Onslow Hires First Full-Time County Attorney

Onslow County Government has announced the hiring of its first full-time County Attorney.  Ms. Lesley Moxley, of Macon County, North Carolina was unanimously approved by the Board of Commissioners during a special meeting on Tuesday, June 15th.

Originally from the Kinston/Lenoir County area, Ms. Moxley is a graduate of the Wake Forest University School of Law and has practiced law in North Carolina since 1990.  Her field of expertise is in government law where she has gained tremendous experience working for such employers as The Sanford Holshouser Law Firm of Pinehurst, Moore County Government, Durham County Government, and most recently Macon County Government.  Ms. Moxley is the immediate past president of the North Carolina Association of County Attorneys.

“Our community faces complex challenges”, said County Manager Jeff Hudson, “the Board of Commissioners has hired an individual with a great deal of experience in North Carolina government law.”  Hudson stated that this hire marks a major change in direction for the County, which has been served solely by retained attorneys in past years.  Onslow County financial records indicate that past annual payments to retained county attorneys exceeded $200,000.  Ms. Moxley’s starting salary is $130,000 which represents a cost savings to the County.

The county attorney position reports to the Board of Commissioners and serves as the chief legal advisor to the Board and County Administration.  The county attorney will also be available to all county departments.  “Attorneys on retainer, by necessity, must serve all their clients and might therefore be less available to the County in a time of need” Hudson stated. “We now have an attorney who is focused on service to only one client:  the citizens of Onslow County” he added.

Ms. Moxley fills the void left by Mr. Ron VonLembke who left the county attorney position in December 2009 when he relocated away from the area.  Ms. Moxley’s first day on the job will be July 1, 2010.

2010/2011 Onslow County Budget Public Information Sessions

Public Information Sessions Scheduled on Proposed 2010/2011 Onslow County Budget

(Onslow County)  Onslow County Government will conduct four public information sessions on the Proposed 2010/2011 Budget. The meetings are currently scheduled to be held as follows:

    June 16th        10:00 am        Onslow County Museum
    June 16th          6:30 pm        Jacksonville City Hall
    June 17th         10:00 am        Holly Ridge Town Hall
    June 17th           6:30 pm        Swansboro Town Hall

These four public information sessions are imperative so that the public can be informed about the financial profile of Onslow County and the important facets of this proposed budget.  The budget has been made available for public review on the Onslow County website at www.onslowcountync.gov as well as at the following locations:

Onslow County Administration Office, 4024 Richlands Highway, Jacksonville
and
Onslow County Public Library Branches
·    Jacksonville, 58 Doris Avenue East
·    Richlands, 299 S. Wilmington Street
·    Sneads Ferry, 242 Sneads Ferry Road
·    Swansboro, 1460 West Corbett Avenue

The public information sessions are in addition to the one statutorily-required public hearing before the Board of Commissioners, which will be held during the regularly scheduled meeting of the Onslow County Board of Commissioners on June 21, 2010, 7:00 pm at Jacksonville City Hall.

If you have any questions or need additional information concerning the public hearing, please contact the Onslow County Administration Office at 910/347-4717.

Onslow, Carteret schools deal with local funding gaps

Onslow, Carteret schools deal with local funding gaps - Jacksonville Daily News

Per student, Onslow County spends less than the average in North Carolina. Onslow County Commissioners adopted a funding formula that takes effect in fiscal year 2011 to begin improving this situation. There are also efforts being made to obtain more Federal dollars while improving the competition levels of county schools.

Onslow County Swimming Pool Ordinance Goes Into Effect November 2, 2010

Swimming Pool Ordinance

           

(Onslow County)   On November 2, 2009, the Onslow County Board of Commissioners adopted an ordinance that provides requirements for the enclosure of permanently-placed outdoor swimming pools, hot tubs and spas in order to reduce drowning risks, particularly for infants and children.  

The ordinance applies to any permanent outdoor structure intended for swimming or recreational bathing that contains water over 24 inches deep including in-ground, above-ground, and on-ground swimming pools, hot tubs, and spas.  A structure is considered “outdoor” if it is not totally contained within a roofed structure and surrounded on all four sides by the walls of the enclosing structure.

The ordinance requires all permanent swimming pools, hot tubs, and spas to be completely surrounded by a fence or solid wall not less than four feet in height. The fence or wall may be made of wood, metal, wire, masonry, concrete, tile, or plastic, or any combination of those materials.  Homeowners can use the wall(s) of a principal or accessory building to meet the enclosure requirement. All gates or doors opening through such fence, wall, house, or building shall have self-closing and self-latching devices for keeping the gate or door closed at all times when not in actual use.  Fence gates must open outward away from the swimming pool.

Temporary or inflatable pools that having a depth of 24 inches or less are exempt from the requirements of the ordinance, as are spas or hot tubs with a locked safety cover.  However, covers must be closed and locked when the spa or hot tub is not in use.

Violations of the ordinance are considered a public nuisance and violators may be subject to civil fines or criminal penalties if they fail to bring their swimming pool, hot tub or spa into timely compliance as established in the ordinance.

The ordinance will go into effect on November 2, 2010.  This allows pool, hot tub, and spa owners a period of one year to bring their structures into compliance.

The ordinance will be enforced by the Planning and Development Department. 

County Attorney Ron vonLembke (910) 557-7771 or Planning and Development Director Scott Shuford (910) 455-3661 can be contacted to provide additional details about this new ordinance.

Angela Cole

Chief Operations Officer/PIO

4024 Richlands Hwy.

Jacksonville, NC   28540

P:   910/347-4717

F:   910/455-7888

E:  Angela_Cole@onslowcountync.gov

Onslow Tax Office to Conduct Revaluation Presentation

The Onslow County Tax Office will conduct an informational presentation on the 2010 countywide property revaluation on Monday, November 9, 2009, at 6:30 p.m. in the Jacksonville High School Cafeteria, 1021 Henderson Drive, Jacksonville, NC.

The presentation will provide a general overview of the revaluation process, examples showing comparisons of recent real estate transactions to the current assessed values, information regarding the potential impacts, and the appeals process. There will be an opportunity for questions at the end of the session. The general public is invited to attend.


For more information, contact Harry Smith at (910) 989-2200.