39 Speak At Public Hearing
(Continued From Page 1-A)
bcr of new employees and vehicles
should be scrutinized. "Do we need
to raise taxes? Perhaps. But first 1
feel the board should cut back, re
group and make sure those things
which are requested are really need
ed. After 22 years in the financial
end of government, 1 know a lot of
things can be hidden."
Jim Ballou of Sunset Beach ex
pressed interest in "equal taxation
for individual and commercial pro
perty," saying golf courses in the
county arc being taxed at a fraction
of their value. "If the commission
ers would look at the people with
the big houses instead of always go
ing to the homeowner pot, we
might all be better off," he said.
H.C. Ward of Longwood criti
cized a Sl.l million training build
ing at the Lcland Industrial Park
and called the water system "a dis
grace. People who want water can't
gel it; it's costing each of us a cou
plc hundred dollars a year."
Bcttc Sellers of Bolsv?a cx^iw
scd support for a proposed school at
Supply, saying it would relieve oth
er schools that have already become
too crowded. She said she has accu
mulated 1,120 signatures in support
of the school.
Fred Hicks said that, at the cur
rent growth of about 5 percent a
year, Brunswick County's popula
tion would double by the year 2010.
He said such a population growth
will automatically bring in more
than a million dollars of additional
revenue each year and that, with
such revenue growth, the county
should never have to increase taxes.
Eileen Kcllaghcr of Long Beach,
who was allowed to speak six min
utes instead of being limited to the
ihrcc-minutc maximum, chastised
the county for "nepotism, political
hacks and political payoffs." She al
so said, "we have little respect for
some of our elected officials."
C.G. Dall of Carolina Shores
asked how the commissioners
"could have the audacity to consid
er a lax increase of almost 21 per
cent? And who decided to build a
training center in Lcland? Who
asked me and who asked you (resi
dents who were present)?" He said
he hoped the commissioners "return
to their senses" soon.
Ed Shrcvc, president of the South
Brunswick Islands Home Builders
Association and the Brunswick
Islands Board of Realtors, asked
that commissioners consider no tax
increase "without first addressing
the critical need for an ample water
distribution system. Wc have too
many areas in the county without
any water, and growth areas that
will soon face shortages which can-'
not be overcome immediately," cit
ing a 1988 study by Houston & As
sociates "at a substantial cost to the
taxpayers of Brunswick County."
"This report was made in 1988
addressing this serious problem and
this is 1990," Shrcve continued.
"As many people in this room to
night know, most residents of
Brunswick County h3ve no public
water supply whatsoever and are
facing critical problems in quantity
and quality of their water supply.
There are people who cannot drink
their water! TTiere arc people who
cannot bathe in their water! People
who have no water at all! He called
for a re-evaluation of priorities and
an immediate solution to the water
problem.
Steve Harper of Shallotte sup
ported the employees of the landfill
department, who he said haven't
had a pay increase in almost three
years. He also reminded commis
sioners and residents of the impor
tance of the department, saying,
"Without them, we'd be in a trashy
mess, wouldn't we?" He also said
he wouldn't blame the employees
of that department if they went on
strike and left the county to deal
with its trash.
Carol Boyd of Caswcl! Beach
and her husband Bill called for in
creased collcction percentages on
property taxes. "No wonder there
are so many people who don't pay
their taxes," Mrs. Boyd said. "It's a
vicious circle." She said that the
higher taxes go, the higher the num
ber of people who don't pay their
taxes and subsequently the higher
the taxes must go to pay for those
who don't pay their taxes.
Bill Boyd said the county is
owed S2.8 million in unpaid taxes
and called for "attachment, garnish
ment or foreclosure," to collect
those unpaid taxes. He also called
for increases in permits and fees to
make them self-supporting and said,
"Surely there arc other sources of
revenue. I suggest the commission
ers explore those thoroughly and
with imagination."
Chester Parrish of Shallotte said
he doesn't know why the commis
sioners "put us through this aggra
vation every year," of proposing
sizeable lax increases and eventual
ly cutting the increases. He said he
hopes the increase will be cut at
least to 6 cents.
"With all the building going on in
Brunswick County, whcrc's the
money going?" asked Lcroy Sulli
van of Winnabow. "All it is is a rip
ofT of the property owner." He criti
cized county employees, saying a
visit of a county office reveals "two
or three people running around
drinking cofTcc and another making
coffee."
Graham Justice of Supply said
residents are to start paying 50
cents on their monthly phone bills
toward the support of 911 in
August, which won't be in opera
tion at that time. He asked where
the money will be going.
Kenneth Bellamy of Boones
Neck, saying he was speaking as a
former tax collector, spoke to tax
breaks that Carolina Power & Light
has gotten through the years and
said, "It's time to rewrite the utility
laws and let the utilities pay their
share."
Lillic Morrill, saying she was
representing retirees, said there are
things retired people need "and one
of them isn't a tax raise." She said it
takes two checks for retirees "to
hold on to what they worked hard
for all their lives." She also said
taxes are higher in Brunswick
County than anywhere she has ever
lived.
Marty Cook called for a morato
rium on taxes until "a bi-partisan,
uncontrolled" evaluation of county
government could be made.
Thurston Clcmmons of Bolivia
said the county government would
have to do as most of the natives of
Brunswick County: "Pay as you go
or don't go. Impact fees and user
fees ? get to the tourist and the de
veloper and off the backs of the
property owners."
L.A. Lewis of Supply said a "lot
of people having to pay these taxes
aie making S3.80, $4.50, S5 an
hour. If I'd run my business the way
these and past commissioners have
run this county, I wouldn't have a
business; I'd be out picking up tin
cans."
Frank Randolph said he would
like to see the people who voted for
the water bond get water. "I'm pay
ing for it and if I'm paying for it, I
want it."
Odcll Johnson said he has never
seen so impressive a county seal in
a small county as the Brunswick
County Government Complex at
Bolivia. "I don't know if we can af
fort it, but it's the best I've ever
seen," he said.
"It's a lough job you've got, I
don't envy you one bit," Johnson
said to the county commissioners.
"But a government is like a house
hold. What do you do if you come
home and your wife says the cost of
potatoes is up and your light bill is
up and other things arc up? What do
you do? You eliminate something.
If we can eliminate something, you
(commissioners) can eliminate
something."
"People speak to what their inter
ests arc," Commissioner Kelly Hol
den said after the hearing. "Like a
lot spoke for water and against the
training center in Lcland. I don't
think a lot of people understand the
total picture. Water is a bad need
but it's not the only need we have.
But that training center is just as
important to the people in that arra
I think our job is to consider every
body's interest."
"We have water on our island, I
don't need a job and I don't need
any of the things they mentioned, so
I can look at it constructively,"
Commission Chairman Gene Pink
erton said. "There was a lot said but
you have to examine what was said
and the inconsistencies in what was
said and separate fact from what
was not fact."
CP&L Piant Producing Power Again
(Continued From Page 1-A)
Still to be rctested are licensed
operators who failed written por
tions of the three-part exam; they
will be retested later this summer,
she said.
The two crews that passed week
end rctesting brings the total num
ber of operating crews available to
run the plant to four, the minimum
required by the NRC. Two teams
did not have to be retested.
Ms. Bean said reactor Unit 2 was
restarted Sunday, connected with
the CP&L system Monday and ex
pected to reach 100 percent power
by late Tuesday. Unit 1 was restart
ed Monday and was expected to
reach 100 percent power by late
Wednesday.
Each unit's summer capacity rat
ing is 790 megawatts, according to
a CP&L information packet. The
Brunswick plant is responsible for
15 percent of the utility's power ca
pability.
Ken Clark, spokesman for the
NRC's regional office in Atlanta,
said the regulatory agency concur
red with CP&L's decision to return
the plant to operation.
"The NRC technical staff was
satisfied they (CP&L) can safely
operate with four accredited crews,"
he said Monday. "However, they do
have to let us know by Friday (June
15) what they are going to do to
qualify a Fifth crew."
While the plant can be operated
with four crews, five is the desired
number, he said. "Also, over the
long-run, but in an expeditious
manner, they need to tell us and
show us what they are going to do
to fix the problems with their opera
tor requaliFication program."
" lbere arc some obvious prob
lems with it," he continued, "and
until these are corrected, the pro
gram will be listed as unsatisfactory
by the NRC."
That means the plant and pro
grain will be closely watched by the
NRC, with correction expected "as
soon as possible," he said.
The NRC is still looking into the
performance of the third crew on
the simulator trst, said Clark. 'The
simulator operator did something
wrong or the program did some
thing it was not expected to do. It's
still under discussion."
CP&L officials have said recent
changes in the simulator program
arc a reason why operators have not
done well on the requalification
testing ? that they did not have
enough time to train on the revised
program.
Clark said the utility had the op
tion of requesting a rescheduling of
the requalification test, but did not
do so. Ms. Bean said CP&L had no
reason to believe the operators were
not ready.
While the Brunswick plant had a
sufficient number of operators with
which to operate, CP&L shut down
both units to conduct additional
training for plant operators follow
ing their poor performance on the
requalification exam.
It was only the second lime in the
NRC's 15-year history that aplant
had voluntarily shut down because
of high failure rates on the test.
Bean said the plant used the
downtime to advantage, having em
ployees performed necessary main
tenance and equipment testing,
some of which can only be done
when the units are out of service.
She said the utility still does not
have an accurate estimate of how
much the shutdown will ultimately
cost. Electric demand and related
power costs and other factors such
as the work performed during the
outage are the factors that will fig
ure in the final tab.
High Temps, But Little Rain
Seen In Brunswick Forecast
Temperatures reached a high of
91 degrees Sunday, June 10, Shal
lotte Point meteorologist Jackson
Canady reported Tuesday.
AJso for the period of June 5-11,
he recorded a minimum nightly low
of 58 degrees on June 6.
A daily average high of 86 de
grees and an average nightly low of
68 degrees created an average daily
temperature of 77 degrees, which
Canady said is close to normal.
However, he said, "we had no
rainfall during the week and the
outlook is not too encouraging."
He expects temperatures over Uie
next few days to be near normal ?
ranging from the upper 60s at night
into the mid 80s during the day
time ? but with less than half an
inch of rainfall.
Weather conditions arc in a
blocking pattern ? slow to move or
to change, Canady said. "We have
n't received as much rain as we
have needed for quite some time.
Until this pattern changes we're not
likely to get much rain. Then when
we get it, it may be too much at one
time."
Canady said he expects no
change in the rainfall forecast for
the next five to 10 days.
'89 Bulck Skylark
2 to choose. Very nice.
Priced right!
'39 chevy Beretta
Nice car!
88 Cutlass Supreme
Like new!
MINTZ CHEVROLET CEO
25^5221
STAFF PHOTO BY DOUG Rl/TTER
Horsing Around
Gene Ixingley of Calabash and two friends sculpted this horse in the sand Saturday at Sunset
Beach. The horse was a hit, especially among youngsters visiting the beach.
Sunset Beach Lot 1 -A Case Upheld
(Continued From Page 1-A)
The Court of Appeals heard the case Sept. 20, 1989.
Judge Parker wrote the unanimous opinion for the pan
el, which also included Judges Sidney S. Eagles Jr. and
K. Edward Greene. The opinion will not be published.
The appellate court upheld the findings and conclu
sions of the non-jury trial in Brunswick County
Superior Court with one exception.
Judge Parker wrote that the trial court erred in con
cluding that Sunset Boulevard to the Ocean had been
accepted as a public road, and modified the lower court
judgment accordingly.
In plats filed in 1955 and 1958 the lot was shown as
an extension of Sunset Boulevard, running almost to
the ocean. Property was sold to individual plaintiffs
with reference to those plats. A third plat filed in 1963
did not reference the lot as a roadway, but no formal
withdrawal of dedication was filed and public use of
the property was not restricted.
While the defendant argued that because the town
had not accepted an offer of dedication of the
strip ? and had actually rejected it, that the owner had a
right to withdraw the dedication of Lot 1-A as an exten
sion of Sunset Boulevard.
However, the appellate judges determined that the
question at issue is the right of a property owner in a
subdivision to keep the street open where the designat
ed land has in fact been used by the property owner for
a means of ingress and egress.
'This action involves the rights of property owners
who purchased their lots by reference to a plat which
showed the area now designated Lot 1-A as a street,"
wrote Judge Parker. "These plaintiff property owners
have in fact used this 100-foot wide strip as a means of
ingress and egress from Main Street to the Atlantic
Ocean both on foot and by vehicle and for purposes of
loading and unloading uiCii uGaiS."
She cited Owens vs Elliott, where the court ruled
that "such streets become dedicated to the public use,
and a purchaser of a lot located in the subdivision ac
quires the right to have all and each of the streets kept
open and it makes no difference whether the streets be
in fact open or acccptcd by the appropriate public au
thority."
She cites other eases, one suggesting that "it would
be fraudulent to allow the owner to resume private con
trol over such streets and parks" and that the easement
applies to the public as well as to the specific grantees
of the property.
Defendants the SBTA, Albert N. Wells, Charles L.
Smith, Whalcy P. Hunt and Frank M. Ncsmith are rep
resented by James Maxwell of Durham.
Sunset Beach & Twin Lakes Inc. is represented by
local attorney Roy Trcst of Baxlcy & Trcst, Shallotte,
and John W. Narron and Vickie Winn Martin of Smith,
Dcbnam, Hibbert & Pahl, Raleigh.
Following the 1988 lower court decision. Gore said
that he would continue appealing the case all the way to
the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. In 1970 Gore re
claimed the lot, with the town council passing a resolu
tion that purportedly allowed dedication of the right-of
way to be withdrawn.
He filed a second withdrawal shortly after the 1988
trial, noting that the question had been raised about the
prematurity of the 1970 withdrawal. State law requires
a 15-year waiting period.
In 1968 owners of the lot began construction of
what was intended to be an amusement facility. That
work was halted after an adjacent property owner ob
tained a temporary injuction on the grounds that Sunset
Boulevard to the Ocean was a dedicated and acccptcd
road.
In 1976 Gore applied for a permit from a govern
mental agency for a permit to do some grading and sta
blizing on Lot 1-A. As part of the "purposes" of such
work, he stated, "To provide much needed additional
public and business parking..."
The concrete pad left from the amusement facility
construction project was removed and a split cedar
wood fence placed on the northern edge of the road/lot
as it adjoins Main Street. No further use of the property
was made by the defendant.
Gore said his future plans are to build a resort hotel
on or adjacent to the lot, which he said has a market
value of 5500,000 or more.
Car Crashes Into Post Office
(Continued From Page 1-A)
to rest, more than half of it was in
side the post office lobby.
'Thank goodness nobody was in
the lobby in that immediate area,"
said Shallotlc Postmaster Frank
Patton. "We were real lucky in that
respect."
Altizer said Ms. Kceton was
alone in the vehicle at the time of
the mishap and wasn't hurt. "She
was shaken up about the damage
she had caused but wasn't injured,"
he said. "She was extremely calm
about the whole thing. I wish we all
had nerves like her."
Patton estimated damages to the
post office at $2,500. Besides
breaking the glass doors and
frames, he said two parcel lockers
mounted on the wall inside the
doors were knocked on the floor
and some temporary post office
THE BRUNSWICK (^SEACON
Established Nov. 1 , 1 962
Telephone 754-6890
Published Every Thursday
At 4709 Main Street
Shallotte, N.C. 28459
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
IN BRUNSWICK COUNTY
One Year S10.30
Six Months $5.50
ELSEWHERE IN NORTH CAROLINA
One Year $14.80
Six Months $7.85
ELSEWHERE IN U.S.A.
One Year S15.95
Six Months $8.35
Second class postage paid at the
Post Office in Shailotte, N.C.
28459. USPS 777-780.
boxes were dented. There was no
structural damage to the building.
Altizer said there was about
52,000 in damage to the vehicle.
The impact caused a loud
"whishing" noise, said Patton. "I
thought the whole building was
coming down." He said he hoped to
have repairs completed this week.
Patton said it was the third time
somebody has inadvertently driven
a car through the Shallotte Post
Office's front doors.
Altizer said someone drove a car
through the front window of a shop
at Resort Plaza earlier this year. "It
seems to be real popular in Shal
lotte."
AT SHALLOTTE POINT
BRING HOME
THEftBEACON
On Sale At
VILLAGE MART
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO
THE BRUNSWICK&BEACON
POST OFFICE BOX 2558
SHALLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA 28459
FOR AWARD-WINNING NEWS COVERAGE
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES BY MAIL: Sr. Citizen
In Brunswick County Q6.30 ?5.30
N.C. Sales Tax .32 - .27
Postage Charge 3 68 3.68
T^T* I
TOTAL 10.3Q
TOTAL 14.80
Outside North Carolina LI6.30
9.25
, , T ""i
Elsewhere in North Carolina Q6.30 05.30
N.C. Sales Tax .32 .27
Postage Charge 8 18 8.18
"r~"r" 13.75
?5.30
Postage Charge 9.65 9 65
TOTAL 15,95 14 95
Complete And Return To Above Address
Name
Address
City, State
Z'P