The State Port VOLUME 6 7/ NUMBER 21 SOUTHPORT N.C. 50 CENTS The 1998 state Dixie Boys tournament will be played at Smithville Park — 1C co sen * 0- o * C C * *-3 3^3 * XQXU * tO'Oi-* * o»o * SOWSOh* * 1- 3 »-3NJ * CO I * SHGto * npdHt-» * raw i n oo^aSko Ed 4 >p> » I cr> ►< W t- t-3 -JCO coo w 1-3 * * o >£> ® TJS> )ors it overcome jastors say srsary — IB >wn i oceanfront it what is -- Page 2 No ADM discharge into river By Richard Nlibel News Editor State regulators have told Archer Daniel Midlands Corporation its plan to pump gypsum into the Cape Fear River from its plant north of Southport is “unaccept able.” In a January 7 letter to the company, an official of the state’s Division of Water, Quality said ADM should seek to recycle the gypsum by selling it as a fertilizer. ADM had never applied for a permit to dump gypsum in the Cape Fear River, and the state’s reaction to its plan to do so likely means the company will not make permit application. The chemical — most commonly encountered as the primary ingredient in dry wall - is a byproduct of -the citric acid production process. Gypsum has been stored in a huge mound on .the Southport plant site, first by Pfizer Jific. jind later by ADM.-A company engi 'nger sAid the mountain of gypsum stored Off-Moore Streebextension on the ADM fH&perty'is so large it can no longer accept more Of the chemical. / On October 2, an ADM engineer wrote • the N .C. Department of Environment ar . Natural Resourf^ptOposiTig ^rtn hereby gypSuirf would be filtered out p « H |.i V "WHUPH "HU "I | l-MI ■ verted to a slurry, piped out the compa - Gypsum, page 6 Airport Audit review brings change By Holly Edwards Feature Editor Brunswick County Airport commission ers in a special meeting with auditors last week blamed its airport manager for fail ing to develop written procedures and policies governing cash flow, and its board treasurer for failing to introduce required budget amendments throughout the year. An audit report prepared by Brock, Padgett and Chandler indicates airport expenditures exceeded appropriated bud get amounts in virtually every line item, and total expenditures exceeded revenues by $11,220 despite nearly $201,000 in unbudgeted excess revenue created by higher-than-expected fuel sales. Auditor Menton Padgett told board members that because it is a government body, its budget is an ordinance that must be amended to be legally changed. "Having expenditures that are over bud get is not ah odd occurrence, but the bud See Airport, page 12 auKHMK ? ’T'-i-m 'tt&wrn muio uj jim narper Camera people of all sorts are a common sight in Southport’s Waterfront Park, but who was this Herb guy, and what was he doing there last weekend? Our Waterfront writer knows, and tells, on page 13. Southport aldermen No subdivisions 6 til sewer report By Richard Nubel News Editor No plat for a subdivision of ten acres or more, or of 20 lots or more, will be considered by the City of Southport until an engi neering firm completes its assessment of wastewater treatment capacity. Meeting Thursday, aldermen enacted the “moratorium” on all new subdivision requests on a motion offered by alderman Bill Delaney. The action was taken despite city attorney Mike Isenberg’s warning no threat to the public health and welfare exists at this time. I move that the planning board or us do not receive any more See City board, page 8 Caswell contract is on tap By Richard Nubel News Editor County attorney Huey Marshall will forward to the town this week a final contract draft by which Brunswick County will operate and main tain a unified Caswell Beach water distribution system. Meanwhile, the “town's board of commissioners will meet Friday to iron-out details of a See Caswell, page 9 Year-round schools proposed Educators say they’ve done their homework By Holly Edwards Feature Editor About 100 parents and students attended a pub lic hearing last week on a plan to implement a year-round school calendar at Bolivia and Southport elementary schools and South Brunswick Middle School for the 1998-99 school year. Additional hearings on the topic are scheduled at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, January 21, at South Brunswick Middle School and Thursday, January ■t L Ifg 22, at Southport Elementary School. The calendar would shorten summer vacation from ten to five weeks but provide a three-week break after each nine-week instructional period. This year, summer vacation would be shortened by only two weeks because of a revised tradition al calendar. Some parents attending last week’s heating said they didn t understand the calendar, some said they supported the change, while others said they were opposed to it. “It seeirfs to me that this is part of the bureau cracy involved in the schools that trickles down from Washington,” parent Jim Minett told school officials. You haven’t told me enough positives with the new calendar to outweigh the negatives. I don t want my children to be wards of the state. This seems like an experiment we’re going to go through to follow the footsteps of the people in Washington who don’t know anything about Brunswick County.” Southport Elementary School principal Carolyn Williams responded that, based on her experi See Year-round, page 7 Aldermen told: Island bridge could impact city economy By Richard Nubel News Editor An llth-hour dispute over place ment of a road leading to the planned second bridge to Oak Island jumped the Intracoastal Waterway on Thursday to play out in aider men’s chambers at Southport City Hall. Frances Allen appeared before aldermen, restating a position she advanced at her last meeting as a Long Beach town councilor in December: A road from any second bridge to western Oak Island should run through Sunset Harbor, not along a more direct proposed route from the area opposite Middleton Street to Midway Road on N. C. 211. In addition to her now-familiar objection to the most direct land route on environmental grounds, Allen told Southport aldermen the See Bridge, page 8 ‘Everybody in Long Beach is going to drive that five miles (across the western bridge) to shop. I’m wor ried not only what will happen to Southport, but what will happen to Long Beach.’ Frances Allen Southport. Yaupon County offer is insufficient to collect tax By Richard Nubel • News Editor It will cost more for the City of Southport and the Town of Yaupon Beach to collect Brunswick County’s one-percent occupancy tax than the county is willing to pay the municipalities. In separate actions Thursday and Monday, Southport aldermen and Yaupon Beach com missioners refused to collect the newly authorized one-percent countywide tax on short-term rentals for Brunswick County. Caswell Beach commissioners earlier on Thursday agreed to collect the tax for the administrative fee Brunswick County has offered. “I think they’ve lost their minds to even See Occupancy, page 6 ‘It’s their responsibility to collect the tax. I think we ought to let them do it.’ Bill Crowe Southport mayor King observances planned this week The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday will be observed in Southport with the annual community march Sunday, January 18,2 p.m., begin ning at the intersection of 10th and Howe streets. The 15-minute march will end at the ILA Hall on Lord Street, where a program will begin at 2:30 pan. The event will feature several guest speakers as well as a performance by the Southport Community Choir. A community breakfast will be held at the North Carolina Baptist Assembly on Monday, January 19, 8 a.m. The annual event is designed to bring area residents together to discuss the state of race relations in the Southport-Oak Island area and strategies to improve them. The public also is invited to attend a debate on the question “Should Martin Luther King’s birthday be observed as a national holiday?" Thursday, January 15, 2 p.m., in the Brunswick Community College student center. Teams of students will debate the issue and radio talk show host Dick Lee will serve as moderator. maw* on me rmu www.SouthpoftneT1

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