Shallotte Recycling Center Opens Friday BY DOUG RUTTKR The trailer will open to the public Friday at 12:30 Coordinators of a voluntary recycling program in p.m., following a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Potts said Shallottc dealt a temporary setback three weeks ago the trailer will be open Monday through Saturday from plan to open their collection center for business Friday. 10 a.m. until 4 p.m., and volunteers will be on hand to The trailer for rccyclablcs will be located in an hc'P people. empty paved parking lot at the comer of Powell and Shallottc is the seventh community in Brunswick Blake streets. The lot is north of the Hill's shopping County to oflcr a voluntary recycling program. Its recy ccnter and cast of United Carolina Bank's south branch cling trailer will be similar to ones at Holdcn Beach, _ ? . _ ... , ? Calabash and Sunset Beach. Jbc South Brunswick Interchurch Council. a ..on- Thc ,railcr wi? ^ ft?cd wllh , conlaincrs in profit group organizing the recycling effort, had which ,c can |acc djffcrcm , ^s ol rccyc,ablc planned to park a collection trailer m the Hill s lo<xl jlcms ?(|? ^ -,/umuuims cans ^papers/plastic store parking lot and open it before Thanksgiving. ^ g)ass wj)1 ^ acccp(cd a( thc sha||^ rc/ycllng However, coordinators said they were informed center. Nov. 12 that thc site that was promised to them in Aug Potts said he expccts thc trailer to arrive this week, ust was no longer available. They immediately began A group of volunteers from Camp United Methodist looking for a new site and found thc lot near the Church planned to build stairs and a platform prior to Shallottc Volunteer Rescue Squad Building. the grand opening. Bill Potts, a member of council's recycling commit The trailer will be provided by Bush Recycling of tee, said he thinks the site will work out. "Hopefully, Florence, S.C. Shallottc Aldermen had earlier agreed to it's convenient enough for people coming to town to pay $200 per month for the trailer on a three-month trial shop," he said. basis. However, Brunswick County Commissioners voted unanimously Monday night to fund the projcct in Shallotlc and pay for another recycling trailer soon to be set up in Lcland. The county already is paying for six other recycling trailers. "It's only fair to do the same thing with Lcland and Shallottc," said Kelly Holdcn, newly-elected chair man of the county commissioners. Jane Gilbert, who is helping to organize the recy cling effort in Lcland, told county commissioners the trailer would be manned by volunteers and would be coordinated by the North Brunswick Civic Association. "Leland has spacc for a trailer, but we're still a cou ple of months away from being ready," said Mrs. Gilbert, who is a member of the Lcland Town Council and lexal Keep America Beautiful Board. Potts said the Shallotlc recycling committee has signed up nine volunteers who are willing to staff the trailer, but needs 40 or 50 to run the ccntcr properly. "We need volunteers desperately," he said. People interested in helping out can call Potts at 754-5079 or Lena Mintz at 754 6725. Recycling Trailer Is Moved Onto Island At Holden Beach ITic Holden Beach recycling trailer lhat had been operating since June 30 has been temporarily closed and moved from the mainland to the island. Holden Beach Town Manager Blake Proctor said the lot where the trailer was parked has been sold. The Holden Beach Ladies' Club moved the trailer last Friday from its site along N.C. 130 East. It is parked near the Holden Beach Town Hall for the time being, but as of Tuesday had not been re opened to the public. Proctor said he planned to meet with the town re cycling committee and the president of the ladies' club before taking the next step. "I wouldn't mind seeing it open here because most of the contribu tions come from here anyway," he said. Alan Holden, a real estate developer at Holden Beach, said at Monday's town meeting that he is willing to provide land for the trailer on the island or the mainland. Meanwhile, Holden Beach officials are working on a curbsidc recycling program that would be used by island residents and visitors. THE BRf .^BEACON Twenty-ninth Year, Number 5 ei??o ?E brunswick beacon Shallotte, North Carolina, Thursday, December 6,1990 25c Per Copy 34 Pages, 3 Sections, 1 Insert v. STAFF PHOTO BY TERRY POPC Sharing Secrets With Santa Heather Adkins was just one of the youngsters who got to share their Christmas wish lists with Santa Claus Saturday following the Shallotte Christmas Parade. Heather, just a little bit nervous, said she wants a "big doll," but couldn't remember its name. More parade coverage is on Page 6-A. Sunset Tables Request For Annexation BY SUSAN USHER member Minnie Hunt and Sunset viccs. Faced with more questions than it Beach Taxpayers Association "I don't see how the devil you had answers for, Sunset Bcach President Clctus Waldmillcr qucs- can vote for this thing," said Town Council Monday tabled a re- tioncd the cost-benefit ratio for the Waldmiller. quest to annex a strip of property town in annexing the proposed area The area proposed for annexation that would extend the town's juris- and whether an annexation study consists primarily of Sea Trail diction to the Seaside business dis- fully addressed demand for services Corporation property, including a trict. such as police protection. They also strip bordering Seaside Station In one of a series of five public raised questions about why the along one side of N.C. 179 and nine hearings, only two speakers ad- property owners want to become holes of Sea Trail Links on the other dressed council regarding the pro- part of the town, since they would side, excluding the Sugar Sands I posed annexation. Former council gain little else in additional scr- (See ANNEXATION, Page 7-A) EXTENT OF PROBLEM NOT YET KNOWN Probe Shows Past Employees Carried On Schools' Insurance BY SUSAN USHKR Brunswick County Board of Education officials arc investigating the improper carrying of former employ ees on the school system's health and dental insurance programs, trying to find out the extent of the problem as well as the school system's potential financial liability. Those whose premiums continued to be paid through the school system after their employment end ed includc, among others, former Superintendent John Kaufhold and a former central purchasing officer, Randall Worth, husband of former school board chair man Dorothy Worth, Finance Director Rudi Fallon con firmed Tuesday. Exactly how many former employees might be in volved and whether the payment of the premiums on their behalf was in error or by intent remains to be de termined through the investigation. V.:. 'vllnn affirmed Tuesday that one indtvklur.1 has had responsibility for handling employee insurance claims and premiums, but would not identify that per son. However, Payroll Supervisor Jewel McCumbce of Ash was suspended Nov. 2 while the board's investiga tion continues. She has since filed a grievance. After a special meeting of the school board Friday, Superintendent P. R. Hankins said that the system was having "processing" problems relating to employee in surance claims and payments of premiums. He said the board's next action would be determined by the find ings of its investigation and review of the records. "It's really a nightmare," he said of the problems. "It's not new. It's a cumulative thing. It's been snow balling." North Carolina Blue Cross/Blue Shield administers the slate's self-insurance program, in which the school system participates. Under a regulation adopted Sept. 1, 1986, and in cluded in employees' insurance handbooks, former em ployees of the school district arc allowed to continue their group policies for 18 months if they pay both their share and the school district's share of the premiums, plus 2 percent. Once taken off the school system books, the former employees arc billed directly if they choose continuation coverage for the transition period. After the 18 months, members must make their oth er insurance arrangements. However, so long as the former employees' premi ums arc paid through the school system, Ms. Fallon in dicated, the insurance company docs not become aware that they were no longer employees of the system. "In a lot of eases ihcy (former employees) paid us for what we had been paying, but additional money is still needed," she said. What is owed in those cases is the 2 percent in addi tional premiums the employee would have had to pay if continuing the coverage on his or her own. For the past year, the school system computer has been programmed to automatically pay the premiums, indicating which portion is paid by the school system and which part by employee payroll deduction. However, employees who arc on leave of absence can send in checks to cover their share of the premiums while they arc not on the payroll. Those payments are handled manually from a separate set of books. Ms. Fallon is concerned about what the county's ad ditional liability may be for employees who were im properly continued on the insurance program. "T'lat's where I ihink we may get a letter fpvrt th" insurance company saying, 'You owe...."' The insurance company may seek payment of the additional 2 percent in premiums the former employees would have had to pay for continuation coverage and the difference in premiums collected and claims paid, she said. If so, any additional money owed would have to be made up with local funds unless for the current fiscal year. Neither the state nor federal government will pro vide the system additional funds once books arc closed for a fiscal year. Who should pay? "That's what the State of North Carolina will have to tell us," said Ms. Fallon. Worth's name was marked off the bill in June and he was no longer carried as an active employee. He re ceived a letter from the insurer offering him 18 months' continuation at the higher premium rate; the insurance company did not know he had resigned from county employment in September 1985. Worth has said he did not know about the 18-month limit on continued coverage. In a procedure not normally followed, the county sent a change form for Kaufhold to the insurance com pany in August. Kaufhold's name should have been marked off the bill as of June 30, when his employment ended, Ms. Fallon said. Previously he and one dependent had been carried on the program, at a cost of SI73 per month, of which $107 was paid by the system for Kaufhold. Employees and the school system share the cost of hospital insurance premiums, with the system's share (See PROBE, Page 2-A) Northern Loop Study To Limit Possible Routes Before April BY TERRY POPE A consulting firm hired by the N.C. Department of Transportation plans to identify possible routes for the proposed Northern Outer Loop project by April of next year. Mean while, residents of northern Bruns wick County are anxiously waiting to see what the impact of the high way will be on their homes and businesses. The Wilmington bypass will route traffic heading south on 1-40 around Wilmington on a four-lane path through northern Brunswick County where it will connect with U.S. 17 south of Bishop near Town Creek. DOT's 1990-97 draft Trans portation Improvement Program has the project scheduled to begin in fiscal year 19%. Greiner Inc. of Raleigh will com pile a two-year Environmental Im pact Statement (E1S) of the project to determine "where to locate corri dors which will have the least nega tive impact" on the area, said Shar on Phillips, project manager wilh Greiner. The public's comments will be included in that study. Officials froin the towns of I x'land and Navassa arc concerned that the bypass will be disruptive to their communities. Leland Mayor Russell Baldwin said lie hopes the two towns can convince officials that running the highway through the incorporat ed areas would be devastating. By April, Greiner will have iden tified possible routes for the pro posed highway and will hold anoth er public hearing at that time. There may be as many as five to 10 possi ble routes at first, but that number will be narrowed to three by April for the more detailed study, Ms. Phillips said. Two of those proposed routes would exit traffic off of 1-40 between North Chase subdivision and Castle I layne in New Hanover County and carry traffic through Brunswick County to U.S. 17 south, a 14 mile project that would have to cross both the Northeast (.'ape Fear and Cape Fear rivers. Ihe only pari of the pro ject tliat is definite at this time, Ms. Phillips said, is the location of where the loop will exit from 1-40. A third proposal would end the loop on U.S. 421 north of Wilming ton and rout - tt^ffir nlonp t! 74 76 past Bclville to the U.S. 17 inter change in Leland. Those highways would have to be widened. It is a route county officials object to be cause of anticipated traffic conges tion. Greiner's E1S will research the project's anticipated effect on water quality, historical sites, schools, churches, businesses and residential relocations, community cemeteries and impact on lakes and streams. It will be completed by October 1992. "Every time you take a house, you have to buy that home," Ms. Phillips said. "It's very disruptive; people get angry. There are a lot of reasons you don't want to do that. We have some real incentives not to take large areas of development." A Wilmington Bypass Steering Committee has identified an alter nate route that would carry the highway through the middle of Navassa and across U.S. 74-76 and Old Faycttcvillc Road in Leland, providing no access to those roads and disrupting several churches and developments along its path. Bruns wick County has two members on (See LOOP, Page 7-A) 4 STAFF PHOTO 8Y TIMY POPE ANN AWTRY OF Inland reviews maps showing the area under study for the proposed Norther Outer loop bypass of Wilmington with N.C. Department of Transportation Chief Consultant Hon Elmore.

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