COUNTY ABC BOARD NAMED
Brunswick Plans
To Purchase $7.7
Million Training Center
BY RAHN ADAMS
For ihc first lime in the board's
history, Brunswick County Com
missioners Monday considered a
"consent agenda" ? a list of rela
tively routine business matters that
were approved with a single vote
near the outset of the panel's regular
agenda.
But the major decisions of the
night had to do with an agenda of
another sort: a secret ? or at least
unpublicized ? agenda that appar
ently surprised two commissioners,
as well as the public and press on
hand for Monday's two-hour meet
ing in Bolivia. All Five commission
ers were present.
The board decided to negotiate
for the purchase of a Sl.l million
training facility that will be built
this year in Lcland Industrial Park,
and to hire a new county manager
(see related story). The commis
sioners were split on both matters,
as Commissioners Kelly Holdcn
and Benny Ludlum made unsuc
cessful attempts to delay the votes.
Following a 25-minutc executive
session in which the county manag
er's post was discussed, the board
also appointed three members to the
newly-created Brunswick County
Alcoholic Beverage Control Board
and voted to pay the appointees
S !00 per month.
The ABC Board members are
Chairman Wilbur Rabon of Winn
bow, appointed to a three-year term;
John Ramsey of Southport, !WO
year term; and Raymond Babson of
Shalloue Point, one-year term. The
three were appointed on a unani
mous vote.
Rabon, older brother of Commis
sioner Frankic Rabon, is a former
county commissioner and school
board member. Ramsey is a South
port businessman and former Re
publican candidate for clerk of
court. Babson is a former school
board member.
None of those major issues ? the
building purchase, county manager
hiring and ABC Board appoint
ments ? appeared on either of the
commissioners' previously-publi
cized agendas Monday. All three
subjects were brought up unan
nounced near the close of the meet
ing. after all agenda items werp die.
posed.
STAFF rHCTTO IY KAHN ADAMS
RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Michael de Sherbinin shows commissioners the
design of an industrial training center to he built this year at Iceland Industrial Park.
County Wants Bunding
Actually, Pinkerton's motion to
begin negotiations to buy the train
ing facility was unanimous, but
only after Hoidcn's proposed
amendment to table the vote for two
weeks was defeated 3-2. Holden
and Ludlum said they supported the
training center project, even though
both indicated that they felt the
board should take more time to re
view the matter due to the build
ing's estimated expense.
The votes followed a presentation
by Brunswick County Resources
Development Director Michael de
Sherbinin and additional comments
by Brunswick Community College
President Mike Reaves and BCC
Board of Trustees Chairman David
Kelly.
When the facility opens in Au
gust, the 20,000-square-foot, two
story training center will be leased
by Brunswick Community College
to train workers for Lxicle EleciiOii
ics and other industries that may lo
calc in the Lcland area. Exidc is
scheduled to begin operations in
October or November, de Sherbinin
said. The manufacturing plant will
initially employ 100 workers; its
work force is expected to rise to 283
within three years and 500 within
five years, lie added.
Establishment of a training center
was part of an incentives package
that the county and industrial park
developer Landmark Organization
Inc. of Wilmington used last year to
lure Exide to Leland Industrial
Park. The county also appropriated
S 300,000 to purchase the plant site
and donate it to Exide. The initial
plan involving the building, howev
er, was for the facility to be con
structed and owned by Landmark,
then leased to the college.
After Monday's meeting, de
Sherbinin and Reaves explained
that county ownership of the train
ing center wasn't pan of that initial
plan, until county officials recently
realized thai the county could even
tually recapture the cost of the facil
ity through lease payments and
funds from the N.C. Department of
Community Colleges* New ursd Ex
panding Industries Program. Reaves
told commissioners that the Depart
ment of Community Colleges al
ready has agreed to provide S40.000
in annual funding while BCC leases
the facility.
According to Pinkerton's motion,
the $1.1 million would come from
the county unappropriated fund bal
ance. He added that the $ 1.1 million
would be returned to the fund bal
ance after "proper Financing" is ar
ranged.
Ludlum objected to voting on the
matter Monday because he said he
did not receive information on the
proposal that was prepared by de
Shcrbinin and mailed to commis
sioners Jan. 30. "From now on,
whenever we're involved in a mil
iiun-tioiiar (inauer), iet's run that
through the county manager and get
il in the (regular meeting) packcl,"
Ludlum said. Pinkerton responded.
"Undoubtedly everybody got it but
you."
Appointments Made
In addition to the ABC Board ap
pointments, commissioners Monday
reappointed members to four other
county and regional boards, inviuu
ing the Nursing Home Advisory
Board, Southeastern Mental Health
Board, Utility Operations Board and
Southeastern Economic Develop
ment Commission.
Reappointed members included
the following: Nursing Home Advi
sory Board? Virginia Bellamy, Re
becca Chapman, Carrie Haggins,
Perita Prices and Mary Strickland;
Southeastern Mental Health Board
? J.R. Frink and James O. Gray;
UOB ? Ernest McGee, Burton
Myers and Robert Nubci; South
eastern Economic Development
Commission ? Roscoe Butler and
Orie Gore.
The nursing home board vote was
unanimous; votes on the other three
boards were 4-1, with Holden dis
senting. Holdcn objected to the
manner in which Ms. Bcasley made
motions to reappoint the members
rather than open the floor for nomi
nations.
While he didn't vote against Ms.
Beasley's motions, Ludium aiso
chided the board. "If you'll go back
and check it, you'll see that we've
done these board appointments cv
an? rl i ftflrnnf wrn*? " Un ikot
v? j uuiviviii nuj. i iv uuuvm umi
the county board was making "a
fool of ourselves" through its con
duct
Other Business
In other action at Monday's meet
ing, the commissioners:
? As expected, adopted a 911
emergency telephone system ordi
nance that will result in a monthly
50-cent subscriber surcharge begin
ning in August
? Set a public hearing for March
12, at 7 p.m., in the Public Assem
bly Building on Special Assessment
District 10 (Calabash area), whose
proposed water line assessment rate
is S5.22 per front foot.
? Agreed to have the county
planning department initially review
all secondary road petitions before
iney are forwaiucu uj iiic N.C.
Department of Transportation.
? Approved tax releases and re
funds for December 1989.
? Amended the county's sewage
and septage-hauling ordinance to
make violations of it to be misde
meanor offenses.
? Adopted a sewer use ordinance
for the county sewer system in
t Tn>l>ictrin1 Dirlr untK a r?\t?
LA.IUIIU 1IIUUJU tM< i ????? ?? ?m. m ? utV
of $2.50 per 1 ,000 gallons of waste
water and a tap-on fee equal to ma
terials, parts and labor plus 10-per
cent.
? Voted to buy a new $16,995
burglar-alarm system for the Bruns
wick County Sheriff's Department
? Accepted a new solid waste
container site donated by property
owners in the Sunset Harbor area.
? Agreed to give five surplus
sheriff's department cars to the
Sandy Creek Police Department,
Shallotte Police Department and
Brunswick Community College.
? Tabled until budget time later
this year a proposal to set $20 per
diem payments for citizen members
of the Brunswick Interagency
Transportation System Board.
? Approved Planning Director
John Harvey's recommendations of
policy statements to be used in the
county's shoreline access plan.
? Appointed Holden and county
engineer Robert Tuckcr to serve on
a regional committee that is study
ing solid waste disposal alternatives
for several counties in southeastern
worth CuTc!i>ni2 nnd nortlicsstcn
South Carolina.
? Agreed to give Public Utilities
Director Jerry Webb authority to
waive water bill penalties in "un
usual" cases.
? Appointed Ms. Beasley to the
Wilmington Urban Area Transpor
tation Planning Advisory Commit
tee.
? Adopted a capital projects or
dinances for construction of a new
Social Services Building, with
$328,900 to come from the capital
reserve account (depleting that ac
count) and $135,600 to come from
the operational reserve fund.
? OK'd county health board rec
ommendations to bring the health
department clinic's fee schedule in
line with new Medicare fees, and to
auuiUaiiAi u w ! 0w uiimuu! pubiiC
swimming pool inspection fee.
Dot Worth Is New School Board Chairman
(Continued From Page 1-A)
seated, in December after the
November elections
Board members showed no sur
prise Monday night when B ax ley,
after several routine items of busi
ness, announced he would tender
his resignation and have the super
intendent conduct election of a new
chairman.
His decision followed an incident
Thursday when differences between
Slockett and Superintendent John
Kaufhold came to a head in a heated
confrontation at the board of educa
tion office in Southport. The dispute
centered around scheduling of an
election on Monday's agenda.
However, under either the exist
ing policy or the amended version
before the board Monday night, the
soonest an election could be held
would be December. To do other
wise, Baxley later explained, would
have required another policy
amendment, with first and second
reading and adoption over a two
month period.
Conducting such an election
Monday would have meant, said
Baxley, "playing fast and loose with
the procedural rules of the board"
and would have also set a "harmful
example" or precedent for future
board actions.
And, Baxley told a group of
about 30 audience members and the
board Monday, "a board or any pub
lic body which either ignores or
merely winks at its own rules is one
step away from chaos in being able
to govern itself."
He chose instead to resign, pre
serving board procedure while elim
inating possible accusations that he
might be manipulating procedures
in order to retain the office. Not the
case at all, Baxley noted, saying the
job of chairman "is often burden
some and always thankless." He
said his decision was intended to
"promote harmony" among board
members while preserving the sanc
tilv r?f th#> n:lp? an H rtrnrp
dure.
Board member James Clemmons
had objected to Monday's election,
saying Baxley was most suited to
lead the divided board through its
current year, to present its budget
request to the county and to present
the accreditation study report to the
Southern Association visitation
team in April.
While agreeing on Baxley's capa
bilities, Slockett said he strongly
disagreed with the outgoing chair
"I think that laws and rules are made
to be bent and twisted..."
? Robert Slockett
Board of Education
man's insistence on strictly adher
ing to rules and policies.
"I think that laws and rules are
made to be bent and twisted," con
tinued Slockeu, "especially since
we're just a board of education and
not legislators..."
Slockeu said he had asked for
election of a chairman and vice
chairman to be scheduled on
Monday's meeting agenda, subject
to approval of the policy change.
Kaufhold said he objected to the re
quest on several grounds mainly re
lating to board procedures. These
include a policy that requires board
members to take turns placing items
on the agenda. Slockeu had already
placed two items on the agenda and
was requesting a third, he said,
without waiting to allow other
members the opportunity to add
concerns of their own to the agenda.
However, after a lengthy ex
change, Kaufhold said he finally
agreed to check with the board at
torney on the appropriateness of
Slockcu's request. Kaufhold said he
then asked Siocketl to leave the of
fice so he could get back to work.
Then, Kaufhold told reporters
Monday night, "1 did tell Mr.
Slockeu that if he did not leave im
mediately he would leave me no
choice but to call the law."
Slockeu left soon after.
Slockeu said Monday night he
preferred not to comment on the in
cident until the board completes its
evaluation of the superintendent on
Feb. 15. However, he said he made
the agenda request with no expec
tatation there would be such a con
frontation.
Hostilities between Slockeu and
Kaufhold flared up of! and on
?hrTMiehnnt Monday night's meet
ing, as they have at earlier meet
ings, especially during discussion of
Brunswick County Educational
Foundation, which Slockeu and
Baxter are working to found.
Chairman Worth at one point
ruled both Slockeu and Kaufhold
out of order, and at anoUier point in
the meeting chided, "We should act
like adults, not like children."
Citing what he viewed as exces
sive requests for the Brunswick
County Educational Foundation,
Kaufhold Monday proposed a poli
cy that would require board mem
bers 10 relay requests for work by
staff or requests for information
through the superintendent's office;
Kaufhold said this would help better
distribute staff workloads and help
him nxn the efficient office expected
by taxpayers.
Board members defeated the
proposal on first reading, leaving
Kaufhold asking for direction in
how to handle such "interruptions."
Chairman Worth and Clemmons
told Kaufhold they thought board
members had the right to request
and receive information as they de
sired, but agreed board should dis
rupt staff as little as possible.
Kaufhold said most requests for
service in the past several months
had come from Baxter and Slockeu,
and lhai many of their requests were
for work on behalf of the founda
tion. Baxter said she made requests
mostly after 4 p.m. and without dis
rupting staff. "We'll be gone as
soon as we have the money!" she
interjected. "Just give us a break!"
The foundation is in the process
of raising funds, with plans to an
nounce the winner of a car today
(Thursday). However, though
Slockeu was optimistic the project
would do well, as of Monday sup
porters had not raised enough funds
to cover the cost of the vehicle. In
any case, Slockeu said the project
had raised public awareness of the
foundation and its goals for the
school system.
Tne superintendent said Mon
day he has billed the foundation
nearly $200 for work completed
earlier, and expects to bill for addi
tional work.
At Mondav's meeting, board at
torney Glen Peterson advised the
board that use of staff time for pur
poses other than those of the local
or state boards of education could
be open to question. As much as
possible, he said, the board should
avoid doing work for organizations
outside the school system.
While the foundation has the
support of the board of education
and has board of education staff as
liasion, it is a separate, not-for-prof
it organization. Monday night, fol
lowing reports by Slockett and
Baxter, Worth recommended that
future foundation reports be made
by its uiicClui laiiicr iiian by schuui
board members.
Checking On Lease
The board also directed staff, on
a motion by Baxley, to check with
Gene Pinkerton, chairman of the
county board of commissioners, to
see if the county has a continuing
interest in leasing the Alternative
Education Center at Piney Grove.
After hearing from the county,
the board will continue discussing
Slockett's proposal to create a sci
ence/math center at the building, as
well as other alternatives for the
structure. The building was aban
doned by the school system and its
return offered to the county last
year, with staff citing high mainte
nance costs and other problems.
The board at its next meeting
also cxpccts to discuss whether to
provide the Brunswick County
Educational Foundation an office at
the site, as requested once again
Monday night by Slockett. In draft
ing a proposed lease for the county,
the board retained one office and
one classroom for its own, unspeci
fied use.
Mild Weather
To Continue
Unseasonably mild weather is ex
pected to continue in the Shallotte
area over the next several days, ac
cording to Shallotte Point meteorol
ogist Jackson Canady.
Temperatures through the week
end should average from the low
40s at night to the low 60s during
the day. Rainfall is expected to be
near normal at about one-half inch.
For the period of Jan. 30 through
Feb. 5, the daily average tempera
ture in the Shallotte area was 56 de
10
degrees above average.
The daily average high tempera
ture was 67 degrees, and the nightly
average low temperature was 46 de
grees.
The maximum high temperature
during the period was 77 degrees on
Feb. 3. The minimum low tempera
ture was 35 degrees on Jan. 30.
Canady measured 0.6 of an inch
of rain during the seven-day period.
Annexation Rejected
(Continued From Page 1-A)
of the town.
Commissioner Bryan, who sec
onded Buck's motion, pointed out
that most of the people who spoke
at a public hearing on annexation
last year opposed the measure. "I
really think that we should listen to
the people," she said. "It's the peo
ple's town."
At a continuation of the town
meeting Tuesday morning, Ms.
Atkins continued her efforts to keep
the annexation issue alive by mak
ing a motion to bring the matter be
fore the island's registered voters in
a referendum. The proposal died
when there was no second to the
motion.
Commissioner Bryan was quick
to point out that Ms. Atkins had op
posed holding a referendum on an
nexation when a similar motion was
made last summer. Buck added that
voters made their feelings on an
nexation public in the town election
last fall.
Reading a prepared statement
and fighting back tears Tuesday,
Ms. Atkins said, "I woke up this
moming with the same feeling of
devastation as I had the morning I
came back on Holden Beach after
Hugo." She added later, "The future
leaves us stagnated, isolated and
land-locked."
Still unanswered is the question
of whether the town board can
legally repeal the annexation ordi
nance. State statute does not ad
dress the situation, and there is no
case law history.
Municipal law experts across the
stale have offered various opinions
on whether the ordinance can be
overturned.
However, Charles J. Murray, spe
cial deputy attorney general in the
N.C. Attorney General's office, said
in a letter last November that the
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courts would most likely find that
the town board has the authority to
rescind the ordinance.
Holdcn Beach Town Attorney
Doug Lcdgett. who has maintained
all along that the ordinance can be
overturned as long as it is done be
fore annexation takes effect, reaf
firmed his opinion Monday night.
Commissioner Atkins, however,
questioned his legal opinion. "I still
can't believe that you can legally do
this," she said. She added later,
"Doug (Ledgett) is not the only at
torney in the world, and I've talked
to a few who don't think it can be
done."
She also said the town could be
setting the stage for a lawsuit.
Property owners is the area targeted
for annexation may sue the town,
she said, because they made plans
based on the impending annexation.
THE BRUNSWKK&BEACON
Established Nov. 1 , 1 962
Telephone 754-6390
Published Every Thursday
At 4709 Main Street
Shallotte, N.C. 28459
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
IN BRUNSWICK COUNTY
One Year $10.30
Six Months $5.50
ELSEWHERE IN NORTH CAROLINA
One Year $14.80
Six Months $7.85
ELSEWHERE IN U.SA
One Year $15.95
Six Months $8.35
Second class postage paid at the
Post Office in Shallotte, N.C.
28459. USPS 777-780.
m
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From all
those who
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The rest of ;
the clan\