Holden Beach Board Rejects Septic Tank Ordinance
BY DOUG RUTTKR overcrowding of rental homes. nMHBBBHBBHBBHMBnsHBaBm like 1 failed." he said Pv|,n u",,?
Holden Beach's rmnna>H ?Hinon/.n *n ? ? * ? - * ? "
BY DOUG RUTTER
Holden Beach's proposed ordinance
aimed at slopping the abuse of septic sys
tems went down the drain Monday night on
a 3-2 vote.
Commissioners David Sandifer, Gil Bass
and Gay Atkins voted against an amended
version of the controversial rules.
Sid S warts and Jim Fournier were the
only supporters of an ordinance that has
been the subject of widespread public op
position for the past two months.
Immediately after rejecting the regula
tions, commissioners voted 4- 1 in favor of
a new approach to an old problem.
The wastewater management committee
that drafted the rules will meet with real es
tate agents to discuss ways of stopping
overcrowding of rental homes.
All five town board members have said
they oppose putting more people into cot
tages than they can safely accommodate.
Overcrowding is usually a problem each
summer, and it can lead to septic system
failure and pollution.
Fournier opposed the meeting of com
mittee members and real estate agents, say
ing he didn't expect anything positive to
come out of it
Bass suggested that the town involve lo
cal real estate agents, who handle most of
the house rentals on the island. "They're in
it every day," he said. "They've had lime to
look at it and think about this."
Swarts voted in favor of the new ap
proach, but was obviously upset that the
This ordinance
doesn't cure or even
touch the problem we
are talking about,
which is
overcrowding."
? Commissioner Gil Bass
septic system ordinance he helped write
was shot down.
"I'm a little disappointed because I was
sworn to uphold the state law and it looks
like I failed," he said.
Swarts said most of the people misunder
stood the proposed ordinance, which was
the subject of two well-attended public
hearings this summer.
He said the only thing the proposed rules
would prohibit is advertising that a home
for sale or rent has more bedrooms or
sleeps more people than the scptic tank per
mit allows.
"People have stood up over and over
again and they have never addressed the is
sue it prohibits," said Swarts.
Swarts' amendment of the original ordi
nance deleted a section that would have al
lowed the town building inspector to in
spect homes for compliance with state
wastewater treatment rules.
Even with the changes, however, most of
the town board members said they didn't
think the ordinance was the way to ap
proach the problem.
"This ordinance doesn't cure or even
touch the problem we arc talking about,
which is overcrowding," Bass said.
Sandifer said the proposed ordinance
could actually promote overcrowding by
discouraging people from listing in rental
brochures the number of people a home can
sleep. He also said the rules don't address
overcrowding, which is a density problem
and shouldn't be related to septic systems.
"Numbers of people should be controlled,
not just advertising," Sandifer said.
If a real estate agent advertises that a
(See SEPTIC, Page 2-A)
12/31/99 **P0
HOAG & SONS BOOK BINDERY
P.O. BOX 162
SPRINGPORT MI 49284
|Hl i
IIIL L/llVil
Thirtieth Year, Number 49 Shallotte, North Carolina, Thursday, October 8, 1992 50 ?t Per Copy 38 Pages, 3 Sections, 3 Inserts
L* School Attendance
? Plan Draws Praise,
Criticism For Board
STAFF moro BY E?IC CAJUiON
A Better Oil Trap
Partners in the development of a revolutionary new oil-spill recovery process display the United States
Patent they received last week. Shown (from left) are Shallotte attorney Mason Anderson, inventor
O'Neal Varnam of Supply, his son Sammy Varnam and Shallotte engineer Jay Houston. The story is
on Page 8A.
BY SUSAN USHER
Efforts by the Brunswick County
Schools to improve student atten
dance and discourage tardiness drew
criticism and praise Monday night,
with more than 150 people filling
the Waccamaw School cafeteria for
a meeting of the county school
board.
That meeting was recessed at 8:45
p.m. to continue at 6:30 p.m.
Monday, Oct. 19, at the central of
fice in South port.
On his third full day on the job,
new Superintendent Ralph Johnston
told the packed house that he needed
SUNSET. CALABASH WOULD BE REPRESENTED
Form Sewer Authority ; Engineers Advise
BY LYNN CARLSON
Engineers consulting with Sunset
Beach and Calabash officials say it
is time to organize a regional sewer
authority which can pursue the loans
and grants needed to construct a
central waste disposal system.
Representatives of Powell Asso
ciates of North Myrtle Beach, S.C.,
have asked the towns' attorneys to
draft articles of incorporation for
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what they are calling the Southwest
Brunswick Regional Sewer Auth
ority.
For those articles to be approved
by the N.C. Secretary of State, the
two towns would have to appoint
the authority's charter members.
Engineer Joseph Tombro, report
ing to the Sunset Beach Town
Council on Monday, said develop
ing an authority would not obligate
the towns to build a sewer system,
but would provide the necessary
"management entity" to apply for
construction funds.
Engineer Jim Billups said the two
towns are "fairly well down" the
state's priority list for sewer system
construction grants, but that he sees
"shortcomings" in the state's evalua
tion methods.
He said he will attend a public
hearing in Raleigh Oct. 13 to discuss
the priority list and will submit "all
the favorable information 1 can" in
hopes of getting either or both
towns' ranking raised.
Sunset Beach Town Attorney
Michael Isenbcrg suggested that a
resolution of intent to form the au
thority be presented at the Nov. 2
town council meeting, and that a
public hearing then be scheduled.
Tombro said a regional sewer au
thority would be make it easier to
get a Farmers Home Administration
loan to purchase the Carolina Blythc
sewer system, which serves several
developments near the state line.
Purchase of the Carolina Blythc sys
tem is part of the proposed first
phase of the sewer system, which
would serve the Calabash business
district and Sea Trail.
"Only a county or a sewer author
ity can enter into a purchase con
tract," Tombro said. "With an au
thority, you're also not requiring any
tax base to secure the loan, which
would be secured by the plant itself.
Also, the water and sewer authority
would owe the money, and not the
towns."
Mayor Pro Tem Ed Gore warned
of the need of a "cap" on the number
of authority members. This could
conceivably eventually include
Ocean Isle Beach, Shalloite and
Holden Beach. These boards are
very autonomous and independent
of the town, so we have to look out
for the town's best interests up
front."
Whether Sunset Beach needs a
sewer system has been an issue of
continuing controversy in the town.
Leaders of the Sunset Beach Tax
payers Association have expressed
concerns about the cost of such a
system, which they have estimated
as high as S25 million. The engi
neers have been reluctant to project
costs until their studies are com
plete.
A Citizens Advisory Committee
on Wastewater, appointed by Mayor
Mason Barber, is working with the
engineers to study the town's needs
and make recommendation. The
chairman of that committee has crit
icized the S25 million figure as ex
cessive and has said no such cost
has been presented to the group.
Members of the taxpayers' group
also have said they fear that a sewer
system will encourage overdevelop
ment of the island and mainland ar
eas, and have promoted the idea of a
less expensive stormwater runoff
management system as an alterna
tive.
Meanwhile, the engineers said,
tests continue to determine the ex
tent of pollution on the island at
Sunset Beach and whether its prima
ry source is septic tank pollution or
stormwater runoff.
"We ran into some difficulty test
ing in homes," Tombro said, "so
we're beefing up groundwater test
? _ ??
ing.
He added that an independent
firm will be collecting and testing
samples to ensure that results are
"without bias."
more time to review both the county
attendance policy and individual
schools' plans for carrying it out be
fore addressing specific concerns.
Those school plans were due in to
the central ollice Oct. 1 , his f irst day
on the job. Brunswick County Board
of Education Chairman Donna
Baxter assured audience members
that another meeting on the subject
would be called by the board after
the plans are reviewed and the poli
cy has been discussed with princi
pals to clear up any miscommunica
tion.
A blind ad appearing in several
local publicauons last week encour
aged people with concerns about
these and other policies to attend
Monday's meeting.
Speakers expressed concerns that
the attendance policy hasn't been
explained clearly to parents, that
some requirements appear to "pun
ish" parents or students and that not
all the provisions may be suitable
for the primary school level.
The new attendance policy de
creases the number of days a student
is allowed to miss school before re
ceiving a failing grade. In the past
students could accumulate 20 ab
sences.
The new policy gives students on
ly 10 days of absences. However, it
provides students "remediation," a
chance to make up missed work
without failing a class or grade and
to have the absence "erased" from
their record, whether it was an ex
cused or unexcused absence.
Brunswick County Schools
sought special permission from the
State Department of Public
Instruction to use classroom remedi
ation to make up the absences, said
Mose Lewis, assistant superinten
dent for instruction, as part of an ef
fort to improve its rating on the an
nual "report card" issued by the
state. The system is spending
S80.000 on salaries and supplies for
the program.
(See ATTENDANCE, Page 2-A)
Board To Talk, Not Listen
At Oct. 1 4 Zoning Workshop
The Brunswick County Planning Board will hold a work session
Wednesday, Oct. 14 to discuss questions raised by speakers at a Sept 29
public hearing on the proposed county zoning ordinance.The workshop
is open to the public.
The board will discuss each point raised during the public hearing
but will not accept further comment, said Brunswick County Planning
Director John Harvey.
"They've already made their case," said Harvey. "They aren't going
to be listened to again. It's in the hands of the commissioners now."
Harvey said Brunswick County Board of Commissioners Chairman
Kelly Holden had contacted him before the public hearing and asked
that the planning board consider each point raised. The board was asked
to submit its recommendations to the board of commissioners before its
next meeting Oct 19. The planning board's regular monthly meeting is
scheduled forOcL 21.
Harvey said the planning board agreed to schedule the work session
after its joint hearing with the commissioners had adjourned.
About 75 people attended the public hearing. Of the 22 speakers
who commented on the proposed ordinance, most spoke in opposition to
all or parts of the law.
The planning board work session will begin at 7 p.m. in the planning
department conference room at the Brunswick County government com
plex in Bolivia.
As defined by state law, the board can deliberate, but can take no of
ficial action at a "work session."
Seaside Group
Draffs Charter
For Proposed
Municipality
BY SUSAN USHER
The proposed Town of Seaside would be governed by
a mayor and five council members, a group of about 40
community residents agreed at a meeting held last week
at a local aucuon house.
By voice vote of attendees, a steering committee
filled in the blanks in a model charter for the town and
defined its boundaries last Wednesday night, after hear
ing first from an attorney with the N.C. League of
Municipalities.
"I always tell people they should not rush out and
start a new municipality without a good reason for it,"
Ellis Hankins. a League lobbyist with the N.C. General
Assembly who formerly practiced law in Brunswick
County, told the group. Thai's bccause a "paper
town" ? one whose residents don't want to do any
thing ? "is not good."
"Sooner or later two things are going to happen," said
Hankins. "One, it's going to start levying taxes; and two,
it's going to start adopting regulations that you will have
to abide by."
A willingness to pay more taxes for a higher level of
services than is currendy available and "preserving a
community's identity" are among the reasons commonly
expressed, he said. The latter "usually means some con
cern about a neighboring town, or towns, annexing..."
Hendrix noted that better law enforcement ? a costly
service to provide ? is one of the things Seaside area res
idents are saying they want, citing a high number of
property crimes such as breaking and entering and theft
Hankins reviewed options for better law enforcement,
from starting a police force to negotiating or contracting
for increased patrol; basic sources of state and local rev
enues for towns; and procedures a town must follow in
any annexation effort. He noted that residents of an area
proposed for annexation can go to court in an effort to
challenge it
Seaside is a small mainland community along N.C.
179 between Ocean Isle and Sunset Beach.
As outlined on the map, the proposed municipality
would generally run from a point on Seaside Road north
across N.C. 179 to along Dale Drive, then east toward
Ocean Isle Beach to a wooded area just beyond
Cornerstone, south across N.C. 179 again to Lakctrce
Shores, then following a creek along the east side of
l.akctrcc Shores to the middle of the Intracoastal
Waterway and back to the start.
It would not include Seaside Station, as had been pro
posed at one time. However, it would include the subdi
visions of Pine Acres, Occan View Landing, Ocean Pine
Acres, Laketree Shores, Tarhceland Acres, Ocean
Haven, Frank Hester subdivision, Whispering Heights,
Water Wonderland, Marlee Acres, Schooner's Pointe,
Brooks Acres, Seaside Heights, Eastsidc Heights,
Seaside Acres and Salt Marsh.
Audience members expressed mixed views
Wednesday. One man questioned the benefit of the town
paying for increased law enforcement, while a woman
likened the Seaside community to "the ham in a ham
sandwich waiting to see which (adjoining town) will
grab us. Then the rich islands will tell us what to do."
She continued, "Nobody wanted us until we got water
lines."
The committee is preparing the charter and map to
submit to Rep. E. David Redwine, who will be asked to
submit a local bill for incorporation. As approved
Thursday the charter also provides for at-large elections,
with council members to be elected to staggered, four
year terms, and the mayor to two-year terms.
The group did not vote Thursday on who would serve
as acting mayor and council between incorporation and
tnc first town election. Hendrix said those decisions will
be made later.
An initial tax rate of 10 cents per S100 valuation is
proposed, to go no higher except by referendum. The
governing body would not be paid except by vote of the
people.
'The committee members and residents of the com
munity have a strong feeling on that, for people to have
a large say in how the town is run," said Hendrix, speak
ing for the seven committee members present.
Redwinc, who attended an Aug. 13 meeting, is like
most members of the General Assembly. He typically
includes a provision for a referendum of permanent resi
dents of the proposed town in any incorporation bill he
introduces, though the law doesn't require it.
"If it fails, then that's the end of that," said Hankins.
The incorporation committee plans to hold another
public meeting Thursday, Oct. 22, at 7:30 p.m. at
Coastal Auction House on N.C. 179. To raise funds for
the effort, volunteers will be selling fried fish and chick
en dinners Saturday, Oct. 10, at McDonald's Farm at the
intersection of N.C. 179 and N.C. 904. Cost is $3.50 per
plate.