Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / April 19, 1990, edition 1 / Page 1
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Nothing Went Awry All was going well for Chasldy Delts Thursday night when the Lelaiid middle School eighth grade student spelled "awry" to clinch the Brunswick County Spelling Bee Championship. The story's on Page 6-A. Come On Down! Utility poles and above-ground lines should disappear from the Holden Beach skyline by the end of 1992. Details on the schedule and a town plan to make underground connections mandatory for all homeowners are on Page 8-B. Goes For The Gold Jill Snyder's off to a shining start In gymnastics competition. As overall champion In her division, the 13-year old Calabash resident brought home the gold from the South Carolina state meet. Meet Jill on Page 1 1-B. MR f " "ifA iFAfOM |j I NOsF'ORT MI 492S4 ^ I % L II W VI IP if i Twenty-eighth Year, Number 23 oiworneBnoNswtcK.eAcoN Shallotte, North Carolina, Thursday, April 19, 1990 25c Per Copy 36 Pages, 3 Sections, Plus Insert STAFF mOTO IV ?AHN ADAMS In Her Eoster Beach Bonnet Sporting a custom-made Easter bonnet, little Erin Evans of Charlotte plays with her toy bunnies and other Easter goodies Sunday morning on the strand at Ocean Isle Beach. Erin spent the holi day weekend with her grandparents, Ocean Isle Reach property owners Mr. and Mrs. Charles Foushee of l^noir. Sunset Property Owners Assn. To Poll Members On Suing State Over Bridge BY RAHN ADAMS The Sunset Beach Taxpayers As sociation took another step toward the courtroom Saturday, as mem bers supported a plan to take legal action against the state in hopes of blocking construction of a high-rise bridge to Sunset Bcach. With at least 100 members on hand for Saturday's 1 1/2-hour Eas ter weekend meeting, the group de cided overwhelmingly in favor of a motion to poll all of the associa tion's 519 members and then to file suit if two-thirds of them vote for legal steps and contribute enough upfront money to initiate the court battle. SBTA Director Warren "Bud" Knapp, chairman of the group's bridge committee, asked ? "with great reluctance" ? for the motion, which ended up being an amalga mation of several motions and amendments offered by various members during the hour-long dis cussion of the issue. Only about two individuals, including SBTA Direc tor Fran Pelletier, voted against the measure. "We've tried logic, reason, eco nomics ? all to no avail," Knapp said prior to the vote, referring to SBTA officials' fight to stop what he called "the high-rise bridge to "If you don't decide to take legal action, then you're giving up." ? Warren Knapp SBTA Director nowhere." He later added, "If you don'i decide to take the legal action, then you're giving up ... 1 plead with you to do what 1 firmly believe is our last shot." The taxpayers association began a renewed "Save Our Bridge" cam paign last fall to keep Sunset Beach's nearly 30-year-old pontoon swing bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway from being replaced by a high-rise fixed span similar to bridges now in use at both Ocean Isle Beach and Holden Beach. The one- lane pontoon bridge is said to be the last of its kind on the East Coast. According to the N.C. Depart ment of Transportation, construc tion bids on the new bridge are scheduled to be awarded Sept 18. Construction is expected to take ap proximately two years. The 57.88 million project is funded by both federal and state monies. Saturday's SBTA action was sim ilar to a measure that was informal ly approved by association mem bers last September. At that Labor Day weekend meeting, the group supported a proposal which would allow the association's board of di rectors "to investigate other alterna tives, to require a thoughtful and constructive consideration of the need for a high-rise bridge s* Sunset Beach, with such action including the possibility of investigating and engaging legal counsel to take such legal actions as may be ultimately approved by the membership of this association..." SBTA Director and former Presi dent A1 Wells explained to the gath ering Saturday that the board of di rectors has been unable to agree on whether or not the association should take legal measures. Knapp added, "We're asking you for direc tion." While she did not speak against filing a lawsuit, Mrs. Pelletier said See PROPERTY, Page 2-A) Corps Designing Dredge Test Of Eastern Channel BY DOUG RUTTKR After debating with federal offi cials for the past year, supporters of a plan to dredge Eastern Channel near the mouth of Lockwood Folly River seem to be making progress. The Army Corps of Engineers ? which recently concluded that dredging the sand-clogged channel wouldn't significantly improve wa ter quality in the river ? agreed last week to design a test dredging pro ject that could lead to the reopening of the channel if federal, state and local officials arc willing to pay for it. A test dredging project design and cost estimates should be com pleted in two weeks, said Ed Shu ford, deputy district engineer for project management with the Corps of Engineers' Wilmington office. The Corps is designing a plan to cut through a sandbar that is thought to limit the flow of water through Eastern Channel, which is located between the west end of Long Beach and Sheep Island in the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. Brunswick County fishermen and many elected officials agree dredg ing the channcl, which once served as the inlet between Lockwood Folly River and the Atlantic Ocean, would allow for a better flow of pollution from the river. Lockwood Folly has traditionally boasted some of the best shellfish resources in the stale, but has been closed to harvesting frequently over the past two years due to bacterial pollution believed to be coming from septic tanks and storm water runoff. Lt. Col. Thomas C. Sucrmann, head of the Corps' Wilmington Dis trict, said three months ago he did n't support the dredging of Eastern Channcl. But at a meeting of feder al, state and local officials last Thursday, he agreed to the test dredging program. U.S. Rep. Charles Rose III set up the meeting at the Corps' Wilming "That's one of the stipulations in moving ahead with this program is that it be a joint effort. I think that's what sold the Corps on it." ? Keith Pitts Legislative aide for U.S. Rep. Charles Rose Ion officc lo find oul if siatc and lo cal officials would be willing to help fund a dredging project, said Rose's legislative aide, Keith Pitts. "We've heard a lot of talk from dif ferent people, and we wanted to sec what kind of financial support they would give," said Pitts. Shuford said the Corps is design ing a dredging plan that would in crease flow through the channel and coming up with cost estimates for the project. The plan will be sent to Rose early next month, and it will be left in his hands to get Congres sional authorization and funding. In January, Sucrmann wrote a let ter to the acting director of the state Division of Environmental Manage ment staling that he didn't think dredging Eastern Channel would help the Lockwood Folly River. The state had requested a joint feasibili ty study of the dredging proposal last October. Shuford said Tuesday that the Corps of Engineers still believes dredging the channel will have no significant impact on the amount of pollution in the river and has not changed its position. But Pitts said the fact that the cost of any dredging would be shared by federal, state and local governments may be one reason the Corps of Engineers' apparent change of heart "That's one of the stipulations in moving ahead with this program is that it be a joint effort." said Pitts. "I think that's what sold the Corps on iL" If Congress acccpts the plan, Pius said the federal government proba bly would not allocate more than S580.000 for dredging, which is what it set aside this fiscal year for maintenance of the existing inlet. He said he had no idea how much more money state and local govern ments would have to kick in, but pointed out that the Eastern Channel is longer than the existing inlet and could require more dredging to open it up. Pitts said he's not sure whether dredging of the present inlet would be abandoned if the Eastern Chan nel project is approved. "It would be premature to say anything about that." Pitts said there's a "probability" federal funds for dredging Eastern Channel would be included in the budget for fiscal year 1991, which starts in October, but added that funding could also be delayed an other year. "If we get cooperation from the other sources as we antici pate, it'll be looked upon favor ably," he said. State Rep. David Rcdwinc, who attended last week's meeting in Wilmington, said he will be work ing to include the state's share of the cost of dredging in next fiscal year s budget. The state frequently works with federal and iocai governments to fund "civil works projects" such as the maintenance dredging of ports at Wilmington and Morchcad City, ^ ^(See CORPS, Page 2- A) Town Board Nixes ABC Merger BY RAHN ADAMS Mixed drinks will not be served before their time in businesses un der the Brunswick County Alcohol ic Beverage Control Board's juris diction ? or at least until the county can find a municipal ABC board that will negotiate merger terms ap proved this week by commissioners. Interim County Manager David Clegg, who also serves as county at torney and clerk to the county ABC board, told county commissioners Monday night that the Boiling Spring Lakes Board of Commis sioncrs rcjcctcd a proposed merger resolution earlier in the clay. According lo Boiling Spring Lakes Town Clerk Barbara Cum bce, the town board voted unani mously to turn down the proposed resolution, which was drafted last week by Clegg and Town Attorney Elva Jess. Mayor H.C. Boswcll and Town Commissioners Dennis Fin ley, Mark Stewart and Glen Long were present for the special meeting Monday. Commissioner Tom Sim mons was absent. For the past several weeks, the county ABC board has sought a merger with an established ABC system, in order to allow businesses within the county's jurisdiction to apply for mixed drink permits for the upcoming tourist season. Also, county restaurants' brown-bagging permits expire April 30 and cannot be renewed under state law. Due to passage of last Novem ber's county ABC referendum and previous votes in individual towns, mixed drink permits already can be obtained by eligible businesses in (See ABC, Page 2-\) Sunset Officials Ask Commissioners To Fund Water System Improvements BY RAHN ADAMS The Town of Sunset Beach made its plea for improved county water service official this week as two town representatives asked county commissioners to fund water sys tem improvements southwest of Shallottc. Sunset Beach Mayor Mason Bar ber and Town Administrator Linda Fluegel made the request near the outset of Monday night's 90-minute regular commissioners meeting in Bolivia. All five commissioners were present. Sunset Beach is the first munici pality in southwestern Brunswick County to officially support an esti mated S5 million capital improve ments project that the county Utility Operations Board recommended to the county commissioners in early 1989 and again last fall. A 57,500 engineering study that was presented to the UOB in September 1988 pointed out that the water system currently cannot sup ply enough water to meet peak sum mer demands southwest of Shallo te ? a section of the county that con tains the resort areas of Ocean Isle Bcach, Sunset Beach and Calabash. The proposed project involves construction of a 2 ,200- gal Ion -per minute booster pump station near the intersection of N.C. 179 and N.C. 904; a one-million-gallon ele vated storage tank near the intersec tion of N.C. 904 and Old George town Road; and a 12-inch trunk line on Old Georgetown Road from N.C. 904 to N.C. 179 near Cala bash. Monday, Barber reiterated con cerns that he and Mrs. Fluegel pre sented to the UOB last November. Under state health regulations, the town must keep a one-day supply of water on hand at all times? a diffi cult situation that becomes even more challenging during peak usage periods such as the Fourth of July weekend. The town owns a 200,000-gallon elevated storage tank which is part of the county sys tem. Barber also referred the county board to a Sunset Bcach Town Council resolution which states that the town "strongly requests and urges the Brunswick County Com missioners to acknowledge the needs of the town and consider ini uai funding to start the process to achieve the goals of the recom mended study as expeditiously as possible." The resolution was adopted unanimously by the town council March 5. In response. Commissioners Chairman Gene Pinkerton told Barber and Fluegel that the county board continues to discuss water system improvements during on-go ing workshops dealing with a pro posed capita) improvements funding package. At a work session last Wednesday (see related story), Commissioner Kelly Holden indi cated that he feels water system im provements rank immediately be hind several state-mandated pro jects. Bellamy Appointed In the only split decision by the county board Monday, commission ers voted 4-1 to appoint former Brunswick County Clerk of Court Greg Bellamy to the county Resour ces Development Commission. Bel lamy replaces District 2 representa tive J.W. Robinson, whose three year term was to end in March 1991. (See SUNSET, Page 2-A) mmmm STAFF PHOTO BY *AHN ADAMS SUNSET BEACH MAYOR Mason Barber (standing) asks county commissioners to fund water system improvements that would supply additional water to southwestern Brunswick County. Also pictured (from left) are Commissioners Gene Pinkerton, Benny Ludlum and Kelly Holden.
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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April 19, 1990, edition 1
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