j August 17, 1994
| VOLUME 63/ NUMBER 51SOUTHPORT. N.C. _50 CENTS
Now everybody has a new
head football coach for the
fall - 4B
Our Town
Students are to return next
Tuesday, but will all schools
be ready? ~ page 2
Neighbors
Have a closer look Grille
brand new Odell Williamson
Auditorium -- IB
Electric rates: Who you pay and how much
CP&L has lowest
rates in area
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Where you live in the Southport-Oak Island area
determines who delivers your electricity and how
much you pay for it.
A survey of the rates charged by the three area
electric providers - the City of Southport, Brunswick
Electric Membership Corporation and Carolina Power
and Light Company — shows CP&L customers enjoy
the lowest electric rates in the Pilot coverage area.
Customers in Boiling Spring Lakes, Bald Head Is
land and Leland are provided electricity directly from
Carolina Power and Light Company, one of two major
power generators in the state.
Residents of Southport and those in areas immedi
ately surrounding it purchase their electricity from the
city, which purchases from a consortium of North
Carolina municipal power providers.
Oak Island residents and others residing in unincor
porated areas of Smithville Township and Winnabow
are provided electricity by Brunswick Electric Mem
bership Corporation, a rural electric cooperative.
Generally, electricity purchased from the Southport
and Brunswick Electric Membership Corporation costs
11-24 percent more than electricity purchased directly
from CP&L, depending on consumption and the time
of year.
And location of the CP&L Brunswick Nuclear Plant
has nothing to do with the costs paid by area residents.
Rates for electric utilities are set by the N.C. Utilities
Commission and are static throughout the state.
If anything, the rates charged by the three electric
providers in the eastern part of the county reflect the
different nature of the three providers, their origins and
See Electric, page 8
Electricity: What You Pay
SOUTHPORT
BEMC
(Includes Aigii 1994
500 KWH 1000 KWH Misi,
$54.29 $101.67 $151-88 !'
$584 $joa|9
$147.92
• y'J'-fi '■
■&m *• :•
CP&L Noy.-June
July-Oct. „

$82.13
$92.43
$119.73
$135.18
Schools begin on time
as originally planned
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
Brunswick County students will not have an extra few weeks to sleep late and go the beach
after all.
Classes will begin on Tuesday, August 23 as originally planned. Teachers returned this
week to prepare their classrooms and participate in training workshops.
The board of education decided not to change the school calendar last week after acting
county manager Charles McGinnis said in a prepared statement that the schools would
receive a monthly allotment based on the $8.7 million the county provided to the schools
last year.
School officials feared that county funding would dry up pending a decision on August
29 by a Superior Court judge on whether to uphold or overturn a July 28 jury decision to
award the school system $14 million in local funding this year.
County officials appealed the decision and are asking that the award be overturned or
reduced. .. -
McGinnis said that the county would continue to provide the school system about
$725,000 per month until the judge's ruling.
Superintendent of schools Ralph Johnston noted that the operating expenses of the
See Schools, page 6
Southport reviews
annexation concept
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
The City of Southport has not formally
considered expanding its boundaries by tak
ing in areas along its periphery since 1989, but
annexation was placed squarely back on the
city agenda Thursday night.
"I think it's something
that any board anywhere
has an obligation to look
at from time to time."
-Rob Gandy
City Manager
In the final moments of the regular monthly
meeting of the board of aldermen, during a
portion of a meeting devoted to member's
reports and requests, alderman Paul Fisher
stepped forward with the request to revive
annexation efforts.
Specifically, Fisher asked the board to di
rect city manager Rob Gandy to contact the
Division of Community Resources of the
state's Department of Environment, Health
and Natural Resources, to secure the ser
vices of a planner "to determine if certain
areas are feasible for annexation."
"I think its something that any board
anywhere has an obligation to look at from
time to time," Gandy said Tuesday. "It's
part of the planning process. They're obli
gated to do if periodically."
The annexation issue re-emerges in a
year in which the City of Southport finds
itself financially strapped - particularly
for general fund revenues.
Annexation - taking additional land into
the city — means more property placed on
the city's tax rolls.
Under the terms of annexation law in
North Carolina, the city's first move in
initiating any annexation attempt is to adopt
a resolution of intent to annex certain areas.
The areas under consideration for annex
ation must be delineated in the resolution.
Public hearings must be held before the
resolution of intent is adopted.
After adoption, the city will compile an
See Reviews, page 11
Capstone of the county's accomplishments is
what Governor Jim Hunt called the Odell
Williamson Auditorium last week as Vir
Photo by Jim Harper
ginia and Odell Williamson joined hundred
of Brunswick County residents in the cel
ebration at Brunswick Community College.
Williamson auditorium
Hunt applauds ’vision*
for Brunswick’s future
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
Brunswick County is "on the verge of springing off to a very, very bright future," and
Brunswick Community College's Odell Williamson Auditorium is the "capstone” to all of the
county's achievements thus far, Gov. Jim Hunt told a large crowd gathered at the auditorium last
Wednesday for a dedication ceremony.
The ceremony officially handed over ownership of the $3.3-million auditorium to the citizens
of Brunswick County.
"This should not only be a dedication of a building, but a rededication of the people to move
Brunswick County forward and show North Carolina all that it can be, all that it should be and
See Auditorium, page 6
Beach sets new
bulkhead policy
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
A newly defined policy on where and
when the town will pay for street-end bulk
heads and a return to old-style street lights
emerged from debate as Long Beach town
council met in a 38-minute regular monthly
session Tuesday night.
Under the terms of a motion offered by
councilman Horace Collier, residents’ re
quests for street-end bulkheads will take a
back seat to a priority list of bulkhead
projects to be formulated by the town’s ero
sion control committee in consultation with
town staff. This "clarification" of policy
came at the committee’s request and was
relayed by town manger Jerry Walters.
"I strongly feel it shouldn’t be based on
one person’s request," Collier said.
Walters said the committee was unsure of
council’s intent. There are currently three
resident-initiated requests for bulkheads be
fore the erosion control committee. Requests
have been made for bulkheads at 2nd Street
NW, 3rd Street NE and 20lh Street NE.
Long Beach has footed the bill for a num
ber of bulkheads at street ends along the In
tracoastal Waterway. With Collier’s motion,
council also jettisoned the requirement that
owners of property abutting street ends bulk
head their properties before the town will
bulkhead a publicly owned street end.
Rejected was a motion by councilman
Kevin Bell to proceed with the three projects
requested by residents. Councilman Bill
Easley led opposition to this, saying the 20th
Street end was stable and money would be
better spent in more damage prone areas.
Public works director Charles Derrick told
council the average cost of bulkheading is
$65 per linear foot, depending on the price
of lumber at the time of the project.
The erosion control committee, pursuant to
Collier’s motion, is to consider the general
benefit of the project to all residents, safety
aspects of the project and the extent to
which the project protects previous invest
ments by the town.
The policy will likely undergo some fine
tuning as council begins its budget delibera
tion process next year. Mayor Joan Altman
said the erosion control committee should be
prepared to bring a full year’s list of bulk
head projects for appropriation next June.
"I think this could be avoided if we had a
list at budget time," Altman said.
By debate’s end, councilmen just weren’t
See Bulkhead, page 12
STANLEY
Stanley: Health care is a local issue
Chances for reform not so healthy
By Terry Pope
Ctounty Editor
As a local businessman, former educator and an active member of the Brunswick
County Board of Health, it puzzles Maliston (Moe) Stanley why the average person
is left in the dark over health care reform.
But he knows If the debate fizzles inWashington, D. C,orin Raleigh, he and his
neighbors back home will continue to watch health care costs skyrocket. And
they’ll wonder if die ones who make the decisions are led by the concems of the
average person or by desires of big business.
“Even If ft Should die up there,” said Stanley, “why does ft have to die in
Brunswick County?"
Stanley serves on two committees {ricked by the N. C. Health Planning Commis
sion - on a panel that wants to form community health districts and on a consensus
planning board that will tty to piece together the best ideas from 13 such state ;
committees.
The commission was created by the 1993 R C General Assembly to develop a V:.
health cate reform package to present to legislators, one to provide all residents
access to quality health care through a plan that is both comprehensible and
affordable.
ft, ;,i • g* #
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