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MI 4928-1
Thirty-First Year, Number 39
A Reel Chase'
A pair of local fishermen bring home the
gold in the Myrtle Beach Open King
Tournament. Page 11-C
Shullotte, North Coroiino, Thursday, August 19, 1993
50<t Per Copy
32 Pages, 3 Sections, 1 Insert
Carolina Blythe Owner Refutes Engineers'
Comments About Plant's Condition , Value
BY ERIC CARLSON
Hired consultants have misled
Calabash officials about the value
and condition of the Carolina
Blythe Utility Co. in an effort to
convince the town to build a sewer
system that is larger than it needs,
the company's owner charged last
week.
Carolina Blythe president Billy
Burnett said Powell Associates en
gineers "ought to be fired" for rec
ommending that the town contract
with a South Carolina firm for tem
porary sewage disposal capacity
that his Calabash treatment plant
could provide for less money.
Burnett vehemently denied accu
sations about his company made by
Powell engineers at a town board
meeting last week. He said consul
tants Joe Tombro and Jim Billups
are trying to discourage the pur
chase of his sewage system ?
which currently serves about 1,000
Calabash residents ? so they can
earn higher fees for putting togeth
er a regional system with Sunset
Beach.
"I have an ax to grind. 1 want to
sell this company," Burnett said.
"But that engineer does too. He
wants to guarantee the most fees
for his company.
"And I have no problem with
that. But this is the most serious de
cision the town will make. They
need to have someone from the
outside take a look at it," Burnett
said.
At the board's Aug. 10 meeting,
Tombro told the commissioners
that the Carolina Blythe collection
system has "high infiltration prob
lems" that could saddle the town
with costly inspections and repairs.
In support of their claim, Billups
said he had recently observed
"sewage running out on the
ground" at the company's treat
ment plant
Burnett says that's not true.
He said Billups and a representa
tive of the Farmers Home Admin
istration visited the plant after "the
fm mmmm ?
STAFF PHOTO BY EWC CARLSON
BILLY BURNETT, owner of the Carolina Blythe Utility Co.,
stands beside one of the filters at his Carolina Shores sewage
treatment plant, which he called "one of the finest in the state."
biggest rain in years," when storm
water overflowed the town's drain
age ditches and backed up onto the
plant site, preventing the treated
discharge from flowing into the
canal that normally carries it to the
Waccamaw River.
"No raw sewage escaped. What
overflowed was the same treated
and chlorinated effluent that flows
into that canal t/ery day," Burnett
said. 'They've taken that and twist
ed it without ever talking to me or
to my plant operator to find out
what happened."
He also disputed the engineers'
suggestion that Carolina Blythe's
collection pipes are deteriorating or
poorly fitted, allowing storm water
to flow in and overload the plant's
treatment capacity. Billups said af
ter the meeting that the town could
end up spending SI 50,000 "just to
identify the problems."
Burnett said his pipes "do not
leak" and his system "does not
have an infiltration problem." He
said the Carolina Blythe lines em
ploy the same quality PVC pipe
that would be used in the new sys
tem proposed by Powell Associ
ates.
Households that receive water
and sewer service from Carolina
Blythe used an average of 150 gal
lons of water per day between May,
1992, and June, 1993, Burnett said.
Treatment plant rccoids allow thai
an average of 128 gallons per
household ? about 85 percent of
that inflow ? went out through the
sewer system during that period.
'The state uses 85 percent as the
nile of thumb for how much water
usage normally goes into the sew
er," Burnett said. "So how can I
have infiltration? The plant flows
almost become nil after midnight.
How is it possible that significant
infiltration exists when late night
flows go down to almost nothing?
Does infiltration only take place
during daylight hours?"
Burnett also criticizcd Powell
and Associates for excluding Car
olina Blythc from bidding on the
temporary sewage disposal capaci
ty that would be needed if Cala
bash and Sunset build their joint
sewerage project. Current plans
call for construction of a line into
South Carolina to carry waste wa
ter from downtown Calabash to the
Little River Water and Sewer Co.
He said Carolina Blythc could
provide the same temporary scrvice
for 19 percent less than Little
River. Using the local plant also
would save Calabash $60,000 on
forced main piping into South
Carolina, Burnett said.
Paying the usage fees to a com
pany that already serves much of
the town, also "would help reduce
any approved scrvicc rate increases
by Carolina Blythe," which he said
would benefit customers in Caro
lina Shores instead of those in an
other state.
"If a doctor gave you that kind
of advice, you'd accuse him of
malpractice, wouldn't you?" he
said.
When he first learned about the
temporary disposal plan through an
article in the Beacon , Burnett said
he called Calabash Commissioner
Jon Sanborn to ask why Carolina
Blythc wasn't considered for the
contract. He said Sanborn told him
he did not know and furnished
Burnett with information to help
him piepare a bid, which Bumeu
gave to Sanborn before the Aug. 10
meeting.
After Sanborn read Burnett's
lower offer to the commissioners,
Billups advised the board to "do it.
Don't hesitate." He said the engi
neers had not sought a bid from
Carolina Blythe because of a
strongly worded statement Burnett
issued at a commissioners meeting
last March indicating that the com
pany was "no longer willing to ne
gotiate with the town's paid consul
(See BURNETT, Page 2-A)
Meeting, Hearing
Referendum Are
Upcoming Hurdles
For Sewer Proposal
BY LYNN CARLSON
Consultants seeking central sewer
funds for Sunset Beach and Cala
bash hope to leave a Raleigh meet
ing today (Thursday) with a com
mitment for approximately S9 mil
lion in federal Farmers Home
Administration grants and loans.
Today's meeting ? between Pow
ell Associates consultants Jim
Billups and Joe Tombro and repre
sentatives of FmHA, the state
Division of Environmental Manage
ment (DEM) and the Local Gov
ernment Commission ? is the first of
three tall, closely spaced hurdles to
be cleared before the two towns can
activate their water and sewer au
thority and begin constructing a sys
tem.
The second is DEM's Sept. 1 pub
lic hearing in Raleigh regarding
which North Carolina towns should
receive low-interest state loans for
wastewater system construction,
though the state is yet to learn how
much federal money will be made
available to the loan program.
Sunset Beach and Calabash arc
seeking S7.5 million each to be re
paid at an interest rate of less than 3
percent. They are currently the high
est-ranked among small, unscwcrcd
communities ready to receivc waste
water funding and are likely to
maintain priority status in the new
funding year, Billups said, "provid
ed nothing at the public hearing
throws up a roadblock."
The final hurdle will be bond ref
erendums in both towns, probably in
late November or early December,
on the sewer question.
If approval comes through from
both funding sources and voters in
both towns, the consultants say the
sewer system's design and construc
tion permits can be obtained by
April or May of 1994. They say the
cost of constructing the system and
repaying the loans can be covered
through user fees of about SI 8 per
household per month for a "typical
two-bedroom permanent year-round
residence having a wastewater flow
of 5,000 gallons per month."
If either FmHA or DEM declines
to fund the towns' plan, the consul
tants say the system would have to
charge initial "impact fees" of "be
tween SO and SI, 000," dependent
upon household income."
Citizens' Committee Not Ready
Because of uncertainty about im
pact fees. Sunset Beach's Citizens
Wastewater Advisory Board de
clined Monday night to make a final
recommendation to the town council
on how the town should proceed.
The committee, appointed by
Mayor Mason Barber, has been
studying the sewer issue for more
than a year.
"We can't make any recommen
dation based on 'maybe this, maybe
that,'" committee chairman George
Knott said. "The impact fee question
is very important to the people we'll
be asking to vote for this in a refer
endum."
Member A1 Consalvi concurred,
adding, "If it's zero to a thousand,
people will assume it's not going to
be zero."
Billups said the towns' ability to
pay back the loans without charging
impact fees would be contingent up
on participation by both funding
agencies, plus eventual mandatory
sewer hookups for all households in
the initial service area ? Calabash
and Sunset Beach business districts,
the island of Sunset Beach and sev
eral mainland developments.
"We need the user base to make it
(See SEWER, Page 2-A)
Barks, Bangs And Boom Boxes
Are Targets Of Draft Noise Law
BY ERIC CARLSON
Has the constant barking of a neighbor's dog made
you a prisoner in your own home?
Are you being jolted out of bed at dawn every morn
ing by banging and sawing from a nearby construction
site?
Is your "quiet, comfort or repose" being "unreason
ably disturbed" by the loud music pounding from the
window next door?
If so, you will be happy to learn that the Brunswick
County Commissioners arc considering a new law that
will make such disturbances illegal and subject noise
moircrc ?q civil or criminal prosecution.
In response to numerous citizen complaints, the board
recently asked county Planning Director John Harvey to
research and develop a noise regulation ordinance for
the unincorporated areas of Brunswick County. A draft
of the proposed law was presented to the commissioners
at their regular meeting Monday night.
Harvey told the board that he had used noise ordi
nances from other counties as a guide for drafting the
proposed law, with advice from the N.C. League of
Municipalities, the Institute of Government at Chapel
Hill and the N.C. Association of County
Commissioners.
Instead of taking a technical approach to noise regula
tion, by using sound measuring equipment to establish
evidence of a violation, the proposed ordinance uses "a
general standard capable of determination by an objec
tive, detached, reasonable person as to prohibit loud or
disturbing noise."
Harvey said such standards are less likely to be sue
Shallotte Woman Reported Missing;
Police Say Foul Play Not Suspected
Shallotte Police do not suspect
"foul play" in the disappearance of a
Brierwood Estates woman who has
not been seen or heard from since
Aug. 9.
Cathlcan E. "Corky" Peterson of
97 Country Club Drive was reported
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Court Docket. IOC
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missing last Wednesday by her hus
band, Dewight
Peierson.
Authorities
believe she has
not left the area.
"We're not ex
pecting any foul
play at this
time," Shallotte
Police Chief Ro
dney Gause said pptfrson
Tuesday. "We FhlbKMJN
just have an open mind about it,
waiting for her to call."
The 55-year-old white female is 5
feet, 4 inches, tall and 130 pounds.
She has reddish blond hair, green
eyes and a light complexion.
The Petersons have lived in
Shallotte for approximately 10
years. "She was last seen leaving
Brierwood," Gause said. "No letters,
no calls or anything."
Peierson was last seen Aug. 9
around 2:40 p.m. She left home dri
ving a 1992 Pontiac Grand Am. The
teal green, four-door vehicle has a
North Carolina license plate FVX
110.
She was wearing green pants with
stripes and a green shirt at the time
of her disappearance.
"She took a few clothes with her,"
Gause said. "I still think she's close
by the area. The reason I say that is
she took her bathing suit with her."
Peterson has relatives in Wis
consin and California, but they say
they have not heard from her, Gause
said.
Gause said police have entered
the license plate number and wo
man's name in the National Crime
Information Computer (NCIC) in
case the vehicle is located or the
woman is found.
"Right now we just have to wait
and sec what will happen. Time will
tell us," Gause said.
The chief said he thinks the
woman is in the area because she
did not have enough money with her
to travel. "I think she's going to be
close by. I just got that feeling."
Anyone with information on the
ease is asked to call the Shallotte
Police Department at 919-754-6008.
cessfully challenged in court, adding that it "puts the
burden on the sherifF' to enforce the law.
The draft ordinar.ee would make it unlawful for any
one to keep a dog or any other animal "which, by fre
quent or habitual howling, yelping, barking or other
wise, causes loud noises and produces seriously annoy
ing disturbance to any other person in the neighbor
hood."
It would prohibit the operation of any motor vehicle
that has had its muffler, exhaust system or other noise
control equipment "removed, altered or maintained in
such disrepair as to create loud and disturbing noises."
The operation of construction machinery, chain saws
or "garage machinery" would be prohibited between 9
p.m. and 7 a.m. Lawn mowers and other "domestic
tools" could not be used out-of-doors between 9:30 p.m.
and 6:30 a.m.
The law also would make it illegal to yell, shout,
whistle, sing or play any radio, television, "phonograph
amplifier system," tape recorder or musical instruments
in such a manner "as to unreasonably annoy or disturb
the quiet, comfort or repose of a person."
Creating a noise near a school, public library, hospi
tal, court or church that "unreasonably interferes with
work or worship" also would be prohibited.
Under the proposed law, special permits could be ob
tained from the sheriff's department at least 15 days in
advance for rock concerts, political gatherings, religious
gatherings and other "free speech" activities requiring
the use of sound amplification equipment.
The law would make it the responsibility of a landlord
(See COUNTY, Page 2-A)
Tropical Storm Brett
Brett Fulford of Holden Beach explodes through the lip of a wave at Holden Beach Fishing Pier
Saturday afternoon. The unexpected swell may have been generated by a tropical storm of the same
name that passed through the Caribbean Sea last week.