a
-*? -m* v/ c v M/ff i/u ? v/ \jv\ym %/ ?
That's the goal of two new ordinances which
target dilapidated structures and overgrown
vacant lots in this southwestern corner of the
county. Page 3-A.
7U 17 j. Cji m
Utt 1 G JL OtUf v
EfTorts to finance a nature center at Ocean Isle
Beach get off to a fast start with several large
donations, including $25,000 fiom Brunswick
Commissioners. Page 6-B.
nnw?T\~ a t* f .o
X ^JL llfUX 1// U^.V
U. S. Coast Guardsmen aren't enforcing the TEDs
law while feds take a longer look at the turtle
rescue device fishermen say costs them shrimp
and nets. Page 10-B.
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Twenty-seventh Year, Number 37
Otses THE BRUNSWICK BEACON
Shallotte, Norm Carolina, Thursday, July 20, 1989
25C Per Copy
34 Pages, 3 Sections
Man Pleads
Guilty In
Drug Case
A New Hampshire man last week
admitted his involvement in a 1983
marijuana smuggling conspiracy
near Ocean Isle Beach.
Christopher James McCauley, 40,
of Hillsboro, N.H., pleaded guilty Ju
ly 10 in Brunswick County Superior
Court to conspiracy to traffic in more
than 10,000 pounds of marijuana, ac
cording to the clerk of court's office.
Judge Thomas W. Ross continued
McCauley's sentencing until a future
term of Superior Court. The defen
dant's plea transcript indicates that
sentencing was delayed to allow him
to continue assisting the state, as
part of a plea arrangement.
McCauley faces a mandatory
minimum prison sentence of 35 years
in prison and a $200,000 fine on the
conspiracy to traffic charge. Under
state law, a lesser sentence may be
imposed if the sentencing judge finds
that McCauley has provided
"substantial assistance" to in
vestigators.
The charge against McCauley
stemmed from a May 1983 drug raid
at I-akewood Estates on Ocean Isle
Beach Road. Federal, state and local
lawmen seized more than 14,000
pounds of marijuana and arrested
five persons in the raid.
According to court records, Mc
Cauley was indicted in the case by a
Brunswick County grand jury in
March 1986. However, he was a
fugitive until late 1987, when he was
located in New Hampshire,
McCauley surrendered himself to
Brunswick County authorities in
January 1988. He was released from
custody on a $130,000 bond. Judge
Ross last week ordered that the same
bond remain in effect while Mc
Cauley awaits sentencing.
i II ?hi '' .
STAFF PHOIO BY RAHN ADAMS
Hut, Hut , Hike!
With little brother Roddy in hot pursuit, Russell Roscoe appears to be look
ing for a receiver "downfield," as the boys piay football in the surf at Ocean
Isle Beach Sunday afternoon. The youngsters were visiting the South
Brunswick Islands with their family from Cheraw, S.C.
Calabash Security S&L
Branch Robbed Again
BY DOUG RUTTER
Federal and local lawmen Tuesday
night were continuing to investigate
an armed robbery of the C.alabash
branch of Security Savings & Loan
which occurred earlier that after
noon?the second armed robbery at
the branch in the past four weeks.
Brunswick County Sheriff John C.
Davis said the robbery occurred at
about 4:20 p.m. Tuesday when a man
entered the building, showed what
appeared to be a .45-caliber handgun
and demanded money from a teller.
After receiving an undetermined
amount of cash, Davis said the rob
ber left the building on foot and ran
into the woods toward Marsh Har
bour Golf Links. The robber was still
at large Tuesday night at 9 p.m.
Sheriff Davis said tellers described
the robber as a white male, approx
imately 40 years old, with short blond
hair and no facial hair. The sheriff
said the robber is between 5-feet-5
and 5-feet-9 with a stocky build.
Brunswick County Sheriff's Det.
Lindsay Walton said three tellers
were the oniy peopie inside the
building at the time of the robbery.
He said nobody was injured.
Immediately after the robbery,
Davis said about a half dozen officers
with the sheriff's department search
ed for the robber in the woods behind
the financial institution but found
nobody.
Assisting with the search effort,
which was called off at about 7 p.m.,
were officers with the state Division
of Marine Fisheries, state Highway
Patrol and the Wilmington Police K-9
squad.
Roadblocks were set up at the
South Carolina state line en N.C. 179
and at the intersections of U.S. 17 and
Calabash Road and U.S. 17 and
Thomasboro Road, said Davis.
In the wake of the second robbery
of the branch in the past four weeks.
Security Savings & Ix>an managing
officer A. G. Trunnell said Tuesday
he plans to take measures that will
hopefully prevent future robberies.
Although he would not reveal any
specific plans, Trunnell said, "We're
definitely going to beef up
surveillance and give this branch a
lot more protection in that respect."
The manager admitted that the
branch is somewhat vulnerable
because it is located so close to the
South Carolina state line, Calabash
River and Atlantic Intracoastal
Waterway. He said there is nothing
more county lawmen can do to pro
tect the financial institution.
The last robbery at the S&L branch
occurred on June 20, also a Tuesday,
when an armed white male carrying
a handgun entered the building and
demanded money. He was also
reported to have ran into the woods
behind the building, and the crime
occurred at approximately the same
hour as this week's robbery.
Sheriff Davis said Tuesday the per
son who committed last month's
armed robbery did not commit this
week's crime.
He said a man suspected of the
June 20 robbery is being held in a
South Carolina jail in connection with
another charge and added that the
descriptions of the two robbers do not
match.
When asked Tuesday if the
sheriff's department needs more
money or personnel to boost patroll
ing in the Calabash area, Davis said,
"You've seen what I liave in my
budget. I'll leave that up to the com
missioners to decide."
Brunswick County Commissioners
appropriated about $1.5 million for
the sheriff's department this fiscal
year out of the total budget of approx
imately $31.1 million.
This week's crime is the third arm
ed robbery of a Calabash financial in
stitution in the iast 19 months.
On Dec. 15, 1987, a white male car
rying a handgun and what turned out
to be a fake bomb robbed the old
United CHrolinn Bank br^nrh on Tvpv
High Street in Calabash.
A suspect was arrested several
months later in connection with the
local robbery and robberies in
several other locations in the
southeastern United States.
Phil Wells of the N.C. League of
Savings Institutions said Tuesday the
organization is offering a cash
reward of up to $2,000 for information
leading to the arrest and indictment
of the person who commited Tues
day's robbery
The same reward was offered for
last month's crime. Anyone with in
formation can contact the FBI office
in Charlotte at (704)525-8497.
Telephone charges may be reversed.
Board Votes To Hire Firm That County Fired In '83
BY RAHN ADAMS
Six years after it was fired by com
missioners, a Raleigh arcruteciurai
and engineering firm is going back lo
work for Brunswick County.
On a 3-2 vote Monday, Brunswick
County Commissioners chose Peir
son & Whitman to design a new Social
Services building and jail addition
for the county. The action followed an
hour-long executive session re
quested by Commissioner Grace
Beasley to discuss "independent con
tractors."
Commissioners Benny Ludlum and
Kelly Holden opposed Commissioner
Gene Pinkerton's motion to pick the
company from a field of 12 firms that
the board interviewed last week.
There was no public discussion of the
matter prior to the vote.
Peirson & Whitman was formerly
employed by the county from 1972 to
1983, with two engineering contracts
during that period. One contract was
for upgrading of the county's Phase I
water system. At the time of its
dismissal the firm had the contract
for design and inspection of the
Phase II water system.
In April 1983, commissioners voted
4-2 to dismiss the firm after then
Commissioner Chris Chappeli stated
thst h? hsd "lost confidence" in
firm's credibility, according to
Beacon files. Ludlum? the only cur
rent commissioner on the board at
that time? supported Chappell's mo
tion to fire the company.
The firm reportedly came under
fire six years ago because its cast of
water projections? arrived at in con
sultation with the county? had shot
up drastically since the water system
was first proposed.
Pinkerton told the Beacon Tuesday
that during Monday's executive ses
sion, commissioners discussed
"previous problems" with Peirson &
Whitman but did not specifically talk
about the 198?- firing. He added that
Ludlum primarily was opposed to
hiring the company.
"It did come up that there had been
?>n urdcsir^blc KAtwppn
that firm and county officials,"
Pinkerton said. However, he added
that he felt the company's pluses
outweighed any previous problems.
Pinkerton pointed out that the fee
Peirson & Whitman will charge was
the lowest of all the firms interview
ed last week. The Raleigh firm will
charge seven percent to eight per
cent of the project cost, he said. The
second lowest proposed fee was eight
percent to 10 percent.
Immediately after Monday's
meeting, Commission Chairman
Frankie Rabon said he felt Peirson &
Whitman was selected because its
representatives gave the "best
presentation" last week and due to
the company's experience.
When asked if the company had
previously worked for Brunswick
County, Rabon said he thought that it
had, but he added he was not sure of
specific projects that the firm might
have handled. He did note that the
firm was the consulting engineer for
the Iceland Sanitary District.
$5.5 MILLION BOND REFERENDUM PROPOSED
^ I I I A 1 1 AAA
County Gives Schools A norner j>cw/,uuu
BY SUSAN USHER
Two major Brunswick County
county boards resolved 2 funding im
passe Monday evening when the
board of education on a 3-1 vote reluc
tantly accepted additional money
from the county commissioners.
A week after hearing a plea from
the school board for more operating
funds and money for a new school,
the commissioners agreed to give the
school system an additional $646,984
for current expenses? which was
$100,000 less than the school board
had sought, and also proposed a bond
issue to finance the new school.
Chairman Frankie Rabon's motion
to grant the money followed a
lengthy statement defending the
county's handling of the original
school system budget allocation and
was adopted unanimously. Commis
sioner Benny Ludlum arrived late
and was not present for the joint
meeting.
The operating funds will be
allocated in equal payments over the
next 12 months from the county's
operating rpserve fund If the state
funds any of the 19 positions it has
cut, that portion of the money is to be
refunded to the county.
At the request of several commis
sioners, the school board made con
cessions of its own over the past
week, cutting $100,000 from its
budget.
However, the commissioners' pro
posal wasn't greeted with en
thusiasm?not because school board
members didn't want the money, but
because they didn't like the way in
which the compromise was reached,
several members said afterwards.
"This sets education back," said
member Donna Baxter, who finally
made Uie niutiuii to accept the funds.
"I didn't like a lot of things about it.
We told them about the cuts as soon
as we found out about it."
Robert Slockett said one reason he
voted against Baxter's motion was
because he felt the commissioners
made it look like the school board
"had held out or. them."
While Rabon said the county and
schools together had sufficient funds
available to go forward with the next
phase of the school project. Board of
Education Chairman Doug Baxley
said he would have liked to have seen
a firm commitment of money for the
project in this year's budget from
sources other than state sales tax
revenue, as well as full funding of the
board's current expense request.
Budget Trimmed
The $100 000 nit in the schools
budget came about by trimming "a
little here and a little there"
throughout the budget, Business
Manager Klaine Shappell said. It in
cluded $dj,ooo trom current expense
items such as board travel expenses,
and approximately $40,000 for
several non-instructional positions,
including a benefits coordinator.
last Monday, Baxley told commis
sioners the board and staff had gone
through its budget and cut all that it
thought could be out. Muuiiay , he ioiu
them, "We were willing to face reali
ty" by deferring some items it had
wanted to include in this year's
budget, so as to keep the extra alloca
tion to a minimum.
Before making his motion, Rabon
said the commissioners had been un
fairly criticized.
The county had allocated the
schools 10 percent more for 1989-90
than the year before, leaving it to the
board of education to decide how the
funds would us*?d h? s?ld aHHinp
that "the county commissioners
never refused to fund teachers' posi
tions."
In seeking more funds school board
members had said the county alloca
tion wasn't enough to make up for
state salary increases that had to be
met for local employees, a cut in
state funding for 19 positions due to a
( See SCHOOLS, Page 2- A )
Developers Ask For
Flexibility In State's
Septic Tank Rules
BY SUSAN USHER
New septic tanks rules proposed by
the state would do little to solve pro
blems in developing small Holden
Beach lots created from historical fill
material, Brunswick County Health
Board Chairman Ricky Parker said
at a hearing Tuesday night at the
county complex in Bolivia.
Other speakers questioned omis
sion from the draft of a clause that
wouia allow sanuy soils useu as iili
dirt and left to weather for three to
four years to be treated as though the
soil had always been there.
Approximately 90 persons attended
the hearing conducted by John
Barkley, staff attorney for the state
Commission on Health Services It
was one of three hearings set
statewide this week to garner public
comment before the Commission
meets Aug. 9-10 in Raleigh to act on
proposed major revisions in the state
septic tank regulations.
Recommendations for greater flex
ibility in use of fill material non
conventional sewage treatment
systems dominated comments of the
12 fici auua WUU Giilj one aug*
gested the rules needed to be more
restrictive.
Parker, who is also a septic tank
contractor and developer, said one
change proposed "appears to be an
attempt to deal with these lots (at
Hoiden Beach i, but i don't read
anytning here that would do us any
good."
When the state advised the county
in December 1987 that it had been in
terpreting the regulations incorrect
ly. approximately 200 or more lots at
Holden Beach were no longer rated
suitable for septic tank use.
Most lots on the island are too
small? about 50 feet by 100 feet, for
use with a low pressure piping
system as specified in the regula
tions. "It would take a lot 100 by 100
feet to do that," said Parker. "Most
folks' lots at Holden Beach don't have
that much space."
Brunswick County Health Director
Michael Rhodes said proposals
relating to fill were in some ways
more stringent than before.
"We should at least be able to use
fill to obtain 36-inch water table
separation and have grandfathering
of the site size since most of these lots
were platted before 1983," he noted.
Parker also questioned proposed
changes relating to general use of fill
material ana drainage.
The proposed rules specify that the
soil wetness conditions can be
modified by use of drainage only in
sand and loamy sand soils, while
Parker said he has used drainage in
conjunction with fill systems install
ed in other types of soil with success.
Rhodes noted that while the rules
were developed in a "more
democratic" process than in the
past, coastal counties were left out of
several areas.
Saying that a 12-inch separation
had worked well in Brunswick Coun
ty over many years of use in various
types of soils, he questioned requir
ing 18 inches of separation between
the trench boiiom ami any suii
wetness conditions when installing
systems in which all or part of the
nitrification trench is installed in fill
material.
"If we're unable to use fill it will be
very detrimental to not only
Brunswick County, but to other
coastal counties as well," he said.
Action on the proposed changes
was delayed for some 18 months at
the request of the Alliance for
Balanced Coastal Management, to
allow for their revi<*w and Hevplnn
ment of a position paper by economic
development interests.
However speakers for several
organizations represented on that ad
hoc review committee said they
didn't get exactly what they had
agreed on.
Ken Stewart, executive director of
the Alliance for Balanced Coastal
(See DEVELOPERS, Page 2-A)