New Sunset Beach Nudity
Law Bans Thongs , Sa red Breasts
After two closc votes it is nov a misdemeanor to
bare certain parts of the anatomy on the public beach,
streets or parks of the town of Sunset Bcach.
With Mayor Mason Barber breaking the tie, Sunset
Beach Town Council voted 3-2 Monday night to adopt
the ordinance first proposed by Town Administrator
Linda Fluegel seveial months ago.
"It was close," said Ms. Fluegel Tuesday. She had
campaigned for the rule after town employees received
numerous complaints about the wearing of skimpy
swimsuits on the beach.
The council had voted 3-2 in favor of the ordinance
at its December meeting, but a 4-1 vof is required for
passage of an ordinance on first nsadisy,.
Monday night the vote followed the same pattern as
before, with little discussion. Councilman A1 Odom and
Ed Gore voted against the ordinance; Julia Thomas and
Bud Scantom voted for it.
But Councilman Mary Katherine Griffith, who had
voted for the ordinance in December, was absent due to
a conflicting event.
Mayor Barber broke the tic in favor of the ordi
nance.
In public parks or on public beaches or streets, it is
now unlawful for any "fully developed female" to wil
fully expose her breasts. Exposure is defined as "the re
vealing of the female breast with less than a fully
opaque covering on any portion thereof lower than the
lop of any part of the areola."
Also, it is unlawful for anyone to appear in a such a
slate of dress or undress so as "to expose to the view of
others the human male or female pubic area, pubic hair,
anus, vulva or buttocks with less than a fully opaque
covering."
The ordinance may be prcccdent-selting. The N.C.
League of Municipalities knows of no other community
in North Ca- Una that has adopted a ban that in effect
bars thong suits and other similar men's or women's
swim wear.
Proceeding With Project
Sunset Beach Town Council members decided to
proceed with plans to develop former Lot 1-A, the
oceanfront extension of Sunset Boulevard, as a public
(See SUNSET, Page 2-A)
Tl 'miC#ftACON
Twenty-ninth Year, Number 10 w?w the bbwswicx beacon Shallotte, North Carolina, Thursday, January 10, 1991 25C Per Copy 26 Pages, 2 Sections ^
Van Line
Pays Heirs
$750,000
In a settlement reached last week,
a moving company has agreed to
pay to Pauline H. In man of Shallotte
Point and members of her family
$750,000 in compensation for a
1986 wreck in which her husband
was killed along with a co-worker.
A consent order approving the
settlement was filed with the
Brunswick County Clerk of Court
Jan. 2 following approval by Judge
Giles Clark.
The wrongful death suit had
been scheduled for trial by jury in
Brunswick County Superior Civil
Court Monday.
Inman's heirs ? Mrs. Inman, sons
Steven L. Inman and Dean A. In
man, and granddaughters Roxann
Michele Inman and Tracy Darlenc
Inman, whose father is deceased,
will divide the $444,863 remaining
of the settlement following pay
ment of legal fees and other costs
totaling $290,137.
Keith D. Inman, 52, and Garland
Houston Hale, mechanics at Jones
Ford Chrysler Plymouth and Dodge
in Shallotte, took a car they were
repairing for a test drive on U.S. 17
the evening of Oct. 20, 1986. Hale
was driving; Inman was in the front
passenger seat
William C. Leisure of Massachu
setts was driving a North American
Van Lines moving van when he
crosscd the center line on U.S. 17
just north of Shallotte and struck
the car operated by Hale head-on,
killing the two men instandy.
Hale's case was settled earliei
for $490,000.
Inman's estate was represented
by James C. Fuller of Raleigh and
Roy D. Trcst of Shallotte. The two
said the $750,000 settlement could
be the largest such award in Bruns
wick County history. Fuller said if
the case had gone to jury trial he
would have expected an award in
the $500,000 to $100,000 range.
However, a recent $3.1 million jury
award in New Hanover Superior
Court to the children of two wreck
victims was described as "helpful"
in the settlement negotiations.
The attorneys had learned, said
Fuller, that Leisure had not had a
valid driver's license for three years
and had violated numerous compa
ny driving rules. Leisure had also
been driving for 15 consecutive
hours at the time of the accident,
(See WRONGFUL, PAGE 2-A)
SW* PHOTO ?Y SUSAN USHER
Year's First Babies Arrive
Travis and Rita Elliott of Holden Beach are the parents of twin
daughters (from left) Melina Danielle and Dana Alexandra, the
first babies born in 1991 at The Brunswick Hospital in Supply. Ar
riving at 3:49 p.m. and 3:50 p.m. on New Year's Day, they weighed
seven pounds and six pounds, three and one-half ounces respec
tively. Gifts for the county's first babies of the year included $100
savings bonds, one-year free car seat rentals from the hospital vol
unteer auxiliary, and several dinners for their parents from local
restaurants. The babies' maternal grandparents are Pete and Au
gusta Singletary of Holden Beach. Paternal grandparents are
Joyce and Eugene Elliott of SouthporL
Hoiden Board Was To Meet
Wednesday Regarding Manager
Holden Beach Commissioners
were to meet Wedne?day at 9:30
a.m. in called session, apparently to
discuss the fate of the town's man
ager of only six months, Blake
Proctor.
Proctor had no direct comment
when asked about rumors circulat
ing Tuesday regarding his status
with the town. "It would be ludi
crous to say anything at this point,"
he responded.
Town commissioners met Mon
day night, then recessed until Tues
day morning, when they discussed
"personnel" matters behind closed
doors for nearly three hours.
In open session, the board's only
action before adjournment was a
vote to release Public Works
Director Henry Thompson's retire
ment fund at his request, said
Deputy Town Clerk Diane Clark.
Thompson has been on disability
for several months and will not be
returning to his post with the town.
Later Tuesday Mayor John Tandy
advised The Brunswick Beacon of
efforts first to call another meeting
that night, then Wednesday morn
ing.
"I'm trying to do what's right,"
he said. "It's a continuation of a
meeting we should have recessed
and that we adjourned by mistake."
(See MEETING, Page 9-A)
Commissioners To Interview
Manager Applicants In Open
BY TERRY POPE
Interviews for the new Bruns
wick County manager will be held
next Monday morning in open ses
sion before the public.
"We want to do it right," said
Commissioner Donald Shaw, who
made the motion Monday to inter
view applicants "in the public eye."
Shaw's motion passed 4-1, with
Commissioner Frankie Rabon the
only board member voting to keep
the interviews private. The board
agreed to meet at 9 a.m? Jan. 14, to
interview up to five applicants who
applied for the position.
Commission Chairman Kelly
Holden said that of the stack of
close to 20 applications received by
5 p.m. Monday, only five met mini
mum qualifications for the job.
"The personnel director went
through and screened the applica
tions," Holden said. Starie Grissett
is the county's personnel director.
Clerk to the Board Regina Alex
ander will notify the five applicants
that they will be interviewed before
the public. The applicants will be
given the chance to withdraw from
consideration if they so chose.
County Attorney David Clegg has
served as interim county manager
since December 1989, when John
Smith was fired. Clegg has applied
for the position and will be one of
the persons interviewed next week.
"Hie board of commissioners in
February 1990 attempted to hire
Bolivia native William Kopp on a
3-2 vote without first advertising
the position or holding interviews.
After rescinding on that action,
conflnissioners voted to advertise
the position and about 47 applica
tions were accepted, but the board
never took action on filling the seat.
Shaw and Vice Chairman Jerry
Jones were elected in November
and joined the board last month.
The board voted then to readvertise
the position.
Holden defended the board's de
cision to interview applicants in
open session. He said part of the
county manager's job is to work
with the public. Qualified applicants
shouldn't feel threaded about open
interview sessions, he added.
Holden said the names of the oth
er four applicants will not be re
leased by the board prior to next
Monday's interview session to pro
tect the applicants' current job status.
Board Overturns Firing
The motion to hold open inter
views for manager came just min
utes before the board entered into
executive session for about 15 min
utes to discuss an unspecified per
sonnel matter.
No action was taken on that per
sonnel matter, but the board did
vote Monday to reinstate two water
system employees to their jobs fol
lowing an open grievance hearing.
The two men asked the board for
the open sessions.
Wade Robinson of Supply and
Phillip Russ of Longwood were fired
from their jobs in November after
failing to report to work on a Sat
urday to repair a broken sewer line
that serves Leland Industrial Park.
Robinson is a maintenance mech
anic I worker who earns S 14,032 a
year and Russ is a maintenance me
chanic III worker who makes
$17,906 a year.
Assistant Utility Director Leo
Fulford told commissioners that
five men on the "tapping crew"
were ordered on a Friday to report
to work the next day, Nov. 16, for
an emergency repair of the sewer
pipe. Only two men showed up to
work from the crew. Another man
called in sick, he said. Other main
(See FIRINGS, Page 2-A)
Board Puts Off Debate Over
Second-Hand Hiring Complaint
BY SUSAN USHER
Vice Chairman Doug Baxlcy, fol
lowed soon after by Chairman
Donna Baxter, walked out of an
hour-long closed-door session of the
Brunswick County Board of
Education Monday night during a
discussion on superintendent selec
tion procedures.
"I'm not interested in discussing
it in executive session when he's
(member Robert Slockett) talking
about it on the street," said Baxley.
"If he wants to talk about that sub
ject let him come out here and talk
about it or not talk about it all."
Baxley saM he questioned his fel
low board member's intentions in
taking the issue public and "under
mining" the integrity of the board's
executive session procedures. "We
should have some integrity in the
executive session process or we
shouldn't have them at all and do
- Lt:. ?
tvciyuiui^ in (juuiiw.
"I personally feel he is just insti
gating, trying to create controver
sy," concluded Baxley as he waited
for the three remaining board mem
bers ? Slockett, Polly Russ and
Yvonne Bright ? to leave the
closed-door session. "As a board
member you win some and lose
some, but you have to respect the
integrity of the process."
Later, in open session near the
close of the 3 1/2-hour meeting,
Slockett raised the topic, but the
chairman pointed out that it was not
on the agenda.
A subsequent motion by Slockett
to amend the agenda to include the
topic failed for lack of a second.
'The board doesn't want to talk
about it," Slockett said afterward.
However, Baxley said later that
the lack of a second didn't necessar
ily mean the board would net dis
cuss the topic in open session, but
that it would prefer the item be
placed on the agenda in proper fash
ion so that members will be pre
pared to discuss it
At an earlier meeting, Slockeu
had relayed to fellow board mem
bers concerns expressed to him by
Barbara Rogers, a finalist for the su
perintendent's post, and her hus
band, Ken, regarding the process by
which Superintendent P.R. Hankins
was hired. Slockeu said questions
were raised about whether Hankins'
application should have considered
since it did not include college tran
scripts the board had specified were
to be included.
No action was taken. Chairman
Donna Baxter said later, because the
(See BOARD, Page 2-A)
Survivors Tell Of Six-Hour Ordeal Floating In Atlantic
BY TERRY POPE
James Millis and Mike Lipp spent New Year's Day
counting their blessings and shaking off the effects of
hypothermia.
They spent six hours floating at sea with Captain
Butch Benton after their 42-foot fishing vessel, Seabird,
sank about 65 miles off the coast of Southport just be
fore dark on New Year's Eve.
Their story is a dramatic tale of survival. In the dark
waters of the Atlantic, waves crashed 12 feet over their
heads as they frantically clung to life vests and a float
ing "poly ball" Ashing buoy that had somehow worked
itself free from the rail of the boat before it sank.
Millis believes it was his wristwatch that helped
save them. As U.S. Coast Guard helicopters combed the
area he kept flicking the lighted dial of his Timex into
the air. The life vests also had reflector tape that might
have been seen by rescuers.
"I had everything I own on that boat," said Lipp, a
native of Kansas City. "My glasses, identification. I
came away with the clothes I had on. We also kept the
hfejackets."
Millis, 21, of Vineyard Landing in Supply, has been
working on fishing boats for about five years. Lipp. 36,
had spent about a month working on (hie Seabird after
moving here from Hillsborough recendy.
"Water has been my life," Millis said. "That's all
I've ever done."
Now, the two men say they will never return to the
water.
"A lot goes through your mind when you're out
there floating like that," Lipp said. "It got so cold."
The three men had just finished eating supper when
they went back out onto the deck. It had been a good
trip for the crew. The net was filled with grouper. They
had wanted to argue about who was going to wash the
dirty dishes when water started coming over the sides.
Twelve-foot waves started crashing onto the deck.
To make matters worse, a bilge pump also quit
working on the boat. The men frantically used five gal
lon buckets to bail out the water. The fish boxes were
sliding across the deck. They barely had time to signal a
distress message. Another fishing boat about 10 miles
away heard the mayday call and notified the U.S. Coast
Guard.
"We grabbed our lifejackets and jumped out the
windows," Lipp said. The jackets had not been equip
ped with flares.
The three floated for about thre^ hours. They could
see the Coast Guard vessels in the distance. The ships
dropped flares into the water, but with no luck.
Oa their last trip out. Coast Guardsman Bob
Hannaford said he saw a flickering light in the water
below. A bucket was lowered from the helicopter as the
men took turns being hoisted into the aircraft. Just grab
bing hold of the bucket in 12-feet seas was difficult,
Millis said.
"If it hadn't been for him (Lipp) I would have given
up a long time earlier," Millis said. "It was so rough. I
didn't think any of us was going to make it back alive."
The men took turns helping to hold one another up
onto the floating poly ball. Lipp, the taller of the three,
wrapped his long legs around Millis to help keep his
head above water.
The poly ball had appeared from out of nowhere,
said the men, after they had been drifting for three
hours in their life vests. The three men's legs had start
(See SURVIVORS, Page 2-A)
?HP?
STAFF PHOTO ?Y TOUT PO?
MIKE UPP (left) and James Millis say they plan to keep the life jackets that helped save their lives
last week 65 miws offshore.
4