Volume 62/Number 23___Southport, N.C. January 27,1993/ 50 cents VELCRO MAN Photo by Jim Harper Rebarco employee Phillip Hair this week pre- Construction of the plant is running on schedule and pared to take down the forms inside the Yaupon should be completed in August. An estimated 42 Beach sewage treatment plant on Fish Factory Road, million gallons of water will be treated annually. Course is main complaint Food providers have no taste for ordinance By Terry Pope County Editor New rules that could govern how restaurants and licensed day care cen ters serve food has local business owners steaming. The Brunswick County Board of Health wants to adopt a food service manager certification ordinance which stresses proper food-handling tech niques and hygiene. The goal is to protect consumers, but many who spoke at a public hear ing Monday said the proposal will put a strain on their business and employ ees. "You're trying to tell me how to run my business," said Keith Rogers, owner of the Kentucky Fried Chicken store on Long Beach Road. "I think what you're doing is great, but this is scary, in a sense, to me.” Every person who operates a food service must have a certified manager on duty at all times who has com pleted the eight-hour course. It ap plies to restaurants, coffee shops, food stands, drink stands, cafeterias, short order cafes, luncheonettes, school lunchrooms and day care facilities. Rogers said sanitation grades should be sufficient to know if a facility needs more monitoring by the health department. "This is coming pretty quick to me," he added. "You've got a lot of wide open road here." Health board chairman H. J. (Skip) Davis said a committee studied ordi nances from othercounties when writ ing a draft. It will be studied again and face a second public hearing before the health board votes. "The purpose of the ordinance is to educate the people," said Davis. "It's not a done deal. It's not etched in stone." Persons caught serving food with out certification can be charged with a misdemeanor, fined up to $500 and face up to 30 days in jail, the proposal Leland zoning a sensitive area By Terry Pope County Editor Some Leland residents say they will petition the town council and hope it will drop plans to adopt a zoning ordinance. Council members held a public hearing lastThursday on the proposed ordinance and zoning map prepared by the planning board. The two boards will meet jointly Thursday, February 4, at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall for a work session to re view public comments. "The petition will depend on what it says," said councilman George Yates. "We'll consider it and act ac cordingly." A final draft of the proposed ordi nance was given to the council last month. Although the county has ap proved a zoning ordinance effective July 1 for all unincorporated areas, towns do not have to implement their own zoning laws. Leland has had no zoning since it became a town in 1989. Leland's draft sets aside both com mercial and residential districts. A map is on display at Town Hall. One problem is how to enforce new zoning laws for the town's numerous mobile home parks. If a mobile home is moved, the ordinance allows 12 months for another unit to take its place. Also, the town has a mixture of homes and businesses scattered in the same areas. "If we don't have to be zoned, then why go through all of this discussion and get everybody upset?" asked resi dent Debbie Greiner. "You don't have to zone a place to clean it up." Some areas mapped R-20 for resi dential use contain both mobile homes and businesses, said Lynette Carlisle, a former town council member. It places the business owners in a "straight jacket" and forces homeowners to "hold onto what they have for as long as they can" for fear the structure can't be replaced, she said. "You can't wave a magic wand and have everything neatly segregated into See Leland, page 6 ‘You can't wave a magic wand and have everything neatly segregated into zoning districts. What we have now is inadequate.* Lynette Carlisle Former council member Poly-cart issue rolls back around M The much-debated Poly-cart problem in Long Beach may have finally been put to rest--at least for the time being, The town council agreed last week to send a notice to real estate agents and property owners asking them to roU back the cans after trasheoliectian. If this stepisineliective,councilman Jeff Ensminger promised to bring the issue back up in three months to discuss more formal regulations and fines, ■While some residents complained that the carts are unsightly, others said anordinance requiring property owners to roll back their carts immediately would be too muchof a burden on the elderly and out-of-town property owners, “Old ladies would have to go out after dark to get their carta,” said Long Beach resident Frances Allen. "Theycould trip in the sand and Rupert Riley told the council that out-of-town property owners are ’Very upset." “How do you expect them to come down here after Monday and move the carts?" Riley asked- "The consensus of opinion is leave it atone as it is,” However. Long Beach resident Bob Miller said that the town owns a 20-foot right-of-way in front of everyone’s property, and that Poly-carts do not belong on town property. "The Poly-cart belongs to the owner of the property and it should . be put back on his property,” Miller said. "It comes down to this - we ate a people who dont like to be told what they should do. But® ‘Are we so bad in our restaurants right now that we have to have this? And to make it criminal?’ Rodney Melton Crow’s Nest Grill states. Counties have authority to set their own penalties. "Are we so bad in our restaurants right now that we have to have this?" asked Rodney Melton, who owns the Crow’s Nest Grill in Southport. "And to make it criminal?" Persons who need certification must take a two-day course offered through Brunswick Community College. It will cost about S35 per person, said Andrew Robinson. Brunswick County environmental health supervisor. Persons who are hired to supervise the storage, preparation, serving or handling of food at an establishment are given three months to earn a cer tificate, which must be renewed every three years. The non-transferable cer tificate can be revoked if the ordi nance is violated or if the sanitation grade falls below 80 in two out of three consecutive grading periods. That could shut down a business. Robin Schuster, owner of The Robin's Nest, a Southport day care See No taste, page 6 Yaupon board must okay sewer use regs By Holly Edwards Municipal Editor The Yaupon Beach Board of Com missioners held its first workshop Tuesday afternoon on a proposed 24-page sewer use ordinance that must be approved by the state before the town can receive any state fund ing for its sewer project. The N. C. Department of Environ ment Management is currendy reviewing the proposal and is ex pected to approve it within the next few weeks. The board of com missioners has until August, when the sewer system is scheduled to be completed, to adopt the proposal. The ordinance includes Environ mental Protection Agency regula tions on what can be put into sewer systems, and what levels of hazard ous and toxic materials are accept able. It includes, for example, maxi mum permissible concentration levels of radioactive waste, arsenic, cyanide, lead, barium and chloroform. "This is a standard EPA sewer use ordinance and 99 percent of it should be acceptable," said Boney. "It’s required reading and something you need to qualify for funding." Once the state approves the proposal, Yaupon Beach will ‘Now that we know the system is going to fly, the people who didn’t get on board early ought to pay their fair share of the costs. They’re not really providing us with anything we need.’ Mayor May Moore receive the first installment of its $3-million state loan. The town will make two payments per year for the next 20 years to pay for the project. A large portion of the ordinance is devoted to charges, surcharges and fees for sewer service. Board mem bers agreed that out-of-town users should pay more than Yaupon Beach residents, but did not stipu See Sewer rules, page 6 OUTSIDE Forecast The extended forecast calls for dry and cold weather on Thursday, with highs in the 40s and lows in the 20s. Partly cloudy skies move in Fri day and Saturday; highs remain in the 40s with lows moving above the freezing mark. Tide table HIGH LOW THURSDAY, JANUARY 28 11:11a.m. 5:08 a.m. 11:34 p.m. 5:31p.m. Friday, January 29 11:50a.m. 5:51a.m. -p.m. 6:13 p.m. SATURDAY, JANUARY 30 12:22 am. 6:45 a.m. 12:36 pjn. 7:04 p.m. SUNDAY, JANUARY 31 1:18 a.m. 7:45 am. 1:33 p.m. 8:00 p.m. MONDAY, FEBRUARY I 2:19 a.m. 8:50 a.m. 2:36 p.m. 9:05 p.m. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2 3:23 am. 9:55 am. 3:43 p.m. 10:06 p.m. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3 4:25 ajn. 10:55 a.m. 4:48 p.m. 11:05 p.m. The following adjuitments 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.