Wrightsville Beach’s new hazard mitigation plan detailed Monday night, Nov. 9 calls for continuing efforts to construct an emergency operations center off-island.

Such a center could provide the town’s emergency command staff with a properly hardened structure to base its emergency responders and command post, said Wrightsville Beach Fire Chief Frank Smith.

But officials contend that unless grant funding becomes available, an off-island command center is a highly unlikely reality due to expenditures coupled with the current budget drought.

By keeping the notion of an off-island emergency operations center afloat, town officials are emphasizing the possibility that such a structure could exist in the future.

"Over time people forget about these things," said town manager Bob Simpson, "so I think it’s important to continually explore opportunities."

Current disaster plans call for the housing of on-duty emergency responders and command staff in the First Citizens Bank on Eastwood Road.

Wrightsville also maintains a school of emergency personnel in the Hampton Inn nearby so rested boots can be on the ground quickly when entry and recovery work becomes possible, Smith said.

The bank is a borrowed facility and the town has no vested rights, and if the storm tops a Category 3 then the command staff is disbanded to seek shelter on its own, but ordered to regroup at a specific time and place to begin entry and recovery work, Smith said.

"The bank is not a properly hardened facility to use during hurricane operations and that’s why we only use it up through a Category 3 storm," he said.

A dedicated town emergency center could supply command staff with a dependable interface and communications link to the outside world, reducing Wrightsville’s reliance on New Hanover County’s emergency operations center, which is lodged in the Government Center off Racine Drive.

Wrightsville had the opportunity to purchase space in the county’s operations center in 2005 at a one-time cost of $70,000-$80,000, town officials said, but the Board of Aldermen decided not to fund the project and that space has since been allocated elsewhere.

In addition to the emergency operations center, the new hazard mitigation plan also urges the consideration of increasing the size of water mains servicing the south end, allowing for increased flow and thus increased fire protection.

It also recommended elevating sewer pump stations and maintaining a policy of elevation for post-disaster recovery, said Landin Holland of Holland Consulting Planners, Inc., which was contracted to develop the mitigation plan.

If adopted, the mitigation plan may increase Wrightsville’s score on the Community Rating System, translating into a slight sink in flood insurance premiums for homeowners.

The mitigation plan will also keep Wrightsville buoyant for state and federal reimbursements.

None of the town’s elected officials and no residents attended the advertised public information session Monday night in Town Hall. Another public meeting will be held in the beginning of December, however the exact time and date had not been finalized as of Monday night.

By mid-December, the final mitigation plan should be submitted to the North Carolina Emergency Management and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which will have 90 days to review and give final certification, Holland said.