Newspapers / State Port Pilot (Southport, … / Dec. 22, 1999, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of State Port Pilot (Southport, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Volume 69, Number 17 Phone 910-457-4568/Fax 910-457-9427/e-mail pilot@southpon.net Tourney tin1'* The, State Port Pilot tournament begins N'» December 22, * ‘V It ~X. '■', Published every We ine'sd y in Southport. N. C. Hospital answers inquiry Dosher Memorial Hospital owns and operates 11 properties in Southport that are not part of the main acute care facil ity. As a government entity, Dosher pays neither city nor county property taxes for this income-producing prop erty valued at nearly $2.7 million. If the property were not owned by a , government entity, it would generate nearly $ 13,000 annually for the City of Southport at its current tax rate of 49 cents per $100 valuation. A list of hospital-owned properties and their values is among the 13 pages of information Dosher Memorial Hospital prepared in response to citi zen questions presented to hospital trustees by city alderman Paul Fisher in November. Fisher said his "con stituents" had compiled the questions and said some of them had come from the new civic group Concerned Citi zens of Southport. The citizen questions, Fisher said, were posed as voters prepare to vote on a proposal to extend Dosher trustees’ taxing authority at referendum in May. The hospital will ask for authority to levy a property tax of up to four cents per $ 100 valuation for 30 years. Taxing authority is critical to obtaining the most favorable financing arrangements l for Dosher’s master development plan, 1" ■ trustees have s'fi' . The complete list of citizen questions . and hospital responses follows: 1. Do Dosher Hospital and its affiliates pay any ptoperty taxes to the City of Southport? Dosher Hospital has no affiliates and pays no property taxes to the City of Southport. The issue of taxation of hospital property was addressed in early 1996 by Brunswick County’s attorney and tax administrator. This issue was reviewed by the North Carolina Institute of Government and the opinion of both the county attor ney and the Institute of Government was that the hospital was exempt from taxation pursuant to North Carolina General Statute 105-178.1 (See letter attached.) 2. A. List all properties owned by Dosher Hospital and its affiliates within Southport city limits. See Tab A. B. Indicate which have structures on them and which are parking lots. See Tab A. C. How many of these properties are rented or leased? See Tab A. D. How many of these properties are rented or leased by doctors, dentists or other members of the medical profession? See Tab A. E. How many of these properties are rented or leased for other than hospital-related activities? None. F. What are those activities? Not applicable. G. What Ls the maintenance costs for each property? The hospital does See Questioas, page 12 CHRISTMAS PARADE Photo by Jim Harper Christmas just keeps coming, and coming, and coming. On Saturday here it was coming down the street in Bolivia, in the form of the town’s annual parade, and candy rained and excitement mled. Happy holidays. Airport hearing Flight plan still not clear Bv Diana D’Abruzzo Staff'Writer Residents who fear their homes or businesses will be cleared away when the Brunswick County Airport extends its runway spoke out at a public hearing last Wednesday, asking officials for more details on the project and pleading with them to be up-front and fair. Most of the public hearing at the Oak Island Recreation Center was spent addressing questions from the audience of about two dozen, though a few residents simply spoke up to tell airport officials of their frustrations and fears regarding the runway expansion. “We have been stabbed in the back so many times, we want reassur ance we won’t be stabbed in the back again,” said Louis Murray, who owns businesses in the area that have recently gone through Oak Island annexation and added taxation by the Southeast Brunswick Sanitary District. “We’ve got to be nervous that we’ll be shafted again.” The aiiport learned last month that more than $2.5 million in federal See Airport, page 14 ‘Corporate presidents like to fly in; they don’t come on a bus. To have a progressive community, you have to have an air port that’s a viable tool.’ Jay Talbert Consulting engineer Preservation, city growth both needed By Terry Calhoun Start' Writer Preserving the old town at the core of the city while reaching out to incorpo rate the new — that was the message Southport planners sent to aldermen Thursday night. The planning board asked the city attorney to research and possibly draft an ordinance to set a six-month mora torium on redevelopment in an area commonly referred to as the "historic district" — the portion of downtown that is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Southport actually has no historic district. City ordinances have never established tin area subject to development or architectural design review. In nearly the same breath, the board passed Jerry Axelrod's motion to "encourage" the board of aldermen to push the current city limit to Long Beach Road. Quoting the Town of Oak Island mayor's recent “Stay small arid die" remark, Axelrod told the board. "To d<« nothing would ’oc jo-ti -.Viort ot tymi nal." Discussion centered not so much on whether to work toward annexation of outlying areas as it did on which areas to pursue. The motion itself referred to property on either side of Highway 211 ‘Now we are, at a time of rapid devel opment and increas ing intrusion into our city by outside inter ests ... most of those interests are econom ically based and have little if any interest in our quality of life.' Steve Bliss City planner imm the cunviit .ci.lv Tin:! in the inter, section \\ n'a ith’.hv. t\ V >:, Beach RoaU), but discussion qinoov turned to the Highway X7 eottidoi ;ls well. Little energy was spent on the annex ation issue. The intent of the board See Growth, page 7 Consortium told: Bald Head must ask, like others By Richard Nubcl Staff Writer Bald Head Island is no different than any other beach community when it conies to qualifying for a 50-year federal commitment to beach renourishment, members of the Brunswick Beaches Consortium were told last week. The village has to ask for it. "Go get a resolution in Congress and we'll start looking at it." said Wayne Bissette of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers' Wilmington District. Bissette and Coips official Tom Jarrett, also of the Wilmington District, issued that preliminary assessment of Bald Head Island's ability to seek inclusion in the federal Shoreline Protection Program on Wednesday. Beach communities in the federal Shoreline Protection Program share cost with federal and state gosem ments for an initial all-out nourishment of their beachfront. Beaches undergoing. Shoreline Protection Program projects are then renourished by the Corps every three years to replace sand that has eroded. That cycle of renourishment ■continues for 50 years, under the program. Bald Head Island officials recently have claimed the village was'ineligible for inclusion in a Shoreline Protection Program. In November, village council instnici See Coasortium, page 6 Brunswick planning issue St. James property owners want more info on project By Terry Pope Staff Writer Rumors had St. James Plantation developers proposing every thing from a gas station to another Wal-Mart in two master plans up for adoption by the Brunswick County Planning Board last week. St. James residents who wanted to know for sure what would be built in their town asked that master plans for Phase III and The Paladin Club golf course project be tabled until they can study the maps more closely. They filled the public assembly room to capacity and stated their concerns at the Wednesday public hearings before developers offered a compromise — to table action on the two plans until a town meeting is held to Case residents’concerns. The developers in question have been very successful devel opers, said St. James Plantation project manager Mark Brambell. They did not do this by not listening to the people who live in St. James or people who are future residents of St. James.” Last week s confrontation between St. James Plantation devel opers and residents of the Town of St. James pointed out two noteworthy facts about changes in the county’s newest town— that residents and town council are taking a more active role in deciding what is proper development within the municipality See St James, page 3 l*hoto by lorry Pope P*anning board chainnan Alan Lewis stepped aside, then took the floor to explain the project he helped design, before the board suspended discussion of the St Janies Plantation proposal.
State Port Pilot (Southport, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 22, 1999, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75