Neighbors
Snakes alive! And they’re
slithering and sliding all
over the house -- Page 3B
| VOLUME 64/NUMBER 25 SOUTHPORT, N.C.50 CENTS
Sports
South Brunswick forgot to
duck when the ’Pack came
to town Tuesday -- Page 9B
Our Town
A Caswell Beach project is
abandoned when die acreage
won’t measure up - Page 2
Sewer
delays
Yaupon could
ask AG Easley
for assistance
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Rejecting open defiance of state
edicts in favor of staying the course
and seeking attorney general Mike
Easley's intervention with regulators,
Yaupon Beach commissioners Mon
day night seethed with frustration at
the lingering state-imposed morato
rium on sewer taps.
Neither state regulators, consulting
engineers nor commissioners can pre
dict when the moratorium will be
lifted. And options for forcing the
state's hand have been under consid
eration as the ban on new sewer taps
reaches into its ninth month at an
estimated cost of $2,000 per week.
"What would happen if I simply
directed our building inspector to start
issuing building permits and directed
our sewer plant operator to start going
ahead and tapping people onto the
system no matter what the states said?"
Mayor May Moore asked town attor
Tiuy Judies R. Pievatte.
"The most likely outcome is the
state would obtain a temporary re
straining order and ultimately an in
junction to stop us," Prevatte said.
Moore conceded that would only
lead to a court battle and likely a more
protracted moratorium.
"I'm at that point," Moore said.
As commissioners fired questions
at consulting engineer Finley Boney
for over an hour Monday, this assess
ment of the moratorium issue consis
tently emerged: State regulators are
just dragging their feet. They keep
changing their advice and directives.
Every time the town completes one
state-ordered task, another is conjured
up.
The efficacy of the just-installed
underdrains designed to lower the
water table and promote faster perco
lation of effluent through the treat
ment system's rapid-infiltration basin
is a case in point. Regulators have
said if hydrogeologist Ed Andrews
can prove 400,000 gallons of water
per day can move through the basin,
the moratorium will be lifted.
"We're under an agreement that
when Ed Andrews' report comes out
and we submit a plan for remediation,
then they will lift the moratorium,"
Moore said. "But we do not know that
when that plan is submitted that some
body won't sit there and say, 'We
don't like this. You've got to do some
See Sewer, page 7
Crews under contract to the state Department of Transportation
have been at work these last two weeks preparing Southport’s Howe
Street for resurfacing. This vehicle is a milling machine that textures
Phpto by Jim Harper
the existing road surface in preparation to accept new asphalt. The
Howe Street work is expected to continue Tor two to three weeks.
$9,000
cash, but
no takers
A traffic stop in the Maco
community Saturday led to
a search for drugs.
Brunswick County
sheriff's detectives are await
ing results of laboratory tests
to see if what drug dog Colo
nel sniffed inside a vehicle
was drug residue.
Cory F. Lee, 18, of 4400
Smith Trail, Leland, was
charged with driving left of
center and with operating a
vehicle without a license by
Brunswick County sheriff's
deputy David Edwards.
According to Edwards, the
1985 Audi driven by Lee
had allegedly crossed the
centerline of N. C. 87 (Maco
See No takers, page 6
Tighter crime control
getting DA's best shot
Criminals get more
support, Gore says
By Terry Pope
County Editor
Welfare reform and tax cuts may be
the hot topics among legislators in
Raleigh, but district attorney Rex Gore
hopes to garner support for more crime
control laws during this 1995 session.
"If we continue to expand the ben
efits given to criminals instead of
demanding more protection for-the
common man, me and you, then we
will soon have anarchy," said Gore,
who represents the 13th Judicial Dis
trict which includes Brunswick, Co
lumbus and Bladen counties.
In the past, district attorneys have
not attempted to influence state legis
lators in such an open manner. They
tried to draw attention to criminal
justice needs, such as last year's at
tempt to boost the number of prosecu
tors allocated by the state during a
special legislative session on crime.
Gore asked for, but did not receive,
an additional prosecutor to help re
lieve his heavy case load and the imple
mentation of a special court for drug
offenders. During this session, he and
other prosecutors are stating their case
more openly to elected lawmakers.
District attorneys in the state's 39
court districts are the chief law en
forcement officials within their dis
tricts. Their job is to advise law en
forcement officers on law and to pros
ecute criminals in court. Placed in
such a position, he and other local
district attorneys are uniquely situ
ated to see how the passage of laws by
the legislature affects the lives of
people.
Gore and other prosecutors plan to
issue "position papers" periodically
‘Very few
criminals are
anxious for their
day in court. They
will welcome any
move that has the
potential to slow
the process.
Rex Gore
District attorney
to make lawmakers more aware of
where prosecutors stand.
See Crime, page 8
School
money
Counter proposal
presented county
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
Calling commissioners' budget
settlement offer inadequate,
Brunswick County school officials
presented a counter proposal to county
representatives Tuesday morning to
end a long-standing budget dispute.
If school and county officials are
unable to reach a compromise the fate
of a $14-million jury award to the
school system will be decided by the
N. C. Court of Appeals.
To resolve the issue out of court,
county commissioners offered to give
the schools an additional $1.35 mil
lion for the current fiscal year, plus
21.5 cents on the tax rate for the next
two years.
The schools have been operating
under a $9.4-milliom interim budget,
and claim to be facing a budget short
See Money, page 7
'Talk' goes
straight out
school door
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
A majority of Brunswick dounty
parents surveyed said they want
schools to provide information to their
children about the Straight Talk
hotline -- a toll-free service that pro
vides recorded messages about alco
hol and drugs, birth control and preg
nancy, emotional distress, family con
cerns, health and physical abuse, rela
tionships, school and career, and sexu
ality.
But the Brunswick County Board
of Education bowed to pressure Mon
day night from a small group who
opposed the hotline, and voted.4-1 to
prohibit middle school and high school
guidance counselors from distribut
ing Straight Talk pamphlets.
"It's such a controversial situation,
and I think the board has enough to
deal with,” declared board chairman
Clara Carter following the vote.
Carter said students can get most of
the information they need from school
guidance counselors. Only two coun
selors are provided to serve student
populations ranging from 700 to over
See ‘Talk’, page 9
County tops 60,000
Third fastest growth in state
Based on projected figures, the num
ber of persons who now call Brunswick
County home passed 60,000 in Janu
ary.
From 1990 to July, 1993, the county
had an 11.6-percent population growth,
according to the North Carolina Office
of State Planning in Raleigh.
It was the third highest growth rate in
North Carolina, behind Pender County
at 12.9 percent and Wake County's
12.4 percent In July, 1993, there were
56,896 residents in the county, but it is
a figure that continues to grow.'
"Based upon this rate of growth, the
estimated population of Brunswick
County for January, 1995, would be
60,195," according to Tom Monks, ex
ecutive director of the Brunswick
County Economic Development Com
mission.
The figures are based on permanent,
year-round residents.
Comparing 1990 populations with
the July, 1993, figures show local towns
experienced the following growth rates:
* Brunswick County, 50,985 to
. 56,8%, 11.6 percent
*Bald Head Island, 78 to 85,9 per
cent
•Southport, 2,369 to 2,490,5.1 per
cent
•Long Beach, 3,816 to 4,380, 14.8
percent
* Caswell Beach, 175 to 197, 12.6
percent
*Yaupon Beach, 734 to 821, 11.9
percent
•Boiling Spring Lakes, 1,650 to
1,861,12.8 percent
*Belville, 66 to 89,34.8 percent
•Bolivia, 228 to 257,12.7 percent
•Leland, 1,801 to 1,986, 10.3 per
cent
*Navassa, 445 to 485,9 percent
•Northwest, 611 to 658,7.7 percent
*Sandy Creek, 243 to 265,9.1 per
cent
•Calabash, 1,210 to 1,329,9.8 per
cent
•Holden Beach, 626 to 728, -16.3
percent
*Ocean Isle Beach, 523 to 604,15.5
percent
•Shallotte, 1,073 to 1,131,5.4 per
cent
*Sunset Beach, 311 to 748, 140.5
percent
* Vamamtown, 404 to 454,12.4 per
cent <
Looking back
at Oak Island
A 72-page "History of Oak Island" supplement
will be published in next week's State Port Pilot.
The special publication, compiled from newspa
per accounts over the past 40 years, celebrates the
anniversaries of incorporation of Long Beach and f;
Yaupon Beach and the 20th anniversary of Caswell
Beach. Also included are feature stories on Buddy
Brown, Fort Caswell and the Oak Island Const
Guard station, among others.
f It is a keepsake," said Pilot editor Ed
Harper.
"Not many residents or non-resident
property owners are familiar with the
history of Oak Island," he said. "The
publication will provide some answers
and will, we hope, whet the appetite,
for more knowledge about the early
days of these communities."
Harper said a limited number of advertisements, it
quarter-page increments only, may be placed until '
p.m. Thursday. None will be accepted after that time.