THE STATE PORT PILOT
A Good Newspaper In A Good Community
VOLUME 45 NUMBER 47 78 PAGES TODAY SOUTHPORT, NORTH CAROLINA JUNE 12, 1974 10 CENTS A COPY PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY
NEW HEADQUARTERS for the Fourth of July Festival Committee are
located on Moore Street in the Furpless building, two doors west of the post
office. Hanging the shingle are Harold Aldridge, Lee Aldridge and Robert
Howard. All festival activities will be coordinated in the headquarters office.
6The Proof Is Uncontradicted9
Injunction Granted, Decision
On Board’s Minutes, Statements
Two county newspapers
were granted an injunction
against the Brunswick
County board of com
missioners Friday, based on
the commissioners’ own
statements concerning closed
meetings of the board and
official minutes of their
meetings.
The only evidence sub
mitted to Superior Court
Judge E. Maurice Braswell
were the depositions of the
five commissioners — John
Bray, William A. Kopp, Jr.,
J.T. Clemmons, Vardell
Hughes and Robert Simmons
— and minutes of the board
from January through
December, 1973.
The State Port Pilot and the
Brunswick Beacon “are not
required to prove any more
than what the minutes show,”
said Braswell.
The judge referred to
minutes of commissioner
meetings June 12 and 13 of
last year that said executive
Bray Will Resign
John Bray said Wednesday morning he will resign from the
county Board of Commissioners and will withdraw from the
race for re-election.
“There is noway in the world I would reconsider my decision
this time,” Bray said, “A man has to look out for his own in
terest.”
He said he will officially resign and withdraw from the race
just as soon as he has time to write letters to both the Board of
Elections and the Board of Commissioners. He expressed the
hope the letters can be written this week.
Bray said the reasons he is resigning is because his business
is undergoing a 50 - percent expansion, and health problems.
Commissioner Bray, a Republican, had been elected to the
board twice and gained re - nomination in the GOP primary last
month. He resigned from the board last August but changed his
mind after reportedly working out some difficulties.
“I did this once before and changed my mind,” he stated. “It
is definite this time and will be official once I have the time to
write the Board of Elections.”
New Well Preferred
Beach Watering
Ordinance Nixed
A moratorium on Long
Beach car washing and lawn
watering was bypassed
Thursday in favor of a $20,000
deep well to ease water
problems at the west end of
the beach.
A motion to have both the
well and the ordinance on
water use died for want of a
second. The motion for a well
and no ordinance, stated by
Councilman Ellis Dudley,
was unanimous.
An ordinance had been
drawn by Town Attorney
James Prevatte that would
have restricted use of
municipal water on the beach
strand from July 1 through
September 1, and, according
to the attorney, could have
been enforced “under the
general police power of the
municipality.”
The ordinance, which Town
Manager Frank Kivett said
“would in fact relieve”
current water problems,
carried with it misdemeanor
punishment of up to 30 days in
jail or a $50 fine.
Councilman Russ Morrison
suggested a two - hour grace
period from 8 until 10 a.m.
during which water demand
was not so great; one spec
tator was not as lenient: “If
they want a drink of water,”
she said, “they’ve got to
forget about watering their
yards.”
The well, which will be of
no use after a proposed town
water system is established
perhaps two years hence, is
estimated to cost between
$11,500 and $14,500, plus the
cost of leasing suitable land
in the vicinity of Blue Water
Point.
Kivett, who said a water
By June 28, Brock Says
Vacancies Due
To Be Filled
Democrats and
Republicans in Brunswick
County “probably” will have
only until June 28 to fill
vacancies on their party
tickets for the fall general
election, The Pilot was in
formed this week.
Director Alex Brock of the
State Board of Elections said
the June 28 deadline has been
established to have
replacement candidates
certified for the November
general election.
Democrats in the county
must name a replacement for
T. David Bowers, who
resigned after being
nominated to run for a seat on
the board of commissioners.
Republicans in Brunswick
and Pender counties have to
find a replacement for Rep.
Thomas Harrelson, who
resigned his state House of
Representatives seat last
week after being
renominated.
County Chairman Lester
Babson announced that the
Brunswick Board of Elec
tions voted unanimously
Tuesday afternoon to accept
Bowers’ resignation and
declare the post vacant. The
county board is waiting to
receive a letter from Director
Brock explaining the
procedures that will be
followed on the matter.
Chairman Babson also
announced that the State
Board of Elections had ac
(Continucd On Page 2)
supply referendum was
possible by September, said
"the town is not going to lose
money" on the well because
the overall water system
provides significant funding
for the town. Gross income,
he said, was $30,000 annually.
Spectator Carl Watkins
said if the ordinance was
(Continued On Page 2)
Agency Okays
Dosher Project
The Comprehensive Health
Planning Section of the North
Carolina Department of
Human Resources has ap
proved the proposal of
Dosher Memorial Hospital to
incur a capital expenditure
for equipment purchase to
establish an obstetrical care
unit at Southport.
Prior to approval, the
project was reviewed by the
Division of Facility Services,
North Carolina Department
of Human Resources.
$20,000 For Dos her
Budget Review
Goes Smoothly
Brunswick County Com
missioners spent Monday
afternoon and evening
reviewing the proposed
$15,274,682.10 budget for
fiscal year 1974-75, but took
no official action.
It was a listening and
question^asking session for
the commissioners, who
heard 12 budgets presented
during the long meeting in
Southport.
Department heads ap
peared at the meeting to give
commissioners a chance to
ask about requests for funds
in the budget. Most of the
department heads appeared
generally pleased with the
funds in their proposed
budgets.
The budget hearings with
department heads were
scheduled to end Wednesday
after a second afternoon and
evening session. After the two
sessions, the commissioners
will set up meetings between
June 13 and June 25 to work
on the finalized version of the
budget.
The $15,274,682.10 proposed
budget, which was given to
the commissioners last week,
calls for a tax rate of 70 cents
per $100 valuation or a two
cent reduction over last year.
County Manager Neil
Mallory reviewed with the
commissioners the $205,325 in
donations included in the
proposed budget. Major
donations in the budget, he
said, include $30,000 for the
Brunswick County library,
$15,000 for the county plan
ning board, $30,660 for forest
fire protection, $20,000 for
Dosher Memorial Hospital
and $26,500 for the Recreation
Commission.
Vice-Chairman J.T.
Clemmons pointed out that
the $20,300 :n th«> proposed
budget for Dosher hospital
“is just a proposal.”
Mallory said this is the first
time the county has proposed
to give funds to the recreation
commission, which has been
operating for years without
money. The commission, he
said, will use the money to
draw-up a comprehensive
outdoor recreation plan for
the county in order to qualify
for matching funds in the
future.
Sheriff Harold Willetts
presented his $292,180
proposed budget to the board.
The budget includes funds, he
(Continued On Page 2)
The decision to approve
this project was in con
currence with the advice and
recommendations of these
agencies.
Review of the project was
conducted under the
authority of federal law on
the basis of plans, criteria
and standards adopted by the
planning agencies involved.
These standards are used to
determine if a health facility
project is needed, can be
staffed, can be operated at a
reasonable cost, and in
corporates cost-saving
features.
Coordination of state and
regional planning, as it af
fects federal program
requirement under Section
1122 of the Social Security
Act, is carried out by the
Health Planning Section in
the Department of Human
Resources.
sessions were held to discuss
the county budget.
“There is nothing that
gives the commissioners the
power to do that,” said Judge
Braswell. The closing of a
meeting to discuss budgetary
matters is in violation of the
Open Meetings law passed by
the 1971 General Assembly.
The injunction suit was
filed July 25, 1973 after
several improperly closed
meetings of the county board.
Sworn pre-trial testimony of
the commissioners was taken
last fall.
Last Monday, Judge
Braswell declared there was
nothing in the case that
necessitated a trial by jury —
no “issues of fact.”
None of the commissioners
was present, nor did any
attend the hearing on Friday.
County Attorney Thomas
Horne, who said he was
employed “not by the public,
but by the commissioners,”
claimed he had an “un
fettered right” to confer with
his clients.
He specifically cited the
alleged July 22 secret
meeting held in his office, but
Judge Braswell said that
meeting was “not essential to
the lawsuit.”
Horne also claimed that
publishers James M. Harper,
Jr., and Kelvin Mackey had
no right to file suit because
neither had been personally
excluded from any board
meeting. Braswell ruled,
however, that reporters
served as agents of the
publishers, and that they
were in fact excluded.
Concerning the closed
budget meetings, Horne said
the commissioners felt it was
a question of what part of the
budget they were con
sidering. If it was salaries, he
said, the board could hold an
executive session.
He did not claim, however,
that the board was discussing
money for personnel. The
Open Meetings law does not
allow for the private
discussion of salaries.
Judge Braswell said he
“only wish(ed) the county
commissioners were per
sonally present to hear the
respective arguments” of
Horne and the plaintiff’s
attorney.
“The depositions show they
need to be better informed,”
he said of the commissioners.
The judge noted there was
“clear and undisputed
evidence” that on April 10,
1973 Chairman Kopp
(Continued On Page 2)
Accreditation Not Hurt
School Budget Cutback
Looked On Favorably
A $75,000 reduction in the
requested county school
budget was looked on with
favor by the Board of
Education Monday night.
Members were told by
Supt. Ralph King that a
$10,000 cutback in library
funding would not hurt
chances of the county high
schools being accredited this
year. Other cutbacks could be
negated by additional state
funding, he added.
King told the board that
County Manger Neil Mallory
had sought the reduction as a
means of balancing the
county’s fiscal 1974 - 75
budget.
Included in the cutbacks
are six personnel positions,
resulting in a cost reduction
of $48,600; $5,000 in libraries;
fixed costs were reduced “by
a percentage”; $10,000 in
furniture in the capital outlay
budget; and the library book
funds.
In other business before the
board, attorney Mason An
derson identified himself as
“the greatest compromiser in
the world” and recom
mended the board seek a
$2,400 settlement with Paul T.
Turner Electric Company of
Wilmington.
The board has withheld
$4,800 from Turner for his
failure to comply with his
contract for erecting football
field lights at the three
consolidated high schools.
Turner, however, has
threatened to sue.
Anderson said he did not
know the background of
what had occurred, but noted
that Turner had claimed 53
rain days. “As I read the
contract,” Anderson said, “I
don’t believe that rain days
could be unforseeable.”
Member John Madison
noted that Turner was
awarded the contract
because he did not charge
extra for completing the job
by a certain date. Chairman
Wilbur Rabon said he saw no
undue hardship because of
the delay; Supt. King said
several games had to be
rescheduled because the
fields were not ready.
In order to stay out of court,
Anderson said, “I recom
mend the board split the
difference.” The vote was
unanimously in favor.
Asst. Supt. P.R. Hankins
discussed the ESEA Title I
reading and kindergarten
programs with the board, and
got a “whatever commitment
necessary” from the school
body.
Hankins said the proposed
Title I program was “sub
stantially the same” as last
year, involving 914 students
in eight county schools. But,
he noted, “the funds we are
budgeting on are quite
nebulous at this time.”
The Title I staff decided to
‘budget tightly” rather than
curtail any programs, he
explained, but he said that
local support was needed
“unless you deem it
necessary for us to put the ax
on something.” About $37,000
more is needed, according to
Hankins.
The program involves 13
reading classes and 7 kin
dergarten classes. If any
cutback were necessary,
Hankins added, Union and
Southport kindergartens
would be the first to go.
An architect agreement
with the Raleigh firm of
Evans and Associates was
signed but not delivered,
(Continued On Page 2)
4Abnormalities9 Charged
More Flack Launched
At Bald Head Project
By BILL ALLEN
The decision of the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers to
allow a marina to be dredged
at Bald Head Island is being
attacked on at least two
fronts.
The Conservative Council
of North Carolina, as ex
pected, filed suit in U.S.
District Court in Wilmington
last Wednesday to block
construction of the marina
until a full environmental
statement is prepared by the
Corps of Engineers. Four
CCNC supporters in Brun
swick and New Hanover
counties joined forces in
filing the lawsuit.
A Congressional sub
committee is looking into
possible “abnormalities” in
Department of Interior
decisions that led to approval
of developing Bald Head, it
was announced in
Washington, D.C., late last
week.
David Finnegan, an at
torney for the House Sub
committee on Conservation
and Natural Resources of the
Government Operations
Committee, said the sub
committee is looking into the
matter.
According to reports, the
“abnormalities” include
high-level pressure from the
Department of Interior to
reverse a critical en
vironmental report written
by one of its agencies — the
U.S. Bureau of Sports
Fisheries and Wildlife.
The critical report, written
by the Raleigh office of the
bureau, recommended that
the Army reject the marina
plan because of en
vironmental reasons. The
report was rejected in
Washington.
An Interior department file
on the proposed Bald Head
development, now in the
hands of subcommittee
members, documents the
events leading to the ap
proval of the marina.
The file reportedly shows
that Deputy Assistant In
terior Secretary E.U. Curtis
Bohlen decided to look
favorably on the Bald Head
project as early as June of
1973. The file shows that he
apparently made the decision
before the Sports Fisheries
and Wildlife Bureau had re
investigated the project for
environmental impact.
According to the
documents in the file,
Bohlen's office rejected an
adverse field investigation by
the Raleigh office and
directed the Atlanta regional
director of the bureau to sign
an altered finding recom
mending approval of the
project. The altered report,
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