered for NHRMC, which with 7,000 workers is the region’s largest employer.

We remain perplexed as to why Commissioners Patricia Kusek, Julia Olson-Boseman and Woody White never seemed remotely open to the possibility that a delay could have instilled some much-needed trust in the process and united the community more around what has turned out to be a very controversial idea.

What was there to lose? If the vote had been postponed for three months - as was requested by the NHRMC medical staff, among others - not only would the outcome have been the same, the commissioners would have had a more solid foundation to stand on as proposals were considered.

In the eyes of many, the process is now permanently tainted and suspect. It didn’t have to be that way. And that mistrust ultimately could hurt the hospital. As we’ve argued from the beginning, a change in ownership may very well be the best way forward. But by refusing to slow the process and address questions on how and by whom the proposal was initiated, the commissioners likely have undermined support for any major change - even if it clearly is the best option.

Such a major transition - even exploring it - was always going to take a toll on a county so personally devoted to the hospital it created 50 years ago. By refusing to bend even a little to the will of the community, the commissioners are making it even more contentious and divisive.

That’s a shame.

Online: https://www.starnewsonline.com/

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Sept. 18

The Winston-Salem Journal on the end of a fireworks show that drew roughly 10,000 people each year:

The news would come on Friday the 13th.

That’s when area residents learned that the Town of Lewisville will no longer host its annual Fourth of July firework display. That’s a disappointment for many.

The decision to end the display wasn’t because it was unpopular - it drew roughly 10,000 people each year. The decision wasn’t for lack of money or because of political correctness or because nobody could decide on a name.

It was simply because the town could no longer ensure the public’s safety.

Because of development, the town no longer has an adequate fallout zone, Mayor Mike Horn told the Journal’s Lisa O’Donnell - a place where hot debris from the fireworks could land safely without fear of sparking a fire or injuring someone. The town had been using a grassy strip of land that runs parallel to Shallowford Road as a fallout zone, but that area is no longer available - it’s the site of the future Great Wagon Road extension, which will link Shallowford Road to Lewisville-Vienna Road and alleviate growing traffic.

“We have less and less of an area to shoot these off and still adhere to regulations,” Horn said. “Next year, we won’t be able to shoot in that zone at all. Obviously, the question is, ’Where else can we shoot?’ And there’s not really any place that can accommodate the crowds we have at the Fourth of July.”

There’s a reason such elaborate productions - Lewisville spent $36,000 on this year’s fireworks program - don’t appear just anywhere.

The Fourth of July display was a well-loved event that put Lewisville on the map. For many, it was a family tradition, one they hoped to pass on to their children.

But a dangerous tradition is not worth the risk of passing down.

On the bright side, local residents enjoyed a free, extraordinary fireworks display for 20 years. That’s a good run.

There will be other firework displays next July, of course, including, most likely, one at the BB&T Ballpark sponsored by the City of Winston-Salem and the Winston-Salem Dash.

And maybe, if enough people ask them nicely (and somebody ponies up the money), Tanglewood Park will consider reviving its past fireworks tradition.

Online: https://www.journalnow.com/

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Sept. 15

The Daily Reflector of Greenville on the impact of hurricanes on North Carolina communities:

It was daytime when the first bands of Hurricane Floyd began lashing eastern North Carolina and the Greenville area on Wednesday, Sept. 15, 1999, 20 years ago …

The Tar River was nearly 5 feet above flood stage already, thanks in good measure to two passes by Hurricane Dennis two weeks before. Law enforcement officers fanned out to distribute pink evacuation orders on scores of front doors.

Winds that reached 75 mph downed trees and snapped power lines. By the time Floyd made its exit Thursday afternoon, it had dumped 15 inches or more of rain and swollen local creeks to levels never seen before.

The first person killed here was trying to drive across 10th Street near Oxford Road, which had been overrun by Hardee Creek. The storm and subsequent flooding would kill a total of six people in Pitt County before the waters withdrew.

As the creeks drained, the Tar River rose, as did the Neuse and its tributaries, including Contentnea Creek, which flooded Grifton and Farmville. Six days after Floyd’s arrival, on Sept. 21, the Tar finally crested at 29.74 feet, nearly 17 feet over the 13-foot flood stage and 5 feet above the 100-year flood mark. It remains the river’s highest recorded level. It would be another week before it returned to its banks.

By the time the last rescue helicopter flew away and the last shelter had closed, the storm and flooding damaged more than 4,000 homes and buildings countywide, disrupted power and water service to tens of thousands, forced more than 2,000 to take refuge in local schools and thousands more to stay in hotels or with family and friends.

Initial property damage estimates totaled more than $65 million in the city and nearly $200 million in the county, including agricultural losses. Later estimates put total local losses at $1.6 billion. That doesn’t include damage across the state, where neighboring communities suffered similar damage and disruption. In all 35 North Carolinians were killed.

Communities took steps to prevent such damage from occurring again. Greenville Utilities has fortified its water treatment facility, which was finally overrun despite valiant sandbagging efforts, to withstand another Floyd. It has built new power transmission facilities so its customers hopefully will never have to depend again on a single line strung inches above floodwaters to feed them power.

Working with FEMA, local governments bought out flooded properties in the lowest lying areas, creating green spaces that today boast some of our most popular parks, including the Tar River Greenway, the community garden and city dog park - places that can be flooded with much less concern. In the immediate aftermath, rules were put in place to restrict development and ensure structures in high-risk areas were elevated.

But the pressures of growth and commerce have often proved irresistible in the decades since. Rules were relaxed in the 500-year floodplain to allow apartments that likely will be stranded if not flooded in future Floyds. Massive development in Greenville has laid down acres of impermeable surface that will test retaining ponds built to mitigate the runoff into the city’s overstressed streams.

And most importantly, the city, county and country have done little to mitigate mankind’s contributions to climate change, which scientists say is contributing to larger and more frequent storms.

We would be smart to use this 20th anniversary of Floyd as a reminder of the damage it did and to use it as a minimum measure by which we make decisions for our community and future generations. It’s especially important to look back now because many of our residents and even some of our leaders were very young and living elsewhere when it occurred.

It’s important now to remember because the chances of it never happening again seem much less likely. We need to look no further than Dorian, Florence or Matthew to remind us it could.

Online: http://www.reflector.com/

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