Cut A Rug...
The Dick Goodwin Big Band headlines this
year's Charity Ball benefiting the pursuit of
personal excellence. Page 8-B.
HBBBEBBB
Mr. Do-lt-AII
West Brunswick's Eric Johnson
leads the Trojans to victory over
Hoggard. Sports, Section D.
According To Plan
Protecting the Lockwood Folly River is a
chief concern in Vamamtown's first land
use plan. Page 3-A
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Shollotte, North Corolino, Thursday, September 15, 1994 50< Per Copy 44 Pages, 4 Sections, Plus Inserts
Sunset's Gore
Says Secession
Proposal Is By
'Fearmongers'
BY LYNN CARLSON
Sunset Beach Town Council
members reacted strongly Monday
to a citizens'
group's assertion
that the island
portion of the
town is being in
adequately
served and
should secede.
"Our integrity
is being chal
lenged by those
GORE who would truly
destroy our town," said Mayor Pro
Tern Ed Gore, who suggested coun
cil consider assembling a "suitable
legal team" to fight any secession at
tempt led by the Sunset Beach
Taxpayers Association.
In an address to his fellow council
members and an audience at Mon
day's Sunset Reach Town Council
meeting. Gore called SBTA's recent
ly drafted Proposal for Independent
Government "self-serving and opin
ionated misinformation put forth by
fearmongers."
Gore's father was the town's orig
inal developer and Gore is a princi
pal in Sea Trail Plantation, the
town's laigest mainland develop
ment. He has been a council mem
ber since the town's charter in 1963.
serving as mayor pro tern for most
of those years.
n* pfQtcvtww-geoffl bjr. my h
thcr to the island and mainland cast
the mold that made us what we are
today," he said. My father never had
two towns in mind Every council
from the original has unselfishly
served and budgeted for the needs of
the entire town The lion's share of
the budget over the years has been
to the island It has never been short
changed."
Gore cited sidewalks and walk
ways for dune protection as exam
ples of island amenities not provided
on the mainland. "Yet the mainland
doesn 't complain that the beach gets
a disproportionate share of the rev
enue."
Gore said, "The future of our
town, the island included, is certain
(See SUNSET. Page 2-A)
S -AFT mOTOS ir E*tc CAM-SO*
Celebrating Differences
Fifth graders at Bolivia Elementary School learn about living with physical disabilities during an
exercise called "Celebrating Differences " last week. Students donned blindfolds to experience
blindness and ear plugs to sample hearing impairments. They wore slings and bandages to simu
late immobile limbs. Then the three dosses headed out onto the playground to try coping with
their handicaps. Shown above are (from left) teacher Samesa Goodson, Priscilla Randolph,
Robert Jamerson, teacher Amy Taylor and Travis Hewett. Below, Amanda Willetts hangs out on
the parallel bars without the use of her left arm while Jeffery Wilkins tries to get around sightless
with help from a disabled Sean Bryant.
Judge Ups School
Budget; Parents
Discuss Lawsuit
BY SUSAN USHER
While a budget dispute with the
Brunswick County Commissioners
is under appeal, the Brunswick
County Schools will have to make
fewer budget cuts than first antici
pated as a result of a judge's deci
sion Monday.
On other fronts, school board
members are wondering what effect
the Nov. 8 election might have on
the controversy, and a group of con
cerned parents is contemplating le
gal action against county commis
sioners for failing to fund county
students' educational needs.
Meeting with attorneys for the
two boards. Judge Jack Thompson
determined Monday that the schools
should receive $9.4 million in oper
ating funds from the county while
the case is being appealed. County
and school officials asked for the
meeting with Thompson to clarify a
state law that requires local funding
to continue at the same level as the
previous year while a funding dis
pute is being resolved in the courts.
County commissioners had expected
to allocate the schools $8.7 million,
but through their attorney, Mike
Ramos, agreed Monday to provide
the additional $700,000.
This will allow continuation of
existing programs, compensating for
the $600,000 fund balance the
school board used to balance its
budget last year, and providing
$100,000 for the Extended Day
school program, an evening high
school program which had been
funded with Job Training
Partnership Act (JTPA) money that
is no longer available.
The impact of the decision on the
school budget wasn't certain
Tuesday. In late afternoon, Finance
Director Rudi Fallon said she was
still "trying to balance the budget."
The school board sued the county
for more money after commission
ers chose to allocate $9.2 million for
education, approximately $4.8 mil
lion less than the schools had re
quested, then rejected an out-of
court settlement offer that fell sub
stantially short of the requested sum.
Thompson presided at the trial
this summer in which a jury deter
mined county commissioners should
award the schools the full $14 mil
lion the board of education had
sought. After the judge refused to
set aside or reduce the verdict or to
grant a new trial, county commis
sioners voted unanimously to appeal
the verdict to the N.C. Court of
Appeals. They said they thought the
10-cent tax increase needed to cover
the judgement would be a burden on
county taxpayers.
Board of Education member Bill
Fairley said Monday that by appeal
ing the verdict, commissioners "are
effectively undermining the verdict
the jury rendered".
"Even if the appeal is settled by
spring we have lost the benefit for
this year of the money the jury or
dered us to have," he said. "For this
academic year the commissioners
have done exactly what they wanted
to do ? funded us at about 50 per
cent of our needs."
Glen Peterson, attorney for the
school board, said Judge Thompson
is checking with the N.C. Court of
Appeals in an effort to obtain a
"speedy" hearing before the appeals
court, or to bypass the appeals court
and take the case directly to the N.C.
Supreme Court, since commission
ers have indicated they intend to
continue their appeal through the
courts.
But "fast" for the appeals court is
at least 15 months, Fairley said,
based on his own experience as a tri
al lawyer. "And if they expressed it,
it would still take eight or nine
months."
Peterson said Monday that a
change of membership on the school
board or board of county commis
sioners could definitely affect the
appeal, determining whether it is
"settled, moved along or dropped."
(See JUDGE, Page 2-A>
Shallotte Aldermen Eyeing
Street Peddling Rgles
BY DOUG R UTTER
The days of people setting up
roadside ^bles and tents to sell
clothes, crafts and furniture in
downtown Shallotte may be coming
to an end.
Shallotte Aldermen are consider
ing a ban on most types of street
peddling in the town and its extrater
ritorial area, which extends one mile
outside the city limits.
Town board members discussed
the proposed ordinance at their Sept.
6 meeting and could pass the new
regulations as early as next Tuesday.
Alderman Carson Durham said
the purpose of the rules is to keep
peddlers from coming to Shallotte
for one or two days and taking busi
ness away from taxpaying mer
chants.
"I think we owe them (merchants)
to protect them any way we can,"
Durham said at last week's meeting.
"What we're trying to do is get the
transient business off the street."
Brunswick County fishermen sell
ing their local catch and farmers
selling their produce would be ex
empt from the regulations. They
could sell from their own property,
or from private property with the
owner's permission.
Sales by civic, charitable, political
and religious organizations also
would be allowed. In all cases, ped
dlers would be required to get a free
permit from the town each year.
Other than sales by fishermen,
farmers and non-profit groups, the
ordinance would prohibit the selling
of "any tangible property" along the
streets and other public places.
The rules also would outlaw ped
dling on private property ? with or
without the landowner's permis
sion ? from any wagon, truck, push
cart, concession stand or tent.
The proposed ordinance also
would prohibit the conducting of
business and the placement of com
mercial signs in the right of way of
state roads. All signs and equipment
used by peddlers would have to be
removed at the end of each business
day.
Alderman David Gause said last
week he doesn't think the rules
should apply in the extraterritorial
area (ETJ), which includes almost
all of the property within a mile of
town.
"I don't go along with all this be
ing in iiic ETJ. No Die. Tucic's just
too much of it, and we're going too
fast," Gause said.
Mayor Sarah Tripp agreed. "The
ETJ covers a lot of territory and en
forcing it is going to be expensive
for us," she said.
But Durham said enforcing the
rules inside the town and leaving the
ETJ alone would "defeat the pur
pose of what we're trying to do."
"If we don't, the furniture tent
that was here the other day could sit
outside the city limits," Durham
said.
Police Chief Rodney Gause said
his department has the authority to
enforce town ordinances in the ETJ.
However, he said officers uo not
routinely patrol outside the town.
Under the proposal, anyone who
violates the ordinance would be sub
ject to a civil fine of $50, which is
the maximum penalty allowable by
law. Each day the violation contin
ued would constitute a separate of
fense.
' NOT AS BAD AS SUPPLY '
College Gets 30 Days To Devise Plan For Failed Septic System
BY ERIC CARLSON
Less than a month after health officials threatened to
shut down Supply Elementary School because of a
failed septic system, Brunswick Community College
will be given 30 days to come up with a plan to fix a
failed system there.
Like at Supply School, sewage effluent was found
seeping to the surface of a septic nitrification field at
Brunswick Community College during a health depart
ment inspection in March, Environmental Health
Specialist Bruce Withrow said Tuesday.
However, the problem at BCC isn't nearly as bad as
the one at Supply, although it may require a similar solu
tion, Withrow said.
"It's not a situation like at the elementary school,
where sewage was flowing into the playground and
around the building," said Withrow. "The drain field at
the college is at the edge of the woods, not in the center
of campus. It's surrounded by trees and no one is likely
to go near it.
"The effluent isn't ponding on the surface. It bubbles
up when the pumps come on, then soaks back in a short
time later," Withrow said. "It isn't flowing toward the
building. I haven't detected any odor on campus. Unless
you were to walk on the drain field when the pump
comes on, I don't think you'd be aware of the problem."
Withrow was asked to inspect the drain field after the
school maintenance supervisor and waste treatment op
erator Curtis Workman discovered problems with the
five-year-old system last spring, said Benjamin DeBlois,
BCC's vice president for administrative services.
"He started noticing periodic failures. They came and
went and didn't seem that severe," DeBlois said. "We
sat down and talked about it and decided to contact the
health department to have Bruce look at it."
DeBloise said the school followed Withrow's mainte
nance recommendations, which improved the situation.
But not enough. So the school followed Withrow's ad
vice to have an engineer inspect the system and recom
mend a solution. That study has not been completed,
DeBlois said.
Both Steve Berkowitz, head of engineering for the
N.C. Division of Health Services on-site sewage section,
and Dwayne Graham, a soil scientist for the agency,
have inspected the Brunswick Community College
sewage treatment system, Withrow said. They are now
awaiting the engineer's designs for upgrading or replac
ing the failed drain field.
Next Monday, Withrow said he will send BCC a for
mal violation notice giving the school 30 days to submit
those plans for state approval. Meanwhile, the county
health department will monitor the septic system to de
termine whether an interim treatment plan should be put
in place.
Supply Elementary School has been allowed to re
main open for 90 days using a temporary "pump-and
haul" technique until permanent repairs on its failed sep
tic system are under way. Trucks visit the school regu
larly to pump out its 16,000-gallon septic tanks and
transport the effluent to a treatment plant.
The same temporary measures could be required at
the college if the septic problem gets any worse,
Withrow said.
"I'm not going to ask them to close school or go to
pump-and-haul as long as there's not sewage ponding on
the surface for long periods," Withrow said. "If it starts
to pond or flow off site, I will."
Asked what might have caused the BCC system to
fail, Withrow said the disruption of surface soil during
landscaping may have contributed to the problem. Or
Brunswick Community College may have simply out
grown the 8,150-gallon-per-day system built in 1988 to
serve its administrative and classroom buildings.
DeBlois said enrollment at the school has increased
from between 650 and 750 students in 1988 to as high as
950 now. Another 25 to 30 employees also have been
added during that period, he said.
Withrow said there is a good chance the failed BCC
septic system can't be fixed. If not, the school would be
forced to build a new drain field on property it has set
aside for that purpose. Secondary septic field sites are
required by the health department for all such systems.
Neither Withrow or DeBlois could estimate how
much a new septic field might cost the college. Those
figures will not be available until engineering study is
complete.
"We don't know the magnitude of the problem, so we
don't know the magnitude of the solution," DeBlois
said.