VOLUME 63/ NUMBER 46
SOUTHPORT, N.C.
60 CENTS
Neighbors
Bottlenose dolphin are
trusting of man, perhaps
too much so — Page IB
Brunswick Post 68 and
Wilmington Post 10 are
even. Game 3 tonight — 8B
Our Town
The state has closed waters
near the Yaupon Beach
sewer plant - page 2
Beach sand
could result
from talks
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Long Beach officials say they are tak
ing the "very first steps" necessary to
initiate a beachface enhancement project
that will put another 30 feet of usable
beach between the strand's dune line and
the ocean's high-water mark.
The target area that has been designated
for beach building lies between 58th and
Middleton streets.
"This is still very preliminary," said
mayor Joan Altman. "We're just trying to
be prepared."
Town officials began studying a
beachface enhancement project about
three weeks ago when a private dredging
company undercontracttothell. S. Army
Corps of Engineers contacted Long Beach,
public worksdirectorCharles Derricksaid.
Great Lakes Dredging, of Hinesdale,
III., has indicated it may shortly need to
dispose of a great quantity of beach-qual
ity spoils. Neither Altman nor Derrick
knew exactly where dredge material was
to be taken, but corps projects scheduled
in the area include maintenance of the
Intracoastal Waterway and Lockwood
Folly Inlet and the possible construction
. of an Eastern Channel to better flush the
Lockwood Folly River basin.
Altman said the town is exploring per
mitting needs the town might have if the
beachface enhancement project begins to
look feasible.
"If we need permits, we want to have
things ready to go," Altman said.
To that end, Derrick has compiled data
necessary to secure a Coastal Area Man
agement Act major permit. It may also be
possible the spoils could be placed on the
strength of blanket authority the corps of
See Beach talk, page 7
While erosion is a common concern on Oak Island, significant accretion has occurred
over the past several years at each end of the island. Sand has buried many waterside
steps near the east end of Caswell Beach, and on Monday Phil Tate was extending his
deck there and adding new steps to the strand with the approval of coastal management
authorities.
Or else court will decide
County, school board face
deadline on budget debate
»y noiiy towards
Feature Editor
Members of the Brunswick County school board and board of
commissioners say they hope they can resolve their budget dispute
by Monday, July 18, when clerk of court Diana Morgan must either
rule on the dispute or refer it to a Superior Court judge.
The school board maintains that it needs an additional $1.25
million from the county just to continue to operate the schools at
their current level.
County commissioners say they are not convinced all of the
additional funding is needed, and point out that a $ 1.25-million
increase in school funding would mean a two-cent tax increase next
year just to make up the difference.
The school board voted last week to refer the dispute to the clerk
of court for arbitration. Since then,county managerCharles McGinnis,
commissioners chairman Don Warren, county finance officer Lithia
Hahn, superintendent of schools Ralph Johnston, school board
chairman Donna Baxter and school finance officer Rudi Connor
have met twice and have conducted negotiations on the telephone.
The county reportedly has made several unspecified offers, but so
See Budget, page 8
County zoning proposal
Overlay district
allows industry,
not deep mining
By Terry Pope
County Editor
A plan to protect the county's underground
water supply has gained both local and state
support.
Zoning laws that restrict deep mines and
other industries from draining theCastle Hayne
aquifer near Southport are being drafted.
The Brunswick County Planning Board,
which meets again Wednesday, July 20,7 p.m.
wants county commissioners to adopt a special
overlay district that protects the aquifer and
coastal waters but does not restrict area indus
trial growth.
But will a public now fearful of Martin
Marietta’s plan to open a limestone mine near
Southport accept it? The planning board wants
commissioners to appoint a committee to fi
nalize the proposal.
"The issue for that area, and an issue for all
of Brunswick County, is natural resource pro
tection," said Wade Home, Brunswick County's
planning director. "It's not a case of land use
but what that use does. We should quit beating
around the bush with zoning and say what it is
that we want to guard against, which is direct
draw-down on systems that affect natural re
‘Which is worse,
manufacturing facilities
that are contained or to
rezone it residential and
put 2,000 houses out
there, with 2,000 septic
tanks and 2,000 wells?
... it’s a resource protec
tion issue.*
Wade Horne
Planning director
sources."
State officials have worked with county plan
ners to develop a natural resource overlay dis
trict that guards against pumping the aquifer in
the area where Martin Marietta plans to locate.
Approximately 5.000 acres from Boiling Spring
See Overlay, page 13
Gypsy moth spraying
seems to have worked
By Terry Pope
County Editor
One spray has done it all.
State agriculture experts who spent the past several months battling a local invasion
of the gypsy moth believe an aerial spraying in May has worked to near perfection.
Just a few male moths have been captured in traps scattered in the Southport-Oak
Island area.
Stray moths typically hitch rides from other parts of the country as vacationers and
new residents move to the area. There are no plans to re-treat Brunswick County with
another dose of pesticide.
"We're very encouraged about it." said Bill Dickerson of the N. C. Department of
Agriculture's Plant Industry Division. "We feel certain that the treatment was effec
tive."
Dickerson chaired a gypsy moth management team made up of state, federal and
county officials which targeted eradication of an Asian strain of the pest that arrived
aboard a ship docked at Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point north of Southport in
July, 1993.
Approximately 1,600 square miles in Brunswick and New Hanover counties were
sprayed and trapped. Since the aerial spraying, two moths were captured near Boiling
Spring Lakes, three near Wilmington, one in Wrightsville Beach and one in Calabash.
"We catch them all over North Carolina," said Dickerson. "So to pick up a stray moth
See Gypsy moth, page 12
County 'burning' to be part of plan
Regional incinerator could be answer to trash disposal
By Terry Pope
County Editor
County officials hope they will soon
have a grip on garbage - for the next 2$
years.
They plan to sign a deal with a company
that win operate a trash incinerator near
Fayetteville.
All other options for handling the
county's garbage How have been put on
hold while contract negotiations are un
derway with the Vedco Energy Corp. of
Houston, Texas, which is building aa
$89.5-raiiik>nplant at the DuPont Co. site
in Cumberland County.
That plant will be operated by BCH
Energy,apamiershipheld bycounties that
‘We see an outcry from our citizens
here about a new landfill. They donyt
want it. Plus, with recycling goals that
all counties have to reach, this is our
best option,f
Don Warren
Commissioners chairman
originated the deal - Bladen, Cumberland and Hoke.
”1 think of the options available to us right now, it is the roost viable
alternative." said Don Warren, chairman of the Bnmswick County
^ - v, L.r. « ; -
Board of Commissioners.
At a meeting last week, his board in
stmcted interim county manager diaries
McGinnis, interim county attorney Mike
Ramos and county engineer Robert Tucker
to iron-out final details of a proposed 25
year contract with Vedco to begin in 1996.
That would allow the county to close its
landfill at Supply, which currently accepts
about 76,000 tons of household garbage per
year. The Vedco plant includes a sorting
system to separate recyclable material from
the fuel stream.
"We see Galumbus Gounty isnow bogged
down alxwt discussions over alandfiH," said *
Warren. '* We see an outcry fiom our citizens
here about a new landfill. They don’t wantit
Pitts, with recycling goals that all counties
See Incinerator, page $
. 3
Cans no longer can
be part of trash, page 3