Dredge work to deepen the
old Southport yacht basin
was started this week
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""’fESIh 23. 1994
SOUTHPORT, N.C.
| VOLUME 63/ NUMBER 30
50 CENTS [L,
!
|
Sports
The all-Brunswick girls
and boys basketball teams
have been announced
I
I
Neighbors
Southport-Oak Island area
churches will hold special
services for Palm Sunday
Forecast
Theextendedforecastcallsforvari
ably cloudy skies Thursday with a
chance of thunderstorms. Fair skies
are expected on Friday, followed by
increasing cloudiness on Saturday.
High temperatures are forecast to be
in the 70s during the period, with
nighttime lows in the SOs.
Looking ahead...
THE ROBERT RUARK CHILI
COOKOFF is scheduled Saturday,
April 2, in Southport’s Franklin Square
Park. The event, which also features
arts and crafts and a variety of enter
tainment, is a fund-raiser for the Rob
ert Ruaik Festival held each Novem
ber.
SOUTHPORT REMEMBERS
willpresentan April 9- lOcommemo
ration of this area's role in World War
II. The Sea Notes Choral Society will
perform during the event in the Com
munity Building, originally con
structed for the USO in WWII. Memo
rabilia is being sought for display.
ART IN THE PARK will be held
Saturday, April 16, also in Franklin
Square. The event will feature a vari
ety of entertainment as well as activi
ties for children and older people.
The State Port Pilot
•M.;Pilot Line
THE TALKING NEWSPAPER
‘ Weather updates are available on
Pilot Line. Dial 457-5084, then ex
tension 191. Other Pilot Line services
are listed on page 6.
Unit 2
shutdown
on Friday
By Jim Harper
Staff Writer
Brunswick nuclear plant's Unit 2 will
shut down Friday for a 92-day refueling
outage that also will see the unit's core
shroud modified as the plant's Unit 1
shroud was last fall.
Plant vice-president Roy Anderson in
dicated Monday that the installation of
large stainless steel braces to strengthen
the shroud where cracks have appeared in
welds is being done out of caution rather
than necessity.
"It comes down to a business decision,"
Anderson said. "We know we have small
cracks in the welds. Our mission in the
1993-94-95 period is to have all major
tasks here accomplished. We're doing the
bracing now rather than arguing about it
or having it hanging over our heads."
Installation of brackets in Unit 1 last fall
was also a CP&L decision after welds
were shown to be cracked in an underwa
ter video inspection. The inspection was
conducted because a similar reactor in
Europe had been found to have cracked
shroud welds.
The shroud is a stainless steel cylinder
within the reactor which helps direct the
flow of water in the steam-making pro
cess.
Bracing in Unit 1 was designed and
tested by General Electric, the reactor's
manufacturer, and that installation post
poned restart of the unit at least four
months.
The refueling shutdown will end a 312
day run for Unit 2, and will mark the Erst
time either Brunswick unit has gone
"breaker to breaker" -- from restart to a
planned shutdown, Anderson said.
Meanwhile, Anderson said that Unit 1 '
"has been running for over a month now,
smooth as a whistle."
Nuclear fuel from overseas
Sunny Point * top choice1 for shipment
By Terry Pope
County Editor
A list given to county officials Monday places the Military
Ocean Terminal Sunny Point facility north of Southport as the
government's top choice to receive shipments of foreign nuclear
fuel into the country.
"They are talking about using a federal site,” said Cecil
Logan, Brunswick County's emergency management coordina
tor, "to take care of some concerns about safety."
Operated by the U. S. Army, Sunny Point is the nation's
.1
largest ammunitions seaport and is located on the Cape Fear
River.
Are residents worried? They will have a chance to comment
on the U. S. Department of Energy's plan either Tuesday or
Wednesday of next week during a public hearing at the
Brunswick County Government Center near Bolivia. By late
Tuesday, no date had been confirmed.
DOE officials from Washington. D. C., telephoned Logan
Monday and asked him to arrange a public hearing. Respond
ing to requests from Gov. Jim Hunt’s office and congressman
Charlie Rose, the agency also expanded the comment period
on the shipment plan until April 8.
Logan said he spoke with Tom Harms of DOE, who said a
hearing was also scheduled for Jacksonville, Fla. The list of
possible ports has Sunny Point at the top, followed by
Wilmington's State Port 26 miles north of Southport on the
Cape Fear River; Jackson ville, Fla.; Savannah, Ga.; and Charles
ton, S. C,
"He said it was given to him a week and a half ago.” said
Logan.
Spent nuclear fuel rods from foreign reactors must be shipped
See Sunny Point, page 9
Coastal Futures Committee chairman Richardson Preyer
(left) and land use subcommittee chairman Eugene Tom
linson were among the committee members who heard public
comment Friday morning during the committee’s two-day
meeting at Southport City Hall.
Coastal Futures has a lot to look
forward to after public hearing
By Holly Edwards
Municipal Editor
The potential for environmental damage pre
sented by the proposed Martin Marietta lime
stone quarries in Brunswick and Pender counties,
the lack of public participation in developing
local land use plans, the importance of state
assistance to local citizens trying to save Bird
Island, the dramatic decline in fish stocks due to
pollution, growing coastal communities' need for
state assistance in building infrastructure, and the
importance of marine mining regulations were
some of the issues brought before the Coastal
Futures Committee last week in an hour-long
public hearing.
YEAR
OF THE
COACT
Ine meeting was the sixth ot 11 conterences scheduled by the
committee, which was established by the governor in conjunction
with his declaration of 1994 as "Year of the Coast". This year also
marks the 20th anniversary of the Coastal Area Management Act
(CAMA).
The committee is charged with soliciting pub
lic comment throughout the state's coastal region
and to assess the effectiveness of CAMA regula
tions in general. It will then develop a detailed list
of recommendations for the governor's consider
ation by September 1.
"The greatest need I see in the environment
today is the education of the public in all phases
of environmental programs," declared commit
tee chairman Richardson Preyer. "The laws change
daily, and there are people hired and paid to come
up with new ideas."
The committee is expected to develop a num
ber of recommendations for ways to improve
knowledge about environmental regulations
among the public.
Long Beach resident Frances Allen told the committee that
more specific guidelines are needed to improve public partici
See Futures, page 7
Leland area
County,
schools
buy land
By Terry Pope
County Editor
School officials and county commissioners
displayed unity Monday when both sides ac
cepted a 32-acre land deal and financing pack
age to build a new elementary school near
Leland.
The Brunswick County Board of Commis
sioners also called fora state performance audit
of the school system to detect any inefficiency.
Last week, the Brunswick County Board of
Education agreed to pay for half the cost from
its budget
"I'm glad the school board and commission
ers are together on this one item." said Tom
Rabon Sr., District 4 commissioner. "I hope it
can start a trend."
In the past, commissioners and school board
members haven’t seen eye-to-eye on funding
needs, which ended in arbitration last Septem
ber. At that time, the county agreed to appropri
ate $500,000 for land purchase and design
work for the new school, which will be built off
Highway 133 south of Belville.
School officials showed a list of reasons
Monday why they asked for 32 acres owned by
the State Ports Authority. The price is $4,000
per acre, or $128,000 for the tract.
"Looking at the value of land in the area, it’s
considerably lower," said school superinten
dent Ralph Johnston.
The property has about ten acres of wetlands
that must be avoided. Johnston said that may
serve as a natural teaching area.
School leaders want to avoid problems they
discovered soon after the Leland Middle School
was built on Old Fayetteville Road. During
drop-off and pick-up times, cars are backed up
onto the main highway there, noted Bill Tumer,
assistant superintendent for auxiliary services.
Turner also stated the school would need
space fora playground since it is a K-5 facility,
with both soccer and ballfields planned. Land
See Schools, page 9
’Non-conforming* use now the norm
Some residences located in commercial zone
By Terry Pope
County Editor
The public hearing is not until May 16, but residents against the
rezoning of 58 acres of commercial property north of Southport
gave county commissioners an earful Monday.
Long Bay Properties Inc. has applied to change the zoning
from commercial low-density (C-LD) to commercial manufac
turing (C-M) on property which forms a triangle at the Highway
87/133 intersection across from the entrance to Military Ocean
Terminal Sunny Point.
County officials learned of another zoning problem in the area
earlier this week. Eighteen homes in Southwood Estates and
Moore's Creek Village just north of the disputed tract are zoned
C-LD rather than for residential use.
When Norm Puckett applied for a permit to build a two-car
garage onto his home in Southwood Estates, he was told by the
Brunswick County Planning Department he would need to add
handicapped access ramps to fit C-LD zoning. He wasn't aware
that he lived in a commercial district, and no one in his family has
a wheelchair.
"It should be changed to R-7500, and it wouldn't be so
compatible with commercial manufacturing," said Puckett.
Another couple has been clearing a lot between two existing
homes for months, only to leant they now can't obtain permits to
build a home themselves. But under C-LD, a gas station can be
built there instead.
Planners agree the residential area, composed of 25 parcels
just north of Long Bay's tract, should be rezoned to R-7500 to
See Zone, page 7
Leland tracts,
including park,
may be rezoned
By Terry Pope
County Editor
Two large tracts of land near Leland and
Navassa may be rezoned for heavy manufac
turing use if county commissioners agree
with the Brunswick County Planning Board.
Vx,:;.'v See Leland, page 10
The deadline for Vacation f94 advertising is April 6; call 457-4568 to reserve your space.