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May 26,1999
THE STATE PORT
Phone 910-457-4568/Fax 910-457-9427/e-mail pilot@southport.net
Volume 68, Number 40
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Published every Wednesday in Southport, NC
SCHOOL’S OUT
~ a Happy Summer - a Nice Holiday _ a Wonderful Vacation... a Good
Life. Actually having a couple months’ rest was probably foremost in the
Photo by Jim Harper
minds of Southport Elementary School teachers as they waved goodbye
to students at the beginning of summer break on'lbesday.
Town of Oak Island
Some savings,
some increases
in first budget
■Administration, public
safety, maintenance will
cost less in consolidation
of Yaupon, Long beaches
By Richard Nubel
Staff Writer
Town manager Jerry Walters last
week submitted a $9.1-million first
budget proposal for the new Town of
Oak Inland, for which residents of the
town will be taxed at a rate of 36 cents
per $100 assessed property valuation in
the fiscal year to begin July 1.
The budget proposal for fiscal year
1999-2000 also anticipates an increase
in solid waste costs and sewer rates.
Water rates do not increase in the staff
proposal.
The Town of Oak Island will be cre
ated July 1 by consolidation of the
towns of Long Beach and Yaupon
Beach. A bill consolidating the two
towns was ratified by the General
Assembly on JVfay 19.
Is consolidation of Long Beach and
Yaupon Beach as the Town of Oak
Island a sound investment?
Including provision of services to the
nearly 500-acre mainland annexation
area that will become part of Oak Island
on September 30. the manager’s-budget
proposal — all funds included — sug
gests Oak Island will spend $124,392
more next year- than Yaupon Beach and
Long Beach spent together this year.
Oak Island is projected to spend
$9,121,301 for all government services
next year. Yaupon Beach and Long
Beach together this current year will
spend an estimated $8,996,909.
The property tax is expected to
account for $2,557,589, or 46 percent
of a general fund budget totaling
$5,543,203. The general fund budget is
based on an estimated tax base — total
property valuation — of $749,131,882
and a collection rate of 96.2 percent.
The proposed 36-cent Oak Island
property tax rate for the coming year is
lower than the 38.5-cent rate charged in
Yaupon Beach or the 42-cent rate
charged in Long Beach this year. But,
the rates charged last year in the two
towns were based on lower property
''See Budget, page 16
■ Can we stand test of
time when clock strikes
midnight December 31?
By Richard Nubd
Staff Writer
Leaders of Brunswick County insti
tutions say they are ready to face the
millennium, Y2K, the year 2000.
Representatives of seven of those
institutions Thursday reported on their
states of readiness at a forum on the
“Y2K problem” sponsqred by South
port-Oak Island Chamber of Com
merce.
“Y2K?” joked Dosher Memorial
Hospital administrator Edgar Hay
wood. “Because one K is not enough
and three K is too many.”
Joking aside, Haywood, as facilitator
for the panel discussion, said the seven
institutions reporting controlled the
“infrastructure” of Smithville Town
ship, from its governments to banking
and utilities. «
“While the problem has been ap
proaching, the folks at the helm have
not been asleep,” Haywood said.
The Y2K problem came to light in
the early 1990s. Many first generation
computer systems have been designed
to operate only when recognizing
dates. Many of the date functions on
these computers had been pro
grammed with only two digits. The
year 1999 is recognized as 99, but what
happens on January 1,2000, when the
. digits turn to 00?
Computers, embedded microchips,
and all the things run by them, from
guidance systems to microwave ovens,
would fail to recognize 00 as the year
2000 if not specially altered and would
shut down, it was determined.
Leaders at every level of government
and industry have been working for
years to alter computers and the things
they control to become “Y2K compli
ant.”
‘Those of us who are sitting here liv
ing everyday lives don’t realize the
complexity of our society,” Haywood
noted. Indeed, speakers Thursday night
spoke of the interdependence of one
institution on others. All had to work in
concert for Y2K compliance.
Utility companies have been at the
See Y2K, page 6
S76.7-million proposal
School bond vote pros,
cons weighed by board
‘It is the side issues
that will kill you. It
is important you be
prepared to address
issues and neutralize
them up-front.’
Sissy Henry
By Diana D’Abruzzo
Staff Writer
Determined to move forward with seeking a $76.7-million bond ti> pay for con
struction and renovation of Brunswick County schools, the hom'd of education
consulted an expert on school bonds last week to see what it need- to do in order
to successfully hold and pass a referendum.
The board met in an information session during its retreat Friday with
Brunswick Community College officials, who also are seeking a bond to pay for
its $22 million in facilities needs.
Though the two boards have not formally decided when to seek a bond, or how
much to push for, they will likely go forward together in selling the bond idea to
Brunswick County voters.
Needing a bit of guidance on the whole practice, the school lx«rd mid repre
sentatives from the community college listened to words of advice from Sissy
See Bond issue, page 13
Initial review
held Monday
By Richard Nubel
Staff Writer ‘
In terms of dollars and cents, Yaupon Beach commissioners and
Long Beach councilors did little at a workshop Monday night to alter
town manager Jerry Walters’ $9.1-million first budget proposal for the
new Town of Oak Island.
But, commissioners and councilors signaled the formation of early
policy decisions for law enforcement, communications and personnel
matters in this first of six scheduled budget workshops.
Under terms of a bill which cleared the N. C. General Assembly'on
May 17, Long Beach and Yaupon Beach will be consolidated as the
Town of Oak Island on July 1. Under terms of the bill of incorporation,
all presently-seated. Yaupon Beach commissioners and Long Beach
town councilors will serve Oak Island’s first governing board until
elections are held in November. Mayors Dot Kelly of Yaupon Beach
See Review, page 7
U_Photo by Laura Kimball
Henry Williams, a veteran of the Normandy Invasion,
m print He ^ other veterans
wdl be celebrated Monday on Memorial Day
Memorial Day is Monday
WWH veteran puts
memories in writing
By Laura Kimball
Staff Writer
On June 5, 1944, Henry Williams was sur
rounded by more ships than he’d ever seen.
It was the day before the D-Day Invasion of
Normandy. France, and Williams was about to
begin his first combat mission during World War
n.
“There were ships as far as the eye could see —
big ones, little ones, all shapes and sizes,” he said.
“They told us we didn’t have to come up to the
deck of the ship, but I wanted to see."
He and the 90th Infantry Division, of which he
was part, had been sitting in Liverpool, England,
since April 6, doing nothing but studying maps of
the French coast and eating whatever they want
ed.
“It was like we were being fattened for the
slaughter.” he said.
Soon everyone on his ship was called to the
‘Only the men that were
there are the ones that real
ize what it was like.’
Henry Williams
mess hall, and two letters were read. One was
from Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the
United States, expressing confidence that the
American troops could handle the situation. The
President wished them good luck.
Then a letter from Dwight Eisenhower, com
mander of Western Allied Forces, was mad.
"You are facing a well-trained, well-equipped
See Memorial, page 10
Development
moves in on
residential
By Terry Pope
Staff Writer
Commercial zones are edging closer
to the Dutchman Acres residential
community west of Southport.
A deal worked out between property
owner Gene Pinkerton and county
planners may leave open a 50-foot strip
of land to better protect homes from
encroaching commercial development
there.
Pinkerton’s tract that lies just west of
Dutchman Acres was recommended
for rezoning from low-density residen
tial (R-7500) to commercial low-densi
ty (C-LD) by the Brunswick County
Planning Board last week. Planners
also will recommend that county com
missioners, who have the final say after
holding a public hearing, require the
50-foot buffer zone come out of the
Pinkerton parcel.
"We feel like it would be adequate to
protect the integrity of the subdivi
See Development, page 9
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