Emotional Residents Ask State To Torch Pet Crematory Permit
BY TERRY POPE
It was about a 100 against three.
Residents of Town Creek and Winnabow
spoke out against a pet crematorium pro
posed far their community during a state
public hearing in Bolivia Tuesday night
Ron Currie, animal control supervisor for
New Hanover County, defended his appli
cation for a state air quality control permit
filed with the N.C. Division of Environ
mental Management in February.
Southeastern Pet Cremation plans to op
erate a propane gas incinerator used to cre
mate animals at a site on Town Creek Road
about two miles west of U.S. 17.
More than a dozen residents spoke
against the permit, telling four members of
the DEM staff that they do not want the cre
matorium in their neighborhood during an
emotional 90-minute forum.
DEM Regional Supervisor Roy Davis
said all opportunities to comment ended at
the conclusion of Tuesday's public hearing.
"I will now make a recommendation to
the director," Davis said, giving no indica
tion when that decision will be made.
Pamela Wall, who lives less than 500 feet
from the proposed incinerator, said she
alerted the Brunswick County Sheriff's
Department of a "suspicious vehicle" on the
road, a truck she said was registered to
Currie.
Members of the audience gasped after
Ms. Wall said she watched a deputy dig up
a poodle that had just been buried on the
crematorium site.
"I know it's not against the law to bury
animals," stated Ms. Wall.
She held an 8-by-10 portrait of her young
(laughter as she spoke against the incinera
tor.
"I would be hesitant of eating vegetables
from our garden if this is allowed," she
said.
Currie and two others defended the per
mil William Shell of Wilmington, Cunic's
attorney, and Steve Tallcy of Industrial
Equipment Engineering of Orlando, Fla.,
the maker of the incinerator unit that Currie
plans to purchase, spoke in favor of the per
mit
"I am interested in this as a second job,"
Currie said. "I'm the type of person that
likes to do something that 1 believe in."
Currie said a pet incinerator can help re
duce waste in area landfills. The unit he
plans to purchase is the smallest unit made,
he stated, and would be a self-contained
unit, meaning there would be no runoff to
threaten surrounding wetlands.
The incineiaior would be housed in a 16
foot by 20-foot building that resembles a
garage, he stated. Currie told the audience
that he would be the only person transport
ing animals to the site. He brought a small
container to the hearing that contained the
ash remains of his 65-pound dog.
A similar incinerator is in operation in
Wilmington across the street from UNC
Wilmington Chancellor James Leutze's
house, said Talley. His company has 19
units now operating in North Carolina.
"It is stipulated on the permit that it
would be used for pets only," Talley said.
(See EMOTIONAL, Page 2-A)
H0A6 & SONS BOOK BlNDEK^^
THE BUuiw**iUC#flEACON 1
Twenty-ninth Year, Number 25 eim the brunswck beacon Shallotte, North Carolina, Thursday, April 25, 1991 2 5< Per Copy 34 Pages, 3 Sections, 1 Insert ^
Suspect
Charged
Brunswick County sheriff's de
tectives have arrested a suspect they
believe robbed a Longwood store
April 13.
Wilton Edwards, 38, of Dublin,
was arrested last week and charged
with robbery with a dangerous
weapon, according to Ll Donnell
Marlowe.
Edwards turned himself in to the
Bladen County Sheriff's Depart
ment last Tuesday evening, Mar
lowe said.
Brunswick County Sheriff John
Carr Davis transported Edwards to
the Brunswick County Jail where he
was placed under $50,000 bond. He
was still being held in jail Monday
morning, said Marlowe.
Edwards is accused of entering
Smith's Produce on N.C. 904 in
Longwood with a sawed -off shot
gun around 2 p.m. and robbing a
clerk of around $400.
According to Marlowe, Edwards
allegedly entered the store once and
asked the clerk if she had any roses
for sale. When the victim said she
did not, the suspect allegedly left
and returned about a minute later
with a shotgun.
The warrant filed states Edwards
is accused of assault "consisting of
having in his possession and threat
ening the use of a sawed off shot
gun."
Marlowe stated that the suspect
allegedly held the shotgun on the
clerk and demanded that she open
the cash register. He also allegedly
threatened to kill her, the report
states.
Polling Place
May Be Moving
A request to move the Woodbum
precinct polling place from the Na
vassa Town Hall to the Leland Town
Hall will get a closer look next week.
The Brunswick County Board of
Elections met briefly Tuesday morn
ing to discuss a resolution forwarded
to the board by the town of Leland.
Leland's resolution asks that the
Woodbum precinct be moved to a
more central location.
Leland officials have offered the
use of the Leland Town Hall for
elections, said Lynda Britt, Bruns
wick County supervisor of elections.
Leland's Town Hall is located on
Village Road in Woodbum.
Braird of elections members
agreed to take a tour of the Leland
Town Hall Monday morning, April
29, before reaching a decision.
STAFF PHOTO BY DOUO RUTTER
Beached Buggy
This 1962 Ford Fulura was removed from the H olden Beach strand Tuesday morning after spend
ing more than four days on the beach. Holden Beach Police Officer William Case said the vehicle
was found near the east end of the beach last Thursday night The owner of the car was fined $25
for driving on the strand. He paid another $25 for a permit that was required to tow the vehicle off
the beach. Police refused to provide the owner's name.
Holden Beach To Block
Off Hazard At Pavilion
BY DOUG R UTTER
Holden Beach officials plan to erect fences to keep
people away from dangerous cliffs that have formed this
month on both sides of the bulkhead at Surfside
Pavilion.
Commissioners voted 4-1 Tuesday to put up six-foot
high chain link fences to keep residents and visitors
from falling from the top of the sandy cliffs to the beach
and injuring themselves.
Since a storm in late March, waves have eroded sand
on both sides of the seawall that protects the oceanCront
pavilion. Water has swirled around the bulkhead, forcing
the town to close the southern ends of Holden Street and
Ferry Road and beach walkways near those streets.
At a special meeting with the pavilion owners
Tuesday morning, town board members agreed to put up
fences that will extend from the seawall north along the
pavilion side property lines and run across the streets.
Commissioner Gay Atkins cast the only vote against
erecting the fences. She suggested a wooden fence in
Xcad of chain link, and also urged the town board to
find out how much it would cost before approving the
work.
But other town officials said the cost wasn't as impor
tant as getting the fence up and minimizing the chance
of somebody suing the town.
"A liability suit against the town's going to cost a lot
mere than any fence," said Commissioner Judy Bryan.
"We probably need a plan for
now and the future. It's very
dangerous the way it is right
now"
? Mayor John Tandy
On pavilion seawall
Town Attorney Kenneth Campbell said the town al
ways will have liability, but the fences should help
lessen the chance of legal trouble. "You're doing what
you can," he told the board.
Mayor John Tfendy suggested, "We probably need a
plan for now and the future. It's very dangerous the way
it is right now."
Brothers Alan and Lyn Holder, who own the proper
ty, said they paid about $60,000 for the cement bulkhead
several years ago. The town chipped in $8,000 to help
pay for the section of seawall that protects the streets.
Also Tuesday, commissioners authorized Interim
Town Manager Diane Clark to work with the owners to
remove concrete and other debris from the strand next to
the bulkhead.
(See PAVILION, Page 2-A)
Shallotte Bypass
May Be Two
Lanes At First
BY DOUG RUTTER
The flow of traffic on parts of the
U.S. 17 Shallotte bypass may be re
stricted to one lane in each direction
when it opens next month.
That's the latest word from N.C.
Department of Transportation offi
cials, who still expect the long
awaited route to be open to cars and
trucks before Memorial Day week
end.
Allen Pope, assistant resident en
gineer for the project with the state
DOT, said the bypass will open to
traffic before the last weekend in
May even though the paving con
tractor may not be completely fin
ished.
Pope said there's a "good possi
bility" that the contractor won't lay
down the final one-inch layer of as
phalt on the bypass until after the
route is open to motorists.
That means the four-lane bypass
could be reduced to two lanes of
traffic in areas that are still being
paved. Pope said there could be one
northbound lane and one south
bound lane in certain areas for the
first month.
Pope said the paving contrac
tor ? Propst Construction ? has until
June 20 to complete the project If it
isn't done by then, the state could
levy fines of $2,500 per day.
The assistant resident engineer
said the state contract with Propst
doesn't allow for major traffic shifts
between Memorial Day and Labor
Day. But he said there are no fines
tied to that clause in the contract.
"We're planning to make ar
rangcments if they're not complete
ly through to get traffic on the by
pass before Memorial Day," Pope
said Tuesday.
As of April 15, Pope said the
contractor had finished 85 percent
of the work. "We're pretty much on
schedule as far as the whole project
is concerned," he said.
Meanwhile, Pope said most of
the construction work on U.S. 17
between Supply and Winnabow is
on schedule or ahead of schedule.
The state Department of Trans
portation is in the process of
widening the two-lane highway to a
four-lane divided highway from
Winnabow to the South Carolina
state line.
Pope said the section between
Supply and Bolivia might be finish
ed before its Sept. 1 completion date.
Grading work on the Bolivia by
pass also should be finished by
September, he said, and the paving
contract probably will be awarded
in June.
Work on the section of highway
between Winnabow and Bolivia is
about 9 percent behind schedule.
Pope said the contractor got behind
at the start of the year because of
rainy weather.
Construction hasn't started on the
section of highway between Shal
lotte and Supply or on the two sec
tions south of Shallotte.
Pope said the state is finishing
buying property for the wider road
and having buildings and utilities
relocated.
Third Drug Checkpoint
Results In Two Arrests
Two Greensboro men were arrest
ed Friday night after a State High
way Patrol drug dog sniffed out
$1,955 in drugs from a vehicle at a
roadblock on N.C. 130 in Free land.
According to Brunswick County
Sheriff's Ll David Crocker, it was
the third road checkpoint established
by the sheriff's department in coop
eration with the N.C. Highway
Patrol within the past several weeks.
So far, six people have been ar
rested while drugs such as cocaine.
hashish and marijuana have been
confiscated, Crocker said.
Thomas Wesley Blackwood, 33,
of Greensboro, was charged Friday
with felonious possession of cocaine,
possession with intent to sell and de
liver marijuana, possession of drug
paraphernalia and maintaining a ve
hicle to keep a controlled substance.
Also, Bobby Ray Murphy Jr., 34,
of Greensboro, was charged with
felonious possession of cocaine,
(See CHECKPOINT, Page 2-A)
SUBDIVISION ORDINANCE DEBATED
Road Standards Of Top Concern Heading Into Monday's Hearing
BY TERRY POPE
It's become an argument over a few feet.
Brunswick County's proposed sub
division ordinance will require that all roads
in new developments be paved to state stan
dards.
Some developers say those requirements
will be too costly. They want to cut at least
six feet of pavement off of the roads, from
24 feet to 18 feet
Some have also asked that the N.C.
Department of Transportation's minimum
requirement of 60 feet for road right of
ways in new subdivisions be trimmed as
well.
But the Brunswick County Planning
Board is sticking to its guns. At a special
meeting Monday night, it voted to recom
mend that Brunswick County
Commissioners approve the ordinance with
DOT's standards for roads in place.
Commissioners will hold a public hearing
on the proposed ordinance Monday, April
29, at 7 p.m., in the public assembly build
ing at the government complex in Bolivia.
"With the cries that I've heard over the
years, I'd like to maintain DOT standards all
the way," said Thomas Dixie, planning board
chairman.
Dixie said he is constantly listening to
complaints from residents whose street can
not be accepted by the state for paving be
cause the developer failed to plat a large
enough right of way for DOT standards.
"It's one of the biggest concerns out
there," said Brunswick County Planning
Director John Harvey. "Are there conditions
where we can say, you can put in a road that
can never become a public street?"
When the board met last Wednesday
night, it failed to reach a quorum. However,
the three members that did attend agreed to
listen to Surveyor Bobby Long about his
concerns over DOT street requirements.
Long told the board that paving to DOT
standards would increase the cost of roads
from around $15 to $35 per foot
If all roads must be paved, then rural pro
"Are there conditions
where we can say, you
can put in a road that
can never become a
public street?"
? John Harvey
Planning Director
jects will ceast to exist, he warned. The cost
of the lots will drive buyers away, said
Long.
Planning board members want to eliminate
gravel or dirt roads in all new subdivisions.
The new ordinance will prohibit un paved
roads in all new subdivisions across the coun
ty.
"It (unpaved streets) might be all right to
day," said Dixie, "but years down the road,
when they want DOT to pave the street,
they've got problems."
According to DOT guidelines, streets in
subdivisions that are .2 of a mile or less can
be paved to a width of 18 feet Longer
streets must be paved to a width of 24 feet
Planning board member Alfonza Roach,
who did not attend Monday's meeting, left a
note with Harvey stating he agreed that all
streets should be paved, but to a width of 18
feet rather than 24 feet.
Reluctantly, planning board member John
Barbee agreed with the board's unanimous
decision that 18 feet is too narrow.
"Unfortunately, we've got a lot of poor
people in this county," Barbee said. "When
you start making the developer put in 24
foot paved roads, we may be pricing those
lots out of their range."
But if the streets are not paved, Barbee
said, the homeowners end up ruining their
cars.
"It's a catch-22 situation," he added.
Long questioned if DOT allows street de
signs that include split roads and trees or
shmbb ry within the median.
"No subdivisions are to DOT standards
in this county," Long asserted.
According to Harvey, Brunswick County
isn't alone in pushing for stricter subdivi
sion requirements. An N.C. Institute of
Government re pert says that of the state's
100 counties, approximately 75 currently
have subdivision ordinances.
Harvey said that 60 to 65 of those ordi
nances are in force countywide.
"Like in zoning, you can do it in certain
places," he added.
At a commissioners' meeting last week.
Long asked that the county possibly ex
clude certain rural areas from the ordinance.
Harvey said that 12 counties require that
all of their subdivision streets be built to
public DOT standards.
"The other 63 have the option of private
streets," Harvey said. "A minority have no
standards on paving."