Opinion Page
THE BRUNSWICK&BEACON
Edward M. Sweatt and Carolyn H. Sweatt Publishers
Edward M. Sweatt Ekiitor
Susan Usher News Editor
Tern- Pope and Don Gurganus Ski// Writers
Doug Kutter Sports Editor
Peggy Earwood QlJice Manager
Carolyn H. Swcal t Adetrtising Director
Timberley Adams and Cecelia Gore ..Adwrtisutg Itepresentatim-s
Dorothy Brcnnan and Brenda Clemmons Moore ..Graphic Artists
William Manning Pressman
Lonnic Sprinkle Assistant Pressman
Phoebe Clemmons and Frances Sweat! Circulation
PAGE 4 A WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27. 1991
Tentative Water Policy Shift
Is Move In Right Direction
In a rare show of unanimity last week, Brunswick County
Commissioners voted unanimously to ask the county's Utility
Operations Board to develop a means of having water customers
along the county's main transmission lines pay a more equal
share of the cost of putting in those lines.
The move may have come reluctantly, but the important
thing is that the commissioners did decide to act before the next
major transmission line project began. It was a now or maybe
never kind of proposition.
The UOB should have time to recommend a policy for the
commissioners to adopt before extension of lines south of
Shallotte and in the Shallotte Point area begins.
It should come as no surprise to leam that UOB members
w ere getting a little antsy about the prospect of having to contin
ue to defend the existing county policy to residents of new
SADs.
All county taxpayers are helping pay off county water
bonds, whether they are actually served by the water system.
Most don't complain, reckoning the county overall is benefitting
economically.
But for those who live in areas designated for special assess
ment districts (SADs). the bonds were just one more example of
"unjust" treatment.
We've heard it over and over again at public hearings: Not
only are they paying their fair share to reduce the water bond in
debtedness. they must also pay an assessment for the water line
that runs along their property line whether or not they plan to
buy water from the county. Then, if they choose to buy county
water, they must pay the tap-on fee.
Depending upon the size and/or alignment of the land, the
assessments can be steep ? running into several thousands of
dollars each.
While their neighbors in SADs around the comer pay once,
twice and then again, those who live on major trunk lines such
as those running along N'.C. 179 and U.S. 17 haven't had to pay
the line assessment.
It's been a longstanding policy, dating back to the very start
of the water system w hen Brunswick County had no vision or
intention of getting into retail water sales.
What the UOB will be exploring is the use of something
called a "point of delivery" charge.
It or a similar device won't alleviate inequities in the cost of
water service, but it's a good start.
Legally, the county can't make people along the major trans
mission lines tap on to the system and. unlike in the SADs, it
can't make them pay an assessment.
Without a zoning ordinance, the county couldn't hardly
charge an impact fee that could be associated witl; increased de
mand for water and other services.
What it can do, though, is up the tab for those who live
along the trunk lines and become county water customers now
or at some future date. Those who benefit more, pay more.
That policy apparently would affect anyone who applies for
water after a certain date.
If other policy adoptions are any example, we can probably
expect a small rush from residents along existing main lines to
tap on now in order to avoid a point of delivery charge.
But those who are already connected cannot legally be as
sessed a delivery charge.
Obviously, a point of delivery charge isn't a salve for all the
water system's cost-sharing ills, but it would be a move in the
right general direction.
With a little research and ingenuity, the UOB might even
come up with something better. They should be encouraged in
that direction.
Holidays
1 vowed to myself, my husband
aiul my friends thai I wnuldn'i do it
I've wanted to stay away from
writing a column about being a new
comer to Brunswick County, but I he
Thanksgiving holiday just makes it
so timely to say something about my
new home.
What I want to say, at tins appro
priate Thanksgiving time of year, is
that Brunswick County is something
to be grateful for.
I know it sounds mushy, but
there. I said it. And I'm not "just
saying that." either.
This is beautiful country up here,
and I hope that all Brunswick
County residents know that.
To someone who lived all of her
earlier life in slightly larger towns
willi huge billboards. Hashing shop
signs, lots of smelly traffic and free
ways, living near the ocean in a
small, quiet, clean town is very so
cial.
Walking on Ocean Isle Beach
Can Bring
Dori
Cosgrovc
Gurganus
\\ nil seagulls during a liery sunset or
watching itic sun shine fit the majes
tic. painted-white houses in South
|H?ri is just about I ho closest lo par
adisc I think most ol us w ill reach in
this lifetime.
Anil the oeean Ivats a chlorinated
swimming pool any day.
Ol" course, lo people who love
mountains, the beach might not he
the greatest place.
I love mountains, too. hut there's
something about a beach that brings
a person so close to lish and birds
and all sorts ol crawling creatures
11
Out My Mushy Side
ami allows you u> investigate them
with what seems like more intensity.
I |iim can't seem id describe the
beauty, but if you live here or have
visited here, then you know what
I'm talking about.
()l course, I know many natives
here don't go near the beaches and
instead drive to the mountains lor
their vacations.
I guess the way I feel about living
inland is the way many seaside resi
dents leel about living by the water.
Enjoying the ocean just hasn't be
come commonplace to me yet.
A seafood-lover can't get really
gixxl sealixxl inland, either. I've eat
en pretty much nothing but fresh
shrimp since I moved here and I
plan on eating many more before I
grow tired of them.
I never realized that I was dining
on weak imitations of seafood dur
ing my time in northeastern Georgia,
hut now' I've seen the truth.
I will never eat at that chain
seafood place again.
All my friends and family down
there don't know what they're miss
ing: beautiful scenery. gtxnl IixhI
and a pleasant, quiet community.
Well, I've done what I said I
wouldn't do.
I hate to write a sweet, sentimen
tal column, but the holidays seem to
call lor it.
And Thanksgiving is supposed to
make us think ol and be grateful lor
our home and family. My family
isn't nearby, so I'll tell Brunswick
County what I think about it.
There are many different things
about living here that I'm enjoying
getting used to, ami as much as I
didn't want to say it: I'm grateful
that I do live in Brunswick County.
It'll even he easy to become used
to not having a winning baseball
team or any baseball team hi this
area, like the Atlanta Braves, as long
as I gel TBS.
mi
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Bears Share A Home
From ihe headlights I could see
something large and black by the
side of the road, but as I approached
it bccamc obvious that it wasn't a
dog ? loo large.
The black object turned slowly,
crossed a ditch and headed into the
woods along Maco Road (N.C. X7).
1 had gotten an uncommon glimpse
of a bear in the wild last week, just a
few miles from home. It looked like
it may have been drinking water
from a ditch near Goodman Road,
an area not very heavily populated
but where there arc homes.
Bears are among those creatures
that are found in Brunswick County
but rarely give humans a show. They
quietly roam in the Green Swamp
and bays.
Since most people rarely see
bears, they don't think about them
either. Out of sight, out of mind. It
comes as a shock when a bear wan
ders into a neighborhood, onto a
golf course or crosses paths with
someone who immediately thinks of
grizzlies and maneaters when they
sec the furry creatures.
At UNC-Wilmington, English
professor Gerald Rosselot teaches a
course on Southern literature. A
mong his required readings is Will
iam Faulkner's "The Bear."
Bears are a fascination for Ross
elot, UK>, for he brings to class his
collection of bear facts, bear memo
rabilia and information on people's
odd curiosity about bears. It seems
to be a southern curiosity.
He invites students to add to that
collection ? news clippings on tragic
or humorous accounts of hears.
Terry
Pope
In Our Neighborhood
In Rossclol's class, which con
tained a mixture of Wilmington area
and out-of-state students, the general
reaction was one of surprise that
bears are as commonly found in
southeastern North Carolina as they
iire in Faulkner's Mississippi.
When I was very, very young
someone shot and killed a mother
bear and two cubs behind my par
ents' home in Maco. That wasn't
yesterday, but there are still signs that
bears still make their home nearby.
Last summer, when my folks
spent a week in the mountains they
came home to find the garden had
been raided by animals. We think it
was a bear that harvested the com.
Something had picked each ear from
the stalks and carefully shucked it
clean. Strange.
That deer hunter, years ago, had
stumbled upon the mother, whose
fierce protectiveness of her young
cubs apparently scared him and trig
gered him to waste their lives. I've
thought about that every since, how
it was such a waste.
For just west of my parents' prop
erty is a vast tract of empty woods,
logging roads and Green Swamp, a
good home for bears. It shouldn't be
a surprise that a hunter should stum
ble upon one or two.
Some do end up dead. A South
Brunswick High School student got
in trouble a few years ago for having
a bear paw in his car in the school
parking lot. A news report last week
told how a couple was arrested for
selling jewelry to an undercover of
ficcr in western North Carolina. The
jewelry, it seems, is a hot commodi
ty, for it is made from bear claws,
which is against the law.
For a few dollars, vacationers
pouring into the Cherokee village in
the Great Smoky Mountains in west
ern North Carolina can watch a man
wrestle with a live bear, so the sign
says.
Indian reservation laws differ
from state wildlife laws, so the
shows continued, although animal
rights activists have moved in more
recently, wanting the bears freed.
It's not uncommon to see bears
wander about campgrounds and pic
nic areas in the Smokies, rummag
ing through trash containers or look
ing for a handout from tourists.
While hiking up a trail to a water
fall, 1 happened upon a mother and a
cub, who patiendy swaggered across
the path and continued downhill, not
paying any attention to the people.
So when the headlights revealed a
true black bear near my home last
week, some questions were an
swered, but it also raised some ques
tions. You know bears are here in
Brunswick County, too, but seeing is
believing.
When you tell someone, "I just
saw a bear," they'll probably think
you just saw a large dog.
That is, if they think you saw any
thing at all.
1 hope man appreciates having the
bears around and will be careful not
to invade the privacy or territory
they need.
It Had
it had U) bo a mouse. What else
could leave droppings the size of
BBs all over the rattan chest and on
the hearth of the living room fire
place?
For two weeks running, Don and I
tiptoed into the living room each
morning and there they were: more
BBs. We'd clean them up, but some
times when 1 came home for lunch
there would be still more. This was a
bold mouse, venturing out into the
open day and night, it seemed.
We checked inside the chest. No
sign of a mouse, though it was an
ideal hiding and nesting place.
We checked the fireplace. Sure
enough, the damper was open.
Maybe a mouse had slipped in by
that unlikely route. Don shut the
damper and the two of us breathed a
sigh of relief, certain the invader
was in for an unpleasant surprise
that night.
We brought in Sweetpea, our 16
year-old mostly dachshund that at
one time was an excellent mouse r.
"Mouse?" I asked, directing her
toward the rattan chest arid the fire
place. She stuck her head behind the
chest and then stuck her nose into
the fireplace, snuffling. Then she
turned and looked at me as if to say,
To Be A Mouse ? Didn't It?
Suson
Usher
9
"You've got to be kidding. There's
no hint of a mouse around here.
Why are you wasting my time when
I could be snoozing?" She snoozes a
lot lately, but that's another column.
Unconvinced, I told Swectpea she
was just getting old and losing her
nose. She slunk away, an inch closer
to the carpet than usual, stung by my
apparent disapproval.
Next morning, even with the
damper closed, more BBs appeared.
Where was this critter coming from?
We determined to invest in a few
traps and some likely mouse food.
Meanwhile, with Halloween just
over and Thanksgiving approaching,
a Scottish prayer kept coming to
mind: "From ghoulics and ghosties
and long-leggety bcasucs And
things that go bump in the night,
Good lx>rd, deliver us!"
For some reason ihe BBs were
showing up only around the ratian
chest, where we keep several potted
plants. The most recent addition was
a peace lily brought home from
Don's office for some R & R and a
repotting. The pot had sat on the
front porch for a week or two before
we brought it inside.
Over a period of about two weeks
the plant appeared to be going from
sick to fatally ill. The leaves were
literally disappearing, the stems
turning yellow. No adjusting of
light, temperature, feeding or water
ing seemed to make a difference.
Arriving home from work a few
minutes early one afternoon, Don
decided to check around the chest
again for BBs.
When I arrived home later that
evening, he was standing by the
chest, with one hand on the peace
lily. "Come here!" he called. "You'll
never believe it. I've found the cul
prit."
Sure enough, there he or she was,
a very healthy-l(x>king specimen.
Our invader was a black, bristly
caterpillar with thick orange hori
zontal stripes, about four and a half
inchcs long and as big around as a
quarter. It was stretched out along a
stem of the lily, munching at break
neck speed. Sweetpea should have
heard it chewing.
Around the base of the lily were
piled mounds and mounds of BB
si/.e droppings left behind from nu
merous feedings. Nearly hidden
among the foliage and the BBs were
four smaller, fu/./y black balls.
Miniatures of the big caterpillar,
each was about the si/e of a fat wad
of bubblegum. They looked a lot like
the "warm lu/zics" that were so pop
ular as decorative pins at one time.
"Let's call Milton's office and
find out what it is." That was the re
|x>rier instinct in me. Gotta know,
you know?
But Don didn't care: his mission
was to get rul ol them before they 1)
multiplied any faster or 2) finished
off the peace lily.
Still. I'm wondering what kind of
caterpillar times so selectively on
peace lily. Were these critters really
as monstrous as they seemed? If we
had left them alone, would we have
been godparents to a butterfly or two
or five next spring?
We'll probably never know, but
Ihc peace lily is kxtking much belter
these days and Swcetpca's due an
apology.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Investigate Thoroughly
Before Writing Report
To the editor:
We at Shell Point Acres feel the article in the Oct. 31 issue (Shell
Point Residents Want More Responsive Commissioners) was really un
justified. We have been selling property in that area for 15 years and
have only had two problems with water. After a water softener was
placed on the well the problem was terminated.
1 believe you should investigate this claim more thoroughly before
writing a report. We arc very upset that one man's opinion can stand for
such a large community. We would definitely like to pursue this matter
further.
Rick Robinson
Shell Point Acres
(Letters Continue On Following Page)