Former Regional Planner Yelton Hired As Brunswick Manager
BY ERIC CARLSON on the board of commissioners. session so the board could discuss new information they As administrator for the Region L office of the N.C.
William Wyman Yelton, a former manager of Wayne Yelton will be paid a starting salary of $50,000 with a had received about the manager candidates before re- Council of Government in Rocky Mount. Yelton headed
and Sampson counties, was selected to become Bruns- $3,000 moving allowance. Clegg's salary at the time of turning to the public meeting for a vote. the agency's planning activities in Wilson. Nash,
J; wick's new county manager in a split vote by the board his departure was $68,078, for which "I felt we had two outstanding candidates in Mr. Northampton, Edgecombe and Halifax counties. He re
? ?t commissioners Monday night. ",, he also served as county attorney. Sharp and Mr. Yelton," Warren said. "The board re- signed from the position last February.
The former regional administrator for the N.C. f The 1993-94 budget adopted ceived more negative comments and references regard- In explaining his no vote, Jones said he supported
Council of Governments will begin work "Monday ' Monday appropriates $175,000 to ing Mr. Sharp than we did for Mr. Yelton. He had a pret- Varner "because of his good management skills." He
morning at 9 o'clock." said Commissioners Chairman fV operate the county attorney's office, ty clean record wherever he'd been and he was well rec- called Varner "a more down to earth person who could
Don Warren, who voted with fellow Democrats Tom County Attorney Michael Ramos ommended by both commissioners and private citizens." talk to everyone on the same level." Jones said Sharp
Rabon and Wayland Vereen in favor of Yelton's hiring. a. will be paid to do the county's legal In his May 17 interview. Yelton told the board he be- was his second choice.
Republican Commissioner Jerry Jones voted against work out of his Shallotte law office, gan working in county government in 1973 as a finance Yelton and Varner were among the four county man
the motion to hire Yelton, saying he would have pre- including clerical and administrative officer for Burke County. After two years there he took a ager applicants interviewed in January, 1991, when the
;v ferred Yadkin County Manager Jimmy Varner or former support. similar position with Catawba County, where he worked board of commissioners agreed to hire Clegg. Jones said
| Lincoln County manager A1 Sharp who interviewed for N-LroN year's budget earmarked until he was hired as Sampson County manager in 1979. Varner was his second choice during the previous selec
the job along with Wilmington city finance officer $185,000 for the county attorney's office, which includ- He served in that position until 1985. when he was hired tion process.
Michael Hargett. ed half of Clegg's salary and the salaries of administra- as county manager for Wayne County. This time around, the county received 37 applications
Commissioner Donald Shaw did not attend the tive assistant Kelly Barefoot and secretary Andrea Yelton said he had worked for 10 years as a produc- for the manager post, of whom seven were determined
Monday meeting. Merklinger. tion manager and plant manager in the textile industry, to meet the advertised job qualifications. The commis
Yelton, 56, will replace former county manager David Yelton accepted the position by phone during a 40- He said his private sector experience made him "appre- sioners agreed to invite five finalist for public inter
Clegg, who resigned March 15 amidst charges that he minute closed session during Monday's regular commis- ciate government more by having learned to make a views. One applicant withdrew before the scheduled in
, was forced out by the newly seated Democrat majority sioners meeting. Warren said he asked for the executive payroll." terview.
T| ^fiohi2Bo?K iWICK^
SF'ftINGF'OR I MI 43284 * ml fm j | %
jjThirty-First Year, Number 31 ?IT93 7MC MUN5WKLK tOCON Shallotte, North Carolina, Thursday, June 24, 1993 50* Per Copy 34 Pages, 3 Sections, 2 Inserts
WATER FEES TO RISE 10 PERCENT
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STAFF PHOTO BY LYNN CARLSON
Last-Minute Rehearsal
Larniece Ijaneer McKoy of Winnabow, Miss Brunswick County 1993, Jits in a last-minute re
hearsal before leaving for the Miss North Carolina pageant. The pageant finale will be televised
Saturday night at 9 a.m. on WECT Channel 6. More about McKoy, Page 3-A.
Filing Begins Next Friday
For 66 Seats On 19 Boards
BY SUSAN USHER a.m. to 5 p.m.. or with their local town hall if forms are
Filing opens at noon next Friday, July 2, for 66 seats available. Forms filled out at a town hall must be nota
on 16 municipal and three special governing boards rized.
across Brunswick County. The county board conducts all local elections named
All five commissioners' seats are up for election on except those in Holden Beach and Ocean Isle Beach,
the Leland Sanitary District Board for four-year terms, which have their own election boards.
while seats will open up on the South Brunswick Here's a rundown of the municipal seats voters will
Sanitary District, also for four-year terms. Two trustees get to fill in November:
will be elected to the Dosher Hospital Board to serve Calabash
six-year terms. With a proposed referendum on division of the town
Candidates have until noon Friday, Aug. 6, to pay the on Ijold, Calabash voters there will be electing a mayor
$5 filing fee and get their name on the appropriate bal- and four commissioners. Those seats are now occupied
lot. by Mayor Doug Simmons, District 1 Commissioner Ed
Most candidates can file with the Brunswick County Rice and District II Commissioners George Anderson,
Board of Elections at the Brunswick County Ray Card and Stuart Thorn. The mayor and commjs
Government Center Monday through Friday from 8:30 (See AGENTS, Page 2-A)
New County Budget
Has No Tax Increase
BY ERIC CARLSON
The Brunswick County Com
missioners Monday adopted a 1993
94 budget that will maintain proper
ty tax rates at their current level
while increasing water bills by near
ly 10 percent.
Under the approved budget, prop
erty owners will continue to pay 68
cents in taxes for every $100 in val
uation. But beginning July 1. a typi
cal water customer who currently
pays about $10.47 per month will
see his bill increase to about $ 11.90.
Copies of the approved budget
have not been made available for
public inspection. Commissioner's
Chairman Don Warren said Monday
he does not know the amount of ex
penditures contained in the approved
package. He directed all budget in
quiries to county Finance Officer
Lithia Hahn, who did not return the
Beacon's calls on Tuesday.
While details of the approved
spending package were not provid
ed, the commissioners have indicat
ed a complete rejection of the con
troversial spending plan proposed by
Interim County Manager John
Harvey. His budget called for a 7
cent tax hike, the elimination of five
county departments, the firing of
seven employees and the demotion
of several others.
Harvey's budget was called "un
acceptable" by Warren and loudly
opposed at a public hearing. In a se
ries of workshops, the commission
ers informally agreed on new spend
ing levels based on last years actual
expenditures.
Only two positions are believed to
have been eliminated in the final
budget package. One cafeteria work
er and one employee of the sign
shop reportedly will lose their jobs.
According to Clerk to the Board
Kelly Barefoot, her dual county po- Citing what he called the board's
sition of administrative/public infor- "conservative Fiscal management,
mation officer was returned to the Warren said it was "the first
budget with no change in salary. No (Brunswick County) board in histo
other salary increases were pro- ry to base a budget on actual expen
posed. ditures."
Acknowledging that the new Warren also said the new budget
board of commissioners "came in "continues the promised expansion
with certain commitments," Warren of the water system" by allocating
said the adopted budget includes a $2.5 million to extend water mains
17.5-percent increase in the educa- to Shell Point, around the Brick
tion budget, which he said was more Landing Loop, to Sunset Harbor and
than any board had increased educa- to the east and west ends of Mt.
tion spending "in the history of the ? _ .?
county" (S<* BUDGET, Page 2-A)
Schools' Capital Budget
Includes New Classrooms
At West, North Brunswick
BY LYNN CARLSON
West and North Brunswick high schools will get $1.19 million in new
classrooms, the first additions since they opened in 1972, under a capital
budget approved Monday by the Brunswick County Board of Education.
Plans presented by Bill Ttimer, assistant superintendent for auxiliary
services, would add eight classrooms at West and six at North, plus re
strooms and storage rooms in both buildings.
While the new space won't eliminate "roving teachers" who have no
classrooms, it may allow the schools to stop using trailers as classrooms.
"We're trying to work it out that way," Turner told the school board. "It's
the first thing (the principals) would like to get rid of."
Turner said West's enrollment is expected to increase from 914 to
1,019 next year. The school uses six trailers for classrooms and has five
teachers with no classroom. The board budgeted $650,000 for a 10.000
square-foot addition.
North is expected to take on 59 additional students this fall. The
school uses four trailers for classrooms and has three teachers without
classrooms. The board budgeted $447,675 for a 6,887-square-foot addi
tion.
Turner said invitations to bid on the two projects should include alter
nate plans for 10 and eight classrooms, respectively, "since they could be
cheaper than we anticipate."
The total capital budget for the new fiscal year, which begins July 1,
(See INTERIM, Page 2-A)
DIRE PREDICTIONS
Real Estate Reps Warn Health Board
Over Occupancy Rules
BY ERIC CARLSON
Some of the area's most promi
nent real estate brokers could lose
their licenses and be run out of busi
ness.
Families who have rented the
same Brunswick Islands beach cot
tages for 20 years could be forced to
vacation elsewhere, taking millions
of tourist dollars with them.
The local real estate industry
could collapse as rental homes no
longer bring in enough income to
Inside...
Birthdays ? 2B
Business News - 8C
Calendar .8 A
Church News ???????????????? 6B|
Classified 1-8C
Crime Report............. 12C
Entertainment ...MH.M....4B
Fishing 9C
Golf .mm......m....~....m.....10B
Obituaries 6B
Opinion .4-5A
People In The News .....7A
Plant Doctor ~3B
Sports........? 9-12B
Television 10-11C
offset mortgage payments, scaring
off buyers and causing banks to
readjust their loan requirements.
Homeowners throughout Bruns
wick County could see their taxes
skyrocket as the value of beach
property plummets.
Those were just some of the
doomsday predictions posed by real
tors who say the Brunswick County
Health Department is moving too
quickly in its crackdown on home
occupancy levels that allegedly
overload septic systems.
The health board seems to be
caught between a rock and a hard
place, with state environmental reg
ulators questioning the health de
partment's enforcement of septic
system regulations while Brunswick
County's most powerful industry
complains that local health officials
are being unreasonably restrictive.
Representatives of the South
Brunswick Islands Board of Real
tors agreed Thursday to schedule a
series of joint meetings with health
board members to discuss the possi
ble phased enforcement of the regu
lations and to push for construction
of central sewage systems.
The controversy arose after the
health board recently voted to send a
letter to all rental cottage owners in
forming them that they must either
stop adveitising occupancy levels
STAfF PHOTO BY ERIC CARLSON
REALTOR Alan Holden explains to members of the Brunswick
County Board of Health the implications of the effort to crack
down on alleged septic tank overloading in rental cottages.
that exceed the treatment capacity of number of occupants.
their unit's septic system, or upgrade When rental agents complained
the system to handle the advertised that their brochures already had
been distributed an<* most cottages els that exceed septic capacities. The
had been booked for this vacation measure was defeated in a 3-2 vote,
season, the health board agreed not A recent survey of local rental
to send out the letters. A health brochures indicated that "at least 75
board committee met with realtors percent" of all Brunswick County
Thursday night to discuss the matter, summer rental homes are advertised
"We need to do something now to accommodate more occupants
because this is the biggest thing to than their septic systems were de
hit this area in years," said Holden signed to handle, according to
Beach Realtor Alan Holden. 'This is Brunswick Environmental Health
not just a Brunswick County prob- Supervisor Andrew Robinson,
lem. Counties all over the state are Last month, Robinson asked the
watching what's happening here, health board to authorize the letter to
1 he state Senate, the House of Rep- property owners after the N.C. Real
resentatives and the state Board of Estate Commission notified Health
Realtors are all very much aware. Director Michael Rhodes that it was
My phone rings every day from investigating "whether advertise
homeowners concerned about ments and other representations by
what's going to happen." licensees of this agency...violate the
Holden said he had been singled Real Estate License Law."
out as "a test person" for strict en- The commission's letter to
forcement of septic regulations that Rhodes concludes by asking what
are routinely violated throughout the the county intends to do about the
vacation rental industry. He accused alleged violations.
Holden Beach Commissioner Sid "The licensing commission knows
Schwartz of sending "unauthorized you have a problem. And they're go
letters" to state regulators informing ing to cover their butt," Holden said,
them that Holden had advertised an "So the bottom line is, I'm going to
occupancy level for a rental cottage lose my license. But I'm not going to
that exceeded the capacity of its sep- take this lying down. I'm going to
tic system. take down anybody I've got to take
Schwartz was one of two Holden down."
Beach Commissioners who support- Holden Beach Commissioner Da
ed a proposed town ordinance that vid Sandifer questioned the assump
would have prohibited rental agen- tion that a septic system is over
cies from advertising occupancy lev- (See AGENTS, Page 2-A)