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THE STATE PORT PILOT
Volume 47 Number 14
October 22, 1975
Southport, N. C.
22 Pages
10 Cents
County Complex Site
Strong Cleared
From Prisoner
Release Charge
By BILL ALLEN
Staff Writer
Brunswick County Sheriff
Herman Strong was acquitted
of two charges of unlawfully
releasing a prisoner during
trials in District Court in
Shallotte Thursday and
Friday.
Special District Court
Judge F. Fetzer Mills of
Wadesboro acquitted Sheriff
Strong of the first charge
seconds after allowing the
^opposing attorneys five
minutes each to present their
closing arguments.
— He said he based his
decision on testimony
provided the court by former
Chief District Judge Ray
Walton. Walton said he
authorized the release of
Daniel Eugene McGinty, 18,
of Yorba Linda, Calif., for
medical reasons.
. Applause broke out in the
courtroom after Judge Mills
announced his descision. The
applause was quickly stopped
by the judge, who said he was
prepared a fill the jails in
Shallotte, Southport and
Raleigh to avoid any
demonstrations in the
courtroom.
All seats in the courtroom in
Shallotte were filled with
spectators during the
Thursday trial. About a dozen
persons had to stand at the
back of the courtroom at
times to hear the testimony.
A total of 14 witnesses took
the stand to testify during the
trial, which last almost five
hours.
Sheriff Strong did not take
the stand to testify in his own
defense during the trial.
However, he has publicly
admitted releasing McGinty,
but denied any wrongdoing in
the matter.
The sheriff was charged
with “unlawfully, willfully
and feloniously” ordering the
release of McGinty on a
criminal summons issued
September 9 “upon in
formation furnished under
oath” by former Deputy
Sheriff Robert Wayne Long of
Rt. 1, Freeland.
McGinty, who is now ser
ving time in a California youth
camp, was taken to the North
Carolina - South Carolina
state line and released after
being given $5.
Judge Mills, who was
assigned to preside over the
trial by North Carolina
Supreme Court Chief Judge
Susie Sharpe, expressed
concern that judicial
procedures were not being
followed lrt Brunswick
County.
“It is apparently a practice
in this county, according to
testimony, to disregard the
judicial procedure,” Judge
Mills said at one point in the
trial.
The Judge expressed
particular concern that no
bond was ever set in the case,
that McGinty, who was in
digent, was not provided a
court-appointed attorney and
that no fugitive warrant was
issued. “He (McGinty) could
have been charged with
violating a lot of salute, but
he was not,” Judge Mills
noted.
Southport Attorney A.H.
Gainey, Jr., who represented
Sheriff Strong, made several
motions during the trial to
dismiss the case because he
said McGinty was not charged
with a crime in Brunswick
County. Judge Mills denied
the motions.
Gainey argued that the law
required that a person had "to
be charged with crime or
sentenced to jail” before he
could be unlawfully released.
The arrest warrant, the
attorney pointed out, charged
(Continued On Page 15)
Social Service Dept,
i Will Be Investigated
A state agency has agreed to
“conduct a full-scale investigation”
of the Brunswick County Depart
ment of Social Services at the
request of the county com
• missioners.
Regional Director Leon Norman
, of the Department of Human
? Resources, Division of Social Ser
vices, said his agency would be
“glad” to conduct the investigation
while attending a county board
meeting Monday.
The request was made after
Norman told the commissioners that
a recent audit showed that some of
the department bookkeeping
procedures were “highly irregular.”
Chairman Franky Thomas asked
Norman if he knew of any agency
that could evaluate the Social
Services department in Brunswick
County. Norman said his staff could
handle the job.
“How do I get you to conduct a
full-scale investigation of our
department?” Chairman Thomas
asked.
‘‘You just did,” Norman an
swered. ‘‘We will be glad to do it for
you.”
Regional Auditor Bill Conley told
the board that his recent audit of the
Brunswick County Social Services
department showed that a better
bookkeeping system was needed to
control refunds received.
“The department needs to have
more documentation on refunds,”
Conley pointed out. “This needs
looking into and at least control
established to determine when
money comes in and where it goes.”
Conley said the problem has been
caused because the department has
“no established procedure” to
handle the matter.
Norman said the problem was
“highly irregular.” But he said the
state would accept part of the blame
because the last regular audit of the
(Continued On Page 4)
j
Bolivia Site Approved
For New County Complex Location
By BILL ALLEN
Staff Writer
The new Brunswick County
seat will be located outside the
town limits of Bolivia.
The Brunswick County Bo
ard of Commissioners voted
on a split decision Monday to
relocate the county seat and
build the new complex on the
Brown-Knox site.
The motion to select the
Brown-Knox site was made by
Commissioner Ira Butler, Jr.,
and seconded by Com
missioner Willie Sloan.
Chairman Franky Thomas
voted in favor of the site to
give it the majority.
Commissioners Steve
Varnam, Jr., and W.T. Russ,
Jr., voted in opposition during
the roll call vote. But they did
not nominate another site for
consideration by tl\e board.
Chairman Thomas urged
commissioners to base their
votes' on their conscience
since they have been under a
“tremendous amount of
pressure” on the question of
location of the complex.
“We have been threatened
and cussed out,” the chair
man pointed out. “I think that
you should vote your con
science, and I would certainly
think we would be honorable
people if we just did that.”
The Brown-Knox site,
which has 156 acres including
1,800 feet of road frontage of
US 17, is located about one
mile south of Bolivia on the
northwest side of the high
way. The price of the land has
been set at $187,200.
George Frink of Bolivia
only offered the land to the
county on October 6 during a
regular board meeting. It is
owned by C.W. Knox, the J.H.
Knox heirs and the John
Brown heirs.
The property had not been
offered the county when the
Site Selection Committee
overwhelming voted to
recommend the Canal Wood
property, which is located
about four miles down the
highway toward Supply from
the Brown-Knox land. The
199-acre Canal Wood tract
was offered to the county for
$149,250.
Although the selection of the
site was not of the official
agenda at the meeting,
Chairman Thomas asked
commissioners if they were
ready to make their selection
“at this point in time” early in
the meeting. “I think we need
to get it over with,” Varnam
suggested.
Butler immediately made a
motion to select the Brown
Knox site and it was seconded
by Sloan.
Phil Yount of Bolivia, who
served on the county Site
Selection Committee, told
Varnam that the final price
for the 156 acres of land was
$1,200 per acre.
County Planner Johnny
Sutton told Varnam that no
detailed soil tests have been
made on the property. But he
said tests have been made
based on general soil in
formation.
“Canal and Brown-Knox
have the most suitable soils of
the four sites for con
struction,” Sutton told the
board. “There is no drainage
problem with the Brown-Knox
site.”
Kenny McKeithan of
Bolivia told the board that the
valuation of the 140-acre
Brown property is listed at
$142,000. The property has
$30,000 worth of timber on it,
he reported.
“You are getting a valuable
piece of property when you
get Mr. Brown’s,” McKeithan
declared.
Yount said the site extended
KEZIAH MEMORIAL PARK next to the South
port - Brunswick County Library was dedicated
Friday afternoon, with Mayor Eugene B.
Tomlinson doing the ribbon-cutting honors.
Assisting the mayor are project co-chairman
Dorothy Hardee (left) and Dee Loughlin of the
Southport Garden Club. Featured attraction of
the park is the Indian Trail Tree. (Photo by
Kenny Hewett)
Tax Records Obtained,
Reflect Changes Made
By BILLALLEN&
DIANE McKEITHAN
The Brunswick County
Board of Equalization and
Review placed new values on
several hundred parcels of
land during its final meeting
earlier this month.
The board — acting with
only a three member
majority present — approved
the new values after in
dividually examining folders
apparently containing the
proposed values of the various
properties under con
sideration.
While the meeting was held
in public, the sheets within the
folders showing the various
values were not openly
discussed or made known to
persons attending the session.
Commissioners initialed the
sheets containing the values
and approved all of them in
one motion.
Acting Tax Supervisor K.T.
Bellamy and Commissioners
W.T. Russ, Jr., Ira Butler, Jr.,
and Willie Sloan said they did
not believe the information
should be made public when
The Pilot asked for a list of the
changes made the property
owners affected.
The Pilot, however, ob
tained the property re - ap
praisal reports, which were
reviewed and acted upon
during the last Equalization
and Review meeting held
October 7. The changes made
are reported below in this
article.
Attorney William C.
Lassiter of Raleigh, who re
presents the North Carolina
Press Association, said that
the way the board approved
the values was in apparent
violation of the Open Meetings
Law.
In addition, Lassiter said
that there is no question in his
mind that all action taken by
the Board of Equalization and
Review is open to public in
spection.
“In other words, it is my
opinion that all of the
proceedings of the Board of
Equalization and Review
from the time of the initial
appeal to and after the time
when the Board takes action
with respect to appeals are
proceedings open to the public
Extra Hour Of Sleep
Turn back the hands of time this Sunday
morning at 2 o’clock.
That’s when Daylight Savings Time ends for
this year. Before retiring Sturday evening, “fall
back” from 11 to 10 o’clock, or from 10 o’clock to
9, etc. This is when you get that extra hour of
sleep you’ll lose again next spring!
under the statutes of North
Carolina, and all records in
connection with those
proceedings are public
records open to the public
under the statutes of North
Carolina,” the North Carolina
Press Association attorney
declared.
Officials in the county Tax
Supervisor’s office refused to
allow The Pilot to see the
“public records." They said
that only Bellamy, who was
spending the week attending
an Institute of Government
school to qualify to be a tax
supervisor, could show the
information to the public.
After obtaining Lassiter’s
opinion about public records,
The Pilot questioned County
Manager Don Flowers, Jr.,
about the matter. Flowers
said the records were open to
the public and had County
Personnel - Purchasing
Director David Swain
arrange for The Pilot to obtain
the information.
It was agreed that The Pilot
(Continued On Page 3)
farther back than the
property map showed. “It ir
much deeper than it ap
pears,” he explained.
Butler, who walked to the
county map to point out the!
land, said he wanted to ex
plain why he recommended
the Brown-Knox site to the
board. V:
“Our whole county ir
oriented towards
Wilmington,” the com
missioner pointed out. “It
would catch people going to
Wilmington. The land is ac
cessible to all areas of tin
county, especially since the
population center is moving!
east and south.”
“It (the Brown-Knox site)
will be a giant step toward re
uniting the county,” said
Board of Education Member
Franklin Randolph. “If you
select a Town Creek site, I
believe it will end this talk of
splitting the county. ”
Randolph pointed out that
Bolivia has agreed to furnish
water to the Brown-Knox site.
“This will save the taxpayer
money, along with re-uniting
this county, ” he declared.
Bolivia Board Member
Edward Mintz told Chairman
Thomas it was “definitely”
the intention of his town to
supply water to the Brown
Knox site if it was selected.
Sloan told the board that he
checked out the four sites
from a mileage standpoint
last Monday. “We are really
not talking about that many
miles between the sites,” he
pointed out. “The real good
land is the Brown and Canal
property.”
Chairman Thomas said he
didn’t think anyone “could
feel hard at the com
missioners” because of their
selection of the new site.
“It would be much more
important for a hospital to be
dead center than for a county
seat or complex because the
average person makes more
trips to the hospital in a year’s
time than to their county
seat,” he stated. “I think that
anything this board does, they
have nothing to be ashamed
of.”
Chairman Thomas an
(Continued On Page 2)
Post Office
In New Site
The new Southport Post
Office will be built at ttfe
corner of 12th and Howe
streets. £
The Southport Board of
Aldermen voted unanimously
to approve the location and
offered the cooperation of the
city during a special meeting
last Wednesday afternoon.
William D. Bennett of
Memphis, Tenn., real estate
specialist, said Post Office
officials decided that the new
facility in Southport should be
located between 5th and 12th
streets on Howe Street.
He said the area was
selected after a survey was
made based on a 20-year
growth projection.
Bennett said he in
vestigated all “suitable”
locations and recommended
the site on the southeast
corner of 12th and Howe
streets. The land had to
contain 45,000-square feet.
Mayor E.B. Tomlinson, Jr.,
and the aldermen said they
would like to have the new
Post Office located in the
central business district.
Bennett said a location had
to be selected where the
Southport Post Office could
also serve both the Long
Beach and the Boiling Spring
Lakes post offices.
Postmaster Marjorie
Livingston told the board that
the Post Office served about
14,000 persons in Southport,
Long Beach and Boiling
Spring Lakes.
“I think 12th Street would be
(Continued On Page 3)