Neighbors
A variety of Easter activi
ties and much more is fea
tured in section B this week
Land
plans
Forum: what's
said, done not
always same
By Terry Pope
County Editor
What town and county leaders
write in their land use plans and what
they actually do to help protect the
environment often are two different
things, some frustrated residents told
the N. C. Coastal Resources Commis
sion when it met at Sunset Beach last
week.
Southport resident Bob Quinn, rep
resenting the Brunswick Environ
mental Action Team (BEAT), told the
CRC the public has the impression
that land use plans are “full of rheto
ric and empty in application.” He said
plans are important and that state
regulators ought to enforce or at least
encourage local governments to prac
tice what they preach when it comes
See Plans, page 6
DOSHER
Health plan
is expected
early June
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor
Dosher Memorial Hospital should
be in the managed health care busi
ness by June 1, said hospital admin
istrator Edgar Haywood.
Health care coverage by the Coastal
Carolinas Health Plan — a Preferred
Provider Organization (PPO) com
posed of all nine hospitals of the
Coastal Carolina Health Alliance and
Acordia National Insurance Company
— will first be offered to hospital em
ployees.
The change in health care coverage
will save the hospital about $35,000
this fiscal year, which is approxi
mately how much it cost Dosher to
iparticipate in the PPO, Haywood
inoted.
He said health care coverage un
der the PPO will be offered to the
public a few weeks after start-up.
Twelve members of Dosher’s
medical staff have agreed to partici
pate in the PPO, Haywood said, and
three doctors still are reviewing the
proposed contracts. Acordia National
See Health, page 6
JZZlS? ’*? .°h 'J.n"Cd,M“hodiS' “•** “ dra[led to P-Pto, Ito* oJXV^Se"
period leading up to the celebration of the principal Christian holiday and shift of church colors from pur
pie to white. r
GOP celebrates payoff
Benton's hard work is remembered
By Terry Pope
County Editor
At their annual convention Saturday, county Republi
cans celebrated paying off the debt on their headquarters
building near Supply.
But someone who spent hours at the facility and
devoted his efforts toward strengthening the party was
not among those in attendance.
Billy Benton Sr., 53, of Shallotte died suddenly
Thursday morning. When he was appointed to the
Brunswick County Board of Elections in 1991 Benton
became an emerging figure in the Republican party
and a familiar face at headquarters he helped build.
“Everyone knows how much he loved the Republi
can party,” said Phil Norris. “Billy would be here
today if he could.”
Outgoing party chairman Tom Pope said Benton
was someone who had spent hours at the building to
See Payoff, page 6
Beach n
»ment
Trus ind
to help pay
for projects
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Before mayor Joan Altman even
had time to sign-off on a town coun
cil resolution creating a new Beach
Preservation Trust Fund, the fund
accepted its first contribution.
Resident Dara Royal, who had
earlier urged council to create the
trust to accept contributions for
beach nourishment projects, stepped
forward with a check for $5,000.
Ms. Royal, who has for the past
three months used public comment
time before council to lecture mem
bers on the need for beachfront
nourishment, said the contribution
was made in memory of her
deceased parents.
The $5,000, she said, is the equiv
alent of what Long Beach would
pay in partnership with the federal
See Long Beach, page 7
Regional plan
for wastewater
worth pursuing
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
A regional wastewater treatment
and disposal center at Southport may
be a good idea for the city and the
region, city manager Rob Gandy said
this week. Area municipal officials
plan to shortly hold a meeting of all
interested to see who else thinks the
plan beneficial.
“We’re going to have a sit-down,"
Gandy said. “The only way to do this
is to shake the bushes and see how
many players there are out there.
When you know who your custom
ers are you make your plans to build
a plant of the right size.”
While discussing budget priorities
last week, Long Beach Town Coun
cil authorized town manager Jerry
Walters to open negotiations with
Southport to establish a regional
wastewater treatment and disposal
system in the city. In a plan envi
sioned by Long Beach Town Coun
cil, a wastewater collection system
would be built in that town and a force
main constructed across the
Intracoastal Waterway. A.sufficiently
sized pipeline running eastward along
the waterway marsh would deliver
‘I’d like to go ahead
and build it and
have the capacity
assurances for 20
years.... I’d like to
see us be the prime
example of regional
cooperation in
southeastern North
Carolina.’
Rob Gandy
Southport manager
wastewater to Southport for treatment
and disposal.
So, what's in it for Southport?
Gandy says the plan has potential
to lower city residents’ present sewer
bills. And, when it comes to the area
See Wastewater, page 6
Leland area development underway
Magnolia Greens project on course
By Terry Pope
County Editor
Most golf courses boast of 18 holes of championship play,
but Iceland’s first golf course community is developing just
16 holes for now.
Two of the 18 planned holes at the new Magnolia Greens
lie in a heavy manufacturing zone, which does not allow golf
courses or residences. Landmark Inc. will apply for rezoning
so it can finish the course on par.
"We’re going to feel compelled to give it to you so you
don't have the only 16-hole course in the county,” Brunswick
County Planning Board chairman John Thompson told Chris
Stevens of McKim and Creed Architects of Wilmington, de
signers of the project, at a meeting last week.
Stevens said Landmark will bring the two holes back in
play on its 8d3-acre project located between U. S. 17 and
Lanvale Road west of Leland. Landmark has asked the Town
of Leland for satellite incorporation of the property, and
The 893-acre project is located
between U. S. 17 and Lanvale Road
west of Leland
Leland has held a public hearing on non-contittuous annexation
and passed a resolution to seek assistance of the N. (' C reneral
Assembly to extend its corporate limits.
Last week, the county planning board approved a master de
velopment plan for Magnolia Greens that includes the I << holes
of golf, 494 single-family homesites, 297 multi lanulv units
and 443 patio homesites, for a total of 1,234 residential units at
a density of 1.7 units per acre. The map leaves a lan e portion
of the land on its southeast corner open and reserv ed as a natu
ral Carolina Bay and will also include a driving range, prac
tice green, clubhouse and recreation areas as part of its planned
unit development.
landmark will build its own wastewater collection system
and seek a permit to spray treated effluent on the golf course
and common areas. Landmark is the Wilmington-based com
pany that has developed Leland industrial Park and Liberty
Landing subdivision off N. C. 133 near Belville. It will tap
onto the Leland Sanitary District water distribution lines.
Most of Landmark’s residential projects lie in New Hanover
County, and it completes up to 200 housing units per year and
provides lots to general builders. The golf course is already
under construction and is designed by golf professional Tom
Jackson of South Carolina. Its main entrance will lie just north
of Lanvale Road on U. S. 17.
“Hopefully, we'll be playing golf before the year is out,”
said Stevens. “We have a pretty aggressive schedule ”
See Course, page 6
Forecast
The extended forecast calls for
mostly sunny skies Thursday through
Saturday with highs in the 70's.
INSIDE -
Police report .. 9
Obituaries .... .11
Calendar. . .A .. 3B
Church........ 7B
Business-- SB
Schools ...... .13B
TV schedule ... .16B
District Court . .18B
TOP STORIES ON THE INTERNET www.soulhport.net