sports
South Brunswick Cougars
drop 16-8 decision, look
for win Friday - Page 13
7, 1994
VOLUME 64/ NUMBER 2
SOUTHPORT, N.C.
. .
our Town
Oak Island hosted a record
number of turtle nestings,
despite setbacks ~ Page 2
Neighbors
It was postponed a day, but
Sunday’s art and craft fair
was termed a success - IB
50 CENTS l L,
Records
back up
closure
Enough blame
to go around
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
The reasons for failure of the Supply
Elementary School septic system may be
found in the design, installation and loca
tion of the drainage field, Brunswick
County Health Department records re
veal.
Records indicate the drain pipelines
were made of corrosive metal, there were
no timers installed to prevent overloading
of the drainfield, poorly drained clay soils
were used as fill material in the drainfield,
drainage systems were not constructed to
prevent flooding by stormwater run-off
and to lower the groundwater level, the
drainfield was too small to accommodate
the amount of effluent generated at the
school, and the drainfield was installed in
an area on the site with the least absorbent
soil material.
The N. C. Department of Environment,
Health and Natural Resources (DENHR)
may also share a portion of the blame for
approving a construction plan that con
tained some of these deficiencies.
"I don't think there's any one smoking
gun," said county health department envi
ronmental health specialist Bruce
Withrow. ”1 think you have a case where
you can see flaws at every phase."
Health department records also indi
cate that the drainfield was malfunction
ing at least five months before the drain
lines were disconnected, and that during
that time some raw sewage drained into
the Lockwood Folly River basin adjacent
to the school.
During rainstorms, effluent may also
have drained down a nearby sidewalk and
puddled in front of the school.
In an effort to contain the effluent,
Withrow said school officials erected
berms around the drainfield.
The school board last month asked its
See Records, page 10
Summer’s Last Volley
Photo by Jim Harper
Volleyball was the featured attraction at Sunday’s Beach Day celebration at the Long
Beach cabana. Scores of onlookers enj'oyed the play, as well as the playing of the Cream
of Soul band.
Zoning protects
against cement,
fish operations
By Terry Pope
County Editor
Some residents who say they don’t want to
live next door to a cement plant or fish factory
used county zoning Tuesday to protect them.
A controversial vote would have allowed
such land uses to clash.
But county commissioners decided they
didn't like the smell of that planning proposal
and crushed the idea with an unanimous vote.
A recommendation made its way to com
missioners withouttheBrunswickCounty Plan
ning Board holding any public hearings, said
chairman Don Warren of District 1.
"That’s why we opposed it," said Warren. "I
had to ask why there were no public hearings
held."
The change to the county zoning ordinance
would have allowed cement plants and fish
processing plants in the rural (RU) and com
mercial low-density (C-LD) zones. A large
portion of land west of Ocean Highway (U. S.
17) is zoned RU.
The items were added to the end of a lengthy
planning board agenda last month. Planning
director Wade Home said someone brought it
to the department’s attention that cement plants
‘were prohibited in the rural zones where tracts
are larger and may easily accommodate them.
Horne said the thrust to allow seafood pro
cessing plants in rural areas was his idea. The
county ought to accept them somewhere, he
said.
"We don't have a conforming seafood pro
cessing facility in this county," said Home.
"We are unique in this county in that seafood
processing comes where there is water."
Most of coastal Brunswick County is zoned
for residential development or for low-density
commercial use, either by area towns or the
county.
Southport area residents who have followed
a request to drop zoning from the Military
Ocean Terminal Sunny Point depot were lured
into the debate again Tuesday. Their protest of
how the cement plant and fish processing issue
was handled by the planning board has re
sulted in a policy change by that board.
Because of the conflict, any items brought
up by planners or the board and not already on
theagenda will be forwarded to the next monthly
meeting if board action is needed.
"Putting a fish factory or cement factory i n an
area without anybody voting on it is wrong."
Mel Hart of Southport told commissioners.
County zoning took effect January 1, but in
the months since a steady stream of amend
ments has kept the planning department busy.
Most are just minor adjustments, but the big
gest battle has been over the zoning of property
where Martin Marietta Aggregates plans to
operate a limestone mine north of Southport.
"The zoning ordinance is changing faster
than the clock ticks," said Sabrina Puckett.
See Zoning protects, page 15
Board denies
zone changes
at Beach Road
By Terry Pope
County Editor
A request to rezone a four-acre tract along
Long Beach Road was denied by county com
missioners by a 4-1 vote Tuesday.
Shirley Fowler filed to change property she
owns at Rose Haven Drive from commercial
low-density (C-LD) to R-6000, residential use
which allows single-wide mobile homes. The
300 feet bordering Long Beach Road would
have remained C-LD.
Several adjacent property owners opposed
the request.
John Dosher said no one opposed the com
mercial zone when the ordinance was adopted.
He questioned if a residential area would affect
values of surrounding commercial land.
"As long as mine is not messed with it's all
right," said Dosher. "If zoned residential, will it
hinder what people want to use commercial
for?"
Attorney Robert Serra, representing the Fowl
ers, said the property was purchased in 1989
without any restrictions. Since the zoning ordi
See Changes page 15
School funding
County appeals
decision of jury
By Terry Pope
County Editor
The decision to appeal a court-ordered,
$ 14-million award to the schools has the
potential to be a major issue in the fall
election.
County commissioners voted Friday to
take the offensive and fight the jury verdict
which could produce a ten-cent property tax
hike.
All five board members are seeking re
election in November, and not one wavered
from the decision.
"I feel like the people elected us to operate
or to manage county government in a conser
vative manner, and I think that's what we've
See Appeals, page 10
Judge Thompson:
'Issue not what
county can pay'
By Holly Edwards ,<
Feature Editor
A Superior Court jury spoke for the residents of Brunswick County when it awarded the
school system $14 million in local funding for the current budget year, and had ample
evidence to support that decision, judge Jack Thompson declared last week. .
In a court hearing Thursday, Thompson upheld the jury's verdict and denied motions filed
See Issue, page 10
’God's
wake-up
call’
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
A toilet bowl full of water ris
ing and falling in pulsating
rhythm, the rocking movements
of the upper level of the house,
the sound of tree limbs and wind
swept debris slamming against
the windows, a living room full
of wet dogs and children.
These are Southport resident
Jenny Rabon’s most vivid memo
ries of Hurricane Diana.
Her husband, local veterinar
ian Bill Rabon, said he remem
bers little of the storm.
"1 remember opening the door
at midnight and my best friend
and all of his dogs coming In
soaking wet," he said. "But I slept
through most of the hurricane, 1
just figured it would pass over."
See Wake-op, page 9
HURRICANE DIANA REVISITED
Storm's warning:
preparation is key
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
It was ten years ago Monday - September
12, 1984 - that Hurricane Diana, thought to
have passed the Brunswick coast, cracked back
on the Southport-Oak Island area, pounding
out millions of dollars worth of damage in her
wake.
Diana wasa fickle storm. She crawled up the
coast packing winds first of barely hurricane
strength. By September 11, she had mounted
wind forces of up to 100 miles an hour, but
skirted the Brunswick coast, pausing for a
period off Wilmington, then moving farther
north and east.
In that position, Diana stalled and grew.
Southport and Oak Island residents who had
evacuated Tuesday the 11th, after the near
miss, soon heard on their Wednesday return
radio and television reports of a change in
See Warning, page 8
... A generator allowed
us to watch television
and see all the er
roneous reports of the
nuclear plant being
destroyed and South
port being blown off the
map
Steve Foster
Former town manager
HURRICANE TBPS HfcCTjRlS!
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