THE BRl?
?
Twenty-eighth Year, Number 35 ? Brunswickbeac... jimuune, wonn uarolina, Thursday, July 19,1990 25c Per Copy 30 Pages, 3 Sections
Brunswick Takes Lead Role
Opposing State DSS Policies
BY BOB IIORNK
P.n!nc.V.'ir^ r* mint m ic inline a
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lead role in soliciting statewide op
position to state policies that report
edly arc stifling county Depart
ments of Social Scrviccs in the
state, according to Brunswick
County Social Scrviccs Director
Jamie Orrock.
Monday night, the Brunswick
County Board of Commissioners
adopted a resolution presented to
them by Orrock. It was arfopuxi by
the Brunswick County Social Scr
viccs Board June 25.
Tuesday morning, Orrock said he
is sending the resolution to Depart
ments of Social Scrviccs in the oth
er 99 counties in the state and that
the North Carolina Social Services
Association, a 4,(XX) plus-member
organization, is cxpcctcd to rewrite
and adopt the resolution under its
name Friday. If it docs, it will lobby
the slate for relief from the slate
mandates. Orrock said.
The resolution stems from what
is known as the Alexander vs. Flah
erty settlement agreement, an agree
ment from a lawsuit that originated
in 1974 when Legal Aid sued the
suite for non-compiiancc in meeting
time frames in serving clients. Thir
teen of the !QQ Departments of So
cial Scrviccs in the state were found
to be out of compliance, Orrrock
said.
As a result of an eventual settle
ment, Orrock says, the state has
gradually added measures in an at
tempt to force compliance from the
county DSS agencies until those
agencies are so overburdened with
paperwork and legwork they cannoi
provide proper servicc to their
clients. The last changes were made
Petitions Call For Ouster
Of Seniors Director
The Brunswick Board of County Commissioners Monday night ac
cepted, without comment, petitions cal'ir.g for the removal of Ronnie
Robinson, Brunswick County's director of older adults.
Harold Watson of Long Beach presented the petitions to the commis
sioners. He said that Robinson, when attending a meeting of the Bruns
wick County Senior Citizens Advisory Committee as guest speaker,
nominated his choices for several officers positions in the organization.
He also told the commissioners that Robinson had threatened senior
citizens by saying he. would take them off the eligibility list if they gave
him any trouble and that senior citizens who opposed Robinson appar
ently were "boycotted" when no vans were provided for transportation
to a June 19 Senior Citizens Advisory Committee meeting.
Robinson was a source of controversy when about 60 senior citizens
were transported to a June 4 commissioners meeting in county vans.
Some said they didn't know why they were there, while others said they
were there to support Robinson. Robinson provided the county vans to
transport them to support him, because he expected the petitions to be
presented at the meeting, some said.
Commission Chairman Gene Pinkerton said that since interim Coun
ty Manager David Clegg handles personnel, he would be the person to
deal with the matter.
Clegg said he had no comment at this time.
last Octobcr, he said.
Orrock saiu die county income
mainlcnancc workers met in Janu
ary or February and wanted to ex
press their eonccrn. He agreed, he
said, and told them they needed to
put something in writing, which re
sulted in the resolution.
"Somebody had to do something
to get the state's and other agencies'
attention," Orrock said Tuesday
morning. "1 don't know if the state
is even aware of the burden it's put
ting on the counties.
"Thirteen of 100 didn't comply,"
stead of penalizing those 13, they
(llic sluic) pcnali/^d cveiyone."
The departments now have more
than 80 difTerent Tonus, some as
long as eight pages, to complete on
applicants, Orrock said. "And six
months later you have to fill out the
same form again for what is called
redetermination," he told the com
missioners.
And much of the paperwork is
duplication, Orrock said. For in
stance, he said applicants who want
to apply for different forms of aid
must be interviewed by different
(See BRUNSWICK, Page 2-A)
No Prize Catch Here
STAFF PHOTO BY BOB MO*NE
The crew of (lie Miss Jean found that a weight in the boat's net wasn't from a load of shrimp, but
rather from part of a log that became entangled in the net.
Chapel Loop Road Annexation Vote
Repealed Among Taik Of Unfairness'
BY SL'SAN USHER
Lcland's July 5 annexation of the Chapel Loop Road
area is no more. The town's action was repealed this
week?not just once, but twice?among accusations of
unfairness and betrayal by several parlies involved in
the fray.
Monday night the Lcland Town Council repealed its
earlier vole after a proposed "cooling-off agreement
between the town and residents of the area unraveled at
a meeting earlier that day. Mayor Russell Baldwin said.
Tuesday the slate legislature adopted on third reading
a bill thai also repealed the annexation, which Rep. E.
David Redwinc said he thought would have been "un
fair" to both residents of Chapel Loop Road and the
nearby town of Bclville.
Mayor Baldwin said the net result of the two rescis
sions is that Leland's "worst fear" has been realized: the
Chapel Loop Road area is "open territory for anybody
now"?including possible annexation by the nearby
town of Bclville. "Redwinc just hasn't been fair with
us." he said Tuesday. "He made promises and didn't
keep them."
Baldwin said he no longer feels the town of Lcland is
(See LELAND, PAGE 2-A)
1-40 Opening Is Expected To Boost Tourism In The County
BY DOUG RUTTER
Brunswick Counly tourism leaders expcct a big
boost in the years to come, thanks to the recent comple
tion of Interstate 40, a highway that has connected
North Carolina's inland counties and the coast
The final stretch of 1-40 between Raleigh and
Wilmington opened June 29 alter decadcs of planning
and work. The highway, which was first proposed more
than 40 years ago, runs from Barstow, Calif., to
Wilmington.
"I think it will have a very positive impact as far as
the tourism is concerned," said South Brunswick
Islands Chamber of Commerce President Dean Walters.
"We're very positive about the whole thing."
Besides tourists, Walters said he hopes die interstate
attracts more "clean" industry and jobs to Brunswick
County. Transportation and access arc two of the things
industry leaders look for when they are considering a
possible location, he said.
Holdcn Beach Commissioner Gay Atkins, who
works as a real estate broker with Alan Holden Really,
said more families from Raleigh and Research Triangle
Park are coming to the area this summer than before,
presumably because of the opening of 1-40.
"I think it makes us more accessible," Ms. Atkins
said, estimating that the interstate cuts out between 45
minutes and one hour of travci time from Kaleigh to Uic
coast.
Walters said many families from the Raleigh and
Chapel Hill areas have traditionally gone to the beaches
near Morehead City, because there was better access to
that area.
That's likely to change, however, now that Interstate
40 offers a "direct corridor" from Raleigh to the beach
es in New Hanover and Brunswick counties, he said.
Walters said the interstate also provides better ac
cess to Myrtle Beach, S.C., and more people will pass
through Brunswick County than ever before. With more
promotions and billboards, the local bcaches and golf
courses should see an increase in vacationers, he said.
"When people start finding oul where we arc and
what we have to offer, I think they'll start responding
accordingly," Walters said.
He said completion of the interstate will force the
state to plan and construct other transportation improve
ments in southeastern North Carolina to deal with in
creased traltic.
"Anytime you bring mure people, you bring more
traffic...," he said. "1 see it as a basically positive tiling
in the long run."
Ocean Isle Beach Commissioner Bill Benton, who
works in land development, says he expects the inter
state to have a "tremendous impact" on the county, es
pecially when the four-laning of U.S. 17 is completed
in a few years.
"It's really going to bring the people here," Benton
said. "I'm very excited about it."
Holden Beach Mayor John Tandy said his oldest
daughter and her family took MO from the Winston
Salem area to Holden Beach last week.
* aHu quiciccr way iO usv
el lo the coast, Tandy said, and it will have a "swelling
effect" on all of Brunswick County.
"It's going to mean an increase in visitors and per
manent population," he said. "There's going to be
growth in both of those areas."
Brunswick County Resources Development Direc
tor Thomas Monks also says he expects the opening of
1-40 to be a boost to the county.
Bninswick County Planning Director John Harvey
said he thinks there will be a "significant" impact in
Brunswick County once the stale constructs a direct ex
change between 1-40 and a planned U.S. 17 bypass
around Wilmington.
"Then we'll have excellent accessibility to 1-40 that
we do not have today," he said.
In addition to the effect of Interstate 40, Harvey said
planned highway improvements in the Myrtle Beach
area will make traveling to Brunswick County safer and
more convenient in the next decade.
CORN LOSSES 35-40%
Late Rainfall Is The Key
To Local Tobacco Harvest
BY SUSAN USHER
Rainfall between now and late
August will make the difference in
overall yield and quality of the 1990
tobacco crop, which local producers
will begin marketing next week.
'Things started out pretty well,
but then this dry weather stopped
it," said Billy Barrow, Brunswick
County agricultural extension agent.
"We're kind of waiting to see what
this rain will do."
To varying degrees, drought
conditions also have affected oilier
Brunswick County crops, cspccially
corn.
Barrow estimates corn losses
will average 35 percent to 40 per
ccnt couniywidc, with damage as
extensive as 60 percent lo 65 per
cent in some areas.
"And acreage in corn in Bruns
wick County was up significantly
this year." he said, probably in re
sponse to market conditioas.
Pollination of corn occurs within
a relatively small ' window" or time
period a week to two weeks de
pending on the variety. It is affected
by high temperatures and dry
weather. Barrow said, noting that
the county has had "plenty" of both
recently. Rainfall now and in com
ing weeks, however, will help fill
out cars that were produced.
(See LATE, Page 2-A)
Dennis Crocker Resigns From
Resources Development Board
Dennis Crocker, a senior cxccu
live wilh NCNB in Shallotle, has re
signed from the Brunswick County
Resources Development Commis
sion. citing personal and business
reasons.
"I jusl don't have the time to do it
like it should be done," Crocker told
I he Beacon Tuesday afternoon. He
said nothing else had anything to do
with his resignation. "When you
don't have enough hours to do the
job and you've been on it (the
board) a long lime, it's time to let
somebody else on it."
Crocker, who completed four
years on the board in March, turned
his letter ot resignation in to County
Commissioner Kelly Holdcn last
week, effective July 10. Holdcn
sought to fill the appointment,
which is his district appointment.
Monday night, hut the commission
ers tabled the appointment 3-2, with
Holdcn and Benny Ludlum dissent
ing, on a motion by Grace Bcaslcy.
Crocker said he has missed sever
al board meetings recently for busi
ness and professional reasons and
carnc to realize he didn't have the
time. His term would have expired
in 1992. He also resigned from the
hconomic Development Corp., of
which he was president.
STAFF mOTO BY BO8 HORNE
The Perfect Fit piani ai Ash will close on or before Aug. IS, officials say.
Resources Development Director Optimistic
That A Prospect Will Purchase Ash Plant
Brunswick County Resources Development
Director Thomas Monks is hopeful that instead
of the Perfect Fit plant at Ash shutting down,
the plant can merely shift gears from one com
pany to another.
Monks says there is one "excellent" pros
pect that has expressed interest in the plant,
which is scheduled to close on or before Aug.
18. He declined to identify the company at this
time, but said it is a similar type of sewing op
eration and thai he is optinnsuc tnat the compa
ny will open an operation in the facility.
The prospect is "a similar-type operation,
looking for something about that size, with
about the same si/e workforce," Monks said
He said the company's operation would be vii
tually exactly the same as Perfect Fit's, with a
need for the same employee skills. "We would
hope they could come in and put all of the em
ployees to work," he said. He also said the com
pensation package that would be offered would
be similar.
If the company should open operations in
the Ash plant, it would be an expansion of the
company's operations, not a relocation, Monks
said. He said the Ash plant is within a two-hour
drive of the company's headquarters, which he
said is another reason for his optimism. He said
he expects to have a final decision from the
company within two weeks.
The building, located on N.C. 130 is an at
tractive building for such an operation. Monks
said, "with 28,320 square feet, brick over con
ccrtc block, completely air-conditioned, on 7.2
acres of land and is nicely landscaped.
"Bill whin really impressed me when I visit
ed was the morale of the employees," Monks
said. They have been very positive about the
closing and the prospect of going with another
company."
Monks also praised Perfect Fit, saying he
has received "100 percent cooperation" from
the company in trying to come up with another
use for the facility. "They've been very good to
work with."
Ai.'hough he says he's optimistic about the
iinidcnt!ricd company, Monks said he was also
listing tlie building with the state Department of
Economic and Community Development's list
ing of facilities.
"The No. 1 criteria these days is an existing
building. Most everyone- is looking for one," he
said.
Perfect Fit, which has n^adouarters in Mon
roe, is closing the Ash plant "purely for eco
nomic reasons," said David Weathers, vice
president of Human Resources.
The Ash plant manufactures mattress cov
ers, pillow covers and infani bedding, Weathers
said. The plant was built in 1969 and expanded
in 1979 arrnrriinp ?*> Weathers
When the closing was announced, the 68
employees were given the option of relocating
to one of Perfect Fit's other six plants that are
located around the country. Weathers said. But
as of Tuesday, none of the employees had elect
ed to relocate. Weathers said. He said most of
(he employees live within 10-12 miles of the
Ash plant.
The closest Perfect Fit plants are located in
Monroe, Richfield and Rock Hill, S.C., Weath
ers said. m.L. "Chip" Fuiitciiui, picsident of
Perfect Fit, has said the company is looking for
a qualified buyer. He said the plant and the land
it sits on are valued at about $350,000 to
$400,000.