^oOJTIQv
THE STATE PORT PILOT
'^6 -191®
Volume 47 Number 43
May 12, 1976
Southport, N. C.
22 Page«
10 Cents
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BRUNSWICK COUNTY OFFICIALS are trying to persuade state and
federal agencies not to destroy the causeway beside the new Oak Island
bridge. The coirnty says the causeway is needed as an emergency exit in
case something should happen to the new bridge.
County Asks That
Causeway Remain
By BILL ALLEN
Staff Writer
Brunswick County is
petitioning federal and state
officials to “save” the old
Oak Island causeway from
destruction, County Planner
Johnny Sutton announced this
week.
Letters and supporting
data requesting that the
causeway be left in its
present state have been sent
to the Fifth District office of
the U S. Coast Guard and the
Department of Natural and
Economic Resources. The
two agencies are expected to
make their decision in the
next few weeks.
“We are trying to em
phasize the importance of the
causeway to the safety and
health of the citizens of Oak
Island for generations to
Beach To Vote June 29
stem
. *4»"
By .BILL ALLEN
Staff Writer
No opposition was ex
pressed to holding a $2.9
million referendum to
finance the Long Beach water
system during a public
hearing at Town Hall last
Wednesday night.
“Now it is up to you people
(voters),”said Mayor Harold
Crain after the Long Beach
board unanimously approved
two legal resolutions to hold
the referendum on June 29.
James Wilson, who along
with William Piver
represented Pierson
Whitman, engineers on the
project, said Phase I
customers should be
receiving city water within 16
to 18 months after the
referendum is approved by
voters.
Although questions were
asked at the public hearing,
no one expressed opposition.
“We need this water system
— we need it badly,”
declared Commissioner
Russell Morrison. “If we
don’t get it this time, I don’t
know when we will get it.”
“I would be appalled if this
community votes down this
water system,” Mayor Crain
stated. “It would be a
disaster. We are trying to get
a water system that is
desperately needed. Our
present water system broke
down during the Easter
holiday.”
Voters will be asked in the
June 29 referendum to ap
prove allowing the town to
issue water bonds not ex
ceeding $2.9 million to con
struct a water distribution
system, including treatment
facilities, pumping stations,
and water mains and lines.
Mayor Crain and Com
missioner Ellis Dudley ex
pressed concern because
requirements demand that
the legal notices about the
bond issue say that “taxes
shall be levided in an amount
sufficient to pay the principal
of and the interests on said
bonds.”
Both men said no tax
money will be needed to
support the water system,
because it will be self
supporting from customer
revenue. “It is inconeivable
to me that revenue from the
system would not pay the
principal and interests,”
Mayor Crain declared.
Mayor Crain announced
that the county has agreed to
give the town the site of the
water tank, which has
already been purchased, free
of charge. “The county does
not have the money to build
the water tank for us," he
added.
If the town receives more
help from the county, Mayor
Crain said the price Long
Beach purchases water — 30
cents per 1,000 gallons —
would increase. He said the
county will have to justify an
increase in the water rate to
the town.
Piver outlined plans to
construct the phased water
system, which has a total
projected cost of $2,620,378.
He said it was designed to
Maximize the number of
customers to receive
revenue to complete con
struction of the system.
Phase I will cover from the
Yaupon Beach - Long Beach
city limits to 40th Street;
Phase II, 40th Street to 25th
Street, Phase III, 25th Street
to Middleton Street and
Phave IV, Middleton to the
West Yacht Drive point.
Phase I, which includes
trunk lines, laterals, ocean
front tank, lines and meters,
wilj cost $1,838,514, Phase II,
trunk lines and meters,
$307,848; Phase II, trunk lines
and meters, $152,105 and
Phase IV, priority laterals,
$4,321,911.
Piver predicted that Phase
III will be in service in three
to five years.
The engineer said a
decision was made against
completing a skelton system
to The Point at first in order
to install more laterals to
obtain more customers.
Piver broke down the $2.6
million projected cost to
include construction,
$2,239,640; legal and ad
minstration, $25,000;
engineering, $146,600; in
terest, $150,000; and con
tingency, $59,138. In addition,
engineering will run five
percent and inspections, 1.5
percent.
He said door-to-door sur
veys in Long Beach show that
the water system will have
1,878 customers. The water
bill will be $8.92.
Piver said it has been made
mandatory that residents tap
on the system and pay a one
time assessment fee of $1 per
linear or running foot on the
frontof all lots.
The tap-on fee will be only
New Manager
At CP&L Unit
A new manager of the
Brunswick nuclear plant has
been appointed, Carolina
Power & Light Company
announced this week.
Ben J. Furr, who has been
with the company since 1963,
assumed his new duties this
week as manager of the plant
outside Southport.
He replaces E .G. Hollowell,
who has served as the
manager since the plant
opened.
Hollowell, who has been
associated with the plant
since 1968, has been named
principal engineer for start -
up and testing in the Bulk
Power Supply department in
the Raleigh office.
Nuclear plant management
is nothing new to Furr since
he has served as manager of
CP&L's first nuclear unit, the
H.B. Robinson plant at
Hartsville, S.C.
He was named operating
supervisor of the South
Carolina plant in 1965. He
became the manager in 1972.
A native of Albemarle and
a graduate of North Carolina
State University in Raleigh,
Furr has had engineering
assignments at the Lee plant
near Goldsboro, the Robinson
plant and the Roxboro plant.
Furr is married to the
former Miss Pempie Lefler of
Albemarle. They have one
daughter, Jane Leigh Furr.
Hollowell and his wife,
Susie, and four children have
lived on Cape Fear Drive
while in Southport.
$25 when the line goes past a
house during construction. It
will increase to $150 after
construction. The town will
'run the line to the property
line for the fee.
The assessment will be
charged only one time
Customers will have ten
years to pay it.
Since the system will
depend on customers paying
their bills, Piver said the
town should charge a high
’disconnection, reconnection
fee to encourage summer
cottage users to remain on
the system.
He said the system could
not allow summer residents
to disconnect during the
winter months. “Financially,
your system could not afford
to let ithappen,” the engineer
stated.
Piver said the town board
had dropped plans to have a
second water tank at this
time because of the ad
ditional costs. But he said the
town will take bids on the
second tank in case a low
GOP’s Seek
County Board
The first four Republican
candidates for the Brunswick
County Board of Com
missioners entered the race
this week, Executive
Secretary Linda Babson of
the Board of Elections
reported Monday.
Ellis Dudley of Smithville
Township, Jack W. Hewett of
Lockwood Folly township,
Wayne Long of Waccamaw
Township and Charlie Long of
Town Creek Township all
filed for seats on the board.
Robert J. Robinson of
Holden Beach became the
first Democrat to file for the
Register of Deeds.
Dudley is presently serving
as mayor pro - tern on the
Long Beach Board of Com
missioners. Wayne Long and
Charlie Long are former
deputies in the Brunswick
County Sheriff’s Department.
Hewett is president of the
union at Federal Paper
Company at Riegelwood.
Robinson, who is self -
employed in the restaurant
business, is a vice - chairman
of the Democratic party in
the county. .
price is received.
He said a study showed that
the second tank will not be
needed for 10 to 15 years when
the town has more
development. It will be
needed for pressure and
(Continued on page 2)
come,” Sutton stated.
Sutton said the county,
supported by other agencies
in the county, is opposed to
the removal of the causeway
for a number of reasons.
He pointed out that the new
bridge is the only exit from
Oak Island. ‘‘In time of an
emergency, the causeway
could be modified as alter
nate exit route,” the county
planner explained.
Sutton said that
“something happening to the
new bridge is a real
possibility” since the
Department of Tran
sportation has said it can’t be
used to run a water line to
Oak Island. DOT has told
county officials that the new
bridge “was not designed to
support the suspension of the
eight - inch water line.”
“If the new high - rise
bridge is knocked out, there
would be no other access to
Mayor Clears
Dosher Inquiry
If the Smithville Township
hospital referendum is ap
proved by voters in August
the special tax money can
only be spent at the Dosher
site, Southport Mayor E.B.
Tomlinson, Jr., said this
week.
“This money may be spent
here and here only, not
anywhere else in the county,
or for any other purpose than
that specified in the request
for the referendum,” Mayor
Tomlinson declared.
Mayor Tomlinson spoke in
response to a letter from
Eddie Spencer, which ap
peared in last week’s Pilot
Spencer’s letter raised
questions which he said have
not been answered.
The mayor said Dosher
hospital is jointly owned by
Southport and Brunswick
County with control exercised
by the board of trustees in
accordance with the charter
and a Superior Court order.
“This board of trustees has
authorized the architect to
proceed with plans for
providing new and renovated
facilities at the present
location of Dosher, in line
with existing hospital’s
* license for operation,” Mayor
Tomlinson explained.
The fees of the architect,
the mayor continued, will be
paid either from bonds
authorized in the referendum
upon its approval or by
pledges from friends of
Dosher should the referen
dum fail. “The referendum
calls for a four - cent per $100
valuation tax levy in Smith
continued on page 2)
Oak Island,” Sutton ex
plained. “If the causeway is
left, a floating drawbridge
could provide temporary
access during repairs to the
new bridge.”
Robert Moul, en
vironmental planner in the
Brunswick County Planning
Department, conducted a
study that shows the mar
shland would be better served
by leaving the causeway in
place.
Sutton said the causeway is
needed to maintain public
utility service, including the
water line, in addition to
providing the emergency
exit.
General Manager Robert
G. Hubbard of Brunswick
Electric Membership and
district Engineer R.W. Isley,
Jr., of Southern Bell have
written letters supporting
(Continued on page 2)
Commissioner
WOl Not Run
W.T. (Rusty) Russ, Jr.,
county commissioner from
Shallotte Township an
nounced this morning that he
would not seek re - election.
He was the leading vote -
getter among candidates for
county commissioner in the
1974 election.
Russ cited obligation to his
family and other duties as his
reason for not running for
office agaia He offered his
thanks for support given him
and pledged to work to the
best of his ability during the
balance of his term.
Southport Land-Use
Plan Receives Okay
t
By KI) IIARPKR
News Kditor
Only one minor change was
made in the City of Southport
land-use (dan during a public
hearing last Wednesday
night.
The document will be
formally approved tomorrow
night at the regular Board of
Aldermen meeting, slated for
City Hall at 7:30. No other
changes — except for editing
by a Coastal Resources
Commission representative
— will be made before the
plan is submitted May 21 to
the CRC.
According to Mayor
Eugene B. Tomlinson, Jr., no
one examined the land-use
plan during the month it was
available at City Hall.
Thursday night during the
one-hour, ten-minute public
hearing only two citizens
offered comment — Bob
Haggard, who asked
clarification of several
points, and Bobby Thorsen,
who said the plan “would
prevent me from doing with
my property as I see fit.”
Several members of the
town Planning Board, who
were waiting for their own
meeting to start, endorsed
the land-use plan.
Community Planner Tom
Cassell said the land-use
document was a “plan for
meeting and correcting
problems” during the next
ten years. While Cassell
explained points of the plan to
Haggard, the mayor was
answering Thorsen.
"Nowhere does it imply
that the government is going
to take anyone’s land,” said
Tomlinson is response to the
charge government was
taking property by “police
power.”
“You’re not taking it,”
Thorsen agreed with the
mayor. “You’re assuming
control. I will not stand
corrected."
Thorsen was not clear in
answer to the question
whether he had read the
city's land-use plan. His
comments were general, with
frequent mention of the
Coastal Area Management
Act.
Cassell noted that “the
bulk” of the Areas of En
vironmental Concern were
(he wetlands — around
creeks west of town and the
“Rent-A-Jaycee”
“Rent-A-Jaycee Week” will be observed next
Monday through Saturday in the Southport area,
according to Jaycee President Bill Coring.
Hours will be from 5 until 8 p.m. Monday
through Friday and from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. on
Saturday. Cost of the Jaycee labor will be $2.00
and up per hour, depending on the skill and sweat
involved. Reservations can be made by calling
457-9586.
Chamber Meeting
A general membership meeting of the South
port - Oak Island Chamber of Commerce will be
held Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Fireside
Restaurant, Long Beach.
John Barbee, president of the Chamber, said a
business session will follow the Dutch dinner. A
Long Beach Lions Club meeting will be held
earlier in the evening, Barbee noted, but
businessmen who are members of both
organizations should be able to join in the
discussion of Chamber business.
boat harbor. "Carolina bays”
west of the primary school
also were identified.
Haggard asked, who would
issue permits under the law?
In Phase II of the Coastal
Management Act, Cassell
stated, the city would issue
permits. For areas of en
vironmental Concern, the
Coastal Resources Com
mission would be the agency
involved.
Who polices the law, and
what are the penalties for
non-compliance? Haggard
asked.
Cassell said the Coastal
Resources Commission
would “police” the law, but
said he was unsure what
procedure would be followed,
There are 20 counties and 30
cities involved in the Coastal
Area Management Act, he
pointed out.
Concerning variances,
Haggard was told that the
city must submit to the
Coastal Resources Com
mission a plan for granting
variances. He said he hoped a
duplication of permit-letting
could be avoided, and Coastal
pointed out this was one
reason behind creation of the
CRC.
City Attorney Carter
Lambeth asked if there are
areas which now are eligible
for permits but would not be
under the Coastal Area
Management rules. Cassell
said the Commission is
considering a 75-foot section
(Continued on page 2)