Sewer Authority Plan Draws Fire At Sunset Beoch
(Continued From Page 1-A)
council.
Opponents of the authority dis
agreed on nearly every point with
consulting engineers from Powell
Associates, hired by Sunset Beach
and Calabash to construct a "select
ed plan" to implement a wastewater
program for the towns.
The plan includes construction of
a wastewater collection and treat
ment facility and stormwater man
agement system plus foir.:aiion of a
"public management entity" to mon
itor, inspect and repair systems not
conncctcd to the system.
The engineers have estimated the
cost of a sewer system at S25 to S30
million to serve residents from the
state line to the easterly limits of the
Sunset Beach extraterritorial juris
diction and from the oceanfront to
U.S. 17.
James E. Mcriccl, one of those al
lowed in from outdoors to speak,
said "I have seen nothing to suggest
a need for sewers on Sunset Beach.
It has never been demonstrated to
me."
However, just prior to the meet
ing, engineers Joseph Tombro and
James Billups distributed copies of a
ten-page "Status Report on Waste
water Collection & Treatment Pro
grams" for the two towns. The re
port outlines the process of imple
menting a sewer system and pre
sents evidence of pollution it says
"should be sufficient to convince the
most cynical observer that on-site
septic systems are not the answer for
treating sewage on the island of
Sunset Beach."
The Powell report says town wa
ter consumption records indicate
that about 35 percent of homes on
the island of Sunset Beach use more
water than the 7,200 gallons per
month an average working septic
tank system can treat.
"The amount by which actual
consumption excccds this amount is
up to 18,000 gallons per month.
Therefore, many of the systems arc
receiving wastewater at a rate of two
to three times the design capacity.
"Assuming the septic systems are
operating as designed, which is an
idealistic situation, then the over
loading results in inadequately treat
Shell Point Mother, Daughters Face
Felony Purse Theft, Forgery Charges
A joint effort Tuesday by county
and Shallotte law enforcement offi
cers resulted in the arrest of three
Shell Point area women on felony
charges of forgery, uttering and lar
ceny, according to Del. Tom Hunter
of the Brunswick County Sheriffs
Department.
Hunter said Gwendolyn Tipton
P;<ync, 18; her mother, Stephanie
'lipton; and sister, Lctha Tipton
King, were arrested about 2 p.m.
and were being held in lieu of
S2.000 bond each Tuesday evening.
The three had been reported to
police after an elderly Calabash
woman's purse was taken from a
shopping cart at a Shallotte grocery
store about 1 p.m. Tuesday, Hunter
said. The purse was found at the
store, but credit cards, cash and
checks were missing, he said. One
of the missing checks was cashed
for SI, 000 shortly thereafter at a
nearby bank, he added.
All three women were charged by
the Shallotte Police Department in
the Shallotte incident. In addition,
Payne was charged by the
Brunswick County Sheriffs
Department in a Nov. 30 case in
which a checkbook and credit cards
were reported stolen from another
woman's purse left on the countcr of
a Seaside shop.
In that case. Hunter said, a check
for $800 was cashed at another local
bank.
Hunter, Brunswick County
Deputy Patty Hewett and Shallotte
Police Chief Rodney Gause were
discussing the case Tuesday when
Hunter spotted the car the suspects
were reported to be driving near
Gray Bridge and Shell Point roads.
Hunter said credit cards belonging
to the Seaside victim, a checkbook
belonging to the Shallotte victim
and $1,061 in cash were recovered
in a search of the women's car.
Cold, Wet Winter Here
For Week Or So Longer
More wintry weather is in the
forecast for the South Brunswick
Islands.
Shallotte Point meteorologist
Jackson Canady says the outlook
calls for continued below normal
temperatures coupled with above
average precipitation.
"It looks like we're in a pattern
for a while, at least the next week to
10 days," he said.
Canady expects temperatures to
range from the mid-30s at night into
the mid-50s during the daytime.
with at least three-quarters of an
inch of rainfall.
For the period Dec. 1-7 he record
ed a high of 60 degrees on both Dec.
1 and 2, and a nighttime low of 27
degrees on Dec. 6.
A daily average high of 55 de
grees combined with a nighUy aver
age low of 35 degrees for a 45-de
grees daily average temperature.
That's about 4 degrees below aver
age, he said.
Canady recorded .6 inch of rain
fall during the period.
Needs Assessment To Be
Presented For 3-County Area
A presentation of the 1992 Reg
ional Needs Assessment ? a study of
human service needs and the per
ceived quality of life in Bruaswick,
New Hanover and Pender coun
ties ? will be held Dec. 16 at UNC
W.
The meeting will take place in
Cameron Hall Auditorium, Room
* ~
105, at 7:30 p.m.
Information to be presented will
include recent census data, focus
group findings and surveys from
area residents.
The assessment is a joint project
of the Cape Fear United Way, the
New Hanover County Department
of Social Services and UNC-W.
Bird Island To Be 'Stateline' Topic
The effort to protect Bird Island
from development will be the lead
story on the N.C. Public Television
half-hour news program "Stateline,"
tonight (Thursday), a spokesman for
the network said.
Interviews were taped with Bird
Island Preservation Society chair
man Bill Ducker and others in
volved in the effort. The ten-minute
segment will also briefly explore
olher Sunset Beach issues, including
whether the island's one-lane pon
toon bridge should be replaced.
"Statcline" will be rebroadcast on
Sunday, Dec. 13, at 5 p.m.
N.C. Public Television is received
locally on Vision Cable channel 13,
Atlantic Cable 12, or non-cable
channel 39.
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cd wastes which go directly to the
groundwater, and potentially to the
adjacent estuaries "
Two proponents of die authority
expressed concerns about septic tank
efficiency and about a pending state
crackdown on malfunctioning or
outdated systems.
Sea Trail Plantation partner
Miller Pope, who also owns a motel
and rental properties at Ocean Isle,
said, "You can't compare a rental
house to the house you live in.
Renters will take the grease they
cook in and pour it right down your
drain. During the winter, the grease
can clog your drain lines and make a
scptic system useless."
Contractor Tom Pope said, "1
challenge you to get yourselves in
formed about scptic tanks. In two or
three years, we'li be drowning,
swimming, in sewage. When the
state regulators get hold of you,
you're going to be down here on
your hands and knees begging for a
sewer system."
Opponent Judy Van Winkle ques
tioned whether pollution testing
around Sunset Beach had been con
ducted only during the summer
when rental cottages arc occupied to
capacity.
Engineer Tombro replied, "It
makes no difference. If you have
these constituents in your water at
any time of the year, you damned
sure better be scared. The problem
doesn't go away."
Opponents argued that no authori
ty should be formed until after a ref
erendum is held on the sewer system
and that an authority would allow
the towns to "circumvent the will of
the people."
Outspoken opponent Sue Wcddlc
charged, "Word in the community is
that your minds are already made
up, that this meeting is a farce. Even
though there's a clear consensus in
this room, you have no intention to
listen."
Engineers and council argued that
an authority is the only viable vehi
cle for the two towns to seek grants
and loans; that only through an au
thority can the towns lcam whether
adequate funds can be raised to con
struct a system; and that the authori
ty will not be "activated" until it has
funds to spend.
Opponents expressed fears that an
authority could abuse its power.
Merkcl referred to his experience as
a property owner in Chapel Hill,
saying such authorities are "behold
en to nobody," and said a similar
board there "took 2,000 acres in the
country, built an administrative
palace and decided to spend
$350,000 to build a recreational fa
cility that has nothing to do with wa
ter or sewer."
"We're not sewer experts,"
Scrantom countered. "We're trying
to do what's best for the community
in our opinion. Some won't agree,
and some will. I think you people
arc scared of the word 'authority.* If
it gets to be a bureaucracy, ve'll just
cancel it."
Mayor Pro Tern Ed Gore said, "1
share your concerns about a possible
bureaucracy" and that those con
cerns "will be considered in the es
tablishment of the authority. Our job
is to bring this entity to the people to
do ihc job and operate at the lowest
rates possible."
Gore was accused by opponents
of having a vested interest in the
sewer project because he is a partner
in Sea Trail Corporation, which
needs a centra! sewer system in or
der to expand.
Mayor Barber refuted a statement
made two weeks ago at a meeting of
the Sunset Beach Taxpayers Asso
ciation alleging that Sea Trail's prin
cipals were influencing the board to
construct a taxpayer-funded sewer
system.
Barber said Sea Trail "will get a
sewer system one way or another,
whether it's public or private. We
asked them to hold off on their plans
until the town decided what it was
going to do."
Council did not rccommcnd limit
ing any of the authority's statutory
powers, which include owning and
acquiring properly, constructing wa
ter and sewerage systems, entering
into contracts, applying for grants,
issuing revenue bonds, establishing
rates, imposing special assessments
and condemnation.
Colobosh Vote Seals Sewer Authority
(Continued From Page 1-A)
Brady also suggested that the
town should investigate the possibil
ity of contracting with the Grand
Strand Water and Sewer Authority
in South Carolina to provide sewer
service to those portions of
Calabash, mostly in the downtown
restaurant district, that are not
served by Carolina Blythe.
But Tombro said the Myrtle
Beach authority already has com
mitted to provide service to enough
areas in South Carolina to exhaust
its treatment capacity.
Another Carolina Shores resident
said, "People in District 2 are not
against providing sewer to areas of
Calabash that don't have it. Wc just
don't understand why w havp In
join with Sunset Beach to do it
Why can't we do it ourselves?"
Jim Billups of Powell Associates
said it would require $1.8 million in
"up front costs" to serve most of the
downtown business area. Those cus
tomers would end up paying more
than twice as much per gallon of
sewage output than they would if the
Sunset Beach is included in the sys
tem.
'There is an economy of scale at
work," Billups said. "The larger
your customer base, the lower the
cost per customer.
"We had the option of excluding
Carolina Shores from the system
plans," he said. "But we learned that
you were looking at a rate increase
anH felt it \v2S our task to nr,nrfi<if,nt
the town as a whole. We felt it was
in the best interest of Carolina
Shores to include it if we would pro
vide service for less than Carolina
Blythe will when it is sold or in
creases its rates."
Coleman Burnett, general manag
er of Carolina Blythe, confirmed last
week that the company is for sale
and will seek a substantial rate in
crease if a buyer is not found by ear
ly next year. He also said a new
owner of the system could be ex
pected to raise rates even more.
After the meeting. Calabash
Mayor Doug Simmons said he was
pleased by the board's action.
"I think we did the right thing,"
Clegg Keeps Manager's Post After Vote
(Continued From Page 1-A)
Referring to a recent study of
county government job classifica
tions and salaries, Warren said the
new board "will have to look at
what changes might need to be
made."
He said the commissioners also
would be assessing new funding re
quests that might be expected from
the new Brunswick County Board of
Education.
Warren said he feels it is "very
unlikely" that the newly adopted
county-wide zoning ordinance will
be repealed.
Rabon said the zoning law "may
need some fine tuning." He said im
provements in the county's educa
tion system will be a top priority
during his term of office. He said he
thinks people are "ready to make
sacrifices" to upgrade the county
school system.
"If money is what it takes, I'm
ready. But I'm not yet convinced
that money is what's needed,"
Rabon said. "If I am convinced, I'm
prepared to spend it."
Despite siding with the Democrat
majority in voting to defer consider
ation of the leash law, Shaw said he k
still supports the measure.
"I just wanted to give these boys a
chance," Shaw said.
Asked what future conflicts he
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believes might arise on the board,
Shaw said implementation of the
zoning ordinance will be the most
controversial issue on the horizon.
He said he still favors the law as
modified, but expects changes to be
made.
"We can work with these people
if they'll let us," he said.
The board's next regular meeting
will be Dcc. 21.
he said. "Down the lane wc ought to
crpt snmc trorw 1 uranK frrvm (toinu it
With both towns applying, it will
make it better for both."
Hardee, a downtown restaurant
owner, agreed saying, "I'm glad it
passed. Wc really need it"
THE BRUNSWICK'ijfEACON
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