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INSIDE
Volume 63/ Number 3
Southport, N.C.
September 8,1993/ 50 cents
Photo by Jim Harper
James Wilson shows what it is all about at the and later released. Captain Charlie’s Kids Fishing
yacht basin crab derby on Saturday. Fifty-six Tournament, also sponsored by Southport parks
youngsters participated and 208 crabs were caught, and recreation, will be held September 25.
Possible treatment site
Long Beach owner of
'very select sand pile'
By Holly Edwards
Municipal Editor
A 95-acre tract of land purchased by the Town of
Long Beach as a potential site for a sewage treatment
plant is a "very select sand pile" that will continue to
grow more valuable in the future as suitable land
becomes more scarce, said engineering consultant Finley
Boney.
The land's southern boundary is about 1.5 miles from
the Intracoastal Waterway, its northern boundary is
marked by Mercer Mill Creek, and it is located about
1.5 miles off Sunset Harbor Road.
Boney performed an engineering study on a 70-acre
tract of land located just west of the property, and identified
the area as an ideal location for a sewage treatment plant. He
said the land has all the qualities that a sewage treatment site
requires. The soil drains well, there is a low water table
covered by six to eight feet of sand, and there is a high ridge
surrounded by low-lying wetlands and streams to act as
buffer zones.
"If the ground water flows from a high elevation to low
lying streams and creeks, that is exactly what you want," he
said. "The treated wastewater is required not to degrade the
ground water, which is of lesser quality than the treated
wastewater.”
When Boney performed the engineering study two years
See Sand, page 6
'Unbelievably complicated'
Static is expected
on cable TV rates
By Hollv Edwards
Municipal Editor
j A sweeping, 1,500-page federal act
| on cable television regulations in
tended to protect consumers from es
calating cable TV rates may not help
Vision Cable subscribers in the
Southport-Oak Island area.
Those that can least afford it will
I spend more for cable TV while others
will get a break, says Vision Cable
general manager Bill Greene.
Rate changes put into effect Sep
tember 1 were mandated by new Fed
eral Communications Commission
regulations, which were in turn man
dated by Congress last year. Cable
customers who are confused by the
new rates can take comfort in the fact
that cable companies are also con
fused by the FCC's new rules, and
FCC attorneys are still trying to figure
out exactly what the new federal act
mandates, Greene observed.
"It's unbelievably complicated," he
said. "The FCC doesn't even know
what Congress wants."
./ Under the new service charges,
customers with one television will
pay S4.69 per month for eight chan
nels, whereas under the old rates they
were paying SI per month for 11
channels, Greene said. There is no
longer an additional charge for addi
tional TV sets, but channels WGN,
WOR and TBS were eliminated from
the basic package.
These channels are available in a
"superstation package" plus the fee
for basic service.
"If you look at what the new regu
lations did to our subscribers, they
hurt the people that could least afford
it, or the ones with basic serv ice and
one TV," Greene said. "But people
that can afford more TVs and sub
See Cable, page 6
Local municipal
officials admit they
are unsure about
what rate regula
tion will involve,
but say without the
right to monitor
rates local residents
would be left un
protected
Unit 1 restart to be delayed
Cracked shroud
subject of study
at CP&L plant
By Jim Harper
Staff Writer
Restart of Bnmswick nuclear
plant Unit I will be delayed for at
least amonth while Carolina Power
1? and Light Co. and assisting engi
neers study a cracked shroud wltim
I the nuclear reactor.
Rod pull, which had been sched
uled for later this month, will now
llleorae ia October at the earliest as
refueling and other activities
leading up to restart are held
UP
'With the inspections we
have to do, we’re having to
fabricate equipment to do un-;
derwater evaluation,” Unit 1
manager Morris Brown said
Tuesday; "That's putting an
approximate one-month delay
in our ability to reload fuel.”
Farther delay in startup is
expected ifrepairof the shroud
is deemed necessary, Brown
said.
Presently company engi
neers are considering an op
tion ofbohing supportsinplace
to strengthen the shield, Brown
said. Replacement of the shield,
which is an integral part of the
reactor, would be "a very big
job,” he said.
The shroud in question di
rects the flow of water within
the reactor vessel, Brown said,
and also supports other compo
nents in the reactor.
Experience with cracks in a
nuclear reactor in Switzerland '
caused General Electric, which '
built Brunswick’s two reactors, i
to alert the company to the pos- i
sibilityof a problem. i
CP&L officials met with
Nuclear Regulatory Commis
sion representatives here and in
Washington on the matter in
August
Initial inspection by video
mmera showed a crack around
he top of the shield - a 14
Fopt-ciroumference cylinder of
wo~inch stainless steel -- and
nade further study necessary.
The equipment to sound
»obe the crack is now being
Jeveloped in California, and
should be on the Brunswick
ute by mid-month, according
oNRCsenior resident inspec
orDickPrevatte.
Brunswick Unit 2 is similar
n construction to Unit i,
See CP&L,page 6
Vision Cable of Wilmington (Southport)
_(N‘Hv O.xinyes Effect ire September /. 19 <).j)
old rati: new rati:
HAS1C SERVICE 11 Channels 8 Channels
First Set $1.00 $ 069
Additional Sets $1.00 $0.00
CABLE SFRVICF 22 (.hannels 21 Channels
First Set $16.50 $ 12. 51
Additional Sets $ i.25 $ 0.00
SUPERSTATION PACKAGE
(WOK, IBS, WGN, TNT) N/A 1 Channels
First Set N/A $o.60*
Additional Sets • N/A $0.00
*/:</</> Channel in Sn/icrSlalion Package May lie Purchased Separately /<<» sn.jy
PREIERREI) SERVICE PACKAGE (Recjuires addressable cniirerler)
(Sci-T'i, CMT, Comedy, Cartoon)
4 Channels 1 Channels
First Set $5.00 $3.50*
Additional Sets $3.00 $0.00
*lach Channel in Preferred Service Package May lie Purchased Separately for $1 J 5.
tAjtJtl'iVlhiN I K,\ 1
Basic Converter SO.71
Addressable Converter S1 33
Remote Handheld $0.09
INSTALLATION RATES
Aerial ~ $36.99 Additional Sel rs</*»«/c tn/i> $ 19, i I
Underground S i t.30 Delinquent Reconnect $ 7.31
Reconnect $18.61 Trip Charge $.10.97
Licit Additional Set $ 15.73 Addressable Upgrade $ 2.00
(At Time of Initial Installation) Hourly Service Lee $21.93
All rates subject to applicable franchise fees and taxes.
I’remium Channel Rates remain the same and include
applicable franchise fees.
Lost or stolen food
stamps cost county
By Terry Pope
County Editor
Replac ing food stamps reported sto
len or lost in the mail is becoming
more and more costly for Brunswick
County.
Each month, hundreds of dollars in
food stamps are reissued when recipi
ents claim they never got them.
"Food stamps are just like money.”
said Jamie Orrock, director of
Brunswick County's Department of
Social Services. "I don't know the
solution, except maybe taking a harder
stance than we have in the past."
Last year, the Brunswick County
DSS mailed S4.7 million worth of
food stamps to roughly 2.300 post
office boxes or rural route homes.
Food stamps provide assistance to
families that fall within the national
poverty guidelines. They are re
deemed at grocery or convenience
State law allows
for a variance, as
suming that of
$381,000 worth
mailed to county
residents each
month some are
likely to fall into the
wrong hands
stores to pay for food items.
Amounts reported lost or stolen vary
each month, from a high of around
S1,900 in December to S689 worth in
See Food stamps, page 6
OUTSIDE
Forecast
The extended forecast
Thursday through Sun
day calls for mostly
sunny skies with a
chance of afternoon
showers. Highs are ex
pected to be in the mid
80s, with nighttime
lows in the lower 70s.
Tide table
HIGH LOW
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9
1:33 a.m. 8:01a.m.
2:21 p.m. 8:52 p.m.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10
2:39 a.m. 9;06 a.m.
3:25 p.m. 9:57 p.m.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
3:49 a.m. 10:11a.m.
4:29 p.m. 10:58 p.m.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 12
4:55 a.m. 11:14 a.m.
5:27 p.m. 11:55 p.m.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13
5:57 a.m. a.tn.
6:25 P-m. 12:12 p.m.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14
6:54 a.m. 12:46 a.m.
7:18 p.m. 1:07 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15
7:48 a.m. 1:36 a.m.
8K)8p.m. 2:00 p.m.
The following 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 Inlet, high -22, low -8.