Sports
South Brunswick girls are
eliminated from regional
basketball playoffs - 1C
VOLUME 66/ NUMBER 29
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lawsuit
tabled
By Terry Pope
County Editor
A lawsuit filed against Brunswick
County by Martin Marietta
Materials won’t be headed to court
anytime soon.
Both sides have agreed to a “stay
of proceedings” in the lawsuit filed
last year in Brunswick County
Superior Court by the Raleigh
based mining company, claiming
the county’s anti-explosives ordi
nance and zoning amendment
passed last October are unconstitu
tional and have resulted in losses of
$1.6 million for the firm.
“It was Martin Marietta’s idea that
this action be stayed, which the
county agreed with that,” said coun
ty attorney Huey Marshall.
Following a one-hour closed ses
sion Tuesday night, the Brunswick
County Board of Commissioners
approved a motion to go along with
the request.
A Brunswick County Superior
See Lawsuit, page 6
Women sue
Long Beach
councilor
Long Beach town councilor
Horace Collier Tuesday confirmed
he had been charged with two
counts of simple assault in separate
arrest warrants drawn by councilor
Fiances Allen and town resident
Betty Weaver.
The charges apparently stem from
an encounter between Weaver and
Collier subsequent to the February
18 meeting of town council at the
Long Beach Recreation Center. In a
letter published in the February 26
edition of The State Port Pilot, Ms.
Weaver asserted Collier had pushed
a soft drink bottle into her chest as
she attempted to question him about
town affairs.
Several days later, Allen circulat
ed a letter to fellow councilors
asserting Collier had pushed her
aside as she attempted to hand writ
ten information to Weaver while
Weaver's encounter with Collier
was on-going.
Collier refused to offer substantial
comment on the matter, referring
questions to his attorney.
Forecast
The extended forecast calls for
mostly sunny skies 1 hursday through
Saturday with highs in the 7<)'s.
TNSIDE
Police report ... 12
Business.14
Obituaries.15
Church.
Schools.
Calendar.SB
TV schedule .... 9D
District Court . .11D

Photo hv Jim Harper
Welcome to Southport indeed. The new ferry soon to be operating on the Southport-Fort Fisher run
moored periodically at the Southport city pier over the past week while work was underway at the Price’s
Creek terminal, and on one of her visits city manager Rob Gandy went board for a look, am) then clambered
back ashore.
Parents support plan
Year-round school
approved for north
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
With a majority of parents in north
ern Brunswick County backing a plan
to implement year-round schools, the
board of education voted unani
mously Monday night to approve a
year-round school schedule at
Belville Elementary, Lincoln Primary
and Leland Middle schools tor the
1997-98 school year.
Parents attending Monday night’s
meeting applauded the board deci
sion.
Public meetings on year-round
City recycling
plan continues
Southport’s Public Services Department has remind residents that the <. itv s
curbside recycling program is still in effect and has no connection .wth
Brunswick County’s “blue bag” system.
"Your monthly solid waste fee is paying for this service, so please use it.
said director Ed Honeycutt. “You can commingle aluminum cans. >: asn,
green and clear glass and number 1 and number 2 plastic containers n mitr
recycling bin. Newspapers should be placed on top.”
Pick-up for recycling is every other week on the same day as regular gar
bage pick-up. Those with questions may contact the utility office at
7900.
schools were held prior to the board
vote, and surveys of the plan were
sent home to parents of students at the
three schools. Seventy percent ol par
ents responding said they supported
the plan.
“As long as the parents embrace it,
I think you’ll have great success w ith
year-round schools," said board
member Billy Carter.
The schedule calls tor classes to
begin July 21 and end June I 1. The
number of instructional days w ill re
main 180, but students will attend
school for nine weeks and then have
three weeks off. Summer vacation
will last five weeks.
With frequent and shorter inters tils
of time away from school, both stu
dents and teachers will be more re
freshed and excited about being at
school, principals sav
“It’s going to be real hectic at lirst
and it will take a lot ol planning, but
in the end I think kids anti teachers
will be more enthusiastic about com
See Year-round, page 6
XOP STORIES ON THE
Who's at fault?
Yaupon sewer
plant location
is questioned
By'Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Rain and groundwater are flowing
from an elevated area adjacent to the
Yaupon Beach wastewater disposal
basin, preventing percolation of efflu
ent from the town's beleaguered treat
ment plant, commissioner Roy
Johnson charged Monday night.
Johnson, an engineer, says a hy
drology report — part of a preliminary
engineering report for a proposed new
spray-irrigation disposal system --
and on-site inspection of the facility
support his claim.
“If that’s the case, the plant
shouldn’t have been put on that site
in the first place,” commissioner Dick
Marshall concluded. Other commis
sioners agreed.
The newest revelation of alleged
engineering shortcomings at the
Yaupon Beach wastewater plant in
furiated mayor pro-tem Bill Smith,
> who said the town should haul the
I system’s designers and state regula
tors who permitted the plant into
B court.
“ “I frankly question the engineering,
the hydrogeological study and the
(state tor accepting the plant,” Smith
said. “It’s time to make somebody
accountable. I'm tired of throwing
money after money and getting no
results.”
The inability of the rapid-infiltra
tion basin to accommodate the
400,000-gallon-per-day flow for
which it was designed first became
evident in July, 1994, when officials
of the state’s Division of Environ
‘It’s time to make
somebody
accountable. I’m
tired of throwing
money after money
and getting no
results.’
Bill Smith
Mayor pro-tem
mental Management ordered a mora
torium on new taps to the town’s
wastewater management system.
That moratorium, somewhat modi
fied. remains in effect today and
brought to a screeching halt new con
struction in Yaupon Beach.
When financing the wastewater
management system, commissioners
had counted on revenue from new
construction and from out-of-town
customers willing to pay one and a
halftimes the sewer rates paid by cus
tomers in town.
None of those additional revenue
sources has materialized with the
moratorium in effect. I he town now
faces the prospect of defaulting on
loans from Dh.VI used to construct the
facility
See Sewer, page 6
Bald Head effort
finally gets point
By Jim Harper
Staff Writer
Capping a remarkable year. Bald Head Island cape-savers last week
got the point.
" laterally, the Smith Island Land Trust which has been negotiating to
preserve developable property at Cape Fear purchased 11.06 acres of
ocean frontage for $1.5 million from the primary island developer.
The trust also obtained an option to buy an additional 20.47
See Bald Head, page 6