An Ouch Of Prevention Influenza vaccinations are available through the health department to people at risk of catching the bug. Page 12-A Drop Back in High school equivalency tests (and help preparing for them) are being offered at three local sites during October. Page 3-B 12/31/99 * *:P0 HO AG ?? 'rONi BOOK BINDERY PO FsOX lb2 SPR I NGPORT MI 4 928 4. Tnr r lHt tllMIWVV Friday Night Fever West travels to Burgaw seeking its fourth consecutive win of the season. Page 2-D pThirty- Second Yeor, Number 48 btACulM ? 1tt4 TMI KUNTMCX MAC OH Shollotte, North Carolina, Thursday, September 29, 1 994 50< Per Copy 42 Pages, 4 Sections, Plus Inserts sWf kv iuUw ilWI A Fine Day For Fishing A sprinkle of sunshine and a patch of neater dra h eager anglers the marsh along the Sunset Beach causeway. Cottier temperatures are expected to create uleal angling conditions for the weekend. Ford Pleads Guilty, Sentenced To Life-Plus-20 In Davis Killing BY ERIC CARLSON After hearing eight jurors say they would have him executed if the evi dence called for it. Frank Lenail Ford dccidcd not to give them that opportunity. The 22-year-old Bolivia man was sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years after pleading guilty to sec ond-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the brutal Nov. 28 slaying of Charles Wayne "Butch" Davis. As the second week of jury selec tion began in his first-degree murder trial Monday, Ford told defense at torneys Michael Ramos and James Payne that he might be willing to ac cept the state's offer of a plea bar gain. After speaking with his mother and his lawyers in jail Monday night, l ord agreed to the arrange ment Tuesday morning. Before returning to the jail. Ford faced the father and uncle of the man he killed and apologized. "I just want you to know that I'm sorry for what happened," he said. "I don't expect you to forgive me." As they made their way out of the courtroom after the trial, members of the two families hugged each oth er in acknowledgement of a shared tragedy. Ford could have received the death penalty, especially if the jury found him guilty of the other chargcs against him. which included PETITION FILED IN STATE . FEDERAL COURTS Martin Marietta Sues Over Mining Ordinance BY SUSAN I'StlKK AND ERIC CARLSON A company seeking In operate a lime-tone quarry near Southport filed suit Tuesday in Brunswick County Superior Court and in U S. District Court seeking to overturn a new county ordinance that would stop the project. The ordinance adopted Jan 4 on a 3-2 vote of Brunswick County Commissioners would prohibit min ing with a combination of explo sives and dewatcring within a five mile radius of either CP&L's Bruns wick Nuclear Plant and the Sunny Point Military Ocean Terminal. Civil suits filed by Martin Mar ietta Materials. Inc. claim the ordi nance "was passed only to prevent what a county commissioner re ferred to as the Martin Marietta' type mining " In going forward with the project it claims to have acted "in good faith" based on more than two years of positive contact with county officials, many of whom are no longer in office. Between 1W0 and October 1993, Martin Marietta claims to have spent more than SI. 5 million on the pro ject. The company is asking the court to rule that the ordinance does not apply to Martin Marietta's project, to derfarc ?t void and to issiK 21, in junction preventing the county from enforcing the ordinance as it relates to the mining company's develop ment of the property as a quarry. If those motions arc not granted, it asks the court to declare the coun ty's action a illegal "taking" of the property and require it to pay for the land. A news release from John F. Long, Martin Marietta's director of government affairs, quotes a compa ny spokesman as saying, "We are committed to pursuing this project in a way that is consistent with safe operations. "We would have preferred to work with the county to resolve out standing issues, but in light of the county's actions in passing the ordi nance, we found it necessary to seek appropriate relief in court." Reaction to the suits varied Tuesday. Don Warren, chairman of the hoard of commissioners, said he wasn't surprised to hear of the suit because the county had expected this outcome. He said he would like to see the county defend itself in court. Bob Quinn, past president of the Brunswick County Mining Aware ness Committee, hailed the lawsuit as an indicator Martin Marietta docsn'i cApcci io receive a state mining permit for the proposed limestone quarry and predicted that the county would win the case. "If they thought for a minute that there was a chance of them getting a permit, they'd be sitting back on their rocking chairs waiting," he said. Warren said he also thinks the or dinance can be defended successful ly "We drafted the ordinance with (Set LAWSUIT, Page 2-A) Island Value Said Just Over $1 Million BY SUSAN USHER A county id a appeal board dropped the value of Bird Island by $634,000 Tuesday, setting its fair mar ket value at just over $1 million based on availability of 33 acres of uplands for development. Previously the county's $1.64 million valuation of the undeveloped island southwest of Sunset Beach was based on an estimation that 85 acres could be devel oped. It set a raw value of $180,000 per acre under ideal conditions. Then, allowing for factors such as difficulty of access and total development costs, the county adjusted the valuation to 10 perceni of that sum, or $18,000 per acre. Price's son, Rees Poag of Sunset Beach, appeared before the Brunswick County Equalization and Re view Board Sept. 20 on her behalf to appeal the new ^valuation, pointing out that a study commissioned by the town of Sunset Beach identified 33 developable ' acres, not 85 acres. w The board applied the same $180,000 per acre value to the 33 acres Tuesday. It then adjusted the net unit value upward to 15 percent, or $27,000 per acre to ar rive at a "reasonable value" for the property. "When you have that much less acreage to develop, the board felt that even though a bridge and roads would still be needed, the overall development costs would be less and the per-acre value would be become more as a result," said John Thompson, chairman of the review board which heard the appeal filed by is land owner Janie P. Price of Greensboro. "It's our best judgment, given the advice and exper ? tise of the appraiser hired by the county. Until some thing's sold no one really knows what its value is." Another 1,115 acres of wetlands and high marsh re mains valued at $100 an acre. The last time the county revalued real property, in 1986, Bird Island was valued at $539, (XX) and the Prices did not appeal. STAFF PHOTO BY EKIC CARLSON IAWYERS for accused murderer Frank Ford confer during his trial, which ended in a plea bargain Tuesday morning. Shown (from left) are attorneys James Payne and Michael Ramos with Ford. kidnapping and conspiracy to com mit murder. Prosecutors and defense attorneys both acknowledged the wisdom of Ford pleading guilty to the lesser charge, agreeing that evidence in the case was more likely to result in a conviction for second degree murder than the capital offense. Seven co-defendants were expect ed to testify that Ford led a group of 10 young people to the Davis home on Albright Road in Bolivia that night to take revenge for words spo ken during an argument earlier that evening. Assistant District Attorney Lee Bollinger said Tuesday. Several witnesses would have told the jury they saw Ford shoot Davis in the back with a pistol after Ford and two other men dragged him from his car. Some would have described how Davis was beaten and struck in the head with a machete as he lay fatally wounded in his drive way. But it would have been up to the jury to decide whether the murder was premeditated. Most of the wit nesses were likely to claim the gang went with Ford to Davis's trailer "to teach him a lesson," and things went too far, Bollinger said. "I think it was a good plea for the state," Bollinger said. "I think it was pretty close to what we would have guucEi nau wc incu ine ease 10 a conviction. The state had over whelming evidence. I have absolute ly Vo doubt that the jury would have decided on a minimum of second degree and possibly first-degree "But he had two of the finest lawyers in the county," Bollinger said. "I feel they did a real good job for him. It would have been a close call for the jury to convict on first degree. I explained our best expecta tions and our risks to the Davis fam ily and they arc satisfied with the plea arrangement." Bollinger said the state's evidence would have shown that the murder was a direct result of a verbal alter cation between Ford and Davis at a Bolivia mobile home park. Davis and a man named Joey Brown went there to speak with someone and met Ford outside the trailer. He told them that no one was home. Hearing movement inside, Davis knocked on the door anyway, which resulted in an angry response from Ford, who pushed Davis away, Bollinger said. More words were ex changed as Davis got into his car to leave. Ford then approached the ve hicle and smashed the driver's side window, sending glass flying at Brown, who reacted angrily. Davis drove off with Ford pursu ing them on foot, Bollinger said. After dropping Brown at his home, Davis headed back down Midway Road toward its intersection with Albright Road. Meanwhile, Brown sent a friend to tell Ford that he "better watch his back because he had a whipping coming," Bollinger said. After re ceiving the message. Ford and nine (See PLEA, Page 2-A) im ii oi; STAfF PHOTO BY DOUG RUTTEK Fatal Accident One person was killed and two others were injured Tuesday in a head-on collision south of Shallotte. The accident involving a station wagon and pickup truck happened around 2:30 p.m. near the inter section of N.C. 1 79 and Village Point Road just outside the Shallotte town limits. The man who was driving the station wagon died at the scene. Further details were not available at press time. The N.C. Highway Patrol could not provide additional information at the scene and did not return several tele phone calls from The Brunswick Beacon. Bird Island Qualifies For Customized Use Standards, But May Not Get Them BY SUSAN US1IKR While a field study confirms that Bird Island qualifies for additional state protection in the form of custom-de signed use standards, that doesn't mean the southwest ern Brunswick County barrier island will get it. "When the committee makes this decision then 1 want it to have a firm basis for it so it won't come flying back at us," said Dave Adams, vice chairman of the Coastal Resource Commission's Planning and Special Issues Committee. "Because it qualifies doesn't mean it will be an AEC." But should the CRC decide to designate the island as a Coastal Complex Natural Area of Environmental Concern, the N.C. Office of Coastal Management staff plans to have a proposed set of use standards ready, as requested by the CRC in July. Staff member Evan Brunson said possible use stan dards might include, in addition to existing CAMA reg ulations, such things as establishing building setbacks. regulating illumination to protect nesting sea turtles, limiting land-disturbing activities on individual lots and requiring that the island transportation system bridge wetlands, regulation of density, with a look at allowing clustered development, consideration of whether a com munity dock or individual docks should be allowed, and encouraging the town to require an architectural review board. The Bird Island Preservation Society will include public education and interpretation among its suggested use standards, said President Bill Duckcr. Brunson invited suggestions from all parties, and said so far his office hasn't heard back from any in the scien tific community At the Planning and Special Issues Committee meet ing in November, Brunson said staff will present a re view of applicable regulations and the extent to which they protect the three areas in which Bird Island quali fies for the AliC: habitat for listed plant and animal (See ISI AND, Page 2-A)