St. James’ growth increases the demand for public services
Fire fund
Continued from page 1
ed to know what it would look like
if we offered a letter of insurance to
them,” said District 3 commissioner
Leslie Collier of Long Beach. Her
motion that sets up routine depart
ment funding as of January 1 passed
unanimously. .
Otto Becker, president of St.
James Fire Department Inc., said the
department is looking at $100,000
needed for equipment to get started
and that residents also want a first
responder emergency crew as soon
as possible. The department is
working with county fire marshal
Cecil Logan and A. C. Daniels of
the Nortf^Carolina Department of
Insurance to map a new district that
will border with Southport, Sunset
Harbor/Zion Hill and Long Beach
fire department districts.
“We need all the people we can
get,” said Becker. “I was over
whelmed by the turnout. It’s really a
credit to the folks in our communi
ty.”
A number of veteran firefighters
have already signed up, including
chief Bill Schmidt, who has over 30
years experience. Becker said Joe
Lane has over 25 years experience
providing emergency medical ser
vices. Other volunteers have signed
up to go through fire and rescue
training offered by the county EMS
or to help operate the office.
During a recent pledge drive that
began October 11, the community
obtained $34,000 in donations in a
short period of time. The depart
ment plans to purchase a pumper
truck from the Northwest Volunteer
Fire Department and will continue
to search for a tanker and other
equipment.
Land for the station is being
donated by St. James Development
Co.
The borders of the new fire district
have been tentatively mapped and
agreed upon by Southport. The goal
is to be fully operational by late
1999.
Becker said the district would
reach eastward on N. C. 211 to
where the current western edge of
Southport’s district extends. The
western district will reach to
Midway Road and the southern
boundary to the Intracoasial
Waterway.
“Whatever makes the most sense,
we are willing to do,” said Becker.
“We are not trying to serve other
people’s turf.”
The Department of Insurance
requires that departments have a
roster of 22 trained volunteers on
hand, can move at least 1,500 gal
lons of water to a blaze and operate
from a heated station in order to
obtain an approved classification
rating. That classification can be
achieved without a history of
responding to emergencies for new
departments that are just getting
established.
Under county funding policy, each
of the 21 volunteer departments
receive $35,000 in capital outlay
funds and rescue squads $ 17,500 for
operating expenses per fiscal year.
St. James will receive six months of
that funding Starting January 1 and
become eligible for the full funding
amount after July 1, 1999.
County commissioners have also
set aside a funds totaling $650,000
from which all departments can
request as needed for emergency
capital needs. An appointed fire cap
ital expenditure advisory committee
takes individual department
requests and recommends to com
missioners what items ought to be
funded.
Commissioners are currently
studying new ways to better fund
fire and rescue departments and has
ordered a study through tax admin
istrator Boyd Williamson’s office on
the effect of funding units- by fire
and.rescue districts. That report has
n’t yet come back to the board.
Becker said with the pledges and
the county’s contribution, the
department has gotten off to a good
start.
“With that kind of funding, we’ll
get there,” said Becker.
Ms. Collier’s motion also instruct
ed county attorney Huey Marshall to
work with the volunteers on obtain
ing their letter of insurance needed
to finance a new building.
Preliminary discussions have
already been held with architects
and designers, said Becker, but
mortgage companies need the letter
from the county for assurance that
county funds are available and that
the department is officially recog
m
nized.
In other action Monday, commis
sioners also appropriated $126,775
in capital outlay needs to seven fire
departments as recommended by the
fire capital outlay committee. Those
amounts include:
■ Bald Head Island VFD —
$25,000 for construction on a new
fire department building, repairs on
tank truck, tires and new engine for
portable pump.
■ Sunset Harbor/Zion Hill VFD
- $8,000 for hose and chain saw.
■ Northwest VFD — $3,137 for
ten pagers.
■ Waccamaw VFD - $6,050 for
ten pagers and computer equip
ment.
■ Ocean Isle Beach VFD
$25,000 for construction and train
ing room for new building.
■ Calabash VFD - $45,738 to
purchase 75-foot aerial truck.
■ Grissettown/Longwood VFD -
- $13,550 for land acquisition and
concrete.
Fast pace
Continued from page 1
and residents are lobbying state leg
islators to become the Town of St.
James, which would be the 19th
municipality in the county.
Since the community’s initial
development, E&T has served as the
primary site contractor, handling
about 85 percent of all heavy earth
moving projects in St. James. The
company was formed in 1971 by
Tom Jones and was hired on by St.
James developer Homer Wright,
who in 1984 purchased the 6,000
acres that may one day become a
town. He created it as a planned
retirement community.
“You have to envision a golf
course being there,” said Will Jones,
son of Tom Jones and a superinten
dent for E&T Construction, as he
drives along the unpaved roads and
mapped holes that will one day be
an integral part of St. James.
The marina looks like a huge
cement bunker for now on the banks
of the waterway, but developers also
have a vision for how the Brunswick
Harbor Marina will complement a
new phase of the community. E&T
was nationally recognized recently
by Construction Equipment Guide
magazine for its work in handling
the project, after removing 350,000
cubic yards of dirt on time despite
Hurricane Bonnie's visit to the area
and the remnants of another hurri
cane that followed its path.
“My dad spent 48 days out there,
some days all by himself,” said
Jones. "He took that project on, and
he took it seriously.”
It is Brambell's job to drive the 24
miles of paved streets in St. James
daily and to oversee projects which
need to be done — street repairs,
mowing and now the beginnings of
a new phase of development. There
are townhouses under construction
and new streets are being prepared,
as well as the push for phase III.
“I wanted to start six months ago,"
said Brambell. “They put us on a
time frame that didn’t give us any
margin for error."
Then the hurricanes struck, but it
didn't slow progress in St. James.
“We just plugged at it every single
day." said Jones. “I was excited
when we first got the project. But
after we got it, I was like, ‘Oh,
boy!'"
This weekend, St. James will
bring in prospective buyers to take
part in a technique developers are
now using that resembles a gold
rush. The first person to stake a
claim on a lot has the right to pur
chase it. It has worked in the past.
But with marketing that occurs
sometimes months in advance,
employees like Brambell also gam
ble with nature just like the contrac
tors who pray for fair weather.
Getting another phase ready means
coordinating the seeding of greens
and the removal of tons of dirt.
Phase III includes more wooded
areas of the 6,000 acres that Wright
first purchased and will likely have
a uniqueness of its own.
There have been numerous
changes Long Beach planning
director Bob Grant has approved,
since most of phase III is within the
town’s zoning jurisdiction. Most
changes involve ways to preserve
the terrain and trees that developers
can appreciate in person but maybe
can’t see on a surveyor’s plat.
Hurricanes haven’t delayed the
progress, and neither has Long
Beach.
“We’ve done our best to leave
trees standing,” said Brambell.
“We’ve even redesigned areas to
leave trees. Long Beach has worked
very well with us on this. If you find
something like a tree that you want
to save, you can’t get locked into
something that holds up the plan
ning process. Their willingness to
work with us has been very help
ful.”
St. James is a community that has
received cooperation from Long
Beach and the county but through its
progress is also rapidly changing.
The call for a new fire and rescue
department was greeted favorably
by county commissioners Monday.
It remains to be seen how state leg
islators will view the community’s
request to become another town.
But for now, progress proceeds
within this golf course community
one phase at a time.
“So far, Mother Nature has coop
erated,” said Brambell, looking over
golf holes three through six of the
new course at The Members Club.
“It’s not as green as we had hoped,
but with another week to go, if we
don’t get disastrous weather we’ll
be okay.”
Fashion Zone
Dresses • Jeans • T-Shirts
Brand name Caps • Costume Jewelry
Layaways Accepted
Gift Certificates Available
Summer Clearance Sale
Tuesday - Saturday, 10-5
Cheers Plaza Unit 5E, 4647 Main St., Shallotte
QBE W K
» 755-5353 ,
mmmm
wmmm
1,1..
mms1
96 Cadillac Seville SLS
Northstar Engine, only 18,000
miles, loaded . ^ _
$29,595
98 Cadillac Deville
Northstar engine, only 9,000
SdlM,her-$31,995
97 Buick Park Avenue
7,000 miles, leather interior,
loaded
97 Buick Riviera Power
sunroof, supercharge engine,
13,000 miles, AAC
leather, loadecr££f 779
95 Buick LeSabre Custom,
local one owner trade, loaded
$11,995
$24,995
96 Bukk Park Avenue
Ultra Power sunroof, leather,
local one owner* 40 AAC
trade, loaded * 10/77 9
97 Buick Lesabre Limited,
low miles, leather interior, loaded
with extras $"££
98 Buick Park Avenue
Leather interior, 13,000 miles,
dual power seats,
mirrors,climateAAE
control ,775
I 98 Buick Skylark
*12,988
97 BMW 328 Convertible
100,000 warranty, loaded, 6000
milK *39,995
94 BMW 525iA Black,
power roof, leather/low miles
*23,995
97 BMW Z-3 Convertible
One owner, automatic, 7,000
miles, loaded^g 995
95 BMW 325 Convertible
Auto, leather, local trade, loaded
*27,595
95 BMW 740ia Power
sunroof, low miles, up to 100 000
E»enew*39,995
96 BMW 328 Convertible
Automatic, leather, low miles
“e- *33,995
97 Buick LeSabre
*14,988
Weekly Specials
94 Buick Century
$167Mm„/*699500
$ 1000 cash down, 48 mos. 11.9 APR
97 Buick Skylark
J175#0m.7*99880#
$1000 cash down, 72 mos, 9.9 APR
96 Pontiac Sunfire
$t790#„»V*96500#
$1000 cash down, 66 mos, 9.9 APR
97 Saturn SW2
*213«mo7*12,995
$2000 cash down, 72 mos., 9.9-APR
96 Buick Century
J1990°m.7*10,650
$1000 cash down, 66 mos, 9.9 APR
98 Buick Century
*16,988
95 Chevy Corvette
Automatic, black, low miles,
"ke *23,995
97 Chevy Corvette
Automatic, white, glass top, low
miles, loaded + w ■
$36,995
95 Toyota Avalon XLS
Local, one owner trade, leather
interior, power <4Q A AC
sunroof, loaded * 10/473
97 Honda Accord LX Local
one owner trade, automatic,
8000 miles,
96 Honda Accord EX
Local one owner trade, power
2232* $16,995
91 Cadillac Deville
Local trade, leather, loaded, low
miles
97 Chevy Tahoe LT 4x4, low
miles, leather interior, loaded
*29,995
97 Nissan Pathfinder 4x4,
automatic, 4 door, low miles,
l0<K'ed *19,995
97 Dodge Ram 4x4
V-8, automatic, low miles, local
Err *21,995
98 Chevy S-10 Blazer 4x4,
4 door, automatic, 15,000 miles,
power seat,
loaded
*21,995
96 Jeep Grand Cherokee
Limited 4x4, black, leather, local
trade, loaded $22 995
95 Buick LeSabre
Limited, leather, one owner,
25,000 miles $|£
94 Buick Century Local
one owner trade, power
Sga *6,995
93 Olds 88 Local trade, power
seats and windows, cruise
*8,995