January 13. 1999 Phone 910-457-4568/Fax 910-457-9427/e-mail pilot@southport.net Volume 68, Number 21 Take dow Wrestling wasn mat sport this wee met South on the n ’t! mm lemonesi Friends and fami recall the family ;its O p-1 r co k> m p O COG tjg Published every Wednesday in Southport, NC It’s a tangled web consolidation weaves By Richard Nubel Municipal Editor Whether or not Southeast Brunswick Sanitary District officials formally ask the Southport Board of Aldermen to consolidate the city and the district as one municipal corporation Thursday night, a proposal to do just that is under quiet consideration by the city and the district. Southport mayor Bill Crowe Tuesday said he and district chairman James W. (Bubba) Smith have discussed consolidation of the City of Southport and Southeast Brunswick Sanitary District in several conversations. Crowe said he understood district commissioners would meet this week to formalize ;ssi MM&:: SBSD ort? their proposal,for consolidation of the City of Southport and Southeast Brunswick Sanitary District. SBSD commissioners would then bring that proposal to a meeting of aldermen Thursday night. Tuesday, district secretary'Lucille Laster refused to discuss district plans for consolidation with the City of Southport. • “I’m not at liberty to discuss that,” Laster said, “I'm just not able to do so.” ' District chairman Smith did not return a telephone message left at his home at 2, p.m. Tuesday. District commissioner Ginger Harper told the Pilot she first learned there was even talk of consolidation when she was questioned by a reporter Monday. Late Tuesday, it seemed possible SBSD commissioners would conduct a meeting at 8 a.m. Thursday to decide if the consolidation proposal would be made to Southport aldermen later that day. Mayor Crowe Tuesday said it was possible SBSD commissioners would come to the board of aldermen meeting, despite the fact the consolidation See Consolidation, page 9 Yaupon: Neighbor must pay By Richard Nubel Municipal Editor Retaliating against Caswell Beach mayor Joe O’Brien’s threat of<last month to withhold rights to spray wastewater treatment plant effluent on the Oak Island Golf and Country Club course, Yaupon Beach com missioners voted unanimously Monday night to demand Caswell Beach by April devise a plan to dis pose of treated wastewater generat ed at Oak Island Beach Villas in Caswell Beach. If Caswell Beach cannot or will not advance a plan to daily dispose of 70,000 gallons of wastewater in Caswell Beach by the April 1 dead line, Yaupon Beach commissioners said they will consider charging Caswell Beach a $2-per-1,000-gal lon disposal surcharge for continued service to Oak Island Beach Villas. Oak Island Beach Villas was an early customer of the Yaupon Beach wastewater management system when it began offering service in 1992, Though the villas are in Caswell Beach, Yaupon Beach agreed to provide service when the condominium complex was unable' to use its package sewage treatment JOHNSON plant enectiveiy, and economical iy The determi nation to seek disposal capaci ty in Caswell Beach or impose the stiff sur charge for ser vice there came from commis sioner Roy Johnson, who said Caswell Beach mayor O’Brien’s December 10 comments had infuri ated his neighbors. Johnson said Yaupon Beach was forced to spend $538,000 to develop a spray area on the mainland to accept an additional 110,000 gallons of treated waste water. That area was developed See Yaupon, page 12 Events to honor Dr. King By Laura Kimball Feature Editor Several events in the commu nity will mark the celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, January 18‘. The theme of Martiri Luther King Jr. Day this year will be “Remember, Celebrate, Act; A Day On, Not a Day Off.” Events sponsored by the MLK Committee, NAACP, Southport Oak Island Interchurch Fellow ship and Human Relations Com See Dr. King, page 13 DOSHER TRIBUTE ———^iBWHHM—a mamam.■ in Photo by Jim Harper Dr. J. Arthur Dosher was honored in a memorial service Sunday in Trinity United Methodist Church, and then next door in the fellowship hall where kinfolk and friends reminisced about the fabled physician on the 60th anniversary of his death. More on the Neighbors section front. Center funding on hand By Terry Pope County Editor An agreement has been reached to start construction of a new men tal health center at the Brunswick County Government Center by December. Southport architect John Thomp son will design the estimated $ 1.2 million building which will be funded jointly by Southeastern Center for Mental Health, Develop mental Disabilities and Substance Abuse and through Brunswick County tax dollars that have already been allocated in the 1998 99 budget. The mental health center is run ning out of space at the government center and the Southeastern Center is contributing $445,000 toward construction costs. That represents $325,000 in local funds transferred to the county and $120,000 in state funds that have been earmarked for new construction. An original agreement indicated the countywould start construction by July, 1999, after transfer of the funds to the county. That agreement was amended last week to indicate a start by December instead, but with a goal to pursue obtaining bids See Center, page 6 Wal-Mart hopeful shopping for site By Richard Nubel Municipal Editor Can Southport say “no” to Wal-Mart? „ Thursday night’s board of aldermen meeting should be instructive. Before deciding whether or not to rezone and annex nearly 32 acres of land east of the Carolina Power and Light Co. canal to make way for a $ 12.5-million retail center promising Wal-Mart as a tenant and $40 million in annual sales, Southport aldermen Thursday night will conduct a public hearing on whether or not to continue a moratorium on permits for subdivisions more than ten acres or 20 units in size. The January meeting of the Southport Board of Aldermen is to begin at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall. Last month, aldermen voted to extend for 30 days the city’s de facto development moratorium. It seemed certain aldermen would vote Thursday night to continue the ban on development of large tracts for at least another six months, but to do so, now might mean saying “no” tb a developer promising to lure Wal-Mart to Southport. On January 14, the city*planning board voted unanimously to rec ommend approval of two requests for rezoning by owners of parcels on the south side of Howe Street extended, just east of the CP&L canal. Thursday night, the same owners will ask the city to annex the combined 32-acre parcel. At the January planning board meeting the owners were represent ed by Howard Hill of Wyatt Development Corporation, a developer of retail centers. He told the planning board the project planned for the North Howe Street property would include an anchor tenant in a 150,000-square-foot store ahd ten smaller stores ranging in size from 1,500 square feet to 4,500 square feet. Those familiar with the firm say Wyatt Development is courting Wal-Mart as its anchor. Hill estimated construction would bring about $12.5 million into the area and sales from the center would reach $40 million annually. He projected city revenues from the center would reach $75,000 to $80,000 annually. The ban on consideration of large subdivisions continues as the city works with consulting engineers to identify ways to free-up existing See Wal-Mart, page II Body found at boat ramp Leland man is charged with co-worker murder By Terry Pope County Editor investigators have filed a murder charge against a 'Leland man who they allege stabbed a fellow employ ee in the back and left her body on a boat ramp outside Belville on December 28. Mark A. Prendergast, 30, of 9763 Sturgeon Drive, Leland, was arrested Friday afternoon by Brunswick County sheriff’s detectives and State Bureau of Investigation agents, apparently after they received lab test results that allegedly tie the defen dant to the homicide. “It’s cold-blooded,” said Bruns wick County sheriff Ronald Hewett. “It’s calculated. We are confident tonight that we have the individual responsible for the death of Samantha O’Shields.” Ms. O’Shields, 28, died from a stab wound to the back, according to medical examiners, sometime after sl\e left work around 11 p.m. at New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington on December 27. Her body was found on the boat ramp at Belville around 10 a.m. on December 28 by a South Dakota family who See Murder, page 11 Phqto by Jim Harper Brunswick County sheriff Ronald Hewett leads Mark Prendergast, 30, of Leland into the Brunswick County jail Friday following arrest on a murder charge in the stabbing death of Leland resident Samantha O’Shields. ■ NEWS on the NET: www.southport.net

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