idol
, , -' ". 3^'^ ■ ■ V'.Cl?"-*- ><UwnF>
' •.•r- ■ • i r- vi*- * •5JJ, ■’xi'js,** $J5*c3lS.' ’.
•»> •4si4®aSMsgfe®f*»»i
_ ENTRANC)
Neighbors
Part four of a series on
emergency care involves
the work of the ER - IB
The State Port
VOLUME 64/ NUMBER 41
SOUTHPORT, N.C.
50 CENTS
Sports
West Brunswick dominates
selections for the all-county
baseball dream team ~ 1C
Our Town
Caswell will keep the same
tax rate, while Yaupon may
go up a half-cent — Page 2
M-I'
zone
passes
By Terry Pope
County Editor
County commissioners want to
maintain zoning control over the Mili
tary Ocean Terminal Sunny Point de
pot should it ever close as an Army
ammunitions port.
A plan approved Monday will set
in motion the process to reach that
goal.
Sunny Point includes 5,000 acres
north of Southport on the Cape Fear
River and is the nation's largest am
munitions seaport. It also has 3,000
acres of restrictive easements in a
buffer zone where all building is pro
hibited.
It will take a joint planning effort
by the county commissioners, zoning
overlay study committee and the
Brunswick County Planning Board to
ensure all areas designated as M-l
(military installations) are addressed
in the county land use plan.
District 3 commissioner Leslie
Collier of Long Beach said she
doesn't want a battle over the terri
tory here like what has developed in
Myrtle Beach, S. C., upon the clos
ing of a military base there. A private
company is developing a theme park
See Zone passes, page 6
Father Robert Beasley of St. Philip’s Episcopal
Church officiated at a blessing of the fleet Sunday
off the Southport city pier. Sponsored by the Cape
Photo by Jim Harper
Fear Yacht Club, the blessing was generally offered
to commercial fishing craft, power boats and even a
canoe.
Details to be worked out
Yaupon sewer plan
includes golf course
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Yaupon Beach will look to the Oak Island Golf and
Country Club golf course to solve the wastewater dis
posal problem which has plagued the town for nearly a
year and has forced a major change in disposal meth
ods.
Meeting Monday night, commissioners indicated
they would pursue an overhaul of the town's wastewa
ter disposal system to spray-irrigate the equivalent of
250,000 gallons per day of treated effluent on the golf
course property. An additional 250,000-gallon-per-day
disposal capacity will be retained at the town's rapid
infiltration basin beside the treatment plant on Fish
Factory Road.
"We are going to go - provided we can get proper
contracts — with the golf course as an alternative for
effluent disposal," town clerk Nancy Wilson said Tues
I ' .
The decision clears the way for
Yaupon Beach to receive state
funds to expand treatment and
disposal capacity to 500,000
gallons per day
day.
Wilson said town officials have had contact with golf
course directors, who have expressed interest in receiving
additional water to irrigate the golf course. The golf course
can now only irrigate with about 60,000 gallons per day.
The Town of Yaupon Beach began operation of a
400,000-gallon-per-day treatment plant in 1992. Shortly
See Sewer, page 7
Pilot
leads
state
The Metro Award that recog
nizes best overall achievement
was presented Friday to The
State Port Pilot at the annual
advertising conference of the
North Carolina Press Associa
tion.
It is the second consecutive
year the Pilot has won the
award among weekly commu
nity newspapers in North Caro
lina. The award is determined
by a point system that takes
into account the 17 awards won
by the newspaper's advertising
See Pilot, page 7
Budget is presented
Southport:
same rate,
higher fees
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Southport's budget committee has
submitted a $6.445-million budget
proposal for fiscal year 1995-96 call
ing for no increase in property taxes,
but significant hikes in the cost of
water, sewer and solid waste collec
tion.
A $5-per-vehicle auto registration
fee will also be included in property
tax billing this year. Residential cus
tomers will see no increase in elec
tric costs for the moment, but the
city's largest users of electricity will
pay greater demand rates.
Here's what it will cost to live in
the City of Southport in the year be
ginning 1995-96 if the budget pro
posal is adopted in its current form:
•Property taxes. The budget pro
Of all city
departments, the
police department
will see the greatest
rise in funding in
the coming fiscal
year if the budget
proposal is adopted
in its present form
posal anticipates no increase in the
city's 53-cent per $100 tax rate. To
keep the tax rate level, the budget
See Higher fees, page 8
Review continues
Long Beach:
council trims
proposed hike
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
If town council stopped its budget
deliberations now, the property tax
rate in Long Beach for 1995-96 would
be three cents higher than it is this
year, or 39 cents per $100 assessed
valuation.
But, town manager Jerry Walters
said, council is not through with its
fine-tuning of his budget proposal yet.
"We have not completed our re
view," Walters said. "I think, where
we are right now, we are about three
cents above this year's 36 cents. We
still have fire and rescue to review and
we still have the accommodations tax
fund. And, of course, council may
revisit some issues."
Earlief this month Walters pre
sented a budget proposal for the year
to begin July 1 which called for no
increase in the town's current 36-cent
1
Manager cuts
school budget
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
The budget recommendation offered by county manager
Charles McGinnis threatens to derail progress made jointly
thus far by the boards of education and county commission
ers, says school board member Billy Carter.
McGinnis' proposal calls for a $708,000 decrease in fund
ing to the school system this year, an amount he says repre
sents total savings to the school system if it implements all
See Manager, page 10
Public backs sheriff
request for funding
By Terry Pope ?
County Editor
Interim county manager Charles
McGinnis recommends a
$414,181 increase in the sheriff's
budget for next year, but residents
say that department deserves
more.
It was a cut in $112,456 for
equipment -- vests and guns --
sheriff Ronald Hewett has re
quested from the county that fibred
up citizens last week. They spoke
before the Brunswick County
Board of Commissioners to let
them know their priorities in a
budget that already reflects a 12*
cent tax hike.
"We're getting mixed signals,"
said District 3 county comints*
sioner Leslie Collier of Long
Beach. "People are saying that
they don't want that tax in
crease, but many are saying
they want more for the sheriff s
department*
Last year, the sheriff re
ceived $2,088,436 in county
tax dollars compared to a rec
ommended $2,502,617 in the
1995-96 budget. That increase
Set Funding, page 6
.V';'
property tax rate and no increase in
water rates or solid waste collection
fees.
Meeting last week, however, coun
cil decided to abolish the solid waste
collection fee by doing away with an
enterprise — money-making — solid
waste fund. The cost of solid waste
collection and disposal was returned
to the town's general fund, which de
rives just less than 47 percent of its
revenues from property taxes.
The move to abolish the self-sus
See Council, page 8
Forecast
Partly cloudy skies will prevail for
the period of Thursday through Sat
urday with highs in the 80's and lows
in the 70's.
Tide table
HIGH
3:42 a.m.
4:36 p.m.
4:45 a.m.
5:37 p.m.
THURSDAY, JUNE 8
LOW
FRIDAY, JUNE 9
10:12 a.m.
12:59 p.m.
ll:10a.m.
— p.m.
SATURDAY, JUNE 10
5:47 a.m. 12:00 a.m.
6:36 p.m. -p.m.
SUNDAY, JUNE 11
6:48 a.m. 12:58 a.m.
7:33 p.m. 1:04 p.m.
MONDAY, JUNE 12
7:47 a.m. 1:53 a.m.
8:28 pjn. 1:58 p.m.
TUESDAY, JUNE 13
8:45 a.m. 2:47 a.m.
9:23 p.m. 2:52 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14
9:42 a.m. 3:39 a.m.
10:16 p.m. 3:45 p.m.
The following adjustments should be made:
Bald Head Island, high -10, low -7; Caswell
Beach, high -5, low -1; Southport, high 4-7, low
415; Lockwood Folly, high -22, low -8.