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January 27/1999
Phone 910-457-4568/Fax 910-457-9427/e-mail pilot@southport.net Volume 68, Number 23
Top dollars ;
Tampa Bay outfielde
McCracken and man
are still half-millioi
•ownhill r<
Cub Scouts test engi
in annual Pinewood
Published every Wednesday in Southport, NC
North
sewer
Timing right
to seek grants
By Terry Pope
County Editor
Designers for Brunswick Coun
ty’s $26-million northern regional
sewer project believe the joint effort
is proceeding at an opportune time.
More than $600 million in state
grant funds were made available
following a bond referendum in
November, and the joint project that
will serve the Leland community
may be one of the first in line for
funding this June.
“There’s a lot of grant money out
there,” said David Pond, senior
vice-president of W. K. Dickson and
Co. of Charlotte, engineers for the
project. “What I tell my clients is,
the people who snooze are going to
lose.”
The Brunswick County Board of
Commissioners doesn’t plan to be
caught napping. The board hired
Dickson and Co. last week to design
the system and carry it through the
bidding .phase, possibly by May,
under a contract that will pay
Dickson $400,000. The company
See Timing, page l'V
SPEED DEMONS
"MWl1"'‘WfflU-WlW'M ,■ ■■'. ^WflWiMSisww•’ i1*
Andrew Padden, Adam Blair and Todd Hardee were the three top
Tigers in Saturday’s Pinewood Derby races in Southport’s city
gym. The annual competition of miniature gravity-powered race
Photo by Jim Harper
cars involved 41 members of Cub Scout Pack 238 of the<Cape Fear
Council. More photos in the Neighbors section.
Charter
Page 2
Resolution
Page 6
Oak Island
Resolution
for merger
approved
By Richard Nubel
Municipal Editor t
With unwavering resolve and unshakeable
unanimity, Yaupon Beach and Long Beach
elected officials Monday night quickly
approved a draft resolution of consolidation
they will ask the N. C. General Assembly to
ratify, creating the new Town of Oak Island.
Citizens -of the two towns will be heard on
the matter of consolidation at a public hearing
officials have set for February 15 at the Long
Beach Recreation
Center. That hearing
is to begin at 7 p.m.
The action of
Monday night keeps
the Yaupon Beach
Board of Commis
sioners and Long
Beach Town Coun
cil on q time-line to
realize consolidation of the two municipalities
by July 1. It is hoped the bill of consolidation
will be introduced before the General
Assembly as soon as its 1999 session begins.
Ratification by state lawmakers may come as
soon as May.
In a parallel action Monday, Yaupon Beach
and Long Beach elected officials also, in sep
arate actions and by unanimous vote, adopted
a draft charter tor the new Town of Oak Island.
Creating the new municipality by consoli
dating the two towns originally incorporated
in 1955 has gone smoothly to this point. The
move to consolidate was prompted last fall
when officials of (he two towns began work on
a plan whereby Yaupon Beach would allot
Long Beach wastewater treatment capacity.
Talk soon turned to other areas of cooperation,
and shortly officials were talking about an all
out merger of the two local governments. The
two governing bodies announced their inten
tion to pursue consolidation at an October 1,
1998, joint meeting.
To date, residents and property owners from
the two towns have met together in two public
participatioh sessions at which issues relevant
to consolidation have been aired.' Develop
ment issues and, particularly, wastewater man
agement concerns have dominated discussions
of consolidation. On February 5. residents of
the two towns will have a crack at drafting a
.mock budget for the new town at a 7 p.m. pub
lic participation session at the Long Beach
Recreation Center. That session will be repeat
ed on February 13 at 10 a. m. for out-of-town
property owners. On March 2, officials of the -
two towns will preside over a fourth and final
public participation session.
As the public continues to hash-out issues ol
concern over consolidation, professional staffs
of the two towns have begun development of
the Town of Oak Island’s first budget.
Although elected officials of both towns
Monday night appeared pleased with the pro
posed bill of consolidation and the draft char
ter for the Town of Oak Island, evolution of
the proposal will continue through the legisla
tive process.
“It should be emphasized that this is a draft,
subject first to your input and also subject to
the will of the bill introducer and the local
See Oak Island, page 6
T
St. James rezoning request
County takes a look
at N.C. 211 corridor
By Terry Pope
County Editor
Another commercial rezoning request has been
recommended for busy N. C. 211, this time near the
entrance to St. James Plantation.
But the application has prompted Brunswick
County planners to ask for a joint meeting with
county commissioners to discuss growth along that
corridor.
The Brunswick County Planning Board voted 4-2
last week to recommend to commissioners that six
tenths of a mile road frontage (3,400 feet) west of
St. James’ entrance be rezoned from residential to
commercial manufacturing. The 22-acre tract
extends 400 feet from the highway and is managed
by St. James Development Corp. and Tri-City Inc.
of Rockingham, which is also trying to develop a
large tract at the Long Beach Road intersection
where a Wal-Mart shopping center is proposed.
Two planning board members, Sharon Marshall
and Stuart Smith, voted against the St. James appli
cation, saying county planners first need to draft an
overall development plan for the entire N. C. 211
corridor between Southport and Supply which
would protect against strip commercial zones. They
point to traffic problems from steady and continued
growth as their prime concern.
‘If I had anything to say, it
would be to give serious
consideration to the entire
corridor of N. C 211.
We’re looking at one sec
tion at a time. It ought to be
looked at in its entirety.’
John Thompson
“If I had anything to say, it would be to give seri
ous consideration to the entire corridor of N. C.
211,” former planning board member John
Thompson said at last week’s public hearing.
“We’re looking at one section at a time. It ought to
be looked at in its entirety.”
Mark Brambell, project manager at St. James, told
See St. James, page 10
Young offenders
have day in court
By Laura Kimball
Feature Editor
Court was called to order
Tuesday night, but instead
of professional adults,
local students were the
attorneys, bailiffs, clerks
of court and jurors.
The first session of ‘
Brunswick County Teen
Court, used only for juve
nile first offenders who
already have admitted
guilt, was in session.
Teen Court is a partner
ship between the district
attorney’s office and
Communities In Schools,
. „ . . .. , and is designed to educate
Travis Faircloth served as a , , ? .
* ."nc. . , . county students —
prosecutor at Tuesday s session. , . , f , , .
J whether a defendant, juror,
bailiff or lawyer —about the legal system by giving them first
hand exposure in the courtroom.
Offenses handled by Teen Court fall into three categories.
Each category has a list of mandatory requirements for sentenc
ing, including varying hours of community service, observing a
certain amount of Teen Court sessions, following school rules
and regulations and maintaining satisfactory grades.
Optional guidelines for sentencing also are listed, and are left
m.the discretion of the jury.
The first case before the court Tuesday involved a student who
See Offenders, page 10
Chamber
booklet
The 1999 Vacation
and Residents Guide
published by the
Southport-Oak Island
Chamber of Commerce
has been delivered.
More than 75,000
copies will be available
locally and at visitors
centers throughout
North Carolina.
•$77-mi11ion schools proposal
County checks fund options
By Terry Pope
County Editor
It would be the largest funding project
the county has ever tackled: Finding $77
million to upgrade present school facili
ties to standard and to build new schools
to keep up with growth.
But the real test is whether county
officials can manage such a project and
keep the property tax rate steady.
Surprisingly, it can be done even with a
public bond referendum with the series
spread out over seven or ten years.
“If we do this, it will fundamentally
change the way we've been financing
our school capital projects,” said
Brunswick County fiscal operations
director Lithia Home.
A meeting between the Brunswick
County Board of Commissioners and
Brunswick County Board of Education
to discuss funding options' was canceled
Saturday and will be rescheduled at a
later date. Commissioners have asked
Ms. Horne to map spending models of
how the county could fund the entire
See Finance, page 9
‘That half-cent‘ tax rev
enue is designated for
school construction. That’s
like having a revenue
source to pay the debt.’
Lithia Horne
Finance director
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