DEAN WALTERS, president of the South Brunswick Islands Chamber of Commerce, signs the
agreement between the N.C. Department of Transportation and governing operation of the visitors
center. Looking on (from left) are State Transportation Secretary Tommy Harrelson, Southport-Oak
Island Chamber of Commerce President Margaret Rudd; and Wilmington Chamber of Commerce
executive Joe Augustine.
Welcome Center To Open With Bypass
(Continued From Page 1-A)
ready served 200,000 visitors, Walters said, adding that
he expccts the local centcr to be just as popular.
"U was a logical choice that wc put a wclcomc cen
ter in here," he said, citing Brunswick's status as the
second-fastcst-growing county in North Carolina, be
hind Dare. "People are not always aware of what this
area has to offer. Wc have the best beaches, the friendli
est people and the largest number of golf courses per
square mile."
Walters said additional coastal counties will be in
vited to help support and operate the wclcomc center,
as well as use it to promote features and attractions in
their communities.
Speaking on behalf of the Brunswick County Com
missioners, Chairman Gene Pinkerton described the
center as "very exciting" and a boon to the tourism in
dustry.
"Hopefully it will be one of the best things that has
happened in Brunswick County in a long lime," he
said.
The welcome center and bypass arc part of a larger
projcct, the four-laning of U.S. 17 from the Virginia to
the South Carolina line. Work in Brunswick County is
scheduled for completion during the 1993 federal fiscal
year.
The welcome ccntcr was initially approved approxi
mately four years ago when Rep. E. David Rcdwinc
worked out a cooperative agreement with the N.C. De
partment of Transportation.
The agreement was momentarily jeopardized last
year when Redwinc co-sponsored a bill in the General
Assembly that would have taken money from the per
sonal license tag fund to help operate the three regional
centers. The tag money is set aside for the state's road
side beautification program, which former Transporta
tion Secretary James Harrington described as "very
popular" with visitors.
Bellamy's Appointment Triggers Rift
(Continued From Page 1-A)
Holden was the only commis
sioner to oppose Bellamy's appoint
ment April 16. The former clerk of
court was nominated by Commis
sioner Benny Ludlum, who said af
ter the commissioners meeting that
he felt Bellamy deserved a chance
to serve on the RDC because he had
"paid his debt," in reference to the
1987 drug case. Bellamy spent 16
months on probation after his guilty
plea.
In Radcliffe's letter of resigna
tion, which was received last Wed
nesday, he stated, "The recent deci
sion to appoint to the Resources
Development Commission an indi
vidual who has been criminally
convicted for the possession of il
licit drugs will, I believe, fail to
represent the very best that
Siunswick County has to offer to
employers, and the appointment
will certainly fail to enhance our
standing as an area that presents a
wholesome environment for the
families of prospective employers."
RadclifTe told the Beacon last
Thursday that he did not consult
with any other RDC or county offi
cials before he decided to resign. "I
do not know that man (Bellamy),"
RadclifTe said. "I have nothing in a
personal sense that in any way,
shape or form would be a critical
statement about him . . . (Bellamy's
appointment) made a statement to
me vis-a-vis the value of that board
(RDC) to the county."
Williams said last Thursday that
RDC members V.A. Creech, Dennis
Crocker and Jerry D. Willetts also
had called the office and expressed
concern about the appointment;
however, no other resignations were
tendered. Williams, who also serves
on the board, added Friday, "We're
all son of sitting tight to see what
happens."
The RDC was scheduled to meet
in executive session Tuesday night
(April 24) to pick finalists for ilie
commission's executive director
post, which has been vacant since
the resignation of Michael de Sher
binin two months ago. Williams
said Bellamy's appointment could
not be a topic of discussion since
the special meeting was called to
discuss the director's job.
RDC Chairman Baxter Stirling
commented Sunday that he had not
talked to Bellamy about the contro
versy. "I think we have a really
good board, and I'm disappointed
in the dissension it has caused,"
Stirling said. However, he added, "I
don't think you can keep a man
down all his life for a past mistake."
Commissioners Chairman Gene
Pinkerton, who had nominated Rad
cliffe for an RDC seat in March
1989, said Friday he fell Radcliffe
"possibly reacted too quickly" to
Bellamy's appointment "I was a lit
tle disappointed, and I told him so,"
Pinkerton continued.
Pinkerton said he does not plan
to raise the appointment issue be
fore the county commission, even
thougn "10 out of 12" calls he had
received about the matter were neg
ative and even though he would op
pose Bellamy's appointment if an
other vole were called.
'This is Benny's little red wag
on," said Pinkerton, noting that
Ludlum has been outspoken in fa
vor of commissioners being able to
make their own district appoint
ments.
Meanwhile, Ludlum said Sunday
he does not intend to remove Bell
amy from the RDC, because tele
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phone calls he has received support
Bellamy's appointment "eight to
one."
'They (callers) have told me they
appreciate me giving him (Bellamy)
a chance," Ludlum said, later add
ing, "My decision was made the
night 1 made the appointment. It's
over, as far as I'm concerned."
Beacon Notes
Staff Changes
Two staff changes take effcct at
The Brunswick Beacon this week.
Bob Home of Lumbcrton joins
the staff as
managing edi
tor, publisher
Edward Sweatt
announced
Monday, while
staff writer
Rahn Adams is
resigning to re
rtim to college
full time.
HORNE Home, 48,
has 25 years of experience in the
newspaper business. For the past
seven years he has served as editor
of The Robesonian, a daily newspa
per in Lumbcrton. His previous ex
perience includes 5 1/2 years as
managing editor of The Enquirer
Journal in Monroe, a year as news
editor of The Courier-Tribune in
Asheboro and 11 years in sports.
Home was a sports writer for The
Fayetteville Observer and The
Raleigh Times and was sports editor
for The Daily News in Jacksonville.
Adams, a resident of Ocean Isle
Beach, has covered all phases of
county government since joining
The Beacon staff in August 1987.
He will be enrolling this summer at
the University of North Carolina at
Wilmington, with plans to earn a
bachelor's degree in English educa
tion.
Nearly 27,00
Are Registered
(Continued From Page 1-A)
licans. One voter claims no party af
filiation.
The county s southernmost pre
cinct, Shingletree, in the Calabash
area, is its largest, with 2,461 regis
tered voters. It also is the only
precinct in which registered Re
publicans outnumber registered
Democrats, 1,182 to 1,129.
While registration for the pri
maries has closed, absentee ballots
will be issued through 5 p.m. May 1
to voters who know they will be out
of town or otherwise unable to go
to the polls on May 8. The
Brunswick County Board of
Elections office is located at the
government center in Bolivia.
Profiles of all candidates with
primary races will be featured in
next week's edition of The Bruns
wick Beacon, along with a list of
polling places.
County Grand Jury Indicts
Crummy, McGhee In Shooting
A Wilmington man now serving
lime in Central Prison in Raleigh on
multiple cocaine trafficking convic
tions was indicted by a Brunswick
County Grand Jury Monday on four
counts stemming from an April 8
shooting incident outside a Bruns
wick County nightspot.
The grand jury returned true bills
of indictment Monday charging
David Crummy, 28, with one count
each of assault with a deadly wea
pon inflicting serious injury and dis
charging a weapon into an occupied
dwelling, and two counts of assault
with a deadly weapon with intent to
kill, inflicting serious injury.
Crummy's half-brother, John Mc
Ghcc, 28, also of Wilmington, was
indicted on two counts in relation to
the same shooting incident. He will
be tried on charges of assault with a
deadly weapon, inflicting serious
injury, and assault with a deadly
weapon with intent to kill, inflicting
serious injury.
The charges against Crummy and
McGhcc stem from a Tight and
shooting incident outside Club Val
entino in Phoenix in which four in
dividuals ? including a witness in
the Crummy drug trial ? were injur
ed.
In all, the grand jury returned true
bills indicting 14 defendants on 39
counts.
Trial of the chargcs against
Crummy and McGhcc will be
scheduled in Brunswick County
Superior Court
Crummy was arrested April 8 by
New Hanover County and SBI offi
ccrs at a relative's residence in Wil
mington. McGhcc was arrested lat
er.
At the time of Crummy's arrest, a
month-long trial was drawing to a
closc in New Hanover County Su
perior Court in which he faced con
viction on 53 counts of cocainc traf
ficking. Crummy is presently serv
ing sentences totaling more than
200 consecutive years. McGhcc is
being held in the Brunswick County
Jail.
The grand jury also returned true
bills of indictment against these de
fendants, as follows:
?Romcl Ancmont, trafficking in
cocainc by transportation; maintain
ing a dwelling or motor vehicle for
the keeping or sale of a controlled
substance; trafficking in cocainc by
conspiracy, involving more than
400 grams; and trafficking by pos
session of more than 400 grams of
cocainc;
?Rodney Cornelius Banncrman,
larceny and possession of stolen
goods;
?Tracy Gail Coring, possession of
a Schedule 1 controlled substance;
?Christopher S. Freeman, robbery
with a dangerous weapon; first de
gree burglary and larceny of a mo
tor vehicle;
?Sergeant Hypolite, conspiracy,
conspiracy to traffic in more than
400 grams of cocaine; and two
counts trafficking in more than 400
grams of cocaine;
?Ricky Allen King, breaking and/
or entering and larceny;
?Roscoc Roberts III, three counts
taking indecent liberties with a
child, three counts of first-degree
rape of a child and three counts of
incest;
?Robert Dcon Smith, possession
with intent to manufacture, sell and
deliver marijuana; maintaining a
dwelling or motor vehicle for the
keeping or sale of cocaine;
?Jean Lcsly Sylvain, trafficking
in cocaine by transportation, traf
ficking in cocaine by possession of
more than 400 grams, conspiracy to
traffic in more than 400 grams of
cocaine;
?Larry Edward Watson, discharg
ing a weapon into an occupied
dwelling;
?Nicholas Lewie Webb, larceny
of a motor vehicle, first-degree bur
glary and robbery with a dangerous
weapon; and
?Franklin Eugene Young Jr.,
forgery.
Holden Beach May Get Liquor Store
(Continued From Page 1-A)
meeting set for Tuesday, May 1, at
4 p.m. at the county commissioners
chambers in Bolivia.
. The board also set regular meet
ing dates for the second and fourth
Tuesdays of each month. Meetings
will begin at 4 p.m. in the commis
sioners chambers.
Final location of a county ABC
store will be the decision of the
1N.C. ABC Commission in Raleigh.
The county board members noted
that after a location is selected lo
cally, a sign must be posted for 30
days to identify the property as a
prospective ABC store site. The
public has that period to com men t
to the siate ABC commission about
the location.
a if 2r.l*,c month> 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 upcom
ing tourist season. Another reason
tor the push to merge was that
county restaurants' brown-bagging
permits expire April 30 and cannot
be renewed under state law.
The first ABC system officially
approached by ihc county was
Boiling Spring Lakes ABC, which
is tnc smallest system in the county
and is located closest to Bolivia
However, Boiling Spring Lakes
town commissioners rejected a pro
posed merger agreement April 16.
Town officials said they dis
agreed mainly with the county hav
ing a 3-2 advantage in voting mem
bers on the merged ABC board and
with the town having to bear all op
erating expenses as long as those
expenses did not rise.
Even after Boiling Spring Lakes
had vetoed the merger proposal ear
Pleasant, Dry
Weather Ahead
Mild weather conditions are on
tap in the Shallotte area for the next
several days, according to Shallotte
Point meteorologist Jackson
Canady.
Temperatures through the week
end are expected to be near normal
averaging from the mid 50s at night
to the upper 70s during the day.
Rainfall should be slightly below
normal, at less than one-half inch
Foru?f J*?*! of April 17
through 23, the maximum high tem
perature in the Shallotte area was 80
degrees on April 17, and the mini
mum low temperature was 38 de
grees on April 19.
Two Towns Slate
Budget Workshops
Town officials in Calabash and
Ocean Isle Bcach will meet sepa
rately Tuesday, May 1, to begin
working on municipal budgets for
the 1990-91 fiscal year.
Ocean Isle Bcach Commissioners
will meet at 8 a.m., and the Cala
bash Board of Commissioners will
gather at 7 p.m. in their respective
town halls. Municipal leaders have
until June 30 to adopt budgets for
next fiscal year, which starts July 1
In Calabash, the 1990-91 budget
will be the first budget to include
anticipated expenditures and rev
enues resulting from last year's
merger of the old Town of Calabash
and Carolina Shores.
"We don't want to hold this thing off
any longer than we have to."
? Clyde Babson
ABC board member
licr in the day, Brunswick County
Commissioners approved the terms
of the merger agreement April 16,
to facilitate a merger with Boiling
Spring Lakes ABC or any other
municipal ABC system.
On a motion by Ramsey, the
county ABC board Tuesday voted
unanimously to recommend to
county commissioners that they re
scind the "open invitation" for any
municipal system to merge with the
county system, since a merger un
doubtedly would increase the
amount of money needed to start a
new county store.
Estimated cost of opening a new
store is $136,000, said Mrs. Vereen.
As a result, the board members also
decided to solicit financing propos
als from local banks through
Monday and to pick an accountant
at the May 1 meeting to handle the
system's finances. Members indi
cated they prefer to open a
$150,000 line of credit, rather than
obtain a straight loan for that
amount.
Passage of last November's
countywide ABC referendum and
previous votes in individual munici
palities already allow mixed drink
permits to be obtained by eligible
businesses in towns where ABC
stores are located.
Towns with ABC stores include
Bclville, Boiling Spring Lakes,
Calabash, Long Beach, Ocean Isle
Beach, Shallotte, Southport, Sunset
Beach and Yaupon Beach. Special
state legislation also allows mixed
drink sales at Bald Head Island.
However, businesses in the coun
ty's remaining municipalities and
unincorporated area cannot obtain
mixed drink permits until the coun
ty establishes its own ABC store or
merges with an existing system.
State law requires a business to buy
its liquor from the ABC system
whose territory covers that busi
ness.
The county ABC board members
initially shopped around for a merg
er, because state ABC officials told
them that establishing a county
ABC store would take up to six
months. Also, cost estimates of
starting a county store range from
$136,000 if a building were leased,
to more than $250,000 if a new
building were constructed.
Ramsey and Babson expressed
frustration Tuesday with the state
ABC commission's recommenda
tions to seek a merger with Boiling
Spring Lakes ABC. "They didn't
know how to go about doing it,"
Ramsey said, adding that no volun
tary ABC mergers have ever been
accomplished in the state.
"We don't want to hold this thing
off any longer than we have to,"
Babson remarked later. "We've got
people out there depending on us to
move on with this."
Last month, both state and local
ABC officials said several Holden
Beach area businesses had inquired
about the availability of mixed
drink permits. However, Babson
said Tuesday that only one Holden
Beach restaurant had contacted him
personally about the matter.
County Seeks Landfill Expansion
(Continued From Page 1-A)
County landfill that was recently
built.
Over the past few months that
Tucker has been on board as county
engineer, the central landfill has un
dergone a facelift, in part the result
of state requirements. In early
February, the N.C. Division of
Solid Waste Management notified
Brunswick County that the landfill
was in violation of erosion control
regulations.
Under Tuckcr's guidsncc, the
county has worked to correct the
erosion problems in order to avoid a
possible administrative penalty of
up to $5,000 per day for continued
violations of state solid-waste laws.
The most obvious evidence of
corrective efforts is that the com
pleted section of the landfill ?
which Tucker said once looked like
"a desert" ? is seeded in grass and
now resembles a county park more
than it resembles a garbage dump.
The engineer noted that the vio
lations were found by Guyton in
late January, after Tucker requested
an on-site inspection. Tucker said
the only corrective action the coun
ty has yet to complete is a "closure
plan," which must be submitted to
the state by June 1.
The closure plan for the landfill
is 'directly related to Tucker's for
mula for extending the facility's life
and for meeting upcoming require
ments of Senate Bill 111, a state
measure which Guyton described as
one of the most comprehensive sol
t
id-waste management acts in the
United States.
"We're just trying to figure out
how to complete the landfill to the
existing plan," Tucker said, noting a
plan that received state approval in
1983.
The old plan allows for an 18
foot rise in slope elevation from the
perimeter of the landfill to the cen
ter of the site, a situation that would
give the landfill property a conical
shape, Tucker said.
However, he observed that past
uiaiiagcuieiii piuccuuics haven't
utilized "vertical air space" that re
mains available and have used up
dirt from the site that must be used
to cover layers of garbage.
THE BRUNSWKKfcEEACON
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Telephone 754-6890
Published Every Thursday
At 4709 Main Street
Shallotte, N.C. 28459
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