Sports
North Brunswick used its
defense to top the Cougars
Tuesday, 77-72 - 12B
| VOLUME 64/NUMBER 16 _SOUTHPORT, N.C.50 CENTS
December 14,1994
Our T<>Wn
Caswell is not committing,
but it wants to know its
wastewater needs — Page 2
Oh, Christmas trees grow
in Brunswick County, and
popularity abounds — IB
Town sewer
moratorium
may soon end
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
A beginning of the end to the state-imposed
sewer moratorium in Yaupon Beach may be at
hand.
The town has received permission from one
regulatory agency to open the ends of
underdrains installed below its wastewater man
agement system's troublesome rapid infiltra
tion basin, and to extend those drains into the
waters of Frazier's Branch, a cove off Carolina
Power and Light Co.'s discharge canal.
Consulting engineers hope uncapping the
underdrains and their extension will allow the
drains to better remove groundwater from be
neath the rapid infiltration basin. When the
water table surrounding the basin is lowered, it
is believed that treated effluent pumped to the
basin will then infiltrate ground soils more
rapidly.
The next step for the town will come when a
hydrogeologist begins to measure the actual
absorption of water through the basin. This
modeling will demonstrate if the town's system
actually can treat and dispose of wastewater at
the 400,000-gallon-per-day capacity for which
it was designed.
"This is very much a plus, that we are getting
this behind us," consulting engineer Finley
Boney told commissioner's Monday.
Once the underdrain lines are extended and
opened, modeling of flow from the basin into
the ground will take about a month. If results
demonstrate capacity at 400,000 gallons per
day. the moratorium could be lifted by the N. C.
Division of Environmental Management and a
much-needed permit to expand the system's
capacity by 100,000 gallons per day may be
See Moratorium, page 11
Photo by Jim Harper
Worshipers celebrated Christmas on Sunday in the ruins of was one of many weekend events as the holiday season moved
St. Philip’s Church at Brunswick Town. The twilight service into high gear throughout the Southport-Oak Island area.
Southport
stuck with
NCEMPA
The contracts
expire in 2026
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Southport is responsible for about $24.5
million of the N. C. Eastern Municipal Power
Agency's nearly $4-billion debt and is contrac
tually bound to buy its electricity from that
agency until 2026, a power agency manager
told Southport aldermen Thursday.
NCEMPA operations manager Ken.Raber
said Southport, and 31 other municipalities
which make up the agency, can expect up to 30
percent increases in electric rates over the next
six years.
The only way members can cut their costs is
to lower consumption at times of peak demand.
None of the members of NCEMPA is happy,
Raber said, and virtually all of the economic
assumptions on which the agency was founded
— and on which its immense debt was incurred
— have proved false.
"1 don’t think anyone is pleased with the
power agency,” Raber said. "I wish I could say
you were the only ones and I can make you
happy, but I cannot."
NCEMPA was formed in the late 1970s, and
Southport aldermen voted in 1982 to join the
municipal power buyers consortium which
formed to purchase ownership interests'Tn
power-generating facilities as a means of cut
ting wholesale cost of electricity. The agency
See NCEMPA, page 8
■' *\
Rep. Redwine gets
key minority post
By Terry Pope
County Editor
Democrats have elected a local representative to a key leadership
position for the 1995 N. C. General Assembly which convenes next
month.
Rep. G. David Redwine (D-Ocean Isle Beach) was elected last week
by the Democratic caucus in Raleigh to serve as the minority State
House whip.
"It enables me to be a part of the decision making,” said Redwine,
who with Rep. Dewey Hilt (D-Lake Waccamaw) serves the 14th
House District. "This person works with the minority leader in
carrying out what the wishes for the Democratic caucus are."
The 14th District includes most of Brunswick and Columbus
7 counties and a part of New Hanover County. A minority 98th District
includes portions of northern Brunswick County, the mostly black
communities of Northwest and Navassa. It is represented by Thomas
See Redwiiie, page 6
Too tough to get permits ?
Board wants 'second opinion'
By Terry Pope
County Editor
Developers have a voice on the
Brunswick County Board of Health,
and some members have entrenched
the department into a debate over
septic permit regulations.
* How far should health inspectors
bend to appease lot owners denied
septic tank approval?
"The moment he says. No,' then
the burden of proof is on the citizen."
said Tom Pope, a Sunset Beach de
veloper w ho w as seated as the newest
board member Monday. "That gets to
be very expensive. A great amount of
the economy of this county depends
‘A great amount of the economy of this
county depends on the resort industry.
It's like a great big cork in the bottle,
and that cork is environmental health
Tom Pope
Health board member
on the resort industry. It's like a great
big cork in the bottle, and that cork is
environmental health."
It's a board apparently split over its
area of emphasis — either on pro
grams to protect the public health, or
ways to aid developers with coastal
lots that won't pass perk tests.
Salaries have been raised for on
site evaluators who must decide iflots
are suitable for homes. More employ
ees have been hired.
Robert Odette took over December
1 as the new environmental health
supervisor and received his marching
orders from the board Monday. Sala
ries were boosted to match workloads
for inspectors who often face a back
log of permits.
"We've come in here and spent the
money,” said board member Bruce
Quaintance, chairman of the environ
mental health committee. "The county
See Board, page 13
Supply Elementary
Designers want pay
for faulty sewerage
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
Should the architects and engineers who de
signed the malfunctioning Supply Elementary
School septic system be compensated $47,000 for
repairing it?
Brunswick County's all-new board of education
discussed the issue in closed session Monday night
after board member Bud Thorsen cited an N. C.
Open Meetings Law provision which allows a
closed session to consult with attorneys about the
amount of a proposed employment contract.
Architect Charles Boney asked the board to
reimburse his firm, Boney Architects, about
$22,000,. and to reimburse the engineering firm
Talbert and Bright approximately $25,000 for time,
mileage and equipment invested in the repair pro
cess.
The system was shut down in March after raw
sewage was, found bubbling to the surface. Since
then, the school system has spent over $60,000 to
have the tank pumped daily.
School board attorney Glen Peterson is investi
gating t,he cause of the septic system failure and has
not yet determined what liability, if any, the firms
may bear for the repair, which will cost $ 179,000.
The board took no action on Boney's request and
referred all questions about the issue to Peterson.
Boney said both firms designed the original
system to comply with all regulations stipulated by
See Designer, page 8
?: ■■ v. -1, y*...: •*_.
Half of Brunswick's schools
over 'optimum' class numbers
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
Overcrowded conditions at some county
schools result in increased stress among stu
dents and teachers, less individualized atten
tion and establishment of classrooms in con
verted mobile homes, school officials report.
Student populations at six of 12 schools in
the county exceed optimum capacities estab
lished by the North Carolina Department of
Public Instruction.
Of the other six schools, all but one are
within 24 students of reaching maximum ca
pacity.
"When people don't have enough space,
they don't interact in a positive way all the
time," observed Bolivia Elementary School
principal David Corley. "It creates discipline
problems that you might not have if you had
See Schools, page 11
-.v
Brunswick County
STUDENT POPULATION
Bolivia Elementary
Southport Primary
Lincoln Primary
Supply Elementary
Union Elementary
Waccamaw Elementary
' Leland Middle
South Brunswick Middle
Shallotte Middle
North Brunswick HS
South Brunswick HS
West Brunswick HS
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CURRENT
560
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761
702
768
479
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703
872
617
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432
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480
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