Ocean Isle Beach Second Fastest Growing N.C. Town
BV DOLG UL'TTER
State estimates released last month reveal that
Ocean Isle Beach was the second fastest growing
municipality in North ('arolina during the past six
years.
According to a leport by the N.C. Office of State
Budget and Management, Ocean Isle’s 1980 population
of 14.1 grew to .\22 by I!)8(i, representing an increase of
125 percent.
Only the town of .Morrisville, a smiill suburb of
Ualeigh. grew faster with a 129 percent increase during
that periml. It’s population jumped from 251 in 1980 to
575 in 1980.
According to Ocean Isle Beach Mayor Betty
Williamson. The only thing I can attribute that to is the
high property values and the proper planning and zon
ing in the area.
• The area has realty grown.•' she added. ••The air
port. the golf courses and our new sewer system have
all helped Tm sure. People just like to have these
facilities and services, and all the towns around here
are .starting to provide them.^^
While Oce;m Isle Beach was the only town in the
county which managed to double its population,
Belville^s growth was 90 i>ercent. with an e.stimated 194
residents in 1986.
Brunswick County s other beaches aLso supported
rapid growth. Long Beach, with an estimated popula
tion of 2,961 in 1986. led the way with a 60 percent in
crease.
(Ither local beaches, listed in order of growth with
their estimated 1986 population, are Holden. 349;
Yaupon. 832; .Sunset. 440; and Caswell, 159. Each of
these have grown between 45 and 50 percent during the
period.
•Shallotte was the only other municipality in the
county wliicli i;r'u m. i- ib.iii .lO pei rviit. with a 19!’*i
estimated popiil.iie.ti .,( i ivj.-,
As a whole. Mriu -.•.u k * oinity's poiudation grew 31
percent between ;„i,i t,, tol.il ,,f 17.7ii;. T| ..
rep(»rt does tug eotit.'iui i.ankuigs of eount\' growth.
.Mrs. Ailham.'''on .tdded. Ip gemu.'ii. we re in an
area with a lot of new d“vel(ipnient. We live ne;ir tl:
coast and peojile .oe rliscovermg that the .South
Brunswick Islands is .» nice piaee to come and li\’e.”
Growth of other Hi im.^wick County mimieipalities.
listed with 19l!i: population estimates and percent
growth, are as lollow.s. Hojling Spring loikes. 1,M8. 1.7
percent: Bolivui. :!;> percent; Cah-tbash. ion, -J5 pei
cent: .Southport. M percent; .nid N'avassa. 17'.
nine percent.
Biild Head l..'land. which had an estiiiiiited popiilti
tion of '20 in 1986. hatl no ti.-ting for 1980. when it was no'
a miinici()ality
HOAG '50NG BOOK BIHOEcr
1 '■ 1 ' H r
GpfvINGPORT iii 4
Twenty-sixth Year, Number 7
e^ACOfi
Shallotte, North Carolina, Thursday, December 24, 1987
25c Per Copy
36 Pages
Three Men Arrested
In Calabash For
Cocaine Trafficking
Caroling Down The Canal
STAfr Photo 9r EODit ^VNiAlT
On their third annual Waterway Christmas Caroling venture, these Holden
Beach singing boaters stopped at docks on Harbor Acres. Heritage Harbor
and Holden Beach Harbor canals, concluding with carols on the watenvay at
the Holden Bearh Bridge Sunday evening. One of the families on the docks at
Capt. PeU‘'s .Seafood, had driven from Bobbins especially to be on hand for
the occasion. Another family, from Florida, was so impressed by the
unusual specUicIc of a brightly-decorated boat can'ying Santa and carolers,
they said they will schedule their vacation nc.xt year so they will be here for
the event. t)n board are Martin and Wanda Feldt, owners of the boat. Tim
and Susan Gibble, Graham and Macy King, Ann Page, Banks and Linda
Hastpie, William Williamson, and Allan and Elizabeth Damcron.
Three FTorida men remained m tlu‘
Brunswick County .lail Tuesda> in
lieu of .$1 million Ixind each follow ing
their arrest Saturday in Calabash on
charges of cocaine trafficking.
St.ite and local law officers ar
rested the three as part of ;m under
cover drug investigation.
Arrest warrants on file m the
Brunswick County Clerk of Court s
office identify the suspects as I.;irr>
David Andrews, 3(1; Bandy Carter.
‘24: ami I.arry Green. 33. :iU .■!
Starke, Fla.
According to the clerk’of five,
charges again.st all three inehid.-
traffieking in cocaine by dislrdmliow,
Vrafticking in cocaine by possesv.ioo.
trafficking in cocaine by transporta
tion and con-spiracy to traffic i.’i co
Caine.
The arrest warrants weie dr.nwn
and sen’cd early Saturday b\ (wo
SBI agents.
Special Assi.stant District .-\ttoi ne\
Bill Wolak said Tuesday the charges
against the three stemmed from the
sale of a kilogram i2.2 poiiiuisi of cis
caine to undercover agents.
Wolak said he had no additional iii-
ionii;itioii on the arrest.s themselvi's
other than what was listed on the ar
test warrants
I'he arrest warrants were dr:iwn
and served early .Saturday mornini;
by two SHI agents.
Neither the SHI nor the Brunswid
'■"iinty Sheriffs Department would
'■"minent I nesday on the iindercovei
oper.itioii whu h led to the three ar
|els
W'olak and an unidentified DE’>
iceiit said the investigation was con
tiivong I'i'o'nable eause "aeanngs for
the Mllee -.1 • .-livdiiieii lot .tan f> f-
i'.nin.-.viek l oonty De.ln.'l rrmiinai
' .luei U\ l\>eo, '.v.iiak
pi .-t,^ . oinplete .-igency reports on the
mi-estig.-iiion
Me .'.•;iid that -.iefendants ;tre eiifitl
e-l (o proh.ilile ("iiise heiirlngs w ithin
la il.'iy.-; of t/ieir first ;ippe;ir;inces.
w hu h were .Monday .
Tile district attorney's office tilso
will lie sei'king grand jury indict
inents .against the three siispeets.
W’ol.ak said, the grand jury iiivvt
meets on .Ian. 11
Quick Action By Sea Trail Men Cuts
Student Bus Driver's Rampage Short
BY KAHN ADAMS
Fwo Sea Trail residents Fridtiy
were credited with stopping a West
Brums wick High .School bus who.se
student driver subsequently was
charged with drunk driving.
According to tlie .N.C. Highway-
Patrol and Sunset Beach Police,
Terry Trell Clifton, 17. of Shallotte,
was tirrested for driving while im
paired k’riday around 1:30p.m., after
Bus 61—carrying at least 15
students-careened through Sea
Trail subdivision off N.C. 179 and
damaged a fire hydrant and water
pipe at a construction project, caus
ing $600 to $700 worth of damage to
the bus.
Sumset Beach Police Chief William
Hill confinned Monday that Sea Trail
residents Bill Oakley and Melvin
McBride were responsible for stopp
ing the bus on Sunset Boulevard as it
waited to cro.ss Sun.set Beach Bridge.
McBride told The Brunswick
Beacon Monday that he and Oakley
saw the bus nin through a construc
tion barricade and yards on Park
Koad before it turned onto IJvc Oak
Hoad and headed toward N.C. 179.
The two men, in a pickup truck,
followed the bus until it was forced to
stop behind other traffic waiting to
crass the bridge, McBride said.
Oakley “jerked open the (bus i dour
and took the key," even though the
teens were "cussing and hollering-'
and told him that they weren’t going
to let him on board, .McBride .said.
“As soon as he took the key. they
all ran,” he continued.
Hill said 15 teen-agers—including
four girls—were apprehended
minutes later near Sunset Beach
Town Hall on N.C. 179 by town police,
sheriff's deputies and a wildlife of
ficer.
N.C. Highway Patrol Trooper ,J.V.
Dove and Chief Hill .said lawmen
were on the lookout for the hits after
the sheriff’s department received
calls from students who had gotten
off of the bus prior to the iiccidcnl in
Sea Trail.
Sheriff .John C. Davis .said Monday
that no charges were filed agtiinsl
any of the teen-agers other than the
driver. He said disciplinary action
would be handled by school officials.
William H. Turner, operations
a.ssLstant to the Brunswick County
Superintendent of Schools, said .Mon
day that the matter was being “in
vestigated" by the principal and staff
at West Brunswick.
Turner said .school administrators
will decide what disciplinary action
to take in the matter after the in-
vestigiitioii is finished.
West Brunswick Principal David
Corley was unavailable for comment
.Mornhiy iind 'Tuesday.
However, 'Turner added that he
took Clifton's bus driver’s license
Fridtiy following the incident at
Sun.set Betich.
■ I doulit very seriously that he will
get Ills bus license back," Turner
said.
The student also automatically lost
his regular operator’s license for 10
(liiys due to the DWl arrest.
According to Trooper Dove, a
liri'iithalyzer test measured Clifton’s
blood-alcohol level at 0.14, which was
above the legal limit of 0.10.
•’He wasn’t the only one drinking,"
Dove said. “There were six or seven
that were drinking."
According to Hill, lawmen found no
alcoholic beverages on the bus,
although there was a “strong smell"
of alcohol inside the vehicle.
Dove said Clifton indicated that he
had left the school campus and
started drinking Friday around 10
a.m. after completing his morning
bus route.
The driver then returned to cam
pus “unbeknowast to any of the
school officials," and began liis after
noon bus route at 1 p.m. when school
dismissed for the Christmas
holidays. Dove said.
Just two weeks ago, the U.S.
Department of I,abor agreed to allow
North Carolina schools to use
17-year-old bus drivers at least
through the end of the school year,
despite an earlier decision to require
all-adult drivers by Jaii. 1, due to
(Sec QUICK AtTION, Page 2-A)
AT HOLDEN BEACH
Motorists, Bicyclists
Will 'Share The Road'
BY SUSAN USMEU
Routes for bicylists at Hokleii Bejich and I .ong Beach will be mark
ed next year in projects recently aniUMim ed by the N.C. Department of
Transportation.
At Holden Beach, the sUUc plans to ei ect signs along 6.54 miles of
Ocean Boulevard and to provide hrodmi es for tourists, at a total cost of
$2,500.
At Ix>ng Beach, signs will lx* orected tilong 38 mile of S.R. 1105
(Stanley Street) and 4.46 miles of S B i(k-ean Highway), with
striping or restriping as needed, at a cost of $5,000.
According to Teresa Bailey, bicycle fa'ilities engineer for DOT, site
visits will be made in January, setting the planning proce.s.s in motion.
The projects could be completed by early summer, or at best, she
said, late spring. Work with lx- coordiiuited with other activity in Divi
sion 3.
While details won’t be firmed until after the site visit. Bailey
predicted signage at Holden Be.ieh will read Share the Boad," a
reminder to motorists to share existing roadw.iy with bicyclists. There
are no plans to establish separate bikeways paralleling the roadway.
Brochures showing the route, with tips for bicylists would lx- provid
ed for distribution through the town luill. and also through DOT to
bicylists who inquire about routes in the ar>.-;i
The Long Beach project will involve stri|>ing or restripiiig of the
side line, she said. A bike lane could he delineated if the paved shoulder
is at least four feet wide: otherwise the side line will be repainted as
needed.
In conjunction with other future improvenietils. :i (i,83-mile hikeway
will being coasidcred along S B 1104 lOeean Drivei at Long Beach.
Also, Brunswick County is imhideil in two state hicyle routes
scheduled for signing. In 1989 signs will he erected along Ports of Call, a
309-mile route from Caltibash to Corapeake. AtuI, in 1991. signs will he
placed along Cape Fear Bun, 176 miles froir Apex to Kiire Beach, in
cluding northern Brunswick.
Planning Board Says Interpretation Of Tank Law Has Countywide Impact
BY RAIIN ADAMS
County planning officials la.st week
.said a now interpretation of state .sep
tic tjink laws in Bruaswick County
will have an impact on the entire
county, not just on isltind com
munities.
As a result, the pluuning hoard in
structed Pliiiitiing Director .lohn
Hiirvey to survey other counties
acrass the state, to compare their in
terpretation of the 1982 septic tank
laws with current cnforcetnent iii
Brunswick County.
During its meeting last Wedne.sday
night iit Holden Beach Town Hall, the
Bruaswick County Plaiiiiing Boanl
briefly discussed the problem now
faced by m;my local property owner.-.
wliu.se lots do not meet hciiltli depart
ment standards for septic tanks
The septic lank issue is of par
ticular interest at Holden Beach,
where .septic lank permits for canal
areiis were "on hold’’ for about a
month this fall while the Brunswick
County Health Department awaited
advice from the stale on interpreta
tion of septic tank hiws.
However, the meeting, which was
attended by the full planning board,
was held at Holden Betich simply in
keeping with the Iward's practice of
visiting a different local municipality
each year for its December se.ssion.
New enforcement of .septic tank
laws iiffects Holden Betich and cer-
ttiin other developed areas in the
county, in thtil .state health rules le-
quire a fool of ■'iititur.dly-occurriiig’'
or original soil above the water ttible
Most of the canal lots at Holden
Beach were created on mtirsh timl
consist of dredged fill, hauled fill or ,i
combination of both.
At the outset of di.sciLssiou, Htirvev
told board members that he etirlier
requested an cxplantition of tlie local
health deptirtmenfs position mi .sej/-
tic tank regulations and received a
wiitteii response from Envirmimen-
lal tieallli .Siipervi.sor .luhn Crowder
mi Dec 10
Crowder's letter .stated; "Until
rei-enll> onr section has been
evaluating the soils primarily and
nut been concerned with these
11% filled lots llowevei, due
I'pcals mill inlerpn-ljilimis
I'^ee I .AU. l‘age’2-A)
I has
lii-'lm I
In •