Local projects affected
Clean water
Continued from page 3
dents if the county can't help.
Virtually every local government
entity in the Southport-Oak Island
area is involved in some way with
building or expanding water and
sewer facilities. To local govern
ments here, passage of a proposed
$800-million Clean Water Bond ref
erendum on Election Day, Novem
ber 3, is critical.
“Passage of this critically impor
tant measure next week will make
low-interest loans and some grants
available to use to help us create an
infrastructure that is desperately
needed,” Long Beach mayor Joan
Altman said. “This assistance will
be essential if we are to establish the
regional wastewater management
system all area local governments
have made a priority.”
Southport is one of the 60 percent
of all sewer system operators in the
state facing the need to substantially
replace collection lines and is one of
more than half of all operators with
rain and groundwater flooding col
lection systems, according to a
recent statewide report of local gov
ernment water and sewer needs.
“First and foremost, funds from
this bond issue will be available for
rehabilitation of existing wastewater
systems. That is exactly our need
today,” said Southport city manager
Rob Gandy. “The City of Southport
will need to expand its treatment
capacity soon, but first it must repair
what it has. If this bond referendum
is approved, we will have a perfect
way to tackle our first problem.”
But, Southport-Oak Island’s needs
account for only a small portion of
the $11.34 billion in local govern
ment water and sewer project needs
documented in a study conducted by
the N. C. Rural Economic Develop
ment Center, the State of North
Carolina and the U. S. Department
of Agriculture.
The joint project called “North
Carolina Water and Sewer Initia
tive” recently published that finding
in a report called “Clean Water: Our
Livelihood, Our Life."
The report bolsters the N. C. Rural
Center’s endorsement of the $800
million November 3 referendum
and calls additionally on state offi
cials to:
■ Set aside funds to rehabilitate
sewer collection systems.
■ Encourage regional water and
sewer systems to improve service
and reduce costs.
■ Pursue wastewater treatment
alternatives to reduce costs and pro
tect resources.
■ Make capital improvement
plans a priority for guiding local
investments.
■ Establish a cooperative techni
cal assistance program for small
communities.
■ Create a dedicated source.of
funding for water and sewer im
provements.
• ■ Complete and maintain sewer
data for improved planning at all
levels.
Most governing boards of towns
and cities in Brunswick County and
county commissioners have en
dorsed resolutions asking voters to
approve the Clean Water Bond ref
erendum next Tuesday.
“Efficient, effective water and
wastewater systems are critical to
public health and to protection of
our sensitive coastal ecology,”
mayor Altman said. “Approval of
the Clean Water Bond referendum
on Tuesday is simply the right thing
to do.”
Grants to be affected?
Yaupon
Continued from page 2
dum?”
Mayor Joan Ahman said it was too
early to say whether or not a refer
endum would be necessary or even
possible.
“I don’t think it is fair to ask if
there is going to be a referendum
when we haven’t yet had time to sit
down and discuss it as a communi
ty,” Altman said. She said many
who have had problems with the
consolidation idea felt better after
they had their questions answered.
In addition to the November 1
joint meeting of the two town gov
erning boards when the three task
committees will report, public infor
mation meetings for all have been
scheduled on December 1 and
February 2 at Long Beach
Recreation Center and on January 5
and March 2 at Ocean View United
Methodist Church.
“Citizens of both towns are invit
ed to actively participate,” mayor
Altman said.
The three reports to be issued by
task committees, on November 1
will serve as the basis for a consoli
dation newsletter which will be pub
lished and mailed to residents and
property owners of both towns, the
mayor said. The newsletter, with its
discussion of the consolidation
process, will be sent to residents
prior to the first public information
session on December 1 so citizen
questions can be addressed.
“This process has started very
quickly because it was brought up
quickly,” mayor Altman said. “I
Temain very committed to the
process. I think it is the way to go.”
Still, the public will have many
opportunities to question and shape
the consolidation discussion.
Consolidation cannot be completed
without a favorable action of the N.
C. General Assembly.
“It’s not a done deal until the leg
islation is passed,” mayor Altman
said.
Why Re-elect '
Glenda C. Browning:
to the Brunswick County School Board?
In her four year tenure, she has served two years as Vice-Chair and '
the last two years as Chairman of the Board. During those four years, •.
the following changes have occurred in our county school system:
Reading Scores - UP!
Math Scores - UP!
Minority Scores - UP!
• Writing Scores - UP! 1
• SAT Scores - UP!
• competency test percentages (exceed state and region) - up:
• Number of drop-outs - DOWN! • School violence - DOWN! ,
• 13 of 14 schools made EXEMPLARY status by exceeding 10%
improvement over goals set in state-wide ABC program. One is
a SCHOOL OF DISTINCTION.
• College and Technical classses available to high school students
through the Center for Advanced Studies at Brunswick
Community College.
• Teen Court implemented
When you vote for
Board of Education,
Vote
Glenda C.
Browning
District 5
Always, Children First
a
\
Future needs may require demolition
Dosher
Continued from page 2
until the new patient wings were
built in the early 1980s. This
plan has the option to renovate the
old section of the hospital and
another for removing the old sec
tion,” Haywood said.
The administrator said further
expansion of the hospital facility is
made more difficult as the hospital
is “locked-in” on three sides by
roads. Renovating the old Dosher
hospital building may also be cost
prohibitive, Haywood said. Any
renovation would require the build
ing be brought into compliance with
present-day building codes. That
means, for instance, an expensivt
four-hour firewall would have to be
built where the old section joins the
new.
Opting to keep the old Doshei
hospital building would mean any
further expansion on-site would be
nearly impossible.
“If that is the road we choose, that,
in effect, limits all future develop
ment," Haywood said. “It looks like
their recommendation is leaning
very heavily toward taking it down
when the time comes.”
Trustees are reviewing the archi
tects' written report and a meeting
with planners will be scheduled in
either November or December.
With Dosher's fiscal year con
cluded September 30, chief finan
cial officer Jim Shomaker reported
the facility ended the year just over
$1 million in the black. Operating
revenues exceeded expenses by
nearly $314,000 for the year.
“Any small hospital like we are
that ends up the year in the black is
doing a darned good job,” trustee
Gib Barbee said.
While Dosher’s performance was
solid this year, operating revenues in
the prior year exceeded expendi
tures by $500,000 more than in the
year ended last month. Non-operat
ing revenues drove the positive bot
tom line to $1.92 million in the prior
fiscal year, over $900,000 more than
in the year just ended.
In other business brought before
the board of trustees of Dosher
Memorial Hospital Monday:
■ Staff privileges were granted
Dr. Janice Fisher, who has joined
Oak Island Medical Center; Dr.
Thomas Holland, whose practice is
located in the Dosher Professional
Building on Oak Island Drive in
Long Beach; Dr. Kathleen Leon, a
ophthalmologist who has joined Dr.
Timothy Kelly’s Oak Island prac
tice; and Dr. Neil Thompson, who
has joined the hospital’s emergency
room staff.
■ A $42,200 contract to renovate
the Dosher Professional Building in
Long Beach was awarded Stiller
Construction Inc. of Southport. The
building will be made suitable to
house a new hospital imaging cen
ter.
To be sure the
best man wins,
vote Tuesday for
Ronald Hewett
T~\ ’a x „ 1 _ _ _ JI i n i P .-i %'T/n r • i . •» m i w. .
kSVJLL L tCLXVC guuu law ciiiUl lA51J.lt/lll 1U1 glcUlltJU.
Get out and vote for Ronald Hewett and urge
your friends and family to vote for him.
You know him, he knows you. He is a person
you can talk to in time of trouble and one you
can count on to be understanding and discreet,
r Ronald Hewett npis kept his promises to
the people ofBhinswick County since he was
elected Sheriff four years ago. He is proud to
be running on his record for reelection to
another term.
He promised to make the Sheriff’s office
more responsive to the public by keeping the
doors open 24 hours a day 7 days a week. A
trained deputy is on duty at the office around
the clock. Over 72,633 calls have been
0,110 VVCI cu.
He promised to make
our homes and streets
safer. And, while
Brunswick County has
grown tremendously,
crime has declined durinj
the past four years. Since
Sheriff Hewett has been
in office, statistics show
the Sheriffs Office has
been hard at work. The
job is being done in
Brunswick County.
Four years ago he
warned that he would
be tough on those who
try to sell drugs in
Brunswick Countu. In
tne past Jour years the Sheriffs office made
2,528 drug-related arrests, seized more than
$166,330.35 from the drug traffickers and
confiscated narcotics with a street value of
over five MILLION dollars!
Ronald Hewett is proud that Brunswick
County has been recognized by the North
Carolina National Guard Joint Counterdrug
Task Force for having an “outstanding
marijuana eradication program.”
Brunswick County has been identified as one
whose law enforcement officers are dedicated
and very effective at eradicating marijuana.
Ronald Hewett accepted an award from the
juuu ^uiuueiurug lasK force UCt. ID
“for outstanding performance during the 1998
Bladerunner Operation.”
Domestic violence cases have also been a
priority with this Sheriff, with 8,801 calls to .
date and 753 arrests. A domestic violence
triage unit has been formed to send die strong
message to would-be offenders that this Sheriff
has “zero tolerance” for all kinds of crime.
Looking after families and children will remain
at the top of the list with Sheriff Hewett, a
family man himself.
Resource officers are now in all county
high schools and middle schools to make
them safer for our children.
Since 1995, deputies have worked at night
Keeping nusinesses as sate
as possible, making
95,750 burglary
prevention checks.
Neighborhood patrols have
also been stepped up to
keep residential breakins
down. Value of stolen
property recovered is
nearly four million dollars!
Not only are his patrol
officers more visible on the
streets, they are active in
community affairs. The
Sheriffs office has adopted
Bolivia Elementary School
and each week tutors
children with a one-on-one
approach.
For this community involvement, the
Brunswick County Sheriff’s Department was
nominated this year to receive the Governors
Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service. This
was the only sheriff’s department in the state to
be so honored this year.
Our sheriff and his officers are not just
people with handcuffs, they are therefor our
community and are involved with the
community.
You have a very important weapon with
which to fight crime. It is your vote. Make it
count. Cast it for Ronald Hewett so he can
continue to serve.
COME JOIN SlIEUIFF
HEWFTT FOB SUPPEII
fish my
Lelaiid Community
f Building
SATURDAY, OCT. 31
4:00 PM
Iff!!
COME JOIN'
siikhii i m;\vi:n and
congressman
mike McIntyre eor
SEAFOOD
Calabash V.F.D.