Fishing's Locking up r5L Huge: One Year Later y S Future Fireman?
Pier fishing is looking up along the South jL, Local barrier Island communities look back?and E ? wjSjH Thirteen-year-old Dallas Sellers watches from the
Bmnswlck islands as the fall season draws near. M ? ft. ahead?one year after Hurricane Hugo made landfall ^^4 II rear of a tanker as firefighters from across the
Doris Starnes of Rock Hill, S C.. caught this II mV <r j , U at Charleston, S.C., causing millions of dollars In state train Sunday at Supply. A story and photos on
flounder Tuesday. For the weekly fishing damage to Brunswick County homes and beaches. Brunswick County's second "Fire/Rescue College"
report and other fishing news, see Page 12-C. The story's on Page 3-A /is on pa9e 9 B
x. HV wk -
1 ? II
Twenty-eighth Year. Number 44 cimoimebrunswickbeacon Shallotte. North Carolina, Thursday, September 20, 1990 25c Per Copy 36 Pages. 3 Sections. 2 Inserts
Suit Aims To Block Construction
Of New Sunset Beach Bridge
BY SUSAN USI1KR
A suit filed Friday in U.S. Dis
trict Court in Raleigh seeks to pre
vent or delay construction of a high
rise bridge at Sunset Beach.
The suit asserts that state and na
tional policies were violated in as
sessment of the project's environ
mental impact and that a full envi
ronmental study should be complet
ed before the project is pursued any
further.
Furthermore, it claims that the
court should void the six state and
federal permits the N.C. Dept. of
Transportation has already obtained
to build the federally-funded bridge,
alleging that they were based on
"inadequate and inaccurate" assess
w , , i
menus of the project's impact on its
community.
Federal Judge W. Earl Brut is ten
tatively scheduled to hold a hearing
the week of Monday, Oct. 1, on the
plaintiffs' request for a temporary
restraining order to prevent the state
from proceeding with the project.
Bids were opened Tuesday for
the project and the state Board of
Transportation is cxpected to award
a contract for construction at its
Oct. 5 meeting.
The project was first proposed
approximately 10 years ago and has
been the subject of continued con
troversy. Sunset Beach property
owners have been divided in their
views regarding replacement of the
pontoon bridge, which is the last re
maining example of its kind in the
stale.
A hearing had first been sched
uled for Monday, a civil division
clerk in U.S. District Court said
Tuesday, "But we didn't get to it."
In regard to the suit, Bill Jones, a
spokesman for N.C. DOT, said
Tuesday that the agency is "disap
pointed in the sense that we want to
go on with the project bccause we
think it is needed."
Plaintiffs in the suit arc the Sun
set Beach Taxpayers Association
and Courtney J. Mullin, Minnie
Kelly Hunt, William G. Hunt, War
ren D. Knapp, Clctus A. Waldmil
lcr, Kathryn McCoy, Dailey Long
wood Canady and Albert N. Wells.
All of the individuals cxccpt Can
ady are members of the SBTA and
own property at Sunset Beach. Can
ady is a commercial fisherman from
Longwood.
Plaintiffs arc represented by Jim
Maxwell and Ruth A. McKinney of
the Durham law firm of Maxwell &
Hutson.
Slate and federal transportation
officials and agencies named as de
fendants include Samuel K. Skin
ner, secretary of the U.S. Dept. of
Transportation; Thomas D. Larson,
administrator of the Federal High
way Administration; the U.S. Dept.
of Transportation; the Federal High
way Administration; Thomas J.
Harrclson, secretary, and William
G. Marlcy, slate highway adminis
trator of the N.C. Dept. of Trans
portation; and the state Department
of Transportation and Highway Ad
ministration.
The state plans to replace a sin
gle-lane. swinging pontoon bridge
on S.K. 1172 over the Intracoastal
Waterway that links the island with
the mainland at .Sunset Beach. The
proposed two-lane, high-rise bridge
would have a fixed concrete span
with 65 feet of vertical clearance.
Defendants claim that under state
and national environmental policies,
the project warranted completion of
a full Environmental Impact State
ment An EIS is required any time a
project is considered a "major fed
eral action" or is expcctcd "to sig
nificantly afTcct the quality of the
human environment".
In the case of the Sunset Beach
Bridge, however, the state instead
completed an Environmental As
sessment in 1981 followed hv a
"Finding Of No Significant Impact"
or FONSI in 1985. Defendants ar
gue the conclusion "contradicts"
DOT's own findings that the bridge
may result in accelerated develop
ment on Sunset Beach, improved
accessibility, increased tourism and
use of existing recreational areas,
and increased property values and
tax base.
(See SLUT, Page 2-A)
STAFF mOTO BY TE??Y fOPt
THE KIUHT weather conditions helped this woods fire near Maco Sunday destroy 237 acres before it was contained. Poor visibility
kept A'.C. 87 closed for five hours.
Weather Conditions Fueled Woods Fires
H Y TERRY POPE were used to cut trenches along the edge of the "It was so hot, that it just jumped right over
Lower humidity levels and brisk autumn- fire. The last of the plows were pulled from the (highway) 87," Logan said.
like winds helped fuel some unexpected woods woods at around 5:30 a.m. Firefighters worked to save a home and auto
fires that kept firefighters busy throughout the "At one time, we had four of the six plows salvage business owned by Jimmy Baggett, but
night Sunday and early Monday morning in two there stuck in the mud," Logan said. "It was so the fire destroyed some of the 200 cars parked
locations in Brunswick County. wet in there." in the field next to the home. Ironically, the
In the largest of the two fires, more than 237 Logan said the weather conditions now hap- home they worked to save Sunday was de
acres were scorched along N.C. 87 near Maco. pen to be right for brush fires in Brunswick stroyed by fire Monday night, but Logan said he
Another fire burned an undetermined amount of County, although spring is usually the heavy believes there is no relation between the two
land on Makatoka Road off of N.C. 211 near fire season for this area. fires.
Supply. "The way the weather is, with the low hu- It took two hours to contain the woods fire
"Both fires, I believe, arc the result of con- midity and the cooler days," he added, "even that broke out on Makatoka Road. Logan said
trolled burnings that appeared to have escaped though the woods are wet it will still burn, several county units, including Supply, Shal
frorn the paper companies," said Cecil Logan, People should be sure and not leave an open fire lolte, Civictown and Tri-Beach volunteer fire
Rnjnswick County emcrgcncy management co- unattended." departments responded iu uiai call aiuunu 3
ordinator, on Tuesday. Units from Winnabow, Bolivia, Boiling p.m.
It look firefighters more than 10 hours to Spring Lakes, Leland, Navassa, Acme-Delco, Another small brush fire was reported on
contain the blaze in Maco that also threatened Buckhead and Sunset Beach volunteer fire de- Old Cedar Road near the entrance to DuPont's
10 homes. None was damaged as a result of the parunents responded to the fire, sending 17 Cape Fear plant at Leland at about the same
fire and no injuries were reported. trucks and tankers. time Sunday afternoon. It was quickly con
Eight volunteer fire departments and the The fire started on the west side of N.C. 87 tained by Leland volunteer firemen.
N.C. Fcrest Service worked past midnight and jumped the highway at two places. The "We really didn't have a fire season in the
Sunday contain the Maco fire, which was road was closed to traffic for about live hours as spring," Logan said. "We were lucky, but now it
first reported around 3:30 p.m. Six fire plows smoke limited visibility. looks like we're finally having our share."
Amendments In State Septic Tank Rules
Expected To Up Odds For Site Approval
BY SUSAN USHKR
Brunswick County Health Direc
tor Michael Rhodes believes that
rules changes approved last month
by the Commission on Health Ser
vices will increase the odds that
more local lots will qualify for sep
Uc tank systems.
Rhodes credited the Brunswick
County Board of Health, the depart
ment's environmental health staff
and Rep. David Redwine with help
ing bring about die changes, which
he said will allow "environmentally
safe installation of these systems"
on sites where they had generally
not been allowed for the past year
or possibly longer.
Generally, the new rules mean
that environmental health specialists
at the health department will return
to evaluating sites by the standards
in place here between 1977 and
1982.
The amendments approved at the
Aug. 22 meeting in Raleigh will ap
ply U) lots platted on or before Dec.
31, 1989. 'That says to planners
and developers 'your lots need to be
larger (now) if you're going to have
septic tanks and wells,"' said
Rhodes.
County officials were successful
in getting the cut-off date changed,
said Rluxles. As first presented last
month the cut-off dale would have
been Jan. I, 1983, which he said ar
bitrarily tied the amendments to ear
lier, unrelated changes in the rules.
The changes approved last month
arc essentially ones that Brunswick
County officials had thought would
be covered in septic tank rules
changes announced nearly a year
ago that went into effect Jan. 1.
"We had been working on this
about a year," said Rhodes. "We
thought we knew what was coming,
but we got an even bigger surprise.
"What we thought would be less
restrictive regulations actually made
it more stringent in Brunswick
County because of the small lot
sizes we have," said Rhodes.
The rules were changed to allow
installation of septic tanks in certain
"previously filled" lots. But the
state at the same time set very grad
ual slope requirements for most lots
and limited the "loading rate," or
the volume of sewage that could be
handled by the system within a giv
en time frame.
Most lots in Brunswick County
are small, 65 feet in width or less,
having been platted before the state
adopted its uniform septic tank
rules. That small size prevented in
stallers from being able to comply
with the new rules, leaving the lots
generally unsuited for development
except where public water and com
inuiiily sewer treatment systems
were available.
In other cases, the changes made
the difference in how some lots
could be developed?whether a lot
could accommodate a three- or
four-bedroom house or only a one
or two-bedroom house. That was a
major concern for developers of ex
pensive barrier island or waterfront
property.
The health department estimated
that as many as 8,()00 individual
lots in Brunswick County could not
be developed with the use of indi
vidual scptic tank systems.
"In most cases," Rhodes said,
"those lots that were 'provisionally
suitable' (for site permit approval),
that needed draining and/or Tilling,
could not be built on because of the
slope and loading rate require
ments."
(See SKHTIC TANK, 1'age 2-A)
State Opens Bridge Bids
An Evansvillc, Ind., firm is the
apparent low b"! ' smong 11 firms
vying for 3 eoniraci to build a high
rise, fixed-span bridge at Sunset
Beach.
Barring issuance of a preliminary
injunction to the contrary, the state
Board of Transportation plans to
award the contract for the project at
its Oct. 5 meeting in Cherokee.
Trayior Brothers Inc. submitted a
bid of 58,394,819.55, which N.C.
Department of Transportation
spokesman Bill Jones said is .3 per
cent above the state's engineering
estimate of S8.37 million.
Jones said the figure is well with
in the acceptable range of hid for
the project. However, the bids open
?v had not been reviewed
yei iu^ any irregularities.
Bids ranged n- *: :ne 3(2.2 fi<ii
lion figure submitted by Metric
Constructors Inc. of Charlotte.
The second lowest bid,
S8,651,380.46, was submitted by
The Hardaway Co. of Columbus,
Ga., while the third lowest bid,
S8.69 million, was submitted by
Lec CoiISwuCuGm Co. of Charlotu*.
DOT s latest cost estimate is
SI 1.2 million for the Sunset Beach
Bridge project, including construc
tion, engineering and right of way
acquisition. The bridge would re
place a swinging pontoon bridge
that connects the mainland and is
land.
DOT Condemns Sea Trail Lai id
In Sunset Bridge Right Of Way
The N.C. Department of Trans
portation has begun eminent do
main proceedings against Sea Trail
Corp. after the two couldn't agree
un jusi cuiiipCiiSdiiOn' foi land
claimed by the state for construction
of the planned high-rise bridge at
Sunset Beach.
Eminent domain refers to the
government's right to take private
property for public use, usually with
compensation to the owner.
In condemnation proceedings
filed earlier this month in Bruns
wick County Superior Court DOT
has asked that a jury determine just
compensation for the property.
Sea Trail Corp., developer of a
large residential and golf course
complex in the Sunset Beach main
land area, rejected the state's offer
of $228,000, according to the suit
filed by Eugene Smith, a senior de
puty attorney general. Also named
as defendants arc Dennis Crocker,
trustee for NCNB, and NCNB,
which holds four deeds of trust re
lated to the contested property.
The proposed route for access to
the new bridge lies to the west of
the existing bridge approach. It cuts
across Sea Trail Golf Links, passing
L J P. ,???>?( T-.,.,. If u
1A.11111U juii.x.1 uuicii iuwii nail,
and then across Shoreline Drive/
N.C. 179. Also involved is land ad
jacent to the intersection of N.C.
179 and Shoreline Drive.
DOT is taking fee simple title to
a portion of the property for right of
way for the new bridge approach. It
is Liking the remainder of the land
in question as slope easement to
provide lateral support for the high
way or for temporary construction
easement for the duration of the
bridge project
The state said the slope casement
would revert to the owner, accord
ing to the suit, at such time as the
elevation of the land adjacent to the
approach is lowered or increased so
that the support is no longer needed.
DOT deposited the $228,000
with the court
Sea Trail Corp. has one year in
which to file its answer.
DA's Office To Receive
Evidence On Inspector
BY TERRY POPE
A detective with the Brunswick
County Sheriff's Department says
he hopes to complete an investiga
tion ot the county's former building
inspector this week on alleged fel
ony charges.
Chief of Detectives Phil Perry
said Monday lie will present evi
dence to the district attorney's of
fice by the middle of this week to
determine what, if any, charges will
be filed against Julius D. "Buddy"
Lewis, who resigned as head of the
Building Inspection Department
three weeks ago.
The investigation stems from al
leged conversion of money paid for
a county building permit that was
never officially issued. Perry is in
vestigating whether the money was
pocketed by the county employee
instead.
"There are still a couple of peo
ple to be interviewed," Perry said.
"All I can say at this point is that it
is still being investigated."
Perry received information from
County Attorney and Interim Coun
ty Manager David Clegg last Thurs
day to begin the investigation fol
lowing reports detailing how Lewis
allegedly cashed a SI25 check from
the Faith Original Free Will Baptist
Church in Leland. The county did
not uncover the problem until the
church requested a plumbing insnec
lion and the staff discovered there
was no building permit on record for
the church project, Clegg said.
At the church site on Village
Road in Leland, a placard display
ing the building permit had been
erected, and church officials were
able to produce a check dated April
4 which, Clegg said, was "purport
edly" used for the permit. Alleged
ly, Lewis had asked the church to
leave the check blank so he could
use a departmental stamp, but in
stead the check was made out to and
cashed by Lewis.
If charges are filed against Lewis,
it is likely to be conversion of pub
lic money for private use, a felony
count Perry refused to say how
many charges are being investigat
ed. The district attorney's office will
determine what charges to file, he
added.
"Considering his position and the
methods used, it would be a felony
charge," Perry said.
(See DA's OFFICE, Page 2-A)