.OV-UT/O*
*
THE STATE PORT PILOT
7^6-l9lfe
Volume 47 Number 39 April 14, 1976
Southport, N. C.
20 Pages
10 Cents
Space Needs For School,
Sheriff Offices Questioned
"" " •. ■ * ’ ''V'y'
HELPING PROMOTE the Southport Jaycee Easter egg hunt this
Saturday are Robbie McKeithan, Lissa Stephens and Sammy Kirby (seated)
and Charlotte Hart and Eddie Kirby (standing). The annual egg hunt will be
held in Franklin Square Park starting at 2 p.m., according to Jaycee
President Bill Coring,.Individual hunts will be held for age groups 1 through
3,4 through 6 and 7 through 9 years. “We want to express our appreciation to
T.C. Lennon of Bolivia, who will donate 450 eggs to the hunt,” Coring stated.
By BILL ALLEN
Staff Writer
The Brunswick County
Board of Commissioners
rubber - stamped most
recommendations contained
in the office space survey for
the new courthouse complex
during a special meeting
Monday night.
The only two major
decisions about the office
space needs of county
agencies left hanging in the
air following the meeting
were the Board of
Education’s request for a
separate board room and the
Sheriff’s Department request
for a training and assembly
room.
The board unanimously
approved the other recom
mendations made by the
county Planning Department
and LBC&W, the ar
chitectural and engineering
firm working on the complex,
about items questioned by
different' departments in
county government.
„ -The board then
unanimously approved the
entire office space survey
despite the fact it was not
read during the meeting and
no copies were make
available! for the public to
examine.
Vice - ■ Chairman Willie
Sloan and Commissioner
W.T. Russ, Jr., pointed out
that the board was only ap
Lower Rate Sought As
fe:V , f : y ■ • '
City Starts On Budget
By BILL ALLEN
Staff Writer
#•
% ■
% Can the Southport city tax
' rate fall to around the 50-cent
; level this year?
Mayor E.B. Tomlinson, Jr.,
said the Budget Committee,
under Alderman Conley
sKoontz, who is the chairman,
^should try to work for a tax
|rate around 50 cents in the
11976-77 budget.
I* “We owe that to the
people,” Mayor Tomlinson
^declared in making his
‘request public during the
| regular monthly board
meeting Thursday night.
Koontz said that his Budget
Committee would begin
working on the new budget
this week.
In other business, the board
voted unanimously to
recommend to the Dosher
Hospital Retention Com
mittee an agreement to be
used to solicit pledges to pay
architectural fees before the
referendum is held.
Mayor Tomlinson, who
presented the pledge
agreement to the board, said
he hoped it could be approved
by the Retention Committee,
composed of representatives
of Southport, Long Beach and
Yaupon Beach, this week. He
said that Mayor Robert Jones
has been asked to appoint a
representative from Caswell
Beach to serve on the com
mittee.
Residents will be asked to
sign the pledge agreements to
secure commitments that the
$100,000 in architect fees will
be paid. A bank will un
derwrite the pledges.
Mayor Tomlinson said the
pledge agreements are
needed to keep architectural
work on Phase III underway
before the August referen
dum to establish a township
tax district to support the
hospital. Under the payment
schedule, $20,000 will be due
in 30 days, $50,000 the last of
June and the balance in
August.
If the referendum is ap
proved, the fees will come
from the special tax and the
pledge agreements will be
■
fYaupon Seeks To Ease
Town Mosquito Problem
f.s ' • . . ;
'5 v '■■■ .■■■•.■ .
I ■
By KENNY HEWETT
Staff Writer
| The Yaupon Beach Board
|of Commissioners voted
,> Monday night to advertise for
3 the purchase of mosquito
^control equipment.
Louise Corbett told the'
board that she had gone to the
county seeking help and they
had been “most receptive
and very nice.” She stated
that, “the county did not have
fenough manpower or
machines to be able to control
the mosquito problem.”
She told the board that the
town could get help on a
rental basis from the
Department of Human
Resources, with a total of 50
percent assistance.
Doug Aman, com
missioner, told the board to
“let the county do all they can
in controlling mosquitoes, but
be in a position to take care of
the mosquito problem.”
“It is obvious that the
county can’t take care of this
(the summer mosquitoes),”
stated Mayor Marvin Wat
son.
Commissioner Bill Smalley
introduced the motion to
advertise for bids for the
mosquito control equipment
with a second from Ted
Wood. The motion passed
unanimously.
The board voted 3-1 in the
controversial hiring of
Clarence Murphy, former
mayor, as new building in
spector. The board will pay
Murphy $5 per week, in
cluding gas and a building
permit fee.
Smalley told the board that
it was a “bad mistake” to
name Murphy, as he is a
licensed real estate broker
and builder.
The board voted
unanimously for budge*
amendments as follows: (1)
increase Municipal Water
(Continued On Page 8)
terminated.
Alderman William Fur
pless expressed concern that
people will not take time to
read the three-page pledge
agreement because of its
length. Mayor Tomlinson
said he had hoped the
agreement would not be three
pages, but said the length was
needed to give people
necessary information about
what they will be asked to
sign.
If only 70 percent of the
$100,000 can be raised in
pledges, Mayor Tomlinson
told Alderman Pierce Horne,
the architects will only do 70
percent of the work. But the
mayor said he was optimistic
that pledges can be secured
for the entire amount.
He said the Retention
Committee already “has in
hand" the first $20,000 due at
the end of April.
Mayor Tomlinson said Post
Office officials visited South
port last week and said they
would recommend the old
high school site as the
number one priority for the
new post office.
The mayor also said that
the city would “fight” the 34
percent wholesale rate hike
granted to Carolina Power &
Light Company last week.
(See related story in this
edition of The Pilot.)
Resident Bob Thorsen, who
expressed outrage at the
latest rate hike, said he
believed the city should
consider using the Cape Fear
River to generate its own
electricity.
The board voted
unanimously to have Mayor
Tomlinson look into securing
the services of an architect to
develop plans to beautify the
(Continued On Page 7)
proving square footage that
LBC&W needs to construct a
model of the complex. They
said that changes can be
made at a later date.
“Our projected occupancy
date is 1978,” LBC&W’s Vice -
President John Boudreaux,
who is in charge of the
Brunswick County complex
for the firm, told the board.
Boudreaux, who said the
board would make the final
decision about the complex
design, suggested that a
shopping center type mall
with room for growth be
considered rather than
campus - type structures.
“This will give you room to
grow and not lock you in,” he
stated. “We are projecting a
potential 55 percent growth
by 1990. You have plenty of
space on the site.”
County Planner Johnny
Sutton said the complex “will
have a built - in cushion so the
county will not be over -
crowded.”
Sutton said his department
obtained information from all
county departments in
developing the office space
survey. But he said some
dissatisfied departments
requested that their positions
be presented to the board.
Supt. Ralph King and
Assistant Supt. John Hicks
told commissioners that the
Board of Education needed a
separate board meeting room
rather than using the
assembly center with other
boards in the county. Sutton
said the request had been
found both “unnecessary and
not justified.”
“Our concerns are based on
needs and can be justified,”
King declared.
Hicks said that any legally -
constituted board needs its
own meeting room with
direct access to records.
He told the board he was
Campaign Starts For {
New Hospital Funding
The campaign to obtain pledge
agreement signatures to pay ar
chitect fees for Phase III work at
Dosher Memorial Hospital began
during a meeting Tuesday night at
the Southport City Hall.
After the Dosher Retention
Committee approved the pl§d^e ,
agreement, a total of ^ $11,750 in
pledges were signed by residents
attending the meeting.
The pledge agreements will be
used to provide funds for Ballard,
McKim and Sawyer, Wilmington
architects, to continue work on the
new hospital facility to be provided
at the Dosher site.
When an individual signs a pledge
gift, the amount will be credited by
one of local banks to the account of
the Retention Committee, it was
pointed out. The individual signing
the agreement will only have to
make the pledge good if the August
referendum to establish a tax
district in Smithville Township is
defeated.
- The committee hopes to obtain
$100,000 in pledges to pay the ar
chitect. The money is included in the
overall bond issue referendum.
In other business, Long Beach
Mayor Harold Crain and Southport
Mayor fi.B. Tomlinson, Jr'fterfc
elected co-chairmen of the Re
tention Committee.
Yaupon Beach Mayor Marvin
Watson and Caswell Beach Mayor
Robert Jones were elected co-vice
chairmen. Mrs. Anne Francis of
Southport and Mrs. Margaret
Connaughton of Southport were
elected publicity co-chairmen.
Other members of the committee
include Rosetta Short of Long
Beach, Howard Pinkerton of Yaupon
Beach, Southport aldermen and a
representative to be named from
Caswell Beach.
Cool Weather Hurts
County Leaf Chances
By BILL ALLEN
Staff Writer
The cold spell this week
hurt the tobacco of Brun
swick County farmers who
planted early this year,
reports Manager Ralph Price
of the Agriculture
Stabilization and Con
servation Service in
Shallotte.
‘‘The cold weather did a
whole lot of damage to the
early tobacco,” Price
reported. “Some farmers will
have to set out their tobacco
again.”
Price said Tuesday that it
was too early to tell the exact
damage the cold weather did
to the tobacco. "We will know
how much damage was done
after the first good warm
rain,” he explained. “The
undamaged tobacco will
comeback.”
Farmers report that the
worse damage occurred in
plant beds that were not
covered. “We have some sick
beds in the county today,” he
added.
Price said conditions
Extra Ferry Trip
Because of an anticipated increase in traffic
due to the Easter weekend, there will be an
additional round trip made by the Southport-Fort
Fisher Ferry for Saturday, April 17 and Sunday,
April 18.
In addition to the standard four round trips,
there will be a 5 p.m. departure from Southport
and a 5:30 p.m. departure from Fort Fisher.
Easter Holidays
Government offices and financial institutions
will be closed Monday in observance of Easter.
The Southport-Brunswick County Library will be
closed that day.
Brunswick County will have until Monday,
April 26, for vacation.
pointed to a banner tobacco
crop in the county until the
cold weather returned. “We
always have a good cold spell
just before or just after
Easter,” he pointed out. “The
cold spell apparently came
earlier this year because
Easter was late.”
Because of the early spring
weather in the county, the
ASCS manager said that
more than one - third of the
crop has been planted — a
record planting this early in
the year for county farmers.
“This is the earliest this
much tobacco has been
planted in Brunswick
County,” he explained. “We
have always had a few early
plantings, but never this
much in the past.”
Early planting without cold
weather usually produces
heavy tobacco, which is in
demand. “The farmer who
can make the good grade can
make money on tobacco this
year," Price stated. “But the
market for trash tobacco will
be down this year because so
much was marketed last
year.”
Price said there is prac
tically no way that farmers
growing good tobacco can fail
to make money this year.
“Price supports have been
increased more than 13
percent to $1.05 or $1.06,” he
pointed out.
superintendent when
Columbus County built 10,500
- square - foot school ad
ministration building.
“Sadly, we made some
mistakes we don’t want to
make here,” he stated.
Commissioner Franky
Thomas said he agreed that a
conference room may be
needed to obtain records used
during a meeting. “I don’t
want to see the price in
flated,” he stated. “But you
don’t buy a new Lincoln and
put black - wall tires on it. I
favor spending a few extra
dollars to have what we
nppH ”
Sutton, who said six or
seven meeting rooms will be
needed if the assembly center
is rejected, told com
missioners that the Planning
Board holds meetings all over
the county and has never had
problems because the right
records were not available.
‘‘I think you are a little off
base,” Thomas sated. “We
need our records because we
discuss more things in depth
in a week than the Planning
Board does in a year. We
have to have the correct
information because the
press attends all our
meetings.”
Sutton said the assembly
center can be accepted or
rejected when the master
"plan is presented 'and
distances determined.
Sloan said he favored
seeing the model to deter
mine how the assembly
center relates to other
buildings in the complex. He
said all commissioners have
“dreams” about the com
plex, but residents were
keeping a close eye on the
costs.
Hicks said he disagreed
with County Manager Don
Flowers, Jr., that “dollars
and cents are a prime con
sideration.” “If dollars and
cents mean that much,
executive offices should be
reduced,” King stated.
Boudreaux said the sizes of
all offices in the complex can
be justified.
King suggested consulting
the state school planning
committee to provide in
formation about the matter.
He said the information could
be obtained in about two
(Continued On Page 2)
Six File For
Public Office
Two incumbents have filed
for public office in Brunswick
County, Board of Elections
Executive Secretary Linda
Babson said Tuesday mor
ning.
W.T. Bowen, a Waccamaw
farmer, is running for re -
election for one of the two
seats on the Board of
Education. He is presently
serving as vice-chairman of
the board.
Rep. Allen Ward of
Thomasboro has filed for the
house seat representing
Brunswick and Pender
counties in the General
Assembly.
Four candidates have filed
for the five open seats on the
Board of Commissioners.
They include William
Stanley, Jr., of Shallotte,
Cletis Clemmons and Andrew
Gray, both of Lockwood
Folly, and Pearly J. Vereen
of Waccamaw.
All the candidates who
have filed except Bowen will
be running in the Democrat
primary. The Board of
Education is a non - partisan
race.
No Republican candidates
have filed for office in the
county.