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THE STATE PORT
A Good Newspaper In A Good Community
VOLUME A6 NUMBER 28 JI6PAGES TODAY
SOUTHPORT; NORTH CAROLINA
JANUARY 29, 1975
10 CENTS A COPY
PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAYl
Procedure Outlined
% ;\
Action Noted
It ' s v
On Petitions
A report on what to do with
the Smithville Township
hospital petitions was
presented to the Brunswick
County board of com
missioners Friday night by
county attorney James R.
Prevatte, Jr.
According to the attorney
the petitions have been
properly drawn l and seek
permission of the Township
to issue bonds and levy taxes
in support of a separate
hospital. With the approval of
the county board, the com
missioners were told, the
N.C. Medical Care Commis
sion would conduct a public
hearing to determine the ad
visability of a separate
hospital district.
J In response to a question
from Commissioner Rusty
Russ, residents of the town of
Boiling Spring Lakes could
not be taxed for support of a
facility because the town
board voted to not endorse
the petition drive.
A hospital district,
Prevatte said, “becomes a
corporation” which can issue
bonds. The county board of
commissioners can levy a tax
rate approved by a majority
of voters in Smithville
Township.
The board of com
missioners would be the
governing body of the
hospital, with trustees named
from within Smithville
Township. Commissioners
would levy appropriate taxes
to support the medical facili
ty
According to Prevatte, the
next step of the com
missioners would be to “ap
prove” the petition so that
the Medical Care Commis
sion could act. “It is part of
getting the ball rolling,”
Prevatte said.
The next Medical Care
Commission meeting is in
(Continued On Page 2)
Island Protest
Signed By 850
Petitions signed by Oak
Island residents protesting
higher electric rates will be
presented to the North
Carolina Utilities Commis
sion on Thursday.
Troy Davis, an Oak Island
businessman, will present the
petitions signed by a total of
850 residents to the Utilities
Commission during a
meeting in Raleigh.
A spokesman for the cam
paign at Oak Island said she
considered the number of
names signed to the petitions
“a great response.” The
drive was conducted over
about a two-week time
period.
The petitions call on the
Utilities Commission “for
relief” from the cost of elec
tricity charged by Carolina
Power and Light Company
and Brunswick Electric
Membership Corporation. It
“requests the repeal of the
automatic fuel adjustment
clause granted to North
Carolina electric utilities.”
Island Marina
Still An Issue
V
Environmentalists opposed
to the development of Bald
Head Island can continue
jheir case in court, Federal
District Judge John D.
Larkins, Jr., has ruled.
Judge Larkins ruled that
the Conservation Council of
North Carolina and the Sierra
Club have demonstrated suf
ficient use of public land on
Hie island and sufficient in
jury to that use by the propos
ed development to sue under
federal law.
, In the latest ruling, Judge
Larkins said he believed
development “will eventually
take place even if the Corps
denies all applications for
dredging permits.”
The National Environmen
tal Policy Act requires a
demonstration of use and in
jury before a suit may be fil
ed under it. Judge Larkins in
itially denied standing in
court to the environmental
groups because he said they
.could demonstrate no use of
»$he publicly - owned land.
-■*; “Our position has been vin
dicated,” said a spokesman
for the two environmental
groups. “We are going to
study the opinion before
determining what further
steps to take.”
It is believed that the en
vironmental groups will seek
a court ruling on whether an
environmental impact state
ment is needed for the Bald
Head development.
The Army Corps of
Engineers granted Carolina
Cape Fear Corporation,
developers of the island, a
permit last May to dredge a
marina at Bald Head. The en
vironmental groups filed suit
in early June contending the
permit should not have been
issued without an en
vironmental impact state
ment. They also asserted
their standing in court to sue
under the act.
The two groups obtained an
injunction blocking construc
tion of the marina, but Judge
Larkins dissolved it after
numerous hearings were
held.
After Judge Larkins denied
the two groups’ standing in
court to sue, the decision was
reversed by the U.S. Fourth
Circuit Court of Appeals in
November. Hie case was sent
back to Judge Larkins.
THE FIRST LOOK most folks will have of the Pfizer, Inc., plant under con
struction near Southport is presented here. The aerial photograph, taken Mon
day, shows the major part of the industrial complex looking eastward towards
the Cape Fear River. ,
" '■ . • ' '‘..V ‘
v -■ ■ :-V \.\v ■■■ 'r 3 \ ' * :
Manpower Grants
More Jobs For f
5 County Towns
The towns of Southport,
Long Beach, Boiling Spring
Lakes, Shallotte and Ocean
Isle Beach will receive ad
ditional positions under the
Manpower grant funds ad
ministered by the county.
Personnel Director Steve
Hughes reported to the coun
ty commissioners during a
special Friday night meeting
that an additional $17,372 had
been appropriated for
Brunswick County, based on
December unemployment.
The supplemental funding,
said County Manager Nel
Mallory, reflected “A typical
state or federal program
done in a hurry-up fashion.”
More funds are expected next
month, he noted.
He suggested an additional
five positions at $3.00 per
hour for the six-months
employment period. Of the
four originally proposed for
the municipalities, Com
missioner Rusty Russ asked
one each for Southport, Long
Beach and Shallotte — the
three largest towns in the
county — and Ocean Isle
Beach, the latter where a
daylight rape recently oc
cured.
Additional county requests
were noted, while com
issioners settled on four
positions: school
maintenance worker, landfill
attendant, court officer and
secretary for FHA director
Ed Johnson. A fifth position,
which Commissioner Steve
Varnam termed in opposition
“a secretary’s secretary,”
was rejected.
Varnam and Thomas asked
employers to favor the hiring
of rural applicants in the
county positions. Also, some
preference for heads of
households was suggested.
Commissioner Willie Sloan
objected to the “Heavy
emphasis” on municipal
employment, but Thomas
responded that the county
(Continued on Page 2)
Final Plans Requested
County Dog Pound
Closer To Reality
A simple, 38’ by 26’ struc
ture with a “simple and
direct purpose” will serve as
the Brunswick County dog
pound.
The Brunswick County
board of commissioners took
the most affirmative step to
date on the long - delayed
project in a special Friday
night meeting by calling for
final specifications and
blueprints. The board ap
proved a location three -
fourths mile north of Supply
on NC 211.
Plans for the dog pound
were presented to county
board members by Dr.
Richard Walker, director of
the Brunswick County Health
Department. He said the
facility would have 12
“runners” for dogs —
capable of 3 or 4 dogs each,
depending on size — an of
fice, a laboratory and wash
basin, a storage and feed
room and possibly an
euthanasia chamber.
The building would be fenc
ed - in, but there would be no
outside area for the keeping
of dogs. Animals would be
kept 5 days; if no one wanted
the animals then, they would
be disposed of.
Asked if the entlianasia
chamber met “humane stan
dards,” Walker said he knew
of no regulations of this sort;
“There are no state
regulations,” he noted. The
proposed facility was based
on dog pounds observed
elsewhere, Walker told the
board.
The health director said
there were between 5,000 and
7,000 dogs in the county. “We
don’t know how many are
running loose,” he com
merited.
In a question - answer ex^
change with the com<->
missioners, Walker said
there is a dog tag ordinance,
but there is “not a tag
program for the county.” He
said he hoped the pound
would start people buying
tags, which according to the
ordinance would be sold by
the tax collector.
I How much money is in the
budget? asked county board
Chairman Franky Thomas.
$20,000 for the building, $41,
690 total for the current fiscal
year1, he was told. According
to the drawer of the
blueprints, the building would
cost an estimated $18,000 to
$20,000 but commissioners
doubted it. Said Thomas: "I
can’t see where all the ex
(Continued on Page 2)
Tax Listing Among
Friday Night Topics
Several matters relating to
the collection of Brunswick
County taxes were discussed
during a special Friday night
meeting of the county board
of commissioners. <
'1. the tax listing period was
extended to April 2;
2. tax listers will be used
again this year, primarily
because of expected
problems with revaluation;
3. an “efficiency study” of
the tax department will be
conducted by the Institute of
Government at a cost to not
exceed $500; and
4. officials were asked to
seek additional tax office
space in Southport, where
some rents were called
"ridiculous” and “absurd.”
Most of the tax-related con
versation dealt with tax
listers, a service Tax Super
visor Charles Mills suggested
to be stopped. He said the
department was not required
to have listers in the field,
but sought the advice of coun
ty commissioners.
Mills said that persons with
tax problems should come to
the office of the Tax Super
visor, where clerks and han
dy records were available.
He said that because this was
the third year tax abstracts
were to be mailed there was
no great need for listers —
tax helpers — in each
township. Rather, additional
staff could be placed at the
Southport office.
Commissioner Willie Sloan
said his area (Leland) was
concerned about tax listers,
while Chairman Franky
Thomas suggested "maybe a
joying tax lister” to help
where needed throughout the
county. Mills noted that a
small percentage of tax
payers sought the help of
listers.
Citing the current revalua
tion of county property. Mills
said, “We’re going to have s
ome people complaining."
Commissioner Rusty Russ
cited this as a reason for
keeping tax listers. “It is a
service," said Commissioner
Steve Varnam, "that we
should offer if they want
them."
One of the major potential
problems, said Mills, is that
reappraisal firm Allied Ap
praisal was using records up
dated as of 1973, while tax
(Continued on Page 2)
Long Beach Applying
For Series Of Groins
The Town of Long Beach
has applied for a Department
of the Army permit to con
struct 13 sandbag groins
along a 4,800 - foot section on
the Atlantic Ocean, accor
ding to LTC Pleasant H. West
of the Corps of Engineers in
Wilmington.
Town Manager Frank
Kivett said the town board
wants to construct the groins
along the oceanfront between
40th and 58th streets east as
the first phase of a beach ero
sion control project.
The 13 groins, which are
each 150 - feet in length, will
be spaced 400 feet apart in
the project area. Since each
groin contains 31 nylon bags,
a total of 403 bags will be
used in the work.
The town proposes that the
13 groins extend from the toe
of the dunes to a point below
mean low water. A single bag
arrangement will be used
from the toe of the dunes to
mean high water. A pyramid
of three bags will be use<)
from mean high wate^
seaward. 1>
The bags will be
hydraulically - filled in place
with available beach sand by
a five - inch centrifugal bilge
pump equipped with a wire
screen to allow only sand and
water to enter the bags. A
total of 1,050 cubic yards of
material will be obtained
from the area to fill the bags.
In addition to the applica
(Continued on Page 2)
Dosher Transfer Bill Heading Towards Passage
The bill changing the status
;of Dosher Memorial Hosf^al
.appears to be heading toward
quick approval in the North
Carolina General Assembly,
v The bill to transfer the
operation of Dosher to the
Brunswick County Hospital
Authority was approved by
the State House of Represen
tatives four days after it was
introduced by Rep. Allen
Ward of Thomasboro.
:j The Local Government
'Committee in the State
Senate was scheduled to hold
>:a public hearing on the bill
late this afternoon
(Wednesday). Both sup
porters and opponents of the
bill were expected to express
their views during the com
mittee hearing.
Rep. Ward introduced the
bill — called House Bill 21
last Monday, Jan. 20. It was
sent to the house Local
Government committee
before it was approved by the
house Friday after passing
second and third readings.
The identical bill — called
Senate Bill 23 — was in
troduced in the Senate by
Sen. Edd Nye of
Elizabethtown. It is expected
to move to the senate floor
following the public hearing
Wednesday.
Some Brunswick County
residents have expressed
concern because Rep. Ward’s
bill calls for the transfer of
the operation of Dosher
hospital to the Brunswick
County Hospital Authority.
They pointed out that the
Brunswick County Board of
Commissioners approved a
resolution asking Rep. Ward
and Sen. Nye "to cooperate
together to procure the
legislative action necessary
to convert the Dosher facility
into a trauma center as an in
tegral part of the total
Brunswick County health
care delivery system.”
They pointed out — cor
rectly — that the board
resolution does not mention
having Dosher transferred to
the Brunswick County
Hospital Authority.
Board Chairman Franky
Thomas told The Pilot this
week that it was the intent of
the commissioners to have
Rep. Ward effect the transfer
of the Dosher property to the
county Hospital Authority.
“That's what the resolution
asked for." Chairman
Thomas stated.
The board chairman said
the transfer was the only way
Dosher hospital could be
made a trauma center.
Chairman Thomas
reported that the bill in
troduced in the General
Assembly by Rep. Ward was
drafted by members of the
staff in the office of the North
Carolina Attorney General.
'They assured us it was
legal, " Chairman Thomas '
said, to rescind the creating
act and then adopt a new one.
"Of course. 1m not an at
torney, though."
He reported that a staff
member in the Attorney
General’s office said the
transfer had to be made in
order for the county Hospital
Authority including what is
now Dosher — to receive
state and federal funds, such
as Hill - Burton money.
Concerning the 50 - percent
ownership of Dosher by the
city, the chairman said
Southport should be well -
represented on the county
Hospital Authority. He said
the trauma center could be
expanded later as Southport
grew.
Smithville Township,
however, does not have a
representative on the coun
ty Hospital Authority at the
present time. Two residents
of the township were ap
pointed when the authority
was established last fall, but
they declined to serve. No ef
fort has been made to .appoint
any other Smithville
Township resident to the
county authority.
Chairman Thomas said he
had received no definite word
that the people of Smithville
Township don't want a
trauma center. “I don’t know
that they don't want a trauma
center," he declared.
He said he believed the
board would be “willing to
give the Dosher building back
to the city” if the people
don’t want a trauma center.
“If the people of Southport
can build a hospital, fine,”
the board chairman declared.
“I'm sure the county would
relinquish any rights and
claims (to the facility)."
The chairman said he
favored allowing the people
of Smithville Township to es
tablish their own hospital dis
trict “as long as it doesn’t
stand in the way” of the
proposed Brunswick County
Memorial Hospital.
He said that as far as the
Medical Care Commission is
concerned, a county can have
as many operating - licensed
hospitals as it wants. But he
said the commission has
recommended that
Brunswick Coilnty only have
one operating license “to be
feasible.”
Rep. Ward provided The
(Continued on Page 2)