GOP Precincts
To Elect Officers
Local Republicans will clect
prccinct oil iccrs as well as conven
tion delegates at GOF precinct meet
ings Thursday, Feb. 21 , at 7:30 p.m.
Chairman Malcolm Grissett said
meetings arc planned at each of the
county's 22 polling places.
Attendees will elect a prccinct
chairperson, vice chairperson and
secretary as well as naming dele
gates to the GOP county convention
to be held in March. Precincts will
select a total of 182 delegates.
Precincts may also take up other
business, such as resolutions to pre
sent at the convention.
This is an important grassroots
event, said Grissett, encouraging
participation.
The GOP state convention will be
held in Wilmington May 31-Junc 1.
Information on precinct polling
locations is available from Grissett
at 579-6599, Millie Murrow, 278
5824, or the Brunswick County
Board of Elections, 253-4338.
Spill Probed
At Oak Island
Investigators arc trying to locate
the source and contents of an appar
ent spill in the Intracoastal Water
way at Oak Island.
The N.C. Division of Environ
mental Management took water
samples Monday morning from
where investigators believe some
thing is leaking into the water at an
old fish plant just south of the Oak
Island Bridge on Long Beach Road.
"It doesn't appeal to be fuel or
anything hazardous at this time,"
said Brunswick County Emergency
Management Coordinator Cecil
Logan.
The Brunswick County Health
Department received a call about a
possible fuel spill from another
nearby fish plant, but that turned out
to be a false alarm, Logan said.
Environmental health workers
then spotted a stream just south
from that location that had "a little
bit of a sheen on it," Logan said.
"It's not enough to excite the Coast
Guard at this point."
Logan said there are three large
tanks on the property site that appar
ently were once used to store fish oil
while the factory was in operation.
He said the recent heavy rains may
have washed out a holding pond on
the property or that the leak may be
coming from one of the tanks.
"It definitely needs to be cleaned
up," Logan said. "So far, there have
been no fish killed."
Logan estimates the tanks have
sat idle for about 20 years, the con
tents unknown at this point.
Investigators were checking tax
records Monday to determine who
owns the property while awaiting
results of tests on the samples taken
from the site.
This Week's
Tide Table
FEBRUARY
HIGH LOW
Day Date A.M. P.M. A.M. P.M.
Thursday 14 7:42 7:47 1:20 1:51
Friday IS 8:18 8:26 2:01 2:28
Saturday 16 8:51 9:05 2:42 3:04
Sunday 17 9:28 9:47 3:21 3:43
Monday 18 1 0:05 10:30 4:05 4:22
Tuesday 19 10:50 11:24 4:52 5:08
Wednesday 20 11:42 5:47 6:01
ADJUSTMENTS
SHALLOTTE INLET? add 17 min.
high tide, add 32 min. low tide.
LOCKWOOD FOLLY? subtract 22
min. high tide, subtract 8 min. low tide.
BALD HEAD ISLAND? subtract 10
min. high tide, subtract 7 min. low tide.
SOUTHPORT ? add 7 min. high tide,
add 15 min. low tide.
LITTLE RIVER ? add 7 min. high
tide, add 7 min. low tide.
Local Waters Open
To Shellfishermen
Some Brunswick County shell
fish beds including those in sections
of the Shallotte and Lockwood Fol
ly rivers opened to fishermen last
week after being closed to harvest
ing for almost two weeks.
The N.C. Division of Marine
Fisheries opened to harvesting last
Wednesday sections of the Atlantic
Intracoastal Waterway and Shallotte
River downstream of the south shore
of Shallotte Creek and the Swash.
The lower Lockwood Folly River
downstream of Genoes Point was
reopened on a temporary basis, ac
cording to a Marine Fisheries pro
clamation.
The shellfish waters had been
closed to harvesting Jan. 23 follow
ing a period of heavy rainfall. The
oyster and clam beds were reopened
to harvesting due to satisfactory
bacteriological results, the notice in
dicated.
% QDIbe (Suit dlub
8c footing HRmtge
with shooting classes, black powder,
skeet, archery and handguns.
Mwy 211 OC'OM from Wotar Plant
Mamtxitntpi Ayo*ob? Col Chuck, 27I17U
STAFF PHOTOS BY EDDIE SWF ATT
STAFF f
New Power Squadron Officers Installed
Clete Waldmiller of Sunset Reach ( right in photo above) is sworn in as commander of the Shallotte
River Power Squadron at a change of watch ceremony and dinner Saturday night. Administering the
oath is Joseph Hardee, district commander. Joe Huber, who has served as commander since the
squadron was chartered last summer, and his wife are seated in front. Other officers taking the oath
(in photo below) are Charles (Buzz) iMmbert, executive officer; Lucy Keefer, secretary; Franklin
Forrest, administrative officer; and Joseph Rorrell, treasurer for another term. Fr. John Richardson
(not pictured) will serve another term as education officer.
? 'I
IT'S A S200.000 PROJECT
Overhaul Of Computer System
To Weed Out The 'Dinosaurs'
BY TERRY POPE
A complete overhaul of Bruns
wick County's computer system,
expected to take about two years,
began recently with the hiring of a
computer analyst who is a county
native.
County Manage. David Clegg
said the computer equipment that
county departments now operate
has become antique and unreliable.
The last modification made to the
computer hardware was in 1984.
The overhaul project is expected
to cost around $200,000.
"It's something that we have been
anticipating," Clegg said. "We have
been saving for this for years."
The overhaul will replace the
county's first-generation computer
equipment with more modem fourth
generation hardware. With advance
ments in technology, the new Hew
lett-Packard (HP) hardware will be
about 13 times smaller than the pre
sent Data General system but will
have five times the storage capacity,
said Jerry Hewett, who was hired
two weeks ago to head computer ser
vices.
"It's going to do what we want it
to do," Clegg said, "and that is to
help in financial accountability."
Hewett, a native of Ash, said he
jumped at the chance to return to
Brunswick County when he heard
of the job opening. He has over 20
years of experience in working with
HP systems for Duke University in
Durham and for two semi-conduc
tor firms at Research Triangle Park
in Raleigh.
'There's a lot to do here," Hewett
said. "This is probably the biggest
cha"cngc I've ever undertaken.
Wiiiiin two years, it should be look
ing pretty good, as long as I can get
the financial support to do it with.
From what I've seen, that's not go
ing to be a problem."
Clegg said the county had waited
as long as it could to upgrade its
computer equipment. The current
computer cannot count over $30
million, he said, while the county's
budget exceeds that figure.
"Our budget was not a budget,"
Clegg said. "It was a bunch of little
budgets."
TTie county's operations arc now
run on two computers, a Data Gen
eral system that handles the county's
finance department records, and a
HP 42 system that handles informa
tion for the tax and environmental
health departments. Hewett said the
Data General system is the "dinosaur
that probably should have been taken
out of here 1 5 years ago."
Both systems will be phased into
one unit, a HP 932 system, which
has been purchased and is ready to
install.
"I envisioned this convoy of
Hewlett-Packard trucks rolling in
with all of this equipment," said
Clegg, "and then one day it shows
up on the back of a UPS truck,
about the size of my desk."
Hewett said all computer equip
ment is getting faster and smaller.
"It seems like each time you up
grade, you get smaller equipment,"
Hewett said.
The computer services depart
ment will also house the county's
Geographical Information System
(GIS) computer that will store infor
mation for the county's 911 emer
gency communications program.
The 911 dispatcher monitors will be
connected to the GIS system.
When the new HP system is in
stalled, it will also store data for the
board of elections, building inspec
lions, water, lax and finance depart
ments, said Lithia Hahn, county fi
nance director.
It will help make the county's
budgeting process much easier, she
said.
"Wc found that we were pushing
a pencil a lot to get those reports,"
said Ms. Hahn. "This is something
that Brunswick County has really
needed to do for a long time. When
you're planning, you can project a
change in computer equipment
about every five years."
Ms. Hahn said the county was
having to pump a lot of money into
the Data General system for mainte
nance.
"The older it is, the more it breaks
down," Hcwctt agreed. "Mainten
ance is pretty high on the Data
General right now."
By the end of February, Hcwctt
said the first big step will have been
taken in the upgrade, the switch from
the old HP to the newer HP system.
"There's a lot of work for us to
do," Hcwctt said. "We're on the way
to getting our goal accomplished.
Time and a lot of work will do it"
Hcwcu said that since joining the
department three weeks ago, he has
been working 1 1 to 14 hours a day
studying the new HP system.
"He came in here and hit the
ground running," Ms. Hahn said.
"He has a great background in
Hewlett-Packard systems. I was
very, very happy to acquire him."
Clegg approached county com
missioners last month to increase
the salary scale for a computer ana
lyst from S26.473 to 537,354 to at
tract qualified applicants.
"It's great to see someone go off
and be successful and want to come
back to work for Brunswick Coun
ty," Clegg said.
???<- ? ? i ? mmmm
STAFF fltOTO r
BRUNSWICK COUNTY COMPUTER ANALYST Jerry llewett says the county has a few
saurs" in computer hardware that must be replaced.
STAFF FltOTO ?Y TtMY POff
"dino
Meeting Set On
New Stormwater
Discharge Permits
New rules mandating stormwater
discharge permits for landfills, air
ports, school bus garages and other
land uses will be the topic of an in
formational meeting next week in
Wilmington.
The N.C. Division of Environ
mental Management will conduct
the meeting Tuesday, Feb. 19, from
2 p.m. until 5 p.m. in the New Han
over County Health Department
Auditorium.
The public meeting will give peo
ple the char.ve to find out how the
permit application process will work
and how their facility may be affect
ed, according to a slate news release.
Bill Mills, coordinator of the
stormwater permit program in En
vironmental Management's water
quality scction, said manufacturers
will be affected most by the new
federal rules.
Permits also will be required for
construction activities disturbing
five acres or more of land, storm
sewer systems in large cities, land
application sites and open dumps
that receive industrial waste and
other activities.
Mills said the U.S. Environment
al Protection Agency (EPA) man
dated that the slate agency gel in
volved in the slormwatcr discharge
permit process.
As part of the amended Clean
Water Act of 1987, the EPA was re
quired to devise a permit program
for stormwater discharges in various
locations. Mills said the federal
agency has not yet decided what the
permits will require.
Although North Carolina has im
plemented its own stormwater regu
lations over the last few years. Mills
said the state doesn't have anything
to control stormwater runoff from
existing development.
Under the old federal guidelines.
Mills said facilities with polluted
stormwater runoff were the only
ones that had to have permits. The
new rules will apply to existing and
future development and whether the
stormwater is polluted or not.
The meeting next week in Wilm
ington is one of seven public meet
ings the Division of Environmental
Management is holding this month
to explain the new stormwater per
mits.
For more information, call the di
vision office in Raleigh at 733
1 f
Ash Woman Sues Hospital
After Husband's Suicide
An Ash woman has filed suit
against the New Hanover Regional
Mcdical Center in Wilmington and
the clinical director of its psychi
atric unit over her husband's death.
Roberta Simmons filed suit in
Brunswick County Superior Court
against the hospital and Dr. John
Parkinson, director of psychiatric
inpatient services at The Oaks,
charging that they were negligent in
caring for her husband, Elijah Cul
bcrt Simmons, 62, who shot himself
in the head on Feb. 8, 1989, and
died two days later.
Simmons was released from The
Oaks on an overnight pass on Feb. 7
and shot himself with a rifle the
next day, according to the suit. The
plaintiff is asking for damages in
excess of $10,000 in the suit filed
Jan. 25.
According to the lawsuit, Sim
mons was a patient of Dr. Parkinson
in the late summer of 1988 and in
January 1989 for "insomnia, depres
sion, self-concern and hopeless
ness." On Jan. 12, Simmons was
prescribed an antidepressant drug,
Amitriptyline, and later was seen
again by the doctor in "an agitated
state, was anxious and complained
of life not being worthwhile," the
suit claims.
He was admitted to the psychi
atric unit on Feb. 2 after having
"suicidal and homicidal thoughts, a
decreased ability to cope, increased
depression, increased anxiety, a re
duction in his ability to sleep and
with a decreased appetite, and hav
ing many serious medical problems
including a heart condition," the
suit states.
The lawsuit claims that afler be
ing in the hospital for three days,
Simmons was given a pass to go out
of the hospital on Feb. 5 and was
given an overnight pass on Feb. 7
while the patient "remained suici
dal".
On Feb. 8, Simmons shot himself
in the head with a rifle, the suil
claims, and died two days later.
Simmons had also threatened to kill
his wife and daughter before being
admitted to the hospital, the suit
states.
The suil also alleges that Dr.
Parkinson did not follow standards
of psychiatric practice by allowing a
pass from the hospital to be issued
within a few days of admission to
the hospital when the patient
showed no signs of improvement
from depression. It also alleges that
the doctor did not take into consid
eration Simmons' heart condition
when antidepressant drugs were ad
ministered.
The suit claims the patient was
given drugs with "cardiotoxic risks
without clinical improvement in a
suicidal patient," tnat the doctor
failed to obtain a thyroid screen to
rule out Simmons' depression as a
result of hypothyroidism.
Ms. Simmons is suing for dam
ages plus loss of society, compan
ionship, comfort, guidance, advice,
services, net income, protection,
care and assistance she was entitled
to from a person with a life expec
tancy of 15.02 years, the suit states.
Next Medifast
Classes
Start
March 5
Call today to sign up.
Marilyn J. Boehm, M.D., Ph. D.
Village Pines. Shallotte
919-754-5581
919-754-9949
ax/z tzSaunclen, oi A
Family Optometry
?Comprehensive Eye Examinations
? Ocular Emergencies
? Contact Lenses and Glasses Prescribed
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Suite 3, Promenade Office Park
143 Holden Beach Road, Shallotte
Office hours by appointment.
Evening and Saturday appointments available.
Phone 754-9687
Member American Optometric Association
CI MO The BAUNSWlCK MACON