July 8,1992 / 50 cents
’92 festival
among best
in long line
"It’s over," a smiling but ex
hausted Mike Reaves said Monday.
A lot of folks wished it wasn’t.
Reaves, who took two weeks va
cation from his job as president of
Brunswick Community College to
head this year’s N. C. Fourth of July
Festival, paused for the first time to
look back on the 1992 festival that
ran as smoothly as any that long
time observers could recall. Except
for a raincd-out Beach Day concert |
all festival events were held as
scheduled, although a Saturday
afternoon threat of thundershowers
interrupted the Embers concert and
cut about ten or 15 minutes off the
fireworks extravaganza that night.
Reaves said the Beach Day cancel
lation of the Band of Oz concert was
unavoidable.
wc jum uiu noi gei tnc equipment
covered up in time," he recalled
Monday. The storm passed quickly
enough but the area was too wet for
the band to continue playing. "It was
not safe," Reaves said.
The Saturday night Embers con
cert also was halted by rain but there
was time and sufficient material to
cover the equipment. Some of the
fireworks to be used later in the eve
ning did get wet, though.
Reaves said he will recommend
the addition of a covered stage, at
least at Waterfront Park in Southport
where most of the entertainment is
presented.
Reaves said more work still needs
to be done on traffic control but he
said he and other festival volunteers
received "a lot of good comments"
about traffic flow. "They said it was
better than ever before."
Another problem Reaves cited was
the lack of public restrooms. He said
the Fourth of July board will seek
solutions to this and other problems
before the 1993 festival.
Reaves offered no guess about fes
tival attendance — some estimated as
high as 30,000 for the parade,
20,000 for the fireworks — but said
he was impressed by the numbers of
people.
"A lot of people can leave and it
doesn’t seem to put a dent in the
crowd," he noted. Police chief Bob
Gray said it was the largest crowd
he’s observed in the three years he’s
been associated with the festival.
Reaves said he wished to thank all
the volunteers who helped stage the
1992 event but especially wanted to
thank the City of Southport crews
and the law enforcement personnel
- police, sheriff’s deputies, state
troopers and North Carolina militia
- who worked the festival. ;
"It is amazing what the people of 1
this small community can do in ■
staging this festival,” he said. "It 1
was a pleasure to work with them. <
My hat’s off to them.” I
1
Trampp the Patriotic Dog gives owner Jan
McBane of Wilmington a rest during Saturday’s N.
Photo by Ed Harper
C. Fourth of July Festival parade. More than 30,000
people lined, the parade route.
House vote prohibits county
ABC near existing operations
By Holly Edwards
County Editor
The N. C. House of Representa
tives ratified a bill this week that
prohibits Brunswick County ABC
stores from opening within seven
miles of an existing municipal ABC
store. A "sunset clause" had been
put on the seven-mile ban last year
■vhen it was enacted so that it would
;xpire last Wednesday, July 1.
The conflict between municipal
md county ABC officials began last
rear when the county announced
>lans to establish an ABC store at
iiver Run Shopping Center near
Southport. Municipal ABC boards
allied against the move, saying the
ounty store would take away local
lusiness, and asked Rep. David
tedwine (D-Brunswick) to inter
7 hope this will
send a message
statewide that this
should remain in
the local govern
ment arena.’
Rosetta Short
Long Beach ABC
cede. Redwine said he hoped the lo
cal and county ABC boards would
haVe time to compromise, but nei
ther side has changed its position.
The county ABC board has argued
for a consolidation of all ABC
boards, and the local ABC boards
have said they are simply protecting
their towns’ revenues.
"We got what we wanted," said
Long Beach ABC board member
Rosetta Short. "Now this puts the
county on notice that the
municipalities’ tax dollars should
not be interfered with. I hope this
will send a message statewide that
this should remain in the local gov
ernment arena.”
County ABC board chairman John
Ramsey said he expected the seven
jnile ban to be made permanent.
"We’re just trying to go about the
business of the board," he said.
"We’re talking about three more
stores that would all fall within the
See ABC ban, page 6
Only eight districts suggested
Zoning draft not ‘restrictive’
‘You’re dealing with property rights,
constitutional rights, vested rights.
You’re dealing with people’s most closely
held, cherished possessions. When you
start dealing with that, it’s a big respon
sibility.’
David Clegg ’ $
County manager/attorney
By Holly Edwards
County Editor
"I truly believe this ordinance is a
necessity and a step forward for
Brunswick County," planning direc
tor John Harvey said Monday
afternoon as he unveiled his 113
page draft of a zoning ordinance for
county commissioners* considera
tion. "I’ve sought to avoid develop
ment of over-zealous regulations....
And I have tried for a new perspec-'
live in zoning throughout this or
dinance."
Harvey said he began the or
dinance two years ago, and that the
project has been "on again, off
again" until mid-March, when com
missioners gave Harvey a 120-day
deadline to present a zoning or
dinance draft.
Commissioners have not said
what, if any, decision they will
make regarding the ordinance. They
have simply said they will consider
the document Harvey has submitted.
The ordinance would affect only
unincorporated areas of the county,
not municipalities or towns, and it
would not be retroactive.
"It’s a lot to digest in a 24-hour
period, but I’m pleased to see it’s
not overly regulative,", said com
See Zoning plan, page 6
Meeting next_ week
How and when
of CP&L start
to be discussed
By Jim Harper
Staff Writer
While not under direct Nuclear
Regulatory Commission order to
shut down operations CP&L’s
Brunswick Nuclear Plant is "im
plicitly” shut down by the NRC, the
commission’s regional director says,
and a meeting is set for July 16 to
discuss how and when the plant can
resume operations.
CP&L voluntarily took both
Brunswick nuclear generating units
off line April 21 while repairs to the
emergency diesel generator (EDG)
building were underway, but sub
sequent NRC directives have de
scribed. problems which must be
solved before plant operation can
resume.
The July 16 meeting in Atlanta is
roughly a week before CP&L must
formally answer how both short
term and long-term problems --
ranging from equipment corrosion1
to management practices - will be
handled.
With that in mind, Stewart D. Eb
neter, regional administrator for the
NRC, said Tuesday that "shutdown
is implicit in what is going on."
‘They fix things the
NRC finds and do a
good job of it, but
they have difficulty
in fixing things they
Stewart Edneter
NRC administrator
Though a cascading set of events
-- from an unfavorable Systematic
Assessment of Licensee Per
formance (SALP) report in January,
through five later unfavorable
reports and two regional reprimands
to an unwholesome appearance on
<he national NRC "waiCh list” last
week - seems to have beset die
Brunswick plant, Ebneter said Tues
day that the Brunswick plant "did
not get there overnight."
"It goes back to 1988," Ebneter
See Start-up, page 6
District voters will
go to polls July 28
voters in the Southeast Brunswick Sanitary District will have a
chance July 28 to approve a $1.2-million bond issue to finance
wastewater collection and treatment in their area.
The district is bounded by the Intracoastal Waterway, Beaverdam
Creek, Highway 211 and the CP&L discharge canal.
Further funding for the project is expected in the form of a $2.6
million federal grant should the issue be approved. The bonds are to
be retired through tap-on and user fees.
Tie initial service area for the district will be along Beach Road and
in developed sections west of Beach Road and north of the Fish Fac
tory Road intersection.
A section of Dutchman Acres subdivision north of Highway 211
will also be included in the service area at Farmers Home Adminis
tration insistence, but residents of that community will not participate
in the July 28 referendum.
Voting will be held from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Moose Lodge
on Beach Road, where a special voter registration was held June 13.
The question voters are being asked to decide specifies the $1.2
million figure for constructing and installing collection lines, sewer
mains and lines, force mains and lift stations, as well as a wastewater
treatment plant (planned for a site near Beaverdam Creek, north of
Airport Road).
J
r Wf:
j IV^—I
Forecast
The extended forecast
calls for fair skies Thurs
day with highs in the 90s
and lows in the upper 60s.
Friday, expect highs in the
upper 80s to lower 90s
with a chance of afternoon
showers. Lows are forecast
to be in the upper 60s to
lower 70s.
Tide table
HIGH LOW
THURSDAY, JULY 9
4:09 a.m. 10:18 am.
5:00p.m. 11:09p.m.
FRIDAY, JULY 10
5:06 a.m. 11:14 am.
5:56 p.m. pm.
SATURDAY, JULY 11
6:01 a.m. 12:05 am.
6:46 p.m. 12:07 pm.
SUNDAY, JULY 12
6:54 a.m. 12:56 am.
7:33 p.m. 12:55 pm.
MONDAY, JULY 13
7:40 a.m. 1:42 a.m.
8:16p.m. 1:41p.m.
TUESDAY, JULY 14
8:23 a.m. 2:24 a.m.
8:56 p.m. 2:23 pm.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 15
9:05 am. 3.03 a.m.
9:33 pm. 303 pm.
The following adjustment! should be made:
Bald Head Island, high -10, low -7; Caswell
Beach, high -5, low -1; Southport, high +7,
low +15, Yaupon Beach, high -32, low -45;
Lockwood Folly, high -22, low -8.