Friday afternoon...

and it is very cold here on the Outer Banks. I've spent too much of my day looking at webcams throughout Florida and the Caribbean. It's driving me crazy. I think some of you out there dream about the Outer Banks when you are not here, wishing you could be here no matter the season. I think if you were actually here in the midst of winter in a nor'easter you would probably think twice about wishing you were here, but I understand the sentiment. So what do we do at a time like this when you really can't just get up and go to your favorite place? You surround yourself with memorabilia of the places you love and try your damnest to simulate the experience. For me it's island music and neon pink glowing flamingoes, and tropical drinks, and beach pix on the computer screen. How about you? Comments are easy to make here. Just click the "comments" button at the bottom of the column and scroll down til you see the "Post a comment". You can post as anonymous if you want. I don't mind. Or join as a member and get a screen name.

Oh and PS... I've just decided I WANT an infinity edge pool!

Current beach nourishment project on OB

I went out yesterday to check out the current beach nourishment happenings on the beach at Nags Head. It was very cold and windy, so the shots are from the truck-pardon the quality. The "sand" is being hauled in by the dumptruck load from a borrow pit in upper Currituck. It is really mostly clay, definitely not pretty white sand, as it does not come from a beach! I have read the rationale is to use the heavier clay based material to keep it there longer. Good luck! The trucks transit thru the parking area of the little cottages south of Jeanette's Pier and back out onto the beach over a clay packed road. They dump their load there and this bulldozer pushes it up into this temporary mountain. Then 4 wheel drive vehicles come to the mountain and get loaded up then transit down the beach to the current working area and deposit their load next in line. The method seems to include being a "dune" area about 15 feet high and about that wide, then sloping in out to the existing beach, or what's left of it.
We are in for some heavy winds this weekend and next as well. I guess time will tell if this stop gap measure has any meaning. Personally I don't care for it. Although it does provide some bit of protection for those structures in danger of upending into the sea, it IS ugly, and nasty. I don't really think I'd want to spend my vacation hiking over such a dune to the tiny little natural beach that may or may not be there on the other side. It remains to be seen if the visting public will vote with their pocketbooks and move to another area for rentals after seeing this mess this summer.

And while we are on "values" of land...

A few days ago we had the occasion to meet some friends for dinner in Nags Head, and we were discussing the Outer Banks and the appreciation in property values. My husband was telling our friends of the time his granddaddy was offered the chance to buy a tract of land that extended sea to sea starting about at the north Kitty Hawk town line and going to about the Wright Memorial. The price was $400. Granddaddy Will actually had the money, but just could not bring himself to sink his very hard earned dollars into such an inhospitable piece of deserted, bleak sand. Nobody wanted it. It was just a burden to have to pay the taxes on it. So he declined the offer. Hindsight! Granddaddy Will would be turning over in his grave if he could see the tax bill on that much land today!

Couple of new web cams

I found a couple of new web cams while surfing around this a.m. Of course, my favorites all involve Caribbean and Bahamian views, but these two might be of interest to those of you hungry for the Outer Banks. The first is down at Cape Hatteras somewhere.

Cape Hatteras surf cam
This second one is labeled Nags Head, but is in reality in Kill Devil Hills, NC, at the Ramada Inn, around MP 9.5.

Nags Head surf cam

Dare County re-evaluation

Well, all property owners in Dare County should by now have received their re-evaluation notices. Now that the shouts and cries and sharp epitaphs of disbelief have died down, we can get about truly analyzing how this affects each of us. In our personal portfolio of real estate holdings in Dare County, we saw a wide variety of upswings, ranging from a low of about 2 times to a high of over 8 times the previous valuation. The lows were on the improved properties with rental homes on them. The highs were on the larger tracts of unimproved land. In general vacant lots in already platted subdivisions went up about 6 times. The county has published its "revenue neutral" rate at 22 cents, meaning that if the commissioners adopt a 2005 tax rate of no more than 22 cents the overall county budget will receive no more money than last year. However, no one has yet mentioned the other components of the tax bill that could have a far bigger impact on the bottom line of the tax paid. Those are the rates paid for fire districts and sanitation in the unincorporated areas and the municipal rates for those pieces located in a town. No mention has been made publically that I have seen as to proposed rates on these items. For instance last year, we paid 7 cents and 16 cents respectively for fire and sanitation. Unless these rates drop down to 2.8 and 6.4 cents the average taxpayer will pay more. I sincerely doubt that the commissioners will adopt a rate of less than a whole cent number, so we probably can expect to pay 3 and 7 cents, which will increase taxes. Also for the municipalities which I am familiar with, those being Southern Shores (previously at 20 cents) and Kitty Hawk (previously at 38 cents) those budgets will be set individually by each town, and their rates remain to be seen. It should be interesting to see if this is used as an opportunity to increase revenue anyway, and blame it on the "whole cent" thing.
Personally we will definitely pay more tax next year, because the pieces we own rose more than the 2.47 average. I suppose one should be glad that a solid outperforming investment was made. One thing is for sure, there are many more millionaires in Dare County now, at least on paper. They were here all along, but now they know it.