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BEULAVILLE — Karl Mobley, who was born and raised in Chinquapin, is officially Beulaville’s new chief of police. Mobley was sworn in during the regular monthly Board of Commissioners meeting on Monday night.
He started the job first thing Tuesday morning, taking over for retired Chief Jamie Rogers. Mobley moved to Wilmington in 2005 to begin his law enforcement career at Cape Fear Community College with a criminal justice degree. He served with the Wilmington Police Department and other New Hanover County law enforcement agencies from 2007-2014, and then got married, had children and moved back home to Chinquapin.
Once back in Duplin County, Mobley joined the Duplin County Sheriff’s Office, where he worked with narcotics. “I knew Jamie and worked with him, and when I found out he was retiring, I thought this would be a good place to continue growing my law enforcement career.”
Mobley said he was excited to get started, and especially pleased that he could work about 10 minutes from his hometown.
Before swearing in Mobley at the town board meeting Monday night, Beulaville Mayor Hutch Jones stated, “This is one of the truly special moments we get to do as a town board. I can’t say enough about our local law enforcement.”
Another new police officer on the town’s force, Juan Stiles, was also sworn in during Monday night’s meeting.
Abandoned house dominates conversation at May town board meeting
In other business, the commissioners discussed an abandoned property at 406 W. Church St., which has been the source of complaints from area residents. Nanette Outlaw and Shannon Blizzard appeared before the board at Monday night’s meeting and at the April meeting to inquire what can be down to get the house torn down or repaired. After last month’s meeting, Town Manager Lori Williams brought in an engineer to inspect the house.
“The house is pretty much beyond repair,” Williams said. “The amount of damages are more than 50% of the cost it would take to repair the damages.”
The next step, she added, is to contact the property owner and give him 30 days to take action or appeal the decision. “At that time, the town will have to take action to either grant what they are looking at doing, or the town’s going to take it over and have the house torn down,” Williams explained.
Commissioner Gene Wickline expressed concerns that the owners may appeal the town’s decision. If they do appeal, Williams said the town would have to grant them time to repair the house. However, she said she doesn’t think the owners will appeal. If they do, the town’s action would be at the board’s discretion, she added.
“There’s a long list of violations that we would have to bring up to code,” Williams said.
The item will likely remain on the agenda for the foreseeable future, Mayor Jones said.
Also at Monday night’s Beulaville town boarding, the commissioners:
- Held a public hearing on the 2024-2025 budget, which includes a 2-cent property tax increase and may include a 10% increase for law enforcement. The board has until June 30 to approve the proposed budget.
- Discussed the proposed layout and equipment for the PARTF (Parks and Recreation Trust Foundation) grant.
- Approved a budget amendment for $54,507.32 to repair wind damage to the park concession stand and the Town Hall building.
- Discussed possibly requiring voluntary annexation for businesses outside the town limits to connect to water and sewer lines, per a request from Commissioner Wickline. Williams said she would look into the town of Wallace’s ordinances, and the board will also have Town Attorney Justin Hunter look into the legality of enacting such an ordinance.
