The Pilot Covers
Brunswick County
THE STATE PORT PILOT
A Good Newspaper In A Good Community
Most of the News
All The Time
VOLUME 412
No. 2
5* A COPY
PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY
mmm
Deed Delivered For Recording
pus was the scene in the office of Register of
Deeds Durwood Clark, left, Friday afternoon when
E. J. Prevatte, secretary of the Carolina Cape Fear
Corporation presented for recording a warranty deed
from Frank O. Sherrill for Bald Head Island. A com
plementary deed from Mr. Sherrill and a deed of
trust from the corporation to Mr. Sherrill also were
delivered for recording. Observing this historic
transaction were Mrs. Emily McKeithan, Mrs. Cherry
Clark and Mrs. Faye Dickerson, with Mr. Prevatte
on the right. (Photo by Spencer)
Record Check Received
This is a photostat copy of the check for $5,500
from Frank O. Sherrill which was delivered in pay
ment for revenue stamps to be affixed to the deed
of trust for Bald Head Island and was recorded at
the office of the Brunswick County Registry of Deeds
in Southport Friday afternoon. At one-tenth of one
percent, the legal requirement for revenue stamps,
the sale price for the island was pegged at $5.5-mil
lion. Funds received for the revenue stamp go into
the Brunswick County treasury.
Border Belt
Markets To
Open Tuesday
By BILL EDMUNDS
The recommendations of the
Tobacco Marketing Committee
have been approved by the
Border Warehouse
Association. ..and its now
official—tobacco sales on the
Whiteville Market, along with 7
other markets on the Border
Belt, will begin next Tuesday,
July 28th.
First sales on opening day will
be at Crutchfield’s, Moore’s and
Smith’s Warehouses. Under a
schedule adopted by the
Whiteville Tobacco Board of
Trade, each of the 8 Whiteville
Warehouses will have a sale each
day throughout the season. Sales
during the first week will be of 4
hours duration for each of the 3
sets of buyers with sales
continuing thru Friday.
For the 2nd and 3rd weeks the
allotted sales time will be 4'/2
hours each day, Monday thru
Thursday.
On Tuesday the familiar chant
of the Auctioneers will begin
promptly at 9 a.m., and within a
few minutes thousands of
growers will have a pretty good
indication of how successful
their efforts of the past eight
months have been. In many
instances prevailing weather
conditions during the past 60
days have already given growers
a pretty good idea of what to
expect.
Advance reports indicate that
extremely dry weather in many
sections of the Border Belt have
adversely affected the quality of
the 1970 crop, however,
experienced observers say that
generally speaking the crop in
most areas of Columbus County
is far superior to that in other
(Continued On Page ttx)
Board Sets $1.90 Tax Rate
A tentaive tax rate of $1.90
cents has been approved by the
Brunswick County Board of
Commissioners and more than
half of the levy will go to the
schools.
The tentative budget was
okayed last Wednesday night
and will remain on file in the
courthouse for 20 days before it
officially can be adopted. The
commissioners have authority to
alter the budget until the 20-day
period has expired.
Commissioners V.A. Creech,
Clemit Holden, Paul Dennis and
Willie Ward voted in favor of the
tentative budget and
Commissioner George Rourk
voted “no.”
Rourk has expressed
displeasure with the proposal
that the county spend money to
construct two jails. The
commissioners have voted to set
aside ten cents for the
construction of the jail facilities
but have stated that the levy will
be deleted after one year.
The budget allots $6,664,937
for the operation of the county
services and the construction of
three consolidated schools. The
1970-71 fiscal year budget is
more than $4 million above the
total for last year although the
tax rate only increased ten cents
from $1.80. Proposed school
building and jail construction
accounts for the big jump.
Tax budgets have increased for
the past several years in
Brunswick county. In fiscal year
1968-69 the county tax rate was
$1.55 and the budget was
$2,146,584. Last year the
budget was $2,668,299.
The $6-mUlion plus budget for
the 1970-71 fiscal year includes
$3,733,000 for school
construction. A special bond
election was okayed last year for
$2.85 million of the costs
$500,000 of state bond money
and other county money,
including the insurance from the
burned Southport High School
building, was added to meet the
expected cost of the three
schools. Still, the money as
insufficient but the
commissioners have found what
they believe is sufficient money
to pay for the schools.
Of the $1.90 levy, 86 cents is
designated for the schools and
94 cents for the county services.
For the schools, the current
e And Tide
Our July 17 edition for the year 1935 announced that C.A
Ledford had been elected principal at Southport High School. Heavy
rains had caused crop and road damage in Brunswick county, with a
cave-in occurring on Highway No. 17 near Bolivia. Announcement
was made that work as about to begin on the erection of a seafood
freezing plant at Southport.
A 6-foot alligator had been caught in a shrimp net while trawling
operations were in progress in a creek near Southport; a mule
belonging to a fanner in the Shallotte Village area had been stuck
and killed by lightning; and our community news coverage included
correspondence form Grissettown, Shallotte Village, Town Creek,
Winnabow and Supply Route No. 1.
Seven new historical markers had been erected in Brunswick,
according to report in our July 17 edition for the year 1940. A little
(Continued On Pag* Pour)
expense budget has increased
from $571,681 to $744,000
since last year, the capital outlay
dropped from $331,000 to
$211,000 but was supplemented
by the $3,733,000 outlay for
school construction. The debt
service increased from $233,000
to $253,000.
The school budget has
increased from $727,140 two
years ago to $1,136,311 last
year and $4,942,081 this year.
The jail construction levy will
accrue $60,300 based on the
current county valuation of $67
million and tax collection rate of
90 percent. This figure has been
deemed sufficient for the county
to construct the jail facilities at
Southport and Shallotte, as
approved by the commissioners.
Other county expenses
specified in the budget included
$367,000 for the general fund,
up from $329,000 last year; the
county accountant expenses, up
from $22,230 to $24,120;
welfare administration, up from
$97,000 last year to $106,000
this year.
Old age assistance tentatively
has been budgeted $171,000
which is a reduction from the
$192,000 allotted last year; aid
to families with dependent
children is down from $295,000
to $281,000; aid to partially and
totally disabled is down from
$188,000 to $143,000; but the
medicaid and medical assistance
programs jumped from
$111,000 to $278,000. The
program was not listed in the
budget for 1968-69.
Aid to the blind was decreased
from $10,187 to $6,567 and the
cost of revaluation was lowered
from $27,900 to $24,120. The
county debt service dropped
from $88,000 to $80,000.
The Resources Development
Commission is allotted $36,000,
an increase over the $34,500
(Continued On Pag# Five)
Bald Head Sold To Private
Developers For $5.5 Million
At five minutes past 2 o’clock
Friday afternoon E. J. Prevatte,
secretary of Carolina Cape Fear
Corporation, walked into the
office of Register of Deeds
Durwood Clark and said he
wanted to record three deeds
pertaining to the sale of Bald
Head Island.
The first of these was a
warranty deed signed by Frank
O. Sherrill and wife, Ruth J.
Sherrill. The second was what
the Southport attorney termed a
complementary deed, which was
without warranty. The third,
which went on record following
the first two, was a deed of trust
from Carolina Cape Fear
Corporation to Mr. and Mrs.
Sherrill.
This latter was to secure the
mnpaid balance • of $5,396,169
and referenced a separate
contact agreement governing
future payments and interest.
Also presented at this time by
Prevatte was check for
$5,500.00 from Sherrill to the
Register of Deeds for Brunswick
county for revenue stamps. The
legal rate of one-tenth of one
percent, this would indicate a
total purchase price of
$5,500,000 for this transaction.
This would make it the largest
single real estate deal in the
history of Brunswick county,
although there already have been
some big ones. The sale of his
interest in Long Beach by E.F.
Middleton to National
Development Corporation
several years ago was a big deal,
as was the sale by West Virginia
troveraor Denies
Access To Island
Bald Head Island will not be
connected with the mainland
either by road or ferry service
during the administration of
North Carolina Gov. Bob Scott.
The state’s chief executive
reaffirmed his position Tuesday,
stating unequivocably, “There
will be no access granted to Bald
Head Island during my
administration.”
The governor’s position was
revealed earlier in the
Ft. Caswell Sets
School Use Limit
Ralph King, Superintendent of
Brunswick County Schools has
received a letter from Dr. W.
Perry Crouch, general secretary
of the Baptist State Convention
of North Carolina, outlining the
conditions under which the
Baptist Assembly at Fort
Cowell may continue to be used
this year to house classes of the
Brunswick County-Southport
High School. The letter also
stated that under no conditions
will permission be granted to use
these facilities after the
upcoming school year.
Copies of this letter also were
mailed to each member of the
Brunswick county Board of
Education and to George T.
Rourk, chairman of the Board of
County Commissioners.
Text of the letter follows:
“The Executive Committee of
the General Board of the Baptist
State Convention has asked me
to write you a sincere word of
concern about your use of our
Caswell property, and a final
word about a deadline for such
use. The Executive Committee
has been anxious to help you
meet an emergency caused by
one of your school buildings
burning in December, 1968. At
your request, we offered our
facilities at Caswell to meet this
emergency without cost to you,
except utilities and upkeep.
“On November 20th, 1969, we
(Continued On Page Five)
JUJI
Rear Admiral St. George
St. George Is
Rear Admiral
Captain William Ross St.
George of Norfolk, Va., has been
promoted to rear admiral.
Presently serving as
commanding officer of the
guided-missile frigate USS
Josephus Daniels (DLG-27), he
reports July 27 to Pentagon
duty as chief of the Middle East,
(Continued On Page Five)
con verv a ti on-development
argument over who should own
the semi-tropical real estate near
Southport. The sale of the island
was announced Friday in a deed
transfer from previous owner
Frank Sherrill to Carolina Cape
Fear Corporation, a private
enterprise that wants to develop
the island into a push $288
million resort. Now, the
governor has assumed a
wait-and-see position “because
the situation is still up in the
air.”
Gov. Scott has sided with
conservationists who want to
maintain the island in its natural
state and who believe that
dredging operations, which are
necessary to the construction of
a roadway or ferry slips, would
destroy the ecological balance of
the marshes between Bald Head
Island and Southport and would
kill marine life that breeds there.
Without the causeway or ferry
slips, the only way to get to the
island is by airplane or boat, or
“swim,” as one state official has
suggested. It is expected that the
construction or an airfield also
would necessitate dredging of
the marshlands.
The state wanted to purchase
the island for Sherrill’s $5.5
million asking price but the
owner could not negotiate with
the state while Carolina Cape
Fear Corporation held an option
on the property. The Nature
Conservancy, a national
endowment fund, reportedly
would have advanced the money
to he state for the purchase.
Gov. Scott said Tuesday that
the state is still interested in the
purchase of Bald Head Island
and the preservation of its
marshes. He has expressed
interest that a marine research
center be located on the island
and that a public beach area be
set up.
The goemor contends that the
state owns 9,000 acres
of marshland but that the owner
of the property, whomever it
may be, has clear title to the
3,000 of high ground on the
island. A spokesman for the
Carolina Cape Fear Corporation
said his firm is unsure who has
rights to the marshes.
Pulp and Paper Company of its
holdings in Brunswick county to
International Paper Co. But the
Friday sale stands alone at the
top.
Regardless of what the future
may hold for this business
transaction, the full amount paid
for revenue stamps goes into the
Brunswick county treasury.
No sooner had the deeds been
delivered to Register of Deeds
Clark than the telephone started
ringing as upstate newsmen
sought verification of the
transaction. Earlier in the day
Bill Henderson, chairman of the
board for Carolina Cape Fear
Corporation had issued a press
bulletin announcing that the
option held from Sherrill for the
purchase of Bald Head Island
had been exercised. Later
Governor Bob Scott had issued a
statement expressing
disappointment that the state
had been unable to purchase the
property.
Conversation with Prevatte left
no doubt that the corporation
which he represents plans to
proceed at once with plans to
create a residential, recreational
development which eventually
will include convention hotel
facilities.
Board Backing
Erosion Work
The Board of County
Commissioners met in regular
session Monday and John
Holden, Mayor of Holdens
Beach, came before them to
request the endorsement of a
Resolution entitled “A
Resolution requesting the
Honorable Alton A. Lennon to
take the initiative in obtaining
financing for the stabilization of
Lockwood’s Folly Inlet in ?rder
to prevent the further
deterioration of the marine
resources, the fishing and tourist
Industries, and the navigational
possibilities of Brunswick
County”.
Following is the text of that >
resolution:
“WHEREAS, the economy of
Brunswick County is closely
related to the successful
operation of its fishing and
tourist industries, and in order
for these industries to thrive its
marine and natural resources
must be conserved, but
regardless of the economic
impact resulting from the
destruction of our natural
resources, our government has a
responsibility to conserve these
resources;
“AND WHEREAS,
Lockwood’s Folly Inlet is
(Continued On Page Five)
Construction Progress At CP&L Plant
rteimorcing steei roas suck up from the foun
dation of the CP&L nuclear power plant near South
port like trees in a forest. This picture was made
this week end shows the progress that has taken
place at this site during the past six months. (Photo
by Spencer)