THE STATE PORT PILOT
A Good Newspaper In A Good Community
SCHEMATIC SITE PLAN
BRUNSWICK COUNTY MEMORIAL .HOSPITAL
THE YEAR'S TOP STORY is the hospital situation in
Brunswick County, and the schematic drawing for the planned
$2.5 million facility near Supply is the center of attention in the
unfolding drama. The hospital plans shown here call for 60
beds, the number reportedly allotted the county; Dosher
Memorial already has nearly this many beds and has shown a
strong stubbornness In giving them up. Also a point of con
troversy is the county giving rem - free office space to doctors.
f
f
Liggett Lives Out-Of-Town
A
New Town Manager Is |
Sought For Long Beach §
By BOBBY HILL
An open skirmish
^developed between new
iMayor E.W. Morgan and
Councilman Ellis Dudley in
ftlie Long Beach officials’ first
meeting Thursday.
New members Dudley,
Morgan, Russ Morrison and
Nancy Leggett were sworn in
after the old council held an
abbreviated meeting. Dudley
was elected mayor pro tern.
| Other members of the new
board are Virginia
' ChristenburyandH.E. Joyce,
both with two years left to
serve.
; The major conflict of the
night arose when Morgan
^proposed that the title of
' Acting Town Manager Ed
•Liggett be changed to town
clerk or bookkeeper. After a
verbal duel between Morgan
land Dudley, a motion wat
passed to advertise for a towi
fTSgin contended
Uggett’s residence being ii
Winnabow is a violation of the
town’s charter,” Morgan
said.
Morgan added that Liggetl
drives a vehicle provided bj
the town to and from work
and he said this “compound)
■ the violation.”
1 Dudley then made a motioi
| that Liggett continue a:
5 acting town manager
| Morgan ruled Dudley’
i motion “out of order.” “I’n
1 presiding over this meeting,'
| Morgan said.
Morrison then said he ha
heard Dudley say he woul
’ “abide by the charter” on th
Liggett issue. Dudley repliei
“I said I would not jettison
good pilot until I had
suitable replacement.” H
added he did not think th
town could function without
manager, and he said h
would “vote against” such
move.
Morgan said, “I haven
said anything about ejectin
anyone or firing anyone.”
Christenbury said changir
Liggett’s title would change
his duties, and she said die
council in the past has tried
three times to hire a qualified
manager but could not afford
one. “It looks like our
charter is calling for
something we can’t afford,”
she said.
Having previously said he
would not move to Long
Beach, Liggett said. “As soon
as you can advertise and get
a city manager, I’ll vacate
the premises promptly.”
Liggett then proposed the
motion, which passed
unanimously, that the city
advertise for a qualified
manager.
Prior to the meeting, the
old council met briefly to pass
a motion declining to pay
“one penny” toward a $2,000
bill presented by Paul C.
Plybon. Plybon had
previously had a $20,000
contract with the town to aid
in securing water and sewer
money and beach erosion -
control funds.
Morgan delayed appointing
committees until the next
meeting January 17,
presenting a long list of
requests for information and
reports.
Saying “all meetings will
be open to the public,”
Morgan requested the
following information: (1) an
audit, (2) departmental
budgets showing what is
owned and when it will be
paid, (3) a list of all town
personnel and their salaries,
(4) an inventory of all the
town’s “physical assets,”
(5) a list from all department
(Continued on page 10)
Symphony Sets
Local Program
A January 15 performance
of the N.C. Little Symphony
has been scheduled at
Shallotte.
The 8:15 p.m. program will
be held at West Brunswick
High School. Conductor will
be Stephen Simon, violinist,
Judy Berman Benedict.
The performance will
consist of “La Jolla” Con
certo for Chamber Orchestra
(John Vincent), “Tzigane”,
Rhapsody for violin and
orchestra (Maurice Ravel),
July Berman Benedict,
soloist.
After intermission will be
Symphony No. 1 in B flat
Major (William Boyce), and
Symphony No. 35 in D Major
K. 385, “The Haffner”
(Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart).
i
Explosion, Bridge Ranked
Hospital(s) Is Top
1973 Local Story
A hospital that a majority
of voters want, but another
hospital that nobody who
knows anything about
community effort wants to
see shut down. Development
of industry and oceanside
resorts, the building of high
ways and a bridge. City
planning, a new school, new
city officials. A near tragedy.
And a lawsuit calling the
hand of the county com
missioners.
Those are a few of the news
stories in Brunswick County,
1973.
The most important local
news of the year was the
hospital(s)—particularly the
$2.5 million facility approved
June 16 by county voters 3,831
to 1,356. The support in the
western part of the county
was overwhelming, with
precinct totals such as 592 to
12, 431 to 5, 460 to 7.
As strong as support was
out west, an equally high
percentage of Southport area
residents voted against the
bond referendum. The reason
was not that voters didn’t
want the county to have a new
hospital; they didn’t want to
see Dosher Memorial shut
down as the county com
missioners promised it would
be.
Prospects are strong that
Dosher will stay open.
Eugene Tomlinson, elected
mayor of Southport Nov. 6,
has since been outspoken in
favor of Dosher’s continued
service to the community. In
question now is the com
missioners funding their
share of the city-county
partnership, and the number
of hospital beds allotted this
region that are eligible for
state and federal assistance.
It appears that the future of
the county hospital is very
much dependent on whether
or not Dosher remains in
operation.
Also part of the hospital
story was the announcement
last winter that the com
missioners would cut-off
support for Dosher if Board of
Trustees Chairman L.T.
Yaskell did not resign. He did
not resign, but Bill McDougle
was elected to succeed him as
chairman; the county funded
$40,000 for Dosher this fiscal
year. Charter Medical
Corporation has a contract
with the Southport hospital
for consulting services.
HAPPY ENDING
Southport’s Fourth of July
Festival ended with a bang—
a bang of a premature
fireworks explosion on a
barge in the Cape Fear River
that narrowly missed blowing
up nine area men who were
lighting the fuses.
The 130-rocket explosion
was one of the biggest stories
of the year — fortunately, one
with a happy ending.
Headlines on the front page
witness the town’s relief that
the nine men escaped what
appeared from shore to be
certain death. “Crowd
Witnesses Near-Tragedy,”
says one headline. “Started
With Drizzle, Ended With A
Bang,” recaps another label.
Also on the front page is a
“Thank You" letter, signed
by the “Crew of the
Fireworks Barge.”
Turning to the inside of the
paper, an editorial entitled
“A Time For Thanksgiving”
predicts the event will go
down in history as the
“celebration which will
(Continued on page 10)
1973 Top Ten
1. The Brunswick County hospitals — the new
$2.5 million facility near Supply and Dosher
Memorial, the local institution that Southport is
reluctant to give up.
2. Thousands watched the Fourth of July finale
that was stopped short by a spectacular ex
plosion aboard the fireworks barge. No one was
hurt.
3. The Oak Island Bridge — afte several delays
when bids were determined to be too high,
construction finally began on the high - level
span. Completion: maybe June, 1974.
4. Highway construction in Brunswick County
as part of the Governor’s long - term plan. Work
is scheduled on US 74 - 76 at Leland, US 17
throughout the county and NC 211 to Supply.
5. The injunction sought by two county
newspapers against the county commissioners in
an effort to assure that public business is tran
sacted in public.
6. Industrial construction — the reason behind
the new - found Brunswick County prosperity.
Sales tax is high because of CP&L, Pfizer is on
the way.
7. Municipal elections. On Nov. 6 voters m mne
Brunswick County towns elected new officials. In
the Southport area, three new mayors.
8. Planning and zoning. The “ ;—*'th pains” of
progress are being felt at Southpcv *. Long Beach
with the Emerick case and a* Yaipon Beach
with annexation.
9. Bald Head and Carolina Shores — two well -
conceived developments at opposite ends of
Brunswick. And tied to Bald Head, an equally big
story — Corncake Inlet.
10. The Southport Primary School — the first
step in the second stage of new educational
facilities in Brunswick County. A $1.4 million
project.
Shortage Of Gas, Maybe, But Not Of Opinions
.; X
ByBOBBY HILL
“It’s like you’re in a
prison,” Mrs. Lourdes Nixon
i of Lake Charles, La., said,
i “You’re not free anymore.
We can’t go anywhere
anytime we want to now.”
“I’m not panicking,” Mary
Norwood of Southport said.
“If I can just get my
i Christmas shopping done, I’ll
be OK.”
i “I think it’s a crock,”
1 exclaimed Dr. Richard
Conrad of Southport.
[ “Furthermore, I think the
» shortage is a crock. The
whole thing is contrived by
i the oil companies.”
1 “I don’t like it,’- William
® Furpless of Southport said.
2 “I need gas to travel for
, work.” Can he get by? “Not
e unless I change jobs,” he
e replied.
a Local opinion is varied on
e the proposal by energy chief
a William E. Simon that
,t American motorists limit
~ their gasoline consumption
8 to 10 gallons a week. “If the
g nation complies, we will not
need gas rationing,” Simon
said at a Thursday news
conference.
Area gasoline station
operators are also divided in
their opinions on the issue of
10 gallons per week per
customer. Some operators
expressed open doubt that
motorists will voluntarily
comply with the 10 gallon
limit. Others simply offered
their standard procedure of
limiting customers to 10
gallons a day or $2 or $3 per
purchase, shrugging their
shoulders in resignation.
“I think it’s rough,” said
one operator who asked not
to be identified. That station
limits customers to $2 per
purchase — when they have
gas. They began the
procedure Thursday.
“They (the motorists) are
lucky to get that,” Shorty
Hufham said of the 10 gallons
per week. Shorty has lived
with the shortage for some,
time now, and it shows.
Hufham’s Exxon station also
limits customers to “$2 -
worth a day” — their stan
dard practice for the past
several weeks.
“If you want a real good -
size depression, that’s the
way to go about it,” said
another operator of the 10 -
gallon limit. He also asked
not to be identified. He said
the area has “a lot of com
muters” who must have
more than 10 gallons a week
to earn their livelihood. His
station will place no limit on
gas sales “as long as I have a
reasonable amount of it.”
Harold Lawson at the
Sunoco station said, “They’ll
buy more than 10 gallons a
week.” He said there is “no
way” the “average working
man” can get by on 10
gallons of petroleum a week.
That station sells 500 gallons
of fuel a day — “first come,
first served.”
Simon said compliance
with the 10 - gallon limit will
save more than 50 million
gallons of gasoline daily, or
nearly 20 percent of the
national consumption, and
“will go a long way'toward
avoiding other more
stringent measures.”
He said he will determine
after the first of the year if
rationing is needed.
Simon also said the
government plans to raise
gas supplies to 85 percent of
last year’s levels after
January. The Arab oil em
bargo has slashed bonded
fuel-supplies by 30 percent.
The Labor Department
reported that 19,800 workers
who have been laid off
because of the energy crisis
have begun receiving
unemployment benefits or
have claims pending.
A nationwide Gallup Poll
indicated that nearly 90
percent of Americans sup
port current restrictions on
energy consumption, and
that 40 percent would favor
even stricter controls.
Southport area opinion,
seemingly in line with
national sentiment, does not
seem fearful of the specter of
gas rationing.
Sally McDougle oi boutn
port said rationing is “the
only fair way” to insure that
everybody gets their equal
share of the precious fuel.
However, after listening to
Conrad’s “crock” theory,
she said rationing should
only be instituted if an in
vestigation shows there is a
“serious shortage.”
On the other hand, N.C.
Carroll of Mississippi said he
does not want rationing.
A.E. Huntley said he is in
favor of the voluntary 10 -
gallon limit to stave off
rationing. “I’m all for it,” he
said. “I never use but three
(gallons of gas a week),
anyhow. What do I need it
for?
“Is this going to be
published?” Huntley asked.
He was assured it would be.
“Well, in that case, I want 20
gallons a day — ever day.
You put me down as saying
that.”