INSIDE
Beach tax
rate could
stay same
By Holly Edwards
Municipal Editor
Long Beach residents will not see a
tax increase this year if council mem
bers accept the $4.2-miilion budget
proposal presented to them Friday by
town manager Tim Johnson.
The proposal calls for the tax rate to
remain at 41 cents per $ 100 of prop
erty valuation. However, Johnson said
residents would pay 35 cents more
per month for garbage collection and
$1 more per month for their basic
water charge in order to keep the
water and solid waste funds com
pletely self-sufficient.
"Long Beach is coming out smell
ing like a rose compared to the 15-to
20-cent tax hikes in some municipali
ties," he said. "And our (water and
trash collection) costs are still one
hell of a bargain."
The first workshop on the budget
proposal will be scheduled at the next
See Tax, page 6
‘Long Beach is
coming out smelling
like a rose.... And
our (water and
trash collection)
costs are still one
hell of a bargain.’
Tim Johnson
Long Beach manager
i I . mn .11 iv i
Photo by Jim Harper
City workers got a bird’s-eye view of the waterfront last week as
they prepared to replace the damaged wind-vane atop the weather
tower on the Garrison. The device that weathered the March 13 storm
suffered in a later entanglement with a flag.
CP&L moving full steam ahead
By Jim Harper
Staff Writer
"We’re trundling right along," Roy
Anderson said Monday. "I guess that
Wednesday well request permission
from the NRC to proceed up in pow
ering from 15 to 35 percent."
The power ascension theBrunswick
nuclear plant vice-president spoke of
is a significant step in the restart of
Brunswick's Unit 2. At that point test
ing of emergency equipment is com
plete and "rolling the turbine" - actu
ally generating electricity for use out
side the plant -- will begin.
It is also the point at which Carolina
Power and Light Co. plans to take
stock, and possibly to shut down the
entire unit operation for up to 11 days
for any necessary repairs.
On Monday Anderson wasn't talk
ing about anything that sounded like a
‘When you’ve been
shut down for a
year, time is not of
the essence. Preci
sion is of the es
sence.’
Roy Anderson
shut-down matter. Some equipment
hadn't performed properly and was
being worked on, but leakage of steam
and water had been minimal.
Within the primary containment
vessel - the dry well - where five
gallons of water per minute is permis
sible, pumps were recording leakage
of only about a half-gallon.
Live inspection of the dry well was
expected Tuesday, and thereafter the
plant staff would ask Nuclear Regula
tory Commission permission to pro
ceed with powering up.
Once the turbine is activated. Gen
eral Electric personnel are on hand to
determine whether it needs to be shut
down for rebalancing.
Anderson said his staff is about 24
hours behind a schedule mapped out
before restart was approved by the
NRC on April 27, but emphasized
that he is expecting work to proceed
"safely, orderly and with discipline,
and that will be fine with me. Right
now I want accuracy."
"When you've been shut down for a
year, time is not of the essence," he
See CP&L, page 6
Occupancies exceed permit
Overused beach septic
systems to be reviewed
By Terry Pope
County Editor •
County health inspectors are plan
ning an attack on beach homes that
exceed their septic tank limits.
A new notice of violation form was
approved by the Brunswick County
Board of Health Monday to prepare
for the crack-down on overworked
sewer systems frequently found along
the coast.
Overuse of tanks where there is no
public sewer system is blamed for
groundwater contamination and pol
lution of estaurine waters and shell
fish nursery areas. Ocean Isle Beach
is the only Brunswick County island
that has sewer lines.
The new violation form leaves room
Homeowners can apply for permits to
accommodate four persons per bedroom
and install larger septic tanks, but most
don't because smaller lots can t support
such systems
for inspectors to write out what needs
to be corrected within 60 days so the
homeowner can avoid state fines,
criminal penalties or having the sewer
permit revoked or suspended.
Health employees recently took
printed rental brochures and vacation
guides listing homes along Brunswick
County’s beaches and compared them
with actual septic tank permits on file.
"The number in violation probably
exceeds 75 percent," said Andrew
Robinson, environmental health su
pervisor.
Robinson thumbed through arental
See Septic, page 6
Municipality collections noted
County owed $1.5 mil,
but collection rate up
By Terry Pope
County Editor
Property owners still owe the county
more than $1.5 million in 1992 delin
quent taxes.
However, the current collection rate
already exceeds that of a year ago.
The Brunswick County Tax De
partment has collected $27.9 million,
or 94.6 percent of taxes due. Property
Ola Lewis
is named to
court seat
A Boiling Spring Lakes woman on
Tuesday became the state's fifth black
female District Court judge.
Ola Lewis, 27, was officially ap
pointed by governor Jim Hunt to fill
the vacancy in the 13th Judicial Dis
trict, which includes Brunswick,
Bladen and Columbus counties.
She will assume the seat on May
24, filling the position created when
D. Jack Hooks Jr. was promoted to
replace S uperior Court judge Giles R.
See Lewis, page 6
owners are late in paying $ 1,596,411,
said tax collector Nancy Moore.
"I want to get to 95 percent," she
said. "I'm hoping we're going to get
above that.”
Only 92.8 percent of taxes due had
been paid as of April 30, 1992. That
figure increased to 94.1 percent by
June 30.
Most area towns are also experi
encing good collection rates with
Caswell Beach leading the way at 100
percent. Speculation was that with
tougher economic conditions and a
16-percent county unemployment
rate, funds would trickle in more
slowly.
Other towns reporting are: Yaupon
Beach, 98 percent: Long Beach, 94.5
percent; Southport, 88.4 percent; Boil -
ing Spring Lakes, 94 percent; and
Leland, 93.5 percent.
Last year's lower rate for the county
is attributed to a controversial change
in assessment methods for motor ve
hicles.
Approximately 4,500 residents
were billed not only for 1991 taxes,
but were also fined $100 for failing to
list their vehicles as required on tax
forms. Some appealed and won their
cases when cars and trucks were found
registered on either a spouse's or
relative's listing.
From those notices the county col
See Owed, page 6
COLLECTOR %PAID
Brunswick County.94.6
Long Beech.94.5
Caswell Beach.100
Yaupon Beach.98
Southport.88.4
Boiling Spring Lakes.94
Leland...S3.5
Retirees 'just love this place'
Retired newcomers to Brunswick County represent a good busi
ness opportunity for the medical community, says a geography
.. professor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. *
In a study of seven South Atlantic coastal counties that experi
enced rapid growth in the number of transplanted retirees during
the 1970s and '80s, Dr. D. Gordon Bennett found that these retirees
view inadequate specialized medical services and facilities as the
major quality of life problem. The study was funded by a $52,042
grant from the Economic Development Adm inistration of the U< S.
Department of Commerce.
Brunswick and Carteret were the North Carolina counties in
cluded in the study. The otter five South Atlantic counties were
Horry and Beaufort in South Carolina, Glynn in Georgia, and
Hagler and Indian River in Florida. Bennett recently presented a
paper about the study at the annual meeting of the Association of
American Geographers in Atlanta.
During the 1980s, the 65-and-older population in Brunswick
County grow by 95 percent; in Carteret, by 58 percent. North
Carolina's 65-and-older population grew by 33 percent.
In these counties, the demand exists for a range of medical
services, including general practitioners, cardiologists and life
care communities. With a third or more of retirees in Brunswick
and Carteret counties over the age of 70 and another third of the
men in their late 60s, the demand for medical care will increase, ,
Bennett said.
Many of these retired newcomers have good health insurance
and Medicare, so they represent a good business opportunity for
the medical community, he said.
In Beaufort County, S. C., a group of retirees took it upon
themselves to explore the feasibility of developing their life-care
-facility. -
"That shows the demand," Bennett said, ? ;
Vero Beach, Fla., which is in Indian River County, had the best
See Retirees, page 6 •
' . " - ' * s' s x *■
Forecast
The extended fore
cast for Thursday
through Saturday calls
for variably cloudy
skies, with high
temperatures in the
80s and lows in the
60s. Thunderstorms
are possible through
out the period.
Tide table
HIGH LOW
THURSDAY, MAY 13
2:18 a.m. 8:30 a.m.
2:49 p.m. 8:49 p.m.
FRIDAY, MAY 14
3:11a.m. 9:22 a.m.
3:41 p.m. « 9:47 p.m.
SATURDAY, MAY 15
4:03 a.m. 10:13 a.m.
4:32 p.m. 10:42 pjn.
SUNDAY, MAY 16
4:52 am. 11:00 am.
3:19p.m. 11:35 pm.
MONDAY, MAY 17
3:40 a.m. 11:48 a.m.
6.-07 p.m. -p.m.
TUESDAY, MAY 18
(26 am. 12:23 a.m.
6:49 p.m. 12:31 pm.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 19
7:11a.m. 1:10 a.m.
7:32 dim. 1:14 pm.
The following adjuttmentFthould be made:
Bald Head bland, high -10, low -7; Ouwtdl
Beach, high -3, low -1; South poet, high +7,
low +15, Yaupon Beach, high -32, low -43;
Lockwood Folly, high -22, low -8.