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INSIDE
Volume 62/Number 17
Southport, N.C.
December 16,1992 / 50 cents
THE CHAMPIONS
The State 2A high school football championship
was firmly in the grasp of West Brunswick Tro
Photo by Jim Harper
jans as they stopped the vaunted Maiden Blue
Devil ground attack on Saturday and won 14*6
Impact could be great
CP&L has no answer
for questions of layoff
By Jim Harper
Staff Writer
Carolina Power and Light Co. president William
Cavanaugh, III, was "out of town” and no other man
ager was permitted to comment early this week on
planned worker reductions at the Brunswick plant and
other CP&L facilities.
Company layoffs have been rumored for some time
and an interview with Cavanaugh was sought to find
out if local layoffs or firings were imminent.
Head CP&L public relations person Wade Pridgen
said Cavanaugh was out of town and said that acting
Brunswick manager Dick Morgan was not permitted to
discuss such matters with the press.
"I guess you’re stuck with me," said Pridgen.
Pridgen said CP&L was planning to reduce the num
ber of contract employees at its three nuclear plants and
in Raleigh headquarters but said the plan was still un
der development.
Pridgen said that 3,100 contract workers are
employed by CP&L at Brunswick, Harris and
Robinson plants, as well as in Raleigh. Half of that
number — about 1,500 — work at Brunswick on plant
related projects and another 600 are employed at the
site in company-wide business.
Contract workers — not directly employed by CP&L
- at Brunswick are roughly divided into three groups:
those in permanent arrangements such as security and
janitorial; those in mid-term arrangements that may be
years-long, but are finite; and those employed in short
term, specific outage tasks.
Long Beach board approves
undergrounding assessment
By Amitabh Pal
Municipal Editor
Long Beach commissioners gave
- Jthe go-ahead Tuesday night for the
first phase of undergrounding elec
tric lines in the town, authorizing a
$1.25 per-front-foot assessment for
property owners.
The project undertaken by Bruns
wick Electric Membership Corpora
tion (BEMC) will include the Beach
Drive sections from 58th Street SE
to 46th Place East, 16th Place East
to Middleton Street, and Middleton
Street to 17th Place West
Councilman Danny Leonard, who
introduced the motion, said the
$1.25 rate is a "compromise figure
so that everybody will be assessed
the same amount"
Councilman Horace Collier com
mented that the figure meant the
cost per lot would be about $200,
taking into account the $128.75 cost
of putting service lines underground.
Brunswick County schools
Air quality issue still not clear
By Marybeth Bianchi
Feature Editor
While a concerned teacher
thanked the Brunswick County
Board of Education for addressing
air quality problems at Lincoln Pri
mary School, a concerned parent
demanded more than "just a quick
fix" and handed the board a stack of
medical bills.
Jean Speight, whose five-year-old
son reportedly has been plagued by
a variety of ailments ranging from
throat, sinus and ear infections to
acute bronchitis and pneumonia,
gave the board $985 worth of doctor
bills and said, "I expect payment be
fore you move into your new of
fice."
Beth Crawford, the second grade
teacher whose concern about her
students’ recurring allergy and
asthma problems prompted her to
call state and local officials to check
into ventilation problems at the
school, seemed pleased with the ac
tion being taken by the board of ed
ucation. However, she said she is
See Air quality, page 11
‘We need to be looking at all the ave
nues. We will not be content to take just
one approach to it. We are intent on pur
suing this to get the problem resolved.’
Dr. Ralph Johnston
School superintendent
Opinions vary on new board
By Holly Edwards
County Editor
While Brunswick County’s former board of commissioners "rubber
stamped" decisions with little debate or discussion, the new board will be
marked by disagreement and conflict of opinions, predicted newly elected
commissioners chairman Don Warren.
"I saw some dissent on the board and I think you’ll see it again," Warren
declared after the board’s Erst official meeting last Monday.•
Democrats now hold the majority on the board with new members
Wayland Vereen, Tom Rabon, Sr., and Wanen. Republicans Donald Shaw
and Jerry Jones served on the last board.
Although Warren said he anticipated a more dissonant board, he added
quickly that conflict is not necessarily a bad thing. He said zoning would
be discussed "continuously."
"Sometimes it can be healthy," he said. "That’s why the Democrats got
elected, to bring some new ideas to the board."
Shaw also predicted the board would have disagreements, and that
zoning would be a "hot issue."
"I hate to say this, but it seems like everything we done (the new com
missioners) don’t like," he said. "But if they want to come in and rework
some things, I welcome the opportunity to work with them."
Jones agreed that the new organization of the board could potentially
lead to discord, but said he believed the commissioners could work togeth
er as long as they communicate and exchange ideas. He said zoning would
work itself out in time, and that he would not mind making changes in the
See Opinions, page 6
BEMC district manager Don
Hughes said earlier that in any new
development the charge would be
the same that BEMC had proposed
to the town — $1.15 per front foot
for a single-phase line and $3.45 for
a three-phase line.
In other action, the council put
$53,000 received from the fire de
partment into a capital reserve fund
and budgeted $3,000 for a consul
tant to assess the need for a new fire
building and equipment.
Fire chief Tim Pittman had pro
posed that the $53,000 be used to
pay off installments on an existing
fire truck, and the money thus saved
be used to build a new station near
Middleton Street
The council vote was 3-3, with
mayor Joan Altman breaking the tie
in favor of town manager Tim
Johnson’s recommendation to hire a
consultant.
Some council members expressed
concern at spending $3,000 for a
consultant.
"If we were a town of 100,000 we
would be justified in hiring a con
sultant at $450 per day," said coun
cilman David Durr.
"I really don’t know anyone in
town who has the expertise,"
responded councilman Bill Easley.
Altman, breaking the deadlock,
said the fire department acted in
good faith when it turned over the
money and the council needs to
show its support.
The council tabled a proposed
Poly-cart ordinance that provided no
penalty for leaving carts in the right
of-way.
"At our next meeting we do some
thing about it," Leonard said. "We
fix it or forget about it."
Gun confiscated at school
A 25-caliber pistol was confiscated Monday from a South Bruns
wick Middle School student and several students have been
suspended in connection with the incident
Because the individuals involved are juveniles, neither principal
Les Tubb nor Boiling Spring Lakes police chief James Vaughan
would reveal their names or say much about the incident
Tubb said he has been in contact with the students’ parents and is
following normal school policy, dealing with the possession of a
weapon on campus, which includes notifying local law enforcement
officials.
< Although Tubb was reluctant to comment, he did say the gun pos
session had nothing to do with anything going on at the school.
Vaughan said the police will work with the school system to see
whether or not any charges are filed against the juveniles.
"We just want to cooperate with the school following up on their
procedures," Vaughan said.
OUTSIDE
Forecast
The forecast calls for
rain on Thursday, fol
lowed by clearing Friday
and becoming partly
cloudy Saturday. Highs
are expected to be in the
low-to-mid-60s Thursday
and Friday and upper 50s
Saturday; lows will range
downward from 52 to
about 47 through the peri
od.
Tide table
HIGH LOW
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17
1:47 a.m. 7:54 a.m.
2:01 pm. 8:18 pm.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18
2:49 a.m. 12:46 a.m.
3:02 p.m. 1:08 p.m.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19
3:50 a.m. 10:01 am.
4:01pm. 10:14 pm.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 20
4:48 a.m. 11:01 am.
5:01pm. 11:07 pm.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 21
5:43 a.m. 11:52 am.
5:52 pm. 11:59 pm.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 22
6:34 ajn. -a.m.
6:43 pm. 12:42 pjn.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23
7:22 a.m. 12:47 a.m.
7:29 p.m. 1:29 pm.
The followiiig adjustments 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.