Sports
South Brunswick hosted
rival West Brunswick in
Tuesday night action - 1C
Neighbors
Shrimpers, tired of fouling
their nets, gett paid to do
something about it - IB
Our Town
Yaupon Beach still looks
for place to dispose of its
treated wastewater - Page 2
Decision
up in air
Redwine could
seek Rose seat
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
With speculation high that Demo
cratic 7th District U. S. Congressman
Charlie Rose may announce his re
tirement today (Wednesday), pressure
is mounting on 14th N. C. House Dis
trict Rep. E. David Redwine to seek
a move to Washington.
Redwine, himself, says the decision
is a difficult one. In the end, it’s a
decision that may not be finally made
until February 5, the last day candi
dates may file notice of their inten
tion to seek office.
“It’s been a real struggle and it con
tinues to be,” Redwine said Tuesday.
“If everybody had taken what I said
REDWINE
ana moved on
it would be one
thing, but as
we deal toward
Wednesday
and (Rose’s)
announcement
the pressure
intensifies.”
Last week,
Redwine an
nounced he
had decided to
forego a run for the Democratic nomi
nation for Rose’s congressional seat.
He filed notice of his intention to seek
reelection to the state House. Specu
lation on a Redwine congressional
candidacy came last week after pub
lication of reports Rose would step
down at the end of his current term
of office and would endorse Redwine
as his successor.
Rose’s office has since denied those
reports. Rose's staff has said he will
announce his plans today in
Fayetteville but, as of Tuesday, had
not indicated where or when that an
nouncement would take place.
“As we get closer to that announce
ment, I think people are beginning to
realize he is not going to run,”
Redwine said.
That opens a door of opportunity
from Redwine which may not be
opened again for years — a door
through which he is reluctant to pass
only for family reasons.
“In terms of opportunity, being re
alistic ... the political realities are, the
chances are good the opportunity
won’t come again.”
Redwine said that opportunity is
one that he welcomes, but one he may
pass, not wanting to uproot his young
family. His youngest child is ten years
old.
“It’s something I’d like to do, if it
were just me and my wife, Penny,”
Redwine said. “I want to do it. ft’s
hard to set personal ambition aside.
If the kids were older, it would be dif
ferent. It’s hard when people are com
ing to you.”
Yet while he remains hesitant, he
See Decision, page 5
Dredgers were busy pumping sand ashore and
pushing it around on Bald Head Island’s South
Beach in last Saturday’s blustery southwester. About
one-third of the renourishment project had been
Photo by Jim Harper
completed by Tuesday, and sand was expected to be
replaced this week around the Dunlap cottage (top)
which has been moved once to escape the encroach
ing sea.
Are salaries in line?
School officials say problems remain
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
A new salary schedule for classified employees of the
Brunswick County school system does not adequately
reward longtime employees for years of service and some
position classifications reflect the subjective opinion of
the consultant who drafted the schedule rather than the
value of those positions to the school system, board of
education members say.
The board will ask consultant G. V. Davis to attend its
next meeting February 12 to explain the salary schedule
and help the board implement changes in the plan.
The salary schedule took effect December 1 at a cost
to the school system this year of $213,166. It assigned
450 classified employees (employees without state cer
tification) to 57 newly defined classifications. Each po
sition was assigned a salary range reflecting state aver
ages for similar positions.
“Titles often dictate salaries, and I think we need to
look as some of the titles we’re giving people,” declared
school board chairman Clara Carter. “When the board
makes a decision it needs to be based on sound informa
tion, and I don’t believe all of the information we have
right now is sound.”
As an example, board member Pat Brown noted that
principal’s secretaries are classified within the same pay
level as painters.
“I know everyone on our staff is valuable, but a
See Salaries, page 9
Regional alliance
Health care
seen taking
on new role
'Transformation
to preventive
environment'
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Seven sponsoring hospitals of the
Coastal Carolinas Health Alliance —
Dosher Memorial Hospital and The
Brunswick Hospital among them —
signaled their acknowledgement of a
major shift in the role of health care
providers Friday with release of a
major study of community health care
needs.
The substantial community health
needs assessment comes as a result of
over a year’s study by Janus Health
Care Consultants Inc., during which
existing economic and demographic
data were compiled, focus groups
were conducted, and residents of the
five-county area in southeastern North
Carolina were surveyed.
At a Friday press conference at St.
James Plantation, administrators of the
five community steering committee
See New role, page 7
The key
concerns
In its assessment of health
care delivery needs in
Brunswick County, the
Coastal Carolina Health
Alliance documented a num
ber of key concerns in both a
community diagnosis per
formed by the county health
department and in a survey of
health care providers con
ducted last summer.
The concerns:
Community Diagnosis
1. Teenage pregnancy
2. Public transportation
3. Only one obstetrician
in Brunswick County
Provider Survey
1. Affordable health insurance
2. Smoking
3. Teenage pregnancy
4. Alcohol abuse
Compromise likely
Message sent
on billboards
By Terry Pope
County Editor
It was billed as the great debate
when it first began.
But what a committee of county
planners, billboard industry represen
tatives and citizens has drafted for the
county’s new billboard ordinance isn’t
as controversial as first expected.
It will go to public hearing Mon
day, February 5, 5:30 p.m., before
Brunswick County commissioners
who are set to adopt new standards
which increase spacing requirements
and eliminate billboards in rural zones
and the county’s two scenic byways.
“I think it’s much improved, based
on the number of signs we have,” said
Judy Russell, Brunswick County zon
ing administrator. “Since 1993, this
County looks to future with a plan
The historic document is expected to guide the county through the next 20 years
when the number of permanent residents is expected to more than double
By Tterry Pope
County Editor
From a year-long planning process have evolved 16 specific
recommendations now forwarded to county commissioners as
ways to deal with population growth over the next 20 years.
The Brunswick County Long-Range Planning Committee’s
final report will be submitted to the commission Monday, Feb
ruary 5, 6:30 p.m., and includes a list of recommendations which
focus on education, location of industry, stormwater manage
ment, transportation planning and protectioa of the Castle Hayne
aquifer.
The historic document is expected to guide the county through
the next 20 years when the number of permanent residents is
expected to more than double. It is a figure than many experts
now label a “conservative” rate of growth.
“As you can understand, this was not an easy task,” said com
mittee chairman David Sandifer of Holden Beach, “requiring
at times focused research and informative discussions with per
sons more knowledgeable than we about the issues. This has
also been a learning experience for each member of the com
mittee. We have certainly been rewarded with a much better
understanding of our county and its people than before we be
gan this process.”
More than a year ago, commissioners appointed the plan
< ning committee to go out into the community and to gather
ideas on what planning topics government ought to be con
cerned with as it prepares for an influx of new residents and
more retirees. A meeting of county officials was followed by a
series of public meetings at scattered locations, used to com
pile data and input from citizens.
The committee is composed of Sandifer, vice-chairman
Suzanne Osborne of Southport, Nick Newton of Ocean Isle
Beach, Rosetta Short of Long Beach, Donald Ray Long of Ash,
Michael Royal ofWinnabow, Robert Quinn of Southport, Dis
trict 3 commissioner Leslie Collier of Long Beach and plan
ning board chairman John Thompson of Olde Towne. Its set of
16 recommendations also calls for immediate action by county
See Future, page 6
county has permitted more signs than
any other county in the state.”
An influx of billboard permit ap
plications prompted officials to re
study the sign ordinance last year and
to impose a moratorium on issuance
of permits pending a new set of laws.
The major changes increase linear
spacing from every 1,500 feet to
3,000 feet along the major thorough
fares (U. S. 17, 74-76,211), restricts
them from waterways and bridges and
doesn’t allow them in rural zones to
help protect rural settings.
It also bans them along N. C. 211
west through the Green Swamp,
which has been declared a North
See Billboards, page 6
I —1
Forecast
Rain is likely through the pe
riod of Thursday-Saturday. We
will start seeing that gradual
climb to higher temperatures that
signal warmer weather.