Expanded service
Two new county convenience
stations opened last week, now
giving a total of eight. See the
story on Page5-A.
Thirtieth Year. Number 29
Chapel Hill Bound
Irene Johnson's one of 17 county
high school students headed to the
state track and field championship
Friday & Saturday. See Page 10-B.
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^ Shollotte, North lorohno, ihursdoy, May 21, 1992 50* Per Copy 98 Pages^ Sections, Including Supplement, 2 inserts
$45 Million County Budget
Would Maintain Current Rate
BY ERIC CARLSON
There will be no increase in property taxes next year
if the Bruaswick County Board of Commissioners
adopts a proposed $45.3 million budget unveiled by
County Manager David Clcgg Monday night.
The board set a public hearing on the proposal for
Thursday, May 28, at 7 p.m. in the Pub Assembly
Building at the Brunswick County Government Center
The 1992-93 budget would fund four new depart
ments, create 30 new county positions and provide a 2.5
percent raise for current employees while maintaining
the current tax rate of 68 5 cents per $100 of property
valuation
Brunswick County sheriff s deputies and Register of
Deeds employees would get a 5 percent pay hike.
In all the budget envisions a 3 percent increase in
county spending based on a total property valuation of
about S4.2 billion.
More than S5.5 million was trimmed from departmen
tal funding requests, which proposed 51.5 new positions,
Clegg said in his budget message to the board. The ini
tial draft of the budget would have required a tax rate of
82.7 cents.
While the new departments and positions might seem
to mark a significant expansion of county government,
they are more of an "administrative reorganization" of
job titles and departmental functions, said Clcgg.
Much of the work performed by the new departments
has been funded under previous budgets, and only 1 1 of
the 30 new positions would require hiring new person
nel.
"These things arc new only in terms of full-year fund
ing," said Clegg. "What you're seeing is that last year
Brunswick County mounted all sons of initiatives? the
911 program, G.l.S. (Geographic Information Systems),
the library, the sign shop."
While all of these were partially funded in 1991, "this
is the first year's budget that accurately reflects what
we've gone off and bought," said Clegg.
The Central Communications Department, which will
operate 911 and assume sheriff's dispatching, is slated
to receive S474.092 for its first full year of operation.
The new Brunswick County Library Department will
oversee operations that had been partially funded by the
county through a library board of trustees. Under the
proposed budget, the new department would receive
S248.512, or more than twice what it received from the
county under the old arrangement.
The Brunswick County Sign Shop is a former arm of
the planning department created to install and maintain
street signs needed by the new 91 1 program. The budget
earmarks S68.035 in county funds for the new depart
ment, to be augmented by a S60.000 incentive grant
from the state.
The G.l.S. department, formerly an arm of the county
manager's office, would receive S285.084, for its first
Sc? $45 MILLION, page 2-A
STAFF mo TO BY TIMY port
BRUNSWICK COUNTY Commissioners Donald Shaw (left) and Jerry Jones leave the commission
ers' chambers Monday with copies of the proposed 1992-93 county budget.
_
Holden Beach Board At Odds Over Chamber Donation
BY DOUG RUTTER
A proposed hefty donation to the
South Brunswick Islands Chamber
of Commerce drew the support of
some and the ire of ithers at Holdcn
Beach's budget meeting Monday
morning.
Town commissioners favoring
contributions ranging from $2,000
to $14,000 eventually struck a com
promise and stuck $7,000 in the pro
posed budget for the 1992-93 fiscal
year.
But that figure could change be
fore the new budget is adopted next
month. If the lively discussion at
Monday's meeting is any indication,
there will be more debate about the
donation in the weeks to come.
Consideration of the chamber
contribution highlighted a 3 1/2
hour budget session on Monday, as
commissioners continued a meeting
that had been recessed last Tuesday.
Counting Monday's session, town
officials have met for 1 1 1/2 hours
so far on the new budget. The board
planned to reconvene Wednesday
morning.
Town Manager Gary Parker said
he expects three or four more work
sessions before the $1.25 million
budget goes to public hearing in
wmmmmmmmmmgmmmzmm
Columbus County
Board Told
To Make Ruling
BY TERRY POPE
Columbus County's Board of
Elections must rule if District 14
State House candidate Dewey
Hill of Lake Waccamaw should
remain on the November ballot
The State Board of Elections
on Friday certified the candidacy
of Democratic incumbent E.
David Redwine of Ocean Isle
Beach, but refused to give clear
ance to Hill's primary results.
Instead, the matter was re
manded back to the Columbus
County board for a hearing to re
view evidence regarding Hill's
legal residency, which has been
challenged, said Alex Brock, ex
ecutive director of the State
Board.
"Any proceedings held under
this hearing cannot be appealed
to the State Board of Elections
again," said Brock. Any further
appeal would go to Superior
Court.
Hill, a Democrat, received the
second-highest number of votes
in the May 5 primary for the
two-member 14th District, which
includes parts of Brunswick,
New Hanover, Columbus and
Robeson counties. Residents will
vote for two of three names on
the ballot.
See COLUMBLS, page 2-A
"/ don't get anything from the tourists
except aggravation
? Commissioner Jim Fournier
June. No change has been proposed
in the tax rate of 18 cents per $100
of valuation.
The chamber has asked for
$14,000 each from Holdcn, Ocean
Isle and Sunset beaches. The request
includes $10,000 for advertising and
$4,000 for administrative costs.
Commissioner David Sandifer
suggested Monday that the town go
along with the request and give the
chamber the money from its occu
pancy tax fund. Tourists pay occu
pancy tax on accommodation
rentals.
Holden Beach expects to collect
more than $200,000 in occupancy
tax next fiscal year, which Sandifer
equated to about 9 cents on the tax
rate. Using some of the occupancy
tax to advertise will help bring in
more dollars down the road, he said,
and keep the town tax rate low.
Commissioner Gay Atkins said
advertising also helps non-resident
homeowners rent their collages. She
said everyone benefits from tourism,
because occupancy tax money can
be used for projects such as side
walks and accessways.
Mayor Pro Tem Gil Bass suggest
ed cutting the donation to 510,000
so the town won't be paying for ad
ministrative costs at the chamber.
Bass said the chamber of com
merce has done a lot to promote the
South Brunswick beaches and has
helped the community in other
ways. It has supported transportation
improvement projects and commer
cial fishing in the past.
Commissioners Jim Fournier and
Sid S warts said $2,000 is enough for
the chamber. They said the town
doesn't need to advertise to attract
visitors.
Foumier said chambers of com
merce are usually funded by busi
nesses, not government, and the ac
commodations tax the town receives
is payment for the cost and aggrava
tion of having tourists on Holdcn
Beach.
"I don't get anything from the
tourists except aggravation." he said.
"I know they're here when I see
trash in the canal behind my house."
S warts said the island is already
overloaded with tourists during the
summer, and most people visit the
beach because it's a nice place, not
because of advertising.
If the town spends money on ad
vertising, Swarts said it could be
beaer spent elsewhere.
"I don't think with the chamber
of commerce we get our bang for
the buck," he said.
Fees Too High
Although they were at odds over
the chamber donation, commission
ers did agree Monday that the town
has been paying loo much in legal
fees.
Parker included SI 2,000 in the
budget for the services of Town
Attorney Ken Campbell, who was
the subject of criticism at this
week's meeting.
Commissioners said the town is
paying too much for Campbell, who
doesn't have much experience in
municipal government. Parker said
NRC Blames CP&L Management
For Problems At Brunswick Plant
BY ERIC CARLSON
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week said
that "despite good intentions," management was to
blame for not properly addressing safety problems at
the Carolina Power & Light Co.'s Brunswick nuclear
plant near South port
The NRC will release a report this week with the
findings of a two-month investigation into alleged con
struction deficiencies and inadequate maintenance pro
cedures at the plant. Recent statements by the agency
suggest the report will be highly critical of CP&L man
agers.
"Management has not set high standards for the ma
terial condition of the plant," said Sue Gagner, NRC
public affairs officer at the agency's offices in
Rockville, Md., Tuesday. "They have not provided the
leadership and support needed for improvements."
Gagner said there has not been enough "critical self
assessment" of management procedures, which resulted
in a "failure to recognize problems and implement cor
rective actions."
In response to the investigation, CP&L last
Thursday announced an accelerated effort to improve
operations and performance at the 16-year-old plant.
Tlie company plans to spend more than $200 million in
the next five years to modify and upgrade facilities and
training at the plant.
"Our objective is to raise the Brunswick plant's
overall performance to a level of excellence," said
CP&L Chairman and President Sherwood H. Smith Jr.
in a company news release. He acknowledged "a grow
ing backlog of maintenance and modification work" at
the plant.
Gagner said the NRC is encouraged by the compa
ny's announcement, but noted that the problems at the
Brunswick plant "can't be solved in a week or two."
She said CP&L management needs to develop a long
term plan for improving conditions at the plant
"Many of these problems were caused by initiatives
with good intentions that were not done well," Gagner
said. "Both the NRC and CP&L should have found
these problems sooner, but ultimately the responsibility
lies with CP&L management and Brunswick staff.
"We have no reason to believe that the Brunswick
staff is not as good as any other in the country," she
said.
The current NRC investigation marks the latest in a
series of problems at the Brunswick plant that have re
sulted in CP&L being fined nine times since 1988 for
safety violations.
This latest round of problems arose when it was dis
covered that anchor bolts designed to secure the walls
of a diesel generator building had been improperly in
stalled. The auxiliary generators are intended to provide
back-up power to pump cooling water to the reactors in
an emergency. The substandard anchors make the plant
more vulnerable to an earthquake.
As a result of the findings, CP&L took the two
Brunswick generating units out of service on April 21
to effect repairs and modifications. The company hopes
to have one of the units back in operation in late May
and the other unit in June.
The company claims it was not aware that the gen
erator building did not meet earthquake resistance stan
dards. A CP&L investigation will try to determine
whether the quality of work on the generator building
might have been misrepresented. The NRC is also look
ing into construction practices at the plant.
The overall contractor for the Brunswick nuclear
plant was Brown & Root Construction Co. of Houston,
Texas.
he would negotiate with Campbell's
law firm.
Holckn Beach pays $6,000 per
year as a retainer and S75 per hour
for other work. Due to his lack of
experience, officials said Campbell
requires more time to do research
than other attorneys.
"We're paying to train,"
Commissioner Foumier said. "His
inexperience is costing us money."
Said Swarts, "A lot of the stuff
he's come up with isn't that good."
Elsewhere In The Budget
Also on Monday, town commis
sioners reviewed the streets, inspec
tions and sanitation department bud
gets.
The board tentatively agreed to
keep a part-time secretary position
in the inspections department, but
may end up cutting S2.200 proposed
for a new computer terminal.
See HOLDEN, page 2-A
FRINK WITHDRAWS
Democrats Meet To Pick
Candidate For District 7
BY TERRY POPE
Brunswick County Democrats
were to meet tonight (Thursday) to
pick a replacement for the District 1
nominee in the Brunswick County
Board of Education race.
Sam Fletcher Frink, 28, of Route
1, Calabash, has withdrawn from the
race. He was the only Democrat to
file for the seat now held by
Democrat Doug Baxley, who chose
not to run for re-election. He faced
no primary May 5.
A special meeting of the
Democratic Party Executive Com
mittee was called for 7 p.m., May
21, by Party Chairman Crawford M.
Han of Boiling Spring Lakes. The
meeting is open to all registered
Democrats.
Frink said Monday that he had to
withdraw from the race so he could
devote more time to rebuilding his
business.
"We had a fire a couple of months
ago," said Frink, who operates the
NAPA Auto Parts store in Calabash,
which was nearly destroyed in an
accidental fire March 21.
"That's taken up my time," he
added. "That's preUy much the main
reason."
All precinct chairmen and vice
chairmen were called to Thursday's
meeting at the Democratic Head
quarters in Supply. Replacing Frink
on the ballot was the "number one
topic of discussion", said Hart
"Other important party affairs
will also be discussed," he added.
When a candidate resigns or with
draws from a race, it is up to the par
ty's executive committee to name a
replacement Frink said he had no
recommendation to take to the com
mittee.
"That won't be left up to me to
decide," he said.
It was Frink's first attempt at
seeking an elected office. He would
have faced Republican nominee
Janet Pope, 48, of Shamrock Drive,
Shallotte, in the November general
race.
In a close contest, Mrs. Pope de
feated Joseph Brust, 64, of Ocean
Isle Beach in the May 5 Republican
primary by a count of 1488 to 1 109.
Frink said he regretted having to
withdraw from the contest.
"We got a lot of comments from
people who really wanted me to
run," said Frink. "But that's (store)
my livelihood. I have to devoie my
time to that firsL"
District 1 encompasses an area
south of Shallotte to Calabash.
Two other school board seats are
also up for election. In District 3,
Democrat William D. "Billy" Carter
will face Republican Bill Fairley. In
District 4, incumbent Democrat
Donna Baxter will run against Repu
blican Pete Barnette.
Charge Cited Incorrectly
A report in the May 14 edition of The Brunswick Beacon incorrectly
listed the charges filed against two teen-agers charged with racing fol
lowing a May 9 accident near Brick Landing.
Both Mark Douglas McKeithan, 17, ol Shallotte, and Adam Abbott,
16, of Ocean Isle Beach, were charged with unlawful speed competition
and speeding.
However, McKeithan, not Abbott, was charged by the N.C. Highway
Patrol with the additional alleged offense of driving while impaired.
The Bronco operated by McKeithan ran off N.C. 179 and then back on
to the roadway again, striking the Nissan operated by Abbott.
McKeithan 's vehicle then overturned on the right shoulder, while
Abbott's vehicle ran onto the left shoulder, struck a tree and burst into
flames.
The Beacon apologizes for the errors.