July 5,1995
I VOLUME 64/NUMBER 45
SOUTHPORT, N.C.
50 CENTS
Sports
Former Cougar star Quinton
McCracken makes the move
towards the big league -- 1C
Neighbors
Festival fun and frolic, from
children’s events to Beach
Day to the big parade - IB
Our Town
We’ve been watching turtles
become more and more
I threatened by man -- Page 2
County
approves
cable fee
By Terry Pope
County Editor
Franchise fees may boost the cost
of cable to the county’s mostly rural
customers three percent in August.
Residents complained to county
commissioners at a public hearing
Monday that user fees are not fair
and represent another tax.
Agreements with the two largest
companies — Atlantic Telephone
Membership Corp. and Time
Warner Inc. — were renewed for
another 15 years with the fee subject
to reach up to five percent of rev
enues to pay for county administra
tive costs.
For years, the companies have
operated without paying county
franchise fees. Residents in most
towns, however, are paying three
percent.
Commissioners had proposed a
five-percent fee but trimmed that
back with the option to raise it at a
future date. The planning depart
ment will study the issue to deter
mine the county’s costs.
“I see it as a franchise fee imposed
on private enterprise,” said District
3 commissioner Leslie Collier of
Long Beach. “The companies have
the option to pass it on to the users.
I do not feel it is fair to make the
statement that the county commis
sioners have taxed citizens for this
fee.”
A letter most ATMC customers
received in the mail Friday stated
commissioners had decided to
impose a five-percent fee and said a
See Cable, page 6
‘I don’t want to
pay for the admin
istrative fee for the
26,000, Cable is
not an accessory.
Cable is a luxury. 1
don’t want to pay
for the ride if I’m
not on the bus. ’
Randall Brown
County consultant
New tenure law may be'stepping stone'
Are teachers being taught a lesson?
By Holly Edwards
; Feature Editor
A new state law will abolish future tenure for
school principals, assistant principals and instruc
tional supervisors, and some school officials say it
is the first step toward abolishing tenure for teach
ers as well.
The law will not affect employees already ten
ured, but only persons hired after July 1, said
Brunswick County personnel director Ralph Ward.
In the past, Ward said, employees in tenured posi- ;
lions received tenure after performing an effective
job for three years, V
Once tenured, Ward noted, a voluminous amount
of documentation was required to terminate that em
.. vm n I.:i i fin.. ii ii.ii ...i. i—■ i. in Mi, nil r ..... mi
‘If you have to constantly prove
and improve yourself, you ’re going
to be more effective. But, if you’re
not up to snuff, they can just say
‘’’good-bye.’”
Diana Mintz
Leland Middle School
ployee.
Some state legislators and school officials criticize the ten
ure system, claiming it encourages some school
officials to work hard for a few years and then rest
on their laurels.
Many tenured school officials in Brunswick
County agree that tenure can promote complacency,
but some also noted that the loss of tenure will mean
a loss of job security and internal stability.
“I’m sure there are abuses of tenure, and that’s
unfortunate,” said North Brunswick High School
principal Bob Harris. “But, tenure does protect em
ployees from some arbitrary actions.”
Southport Elementary School assistant principal
: Ronnie Jenkins agreed that the new law will enable '. - j
the system to terminate ineffective employees, but
said it was the first step to doing away with tenure
See Teachers, page 11 t“
. ....... .....
And did that Star-Spangled Banner still wave amid
the rockets’ red glare on the Southport waterfront
Tuesday evening? You bet it did, presiding over a
Photo by Jim Harper
grand celebration of our nation’s declared and con
tinuing independence. Photos pages 8, IB, 3B.
City okays 53-cent tax rate,
delays 'demand' surcharge
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Aldermen made two small changes
to a proposal advanced by its budget
committee two weeks ago before
adopting a $6.44-million budget for
fiscal year 1995-96 Thursday night.
Before adopting the budget by
unanimous vote, aldermen removed
a recommended $5-per-vehicle mu
nicipal auto registration fee from the
budget. The fee, recommended by the
city’s budget committee and staff, was
to have brought $7,500 in additional
revenue. To compensate for the loss
of that money, the board reduced a
planned $45,000 contingency item in
The budget does
raise water; sewer
and residential solid
waste collection
rates
the city’s general fund by a like
amount.
The board, in a second action, voted
to delay charging higher demand elec
tricity rates until May 1, 1996. The
budget committee had considered
upping the rate for demand electric
ity, purchased by the city’s 34 largest
customers, in January.
The budget adopted Thursday night
does not increase the city’s property
tax rate of 53 cents per $100 valua
tion, but increases water, sewer and
residential solid waste collection
rates. Beginning July 1, water will
cost 50 cents more per 1,000 gallons,
sewer will cost 64 cents more per
1,000 gallons of water purchased and
monthly solid waste fees will rise
$2.50.
While the increase in demand elec
tricity charges — from $3.16 per kilo
watt to $6 per kilowatt — was pushed
back until May, aldermen adopted the
See Surcharge, page 6
No viable plan
SBSD fires
its engineer
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Boney and Associates, the only
consulting engineering firm to serve
the Southeast Brunswick Sanitary
District in its history, was fired by the
district’s board of commissioners last
week.
The move leaves the district with
out a wastewater collection system
and in jeopardy of losing funding nec
essary to build one. Most importantly,
and key to the termination of the
Boney contract, the move leaves the
five-year-old district without a viable
plan to build a wastewater treatment
collection, treatment and disposal sys
tem.
Fed up with delays and changes in
venue and engineering design of a
workable wastewater disposal sys
tem, commissioners told senior engi
neer Finley Boney he was through
after a 38-minute closed session at
which Boney’s contract was dis
cussed with him. the motion to “sever
the contract with Boney and Associ
ates for failure to perform” came on
the motion of commissioner Louise
Laster, seconded by commissioner
Ginger Harper.
When chairman James (Bubba)
Smith called for a voice vote, only
Laster and Harper could be hear de
claring “aye.” Nothing was heard
when Smith called for those against
the motion to declare themselves and
the meeting was quickly adjourned.
Boney had had fair warning.
Meeting May 17, district commis
See Architect, page 5
Injunction lifted
Nuclear fuel
rod shipment
will continue
By Terry Pope
County Editor
The final action that could block
another shipment of spent nuclear fuel
rods through Brunswick County lies
with the U. S. Supreme Court.
Otherwise, a recent federal appeals
court ruling will allow another ship
ment of weapons-grade fuel elements
from overseas research reactors to
enter the Military Ocean Terminal
Sunny Point ammunitions depot north
of Southport as early as this summer.
In a 2-1 decision, the 4th U. S. Cir
cuit Court of Appeals lifted a tempo
rary injunction that barred a second
shipment of 151 spent rods through
the county. Elements will arrive by
transport ship at Sunny Point and be
transported by rail to Aiken, SC, but
no date has yet been set.
The shipment originally was sched
uled to arrive in February, but envi
ronmental activists and South Caro
lina officials filed a lawsuit to block
that move after 153 rods were shipped
to the U. S. Department of Energy’s
Savannah River storage site near
Aiken last September.
South Carolina has not decided if
it will file an appeal to the Supreme
Court.
Both shipments are part of a one
time deal to rid foreign countries of
stockpiled highly-enriched uranium
rods that could be made into weap
ons if they fall into the wrong hands.
Overall, there are 22,700 rods that
need to be returned to the United
States over the next decade, said Jon
Wolfsthal, foreign affairs specialist
See Shipment, page 5
Forecast
wujjiuiwi itiv/iuiu ainajs umig iiiv>
chance of severe thunderstorms, as
we saw this past week. This pattern
will continue throughout the weekend
with temperatures ranging from 85 to
low 90's.
Tide table
HIGH LOW
THURSDAY, JULY 6
2:09 a.m. 8:39 a.m.
3:07 p.m. 9:28 p.m.
FRIDAY, JULY 7
3:13 a.m. 9:41a.m.
4:12 p.m. . 10:35 p.m.
SATURDAY, JULY 8
4:19 a.m. 10:44 a.m.
5:16 p.m. 11:39 p.m.
SUNDAY, JULY 9
5:26 a.m. 11:46 a.m.
6:18 p.m. -p.m.
MONDAY, JULY 10
6:30 a.m. 12:39 a.m.
7:17 p.m. 12:45 p.m.
TUESDAY, JULY 11
7:32 a.m. 1:35 a.m.
8:13 p.m. 1:42 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 12
8:30 a.m. 2:28 a.m.
9:07 p.m. 2:36 p.m.
The following adjustments should be made:
Bald Head Island, high -10, low -7; Caswell
Beach, high -5, low-i; Southpott, high *7, low
+15; Lockwood Folly, high -22, low-8.