THE STATE PORT PILOT
A Good Newspaper In A Good Community
VOLUME 44 NUMBER 18 12 PAGES TODAY SOUTHPORT, NORTH CAROLINA NOVEMBER 22, 1972 10 CENTS A COPY PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY
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Bids Are Made
For New Bridge
An apparent low bid of $3.39
, million for the constructon of
a high-level bridge to Oak
Island perhaps by May, 1974,
was received Tuesday
morning by the State High
way Commission in Raleigh.
A joint bid by two Chester,
S.C. firms, James T. Triplett,
Inc., and L.R. Ryan Co.,
quoted a total cost of
,£1,390,846 — easily the low
figiire.*'I^ere were two other
bidders, Bellamy Brothers
Contracting Co. of Georgia
($4,199,621) and McLean
Construction Co., of
Baltimore ($4,386,874).
The May 1 opening date is
contingent upon approval of
the bridge building contract
by the State Highway
Commission on December 7.
Final completion date, as
noted in the invitation for
bids, is October 1, 1974, but
the early opening would be
possible because finishing
Wolfpack Coach
To Speak Here
Peach Bowl bound N.C.
State Wolfpack coach Lou
Holtz will be guest speaker at
the South Brunswick High
School football banquet next
Wednesday night.
Coach Holtz has brought
State up from a dismal 3-6
record in 1971 to a 7-3-1 record
in 1972. Coach Holtz has been
college coach of the year in
1970 at William and Mary and
assistant coach of unanimous
national champions Ohio
State in 1968. He played
football at Kent State
University from 4956-58. His
publications include coaching
the QB, Getting the Most Out
of Your Drills, Defensive
Backfield Techniques and the
4th Quarter is Ours.
Beth J. Holtz is his wife and
they have four children.
The banquet will be held at
the Seafood Platter
Restaurant at 7 p.m. on
November 29. All tickets will
be sold for $5, which will
include the meal.
The Cougar Football
Banquet will include the
presentation of trophies. The
trophies to be given away will
be Outstanding Defensive
Player, Outstanding Of
fensive Player, Sport
smanship, Academic, Out
standing Cheerleader, Most
Improved Player, Most
Valuable Player, Best
Blocker, Best Tackier and the
Coach’s Award.
The proceeds will go to
COACH LOU HOLTZ
outfit a J.V. team next year.
There are only 200 tickets for
sale on a first come, first
served basis.
touches (handrails, lane
markings, etc.) could be
added without interfering
with bridge traffic.
If the State Highway
Commission accepts the
apparent low bid, the con
tracor would be able to begin
work by January 15. “We are
trying to have the bridge
ready for use by the peak
tourist season of 1974,” said a
spokesman of the Com
mission. Should today’s
apparent low bid be rejected,
however, the invitation for
bids would have to be
readvertised.
According to the State
Highway Commission
spokesman, the Commission
has its own estimate of what
the high-level structure
would cost. The figures were
not made public prior to the
opening of bids this morning,
and if the totals are much out
of line some refiguring will be
necessary by the contractors
or by the state.
“That would put the date of
completion back, of course,”
said the spokesman.
The Oak Island swing
bridge was put out of com
mission on September 7,1971,
when a barge-tug com
bination struck the steel
structure, collapsing the
bridge into the Intracoastal
Waterway. All vehicular
traffic to the island was
stopped for several days, but
soon a ferry service was
created to link the island with
the mainland. Approximately
400 school children living on
the island were brought to
Southport on boats to be
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(Continued on Page 6)
Thanksgiving Schedule
Schools, financial institutions and county, state
and federal offices in Brunswick County will ob
serve the Thanksgiving holiday this week.
County schools and all county offices will be
closed both Thursday and Friday, while state and
federal offices will be closed Thursday only.
Waccamaw Bank and Trust Company, First
Citizens Bank, Bank of North Carolina and
Security Savings and Loan also will be closed
Thursday.
The State Port Pilot is being printed early this
week so that mail delivery can be made before
Thursday. The post office will be closed Thursday
although mail will be put into the boxes.
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ACTIVITY ON THE WATERFRONT doesn't stop with the skiff alongside a variety of other boats that use Brunswick
first cold weather but continues throughout the year. Here, a County coastal waters, (photo by Johnny Bellamy.)
fisherman at-the.old Southport yacht basin bails water from his ~
Of Bald Head Island
Secretary Of Army Opposes
Development, Rejects Permit
Opposition to the building
of a small dock, almost
forgotten in the developing
Bald Head Island story, has
been registered by the U.S.
Secretary of the Army.
Robert F. Froehlke, who
expressed his objection to the
planned development last
Wednesday along with this
ruling against an application
for construction of a 20-foot
dock on Bald Head Creek that
was complete last year.
Carolina Cape Fear Cor
poration, developers of the
17 MORE MONTHS is how long travelers to
Oak Island will have to use the floating, one-lane
bridge if the apparent low bid for construction of
a high-level span is accepted. Bids were opened
this morning and now must be considered by the
State Highway Commission which meets again
on December 7. If the bid is okayed, the con
tractor could begin work by January 15 and have
the new bridge open by May, 1974.
tract across the Cape Fear
River from Southport, has
announced that legal action
would be taken against the
U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers in an effort to have
the decision reversed.
The dock, which replaced
another landing wharf in the
same section of Bald Head
Creek, has been used by
workmen going to their
construction jobs on the
island. The wooden dock was
completed before the ap
plication was filed with the
Corps.
Froehlke’s office has had
the application under con
sideration since last spring.
In addition to rejecting the
application for a dock permit,
the Army Secretary’s office
issued a news release stating
opposition to development of
the island on the basis that
the project would be “con
trary to the public interest.”
The news release stated
that:
—Development will disturb
a natural habitat of “unique
value,” including shellfish
and finfish nursery areas,
resting and feeding habitats
for migratory lards which are
Sales Tax Collection
Tops $60,000 Again
Collection of the one-cent
sales and use tax in Brun
swick County decreased
slightly in October but stayed
above the $60,000 level —
more than three times the
October collection last year.
The report was received
this morning from the N.C.
Department of Revenue,
which collects the tax along
with the state’s regular three
percent levy and returns the
quarter share to the counties.
The $65,229 collected here
in October will be added to
receipts in November and
December, to be disbursed
after the second quarter of
fiscal 1972-73. A distribution
of funds for the first quarter
(July, August, September) is
expected soon.
The October receipts were
down from the $66,771
collected during September.
A year ago, collections
totalled only $20,630 in
Brunswick County.
Funds received from the
penny sales tax are
distributed on a property tax
basis to the county and the
following municipalities in
the county: Southport, Shal
lotte, Yaupon Beach, Long
Beach, Holden Beach, Ocean
Isle Beach, Sunset Beach,
Bolivia and Boiling Spring
Lakes. The Department of
Revenue withholds a small
percentage as a collection
fee.
Collections of the tax in
Brunswick County has in
creased steadily since being
imposed by the county
commissioners last year
without a referendum. By
December, the collections
had topped $27,000, followed
by increases to $35,750 in
January, $42,224 in April, and
$55,737 in June. The major
increase is the direct result of
purchases by Brown & Root
construction to be used at the
Carolina Power and Light
Company nuclear power
plant near Southport.
The tax is applicable to any
purchase otherwise subject to
the North Carolina three
percent tax, whether the
purchase was made in the
county or material was
bought somewhere else for
use here. The tax is effective
in 79 of the state’s 100
counties, including all in
Southeastern North Carolina.
The purpose of the sales
tax, commissioners said
when the measure was ap
proved, was to ease the tax
burden of the property owner.
Commissioners have cited
the revenue from the tax as a
primary reason for their
being able to reduce the
property tax levy from $1.90
per hundred to $1.42 over the
last year.
Clark Appeals
For A Recount
Durwood Clark, Register of
Deeds for Brunswick County,
has appealed to the State
Board of Elections for a
recount of general election
ballots which showed him
trailing his Republican op
ponent, Arthur Knox, by 10
votes.
The official count showed
Knox with 4,247 votes to 4,237
for Clark.
Following the results of the
election canvass Clark ap
pealed to the Brunswick
County Board of Elections for
a recount, citing the
possibility of human error in
tallying a vote of this volume
and complexity. A.H. Gainey,
Democrat, voted to allow a
recount and Lester C. Bab
son, Republican, voted not to.
This left the decision hung up
on a 1-1 tie since Chairman
Hubert Bellamy was out of
the country on a business
trip.
The appeal to the State
Board of Elections was made
by Ernest E. Parker, at
torney for Clark, who said
“We are not appealing a
decision made by the
Brunswick County Board
Elections. We were unable to
receive a clear-cut decision
from our local body and
therefore have asked the
state board for a ruling in the
matter.
(Continued on Page 6)
protected under international
agreements, and critical
habitats for such endangered
species as American
alligator, brown pelican,
Atlantic loggerhead turtle,
osprey and peregrine falcons.
—A serious safety risk
exists in locating a large
population on the island since
it is located so that “it is
subject to tropical storm
action on an average of every
five to six years” and “in
view of its topography and
the marginal routes of escape
in even of an emergency.”
—Future expenditures of
public funds might be
required if development
proceeds, “as a result of
eventual demands for
hurricane protection
(Continued on Page 5)
Society Names
1973 Officers
The Brunswick County
Historical Society met last
Monday at the Woodburn
Presbyterian Church
Fellowship Hall, Leland, with
Mrs. Marie Rourk presiding.
William G. Faulk, Jr., site
manager at Brunswick Town
State Historic Site, gave a
brief summary of the work at
Brunswick Town. He also told
of the progress being made on
the Frying Pan Lightship at
Southport.
Mrs. Lucille Blake
presented the old house of the
quarter, the A.M. Williams
house at Phoenix.
The following officers were
elected for 1973: president,
Mrs. Lucille Blake; vice
president, Harold Aldridge;
secretary-treasurer, Miss
Helen Taylor; directors, Mrs.
Marie Rourk and R.V.
Asbury.
A program was presented
by Miss Janet Seapkar, ar
chitectural consultant with
the Department of Archives
and History, Raleigh. She
told of plans by the depart
ment to make a: survey of old
houses throughout the state.
She said members of the
society could help by telling
of any old homes they knew
(Continued on Page 6)