Commissioners Hear Bal Gra Harbor Plans

Yesterday's County Commission meeting covered a number of agenda items as usual, but clearly the most exciting was presentation of the revised plans for Bal Gra Harbor, the new development proposed across Salmon Creek from Innsbrook. It is one more sign that the East side of our peninsula county is about to undergo a huge transition to upper class homes and developments.




Our Commissioners, Norman Cherry, L.C. Hoggard, Rick Harrell, Charles Smith and Wallace Perry, opened the meeting with a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.




First Speaker during the public comments section was Elizabeth Hassell, who talked about problems with response times during a recent medical emergency her family experienced. She asked for some changes that would assure others did not have the same experience.




The Commissoners then heard from Ann Mobley, recently elected to replace Representative Howard Hunter. She wanted to offer her assistance to the Commission and any of her constituents who needed her.




Tom Asbell, Mayor of Powellsville, talked about plans for use of the C.G. White school when it is closed. He asked that the county accept the school facility from the BOE, as has been offered. He proposed some expanded alternatives for use of the facility that would serve all the people of Powellsville as well as the entire county. He talked about seeking grants that would help to fund the process and help our county.

After some discussion, the commissioners voted to authorize Zee Lamb and the County Attorney to start the process of accepting C.G. White from the BOE and to work with Mayor Asbell to start looking at alternatives of how best to use the facility for the county's future.




The next presentation was the Bal Gra Harbor presentation from Bob Koontz, architect for the development group that is proposing the new facility. We will shortly have an article on the proposal, but some of the highlights are:

- Not a gated community but open to the public
- Three villages within the complex, Beach Village, Harbor Village and Salmon Creek Village
- Main entrance will be a spectacular country drive bordered by thick pine forests that hide the development
- All parts of the development will be designed to keep cars away from what will otherwise be focused on a pedistrian friendly community with miles of hiking and biking trails.
- 400 acres of wetlands will be preserved in its natural state
- 200 acres of upland terrain will be preserved in its natural state
- Everything will be designed to get as many people as possible access to the magnificent water aspects of the site
- An amphitheater will be created beside the harbor to alllow music and plays here in the county with water as the backdrop




Next speaker was Rickey Freeman, Director of Bertie County EMS, to talk about plans to improve EMS services within the County. In his comments he addressed concerns raised by the first speaker about some problems that have been encountered.





Finally, County Manager Zee Lamb provides details on some of the Commissioners options for the 2007-2008 Budget and plans for the public hearing on the budget (Misty Deanes, Clerk to the Board of County Commissioners is shown on the right).