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February 24, 1999 Hooks an Nearly 1,000 pe Saltwater Sport Saturday at the Five of six Bru] teams in post-s Published e Phfene 910-457-4568/Fax 910-457-9427/e-mail pilot@southport.net Volume 68. Number 27 r.}‘ } iy in Southport, NC * SBSD has new chairman By Richard Nubel Municipal Editor After more than a week of con tentiousness at several sessions both open and closed, Gene Formy-Duval emerged Tuesday afternoon as, new chairman of Southeast Brunswick Sanitary District. He replaces long-time chairman James W. (Bubba) Smith, who stepped down as chairman at a chaotic session Friday. Smith resigned as district chairman only. He remains a district commissioner. At this time, the district is without the services of secretary-treasurer. Commissioner Lucille Las ter resigned those positions last Monday but she, too, remains a member of the sanitary district board. * Formy-Duval Tuesday afternoon said his first priority as district chair man will be to seek to hire a profes sional administrator to oversee affairs of the district. “As far as the manager, I will be in touch with the (N. C.) League (of Municipalities),” Formy-Duval said. “It will be a board decision, but we need a professional - someone who knows zoning and who can write grant applications.” ; Formy-Duval said he prefers to call 5 the employee he seeks an “administra jK tot” rattier than a manager. It was the search for a district man $ ager that set off a hectic sequence of f events over the last week at the SBSD office on Long Beach Road. Commissioner Ginger Harper said When Laster forfeited her duties as secretary and treasurer of the board last week she asked commissioners to hire her as “manager” of the district Laster told commissioners she is building a house outside the district and will move to it soon. Residency is a requirement for being a district com missioner, but Laster did not resign the seat to which she was elected. According to Harper, commissioner Charles Welling offered a motion to hire Laster, offering her the three-year “management contract” she had requested. Welling’s motion died for lack of a second, with Smith chairing. Friday, in closed session, the manag er’s post again came before commis sioners. According to Harper, chair man Smith believed he was not privi leged to vote on matters put before the board as chairman and resigned that post With Laster unable to vote to give herself the job, Smith apparently hoped Formy-Duval would emerge as chairman so Smith could team with Welling to give Laster the job. But, neither Formy-Duval nor Harper would take the chairman’s post. After a call to SBSD attorney Jim Prevatte, during which Formy-Duval was assured he could sit as chairman for a single purpose, he did so and the See SBSD, page 8 FRAMEWORK i.? Photobv Jim llarpcr Over the past week steel has virtually leapt out of the ground, and the waterfront skyline lias been drastically altered by the Southport community building project. The All-Span Building Systems crew installed the last m^jor roofing support Ihesday. ■' N. C. 133 access Olde Towne says county has failed to curb traffic ‘Children play near and in the road, ride bikes and roller blade. The chances of serious injury increase with the increase in traf fic. There is a disaster waiting to happen.’ Stuart Smith Olde Towne resident By Terry Pope County Editor Olde Towne residents hope the main entrance to their subdivision can become a road less traveled. Traffic from the adjacent 180-lot River Ridge subdivision currently travels along their streets, which they say isn’t what county planners had . in mind when they approved the project back in January. 1006. Residents are fed up with what they say has become a safely problem and want the county and Town of Belville to force River Ridge devel oper Tommie Little to build another entrance to N. C. 133. Last week, more than 130 Olde Towne and 35 River Ridge residents signed a petition presented to commissioners which asks for legal sup port to have a new road constructed. “We are looking to the Brunswick County commissioners for leader ship and protection,” said Stuart Smith, president of Olde Towne Community Association and a member of the Brunswick County Planning Board. There are two subdivisions and an expansion of Olde Towne that cur See Traffic, page 7 Power Play BEMC extends offer to buy Southport utility By Richard Nubel Municipal Editor Brunswick Electric Membership Corporation has offered to buy the City ot Southport's electric distribution sys tem. In a February 19 letter, BEMC exec utive vice-president and general man ager David Batten said if Southport officials agree to pursue sale of the electric system to BEMC, it would pro pose a purchase price to be paid Southport for electric infrastructure. BEMC would offer to lease existing space for the system at fair market value and would purchase system vehi cles, equipment, materials and supplies. Employees of the city electric depart ment would be offered jobs with BEMC and offered the same salary schedules and benefit packages paid co-op employees with similar responsi bilities. “If the town of Southport is interest ed in moving forward with discussions as suggested in this letter, we expect that a formal agreement-in-principle could be developed and executed on behalf of both parties,” Batten wrote. He called for “informal discussions” to be held between the city and BEMC in an effort to identify any other issues that would need to be resolved before a ‘With deregulation coming, we are going to have to evaluate our position carefully. We are just not going to be com petitive with investor-owned utili ties.’ Rob Gandy Southport manager sale and transfer of the Southport telec tric system could occur. “Brunswick EMC is available for immediate discussions,” Batten wrote. “Please advise." Aldermen got a first look at the BEMC letter of interest at a special meeting Monday night, but took no See Electric, page 8 ‘Bizarre’ review process Oak Island bridge saga may not end « By Richard Nubel Municipal Editor Yaupon Beach commissioner Marty Wozniak meant it last week when he s;iiu lie wouiu lenei-oui objectors to the proposed second bridge to Oak Island and adirect roadway corridor between North Middleton Street and N. C. 211 at Midway Road. He found some objectors all right, but what he didn't expect to encounter was a process for bridge decision-making that could be never ending. "This all could fall into a deep, deep, deep. dark. dark, dark hole,” Wozniak said this week. "'File possibility exists that, through the current procedure, this could never end." The current crisis in siting the second bridge to Oak Island began in February, 1997. when N. C. Department of Transportation released an environ mental assessment and recommenda tion for three direct roadway corridor alternatives between Middleton Street and the Midway Road area of N. C. /11. Environmental re viewers have steadfastly resisted the Midway-to Middleton roadway corri dor and have insisted DOT review other western road way alternatives through Sunset Harbor. At present, DOT is per forming a revised Environ mental Assessment of the western alter natives, a process which will take up to a year and a half to complete at a cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars, Wozniak says. And, if environmental reviewers con tinue to object, there is no provision for ending the review period with a deci sion. the soon-to-be Oak Island town See Bridge, page 7 County savs equipment was misused Town Creek chief retracts accusation By Terry Pope County Editor Town Creek Rescue Squad chief Johr Bellamy offered a public apology after accus ing county Emergency Medical Service; director Tracy Jackson of racist actions and 01 stealing property from the Town Creek squad The allegations were made in an address las Monday before the Brunswick County Boarc of Commissioners, which abruptly called for; closed session to discuss personnel. The dis pute was over a county-purchased defibrillatoi which Bellamy had allowed Brunswicl Medical Transport Inc., a private, for-profit business, to use. A defibrillator is an item of emergency 1 equipment that applies electrical shock to the chest to stop fibrillation of the heart muscles. “My earlier statement that Tracy Jackson might have been prejudice, I retract that,” said Bellamy, after the 30-minute closed session. “The statement about him"stealing the defibril lator, I retract that, too.” In his prior address to commissioners, Bellamy said Jackson took possession of the defibrillator for servicing under false pretense, and added that false pretense “in my book XTTT'XI to amounts to stealing." He accused Jackson of “snooping” around the Town Creek squad building. “If he wants to know anything about my building he can call me,” said Bellamy. “I’m afraid he’s going to take something else.” Bellamy accused county officials of treating Town Creek rescue unfairly, stating that coun ty manager Jim Varner even attended a meet ing involving the squad’s contingency fund request “to make sure we wouldn’t get the money.” He added that he felt his squad was being punished for selling Brunswick Medical Transport a used vehicle and questioned if the A 1 m:T unfair treatment was because Town Creek is being successful or "because it’s the only squad in the county with a black chief?’ "1 am prepared to answer if you want to air all of this out." replied Varner when commis sioners asked if the county stall' wanted to go into closed session. Vainer said he was asked to attend the con tingency fund meeting by former commission er Tom Rabon Sr. "I w ;is asked to be there by Mr. Rabon, and 1 was there," said Varner. "I didn’t know I was going to a lund-raiser.’’ See Accuser, page 7 A 1 A A Southern Living Vacations, a specialty publication of the popular magazine, features Bald Head Island in its most recent cover. — iMJbWiS on the Nhl: www^southport.net — ' - • v . /. .
State Port Pilot (Southport, N.C.)
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Feb. 24, 1999, edition 1
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