Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / Oct. 6, 1994, edition 1 / Page 2
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PAGE 2 -A? THE BRUNSWICK BEACON, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 1994 County Nixes Authority Purchase Of Carolina Blythe BY tKIt CAKL5UN The owner of Carolina Blythe Utility Company ran into another setback in his effort to sell the Carolina Shores sewer system Monday night when the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners re used to allow its purchase by the ^.ower Cape Fear Water and Sewer Authority. Brunswick County has four ap pointed representatives on the LCFWSA, which provides the coun ty with its raw water, and three seats on the South Brunswick Water and Sewer Authority, which is develop ing a sewer system to serve Sunset Beach and Calabash. At the county board's regular meeting Monday, the commissioners unanimously agreed that they should not authorize one of those authori ties to make a purchase that might conflict with plans of the other. Calabash is also a member of the South Brunswick Water and Sewer Authority. But the town is continu ing to study the possibility of pur chasing Carolina Blythe, which al ready serves a large portion of the town. Utility owner Billy Burnett '..as tried unsuccessfully to sell his sewer system to the town of Calabash at a "pen-negotiable" price of $4.5 million. After the town did not comply with his recent ultimatum demand ing a firm purchase offer by Aug. 10, Burnett said he would "pursue the sale of our utilities to others." In August, Burnett approached the Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer Authority and asked it to con sider buying his company. In his agenda report for the authority's August meeting, Executive Director Kurt Taube said he had advised Burnett of several things that would have to happen before purchase ne gotiations could begin. Taube toid Burnett that the au thority was not in a position to dis cuss the purchase unless negotia tions between Carolina Blythe and Calabash reached a "no deal" con clusion "without possibilities of rec onciliation." He also informed Burnett that "any further consideration by the au thority to purchase his utility would be subject to the approval of the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners as well as the dis cretion of the authority board." In a memorandum to the commis sioners last week, County Manager Wyman Yelton advised against au thorizing the purchase. "This board has recently made ap pointments to the South Brunswick Water and Sewer Authority, which certainly has jurisdiction in the area where Carolina Blythe's sewer plant exists," Yelton wrote. "I recommend that this board not consent to the purchase. ..in view of our other au thority becoming active." Commissioners Chairman Don Warren agreed Monday night, say ing "it doesn't make sense" for the county to create a possible conflict between two authorities on which it has appointed members. Board Seeks To Change School Budgeting Law (Continued From Page 1-A) In asking the board to support a new way of funding North Carolina schools, Commissioner Donald Shaw said allowing school boards to campaign for re-election on their own spending records would make them "more accountable" to citi zens. Under current state law, county boards of commissioners are re quired to appropriate enough money to allow school boards to operate an adequate system of education. Throughout the state, commission ers and school board frequently dif fer on how much money is "ade quate." Several county boards are being sued by their school boards for more money. Shaw said allowing the board of education to make its own case for more tax money would keep the board of commissioners from 'get ting caught in the middle" of fund ing disputes. "It's one way to stop the fight ing," Shaw said. "The way it is pow makes us look like we're anti-educa tion when we're not. We have a lot of things to consider in our budget besides schools. We have to justify our spending. We can't always fund everything they say they need. We don't operate on a free credit card that daddy gave us. "Now we can't even get an audit out of them," Shaw said. "This might be a way to make them more accountable to the voters. We've got to start somewhere. We've got to do something besides butting heads every year." Warren said several states, espe cially in the Northeast, allow school boards to operate independently by setting their own tax rate, which is added to the county tax levy. He said the idea "has been talked about be fore" and is likely to ge* ' real strong consideration ' from the state com missioners group "because of all the lawsuits pending." Seven of Brunswick County's ten board of education candidates who appeared at a forum in Calabash last week said they would oppose the idea of submitting school budgets directly to voters. In an unrelated matter, the com missioners: ? Heard a report from Yelton that the American Refuse Co. is interest ed in submitting a proposal and is "eager to compete" for a contract to dispose of Brunswick County's solid waste in a regional Columbus County landfill. Brunswick is cur rently negotiating with a Fayetteville Firm mat proposes to transport tne county's garbage to a facility where recyclable materials will be removed while the remainder of the waste is burned to generate electricity. ? Appointed Seaside surveyor Ricky Tompkins to the Brunswick County Planning Board to Fill the unexpired term of James Russ, who resigned Sept. 19. ? Appointed Shallotte Mayor Sarah Tripp to The Brunswick County Hospital Authority to fill the unexpired term of Shirley Clemmons. She resigned Sept. 10, saying she has moved out of her ap pointed district. ? Appointed Brunswick County Planning Director Wade Home to the N.C. Coastal Resources Advi sory Council to fill a vacancy caused by the recent death of Robert Maultsby. Commissioner Wayland Vereen asked that a letter be sent to Maultsby's family, expressing the county's appreciation for his service on the council. ? Appointed John Bellamy to the Nursing Home Advisory Com mittee. HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE BRUNSWKK#BEACON POST OFFICE BOX 2558 SHALLOTTE, NORTH CAROUNA 28459 NOffCE" Reliable or consistent delivery cannot be guaranteed since this newspaper must rely on the U.Sr Postal Service fot dehyery We can only guarantee that your newspaper will be submitted to the post office in Shallotte on Wednesday of the i *feek of publication, in time for dispatch lo out-of-town addresses that day. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: Sr. Citizen In Brunswick County Q6.30 (J5.30 N.C. Sales Tax .38 .32 Postage Charge 3.68 3.68 TOTAL 10.36 9.30 Elsewhere in North Carolina Q6.30 Q5.30 N.C. Sales Tax .38 .32 Postage Charge 8.18 8.18 TOTAL 14JS 1185 Outside North Carolina Q6.30 05.30 Postage Charge Qfis Q fis TOTAL 15.95 14.95 Complete And Return To Above Address I fJame Address City, State I Zip I SIAff motos iY t*tc CAJttSON SCHOOL system maintenance director Dennis Carr (in photo at right) takes a water sample fnvn one of the large puddles standing be tween Waccamaw Elementary School's playground and its septic field Thursday a fit moon. The play area (in photo at left) closed after treated effluent was found pooling under the swing set. The school is the third in the county to experience a failed septic system this year. rUDDLES IN THE PLAYGROUND Waccamaw Septic System Shut Down After Failure BY FRIC CARLSON It's not as bad as Supply Ele mentary School. But it's not good. That's how Bruce Withrow. envi ronmental health specialist for the Brunswick County Health Depart ment. described the failed sewage treatment system discovered at Waccamaw Elementary School last week. Alerted by a concerncd citizen. Health Director Michael Rhodes visited the school Thursday morning and found large puddles at the base of a septic field and what was "obvi ously sewage effluent" streaming under a swing set and into the near by playground. School officials were immediately ordered to keep children away from the area, Rhodes said. The septic field was shut down. A pump truck was called in to remove effluent from the holding tank and haul it away for treatment, a process that will have to be repeated at least twice a day until the problem is Fixed. A formal health violation notice was issued Tuesday, giving the school 30 days to come up with a plan to renovate or replace the treat ment system, Withrow said. The school may be granted an extension if it appears that officials arc work ing diligently to resolve the prob lem. "We're going to keep them on a shorter leash than we did in the past," With row said. "There will be no more of those games like there was with the other one " The "other one" to which Withrow referred is at Supply Elementary School, where officials were notified in March that the sep tic system was in <> state of "com plete failure." The school operated for the rest of the school year by pumping and hauling away its waste water. When August arrived, and there were still no plans approved for re pairing Supply system, the health department threatened to keep the school dosed. Eventually the school was given 90 days to make some progress toward repair Strict health guidelines were issued for operating temporarily until it gets fixed. Last month, Brunswick Com munity College was given 30 days to come up with plans to devise a plan for a failed septic system there Withrow said problems at the col lege were less severe, because the overflowing nitrification field was in a wooded area away from student traffic. For similar reasons. Rhodes said the problem at Waccamaw lUcmen tary doesn't pose as severe a health risk as was encountered at Supply. "First of all. there is another level of treatment here." Rhodes said "And secondly, you don't have ef fluent running back toward the school like you did at Supply." The septic drain field at Waccamaw was installed about four years ago to rcplacc an older system that disposed of pre-treaied effluent into a ditch. The system uses a sand filter to remove most solids and some bacteria from the waste water before disposal So the liquid run ning into the drain field ? which used to flow into the ditch ? is not raw sewage. Still, Rhodes said standing pud dies of effluent could pose a health risk to children, so the playground area ocar the seplic field has been closed Once the liquid recedes, nat ural processes will eliminate any ex cess bacteria and eventually make the area safe for use again, he said Wi throw said (he school system's maintenance director Dennis C'an is inspecting the sewage treatment fa cility but has yet to make a final de termination about what caused it to Candidates Speak Out In Calabash (Continued From Page 1-A) "Why is the superintendent dri ving around in a new Crown Victoria talking on his car phone when there are kids in school who don't have desks?" Warren re marked. Roach was the only other com missioner candidate to respond with a "yes" when asked if the board was right to appeal. Although none of the others said they opposed the county's decision, all claimed they would have found a way to avoid a courtroom battle. School board candidate Thorsen said hp thnuoht it was "wonderful" <7 to see the schools awarded the addi tional money. "But it will be up to the incoming board to determine how that money is spent," Thorsen said. "I intend to get a lot of that money into the classroom. I don't believe throwing money at education is the answer. It has to be spent wisely." All the school board candidates applauded the jury award, but insist ed that the school board needs to pay close attention to how the mon ey is spent. "I don't think it needs to go to a Crown Victoria for the superinten dent to ride around in." Carter said, "it needs to go to students." The board of education candi dates also were unanimous in iheir opposition to the idea of submitting the school board budget directly to the voters for approval. All seven voiced the opinion that more parental involvement and stricter discipline is needed in the schools, a sentiment 'likewise expressed by several of the commissioners candi dates. In the sheriff's race, Brown said he was "not one of the good old boys" and promised to take politics out of the sheriff's department. He said his "life experiences" as a deco rated Vietnam veteran, a military po lice officer and a business owner had prepared him for the office. Lt. Hewett emphasized his crime fighting experience in Brunswick County as his primary qualification for the job. He described his 11 years in local law enforcement, from patrol deputy to head of the sheriff's department's Drug Abuse Resis tance Education (DARE) program. He noted that police administrators across the country selected him as United States DARE Officer of the Year in 1993. Both Lt. Hewett and Brown promised to keep the sheriff's de Memorial Service Saturday For Murdered Ash Woman (Continued From Page 1-A) travels during the past three years, but they were not surprised when he turned up near Charlotte. Last spring, authorities learned that Keeler applied for a drivers license, giving the address of a Charlotte mobile home park. investigators from Brunswick County, the Charlotte Police Depart ment and the FBI searched the trail er park, but were unable to locate Keeler. Keeler is being held without bond in Brunswick County Jail. A trial date has not been set in the case. Noting that Brunswick detectives have invested "a lot of man hours" in the Keeler case, Lt. Marlowe said he looked forward to seeing the in vestigation resolved. "For the family's sake, I'm glad we were able to locate her body," he said. "Now maybe they can finally put her to rest." Mrs. Keeler's survivors include two sons, her mother and stepfather, a sister and two brothers. A memori al service will be held Saturday, Oct. 8, at 2 p.m. at Zion Missionary Baptist Church. partmcnt office open and manned 24-hoars a day. Both said they would seek state funding for new deputies through the Sheriff's Alcohol Enforcement (SAFE) pro gram recently adopted by the N.C. legislature in an effort to increase the involvement of local police in drunk driving enforcement. The two candidates also agreed that because of population growth in southwestern Brunswick County, a satellite sheriff's department office and additional deputies arc needed to patrol the area. The town of Calabash and the county commis sioners would have to approve the idea, which would be funded mostly by the town. Brown estimated that Calabash would need to spend about $91,718 a year for five officers and five pa trol cars, an amount he said was sig nificantly cheaper than having the town fund its own police depart ment. U. Hewett said those costs could be reduced by transferring ve hicles already in use by the sheriff's department deputies who were al ready trained. THE BRUNSWKXAKACM Established Nov. 1, 1962 Telephone 754-6890 Published Every Thursday At 4709 Main Street Shailotte, N.C. 28459 SUBSCRIPTION RATES IN BRUNSWICK COUNTY One Year $10.36 Six Months $5.55 ELSEWHERE IN NORTH CAROLINA One Year $14.86 Six Months $7.90 ELSEWHERE IN U.SA. One Year. $15.95 Six Months $8.35 Second class postage paid at Shailotte, N.C. 2H459. USPS 777 780. Postmaster, send address changes to: P.O. Box 2558, Shailotte, N.C. 28459-2558 fail A preliminary report was sched uled to be submitted to the health department Wednesday (Sept. 5). Knowing some of the system's history. Withrow said he has a iew suspicions about the cause of the problem Me called the drain field site "very marginal " And it appears ground water is seeping into the sys tem. overloading its treatment ca pacity Both health officials said they have doubts about the possibility of repairing the old system It may need to be replaced with a more so phisticated treatment process pro ducing a cleaner effluent that can be disposed of by surface discharge. Neither Rhodes nor Withrow would speculate about the possible cost or time involved in repairing or replacing the system Cool Autumn Nights Ahead l^ook for cool fall temperatures and average rainfall for the next few days, advises Jackson Canady, Shal lottc Point weatherman Temperatures will dip to the crisp mid-5(H at night with averages in the mid-70s during the daytime, he said. Expect less than a half-inch of rainfall For the period Sept. T7 to Oct. 3, Canadv recorded a maximum high of 85 degrees on Sept. 28. Sept. 29 and Oct. 2. Ixiw for the period, on Oct. I . was 53. He measured inch of rainfall Clarifications The N.C. Motor Vehicle License Plate Agency in Shallottc closed, but only for one day. An article in the Sept. 29 Beacon stated that the office would close on Oct. 5 for a mandatory Department of Motor Vehicles workshop. "People arc coming in thinking we're closing for good," a spokes man for the office said. In an article in the Sept. 29 Beacon we covered Library Director Maurice Tate's report to the Bruns wick County Library Board of Trustees about the summer reading program. Ellen King, child services coordi nator, said the report should not have stated certain numbers of chil dren "completed" the branch's pro grams, but that they "chose to com pete." This newspaper is printed on recycled paper! When you finish reading it, try to recycle it! THE BRUNSWKKAKACON
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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Oct. 6, 1994, edition 1
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