Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / July 13, 1989, edition 1 / Page 1
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THE B K^BEACON INwenty-seventh Year, Number 36 <*? the brunswick beacon Shallotte, North Carolina, Thursday, July 13, 1989 25C Per Copy 32 Pages, 3 Sections, Plus Insert i 1^1 :f~* ? Ji^c^ ? #"% \ H ^%t/% S w~^m. ^^"S~ A A r**. wr^m 41 S^i ^^\sr? =-?* 5-* r~*. j ? -^5 -w" ! 9 MCiyj IUKJI II !y K-KJl I II I !U! II I I U V V^S^T ? ^i^TA ! SVlKJi III! \/l I K-KJi SOUllUUiiOi ? BY DOUG RUTTER Residents of Calabash and Carolina Shores will vote Aug. 22 in a special election to decide whether the two distinct areas should become one municipality. Brunswick County Board of Elections Supervisor Lynda Britt said eligible voters of Calabash will go to their normal polling place at the fire station, while residents of Carolina Shores will cast ballots at the pro perty owners association building. The voter registra tion deadline for the election is July 24. Rejection by either group would cause the con solidation proposal to die. Calabash then would hold an emergency filing period Aug. 25 through Sept. 8 for can didates for the mayor's post and the five seats on the town council, all of which are up for election in November. However, if both communities were to agree to con solidation, a special filing period would be held to ac commodate those who desire to run for elected offices in the enlarged Town of Calabash, which would include all of Carolina Shores. "Both will have to vote in favor for it to pass," said Ms. Britt. "If either votes against it, it will not pass and I just don't think the people in Calabosh w ill vote for o 5-to-2 split on the town board. " ? John High Calabash Councilman they will not consolidate." If approved by voters in both areas, the merger would take effect Aug. 31. The action would bring ap proximately 875 acres into the Town of Calabash, in creasing the size of the existing town by about 400 per cent. On the new town board, there would be five seats elected from Carolina Shores and two seats elected from the existing Town of Calabash. The mayor could run from either area, and all voters in the town would vote for candidates from both areas. To create staggered terms, in November only the highest vote-getter from the Calabash district would be elected to a four-year term, while the other winning candidate from that area would serve a two-year term. The three highest vote-getters from Carolina Shores would serve four-year terms and the two other winners would serve two-year terms. When the seats occupied for two years come up for election in 1991, persons elected at that time would serve four years. Under this system, terms would be staggered and the full board of commissioners would not be up for election at one time. The mayor would always serve a term of four years. The upcoming election on the consolidation of Calabash and Carolina Shores stemmed from the work of a committee that organized in March to work out dif ferences between the two areas. legislation introduced earlier this year that would have allowed a vote on the incorporation of Carolina Shores drew opposition from Calabash officials, who have said they would like to have the option of annexing the community into the town limits in the future. After a consolidation plan was worked out by the committee. Calabash Town Council and the Carolina Shores POA Board of Directors agreed last month that the merger proposal should go to a referendum. The Carolina Shores incorporation bill then was amended in the Senate to allow for a referendum on consolidation, and it was ratified last Thursday, accor ding to State Rep. David Redwine, the sponsor of the original bill. Redwine said last week he's not sure how next month's referendum will turn out. In all elections, he said there are going to be some for the measure and some against it. "I don't have an opinion," he said. "I'm going to leave it up to the voters to decide." State Sen. R.C. Soles, who has been against incor poration of Carolina Shores because of its proximity to Calabash, said in a recent telephone interview that he hopes residents of both areas accept the plan. "I personally don't think there should be two towns that close together," he said. One large municipality can provide better services than two smaller towns, he said. Robert Noe, manager of the Carolina Shores POA. (See NEIGHBORING, Page 2-A) Man Pleads Guilty To Drug Count A California man who was among 13 drug defendants indicted last month by a local investigative grand jury has pleaded guilty as charged and received an active prison sentence. Robert Fowler Hewett, 25, entered a guilty plea Monday in Brunswick County Superior Court to conspiracy to traffic in more than 28 grams of co caine, according to the Brunswick County Clerk of Court's office. Judge Thomas W. Boss sentenced Hewett to a 4 Ms-year prison term and a 15,000 fine, after finding ttiat Hewett had provided substantial assistance to investigators. An SB1 agent testified during the sentencing hearing. Prior to the substantial assistance finding, Hewett faced a mandatory minimum sentence of seven years in prison and a $50,000 fine. According to information supplied by the 13th District Attorney's office, Hewett's offense occurred between March 27, 1988, and April 6, 1988. The true bill of indictment listed Shallotte area resident Perry Dean Moore as an alleged co-conspirator. Moore also was inriirteri in .Tune. Hewett was the first, of the 13 in vestigative grand jury defendants to be prosecuted. When the indictments were announced June 5, District At torney Michael Easley stated that "each defendant will be tried on all charges in which he has been in dicted and there will be no plea negotiations." Storm On The Marsh Ocean Isle homeowner Dorothy R. Leckie of High Point took the blue ribbon in the High Point Fine Arts Guild Annual Juried Show last month with this photograph of the west end marsh at Ocean Isie Beach. She took the photo during a storm this past April. Brunswick Seeks Ruling To Clarity Points In Proposed Water Contract BY RAHN ADAMS Brunswick County officials have decided to meet legal questions aris ing from contract talks with the Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer A Knnrl nn inotnoH r% f i 'finocc. mmj ing the problem," according to Coun ty Attorney David Clegg. Clegg, who also serves as chair man of the water authority, more or less took himself to court today (Thursday), to seek a declaratory judgment on three money-related provisions of the proposed contract between the county and the authori ty A hearing was scheduled for today at 11 a.m. in New Hanover County Superior Civil Court, with Judge He n ry Stevens of Kcr.2r.svi!!c presiding, Clegg said Tuesday. The county is represented by Raleigh at torney A. P. Carlton. The authority's legal counsel is William Lynch. Ciegg indicated thai ine fundamen tal issue is whether or not the con tract can be written to legally allow the authority to charge Brunswick County less for water than other customers, to recognize the county's sole support of the authority for the past eight years. "I think it's time for us to quit finessing the problem and get into it," Clegg said, adding that he feels a judgment on differentiated rate structures would have "statewide implications," not just a local im pact. The legal action was filed Tuesday ir. Wilmington, after Crunswick County Commissioners voted unanimously Monday night to seek a decision in the case. Commissioner Grace Beasley, also a member of the water authority board, made the mo tion for the action. The motion follow ed a 15-minute executive session call ed by Ms. Beasley to discuss "litiga tion." Clegg and Lynch have been renegotiating the contract since mid June, when the county commission and authority board informally agreed or. the general terms of a new contract Provisions were based on recommendations from Carlton and Raleigh engineer Frank Stephenson, who were hired on an hourly basis by ine county. However, commissioners refused to allow the authority to proceed with a proposed $8.3 million expansion project until a formal contract was drawn up and signed. The county's current contract gives it the right to refuse any new customers. The current project, which has been in the planning stages for over a year, would pipe untreated water to Cape Industries and Takeda Chemical Products USA, both located in New Hanover County, and the City of Wilmington. Clegg said Tuesday that bids on the nulci line cunali uciiun piujcit recently were extended until August. The deadline for chosing a contractor has been extended four times since bids were received last October. Besides the differentiated rate structure issue, the county also wants the court to rule on whether Brunswick County would be liable for revenue bonds issued by the authori ty for system improvements that do not involve the county. Another issue is whether the authority may reimburse Brunswick County for the balance of a $6.2 million contribution that the county made to the authority out of proceeds from the county's $37 million bond referendum in 1981. Clegg indicated Tuesday that the authority was not refusing to agree to the county's terms on the contract, the authority's position was simply "we don't know" about the three issues, he said. Clegg noted that the county would appeal an unfavorable Superior Court ruling in the case to the N.C. Court of Appeals if necessary. SCHOOLS SAY SUM NOT ENOUGH School Board, Commissioners To Try Again Monday On Budget BY SUSAN USHER Brunswick County Board of Educa tion members will try again next Monday to make their case with county commissioners for more money when the two boards resume meeting at 5:30 p.m. in the Public Assembly Building at the county complex at Bolivia. Meeting jointly Monday night, school officials told commissioners that without more money they stand to lose classroom personnel and possibly reaccreditation of county elementary schools this coming year by the Southern Association. Commissioners voted 3-2 against a motion by District 1 Commissioner Kelly Holden that would have granted the schools another $746,984? the difference between the funds it had sought from the county and was actually allocated in the 1989-90 budget. Holden had moved to appropriate the funds from the coun ty's operating reserve fund on the condition that any additional state funds received later in the year by the schools be reverted to the county. Holden said that the schools' re quested budget, the first he's worked with, appeared to be a good one. Voting with Hotden on the measure was District 2 Commissioner Beruiy Ludlum. In voting against the measure Chairman Frankie Rabon of District 4 was joined by District 5 Commissioner Grace Beasley and District 3 Commissioner Gene Pinkerton. None of the commissioners said they opposed granting the schools ex tra money; Rabon said he had ex pected the board to listen only Mon day night and to make its decision later. Rabon, Beasley and Pinkerton want assurances the school system has done the best it can in tightening its budget. Rabon, who consulted with other commissioners during a break before recessing the meeting, said he wants County Finance Officer Litha Hahn, who will return soon from vacation, to review the school budget figures. Before the county considers an addi tional allocation he wants to make sure the request is justified and an appropriate expense for county tax payers, he said. "I don't feel they (school board members) realize the responsibility we have as much as they should," he continued. "I know it's a lot easier to ask for money than to hand it out." Pinkerton said he wanted to make slire the school board had scrutinized its budget thoroughly. "I think they're going to have to have some help, but I think they're going to have to help us with it," he said. Agreed Beasley, "It needs to be fine-tuned a little bit, probably from both sides." With the two boards seated at an L-shaped table in the public assembly hall, commissioners faced an audience of between 80 and 100 people, mainly school system employees. The schools had requested $6.92 million for current operating ex < W SCHOOL BOARD. Page 2-A) Police Calling Area Farmer's Death Suicide BY DOUG RUTTER A Brunswick County farmer found dead last week on the lawn of a len ding institution in Shaliotte apparent ly committed suicide, according to police. William Kiis>pnp "Shorty" Rellnmv Sr., 55, of Rt. 4, Shaliotte, was found dead with a gunshot wound in the right temple area of his head last Fri day at about 6:42 a.m. outside the Farm Credit Service branch in Shaliotte. The man was found lying on his back with a blue steel .25-caliber Sterling automatic pistol in his right hand and his index finger on the trig ger, according to a police report filed by Shaliotte Patrolman George Samck. Brunswick County Coroner Greg White said last Friday the cause of death was a single gunshot to the head. He estimated the time of death as between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. The body was reported to the Shaliotte Police Department shortly after 6:30 a.m. Friday by a manager of McDonald's, which is located across from the Farm Credit Service on U.S. 17. Police Chief Rodney Gause said there were no signs of a struggle or any evidence of foul ntav at the scene. He said the pistol and fingerprints were sent to the SBI lab in Raleigh to determine for sure whether or not the death was a suicide Kesults should be available in approximately two or three weeks, said Gause. The police report said a 1980 Chevrolet Chevette owned by Bellamy was parked in front of the Farm Creriit Service office near his body. Samek said in his report that he searched the vehicle but found nothing out of the ordinary. No note was found at the scene, the police report indicated. A native of Brunswick County. Bellamy was a farmer in the Hickman's Crossroads area who was experiencing some financial pro blems at the time of his death. On Spnt 1 1QRfl ha bad filpH f nr protection under Chapter 13 bankruptcy laws in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court's Eastern District of North Carolina office in Wilson. Harvey Beckham, president of the Farm Credit Service in Fayetteville, refused to confirm or deny whether Bellamy had a loan with the agency, citine a policy of confidentiality. Employees at the local branch (See POLICE, Page 2-A) Municipal Filing Off To Slow Start Filing for local municipal offices got off to a slow start last week. Since the filing period opened at noon Friday, four persons are known to have filed for office, either at the Brunswick County Board of Elec tion"! nr with local town officials. The deadline for filing is August 12 at noon. The voter registration deadline is Oct. 9. Shallotte Mayor Jerry Jones filed Friday at Slwllotte Town Hall for re election to the post ho has held for four years. Cas 11 Beach Commissioners William A Boyd Jr. and Duncan R. Stuart also filed for re-election Fri day, at the county elections office. Mayor Jack Cook's seat is also up for election. At Holden Beach, elections board member Mabel Dutton said Odis Aleck Alexiou has filed for commis sioner. Countywide, 63 seats on 15 municipal boards and three scats on the Dosher Hospital Board of Trustees will be filled. A special filing period will be held Inter this year in Calabash, with residents filing either for all five council seats and the mayor's post, or two district seats and the mayor's post, depending upon the outcome of a referendum on consolidation with the Carolina Shores community. SHALI.OTTF. MAYOR Jerry Jone.; was waiting at towu hall to file for re-election when the filing period opened at noon Friday.
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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July 13, 1989, edition 1
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