I t.'l-l, ,ill t,, ,
Jk " Happy Easter!
Fof a listing of Holy Week
services at area churches,
see Page 7-B
y ?.
. X i f
Spring Forward
Add a little sunlight to the end of your
workday; don't forget to advance your
clocks one hour Saturday night.
*o * ?
& oOMs BOOK BINDERV
P0 BOX 162
SPRINGF'ORT mi 492,0 1
I Thirty-Second Year, Number 22 oimntnuNMowaM Shallotte, North Carolina, Thursday, March 31, 1994 50< Per Copy 104 Pages, 4 Sections Plus Supplement and Inserts
ISSUE LAST FAILED BY ONE VOTE
Sunset Residents
To Vote Tuesday
On Participation
In Sewer System
BY SUSAN USHER
In 1979 Sunset Bcach residents
voted to issue bonds for a water sys
tem, but defeated a sewer bond issue
by one vote.
A much expanded group of town
residents will go to the polls next
Tuesday, April 5, to answer a similar
question.
Since the last sewer bond issue
failed the issue has simmered,
emerging only in recent years as the
towns of Sunset Beach and Calabash
explored ways to singly and/or joint
ly tlnance a system at a time when
state and federal grants are no longer
available and low-interest loans are
in high demand and short supply.
The result: the fledgling South
Brunswick Water and Sewer
Authority, which expects to serve a
broader customer base than either or
both towns could have, at a more af
fordable cost.
On Tuesday, town residents will
vole for or against town participa
tion in the authority, when they ap
prove or don't approve issuance of
up to $5 million in sewer bonds.
Voting will lake place at the Sea
Trail Corporation Building at Sea
Trail Plantation between 6:30 a.m.
anu 7:30 p.m.
If the vote passes, the town will
move forward quickly on the author
ity. If not, the alternatives include
abandoning the project entirely,
holding another vote, or the town
council voting to pursue the project
anyway, said Town Administrator
Linda Fluegel. Council has not com
mitted to a particular course of ac
tion if the vote fails.
Fluegcl said the referendum is the
only legal means available to the
town to poll sentiment for or against
a sewer system, as it had promised
earlier. While the town has reiterated
it's intent to not issue the bonds, a
letter sent to residents from the town
council in February does leave open
the possibility. "If full funding is
obtained there will be no need to is
sue the bonds approved in the or
der," it states.
Consulting engineer Joe Tombro
of Piedmont Olsen and Hensley is
confident a general obligation bond
issue won't be needed. Barrtng a
mis-step in scheduling, the authority
is in line to receive a $3.8 million
low-interest loan through the N.C.
Revolving Loan Fund, and another
$5 million low-interest loan from
the N.C. Clean Water Bonds ap
proved by voters statewide last year.
The balance of funding for the
$34.9 million project will be fi
nanced through issuance by the au
thority of $21.6 million in revenue
bonds, money it expects to recover
from customers through means such
as tap-on fees from required hook
ups, monthly user charges for cus
tomers and availability charges for
undeveloped properties.
The Sunset Beach barrier is
land?which was the bulk of the
town back in 1979?comprises ap
proximately 460 acres or 3 percent
of the authority's proposed 15,000
acre service area. It is the location of
the greatest concentration and densi
ty of residential development and is
(See SUNSET Page 2-A)
wmmsmm
Easter's
On Its Way
m
Brighton Mintz (right) couldn't
be happier after he and his dad,
Jeff Mintz, a basket of colorful
eggs left by the Easter bunny.
Brighton was among the 40 or
so children attending the
Beatrix Potter Easter brunch at
Camp United Methodist Church
Saturday morning. Parents and
other volunteers provided crafts,
an Easter egg hunt and a
brunch menu that included
carrot sticks and bunny cake.
Drew Phillips and Katelyn
Humbert (above) transform
cookies into art with the help of
food dye, a cotton-tipped swab
and Drew's mom, Fonda
Phillips.
i
Feds To Explain
Nuke Rod Plan
Selection Means
U.S. Department of Energy per
sonnel were to explain to Brunswick
County Commissioners and resi
dents Wednesday afternoon a gov
ernment plan to accept, through one
or more United States ports, spent
nuclear fuel from foreign research
reactors.
A special meeting of the commis
sioners was called for 4 p.m. in the
commissioners' chambers at the
Brunswick County Government
Center in Bolivia. Wilmington is on
a list of seven proposed ports of en
try developed by the DOE for possi
ble acceptance of the used fuel ele
ments. The U.S. Army's Sunny
Point Military Ocean Terminal near
Southport is on a list of seven mili
tary sites considered "reasonable al
ternatives." A determination of
which port or ports will be used is
expcctcd next month.
Joyce C. Johnson, interim clerk to
the board of commissioners, said
about five DOE staff members are
expected to participate in an hour
long session, providing information
about the spent fuel return proposal
and the port selection process, and
answering questions.
Mayors of Brunswick County's
18 municipalities have been invited,
in case they cannot attend a similar
informational meeting set by DOE
on the same subject Wednesday
from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in Cameron
Auditorium on the UNC-Wilming
ton campus. College Road. Wilm
ington.
With economic feasibility one cri
tena to be met. factors that wilj heir
determine final port selection range
from overland distance of the ports
from Aiken, S.C., and distance from
the open ocean, cargo-handling ca
pabilities and emergency response
resources; experience handling spent
nuclear fuel; regular service by com
mercial shippers willing to transport
spent nuclear fuel from European
ports; access to the port by truck or
rail; and the population of the actual
port of entry and along the chosen
route to Aiken.
Holden Residents Defend Manager
Criticized By Commissioner
BY DOUG RUTTER
Responding to a recent article in
The Brunswick Beacon, three
Holden Beach residents publicly de
fended Town Manager Gus Ulrich
last week, calling him a "good man"
who is doing an "excellent job."
"I'd like to thank the board for
having a man like Gus Ulrich," said
Dave Gibson. "He's a good man. Carroll's comments were made in
He's a Christian man. He lives on a telephone interview following a
our beach, and he cares about the March 7 executive session in which
beach." commissioners began a routine eval
Gibson, along with residents Jeff uation of the manager's job perfor
Lee and Andy Watson, praised mance.
Ulrich during last Wednesday's At last week's meeting, Lee said
board of commissioners meeting. It Carroll's comments "were the worst
was the first time the board accepted case of the pot calling the kettle
public comments since a March 10 black that 1 have ever witnessed."
article in which Commissioner "We are very fortunate to have
Dwight Carroll was quoted as say- someone of Mr. Ulrich's qualifica
ing he thought Ulrich should be tions serving as our town manager,"
fired. Lee said. "His years as town manag
Carroll, who previously worked er of Garner should send a message
as Holden Beach's building inspec- that he must be qualified with 17
tor under Ulrich, told the Beacon he years service in that town."
doesn't think Ulrich enforces ordi- A builder at Holden Beach, Lee
nances fairly and doesn't "try to get said Carroll was "sadly lacking in
a dollar out of a dollar." job performance" when he was the
inspector. utive session have been resolved.
"I feel that, considering the prob- However, Mayor Wally Ausley
lems that Holden Beach has had said the board does not keep minutes
with keeping qualified town man- of its executive sessions because it is
agers, we had better leave a good not required by state law.
situation alone. We have enough real "Any conclusion that is reached
problems that need to be addressed," in an executive session we come out
Lee said. and announce it always," Ausley
Watson said he thinks Ulrich is said.
doing an "excellent job" and urged Watson said he thinks the law
the board of commissioners to put does require town boards to keep
the issue behind them."I just hope minutes of executive sessions and
some of this can get behind us be- eventually make them available to
cause we are a small community and the public. "It is not a good practice,
we all care about each other," even if you consider it legal, not to
Watson said. keep minutes," he said.
Watson recommended that the The law concerning minutes of
town board make minutes of its ex- executive sessions is vague, accord
ecutive sessions available to the ing to a booklet published by the
public once issues taken up in exec- N.C. Institute of Government,
"Open Meetings and Local Gov
ernments in North Carolina."
"The purpose of minutes is to
provide both a record of the action
taken by a board and evidence that
the action was taken according to
proper procedures," it states.
"If no action is taken in an execu
tive session, nothing need appear in
the minutes other than the fact that
the meeting was held. If some action
is taken, however, the minutes
should reflect that fact."
The law also says that minutes of
executive sessions may be withheld
from the public "so long as public
inspection would frustrate the pur
pose of the executive session."
The booklet, written by UNC
(See ULRICH, Page 2-A)
staff m?TiffnSBBEmmr
Fish Out Of Wafer
I)e maris Russ was dressed for
the occasion Saturday when
the (ireater Holden Beach
Merchants Association
sponsored its fourth annual
Day At The Docks. Wearing a
colorful costume designed by
Virginia Massey, Demaris was
honored as the best mermaid.
She rode on the Sundowner
during a boat parade that was
part of the waterfront
celebration. More photos are
on page IB.
First Gypsy Moths Hatch; Aerial
Spraying To Begin Next Week
BY ERIC CARLSON
They're hatching!
They're hatching!
After a long, sleepy winter in the
forests of Brunswick and New Han
over counties, the light brown egg
masses of the Asian gypsy moth are
beginning to come alive with thou
sands of tiny caterpillars.
The first hatching of these damag
ing leaf-eating insects was detected
last week, according to Bill Dick
erson, plant pest administrator for
the North Carolina Department of
Agriculture. The discovery sets into
motion the largest aerial pesticide
spraying program in the state's his
tory.
"Right now our best estimate is
that we will begin spraying on or
shortly after April 6," Dickerson
said Tuesday. "Cooler weather in the
next few days could slow things
down a bit. We should know better
by Thursday (March 31)."
The operation will involve two or
more observation planes and about
six crop-duster-type aircraft that will
distribute two applications of pesti
cide across a 160,000-acre area.
Planes will take off and land at the
Brunswick County Airport near
Southport, Dickerson said.
Each application will take about
25 to 30 hours within a 7-to-10-day
period, depending on weather condi
tions. Delays may be caused by high
winds, which could prevent accurate
coverage. A forecast of imminent
rain would also force a postpone
ment, since the spray is water solu
ble and could be washed off tree
leaves before they are eaten by the
caterpillars. A period of 24 hours or
more without rain would be ideal,
Dickerson said.
The planes will be equipped with
sophisticated Global Positioning
System (GPS) satellite navigation
equipment to precisely plot th<* area
sprayed within about 10 feet,
Dickerson said. Warmer inland
forests?where the caterpillars are
likely to hatch early?will be
sprayed first, followed by coastal ar
eas, where the temperature is slight
ly cooler.
"The GPS will allow us to keep
precise records of exactly where an
aircraft has sprayed," Dickerson
said. "We don't want to miss any
thing."
State and federal agriculture offi
cials began planning for the eradica
tion program within days after a
German ship at the Sunny Point mil
itary ammunition terminal was
found to be infested with Asian
Gypsy moths last July. Although the
ship was immediately sent back to
sea and fumigated, insect traps set
shortly after the discovery indicated
that the moths had made their way
to shore on both sides of the Cape
Fear River.
Experts consider the Asian gypsy
moth to be one of the most damag
ing plant pests ever brought to our
shores. Its close relative, the
European gypsy moth, already af
fects more than 4.2 million acres of
forest each year.
The Asian variety poses an even
greater threat. Female European
gypsy moths are flightless and lay
their eggs near where the emerge
from their cocoons. But female
Asian gypsy moths can fly up to 20
miles before depositing their eggs.
Once the eggs hatch, gypsy moth
caterpillars go through five larval
stages, Dickerson said. They begin
to feed immediately, but 90 percent
of their food?tree leaves?is con
sumed during the fifth stage, when
the caterpillars are about 1.5 inches
long and a quarter-inch in diameter.
The pesticides used to kill the larva
are most effective in the second and
third stages of development.
"We want them to be large
enough to consume a sufficient
amount of treated leaf material for
the spray to be effective, but not so
large that it takes a lot (of the pesti
cide) to do the job," said Dickerson.
Because the caterpillars emerge at
different times throughout the hatch
ing period, a second application of
pesticide is necessary to assure that
all the larvae are killed.
An extensive iiapping program is
planned to monitor the effectiveness
of the spray program. The Asian
Gypsy Moth Management Team is
prepared to apply a third dose of in
secticide if necessary, Dickerson
said.
Most of the infested areas will he
sprayed with Bacillus thuringiensis
(Bt), a naturally occurring bacterium
(See MOTH, Page 2-A)
Inside...
Birthdays 2B
Business News 6-7 D
Calendar 8D
Church News 6-8B
Classified 1-8C
Crime Report 9D
Court Docket. ......... 10D
Fishing .2D
Golf JD
Obituaries 6B
Opinion 4-5 A
People In The News 3B
Plant Doctor 6A
Sports 1-5D
Television 4-5B