Dare County Newsletter - February 2025

Registration for the 2025 State of the County event—which will be held on Wednesday, March 19, 2025 at Captain George’s Seafood Restaurant in Kill Devil Hills—opened on Wednesday, January 29, 2025, and tickets are selling fast!

Doors open for seating at 8 a.m., and Dare County Board of Commissioners Chairman Robert L. “Bob” Woodard Sr. will deliver the annual State of the County presentation beginning at 8:45 a.m. Tickets are $10 per person, which includes a buffet breakfast that will open at 8:15 a.m. Advanced registration is required in order to attend. Seating is limited, and this event has sold out very quickly in recent years, so early registration is strongly encouraged.

For those who are unable to attend in person, a video of the presentation will be made available on Dare County's YouTube channel in the days following the event. For more information and to register online, please click the button below.

The Dare County Board of Commissioners will hold its regularly scheduled monthly meeting on Monday, February 3, 2025 at 9 a.m. The meeting will take place in the commissioners meeting room, which is adjacent to the Dare County Administration Building located at 954 Marshall C. Collins Drive in Manteo. To view a PDF of the full agenda packet for the meeting, please click here.

The February 2025 meeting will include the following key agenda items:

Parks and Recreation Department Needs Assessment Update
Representatives from McGill Associates will provide an update on the final results from the Dare County Parks and Recreation Department’s needs assessment survey that was conducted by the firm in the fall of 2024 to gather community input.

The Villages at Old Wharf Road in Wanchese Update
Dare County Board of Commissioners Chairman Bob Woodard will provide an update on his discussions with Brad Alexander, owner of Aria Construction and Development, regarding the county’s potential purchase of a property in Wanchese that is currently in the process of being developed into a 48-unit cluster home project called The Villages at Old Wharf Road.

Dare Community Housing Task Force Update
Dare Community Housing Task Force Chair Donna Creef will present the task force’s 2024 final report, titled “Housing for Now and Future Generations.” Creef will also provide an update on the latest initiatives being undertaken by the task force—including its participation in the “Our State, Our Homes” program led by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Carolina Across 100 initiative—in its ongoing efforts to find solutions to the lack of housing options in Dare County.

Buxton Civic Association Presentation: “Eroding Trust, Building Resolve”
Members of the Buxton Civic Association will deliver a presentation titled, "Eroding Trust, Building Resolve," which details how coastal erosion exposed former military structures at the Buxton Beach Access, leading to petroleum contamination and prompting the Buxton community to take action to address the issue.

Public Hearing: Proposed Text Amendment to the Dare County Zoning Ordinance (Section 22-65 Procedures For Special Use Permit Review and Approval)
The addition of guiding standards for review during the quasi-judicial hearing on Special Use Permits.

Quasi-Judicial Hearing: Special Use Permit Application Renewal (Special Use Permit Application Renewal #07-2008)
Submitted by IG Holdings LLC/Albemarle & Assoc., LTD for a group development on Parcel #029801000 located at 40494 N.C. Highway 12 in Avon.

Watch the Meeting!

There are several ways to stay informed of the discussions that occur during Dare County Board of Commissioners meetings:

• Meetings are livestreamed on Dare County's YouTube channel and CurrentTV.org, and they are also available for streaming on demand on both platforms. 
• Videos of meetings are generally available the next day on the Dare County website, DareNC.gov.
• Local Spectrum TV customers can watch the meetings live on Channel 191 (Current TV).

Stay tuned for a meeting highlights release that will be published on DareNC.gov as soon as possible after the conclusion of the board’s meeting. To sign up to receive highlights from the Dare County Board of Commissioners meetings, go to DareNC.gov/Subscribe.

Official minutes for the meeting are posted once approved by the board, typically at the board’s next meeting that is usually held on the first Monday of the following month. To access minutes for meetings dating back to 2017, please click here. 

To view the full agenda packet for the board's February 3, 2025 meeting, please click here. For more information about the Dare County Board of Commissioners, visit DareNC.gov/BOC or click the button below.

Registration for the 2025 Dare County Senior Games and Silver Arts opens Monday, February 3, 2025! Dare County residents ages 50 and older are invited to register to participate in the 37th annual Dare County Senior Games, which will be held from Saturday, April 12, 2025 to Friday, May 9, 2025. 

Coordinated by the Thomas A. Baum Senior Center in Kill Devil Hills—in partnership with the Virginia S. Tillett Community Center in Manteo and the Fessenden Center in Buxton—the Dare County Senior Games is an Olympic-style sporting and arts event during which participants compete in everything from pickleball, swimming and shuffleboard to basketball, bowling and bocce ball.  

A link containing the 2025 Dare County Senior Games registration form will go live at DareNC.gov/SeniorGames on Monday, February 3, 2025. Printed registration forms for the 2025 Dare County Senior Games will be available beginning Monday, February 3, 2025 at the Thomas A. Baum Senior Center (300 Mustian Street in Kill Devil Hills), the Virginia S. Tillett Community Center (950 Marshall C. Collins Drive in Manteo) and the Fessenden Center (46830 N.C. Highway 12 in Buxton).   

Regular registration ends on Friday, March 21, 2025. Late registration—which includes an additional fee—will take place from Saturday, March 22, 2025 to Friday, March 28, 2025. For more information about the Dare County Senior Games, please visit DareNC.gov/SeniorGames or click the button below. If you need assistance with the Dare County Senior Games registration process, please contact the Thomas A. Baum Senior Center at 252-475-5635.

Dare County Emergency Management has announced that the 2025 Dare County reentry permits are now available online at DareNC.gov/Reentry. All residents, non-resident property owners and local business owners are encouraged to visit the site to review reentry requirements/priorities and to submit their reentry permit application.  

To enter Dare County following a mandatory evacuation, everyone must present a current reentry permit or other documents showing they are eligible to reenter. Acceptable documents are outlined for each reentry stage at DareNC.gov/Reentry. To minimize delays at law enforcement-staffed reentry checkpoints, be ready to display your reentry permit, present your acceptable documents and provide a valid corresponding ID when asked. Expired reentry permits from previous years will not be accepted. 

Dare County residents can reenter by presenting a valid North Carolina Driver License/Identification Card issued by the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles or a Voter Registration Card issued by the North Carolina State Board of Elections along with government-issued photo identification that matches the name on the Voter Registration Card. The Driver License, Identification Card or Voter Registration Card must display a Dare County address to gain entry. To expedite movement through reentry checkpoints points, residents can also display a reentry permit.

Reentry permits are issued as a PDF file that is sent via email to applicants with the required credentials and can be obtained via Dare County’s online system at any time. Once issued, reentry permits expire at the end of the calendar year. Individuals who were issued 2024 reentry permits will need to apply for a new reentry permit for the current calendar year. 

For more information, and to obtain a 2025 reentry permit from Dare County Emergency Management, please visit DareNC.gov/Reentry or click the button below. Questions? Contact Dare County Emergency Management Director Drew Pearson at 252-475-5655 or Drew.Pearson@DareNC.gov or Dare County Emergency Planner James Wooten at James.Wooten@DareNC.gov.

Take the plunge for a great cause!

The Dare County Special Olympics invites the public to take part in the organization’s annual Polar Plunge fundraising event beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday, February 15, 2025 at Jennette's Pier, which is located at 7223 S. Virginia Dare Trail in Nags Head.

The schedule of events for the 2025 Polar Plunge event will be as follows.

Check-in & Registration: 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. 
(All participants must sign a waiver and attain a wristband to plunge, regardless of pre-registration status.)
Opening Ceremony & Awards: 11 a.m. 
Safety Brief: 11:20 a.m. 
Polar Plunge Begins: 11:30 a.m.  
(Due to the large number of registrants, the plunge will take place in three 10-minute rounds.)

Before the plunge, an opening ceremony will be held, featuring a message from a Special Olympics Global Messenger athlete as well as the lighting of the “Flame of Hope” torch by uniformed officers.

Awards will also be given to participants in the following categories:

• Best Individual Costume
• Best Team Costume
• Best Chicken Costume
• Cool Schools Top Team Fundraiser
• Largest Plunge Team
• Top Individual Fundraiser
• Top Team Fundraiser

The funds raised during this event by donors and event sponsors will provide year-round sports training, competition, leadership opportunities and health services to Special Olympics athletes in our community. Dare to be bold—jump in or cheer from the shore! Register or donate today at DareNC.gov/PolarPlunge or click the button below.

Today is “Take Your Child to the Library Day,” and the Dare County Library’s Manteo branch has an exciting morning planned to celebrate! Stop by the Manteo Library, which is located at 700 Highway 64/264, anytime between 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday, February 1, 2025 to enjoy a day filled with exploration, imagination and tons of fun.

This special event is the perfect opportunity to introduce your children to the magic of the library while also fostering early literacy and a lifelong love of reading. Here’s what’s in store for Take Your Child to the Library Day 2025:

• Fossil Hunting: Get ready for some hands-on fun as we dig into a fossil-hunting adventure!
• Library Tours: Explore the shelves, discover new books and get the inside scoop on all the incredible resources that are available to you and your family.
• Scavenger Hunt: Turn the library into your personal playground with a scavenger hunt that’s sure to be as educational as it is entertaining.

Whether your family already frequents a Dare County Library location or you’re new to everything our libraries have to offer, today’s the day to drop by the Manteo Library and learn more about the many programs, resources and activities that are available to the Dare County community. 

Don’t forget—Dare County Library cards are free, giving residents and property owners access to a world of books, digital resources and so much more. If you aren’t currently a Dare County Library cardholder, this is the perfect opportunity to sign up. Make Take Your Child to the Library Day just one of many visits you’ll make to your local library in 2025!

For more information about this free event, please contact Dare County Children’s Librarian Tammy Batschelet at Tammy.Batschelet@DareNC.gov or 252-473-2372.

Dare County, in partnership with Current TV, has released a new video highlighting Hatteras Village, the  small unincorporated community located at the southernmost end of Hatteras Island on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. 

The video, which offers viewers an overview of this historic coastal community nestled between the shores of the Atlantic Ocean and Pamlico Sound, is part of the new Current TV series called “Discover Hidden Dare” that is designed to highlight various services, amenities, attractions and recreational opportunities that are offered within the unincorporated villages of Dare County.

To view the video on CurrentTV’s YouTube channel, please visit YouTube.com/CurrentTVOBX or click the button below.

Meet Goose—our Outer Banks SPCA Pet of the Week! This sweet and gentle 3-year-old boy didn’t get the love and attention that he deserves in his previous home, and he’s currently looking for his forever family! Could that be you?

To meet Goose, stop by the Dare County Animal Shelter, located at 378 Airport Road in Manteo, and click here to watch a video produced by Current TV. For more information, please visit OBXSPCA.org or contact the Outer Banks SPCA at 252-475-5620!

Outer Banks SPCA Adoption Hours:

Monday to Friday: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. for naptime)
Saturday & Sunday: By appointment only