Caswell Beach
Polling place: Town Hall To the elected: mayor, three commissioners
Mayor
Francis A. (Frank) Bausch
734 Alyssum Avenue.
Retired and a five-year resident of
Caswell Beach, Bausch, 66, is a’mem
ber of the town’s, beach preservation
committee, a Lower Cape Fear Hospice
volunteer, member of Sacred Heart
Church and, chairman of the church
finance council. He is a Southport
Lions Club director.
Harry Simmons
707 Caswell Beach Road
A resident of Caswell Beach for the last
2 l/2years, Simmons, 46, is an artist
manager and former university official.
He is chairman of the Brunswick
Beaches Consortium and a member of
the town’s beach preservation commit
tee. He has helped with the town’s
parade units. He established and main
tains the town’s World Wide Web site:
www. caswellbeach. org.
If you are elected, what will be your top
three goals as a member of the town’s
governing board?
(1) Maintain momentum on our beach preser
vation effort by paying the town’s share of the
harbor channel dredging project and begin sav
ing for the 50-year renourishment project. (2)
Extend town maintenance services to include
all roads, beach accesses, storm water runoff,
mosquito control and sewer plants. (3)
Improve communications with residents and
property, owners by holding regular office
hours and issuing a quarterly newsletter.
(1) Manage growth to maintain the residential
quality of Caswell Beach, while working to
enhance the town's positive impact on our
region and expand its relationships with coun
ty, state and federal levels of government. (2)
Aggressively pursue participation in'the
regional wastewater treatment system for all
the Caswell Beach neighborhoods and seek the
earliest on-line time at the fairest and most rea
sonable cost possible. Such a system is obvi
ously environmentally safer and need not lead
to any unwanted development with proper zon
ing in place. (3) Keep property taxes reason
able and involve citizens more effectively in
the budgetary process.
What is your opinion of your town’s
current year budget? Does it offer ser
vices you want to offer in the most
affordable manner?
The current budget, with its associated ad val
orem tax rate of 38 cents per $100 of assessed
valuation, is fully responsive to town needs, as
well as farsighted in its front end loading for
beach nourishment. Next year I will push for
long-term, sustainable beach funding through
use of the accommodations tax, while at the
same time returning the ad valorem tax rate to
the FY 1998-99 level of 24 cents per $100.
While there are a few line items in the budget
with which I disagree, I believe the overall
level of services and costs are acceptable. I
advocated using 36.8% of the current year's ad
valorem tax rate as a one-time increase, dedi
cated to paying our share for sand from the
Wilmington Harbor project. I will work to
bring the ad valorem rate back down to its pre
vious range in the next fiscal year. I will lead
the effort to seek all applicable state, federal
and private grants to provide funding for ser
vices and improvements we need.
Why should the voter select you over
your opponents)?
First, I have 37 years executive experience to
include military command and directorship in a
Fortune 500 company. Second, this expertise is
backed up with energy, enthusiasm and proven
ability to get the job done at both the federal
and local government level. Finally, I'm a per
manent resident and property owner with a
unwavering commitment to serve the town as a
full-term (four year) mayor.
Those who know me best know that I am bal
anced in my approach to both long-term plan
ning and crisis management. As mayor of
Caswell Beach, the ability to handle both the
politics and relationships of office, while using
common sense to deal with the practicalities of
problem-solving in day-to-day governance,
will be critical. My consensus-building skills
have served me well in other aspects of my
public and business efforts. I expect those
skills to be pushed to the limit during the next
four years, but I am certain I am up to the task.
Commissioner
Robert C. Spake
38 Foxfire Trace
Spake, 66. is a retired, 14-year resident
of Caswell Beach who was first elected
to the board of commissioners four
years ago. He is the only commissioner
seeking reelection this year. He has
been involved with many activities in
the community,
Wendell N. (Buck)Vest
402 Palmetto Drive
Vest,45, is employed in the computer
industry. He has been a resident of
Caswell Beach for one year.
Ann Marie Zalewski
904 Caswell Beach Road
A member of the town’s planning
board, board of adjustment and beach
preservation committee, Ms. Zalewski,
59, also serves as treasurer of the
Beach Preservation Trust Fund. She is a
member of the Caswell Beach social
committee and has helped with
Christmas parade floats and beach and
road maintenance activities.
(1) To keep taxes as low as possible and still
give the best service we can. (2) Beach renour
ishment. (3) Have the best police force to pro
tect our town and its citizenry.
(1) Consolidation with the Town of Oak Island.
I don't feel that this will be in the community's
best interests.Caswell Beach is a small, non:
commercial town with a small number of resi
dents and a large number of property owners.
Consolidation will not enhance onr services or
provide additional benefits... (2) Beach
renourishment. In the face of Floyd, it is essen
tial that our beach communities work together
to ensure that our beaches rebuilt and main
tained... (3) Community spirit, safety and
identity. It is important that we continue to
maintain the current spirit of community that is
so evident in the town...
My top three goals as a commissioner are: (1)
To provide more responsive government to our
citizens by listening to their concerns regarding
roads, wastewater treatment, the budget
process, police, fire and rescue services and
encouraging more open and active citizen par
ticipation in finding solutions; (2) to increase
the presence of Caswell Beach in the county,
state and federal government by attending
meetings and visiting representatives at all lev
els of government in Order to exert greater
influence on external decisions that affect the
town; and (3) tef rebuild our sand dunes for
protection of the road and renourish the beach
for everyone's enjoyment.
Our town’s current year budget is good. We try
to upgrade services each year.
The budget of the town is adequate. There are
always new budget items requiring considera
tion and should be addressed in the appropriate
forum. The current council members and the
mayor have provided detailed information justi
fying the current requirements for the mainte
nance and services required to our residents and
property owners. I am confident that we will
continue to provide an appropriate spending
plan providing continued growth and improve
ment of services, while not allowing an undue
burden to be placed on our property owners.
The budget contains a 12-cent ad valorem tax
increase to pay for sand from the channel
realignment project, a project I strongly sup
port. Because the recent property reassessment
increased the available money by seven cents, I
believe the budget could have been trimmed to
allow a portion of this windfall to be appropri
ated for the sand project, thereby reducing the
need to increase the tax rate a full 12 cents.
Also, had the final approval of the budget been
delayed until the end of June, there wouldn't
have been a need to add another two cents for
rescue services.
Because I have served the Town of Caswell
Beach for the last four years and will do the
same for the next four years.
Although I have been resident of Caswell
Beach for only a short while, my family and I
have been constant and faithful visitors to the
island for almost 20 years. I want to be active
ly involved in our community to assist in its
continued prosperity and growth.
It is unfortunate that there are only three can
didates for the three open seats on the town's
governing board. The result of this lack of can
didacy is that the registered voters really do
not have a choice of candidates for commis
sioner unless a write-in candidate is supported.
I hope that the next local election will find
more citizens in the town who are interested
and willing to participate in their town's gov
ernment. A democracy is strong only when suf
ficient choices exist for elective positions and
citizens express their opinions at the polls.
James R. Forstner, M.D.
} announces the relocation
of his practice to
4654 Long Beach Road, Southport
(Coastal Urgent Care Building)
„ Walk-ins Welcome f
- Monday-Saturday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
’ Sunday, 12 noon - 8 p.m.
For appointments please call,
457-9564 • 457-9565 • 457-0055 .
CITIZENS OF BOILING SPRING LAKES
Rumors • False Rumors
Reeves Telecom is responsible for the flooding! Broken dams are responsible! No power to control valves! Lack of common sense and
failure to follow city approved and state recommended guidelines are responsible. Wait till you hear how much it’s going to cost taxpayers to
repair the dam and spillway!
FACE One earthen dam, the head water for Allen Creek, which holds 30 or so acres, washed out. Impoundment 2 is controlled by a valve
and pipe system and was already at normal surface level when it let go. The last earthen dam, by Hwy. 87, was washed out five or six years
ago and is always at the same level as the "Big Lake ’. I wonder if the "present administration" feels that our citizens are dumb enough to
believe that 30 or even 50 acres of 2-3 feet deep waters will raise a 360-acre lake eight to nine vertical feet when a dam breaks? The portable
generator, purchased in case of power failure, used to open the Big Lake’s control valve, was useless because of the high water.
The Weather Channel and our own local TV stations - pardon the pun - flooded the airways with reports for coundess hours about the
wind speed, destruction expected and amounts of possible rainfall that would come with Hurricane Dennis. AFTER Dennis the Big Lake was
drained 18 to 20 inches. Not enough! The valves were closed and in three days the water level was back to four inches ABOVE the top of the
spillway. Once again, the reports started from the TV. Copious amounts of rainfall on our already saturated area were expected. Reports of
more than 12 inches were predicted from Hurricane Floyd even if Floyd hit Florida, and yet Commissioner Toland stated at the October 5,
1999 commissioner’s meeting that, and 1 quote, "not one meteorologist had predicted the number of inches of rainfall we would receive".
Well, maybe Toland meant the EXACT amount of rainfall.
Regrettably, the Mayor and Commissioners Toland and Akers, Commissioner Schneiders, who is in charge - and again I quote - of the
“stupid” highway department, decided -against the guidelines, to close the valves prior to Floyd’s arrival even as the Big Lake continued to
rise rapidly due to the waters cascading in from all the other lakes, ditches and storm drains around the city. Citizens, the valves were NOT
opened until 9:30 a.m. Wednesday morning -12 hours before Floyd drenched us. Three valves - capable of being opened 400 turns each -
were opened, one valve 200 turns, another 225, and the last 250 turns, as stated by highway department employee Glenn Clatterborough!
Why such small openings? The state and Corp of Engineers regulations stipulate that the lake level "shall not be lowered more than 12" in
any 24-hour period... due to earthen dam washout.” Why weren’t the guidelines followed? Prior to Floyd's assault on us, Commissioner
Redmond suggested to the Mayor and other commissioners that it would be wise to drop the lake level much more than for Dennis. No - not
needed - we know what we’re doing! Because of the "present administration’s" failure to follow state approved guidelines, many of us
unnecessarily lost quite a bit of property. Thank the Lord, no one died.
Now, in their ineptible wisdom, the board members who chose to ignore Commissioner Redmond, drastically lowered the lake level three
feet in less than 24 hours, so that homeowners can repair their damaged property. If the lake had been lowered this much BEFORE Floyd, all
the surrounding flooring and damage might not have been so extensive or destructive.
The director of the Wilmington section of the N. C. Department of Environment, Health & Natural Resources invited me to a meeting on
Wednesday, October 20,1999, at the spillway of the Big Lake to discuss the damage done to the dam and spillway due to Hurricane Floyd
and the improper operation to control the level of the Big Lake. The damage is repairable - but at a very high cost to taxpayers. The director
was quite upset that, due to dropping the Big Lake three feet in much too short period of time, the washout created at the base of the
spillway has created a very large area under the dam piping that is extremely hazardous to the integrity of the entire dam. Loss of dam
equals loss of Big Lake. The uphill side of the spillway is in danger of sliding down into the lower spillway and the possible collapse of the
Alton Lennon Drive roadway. By the way - funny thing - but the Mayor forgot to invite the finance commissioner to the meeting. Guess
Commissioner Redmond was not needed to see just how much this is going to cost us taxpayers. Engineer report - $25 to $30 thousand?
Construction using someone other than our own "stupid” highway department, $50 to $70 thousand? We will need special backfills and
compaction equipment. Specialized equipment that outside contractors can supply along with their state approved and regulated experience.
Taxes, taxes, taxes!
How much have you saved us, Mr. Mayor? I checked - couldn’t find anywhere around here about that 30% tax reduction you mentioned I '
don't like the fact that, without public input, you and your bunch allocated six thousand taxpayer dollars to halfway repair a building that you
“hope" might hold a city post office. SLx thousand dollars to repair a tiny building that will not even hold all the citizens’ mail, even at our
present population. Six Thousand dollars to repair a building owned by Reeves Telecom. Not even city prdperty!
Finally, how dare the editor of this newspaper - a man who doesn't even live in our "quiet little town” put his two-cents into our elections?
You don't live here - don’t try to interject your views of the candidates on our citizens. Newspapers are for reporting not opinionating. Print
an apology and stay our of our politics or move into our town and finally go to a commissioners meeting.
Paid for by Mike Williams i