Tl I ill w Twenty-sixth Year, Number WATER SYSTEM DIRECTOR KEN (right) accepts a check Friday from 1 resident Chester Parrish for the first County R< Of Water BY RAHN ADAMS Chester Parrish of Brunswick Shores is on a first-name basis with the Brunswick County Water System's office staff now, ever since he started calling them at least once a week to find out when he could tap on to new water lines in the county's first special assessment district But this week he didn't have to call. On Friday morning, Parrish and at least 11 of his neighbors were the first property owners to sign up as water customers in SAD 2. The district, which is located between Brick Landing Plantation and Bent Tree Plantation, also consists of Shangrila, Long Acres and Stanley Campground. "We're real glad at finally being able to get some decent water to drink and not have to haul our drinking water," Parrish said after paying his tap-on fee at the water system office in Bolivia. He said residents in his neighborhood have hauled water from the county pumping station on N.C. 179 for the past two years, just to have good, clean water to drink and use for other household purposes. Before that, they drove to Shallotte to pick up water, he said. "It's the greatest thing that's happened in that area," added Guinn Hutchinson, president of the Shangrila Property Owners' Association. "It's been needed for some time." Water System Director Kenneth Hewett said Friday that the first water taps in SAD 2 will be done in about two weeks, depending on his two tapping crews' work loads. Ordinarily, the water system adds from 25 to SO new customers each month. At least 75 new customers are expected "right quick" due to completion of SAD 2, Hewett said. He noted that the district currently contains 189 potential customers. John Harvey, who serves as the Brunswick County Utility Operations Board's administrative staff, was ChciDDe _ s_ , BY RAHN ADAMS After a 90-minute discussion of how Brunswick County is attempting to collect delinquent property taxes, Commissioner Chris Chappcll last week said he intends to request changes in the county's handling of tax foreclosures. Although he did not specify the suggestions he intends to make later this year, Cliappell said he feels the county's current foreclosure process is "v.tc.Io" and should bs hsndlcd by the county's legal staff rather than by an outside attorney. The commissioner said he "will be V| ' if m HOAG & SONS BOOK BIND 1 SPRIN6P0RT MI 4928/ Hi NETH HEWETT Assessment Distr 3 runs wick Shores residents Guinn Hu tap-on in Special Marvin Stanley, Lj eady For D ' Customers almost as elated as the new water customers in SAD 2 last week. "I am beseiged daily?and so is the water department?by people saying, 'Please, when can I get on (the water system),'" Harvey said. "It is with relief and pride that we're in a position to take customers with some of this work." Since January 1937, Harvey has helped guide the eight-member utility board through the sometimes complicated special assessment district process. Some 100 SADs were identified by the county in a February 1986 study. Of that number, six are in various stages of completion?whether under actual construction, under contract or on the drawing board. The UOB will soon begin preliminary work on eight more districts. Recount End BY SUSAN USHER Correction during the official canvass last Thurs- _ day of an 80-vote rfT " reporting error flRy .& ? during the May 3 K primary ruled jKadtrtteBtl out a runoff between District 1 Rqk school board can- I didate Gary God- gfl I win of Ash and in- r cumbent Doug Godwin Baxley of Tarheeland Acres. That leaves just one second primary scheduled on May 31 by the Brunswick County Board of Elections. Last Thursday Brunswick County Board of Education Chairman James Forstner formally filed for a runoff for the District 3 seat with retired educator Jonathan Hankins of Southport. >11 To Seek ( making recommendations in November," at the expiration of a contract with the county's current torcciosure attorney, Thomas Heller of Yaupon Beach, who has handled county tax foreclosures since 1984. County tax officials estimated that the foreclosure attorney has collected about $500,000 in revenue for the county since 1984 and has received about $100,000 for his services. ChappelPs announcement came last Thursdsy night sftsr cominissioners met in Bolivia with Tax Administrator Boyd Williamson and Tax Collector Nancy Moore, in a cont mwi i orth Carolino k fV' iv irTir ' y \ T| *K?y> ^ilai B B3> g?|aaH^n|i mmrnsm let 2. Also pictured are SAD 2 tchlnson, Vernon Edney, Jim Ward, iwrence Scott and Virginia Scott. _l ' eiuge in SAD The process itself involves public hearings to determine if property owners want county water. If so, plans and specifications are developed, contracts are awarded and construction is done. Finally, county commissioners?with more public input?use the total cost of the project to determine property owners' assessments. Initial estimates were that property owners in SAD 2 could expect assessments of $4.50 to $6 per frontage foot. However, final construction costs are expected to exceed the original contract price of more than $192,000. Harvey said Friday he could not estimate the assessment rate due to anticipated changes in the contract price. Harvey and Hewett said that refin(See WATER, Page2-A) FORSTNER FILE s Possibility < The winner of that run-off will face Republican Bob Slockett in November. Unofficial returns of last Tuesday's primary, showed Godwin, a Democrat, wiin i,43i votes, io Barley's 2,781. A third candidate, C.C. Russ, had 1,410. That gave Baxley just under 50 percent of the vote?a plurality, but not a majority, and gave Godwin the right to call for a run-off on May 31. However, the canvass Thursday morning uncovered a mistake in Ash precinct, where Board of Elections Supervisor Lynda Britt said Godwin was first reported as having 87 votes when in fact he had seven votes. Britt said the error occurred in reading the print-out from the voting machine at Ash, with a slashed zero misread as an eight. Inexperience may have been the cause, she added, since four of five workers at the Ihanges In tinuation of the board's regular May 2 meeting. Frankie Rabon was the only commissioner absent from last Thursday's session. Back Taxes Billed Noting that he has received "numerous calls" about property tax discoveries, some of them dating back 10 years, Chappell asked Williamson and Ms. Moore to outline a recent change in their department's method of collecting ^olinnimnt UVUII\|UV.IIk MIAV.O. Williamson explained that approximately 12,000 delinquent tax notices were mailed to Brunswick County irvM i, Thursday, May 12, 1988 Varnum V Of Propos BY DOUG RUTTER Varnamtown residents this week unanimously approved a charter and elected officials who will lead the community if it is incorporated iaier this year. About 60 residents of the small fishing community gathered Tuesday evening at Gospel Center Baptist Church to take the next step toward incorporation of their area later this year. Those present elected a mayor and board of aldermen who will serve the town from the time of its incorporation until the general election in November 1989. Rev. Tracie Varnum was elected to the mayor's seat while Ennis Swain, Roger Robinson, Marion Davis, John Dawson and Ada McDonald were elected to the board of aldermen by secret baiioi. Swain, chairman of the incorporation committee, received the highest number of votes of the aldermen and will serve as mayor pro tern. Rev. Varnum was one of ttiree persons nominated for the mayor's seat, while a total of 11 persons were nominated for aldermen. The nomination and nlnntmn nf town officials followed approval of the proposed town charter, which was developed by the incorporation committee after it had examined the charters of other local municipalities. Key items included in the proposed charter are the name of the town, its boundaries, the structure of the governing board and the system of town elections. The charter and names of elected officials will be forwarded to State Rep. E. David Redwinc, who plans to take the request for incorporation to the General Assembly next month. Before the community can become a town, however, Redwine said he will require a referendum of voters in the area to be incorporated. Swain stressed Tuesday night that approval of the proposed charter and election of officers is not the iast step in incorporation. Referring to a community meeting held March 21, he said, "(Redwine) assured us that night that it would S FOR RUNOFF Of Boxley-Got precinct were new. The 80-vote reduction in Godwin's total changed the odds, giving Baxley a clear majority. In the November general election, Baxley will be running against Republican Diane Grissett for the District 1 seat. She is a 28-year-old housewife from Grissettown. Up until learning the results of the official recount this weekend, Godwin had been debating his options and was leaning toward not calling for a run-off, he said, in the interest of maintaining party unity. "I had been talking with the party chairman and other party supporters and probably what I would have done is not call for a run-off," he said. "They felt it would work in the best interest of the party not to call one." However, Godwin said he was ' upset' at having not been formally notified of the canvass results by the County's Fc property owners in March, after the department's computer was reprogrammed to bill for unpaid taxes since 1978. According to tax department statistics, the notices represented more than $2.6 million in delinquent taxes. Of that amount, unpaid taxes for years prior to 1987 accounted for more than $1.4 million. "These are taxes we never had been able to collect before," William... tITUU i. 1U. f|Mt ouii Luiuiiiviiicu. iiiu u me iiioi time we've had the capability to do itHe added that the department's KAO 25c Per Copy /ould Be Fii orl \//irMreclosure f former computer system listed only current taxes, and that property owners had to ask clerks to manually search tax files to find unpaid tax bills from previous years. This year Brunswick County collected almost $532,000 in taxes through April, which was a $222,000 increase from the same period last year. Williamson and Ms. Moore attributed the majority of that increase to the 10-year billing. m.a ?~w a?