K. f /I ft I ? ? / /"* x. Ci If a . _|
No li 11 list, county bta n Mssureu
BY KRIC CARLSON Engineer Robert Tucker, Parks and Recreation Director
In the wake of County Manager David Clcgg's sud- Bobby Jones and Clerk to the Board Kelly Barefoot,
den resignation last week, Board of Commissioners who also serves as administrative assistant to the coun
Chairman Don Warren called a special meeting ty attorney.
Thursday (March 18) to assure Brunswick department Tucker, Jones and Barefoot were among the more
heads that "there is no hit list" of impending personnel than 25 department heads and assistants who attended
changes in county government. the meeting along with Republican Commissioner
After Clcgg's resignation was announced March 15, Jerry Jones.
Republican Commissioner Donald Shaw charged that "Following the chain of events that occurred last
local Democratic Party leaders pressured their three- week I thought it would be a good idea to have a bi
mcmber board majority to get rid of Clcgg, who admit- partisan effort to clear the air," Warren said. "I came
BRUNSWICK COMMISSIONERS Jerry Jones (left) and Don Warren meet with county department ^d stepping down to avoid the "inevitable " into office with no hit list and no charge to get rid of
.. _ . , J ' ... ? ,,, . : ... There has also been speculation that the commis- anyone. So you can get it out of your head.
heads to discuss rumors about pending personnel changes. Warren called the meeting to assure that ; ,anncd olhcr d[smissals, including County (See DEPARTMENT, PaRe 2-A)
there is no "hit list" of impending dismissals. 1 y K '
STAFF PHOTO BY EHIC CAJtLSON
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iwiocwacw Shollott?, North CoroHno, Thursday, March 25, 1993 50* Pe/ Coov 36 Paaes. 3 S?cticms 2 1
16 HURT IN BUS. TRUCK CRASH
Smooth Emergency
Operation Credited
With Saving Student
BY LYNN CARLSON
Cooperation and effective planning by emergency workers may have
saved the life of a Holden Beach teenager Friday when the school bus in
which she was riding was rear-ended by a logging truck, pinning her be
tween two scats and crushing her legs and pelvis.
Amanda Scoggins, 13, remains in critical but stable condition at Duke
University Medical Center, where numerous breaks to her legs were treated
in 81/2 hours of surgery, and where she is resting in preparation for an op
eration to her pelvis later this week.
She was by far the most gravely injured of the 18 students on the bus,
15 of whom, along with their driver, were rushed to two local hospitals. All
were treated and released except Amanda and her friend, 12-year-old
Melanie Fields, who were sharing the right rear bench of the bus where the
impact occurred.
Amanda was stabilized at The Brunswick Hospital and flown by air
ambulance to Duke because of the severity of her injuries. Melanie is recu
perating at home in Supply after spending a night in Dosher Memorial
Hospital under observation for a concussion and other injuries.
Melanie's aunt, Diane Ward, said Tuesday that Melanie is "doing well,
but she has lots of bumps and bangs and headaches from the concussion."
Ward, a friend of the Scoggins family, had visited Amanda at Duke and
found her with "her mind very bright and not in a lot of pain."
The accident occurred just north of the U.S. 17/N.C. 211 intersection at
Supply about 3:30 Friday afternoon, when traffic was heavy on the major
north-south route through Brunswick County. School bus driver Mattie
Bryant of Supply was stopped in the left northbound lane to let a student
out when the logging truck struck the bus.
Willie Clarence Pridgcn, 44, of Ivanhoe, was charged Monday by
Trooper W.H.Thompson of the N.C. Highway Patrol with failure to reduce
speed to avoid a collision. Pridgen told the trooper he was traveling north in
the passing lane when he realized there was a stopped school bus in his
path. Pridgcn swerved to the right, trying to avoid both the bus and cars
stopped in the outside lane. While the truck's cab made it to the right shoul
der of the road, the trailer jackknifcd and struck the right rear of the bus.
Pridgen's truck was registered to L & T Trucking of Watha in Pender
County, according to Thompson.
Emergency medical technicians, school administrators, firefighters and
law enforcement officers from throughout Brunswick County responded
quickly and efficiently in an operation that went "as smoothly as silk," ac
cording to Trooper Thompson.
His sentiments were echoed by others at the scene, in the emergency
room and in the schools' central office.
"We're a small hospital but we know how to save lives?how to pack
age critically ill patients and get them to bigger facilities," said Carolyn
Crecelius, The Brunswick Hospital's emergency room coordinator. 'They
(See ACCIDENT, Page 2-A)
STAFF mora BY LYNN CARLSON
CHECKING AGAINST A COMPUTER print-out, two top school administrators and and a sheriff's deputy determine which students
were on the school bus struck Friday by a logging truck on U.S. 17 just north of the N.C. 211 intersection. Pictured (from left) are Deputy
Sharon Carter, Assistant Schools Superintendent William Turner and Superintendent Ralph Johnston.
IN WAKE OF STORM
Day At Docks Offers Fun
For All At Holden Beach
A Day At The Docks Saturday at
Holdcn Beach should offer some
thing to satisfy every appetite.
From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. visitors
can cruise from dock to dock, enjoy
ing the sights, sounds, tastes and
aromas of the coast that translate to
one word, fun.
Guests can feast on fish, conch
fritters, chicken bog and gourmet
hushpuppics, as well as feast their
eyes on works by local artists and
the natural beauty of the Lockwood
Folly River and Atlantic Intracoastal
Waterway.
The Greater Holden Beach
Merchants Association's second
spring festival will offer food and
entertainment at four local docks:
Holdcn Beach Marina, Capt. Pete's
Business
Calendar of Events .~I28
0Hikh Siev
Classified ~.~.....1-7C
Court Doeket.~~~?*~..10C
Crime Report..^.,?^.tr
Entertainment ?..?-51
Seafood, Independent Seafood and
Betty's Waterfront Restaurant.
Entertainment will include Tiny
Weeks at Independent Seafood, the
Brunswick Concert Band and
Brunswick Cloggers at Holden
Beach Marina and music by co
sponsor WCCA "all over," said Jim
Lowell of the merchants' associa
tion.
At Independent Seafood, festival
goers can try a "fish sampler" appe
tizer, then nibble on conch fritters
and gourmet hushpuppies at Captain
Pete's.
When ready for some serious eat
ing, Tri-Beach Volunteer Fire
Department will be serving fried
fish at the Holden Beach Marina,
while local Boy Scouts will dish up
chicken bog, a Brunswick County
speciality stew of sticky long-grain
rice, chicken and spicy sausages.
At ihe Upper Deck at Holden
Beach Marina, works by various lo
cal artists will be shown, while the
work of local craftspersons will be
featured at Captain Pete's.
Throughout the day local boat
captains will be offering rides and
Coastline Volunteer Rescue Squad
and the Holden Beach Water Rescue
Team will provide rescue demon
strations.
Members of the Shallotte Flotilla,
U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, will be
offering free safe boat examinations
and the Coast Guard's safety seal at
Holden Beach Marina. Boaters can
trailer their boats to the marina park
ing lot or drive the waterway to the
dock. Children who stop by will re
ccivc a free safe boating coloring
book.
BY DOUG RUTTER If Brunswick County is declared a disaster
Brunswick County officials had their fingers area, Logan said centers would be opened locally
crossed Tuesday hoping for a federal "disaster where people could apply for government assis
area" declaration that would open the door to tance like they did 3'A years ago following
government assistance for people and agencies Hurricane Hugo.
TSTancc ? said ">?"? * Amcto" Red Cross
n ? x, n . c . , ' 37 applications last week from Brunswick County
Brunswick County Emergency Management . ... . . insurante '
Coordinator Cecil Logan, who expected a presi- propc,.y ?^ncrs wno dldn 1 havc ,nsurancc 10
....... . . . -rnT j cover their losses.
denual decision by Wednesday or Thursday.
If the county is declared a disaster area, Logan A presidential declaration also would allow lo
said residents, business owners and local govern- cal governments to apply for federal public assis
ments could be eligible for millions of dollars in tance, a program that reimburses counties, towns
federal assistance. and other non-profit agencies for costs associated
Brunswick County sustained an estimated S23 with the storm.
million in damage as a result of the winter storm Following Hurricane Hugo in 1989, five local
packing hurricane-force winds. It caused exten- governments and Brunswick Electric Mcmbcr
sivc roof damage throughout the county as well as ship Corp. received a whopping S513.032 in re
coastal erosion and flooding. imburscmcnts.
Logan said state damage assessment teams In the South Brunswick Islands, Holden Beach
toured the county over the weekend to look over took the hardest hit during the March 13 storm
the damage. The teams make recommendations to with an estimated S8 million in damage.
the governor, and the ultimate decision is made Town Manager Gary Parker met with a state
by the president. damage assessment team last Friday to review
County Hoping For 'Disaster Area' Declaration
damage to public property and hand over damage
reports filled out by the town.
"They just wanted to assure themselves that the
figures were accurate," Parker said of the state
visit The town estimated public property damage
at S35.000.
Damage to town beach accessways was esti
mated at 515,000. Also included in the figure was
overtime pay for police and public works employ
ees, loss of 100 trash cans, damage to two
Hatteras ramps and four roofs.
Parker said the town may be eligible for gov
ernment assistance due to loss of occanfront
dunes. The storm claimed approximately six feet
of dune from the east end to the 900 block of
Ocean Boulevard West.
"They seemed particularly interested in what
type of loss we suffered on the beach strand,"
Parker noted Monday.
Another damage assessment team is expected
to visit the island later to review private property
damage. Parker said approximately 90 percent of
the homes sustained at least minor damage.
BY LYNN CARLSON
A representative of Bird Island owner Janie
Pace Price has described development plans
which contrast sharply with the 15-homesitc, 60
acrc family compound Price previously said she ..
wants to build on the uninhabited island off ? wasnt a factor.
Sunset Beach.
John Ryder of the Century Von Ocson engi- |VVc f? OUt WltHOUt
neering nrm toia a joint worK session 01 tne town s lit** 1 '*U >>
council and planning board last week that Pricc CI WrlOlC lOt tO "WOfK Wltfl.
wants the zoning flexibility to build 16-bedroom || || 1| -
"quadriplexes," an inn and a restaurant to rccoup ^
costs resulting from the U.S. Army Corps of
i i &5SX i; ?; S i,::Sj ?' ..
Engineers' permitting process. The two town panels met to discuss options for
Permits from both the corps and the state establishing a Sunset Beach conservation zone to
Office of Coastal Management are required be- include Bird Island, and allowed Ryder to make a
fore Price can construct more than a mile of case for more liberal zoning than the planning
bridging and causeway from 40th Street at Sunset board has proposed. Bird Island is not in the town
Beach across Mad Inlet to Bird Island. Both agen- limits but lies within its "extraterritorial" zoning
cies have been looking at her proposal for several jurisdiction.
months to determine its environmental impact. The planning board has recommended that on
whilc a local'iy-'oascd group continues to try to iy single-family homes be allowed, and only on
raise money to buy the island for a public pre- tracts of at least one acre of "contiguous uplands"
serve.
Bird Island Plans Could Include 'Quadr
iplexes,' Restaurant
apiccc. It also proposes a restriction that no more
than 10 percent of each homcsite be covered by
structure or pavement.
Ryder and the boards reviewed Bird Island
maps, color-coded to depict the scattered tracts
which are high enough and big enough to accom
modate homes and septic tanks. Price owns 148
acres above the mean high water level, but only
24 acres will be suitable for construction, Ryder
estimated. Even then, only about six homes could
be built under the planning board's proposal, he
added.
"There are constraints already built in eves if
zoning wasn't a factor," Ryder said. "We're start
ing out without a whole lot to work with. It's the
hardest piece of property for physical restraints
that I've ever worked with. We're just trying to
get as much flexibility built in on all fronts as we
can."
He added, 'This is not a pasture that you can
go in and divide neatly."
Ihe boards made no decision, and Planning
Board Chairman Richard Good said zoning Bird
(Set ISLAND, Page 2-A)