SUNSET HEARING MONDAY ON ENGINEERS' REPORT
County
Board
Gives
Informal OK To Regional Sewer Concept
BY LYNN CARLSON
The Brunswick County Commis
sioners have informally agreed to
cooperate in seeking state funds for
a regional environmental manage
ment progiam which would include
a central sewer system for Sunset
Beach and Calabash as its first
phase.
Consulting engineers James
Billups and Joseph Tombro have re
leased a 15-page final report to the
Sunset Beach Town Council con
cluding that septic tanks are pollut
ing estuarine waters around the is
land portion of that town.
The report will be the subject of a
public hearing Monday (April 26) at
6 p.m. at the Maples Clubhouse in
SeaTrail Plantation.
Billups, along with Sunset Beach
Mayor Mason Barber and represen
tatives of the towns of Ocean Isle
and Shallotte, appeared at Monday
night's county commissioners'
meeting to encourage the county's
participation in efforts to crcatc a re
gional environmental management
program, a concept endorsed last
week by the Brunswick County
Board of Health.
While the commissioners did not
discuss becoming the "lead agency"
in such a project, and took no vote
on the issue. Chairman Don Warren
said his board would cooperate in
asking Governor Jim Hunt to fund a
plan to form the coast's first com
bined regional sewer and stormwa
tcr management system in the South
Brunswick islands.
The town boards of Ocean Isle,
Calabash and Sunset Beach had pre
viously agreed to make similar re
quests, while Shallottc and Holdcn
Beach had held off to sec what role
the county would take.
Sunset Beach and Calabash have
formed the South Brunswick
Regional Water and Sewer Auth
ority and have appointed three mem
bers each to serve as a "management
" Many of the towns property
owners...have been exposed to a
considerable amount of innuendo and
half-truths by those who had previously
formed anti-sewer opinions..."
?Engineers' report on Sunset Beach
entity" for receiving sewer system
grants and loans.
As other communities begin
s'nowing interest in exploring a re
gional wastewater and stormwatcr
program, deep division remains at
Sunset Beach regarding the source,
severity and possible remedy for
water pollution there. Members of
the Sunset Beach Taxpayers Asso
ciation were told April 10 by their
treasurer, Minnie Hunt, that the en
gineers had presented "inaccurate
and incomplete" preliminary data re
garding pollution around the island.
Leaders of the taxpayers' group
have said they are not convinced
that septic tanks arc the source of
pollution around the island and that
a 5200,000 stormwater runoff man
agement system alone might clean
up area waters without construction
of a S25 to S30 million sewer sys
tem.
The engineers, in their final report
to the Sunset Beach Town Council,
assert thai "many of the town's
property owners, both resident and
non-resident, have been exposed to a
considerable amount of innuendo
and half-truths by those who had
previously formed anti-sewer opin
ions without regard to factual evi
dence in support of the need for
sewers."
The report reiterates the engi
neers' earlier briefings of the Sunset
Beach Town Council, summarizing
that their tests indicate:
?Septic lank systems on the is
land of Sunset Beach are contribut
ing pollution to waters around the is
land as well as the groundwater
table aquifer beneath it;
?Surface water and groundwater
pollution from septic tanks are most
likely the result of excessively per
meable soils, high groundwater lev
els and the improper use of conven
tion and alternative septic lank sys
tems; and
?Centralized wastewater collcc
lion and treatment is "preferable
both environmentally and economi
cally" to the continued use of septic
tanks.
Billups said in a telephone inter
view Tuesday thai copies of the final
Sunset Beach report, as well as "a
slack of 40-plus documents and all
our reference materials" have been
delivered to the town hall for citi
zens' examination. He said he was
confident the final report "makes a
simple, concisc statement" indicat
ing the need for a central sewer sys
tem.
Monday's hearing was scheduled
al SeaTrail, which will accommo
date more participants than the small
town hall. At the December 1992
public hearing on forming the sewer
authority, tempers flared when more
than 40 residents were turned away
because there was nowhere for them
to sit in the town hall. Those who re
mained outdoors were allowed in
the chambers one al a time to speak.
Shallotte Aldermen
Will Renew Fight For
Town's Post Office
BY DOUG RUTTER
Shallottc officials arc still fighting
for their post office, nearly a year af
ter most mail-handling operations
were moved from the downtown
branch to the new facility at Seaside.
Resurrecting what had been a
dead issue, aldermen vowed Tues
day night to return to their May 4
meeting with complaints and sug
gestions regarding the local post of
fice. They will be compiled and sent
to Congressman Charlie Rose.
Alderman Roney Cheers, who last
year organized a petition in an at
tempt to keep postal operations in
Shallottc. said Rose is interested in
hearing what the town wants from
the postal service.
"It's advanced to that point, and
hopefully we can get something
done about it," Cheers said. "Charlie
wants us to do this, and I urge the
board to see if we can't get some
thing done here. It's pathetic."
Town officials are upset that the
Shallottc office closes for lunch.
They also say service has become
worse since most postal service
workers were moved to the South
Brunswick branch last May.
'They've not only cut the hours,
you don't gel the mail service you
used to gel," said Planning Board
Chairman Carson Durham, who runs
a business in town. "We don't have
fifth class mail up here."
Alderman Wilton Harrelson sug
gested Tuesday that residents and
merchants disenchanted with the
postal service get involved by pro
viding the town with complaints or
suggestions to improve the service.
One complaint Cheers has is that
the door on the south side of the post
office is always locked.
"We do not want a little Hamlet
here with people trapped inside the
building and can't get out," he said,
referring to the deadly 1991 blaze at
a North Carolina chicken processing
plant.
Town officials also said Tuesday
that the Shallottc Post Officc is al
ways busy while the spacious, new
offices in Seaside and Supply arc
hardly used.
"I've never seen more than two
vehicles parked there," Cheers said
of the South Brunswick branch.
ETJ Zoning Approved
After more than a year of work by
the town planning board, Shallottc's
extraterritorial area is finally zoned.
Aldermen accepted the planning
board's final recommendation for
the zoning regulations and map
Tuesday night.
Durham said the board made
three adjustments to the zoning map
following a second public hearing
on the proposal April 8. The board
had made 30 changes following the
first hearing in January.
As a result of input at the April
hearing, he also said the minimum
lot size in the B-2 business district
was changed. Instead of requiring
20,000 square feet in all cases, the
minimum size will be 15,000 square
feet if water and sewer are available.
The extraterritorial area (ETJ) in
cludes about 2,000 pieces of proper
ly located within a mile of the town
limits. Officials wanted to zone the
area so they can control future de
velopment Most of the ETJ is zoned
residential.
"I think the planning board's done
an excellent job," Mayor Sarah
Tripp said Tuesday. "1 know you all
had a lot ol other things to do but
you made this a priority."
Harrelson said the planning board
"performed a miracle" by getting the
landowners around Shallotte to un
derstand and go along with the zon
ing proposal.
Smoking Ban Rejected
Shallotte officials Tuesday reject
cd a proposal to prohibit smoking in
town-owned buildings, one night af
ter Brunswick County Commis
sioners approved a similar ban at the
county government complex.
Instead of oudawing smoking, al
dermen decided to let each depart
ment head decide if he or she wants
to put "Thank you for not smoking"
signs in the offices.
"I don't smoke, but I think they're
pushing this smoking deal a little too
far. 1 won't support it," Alderman
David Gausc said of a smoking ban.
Harrclson, a reformed smoker,
agreed. "If it bccomcs a nuisancc to
anybody just ask them not to smoke
and they'll do it. It's become an
emotional issue bordering on the
hysterical."
Other Business
In other business Tuesday, alder
men:
?Deleted a section of town code
that required the owner of adjoining
lots lhal didn't meci minimum lots
size requirements to combine those
lots. The small lots can now qualify
for development as non-conforming
uses.
?Discusscd efforts to collect ap
proximately S16.410 in unpaid taxes
daung back to 1983. Tax Collector
Sandy Hewett and Town Attorney
Mark Lewis arc trying to collect the
money. They plan to give the town
board a list of taxes they consider
uncollectablc at the May 4 meeting.
?Took no action after meeting for
35 minutes in cxccutivc session to
discuss a legal matter.
?Received copies of Calabash s
ordinance restricting adult entertain
ment businesses. Alderman Morris
Hall said Shallottc needs similar
regulations. "I think we need to look
at this and get an ordinance before
we wind up like Carolina Beach," he
said.
Don't miss the Memorial
Day issue coming
May 27!
forget the
advertising
deadline is May 6!
"HF BftlMWICKI
CALL AN ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE, 754-6890