In The Running
Calabash is one of six communities
being considered for the N c. coastal
initiative program and state officials
plan to visit next week. For details
turn to Page 12-B.
Basketball Preview
A young west Brunswick Hign scnooi men s
team defends the conference hoop title this
year, while all five starters return on the
women's team. Season previews are on
Pages 8-B and 9-B
?ra^.?Ded Quarters
beachliouses'fp9 staircases typical of
rescue personnel like^L/c S?'
(left) and Midget varnum. 1 he ?
Page 10-A. orv s on
Twenty-ninth Year, Number 3 e'^oothebrunswckbeacon Shallotte, North Carolina, Wednesday, November 21,1990 25c Per Copy 38 Pages, 3 Sections, 2 Insert
STAFF PHOTO BY DOUG RUTTTt
Tears Of Joy
Lisa Dale Young of luitig Reach, right, sheds tears of happiness
Saturday night after being named Miss Hrunswick County 1991.
At left, Miss Brunswick County 1990 Wendy Williams prepares to
crown her successor. The story and more photos are inside this is
sue.
| President To Honor Pringle
A local man was 10 be honored Thanksgiving Day by President
George Bush for outstanding volunteer service.
Donald Pringle of Holden Beach, a volunteer with the South
Brunswick Interchurch Council, was to be designated the 307th "Daily
Point of Light" Thursday, honored by Bush as an example of how vol
unteers can help their communities.
Under the program Bush has committed to recognizing one out
standing volunteer or volunteer organization a day, six days a week, un
til 1,000 have been named, said Andrew Pryor of the Office of National
Service at the White House. Their accomplishments will be compiled in
a publication aimed at inspiring and mobilizing others to volunteer.
"Mr. Pringle, for example, could be used as an example of a volun
teer working with elderly people with low incomes," said Pryor.
Pringle is involved in numerous volunteer efforts, including the re
cent establishment of the Brunswick Adult Day Care Center, a not-for
profit day care scrvicc for older adults at Southport.
Beach Owners Meet Saturday
Property owner groups at 'he
three barrier island communities in
cluded in the South Brunswick
Islands will gather Saturday, Nov.
24, for their final meetings of the
year.
The Ocean Isle Beach Property
Owners Association holds its annu
al meeting Saturday at 9:3(1 a.m. at
the town hall. An agenda was not
available.
The pontoon bridge and the pro
posed high-rise bridge will oncc
again be a main topic of discussion
when the Sunset Beach Taxpayers
Association (SBTA) meets Saturday
at the Sunset Beach fire station.
Coffee will be served at 10 a.m ,
and thr? business meeting will begin
at 10:30 a.m., according to SBTA
President Cletus Waldmillcr.
Other items on the agenda in
clude a Dec. 3 public hearing on an
nexation of an area that includes the
Food Lion shopping center at
Seaside and nine golf holes at Sea
Trail Plantation. Waldmillcr said
members also will discuss a pro
posed dune ordinance and under
ground utilities project.
SBTA members will fill three
seats on the board of directors
Saturday. Ballots have been mailed
to members, and nominations will
be accepted from the floor during
the meeting.
Waldmiller and treasurer Fran Pel
Iclicr have been nominated for re
election. Don Hiscott of Lumberton
has been nominated to fill die scat
vacated by Fit/. Dove of Charlotte.
The Holdcn Beach Property
Owners Association Board of Di
rectors meets Saturday at 9 a.m. in
the town hall. The general member
ship meeting starts at 10 a.m.
An update on the group's infor
mation b<K)klet, discussion of a
membership questionnaire and win
lerizalion of houses arc among the
items on the agenda. Town Manager
Blake Proctor also will bring mem
bers up to date on various town pro
jects.
U.S. 17 Detour To Begin Soon
Commuters and others who drive U.S. 17 north of Shallotte may
need to allow extra travel time in their schedules starling the middle of
next week.
Dave Boylcsion, resident engineer with the N.C. Department of
Transportation, said the contractor on the bypass project just north of
Shallotte near Letties Grove Church expects to begin temporarily
leiuuimg udiliL a* caiiy o.> in. a! >Ycui>csuuy, Nov. 2X.
The exact date the detour goes into effect will depend on arrival of
construction materials, weather conditions and subcontractors, he said.
While the northern access to the bypass is completed, motorists will
be detoured from U.S. 17 along N.C. 130 East (Holden Beach Road)
and Red Bug Road, S.R. 1136, for as much as 90 days. A temporary
traffic signal has been erected at the intersection of Holden Beach and
Red Bug roads to help control the How of traffic there.
Boylcsion said Propst Construction Co. expects its work may take
"pretty close" to ihe allotted time to complete. Before, Boylcsion had
estimated the work might be completed ahead of schedule.
JUDGE ORDERS NEW ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY
Opponents Stop?For Now
High-Rise Bridge At Sunset Beoch
BY SUSAN USHKR
After an 11-year baulc the Sunset Beach
Taxpayers Association (SBTA) has stopped?at
least temporarily?the planned construction of a
high-rise bridge at Sunset Beach.
A contract for the bridge, which was expected
to cost SI 1.1 million when completed, was to
have been awarded at the state Board of
Transportation's October meeting. The project
was put on hold after the 530-mcmbcr SBTA and
eight individuals sued to stop it.
A federal judge in Wilmington Monday de
clared all existing state and federal permits ob
tained for construction of the bridge, null and
void. He ordered state and federal transportation
agencies and officials to stop work on the bridge.
Work cannot be resumed until "an adequate envi
ronmental impact statement" (EIS) is prepared
and circulated for comment and review.
"Clearly we have stopped the bridge at least
for the time being," said attorney Jim Maxwell,
attorney for the SBTA and eight other individual
plaintiffs in the case. Brill's decision came ap
proximately a month after three days of hearings
in the case.
"I wasn't feeling too good today until 1 got the
news," SBTA President Cletus Waldmillcr said
Monday afternoon. SBTA members would cele
brate the decision at its meeting Saturday "with
coffcc and doughnuts," he said, after having had
time to review the full opinion. They will also
seek added contributions to the SBTA legal fund,
since the lawsuit has cost more than anticipated.
However, at least one advocate for a replace
ment bridge. Sunset Beach Mayor and former
SBTA President Mason Barber, suggested
Monday that the SBTA's victory may be hard
won and costly in ways other ti.aii dollars.
"1 think all they will achieve is a delay. There
will be a bridge," he predicted. "It will cost more
to build and it will split the community more and
more."
"Clearly we have stopped
the bridge at least for the
time being."
?Jim Maxwell
Plaintiffs' attorney
The slate had proposed replacing the one-lane
pontoon bridge across the Intracoastal Waterway
with a 65-foot clearance fixed span. The existing
bridge has become a symbol for both opponents
and proponents of the replacement span during
the 11-year dispute.
The SBTA and other plaintiffs fear a highrisc
bridge would encourage denser development and
increased tourism that in turn would harm the en
vironment and destroy the island community's
family-oriented atmosphere.
In turn, supporters of a replacement span see
the pontoon bridge as antiquated, unsafe and in
adequate to handle existing and projected boat
and vehicular traffic.
In his 47-page opinion and separate two-page
order, U.S. District Judge W. Earl Briu * 'onday
said the slate must identify and discus in detail
the "direct, indirect and cumulative impacts" of
the proposed project and alternatives to it in an
E1S, in accordance with state and federal envi
ronmental law.
When the state first began the bridge project it
completed an environmental assessment, which
must be followed by either a finding of no signif
icant environmental impact or a full environmen
tal -.r.pact statement.
In his arguments for the plaintiffs, attorney
Maxwell contended that, based on evidence that
should have been considered from the beginning,
the state Department of Transportation should
have completed a full impact statement, not is
sued a finding of no significant impact.
He said the earlier environmental assessment
gave no consideration to the impact of the bridge
on loggerhead turtles, plovers or wood storks, or
endangered or threatened plant species on the is
land, he said Monday. The new document must
do this as well as consider the sociological im
pact of the project, its effect on the human envi
ronment. TTiis includes the potentials of in
creased development, increased traffic, and the
adequacy of the town's septic tanks to accommo
date such growth.
Appeal Is Possible
Should the state choose to appeal, he said, the
plaintiffs are well-equipped now with expert tes
timony and other material to fight the project
during the public hearing and agency review pro
cess.
DOT spokesman Bill Jones said attorneys and
administrators for DOT had not had time
Tuesday to review the opinion and decide
whether to file notice of appeal. Brill's decision
could be appealed to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court
of Appeals in Richmond, Va.
Islanders May Counter
Barber predicted that the division among
Sunset Beach full-time residents and non-resi
dent property owners will widen as a result of the
bridge decision, and that the SBTA will lose sup
port and possibly draw active opposition.
"1 think the people have had enough of the tax
payers' association. 1 think they will start stand
ing tall and getting the people's attention," he
said. "This group (of residents), that 1 don't want
to identify right now, won't take this lying down.
And before they go public with what they intend
to do, they will seek !xgal advrc."
Barber said he hopes the state and federal
transportation agencies will not appeal the ruling
because of the additional time that might be lost
(See OPPONENTS, Page 2-A)
School Board, Hankins Agree On Contract Terms
BY SUSAN USHER
More than two months after the
vote to hire him, Brunswick County
Board of Education members Doro
thy Worth and James Clcmmons
signed Superintendent P. R. Hank
ins' employment contract Monday
afternoon.
The 3:30 p.m. cercmony marked
one of their last official acts as
members and officers of the board.
Mrs. Worth, chairman, and Clem
mons, vice chairman, were defeated
in their bid for re-election to the
board and leave office Dec. 3.
At its Sept. 1 meeting the board
voted 4 to 1 (with member Robert
Slockett opposing) to employ Hank
ins as superintendent for the period
Oct. 1, 1990, through Sept. 30,
1992. He had been acting superin
tendent since the dismissal of for
mer superintendent John Kaufhold
last June.
Shaped over the course of several
board meetings, the contract signed
Monday is retroactive to Oct. 1,
with any exceptions or variations in
its provisions to be by written con
sent of the board and superinten
dent
Among other details, the contract
specifies how certain information is
to be handled by the superintendent
and board members?a sore point in
board relations with Hankins' pre
decessor.
The board?as individuals and as
a whole?is to refer to the superin
tendent "all criticism, complaints
and suggestions called to its atten
tion, and shall direct any inquiries,
questions or requests for informa
tion through the superintendent,
who will, in a timely fashion, direct
such inquiries, questions and re
quests for information to the appro
priate staff members for response
by him."
Also, if during the term of the
contract a specific clause of the
contract is found illegal in federal
or state law, the remainder of the
contract not affected by such a rul
ing is to remain in effect.
Kaufhold's employment was ter
minated after the board obtained le
gal opinions stating his contact was
valid only through June 30, 1990,
when he had understood it was
valid until June 30, 1992.
Phlandcr Roosevelt Hankins will
be paid at the state salary scale plus
a local supplement of 512,696, to be
paid in monthly installments. How
ever, the board retains the right to
increase the supplement paid Hank
ins at any time, as an amendment to
the contract and without reducing
Hankin's aggregate annual salary.
Kaufhold's last contract with the
board provided that in the event of
an increase in the state salary sched
ule, the superintendent's local sup
plement would be automatically in
creased by one-half of the percent
age of the state salary increase.
Hankins' contract specifies that
the superintendent is to maintain
valid and appropriate certification
for the post. It also "encourages"
him to attend appropriate profes
sional meetings, specifying at board
expense. In turn, Hankins is to file
itemized expense statements with
the board's fiscal officer.
The contract generally provides
that Hankins will have "adequate
freedom" to organize, reorganize
and arrange the staff as in his judg
ment best serves the school system
and that he shall be responsible "for
selection, placement and transfer"
of personnel, subject to approval of
the board.
In addition to the usual benefits
paid other school system adminis
trators, he will have the use of a
board-owned car, as have his prede
cessors.
Unlike Hankins' contract, Kauf
hold's last contract also included re
quirements for Brunswick County
residency; 60 day's notice should he
plan to resign; monetary compensa
tion to him for any annual leave
days he was unable to take; provi
sions for a an annual written, com
posite evaluation of the superinten
dent not to be released to the public;
and provisions for buy-out of his
contract by the board.
Thonged Beach Jogger Wants To Boost 'Body Acceptance'
A man who until cooler weather
set in jogged regularly on the Sun
set Beach strand in a thong swim
suit says he would "like to foster
greater body acceptance."
"I go down there to run and enjoy
the beach," Otto Schuster told The
Brunswick Beacon. "1 don't think
there's anything wrong with the
naked human body. If everybody
else thought that way I wouldn't be
here."
Schustcr was responding to a
news story in the Nov. 15 edition of
the newspaper that discussed efforts
by the Town of Sunset Beach to
adopt an ordinance regulating
beachwear. Interest in the ordinance
was sparked in part by complaints
about Schuster's appearance as he
jogged about three times a week up
and down the strand. He was appar
ently the only regular visitor to the
beach this past season who wears a
thong, and doesn't sec why the suit
should be considered offensive to
other beachgocrs.
Schuster said since moving to the
area approximately five months
ago, he has jogged between 200 and
300 miles at the beach, about 50
runs back and forth the length of the
strand.
Right now he's not jogging at the
beach because it is too cold. "I told
the police chief I'm looking forward
to spring," said Schuster.
Schuster started out wearing a
competition-type suit on his jogs,
then decided to graduate to a skimp
ier suit, a thong. But first, he said he
checked at local beaches to see if
there were any ordinances forbid
ding the suits.
"In effect, I got permission," he
said. When asked, police chiefs at
both Ocean Isle Beach and Sunset
Beach told him there were no town
ordinances forbidding the suits.
Once he began wearing the
thong, Schuster says "no one has
asked me to leave."
While Sunset Beach town offi
cials have logged complaints from
visitors to the beach and local resi
dents, Schuster says he hasn't re
ceived any. "No one has approached
me on the beach with ill will," he
said, "and I've gotten quite a few
waves and nods."
iri uic cuuim; oi ms jugging,
Schuster said he's seen, on single
occasions, two other males and two
females also in thongs.
Schuster said he spends most of
his time improving his mind or his
body. He said he has begun reading
tha Bible for the 52nd time, and that
the work has had "a great influ
ence" on him and his attitudes to
ward life.
In addition to jogging he works
out three times a week at a fitness
center and generally takes care of
his body. He doesn't drink, doesn't
smoke and he doesn't drink caf
feinated beverages. He doesn't
watch television and is a ham radio
operator
Meanwhile, the town is continu
ing its effort to come up with a suit
able beach apparel ordinance, but a
spokesman for the N.C. League of
Municipalities said it will be a diffi
cult task.
Kim Smith, assistant general
counsel for the League, said she has
been researching the topic, trying to
come up with examples of similar
mdiiiaiu.cs fiuni other towns or
cities. "I did not come up with any
examples," she said.
Wrightsville Beach had adopted
an ordinance banning toplessness,
but it may be subordinate to a state
ordinance regulating indecent expo
sure. "If breasts are deemed private
parts then it would be regulated by
the state law," she said, otherwise it
could fall under the town's ordi
nance.
North Myrtle Beach, S.C.?and
possibly Sarasota, Fla.?has a gen
eral ordinance regarding nudity that
forbids exposure of genitals, the pu
bic area, breasts and buttocks, she
said.
"By 2r,d Jsrgc ! wssn't ghlc to
find much," said Ms. Smith. "The
trouble is in trying to draft one that
isn't too vague, that adequately de
fines how much exposure is too
much, particularly with thongs.
Where do you draw the line to be
gin enforcing it?"
"It's a difficult area of law, a gray
area, trying to regulate beachwear,"
she said.