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Published every Wednesday in Southpon, NC
June 3. 1998
Phone 910-457-4568/Fax 910-457-9427/e-mail pilot@southport.net
Volume 67, Number 41
Southport
Same rate,
lower fees
proposed
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
It will actually cost property own
ers $71.52 less to live in Southport
next year.
City manager Rob Gandy this
Week published a proposed $7.06
million 1998-99 budget for the City
of Southport which calls for no
increase in the city’s present proper
ty tax, no increase in water, sewer or
electric fees and a $5.96-per-month
reduction of residential solid waste
fees.
The budget proposal, which actu
ally comes from Gandy and the
city’s budget committee — aldermen
Nelson Adams, Jim Brown and Bill
Delaney — is lean by any standard.
While electric fund unappropriated
balance is characterized as “critical
ly low” in Gandy’s budget message,
no rate adjustment is advocated. To
balance the city’s water and sewer
fund without rate increases for these
two services, $100,000 was appro
priated from water and sewer fund
balance and an additional $39,365
was transferred to the water and
sewer fund from the city’s solid
waste fund unappropriated balance.
aji rums -- general, water and
sewer electric and solid waste —
■ have been balanced without inter
fund revenue transfers, however.
Each of the three enterprise funds
will operate as stand-alone ventures
in the year to begin July 1, if alder
men adopt the proposed budget.
In his budget message, however,
Gandy says all unappropriated fund
balances, except the electric fund
balance, are strong. Fund balance is
a sum of money that is not appro
priated for a specific purpose. It is
available for appropriation in emer
gencies — like hurricanes here --
and provides a source of funds
when cash flow is poor.
“Barring any unforeseen emer
. gency between this writing and the
end of the budget year, all funds
(unappropriated balances), with the
exception of the electric fund, seem
to be holding their own,” Gandy
wrote. “... the (electric fund) cash
situation is improving slightly;
however, fund balance reserves
remain critically low.”
The proposed budget for the City
of Southport in FY 1998-99 will be
the subject of a 6 p.m. public hear
ing to be held June 18 at City Hall.
General fund
Retaining the city’s present prop
erty tax rate of 53 cents per $100
valuation will provide the city with
an estimated $589,354 -- or just
over 32 percent of the total pro
posed $1.833-million general fiind
for 1998-99. The tax levy is based
on an estimated total citywide valu
ation of $117.7 million and a 94.5
percent tax collection rate.
The general fund is projected to
See Southport, page 6
Photo by Jim Harper
In the current trout run on Oak island piers live shrimp are the ticket to success, and anglers stood in line
for tickets along the Oak Island shore throughout the weekend. These cast-netters were busy at the 40th
Street causeway in Long Beach on Friday evening. „ .
SBSD as municipality
But what do the people think?
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Despite the appearance that incorporation is a
defense against annexation by Yaupon Beach,
Southeast Brunswick Sanitary District commissioners
Monday to tussle over recommendations for a replace
ment for former commissioner Tommy Bowmer, who
resigned his seat earlier this month, citing health rea
sons.
Only commissioner Ginger Harper opposed pursuit
of incorporation by Southeast Brunswick Sanitary
Monday morning said
they will “pursue” ;
becoming a munici
pality.
Commissioners also
named Barbara Stein
to the position of dis
trict manager. She has
served as “acting”
manager of the sani
tary district since
January and was an
administrative assis
tant prior to that time.
The board continued ;
‘They have an opportunity to
come. Some of them work at
night. You can take a day off to
come to a meeting, if you’re inter
ested.’
James W. Smith, of 8 a.m. public hearing
District.
Commissioners Gene
Formy-Duval and and
Lucille Laster and
chairman James W.
(Bubba) Smith voted
to seek to incorporate
the district as a
municipality just as
Yaupon Beach is
seeking to annex 483
acres in the southern
part of the sanitary
See People,
page 6
Three-cent increase
Long Beach
budget looks
for ‘ins, outs’
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
With seven miles of beach strand
and the largest population of any
municipality in Brunswick County,
Long Beach is a town of big ideas
and many of them.
Some of these ideas and even
some dreams have found their way
into town manager Jerry Walters’
$6.756-million budget proposal for
1998-99 and some of them have
not.
What’s in and what’s out for
1998-99?
Although a three-cent property
tax increase remains in the budget
after two town council budget
workshop sessions, the budget pro
posal for 1998-99 is not as chock
full of projects and capital expendi
tures as many Long Beach budgets
have been in the past five years.
“It looks like a — pardon the
‘It looks like a —
pardon the expres
sion — plain vanilla
budget, but in fact
it is not.’
Jerry Walters
Town manager
expression — ‘plain vanilla’ budget,
but in fact it is not,” Walters said.
“It’s a little different this year in
that many of the projects council
authorized in the past are done.”
The proposed budget for 1998-99
See Long Beach, page 7
Fire districts
on county’s
front burner
By Terry Pope
County Editor
County officials appear ready to
establish flat fees to fund fire and
rescue units but will await data on
what those fees will generate if spe
cial legislation passes the N. C.
General Assembly.
State Rep. David Redwine (D
Ocean Isle Beach) has drafted a spe
cial bill patterned after one used to
implement fees for North Whiteville
Fire District in Columbus County.
Redwine is holding onto the bill
until the Brunswick County Board
of Commissioners can decide what
kind of fees it wants to charge and
how the county will collect the fees.
The board tabled a decision Monday
and has asked for more information
from county finance director Lithia
Home on how billing to tax
accounts would include a built-in
growth factor or instead cause prob
lems.
“I think there would be a mad pish
‘Every time the
truck starts, it’s the
same price,
whether it’s racing
to a $300,000
stick-built home or
a mobile home.’
Huey Marshall
County attorney
into the tax office to consolidate
accounts,” said county attorney
Huey Marshall.
If billed based on county tax
accounts, with set fees for homes,
businesses and vacant lots, it means
See Districts, page 11
Jackson shipping out after 44 years
JACKSON
/1
Traffic management at Sunny Point ‘high-stress’ job
By Laura Kimball
Feature Editor
On her last day of work, Hortense
Jackson remembered the most hectic times
she’s experienced at Sunny Point, an
ammunition transfer station and the only
military ocean terminal left in the U. S.
“The hard work as a traffic manager
came when the cargo came back from the
Gulf War. And behind that the Cold War
munitions came back,” she said.
Jackson, who retired Friday from her job
as chief of the traffic management division
at Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point,
has worked for the U. S. government for 44
years. As chief of traffic management, she
was responsible for reviewing inbound
cargo, determining the status of carriers
and arranging for munitions to be prompt
ly transferred from one vehicle to another.
“It can be hectic. This is rated as a high
stress job because ammunition is a very
controlled, very regulated item,” she said.
Jackson started her career at Fort Bragg
in 1954, the same year she graduated from
high school jn Fayetteville. Her first job
was in the quartermaster laundry, and she
later moved to the Directorate of Logistics,
where she was assistant item manager for
13 years.
In 1968 Jackson began working at Sunny
Point as a clerk typist. She moved to the
position of chief of the freight traffic divi
sion in 1979 and became chief of the traf
See High-stress, page 11
Donors may ‘Relay’
cancer contribution
Contributions to the American Cancer Society’s
Relay for Life ‘98 can be mailed using a form on
page 14 of this week’s State Port Pilot.
Those who send their contributions in this
manner qualify for awards including three
nights’ accommodations at the Omni hotel in
West Palm Beach, FL, dinner and show for two
at Medieval Times in Myrtle Beach and dinner
for two at Laredo’s in Southport. The awards are
provided by The State Port Pilot.
Also, The State Port Pilot invites individuals
who wish to participate in the 24-hour relay at
South Brunswick High School to join the news
paper team by phoning Renee Elliot at 457
4568. These volunteers also qualify ’or the
awards.
NEWS on the NET: www.southport.net