Welcome to the N. C. Fourth of July F^^val
Festival schedule, event updates in this editic
June 30, 1999
THE STATE PORT
Phone 910-457-4568/Fax 910-457-9427/e-mail pilot@southport.net
Futures
Golf, from childr
women pros, on i
re
Too much for fiv iome folks
get early start on me resnval — IB .
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Volume 68, Number 45
Published every Wednesday in Southport, NC
FOURTH
Safety,
patience
stressed
Most events of the 1999 N. C.
Fourth of July Festival have been
scheduled on the weekend and large
crowds are expected to flock to
Southport to be part of the official state
celebration of Independence Day.
Southport police chief Bob Gray
asks festival attendees to be especially
tolerant of others while visiting the city
and to be mindful of a few simple rules.
“We don’t establish a lot of special
rules for the Fourth of July Festival,”
Gray said. “All we do is ask our visi
tors to be extra considerate of other
families that want to enjoy the festival
and to practice everyday good citizen
ship.”
Celebrants are reminded the City of
Southport forbids the public possession
and open display of alcoholic bever
ages every day of the year, including
festival days. City police and officers
of the N. C. Division of Alcohol Law
Enforcement will patrol downtown
Southport duting the festival. Alcoho
lic beverages may be confiscated and
those in possession or openly display
ing alcoholic beverages may be issued
citations.
“This is nothing special," chief Gray
said. “This is the law in Southport
every day of the year."
A second everyday rule in Southport
prohibits the use of skateboards on the
streets of the city’s historic district. This
makes especially good sense during
the N. C. Fourth of July Festival when
streets are crowded and potential for
injury is high. Skateboards may not be
used in an area between Atlantic
Avenue and Lord Street on the east and
west of the city and between the Cape
Fear River and Nash Street on the
north and south of the city.
“The best rule is simple: leave skate
boards home when you make your fes
tival visit," chief Gray said.
Parking in Southport during the N. C.
Fourth of July Festival is difficult
sometimes. This is just an, unfortunate
See Festival, page 12
r
Ad deadlines
The State Port Pilot office will
be closed Monday in observance
of Independence Day.
Real estate advertising deadline
remains the same — noon Friday
— but the classified advertising
deadline this week will be 2 p.m.
Friday.
Deadline for regular display
advertising will be noon Tuesday.
FLAG-RAISING
m
Photo by Jim Harper
Elton Jackson and other city workers were out early Monday, festooning downtown Southport streets
with the colors of the day. Preparations delegated to city workers include wiring for special electrical
needs, setting up temporary barricades and clean-up of city streets, which has been in progress for sever
al weeks.
The town of
Oak Island
Consolidation of the towns of Long Beach,
Yaupon Beach becomes official Thursday
By Richard Nubel
Staff Writer
A new chapter in local history begins
Thursday.
On that day, the Town of Oak Island
becomes Brunswick County's newest
municipality. It will be formed by consol
idation of the towns of Long Beach and
Yaupon Beach.
considerable additional thought, the idea
that one town might be stronger than two
began to take shape.
"I think anybody who sits down and
really thinks about it will really come to
the same conclusion." Yaupon Beach
mayor Dot Kelly said Tuesday, two days
before she was to become co-mayor of
the new Town of Oak Island and its 6.000
population. Though she's sure nokevery
Consolidation is an
old idea. It was an idea
floated and rejected first
in the mid-1970s. It was
an idea whose time
apparently came only
when there was substan
tial parity in die cost of
m V;\upc"s Hcuc\l
and Long Beach and at;
time when residents o
the two towns enjoyec
essentially the samt
level of public services.
Consolidation begar
to seem right in the fall
of 1998 after Yaupon
Beach commissioners
and Long Beach town
councilors successfully
negotiated a plan for
Yaupon Beach to make
‘Now that our
workforces are
oorrvtsvrvcxl, wc
can begin to
achieve all of
the things peo
ple expect/
jerry Walters
Town manager
body agrees. "1 have not
- had anybody to tell me
it's a bad idea." mayor
Kelly said.
So. it was Yaupon
Beach commissioners
who approached Long
Beach town councttoTo.
With the notion that the
time tor consolidation
might have, arrived. The
two governing .boards
arranged an October 1.
1998, joint meeting at
which the public was
first informed that con
solidation was to be
explored.
Throughout October.
1998. Long Beach town
councilors and Yaupon
Beach commissioners
a substantial quantity ot sewer tlo\v avail
able to Long Beach. Both towns would
profit: Long Beach badly needed to bring
public wastewater management to its
central business district; Yaupon Beach
badly needed the income from additional
treatment fees.
Yaupon Beach commissioners began to
wonder what other joint service ventures
the two towns could undertake. After
met in smaller task groups to examine the
soeial impact of consolidation, the impact
of consolidation on service delivety and
the impact of consolidation on the finan
cial lives of the towns. Those task com
mittees reported the essentials of a con
solidation plan in early November, 1998,
and four citizen participation meetings
were scheduled in the first weeks of
See Oak Island, page 6
McIntyre delivers
Lakes keeps its post office
By Diana D’Abruzzo “I was uplifted quite a bit," said Boiling Spring Lakes post office.
Staff Writer Spring Lakes mayor Thomas Tully, who If bids are received, the post office could
met with McIntyre and regional U. S. reopen within 60 days, McIntyre said.
You’ve got mail again, Boiling Spring Postal Service officials last week in TTie death of Boiling Spring Lakes post
Lakes. Fayetteville. master Marceline Reynolds, who operat
Residents will see their small post office At the meeting — also attended by ed the post office for more than 30 years
across from City Hall reopen in the com- Southport postmaster James Hardy and on a shoestring salary, prompted the U. S.
ing months, and there’s hope on the hori- Boiling Spring Lakes commissioner Paul Postal Service to close the building in
zon that the city will one day get its own Toland — posted service officials from May.
ZIP code and official postal facility, U. S. Charlotte said they will post notice for Though it had the look and feel of a real
Rep. Mike McIntyre said Friday. bids immediately to reopen the Boiling See Post office, page 6
Brunswick County
Water system
back on line
after fuel spill
By Terry Pope
Staff Writer
End-of-grade test
scores on the rise
t By Diana D’Abruzzo
• Staff Writer
♦
« . ' . • .
I t A sneak peek at this year’s state end-of
Wade test scores in Brunswick County has
♦ 4jipeators smiling at the dramatic improve
| ment their children have made in reading
* and math.
I The county on Monday released prelimi
! nary school-by-school results of the end-of
t • grade reading and math tests taken by ele
I j: mentary and middle school students in May.
i | The test scores, which play a major role in
II the state ABCs of Public Education account
ability program, reveal that Brunswick
County’s schools are producing more stu
dents who are performing at or above grade
level in reading and math. High school
scores will not be released until mid-July.
“We’re very pleased with what we’ve
seen so far in our school system,” said
Marion Wise, superintendent of Brunswick
County schools. “We’ve seen some fluctua
tion, but there is positive growth in all of our
schools.”
It’s too soon, however, to determine what
kind of growth has been made and if the
See Test scores, page 8
Photo by Jim Harper
Young and old alike applauded as the 2nd Marine Division Band got the
holiday rolling on the Garrison Saturday afternoon. More photographs
of that performance are in the Neighbors section.
A 40-hour county water crisis ended just after noon Friday as the worst feat
never materialized — a diesel fuel spill at the King’s Bluff pumping statior
in Bladen County did not seep into the county’s distribution lines.
Contaminated water did make its way into an intake system which feed;
raw water via a pipeline to the county's treatment plant. But no tainted watei
was found in any of the water lines exiting the plant, and the public appar
ently was never in any danger,
“All tests were negative," said Huey Marshall, Brunswick County public
information officer, around 1 p.m. Friday, when county officials cranked tht
engines and sent water pumping again from its Northwest Township treat
ment plant to a number of dry elevated tanks.
Much to the relief of residents and local >usinesses, some of which wen
forced to close for two days because of low vater pressure or no water at all
With the busiest week of the year approacning, county officials were edge
when they received news early Thursday ot a diesel fuel spill at the wate.
intake facility operated by the Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer Authority
JThe authority operates a pipeline from just above lock and dam No. 1 on th<
Cape Fear River that feeds water to the county plant
See County water, page 7
Continued from page 1
Area water supplies okay — 2
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