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THE STATE PORT PILOT
^6*19^ Volume 46 Number 32 February 26, 1975 Southport, N. C. 20 Pages 10 Cents
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TAX NOTICES containing the new valuations
will be received by Brunswick County residents
late this week. Tax Supervisor staff members
Rose McKeithan, Judy Hewett and Jo Mansfield,
left to right, work to finish the notices before they
are mailed.
Long Beach Purchase
Land Deal Is
Under Study
The State Bureau of In
vestigation has been asked to
look into the controversial
purchase of land at Long
Beach last November to see if
the law has been violated.
A copy of the letter, sent to
SB I Director Charles Dunn,
was made available to The
Pilot.
“Certain land transactions
involving officials from the
old county board of com
missioners of Brunswick
County and the mayor and
oen commissioner of the
Town of Long Beach may be
in violation of G.S. 14-234,"
the letter said. *
“These transactions have
appeared to discredit the
town and perhaps the other
members of the town coun
cil,” the letter continued.
“Perhaps an examination of
the circumstances from your
office (Dunn’s) could clarify
whether any laws have been
violated and would clear any
implied wrong doing on the
part of the board and the
Town of Long Beach.”
After pointing out some
information about the land
purchase, the letter said that
Dunn should “see why there
is some implication of
wrongdoing on the part of the
town and the town council. It
also seems that others may
be unjustly criticized for
something in which they took
no part."
The letter told Dunn that
the transaction took place in
November, 1974 before the
current county board of
commissioners took office in
December. It said that Mayor
E.W. Morgan and Com
missioner C. Russell
Morrison of Long Beach
“were the municipal officials
involved.”
“The firm of Pierson and
Whitman, Engineers, may be
(involved) also,” ttje letter
stated.
The letter tells Dunn that
the county purchased a tract
of land in Long Beach which
is to be used for an elevated
water tank to eventually
provided water to be pur
chased by the town. Two lots
were involved and the sale
price was $14,000. “All local
realtors say this is in excess
of more than double the
value,” the letter pointed out.
The problem, the letter
said, is that the mayor
(Morgan) also a realtor, was
“contacted because of his
position as mayor and the
property was listed by his
(Continued On Page 2)
s
May Open March 7
The new Oak Island high-level bridge may
open to traffic late next week, according to
district engineer Ted Funderburk of the
Department of Transportation.
Funderburk said the bridge could open next
Friday, March 7. The opening will depend on
weather conditions.
“The approaches to the bridge need to be
paved before it can be opened,” he pointed out.
“We also need to do some paving on the bridge
itself. If the weather stays good, we could do the
paving and open the bridge to traffic next
Friday.”
He said construction work will continue to
finish the work after the bridge opens to traffic.
Construction work on the 4,250-foot bridge has
been underway for about two years. The new
facility will replace a drawbridge that was
destroyed when a barge crashed into it.
Posher Appraisal Asked
County Board Names
RDC Board Members
The appointment of
members to the Resources
Development Commission
and action on hospitals
highlighted a special meeting
of the Brunswick County
board of commissioners last
Wednesday night.
Benny Ludlum of Lock
wood Folly and David
Broadway of Northwest were
appointed to replace Luke
Appling of Smithville and
William A. Babson of Town
Creek on the Commission.
J.A. Francis of Smithville,
who has served on the
commission since it was
established, was re
appointed.
Babson and Appling will
serve on the Resources
Development Commission
until 12 p.m. on March 3. The
commission will hold its
regular monthly meeting the
night of March 3.
Appling voted with the
majority to fire Commission
Executive Director Jackie
Stephenson at the meeting
earlier this month. Babson
and Francis voted to keep
Stephenson.
The board voted
unanimously to have a
professional appraiser
establish the value of the
Dosher Memorial Hospital
building and site if the South
port Board of Aldermen
agrees. The price will be used
“at the time of disposal or
whatever happens to the
actual structure.”
Chairman Franky Thomas,
who made the motion, said
both the board of com
missioners and the Southport
board of alderman should
select one representative
each to pick the professional
appraiser.
Once the price is
established, either the city or
the county would be able to
purchase the hospital and
property for 50 percent of the
appraised value.
If both the city and county
want to make the purchase, it
would be sold to the highest
bidder. If neither want to
make the purchase, it would
be sold with the selling price
divided equally between the
city and the county.
The county board will send
the aldermen a letter
requesting city participation
in the "joint venture.”
The board voted
unanimously to authorize
County Attorney James
Prevatte to proceed with
action needed to deed the
land the county purchased at
Supply for the proposed new
hospital to the Brunswick
County Hospital Authority.
In answer to a question
asked by Commissioner
Willie Sloan, Commissioner
W.T. Russ, Jr., told the board
that the Hospital Authority
had to own the land in order
to apply for grant funds.
‘The hospital is going to be
for the county’s use anyhow,”
said Commissioner Steve
Varnam, Jr. “If it (deeding
the land to the authority) is
not done, the county will have
to make out the application
for grant funds. The one that
makes the application must
hold legal title to the land.”
Varnam said the board
needed to act on the matter at
once since the application
had to be “on the desk” in
Raleigh the first week in
March. He said the ap
(Continued On Page 2)
V
Abstracts Sent This Week
ri
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Property Valuations Up
As Tax Notices Mailed
n
By BILL ALLEN
Brunswick County
residents who have questions
about the tax notices they will
receive this week will be able
to obtain answers during
informal hearings which will
be conducted during the next
30 days.
Allied Appraisal Company,
Inc., the firm that did the
appraisal work, and Brun
swick County tax officials
will participate in the in
formal hearings. The
hearings will be conducted by
Allied officials.
The hearings, which will
start Monday, will be held
Monday through Friday from
8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. until
April 2 at the Allied office on
Howe Street in Southport.
"Interviews will be on a
first come, first serve basis,"
said Brunswick County
Supervisor Monty Blackmon
of Allied. “However,
developers and large
property owners, whose
interviews may last several
hours, are ask to call for an
appointment. This method
will enable us to serve more
people more efficiently and
eliminate some of the waiting
in line.”
Tax notices containing the
new valuations were to be
placed in the mail to Brun
swick County residents
Wednesday by the Tax
Supervisor’s office personnel.
It will be one of the last acts
performed by Tax Supervisor
Charles Mills, who has
resigned effective March 3.
Blackmon said the in
formal hearings are being
held to correct mechanical
and mapping errors and to
discuss market vlaues. “But
the only thing that Allied can
change is mechanical
errors,” he pointed out. "Any
other appraisal change must
be made by the Board of
Equalization and Review,
which will meet in April.”
Blackmon said Allied can
recommend to the board that
changes be made if the
property is valued too high.
“If we see concrete evidence
that the land has been ap
praised too high, we can re
check it and make recom
mendation,” he pointed out.
But Blackmon said the
primary purpose of the in
formal hearings is to locate
and correct mechanical
errors. “We have used over
44,000 property record cards
here in Brunswick County
Tax Supervisor Named
To Start Work Monday
Lengthy closed sessions of
the board of commissioners
on Monday resulted in the
employment of a new
Brunswick County tax
supervisor, but also revealed
the resignation of clerk to the
board Carol Greene.
K.T. Bellamy was named
acting tax supervisor until
such time he can be certified
by the state. He replaces
Charles Mills, who earlier
this month annomced his
resignation effective Mon
day, March 3. (see separate
story, this edition of The
Pilot.)
No reason was given at the
meeting for the resignation of
Mrs. Greene, which is to
become effective March 21.
In other business during the
special meeting, Personnel
Director Steve Hughes an
nounced that an additional
$15,000 in the Manpower job
program had been received
by the county. The board
agreed with Hughs’
recommendation that the
county hire a carpenter, an
inventory clerk and laborers
for the remaining four-month
employment period.
The program allows for a
maximum $4.80-per-hour
wage but the county will
subsidize the carpenter’s
salary $1.20. But for lower
paid workers, Board
Chairman Franky Thomas
noted, ‘‘We’re competing
with unemployment.” He
commented that 90 percent of
the work force is employed,
supporting the other 10 per
cent.
In other business, County
Manager Neil Mallory an
nounced a proposed Tuesday,
March 4 joint meeting with
the New Hanover County
commissioner to discuss “a
regional approach to spen
ding community develop
ment funds.” One possible
use would be the creation of a
two-county housing
authority. Commissioners
were less than enthusiastic
about the suggestion.
In response to an earlier
resolution by the board
calling on CP&L to encourage
the employment of local labor
in constructing its planned
cooling towers, company
representatives “assured”
the chairman sub-contractors
would be requested “to use
local people as much as
possible” in the $«Ho $70 -
million project.
The board noted a $250 to
$300 increase in insurance
cost for a downtown South
port building to be used as
office space for County
Planner Johnny Sutton and
others. The cost-increase is
due to the conversion of in
surance from residential to
business use.
Commissioner Steve
Varnam presented to the
board a Certificate of Official
Recognition received by the
county last Friday from the
Bicentennial organization.
Commissioner Willie Sloan
suggested a possible use of
Manpower grant funds in
building a dog pound for the
county. Also, information
concerning a 2,800-foot access
road to a county water supply
well site will be forwarded to
W.A. Roach and O’Neil
Caison, who reportedly are
interested in preparing the
road for use.
Archie Martin, county
Extension chairman,
reported briefly to the board
about a state - financed, two
man team that would operate
in the county to locate and
treat for fire ants. Preliminary
discussion indicated the two
workers would have access to
road rights-of-way and
county-or state-owned
property; Martin later
determined that the workers
could go on private property
with the owner's permission.
The cost to the county
would be for transportation
while the two men
(Continued on Page 2)
and some of those cards may
have a dozen or more
calculations,” he pointed out.
"With this many
calculations, there are bound
to be errors we have not
caught.”
Another purpose of the
informal hearings is to
correct any errors in the
mapping program. “If our
acreage differs from the
acreage a resident actually
owns, we ask him to bring all
available plats and deeds to
the hearings so that we may
correct the differences,” he
explained. |
Blackmon said the in
formal hearings also will
provide property owners with
the opportunity to compare
the value of the property
other comparable property
within the county. “The
hearings also will provide the
people of Brunswick County
with the opportunity to see
the work Allied has done,” he
added.
Blackmon said the only
subject about the tax notices
that will not be discussed is
taxes. “Allied has absolutely
nothing to do with assessing
taxes,” he declared. ‘We
were hired for one purpose
and that was to appraise all
real property at fair market
value.”
Brunswick County com
missioners have indicated
that the tax rate for 1975-78
will be reduced because of the
expected higher valuations.
They have said they believe
the county can raise the
needed tax money with a
lower rate because of the
higher valuation, but the new
tax rate will not be set until
this summer.
Blackmon said Allied has
tried to establish valuation’s
that are “realistic and right
at 100-percent market value.
The important thing is that
(Continued on Page 2) A
Long Beach Vote Friday
Yaupon OK’s Resolution
For Oak Island Merger |
The Yaupon board of
commissioners approved a
resolution calling on the
General Assembly to allow a
vote on the question of the
consolidating Yaupon Beach
and Long Beach during a
brief special meeting Wed
nesday night.
“Now therefore, be it
resolved by the board of
commissioners that the
'members of the North
Carolina legislature duly
elected from the district
encompassing this
municipality be requested to
introduce and expend their
best efforts in the enactment
of legislation providing for a
referendum to be conducted
in Yaupon Beach and Long
Beach on the question of the
consolidation of such
municipalities into a single
municipality," said the
resolution.
The resolution, introduced
by Commissioner Marvin
Watson and seconded by
Commissioner Ted Wood,
war approved on a 4-to-l vote.
Commissioner Bill Smalley
voted in the opposition.
"I voted no on the
resolution of a referendum
vote to merge Yaupon Beach
and Long Beach because at
this time there is no written
plan for the consolidation of
Tax Funds Allotted
Brunswick County will receive $61,133.96 from
collection of the cne-percent sales and use tax
during January, the state Department of
Revenue announced this week.
Also, distribution of final quarter, 1974
collections were announced with the local share
divided as follows: Brunswick County $166,296;
Boiling Spring Lakes $617; Bolivia $46; Holden
Beach $1,577; Long Beach $8,465; Ocean Isle
Beach $1,031; Shallotte $1,855;
Southport received $3,562; Sunset Beach $776;
and Yaupon Beach $1,558. Newly-incorporated
towns of Calabash and Shady Forest are not yet
eligible to participate in the distribution of funds.
the two towns,” Smalley told?
The Pilot after the vote.. “I*
agree the people should be
allowed to vote on the
dissolution of their town —
whether or not they want to
turn it over to Long Beach —
but they should be fully in
formed of all the com
sequences of a merger.”
Mayor E.W. Morgan has
called a special meeting of
the Long Beach board of
commissioners Friday night
at 7:30p.m. to discuss and act
on the merger question.
The Yaupon Beach board
acted on the question in about
35 minutes during the special
meeting Wednesday night
called at the request ol
Watson and Wood. About 25 to
30 resident attended thh
meeting.
“I think the people should
be given the right to vote oh
this issue,” Mayor CJfc.
Murphy stated. “That is afi
simply as it can be put.”
The resolution approved by
the board pointed out that
Yaupon Beach and Long
Beach “lie within the same
township, are adjacent tt>
each other and have similar
problems relative to growth,
expansion and ad
ministration.”
Copies of the resolution art
being sent to Rep. Allen Ward
(Continued on Page 2) :* ’