February?; 1996 l
Port
Neighbors
Another man’s trash is
another man’s energy at this
new recycling facility — IB
Lower
rates?
It's possible,
according to
city officials
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
What may start out as fodder for a
committee's consumption Thursday
night may wind up as a significant
rate decrease for most Southport resi
dential and commercial electric sys
tem customers by July of this year.
That bears repeating: City officials
now believe rates can be overhauled
to afford rate decreases to those who
are not responsible for peak-demand
purchases — those made at times
when the cost of electricity the city
buys increases by 2000 percent.
Aldermen are scheduled to hear the
rudiments of this rate realignment
plan Thursday night from public ser
vices director Ed Honeycutt. He has
asked the board of aldermen to form
a committee to study the rate realign
ment with him. City manager Rob
Gandy says that committee may be
See Rates, page .9
Audit says
city doing
better job
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
The health of Southport’s general
fund rebounded significantly in the
fiscal year ended June, 1995, but the
city’s water and sewer and electric
funds posted another year of losses,
an independent audit of city financial
statements delivered Friday indicates.
Aldermen are to formally receive
the report of 1994-95 audited finan
cial statements Thursday when the
board meets in regular monthly ses
sion, beginning at 7:30 p.m. at City
Hall.
In all, city manager Rob Gandy said
1994-95 was a year of progress. An
overexpenditure in the electric fund
was attributed to unpredictable win
ter weather, which prompted higher
than-expected demand electric pur
chases. Operating costs in that fund
were contained.
While the city’s water and sewer
fund lost money, aldermen went into
the year knowing it would. A politi
cal decision was made at the begin
ning of the budget year not to charge
customers enough to offset cost of
operation. The governing board reck
oned it would increase prices over a
See Audit, page 7
1
Forecast
After the artic temperatures
this past weekend the mid 50's
will seem like a 'heat wave'.
That's what we can expect for
Thursday through Saturday.
INSIDE
Opinion.
District Court
Obituaries .....
Church..
Schools.....«..
Business *
Pilot TV.7C
IP
Inmates from the New Hanover state correctional
unit are at work again this week on a number of
Caswell Beach public works projects. Besides repair
ing sand fence along the beachfront they will also
mulch roadside plantings, clean up the beach access
parking lot and work around Town Hall.
Filing period closes
By Terry Pope
County Editor
Filing ended Monday with a brief
flurry of activity, setting up contests
for the register of deeds seat but leav
ing one school board candidate all
alone in her race.
Southport resident Bob Quinn filed
for one of two seats for the 14th Dis
trict State House as a Republican can
didate. Quinn and Republican Shirley
Babson of Bolivia will face Democrat
incumbents David Redwine of Ocean
Isle Beach and Dewey Hill of Lake
Waccamaw, who face a challenge
from Joseph Carter of Supply, former
Brunswick Community College presi
dent.
Redwine chose not to seek the 7th
Congressional District seat held by
longtime legislator Charlie Rose, who
is retiring. But 11 candidates are, in
cluding seven Democrats and four
Republicans.
For Quinn, it is his first political
race. He has studied financial plan
ning and budgeting, zoning admin
istration, planning practice and eco
See Filing, page 6
Candidate list
on page 6
RECORD PRODUCTION
Brunswick Unit 2
down for refueling
Unit 2 of the Brunswick nuclear plant has com
pleted a record-setting cycle of operation in which the
generating unit set a world record of 581 days of
continuous operation and generated more electricity
than any CP&L nuclear unit has ever generated in a
single operating cycle.
The Brunswick plant operated continuously since it
came back into service following the end of its last
refueling outage on July 1,1994. During that time the
plant generated over 9.9 billion kilowatt-hours of
electricity.
This is a record for any CP&L nuclear plant in an
operating cycle between refueling. This amount of
electricity would provide the electric needs of a city
the size of Wilmington for about 13 years.
The 581 days of operating without a moment off
line breaks a worldwide industry record of 534 days
for boiling water reactors.
Brunswick vice-president Bill Campbell attributed
the record generation and new continuous operating
record to the quality of maintenance both during the
last refueling outage and while the unit was on-line
producing power, and to “the superior performance of
those individuals operating the plant on a day-to-day
basis.”
“Keeping a large electric generating plant such as
Brunswick in top shape and operating at this level
takes a lot of people doing a lot of jobs the right way
every day.” Campbell said. “The challenge now is to
perform a quality refueling outage so that when the
unit comes back on line it will continue operating well
and producing power for our customers.”
The unit was brought off-line Friday, February 2, to
begin a 39-day outage for refueling and maintenance,
including the installation of a new turbine rotor,
disassembly and inspection of the main generator and
maintenance of many plant safety and operating
systems.
Long-range
county plan
has support
By Terry Pope
County Editor
The Brunswick County Long
Range Planning Committee’s pro
posed action plan earned the full sup
port of county commissioners Mon
day plus a promise to help weave as
many of the items as possible into the
1996-97 county budget.
“This has been a countywide pro
cess,” said District 3 commissioner
Leslie Collier of Long Beach, “and 1
feel it’s important to proceed with car
rying it out.”
She suggested that the board priori
tize the lengthy list of 16 recommen
dations at its board retreat February
16-17 and prepare to fund the top
items this year as agreed upon by the
commission. Committee chairman
David Sandifer of Holden Beach and
county planning director Wade Horne
The plan presents
ways the county
should deal with
growth over the next
20 years when the
county’s population
is expected to more
than double
have been invited to the retreat at Fort
Caswell.
They led the historic presentation
Monday as the commission formally
received the action plan drafted on
ways the county should deal with
See Support, page 9
Can health
care break
old habits?
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
If the study of community health
care needs released last week by the
Coastal Carolina Health Alliance in
dicates a major shift in the role of
health care providers to preventive
care, it also raises a complex question:
How can health care providers
change behavior if people willfully
continue to do the very things they
know are killing them?
While the dangers of obesity are
well publicized, a recent national sur
vey indicates 74 percent of Americans
are overweight. And, while the harm
ful effects of cigarette smoking are
common knowledge, surveys indicate
cigarette smoking is on the rise among
young people after a decade-long de
cline.
If we Americans are better educated
than ever about how to take care of
our health and continue to engage in
self-destructive behaviors, what can
the health care industry possibly do
to help us?
“1 think eventually we’re going to
get to a point in our society when if
you knowingly haven’t taken care of
yourself and your lifestyle isn’t
healthy and you get sick, then you’re
going to have to pay for your health
care right out of your pocket,” de
clared Dosher Memorial Hospital ad
ministrator Edgar Haywood. “Eco
nomics are going to get people’s at
See Habits, page 8
V*jT-v* ^ —3NW* WWW *(**«( vr-"-»*%>*«<»■»WR
A modest proposal? Perhaps. This billboard greeting near Winnabow
pops the big question to Lisa. Apparently the message was well received,
too, and just the answer the fiancee was looking for. Now how's for
outdoor advertising?