Taxpayers, Engineers Talk Sewer System Philosophy, Data
BY LYNN CARLSON
More than three hours into a meeting
Sunset Beach Taxpayers Association leaders
say they have sought for months, consulting
engineers had presented reams of documen
tation but seemed to have made no dent in
the taxpayers' skepticism about the need for
a regional sewer system in Southwest
Brunswick County.
Five citizens?four representing the 8(X)
membcr taxpayers' group?met with engi
neers Joe Tombro and Jim Billups of Powell
Associates in the Sunset Beach Town Hall
last Thursday for the engineers to present
preliminary data showing how they deter
mined that septic tanks arc polluting ground
and surface waters around the island of
Sunset Beach. However, much of the discus
sion centered around philosophical differ
ences between the taxpayers and the engi
neers about the efficiency of septic tanks,
liic iciialnliiy of icMing iiiCuiGua auu histori
cal pollution data, and whether a stormwater
runoff system alone might be adequate to
solve the pollution problem.
The engineers have said they believe con
struction of a S25 to 530 million sanitary
sewer system, plus i< stormwater runoff
management project, will be necessary to
curtail water pollution in Southwest Bruns
wick County and bring about the reopening
of shellfishing grounds closed because of
bacterial pollution.
Leaders of the taxpayers group say they
arc not convinced and have si . jested that a
much less expensive stormwater runoff sys
tem?5300,000 by one estimate?might
serve ihe same purpose.
However, the taxpayers said on Thursday
they were happy to receive the mountain of
maps, flow charts and test results from the
engineers, even though the group will proba
bly need outside help to interpret the materi
als.
Sue Weddle, an SBTA officer, said the
group may turn the data over to professors at
N.C. State University whose studies have in
dicated that septic tanks arc working "just
fine" on some North Carolina barrier islands
and who have claimed that ccntral sewer
systems have not improved water quality
around some barrier islands where they have
been constructed.
However, the engineers say their own da
ta and dozens of scientific studies prove that
harrier island population density and soil
types ensure that septic tanks will not ade
quately treat wastewater, and that, consc
qucntSy, they iCuCu uxui utiiiciia mm uie
surrounding waters.
"We can't find data showing that septic
tanks arc functioning properly in this envi
ronment," Tombro said. "If you can, let me
know."
Tombro presented maps indicating pollu
tion trends over the past dccadc and said
there has been a 50 percent increase in fecal
bacteria counts around the island. He said
bacteria counts arc at their highest in the
Calabash Creek area and tend to diminish at
test sites moving northward toward Ocean
Isle.
The process of determining the sources of
pollution is made more difficult by Sunset
Plant Closing Leaves
118 Workers jobless;
No Pension, Severance
(Continued From Page l-A) Not all employees are accepting
tion capacity," Connolly said, the reasons given by Perry
"This plant is not of a nature that Manufacturing officials for clos
it could manufacture our other ing the plant.
products. In a letter to the editor of The
"We have had a very successful Brunswick Beacon this week, pro
operation there in the past," he duction worker Cathy Coffey of
continued. "It is Holden Beach
with great regret ?/>? n suggests that in
that we have had i t o U fji Clly crcased manu
to make this ? ? ?? ?? facturing off
iu iiiaKc uus t i mi- ^ iaciunng 011
tough business ?00& UlllICllKlQ,* shore may have
decision." . been a factor in
Jim Saunders, WC flOpC WC CQH the company's
who has been . . . decision, despite
manager of the (lO SOfllCtnlfJR 't-s announce
nlonl frsr Iniel ^ mf?nt lf\ Ihl? fnn.
>ui wiv pivii ? ? ? T y ... -'.'JM
20 years and With it. It S a trary
managed "Americans
H i g h I a n d e r , S[Z6 W? haVCflt again arc paying
Ltd.'s Wampee, the awful price
s.c, plant for fiacj available." f?r our currc?1
two years before administration s
coming here, said Monks P?''cy on ^or"
the Smith eign trade," she
Avenue plant has wrote, wish
operated continuously in that time "a very prosperous New Year" to
with no major layoffs. Perry Manufacturing Co. employ
"We closed an extra week for ccs in El Salvador, Cosla Rica and
vacation one year in the mid-70s Columbia, S.A.
and we were closed a few days She could not be reached for
when Perry Manufacturing took comment Monday.
over in 1983. That's it," he said. The Pelican building has been
"We've always had at least 150 added by the Resources Devcl
empioyees here since I've been opmcnt Commission for Bruns
here." wick County to its inventory of
At peak, the company em- available local buildings and to a
pioyed as many as ioO employees, statewide inventory ol about 600
Approximately 30 employees idled plants for which the N.C. of
have been laid off since October Economic and Community
or November, he said. Development is seeking tenants.
Pelican has made garments for "I spent time at the plant Friday
retailers and labels such as Sears, getting specifications and taking
Penney's and Liz Claiborne, up- pictures," said RDC Director Tom
grading its quality assurance pro- Monks. "It's a pretty good build
gram to qualify to provide gar- ing; we hope we can do something
ments that sold at higher prices, with it. It's a size we haven't had
For the past three years, for exam- available."
pie, it has made stirrup pants for Since the closing was an
The Land's End Co. that sell for nounced last week Monks has had
S38. "just a couple of nibbles" or in
"Top quality stuff," said quiries, he said. "Really not all
Saunders. that positive."
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Complete And Return To Above Address
Name
Address
City, State
Zip
I
a
We cant find data
.showing that septic
tanks are
functioning properly
in this environment.
If you can, let me
know."
?Joe Tonibro, Engineer
Beach's system of storm drains which con
ncct underground and empty untreated
stormwater into tnc intracoastai Waterway
and Mad Inict, Billups said. "We've never
contended that there's not stormwater runoff
pollution," he added.
However, Tombro pointed to the recent
installation of a central sewer system in Surf
City as an example that sewer service alone
can clean up waters. "They have no
stormwater control, but their shellfish waters
have been opened back up for the first time
in years?and they have the same contami
nants and the same soil constituency (as
Sunset Beach)."
However, the taxpayers argue that in
many communities, sewers have not allevi
ated pollution, because central wastewater
disposal h.v made denser and more acceler
ated land development possible.
The engineers provided the taxpayers'
group with an oudinc of their proposed
"Southwest Brunswick Environmental Man
agement Program." That document also will
be used to seek the blessing of the N.C.
Coastal Federation environmental group for
the project.
TTie draft document states, "Within
Southwest Brunswick County there arc
some areas for which it is well-documented
that on-site systems arc simply not working
satisfactorily in regard to providing protec
tion o' -djai ent water quality. The restaurant
area Ca.abash adjacent to the Calabash
Rivet is one such area."
It also states, "Among citizcns and offi
cials, there is general agreement as to the
need for alternatives to conventional on-site
systems for much of the geographical area.
However, many ciii/.cns aic cuiiccmcd thai
the provision of centralized facilities will
lead to over-development of the area."
However, it claims, "development is oc
curring with or without centralized sewer fa
cilities," and adds, 'Developers of property
have also made it quite clear that they arc
going to provide centralized sewer service to
their properties within the next few years,
with or without the cooperation of the local
government entities."
The document further suggests that the
development issue would be best addressed
"through land planning and zoning ordi
nances."
Under the plan outlined by the engineers.
the newly created South Brunswick Water
and Sewer Authority would be responsible
for providing wastewater treatment and dis
posal and would establish :<nd enforce regu
lations governing on-site systems.
It calls for purchase of the privately
owned Carolina Blylhc sewer system, which
currently serves Carolina Shores, and ex
panding the facility to meet the area's needs
for two to four years.
Within five years, a new treaunent facility
we'd be buik northwest of Sunset Beach,
expanding capacity from an original half
million gallons per day to two million gal
lons per day, "based strictly on the needs of
the Towns of Sunset Beach and Calabash."
It calls for all of the highly treated waste,
or effluent, to be disposed of through golf
coursc irrigation.
In addition, the proposal recommends that
a stormwater management plan to be "a top
priority" of ihc two towns "for accomplish
mcnt within the next year."
The engineers contend that a user fee of
S18 per month for se system should be
adequate to meet the authority's debt service
on the system as planned. They add, "For all
new wastewater management and stormwa
ter management facilities required to accom
modate new development, these costs
should be borne by the developers. Period."
State funding will be sought for the sys
tem as a "demonstration program," since
"this will be the first program in the state to
attempt to provide a beneficial effort from a
combined wastewater and stormwater man
agement strategy."
Water District To Include Calabash, Leland Areas
(Continued From Page 1-A)
130, Webb said.
A sccond plan would run the line
down Stone Chimney Road to pro
vide the necessary boost in pressure.
A third possibility would be to
run a line from the U.S. 17 trunk
down Red Bug Road, looping
through the Shell Point area and
back to N.C. 130.
Water system designers prefer to
create loops in transmission lines to
maintain water pressure and flow. A
new Shell Point loop would also al
low the county to offer water service
to residents along Seashore Road,
Boones Neck Rrwrl and in
Tanglcwood and other subdivisions,
Webb said.
All three scenarios would require
a capital improvement watcrlinc ex
tension that would need approval
from the Brunswick County Board
nt Commissioners
UOB Chairman A1 Morrison said
Monday it was time for the board to
request the extension.
"Wc can help a lot of people in a
hurry if wc can get a line down
there. 1 want to sec those people
helped," Morrison said. "I'd like to
see us get in there and get something
cranking in a hurry."
The board asked Webb to recom
mend the best way to extend water
service to Shell Point for considera
tion at its next meeting.
In an effort to keep expenses
down by spreading the cost of wa
tcrlinc extensions among as many
customers as possible, Webb recom
mended that the board combine sev
eral possible service, areas ranging
"from Calabash to Mt. Misery
Road" into ofie special assessment
district.
Among the scrvicc areas pro
posed for SAD-19 are: .Sea Village,
located on N.C. 904 at Old
Georgetown Road; several subdivi
sions near Calabash including
Carolina Cove and an area between
Hunter's Trace and Thomasboro
Road; and several developments in
the Mt. Misery Road area of Leland
including Red Oak Estates, Four
Seasons Mobile Home Park and
Eagles Nest.
The board also is considering
combining an earlier SAD for
Sharrow Estates into the proposed
SAD-19.
As in all proposed SAD projects,
any property owner who might be
assessed for the waterline extension
will be notified in writing by the
UOB and invited to comment at a
public hearing. The board agreed
seek approval for the proposed SAD
from the county commissioners next
month in hopes of holding a public
hearing in March.
In other business, 'he board:
?Agreed to ask the county com
missioners to approve a capital im
provements water line extension
from both ends of a line on Mt.
Miserv Road. One. end would extend
to Hood Creek and provide water
for parts of the proposed SAD-19.
Extending the other end would al
low the duPont plant to tap onto the
county system. The company has
said it would contract for 93,6(X)
gallons per day, guaranteeing
534,700 in annual water purchases,
Webb said.
?Was asked by Sunset Beach
Town Administrator Linda Fluegcl
to endorse the county's purchase of
her town's 200,000-gallon water
tank. She said the town agreed to
build a larger tank than needed as
part of a county-wide water system
plan. She said the county uses the
tank for storage, while the town
pays for insurance and maintenance.
Webb noted that Ocean Isle Beach,
Holden Beach. Long Beach and
Yaupon Beach all own and maintain
their own water tanks.
?Heard Webb's "very conserva
tive" preliminary estimate of costs
for the Shallottc Point SAD, predict
ing assessments of S636.33 per par
es!. Webb said iic was iicsiuiiu u> re
lease the above-average assessment
estimate, which the UOR requested,
saying the figure was "very much an
estimate and likely to change."
Highway 904 Closed At River
The N.C. Department of Trans- "I would say use a good bit of
portation closed one local highway caution when driving in low-lying
Monday and was warning motorists areas near creeks and streams,"
to drive carefully all over Brunswick Curric added. "We have some other
County due to slick conditions slick spots but none that arc real
caused by nearly 4 inches of rainfall hazardous."
over the past week. Curric said motorists should be
A portion of N.C. 904 near the extra careful when traveling Gov
Brunswick-Columbus county line ernor's Road and Funston Road in
was closed around noon Monday be- the Town Creek area. They were not
cause it was under water, said Lee closed as of Tuesday morning, but
Curric, supervisor of the Shallottc he said they might be if it continues
DOT office. to rain. He said there's little DOT
"It was under about 18 inches of crews can do to keep water off the
water yesterday afternoon and it still local roads. "Basically it's just wait
had one foot of water on the road to- until it recedes. There's nothing that
day," Currie said Tuesday. "We can be done because it's all low-ly
have water on roads in other areas, ing areas that arc covered with days
but none that arc officially closcd. of rain."
Break In Rainfall Possible
A short break from the rain looked likely near the end of this week,
weather watcher Jackson Canady said Tuesday, followed by a return to
more warm and wet weather.
"It looks like by the latter half of this week we might have a break for
a few days before returning over the weekend or early next week to the
pattern we've been seeing," he said.
The general outlook calls for continued above-average temperatures
and rainfall. Canady anticipates temperatures averaging from the lower
40s at night to the upper 50s during the daytime, with at least three
fourths inch of rainfall.
For the period Jan. 5-11, he recorded 3.74 inches, already exceeding
the average rainfall for the month of January. "I; has rained every day
from the 5tn of the month," he said.
He recorded a high temperature of 73 degrees on Jan. 5 and a low of
41 degrees on Jan. 11.
A daily average high of 59 degrees and a nightly average low of 51 de
grees combined for a daily average temperature of 55 degrees, which was
about 9 degrees above average.
Report Card Remains Bleak For
Brunswick County Schools
(Continued From Page 1-A)
dropout rale than most schools, with
a 1.82 percent dropout rate for
grades seven through 12. Students
also showed greater achievement in
reading, mathematics and science in
grades three, six and eight. Sixlh
and eighth-grade students also wrote
belter than their peers a year ago.
However noi dents still achieved
below the state average and below
par in readi:ig/languagc, science, so
cial studies and mathematics during
the past year and the previous two
years.
The system failed to meet five
state performance standards for
1991-92:
?attendance (attaining 93.71 per
cent instead of the required 94 per
cent),
?number of certificates issued in
stead of diplomas (3.7 percent in
stead of the required less than 3 per
cent);
?sixth grade writing essay, by
less than three percentiles;
?Algebra I; and
?United States History.
It showed no gains over previous
years' performance in four areas:
sixth grade science and social stud
ies, chemistry and Algebra II.
Starling in 1995, improvement
reports will be issued for individual
schools as well as school systems
under a revision of the act adopted
in 1992, the Performance
Accountability Program.
Brunswick County was one of 14
city and county school systems to
rate both below state average and
below par. Others were Anson,
Caswell, Franklin, Halifax, Wcldon,
Martin, Robeson, Rcidsville,
Rowan/Salisbury, Clinton, Warren
and Washington County.
Kannapolis, the city system where
Two Mishaps Have Brothers Swimming Ashore
(Continued From Pap/ l-A)
hiclc be dispatched to search the
beach, just in ease the two men
made it to shore.
Officer Ton) Arnold raced down
the strand and spotted Leonard and
Canfield coming out of the surf near
in the 11(X) block. He gave the two
men blankets, got them into his ve
hicle and transferred them to a
Coastline Rescue ambulance on
Ocean Boulevard. The two were
treated for hypothermia at The
Brunswick Hospital and released.
When Jeff Leonard learned of the
incident, he called the Coast Guard
to find out what happened to his
boat. They told him it was still adrift
and that he would be responsible for
getting it to shore, he said.
Junior Hughes at Hughes Marina
offered to help him find his boat. On
the way to Shallotte Point, he picked
up ti friend, Ricky uiihson, n'ho de
cided to go along. The three headed
out the inlet in Hughes' open fishing
boat.
They were cruising along the west
end of Holden Beach when the en
gine shorted out about a half-mile
offshore. Jeff said.
Luckily, they found themselves
drifting toward shore. But they were
unsure how best to bring the power
less boat in through the surf. "1
jumped in and tried to swim to the
beach, but I didn't get loo far," Jeff
said. "It was really cold. I don't un
derstand how my brother made it."
Finally, Hughes sccured an an
chor off die bow and let it drag as
the waves pushed the boat in to
wards the beach, Jeff said. As they
entered the surf /.one, a large wave
crashed across the bow, partially
swamping the boat and driving it
backwards onto the bcach.
"It was one heck of a ride," Jeff
saul as he tightened the line securing
the boat to an oceanfront stairway. It
was less than a mile from where his
brother washed ashore that morning.
And it was ihc second time that day
thai Officer Arnold helped transport
a crew of shipwrecked boaters off
the bcach.
Later that night, the Leonards'
boat washed ashore on Ocean Isle
Bcach, Jeff said. There was no hull
damage and the engine worked fine,
however all the electronic equip
ment was ruined. He said they still
don't know why the boat was
swamped. But he and his brother arc
ready to get back on the water.
"It was just a freak accident," Jeff
said. "1 guess that lady was just giv
ing us a reminder that she's out
there."
Brunswick County Schools
Superintendent Ralph J. Johnston
was previously employed, also
ranked in this category for the sec
ond time in three years (1992 and
1990). In 1991 it was listed at aver
age achievement and par.
No schools in southeastern North
Carolina were among the 18 ranked
as above average and above par.
New Hanover County Schools were
ranked as above average and at par;
Columbus County School, below
average but above par; and Bladen
and Pender County Schools, below
average and at par.
THE BRUNSWICKfeBEACON
Established Nov. 1, 1962
Telephone 754-6X90
Published Every Thursday
Al 4709 Main Street
Shallotte, N.C. 28459
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
IN HKUNSWICK COUNTY
One Year SI0.36
Six Months S5.55
ELSEWHERE IN
NORTH CAROLINA
One Year S14.X6
Six Months S7.90
ELSEWHERE IN U.S.A.
One Year $15.95
Six Months S8.35
Second class postage paid al
Shallotte. N.C. 28459. USPS 777
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