THE mm I'lCICtfEACON
Twenty-ninth Year, Number 11 cpplNGPOKT ^ rolina, Thursday, January 17, 1 991 25? Per Copy 30 Pages, 2 Secti
CLEGG APPEARS TO BE FAVORITE
County Hopes
To Hire New
Manager Monday
STAFF PHOTO BY DOUG RUTTEK
FISHING BOATS line the waterfront at Calabash, one of five communities chosen for the N.C. Coastal Initiative program. Southport also
has been selected for extra attention from the state.
Calabash, Southport Picked
For N. C. Coastai Initiative
BY DOUG R UTTER
Two local waterfront communities. Calabash
and Southport, have been chosen to take part in
the N.C. Coastal Initiative, a program that en
courages environmentally-sensitive development
along the coast.
The local towns are among five communities
selected by the governor f6r inclusion. The
Coastal Initiative program is intended to boost
protection of ecologically-important waters while
promoting boating and stimulating waterfront in
vestment in towns and villages.
Communities applied for the latest round of
designations last summer, and members of the
Coastal Initiative Blue Ribbon Commission visit
eu anu evaluated the towns last fall. Gov, Jim
Martin made the final selections, which were an
nounced Tuesday.
Calabash and Southport officials were pleased
with the news and said they are looking forward
to working with state officials who will lend spe
cial assistance to help the towns with various
projects.
Towns chosen for the Coastal Initiative receive
assistance through six departments of state gov
ernment: Environment, Health and Natural
Resources; Economic anu Community
Development; Administration; Transportation;
Human Resources; and Cultural Resources.
The communities receive special technical
help on economic development and environmen
tal questions. A team of experts will be available
to help the towns refine projects and locate the
resources needed to get them started.
"I think it's a tremendous opportunity to be
able to work with experts," Calabash Planning
and Zoning Board Chairman Warren "Bud"
Knapp said. "If ever there is a need for direction
and guidance, it's in these areas that the people in
government have expertise."
Knapp said the town needs guidance and assis
tance from state officials to achieve its goals.
They include dredging the Calabash River and
rehabilitating the waterfront to better meet the
needs of residents and tourists.
When Coastal Initiative Commission members
visited Calabash in November, towns officials
talked about plans to form an historical society
and merchants association.
South port A!d<*nnan Mary Louise "Meezie"
Childs said she was pleasantly surprised by the
designation. "That's real pleasing," she said. "I
think it's nice to be recognized when you're try
ing to improve."
City Manager Rob Hites said officials' are
working to redevelop the entire city, including
downtown and waterfront areas and the Howe
Street access area. An urban design team from
the American Institute of Architects will come to
town next month to develop a master plan for
Southport, he said.
Also, Hites pointed out that a public/private
corporation known as "Southport 2000" has
formed to promote the city's image and businesses
and focus more attention on Southport The orga
nization is getting ready for the community's
200th anniversary celebration in November 1992.
Hites added that a non-profit group is working
with the town to develop plans for a maritime
museum. The idea of the museum is to increase
Southport's attractiveness as a tourist destination
and stopping point for visitors driving to and
from from the South port-Oak Island Ferry and
area beaches.
Besides the two local towns, Hertford,
Elizabeth City and Morehead City also were cho
sen for the program.
These five communities named by the gover
nor join five pilot communities selected for the
program in September 1988. Areas previously
chosen are Edenton, Plymouth, Swansboro, Hyde
Couniy/Swan Quarter and Tyrrell County/Col
umbia.
Lorraine Shinn, regional manager for the N.C.
Department of Environment, Health and Natural
Resources in Washington, N.C., and staff coordi
nator for Coastal Initiative, said some of the pilot
communities have successfully taken advantage
of the designation.
"We've managed to accomplish some good
things there, and we're hoping to do the same
with these new communities," she said. "We
hope with the new five selected we can make
some good things happen."
Mrs. Shinn said the success of the program in
Calabash and Southport will depend to a large
extent on the willingness of people in those com
munities to take initiative and get involved.
The program will work in a community that
has an active governing board, merchants associ
ation, historic society and chamber of commerce,
Mrs. Shinn said.
PROCTOR FORCED TO RESIGN
Holden Commissioners Hire Interim Manager
BY DOUG RUTTER
Holder. Beach Commissioners
Monday named Deputy Town Clerk
Diane Clark as interim town manag
er in the wake of last week's resig
nation of town manager Blake
Proctor.
Proctor resigned under pressure
last week at a meeting characterized
by public support for him and
charges that elected officials arc un
willing to loosen their grip on town
administration.
Proctor resigned last Wednesday
after five months as town manager
and worked his
final day last
Friday. He is the
third chief ad
ministrator at
Holden Beach
to resign in the
past two years.
On Monday,
commissioners
promoted Mrs.
Clark to interim PROCToa
town manager near the close of a
marathon meeting that lasted from 9
a.m. until 5:10 p.m. The promotion
followed a five-hour executive ses
sion that was broken only by a brief
open session during which the pub
lic was told that more closed-door
discussion was needed.
Mrs. Clark has worked for the
town since August 1989 and previ
ously served as a supervisor witn
"I don't think this board is capable of
accepting a manager that does a good
job that is honest and will do the work
we ask him to do."
? Commissioner Judy Bryan
Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Commis
sioners temporarily increased her
annual salary from $12,190 to
517,000.
The interim manager will not
have the authority to hire or fire any
town employees. Commissioners
plan to advertise immediately for a
new town manager and accept ap
plications for 45 days.
Following Proctor's resignation
last week, Mayor John Tandy said
most town commissioners had
agreed that Proctor should either re
sign or be fired. Tandy refused to
discuss the reasons behind the move
to get rid of Proctor or to comment
on his performance as town manag
er.
"There are some things that are
very personal that you can't get in
to, and 1 am not going to get into
those," Tandy said. "When I'm go
ing to hurt somebody's life, I'm not
going to do it"
In his letter of resignation, Proc
tor said it had become increasingly
evident over the last few weeks that
the town manager and commission
ers could not work effectively to
gether.
"I feel that a great majority of the
perceived problems, from stand
points of both administration and
governing body, stem from lack of
good two-way communications and
extreme personality divergences,"
Proctor wrote.
Following last week's meeting,
Proctor said town board members
were too involved in administration.
He said the commissioners' job
should be to set policies and the
manager's job should be to imple
ment policies.
As part of the resignation agree
ment, Proctor will receive four
months severance pay, which
amounts to 511,003. Proctor also
will keep $1,500 in relocation al
lowance and will be allowed to con
tinue living in the apartment over
the police station through Feb. 3
without paying January's rent.
Commissioner Bob Buck cast the
only vote against the separation
package. He said the employment
agreement approved when Proctor
was hired last August allowed for
only two months severance pay in
stead of four months.
On Monday, Mayor Tandy as
signed various duties to board mem
bers to keep the town operating in
the absence of a manager. Appoint
ments are temporary, he said, and
hopefully won't last more than two
weeks.
Tandy said commissioners can't
take any action on their own relat
ing to their assignments. The full
commission would have to vote be
fore any action is taken. Assign
ments were as follows:
1) Utilities: Tandy and Gloria
Barrett
2) Police: Judy Bryan and Buck.
3) Access, roads and buildings:
Gay Atkins and Buck.
4) Finance: Kenner Amos, Bar
rett and Tandy.
5) Sanitation, recycling and
maintenance: Atkins and Bryan.
6) Personnel: Amos and Barrett.
7) Daily operations at town hall:
Tandy and Barrett.
Diluted Authority
During an informal discussion
following last week's meeting,
(See INTERIM, Page 8-A)
BY TERRY POPE
Following interviews Monday,
County Attorney David Clegg ap
peared the favorite to win the coun
ty manager's job he has held on an
interim basis since last December.
At least two Brunswick County
commissioners indicated they were
ready to hire a new county manager
following three hours of interviews
Monday.
The board interviewed four can
didates for the job in open session.
However, a decision won't be made
until Monday night's regular meet
ing following a background check
on all of the candidates.
"I was ready to hire a county
manager," said Commissioner
Frankie Rabon following the inter
views. "Now, I'm going to let the
public decide."
Rabon and Commissioner Gene
Pinkerton voted against the back
ground checks because they felt the
board should have been prepared to
take action Monday.
"There has been plenty of time
for that," Pinkerton said when asked
why he voted against the back
ground checks.
Commissioner Donald Shaw
made the motion to do background
checks "to avoid future problems."
Sheriff John Carr Davis will be
instructed by the board to do routine
checks on each of the four candi
dates. Chairman Kelly Holden said
Sheriff Davis has indicated the
checks could be completed prior to
Monday's commissioners' meeting.
"How long are we to leave this
open?" Pinkerton asked board
members.
Vice Chairman Jerry Jones said
that he would be ready to make the
decision at Monday's meeting. Only
four members of the public and four
news reporters attended the open in
terview sessions.
Several commissioners have pri
vately predicted that Interim County
Manager David Clegg will get the
job. Clcgg, 35, was the last to be in
terviewed Monday. Others included
Charles Mashburn, who has been
the Yadkin County manager for four
years; William Yelton, executive di
rector for the Region L Council of
Governments; and Jimmy Varner,
who was recently fired from his job
as city manager at Knightdale.
A fifth candidate, Edward Harper
of Hillsvillc, Va., didn't show up for
his 1:45 p.m. interview. Board Clerk
Rcginia Alexander said Harper was
notified by letter and attempts were
also made to contact him by tele
phone-but that no response had been
received as of Monday.
Pinkerton said he now regrets
voting to hold the sessions in pub
lic.
"I think I could have made a de
cision based on the resumes,"
Pinkerton said. "I had already nar
rowed the selections in my mind."
Pinkerton said he was against
"airing someone's closet out in the
public." He sat quietly throughout
most of the interviews while Rabon
only asked two questions of one
candidate.
"I just don't think that all of the
questions that can be asked were
asked," Rabon said. "Based on the
interviews today, I think we're just
prolonging it another week."
Clegg was hired as the Brunswick
County attorney in 1984 and has
served as interim
county manager
since December
1989. He gradu
ated from
Hampden-Syd
ney College in
1977 with a de
gree in govern
ment and fueign
affairs and re
ceived both a CLEGG
master's degree in fine arts and a law
degree from the Universtity of South
Carolina in 1981.
"The county manager must be a
(See MANAGER, Page 2- A)
Two Beach Towns Expect
Dip In Insurance Costs
BY DOUG RUTTER
Homeowners at Holden Beach
and Long Beach can expect to pay
lower flood insurance premiums
starting in October.
Both Brunswick County island
communities should be approved
for 5-percent reductions in flood in
surance premiums, said an official
with the Federal Emergency Man
agement Agency (FEMA).
The neighboring towns have ap
plied for a new program in which in
surance costs are cut in communities
that go beyond minimum federal
flood protection requirements, said
Brad Loar, community planner with
the FEMA regional office in Atlanta.
Although there won't be any offi
cial word until summer, Loar said
last week that both communities are
in line to be approved for 5-percent
premium discounts.
The idea behind the National
Flood Insurance Program communi
ty rating system is to reward home
owners in towns and counties that
do as much as they can to lower the
risk of flood damage.
Loar said the amount of the flood
insurance discounts in each commu
nity will be based on a rating sys
tem similar to the one used to rate
communities for fire protection.
Communities will be rated in 18
different area and awarded bonus
points for anything they do that goes
beyond the federal government's
minimum flood protection rules.
In communities approved for the
discount, property owners would
start paying less when their policies
come up for renewal after Oct 1.
The highest possible discount for the
first year of the program is 5 percent
After the first year, communities
can apply for even greater discounts
on insurance premiums. The highest
discount awarded under the pro
gram would be 45 percent
Loar said Holden Beach and
Long Beach are the only Brunswick
County towns that have applied for
the program. FEMA has received
inquiries from Caswell Beach and
Southport.
The Insurance Service Office
(ISO) in North Carolina will evalu
ate the applications, add up the
points and check documentation be
fore either town is approved. Loar
said the local communities should
hear by July 1 if they will receive
discounts this fall.
If Holden Beach is approved for
the reduction. Building Inspector
Dwight Carroll said homeowners
would save approximately $20,000
in the first year alone.
Carroll said there are 1,145 feder
al flood insurance policies on Hold
en Beach, and property owners now
pay $404,110 in annual premiums.
With the discount, homeowners
would save $20,206, or an average
of $17.65 per policy.
Carroll said the town has accu
mulated points for going above and
beyond federal flood protection
guidelines. For instance, he said
points are awarded for keeping
drainage ditches open and keeping
elevation and tie-down certificates
for all new homes.
The building inspector also said
Holden Beach should receive points
for having a hurricane evacuation
program that is written out, practiced
and used in the event of hurricanes.
In the second year of the pro
gram, Carroll said he expects the
town to receive a 20-percent dis
count, which would save property
owners about $80,000 per year.
Long Beach Building Inspector
David Clemmons said there arc
1,352 flood insurance policies in
town and property owners pay
$443,820 per year.
With a 5-percent discount starting
this fall, Clemmons said the average
homeowner would save $16 in the
first year. He also looks for larger
discounts after the first year of the
program.