Holden Beach Commissioners OK Yacht Watch Water System
BY DOUG RUTTER
Holden Beach Commissioners
have agreed 10 accept the water sys
tem in Yacht Watch subdivision, de
spite objections from one board
member who said a main line
wasn't put in right.
The town board voted 3-1 Mon
day afternoon to write a formal let
ter saying the water lines are ac
ceptable in the undeveloped resi
dential area northwest of town hall.
The split vote closed a day-long
town board session that started at 9
a.m. and didn't end until 5:10 p.m.
Most of the meeting was conducted
behind closed doors, with the board
discussing personnel matters. (See
related story this issue.)
In accepting the water system.
Commissioners Gay Atkins, Judy
Bryan and Gloria Barrett voted to
go along with a licensed engineer
who had given the new water lines
his stamp of approval.
Commissioner Bob Buck voted
against the motion, saying the six
inch line running from Brunswick
Avenue West to Yacht Watch Drive
does not meet state specifications.
Board member Kcnner Amos was
absent for health reasons.
Developer Alan Holden request
ed the letter of acceptance from the
town so he could pay a subcontrac
tor for building the water system
and get started on paving streets.
Buck, who has a bachelor of sci
ence degree in civil engineering,
said the ditch for the water line
wasn't graded correctly and the pipe
wasn't uniformly supported along
its entire length. This could create
an uneven stress on the pipe, he
said, and the line could come apart
at a joint.
"There may or may not be trou
ble in the future I don't know,"
Buck said. "The potential for trou
ble is there."
Buck said the line he saw in the
ditch shortly before it was covered
with sand ran up and down and side
to side and generally was laid in a
"helter skelter manner."
Mayor John Tandy, who also saw
the line before it was covered, agreed
with Buck's description. "It was just
up and down and snaky like."
However, Tandy said former
Town Manager Blake Proctor saw
the line just before it was covered
" There may or may not be trouble in the
future. I don't know. The potential for
trouble is there"
? Commissioner Bob Buck
over with sand and said it looked
fine. Also, a licensed engineer hired
by the developer said the water sys
tem met specifications.
Buck said the developer should
either put in a new water line or
sign an agreement with the town so
the developer would have to repair
water line leaks during the first five
years of the system. He said any
problems associated with uneven
stress probably would occur within
that time period.
Holdcn strongly objected to the
proposal. He questioned Buck's
ability to perform an inspection on a
water line while driving by in his
vehicle that contradicts the inspec
tion of a licensed engineer.
The developer said it wasn't the
first time Buck had picked on him
out of hatred. Buck later denied the
accusation.
Holden asked commissioners why
he has to do more than other devel
opers on the island. He said the sub
contractor that built his water sys
tem had constructed other water
lines on the island and nobody ever
questioned them.
"I want the same treatment the
county had," Holden said. "I want
the same treatment the other devel
opers each have enjoyed."
Commissioner Atkins said the
town has always taken the word of
surveyors, builders, plumbers, elec
tricians and engineers without ques
tion. She said the town has to as
sume people with licenses arc quali
fied to do their jobs.
The same applies to the engineer
who approved the Yacht Watch
water lines. "If he's willing to sign
off as a licensed professional, who
are we not to believe him?" Ms.
Atkins asked.
Following the vote. Planning and
Zoning Board Chairman Charlotte
Noltc said the argument could have
been avoided if the commission had
accepted a planning board recom
mendation made 1 7 months ago.
The board recommended in
August i989 that commissioners
put a licensed engineer on retainer
to help the town when needed.
Commissioners rejected the propos
al, partly because Buck was on the
board at the time and has experi
ence as an engineer.
Other Business
In other business Monday, com
missioners:
? Agreed to meet with N.C. Depart
ment of Transportation officials in
the near future to discuss sidewalks
and the resurfacing of Ocean Boule
vard scheduled for this spring.
? Discussal the planting of bcach
grass on the frontal dune between
1049 and 1079 Ocean Blvd. West
Commissioners previously approv
ed spending up to $720 to buy the
grass, but didn't approve paying
anyone to plant it. The town bcauti
fication committee may plant the
grass at no cost to the town.
? Heard from Mayor Tandy that For
mosa termites have infested land
scape timbers outside several homes
on the island. Letters will be mailed
to people known to have these ter
mites in their timbers. Homeowners
will be asked to hire an exterminator
to get rid of the termites.
? Discussed renting an oceanfront
house for a representative of Sand
Savers Inc. who will come to the is
land early next month to try out a
device designed to reverse sand
dune loss. It will be tested on the
strand at no cost to the town. The
tester requested the beach house so
he can keep an eye on the contrap
tion at all times. To keep the town
from having to rent a house, resi
dent Lib Carpenter offered the use
of her oceanfront home. Town offi
cials plan to consult an attorney and
check with the N.C. Division of
Coastal Management before allow
ing the device to be tested at Holden
Beach.
Interim Manager Hired
(Continued From Page 1-A)
Proctor pointed out that his statuto
ry right to hire and fire employees
had been diluted when it came to
the police department
State law gives town managers
the authority to appoint and remove
all other town employees except the
attorney, without the approval of the
governing board.
However, Buck said it was the
town board's policy that the manag
er not hire or fire department heads
without the consent of the town
board. Buck said the board never
told the manager he didn't have au
thority over the police department
But Proctor said board members,
including Kenner Amos and Buck,
didn't want the manager to discuss a
problem in the police department
when he tried to do so last
September.
"I mess with the police depart
ment and I'll be fired. That's what I
was told," Proctor said.
He added later, "The board never
said 'Blake Proctor, you arc not in
charge of the police department'
What the board said was 'Step
lightly or you're in deep trouble'."
Proctor refused to say whether he
tried to fire the police chief or any
other department heads during his
employment with the town. Talk of
problems in the police department
has been ongoing for years.
Proctor also said town board
members became irritated whenever
he made recommendations for
changes in policy or new policies ?
another right given to town man
agers under state law.
As an example. Proctor said he
recommended the board adopt a
drug testing policy for town em
ployees in November which still
hasn't been approved. Town board
members were told last week that
stale law requires drug testing for
new police officers and recom
mends testing for other town em
ployees.
Public Support
Throughout last week's two-hour
session, residents seated in the audi
cr.ee spoke in support of Proctor,
saying he accomplished a lot during
his brief stint as manager.
"We're all here as a show of sup
port to Mr. Proctor," resident Mar
garet Vasco said of the 40 people
who crowded into the commission
ers' chambers. "We hate to see this
board accept his resignation."
Several members of the Holden
Beach Planning and Zoning Board,
which is appointed by the town
board, spoke out in favor of Proctor
and questioned the commissioners'
action.
"Blake's been a tremendous help
to us, and I don't know what we're
going to do without him," said
Charlotte Nolte, chairman of the
planning board.
Sid S warts, who has served on
the planning board for the last six
years and rarely misses a town
meeting, said the planning board
has accomplished a lot with
Proctor's help.
Another planning board member,
Roger Williams, said he doesn't un
derstand how the town board could
have interviewed and hired Proctor
to be town manager without under
standing his capabilities.
"It seems like we're using our
managers as scapegoats instead of
partners in the management of the
town," Williams said.
Can The System Work?
Residents asked why the town
board hasn't been able to work with
the two people who have served as
town manager since voters changed
the form of government in May
1989 to one that employs a to>vn
manager.
Gus Ulrich, Holdcn Beach's first
town manager, cited personal rea
sons when he resigned last July af
ter serving about 1 1/2 years.
Proctor served only five months.
Residents said the people over
whelmingly voted in favor of a sys
tem of government that uses a town
manager, but the town board has
been unwilling to give that system a
chance and let the manager do his
job.
Between the two of them, Ulrich
and Proctor came to Holdcn Beach
with 24 years of experience in mu
nicipal government administration.
Residents asked last week if board
members think they will ever find a
manager who satisfies them.
Mayor Tandy said it's up to the
town board members to work to
gether. "We've got a funny mix on
the board," he said. "We're under a
manager form of government and
we're going to have to work that
way."
Buck, who has worked as a town
nisnsgcr 2nd whs town sdmir.isim
tor at Holden Beach for five years,
said nobody on the beach is more
committed to the town manager
form of government than him.
"There ain't nobody who wants it
more than I do." Buck said he
thinks the current town board can
work with a town manager and
work within the framework of the
town manager form of government.
However, Commissioner Bryan
agreed with several residents who
said town board members have been
interfering in the daily operation of
the town and unwilling to let the
manager do his job.
"I do think it's a personality
problem, and I think that whether it
was Mr. Proctor or anybody else
they were doomed before they got
here," Mrs. Bryan said.
"I don't think this board is capa
ble of accepting a manager that
dees a good job, that is honest and
will do the work we ask him to do,"
she said. "There's too much inter
ference, too much personality."
Ann Brown, RHS
Wayne Culbertson, RHS
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Holden Commission Slates Interviews
Holden Beach Commissioners were scheduled to meet today (Thurs
day) at 1 p.m. to interview two or three people interested in taking the
position of town attorney.
Holden Beach has been without a town attorney since early December
when Doug Ledgett resigned to take a job as Brunswick County's emer
gency medical services supervisor.
Town officials also learned Monday that Henry Thompson, the public
works director who has been on disability leave for several months, may
not have to retire as was previously thought.
The town board has not started looking for a replacement for
Thompson. Instead, commissioners approved a 5-percent increase in the
salary of public works employee Edward Hewett.
The salary increase is retroactive to Sept. 10, 1990, when Thompson
left on disability and Hewett took on more responsibilities.
vwrani ~i ???MHMHNH
mOTO CONTRIBUTED
Utility Pays Taxes
Carolina Power & IJght Co. paid almost $4.5 million in 1990
Brunswick County taxes last week. Presenting the check for
$4,485,119.68 is David Kelly (right) director of external relations at
the utility's Brunswick Nuclear Plant. Nancy Moore (center),
Brunswick County tax collector, accepts the check as David Clegg,
interim county manger, looks on. The check total included
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Search For Missing
Plane Turns Inland
U.S. Coast Guardsmen ended
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Monday afternoon Jan. 7 and other
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