Lockwood Fol
The most productive shellfish b
ed to harvesting this week, but stal
opening will last.
The area, which opened Tue
downstream of a line from Genoes F
ding on the east bank. That usually
management areas at Galloway
Slough, which are off limits to clan
George Gilbert, assistant direct
branch, said the river was opened f
Twenty-seventh Year, Numb
U.S.
BY SUSAN USHER
Four-laning of the remainder of
U.S. 17 through Brunswick County is
scheduled to begin during the federal
fiscal year (FY89) which ends next
Sept. 30, according to the N.C.
Department of Transportation.
The U.S. 17 work leads the list of
Brunswick County projects included
in the state's $3.1 billion Transportation
Improvement Program (TIP).
U.S. 17 is considered a "strategic
corridor" for the coastal area, a high
**r * **
& \
i^U
^E^B^UUa^^HB )^i .fflB
J
2
To Wear Ci
Crowned Saturday night, Tamala Gri
White of Shallotte will represent the a
County respectively during the com:
runners-up are on Page 3-B inside.
Chappell
BY RAHN ADAIV
Although Brunswick County c
ment in detail on a secret meetir
county's lame duck board of coir
Commissioner Chris Chappell ha:
building inspections job?a positio
Brunswick County Clerk of Court i
discussed behind closed doors.
The building inspections job, 1
only personnel matter discussed,
Beacon last Thursday. Commiss
about an "investigation" that invol
employee, he said.
The 20-minute executive sessio
red at the commission's Dec. 5 m
Chappell and Jim Poole were repla*
Commissioners Kelly Holden an
Chappell requested the secret con
personnel matter which he descri
that's got to be taken care of."
Back in open session, Chairn
who later was replaced as chairma
i*
ly River Oyster E
eds in Lockwood Folly River reopente
officials aren't sure how long the
sday at sunrise, includes waters
'oint on the west bank to Gore's Lanproductive
region includes shellfish
Flats, Spring Branch and Drum
imers.
tor of the state's shellfish sanitation
ollowing analysis of a water sample
HO AG & SONS BOOK BINS
PO _ BOX
or'K x f\?b?*'UK I fll
ik i/ii%
er 6 $H9M THE BRUNSWICK BEACON
17
traffic volume route with great
economic potential of primary importance
to the region and of value to
the entire state.
A new ferry for the Southport-Fort
Fisher crossing and a number of
bridge projects round out the list approved
by the state Board of
Transportation last Friday in
Raleigh.
The TIP is used to set road-building
priorities statewide for the next eight
years, beginning with federal fiscal
H^v |r ' ^hZ.M
STAFF PHOTO BY SUSAN USHER
-owns In '89
ssett of Grissettown and Melisia Gayle
irea as Miss and Little Miss Brunswick
ing year. The story and photos of the
Explains Sea
IS said no action \
ifficials won't com- ference. She lati
ig last week by the the personnel mi
imissioners, former Mr. Chappell, ai
s confirmed that a
n sought by former Chappell las
Sreg Bellamy?was deny reports tha
mote Bellamy'!
lowever, wasn't the simply stated, '
Chappell told the spoken about..
doners also talked Inajointint
ves a current county John T. Smith t
gram said 11 ind
in in question occur- year jbb, but t
eeting, right before plicants. "If Be
:ed by newly-elected plicants, I will n
H fipriP PinWprtnn a hncir nalinu iY
ference to discuss a Ingram said
ibed as "something terviewed. He
possibly would t
lan Grace Beasley, Ingram's recorr
nbyFrankieRabon, county manage
Jeds Re-Open Foi
taken Dec. 5 and water and shellfish me
He added, however, that the river cc
"The first time we get some bad sampl<
have to close it back up."
The last time the Lower Lockwood F
November, it was shut down after only ti
no rainfall and run-off at that time to cai
Before that, the lower section of th<
August because of high counts of fecal c<
JERY
i www m
Shallotte, North Carolina, Thi
SUPPLY TO V\
-Laning V
year 1989 which began Oct 1, 1988. 1
Topping the Brunswick County <
priority list is the four-laning of U.S. i
17 from N.C. 211 at Supply to N.C. 87 i
at Bell Swamp, which has been mov- ]
ed ahead of its schedule in last year's
plan. Design is underway. Construe- I
tion is expected to begin before Oc- i
tober 1989. i
The 13.7-mile stretch has been f
plagued with accidents along its 1
southern end. To accommodate the 5
f 1 i ' " -
iuui-iaiuiig, compieoon 01 a related l
Shallotte Re
BY DOUG BUTTER
Shallotte residents will get a second
chance to vote on the issue of
unfortified wine sales for offpremises
consumption in a special
election Feb. 7.
On a request from town aldermen,
the Brunswick County Board of Elections
confirmed the referendum date
last Friday, said elections supervisor
Uynda Britt.
Shallotte voters addressed the
same issue during the November
general election. However, the
referendum was later invalidated
because it violated state law prohibiting
alcoholic beverage elections
on the Tuesday after the first Mon
day in November of even-numbered
years.
That provision was adopted in
1985; it wasn't noticed by town or
County Man
BY RAHN ADAMS
Acting on advice that three projects
might be considered "illegal" if
carried through as planned,
Brunswick County Manager John T.
Smith nixed two lame duck county
commissioners' efforts to obtain
$81,500 in paving work for three
district parks last month.
The projects, which involved the
Shallotte, Waccamaw and Smithville
Township District Parks, were to be
funded by monies that are set aside
in the Brunswick County Parks and
Recreation budget for discretionary
use by commissioners, Smith said.
Smith tnlrt thp Rpjipnn that thon
Commissioners Chris Chappell and
Jim Poole "signed off" on three
separate purchase orders for asphalt
work at the three parks. The work
was to be done by a single Shallotte
construction company.
According to County Finance
Director Lithia Hahn, the orders
ret Session; Sc
vas taken during the closed-door conar
declined tn rnmmpnt cnppifinnllv nn
? ? "J w??
atter, only to say, "It was important to
id I respected that."
Hiring Discussed
it Thursday would neither confirm nor
it he used the executive session to pro5
hiring. The former commissioner
'The building inspection position was
. It was addressed."
erview last Thursday, County Manager
md Chief Building Inspector Billy Inlividuals
had applied for the $18,790 per
hey would not discuss individual apllamy
was or was not one of the apiot
answer," Smith said. "We just have
mi we aon t divulge wno nas applied.
I six of the 11 applicants were being inadded
that a decision on the hiring
>e made as early as Tuesday (Dec. 12).
imendation would be forwarded to the
r for final consideration, Smith said.
Harvesting
at samples taken Dec. 7.
iuld shut down again any time.
is or heavy precipitation we'll
!
oily River was opened, in mid- ,
m days of harvest. There was p
use the closure. rj
s river had been closed since |
aliform bacteria. I
, _ . - _
jrsaay, uecember lb, 1V08
/INNABOW
Vill Beg//
bypass around Bolivia will be
delayed one year. The four-laning
and bypass are expected to cost $19.8
million; and all work should be comaleted
by the end of FY93.
Construction of the Shallotte
aypass is under way, with right-ofway
acquistion continuing along the
-oute of the four-laning of U.S. 17
xom Supply to the state line. This
!1.5-mile project is expected to cost
>43.25 million when completed in eary
FY95.
?
?terendum1
county officials until after the local
election had been conducted.
During last month's referendum,
town voters indicated their overwhelming
support of the sale of unfortified
wines. The final tally of 293
to 145 represented more than a twoto-one
margin of voters in favor of
the measure.
The town board decided at its
regular meeting last Wedneday to request
a new referendum, with the
knowledge the town would not be billed
for last month's election.
Ms. Britt said that since the
referendum was held in conjunction
with the general election, the town
would not be charged. However, the
special election will cost the town
between $350 and $400.
Although board members voted
unanimously last week to request the
ager Heads <
amounted to $20,000 for the Shallotte
Park, $28,500 for Waccamaw Park
and $33,000 for Smithville Park. All
three purchase orders were forwarded
to the finance department on Nov.
28, she added.
If a project is expected to exceed
$50,000, state law requires a local
government to seek bids for the
work. Even though the purchase
orders were for three separate park
projects, Smith said he stopped the
expenditures because they were processed
on the same day and involved
the same vendor.
The county manager said he
became aware of the purchase
orders while he and the new board of
commissioners were attending a conference
Nov. 28 through 30 at the Institute
of Government in Chapel Hill.
Noting that he checked with Institute
officials about the matter,
Smith commented Monday, "Was it
legal or illegal??I really don't know.
ays Inspectior
"As a commissionei
can make a
recommendation, fc
might not get your
?Chris
Former Corr
Smith also serves as the county's cl
ficer.
According to the county's notice t
cy, the inspections position require
diploma, experience in residential or
cipimfSmi tuArlf on^l ?/? ? !{!/??** / ?
Dt>i UV.UUH nut n, auu tci lUiLUHUIl li U1U
ficials Qualification Board which Ing
earned on the job.
The 39-year-old Bellamy, who res
court in August 1987 after he pleaded |
^ BoardofI*
25c Per Copy 36
i Next >
Construction of the new "Cherry
class" ferry to serve the SouthportFort
Fisher ferry route is planned in
FY89, at a cost of $3 million.
Related work will include improving
the basins and bulkheads at the
Fort Fisher and Southport ferry
docks.
While design work continues, as
announced several months ago, construction
of the highrise bridge to
Sunset Beach has been delayed due
to the permit application process.
Gets Anotf
special election, Alderman Wilton
Harrelson suggested the town also
look into requesting state legislation
to validate last month's referendum,
thereby saving the town money on
another election.
Board member Jody Simmons
agreed, stating, "The people did
speak, even though it wasn't legal."
Town Attorney Mark Lewis,
however, said he was unsure whether
the General Assembly would pass
such legislation. He said he believec
a special act of the General
Assembly was not in order since the
referendum had already been invalidated.
Lewis added that the pertinent
restriction on alcoholic beverage
elections is included in annotations to
state law books and is easy to
overlook. He said state legislators
Dff 'Illegal' P<
The best information I can get is that
it was illegal or at least it didn't
carry out the spirit of the law."
When asked what action was taken,
Smith replied, "I didn't honor them
(the purchase orders)." He also indicated
that whether or not the projects
are eventually done will be
determined by the current board of
commissioners.
Chappell told the Beacon last
Thursday that he asked about the
status of the park funds during an executive
session at a Dec. 5 commission
meeting, even though he had
called the secret conference to
discuss "personnel" (see related
story).
However, the former commisoinnor
UJo i J?..
J'vin-1 Iiiuiliuutll^u lliai 1UO 111 l_J II li j
wasn't addressed by the board. "It
wasn't discussed," he said. "I asked
a question, and it wasn't answered,
and that was the end of it... I said
that was the last question I was going
is Job Was A
cocaine possession
r v/ni i sentence, told the !
/ yUU the inspections po:
He currently is "01
Shallotte supermai
>ut you "I honestly n
n newsworthy item,'
Way. for the job and coi
> Chappell had past experieni
in any awkward
lmissioner , . ... ?
evolved as it has.
He said his qu;
lief personnel of- carpentry work a
minal during his
>f position vacan- struction crew ai
>q a hitfh cr?hiv\l cnnprviQintJ rPciHf
commercial con- projects for a loca
the N.C. Code Of- Although Belli
;ram said can be proach Chappell f
said he discussed \
iigned as clerk of sioner. He added t
guilty to felonious (See
v i* ?
ed Realtor Of Year
idison was named Realtor of the
lay night by the Brunswick Islands
ealtors. The story is on Page 6-B.
INCLUDED IN THIS ISSUE:
ler Size At Issue. ..11 -C
quor Sales Drop. . 12-A
!hanges Its Mind. . .2-A
ver Budget 11-A
Pages, 3 Sections, Plus Insert
'ear
Construction is to begin in FY91, at
an estimated total cost of $7.88
million. So far the bridge has cost
$985,000.
Approaches to the highrise bridge
to Ocean Isle Beach are to be landscaped
during FY90, at a cost of
$12,000.
Planning of a second bridge to Oak
Island is to begin in FY91, with construction
to begin in late FY95. Rightof-way
approaches are to be provided
(See BY-PASS Page 2-A)
ler Chance
probably passed the provision to
keep alcohol sales from becoming an
issue during general elections.
Meanwhile, Jim Wallace, chief of
the elections branch for the state attorney
general's office, said there
should be no problem with holding
another election in February so long
as proper notification is given.
He said a provision of state election
law requiring a period of yt least
i three years between a'.coholic
I beverage referendums does not appI
Iy in this case because last month's
vote was invalid.
In addition toShallotte, the Town of
Holden Beach will also hold a special
election Feb. 7. That referendum will
allow voters to decide the fate of a
proposed switch to the councilmanager
form of government.
1 rL P tr/~\ I or+r
.41 rv i i U|C^io
to ask as a commissioner."
Chappell said he had hoped to get
credit for his efforts "to better the
park situation," since he had been
saving monies each year in his
discretionary accounts for capital
projects.
Poole could not be reached for
comment before presstime.
Smith said Monday that Parks and
Recreation has done "phase work"
before, which was what the paving
work would be considered. Park projects
have been broken down into
phases, with the idea being to save
money by doing some of the work inhouse,
he said.
i^ven it me purchase orders in
question actually were improper, the
county manager said he didn't feel
Parks and Recreation Director Bobby
Jones was at fault. "I don't know
that he did anything wrong," Smith
(See MANAGER Page 2-A)
addressed
and received a two-year suspended
Beacon Saturday that he applied for
jition but had not been interviewed.
1 leave" from a bookkeeping job at a
rket.
ever thought that this would be a
' Bellamy said. "I felt I was qualified
lid do a good job. It was an area I'd
:e in. I never intended to put anyone
position, and I'm surprised it has
auuLaviuua uiuiuuc cajaji iciiwc uumg
t Sunny Point Military Ocean Tefcollege
years, work on a local confter
college, and later experience
rntial and commercial construction
1 bank.
amy maintained that he did not apor
help in getting the job, Bellamy
the position with the former commishat
he also talked informally with InCHAPPELL
Page 2-A)
i
^