Sports North Brunswick sweeps past Roanoke for state 1A baseball diadem — 1C County 68.5-cent rate stays Compromise cuts charge for water By Terry Pope County Editor When faced with tough decisions Tuesday, county commissioners agreed to a compromise before approving the 1996-97 county bud get. They trimmed a 36-percent increase in wholesale water rates to a 25-percent hike instead by length ening the financing period from three years to seven years for the N. C. 211 treatment plant rehabilitation project and SCADA systems for both plants, a $2-million project. And they gave schools $200,000, See County tax, page 10 Schools Writing results erratic By Holly Edwards Feature Editor Improvement in end-of-grade writ ing test scores for elementary and middle school students has been er ratic in Brunswick County and county scores continue to fall short of state averages, test results for the 1995-96 school year indicate. Testing coordinator Bill Detrie pre sented the results to school board members Monday night. Third graders in Brunswick County made the biggest improvement in writing skills, with only 19.9 percent of third graders testing at the state proficiency level in 1993-94 and 47.1 percent testing at the proficiency level last year. But proficiency rates of third grad ers varied greatly, from 63.6 percent proficient at Supply Elementary School, to 29.2 percent proficient at Waccamaw Elementary School. State averages for third graders were not available. Brunswick County fourth graders scored below state average in writ ing skills, and proficiency rates for fourth graders dropped in all schools except Union Primary. While 51.5 percent of fourth grad See Results, page 9 Forecast Hot and humid are the key words for the rest of the week and the up coming weekend. Thunderstorms are likely with heavy rains and frequent lightning. INSIDE Opinion .»»«»«» 4 Obituaries ..... 9 District Court .. 12 Church. .»....» 4B Schools........ Business ....... 6C Pilot TV .. » * ♦;« ♦ * ' ' V > Water pours In and smoke pours out as the second act of the Amwax candle factory fire gets going Sunday morning. Apparatus and fire fighters from Southport, Yaupon Beach, Long Beach and five other supporting departments fought stages of the Long Beach Road blaze Photo by Allen Givhan from shortly after 10 p.m. Saturday until mid-afternoon Sunday. There v wt'*e no reported injuries among firefighters from the paraffin-fueled, wind-whipped flames. Candle factory up in smoke By Richard N ubel Municipal Editor Federal, state and local investigators have termed “suspicious” a Saturday night fire which destroyed a Long Beach Road candle factory filled with highly flammable paraffin. Brunswick County fire marshal Cecil Logan Tbesday said he was not at liberty to discuss investigators’ suspicions. Brunswick County’s 911 Central Communi catidns Center received a report of an energizing blaze at the former Amwax candle factory at 10:06 p.m. Saturday and immediately trans ferred that call to Southport dispatch. Southport volunteer firefighters arrived in minutes, Logan said, and immediately called for mutual aid from Yaupon Beach and Long Beach volunteers. The Amwax factory, owned and operated by H. W. Grape, of Southport, was housed in a 157 ‘We had never dealt with paraffin before. We know now that it will flash when it reaches a certain temperature.’ Cecil Logan Fire marshal by-70-foot metal building, built as a roller skating rink. The candle-making venture had been out of operation since October, 1995, but inventory remained on site. The building was destroyed. Damage has been set at the $250,000 cost of the building, Logan said. Firefighters fought to contain, the blaze throughout Saturday night and Sunday morning, with Logan and Southport volunteer fire chief Gregory Cumbee taking charge of the fireground. “As the night went on, 1 don’t know how many gallons of water we put on the fire. It wouldn’t go out,” Logan said. “We decided we’d try foam and we put about 3,000 gallons of foam on it.” The flame-retardant foam quelled the blaze, but not before additional firefighting equipment and manpower was called in from Boiling Spring Lakes and Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point. Civietown, Shallotte and Bolivia volunteers responded to a call for additional manpower. See Candle, page 8 says no County may appeal ruling By Terry Pope County Editor The county’s legal battle against Martin Marietta Aggregates’ pro posed mining operation near Southport continues to lake its toll on county resources while huge ques tions remain over who will pay the accumulating attorney fees. Judge Ronald Stephens' ruling last week against Brunswick County on all four issues debated in Brunswick County Superior Court last month may send the case to an appeal if county commissioners opt to further defend the public health and safety ordinance enacted in January, 1994. “I think the commissioners are very concerned with how much it will cost,” said county attorney Huey Marshall. “One of the parameters they were working with on this budget was to not increase spending and to keep the tax rate down.” Commissioners have until the end of June to decide if they want to ap peal the judge’s decision, which ruled Martin Marietta had established com mon law vested rights in its 1,000 acre tract north of Bethel Church Road for use as a limestone mine prior to the county ordinance. The ordi nance was also struck down on the issue of its constitutionality and statu tory right to block Martin Marietta from using the property as a mine af ter it had obtained county building permits. Judge Stephens ruled the county does not have authority to regulate mines and that such a task belongs to the State of North Carolina. He stated the process by which commissioners enacted the ordinance that bans ex plosives and dewatering of the Castle Hayne aquifer within five miles of Carolina Power and Light Co.’s Brunswick nuclear plant and Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point ammu nitions depot was flawed. Marshall said the actual content of the ordinance commissioners ap proved was not picked apart by judge Stephens. His office is awaiting the official order that is being prepared See Judge, page 10 36-percent increase Water too high, beach council says to county By Richard Nubel Municipal Editor A proposed 36.6-percent hike in Brunswick County’s wholesale water rate is too much and can be avoided, Long Beach Town Coun cil said in a resolution of last Tues day night. In a letter to county commission ers the next day, mayor Joan Altman said commissioners should reexamine how water system up grades are to be capitalized in an effort to lower the rate increase, to become effective with adoption of the county budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. In an initial budget presentation, county staff proposed to finance a ‘While there may be justification for a rate increase at this time, an adjustment of this nature is severe.’ Joan Altman Long Beach mayor $2.6-million upgrade of Brunswick County’s N. C. 211 groundwater plant and a $1.1-million purchase and in stallation of a telemetry system (SCADA) over a three-year period, passing the cost of these two capital projects to both wholesale and retail customers. The projects, financed over that period of time, would boost county water rates 53 cents per 1,000 gallons consumed, or from $1.45 per 1,000 gallons to $ 1.98 per 1,000 gallons for wholesale customers. Long Beach is Brunswick County’s largest municipal wholesale cus tomer. The rate hike would also af fect wholesale customers ADM, Cogentrix, Caswell Beach and Southport, which buys about ten per cent of its water from Brunswick See Water, page 7 Yaupon adopts budget, faces sewer dilemma By Richard Nubei Municipal Editor i With no comment from elected officials themselves and only the suggestions of one citizen at a public hearing Monday night, Yaupon Beach commissioners adopted a general fund budget calling for no tax increase, a water fund budge* with no rate hike and a sewer system budget that puts the town on course for default on a loan payment in 22 months. A $656,854 general fund budget was adopted, t > be supported by a tax rate of 30.5 cents, the same rate levied this year. The new budget will take effect July 1. The water fund budget for the coming year will be $122,905 and the town’s sewer fund budget calls for expenditures of $497,954, which includes two scheduled debt service payments to a state revolving loan fund totaling $259,488. To balance the sewer fund, the town will appropriate $248,593 See Budget, page 6

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