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Twenty-fifth Year, Number 11
Shollotte, North Carolina, Thursdoy. January 22, 1987
25c Per Copy
26 Pages
Hoiden Board Authorizes
Annexation Area Survey
BY KTTA SMITH
Holden Bench conunissioners moved n step closer to annexation of
an area north of the Intracoastal Wotervvay Friday when it voted to
luive the area sun'cyed.
Meeting In special session. Uie bo;ml agreed to hire Norris and
Associates of Shaliotte to survey, prepare a map and describe the metes
and bounds of the area luuler consideration. The work will cost $4,000,
indicated Holden Beach Town Administrator Bob Buck.
Sun-eying of tl)o proposetl area will begin as soon as the weather
allows, he Siiid, and shouhl be completed within a couple of weeks.
Following H»c meeting. Mayor Pro-Tern (Jay Atkins said the move
Is ‘only a study at this time.” and that it would be two years before the
town could mmex the area should it decide to do so.
The town voIihI Jan. 5 to have its attorney, Doug Ix^dgctt of
Sontliport, draw up a notice of intent to annex, the second step in the an
nexation proce.«s.
The sur\-ey results will be part of tliat notice, and when completed
will bo available at Holden Beach Town Hall for public inspection.
Steps taken by the board towartl annexation of the causeway area
liave le! residents in the area to renew an effort to incorporate a new
town to block annexation by Holden Beach.
Hep. E. David Hedwine of Ocean Isle Beach introduced a bill to In*
corporate North Holden Reach in a legislative session last June, but he
withdrew it after opposition arose from some of the residents of the area
and from Holden Beach officials.
Causeway Residents Seek
Annexation Alternatives
n I
OU lUOi
Two Administrators
BY MARJORIE MEGIVERN
January l.'l should liave been a Fri
day for Brunswick County
Superintendent of Scliools Gene Yar
brough. U was, however, a Tuesday
when he received resignations from
two of his top administrators.
Finance Director Samuel Adcock
and Assistant Superintendent
Stephanna, Tewey.
Tewey, who lias served 1 n (liis role
since 1983, has
been employed
by tJ’.c Brunswick
County schools
for eight years.
She was director
of special educa
tion from 1979 to
1983 and taught
j at Waccaniaw
Elementary
School the preceding year.
Her resignation will become effec
tive June 30.
•‘Tve come to a crossroads,*' slie
said, “when I asked myself, ‘Do I
want to continue doing this, or do
something else?' The answer was
that I wanted a change."
She said she would use her ex
perience gaincu Brunswick County
schools to begin a new business ven
ture as an educational consultant
She will establish I^eorning Links
Associates, which will prepare and
market training materials for
educators. “The first packages will
focus on child abuse, b^auso I work
ed in that area before coming to
Brunswick County from the
Washington, D.C., area," Tewey
said.
She will also serve as manager of
the Blue Dolphin Gallery, an art
gallery recently opened over Seaway
Printing in Southport, owned by her
husband, Tom Tewey.
The I.ong Beach resident a native
of Michigan, said her years in this
school system were “enjoyable and
valuable." She is particularly proud
of helping establi^ the Interagency
Council and devel^lng a new model
for special education teachers, which
provided more services to ^«ccisl
students.
Adcock has served the Brunswick
County schooLs-a
since February
*934, and said his
resignation was
“recommended
by my doctor.” It
becomes effec
tive Feb. 28.
* ‘My healUi has
been failing for a
year," he said. “I
had bypass surgery in February, the
fifth one I've had, and I've been try
ing to just work half-days recently."
The S2-year-o!u Adcock laughed In
describing his condition. “My doctor
said if I was a movie star, he’d say I
was suffering from exhaustion, but
since I’m not, I've just had an old-
fashioned nervous breakdown.”
His two years in Brunswick County
followed 18 years with the State
Dejsrtmen! of E^ijhlie Instruction
and positions with several corpora
tions before that “I've learned more
here in this county than in any other
job," he said.
Adcock plans to continue living In
Long Beach, where he'll be more ac
tive in church and civic activities.
He jerited, “People told me If you
live in Southport, you have to have a
family going back several genera
tions; If you live in I.^ng Beach, you
have to have a broker’s license. I
may get one and join the 2,000
others."
Yarbrough, out town, could not
be reached for comment Monday.
BY ETTA SMITH
Holden Reach’s intent to annex an
area north of the Intniconstal Water
way ha.s residents In the proposed
area looking at ways to block Um?
move.
If all else falls, they plan to pursue
Lncorporatlon of a new town.
Around 50 rc.sldcnts and property
owners from the cau.neway area last
Thursday night discussed ways to
stop annexation by the Town of
Holden Beach. The open meeting at
the Seafood Barn Restaurant foUow-
cd a Jan. 5 vote by the Holden Beach
Board of Commissioners to prepare a
letter of Intent to annex the area.
The board's action lias prompted
renewed interest among mainland
residents in incorporating the
causeway area; a move first attemp
ted last June.
According to Holden Beach Plann
ing and Zoning Board Chairman Alan
Holden, the area eyed for pos-sihlc an
nexation includes about 1,500 feet on
the waterway west of the bridge, and
1,000 on the east. It extends one mile
down the causeway in about a
500-foot wide strip. No estimate of the
total acreage Is available.
The planning board developed the
map of the proposed area at tlie re
quest of town cotiunlssioniT.s.
Cletls Clemmons, owner of the
restaurant where the meeting was
held, said it is the map he objecLs to.
Clemmons told the crowd at the
meeting that the town intends to an-
CLETIS CIJ^MMONS (foreground! speaks to about 50
people at his Holden Beach causeway restaurant last
Thursday night about possible incorporation of a new
town to block any annexation attempt by Holden Beach,
as Rep. F., David “Butch” Redwine (right) looks on. A
show of hands Indicated most, though not all of those
present favored the idea.
vide us wiUi because they're already
there,” he said. Clemmons .hdded
nex ufily the areas that are fronted by tlwt the only thing Holden Beach
state-maintained roads and have
county water.
“There aren't any service.*; to pror
could give the causeway residents is
more taxes to pay.
He Is one of 58 pcqplc wfio have
signed petitions that call for local
legislators to help get the new town
incorpwated.
CHenunons said residents shouid
ask the state legislature to forbid
Uoldcn Beach from annexing the
area without a vote of the people.
Alan Holden said the area mapped
by the town for possible annexation is
based on state laws governLig annex
ation.
(See CAUSEWAY, Page2-A)
HEARING SET ON FIRST PROJECT
& Commissioners Nix Mandatory Hook-Ups
BY SUSAN USHER
Homes and busines.scs along
county-owned water lines won't be
required to hook on to the sy stem.
It sounds simple, but Brunswick
County commissioners reached that
decision Monday night only after con
sidering a series of sometimes con
tradictory motions, based on options
presented by the county’s Utilities
Operations Board.
With both boards anxious to move
nhend on the project, UOB Chalmmn
Robert Nubel and Plannsng Director
John Harvey stepped out to type up
the options proposed so commis
sioners could vote on them later that
nighL
County Attorney David Gegg told
commissicaiers the Issue of man
datory hook-ups would be the “hot
topic" with the public at water
assessment hearings; it proved to be
the hot topic for commissioners as
well.
Later, the issue settled, Chairman
Grace Beasley told the few audience
members still In tlie chambers at 10
p.m., "I want all of Brunswick Coun
ty to luivc water. But sometimes I
think our lives arc over-regulated by
government... I don't want to im
pose this on Rnmswick County
citizens.”
Commissioners also resolved ques
tion.*; on assessments to be charged
residents of proposed water project
areas, clearing the way to look at the
first proposed district, in the Holiday
Acrcs-Reaves Subdivision area north
of Holden Beach. E.sUmated cost of
the project is $264,000, to be repaid to
the ewnty by property owners.
A hearing by the Utilities Opera
tions Board on the preliminary
assessment resolution is slated for 7
p.m. March 10 in the public assembly
building at the county government
center in Bolivia.
At the .start of Monday’s discus
sion, Nubel .said utilities board
mcjnbers still recommended nnan-
datory hook-ups. But because c(mi-
missioners had asked for alter
natives to that less-than-popular
choice, the panel drafted several
other posslbilltie.s. “We felt strongly
if any are acted on," he continued,
“that all new construction .should be
required to hook up."
But that wasn't to be the case.
District 1 Commissioner Chris
Chappell, who during Ills three years
on the board has moved from being
against mandatory hook-ups to their
most vocal advocate, motioned to ap
prove mandatory hook-ups—with a
12-month grace period to begin after
water is available. That failed 1 to 4,
with Chappell the only supporter.
Then District 2 Commissioner Ben
ny lAidlum, a long-time opponent of
mandatory hook-ups, said he could
“bend a little” and motioned to re
quire new construction to hook on to
Uie system while nvt rei|uirtjg houk-
ups by those with exiting wells.
When County Attorney David Clegg
said an Attorney General’s opinion
might be needed to determine the
fairness of that method, I.udlum
decided it was easier to simply
withdraw the motion.
District 3 C^ommissloner Jim Poole
stepped In next with the winning mo
tion—t^tion No. 2, no mandatory
ho(A-ups, period. For new construc
tion, he said, it's cheaper to connect
to the county water system than to
dig a well. With that kind of incen
tive, he said he expects customers to
“jump on water like fleas on a dog’s
back."
Agreed Commissioner Frankie
Rabon, “If so, why make it man
datory if they’re going to do it
anyway?"
On the 4-1 vote, Chappell was the
only dissenter. Before calling for the
vote, he defended his stance, saying a
mandalorj' hookup was the must
practical option.
After 10 years of water system
development, he said, “It's time to
make business decisions; we have to
know what direction we’re going."
Requiring hook-ups, he said, would
reduce the debt service paid by all
county residents, offer relief to these
in areas where water isn’t available,
and force users to bear a larger share
of the cost.
Countered Rabon, "If we put
everybody in the county on the line it
still wouldn't cover all the debt ser
vice. We would stiU have to add tax
dollars."
And, referring to the campaign
promoting the county's water bond
referendum, Indium told Coppell,
“I would hate to have my vote be the
one that makes them take water
when people were promised they
wouldn't have to.
"If people want water," he .sdded,
"let them have it"
(See MORE DECISIONS, Page 13-A)
Elderly Man Sustains Burns
While Escaping From Trailer
S1*ff fri&to av WUM UK«I
JAMES H. JOHNSON was injured Sunday as he escaped from a fire In the living room (right) of his
mobile home.
BY SUSAN USHER
A 55-yeai -oiu Siiallotte Pulat iii&n
sustained first* and second-degree
burns Sunday as he escaped from a
fire that left him homeless.
James Henderson Johnson of Todd
Road was listed In serious condition
at the Brunswick Hospital Monday
afternoon, with first aixl second
degree burns on his face and upper
body, said Evelyn Hill, a.Hsistant
director of nursing.
According to Shallotte Point Fire
Chief Mike Potts, Johnson was lucky
to escape the fire, which was
reported shortly before noon Sunday.
“When h*s daughter tried to open
the door, It was too hot," said Potts.
Then the glass blew out at the end of
the trailer. That’s when the flames
look un. He hed probably beer. In the
smoke for a while."
The blaze began in the living room
where Johnson was resting in his
mobile home. While the cause of the
fire can’t be confirmed before talking
with Johnson, Potts said It probably
began in a kerosene or electrical
heater. Four were grouped together
in one area, he added.
A visitor to Johnson’s home, Jef
frey Gause, said he saw smoke c(4n-
ing from t^ mobile home when he
arrived and went to a family
meinber'a housa rasi door for help.
When he reached the mobile home,
said Gause, Johtoon was already on
his way out the door.
Marltza Johnson said her father-in
law was feeble and walked very slow
ly. She said he was apparently asleep
when the fire broke out
Shallotte Volunteer Rescue Squad
was called to the scene, but the elder
ly man's daughter, Sarah Lee
Johnson, took him to the hospital in
her car.
Shallotte Point VFD answered the
call with approximately 12 men and
two trucks, assisted by about six
firefigliUra and a tafiker from the
Shallotte department.
“We were there within about five
minutes of getting the call," said
Potts, pleased that firefighters were
able to save one end cf the trailer, so
that some of Its contents could be
salvaged.