Clegg
Continued from page 1
board's decision, and called county
govemmenta "personal commitment"
for him. During the past few weeks,
he said the public has given him an
"outpouring" of support - calling him
on the phone, yelling out to him dur
ing the Oak Island Christmas-by-the
Sea parade, shaking his hand at the
gas station.
"I have had phone call after phone 1
call after phone call from both Demo- J
crats and Republicans," Clegg said.
"The show of support has been so
humbling. If s a good feeling to know |
there are good, decent people who
care about having a stable, account
able and functional government in
Brunswick County."
At a Democratic party meeting held
last Thursday night, Stanley urged the
new Democratic commisisoners to
ask for Clegg's resignation immedi
ately. Stanley said he had no personal
vendetta against Clegg, but that the
people of Brunswick County had
voted for change. And in order to
bring about change, he added, not
only Clegg but all county department
heads should be replaced.
"It would be stupid for the new
commissioners to go in and make
such a radical change," Stanley ad
mitted. "But, they can start at the top.
They can let the people know they are
the group that will make a change in
Brunswick County. You cannot
change anything and keep the status
quo.”
In other business Monday, the board
agreed to defer a vote on the proposed
leash ordinance until its December 21
meeting.
Baxter
Continued from page 1
ship with the administration.”
Baxter said she did not campaign
for the position and was not certain
she'd get the job, although there was
some indication she would.
"In politics you don't ever count on
it until it happens,” she said. "I had
hoped in my heart it would go that
way."
Nominations for chairman and vice
chairman were made by the two new
est members on the board of educa
tion.ThurmanGause and Bill Fairley,
and the vote was unanimous on both
counts. Yvonne Bright was re-elected
vice-chairman. If the vote for chair
man had been split, Baxter said she
would have withdrawn her name from
consideration.
"My dreamsand hopes for this board
are to move forward. As a team we
can do this. Put aside politics. The
main reason we ran ... is for the chil
dren. Whatever we can do to work
together, that is what I'm for,” Baxter
had said earlier in the meeting.
Her agenda for the next year in
cludes completing the policy update,
reviewing salaries for the secretarial
staff, monitoring the new end-of
coursetesting.andstrengthening staff
development, site-based management
and the effective schools process.
As he vacated his seat on the board.
Bob Slockett said he's seen a lot of
progress during his four-year term
but he's concerned there's no one on
the school boarcj or administrative
staff with a science background. He
also expressed concern about the in
fluence of politics in education.
"Politics pollutes the educational
process in Brunswick County. I re
sent and despise that," Slockett said.
If the county hopes to rise above me
diocrity, he said, "We must make de
cisions to benefit children."
Slockett did not seek re-election to
the school board. He was an unsuc
cessful candidate for the county board
of commissioners from District 3.
There is a base on which to build a
school system of excellence, the su
perintendent Ralph Johnston said.
"I believe Brunswick County has a
board of education (where) the focus
is children first, and nothing less than
equity and excellence in education."
The next meeting of the board of
education will be at 6:30 p.m. Mon
day, December 14, at Lincoln Pri
mary School.
Manager
Continued from page 1
leave Southport soon.
"I want somebody who can estab
lish roots here," Delaney said.
Delaney cited the example of the
previous city manager, Rob Hites,
saying that Southport was just a "step
ping stone for him." He said that if
Hites had a family and children in the
school system then he wouldn't have
been so hasty about finding another
job.
“The continuity is important,"
Delaney said. "I don't think a good job
can be done in a year or two."
' Delaney said there are professional
... considerations as well.
“We need somebody with experi
ence in running municipal govern
Several significant changes have taken place at
Southport Baptist Church since this photo was
taken in the mid-1930s. The sanctuary was brick
veneered and the Sunday school area was enlarged.
The steeple was removed and a belfry was erected
in the side yard. And the most dramatic change was
when the new sanctuary was erected. All of these
changes took place at the same location.
merit," he said. "The legalities of run
ning a town are so complex that oth
erwise we can get into trouble fast."
Holden, who has worked with three
city managers and two acting manag
ers, said his experience with all has
been very satisfying.
"All three managers were profes
sionals and contributed to the growth
of the city," he said.
Gore said he had been satisfied
with Nelson Smith, the city manager
before Hites, and had been "very sat
isfied" with Hites whom, he said, will
be "hard to replace."
Brown, Adams and Childs also ex
pressed their satisfaction with the last
two city managers.
Delaney said he had been satisfied
with Hites, but not with Smith, al
though he had worked only with Hites
as an alderman.
Crowe said he was "sorry to see
Hites leave" although he couldn't
blame him because of the higher sal
ary he was offered by the City of
Lumberton.
None of the board members this
week saw anything of overriding im
portance that required immediate at
tention of a new city manager.
"We've got problems with increas
ing electrical rates," Holden said. "We
have to continue the downtown reha
bilitation that we have started."
Gore said the boardwalk and the
waterfront needed attention but there
is nothing he could see that could be
termed a problem.
Delaney said specifications for the
boardwalk required consideration.
"Rob left at a bad time." he said.
"(Public works director Ed) Honeycutt
had to take over at a critical moment."
Adams said downtown revitaliza
tion, community development block
grants and waterfront access were
some of the ongoing projects that
need attention.
Brown said the Community Build
ing needs attention, as do recreation
facilities for young people.
Childs said there are a number of
small projects that require attention,
although she could not identify any
major problem at the moment.
"If there are any problems, I won't
discuss it readily except with the rest
of the board and the new city man
ager," Crowe said. "As for projects,
there are things like the riverfront
walk and new grants for housing which
should be everyday affairs for a per
son with experience."
Holden said he has reviewed some
of the applications and they look prom
ising. He said acting manager Sylvia
Butterworth knows some of the appli
cants, so additional information on
them should be easy to obtain.
Delaney said he doubted there is an
ideal person for the job, saying that in
Southport "it is hard to please every
body."
Brown said he does not know
whether it would be possible to fine
an ideal person for the job, but sai<
there is someone out there with the
qualities the board is looking for.
Childs said she hoped the manager
who is selected will be better than
Hites although, she added, Hites had
done a good job too.
"I have seen the applications and
there are qualified people," Crowe
said. "There are good candidates for
the post."
Holden said the board hopes to in
terview its top candidates by the end
of the month. A new manager could
assume the post in January, he sug
gested.
Gore estimated that it might be the
end of February or March before a
new manager begins work, while
Delaney and Crowe said it might be at
least the end of January.
Brown said the process might take
as long as two or three months and
said he hopes the appointment would
be made in time for budget hearings.
Bacteria
Continued from page 2
may have told her not to notify every
body."
What everybody would have re
ceived, had the utility company cho
sen, is a letter saying, "COLIFORM
BACTERIA FOUND IN WATER
SAMPLES DURING OCTOBER,
1992," and including a description of
what health problems coliform bacte
ria might cause and an invitation to
call Britt at the utility company office
for further information.
What Britt would have told them is
she took a regular monthly water
sample at Lighthouse Landing unit 12
on October 9, and later she was noti
fied by Law and Company laborato
ries that coliform bacteria were found
in the sample.
Britt said she then took a sample on
October 22 at Lighthouse Landing
unit 12, as well as at the utility com
pany office, at Harbour Village and in
Ibis Roost.
The utility office sample showed
coliform bacteria to be present, thereby
triggering a programmed response thai
is supposed to notify every customei
of the contamination problem.
Britt said she later tested water from
two taps in the utility company office
and no coliform bacteria was found tc
be present.
She said regular November testing
at Ibis Roost, Royal James Landing
and the dockmaster office, as well a:
at Lighthouse Landing and the utility
company office, showed no contami
nation.
That is generally the case with Bair
Head water.
State records indicate no colifom
bacteria presence in Bald Head Islanr
Utilities water samples as far back a
early 1991, though Britt said she re
called contamination in the past.
She said she attributed the "present
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finding to dirty sample bottles pro
vided by the testing lab, and David
Edwards, manager of the utility com
pany, seconded the suspicion.
"Once in a while we've had a bottle
that was bad and we had to resample,"
Edwards said Monday, "but we never
had to notify the public before."
Cross explained there is no require
ment that coliform bacteria be counted
in the sampling overseen bv his de
partment (unlike shellfish sanitation
requirements, where 43 bacteria per
three ounces of water is a danger
point). The laboratory merely finds
coliform bacteria "present" or "ab
sent".
Britt said she considered the con
tamination of island water to be an
anomaly.
"If I had tested the same location
and it had come back bad. I'd have
trouble," she said. "The state would
be down on us here, hot and heavy."
And in Raleigh, Cross agreed.
"From my perspective," he said,
"it's not muchof aproblem out there."
Bald Head Creek is closed to shellfishing and is likely to remain so until
someone cares enough to try and change that.
At the insistence of the federal Food and Drug Administration, the creek
was closed to shellfishing before Thanksgiving. Excessive amounts of
coliform bacteria had been found in creek water samples, and in October
testing they continued to be present
November testing produced a lower bacteria count, but by state — and
shellfishing industry — standards a long history of cleanliness is going to
be required before the creek reopens to commercial and recreational
shellfishing.
The likelihood of the state shellfish sanitation agency mounting a special
effort to find that Bald Head Creek is actually wholesome, or to determine
and correct the source of pollution, is not good. There are too many closed
creeks all along the coast, and too few workers, for individual state atten
tion.
It would seem possible for local initiative to produce a program of in
tensified testing to find that the creek is in reality-safe, or pinpoint what has
gone awry. Some Bald Head islanders have been discussing this in the
wake of tneir creek closure, but no organized activity has developed.
Action by cither the Bald Head village council or property owners group
is unlikely. One will meet December 19 to take up a special matter; there
after neither will meet until late January.
The problem of polluted shellfish waters is not unique even in this area.
Some oystering and clamming waters were closed in the western end of the
county in November, and the Lockwood Folly shellfishery chronically suf
fers from the vagaries of coliform bacteria.
That particular bacteria, though not a major danger in itself, is a standard
indicator of pollution in fishing waters as well as in potable water supplies.
A major problem in assessing this pollution is that coliform bacteria are
produced by animals and birds, as well as by humans. An initial reaction
may be to question our waste disposal habits and standards, but the ques
tion may really be what has increased water pollution by sources other than
r human.
This was suggested by one of the state shellfish supervisors last week.
The creek was more likely to have been contaminated by rainwater runoff
from cleared lands than by mismanaged sewage treatment or septic tank
systems, he said.
What he was describing suggests a question, an enquiry, a surveillance
and study that some Bald Head Islanders have been discussing: Look at the
creek intensively, sec where the pollution is coming from, determine what
is the likely source of that pollution - distinguishing between human and
animal pollution, if possible - and then arrive at a conclusion and a pro
gram to alter the ongoing event.
It is an idea whose time has come.
Now it needs a voice. ’
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