I
8
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Fall-Back Time
An extra hour of sleep is
yours Saturday night. Don't
forget to change the clock.
Welcome.
...to the North Carolina Festival by the Sea,
which promises more foocL fun and games
than ever. See our special Section D
Be informed, Voter
Read how the candidates
answered our questions. A guide
to the profiles is on 2- A.
THL
12/31/99
HOAG it SONS BOOK BINDERY
P.O. BOX 1 62
SPR I NGF'ORT MI 49284
Thirty-First Year, Number 52
60 Pages, 4 Sections, 5 Inserts
Holden Joins
Ocean Isle In
1-73 Proposal
BY DOUG RUTTER
Holden Beach Commissioners
have joined Ocean Isle Beach's
town board in requesting that trans
portation officials bring Interstate 73
through Brunswick County on its
way from Michigan to South Car
olina.
On a 4-1 vote, Holden Beach's
board passed a resolution last week
asking the N.C. Department of
Transportation draw up a plan that
would bring the highway through
the western part of the county.
The N.C. DOT has proposed that
Interstate 73 ? which will begin in
Detroit and end in Charleston ? fol
low U.S. 74 from Rockingham to
the Whiteville area before entering
South Carolina.
Local beach officials want the
major highway to continue into
Brunswick County, generally fol
lowing N.C. 130 from Whiteville to
Shallotte. where it would then head
toward Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Two weeks ago. Ocean Isle Beach
Commissioners gave their unani
mous support for the revised plan at
the request of island developer Odell
Williamson, who also is a member
of the state transportation board.
"If we can show the powers-that
be that Brunswick County needs this
kind of economic boost, I think we
have a good shot at having it come
in on 17 and then on to Myrtle
Beach," Williamson said at the time.
Holden Beach town board mem
bei David SanUifer said at last
Wednesday's meeting that he sup
ports the proposal because an inter
state could help create jobs and
boost the county's tourism industry.
"Anything we can do to improve
the infrastructure would help," he
said. "Whether it has a prayer or not
I don't know."
Congress mandated construction
of 1-73 nearly two years ago, but it
did not specify the route it should
follow.
It was originally expected to pass
through Winston-Salem and west of
Fayetteville, but a later proposal
called for the highway to pass
through or near Myrtle Beach. A fi
nal decision on the route is expected
by December.
Holden Beach Commissioner Sid
Swarts cast the only vote against the
measure last week. He said a
straight highway from Detroit to
Charleston would pass through
Charlotte and bringing the road into
Brunswick County would be a waste
of money.
"To me it's so illogical that we
would put a huge loop in an inter
state for a small county's gain,"
Swarts said. "I like Brunswick
County and I like Holden Beach, but
this is wrong."
"If I saw a congressman do this I
would think, "You pork barrel rascal
you'," Swarts added.
STAFF PHOTOS BY ERIC ORISON
PIANNING BOARD
Chairman John Thompson
(lower right in photo above)
discusses a request to rezone
land near Southport to pro
hibit a proposed open pit
mine, as opponents of the I
project look on. In photo at
right, Fred Schumacher of
Boiling Spring Lakes shouts I
at Brunswick County ,
Planning Board members >
after they declined to modify it
the zoning of the proposed ^
limestone mining site near g
Southport. Hecklers forced r
the board to recess its meet - ^
ing early last week.
State Bond Issue Would Fund
BCC Allied Health Building
BY SUSAN USHER
Students at Brunswick Community College can't en
roll in a chemistry course because there is no chemistry
lab on campus ? or any space to remodel into a lab.
That's one of the reasons the local college community
wants North Carolina voters to support a $250 million
bond issue on the ballot Nov. 2. The issue would provide
money to fund the No. 1 building need at each of the
state's 58 community colleges ? including $4 million for
an Allied Health lab and classroom building at BCC.
"These are just top priority projects, our most critical
needs. It's not a wish list," said W. Michael Reaves,
president of BCC. "I could wish a lot bigger than that.
We are already squeezed for space and it will probably
be *95 or '96 before the space would be available."
Brunswick County already offers two courses, med
ical information technology and phlebotomy, as part of
the Southeastern Regional Allied Health Consortium.
The consortium is a multi-campus planning effort effort
to meet the demand for health professionals across
southeastern North Carolina.
By the time a new Allied Health facility is ready for
use, BCC expects to have in place two new programs, in
respiratory and occupational therapy.
As outlined in BCC's master plan adopted last year,
the Allied Health Building would be about 40,(KK)
square feet in size, about that of the ALS Building. It
would include both science laboratories and classrooms.
That space would serve the allied health program and
other curricula. A chemistry lab, for instance, would al
so be used by general education (college-transfer) as
well as recreational grounds management technology
students for courses such as life science chemistry and
soil and plant sciences, and the nursing program.
If the bond issue measure passes, grants totaling
S226.1 million will be distributed among the 58 campus
es. The remaining $23.9 million will be allocated for ad
ditional projects to be specified by the General
Assembly in 1994 or later, based on the recommenda
tions of a study panel.
All the state construction grants have to be matched
with local funds on a dollar-for-dollar basis. However,
Brunswick County won't have to advance any additional
matching funds for BCC to receive its $4 million grant.
That's because the county is $7.5 million "over
(See BONDS, Page 2-A)
Planning Board
Doesn't Yield
To Angry Crowd
Against Quarry
ERIC CARLSON
The angry shouts of hecklers
forced ihe county planning hoard to
end its regular meeting prematurely
last Wednesday night after oppo
nents of a proposed limestone mine
near Southport refused to take no for
an answer.
Most of the crowd of about 75
people grumbled after the board vot
ed unanimously against a re-zoning
request that would have prohibited
Martin Marietta Aggregates from
opening a rock quarry on land the
company owns near N.C. 87/133 in
Smithville Township.
But some did more than grumble.
As Chairman John Thompson tried
to move on to other business, sever
al members of the audience began
shouting loudly and demanding that
the board reconsider its vote. The
volume increased each time a mem
ber tried to speak.
"Should I get the sheriff's depart
ment?" Planning Director John
Harvey asked. Thompson said no.
He recessed the meeting and al
lowed board members to leave the
public assembly building through a
gauntlet of vocal mining opponents.
Harvey said that he heard a few
"coarse, stupid threats" levelled at
him as the meeting broke up.
"One man came over and grabbed
the back of my coat and tried yank
me out of the building," he said.
A deputy will be on hand to main
tain order Nov. 17 when members of
the newly formed Brunswick
County Anti-Mining Alliance return
for a public hearing on a proposal to
delete mining and other land uses
they find undesirable from the coun
ty zoning law.
The group also plans to turn out
in force when the county commis
sioners meet Nov. 1
"We will be saying as forcefully
as we can that we want them to
change the zoning regulations," said
Southport attorney John Snyder, co
founder of the Brunswick County
Mining Awareness Committee, a
predecessor of the Anti-Mining
Alliance. "I expect you will see 2(X)
to 250 people there."
About 1 30 showed up for a meet
ing in Southport Saturday night,
when the new alliance was formed
as a way of gathering "a broader
base of support" for the anti-mining
effort, Snyder said.
The alliance failed in its attempt
to pressure the county commission
ers into postponing the Nov. 1 effec
live dale of the new zoning ordi
nance. The county hoard has asked
for environmental and economic im
pact studies of the proposed quarry
before considering a zoning change
to prohibit it. The board also wants
Martin Marietta to hold a public fo
rum to explain the company's inten
tions.
Opponents of the mine say blast
ing and hauling thousands of tons of
rock from the quarry each day will
adversely affect nearby residential
areas and cause significant traffic
hazards and road maintenance prob
lems. They also fear that the compa
ny's plan to draw 10 million gallons
daily from an underground aquifer
will ruin area drinking wells, dry up
the ponds in Boiling Spring Lakes
and cause dangerous sinkholes to
form.
Of particular concern is the pro
posed location of the mine site, adja
cent to the Brunswick Nuclear Plant
and the giant military ammunition
terminal at Sunny Point. It was
largely because of those industrial
neighbors that the area around the
proposed mine site was zoned H-M,
tor "heavy manufacturing."
In addition to mining, other uses
that may be allowed in the H-M
zone include animal slaughterhous
es, hazardous waste storage facili
ties. junkyards, above and below
ground storage facilities and inciner
ators for disposal of human or ani
mal remains.
Mining opponents have drafted a
set of proposed revisions to the ordi
nance that would prohibit all such
uses anywhere in Brunswick
County. That proposal will be con
sidered at the Nov. 17 public hear
ing, after which the planning board
could vote to modify the zoning or
dinance, to deny the request or to
postpone a decision.
In an interview Tuesday, Harvey
declined to voice an opinion about
the wisdom of changing the zoning
ordinance. He said the law requires
strict "performance standards" that
would have to be met before Martin
Marietta can open a mine in
Brunswick County. He will be in
charge of the coordinating the envi
ronmental impact study requested
by the commissioners.
Harvey said he still holds to a ba
sic philosophy that "if man has a use
for land, it should be accommodated
at home rather than forcing it on
your neighbors.
(See NEXT, Page 3-A)
Postmaster: Workers Deliver Even
When Addresses Wrong
Related Story, 2-A
BY SUSAN USHER
It's just before 6 a.m. usually
when the First mail truck arrives at
the South Brunswick Station Most
of the cargo on this truck, the first of
two incoming mail loads each day,
is first class and priority mail.
"It's a light mail day," explains
clerk Alice Bennett for her sorting
station. That's because 1) it's Wed
nesday and 2) the Wednesday after a
Monday holiday. Mail volume is
generally heaviest on Monday.
On this morning Kathleen
Henderson Heath is moving flats at
a rapid pace. In a row of worksta
tions behind her, clerks Sylvia
McDaniels, Betty Hughes (who
spends the balance of her time at the
Longwood post office), Alice
Bennett and John Mintz are sorting
first class and priority mail by route.
"They all are trained to do every
job in this office, including mine and
(Supervisor of Customer Service)
Judy Home's," says Bringoli.
Customers in Florence, S.C., of a
certain national daily newspaper
were in for a disappointment that
day. The publisher, apparently, had
sorted papers with one Shallotte zip
STAFF PHOTOS BY SUSAN USHER
CARRIER RITA HAWES sorts mail bound for Route 6 residents by hand in her case at the South
Brunswick Islands station. Like most carriers, she estimates a third or more of her customers aren 't
using their proper address.
code paper on the top of the bundle;
the rest of the papers were for
Florence. But the bundle was sorted
according to the top paper, and the
entire bunch wound up at South
Brunswick Station, to be returned to
the regional center and sent out
again.
By 8 a.m., 1 1/2 trays of letter
mail has piled up that has been pre
sorted by the regional center and
sent to the wrong address ? the
Shallotte area instead of points as
varied as Durham, Fayetteville,
Jacksonville, Leland and even
Wilkes boro. Heath has sorted out a
stack of misrouted "flats" as well, 3
to 4 feet already this particular
morning.
But dealing with presorting errors
isn't the biggest challenge for clerks
and carriers. It's trying to match cus
tomers with their mail even when
they refuse to use the correct ad
dress. The carriers predict problems
will get worse as the U S. Postal
Service begins to rely more and
more on automation for sorting and
routing mail.
Most of the carriers in the post of
fice this day calculate that one-third
or more of all their customers are
using old addresses, some not hav
ing made any change in the address
they use through several post-office
mandated changes.
"Most of them have been there
for years," said Heath, her words
echoed by other clerks. "They don't
want to change. They think every
body knows where they live."
Address changes occurring in
conjunction of the new 911 emer
gency system pose challenges as
well.
"They may not like the new
name of their street and refuse to use
it," she said.
Even with the name changes there
are still confusions in addresses.
Carriers estimate there are still five
"Forest Drives" in use among the 10
routes served out of the South
Brunswick Station. Most of the mail
still gets through, but it's because
the clerks and carriers know their
customers well.
"The main thing is we're sup
posed to do everything we can to at
tempt to deliver it," said Bringoli.
Only if mail comes with the nota
tion "address correction requested"
is the mail routinely returned. That
is more often the case with third or
fourth class mail, said Joe Grab
owski, clerk.
A second mail truck, the bulk of
(See MOST MAIL, Page 2-A)
Inside...
Birthdays ?2B
Business News ~.~..19C
Calendar J&B
Church News .... ?
Classified .1-10C
Court Docket....... 14C
Crime Report... 11B
Fishing 16B
Golf 15B
Obituaries 7B
Opinion .4-5A
People In The News .....5B
Plant Doctor.~...............4B
Sports 12- 14B
Television *^*.12-i3C