Local SI
BY DOUG BUTTER
Local fishermen, suspicious of the ?
153 acres of shellfishing waters last wt
Folly River, plan to have the wa
themselves.
Carson Varnam, a shellfish dealer
said Tuesday that local shellfishermen
the Brunswick County Fishing Club a
are taking donations to pay a biologi
areas in the river.
"We are going to have some wor
sure that what we're being told is the
. "If there's anything that's not right, w
The shellfishing areas shut down
were part of an N.C. Division of Marir
clamation which also included 51 acre
Intracoastal Waterway near Davis Ci
and clam beds lost in Lockwood F<
about one-third of the shellfish areas
L mi
Twenty-sixth Year, Number 4S
JUDGE BRUCE BRIGGS visited Lol
November's trial in Brunswick County
Local Mosqui
Will Depend
BY RAHN ADAMS
Rick Hickman hates mosquitoes
with a passion?but then he has to,
S'nce he works as Brunswick
County's mosquito control supervisor.
"The only animal on the face of this
Earth that I'd like to see die is the
mosquito," Hickman said. "I love to
kill them."
According to Hickman, the county
on the whole was enjoying a relatively
mosquito-free season until July
when rainy weather turned especially
northern sections of the county into
breeding grounds for the pests.
"The biggest problems we have
right now are in Leland, Woodburn
and Northwest, but we're getting
them under control," the supervisor
said last Thursday.
He added that most areas north of
Bolivia have seen mosquito populations
increase over the past couple of
months, while southern sections
haven't experienced any major problems
yet.
"The reason for the mosquito proWilli
BY RAHN ADAMS
Standing on his reputation as a
"can do" businessman, Ocean Isle
Beach developer Odell Williamson
last week began negotiating a
merger between opposing factions of
the divided Brunswick County Airport
Commission.
I Minutes after being sworn in as the
airport board's newest commissioner
last Wednesday, Williamson was
elected chairman of the seven
member panel. Over the next two
hours, he laid the groundwork toward
resolving the dispute over the airport's
lease?a controversy has embroiled
the board since last
December when the contract initially
was approved.
"I hope to be able to keep a unified
board," Williamr.:? said after being
iellfisherm<
open in that river, w
state's closing of county's shellfish ha
:ek in Lockwood In addition to pr
ters tested for shellfishermen reloc
ing the "red tide" i
in Varnamtown, week include an are
and members of has been proposed,
t Sunset Harbor
1st to test three Channel Side
500-acre Lockwood
k done to make have applied for a
truth," he said. allow construction o
e will know." A decision on tl
last Wednesday pected by Sept. 1, t
le Fisheries pro- process not discove
s in the Atlantic decision,
reek. The oyster John Parker, ir
ally represented state Division of C<
i t _ _ *1?* : _r ii
wnicn naa oeen review ui uie
AG & yONy BOOK BINDERY
12/31
BOX 162
siINGPORT MI 49234
BHT Uf 1
?1988 THE BRUNSWICK BEACON
Ian**"
B. ^
BEACON FIIE PHOTO
t 1-A at Sunset Beach during last t
SuDerior Court.
I
to Problems
On Rainfall
blem up there is the massive
amounts of rain," he said. "I've been
here 13 years, and I haven't seen
anything like it."
In July, northern Brunswick County
residents saw approximately 17 inches
of rain fall in less than a threeweek
period, with six inches of rainfall
coming in one day, Hickman
said. "I've talked to people near
Leland who haven't seen it that wet
in 80 years," he added.
As far as the coming months are
concerned, Hickman said, "It all
depends on the weather. If heavy
rains don't come until November,
we'll be okay. But (if heavy rains
come) in September, it (the mosquito
problem) will be as bad as last
year."
He explained that the 33 species of
mosquitoes he has identified in
Brunswick County are divided into
two classes: those that lay eggs in
floodwater areas such as marshes
and those that lay eggs in standing
water. The salt-marsh mosquito is
(See MOSQUITO, Page 2-A)
amson Tak<
elected chairman on a split vote. "I
promised you earlier that I don't
have an ax to grind with any
member."
Commissioners John Walters,
Harold Hartwig and Lavern
Tagge?who have criticized the lease
with fixed-base operator Airport
Enterprises?supported
Williamson's selection as chairman,
whilp rnmmiwinnprs RinharH Pan.
rad and Burton Myers voted for the
board's current vice chairman, Commissioner
George Lanier. Conrad,
Myers and Lanier have opposed
changes in the lease.
In two unanimous votes, Tagge
was chosen as the board's treasurer,
and Hartwig was named secretary.
Election of new officers was
necessitated last month when former
A
3n To Test L
hich accounts for 40 percent of the de
rvest or
ime clam beds and an area where to
ated oysters earlier this year dur- M
nfestation, the waters closed last th
a where construction of a marina
cl
ar
Corporation, developers of the Fi
Folly golf and water community, fe
major CAMA permit which would je
f a 50-slip marina on the river,
le permit application had been ex- lo
>ut an oversight in the application e?
;red until recently will delay the pi
lajor permits coordinator with the ir
sastal Management, said Tuesday st
application is on hold until the d(
/99 M fi
Shallotte, North Carolina, Thi
Sunset
Right-C
BY RAHN ADAMS
Nine months after testimony was
eard, Judge Bruce Briggs ruled last
reek that an oceanfront lot at Sunset
leach is a public right-of-way for
each access and not private propery
owned by a local development
ompany.
' <
f - j
{
wens Gore
While Sunset Beach Taxpayers'
\ssociation President Albert Wells
called the ruling an affirmation of
>ublic rights, Sunset Beach
leveloper Ed Gore charged that
Jriggs' handling of the case was im- |
1 ?I
jruper anu pruiuiscu tu uunuuuc uic
egal fight.
The case involves the ownership
and use of "Lot 1-A," which is located
lear the intersection of Main Street
and Sunset Boulevard. The lawsuit
ivas filed in 1985 by the Sunset Beach
raxpayers' Association (SBTA)
against Gore's firm, Sunset Beach
and Twin Lakes, Inc.
Paine (
BY SUSAN USHER
A former Shallotte physician convicted
in June of 76 counts of
Medicare, Medicaid and mail fraud
was sentenced Monday to three years
in federal prison, followed by five
years of supervised probation.
During the sentencing hearing in
U.S. Federal Court in Raleigh, Judge
W. Earl Britt also ordered as a term
of probation that Dr. Karen N. Paine
pay restitution and special
assessments totaling $10,770.
Paine, in her early 40s, was
originally indicted on 89 counts of
fraud last Oct. 13 by a federal grand
es Lead In
chairman Johnny Vereen was not
reappointed to the commission and
former secretary Albert Parker Jr.
resigned. Walters stepped down from
the treasurer's post last Wednesday
without explanation.
Last month, the Town of Long
Beach appointed Tagge as Vereen's
replacement. Brunswick County
Commissioners named Williamson,
who also is manager of the Ocean Isle
Beach Airport, to replace Parker two
weeks ago. Other county appointees
include Conrad, Hartwig and Myers.
Walters represents Southport, and
Lanier represents Boiling Spring
Lakes.
The airport commission has until
Aug. 29 to take action on its lease
with Airport Enterprises or else face
being declared ineligible for future
ockwood F<
ivelopers submit a sewage treatment pi;
nitted in the original application. That p
be reviewed by the state Division of Ei
anagement before Coastal Managemen
e permit application, he said.
Shellfishermen have opposed the ma
aiming that it will cause the closure of
id clam beds in the river. The state Divis
isheries, however, is the only one of
deral agencies to offer comments oppc
ct.
"In my personal opinion, I think politi
t of it," said Annie Smigiel of Varn;
irlier campaigned for a public hearing c
roject. "I don't think it's as polluted as tl
Varnam also said politics may have
i the decision to close the waters. He said
xange that the waters were closed she
ecision was expected on the marina per
jrsday, August 25, 1988
Beach L
1 A # I
/r-vvoy, j
"There's no end in si
years as to what the
<
Testimony in the non-jury trial was
leard by Briggs last November in 1
Brunswick County Superior Court. '
Durham attorney James Maxwell
represented the SBTA and individual
plaintiffs Wells, Charles L. Smith,
Whaley P. Hunt and Frank M.
Nesmith. Roy Trest of Shallotte
represented Sunset Beach and Twin
Lakes, Inc.
"The rights of the public have been
affirmed, and Sunset Beach will in
the future be a better place," Wells
told the Beacon in a brief prepared
statement Monday. "I believe the
public interest has been served."
Trest, of course, disagreed with the
SBTA's viewpoint. "This is simply a
matter where a group of individuals
has tried to usurp private property
and to counteract an official action of
a municipal government," the attorney
said Monday, noting that
Sunset Beach Town Council "re
jected" the use of Lot 1-A as a public
street in 1970.
RESTITUTION
3efs Threejury
in Fayetteville. Eleven of those
counts were dismissed during the
trial in June in Wilmington.
The three-year active sentence
handed down by Britt Monday was
for the first count of Paine's 76-count
conviction only. The supervised probation
was the sentence for the remainding
75 counts, which were consolidated
for judgement.
Based on commentary during the
sentencing hearing Monday, Michael
Carpenter, special deputy attorney
general for the N.C. Medicaid Investigations
Unit, said Paine is exDected
to serve at least one vear of
Mediating t
federal funding.
The Federal Aviation Administration
completed a review of the lease
in May and indicated that the commission
was leasing too much land to
Airport Enterprises. Federal law requires
that sufficient space be left
available for more than one fixedbase
operator.
While Williamson said he wasn't
prepared to vote on changes in the
lease at last week's meeting, he
stated that the contract must be
revised. "I will say that there are
certain things in there that need to be
renegotiated," he said, adding that
the amount of land leased to Airport
Enterprises wasn't his only concern.
The new chairman said he wanted
a "quiet, happy relationship" with
(See AIRPORT, Page 10-A)
oily For Polli
an which was Depending on the re;
dan will have the donated monies may
nvironmental to fight the closures. He
t can rule on areas where the testing
conduct the tests, but
irina project, available in about a wee
more oyster
lion of Marine In the meantime, he
14 state and taken the closure very h
>sing the pro- namtown is the worst 1
dealer, even worse than
cs is behind a shellfish beds earlier thi
amtown, who Mrs. Smigiel at
>n the marina shellfishermen she has s
hey say it is." ly supportive of the testi
played a part "I don't believe thi
it seems very claim it is and we want t
>rtly before a said. "The people are r<
mit. they're really ready to g
25c Per Copy
ot Is Pub
ludge Ru
fa
ght for many us
> outcome will be." ?
p;
?Ed Gore is
Sunset Beach Developer H
ly
Si
Trest added that he intended to file .
Legal motions this week asking for a .'
new trial due to procedural questions
about Briggs' handling of the case. U|
Trest would not reveal the details of
his planned motions.
Gore said Monday that if the mo- *
tions are dismissed, Trest will appeal
Briggs' decision to the N.C. Court of J
Appeals. "There's no end in sight for
many years as to what the outcome B
will be," Gore said, adding that he ?
would continue appealing the case all
the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, if 0
necessary. e'
Gore said the market value of the
undeveloped lot is approximately p
$500,000. He noted that his plans to w
someday build a resort hotel on or ad- ^
jacent to the property have not
changed.
Sunset Beach Mayor Mason c
Barber, who also is a member and ?
former president of the taxpayers' 1
association, said Monday that if the w
case finally is resolved in the SBTA's
I ORDERED
Year Active
the three-year sentence before she fi
would become eligible for parole. IV
In addition to the usual terms, Britt IV
specifically ordered that while under F
probation Paine is: $
Neither to consume any controlled E
substance nor have such substances
in her possession; $
To submit to urinalysis testing at t
any time;
Consent to search of her person or s
premises without a warrant; I
To submit to substance abuse r
counseling;
Pay $7,470.82 in restitition under f
the supervision of her probation of
Airport Disp
/ vi i ;
\?&
W* 3 it Y
OCEAN ISLE BEACH DEVELOPER 0
Wednesday night as the newest memb
rnmnileclnn hir MoflJotroIft Mfirinti 14111:
vuuiuiuaiuu MJ iTiugiJiiuii/ I?JIH? ?vu *???
elected chairman of the seven-membei
\!
jtion
suits of the tests, Varnam said
also be used to hire an attorney
refused to disclose the specific
would be done or who would
said the results should be
k.
said local shellfishermen have
ard. He said the mood in Vartie
has seen in 30 years as a
when the "red tide" shut down
o /cai.
ided, however, that the
poken with on the river are filling.
is river's as polluted as they
o find out once and for all," she
jally angry, they're upset, and
;et behind this and clean it up."
36 Pages
lie
les
vor, uie lot wouia De considered tor
>e as a parking area.
According to the town's beach ac?ss
plan, an estimated 450 to 600
irking spaces will be needed on the
land by the year 2000, Barber said,
e estimated that Lot 1-A could suppat
least 150 of those spaces.
But Gore, who also serves as a
inset Beach town councilman, said
; would fight any effort to use the lot
ir parking, if Briggs' ruling is
pheld.
"If ultimately we (Sunset Beach
nd Twin Lakes) cannot prevail, it
Lot 1-A) will not be parking; it will
>e a street," Gore sakl. "If it's a
itreet, the street will be going
hrough property that Sunset Beach
ind Twin Lakes owns, as well as
ther legal entities." He contended
hat property owners with frontage
n the street would have to be allowd
access to it at any point.
The SBTA's suit claimed that the
ublic has the right to use the lot,
hich Gore's father platted in 1955
nd 1958 as an extension of Sunset
oulevard to the Atlantic Ocean. In
170, Gore reclaimed the lot after the
iwn council Dassed a resolution
hich purportedly allowed dedicaon
of the right-of-way to be
ithdrawn.
(See JUDGE, Page 2-A)
1 Term
cer as follows: $3,843.52 to the
ledicare program; $3,564.30 to the
ledicaid prograjn; $876 to the
'rudential Life Insurance Co.; and
187 to the N.C. Crippled Children's
'rogram.
She must also pay $50 per count, or
3,300, on the 66 counts dating later
han November 1984.
Each count had a maximum
entence of five years in prison.
Mnes could have totaled nearly $2
nillion.
In lengthy sentencing memoranda
iled last week, the defense requested
(See PAINE, Page 2-A)
ute
m
STAFF PHOTO BY RAHN ADAMS
dell Williamson (left) is sworn in last
er of the Brunswick County Airport
iard, minutes before Williamson was
- board.
1'