Looking To Crow
Calabash wants help In side stepping lengthy
involuntary annexation procedures in order to
expand the town's limits?and tax base. The story's
on Page 10-C.
Lights Out? | sports In Review
Holden Beach officials are looking at rules I Sports Editor Johnny Craig highlights the resurgence
aimed at protecting sea turtles from sources of I of prep basketball as he looks back at the Brunswick
artificial light that could lure them off-course. I county sports scene during 1990. His review Is on Page
Details are on Page 8-A. ? 7-b.
THE BRUNSWICK*
Our Twenty-ninth Year, Number 8 cmotmib day, December 27, 1990 25<t Per Copy 28 Pages, 3 Sections, 1 Insert
Girl Dies From
Moped Accident
A Holden Bcach area girl died
early Monday morning from in
juries sustained in a moped accident
that occurred near her home Satur
day afternoon.
Crystal Crabtrcc, 14, was riding a
moped near the family home in
Holiday Ranches, a subdivision
near Holden Bcach, when she ap
parently ran off the hard surface,
fell and hit her head.
"Apparently, her head struck the
concrete," said Connor Cox, a
friend of the family.
Crystal was the daughter of Rich
ard and Jackie Crabtrcc. Mr. Crab
trcc is employed by Cox at Bruns
wickland Realty at Holden Bcach.
The accident apparently occurred
around 4 p.m. As related by Cox, a
girlfriend inside the Crabtrecs'
house said she heard a scream and
ran out to check. Crystal and her
moped were down. Crystal told the
friend to get help right away, said
Cox, and she did so.
It is not known if the moped flip
ped or what caused the rider to fall
from the bike. No cars were involv
ed.
"She never regained conscious
ness," said Cox, who stayed with
the family at the hospital Sunday.
A spokesperson at the State
Highway Patrol office in Wilming
ton said no report was filed on the
accident.
Miss Crabtrcc was taken to The
Brunswick Hospital in Supply then
transferred to New Hanover Mem
orial Hospital in Wilmington.
"All I know at this point is that
she died sometime this morning,"
said Iris Baker, a public affairs offi
cer at New Hanover Memorial.
Ms. Baker said Monday that in
formation was still not available
from a medical examiner's report.
STAFF FHOTO BY DOUG tlJTTEt
Feeding Time
Hi'Uy Mai .in and her mother, Clevie Capps, both of Gaslonia,feed
a flock of hungry gulls at II olden It each Sunday. Mild, spring-like
temperatures over the weekend made it difficult to believe it was
the first weekend of winter.
Water Director Asking County
For Workers To Handle Growth
BY TKRRY POPE mcnt, Webb says the need for addi
Brunswick County Commission- tional employees is "an area requir
crs have received two reports from ing immediate attention."
the water department, one asking At its December meeting, the
for more employees to handle the Brunswick County Utility Opera
growth brought on by water system lions Board passed a resolution
expansion. praising Webb for the report. Board
Director of Public Utilities Jerry members also acknowledged the
Webb said the number of water cus- need to add more workers to the
tomcrs served by the department staff. UOB members oversee county
has increased tremendously since projects for water line extensions
1987 while the number of new cm- and make recommendations to
ployccs during the same period can county commissioners.
be counted on one hand. Last week, the new board of
In a yearly "Brunswick County commissioners received Webb's re
Water System Historical Data" re- port and one that outlines water ex
port compiled by the water depart- tension projects to the year 2010.
The Brunswick County Water Dis
tribution System Markctplan was
drafted by Daniels and Associates
of Cary. That master plan uses an
ticipated population increases and
industrial growth to recommend
where future water lines should go.
The first phase of expansion is
scheduled for 1991. However, com
missioners did not discuss either re
port at their meeting last week. They
carried copies home with them in
stead.
"We simply cannot continue to
operate this system on what I
consider to be knee-jerk operations
(See WATER, Page 2-A)
Paving Contractor Delays 17 Detour 'Til Spring
BY SUSAN USHKR ihc. closed-off area and return traffic
A planned detour of traffic at the to U.S. 17.
north end of Shallottc to accommo- "He needs to have as good a wea
datc work on the U.S. 17 Shallotte ther as he can to meet that sched
bypass will be delayed until spring. ulc," said Boyleston. "He had a lit
Conccrned about winter weather tie bit of trouble with his asphalt
conditions, Propst Construction Co. and didn't want to pursue his 90
of Concord has decided to postpone days in the middle of the winter's
the work until sometime in March, cold, wet weather."
said Dave Boyleston, the N.C. Dc- Instead Propst Construction will
partment of Transportation resident "winterize" the work that as been
engineer overseeing the project. completed and shut down opcra
Propst had initially expected to tions until around March. Workers
divert traffic from U.S. 17 to Red will cover stone with asphalt binder,
Bug Road and the Holdcn Beach which will be covered with surface
Road shortly after the Thanksgiving material to seal it. Erosion control
holidays. Red Bug Road was resur- measures such as seeding and mul
faccd and a traffic control light in- ching must also be completed be
stallcd at its intersection with N.C. fore the project shuts down for the
130 to accommodate the rerouted winter.
traffic. While the detour will be in effcct
However, once traffic is detour- during the Easier holidays, Boylcs
ed, the contractor will have only 90 ton said the contractor is obligated
days in which to complete work in by contract to turn traffic on to the
Shallotte bypass by the Memorial
Day holiday weekend or else go in
to a stiff penalty situation.
The final completion date for all
work relating to the bypass is Aug
ust 1991, according to the S3.9 mil
lion contract awarded to the firm
last Dec. 1.
Propst was contracted to pave the
4.8-mile bypass from west of S.R.
1316 to east of S.R. 1136 north of
Shallotte.
The bypass is part of a project to
four lane U.S. 17 to the South Caro
lina staielinc.
The initial contract for building
the bypass was awarded in October
1987 to Vcccllio & Grogan Inc. of
Beckley, W.Va., for grading and
drainage work on 2.3 miles of the
bypass. In July 1988 BMCO Con
struction Inc. of Lumberton receiv
ed a $1.4 million contract to grade
the final 2.5 miles of the bypass.
Divided County Leadership Prompts
Vote For Change
BY THE NEWS STAFF
The first day of filing for political
office in Brunswick County was
brisk, serving as a barometer of the
public's concerns heading into
1990. It was a year in which resi
dents were determined to make an
impact on county government and
its divided leadership.
Nowhere was their dissatisfaction
more heavily felt than at the ballot
box where voters elected two new
commissioners, giving Republicans
complete control over the board for
the first time since 1972. Voters also
elected two first-time candidates to
the Brunswick County Board of Ed
ucation, unsealing one incumbent in
the primary and the other in the
general election.
Large crowds spoke at county
water hearings and budget talks. A
record number of people signed up
to vote and the candidate list quick
ly grew heavy. By May, the cam
paigns were heated and incumbents
sweated it out.
In the primary. State Rep. E.
David Redwine of Ocean Isle nar
rowly defeated his opponent, Ralph
King of Ash, by about 600 votes in
what Redwine dubbed a general
election style campaign. More than
26,000 voters went to the primary
polls, an early hint that residents
were ready to elect new local lead
ership.
Meetings Reveal Infighting
The fight had only just begun.
Meetings of the county commis
sioners and county school board
showcased just how divided the
county leaders had become.
In an unexpected move in Febru
ary, Commissioners Grace Beasley,
Frankie Rabon and Gene Pinkerton
voted to hire William Kopp, a Boli
via native, as new county manager.
However, 11 days later the board re
scinded the action in the face of
public outcry over how the manager
was chosen: The position wasn't ad
vertised. No applications were ac
cepted. No formal interviews were
held.
Kopp had been interviewed se
cretly by at least two board mem
bers, but Commissioner Kelly Hold
en said he was kept in the dark
about the hiring coup until the night
of the meeting. Holden and Com
missioner Benny Ludlum, who vol
YEAR IN REVIEW
cd against the hiring, were slunned.
Despite the board's change of
heart, the political scars ran deep.
The hiring Fiasco alone may have
cost District 5 incumbcnt Grace
Bcasley her seat on the hoard. It
was a vote that challenger Donald
Shaw referred to as a "betrayal of
public confidence."
"It's very obvious they wanted a
change," said the newly-elected
Shaw in November.
Change is what voters got, both
on the county board of commission
ers and board of education.
Holden, the man in the dark just
10 months earlier, emerged as chair
man of the board of commissioners
in December, replacing Pinkerton.
Newly-elected District 2 commis
sioner Jerry Jones of Shallotte be
came vice chairman.
On the board of education, Don
na Baxter, considered a mediator
during the previous term, was elect
ed chairman in December on unani
mous vote, making her the third
person to hold that seat during the
1990 calendar year. Doug Baxley
was elected vice chairman on a 3-2
vote.
In January, bowing to pressure
from several board members, Bax
ley had resigned as chairman, clear
ing the way for Dorothy Worth's
election on a motion by Ms. Baxter.
The board also voted to begin elect
ing officers each December rather
than only following election of new
board members.
On the same 3-2 split vote by
which Mrs. Worth was electcd, the
board in April took advantage of a
technical error in his contract and
fired Superintendent John A. Kauf
hold effective June 30?only 15
months after voting to extend his
contract by two years to June 30,
1992.
fS*l t ?i
BEACON Fill rHOTO
ELECTION OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS Donald Shaw of
District 5 (left) and Jerry Jones of District 2 in November gave
Republicans complete control of the board for the first time since
1972.
Kaufhold, in turn, sued the board
as a whole and the members who
voted for his dismissal ? Mrs.
Worth, Ms. Baxter and Robert
Slockeu ? specifically. The board
settled out of court in June, paying
Kaufhold $30,000. In turn Kaufhold
agreed to pay any sum he might
owe the board following a special
audit of administrators' expense ac
counts ordered as part of the deal.
Kaufhold's former assistant su
perintendent, longtime administra
tor P.R. Hankins, served as interim
superintendent and then was named
superintendent effective Oct. 1.
The county's first black superin
tendent, he was elected on a 4-1
vote by the board on Sept. 1. Slock
eu voted against the hiring, having
committed himself earlier to candi
date Barbara D. Rogers, who ap
peared to be top contender for the
post until questions were raised
about her past record and the vote
was delayed pending further inves
tigation.
Results of the special expense re
port audit were not made public un
til mid-November, when it was
learned that Kaufhold would be bil
led for approximately $700.
After a year of trying to straight
en out its financial records, in mid
Deccmbcr the school board finally
adopted a budget for the 1990-91
school year and its 1989-90 fiscal
year audit report was due any time.
Meanwhile the board continued
with plans to begin construction of
a new elementary school at Supply
in early 1991.
Mrs. Worth lost the May Demo
cratic primary to childcare center
owner Polly Russ of Shallottc and
moved her official residence to the
Worths' Longwood farm, saying
she might challenge Baxlcy for his
District 1 scat in two years.
In a voter turnout that rivaled that
of a presidential election year, ap
proximately 62.5 percent of eligible
Brunswick County voters cast bal
lots in November.
Longtime District 5 school board
member and vice chairman James
Clcmmons was unseated by Repub
lican Yvonne Lewis Bright, a for
mer Democratic candidate for the
same officc, in the surprise vote of
the season. Mrs. Russ won election
to the District 2 scat.
BEACON FILE PHOTO
GROWING PAINS at the Brunswick County Government Center
in Bolivia stirred the county to build a new $13 million
Department of Social Services building. A new 911 emergency
medical services building will be constructed in 1991.
In the county commissioners'
races, Shaw's campaign slogan of,
"Let's do away with the good ole'
boy style of politics in Brunswick
County," struck a familiar note. Ms.
Beasley had defeated Shaw in 1986,
but on this night she came up about
800 votes short
In District 2, Jones was elected to
fill the seal held by Ludlum, who
had chosen not to run for re-elec
tion. Both Jones and his opponent,
Joseph Stevenson of Supply, ran a
gentleman's campaign, focusing on
the issues instead of race. Stevenson
was the only black candidate for the
county board; Clemmons was the
only black candidate for the school
board.
But Jones' clear victory was
overshadowed by the resignation of
five black Democratic party leaders
from their posts. They vowed to
seek black voting districts and said
they would no longer work to elect
white Democratic candidates if vot
ers failed to support black candi
dates.
Complex Situation
County Attorney David Clegg
served as interim county manager
for the year. Although 47 applica
tions were accepted in April, com
missioners refused to hire a new
manager. The new board readver
tised the position in December,
vowing 10 hire someone.
Clegg worked efficiently to help
stabilize departments at a county
government complex which was un
dergoing change in 1990. The en
hanced 911 emergency communica
tions system got off the ground with
the public's overwhelming approv
al. Set to begin in January 1992, the
911 program coincided with the
county's decision to fund an Emer
gency Medical Services program,
hiring Southport Attorney Doug
Ledgctt as supervisor. Surcharges to
fund 911 appeared on resident tele
phone bills starting in August.
The construction of a $1.3 mil
lion new Department of Social Ser
vices building began with hopes of
easing some of the growing pains.
Through lease-purchasing agree
ments with private businesses, the
county planned $25 million in capi
tal improvement bonds over a 15
year period, taking advantage of a
special state law which eliminated
the need for voters' approval. At
year's end, departments were not
sure who'd get what at the complex
when added space became avail
able.
The sheriff's department got add
ed jail space through a SI 16,000 ex
pansion and the county purchased a
$1.1 million facility from Landmark
(See BRUNSWICK, Page 6-A)