It's About Time...
Longer days are coming!
Don't forget to turn your
clocks ahead Saturday night.
P-e-r-f-e-c-t!
Amanda Sheffield wins the
county spelling bee. Story and
photos, Page a-B
A Few Nibbles
Spring fishing season is
getting under way with some
decent catches. Page 12-C.
THE Bkunow .vK# BEACON
Thirty-First Year, Number 19 THf UtUNSWOC MACON Shallotte, North Carolina, Thursday, April 1, 1993 50c Per Copy 36 Pages, 3 Sections, 4 Inserts
STAFF PHOTO BY LYNN CAJttSON
Celebrating The Waterfront
About 600 people enjoyed waterway cruises at Saturday's second annual Day at the Docks, sponsored by the Greater Holden Beach
Merchants' Association. Though the day began with fog, and parking lots were muddy from the previous night's heavy rains, the weather
cleared by mid-day drawing a crowd hungry for food and fun. More Day at the Docks photos, Page 7-A.
Under Soles Bill,
i Either Calabash
I District Could
Separate Town
BY LYNN CARLSON
A bill introduced by State Senator
R.C. Soles late Tuesday would re
move Carolina Shores from the cor
porate limits of Calabash as of June
30 if a majority of voters in cither
district approves.
District 2, Carolina Shores, has
nine times the population of District
1, with an estimated 1,080 residents
to District 1 's 120.
In the 1989 vote which joined the
two communities, Old Calabash vot
ed 42-36 in favor of consolidating,
with a 60-percent turnout. Carolina
Shores voters favored the move by
458 to 142 with a 65-percent turn
out.
The Soles bill calls for a referen
dum on the separation question and,
on the same day, a vote in Carolina
Shores on whether to incorporate as
a new town with a mayor and five
member "village council."
"I'm not being belligerent," Sole
said in response to criticism that he
disregarded the objection of many
townspeople to a split. "I feel I've
done the ri?hi thing. Thev can vote
Five Towns May
Ask Hunt For
Regional
Sewer Funds
BY ERIC CARl.SON
Five Brunswick County town boards will
consider asking Gov. Jim Hunt to fund a plan
that would allow them to create the first re
gional sewerage and storm water management
system in coastal North Carolina.
Four mayors and 18 board members from
the towns of Calabash, Holdcn Beach, Ocean
Isle Beach, Shallotte and Sunset Beach met in
Bolivia Tuesday to hear engineers explain the
advantages of forming a joint treatment sys
tem and how to attract stale money to pay for
iL
"Now is a good time to put the governor on
the spot," said Joseph Tombro of Powell
Associates. "We're telling him, 'Everything in
state water-quality regulations says treatment
plans should be regionalized. We're asking
you to put some money in to help us do it'"
Tombro asked the town representatives to
consider authorizing a letter to the governor
outlining the need for slate assistance in the
planning and implementation of what is called
a "South Brunswick Environmental Manage
ment Program." It asks for funding of a re
gional sewage disposal plan for all of south
western Brunswick County.
The letter further asks the governor to grant
the five-town "environmental coalition" spe
cial funding status as a demonstration project
that could be expanded to manage sewage and
runoff in a broader watershed, including the
"Grand Strand" area of South Carolina.
"With your assistance we can expand this
program to include the entire state-defined wa
ter quality basin in its region and demonstrate
that coastal water resources can be managed to
the extent of bettering cstuarinc water quality
on a permanent basis," the letter says.
Powell engineers Tombro and Jim Billups
have been hired by Calabash and Sunset
Beach to help the two towns form a joint
sewage system. They told the group Tuesday
that the proposed letter was drafted in re
sponse to inquiries from officials of several
towns about the feasibility of expanding the
plan into a regional sewerage system.
Several town representatives expressed
reservations about embarking on such a far
reaching effort without the assistance?or at
least the endorsement?of the Brunswick
County Board of Commissioners.
In past years, the county board has been re
luctant to take the lead in regional sewerage
planning, leaving it to the towns to develop
their own systems. Shallotte, Ocean Isle Beach
and portions of Calabash have sewage treat
ment facilities.
"Docs noi the county own, control or regu
late 95 percent of the land in this storm water
management area?" asked Finley Boney, engi
neer for the towns of Shalloue and Ocean Isle
Beach. "As I sec it, the county has got to be a
part of this program if it's going to succeed."
Holden Beach Commissioner Jim Foumicr
agreed, saying, "1 believe in this concept of
sending a letter. But the first letter ought go to
the county commissioners. We send a tremen
dous amount of money to Bolivia. We need to
get them involved."
Several board members expressed opposing
views about which type of wastewater?over
loaded septic sysicms or storm runoff?poses
the greatest pollution threat to local waters.
Likewise, there were varying opinions about
(See TOWNS, Page 2-A)
Teen Injured
In Bus Wreck
Recovering From
Second Surgery
BY SUSAN USHER
A Supply teen-ager critically injured March 19 when a log
ging truck rear-ended the school bus in which she was riding
was recovering Tuesday from a second round of surgery at
Duke University Medical Center in Durham.
Brunswick County Sheriff's Lt. Ronald Hewcu, a cousin of
Amanda Scoggins and friend of her family, said she success
fully underwent 7'A hours of surgery Monday to treat breaks
in her pelvis.
Amanda is the daughter of Ronnie and Belinda Scoggins.
Tuesday she had been moved to her own room from the pedi
atric intensive care unit and was resting well, Hewett said af
ter talking with both her and her mother by telephone that af
ternoon. "She was resting comfortably and was in good spir
its. 1 think this is the turning point."
Hewctt was at Duke Monday during Amanda's operation
and said it went very well. "She was in surgery from 10 a.m.
until about 5:30 p.m. She pulled through like a champion,"
said Hewett. "The doctor says she is now on the road to phys
ical therapy and recovery."
Hewett called Amanda, 13, a "walking miracle," noting she
has had 11 units of blood replaced since the accident.
She was the most seriously injured of those on the Shallotte
Middle School bus. Her seatmate, Melanie Fields, 12, was re
leased after one night at Dosher Memorial Hospital in Supply
and was recuperating at home. Thirteen other students were
treated and released. Driver Mattie Bryant was released Friday
from The Brunswick Hospital. She had been readmitted fol
lowing the accident with complications from her injuries.
The school bus had stopped in the northbound lane on U.S.
17 just north of the N.C. 211/U-S. 17 intersection at Supply to
unload a passenger at the time of the accident.
Seated at the back of the bus, Amanda was pinned between
two seats when an empty logging struck the bus in the rear.
Truck driver Willie C. Pridgen, 44, of ivanhoe, was charged
with failure to reduce speed to avoid a collision.
The numerous breaks to Amanda's legs were treated in 8M
hours of surgery last week at Duke, where she was airlifted
within hours of the accident.
A fund has been established for Amanda at the main office
of United Carolina Bank in Shallotte. Judy Flint is the contact
person. While the students' medical bills are being referred to
the insurance company for L&T Trucking of Watha, the fund
will be used to meet needs Amanda may incur later in her re
covery.
and we'll see where we go from
there. They were incorporated by
vole, and if they unincorporale, it
will be by vote, too."
There has been growing division
in Calabash between residents of
"Old Calabash," primarily business
people and native Brunswick Coun
tians, and Carolina Shores, dominat
ed by retirees from the Northeast
and Midwest.
Only three of 200 people at a Feb.
19 public hearing on the issue indi
cated they thought the town should
be separated. But in an early Febru
ary poll by the Carolina Shores
Property Owners Association, 60
percent of respondents said they fa
vored a split, though only 25 percent
of those eligible responded to the or
ganization's questionnaire.
"There are good people on both
sides, but they have completely dif
ferent backgrounds, thoughts and at
titudes," Soles said. "People don't
realize the amount of controversy
we've had. Every time you turn
around I've been getting phone calls
or letters for the past year and a
half."
The Soles bill was expected to
have its first reading in the Senate
on Wednesday and to be referred to
the Senate Local Government Com
mittee before being taken up by the
full Senate in one to two weeks.
If approved by the Senate, the bill
would then go to the House Local
Government Committee.
Soles said he had "conferred at
length" about his plans with the oth
er members of the Brunswick
County delegation?Reps. David
Rcdwine and Dewey Hill. However,
Rcdwinc, reached in Raleigh late
Tuesday, was reluctant to discuss
whether he would support the mea
sure until he sees how the bill
emerges from the Senate.
(See SPLIT, Page 2-A)
Inside...
Birthdays 2B
Business News 9C
Calendar of Events ....I2B
Church News ?????????????? 11A
Classified 1-7C
Court Docket 8C
Crime Report 7C
Fishing 12C
Golf 11B
Obituaries 10A
Opinion 4-5 A
People In The News 9A
Plant Doctor 3B
sports
Television 10-11C
FOR BETTER OR WORSE
Groups Agree
Golf Courses Impact
Coastal Environment
BY DOUG RUTTKR
Developers, scientists and environmental
ists agree that golf courses like the ones in
Brunswick County can benefit the environ
ment if they're designed right or causc harm
if they're built wrong.
That was the consensus of speakers and
panelists at a symposium on the impact of
golf courses on the coastal environment held
last week at UNC-Wilmington.
Bill Benton, general manager of Lock
wood Golf Links at Holden Bcach, said he
was impressed with the harmony of the di
verse factions represented at the symposium,
"Is Golfing Green?"
"I thought everybody was in accord really
with what can go wrong on a golf coursc if
it's not done properly," he said. "I learned
some things that I want to do here."
Another local golf course developer. Dean
Walters of Sea Trail Corp., came away from
the seminar feeling that the positive impacts
of golf courses weren't emphasized enough.
"Despite public opinion, golf courscs do
more to help the environment than pollute
it," he said. "We provide wildlife habitat.
Our osprey and alligator^ have increased."
Dr. Charles Peacock, associate professor
of crop science at N.C. State University, said
only 1 percent of golfers and 3 percent of
non-golfers think courses have a negative
impact on the environment.
But many of the symposium speakers de
scribed the types of environmental damage
being caused by golf courses, which can
pollute surface and ground water and de
stroy wildlife habitat.
JoAnn Burkholder, associate professor of
aquatic biology at N.C. State University,
said courscs are adding to the growing water
quality problems along the coast.
"It's a trend nationwide that golf courses
are going into very beautiful areas and many
in our area are going next to coastal waters,"
she said. "Golf courses aren't nearly as bad
as agricultural fields, but they contribute to
pollution."
Golf course superintendents use an esti
mated 12 million pounds of pesticides per
'Despite
public
opinion,
golf
courses do
more to
help the environment
than (to) pollute it
?Dean Walters
Sea Trail
year, while farmers use 550 million pounds,
according to Dr. Greg Jennings of N.C.
Stale.
Many of the chemicals used on golf
course can be loxic to humans and aquatic
animals. Mike Gantt of the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service said golf courses can harm
wildlife by destroying natural habitat.
Most developments destroy wildlife habi
tat. Gantt said the golf industry has the
unique opportunity to enhance existing habi
tat as part of its development scheme.
The state's two main concerns about golf
courses are sedimentation during construc
tion and the use of chemicals after the
course is built, said Dr. Greg Thorpe of the
N.C. Division of Environmental Manage
ment.
"It's important to consider these issues
early in the design stage and 1 think that's
beginning to happen," Thorpe said. "It is im
portant that we make these cooperative ef
forts. 1 think we're on our way to doing
that"
Thorpe suggested that using of silt fence
and phasing construction of the fairways is
one way to reduce the negative impact on
the environment. 'There is good golf course
development taking place all across this
state."
As a result of the symposium, Benton said
he wants to add buffer zones around the
lakes at Lockwood Links. Grass and wet
land buffers serve as habitat for wildlife and
filters for stormwater runoff.
"The last thing we want to do at
Lockwood is hurt the environment," Benton
said. "The Lockwood Folly River and wa
terway is what attracts people to our
course."
Walters, general manager of Sea Trail at
Sunset Beach, says golf is a clean industry
that does a lot of good. Courses create jobs,
a healthy tax base and actually help the en
vironment if they're run well.
"There are some problems out there be
tween golf courses and the environment,
particularly during construction," he said.
"It's minimal for quality developers. There's
always the bail apple."
Wallers said a lot of positive points about
golf counts weren't brought out at the sym
(See 'GREEN-NESS,' Page 2-A)