Opinion Page
THE BRUfUSWICK&GEACON
Edward M. Sweats and Carolyn H. Sweatt Publishers
Edward M. Sweatt Editor
Susan Usher News Editor
Doug Rutter and Terry Pope St qQ' Writers
Johnny Craig Sports Editor
Peggy Earwood Office Manager
Carolyn H. Sweatt Advertising Director
Tlmberley Adams & Cecelia Oi.cc Advertising Representatives
Tammle Galloway & Dorothy Brennan . Typesetters
William Manning Pressman
Brenda Clemmons Photo "Dec hniciari
Lonnle Sprinkle Assistant Pressman
Phoebe Clemmons and Frances Sweatt Circulation
PAGE 4-A, THURSDAY. APRIL 25. 1991
Let's Put Those Cheap
Guys Out Of Business
County Commissioner Kelly Holden says local developers
and home builders are overreacting. County Manager David
Clegg says he's tired of helplessly listening to county residents
complain about the sorry state of their neighborhood.-..
The county leaders are drumming up support for a new
county subdivision ordinance, a document that we can all live
with.
Ten years ago, the county thought it might need a new one,
seeing how so many people were starting to discover Brunswick
County and were calling it home. Since then, only about 20, (XX)
more people have moved in and new subdivisions ? of varying
quality ? have pepped up in every comer of the county.
Finally, a board of commissioners and county manager have
come together who are concerned about quality growth and the
direction our county needs to take over the next 10 years, during
which our population is expected to double.
Ten ytars. That's how long some shady developers have
been allowed to operate in Brunswick County under a subdivi
sion ordinance that is terribly weak and certainly outdated.
Some developers have cut comers and stacked homes on
lots the size of postage stamps. They have established roads on
the barest of right of ways. To pave the muddy trails to state
standards would cut through many a living room.
It's time to put those people out of business if they're un
willing to develop communities that meet the minimum stan
dards included in the proposed ordinance. The expectations of
the new ordinance are not too much to ask of anyone.
This is not to take away from the numerous developers who
have painted a more beautiful picture of Brunswick County, who
have kept an eye toward quality growth even in the absence of a
strong subdivision ordinance.
There are plenty of local developers who have not cut cor
ners and are proud, and should be, of their latest projects. Just
compare and you'll see what a difference a little integrity makes.
There's not much we can do to correct the sorry projects that
residents are so angry about, but Holden and Clegg are right. It
is the developers who should be held accountable for their sub
divisions, not the people who purchased land or homes there
thinking they were buying paradise.
It's a shame county leaders tabled the matter 10 years ago.
It'll be even more of a shame if the ordinance is put on hold
again.
At a commissioners' meeting last week, some people op
posed to the ordinance raised some legitimate questions, con
cerns that can be cleared up quickly.
The Brunswick County Planning Board was to meet again
this week to iron out any problems with the ordinance before a
public hearing is held next Monday night at 7 p.m. in the public
assembly building at the government complex in Bolivia.
It is a public hearing that residents should plan to attend.
People who are against something tend to be the ones to
speak up. But someone should be there to let commissioners
know they are right in pushing for this ordinance.
I've Got A Pair Of Black Thumbs
They say people who are good
with plants have green thumbs.
Personally, I've never had much
luck with plan's. If anything, I've
got a pair of buck thumbs.
It seems odd because both of my
parents are good with plants. I
couldn't have inherited black
thumbs from them.
I've often wondered if black
thumbs are determined in the genes,
like hair and eye color. It just might
be that black thumbs skip a genera
tion. Maybe my grandparents had
black thumbs.
Whatever the reason, every last
plant I've ever owned has died. I
would imagine that most of them
have died slow, painful deaths.
It doesn't really make sense be
cause 1 received extensive horticul
ture training as a high school stu
dent.
I was a part-time employee at the
local garden center for what seemed
like 10 years of my early adult life.
It was my job to water the plants.
Doug
Rutter
sweep the floors and stock the
shelves.
Oh yea, I also had to carry bags
of fertilizer and pine bark nuggets
to the parking lot and load them in
customers' cars. Sounds like a fun
job, doesn't it?
To be quite frank. I hated work
ing at that garden center. But my
brother had worked there when he
was in high school, and I was the
next in line. You might say that I in
herited h;s job.
Christmas was the best time of
year. In fact, it was the only time of
year thai I actually enjoyed working
at the garden center.
We sold live Christmas trees at
the nursery, and I got to help people
choose their tree arid load it on top
of their car.
It always amazed me how picky
some people were about theii
Christmas tree. Some folks would
look at every tree we had in the
yard before making a decision.
They treated the purchase of that
Christmas tree like most people
treat the purchase of a new car.
One thing about Christmas,
though, the shoppers were always in
good spirits. Thai usually meant a
nice tip for the guy who helped car
ry the tree and tie it on the roof of
the car.
In the dog days of August, I
could lug a dozen 100-pound bdgs
of peat moss to the parking lot and
not get a dime. Most people are
miserable grouches when the tem
perature tops 90 degrees and the rel
ative numidity is 98 percent.
Anyway, all of this early training
hasn't helped me with plants. The
greenest thing in my house is my
beap bag chair, alias The Frog.
At one point last year, I ted five
living plants in my house. That
didn't last long. One of them died,
and the other four became very ill.
I took them to my parents' .ousc
to sec if they could be saved, and
sure enough, the plants recovered
under my mother's supervision.
I was permitted to lake two of the
four back ho.ne, and I'm happy to
report that they are both still alive.
To say that they are thriving would
be a tall tale indeed.
Mom told me to talk to the
plants, but I reaily don't know what
to say to them. I just can't force my
self to say, "My, you're looking ex
ceptionally green today."
If water, sunshine and a good
view of the television aren't
enough, they'll just have to go back
to Mom's house and get aiong with
out inc.
T'LlGIVE em
LtCIM-AIOKS KtflCI TO VwHUPPIN
STVDENT3 PROTESTING {rV&Q /, J*
EDUCATION CUTS...
rF==^' US
?> CUTE KIPS1.
)S
MO MORE^-il
CUTS ^
c? Sm
TTlS FRIDAY WE'RE
LEGISLATORS REACT TO gotta GO!
TEACHERS PROTESTING
EDUCATION CUTS . . .
LEGISLATORS REACT TO
A LOBBYIST CLEAW&
HIS THROAT.,,
? YOU OK? v
CAN WE HELP?
COUOH!^ k
Beavers Starting To Test Man's Patience
A lot of fuss has been raised re
cently over a furry, little, semi
aquatic rodent that wants to call
Brunswick County its home. It has
left me with mixed feelings.
Usually, in this neck of the
woods, any creature that's able to
adapt to rapid coastal development
and a growing human population as
well, we welcome with open arms.
But people have been saying such
terrible things lately about the North
American beaver that I fear the poor
guys don't stand a chance.
Once beavers had been essential
ly extinct in southeastern North
Carolina. Native to the area, beavers
were nearly wiped out by extensive
trapping when pelts were very valu
able.
However, times change. Local fur
prices dropped for southern beavers
in favor of the northern variety,
where winters are more severe and
THE BRUNSWKXftRACON
Established Nov. 1, 1962
Telephone 754-6890
Published Every Thursday
At 4709 Main Street
Shallotte, N.C. 28459
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
IN BRUNSWICK COUNTY
One Year $10.30
Six Months $5.50
ELSEWHERE IN NORTH CAROLINA
One Year $14.80
Six Months $7.85
ELSEWHERE IN U.SJL
One Year $15.95
Six Months $8.35
Second class postage paid at the
Post Office in Shallotte, N.C.
28459. USPS 777-780.
the pelts grow to a long, dense, red
dish brown. For trappers, it's hard
work and if it's not profitable, why
bother?
In the sunny South, the beaver
population over recent years has
skyrocketed, creating problems for
farmers, developers, homeowners,
timber companies ard transporta
tion officials.
The beavers are causing prob
lems and don't even realize it be
cause they are only doing what
comes naturally. By instinct, the an
imals build dams in local waters oui
of sticks, fallen trees and mud.
That's where they live and raise
families, in their little condos on the
waterfront with great views and
swimming allowed.
Such home construction also
stops the flow of water, clogs up
drainage systems and floods timber
acreage, crops and roadways. They
are being damned, pardon the pun,
for doing what nature has drilled
them to do in order to survive as a
species.
When placed in captivity, beavers
persist in building useless dams.
Even in the wild, they attempt to re
inforce concrete, manmade dams
with their sticks and tree limbs, as if
they are questioning man's intrusion
into their domain.
However, some say the amount
of damage already caused by their
craftiness goes well into the mil
lions of dollars for counties in
southeastern North Carolina alone.
It is a conflict of man versus nature
that state biologists have been
studying since 1984.
As always, there are two sides to
the story. Long before man found
Brunswick County, beavers were
here doing their thing. How is it that
man can so easily reverse the argu
ment against nature? The com
plaints against beavers are always
well-documented by dollar
amounts. Sadly, man can only dis
cuss the conflict with nature in
terms of a business loss.
Someone has to speak up for the
beavers.
"Not everybody considers beav
ers a problem," said Gary Julian, a
zoologist at N.C. State University.
Ponds created by beavers can
provide good hunting areas, Julian
said, or sites for bird watchers and a
place that provides homes to a di
versity of wild habitat. Beaver dams
can also provide flood control mea
sures and act as silt control devices
when the dams slow down and hold
back the flow of water.
Such beaver-made woodland
ponds support a lush vegetation that
will eventually become a meadow.
However, if man wants that proper
ty for his own use, then suddenly
we've got to do something to get rid
of the creatures. Ironic, isn't it?
Beaver are present mi many in
ters in Brunswick County, along the
Waccamaw River, Alligator Creek,
Wet Ash, Lock wood Folly River
and Town Creek. The local variety
grow s :rom three to four feet long.
stands about 15 inches high and
reaches weights up to 60 pounds.
They are easily recognized by
their naked, scaly, black tails that
they use to slap the water when
warning their young to run to deep
er water when someone is ap
proaching. It's rare to see one dur
ing the day, for they like to come
out at night.
A television comedy show,
Saturday Night Live, recently did a
humorous skit on persons claimed
to have been slapped by beavers.
The characters delighted the audi
ence by showing and telling specifi
cally where they were slapped. Of
course, it was all make believe.
Man has the ability to slap the
beavers around by eliminating the
population. It's as simple as that
In the last 40 years, the beaver
has overcome odds by struggling
back from near extinction in the
southeastern states to where they
are once again a thriving species.
Their lodges, as the stick homes are
called, can be spotted across the
county.
Many species that wander so
close to the edge of extinction never
come back. Here in Brunswick
County, the fight to save the logger
head sea turtle is a prime example
of our need to preserve what we
have and to learn to live with the
hand that nature deals us.
Perhaps the beaver controversy is
a prophetic test to see what man
will do. For years and years,
wildlife has had to adjust to man's
encroachment on its territory.
Perhaps the question is now being
asked, can man learn to adjust, too?
I hope we can just be patient and
pats the test.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Shrimperoo Served Worthwhile Purpose
To the editor:
This is in response to my friend
Francis Niiand's letter (April 11) re
garding wasting taxpayer dollars to
hold a Shrimperoo for N.C. legisla
tors in Raleigh. Not mentioned in
his letter is that the Shrimperoo was
sponsored by Pender, New Hanover
and Columbus counties along with
Brunswick County. These four
counties, also known as South
eastern N.C., have too long been ig
nored in Slate funding of our pro
grams.
As a Brunswick County member
of the area board of directors of
Southeastern Center for Mental
Health, Developmental Disabilities
and Substance Abuse Services, I
was invited to the 'Shrimperoo. The
SE Center rehes on federal, state
and county funding to exist. The
budget we present to each contains
no frills-just what we must have in
order to provide service to the citi
zens of our ever-growing counties.
The SE Center has never received a
proportionate share of state rev
enues.
For example, statewide, there are
100 counties serviced by 41 area
MH/DD/SA programs. By popula
tion, Southeastern N.C. ranks any
where from 9th to 12th in popula
tion (depending upon whose statis
tics you use). By contrast, of the 41
Area MH/DD/SA programs, the
S.E. Center ranks 37th in per capita
funding received from the state to
support the center. Now, that is un
conscionable!
The purpose of the Shrimperoo is
to meet with legislators in a friend
ly, informal setting to bring matters
such as described above to legisla
tors from counties other than our
own. Our representatives are well
aware of our problems and are do
ing the best they can, but we need
other legislators to understand our
concerns. In fact, our own David
Redwine, working with Harry
Payne, was able to get an addition
al $250,000 for the SE Center so
that we could keep our doors open
this year.
Unfortunately, also, Brunswick
County has been unable to fund our
proportionate share to the SE Center
in the past few years, despite the ex
pansion of services in Bolivia.
However, with the addition of
Commissioner Donald Shaw to our
area board, I am optimistic that
Brunswick will be able to do better
this coming year.
Ginger Sugrue
Shallotte
Be Number One In Both
Athletics And Academics
To the editor:
Can you believe that at a time
when North Carolina is 49th in
school testing and, I'm told,
Brunswick County is 49th out of
100 counties in test scores, that
someone has come up with the idea
to add soccer to the school athletic
program?
This, instead of seeking a way to
raise the academic level of our stu
dents so industry will want to locate
in Brunswick County, offering more
jobs when jobs are so hard to find.
When I cane here to live and
teach in 1972, 1 was shocked at the
low level cf education I found
among students and teachers. I at
tended the 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades
in northwestern N. C. in three dif
ferent school districts until may
family returned to South Carolina.
I got an excellent education and
one school was in a community
about the size of Supply. It only had
a freight station, a convenience
store and a four-room schoolhouse
(with outhouses).
A local politician told me thai
"sports-minded parents" control the
schools even to the point of approv
ing the principal. What kind of peo
ple do we have hoc that place
sports above education?
I understand that around 51/4 mil
lion is allocated to parks and recre
ation. Instead of shorting aca
demics, I have a suggestion:
All of the schools are located
within easy access to the citizens.
Sell all of the land owned by Parks
and Recreation. With building like
it is today, that land should bring a
lot of money. Use that money to buy
enough land around each school for
all of the athletics needed by the
schools and Parks and Recreation.
Also build an indoor swimming
pool at each high school.
Then use that $114 million for the
athletic program and let the school
use their athletic fund to bee up aca
demics. If a law is needed to permit
that, David Redwine is in the
General Assembly now and can
write it.
Maybe with that creative ap
proach, Brunswick County would
have a better year-round academic
program and maybe Brunswick
County would wind up being num
ber one in the state in both sports
and academics. Think about it.
Teddi Neal
Bolivia
(Letters Continue Following Page)