THEB ni it mi ? fi4* HO AG ?< SONS BOOK 8IND?RY 2/3 i /93 PO 80 X 1.6:. v'F'Fx INGPuRT M } TVfenty-elghth Year, Number 26 mm ei<MO THE BHUN5WTC* BEACON Shallotte, North Carolina, Thursday^May 17, 1990 250 Per Copy 50 Pages, 4 Sections OUSTED SUPERINTENDENT SEEKS INJUNCTION Brunswick School Board Hires Attorney, Recesses Meeting BY SUSAN USHER The Brunswick County Board of Education Monday hired a second attorney to help in its defense of a complaint filed in Brunswick County Superior Court by the superintendent of schools and launched the search for his suc cessor. Claiming that three school board members violated the state open rr*/v*f?nfTC lavu hv hnlHina a "vrrrf" meeting. Superintendent John A. Kaufhold is seeking a court order that would declare null and void the kaufhold board's decision to terminate his contract effective June 30, and allow him to remain as superintendent of the county schools at his stated salary pending resolution of the controversy. In charging the board with defamation, breach of contract, denial of procedural due process, civil con spiracy and "estoppel," Kaufhold also is seeking con tractual damages of 5152,000, compensatory damages of 5250,000 and punitive damages in excess of S10.000. He is asking for a jury trial on all matters that can be taken before a jury. After meeting two hours and 40 minutes behind closed doors Monday night, school board members vot ed 3-2 to continue the session until 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 24. At that time they are to meet with N.C. School Board Association attorney George T. Rogister Jr. of Raleigh and board attorney Glen Peterson of Leland. According fo the motion to recess made by member Robert Slockett, the board will discuss legal issues re lating to the superintendent's contract and the proce dures for obtaining a new superintendent. Rogistcr will be working with Peterson on the case, helping represent the board as a whole and the three members sued individually by Kaufhold, as well as rep resenting the school board's insurance company in the matter. As NCSBA attorney, Rogister provided one of the le gal opinions cited by the board in its action on W onfhnlH *e rnn?ra/?? Un paH thot i r* Kio rvnini An t A KUU1 IIU1U O WtiUUVia 1 IV UUMJVW UlUk, 111 IHO V/pllllV/ll, UiV extension and renewal provisions of the original con tract were contrary to law and void, and so therefore, would be any extension of the original contract. Representing Kaufhold arc James R. Van Camp and W. Carole Holloway of the law firm Van Camp, West, Webb & Hayes of PinehursL Also Monday, the board agreed to use the services of Gene Causby, executive director of the N.C. School Boards Association, in its search for Kaufhold's succes sor. The board authorized Personnel Director Ralph Ward to immcidately begin advertising the position va cancy, with notices to go out statewide to all school dis- . tricts, the media, various education-related publications and institutions granting doctorates in education admin iotrolion l.)U UUV/H School board attorney Glen Peterson is to accept ap plications for the post through June 30. Chairman Dot Worth said the board would like to hire someone before the start of the next year, but isn't (See OUSTED, Page 1 2- A) Budget Would Hike Taxes By 1 2 Cents BY BOB HORNE Brunswick County Interim Coun ty Manager David Clcgg presented the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners with a "working" 1990-91 budget Tuesday night which would require a 12-ccnt in crease in county property taxes. The Board of County Commis sioners scheduled a budget work shop for Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Clegg emphasized that the budget is not a recommended budget, but rather "a scheme by which the county could operate for the ensu ing fiscal year." He said that after the county corn in i ssioners have had a chance to go through the budget and discuss it, he will present a "recommended" budget. Clegg said the budget he present ed Tuesday would basically operate county departments at their current levels, except for a 5 percent across the-board salary increase he figured in for county employees and fund ing for new positions and employee reclassifications. As a result, Clcgg says, he pared down department heads' collective budget requests trom $37,169,590, added in $2.7 minion in debt fi nancing of capital projects and some other additions, and came to a total dollar figure of $35,667,194. That amount is $2,617,844 more than the $33,049350 budgeted for the current fiscal year and $3,901,964 more than Clegg esti mates the county will collect in total revenue this fiscal year. One way Clegg .computed that the budget could be funded at the level he presented the commission ers Tuesday would be to increase the tax rate from the current level of 59.5 cents per $100 tax valuation to 71.5 cents, increase building and clcctrical permit fees by 25 percent and increase the water rate 5 per cent across the board, except for the first 3,000 gallons, which he pro poses to remain at $8.50. And he es timates the county will receive 52.89 million for the one-half cent sales tax. Clcgg estimates that the county will experience a net reduction of 5 percent in its tax base, which equates to about three cents on the tax rate, because the state valued the county's public utilities at 74 per cent of their value of the current year. As a result, he says, the new budget started at a Si, 137, 640 shortfall from its level of this year. "This has been a tremendously important year because of the real location of the state mandate," Clegg told the commissioners. "But what you see is what you get," Clegg said. This is a different budget than any you've ever gotten before. Everything is in black and white. There are no surprises here." Clcgg said later that one thing he did in the budget was to eliminate a previous 1 non-departmental depart ment," where he said numerous items have been budgeted in past years. "I believe this will result in a better budget," he said. One of the employee reclassifica tions Clcgg presented would reclas sify Finance Director Lithia B. Hahn as director of fiscal opera tions, which he said would be a po sition that would serve directly un der the county manager. He com puted slighdy more than a 10 per cent salary increase for her, from $40,240 a year to $44,400. He. held the salary level for the open county manager's position at the current $42 500 (See BUDGET, Page 2- A) MAf COURTESY N.C. DIVISION OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT CONGRESSMAN CHARLIE ROSE will seek funds for a one-time demonstration dredging project in Eastern Channel, shaded black in the above map. ? VARNAMTOWN LOCKWOODS FOLLY INLET LONG BEACH Congressman To Seek Funds For Eastern Channel Dredging Plan BY DOUG RUTTER Congressman Charlie Rose (D-N.C.) will seek funds needed for a demonstration dredging project in Eastern Channel near Lockwood Folly River and a separate im pact study that would determine if construction of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway has had any effect on water circulation in the river. Although it will be at least October before any mon ey becomes available. Rose will go after funds needed for both proposals recently presented by the Army Corps of Engineers district office in Wilmington, says Rose's legislative aide, Keith Pitts. The Corps proposals, outlined in a May 3 letter to Rose, call for a one-time dredging of Eastern Channel and a detailed examination of what impact construction and maintenance of the inland waterway has had on the water flow between Lockwood Folly River and adja cent waters. The total cost of both projects is estimated at $1.5 million. The proposals were generated following an April 20 meeting in Wilmington during which Rose, state Rep. David Redwine and others talked with Corps of Engineers officials about dredging Eastern Channel. Local fishermen say the channel, situated between the west end of Long Beach and Sheep Island at the mouth of Lockwood Folly River, has filled in with sand in recent years. Fishermen say the clogged channel has restricted water flow and prevented bacterial pollution from escaping the river, which frequently has been closed to shellfishing over the past two years. Dredging Eastern Channel to improve water quality (See CONGRESSMAN, Page 2-A) _ . SWF PHOTO BY JOHNNY CHAJG Yer Out! ? v>i ; Indians Catcher Corey Laughan tags the White Sox' Brian Earp out at home plate during a Major League baseball game in the Shallotte Babe Ruth League at Shallotte Township Park Monday. Earp had led off the game with a single and advanced on two errors before being thrown out. The White Sox won the game, however, 77-7. Other sports news can be found on pages 8-B thru 10-B. Fishermen Object 7b Net-Fishing Limits BY SUSAN USHER Twenty rules changes are being considered by the state Marine Fish eries Commission for the coming year, but only one captured the full attention of the nearly 400 people who crammed into the Public As sembly Building at Bolivia Tuesday night. One speaker after another recom mended rejecting a proposal to ban gill net fishing within one-half mile of the beach. Speakers were limited to three minutes each, or 10 minutes if representing a group. Tuesday's session was part of a statewide series of eight hearings held this month. At its June 14-15 business meeting in Greenville, the " Sportfishing is not something you depend on for a living , but commercial fishing is. What are you going to do ? take their bread and butter away?" ? Norman Bellamy Retired commercial fisherman commission will give final consid- May 16, at 7:30 p.m. at the New eration to the items discussed at the Hanover County Courthouse in hearings. Any changes adopted Wilmington. would go into effect during the Only a handful of speakers ad 1990 regulatory cycle. A sister dressed other proposals, v hile oth hearing was scheduled Wednesday, ers built on comments mj*de by pri r? 1 Pi or speakers. It adopted, the net-fishing pro posal would "prevent some people from making a living or supple menting a living or putting food on the table" and would have "an ex tremely negative impact on our area," Rep. E. David Redwine, of Seaside, said to the first of several rounds of applause. Agreeing with Redwine, Brunswick County Commissioner Kelly Holden said the proposal would "in essence," outlaw net fish ing in Brunswick County. "It seems our traditions and way of life in Brunswick County are being threat ened and changed by pollution and (See FISHERMEN, Page 2-A) Holden Beach Commissioners Endorse Local Dispatching Plan BY DOUG RUTTER A proposal to set up a dispatch ing service in Shallotte that would handle police, fire and rescue calls for four towns in the South Brunswick Islands has drawn the support of the Holden Beach Board of Commissioners. At a special meeting Tuesday night, the town board voted to "ap prove in principle" the supplemen tary dispatching plan after hearing a presentation by Shallotte Police Chief Rodney Gause. The plan calls for a ccntral dis patching unit to be set up in Shallotte that would serve Holden Beach, Shallotte, Ocean Isle Beach and Sunset Beach ? the four towns in southwestern Brunswick County with police forces. Many calls made during normal working hours and all calls made at night to the police departments in most of these towns are presenUy handled through the county Sher iff's Department Gause said the Sheriff's Depart ment dispatchers "have their hands full" and officers sometimes don't hear about the calls until an hour later or the next day. An around-the-clock dispatching "It would really be a big help to law enforcement in this end of the county." ?Shallotte Police Chief Rodney Gause On local 24-hour dis patching service scrvice in Shallotte would speed re sponse time and take pressure off the Sheriff's Department, Gause said. "It would really be a big help to law enforcement in this end of the county," he said. The Shallotte chief said Ocean Isle Beach is the only other town that has committed to the program at this point. He said Shallotte Al dermen are waiting for responses from the other towns before agree ing to go along with the plan. He estimated it would cost be tween $14,000 and 515,000 per year for each town if all four participate. Most of the money would be used to pay the four dispatchers that would be needed to provide scrvice 24 hours a day. Gause said the local dispatching service could become unnecessary once the county implements a 911 emergency telephone system. But he said that isn't expected for at least one or two years. Ordinance Needs Work Commissioners agreed Tuesday that a proposed ordinance regulat ing the use of Jet Skis and similar watcrcraft in the waters around Holden Beach needs work before it can be adopted. The proposal presented this week prohibited use of the devices in the Finger canals and in the Atlantic Ocean within 500 feet of the beach and Holden Beach Fishing Pier. The rules would have applied April 1 through Sept. 30 of each year be tween the hours of 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. An earlier proposal also applied to the Atlantic Intracoastal Water way. But Town Attorney Doug Led gctt said Tuesday the town cannot regulate activity in the waterway, bccausc that is the jurisdiction of the Army Corps of Engineers. Commissioners have said regula tions are needed to keep people (See HOLDEN, Page 3-A)

Page Text

This is the computer-generated OCR text representation of this newspaper page. It may be empty, if no text could be automatically recognized. This data is also available in Plain Text and XML formats.

Return to page view