KEY INFORMATION:
- Duke Energy siren test tomorrow (7/9).
- It’s Golf Cart Safety Awareness Month – listen to the latest episode of the Village’s Voice podcast for an informative discussion on golf cart safety.
- Important Public Works updates – the gate to the compactor will be closed daily starting 7/18, hazardous waste collection is no longer daily, be mindful about where you place your yard debris.
- SummerLife BHI is off to a great start!
- Public Safety Day was so much fun, thank you for joining us!
REMINDERS & EVENTS:
- Brunswick County remains under a Stage 1 Water Conservation Alert.
- The BHI Yacht Club Summer Concert Series continues through July 23. Join us Thursday, 7/10, for Snapback.
- Mayor Quinn wants your feedback on Village parks.
- The next regular Village Council meeting is on Friday, July 18, 2025.
- IPC/PO reminders.
- Snorkel extension installations are nearly complete!
- Your feedback is needed to help develop the update to the Southeastern NC Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan.
Duke Energy Siren Test
(This is an excerpt from Duke Energy’s media release)
The outdoor warning sirens around the Brunswick Nuclear Plant will be TESTED between 10:00 AM and 11:00 AM on Wednesday, July 9, 2025.
The 38 sirens within 10 miles of the Brunswick Nuclear Plant will sound at full volume for five to 30 seconds. To ensure they are functioning properly, it may be necessary to test some sirens more than once. Follow-up testing after siren maintenance may be required after 11 a.m.
Testing is performed in cooperation with emergency management officials in Brunswick and New Hanover counties, who are responsible for sounding the sirens.
Because this is a test, local broadcasting stations will not interrupt regular programming to broadcast Emergency Alert System (EAS) messages. If there were ever a real emergency at the plant requiring the sirens to be sounded, local radio and television stations would broadcast information and instructions to the public.
For more information about the outdoor warning sirens, residents can refer to the information available at duke-energy.com/NuclearEP.
Golf Cart Safety Awareness Month
July is Golf Cart Safety Awareness Month and is a time when we try to get the word out about how important golf cart safety is on BHI. Islanders can listen to and share the latest episode of the Village’s Voice podcast for an informative discussion on golf cart safety on Bald Head Island. Our podcast is available on several podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts, Podbean App, Spotify, Amazon Music/Audible, iHeartRadio, and more, and can be found by searching “Bald Head Island.” You can also listen online HERE.
More information on golf cart safety can be found HERE. We also have flyers available at Village Hall and the Department of Public Safety.
Public Works Updates
Compactor Access – Starting on Friday, July 18, the gate to the compactor at Public Works will be closed daily. Monday through Friday, the gate will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. On Saturdays, the gate will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. After that, the gate will not be opened again until Monday morning. Islanders will still have 24/7 access to the recycling receptacles. Please remember to only place cardboard in the container labeled cardboard. Do not throw bagged recyclables in the comingled receptacle. All recyclables should be loose. Bags get caught in the machinery that processes the recyclables. More info on recycling HERE.
Hazardous Waste – The Village will no longer accept hazardous waste drop-offs year-round. This started on June 1, 2025. The Village will be designating certain days when this waste will be accepted. The designated dates will be published on an updated version of the Village’s Trash & Vegetation Pick-Up Calendar and Village Calendar. This is a common practice for counties and municipalities on the mainland and helps protect the collection area from contamination. More info on hazardous waste HERE.
Yard Debris – The Village is currently picking up yard debris twice a month per this schedule. Piles should be left on the public roadside. The heavy equipment used to pick up debris is large, and we will not go up private driveways to collect debris. Please make sure that you do not place your piles on or near (3 ft distance) water meters or other utility infrastructure – our heavy equipment has damaged utility equipment because it was covered in debris. To request a pick-up, call 457-9700 ext. 1000 or place a work request ONLINE. The request must be made no later than 2:00 p.m. on the day before the scheduled pickup. If you use a contractor/landscaper for yard work, they are responsible for removing the debris. More info on yard debris HERE.
SummerLife BHI
SummerLife BHI is off to a great start! Yesterday was the first day of this fantastic opportunity for high school students to have fun and connect! Seventeen students plus four enthusiastic college leaders had a blast yesterday playing beach volleyball, cornhole, swimming in the surf, and meeting new buddies!
Tonight is the cookout, basketball, and games at Public Safety. Wednesday night they will be meeting at the BHI Conservancy for a bicycle scavenger hunt, which concludes at Marina Park with a drive-in movie. Thursday night is a late swim at the BHI Club Pool with pizza, music, and activities. They will be running the program all over again next week!
This program is generously sponsored by several island organizations, including the Village of Bald Head Island and its Department of Public Safety, the Village Chapel of Bald Head Island, the BHI Club, BHI Conservancy, Wendy Wilmot Properties, and Bald Head Island Services.
Sign-up information and additional details are HERE.
Public Safety Day
We had so much fun at Public Safety Day on Friday, June 27. For those of you who came out, thank you! It was a pleasure watching kids and adults playing in the bubbles! We also had an awesome inflatable dragon and a dunking booth where Chief Gibson got dunked dozens of times by kids and adults spraying the trigger with a fire hose! The Public Service Auxiliary did an amazing job getting all the booths put together and helped serve delicious barbeque that was prepared overnight by Deputy Chief Horne, Lt. Brendle, and PSO Furr. Several agencies were in attendance including the Southport Fire Department, Marine Fisheries, US Coast Guard, Dosher Memorial Hospital, River Adventure, and the BHI Conservancy. See you next year!
REMINDERS & EVENTS:
Stage 1 Water Conservation Alert
Brunswick County is currently under a Stage 1 Water Conservation Alert. This includes Bald Head Island Utilities. You can help conserve water and even out system demands by following the recommended irrigation schedule. See the full recommended irrigation schedule and learn more about the alert HERE.
BHI Yacht Club Summer Concert Series
The BHI Yacht Club 2025 Summer Concert Series continues with Snapback performing on Thursday, July 10. The Village is a sponsor; we have law enforcement there and our own booth. Come say hi!
Feedback on Parks
In last week’s Message from the Mayor, Mayor Quinn requested feedback from Islanders on how the Village’s parks could be used in the future. If there should be additional programs, capital investment, if they should be changed, or left untouched, etc.
If you haven’t yet responded, you can still do so by emailing Carin Faulkner at public.information@villagebhi.org with your comments.
For reference, the Village-owned park properties include: Village Common Park, Marina Park, Whale Head Park, and the Creek Access (more info HERE).
Next Regular Council Meeting
The next regular Village Council Meeting is Friday, July 18, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. The agenda will be posted HERE. Zoom information to listen-in remotely can be found HERE.
IPC/PO Reminders
There is no express shipping from the island and there is no express delivery to the island.
Express shipping only guarantees delivery to Deep Point, not your address on the island.
Because inbound packages arrive on the island via barge and ferry, and those are both prone to delays, there is no express delivery to Bald Head Island.
Please pick up your packages promptly. Due to limited space in our facility on the island, please pick up your packages after you know they have arrived. You can check the status of your package(s) online HERE.
ALL packages that are not picked up within 30 days are automatically returned to the sender, no exceptions.
Snorkel Extensions
Village Utilities and its contractors have nearly completed the second round of snorkel extension installations on several grinder pumps on the island. They will need to come back and install vents on some since they ran short. They are waiting for the order to come in. This is in response to PTC #8 flooding on the island last year. The upgraded devices will not completely prevent stormwater from entering the system but will provide more operational control and speed up operability after a flooding event. Letters were sent to the property owners for the second round. Updates on this project will be posted HERE.
Southeastern NC Regional Hazard Mitigation Survey
Brunswick, New Hanover, Onslow, and Pender Counties and their associated municipalities (including Bald Head Island) are working together to become less vulnerable to natural disasters. The counties, along with local jurisdictions and other partners, are working to update the previous Southeastern NC Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan. This plan identifies and assesses the region’s natural hazard risks and identifies strategies that determine how to best minimize or manage those risks. You can find more information about the plan HERE.
Your participation in the process is important to us! Please consider responding to the public survey HERE. This survey is an opportunity for you to share your opinions and participate in the mitigation planning process. The information you provide will help us better understand your hazard concerns and can lead to mitigation activities designed to help lessen the impacts of future hazard events.
If you have any questions regarding this survey or would like to learn about more ways you can participate in the development of the Southeastern NC Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan, please contact Nathan Slaughter, Project Manager at nslaughter@espassociates.com.