RESIDENTS ANGRY WITH LATEST MOVE
Lelond M ay Assume Control Over Northern
Library Project
BY I KRRY I'OI'K
Some northern Brunswick Coun
ty residents have threatened 10 with
draw their donations that arc needed
to build a new library branch in
Leland.
F ollow iriji a meeting with Suite
Library Director Howard McGinn
last 1 hursday, the Brunswick
County Library Board of Trustees
appc.irs readv to turn the S2I7,(X>0
protect over to the town to build.
Some residents have accused
Leland Mayor Russell Baldwin of
using the library crisis for his own
political gain. They say the library
is for all residents of northern
Brunswick County, and not just for
the people ol Leland.
"I resent the mayor of I. eland try
ing to make this a political move,
saying the town is saving the li
brarv" said lulith Tillman, who
heads the building committee and is
on the county library board of
trustees.
She said there are two problems
lacing the branch library. which had
been scheduled for completion in
October. Although no work has yet
begun on the project, a site has been
chosen behind the Leland Town
Hall on land donated by the tow n.
"One is that the trustees as a
whole do not feel the responsibility
that I feel they should." said Mrs.
Tillman. "The other is that a town
mayor is try ing to use the situation
to help himself gel elected."
Baldwin, who laics a challenge
in the November election, denied
that he or the town wants to gain
control of the library.
II the town divs oversee con
struction. said Baldwin, it would
own the building, but would not op
erate it or control its use.
"II that does happen, I can assure
you it would be operated by the
county library board." said
Baldwin. "We don't want that (con
trol>. That's the last thing on Harth
we want to do."
The town would oversee con
struction. be responsible for major
repairs and contribute annually to
its upkeep, said Baldwin. The li
brary board would Mill he responsi
ble lor routine maintenance, if an
agreement is reached.
"Once we do this, it does bind us
legally to support the library." he
said. "We've had some misunder
standings anil some hurt feelings, but
I think the situation can be resolved."
However, neighboring Belville
may he asking for its donation of
S21.51X) back, said Belville Mayor
Ken Mcsscr. The library branch is
for all northern Brunswick County
residents and should not be con
trolled by any one town, he said.
"We donated our money to the li
brary building committee to build a
library." said Messer. "We did not
donate it to the tow n of Leland."
"I resent the mayor of Le land trying to
make this a political move, saying the
town is saving the library."
? Edith Tillman,
Library Trustee
Messer said he has suggested ih.il
the building committee secede from
the library board ami ask thai the
property be turned over to the com
mittee.
In Brunswick County, county
commissioners have no direct con
trol over the county library system,
which is run instead by a 12-mcm
ber board of trustees that meets ev
ery other month. Six ol the 12 ap
pointed members are appointed by
the Southport Board of Aldermen
and the balance by the county com
missioners.
In March, the library trustees
signed an agreement with the build
ing committee to build the Lcland
area library alter a successful live
year fundraising effort was headed
by Mrs. Tillman. The committee
then signed a construction agree
ment with the contractor, Luther T.
Rogers Inc. of Wilmington.
"We now know the committee
cannot sign the construction agree
ment." she said.
McGinn was also "concerned
alHHil the bidding procedures of this
local building conimiltcc." said
Baldwin.
Library trustees are still refusing
to sign a contract, he said.
Since March, the trustees have
taken no action on die matter. At a
meeting with Leland and library of
ficials last Thursday, McGinn said
the board of trustees should not own
the land on which libraries arc built.
Since most library systems are
county-owned, it is not a common
problem in other areas of the state,
said Ms. Tillman.
In January, she registered a deed
for trustee ownership of the town's
land. However, trustees now want an
unanimous vote before signing -i
contract to build the library, a move
Mrs. Tillman said is "quite unusual."
"All indications show that some
are opposed to the signing." she
said. "I see no way we would get an
unanimous vote to sign a contract."
At the Oct. 7 trustees meeting,
she plans to ask that the board delay
its decision on whether to turn the
project over to Lcland until alter the
November elections.
"We need to know who the nego
tiator will be," saul Mrs. Tillman.
The library board has misled peo
ple lor months, claims Messer.
"Apparently, they are not in the
library business," he said "The peo
ple of northern Brunswick County
want to build a library and these
people have failed to function."
lie also accused Baldwin of try
ing to gain control ol the library, of
stepping in to make unnecessary
changes to the project, with causing
delays and placing the state grant in
jeopardy.
"It's just been stalled and stalled
and stalled," said Messer. "and
we're tired ol it The northern part
of the county wants to build the best
library, but somebody doesn't want
to see that happen. It's going to be
built."
Messer said if the community has
to assume responsibility for build
ing the library, then the county li
brary board should have no say over
how it is operated. Me said
Brunswick County Commissioners
should cither establish a countywidc
library system or allow the Lcland
library building committee to suc
ceed from the present board and
form a system of its own.
"If we have to build it and lake
responsibility for it," said Messer,
"we don't need them to tell us how
to run it."
He hopes to meet with northern
area mayors, Baldwin ami Louis
"Bobby" Brown, mayor of Navassa.
to "see if we can't gel it back on the
right track." The town of Navassa
has also donated money to the li
brary project.
Baldwin said he is hopeful that
the situation can be resolved so that
ground can be broken for the library
in January. It would lake until
December to gel the paperwork in
order, he said.
Lcland Town Attorney Glen
Peterson is acting as liaison be
tween the town and the trustees to
iron out problems. Baldwin said.
The S2I7,(XX) in donations will
still be used to build a library, said
Baldwin.
"They couldn't actually get u
(donation) back unless there's a ma
jor change in the resolution," said
Baldwin. "They would have no
grounds."
He said the library is too impor
tant to let personality conflicts stand
in the way of building it.
Plans are to build a 4,(KX)-square
fcct colonial style building with a
raised roof and town clock. Lcland
will build a street next to the town
hall to provide access to the library.
The present Lcland Library is a
used mobile office building at the
old Lcland school park next to the
post office.
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Class Trains In Extrication
An emergency medical technician ( EMT ) class in progress at Calabash EMS received training in vehi
cle extrication Saturday from Gregory Cain, chief of the Sunset Heach Volunteer Fire Department.
Learning to "flap" a roof for quick access to a patient above are (from left, clockwise) Hobby l^wis,
Suzanne Cain, Greg Cain, Lisa Chaney, Greg Wood and EMT class instructor Dirk Parkson.
Shiny White Tops Cooling Off Buses
BY SI SAN I'SIIKK
Brunswick County students trav
eling to and from school in buses
with shiny white tops this fall arc
getting a cooler, more comfortable
ride than fellow students whose
buses happen to be yellow all over.
Interior temperatures are averag
ing about 12 degrees cooler for the
17 white-capped buses, William
Turner, an assistant superintendent
with the Brunswick County
Schools, said last week after checks
of electric digital thermometers
mounted inside several \ellow and
white buses for comparison purpos
es.
In checks made Aug. 28, the tem
peratures varied anywhere trom 4
degrees to a high ol 17 degrees. At
12 noon, yellow top buses checked
in at !<u degrees Fahrenheit and the
white top buses at 87 degrees. At 3
p.m. the difference was less but
still noticeable? 85 degrees in the
yellow bus and 81 degrees in the
white.
"We have 131 buses and we
have 131 people (drivers) wanting
to know why can't they have while
lops," he told county hoard of edu
cation members in a briefing on the
experiment.
After one month of observation,
Turner is optimistic that when the
formal comparison ends, he'll be
recommending to the state
Department of Public Instruction
thai the state put white tops on all
its buses.
The white tops are providing an
unexpected bonus as well.
"I've been gelling calls," said
Turner. "People tell me they can sec
the buses better. The white paint is
enamel and it shines."
The buses are being used on se
lected routes at Union Primary near
Shalloltc, South Brunswick Middle
at Boiling Spring Lakes, and
Soulhport Elementary in Southport.
Bypass To Get
A Hashing caution light is going
up at the intersection of Old
Shallotte Road (S.R. 1316) and U.S.
17 (the U.S. 17 bypass of Shallotte).
Division Engineer Doug Bowers
of the N.C. Department of
Transportation said the safety de
vice will be placed at that location
due to DOT's concern for the safely
ol construction sites along the
Shallotte bypass, and to caution on
coming heavy traffic through that
general area.
The light will Hash yellow on the
Caution Light
bypass and red on Old Shallotte
Road.
Bowers estimated that the signal
will be operational within the next
few weeks.
Last week Brunswick County
Board of Education member Polly
Russ informed fellow board mem
bers that the caution light would be
going up. She said she and others
had contacted DOT with concerns
about the heavy traffic at the inter
section. particularly the large num
ber of school buses crossing it.
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24 Hour Watch Planned For Parolees
The Division of Adult Probation
and Parole of the NC Department of
Correction has announced that ef
fective Sept. 3, officers will now be
available around the clock to re
spond to violations by offenders un
der electronic house arrest.
Brunswick County will soon join
the 16 other counties who already
are taking part in the program.
Norman Holden, unit supervisor of
probation services at the county
complex in Bolivia, estimated that
Brunswick and 57 other counties
should have the neccessary equip
ment to implement the plan within
three months.
Since electronic house arrest be
came available statewide in January,
some judges have indicated a reluc
tance to sentence offenders into the
program without a 24-hour response
by officers to reported violations.
Several suite lawmakers have also
urged development of 24-hour re
sponse capabilities.
"We have one of the finest elec
tronic house arrest systems in the
country, but die system is not being
fully utili/ed," said state Correction
Secretary Aaron Johnson. "We hoj>e
that changes being made in the sys
tem will persuade judges around the
state to sentence more offenders to
house arrest."
In addition to answering calls
Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5
p.m., probation and parole officers
will now be serving on response
teams and responding to reported
electronic house arrest violations at
night (5 p.m. -8 a.m.) and on week
ends.
"Fast response will allow us to
begin the pnxress of revoking of
fenders and seeking orders from the
courts or Parole Commission to re
turn them to custody," says John
Patseavouras, director of the
Division of Adult Probation and
Parole.
The program will cost about
S450,(XX) and is expected to be
funded in the first year through the
use of lapsed salaries. The funds
will train, equip, and pay proba
tion/parole officers who agree to
serve on-call shifts.
Since the officers will he lacing
the increased danger of going to of
fender's homes in the night, die di
vision is providing officers with
special training and will equip them
with handguns.
So far this year, 1.WI5 probation
ers and parolees have been placed
on electronic house arrest.
Currently, 559 offenders arc being
supervised under the plan. The sys
tem can handle up to 3,400 offend
ers daily.
"We hope that judges will sen
tence offenders to house arrest so
that prisons can house the more se
rious offenders," says Secretary
Johnson.
Under the statewide system, elec
tronic house arrest specialists moni
tor computers that receive informa
tion by phone lines from a receiver
in the offender's home. When the
system indicates a violation may
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have occurred, the specialist calls
the offender's residence to verily
the violation.
Once an officer determines a vio
lation has occurred, he must go to
the courts or state parole commis
sion to revoke the offender's proba
tion or parole.
It costs the state S50 per day per
inmate to imprison an average of
fender, but only S2.SS per day per
offender on electronic house ar
rest.
Said Secretary Johnson of the
benefits of the program, "The courts
continue to send record numbers of
offenders to prison, and placing
some of these offenders on house
arrest may help keep more serious
offenders imprisoned longer."
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