New Hanover Co. Commission appoints interim ABC Board

The New Hanover County Commission had planned to use their meeting Monday to ask the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board questions about how the salaries for its top two administrators had gotten so high. Instead, commissioners appointed interim board members after the three current ABC Board members resigned.

In a letter to the County Commission Monday, board members Charles Wells, Richard Hanson and Stephen Culbreth wrote, “The divisiveness of the continuing dispute becomes more insidious and disruptive of the functioning of the ABC system. We hope our resignations will remove the pall of misunderstanding and enable you to appoint a new Board.”

At Monday night’s meeting commissioners pick county manager Bruce Shell tpo serve as the ABC Board interim chair. County Attorney Wanda Copley and Finance Manager Avril Pinder will fill the other two seats until a new Board is appointed.