South vs. West
Cougars try to end Trojans >tre ; in
fierce Brunswick County rivalry '
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September 15,1®*®! 50ccpts V
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Volume 69, Number 3
Phone 910-457-4568/Fax 910-457-9427/e-mail pflot@ southport.
Published every Wednesday in Southport, N. C.
Floyd
draws
nearer
By Richard Nubel
Staff Writer .
Most in the Southport-Oak Island
area went to bed Tuesday night with ’
some sort of action plan in mind
Throughout the day, local residents
watched as the warning area for
Hurricane Floyd crept slowly up the
coast. At first, Floyd would make land
fall along the central coast of Florida,
they were told. Next projection had
Floyd striking Brunswick, Ga., and
then it was Folly Beach, an island off
Charleston, S. C.
Tuesday, Floyd was a strong
Category 4 hurricane, packing winds
■ of 140 miles per hour. He was situated
235 miles southeast of Cape Cana
veral, Fla. Where Floyd had traveled
almost due west for the previous two
days, Tuesday afternoon he had begun
to make that northwest turn so familiar
to storm-weary North Carolinians.
Floyd moved at about 12 miles per
hour most of the day.
National Weather Service at 11 p.m.
Tuesday issues a hurricane warning
ex-tending north to the Virginia state
line.
Oak Island officials determined
mandatory evacuation would begin at
3 ti-:i- (Wednesday) morning. The
Oak Island bridge would remain open
uni 1 sustained winds reached 40 miles
per hour.
Brunswick County also announced
hurricane shelters at the three public
high schools would open at 8 am.
today.
“We will be very flexible with the
bridge to facilitate traffic flow and to
accommodate people’s work sched
ules,” Oak Island town manager Jerry
Walters said.
National Weather Service said
Southport-Oak Islanders could expect
conditions to begin to deteriorate
rapidly here by noon today.
News of the evacuation order was
broadcast on the town’s public infor
mation radio and television stations
beginning around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Southport city manager Rob Gandy
■ said residents of flood-prone areas of
Bay Street, Brunswick Street, Yacht
Basin Drive and River Drive should
also expect to evacuate Wednesday.
Early Tuesday Gandy, police chief
Bob Gray, firp chief Greg Cumbee and
public services director Ed Honeycutt
conferred and checked emergency
plans and equipment. A general staff
See Floyd, page 6
Photo by Jim Harper
Brent Willett was installing storm window “L2” at his house on 35th
place in Long Beach on Tbesday. He said some of the windows
had gone up before Hurricane Dennis, and all were likely to remain
up for a while. *
Photo by Jim Harper
Rumor of a $10,000 tagged flounder on the Southport waterfront brought a host of anglers there over the
weekend, but while participants caught many excellent fish in the Wildlife tournament the tag prize went
unclaimed. More details in the sports section, *
Caswell meeting
Consolidation
seems to hold
litde interest
By Richard Nubel
Staff Writer
When you compare the homeowner's cost of
living in Caswell Beach to his cost of living if
Caswell Beach were part of the Town of Oak
Island, there really isn't much difference,
Caswell Beach mayor Joe O'Brien and the
town board of commissioners- have concluded.
Announcing that conclusion Thursday at a
first public information meeting devoted to
examination of a possible consolidation of
Caswell Beach and Oak Island, mayor O'Brien
proclaimed the pressure for a quick decision on
consolidation is off.
“On balance, it appears there is no com
pelling economic reason for Caswell Beach to
rash into consolidation." mayor O'Brien said.
“We can sit back and examine this thing."
That examination began Thursday when
about 100 residents, second-home owners and
rental home owners packed Caswell Beach
Town Hall for a slide show presentation on the
consolidation issue. Each was presented w ith a
booklet of cost information compiled by com
-missioner* arvi O’Htwi TXie WHS ~iCCmpl
ed uj compare costs tit supporting government
of Oak Island to costs of supporting govern
ment of Caswell Beach on a department-by
department basis.
Mayor O’Brien said the presentation was to
serve as a starting, point for additional discus
sion of the consolidation issue. Commissioners
are to discuss the issue further at an 8 a.m.
meeting October 6 at the OceanGreens club
house and will conduct a second public infor
mation meeting on consolidation on Novem
See Caswell, page 5
‘...there
is no com
pelling
economic
reason for
Caswell
Beach to
rush into
consolida
tion. We
can sit
back and
examine
this thing.’
Joe O'Brien
Caswell Beach mayor
Abbreviated Oak Island meeting
Council opposes wetlands plan
By Richard Nubel
Staff Writer
Filling freshwater wetlands and Hooding adjacent
areas for development of a grocery store is inconsis
tent with the CAMA Land Use Plan approved for the
Town of Long Beach and soon to be adopted as a pol
icy document for the Town of Oak Island.
By consensus of Oak Island Town Council
Tuesday night, staff will send a letter of comment to
the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers noting a wetlands
development request before it does not square, with
municipal hind use policy.
In another matter to come before a hurricane-short
ened session of town council Tuesday night, an
assessment resolution to pay for the undergrounding
of utility lines on southern portions of MeGlamery.
Sellers, Mercer. Norton. Trott and Keziah streets was
approved. That $250,000 project is expected to cost
homeowners along those streets between Yaupon.
I^ive and Ocean Drive about $ 187 each. Co-mayor
Joan Altman said the town will do all it can to see that
Brunswick Electric Membership Corporation and
phone and cable providers bury lines at the same
time, so yards will not be cut more than once.
Last week, the Corps of Engineers published notice
that Block 5A Long Beach Properties, a South
Carolina development firm, had filed a permit
See Wetlands, page 9
Manager made permanent
Agency manager referees
SBSD board controversy
By Richard Nubel
Staff Writer *
It took stem words from a USDA rep
resentative Monday morning to get
Southeast Brunswick Sanitary District
commissioners to put their differences
aside. '
When they eventually did, however,
district manager Charles Smith’s proba
tionary employment period was ended
and he was granted permanent employee
status. Office manager Joy Davis also
was granted permanent status and, at
Smith s request, SBSD commissioners
will develop employment contracts for
the two, establishing levels of severance
pay and benefits they will receive if they
are terminated without cause.
The unanimous vote by commissioners
rparked the end of a turbulent two-hour ’
session at which commissioners bickered
among themselves and with the manager.
In his report to the board. Smith'cited
some 255 errors in posting accounts that
occurred during a period of time when
commissioner Lucille Laster served as
the district’s office manager and secre
tary. He chaiged commissioner Laster
had tjeen “belligerent” to him since he,
was hired three months ago.
Smith said his relationship with com
missioner James W. (Bubba) Smith was
strained also and the two rarely spoke, but
he asked that commissioner Laster be
excluded from participation in his sched
uled |x;iformance evaluation, charging
she had told people she wanted his job.
"Lucille Laster is not qualified to be
manager,” Smith said.
"I'm not going to exclude myself,”
See SBSD, page 10
‘Evidently, the board
is not able to she that
the manager is an arm
of the board that is •
seeing the policies
and rules and regula
tions are being han
dled.’
Willard Dean
USDA Rurual Development
Raceway
revs up
neighbors
By Terry Pope
Staff Writer
Gentlemen, start your engines!
It's the phrase that brings Olde
Towne folks to their feet. They are hop
ping mad about noise from tne Fireball
Motor Speedway built near their
homes, and have asked county com
missioners to put a muffler on the race
cars.
"The noise can be heard two miles
from the track,” said Olde Towne resi
dent Stuart Smith, also a member of
the Brunswick
County Planning
Board. He spoke
to county com
missioners last
week and asked
that someone
quiet the roar.
"When is the
county going to
start enforcing a
noise ordinance?”
Smith asked.
SMITH
rueball Motor Speedway is built off
Ploof Road in an industrial zone right
behind the county’s garbage transfer
station. However, it is also adjacent to
such developments as Birch Creek,
River. Run and Olde Towne.
It was built for the racing of small
cars, especially the Legends cars, that
also pack a powerful engine and which
entertain fans prior to NASCAR racing
events. Brunswick County planning
director Leslie Bell said his department
isn’t about to pull onto pit row with this
issue.
“We have ordered two noise meters,”
See Raceway, page 6