Sports_
The Cougars try to get back
on the winning track, but it’s
a tough assignment ~ 1C

Neighbors *
Nothing crabby about the
kids who participated in
Saturday’s crab derby -- IB
1 Our Town
The arts and crafts fair held
at Middleton Park was the
■ largest event yet — Page 2
Health
report
Study shows high
incidence of cancer
By Terry Pope
County Editor
An alarming mark on Brunswick
County’s 1995 health “report card” is
the high rate of cancer found locally
compared with the other 99 North
Carolina counties.
Brunswick ranks sixth highest in
lung cancer incidents and is also near
the top in female breast cancer cases.
It is 14th highest in infant mortality.
Statistics recently were released by
the N. C. Health Planning Commis
sion as a guide for health policy mak
ers. According to those figures, the
incidence of lung cancer is higher in
only five other North Carolina coun
ties. Only 21 counties have a higher
rate of female breast cancer incidence
than Brunswick.
But state health experts who ana
lyzed cancer clusters reported in the
county last year say higher rates are
more likely attributed to an aging re
tirement population rather than to a
specific cause — such as an adjacent
industry or air and water pollution.
Cancer rates increase among older
patients, and the county is quickly
becoming a popular coastal retire
ment community.'
“One of the things people don’t re
alize is how common cancer is,” said
Dr. Tim Aldrich, director of the N. C.
Central Cancer Registry of the N. C.
Department of Environment, Health
and Natural Resources. “They don’t
realize that one out of three people
get cancer at some point in their life.
When they begin to hear of other
cases, it seems like an alarming num
ber.”
Figures also show Brunswick ranks
24th from the top in the number of
residents 65 or older, with 9,542 se
nior citizens. It is also near the bot
tom, 88th, in the number of residents
See Report, page 6
NOT SO CRABBY
I—n ■ III——II oat
Thking your catch to the tent for measurement
was no frowning matter Saturday as everybody got
caught up in the good times of the Southport Kids
Crab Derby. The annual Labor Day competition
at the yacht basin drew 72 youngsters and 112 crabs.
Central purchasing for county
Some don’t buy into the idea
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
Brunswick County commissioners,
board of education members and
Brunswick Community College trust
ees are negotiating for a mutually
beneficial agreement that would cen
tralize purchasing, printing and the
use and maintenance of equipment
and vehicles.
But while the board of commission
ers unanimously adopted a resolution
in support of such an agreement, say
ing it would streamline services these
public bodies provide and decrease
‘What if the county uses one of our lawn
mowers. Who brings it back and who pays
for the repair if it gets broken?f
Dean Walters
TVustees chairman
the cost to taxpayers, the county’s
resolution has not yet been discussed
publicly by the board of education,
and was not well received by col
lege trustees.
Trustees chairman Dean Walters
and college president Mike Reaves
will soon meet with county manager
Jimmy Varner and assistant county
manager Robert Hyatt to discuss the
idea and the board is expected to take
action on the proposal later this
month.
Some trustees said they do not feel
comfortable with some aspects of the
proposal.
“What if the county uses one of our
lawn mowers. Who brings it back and
who pays for the repair if it gets bro
ken?” asked Walters.
Trustee Donna Baxter also asked
See Don't buy, page 6
Pending DEM approval
Yaupon, club
agree on plan
for wastewater
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
A deal whereby the Oak Island Golf
and Country Club will accept the ef
fluent of the Yaupon Beach wastewa
ter treatment plant for spray-irrigation
of its golf course for the next 20 years
was struck in principle Tuesday night
when town commissioners voted to
execute a contract to that effect.
The deal, however, is contingent
upon the willingness of the state’s
Division of Environmental Manage
ment (DEM) to permit spray-irriga
tion of the golf course. Just whether
it will or not remains up in the air.
Under terms of the contract ratified
by commissioners Tuesday night, the
town will be permitted to supply up
to 80 percent of its anticipated
500,000-gallon-per-day volume of
treated wastewater for spray-irriga
tion by the golf course. This summer
the town treated less than 180,000
gallons of wastewater during times of
peak consumption. However, execu
tion of the deal willallow the town to
expand its treatment plant capacity by
100,000 gallons per day to 500,000
gallons per day.
The new-found ability to dispose
of that much effluent will also allow
the town to begin accepting custom
, ers from outside town limits, thus
Long Beach»
wants county
to keep plant
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
The Town of Long Beach wants
Brunswick County to continue to op
erate its wastewater treatment plant
on N. C. 211 regardless of the rec
ommendation of consulting engi
neers.
Recently, county commissioners
asked HDR Engineering Inc. to ex
amine means to increase county wa
ter production as demand continues
to grow. But, county commissioners
specifically asked HDR to determine
if the N. C. 211 water treatment plant
west of Southport should be closed
in favor of expanding the county’s
Cape Fear River water treatment plant
at Malmo.
The N. C. 211 plant treats six mil
lion gallons of groundwater per day
when operated at capacity, but re
quires the same manpower as the
Malmo surface water plant which can
treat up to 24 million gallons per day.
Meeting in retreat session last
week, Long Beach Town Council in
See Long Beach, page 8
Registrar, board feud won’t compute
By Terry Pope
County Editor
Disputes between county commissioners and registrar of
deeds Robert Robinson show no sign of easing up.
It brought representatives from the Secretary of State’s
office and the Institute of Government in Chapel Hill down
last week to try to iron out problems.
County officials are seeking an agreement with Robinson to
allow installation of computer equipment that will link his
department to all others. But Robinson says he will be held
responsible if any official deeds are tampered with or
destroyed in such a system. He wants legal clearance to
remove himself from liability.
Robinson has filed suit against commissioners over an
administrative pay cut he received earlier this year and to
obtain a legal ruling on a hiring freeze the board imposed on
county departments. That action has caused tension between
the two parties and an occasional exchange of heated words.
It happened again at Tuesday night’s commission meeting.
“In a rational situation, I don’t think there would be a prob
lem,” said county attorney Mike Ramos. “I suggest a third
attorney be contracted, have that person draft the agreement
and present it to him (Robinson).”
That is what commissioners recommended last week, and a
list of three outside attorneys were suggested. But Robinson
has asked to use his personal attorney to handle the paper
work instead.
“He was hot willing to use our attorney and wants us to use
his attorney?” asked commission chairman Jerry Jones of
District 2. “He’s the gentleman that has filed suit against the
county, and he wants us to use his attorney. That doesn’t make
a lot of sense to me. That’s all I can say about that.”
Assistant county manager Robert Hyatt said a new imaging
system will be state-required by 1997 and that the county
wants to move a step forward now. County agencies are now
linked by computers and fiber optic cables to share data fonts
central permitting department. But Robinson has held out
from joining the system.
“I suggest if he’s not going to cooperate, we just drive on
with the other departments,” said District 5 commissioner Bill
See Registrar, page 10
The cost of
conversion to a
spray-irrigation
disposal system has
been estimated to be
$371,000; the town
will spend another
estimated $260,000
for expansion of
treatment plant
capacity
boosting the amount of wastewater
treated at the plant. The actual
500,000-gallon-per-day capacity
likely will not be reached for years,
however.
Although the town and DEM offi
cials have worked closely to agree on
golf course irrigation as a valid dis
posal method, Yaupon Beach mayor
May Moore said the town still has no
written assurance that permits for the
spray-irrigation will be issued. That
is why she pushed for permit issuance
as a contingency of the contract with
the golf and country club.
“We have a contract we feel com
fortable with, but we want to adopt it
subject to DEM putting something in
writing saying what we are doing is
what will be permitted. We’ve gotten
written correspondences from DEM,
but they've never said ‘golf course.’”
Others would make the permitting
path more difficult. Members of the
Arboretum Community Association,
a homeowners association, say they
want the state to perform an environ
mental impact study and conduct pub
lic hearings on the golf course spray
iiTigation proposal before it can pro
ceed.
The golf course spray-irrigation
proposal was the subject of a public
informational meeting in Yaupon
Beach Thursday night. Arboretum
Community Association president
See Wastewater, page 9
Forecast
The extended forecast calls for
partly cloudy skies and a chance of
thunderstorms. Highs each day in the
mid to upper 80's.
Tide table
HIGH LOW
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7
7:04 a.m. 12:56 a.m.
7:38 p.m. 1:13 p.m.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
7:57 a.m. 1:45 a.m.
8:27 p.m. 2:04 p.m.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9
8:46 a.m. 2:32 a.m.
9:13 p.m. 2:52 p.m.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 10
9:32 a.m. 3:15 a.m.
9:56 p.m. 3:38 p.m.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11
10:16 a.m. 3:57 a.m.
10:38 p.m. 4:22 p.m.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12
10:59 a.m. 4:39 a.m.
11:19 p.m. 5:05 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13
11:42 a.m. 5:20 a.m.
—-- p.m. 5:49 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.