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The Pender-Topsail
Moores Creek
The annual celebration of the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge is this weekend in Currie. Special activities are planned for Saturday and Sunday. Read more on page 1B.
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Thursday, February 23, 2017
Volume 47, No. 20
State playoffs Pender County wrestlers have ďŹ nished their seasons, and basketball teams are on the hardwood in the state playoffs. Read more about who is still playing on sports page 8A.
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The Media of Record for the People of Pender County Surf City, Topsail Beach, North Topsail Beach
Topsail Island towns mull merger By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher After quietly kicking the idea around for years, Surf City Mayor Zander Guy took the step of officially asking North Topsail Beach and Topsail Beach officials to consider a merger of their towns with Surf
City. The merger would create the municipality of Topsail Island. Guy asked officials from the island towns to discuss the idea of a merger at the recent Four Town Meeting, which is a regular conference between Surf City, North Topsail Beach, Topsail Beach, and Holly Ridge.
Clerk of Court Kilroy retires
“I’m not really for or against a merger, but with the increased cost of doing business, we need to look at some new ideas to help keep the cost of government down,� Guy said. Guy suggested the towns discuss the idea and all three come together and look into hiring a consultant to examine the feasibility of a merger
of the towns. “We could consoladate a lot of the services we provide and some of the towns could gain services they don’t currently have,� Guy said. Another positive in favor of merger is a larger town has more clout when seeking grants and other services from the state and federal
government. “We are three towns covering two counties. Let’s face it. When Washington and Raleigh looks at dropping special appropriation money, I think it would help us in that area as well,� said Guy.
Continued on page 3A
Towns dispute sewer rates
Flipping the flapjacks
Burgaw, Wallace work to stay out of court By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher
By Andy Pettigrew Post & Voice Publisher
Staff photo by Andy Pettigrew
Veteran pancake cook Charlie Krynicki keeps a close watch on the griddle at Saturday’s annual N.C. Blueberry Pancake Breakfast. Charlie’s uncle Doug mans a griddle as well. See more photos of the event on Facebook and page 4B.
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Pender County Clerk of Superior Court Robert “Bob� Kilroy has retired from his position with the court and returned to a private law practice. E l i z ab e t h C r ave r, wh o worked with Kilroy in the clerk’s office, will serve as Clerk of Superior Court and serve out Kilroy’s unexpired term through 2018. Kilroy has opened an office in Surf City with law partner Toni Hardin. “Toni expressed an interest in being my partner a long time ago. I told her to go and get her law degree and that is what she did,� Kilroy said. “She graduated from Campbell in May, took the bar exam in July and I’m thinking it’s time to move on. I’ve been there eight years. I enjoy practicing law.� Kilroy feels he has accomplished what he set out to do when he was elected as Clerk of Court. “The thing that used to bother me when I first went there was the condition of the Courthouse. The county commissioners have been very cooperative in getting things done,� Kilroy said. Kilroy cites the film industry for helping improve the condition of the courthouse. Each time over the past eight years a film company used the Courthouse, Kilroy used the money generated from the filming to improve the building. “We accomplished a lot. The biggest thing we have done in the past year is get the Courthouse secure. Commissioners gave the Sheriff the money for security improvements,� said Kilroy. “It wasn’t a matter if something was going to happen, but when. Everybody feels a lot more secure now.�
Ancient cypress trees along Black River
Arkansas scientists excited about Pender trees By Jefferson Weaver Contributing Writer
David Stahle was skeptical the first time he came tree hunting in Southeastern North Carolina in 1984. Part of the University of Arkansas bald cypress research group, Stahle’s doubts disappeared when he crossed the Black River. “On both sides of the bridge,� he said, “I could see trees that were hundreds of years old. I was hooked.� Stahle and Graham Hawks were in Whiteville recently sampling thousand-year-old logs at the J.L. Powell and Sons lumberyard. Powell buys high-end timber from across the area, and Stahle has been a frequent visitor to the yard for years. The majority of the old growth trees Stahle samples come from Pender County along the Black River. Some are cut by selective timber
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crews, while others are recovered from the riverbed. Still others are discovered underground by logging crews laying corduroy roads and building platforms for modern logging operations. In many of those cases, the staging areas were built by loggers two and three generations ago. One of the logs Stahle andPush HawksMowers • Lawn Tractors • Zero Turn sampled last week began as a cypress Trimmers & Chainsaws knee 1,653 years ago. “That’s 364 years after the founding of Christianity,â€? he said. “Things like this help you put these trees and logs in perspective. “I’m confident there are older logs out there just waiting to be found,â€? Photo contributed he said. David Stahle carefully removes a section The mud and chemical composition of blackwater streams like those from a cypress log more than 1,000 years in most of the region are excellent for old. The University of Arkansas professor
A question over sewer rate increases between Burgaw and the town of Wallace has turned into a legal dispute, with Wallace filing a lawsuit over the issue. B u r g aw, w h i c h s e n d s wastewater to Wallace under an interlocal agreement, has experienced two consecutive years of rate increases. According to the contract, rate increases are tied to specific cost increases at the Wallace wastewater plant. When Burgaw questioned the increase and asked for justification for the rake hike, the legal dispute began. T h e m o s t r e c e n t h i ke pushed the rate from $2,20 per thousand gallons to $2.365 per thousand. Coupled with the previous increase, the rate jumped 17 percent over two years. “The second increase resulted in an increase in our rate for town residents. We questioned the increase and received some information from Wallace, and then they filed a complaint against us,� said Burgaw Town Manager Chad McEwen. “We are working through the issues with Wallace right now. We have an open dialogue with them.� McEwen said Burgaw has been paying the increased sewer rate and has worked through several thousand pages of document provided by Wallace to justify the rate increase. McEwen says some of the dispute centers around Mowers a difference of opinion on the agreement between the towns. “They have their opinion on their reading of the agreement and we have ours. The interpretation and application of the agreement that oversees our relationship is ultimately the crux of the disagreement. We read it one
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Continued on page 13A
and his team were sampling logs at J.L. Powell and Sons’ lumber yard recently.
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Continued on page 2A
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