New County Manager Resigns After SBI Probe Uncovered
BY TERRY POPE
AND SUSAN USHER
Scheduled to start work next
Wednesday, newly-hired Brunswick
County Manager M. Thomas Barnes
resigned under pressure Monday.
The Board of Commissioners asked
for Barnes’ resignation foiiowing a
brief executive session. He had been
hired last Monday to fill the county
manager’s position vacated April 1
by William Carter, who retired on
medical disability.
According to Commissioner Chris
Chappell’s motion, the board asked
Barnes to resign "for not being
honest and outfront with us in the in
terview.’’ If Barnes had refused to
resign over the telephone Monday,
the board was prepared to fire him
immediately.
CoiTunissioners expressed surprise
last Friday after they learned that
Barnes had been the subject of a
State Bureau of Investigation probe
while serving as Halifax County’s ad
ministrator.
Barnes resigned his position in
December 1986, the same day
Halifax County Conunissioners voted
unanimously not to reappoint him for
another year.
Chappell said he learned of the SBI
investigation last Thursday when a
reporter showed him copies of news
articles from a Roanoke Rapids
newspaper. He said that Barnes did
not tell the board about the investiga
tion during the interview.
An emergency meeting of the com
missioners was called Friday after
noon so commissioners could con
front Barnes and licar his side of the
story in a SO-minutc executive ses
sion.
The board voted then to defer the
matter until Monday, after confcr^
ing with County Attorney David
Clegg, who was in Raleigli over the
weekend managing Miss Brunswick
County in the Miss North Carolina
pageant.
The SBI investigation looked into
allegations that Barnes had produced
altered copies of a Halifax County
Commissioners' meeting and that he
had used his office for personal gain.
No charges were filed against Barnes
after the foupmonth investigation.
"I don’t think the board had any
other choice,” said Commission
Chairperson Grace Beasley, after
calling Barnes and asking for his
resignation Monday. "The fact that
he withheld certain information from
the board just put a cloud over the
whole situation.’’
Barnes gave Ms. Beasley his
resignation over the telephone from
his business in Greenville and told
her he would also send a letter of
resignation to the board.
Barnes, 45, resigned as ad
ministrator of Halifax County in
December 1986, after serving 8W
years. He was hired by Brunswick
County at an annual salary of 542,500
(Sec NEW COUNTY, Page ^A)
THE
HOAG &
sprimgport
r\l
12/ 31
Twenty-fifth Year, Number 33
iKICtoACON
01917 THE MIUNSWK filACON
Shallotte, North Carolina, Thursday, June 25, 1987
25c Per Copy
32 Pages
Ga. Company Wants To Handle
Coal Ash Waste From Mill Creek
STAFF PHOTO lY MAUOPII MECtVIlN
ROOF AND PORCH DAMAGE resulted when lightning jumped from a tree
to this metal pillar Friday at Dorothy Long’s home in Ash.
Lightning Played
Tricks In County
BY SUSAN USHER
A Marietta, Ga., company has ap
plied for permission to operate a
transfer site in the Mill Creek qrea
for brokering coal ash waste from the
Cogentrix plant at Southport.
Vice President Jerry Chumley said
KBK Enterprises applied for a per
mit from the N.C. Division of Health
Services on June 12, following up
with a letter to the county. It seeks
permission to operate the facility on
an 85-acre farm tract it lias an option
to buy from the Worth Mercer fami
ly. In addition to low-elevation tem
porary cells or “stockpiles" of com
pacted ash, the operation would in
clude a small office/maintenance
building and approximately four
employees. Hauling would be con
tracted out locally, said Chumley.
The county line on N.C. 87 could be
the facility’s water supply. ^
'"Ourplans arc to use 100 percent of
the ash,’’ he said, selling it for use in
almost every phase of construction,
from fill material to concrete ad
ditive. “Reuse of this material is
much better than having to dispose of
it.”
According to Michael deSherblnin,
executive director for the Resources
Development Commission, “it is
such valuable material for specific
uses KBK won’t have any trouble fin
ding users. The only problem is hav
ing enough (to meet demand).”
The facility would start up, said
Chumley, “as soon as we can.”
The coal ash KBK would handle is
not considered a hazardous waste
under the federal Resources Conser
vation and Recovery Act, but it must
be handled within certain limitations
that apply to solid waste storage and
disposal, such as on-site containment
of water that comes into contact with
the fly ash to prevent leaching into
groundwater supplies.
State landfill regulations require
the project have the approval of the
Brunswick County Commissioners
before an operating permit will be
awarded.
Operation of the fly ash transfer
site is an alternative to the county
handling the ash at its Supply landfill
or at another site, a commitment
made to Cogentrix more than a year
ago when the Southport project
began. .
“The county is obligated to assist
Cogentrix,” confirmed deSherbinin.
However, operation of the transfer
site could free up 100 acres of landfill
space tliat would have been required
for fly ash disposal over a 10-year
period.
Chumley said the N.C. Division of
Health’s Solid and Hazardous Waste
Branch has sent a letter of support
for the project proposal to the county.
Monday afternoon. Commissioner
Frankie Rabon, in whose district the
proposed site is located, said
residents are raising concerns about
the siting of the facility and are ask
ing for a public hearing by the coun
ty.
KBK is to make a presentation to
the board on July 6; a decision on
whether public hearing is needed will
not be made before then.
The Mill Creek location north of
Boiling Spring Lakes off N.C. 87 is the
“preferred” site, said Chumley. He
added, “If we encounter too much
resistance there we would look
somewhere else.”
KBK liked the Mercer tract, he
said, because of its central location in
the county for purposes of brokering
fly ash for use in construction pro
jects as well as its proximity to the
Cogentrix plant
Low carbon fly ash can be used in
imost.any phase of construction—as
an adarav6 tl1'ltbri(Tete, 'as‘ a aJU'
enhancer, for berms, road beds,
parking lots and air strips, and to
produce lightweight aggregate.
KBK has included in its permit ap
plication a proposal to demonstrate
some use of co^ ash on site, for land
farmlng/soil conditioning.
“Our company actively promotes
the beneficial use of coah ash,” said
Chumley. And while its initial con
tract is with Cogentrbe, the firm
would be Interested in working with
other local industry.
Volume ‘Snuir
It would receive 10 to 12 truckloads
per day of mixed fly ash and heavier
bottom ash, the result of coal
byproducts and pollution controls at
Cogentrix’s coal-fired steam
cogeneration plant The total volume
handled in a year’s time would be
about 50,000 cubic yards, relatively
small by KBK’s standards.
On site, the ash would be tem
porarily stored in above-ground
stockpiles or cells eight to ten feet in
height and not visible from N.C. 87.
The tract would be cleared and top
soil pushed aside for later use as
berms and topcover. Then the ash
would be mixed with IS percent
water and spread in 12-inch thick
layers or “lifts,” which when com
pacted are about sbe inches deep.
Water that comes in contact with
ash would be contained on-slte,
where Chuihley said it could be used
to help maintain all-weather roads
and to keep down dust in the cells.
KBK has active contracts in 18 to 20
states, according to Chumley. It is
one of five subsidiaries of JTM In
dustries, all of which are involved in
some form of byproduct reuse, in
cluding lime and cement kiln waste
and gypsum waste recycling. It is
currently working with CP&L on use
of products from its coal-fired energy
production facilities, such as the Sut
ton plant near Wilmington.
BY MARJORIE MEGIVERN
At least three Brunswick County
residents were acutely aware of the
Friday afternoon thunderstorm that
swept through the county witli heavy
rain, thunder and lightning.
The storm’s electricity played
havoc in three locations, in one case
causing severe damage.
Dorothy Long was washing dishes
at her home in Ash, when she heard
an explosion at the front of the house.
“It was like a bomb went off,” she
said.
Frightened, she ran to investigate
and saw a part of her porch roof had
been blown apart and bHcks shat
tered around the base of a metal post.
“There was a terrible, terrible
odor,” she said.
Then Mrs. Long noticed the huge
pine tree about 20 feet from the
house, with a strip of bark seared
from the trunk all the way to the top.
Members d the Ash Volunteer Fire
Department, who answered her fran
tic call, said lightning had struck the
tree, then arced to the metal post and
up to the roof.
She later discovered the charge
had gone through her telephone wire,
and the wiring and jack were replac
ed.
About the same time, along Hwy.
130 near Ash; Mike Potts and two
friends were working on a boat motor
in the open bay door of his shop.
Suddenly one of the men jumped up
and ran to the other side of the
building, just as a bolt of lightning
struck the motor.
“I saw fire jump out of that motor
about two feet,” Potts said. “The
other guy said he saw it conning, a big
flash of white.”
No one was hurt, nor was the motor
damaged, and Potts continued his
work.
A little farther away, in Civietown,
Van Hewett saw the most spec
tacular lightning strike of his life, he
said.
“It hit a pine tree in my yard and
blew the top off of it and out 50 or 60
feet I’ve seen lightning hit before,
but nothing like this.”
Taxes Rate Jumps In Calabash
BY TERRY POPE
Calabash will increase its tax rate
for 1987-68 by six cents, from 17 cents
per $100 evaluation to 23 cents.
The council voted 3-1 Monday to in
crease the tax rate to raise additional
funds for engineering and surveying
fees. Councilman Bob Weber voted
against the tax increase while coun
cil member Sonia Stevens was not
present.
“Put that In the paper,” Weber
said after the vote. "Mr. Weber
voted, ‘Nay.’ ”
Council member Suzy Moore, who
has stated she was reluctant to ask
for more taxes, did not vote.
However, her presence was counted
as a “yes” vote by Town Clerk Janet
Thonnas.
Eight residents attended the public
hearing on the 1987-88 budget Mon
day. Several asked questions eis to
why the tax increase was necessary,
but none criticized the increase once
the board explained why additional
funds were needed. The residents left
before the board voted on the budget.
Funds generated by the increased
tax rate will be used to pay for a
survey of the town, which is needed
before the town can plan for exten
ding water lines and for joining the
Federal Emergency Management
Agency’s (FEMA) federal flood in
surance program. The town has not
been platted since 1972, Ms. Thomas
said.
The town must also generate
enough funds to pay for engineering
fees for designing water lines in a
piecemeal approach. Shallotte’s
Jerry Lewis and Associates will be
asked to design the water lines in
smaller projects rather than in one or
two large phases if funds are not
available.
rate at a budget workshop last week,
but added another one cent so water
lines can be drawn in sections. The
town plaas to extend water lines in
small projects if a November
referendum that would allow the
town to assess property owners
should fail.
The water budget does reflect a
possible $110,000 in water
assessments, which would be used to
run water lines along the Calabash
River and down Oak Street
Once a water line has already been
installed, the town can assess proper
ty owners to recover the cost Pre
assessments require a special act of
legislation from Cie N.C. General
Assembly.
Mayor Robert Simmons said the
town cut its budget too tightly last
year, when it decreased taxes from
27 cents per $100 to 17 cents.
“We cut it to the bone last year,
which was too much,” Simmons said.
bring our planning and zoning up to
date. That’s where it sounds bad.”
Weber said the 35 percent increase
sounds bad when you are talking
about a higher tax rate like those in
northern cities.
“You can play with percentages,”
Weber told the residents, “but
realistically, six cents more on a
$60,000 house is $36 more per year.”
Weber asked the board, “What
would 22 cents do for us?”
“Break us even,” council member
Pati LewcUyn replied.
Mayor Simmons said the residents
“brought out some good points” Mon
day.
“They’re questioning where their
money is being spent,” he added.
Ms. Thomas said the tax rate
would have to be increased by two or
three cents just to cover the budget
The town has estimated an 81 percent
collection rate, she added.
As of June, the town has a tax col-
Town Wants To End Street
The board agreed on a 22-cent tax “We wanted to increase it this year to lection rate of 89.4 percent she said.
Parking Near Post Office
BY TERRY POPE
Shallotte aldermen are hoping an
ordinance they adopted last Wednes
day will help eliminate traffle con
gestion and fender-benders in front of
the Shallotte 1Post Office.
The ordinance eliminates street
parking in front of the post office and
the adjacent Coastal Insurance
building on Main Street. Five spaces
will be eliminated in the northbound
lane to help drivers leaving the post
office and Pine Street get a better
view of U.S. 17 traffic.
N.C. Department of Transporta
tion officials must approve the final
plans. A town ordinance is required
before no-parking signs and street
markings can be placed by DOT.
The town has also asked DOT to
change the eliminated spaces Into a
right turn lane for north^und trdffic
on U.S. 17. Three .spaces in front of
Coastal Insurance and two in front of
the post office wiil be el'jninated.
Police cA^ Don Stovall told the
board of al^rmen last Wednesday
ng on the street has
for drivers leav-
It office parking lot
and Pine Street He said accidents
occur quite frequently there.
that cars pal
become a pro
ing both the
Loitering Ordinance
The board also adopted an or
dinance last week that eliminates
loitering and vagrancy in the
Shallotte Township District Park on
U.S. 17.
An ordinance against loitering and
vagrancy on the town’s property was
already on the books, Stovall said,
but It did not apply to the town’s
parks. Officers had been limited in
what laws they could enforce at the
park.
Loitering had become a problem
there, Stovall said.
(See TWO SHALLOTTE, Page ^A)
ITAM f’MOTOiv nm k>pc
SHALIAITTE ALDERMEN adopted a resolution last
week asking the N.C. Department of Transportation to
eliminate parking spaces In front of the post office on
Main Street. The town hopes the spaces will be chang
ed into a turn lane.