April 15.1998
THE STATE PORT
Phone 910-457-4568/Fax 910-457-9427/e-mail pilot@southport.net _Volume 67, Number 34
50
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Photo by Jim Harper
Horn (horn) n. 1. a sound-making device operated by blowing air, or occasionally squeezing a bulb, or push
ing a button. 2. a butting device found on a variety of barnyard animals, sometimes even on small goats in
petting zoos at Robert Ruark Chili Cookoffs.
Grant will fund study
of northern area sewer
By Terry Pope
County Editor
A state grant will help begin plan
ning and development for the coun
ty’s 20-square-mile regional sewer
system in the northern area.
The N. C. Rural Economic
Development Center has awarded
the county a $125,000 grant that will
be used to contract with W. K.
Dickson and Co., a Charlotte firm
which will develop the county’s 201
Facilities Plan and weigh the pro
ject’s environmental impact on the
community.
The study area includes Navassa,
Leland and the North Brunswick
Sanitary District. The project is
being coordinated with Landmark
Development Corp., developer of
the Magnolia Greens golf course
subdivision. Landmark has paid for
sewer line extensions to the golf
course project off U. S. 17 south of
Leland.
Dickson will have 105 days to
draft the plan and will be paid
$170,000. Last week, Brunswick
County commissioners awarded
consultant Skip Green and
Associates $1,000 for obtaining the
grant and also transferred $46,000
from the county’s contingency fund
to be applied toward the project.
Commissioners have set aside
$1,590,600 for the Northeast
Brunswick Wastewater Facility pro
ject in revenues from the county
general fund and other sources. But
commissioners say the system, once
See Grant, page 6
Yaupon looks across waterway
‘Economics’ reason
for annexation plan
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Seeking greater control of their
wastewater treatment plant property
and their town’s economic destiny,
Yaupon Beach commissioners have
adopted a resolution of intent to
annex 483 acres abutting Long
Beach Road and Fish Factory Road
on the mainland.
Annexation is the process by
which municipalities increase their
size, taking land adjacent to their
boundaries.
The proposed Yaupon Beach
annexation across the Elizabeth
River marsh into the heart of an area
now governed by Southeast
Brunswick Sanitary District will be
the subject of a public hearing at 7
p.m. June 23 at the Oak Island
Moose Lodge on Long Beach Road.
Under terms of annexation law,
town clerk Nancy Wilson said,
Yaupon Beach commissioners will
be free to adopt an ordinance of
See Annexation, page 7
PROPOSED ^
ANNEXATION \
AREA
McIntyre, corps
Feds address
beach erosion
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
While federal officials cannot guarantee funds for construction will
follow, one short-term erosion control measure and one major nourish
ment project are on the drawing board for Oak Island.
Seventh District U. S. Congressman Mike McIntyre and U. S. Army
Corps of Engineers officials last week touted beach erosion control
measures and a planned investigation of poor water quality in the
Lockwood Folly River basin in two “town hall” meetings at Ocean Isle
Beach and Holden Beach.
The corps has moved into the “design phase” of a proposed $5-mil
See Erosion, page 8
Rescue funding
levels stay same
By Terry Pope
County Editor
Local volunteer fire and rescue squads have been told to expect
the same level of funding for the 1998-99 fiscal year as was
received last year while the county continues to work towards a per
manent funding solution.
Recommendation from a study committee to the Brunswick
County Board of Commissioners is to fund the fire and rescue
squads at the proposed level for a two-year period, recognizing that
it will take that time to develop and put in place a permanent financ
ing source — such as special fire and rescue tax districts or estab
See Rescue, page 6
Long Beach
TVash
answer
Tuesday
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Town council has set next Tues
day as the day it will decide
whether or not Long Beach will
sign-on to Brunswick County’s six
year, $30-million plan to provide
roadside refuse collection county
wide.
That decision, and a decision to
resell a leaf vacuum once thought
critical to the town's management
of yard debris, came at a special
council meeting April 7. At that
session, councilor Kevin Bell
called the $82,000 leaf vacuum the
town has ordered through the state
procurement service a “white ele
phant” and said other towns using
similar equipment find it in the
shop more often than not. Only
councilors Mike Oxford and J. K.
Somers opposed his motion to
resell the machine before delivery
is made. A manufacturer’s rep has
told the town there will be other
buyers for the machine which has
been on order for nine months.
After swapping information with
a representative of Waste Industries
Inc., council said Brunswick
County will have the town’s deci-.
sion on refuse collection next •
See Trash, page 9
School goals are something to shoot for
By Holly Edwards
Feature Editor „
Hundreds of goals and strategies to improve
■* virtually every aspect of the Brunswick
County school system - from classroom
instruction to transportation - are included in
a report submitted by superintendent of
schools Marion Wise during the annual board
of education retreat.
Board members applauded Wise’s ambitious
programs and pointed to rising test scores as
ah indication that the new administrative team
is doing its job.
“He certainly has been aggressive in his
attempt to revamp and upgrade the school sys
tem and to meet the requirements the state has
set forth/’ said board member Pat Brown. “He
and his team are doing the best they can. Even
if they can’t achieve all the goals, the goals
provide a vision for Brunswick County.”
Board vice-chairman Joyce Hewett said the
school system is “moving in the right direc
tion,” and board member Bud Thorsen said
Wise's goals, wijl set a “high standard" for
everyone in the school system to follow.
But. despite improvements in student perfor
mance. board members listed several lingering
concerns and piroblems, such as overcrowded
classrooms, low teacher and student morale,
poor communication among students; and
teachers and chronic discipline problems.
“Until we get parents that will stand behind
the teachers and provide discipline at home,
we’re going to have discipline problems at
school,” Thorsen said. "The school system
isn’t there to raise kids, but more and more
time is being spent on guidance and discipline
and it's taking time away from instruction.
Thorsen added that students sometimes get
suspended from school deliberately so they
can have a "mini-vacation at home.
"A lot of kids do something stupid just to
See Schools, page 9
District Court 12
Police report 12
Tax listings 13
Obituaries 19
Calendar 5B
Church 7B
Schools 8B
TV schedule 1 11B
Classifieds 5C
■ NEWS on the NET; www.southport.net “