Sports South Brunswick athletes won state championships in the shotput and discus — 1C Term limits Matter will be put to November vote By Terry Pope County Editor No one argued against placing the issue of two-year versus four-year terms on the November ballot at a public forum Friday. A bill will be introduced in the N. C. General Assembly this week that places the question back before vot ers, who chose in 1992 by a two-to one margin to nix four-year terms. All five seats on the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners and school board are up for election every two years. The bill staggers terms and auto matically gives the three highest vote getters for both the school board and commission four-year seats this fall. The lower two would face re-election in 1998. “Two years ago when the idea was' discussed, I was sold on it,” said Bob Miller of Long Beach. “But I guess when you get older you get smarter. I definitely feel four years is the way to go. It wasn’t the way to go for a long time.” Both the county Republican and Democratic parties passed resolutions asking that the issue be put to refer endum. The local legislative delega tion met at the government center near Bolivia to discuss the special bill with the public. It will be introduced to the State House by 14th District representa tives David Redwine (D-Ocean Isle Beach) and Dewey Hill (D-Lake Waccamaw) and 98th District repre sentative rThomas Wright (D Wilmington) Senator R. C. Soles Jr. (D-Tabor City) will introduce the bill to the Senate. It must be introduced to the House by Wednesday, May 29. “The only condition I have placed on it is that 1 would not support it See Term, page 12 ^ ^ amm - ~ -* » —i.-sSsferfr"-', , _. . Phofo by Jim Harper Youngsters were jumping for joy Saturday at the Festival of the Lakes celebration which also commemo rated the 25th anniversary of the Boiling Spring Lakes Volunteer Fire Department. A 60-ijnit parade down Boiling Spring Road got the festivities off to a noisy and colorful start, and then it was fun a bunch for voune and old alike. ‘ Long Beach budget seeks same tax rate ■ But county’s water increase, computer costs aren’t factored into proposal By Richard Nubel Municipal Editor “Continued improvement in the community’s quality of life" is the theme of a $5.44-million budget pro posal submitted for 1996-97 this week by Long Beach town manager Jerry Walters. The proposal calls for no increase in the town’s tax rate of 36 cents per $100 valuation. “The services that are provided by the Town of Long Beach contribute greatly to the sense of community that exists in concert with the environ ment, the needs of the environment which has drawn so many of us to this place,” Walters wrote in his budget message. "The budget addresses the needs of the varied aspects ol our community: year-round residents, non-resident property owners and visitors. Our continued vigilance in meeting their needs will be the mea sure of success in contributing to the community's outstanding quality of life." But, this document and its accom panying support material is just a starting point for town council's de liberations of a budget which must he adopted no later than June 30. A pub lic hearing on council's refined pro posal is to be held June IS. Although the lax rate of the last two years is apparently retained in the pro See Budget, page 9 Martin Marietta Mine operation facing deadline By Terry Pope County Editor Martin Marietta C'orp. faces an other deadline this week, but oppo nents of the proposed mining opera tion north of Southport are not relax ing. Wednesday, May 2d, is the dead line for Martin Marietta to submit fi nal data in support of its application to mine for limestone on 1.000 acres Educational 'summit' Schools need parents' help By Holly Edwards Feature F.ditor Parent involvement is key to im proving the quality of education in Brunswick County, state school hoard chairman Jay Robinson told a crowd of about 160 people attending an edu cational summit Tuesday morning at Brunswick Community College. Although every parent in the county was mailed an invitation to the summit, most of those attending were school officials. Parent representation was relatively low. “There are hundreds of parents in this county who think that if they drop See Help, page 8 State school board chairman Jay Robinson, featured speaker at the educational summit held Tuesday, said parent involvement is key to improving the quality of education in Brunswick County. County budget hearing Planning has support By Terry Pope County Editor Tuesday’s county budget hearing turned into a pep rally to support funding of three new positions in the Brunswick County Planning Department. It was the dominant topic of the 90-minute session county commis sioners must hold before adoption of the 1996-97 budget. As presented by county manager Jim Varper, the budget keeps prop crty taxes at 68.5 cents per SUM) of \alue and adds no new personnel to county government, a directive commissioners gave before the pro posal was drafted. However, planning directoi Wade Horne mailed letters last week to a number of citizens outlining cuts in his department, including S73.tl()5 icquested for three code enforce ment officers and S5,d()() for travel and training, supplies, punting and advertising. The letters asked that clizens attend the hearing "and express your support tor planning and controlled growth in Brunswick County." The funds are needed to complete the Brunswick County Long-Range Planning Committee's goals and objectives drafted earlier this year that outline needs over the next 2(1 years. But the battle entered the media belore Tuesday's hearing and left some residents confused about proper protocol for department managers and their response to See Hearing, page 6 Schools 'acted in good faith' By Holly Edwards Feature Editor Brunswick County school board members say they acted in good faith when they requesteu a six-percent increase in local funding for the I doo )7 fiscal year, and were not trying to obtain more funding than a settle ment agreement with county commissioners provided. “We’re not trying to say the settlement didn’t work,” said school board vice-chairman Glenda Browning. “We only asked for what we thought the eroMh rate would be.” In the settlement, county commissioner agreed to allot the school system an amount equal to - ' eents of the tax rate. While the county finance office cm mated last year that would amount to about Si3.3 million with antici pated growth in the county, the estimate dropped to S 12 d million this year School board members said their SI 3.4-million local funding request simply reflected prior county tiannee office estimates. Interim superintendent John Jones said the county fi nance office may have underestimated the school sys tem allotment. "I'm not sure we're getting valid figures of growth," he told the board. The school system w ill receive 23 cents of the tax rate no matter how much the county collects, said school fi nance officer Mary Hazel Small. Therefore, she said, any See Schools, page 8 near the Military Ocean lermtnal Sunny Point ammunitions depot. All information must he in the of fice of C harles Gardner, director of the N. C. Department of [Environ ment. Health and Natural Resources, before the company's one-year exten sion expires. However. Martin Marietta mas seek another extension with the N ( ' Mining Commission when it meets next month. Letters of opposition are already arriving before any appeal is scheduled. "I have written him (Gardner) two letters already, and I've written to the Mining Commission asking it to deny the permit," said state Rep David Redwine (D-Ocean Isle Beach). I feel like a year was long enough for them to get their act together and an swer the questions Mr. Gardner's ol fice had asked" Last May, Martin Marietta received an extension after state officials asked for more data before making a deci sion on the permit The issue is also tied up with a recent court battle. Superior Court judge Ronald See Deadline, page 11 Forecast A break Irom the hot temperatures may be in store for the weekend. High temperatures should be in themid to upper SO's. INSIDE Opinion....... 4 Obituaries ..... 13 Church....._4B Pilot TV.SB Schools ........ 7B Business.5C District Court .. 7C Classifieds ..... ID

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