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Volume 68, Number 5
Phone 910-457-4568/Fax 910-457-9427/e-mail pilot@southport.net
port, NC
LELAND
Suit filed
over sale
of water
By Terry Pope
County Editor
The Town of Leland is suing the
North Brunswick Sanitary District
and has also threatened to include
the Brunswick County Board of
Commissioners in the legal dispute
over the town’s right to purchase
water when nobody is willing to
sell it.
Following a closed session
Monday county commissioners
were not amused, and voted unani
mously not to sell water to Leland
at wholesale rates because that
_ could affect the sanitary district
system already in place in northern
Brunswick County. Leland wants to
enter the water business so it can.
provide both water and sewer ser
vice to newer developments like the
900-acre Magnolia Greens Golf
Course subdivision.
Leland mayor Franky Thomas
said the town ended negotiations
with the sanitary district and filed
suit Monday in Brunswick County
Superior Court to obtain a legal rul
ing on whether the district’s refusal
to sell water to the town is an act of
discrimination. He said the county
has never refused to sell water to a
town either, and that it would con
stitute discrimination if it chose to
do so.
Commissioners obtained ldgal
advice from county attorney Huey
Marshall, who indicated that dis
crimination would only apply if
Leland becomes a customer and is
treated differently from other towns
with its rates or level of service.
“Just as Leland is not compelled
to buy water from the county, then
the obverse is the county is not
compelled to sell the Town of
Leland water,” said Marshall.
Developers of Magnolia Greens
have purchased another 500 acres
See Leland, page 10
CASTING OFF
Photo by Jim Harper
David Roseman of Maiden — “I fish from March to November every year” — sets his anchor line and
gets ready for a day of kingfishing on Ocean Crest Pier. King mackerel are foremost in the minds of
pier anglers and boat fishermen as the fall run approaches.
How to treat the city’s future
Southport faces question of infrastructure
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
With new residential and commercial develop
ment virtually on hold, Southport soon faces crit
ical decisions about how it will meet the waste
water needs of the city and its presumed service
area.
“We're talking about a substantial capital pro
ject somewhere down the road,” city manager
Rob Gandy said this week. And, that road may be
a short one.
Already, city officials have imposed a “morato
rium” on consideration of new residential subdi
visions of ten acres or more or of 20 units or
more. This action comes as consulting engineers
for the city seek to determine how much more
wastewater treatment capacity can be freed for
Results of the consulting
engineers’ in-flow and
infiltration study are
expected to be presented
to aldermen at their
October 8 meeting
allocation by plugging collection system leaks
which allow in-flow and infiltration of stormwa
ter.
But, while it will become important to the city
to put its wastewater collection system in good
repair, the anticipated additional flow the city's
system will afford — even absent infiltration —
won’t be sufficient to meet needs of the city’s
growing service area.
Aldermen may begin allocating flow to new
development upon completion of the in-tlow and
infiltration ^udy now nearing completion, but
only a very limited amount of flow will actually
become available when in-flow problems are
remedied.
“Even if that buys us 50,000 gallons per day,
that is really not very milch,” Gandy said.
Public services director Ed Honeycutt esti
mates one subdivision on the order of The
Landing would use up 50,000 gallons of daily
See Southport, page 12
J
L/>
Long Beac
Council okays
public sewer,
regional plan
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Long Beach will build a public
sewage collection system, town
council decided Tuesday night.
There have been times in recent
Long Beach history when the mere
mention of public wastewater man
agement was enough to provoke a
fist-fight, But, so changed is the
political environment today, coun
cil's action was taken unanimously,
with no challenge from the public.
In separate actions, council:
■ Voted to accept the offer of
neighboring Yaupon Beach to pro
vide the town 35,000 gallons daily
wastewater flow capacity immedi
ately. That capacity will be
increased to between 135,000 and
170,000 gallons per day by July,
1999, depending on another flow
commitment Yaupon Beach may
have.
■ Authorized staff to issue a
request for proposals from engineer
ing consulting firms which will
' design and oversee construction of
the first phase of a Bong Beach
wastewater management system.
‘Costs will be
covered by assess
ments, tap fees and
then usage. Those
who do not have
access to the sewer
system will not pay
for the sewer sys
tem....’
This initial system is likely to serve
the town's central business district.
Eventually, it is anticipated, flow
from all properties east of 46th
Street will be directed to Yaupon
Beach for treatment, as a regional
wastewater management system
develops.
"There is consensus we need a
See Long Beach, page 5
‘Non-aggressive’
Two-bill policy
tried for rescue
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor
Not wanting to harass those unable
to pay, town council Tuesday night
said patients treated by the Long
Beach Rescue Squad will only be
billed twice.
If payment is not made after a sec
ond billing, the account will be writ
ten off. Councilors said this action is
in keeping with a commitment to a
"non-aggressive" collection policy
council asserted when it began oper
ating a paid rescue service on July 1.
Council's action and its billing
determination came as it ratified a
contract for billing services with
EMS Management and Consultants
Inc., a Winston-Salem company
which currently bills for Leland,
Coastline and Town Creek volunteer
rescue squads in Brunswick County.
Councilors struck a provision of
the proposed contract that outlined a
procedure whereby follow-up bills
would have been sent at 45 days, 75
days and 95 days before being deter
mined to be uncollectable.
The two-billings-only policy
adopted as a compromise — coun
cilor Horace Collier wanted one
billing only; councilor Kevin Bell
wanted to allow the full four billings
— will apply to those who carry
medical insurance as well as to those
who do not.
"The first assumption we took to
budget deliberations was we would
have a non-aggressive collection
policy — a policy without collection
agencies," town manager Jerry
Walters reminded council. "We pul a
small amount in the budget (revenue
side) for collection from third-party
payers."
Walters suggested everyone be
sent an initial bill for rescue service.
After that one bill, he said, collec
tion efforts could be terminated.
"That's about as non-aggressive as
you can get," Walters said.
But, councilor Bell said some
insurance companies do not respond
until third billing notices are sent.
Councilor Mary Snead suggested
the two-billings compromise and
See Rescue, page 5
Superintendent gets high marks, bonus
By Laura Kimball
Feature Editor
Brunswick County schools super
intendent Marion Wise received an
excellent evaluation and a bonus
Monday night at a meeting of the
county school board.
Board chairman Glenda Browning
said on a scale of one to six, with
one being the best rating, Wise
received mostly twos. His perfor
mance was rated “well above stan
dard,” she said.
Board members recommended
Wise receive a $4,000 bonus. The
bonus is part of Wise’s contract
which is awarded to him if he meets
goals for the year.
Also, Wise’s contract will be
extended two years. Since Wise is
already two years into a four-year
contract, this will make him school
superintendent through 2002.
• Browning pointed out, though
Wise has done an excellent job, that
improvements in the school system
are a result of teamwork. Mary
McDuffie, assistant superintendent
of curriculum and instruction, and
Clarence Willie, assistant superin
tendent of operational programs,
each will be given a $1,500 bonus
for their parts in the team effort, she"
said.
“We are just so very proud of what
the team has accomplished under his
leadership,” Browning said.
Board member Billy Carter also
has noticed improvement under
Wisfc’s leadership. According to
Carter, the schools seem cleaner and
more upbeat, and test scores are up.
“The board is well-satisfied with ’
the performance of the superinten
dent,” he said.
Also at the Monday meeting, a
change in the half-days awarded
Brunswick County teachers was
announced.
Each staff member will be given
two half-days of leave, from noon to
4 p.m., on November 25 and
December 22. The previous sched
ule had December 18 as a half-day
off, but it will remain a teacher
workday.
The half-days are a reward to staff
members for their part in the ABCs
of Public Education results.
INSIDE
Police report 6
Obituaries j 11
Business 13
Notices 1155
Church B
Calendar 6B
TV schedule 4 6C
District Court 8C
Classifieds 9c
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