Sunset Okays $1.56 Million
Budget With No Tax Hike
BY LYNN CARLSON
Sunset Bcach Town Council un
ceremoniously passed a Si.56 mil
lion budget with no property tax in
crease for the coming fiscal year af
ter a public hearing drew no com
ment from 19 citizens attending
Monday's council meeting.
The S951,253 general operating
budget?up from S819.429 this
year?becomes effective July 1. It
sets aside SI75,(XX) for future town
hall construction, replacement of
two police department vehicles and
a computer terminal for the building
inspections department.
Town employees would receive a
3.5 percent cost-of-living raise.
Also, for the second year in a row,
the town plans to set aside S33,000
in a capital improvement reserve
fund for use following a disaster.
The $609,949 water department
budget, up from S596.863, includes
SI00,000 toward the town sewer
project, S57.000 set aside for future
replacement and repair of aging dis
tribution lines, and one new posi
tion.
The budget is based on one of the
lowest municipal property tax rates
in Brunswick County?16.7 cents
per SI00 of property value. The tax
bill on a $150,000 home would be
S250.50.
Current property taxes arc expect
ed to generate $335,176 in general
fund revenue. Accommodations tax
es paid on cottages rentals and other
types of lodging will provide anoth
er S300.000.
Along with the budget, council
approved a package of building in
spection permit fee changes, adding
a S25 fee for each re-inspcction visit
by town employees. Residential
plumbing inspection fees have been
dividing into phases?slab, rough-in
and final?with a S25 fee each.
The board also implemented its
First water tap-on fee increase since
1979. Inside the city limits, tap fees
will increase from S260 to S300 and
in the extraterritorial jurisdiction,
from $300 to S345. The increases
total 15 percent and will cover the
increased costs of materials, accord
ing to Finance Officer Julia Thomas.
Waste And Pollution
Council agreed to spend $5,150
for permit fees which would allow
Sunset Bcach and Calabash to pump
wastewater to Little River for treat
ment and disposal. The Calabash
Board of Commissioners agreed last
month to pay an equal sum.
"There would be no construction
until all funds are committed and a
referendum has cleared," consulting
engineer Jim Billups told council.
"This just ties up (permission) so
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Along with the budget, council approved
a package of building inspection permit
fee changes, adding a $25 fee for each
re-inspection visit by town employees.
nobody can take it away."
Engineer Joe Tombro said a letter
has been delivered to Brunswick
County Environmental Health Sup
ervisor Andrew Robinson arranging,
per council's request, to test some of
the town's finger canals to see if
they arc too polluted for swimming.
Tombro said the waters would be
checked for fccal coliform, fecal
streptococcus and possibly viral
contaminants.
Conservation District
A definition was unanimously ap
proved for a conservation reserve
zoning district to include Bird Island
and the unzoncd area between the
mainland and the beach.
The zone would exist "primarily
for the preservation of significant
|imitcd or irreplaceable areas which
include major wetlands; open
spaces; undeveloped shorelines that
are unique, fragile or hazardous for
development" and may permit "sin
gle-family, low-density residential
uses" on high ground.
A public hearing on the issue
drew no comment.
Other Hearings
Council sent back to the planning
board a scries of amendments to the
subdivision requirements setting
standards for final plat approval af
ter Dean Walters, manager of Sea
Trail Plantation, cited several con
cerns.
"When you get loo restrictive,
you slow down quality development
with nitpicking," Walters said.
Planning board chair Richard Good
said the group welcomes more input
from developers to make the mea
sures practical.
Walters was the only commcntcr
on that proposal.
Receiving no comment, and pass
ing unanimously, was a sign ordi
nance amendment limiting direc
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'No' To Boot Scooters
Council declined, but scheduled a
public hearing on, a request by the
owners of Boot Scooters to add pri
vate clubs as permitted uses under
the town zoning ordinance. The club
would be located on N.C. 904 near
the Pelican Square shopping center.
The owners have appealed a de
nial by the state Alcoholic Beverage
Control agency of their liquor li
cense application.
"If the ABC board permits them,
that overrides your zoning," Town
Attorney Mike Iscnbcrg said. "But
they're supposed to consider your
zoning in ruling on the application."
He added, "They're entiUed to a
public hearing on your refusal to
amend the ordinance." The hearing
was set for 7 p.m. July 5 in the town
hall.
No Nets In Canals
Sunset Beach police were autho
rized to assess 550 civil penalties
against people who obstruct canals
with fishing nets or other devices.
Violators will have 72 hours to pay,
or a misdemeanor summons would
be issued.
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PHOTO CONTRIBUTED
Memorial Day Tribute
Gayle Schadle and ratty Matheny, along with other members of the Sunset Beach Beautijication Com
mittee, proudly show the new Sunset Beach town flag, officially unveiled in a Memorial Day ceremony.
The flag ceremony also served as a memorial to the late Cathy Peed of Sunset Beach, whose "setting
sun" design, adapted for the flag, was created for the Sunset Beach Police Department patch. Mem
orial Day poems were recited, and Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts raised the American and North Caro
lina flags. A prayer was led by Jane Bye, Beautification Committee president. Schadle headed the
group's Flag Committee. Matheny, an artist, helped with the flag's design and coloring
ON CAUSEWAY
Cigarettes Cause Two Dozen Brush Fires
Sunset Bcach firefighters have extinguished as many cas be covered with burlap to prevent runoff, Bucll said,
as two dozen small brush fires along the island's cause- "Every time somebody would come by and throw out
way in recent weeks, the result of cigarettes tossed from a cigarette, the burlap would catch fire," Bucll said. "It's
car windows, according to Police Chief J.B. Bucll. been expensive having to send a (fire)tmck over there
The N.C. Department of Transportation recently every time."
widened the causeway shoulders by about two feet on Bucll said the grass is coming up now and the burlap
each side and planted new grass. State Coastal Area "is just about all gone," so he expects the problem is
Management Act regulations required that the seeded ar- solved.
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