South Brunswick visited
North last night, plays host
to Scorps Friday — Page 12
| VOLUME 64/ NUMBER 30
March 22,1995
SOUTHPORT, N.C.
50 CENTS
The horsemen enjoyed it;
so did the spectators — and
Oak Island merchants — IB
Bald Head Island council
wants to renourish beach,
Linstall groins ~ Page 2
Beach
tract
Council tables
plat; ‘travesty’
says developer
By Richard Nubel ,
Municipal Editor
A potential developer of a 14-lot
subdivision at the westernmost por
tion of King’s Lynn called Long
Beach Town Council’s action to
table his preliminary plat submis
sion a travesty Tuesday night.
Council, led by member Horace
Collier, complained the preliminary
plat was not detailed enough. Mayor
Joan Altman, taking a stab at Coas
tal Area Management Act regula
tions, said the town had the respon
sibility to do what state regulators
would not. She also pointed to the
town’s land use plan which dis
courages development west of any
existing housing at King’s Lynn and
discourages development of unique
habitats.
Along the way, Brunswick County
tax supervisor Boyd Williamson
was called upon to defend county
valuation of the tract.
"We’ve been through three plan
ning board meetings;", said Stuart
Cook, one of two men who
identified themselves as potential
buyers of the 9.05-acre tract on
western King’s Lynn. "In working
with the planning board, they have
asked (we include) different things
on the preliminary plat. We’ve gone
through meticulously. They said we
met all requirements of the
preliminary plat. Tabling or stifling
progress ... would be a travesty."
The proposed subdivision, known
as The Harbor at King’s Lynn, is
composed of a series of lots with
about 50.5 feet front-footage and
running from 399 feet to 599 feet
deep north to south on the western
end of King’s Lynn, west of any ex
isting development. Asking price for
the property now owned by King’s
Lynn Inc. is $695,000, said
Margaret Rudd, agent for that cor
poration.
Mayor Altman said if develop
ment is to occur on that tract it had
to be rigidly scrutinized.
"This is one of the last relatively
open spaces in Long Beach," Alt
man said.
"The public has used this land
very openly," she said, "thanks to its
See Long Beach, page 16
LONG BEACH
The Long Beach strand looked like a scene from i
■y-taiift''# sAM^va. . jfrw.tu'i.nsU
theQhrWest'tast ftwd-raweryerand generated afWut
weekend when more than 400 horses and 500 riders turned out for unteer Fire Department
the fourth annual horse-a-tbon. The event was the most successful
■tegg;


By Holly Howards
Feature Editor
The sound of country music, the pungent scent of horses and
high-spirited riders clad in chaps and cowboy hats filled the Long
Beach Campground and other open spaces last weekend for the
town's fourth annual horse-a-thon.
A total of465 horses and 516 riders raised about $24,000 for the
Long Beach Fire Department -- $10,000 more than last year.
Virtually every square foot of the campground, as well as the
large field behind Town Hall, was occupied by horses and trailers.
"As far as I'm concerned this Was the best one ever," declared
Tanya Buff, who organized the first horse-a-thon four years ago.
”We had 156 horses the firstyear, and it's just about doubled in
size every year since then."
Buff said that the event attracts a large number of spectators as
well as riders, and that all of the motels on the island were full.
"A lot of people come just to watch the horses," she said. "The
merchants love it. every restaurant in town was packed Friday
and Saturday night."
While some town residents complain that the horses damage the
dunes and leave piles of manure on the beach, Buff said with few
exceptions riders entered the beach only at designated areas and
cleaned up their horses' mess.
Buff lived in Long Beach for 16 years and said she was able to
ride on the beach until an ordinance prohibiting horses on the strand
was passed. She decided to go before the town council with her
idea for the horse-a-thon.
Now, people come from all over the state to attend the event, she
said, and there were riders from as far away as Virginia, Georgia,
Michigan and Missouri.
Tit's some people's dream Jo ride on the beach," she said. "To
me, this horse-a-thon is the best thing I've ever done. I'm making
people's dreams come true. And, in the end, what else do we have
See Horse-a-thon, page 6
c . , . ’ V ' r'-.t ‘ - A . ..
Yaupon
sewage
Study says
site figures
were wrong
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Bad news came to already frus
trated Yaupon Beach commissioners
Thursday night:
The rapid-infiltration basin at the
town's wastewater treatment plant
works at about 62.5 percent of its de
signed capacity and, for now, a mora
torium on new taps to its wastewater
treatment system continues.
After lengthy testing and computer
modeling, hydrogeologist Ed
Andrews was only able to certify flow
through the rapid-infiltration basin at
250,000 gallons per day. The basin
was designed based on models pro
vided by Andrews in 1991 that estab
lished its capacity at 400,000 gallons
per day. A consulting engineer said
the disparity in the two percolation «
rates was due to improvements in
computer modeling systems, suggest
ing that because older modeling tech
niques were used in 1991 capacity
never was 400,000 gallons per day.
Yaupon Beach now awaits review
of the hydrogeological analysis by the
N. C. Division of Environmental
Management, which may certify the
plant's capacity at 250,000 gallons per
day and lift the moratorium.
Although capacity is 37.5 percent
lower than originally thought to be,
peak flow through the plant last sum
mer was nowhere near the 250,000
gallon-per-day level. On its day of
highest usage last July, only 180,000
gallons of wastewater flowed through
the plant.
Mayor May Moore was bothered
by the disparity of flow estimates in
the 1991 and 1995 analyses.
"The thing that bothers me so much
is, how could he make such an enor
mous mistake (in 1991)?'' Moore said.
"This is real money and this is
people's...."
Consulting engineer Robert Gra
ham of Boney and Associates, which
designed the plant and rapid-infiltra
tion basin based on Andrews' 1991
representations, suggested it was the
change in modeling techniques and
computer software that is to blame for
the disparity.
"I hate to sit here and make excuses
for Ed (Andrews), but the state of the
See Sewage, page 5
City, BEMC
pact benefits
are discussed
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
A proposed contract by which Brunswick Electric Membership Cor
poration would take over some operational responsibilities for the
Southport electric distribution system will be the prime topic of discus
sion when aldermen meet in "retreat" session at City Hall Thursday.
The retreat is to begin at 6 p.m.
Last month aldermen held a preliminary discussion with BEMC gen
eral manager David Batten and district manager Don Hughes at which
virtually all phases of city electric management were put on the table.
BEMC has offered to take over operation and maintenance functions of
the city electric sales effort, as well as take over billing and collection
functions now provided by City Hall staff.
One thing BEMC cant do: It can't sell power to the city more cheaply.
The city is bound by contracts extending to 2026 to buy primary and
supplemental power from North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power
See Benefits, page 16
Experience is cited in interim
Board taps McGinnis
for manager position
By Terry Pope
County Editor
A familiar face is back on the job
as interim county manager.
Charles McGinnis of Concord
guided the county through budget
preparations and through four months
as temporary manager following the
car accident that left Wyman Yelton
seriously injured in April, 1994.
He will work this time on a $400
per-day contract until a permanent
person is hired. The Brunswick
County Board of Commissioners ap
proved the deal following an hour
long closed session Monday.
Is he a likely candidate as a perma
nent replacement for Yelton, who was
Bred last week by a 4-1 vote of the
McGinnis last year guided the county
through a budget session and was in
strumental in implementing a one-stop
permit office
board?
"I have told him (McGinnis) he is
certainly welcome to apply for the job
if he is interested,” said board chair
man Jerry Jones of District 2.
Yelton was hired in July, 1993, af
ter the resignation of David Clegg. He
was on sick leave from April to Sep
tember, 1994, after the car wreck that
killed his wife and left him seriously
injured.
McGinnis guided the coun
through a budget session and was i
stnunental in implementing a oi
stop permit office at the Brunswi
County Government Center near E
livia. It serves as one place where re
dents can go to obtain building a
health department permits or to p
See McGinnis, page 6
Forecast
The extended forecast calls for
beautiful weather Thursday through
Saturday with highs in the 70's and
low's in the 40's. Could Spring actu
ally be here?
Tide table
ck
o
nd
ay
HIGH LOW
THURSDAY, MARCH 23
12:51 am. 708 un.
1:13 p.m. 722 pm.
FRIDAY, MARCH 24
157 a.m. 8:13 am.
220 pm. 8:30 pm.
SATURDAY, MARCH 25
302 am. 9:16 am.
327 pm. 9:37 pm.
SUNDAY, MARCH 26
405 am. 10:16 am.
429 pm. 10:38 pm.
MONDAY, MARCH 27
503 am. 11:10am.
525 pm. 1124 pm.
TUESDAY, MARCH 28
556 am. 1159am.
6:16pm. — pm.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29
6:44 am. 1224 am.
702pm. 12.-43 pm.
The following adjustments should be made:
Bald Head Island, high -10, low -7; Caswell
Beach, high -5, low -1; Southport, high +7,
Beach, high -5, low -1; Southport, high +7,
I—T1™ 11T -22.low4.