THE
U‘.jACj h I'l
1:-:i /•.-
Twenty-fifth Year. Number 9
IM' IHI MUMV\%K h aiA«^C»4
Shallofte. Norih Carolina. Thursday. January 8. 1987
25c Per Copy
24 Pages
Storm Damage Less Than Expected
SEVERAL EXPOSED HOMES on Ocean Islets cast end
wiUsslood direct blows by the storm, as they have
STAff fM0!0 9? SU4AN UiH*9
previously. At this house, the sand icncing washed
away and portions of the groin tilted at odd angles.
BY SUSAN USHER
A Icum of federal evaluators were due to arrive to
day (Thursday) to assess recent winter stonii (lanuige
along Unmswick County's benches
Brunswick County Emergency Management Coor
dinator Cecil Ix)gar^ said Tuesday that the 15> to 20-person
team will look at the area with an eye for the possibility of
federal assistance, from beach renoarislanent projects to
other foims of aid. They will look at all beaches affected
in any way by the storms, he said. "We're real plea.scd
they’re intcrc.stcd in coming down."
No beach cemmunilies, Induiiing wor.sl-hit I.ong
Reach with e-stimatetl nrnnerty damage of at least *L»
million, have been declared disaster areas by Uic state.
And most communities told The Brunswick Beacon
damages sustained were less than expected. "There was
a lot of water," said Building Inspector Druid Koberson
at Ocean Isle Beach. "It’s surprising tlicrc was so little
damage."
That doesn’t mean there was none. In Ix>gan's
assessment, Thursday’s weather innicted serious
damag''. coming as (t on the heels of unusually high tides
on De.. 1 and 2 that also eroded beachfront.
"We can’t take much more of this," he said.
"They’ve got to do something. "If we get one more storm
like we've had. there will be a lot we won’t have any
more. I mean houses and other structures."
Wliile inland damage was less than during Hurricane
Diana, Logan said structural and erosion damage along
the coast was greater than during the 1984 storm. And. he
added, "there's no such thing as frontal dunes," at least
in some areas.
"Overall it was a right severe storm; there was a lot
of erosion and a lot of water. Everybody I've talked to
said they hadn’t seen that much water since Hurricane
Hazel (in 1954)."
Residents of both Ocean Isle and Sunset Beaches .said
it seemed odd for the tide to still be rising at 10 a.m.,
when they had expected Uie higiiest tides between 8 a.m.
and 6:30 a.m.
Thursday's storm combined with astronomical fac
tors to lash the county’s east-west aligned beaclics with
gale-fcrcc winds and unusually Mgh tides. An offshore
storm brought out gale and high tide warnings again
Moiuuiy, but no furthfer significa.'Rdamsge was ri>nnrted,
said Logan.
The New Year’s Day storm, however, flooded canals
and streets In barrier islond communities ai)d ate away
at oceanfront dunes. It destroyed numcrou.s walkwuy.s
and .steps, some decks and porches and in a few in-
.stances. inflicted more serious structural damage.
One house on the hard-hit west end of Ixmg Beach col
lapsed into the water while 37 others sustained damage.
Four oceanfront structures were damaged at Holden
Beach and two septic tanks exposed at Ocean Isle. The
surging water swept away 10 pilings from beneath the
Holden Beach Pier, broke a water main at Ocean Isle
Beach and disconnected the water line to the Siiaset
Beach Pier.
I.ong Beach
Acting Town Manager Troy Davis ut i./«ng
estimated that S15 million of the communily’s lax ba.se
was negatively affected, with about million sustaining
greater impact. He said 265 decks and stairs were lost
from a total of about 600 homes, 38 structures damaged
either from nooding. exposure of septic tanks or erosion.
One unoccupied hou.se, named •'Tsunami,' the
Japanese word for tidal wave, collapsed on tlic beach
after its foundation washed away.
The town last tietwcpn SO h-t-l jirwl 40 feet erf shoreline
during the storm, bringing the total land lost to erosion in
the past 12 to 13 months to between 60 feet and 120 feet,
depending the area.
Caswell Beach
While some areas of Caswell Beach gained
beachfront, a 200-foot section of Caswell Beach Hojid
washed out along half the width of the road. IK)T
employees barricaded the wash-out and motori.sts ased
one lane only Friday.
Ix)gan said DOT crews began restoring the road im
mediately after the tides fell Thursday. After Hurricane
Diana, the road was temporarily relocated inland.
County DOT Supervisor Bill Benton reiterated Mon
day the state’s plan to relocate the road permanently far
ther inland. DOT has applied for a major CAMA permit
for the work and would like to sec the permit review pro
cess speetleu up i'luw.
"We don't feel like wc can keep the road there any
longer," said Benton. "There just isn’t any protection
there any more."
Holden Beach
On Holden Beach, the storm left water in basements
nf botli oceanfront and canal homes. The greatc.st
damage, though, was to the 1,042-foot Holden Beach
Fishing Pier.
(See STORM, Page 6-A)
-a - •*
Worth's Proposals Debated, Postponed
BY MAKJORiE hiEGIVERN
Newly-elected Brunswick County
Board of Education member Dorothy
Worth pushed persistently at Mon
day's school board meeting for adop
tion of proposals on which she cam
paigned.
She met with determined opposi
tion from two sources.
Through some verbal sparring
with board Attorney James K.
Prevatte, Worth particularly stress
ed her request that an opinion be
sought from the state attorney
general as to the legality of drug
testing in the schools.
Chairman James Forstner asked,
"Who would you include?" and she
replied, "Everyone. Students,
teachers, administrators."
Responded Prevatte, "I can tell
you right now. it’s uncomstitutional.
You can’t require persoas to have
drug tests unless there is reason to
presume they're using drugs."
Worth countered, "If students or
teachers come to class under the in
fluence, isn’t that reasonable
doubt?" but E^evaltc said, "Wo’rc
not communicating. I’m saying you
can’t indiscriminately do drug
testing."
Continued Worth, "Then we're ju.st
to throw our children to the wolves?
I’m concerned that we can control
cigarette smoking in school, but can't
do anything about drugs, and wc do
have drugs in the schools.”
Forstner suggested a legal opinion
be sought as to the circumstances
under which students and personnel
could be tested. Worth agreed to
postpone action on this item, pending
a report.
Her proposal that students liave at
least a "B" grade in every subject in
order to participate in scIh)o1 athletic
programs brought fire from fellow
board member James Clemmons.
"You can't discriminate against an
athlete. There arc state standards
and standards of the athletic associa
tion about required grades for
athletes." he «»iH
‘T want to know what those stan
dards arc," Worth said. Forstner
again inter\*encd to recommend an
inquiry of the athletic association
and a report at the next meeting.
Wortli's suggestion that the school
system adopt three books, "Freedom
To i>cam" by Carl Rogers, and "’Why
Johnny Can’t Read" and "Why
Johnny SUll Can’t Read" by Rudolf
FIcscli. dealing with phonics instnic-
tion, met with a protest from Clem-
moas.
"The board has no right to deter
mine the mechanics of teaching," he
told Worth.
•'But wc have kids graduating who
can’t read and can't even fill out an
application for work," she protested.
"There will always be kids who
can't read," he replied.
Forstner asked what the two
writers have to say about learning
and reading, to which Worth replied
tliat she had previously submitted
de.scriptions of the works to board
members.
"I don't want to force thi®
anyone's throat," she explained,
"but I want teachers to be exposed to
the bodes and use them in their pre
sent phonics program."
Worth’s two other proposals were:
(1) that her platform, submitted to
Voters uuiiiig ute cdnipaigrt, be
adopted by the board as school
policy, and (2) that the package of
proposals, with background informa
tion, be reproduced and placed in the
hands of every classroom teacher.
Clemmons suggested the entire
package *dc accepted as infonnation,
with noaction from the board, and on
the promise of future reports on the
drug testing and athletic grade stan
dards items. Worth withdrew her mo
tion to have the package approved.
After the meeting. Worth said, "I
don’t agree with the way they dealt
with it (her proposals). I expected
opposition and got it, but Uiey think
it's a matter of time until they just
forget this, but I won’t quit!”
County Commissioners Slate Zoning Hearing For Feb. 25
BY SUSAN USHER
Brunswick County residents will
get to speak their piece on zoning at a
public hearing set by county commis
sioners for Wednc.sday, Feb. 25, at 7
p.m. in the public assembly building
at the ccuTi^* guverruricriv cuiiqiiex.
•it’s about time," said Commis
sioner Jim Poole, who proposed the
hearing Monday night as a means of
gauging public sentiment on coun
tywide zoning.
He made his proposal after board
members had completed regular
business on the agenda and most of
the audience had left. He read a
prepared statement
He had planned lor several months
to broach the topic before the full
board, he said, and made that one of
his New Year's resolutions.
Poole’s stalemeiil recogrilzc.s the
county as one of state's faste.st grow
ing areas and says zoning would
come "too late" for some areas such
as along Beach Road, the narrow,
congested two-lane acce.ss road to
Oak Island.
"in order to channel mis growtn in
a positive manner and protect our ex
isting infrastructure. I believe it is
time for this board to consider a
countywidc zoning ordinance,” he
said. Referring to the Beach Road
situation, he added, "We must not
allow other vital areas to be strangl
ed in such a manner."
Even if zoning were implemented,
he said, it would take years of attri
tion before Ihe Beac'n Ruaii siiualion
to be rectified.
Poole said he has heard much talk
in favor of county zoning, as well as
(See COUNTY, PngP A)
Flood Insurance Policies
Now Cover Decks, Walkways
BY SUSAN USHER
Some area beach residents whose decks, stairs and walkways were
swept away by surging waves during last Thursday’s storm should be
pleasantly surprised to learn federal flood iasurance policies may cover
their loss.
According to Berry Williams, director of the N.C. Division of
Emergency Management and its flood insurance program, said the ex
panded coverage results from a change of policy adopted by the Na
tional Flood Insurance Program effective Nov. 26.
"I didn't know it either," he said. "One adjuster told me about it
after the last storm and I called Atlanta to verify it I only recently got a
copy of the policy changes."
Williams said many participating insurance agencies and most pro
perty owners are not yet aware of the changes.
Most homeowners' policies do not provide flood coverage; it is
typically available only through policic.? written by local agents through
the federally-sponsored and subsidized program. The program is ad
ministered by the Federal Insurance Administration, a part of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency.
What property owners should do, he said, is contact their insurance
agent and have an adjuster sent to assess the damage as. quickly as
possible.
Actual coverage will depend on factors such as the wording of in
dividual policies, compliance with local ordinances and the amount of
deductible selected by the property owner.
If a property owner’s storm damage was limited to decks and other
appendages, for instance, and the owner liad the maximum $3,000 in
deductibles, Williams said, chances are the damage would not exceed
that deductible. The deductible is applied to each incident of loss, so
repairs made following any earlier storm would not qualify toward the
deductible for this storm.
In many circumstances, the flood policies will cover damage to both
a structure and its contents. Where a structure has been undermined
and a part of the front wall affected, coverage would be available if the
policy was \vritten to cover areas under the 108-year base flood eleva-
tion—if the construction was to program standards.
Lower enclosed areas would not be covered if coverage is not
reflected L- the policy or if places! in viclstior. o£ any lor»i ordinances.
Williams, who toured area beaches following Thursday’s sttnTn,
'Mid, "A lot of structures were elevated and some had smaller areas
enclosed. Those might have been covered if they were built before the
regulations went into effect"
Holden Beach Takes Next Step Toward Causeway Annexation
BY ETTA SMITH
Huiden Beach Commissioners tu(A
anoUier step toward annexation of
the causeway area north of the island
Monday when they adopted a resolu
tion that identifies the area under
consideration.
On a motion by Commissioner Hal
Stanley, the board also authorized
Town Administrator Rob Buck to
prepare a notice of intent to annex,
and to request bids from surveyors to
map the proposed area.
At its Dec. B meeting, the board
had unanimously approved a rc'iolu-
tion of consideration to annex an area
from ihe Intrapnastai Walenvay to
just beyond N.C. 130 on the north.
Town Attorney Douglas |x*dgftlt
told the board that the adoption of a
notice of intent was the next step in
the legal process that could lead to
the eventual annexation of the pro
posed area.
Following the adoption of the
notice of intent, he said, advertizing
that notice, advertizing public hear
ings, and posting notices all would
give the Holden Beach and causeway
area residents the opportunity to
voice their opinions on the move.
I.edgett also told the board that the
town must ^ecify which services
will be made available tu the propos
ed area, such as fire and police pro
tection, water service and sanitation
services In the resolution of intent
and the notices that are sent to pro
perty owners in the proposed area.
Pay Debated
The board also discussed a person
nel matter in open sess.si(m that spur
red a heated exchange between Town
Administrator Bob Buck and Com
missioner Graham King.
King told the board that $11,841 had
been spent on overtime and holiday
pay for several town employees in
December. He said the town code
book prohibits the town ad
ministrator and police chief from
receiving these benefits.
King questioned why Police Chief
Raymond Simpson had worked over
time in December, saying he Uiought
that when the town hired a fifth n\an
on the police force in mid-August it
was to prevent this.
Commissioners Stanley and Lyn
Holden both told tlie board they had
the same understanding.
Buck told the board that Simpson
has not received overtime for serving
as chief, but instead for filling in on
patrol for officers.
"I suggest the personnel commit
tee examine the time sheets for
several weeks and see how many
hours he has worked," said Buck.
King replied that he had the time
sheets and noted that Simpson has
worked overtime during the months
of July through December.
"You have the ordinance book in
front of you," he told Buck.
King later -said that he hoa nothino
against SLn^son and is not looking at
him peisonally. "I'm looking at
things in the perspective of legality."
he .said.
King said that he had previously
referred the overtime plan question
to Uw personnel committee, but when
he got the time sheets for December
he saw the quesUtm hadn’t been cor
rected.
Time sheets show that from July 26
through December Simpson has
wcH-ked about 33 hours overtime, in-
(See NEXT. Page2-A)