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Phone 910-457-4568/Fax 910-457-9427/e-mail pilot@southport.net Volume 68, Number 19 Published ev - in Southport, NC December 30, 1998 THE STATE PORT Border to Championships i girls divisions w tonight at West The State Port P everyone a safe. County bridges Study shows that majority need repairs By Terry Pope County Editor Close to half of Brunswick County’s 105 bridges are rated as substandard and in need of replace ment. But finding funds to do so amidst a $3.2-billion budget shortfall in highway funding is trickier than crossing the bridges themselves. According to AAA Carolinas, which rated the bridges using feder ally required inspection ratings and weekly traffic counts, 55 of the county’s bridges are okay but 50 are functionally obsolete or structurally deficient. That means the bridges are nar row, have inadequate under-clear ances, have insufficient load-carry ing capacities, are poorly aligned with roadways or can no longer ser vice existing traffic demands. Of those, 26 are declared under 50-per cent sufficiency, which means by N. C. Department of Transportation and federal standards they qualify for federal replacement. The worst-rated bridges in Brunswick County include: ■ A floating barge pontoon bridge to Sunset Beach, placed in 1961 across the Intracoastal Waterway. ■ N. C. 133 bridge over Town Creek between Belville and Southport, built in 1955. ■ N. C. 904 bridge over Scippeo Swamp, built in 1948 in western Brunswick County. ■ N. C. 179 bridge over the Calabash River, built in 1975. “By publishing this list, we hope to alert motorists to bridges they use that are in need of repair or replace ment,” said David Parsons, presi dent of AAA Carolinas. “We don’t want to wait for an emergency or bridge closing to anger motorists and force the legislature to focus on this problem.” There are 13 bridge replacements for Brunswick County listed on the proposed DOT Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) for 2000 2006 that will be officially adopted in July, 1999. Using federal guidelines com bined with traffic volumes, AAA Carolinas concluded approximately 34 percent (6,017) of the state’s bridges are considered substandard. That places the state in the bottom fifth of the nation in percentage of substandard bridges. “One of my top priorities at DOT See Bridges, page 12 STARTING UP rmspMK’.'y- mm •—■ i ;t- »■ • r.y ■-»'« vV HH \ ~~—~—: BEM Photo by Jim Harper Billy Tyson (left) and Bob Pitts spent their time last week seeing if all systems were go at the Southeast Brunswick Sanitary District treatment plant. Tyson is an operator at the plant located between Sea Pines and The Players Club at St. James, and Pitts was project supervisor for con struction. Wastewater treatment in the district will begin as soon as customers can make connections. Letters telling citizens how and when to connect were to be mailed today. SBSD tax man cometh Monday morning ‘reception’ planned By Laura Kimball Feature Editor Southeast Brunswick Sanitary District property owners received a Christmas surprise last week, only it was in the form of a bill. The tax assessment charges property owners in SBSD 30 cents per $100 assessed valuation of their property. It is to be paid in addition to the 68.5 cents per $100 valuation all Brunswick County property owners pay, which are also due next week. The sanitary district approved a $912,000 budget for 1998-99 that includes, for the first time, an ad valorem tax for residents and businesses along the Long Beach Road corridor. The county is required under state law to collect the tax. said county attor ney Huey Marshall in August, after Brunswick County commissioners voted in June against per forming the collection. Many property owners are upset and plan to make their feelings known at a sanitary district meeting next Monday morning. “We should have another Boston Tea Party," said Marvin Martin, owner of Martin’s Auto Rebuilders. “We haven’t been represented." Martin received his bill Christmas Eve, but was not surprised since other business owners had received theirs and were grumbling already. Martin, like mapy others, is wondering where the money he paid about two years ago in sewer hook See SBSD, page 9 Rural development Some claim regulations off course By Terry Pope County Editor Land surveyor Bobby Long sup ports new controls on development, but he believes the subdivision ordi nance Brunswick County'commis sioners are about to adopt sets dif ferent standards — one for rural landowners and another for coastal golf course communities. “I work with rural people, and I have a soft place in my heart for them because I see the struggles they go through," said Long, who was appointed to a task force which recently helped rewrite the county subdivision ordinance. He referred to the new subdivision ordinance that includes 59 pages of regula tions, compared to a much simpler and more flexible PUD document by which golf course projects are . j developed. i The set of rules and regulations I that govern new and expanding j developments in Brunswick County j covers everything from stormwater runoff to sideyard setbacks and street requirements. But the most controversial part of the ordinance deals with required open space in subdivisions that must be set aside ‘I can see PUDs in golf courses because you’ve got open spaces on golf courses, but when you’ve got PUDs that are not golf courses, that’s a horse of a different color.’ / Bill Sue District for scenic Commissioners and the-f,' T wick County, Planning Boari ^J- \/ to prohibit clear-cut subdivision***, where developers go in and line See Regulations, page 7 Dune project Trees to help stem erosion By Laura Kimball Feature Editor You don’t have to stop using your Christmas tree just because the hol iday season is over. A community project organized by the Erosion Control Committee can use your tree to prevent beach erosion at the public street-ends in Long Beach. For years, the town has been mak ing the most of hundreds of used Christmas trees by either turning them into mulch, or protecting the dunes. According to Russ Morrison, chair of the Erosion Control Committee, this year they will be used to help keep the dunes togeth er after extra sand is pushed up the beach to the escarpment. "When you push the dunes up, the sand dries, and a strong wind can blow the dry sand away." he said. The trees are placed on the back side of the dunes and staked down in an effort to capture the blowing sand. "Hopefully, instead of blowing away, the sand will settle into the See Trees, page 7 Hospital founder Dr. Dosher to be honored By Laura Kimball Feature Editor A proclamation signed Tuesday recognizes J. Arthur Dosher, founder of Dosher Memorial Hospital in Southport. Dr. Joe Pat Hatem, who works in the hospital emer gency room, is organizing the tribute, the culmination of which will occur January 10, 60 years to the day that Dosher died. • Hatem, who has worked at the hospital since 1985, decided to organize the tribute after he realized he did n’t know much about the founder of the hospital. “1 just think this history needs to be preserved. If we don’t do it now, it won’t get done,” ty: said. Hatem has lined up about 20 persons to speak about their experiences with Dosher or stories of Dosher at 2 p.m. Sunday, January 10, at Trinity United Methodist Church in Southport. One of those will be Bobby Jones, a grandson of Dosher who remembers being 11 years old and living with Dosher. Some of the experiences will be told second-hand by people who were delivered by the doctor and heard sto ries from their mothers. “People who were kids then have stories to tell, even if they don’t remember them themselves,” Hatem said. Stories range from someone who had his appendix removed on a kitchen table to how Dosher used the basement of his home to do surgery. Edgar Haywood, hospital administrator, appreciates what Dosher did for the community. “The man has cast such a tremendous shadow. He’s the one that started it all,” he said. Charles Johnson, chair of the hospital board of trustees, agreed. “He left us all a legacy that we need to protect,” he said. rnoio Dy Laura Kimball Southport mayor Bill Crowe signed a proclamation Tuesday in recognition of J. Arthur Dosher, founder of Dosher Memorial Hospital. Dr. Joe Pat Hatem, who is organizing a recognition ceremony January 10, stands to Crowe’s left. t ■ NEWS on the NET: www.southport.net
State Port Pilot (Southport, N.C.)
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Dec. 30, 1998, edition 1
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