Newspapers / State Port Pilot (Southport, … / Dec. 29, 1999, edition 1 / Page 1
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North vs. South Two county rivals to meet '»* bird time this season in the Seashel Holiday Classic --1 Published ever We<’ December 29 19\ SfflXbmifeXrk Filing starts Three seats open for commission, schools By Terry Calhoun Staff Writer The books will open at noon on Monday, January 3, at the Brunswick County Board of Elections for resi dents who plan to seek a ballot spot in the local May primary elections. , The deadline for filing is noon February 7, according to Lynda Britt, supervisor of the county elections board. Board of commissioners Three seats will be up for grabs on the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners this election cycle. The District 3 seat currently occupied by Leslie Collier of Oak Island, the District 4 seat of JoAnn Bellamy Simmons of Ash and the District 5 spot now filled by board chairman William “Bill” Sue of Leland will be open. Simmons, past chairman of the commissioners, now serves as the vice-chair. The filing fee for the four year terms on the county board is $100. Board of education Three seats are also at stake in the contest for the Brunswick County Board of Education. The District 1 seat now held by Olaf “Bud” Thorsen of Shallotte. the District 2 seat held by Chairman Joyce Barker Hewett of Supply and the District 4 seat held by Pat Purvis Brown of Ash are to open for filers. The filing fee for the four year school board terms is $5. State House, Senate Brunswick County voters will be asked to choose candidates in the May 2 primary to face off in the November general elections for the North Carolina 18th Senatorial District R. C. Soles, Jr., of Tabor City, is serving the current two-year Senate term. Three State House ballot spots will also be determined. David Redwine of Ocean Isle Beach and Lake Waccamaw’s Dewey Hill now repre sent Brunswick County in the State House from the 14th District while Thomas Wright of Wilmington holds the 98th District seat. The 98th District includes a portion of northern Brunswick County. Filing fees for the state positions are $207. Register of deeds The four-year term of the Brunswick County Register of Deeds will be filled again. The incumbent is Robert J. Robinson. Filing fee is $395. The coroner’s job, now held by Greg White, will also be open. Filing fee is $20. ROOFTOP RESCUE House call Oak Island rescue workers rushed'to Caswell Dunes Monday morning where Frank Cuthbert had fallen through a building roof on Foxfire Trace. The painter was secured in a stretcher, bound to the end of an aerial ladder and lowered to ground for transporta tion to Dosher Hospital for exami nation. Photos by Jim Harper St. James Plantation ' \ Deal struck on wetlands Developers agree to pay $213,000 fine By Terry Pope Staff Writer St. Janies Plantation developers have reached an agreement with the N.C. Division of Water Quality to till or plug nearly 20 miles of ditches to restore 1,500 acres of wet lands improperly drained from summer 1998 until February 1999. St. James developers will also pay substan tial fines of $213,000. The landowners have further agreed to stabilize another 13 acres of ditches to pre vent erosion and off site sedimentation in return for retaining them. ‘We are working hard to correct the problems that arose and to be responsible stew ards of the em’i ronment’ John Atkinson St Janies president [he agreement was reached Tuesday with officials in the N. C. Division of Land Resources of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources over ditching on two tracts owned by developers of St. James Plantation. "We are pleased that a settlement agreement has been reached.” said St. James Plantation president John Atkinson. “An important pail of our community is the beauty of our land scape and we pride ourselves on build ing quality neighborhoods that blend in with the natural surroundings." Tommy Stevens, director of the state Division of Water Quality, said the tract owners —, St. James Development Inc.. Tri City Inc. and Brunswick Land and Timber LLC - will pay $131,200. or 80 per cent, of the original $164,000 fine " the agency assessed in .April, plus $12,500 to address any water qual ity violations that may have occurred since. April. The owners will also pay the $3,454 in enforcement costs. it s a good agreement that achieves a no-net-loss of wetlands." said Stevens. Charles Gardner, director of the Division of Land Resources, said the settlement also calls for the owners to pay $5.1,600. or 80 percent, of the orig inal fine DLR assessed for erosion and See St. James, page 9A Schools 2000 An $83.5-million building plan By Diana D’Abruzzo Staff Writer With the confidence of voters in their pocket — coupled with the $83.5 million those voters approved for new school facilities — officials with Brunswick County Schools will be busy in 2000 preparing for new build ings, new programs and all the teach ing and learning that comes with the job. "We made a promise to the public, and we’re fulfilling that promise,” said Katie McGee, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. Prior to the new year, the school system had already selected architects for all the projects in phase one of its facilities plan. In 2000, construction of the $10 million elementary school will begin, along with the $39 million in renovations and additions at the three high schools. The new facilities w ill do wonders for instructional needs. McGee said. The new west-end elementary school will relieve overcrowding at Union Elementary and Shallotte Middle schools. And the renovations and addi tions at the three high schools — built in the 1970s with little upgrade since — will provide much-needed class room space, including improved sci ence lahs. "It will have a grdat impact on instruction because, with new facili ties, there will be more opportunities for learning," McGee said. McGee said the school system is already in the planning stages for how it will handle instruction at the high schools during the renovation. "We'll have to be productive during renovation," she said. "So there will See School, page 6A Wsurn Awaiting the stroke of midnight Southport’s guard still up as 2000 draws near Y Electric department personnel will begin moni toring all sys tems at 11 p.m. By Terry Calhoun Staff Writer Diesel and propane tanks are being topped off this week, contingency plans are complete, standby personnel, schedules are set, and more than a few fingers are crossed. All the preparation by Southport city staff is done. Now the wait begins for perhaps the most significant stroke of midnight since Cinderella fled the palace. City manager Rob Gandy says he is confi dent that all that can be done has been done, but Southport’s guard is still up as the days are marked off the calendar ending the year. And Gandy, for once, is happy that the city is in a hurricane-prone location. His happiness owes to the fact that most of the city’s utility services are backed-up by diesel generators. The secu rity provided by those generators in the after math of storms is magnified in this once-in-a thousand-year calendar rollover from 999 to 000. ; ' Unless someone has awakened of late from a nap of Rip Van Winkle magnitude, the rea son for the concern is at least familiar, if not clear. Computer programmers either ignored reality or were so concerned by the need for field space in computer progranjs that they shortcut the date from a four-digit number (like 2000) to a two-digit one (like 00). In 1975 the problem was not nearly as evident as it is in 1999 as one realizes that even the fastest cutting-edge computer cannot discern the dif ference between 00 as in 1900 and 00 as in 2000, unless software programs have been adequately updated. While most systems have been updated to avoid the problem with as much confidence as possible, certain technology systems using embedded chip devices might not function properly, or at all, when the change comes. Where are these embedded chips? What will their function (or malfunction) mean to critical systems? Those questions will be much easier See Southport, page 11A Battling back from Floyd Oak Island to grow despite hurricane setback By Richard Nubel Staff Writer >■ Although the work of fully consolidating the two com munities that formed Oak Island in July will continue into the coming year, it is still recovery from the September pas sage of Hurricane Floyd that will dominate the scope of work before town council, staff and citizens in the beginning months of the new millennium. “The challenge for the town is obvious in terms of the storm,” mayor Joan Altman said. "That is, to come back as quickly and completely as we can. We need to have these homes repaired and rentals back in business if the town is to recover fully from the storm." When Hurricane Floyd cut its path through Oak Island September 15-16, it drastically altered the economic well being of Brunswick County's largest municipal corporation. Since September, work crews have cleared tons of debris that littered the strand area The effort has cost the town nearly $2 million to date and that cost could double. While only a small portion of that cost has been reim See Oak Island, page 3A ‘The challenge for the town is obvious in terms of the storm. That is, to come back as quickly arul completely as we can.’ Oak Island mayor Joan Altman
State Port Pilot (Southport, N.C.)
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Dec. 29, 1999, edition 1
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