SottthpOrt, N.CS;
1992/50 cents
INSIDE
Powerlifting, IB
Competition held on Saturday at South
Classifieds, 4B
l|s most complete
jj|^te properties
VTv
Sheep
Island
Who controls it:
County or town?
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Who controls Sheep Island?
Just about everyone can find
Sheep Island, but where does it
belong?
Long Beach commissioners dealt
briefly with that question Tuesday
night, but found no answer.
Town attorney James R. Prcvatte
says he will provide the answer next
month.
Ownership of Sheep Island, a
small island possibly created of just
dredge spoils, a geographic anomaly
by anyone’s estimation, sits at the
confluence of the Intracoastal
Waterway and Lockwood Folly In
let, bothering no one.
But the island "may be devel
opable," Prevatte reported. In fact,
Kings Lynn Inc., developer of the
extreme western end of Long Beach,
believes it owns Sheep Island and
wants to know who to report to:
Long Beach, or Brunswick County.
Kings Lynn officials claim Sheep
Island is not a part of Long Beach.
In a January 28 letter to town man
ager David Poston, Kings Lynn,
president John A. McLendon said
county officials had directed him to
seek an action of the town’s board
of commissioners declaring Sheep
Island is not within the jurisdiction
of the town.
"In 1990 or early 1991 a question
arose as to whether Sheep Island is
within the corporate limits of the
Town of Long Beach, as set forth in
its charter," McLendon wrote. "At
our request, your staff researched
this question and you reported to us
in a letter dated August 5,1991, that
Sheep Island is not located within
the corporate limits of the Town of
Long Beach. The town ceased col
lecting property taxes on Sheep Is
land in 1991."
From there, Kings Lynn officials
See Long Beach, page 9
Kate Stuart, Annie Mae Woodside and Jessie
Stevens Taylor - women who packed considerable
wallop in the community over the past two
centuries, were portrayed by Detty Gavin, Susie
. . Photo by Jim Harper
Carson and Margaret Taylor Harper in the
"Women of the Ages" show last Friday. The South
port Historical Society presentation was the first in
a series of Southport Bicentennial programs.
Mayor criticizes ‘slush fund’
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Just as the municipal political sea
son appeared to be over in South
port, mayor Norman Holden Thurs
day night charged his predecessor
and the board that served him with
depleting the city’s unappropriated
fund balance by about $191,000.
Holden’s charge came after staff
presented board members with 24
budget amendments -- transfers of
general fund unappropriated fund
balance -- for expenditures made
prior to the time Holden took office
on December 12. The mayor said
the unappropriated fund balance had
been over $284,000 before the
budget amendments were presented,
but had fallen to just over $93,000
with the revelation of 23 of the 24
budget amendments presented by
staff Thursday night. Aldermen will
address the budget amendments and
try to justify them at a special meet
ing on February 27.
The unappropriated fund balance
is an excess of revenues over ex
penditures that is built through the
years and serves as a buffer against
unforeseen expenditures, such as
those that would be needed to make
immediate repairs after a hurricane
or other disaster. Monies in the un
appropriated fund balance are also
used to fund capital needs not
anticipated by the city’s budget.
"I do not intend in any way to
reflect on the past mayor or board,
but there are 24 budget amendments
to be presented to the board
tonight," Holden said as aldermen
met in regular session Thursday. "I
spent ten years on this board, six as
mayor, and I never saw that amount
of money."
But by Monday of this week
Holden was less circumspect. He
charged his predecessor, C. B.
Caroon, had deliberately withheld
the budget amendments to paint a
better picture of Southport’s finan
See ‘Slush fund’, page 6
‘What they did was
set up a slush fund
and whenever
somebody wanted
something, they
took the money out
of fund balance.’
Norman Holden
Southport mayor
Report Card may miss mark
1991 California Achievement Test Scores
GRADES
3
6
8
SOUTH NORTH
BRUNS. NEW NORTH
COUNTY HANOVER CAROLINA
By Marybeth Bianchi
Feature Editor
Brunswick County schools scored
poorly on the state’s "Report Card",
but is the system getting an un
warranted bad r?p or are students
not getting the education they
deserve?
While test scores may not be at the
top now, assistant superintendent
Mose Lewis said he thinks Bruns
wick County schools will blossom
in the near future.
"We have all the elements in place
to be a top-notch school system," he
See Report Card, page 6
Yaupon vote:
Moore, Broyles
elected; Posey
defeats Poole
Just over 45 percent of eligible
Yaupon Beach voters went to the
polls a second time Tuesday, re
electing two incumbent com
missioners and substituting a new
comer for a third.
Darrell Posey, a political new
comer, was elected in this second
municipal election, defeating in
cumbent Jim Poole, a former county
commissioner who was appointed to
the Yaupon Beach Board of Com
missioners about a year ago upon
the resignation of commissioner
Howard Brackett.
Incumbent mayor May Moore and
incumbent commissioner Joe
Broyles easily won re-election in
this do-over balloting.
On November 5, 1991, it was dis
covered ballots for the Yaupon
Beach municipal election contained
an error. Printed ballots last fall
directed Yaupon Beach voters to
select only two candidates from a
field of six. Voters were actually
entitled to three votes.
Before the printing error was dis
covered, 36 voters had cast their bal
lots. At a canvass of election results
two days later, the Brunswick
County Board of Elections said it
could not determine the intent of 23
of those 36 voters. The board then
petitioned the state board of elec
tions to set a new election in which
all candidates would stand a second
test.
Posey is the big story.
In the disputed election of Novem
ber 5, he appeared to edge Poole by
as few as five voles. Moore and
Broyles appeared to be clear win
ners in the fall election and their vic
tories were just as clear Tuesday
night.
Broyles led all candidates with
158 votes. He had only 128 discern
ible votes in November.
Moore was re-elected Tuesday
with 133 votes. She garnered that
exact number of discernible votes in
the fall election.
Posey, on Tuesday, captured 139
votes to Poole’s 102, thus becoming
a commissioner-elect It is likely
Posey will be sworn to office when
commissioners meet next in regular
See Yaupon vote, page 9
Former manager
among candidates
Seven more candidates threw their hats into the ring by Tuesday of the
second week in which the board of elections has accepted declarations of
candidacy for office.
Among those filing notice for office from District 3 (Southport-Oak Is
land) were:
•William D. (Billy) Carter, a Democrat. A former county manager.
Carter, who retired in 1988 for health reasons and who now serves as presi
dent of the Southport-Oak Island Chamber of Commerce, will seek a term
as a member of the Brunswick County Board of Education. The seat he
seeks is now held by Republican Bob Slockett, who last week announced
he will run for county commissioner from this district.
•William F. Faught. A former ROTC teacher at South Brunswick High
School, Faught will also seek the District 3 seat on the county board of ed
ucation.
•Joseph Tyler Lcnins. The owner of a Long Beach nightclub will seek
election to the county board of commissioners as a Democrat. The seat is
now held by Republican Gene Pinkerton, who has announced he will not
seek re-election.
Others announcing their candidacies this week included:
•Donna Baxter, a Democrat from District 4, the current school board
chairman who will seek a second term of office. She is a Boiling Spring
Lakes resident.
•Pete Barnette, a Republican, who will seek to unseat Baxter on the
county board of education.
•Janet Pope, a Republican, of Sunset Beach and District 1, who will at
tempt to replace Doug Baxley, District 1 Democratic incumbent on the
school board.
•Gene Sellers, a Republican from District 4, who seeks incumbent
Frankie Rabon’s seat on the board of commissioners. Rabon has said he
will not seek re-election.
Forecast
The extended forecast for
the Southport-Oak Island
area calls for fair weather
Thursday through Satur
day. Expect highs in the
upper 50s to lower 60s dur
ing this period, the U. S.
Weather Bureau says.
Tide table
HIGH LOW
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20
9:25 am. 3:11a.m.
9:56 p.m. 3:33 pjn.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21
10:12 a.m. *K)1 am.
10:47 p.m. -:18 p.m.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22
11:00 a.m. 4:50 a.m.
11:37 pjn. 5:05 pjn.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23
11:50 a.m. 5:42 a.m.
-P-m- 5:52 pjn.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24
12:29 ajn. 6:36 am.
12:41p.m. 6:46 pjn.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25
1:24 am. 7:32 am.
1:36p.m. 7:43 pjn.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26
*24am. 832 am.
224 p.m. 8:43 p.m.
The following adjustment! should be made:
Bald Head Island, high -10, low -7; Caswell
Beach, high -5, low -1; Southport, high +7,
low +15; Yaupon Bead), high -32, low -45;
Lockwood Folly, high -22, low -8.