Fullwood, Frink lead 1996
all-Brunswick County bas
ketball selections - Page 1C
Neighbors
Young and old alike have a
good time when the carnival
comes to town -- Page IB
Our Town
‘Just Say No’ message is
brought by some with first
hand experience -- Page 2
Site
based
Improvements
simple as 'ABC
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
A fresh chance to operate under
site-based management the way it is
intended to work will be given
Brunswick County schools under a
new state school improvement pro
gram, board of education members
say.
The board voted unanimously
Monday to discontinue the three-year
Performance Based Accountability
Plan (PBAP) for Brunswick County
schools at the end of this school year
and operate under the state’s New
Accountability, Basics and Control
(ABCs) program, with a strong em
phasis on site-based decision-making.
State and local boards of education
will establish goals and individual
schools will develop plans to meet
those goals.
While school boardmembers call
their decision a fresh Start,some edu
cators complain that the board’s de
cision is an attempt to enfeeble prin
cipals and teachers.
“It really sent a message to teach
ers, principals and parents that they
do not want our input,” declared Mary
Yates, president of the Brunswick
County Association of Educators
(BCAE). “”We just see this vote as
another way of saying that they can
run everything by themselves and
they don’t need our help.”
Part of the PBAP included a provi
sion for early release on Wednesdays,
an issue that is now pending litiga
tion in Brunswick County Superior
Court.
The BCAE filed suit against the
school board last year after it abol
ished the early release policy, and a
request for summary judgment to re
instate the policy has been filed by
the BCAE.
BCAE attorney Tom Stem said the
lawsuit will move forward despite the
board’s decision to abolish PBAP at
the end of the school jfear.
“I think it’s important to clarify the
question and to get a ruling,” he said.
"The school board could change its
mind about PBAP, or members of the
board could change.”
If a judge were to rule in favor of
See Site, page 5
SUPER SLIDE
Pure delight showed on faces young and old as the
community enjoyed the Jonny A. Stine Shows at
Wilson’s Plaza over the past week. Part of the pro
ceeds were designated for Cans For Kids, whose
Photo by Jim Harper
leaders encouraged the carnival visit. More delight,
and a little concern, is evident in our Neighbors sec
tion.
Long Beach
Town council
seeks regional
sewer partner
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
With a 5-1 affirmative vote
Tuesday night, Long Beach Town
Council sent staff in search of any
local government partners wishing
to cooperate with that town to for
mulate a regional plan for waste
water disposal.
Only councilor Frances Allen
opposed this direction to staff.
In other business, council adopted
a resolution of intent to reinstate
four-year, staggered terms of office
for council members. Councilors
Allen and Helen Cashwell voted
against this resolution. A public
hearing on the proposal to return to
four-year terms of office for coun
cilors will be held at council's April
18 meeting.
Mayor Joan Altman shifted the
focus of an open-ended council dis
cussion of smaller sewer projects in
portions of Long Beach — the
beachfront and business district pri
marily — to the larger concern of
wastewater disposal. She said devel
opment of specific sewer projects
was fruitless unless a means of dis-.
See Long Beach, page 8
Brunswick County
'Long-range'
plan requires
attention now
By Terry Pope
County Editor
Getting a jump on Brunswick
County’s growth is a one-shot deal
which should begin immediately.
That’s the way District 3 commis
sioner Leslie Collier of Long Beach
sees it.
“We have in Brunswick County one
chance to do it right,” said Ms.
Collier.
She convinced fellow commission
ers Monday to schedule a special
workshop with county department
managers April 4 to incorporate in the
1996-97 budget a list of long-range
planning recommendations drafted
last month by a committee which
SOUTHPORT ELECTRIC
Commercial users
can ’demand’ rate
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
While cutting electric use at times
of peak demand may be a greater
challenge to Southport’s 35 commer
cial demand customers, these great
est consumers of electricity will re
ceive greater assistance from the city
in doing so and will reap the biggest
rewards if successful.
City officials hope to implement a
new electric rate structure by July 1
which places a firm emphasis on elec
tric load management - rewarding
those who allow the city to cut elec
tric supply to major power-consum
ing appliances at times when the
city’s own electric costs jump nearly
2,000 percent
Peak demand occurs when the
See Demand, page 9
inseries
This is the fourth in a five-part se
ries on an electric rate restructuring
proposed by the City of Southport. The
- proposed rite structure targets con*
Sumption of electricity at times of peak
|bpuuod and offers incentives to all cityp
i load management programs.
Rate structuring
to meet expenses
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
A new structure for electric rates to be
charged customers of the Southport elec
tric distribution system should be de
signed to ensure that financial obliga
tions of the city will be met, and that all
customers will be charged fairly, public
services director Ed Honeycutt told al
dermen Thursday.
“It was not a goal to either raise or
lower electric rates,” Honeycutt said of
the rate restructuring process,
But, by charging customers for elec
tricity they actually use and by reward
ing those who participate in load man
agement, Honeycutt’s study suggests:
■ Base rates for all customers may be
lowered.
■ User rates may be lowered for those
who allow conventional load manage
ment of water heaters and air condition
ing units, and rates will be even lower
‘Last year we had a two
percent retail increase
and lost money. This
year there was no
increase and we are just
breaking even. So,
something is wrong.’
Ed Honeycutt
Public services director
for those who allow absolute load manage
ment of air conditioners at times of peak
demand instead of on-off cycling of their air
conditioning units.
■ Rates for those customers who do not
See Expenses, page 11
spent a year mapping out strategies.
The county’s 3.7-percent annual
growth rate and a projected doubling
of the population by the year 2000 has
county officials worried that plans for
the future are lagging behind.
“If we don’t do it right, we end up
with problems like our neighbors,"
said Ms. Collier “That chance is now.
We need to implement those plans.”
The long-range list was discussed
by the board at its annual retreat last
month. It was agreed that improve
ments in education would be the
county’s top priority. It was also
agreed that department managers
would begin to tackle the concerns
and integrate them into their 1995-96
budget requests.
“They’ve all been given what was
discussed,” said county manager Jim
Varner, “the directions that were pre
sented. So I’m sure they’re working
on it.”
However, budget requests were
presented last Friday, and Ms. Collier
believes the long-range recommenda
See Attention, page 6
Forecast
Spring officially starts today
and along with it basically unpre
dictable weather. We can look
forward to cooler weather for the
period of Thursday through Sun
day but still a chance of show
ers.