It’s a whole new ball game
for South, which hosts West
Columbus on Friday — 1C
September 27,1995
Neighbors
The State Port
VOLUME 65/ NUMBER 5 SOUTHPORT, N.C. 50 CENTS
Saturday’s fishing school
was a lesson in angling —
and harsh weather too -- IB
Our Town
The Open is just around
the buoy and fishermen are
baiting the hooks — Page 2
4195349953
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Family
Fest f95
Saturday
Lordy, Lordy...
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
In celebration of its 40th anniver
sary of incorporation, the Town of
Long Beach is poised to welcome all
comers to Family Fest IW5 Saturday
at Middleton Park.
The day of fun and fellowship will
begin with an 11 a.m. official wel
come by mayor Joan Altman and a
presentation by the Brunswick Con
cert Band.
Begun last year. Family Fest is an
opportunity for Long Beach residents,
their neighbors and admirers to cel
ebrate life in Long Beach — a grand
scale community picnic.
“This is really a great opportunity
for all residents of Long Beach to
come out and get together,” said town
councilman Bob Boyd, who has
pulled double municipal duty as this
year's Family Fest chairman. “We
have had a core planning committee
which has been meeting ever since
January to prepare.”
The 1995 Family Fest celebration
coincides with the 40th anniversary
of the town’s incorporation on May
17, 1955. It was on that date that the
N. C. Senate ratified a previously ap
proved House bill of incorporation,
by Rep. Kirby Sullivan, designating
Long Beach as a municipal corpora
tion. That bill of incorporation also
designated E. F. Middleton a mem
ber of the new town’s first governing
board and in July, 1955, he was for
mally elected the town’s first mayor.
It is fitting the 40th anniversary
celebration of Family Fest will be
held in the park named for the town’s
first mayor and first major developer
after Hurricane Hazel wiped out most
structures October, 1954.
Throughout the Family Fest cel
ebration at least ten booths and dis
plays will be offered by non-profit
organizations, Boyd said. Among the
exhibitors will the Oak Island Lions,
the town itself, the Long Beach Vol
unteer Fire Department, the town po
lice department and Oak Island Turtle
Watch.
Food and beverages will be avail
See Family Fest, page 8
OUT TO PASTURE
Brunswick County cooperative extension direc
tor, Milton Coleman, will retire Friday after nearly
30 years service to the county. Over the years,
Coleman said, the county has grown from a
sparsely populated community of low-income
farms to a thriving conglomeration of tourism,
industry and farming.
30 years of service
Longtime ag director
O n
Coleman steps down
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
On the week of his retirement after nearly
30 years of service to Brunswick County,
cooperative extension director Milton
Coleman sat cheerfully behind his enormous
desk, covered with its usual two-foot-deep
layer of agricultural papers and journals, and
declared:
“If you retire one year before you want to,
cooperative extension in 1951 when he was
only nine years old -- the 4-H Club.
Raised on a swine and cattle farm in
Columbus County, Coleman earned several
national titles for his local 4-H chapter by
raising champion swine.
He remained involved in 4-H until his first
year at Campbell College, and said the club
provided him the opportunity to travel to 47
states and judge several national vegetable
See Coleman, page 7
Huge deficit cited
County water
likely to seek
higher level
By Terry Pope
County Editor
County water rates likely will in
crease next month in a move to cut
system deficits predicted to reach $5.8
million by the year 1999 if existing
rates hold steady.
A study released by consultants
David M. Griffith and Associates on
Monday also recommends the county
adjust its retail rate structure, a plan
which will cut the amount minimum
users now pay and increase the price
of water for larger consumers.
Brunswick County's water system
has operated on an interim budget
since July 1 pending Griffith's recom
mendations of what to do. Jerry Jones,
chairman of the Brunswick County
Board of Commissioners, says the
system has already dug itself into a
$500,000 hole. ’
“We’re either going to have to do
this and get the new increase this year,
or we’re going to have to find that
$500,000 somewhere in the budget,”
said Jones.
‘Everybody will pay
the same amount
for every gallon of
water they use....
For customers that
don’t use very much
water; their bills
may very well go
down. ’
Robert Dolecki
Griffith and Associates
Brunswick County utilities has ap
proximately 4,800 retail customers
and also provides water to 16 indus
trial and municipal customers on a
wholesale basis. On its present
See Level, page 8
But not mobiles
Zoning to permit
site-built housing
By Terry Pope
County Editor
County planners will recommend
a new residential zone which allows
higher density but excludes mobile
homes.
SBR (site-built residential) allows
single-family site-built homes only,
but it will adopt the R-6000 density
level typically found where mobile
homes are allowed. There are some
neighborhoods that want smaller lot
sizes but do not want to open their
doors to mobile home dwellers.
“What this allows is more flexibil
ity,” said John Thompson, Brunswick
County Planning Board chairman. “I
think it’s a good thing.”
SBR zones will encourage con
struction of homes and the continued
use of land for single-family
homesites. It would prohibit commer
cial and industrial use of the land or
any other use that would interfere
with housing developments.
“There are a number of people who
ask for more density but don’t want
mobile homes," said Wade Horne,
Brunswick County planning director.
Brunswick County’s zoning ordi
nance allows mobile homes in ap
proximately 85 percent of the county.
Doublewide units are allowed in R
7500 designated zones and
singlewides in R-6000 zones. Both
types of units are allowed in RU (ru
ral) areas.
A typical county would allow mo
bile homes on approximately 20 per
cent of the land and stick-built homes
on 80 percent of available lots.
Brunswick County has those figures
reversed, said Horne. The amount of
See Zoning, page 7
Work on the Yacht Drive paving project also involves construction of
drainage swales and ditching. -
Pitching is a concern
Council votes to proceed
with Yacht Drive project
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Let the project go forward. Long
Beach Town Council said in a spe
cially called meeting Tuesday night.
The project is the ditching and
drainage swale system done in con
cert with the paving of Yacht Drive.
Work on the project was halted this
week after residents of some sec
tions of East Yacht Drive com
plained of the gaping ditches and
some feared additional and more
expensive measures would have to
be taken to drain the roadway.
After protracted debate, a majority
of councilmen reckoned the project
was not completed, and would look
better and likely function as it was
designed to do. The ditches and
swales are engineered to protect the
road from the effects of 50-year
storms.
“All anybody’s seen is ditching,”
mayor Joan Altman said. “Nobody’s
seen a completed project.” She said
the contract for Yacht Drive includ
ed the “most effective” drainage
techniques to protect the road. The
drainage portion of the project was
not designed to promote drainage
See Ditching, page 11
Forecast
The extended forecast calls for con
tinued autumn weather and partly
cloudy skies. Highs each day in the
mid 70's.
Tide table
HIGH LOW
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 28
12:01a.m. 7:30 a.m.
12:25 p.m. 8:06 p.m.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29
2:16 a.m. 8:21a.m.
2:50 p.m. 9:02 p.m.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER'30
3:09 a.m. 9:15 a.m.
3:44 p.m. 10:00 p.m.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 1
4:04 a.m. 10:10 a.m.
4:38 p.m. 10:57 p.m.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 2
4:59 a.m. 11:04 a.m.
5:29 p.m. 11:49 p.m.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3
5:51a.m. lt:S5a.m.
6:17 p.m. --p.m.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4
6:39 a.m. 12:36 a.m.
7:01a.m. 12:43 p.m.
The following adjustments should be made:
Bald Head Island, high -10, low -7; Caswell
Beach, high -5, low -I; Southport, high 47, low
415; Lockwood Folly, high -22, low -8. j