Good Luck, Trojans, In 2-A State Championship Bout Saturday THE ^111 IB 1^1 ? V 12/31/99 **P0 HO AG & SONS BOOK BINDERY P.O. BOX 162 3PR I NGPORT MI 49284 Thirty-First Year, Number 6 C1MI ?tuNSW)CK MACON Shollotte, North Carolina, Thursday, December 10, 1992 50 fui fcuciai ami stale grants and low-interest loans to build the S25 to $30 million system. District 2 commissioners Stuart Thorn, Jon Sanborn and George Anderson joined District 1 board members Keith Hardee and Edward Rice in voting for the mea sure. Voting no were District 2 commissioners Robert Noe and Ray Card, who introduced the motion to form the authority. Card nominated retired engineer Hank Mattutat of Carolina Shores to serve a three-year term on the author ity, which will have three members each from Calabash and Sunset Bcach. Hardee suggested Russell Price, general manager of Atlantic Telephone Membership Corp. and owner of the Dockside restaurant in Calabash, for a two-year term. Thorn named retired engineer Hall Todd to serve one year on the authority. Anderson, Card and Noe voted in the minority against Price's nomination. The other two nominating votes were approved with Noe as the only dissenter. In making the motion to form the authority, Card in cluded a requirement that the body be given no powers until Calabash residents vote to approve funding for the joint water system. If the bond referendum is defeated, the authority will be immediately dissolved. Card said he introduced the motion "because I wanted some checks and balances in place until we know where we're going." He said he voted against his motion be cause iic feeis liie majority of Disuici 2 residents oppose the formation of an authority. Comments from the audience Tuesday and at an earli er public hearing supported Card's contention as dozens of Carolina Shores residents packed the cramped meet ing room and spilled out into the hallway. Nearly all who spoke were in opposition to the measure. Jack Brady, president of the Carolina Shores Properly Owners Association, said the group had doubts about as surances from consulting engineers that the sprawling golf-course development would be exempt from future assessments for sewer system improvements. Carolina Shores already is served by the private Carolina Blythe sewer system. Plans call for the authori ty to eventually purchase the company. Joe Tombro of Powell Associates, consulting engi neers, said that any area already served by Carolina Blythe would only pay for water and sewer service. The costs of expanding the system would be borne by the new customers it serves. A requirement to that effect could be written into the bylaws governing the authority before it receives fund ing, Tombro said. (Set CALABASH, Page 2-A) Sunset Okays Resolution Over Voca/ Public Protest BY LYNN CARLSON Despite strenuous opposition from a majority of speakers at a public hearing, Sunset Beach Town Council voted unanimously Monday to become Calabash's partner in the South Brunswick Islands Water and Sewer Authority. "Every one of us is resolved that this is what we have to do to find out if (a sewer system) is something that will better our community," Council Member Cherri Cheek said in moving to approve the resolution to form an authority and to make Bud Scrantom, Mary Nell Eaddy and Bill Hood the town's initial rep resentatives. Cheek's motion was seconded by Council Member Mary Katherine Griffith, who earlier in the meeting said opponents of the authority had "impugned not only my honesty but my intelligence" during the discus sion. Tempers ran hot in the small council chambers, where about 40 spectators watched the hearing while a nearly equal number were turned away by police bccausc there was nowhere for them to sit. Many left, but those who waited outdoors were allowed in one at a time to speak. The room had been full since half an hour before the 7 p.m. hearing, with the first participants arriving at 6. An hour into the hearing, the eight persons remaining outdoors were allowed to enter the chambers and stand until Mayor Mason Barber declared the forum closed at 8:35. A number of citizens protested council's refusal to move the hear ing to the larger town fire hall, among them Bill Hood, choscn to serve a one-year term on the first au thority board. Hood, a resident of the town's ex traterritorial jurisdiction and a mem ber of its Citizens Wastewater Advi sory Committee, said leaving inter ested citizens out in the cold "does not foster the cooperation and un derstanding this project will re quire." He told the crowd, "I'm not anxious to ram a sewer system down your throats." Hood's fellow Sunset Beach rep resentatives on the initial authority are Scrantom, a council member and mainland resident who will serve a three-year term, and Eaddy, a two term planning board member and full-time island resident. They will serve at the pleasure of the town (See SEWER, Page 2-A) STAFF PHOTO BY LYNN CARLSON Like A Bug In A Rug Brent Moore of Shallolle, snuggled in a sleeping bag on a warm car hood, finds the perfect way to stay out of the cold wind while waiting for the Shallotte Christmas Parade to begin. For highlights of this year's parade, turn to Page 8-A. State OKs ALS Program Upgrade BY KRIC CARLSON The Brunswick County Emergency Medical Services Advanced Life Support (ALS) program is back up to speed with an intermediate level emer gency technician responding to every ambulance call, EMS Director Doug Ledgett said Monday. That means any emergency patient in Brunswick County can expect treatment from an emergency med ical technician (EMT) who is authorized to administer intravenous injections, insert breathing tubes, take blood samples, operate a heart defibrillator and per form other mei'ical procedures that require intermedi ate level EMT training. In August, the county was forced to suspend its fledgling ALS program alter slate inspectors discov ered that the local EMS program had failed to main tain the training records required to document EMT-1 (intermediate) certification. A training coordinator was blamed for the oversight and fired from his position after the deficiencies were discovered. As a result, more than 100 area rescue workers who had received their intermediate rating under the Brunswick County program were prohibited from us ing advanced lifesaving techniques in the field. "There was a great feeling of frustration to have reached a level of training and to not be able to use it," Ledgett said Tuesday. The N.C. Office of Emergency Medical Services assisted Ledgett and Brunswick EMS Medical Direc tor Dr. Harry Johnson in setting up a program to re certify local EMTs. Most were required to make up class work and put in additional hours of internship to earn their rating a second time. On Oct 2, the Brunswick ALS training level had advanced enough for the state to authorize the local program to operate at the EMT-D (defibrillator) level. This allowed rescuers to use electronic equipment to stabilize the heart rhythms of cardiac patients. To further enhance the local EMS program, last September Ledgctt requested and received an appro priation from the county commissioners to keep paid EMS personnel available 24 hours a day and to con tract with Johnson to become medical director. Brunswick's EMS program now has two ambu lances and two "quick response vehicles," Ledgctt ex plained. The latter are operated by an EMT-I and are equipped with lifesaving equipment, but arc not capa ble of transporting patients. The 1 5 paid Brunswick EMTs work 24-hour shifts in three groups of five, Ledgctt said. Each group consists of two technicians on each of the two ambulances and a shift coordinator who can go to the scene in one of the quick response vehicles. When a 91 1 emergency call comes in, a Brunswick County EMS unit is dispatched with the appropriate volunteer squad, Ledgett said. This guarantees that at least one EMT-I will be on every call. If a quick re sponse vehicle arrives first, the EMT can begin treat ing patients before the ambulance arrives. "It's a good way of increasing our capability with out spending money for an ambulance," Ledgett said. The county is in the process of hiring a full-time training officer to coordinate the EMT certification program, Ledgett said. Officials eventually plan to continue training local volunteers and paid personnel to raise the ALS program to the paramedic level, al lowing emergency workers to perform more advanced mcdical procedures. "We will be hiring someone who is not only a certi fied paramedic but someone who has already been in volved in a paramedic level program," Ledgett said. "We hope to have the position filled sometime in January." New Board Keeps County Manager, Votes Warren Chairman BY KRIC CARLSON Resisting demands from Demo cratic Party leaders who called for his dismissal, County Manager David Clegg was reappointed Mon day night when two newly elected Democrat commissioners voted with two incumbent Republicans . At a brief first meeting of the newly sworn board, Democratic commissioners Don Warren and Tom Rabon voted with Republicans Jerry Jones and Donyld Shaw to keep Clegg in the position. Democrat Wayland Vcrccn voted against Clegg's reappointment, say ing later that his opposition repre sented the wishes of citizens who "voted for a change in county gov ernment." Inside... Birthdays 2B Business News 7C Calendar of Events 6B Church News 7B Classified 1-6C Court Docket IOC Crime Report 7 A Entertainment 4B Golf 13B Obituaries 7B Opinion 4-5 A People In The News 4B Plant Doctor 3B Sports 8-13B Television Listings ....8-9C The board's decision was one of several made in quick succcssion with little or no discussion. Voting 3 to 2 along party lines, the commissioners elected Warren chairman and Rabon vice chairman. Shaw had nominated Jones for chairman and Jones asked that Shaw be made vice chairman. The commissioners voted unani mously to reappoint Kelly Barefoot as clerk to the board. Jones was the lone dissenting vote in a 4-to-l decision to table a pro posed county-wide leash law. The measure passed a first reading by the outgoing board last month. In mak ing the motion to defer considera tion until a later meeting, Vcrecn said he "has not had a chance to look at" the draft ordinance. In a brief ceremony before the meeting, the new commissioners were joined by their wives Glcnda Warren, Lois Rabon and Linda Vcrecn while taking the oath of of fice from Barefoot. Rumors of the county manager's impending dismissal escalated last week after Democratic Party Chair man Bill Stanley urged the new commissioners not to reappoint Clcgg. The request was made at a meeting of the party's executive committee in Bolivia this past Thursday (Dec. 3). During a reception following the commissioners* meeting, Clcgg called the controversy surrounding his reappointment "a humbling ex perience" and said he was pleased that political pressures seemed to I WW ifL'WK ' r . STAFF PHOTO BY ERIC CAJtLSON NEW MEMBERS of the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners are joined by their wives as they receive the oath of office from Board Clerk Kelly Barefoot Monday night. Shown (from left) are Tom and Lois Rabon, Wayland and Linda Vereen and Don and Glenda Warren. have been put aside in making the decision. "All week 1 was overwhelmed with calls from good, decent people who care about the stability of this county," Clcgg said. Asked if he was disappointed not to have a unanimous vote of confi dence from the board, Clcgg said he understands "the realities of poli tics." He said he plans to continue working with the commissioners "collectively and not as individuals" in carrying out board policy. "I would have liked it to be a unanimous vote, but it wasn't Which is just like at the polls. Everybody didn't vote for any of them either," Clcgg said. Asked why he voted against re naming Clegg as county manager, Ycrccn said, "I'm not sure I know him." Vercen said he first met Clegg when the three new board members and other Brunswick officials at tended a N.C. Institute of Government training session for new commissioners last week. "It's just like any other employ ee," said Vereen. "You wouldn't hire somebody for a job without an interview." Vereen also said he opposed Clegg's reappointment because the people who elected him commis sioner "voted for some kind of change in county government." Clegg, a Democrat, was hired as Brunswick County attorney in 1984. He was appointed interim county manager in 1989 and was named county manager by an all Republican board of commissioners in January, 1991. He has continued to serve as county attorney through out his tenure. Rabon said he "didn't cxpcct all the ruckus" over Clcgg's re-appoint ment and never intended to vote against him. He said he had made "no judgments" regarding Clegg and added that "lime will tell" whether Clegg will hold on to the position. "I was prepared to make the mo tion to keep him," Rabon said. Warren was less than enthusiastic in voicing support for Clegg. He noted that the county manager serves at the pleasure of the board and can he removed from lhat posi tion at any lime He said he plans to monitor Clegg's performance in coming months. "There's always a possibility for change," Warren said. Warren said the first priority of the incoming Democrat majority will be the extension of the county water system "to all people who want it," beginning with the Shallottc Point area. The outgoing board last week ac cepted a bid for extending water lines into the Shallottc Point Special Assessment District. Other portions of the project are ncaring comple tion. (See CLEGG, Page 2-A)