Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / Jan. 3, 1991, edition 1 / Page 4
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^BSSKOW0* Edward M. Sweatt and Carolyn H. Sweatt Publishers Edward M. Sweatt Editor Susan Usher News Editor Doug Rutter and Terry Pope Staff Writers Johnny Craig ...Sports Editor Peggy Earwood Office Manager Carolyn H. Sweatt Advertising Director rtmberley Adams & Cecelia Gore Advertising Representatives Tammle Calloway & Dorothy Brennan Typesetters William Manning Pressman Brenda Clem.nons Photo Technician Lonnle Sprinkle Assistant Pressman Phoebe Clemmons and Frances Sweatt Circulation PAGE 4-A, THURSDAY. JANUARY 3, 1991 Why Not Annex Like Other Towns Are Required To Do? The Town of Calabash is putting undue pressure for special treatment on State Rep. David Redwine and Sen. R. C. Soles Jr. Anxious to move forward with a long agenda. Calabash lead ers want Redwine and Soles to help the town circumvent existing state laws regarding annexation. They want to bring several large areas into the town limns as fast and painlessly as possible. Areas targeted include Marsh Harbor Golf Links and Marsh Harbor Yacht Club, Hunter's Trace and Saltaire subdivisions and Carolina Shores Resort, as well as the local fire department and post office. Their goals are certainly worthwhile; it is the means by which the town is tryi..g to achieve them that is in question. Calabash wants to eliminate unincorporated "pockets" with in the town left after the merger of Calabash and Carolina Shores, square off its boundaries, and most important, increase the tax base enough (by about 32%) to make it easier for the town to extend services without forcing a substantial increase in the tax rate. Calabash wants to position itself to provide those services before the demand for them reaches a critical point. Existence of "pockets'" could complicate extension of such ser vices to incorporated areas. But a worthy end doesn't necessarily justify the means. Calabash's situation isn't unique; it certainly isn't the only city or town with "pocket" problems. And state law aiready pro vides two uniform ways for towns to annex adjacent areas. One method is voluntary. In general, adjacent landowners petition and the town either agrees or doesn't agree to take in the proposed area. This is the fastest and least expensive way to ac complish annexation. The second way is called involuntary. It allows a town to an nex an adjoining area without the consent of those being an nexed as long as the area itself meets certain standards of urban development and the town promptly provides major municipal services to the area. Both are reasonable expectations and are in tended to show whether the area annexed will benefit as well as the area doing the annexing. In general the town must first adopt a "resolution of consid eration" at least one year before it can begin the procedure. This is to give the areas targeted some warning of the town's plans. The resolution is good for two years and then must be renewed. Second, the process requires a study with result exhibited for public examination, a public hearing, adoption of an annexa tion ordinance and then a delay before the annexation actually takes effect. The town also has to send every property owner in the target area personal notice of the hearing by first-class mail. The law also provides that if water and sewer services are to be provided then trunklines and mains be under construction within one year after the effective date of annexation. This process takes time ? more time than Calabash wants to invest at this point. Instead, they are pushing Kedwine to intro duce special legislation to take care of the incorporations during the 1991 session. Redwine is right in what he suggested to Calabash officials last fall. He recommended Calabash annex the areas through the normal proccss if it can be done that way. If not, he said special legislation could (not would) be an option. Should Redwine and Soles agree to the request, or more ac curately, demand, made by Calabash Commissioners, they will be setting in uncomfortable precedent. They would have to make the same concessions to every other town in their districts with similar problems. Introduction of such a local bill could ? and probably would ? rekindle debate in the state legislature regarding annex ation. Back in 1983 most local exceptions were eliminated. After much argument and compromise, the state "standards and services" law was changed to better reflect the concerns of those who were being annexed against their will. The odds are slim that the legislature is anxious to take up the question again any time soon. If the areas at Calabash can be annexed the normal way ? no matter how long it takes ? then that is the way it should be done, even if the areas have to be annexed in smaller than desired chunks. It may be slow, it may be painful, but it's the right thing to do. If for some reason the areas cannot be annexed under the regular laws, for instance if they do not meet the definition of "urban," then town officials ought to say why not. Then, and on ly then, might their situation warrant special consideration. Fishermen Can't Give Up On River I never thought I'd see the day that Brunswick County's commer cial fishermen would give up. I nev er thought I'd see them roll over and d'J without putting up a teal fight But that's just what has hap pened. The Save Our Shellfish orga nization, which formed about two years ago to batde pollution in the Lockwood Folly River, has all but dissolved. That's a shame. Not just for the fishermen who were involved in SOS and make their living gather ing clams and oysters in Lockwood Folly. It's a shame for their grand kids, who may never get to taste a fresh Lockwood Folly oyster ? the best oyster around. The river's battle with pollution has been well documented in the pages of this newspaper. Pollution has strangled the river over the last dccade, forcing the state to gradual ly close sections of the river to shellfishing Save Our Shellfish, also called SOS, formed in September 1988, about a month after the state shut down the last remaining section of Lockwood Folly. So far, slate offi cials haven't been able to tell us where the pollution comes from. Doug Rufter They just know that the water sam ples show a lot of bad bacteria. SOS went on the warpath for about a year to save the river. They grilled state officials and politicians, looking for simple answers to their complex questions. But after a while, the fishermen bccame dis couraged when they didn't see any results. "People just lose interest when they see you're not getting any place or they think you're not get ting any piace," said SOS President Annie Smigiel. "They figured they should get everything done in a couple of month?, and that's not the way it works." I'm no genius when it comes to the workings of big government and politics, but I believe in the old say ing about the squeaky wheel getting the oil. I've seen it put to the test many tines. I think Annie agrees with that philosophy. "It takes time and pa tience," she said. "If they give up on it, they're lost from the beginning. It's something you have to keep af ter." Annie and the other SOS officers know that the people who yell the most will get what they want. One loud scream might get somebody's attention momentarily, but it takes years of yelling to keep their atten tion. You've got to yell and yell and yell some more before most politi cians will hear what you've got to say and try to do something about it SOS got the attention of politi cians and state and federal govern ment workers. SOS got the attention of David Rcdwine, Charlie Rose and other elected officials. SOS got the attention of all of the environ mental division chiefs in state gov ernment. The problem is, the fishermen stopped screaming. And when they did, "he politicians and government employees slopped paying attention They walked away and started listen ing to another group of people who were yelling just a little bit louder. Despite all of the pollution that has found its way into the Lockwood Folly River over the last 10 years, the river often shews signs that it isn't dead. Every once in a while, the river will clear itself of pollution, and the Fishermen will be back in business. Is the Lockwood Folly trying to tell us something by battling this pollu tion tooth and nail? Maybe the river is telling us that it isn't ready to call it quits. Maybe the river is saying that the best is yet to come. The Lockwood Folly River cer tainly hasn't given up on the fisher men. And the fishermen shouldn't give up on the river. The Beacon welcomes letters to the editor. All letters must be signed and include the writer's address. Under no circumstances will unsigned letters be printed. Letters should be legible. The Beacon reserves the right to edit libelous comments. Address let ters to The Brunswick Beacon, P. 0. Box 2558, Shaliotte. N. C. 28459. Write "PASBOufe (Dmo CARouMA O^TodHi NOT HERE NOT THERE. NOT /WWHERE.' Alabama sm "Fl NJC. HflZffiDO! Paper Or Plastic? Does It Really Matter? It's too confusing lo go shopping these days. You have to be an envi ronmental expert. You're trying to figure out the important issues. You can't figure out which pair of pants fits best. You decide to go with ihe chicken tenders rather t^an the hamburger. You decide to switch brands of cat food and hope that the critters don't notice. But the most confusing part is when the sales cleric looks you in the eye and asks, "Paper or plastic?" The bag, that is. What will you car ry your new purchase in, just long enough to get it home? Society is forcing us to think environmentally correct (EC) whether we want to or not So what will it be, paper or plas tic? And which will you recycle? Which can be recycled? Tough choice. There is supposed to be an EC answer to the dilemma. The recycling phase has muddled the picture for me. You can recycle paper and you can recycle plastic. Are foam containers categorized as plastic? Why do they even give you a choice if one is better than the other? Being environmentally correct is suppose to help protect the environ ment, our ozone layer, rain forests, mountain vegetation from acid rains, shellfish from storm water runoff pollution, our lakes and Terry P/\r*n i streams from cancerous chemicals and our endangered species from disappearing off the planet. I'm net sure if we have been giv en enough of the answers to make EC decisions on our own. 1 doubt if the majority of people can tell you the environmental difference be tween paper bags and plastic ones. Some companies have stopped making foam products that used chemicals damaging to the environ ment. I'm assuming that those prod ucts have been cleared from the market by now by those companies for obvious reasons: to improve re lations with pressure groups; to avoid product boycotts; to avoid lawsuits from consumer agencies; and to win favor with EC support ers, or the influential people, like rock stars and actors, whose en dorsements can make or break an industry. According to a news report that drew national attention last month, McDonald's fast-food hamburger chain has derided to replace its polystyrene foam hamburger car tons with paperboard containers. I thought the answer I had been searching for would be in this story, somewhere. The reaction to the McDonald's decision has me even more confused. I read an editorial in a state news paper last week that said the move was seen as an environmentally friendly one, but some experts dis agree on whether the pros of using paper outweighs the points for plas tic. Trees die. That was one of their points. The other anti-paper argu ments were: To make a paper con tainer, it takes three times the final weight of the product in raw wood than do polystyrene foam contain ers. It takes an equal amount of petroleum and up to 21 times as much additional chemicals to make the paper container. Two hundred times the power and six limes the cooling water are required to make the paper ones and 300 times the volume of waste water is produced in the paper process. Also, the writer adds, more im portantly paper containers cost more to manufacture and they get soggy. Bccausc paper containers arc usually coated, they aren't easily re cyclable. Polystyrene containers are easily recyclable. However, paper is biodegradable whereas polystyrene is not. Plastics are often swallowed by sea crea tures who mistake it for jellyfish, causing the creatures torment and slow death from digestive failure. it wag oncc 2 bvuuliful sight to see the thousands of Carolina blue and white balloons released over Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill at home football games. That was un til this year. The helium would carry the balloons up and away, drifting them off into the clear blue sky as the team roared onto the field. Environmental experts were suc cessful in getting the 52,000 plus fans to think EC. The balloons, they said, were landing in lakes, killing fish and polluting the forests. No balloons are passed out at the stadi um now, except those sold in the parking lot which bear z paper note tied to each balloon warning of the environmental dangers of releasing them. I followed the crowd, but some how I felt conned into doing so. Getting people to think EC doesn't really give us all of the an swers. I'd like to come up with one quick line that says it all so I can tell the clerk with some degree of confidence which kind of bag I'd like to carry home with me. But I still haven't figured out which bag is best Paper or plastic? Beats me. Catalogs Surefire Cause To Smile It's January and that means we can expect two kinds of mail at our house: 1) sweepstakes entry forms and 2) gardening catalogs. Don and I used to eagerly play the sweepstakes dream game, lick ing and pasting on all the little stamps and cut-outs and telling which house or car we'd like to re ceive. Dutifully we put them in the mail and waited, dreaming of how we'd dispense of our first million when, not if, we won the jackpot. That was until we added up the postage one year and realized we had wasted $30. Susan Usher Lasi Thursday we locked at the first four post-Christmas sweep stakes mailings with something just short of loathing. We've finally de cided that if we wait for Johnny to mail us our check, we could be waiting a long, long time. The gardening catalogs are an other story. They offer immediate gratification as well as the potential of greater rewards later. Here are dreams that a person can turn into reality on their own, without relying or. chance. The odds are considerably better: you're gambling only on the weath er, insects, disease, varmints and the amount of money available to pour into a hole in the ground. In return, the catalogs open doors for everyone. Dreamers can fantasize all winter long, circling and clipping and visualizing the perfect flower or vegetable garden. Planners can make all the lists and timetables they'd like. Design ers can sketch as many garden plots as they choose. Scientists can de vise home-grown experiments with new seed varieties, soil amend ments or pest controls. Astrologisb can schedule plant ings and weedings by the moon and stars. Organic-minded gardeners can compost, mulch and compan ion plant to their hearts' content. Through gardening ? all of us can feed our families better and more cheaply, gel plenty of exer cise and reduce stress. And we children can play. I'm not a "serious" gardener like my sisters and their husbands. Pid dlcr is a belter word. Don enjoys watching. Teasing, he will some times say I call it gardening just to have an excuse to dig in the dirt like a child. He's probably right. Whether you're a dreamer or a canner or a child at heart, those gardening catalogs offer a winning ticket. You don't have to wait for your "ship" to come in.
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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Jan. 3, 1991, edition 1
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