Sports
South Lady Cougars fin
ish second in tourney, face
Wildcats Wednesday — 1C
January 3, ?<
Neighbors
Southport couple finds
sanctuary in renovated
Sacred Heart church - IB
Our Town
Long Beach will ‘retreat’
Thursday to make plans
for coming year — Page 2
Registrar
salary cut
is possible
By Terry Pope
County Editor
A last-minute resolution approved
along party lines by Brunswick
County commissioners Tuesday will
cut the registrar of deeds’ salary by
$21,000.
Or will it?
Introduced by District 3 Repub
lican commissioner Leslie Collier of
Long Beach, the measure passed 3
2 with Republicans voting in favor
and two Democratic board members
voting no.
It came at the conclusion of a
meeting where the board also voted
to formally accept an out-of-court
lawsuit settlement with registrar
Robert J. Robinson filed in part over
a salary dispute.
“Our feeling on that is if a person
is elected,” said Ms. Collier, “then a*
$63,000 salary is out of proportion
for someone just starting. In my
opinion, this was not done as a
threat to the register of deeds’ salary.
It was done as an attempt to clear up
the bookkeeping.”
If a newcomer is elected to
Robinson’s seat, up for election this
year, then his or her salary will be
set at $43,702 by the resolution.
Another resolution M^.- Collier
introduced rescinds a July, 1988,
vote the county commissioners took
that tied the registrar’s and sheriff’s
salary to the same state scale as the
clerk of court.
It places both positions within the
Brunswick County pay plan and
eliminates adjustments based on the
See Registrar, page 7
Incumbents
are among
early filers
Among those who filed for public
office Tuesday are two incumbents
and a former county commissioner
defeated in his bid for reelection in
1994.
Don Warren of District 1, former
chairman of the Brunswick County
Board of Commissioners, lost to Re
publican Doug Simmons in the 1994
race. Warfen, 47, filed to run for his
old seat Tuesday, the first day for fil
ing at the Brunswick County Board
of Elections office near Bolivia.
Warren, a Democrat, lives at Bent
Tree Plantation just south of Shallotte
while Simmons lives in Calabash.
District 5 incumbent commissioner
Bill Sue of Sue Circle, Leland, also
filed for reelection. The Democrat is
See Early filers, page 7
HARBOR ESCORT
Photo by Jim Harper
A squadron of pelicans escorts the gill-netter Down
Homer to its mooring at the Willis boat yard, hope
ful of receiving a tasty morsel as the decks are
cleared of bycatch. These days the regular fare is a
fat menhaden, with an occasional hickory shad as a
real prize.
School violence
Are we learning a lesson?
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
Incidents of violence and drug possession in Brunswick
County schools dropped significantly during the past
school year but still placed the county among the state’s
most unruly school districts.
Of 119 school districts surveyed, only 37 reported rates
of violence and drug possession higher than Brunswick
County's.
Still, results indicate an improvement in school disci
pline in the year ending in June, 1995; the pervious year
Brunswick County had the third highest rate of violence
and drug possession in the state.
The rate dropped from 12.8 incidents per 1,000 stu
dents to 7.2 incidents this past school year.
And, while there were 32 cases of drug possession
and 87 violent acts reported in 1993-94, last school year
there were 20 cases of drug possession and 48 violent
acts reported — including eight assaults inflicting seri
ous injury, seven assaults on school officials, one as
See Violence, page 6
Late msh expected
Property
taxes due
on Friday
Vb listings
also go out
this week
By Terry Pope
County Editor
The rush is on - to pay 1995 prop
erty taxes before the deadline on Fri
day.
“January 1st is the magic date, it
seems,” said Boyd Williamson,
Brunswick County tax supervisor.
“Obviously, lots of people wait to pay
after December."
Although tax bills are mailed to
property owners four months in ad
vance, in September, tax department
employees are bracing for a big week
at the office. Tax collector Nancy
Moore estimates payments are run
ning about usual this year.
If paid at the government center
near Bolivia, payments must arrive at
the tax department there by 5 p.m. on
Friday, or be postmarked on or be
fore January 5, to avoid a late pen
alty.
“We expect our office to be quite
busy on the fifth of January,” said Ms.
Moore. “I tell them not to put it off
See Property, page 7
The top ten...
There is one change in the top ten taxpayers in Brunswick
County for 1995.
$ea Trail Corp. of Sunset Beach has moved to ninth place
on the list with a total valuation of $28.8 million and taxes
due of $197,656.
The golf course development and convention center is the
only newcomer to the list. International Paper Co. has fallen
out of the top ten this year. The only individual on the list is
Ocean Isle Beach developer Odell Williamson.
The list includes:
1. Carolina Power and Light Co., value $853,934,133;
taxes $6,189,134
2. DuPont Co., value $265,611,925; taxes $1,819,441
3. N. C. Eastern Municipal Power Agency, value
$227,631,756; taxes $1,650,330
4. Archer Daniels Mkfland Co., value $147,839,189;
taxes $1,071,834
5. Odell Williamson, value $54,202,318; taxes
$400,7%
6. Brunswick Electric Membership Corp., value
$43,207 676; taxes $299,191
7. Bald Head Island Ltd., value $31,907,588; taxes
$231,458
8. Cogentrix of North Carolina Inc., value
$31,021,030; taxes $224,902
9. Sea Trail Corp., value $28,854,942; taxes $197,656
10. Federal Paper Board, value $24,870,210; value
$170,374
What does ‘96 hold for us?
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
City manager Rob Gandy says he has a “wish list”
for the City of Southport in early 1996.
“There are some projects I want to see cranked
up,” Gandy said.
First among the wishes is to see more movement
towards rebuilding the Southport Community Build
ing, burned virtually to the ground in a January 30,
1995, fire. Reconstruction of the building, erected
as a USO center in 1941, was first slowed by an
effort to build community consensus for its recon
struction and later by red tape.
As the building sat on U. S. Army-owned land
and was listed on the National Register of Historic
Buildings, each step of the reconstruction effort must
be approved by a number of agencies.
Gandy said the committee charged with develop
See Southport, page 6
Southport
‘They must review
virtually everything
we propose and
that’s going to take
some time.’
City manager Rob Gandy, on
rebuilding the community
building
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
As the Town of Long Beach begins 1996, the
immediate focus of municipal government will be
on completing a number of capital projects begun
in 1995 — some set in the planning stage even'ear
lier.
'' “It’s important we focus on those things first,”
town manager Jerry "Waltere said. “Those are the
things to which a lot of energy has already been
devoted.”
The on-going municipal projects are also the
things of community life to which funding has al
ready been committed. Town council has signaled
its willingness to begin early its planning for the
new fiscal year to begin in July. Council has already
adopted an aggressive budget preparation calendar
for the coming year by which department heads will
See Long Beach, page 6
Long Beach
‘It’s up to the council
to bring that back to
the table. That’s one
of the issues still to
be dealt with.’
Town manager Jerry Walters,
on the stormwater and
wastewater management study
Forecast
A cold front moves through
the area bringing with it winter
weather. Highs each day only in
the 40's.
INSfPE
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