&
THE STATE PORT PILOT
Volume 47 Number 10 September 24, 1975
Southport, N. C.
22 Pages
10 Cents
Architect Selection
j
}
a
Not Exactly Routine
I
I
i The way architectural and
engineering firms are
selected for public works
projects “can either enhance
or jeopardize public con
fidence in government in
general and in the persons
involved in particular,”
according to the American
Public Works Association
(APWA).
| The APWA, “recognizing
the importance of using
sound procedures in the
Selection process,” has
established guidelines for
retaining consultants to
provide architectural and
engineering services for local
governments to use.
“The selection and
retention of consultants to
provide architectural and
engineering services to
public agencies is an im
portant response involving
professional public works
officials, the chief executive
officers and the elected or
appointed governing bodies
of such agencies,” said the
Institute for Municipal
Engineering’s Committee on
Consultants.
“The manner in which this
is carried out can either
enhance or jeopardize public
confidence in government, in
general, and in the persons
r. involved in particular,” the
/*■ committee explained.
Last week, the Brunswick
County Board of Com
missioners voted 3 to 2 to
employ Jerry Lewis
Engineers in association with
LBC&W to provide ar
chitectural and engineering
services for the new county
complex, “contingent upon a
satisfactory contractural
agreement being worked
out.” It was the only firm to
make a public presentation to
the commissioners.
The retention guidelines,
developed by the committee
and approved by the IME
executive council, were
written to “provide elected
and appointed officials with
sound procedures for
retaining consultants.”
‘They were developed with
an awareness of the con
sultants’ problems on the one
hand and a high degree of
sensitivity to the respon
sibilities of chief executive
officers and members of
public agency governing
bodies on the other,” the
committee pointed out.
Before engaging the ser
vices of an engineer or ar
Leland Voter
Drive Is Set
A voter registration drive will be conducted
Saturday in Northwest Township, sponsored by
the North Brunswick Action (NBA) group.
The voter registration will last four hours,
from 10a.m. until 2 p.m. Registrars for Hoods
Creek, Woodbum, Belville and Leland precincts
will be available, a spokesman noted.
“All non-registered persons who have resided
in the county for 30 days are urged to stop by one
of the precinct locations,” he said.
Registration books will be open at the
following locations:
Hoods Creek, at the residence of I .F. Williams;
Woodburn, at the residence of Jack Abbott at
Abbott’s Mobile Home Park on Navassa Road;
Leland, at the Volunteer Fire Department; and
Belville, at Towel City.
“Please stop by one of these locations to
register so you can exercise your right to have a
voice in Brunswick County business,” the
spokesman urged Leland area residents.
County Hospital
Asks For Bids
Brunswick County’s application
for $1 million in Hill - Burton funds
to construct the new hospital at
Supply has been approved.
The announcement was made
by County Hospital Authority
Chairman Mason Anderson
during a press conference in the
commissioner’s chambers in the
Hood Building in Southport
Monday morning. Brunswick
County commissioners attended
the news conference to hear the
announcement.
After the press conference,
Hospital Authority Executive
Director Warren Oliver called
The Pilot to report that the bids to
construct the new hospital will be
let on October 28. The authority
began advertising for bids today
(September 24).
“So we on the Hospital
Authority believe, with the
cooperation of the Brunswick
County commissioners, the
money (to construct the hospital)
is now available,” Anderson
announced at the press con
ference.
He said he received word
Thursday and Friday from U.S.
Senator Jesse Helms and
Congressman Charlie Rose that
the $1 million grant had been
approved by the Department of
Health, Education and Welfare.
He said he told County Manager
Don Flowers, Jr., about the ap
proval Friday evening.
The Pilot received word from
the office of U.S. Senator Robert
Morgan late Wednesday af
ternoon that the grant had been
approved. However, word was
received too late to be included in
last week’s edition of The Pilot.
“What I am announcing this
morning is that the federal
government has made approval of
the Brunswick County Hospital
Authority’s application to build a
general hospital at Supply and to
carry with that a $1 - million grant
which we need in terms of
financing,” Anderson declared.
He said it would take an
estimated 18 to 24 months to
construct the $3.8 - million, 60 -
bed hospital once the bids have
been awarded. The state Medical
Care Commission establishes the
bid date, he explained.
Anderson reported that the $3.8
million needed to construct the
hospital will come from $2.5
million in general obligation
bonds to be sold, the $1 million Hill
- Burton grant and some $300,000
contributed by the county com
missioners.
“Substantially, the money is
now available,” he pointed out.
If additional funds are needed,
Anderson thinks the “last
dollars” can be obtained from the
Duke Endowment.
“While I cannot state to anyone
that we would get Duke
Endownment money, I believe we
will be able to get some money
from that source,” he noted.
Anderson said he did not believe
it would be “practical” to move
the hospital from the Supply site
(Continued on page 2)
chitect, the guidelines
recommend that the
governing body look to its
own professional staff to
prepare the scope of work,
administer the selection
process, negotiate the fee,
and, in conjunction with its
legal counsel, prepare the
formal agreement resulting
from the selection process.
‘The agency staff should
first define, in general terms,
the scope of the project and
identify the various project
components and phases,” the
guidelines said. '“This
procedure will enable the
staff to make a brohd
determination of the various
consultant specialists
required. It is desirable to
then prepare detailed project
descriptions to guide
prospective consultants.”
“At this time,” the
guidelines said, the staff
should also determine the
degree of anticipated
federal or state financial
participation in the project.
The guidelines said that
the county staff director or a
selection advisory committee
should recommend
engineering or architectural
consultants to be retained by
the public agency. The
recommendations are ad
visory to the governing body,
which is accountable for the
^project, it was noted.
“Particularly for projects
of a controversial nature, it is
desirable to have outside
citizen involvement at all
stages of the project
development, including
consultant selection,” the
guidelines said.
The committee, which
should have at least three
members, should be “made
thoroughly familiar with the
scope of the project and the
requirements to consultants
must fulfill.
“The committee should be
completely free of either
internal or external
pressures in order to make an
unbiased recommendation,”
the guidelines recommend.
The APWA said it may be
(Continued on page 2)
New Voters
For Yaupon
About 50 new voters have
signed-up in a registration
drive sponsored by a Yaupon
Beach citizens group.
Marvin Watson, chairman
of Concerned Citizens for the
Future of Yaupon Beach,
said, “We hope to have over
60 before October 3.”
The drive was formed on
the platform of having
“recreation for the kids,
cleaning-up the community,
support of the police and fire
departments, and the con
tinued orderly growth of
Yaupon Beach,” stated
Watson.
“Future plans include a
fish fry and a weiner roast for
the kids.” noted Watson.
The registration drive will
continue through October 3
with a meeting of concerned
citizens Wednesday night.
“We hope to get people
actively involved in the
governmental, decision
making process, as well as
being a voice in the com
munity," stated Watson.
CP&L PRESIDENT Shearon Harris was the
featured speaker Tuesday night at the Ladies’
Night program of United Methodist Men of
Trinity Church in Southport. Left to right are the
pastor, Rev. Earl Richardson; Harris;
Wilmington District Supt. Rev. James Auman; |
and Ray Walton, president of United Methodist
who served as master of ceremonies Tuesday
night.
County Complex Land
Dealings Are Complex
By BILL ALLEN
Staff Writer
The land that received the
overwhelming first - choice
endorsement from the Site
Selection Committee for the
future site of the new
Brunswick County complex
has changed ownership three
times in the last fiv emonths,
The Pilot has learned.
The 199 - acre site, located
directly across from the state
park, was offered for sale —
at an apparently nice profit —
by Canal Industries, Inc., of
Conway, S.C.
However, records in the
Brunswick County Register
of Deeds office show that
Canal Industries does not own
the land. The warranty deed,
contained in Book 330, Page
517, shows that the site is
owned by Catawba Newsprint
Company of Catawba, S.C.
After much checking, The
Pilot was informed by a
spokesman for Catawba
Newsprint Company
Catawba Timber Company
that the land was “traded” to
Canal Industries on August
29. But the land has not been
transferred to Canal
Industries in a deed in the
Register of Deeds office,
where the owner is still listed
as Catawba Newsprint
Company.
According to the deed,
Catawba Newsprint pur
chased the 199 acres from
Ruth Galloway and Jeanette
Galloway, "individually and
as attorneys in fact-Tor J.
Richmond Galloway;*’ on
May 20 — and one day before
two months the July 19
referendum on the question of
moving the county seat.
Thomas Quits
Manager Post
Chairman - Interim County
Manager Franky Thomas
announced this week that he
will step down from his full -
time paid position with the
county on Friday.
“1 have taken a lot of ab
use, but I have learned a lot
about county government and
have enjoyed the work,"
Thomas said.
Thomas, who will continue
to serve as chairman of the
Board of Commissioners, was
appointed interim county
manager on a controversial
'decision in mid - May. Me has
been drawing a salary of
$19,202 a year.
County Manager Don
Record Sales Tax
An extraordinary, record $112,947.72 in sales
and use taxes was collected in Brunswick County
during August.
The total is approximately $30,000 more than
the previous high, according to the N.C.
Department of Revenue, which collects the tax
for later distribution to the county and municipal
governments here. The last few months the
totals have been in the high - $70,000 range.
Flowers, Jr., who assumed
his duties Sept. 2 and took the
oath of office last week, will
be in full charge of ad
ministration duties with the
county.
Thomas said he had been
urged by others to continue
his full - time employment
with the county. But he said
he decided to step down when
he completes work on the new
water system Friday.
Thomas said he was going
to return to operating Coastal
Mobile Homes Sales in
Leland. He said he planned to
change the name of the firm
in the future since he is "no
longer a mobile home
salesman.”
Thomas said he closed his
sales lot at Sturgeon Creek in
Belaud after his lease ex
pired. He said he closed the
lot because sales were down
and land will be needed for
the new highway.
He said he had moved
almost exclusively into the
leasing of mobile home office
trailers. "I had rather lease
than sell mobile offices
because more money can be
made in the long run," he
pointed out.
courthouse and office
buildings from Southport to a
location on US 17 between
Supply and Bolivia.
Keal estate excise tax
stamps on. the deed, which
are required by law to in
dicate the selling price, show
that the Galloways sold the
199 acres of land to Catawba
Newsprint for $99,500.
Canal Industries has
"offered to sell to Brunswick
County" the tract of land
containing 199 acres for $750
per acre net. The offer, made
by Canal Industries
President E. Craig Wall, Jr.,
in a letter dated Sept. 10, "is
firm through Sept. 30,1975."
If the offer is accepted by
the county commissioners,
who, according to law, must
select the site for the future
complex. Canal Industries
could make a $49,750 profit on
the land over the deed price
paid the Galloways in May.
The profit would be $250 an
acre since it was purchased
for $500 an acre and being
offered for sale for $750 an
acre.
Sources have told The Pilot
that they have been informed
that Catawba Newsprint paid
the Galloways only $69,650 for
the land, or $350 an acre,
regardless of what the real
estate excise tax stamps
show on the deed.
If that is true, the sources
pointed out. Canal Industries
stands to make a profit of
$79,600 on the deal if the
county purchases the land for
the new complex.
Canal Industries also
stands to profit on other land
it owns near the proposed
site. Superintendent Robert
McHenry of the Brunswick
County Mapping Department
told The Pilot that Canal
Industries owns an ad
ditional 567 acres of land in
the vicinity of the site it of
fered to sell the county. The
567 acres included in the
15.974 acres the company
owns in the county.
The additional land is
expected to increase in value
since it will be valuable to
businesses that will be
established in the area
around the new center of
county government.
McHenry estimated that
the recently completed
revaluation completed by
Allied Appraisers placed the
value of the 199 acres at about
$88,000. He said the front 4£>.
acres back from US 17 hap
been appraised at $600 pesp
acre and the 157 acres
woodlands at $400 an acre. **■
Steve Mims, assistant!;
district forester with Catawp
ba Timber Company up
Rockingham, said Catawbp
Newsprint purchased thip
land from the Galloways a$!;
the request of Canaj';
Industries. >•£
"You might say that w'e}k
bought the land to trade tp;
Canal Industries." said Minvp;
when asked why Catawba^
Newsprint happened
purchase land in Brunswick
County and get rid of it thre$;
months later.
3
"They (Canal) made up
(Continued on page 2) -X
if
Candidates File |
There have been few filings for candidacy^
since the filing period began on September 17.$
17.
In Southport, incumbent Mayor Eugene^*:
Tomlinson is presently unchallenged. Pierce^
Horne, Clinton Bellamy and former mayor*:;
Dorothy Gilbert are seeking seats on the Board:*,
of Aldermen in Ward 1, along with Mary»^
McHose. In Ward 2, James Harold Davis has&
also filed.
Walter Blackburn was the only announced -
candidate for the Long Beach town board as of
Tuesday, while at Yaupon Beach candidates for
commissioner include Louise Corbett, Ted Wood
and Doug Aman.
Other candidates to file elsewhere in the
county are Tommy Lewis and J.E. Bryan in
Calabash for town council positions.