OIB Couple Tied, Robbed By Gunman
An Ocean Isle Beach restaurant
manager and his wife were hog-tied
by a masked gunman and robbed of
an estimated $9,000 cash at their
home early Saturday morning, a
Brunswick County Sheriff's Depart
ment detective said Monday.
The victims, Joe Edward Steele
and Sheila Diane Steele of Ship
watch Lane, received only bruises
and scratches in the incident, Det.
Tom Hunter said. No arrests have
been made, but police "have some
leads" in the case and are investigat
ing reports of suspicious vehicles in
the area, he said.
Mrs. Steele told Deputy Kcithan
Home that she was lying on the
couch watching television at about
1:15 a.m. when a man wearing a
camouflage jacket, a black ski mask
and black gloves came into the
house through the front door, which
she had left unlocked. The man
pointed a chrome semi-automatic
pistol at her and told her to get on
the floor.
The intruder forced her into the
back room, where he told her to lie
on the bed. He tied and bound her
hands and feet with duct tape and a
dog leash, the report said. Mrs.
Steele said the man rummaged
through the house, then waited for
her husband to return from the
Islander Restaurant, where he is the
manager and son of the owner.
Hunter said.
After about an hour, Joe Steele
came in and was attacked by the in
truder, who had hidden behind the
front door. Mrs. Steele told Hunter
that while the men were scuffling in
the kitchen, she was able to break
free and run to a neighbor's home to
call 911.
Hunter said he was on his way
home from an assignment in Sunset
Beach at about 2:47 a.m. when he
heard a radio dispatcher report an
armed robbery in progress. He ar
rived at the Steele's home in less
than five minutes along with Tommy
Allen of the Ocean Isle Beach Police
Department.
Other police units from Sunset
Beach, Shallottc and the sheriff's de
partment arrived within minutes.
Hunter said. Together they surround
ed the house.
Next door, Mrs. Steele told police
that her husband was still inside the
house with the robber. Hunter said
he carefully looked through a win
dow and saw Joe Steele lying on the
floor tied at the hands and feet.
Hunter, Home and Sunset Beach
patrol officer Anna Dosio entered
the house and searched it while
Occan Isle Beach Sgt. Tommy Allen
untied Steele. There was no sign of
the intruder in the Steele's home.
Hunter said.
Steele told policc that after being
attacked, he had struggled with two
men in the kitchen. Hunter said.
They reportedly left with Steele's
wallet, containing about S675 and
credit cards, and the restaurant mon
ey bag with about $8,120 cash in
side.
Steele received some bruises and
scratches in the incident, but was
otherwise unhurt. Hunter said.
An investigation into the robbery
is continuing.
"There were some reports of sus
picious vehicles in the area and we
have a couple people we're looking
at," said Hunter. He also praised the
cooperation given by the numerous
policc agencies involved.
Other officers responding to the
call included Sunset Beach patrol
men Frank Eaddy and Tom
Mclntyre, sheriff's deputies Jerry
Gray and Sgt. Wendell Bennett and
Shallotte patrolman David Edv/ar Is
and auxiliary officer James Sublctt.
Schools' Proposed Budget $18.8 Million
(Continued From Page 1-A)
staff development; and S20.000 to
connect one county school to a fiber
optic network that the University of
North Carolina at Wilmington and
Northern Telecon propose to extend
into Brunswick County.
"By this fall we should have all
schools on line," Superintendent
Ralph Johnston said, noting that
Technology Director Gene Zuck was
to outline his full plan at the board's
next meeting Wednesday, April 7.
The system will be installed and in
serviccs provided for teachers before
the start of the 1993-94 year.
The plan would provide each
school with a lab of at least 15 com
puters, plus either another 15 com
puters in the lab or alternative set
ups in the school, said Donna
Baxter, board chairman.
The capital outlay budget in
cludes related expenditures of
5700,000 for technology equipment;
S18.000 toward financing IBM
equipment in place at one school;
and 550,000 for media technology
equipment.
More Pay For Drivers?
The final expansion item in the
current expense budget is 527,000 to
increase supplements for bus drivers
to S300 per year, in conjunction with
a new, four-step salary schedule.
"We've talked with some bus dri
vers and they think the new four
step salary plan is fair. Everybody
would get a good increase," said
Turner.
The drivers now get a 2 percent of
salary supplement, with some dri
vers earning as little as S5 an hour.
The board is also reconsidering a
related policy that requires teacher
assistants to be qualified and willing
to drive buses also. The requirement
was added at a time when
Brunswick County was switching
from mainly student drivers and
needed to create a pool of adult (age
18 and older) drivers.
"If bus drivers arc paid what they
should be," said Finance Officer
Rudi Fallon, "we would not have to
worry about attracting bus drivers.
We're rethinking that concept."
The system has not been free of
problems, as teacher assistants who
drive buses are not always in the
classrooms a full school day, not all
applicants want to do both jobs, and
more accurate record-kecping is
needed to make sure dual employees
arc paid the correct salary for the
hours worked on each job on a par
ticular day. Pay for the dual employ
ees varies widely, depending in part
(Continued From Page 1-A)
government, political science, busi
ness administration or finance" and
"a minimum of five years of profes
sional county government adminis
trative work experience in North
Carolina."
Under Wan-en's proposal, copies
of all applications will be made
available to the five commissioners,
who will review them and "decide
in open session who to interview."
After the public interviews, the
sheriff's department and the person
nel office will conduct records
checks and "credit reports" on the
applicants before a final decision is
made. Warren suggested.
Commissioner Wayland Verecn
expressed concern that qualified
people might not apply if the names
of all applicants are made public."If
1 already had a good job, I'd be hesi
tant to give you an interview,"
Vereen said.
Warren said the intent of his mo
tion was to release only the names
of those candidates who are to be
publicly intcrviewed."Hopefully we
can narrow it down to a dozen or so
before then," he said.
Warren's motion to adopt the
open interview policy was unani
mously approved.
In his administrative report to the
board. Interim County Manager
John Harvey announced to the board
that he has allowed Health Director
Michael Rhodes and Department of
Social Services Director Jamie
Orrock to fill "all authorized posi
tions" in their departments. Hirings
in other county departments also
were approved.
Hiring throughout county govern
ment was halted after the board of
commissioners approved a Jan. 19
policy statement directing former
county manager Clegg to "refrain
from filling any nonessential posi
tion." As a result, Clegg delayed hir
ing while the essential need for each
requested employee was carefully
examined.
Several department heads, partic
ularly Rhodes and Orrock, com
plained that the policy, as interpreted
by Clegg, severely hindered their
operations.
Harvey told the commissioners
that he had authorized county de
partment heads to fill 32 "vacant"
positions. All are included in the
current budget and most have al
ready gone through some phase of
the advertisement and interview
process.
In his report to the board, Harvey
did not outline the "essential" nature
of any of the 32 vacant positions.
Nor did he determine that any of the
vacancies were non-essential posi
tions. There was no comment from
the board about the hirings.
Among the positions authorized
to be filled are 11 in social services,
seven in health, three each in solid
waste and emergency services, two
each in housekeeping, building and
grounds, public utilities and opera
tion services and one job each in ge
ographic information services, fi
nance and parks and recreation.
on longevity in cach job.
On-Bus Cameras Proposed
In addition to the schools and
technology projects, other capital
expenditures would include pur
chase of video cameras for 45 buses,
at a cost of SI5,000, to help reduce
student discipline problems on bus
es; a new telephone system for
Shallottc Middle School, 510,000;
550,000 to finish stocking Supply
Elementary School's media center;
fax machines and radios for all
schools, S24.000; an "Action" lab
for North Brunswick High School,
for providing technological training
that relates to the needs of local in
dustry, 5100,000; and 530,000 in
equipment for custodians, such as
new buffers and vacuums, as well
other equipment for schools, the bus
garage, central office, cafeterias,
publications and maintenance de
partments and athletic programs.
The system also budgeted
530,000 for a sewer plant upgrade at
Bolivia Elementary, witfi labor by
school system employees. This is
the last project needed to fulfill
terms of a consent order reached
with the N.C. Division of
Environmental Management for re
pair or replacement of faulty sewer
systems at county schools.
Sewer Hearing Set At Sunset Beach
(Continued From Page 1-A)
work immediately on seeking per
mits from regulatory agencies in
both states. No formal proposal has
yet been made to the Little River au
thority, he added.
The Sunset council unanimously
voted to allocate $2,250 as its half of
54,500 in preliminary engineering
and permit fees to explore the op
tion. The proposal will be presented
to the Calabash Board of Com
missioners at its April 13 meeting.
Sewer Hearing April 26
Council also scheduled an April
26 public hearing on the engineers'
final sewer system environmental
study, though the document remains
unfinished. The hearing will take
place at 6 p.m. in the Maples Club
house at Sea Trail Plantation.
Billups said the study should be
completed later this week. The engi
neers promised in February to pro
vide a copy of the final report to the
Sunset Beach Taxpayers* Asso
ciation, a citizens' group which has
expressed concerns about the need
for central sewage disposal in their
A public hearing
on the final
environmental
report will be held
at 6 p.m. April 26
in the Maples
Clubhouse.
town. Copies will also be available
at the town hall for citizens' use.
Council agreed unanimously to
endorse the engineers' recommenda
tion to ask Governor Jim Hunt to
fund the "South Brunswick Envi
ronmental Management Program" as
the first regional sewerage and
stormwater management system in
coastal North Carolina. Represen
tatives of five towns?Sunset
Beach, Calabash, Ocean Isle, Shal
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loitc and Holden Beach?met last
week to discuss the advantages of
forming a joint treatment system and
how to attract state money to pay for
it.
Currently, only Sunset Beach and
Calabash are the only members of
the South Brunswick Water and
Sewer Authority, which serves as
"funding entity" for the proposed
sewer system.
The letter asks the governor to
fund a regional sewage disposal plan
for all of southwestern Brunswick
County and to grant the five-town
"environmental coalition" special
funding status as a demonstration
project that could be expanded to
manage sewage disposal and storm
water runoff in a broader watershed,
including the Grand Strand area of
South Carolina.
Early Warning Proposal
In other business, council agreed
to pursue Police Chief J.B. Buell's
suggestion that an "early warning
system" in the form of a rotating
siren be posted in the middle of the
island portion of town to speed
short-notice evacuations. Buell will
be seeking prices on such a system,
the need for which he said became
apparent during the March 13 storm.
High winds rendered the town's
one-land floating bridge unusable
for nearly ten hours. The bridge had
to be closed with only five minutes'
notice, the chief said.
Just after Buell finished his pre
sentation, a police officer entered
the meeting room to announce that
the bridge was being closed Monday
night "as soon as we can gel a
firetruck ever." Extreme lunar tides
made the bridge unusable by cars
during high tides Monday and
Tuesday and impossible to open for
boat traffic at low tide on Tuesday,
according to Town Administrator
Linda Fluegcl.
Mini-Golf Hearing
Council set a public hearing for 7
p.m. May 3 on an amendment to the
zoning ordinance allowing miniature
golf courscs in the mainland busi
ness district. Under the proposal,
courses would have to meet 10 crite
ria including being on at least an
acre of land, have two parking
spaces per hole, "unobtrusive" light
ing, no animated characters or ani
mals and low noise levels. If the
amendment is approved, miniature
golf courses would be allowable on
ly as special uses permitted on ap
peal to the zoning board of adjust
ment.
STAFF PHOTO BY DOUG It UTTER
There Goes The Neighborhood
Mel Amos of Holden Beach awoke Tuesday morning to the cries of
this stray cat that had climbed some 15 feet to get a closer look at
her purple martin house. The birds flew the coop, but returned
when the feline was shaken from his roost. No word on whether
the kitty caught his breakfast.
Manager Candidates Subject
To Open-Session Interviews
Harvey also announced that he
had instructed Orrock lo include the
former older adults department in
his social services budget. Likewise,
the former solid waste department
will be included in the department of
operational services.
The former directors of both for
mer departments, Ronnie Robinson
at older adults and Leo Hewctt at
landllll/solid waste, were fired dur
ing the fiscal year. In other business:
?Warren announced that Heweu's
scheduled personnel hearing to ap
peal his recent firing has been post
poned at his request until April 19.
?An expenditure of 570,613 from
the county manager's emergency
contingency fund was unanimously
approved to pay for corrective ac
tions and fines incurred due to im
proper maintenance of the county
landfill.
?The board agreed to allow the
public utilities department to furnish
a truck and two employees to the
town of Holden Beach and two
trucks and two employees to Long
Beach to assist in cleaning up debris
left by the March 13 storm.
?The commissioners voted to au
thorize the purchase of a new car for
the incoming county manager.
Harvey said the vehicle could be ob
tained through state government for
less than $15,000. The current bud
get earmarks $25,000 for a new
county manager's car.
?Vcrccn asked (hat the board
postpone authorization of a new
codes administrator position, which
would combine the duties of a lead
building inspector and a zoning ad
ministrator. Vereen again asked that
the measure be tabled "until we have
time to talk about it." The board
agreed to postpone action by a 4-1
vote with Commissioner Jerry Jones
dissenting. Harvey said after the
meeting that because of the delay, its
seems unlikely that the county-wide
zoning ordinance could be imple
mented July 1 as scheduled.
?An appropriation of $50,600
was approved unanimously for the
extension of water lines to serve the
DuPont plant. The company says it
will purchase an average of 144,000
gallons of water per day. The funds
will be taken from loan money re
turned to the county by the Lower
Cape Fear Water and Sewer
Authority.
?The board agreed to spend
$25,000 to move a building current
ly on the planned site for the Oak
Island library branch for administra
tive use at the Brunswick County
Airport.
?Warren nominated Chris Chap
pell to serve as the District 1 repre
sentative on the county's board of
equalization and review. Vereen
nominated Hannon Templeton to
represent District 3. Jones chose
H.G. Simmons for District 2 and
Commissioner Donald Shaw nomi
nated John Thompson for District 5.
Commissioner Tom Rabon said his
planned nomination for District 4
had bowed out at the last minute. All
nominations were approved unani
mously.
County Finance
Officer Facing
DWI Charge
Brunswick County Director of
Fiscal Operations Lilhia Brooks
Hahn was arrested by Holdcn Beach
Police early Saturday morning and
charged with driving while impaired
by alcohol, according to a citation
on file at the Brunswick County
Clerk of Courts office.
Hahn, 41, was stopped by
Patrolman Michacl C. Hamilton at
4:48 a.m. in the 500 block of Ocean
Boulevard West. Court records indi
cate that she told police she was on
her way from Mynle Beach to her
home at Captain's Villas on Holdcn
Beach at the time of her arrest. She
said she had consumed four beers
between 10 p.m. Friday and 2:30
a.m. Saturday.
An Intoxilyzer breath test admin
istered at 5:39 a.m. indicated that
Hahn had a blood alcohol level of
.12 percent, court records show. Un
der state law, a driver is considered
to be impaired by alcohol when tests
indicate a blood alcohol level of .10
percent.
Hahn's case is scheduled to be
heard in Brunswick County District
Court June 29.
She has served as Brunswick
County's financc officer since June
1986.
Rain Forecast
Temperatures should reach nor
mal levels over the next few days,
while more rain is expected to fall
on already soggy lawns and gar
dens.
Shallotte Point meteorologist
Jackson Canady said Tuesday he
expects temperatures to average
from the lower 50s at night up to
the lower 70s during the day. He an
ticipates at least another three
fourths inch of rain.
For the period of March 30
through April 5, Canady recorded a
maximum high of 81 degrees March
30 and a minimum low of 38 de
grees April 3.
A daily average high of 69 de
grees combined with a nighdy aver
age low of 47 degrees for a daily
average temperature of 58 degrees,
which is about 3 degrees below av
erage.
He measured 1.67 inches of
rainfall for the period.
Clegg To Get
Vacation Pay
After Request
(Continued From Page 1-A)
cd the move so Clegg could stay at
work as acting county manager and
not be forced to take vacation time.
Since then, Clegg continued to
work rather than take all his annual
vacation, allowing 16 weeks of
leave to accumulate.
In a March 25 letter to county
Personnel Officer Starrie Grissctl,
Clegg asked that his accrued annual
leave pay be "processed during the
next payroll period." At Monday's
commissioners meeting. Chairman
Don Warren read the letter and
asked the board to take action on it.
Commissioner Wayland Vereen
made a motion to delay paying the
back wages and asked that the re
quest "be put on the table until the
next meeting."
Warren agreed with Vereen that
"what was done was wrong" and
that Clegg should not have been al
lowed to accumulate so much leave.
But, he said, the county "would have
a difficult time proving it."
The board voted 4-1, with Vereen
dissenting, to comply with Clegg's
request.
"I hope this never happens
again," said Warren. "When we hire
a county manager, we need to spell
out what fringe benefits were going
to give him."
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