Huge upset
North Brunswick rallies to defeat
state’s third-ranked team,
Robeson, in 15-14 thriller •
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Published every^
I I ■ I ■ I—.s>
: Southport, N.
HURRICANE FLOYD: The recovery
Photo b) Jim Harper
Clean-up of debris from Hurricane Floyd continued along the Oak Island strand fids week. Piece; v.f decles •> wSk-waj s, an.’ cottage, were rough t
to the roadway for loading near 4500 West Beach Drive. The peaked roof in the center background is of one of five Long Beach homes which survived
the onslaught of Hurricane Hazel in 1954.
Oak Island I Ӥ
Annexuuon
could reach
to N. G. 211
By Richard Nubel
Staff Writer
Been shopping at the Oak Island
Hannaford store yet?
Had lunch at the Oak Island Pizza
Hut or browsed the Oak Island Family
Dollar?
You may soon.
Town council Thursday directed its
staff to prepare a formal declaration of
municipal intent to extend Oak Island’s
corporate limits to N. C." 211.
The entire length of Beach Road, one
of the county’s fastest-developing com
mercial corridors, may become part of
the Town of Oak Island in little more
than a year, if the proposed annexation
by that town goes unchallenged.
Also on Thursday, over 500 acres of
the mainland from Airport Road to the
Oak Island bridge became part of Oak
Island thr ough an annexation procedure
that was begun by the Town of Yaupon
Beach in 1998. Council that day said
Oak Island should quickly annex again,
suiting town limits as Far north as state
law will permit.
Town manager JeTry Walter- present
ed council with a memorandum outlin
ing annexation procedure and a map
‘We have not done
the precise work yet,
but we have exam
ined the area and we
believe it will be
doable under the
statutes.’
jerry Walters
Oak Island manager
indicating the next annexation could
put Oak Island corporate limits at the
Beach Road and Southport-Supply
Road (N. C. 211) intersection.
live Oak Village and River Run
shopping centers would be at the new
entrance to Oak Island in slightly more
than one year, if this annexation pro
See Annexation, page 9 ' ,
Tourism Oak Island
Down, Walkways are restricted
not out on federally built dunes
By Diana D’Abruzzo
Staff Writer
This week’s Entertainment Weekly
magazine, while musing about the new
TV show “Wasteland,” jabs that the
name of the show could also refer to
/ “any newscast from eastern North
Carolina.” ,
And that’s not what the local tourism
folks want to hear.
But with all the national telecasts
proclaiming much of the state a disas
ter area following Hurricane Floyd,
folks outside state boundaries could
only imagine it as such.
“Yeah, I’m worried,” said Dick
Marshall, owner of Oak Island
Accommodations. ‘Tm worried about
the public perception of what the beach
looks like. It’s not going to be as bad as
anyone thinks.”
Of the 4i0 rental units Marshall
serves, six are “gone forever"’ and
another 80 to 90 have damage and
must undergo an assessment and
inspection to determine their fate. But
that’s nothing compared to what the
public perceives as a virtual wipe-out
See Tourism, page 3
‘The challenge is to
get the word out that
while we’re not 100
percent now, we will
be by the spring, so
don’t write us off.’
Karen Sphar
Southport-Oak Island
Chamber of Commerce
By Richard Nubel
Staff Writer
In a second emergency session devot
ed to Hurricane Floyd recovery Thurs
day afternoon, Oak Island Town
Council said the state of emergency
along the town’s beachfront would con
tinue, but noted sections of the restrict
ed access area from SE 58th Street to
West 20th Place will soon be opened.
In another storm recovery matter,
Council learned property owners will no
longer be allowed to build private dune
crosswalks to their homes. Because
federally established new dunes will be
public property, a system of communal
dune crosswalks will have to be estab
lished by local government.
Two or more neighboring property
owners will share dune crosswalks
under a plan in formulation. No dune
Photo by Jim Harper
The “Welcome” flag was out, along with the “Safe Seafood” sign, at Barb’s
Seafood on Beach Road this week. Only shellfish —oysters, clams and mus
sels — have been judged unsafe by state health authorities in the aftermath
of Hurricane Floyd.
crosswalk will be farther than 200 feet
from any beachfront home, councilors
said.
Council further relaxed restrictions
on contractors’ access to damaged
beachfront homes and authorized staff
to begin beach and restoration activi
ties.
Specifically, council:;
■ Authorized staff to begin sand
pushing efforts to create or reinforce
dunes in most obvious areas. The town
is still awaiting notice where the N. C.
Division of Coastal Management and
the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (F'EMA) will establish a first
line of vegetation and a new protective
bermline. While those decisions are for
mulated, the town will begin to push
sand where partial dunes or escarp
ments exist.
• Authorized staff to apply for all
available state and federal grants and
loans for extension of public sewer
lines. Some oceanfront property own
ers may not be able to restore their
homes because they cannot meet spatial
requirements for installation of septic
tanks lost to the hurricane. Availability
of a public wastewater system will
allow more homes to be. rebuilt. Town
officials are considering extension of a
sewer, line along East Beach Drive
between SE 58th and SE 40th streets.
B Extended from one to three the
number of oceanfront homes in the
restricted area a contractor may be per
mitted to visit at one time. For security
purposes, contractors working on
oceanfront homes in the restricted
access area must "badge-in" with
inspections officials.
Council also on Thursday ratified a
mutual aid agreement for police protec
tion with the City of Winston-Salem.
That city is among a number of towns
and cities in the state that have sent law
enforcement officers to aid in security
efforts following the hurricane. Security
■strategies call for 56 officers to
See Walkways, page 13
/
SBSD controversy
Manager fired;
future in doubt
By Richard Nubel
Staff Writer
Once again, Southeast Brunswick
Sanitary District is without a profes
sional manager.
Once again a manager has been fired
amid a policy dispute with members of^
the district’s board of commissioners.
by a 4-1 vote
Monday morning,
commissioners
voted to dismiss
manager Charles
Smith after Smith
refused to provide
members' of the
board access to
the new district
FORMY-DUVAL
... SBSD chairman
office at Bruns
wick Electric
Membership
Corporation headquarters on N. C. 211.
“In essence, he's locked commis
sioners out of the office and, as chair
man, I want a key," district chairman
Gene Formy-Duval said in open ses
‘Maybe this board
shouldn’t be here,
then. Maybe the dis
trict should be turned
over to the county so
it can be run the way
it should be run.’
Charles Smith
sion.
“As manager, I won't give you a key,”
Smith replied.
‘Then I ask for your resignation,”
See Manager, page 7
Brunswick will inspect
SBSD, with conditions 'J
V -v-v \ ;—■/ ■; •' r . .• ;■> -
By Tferry Pope
Staff Writer .. .
Brunswick County commissioners arc putting the squeeze on the Southeast
Bmnswick Sanitary District
The board of commissioners voted Monday to perform the district’s build
ing inspection duties, but under certain conditions. The district must first bring
its zoning ordinance into compliance with the county’s, and it also must adopt
the Brunswick County Airport height control ordinance.
For the airport ordinance to be effective, each governing body with proper
ty within range of its coverage area must approve the document Approval was '%
given by all other agencies earlier this year, including the county, but
See Brunswick, page 3