Columbus County lawsuit
Commissioner Buddy Byrd had some strong words for the Border Belt Independent.
"Newspapers should not be suing the county, because we're trying to do the very best job we can do," he said.
At the end of Monday night's meeting, Byrd spoke about a lawsuit brought by BBI and The Assembly against the county and county sheriff for failing to fulfill a series of public records requests. Back in August, a judge ordered County Manager Eddie Madden and Sheriff Bill Rogers to pay the attorneys' fees for the publications, finding that they had "substantially prevailed" in their case. At the time, the judge had not signed off on a specific amount.
"The Border Belt newspaper has sued the county and has won a judgment at this time of $150,000," Byrd said.
But according to the Whiteville News Reporter — which is not party to the lawsuit — that assertion is incorrect. The courts haven’t yet approved the plaintiffs' requested amount of $149,000. Still, Byrd objected to the suit.
"I just think the public should know where that lawsuit comes from, why it came, and right now, we're dealing with it and we will continue to deal with it to the end. But I just think it's a disgrace that a local individual that owns the paper sues us, and I'll hush with that tonight," he said.
The commissioners also explored options for cell towers in the county after a constituent complained about a new one being built just 200 feet from his front door. They'll likely discuss new restrictions at their next meeting.
Pender County considers EMS and Fire
Over in Pender County, commissioners circled back to the ongoing Pender EMS and Fire merger. Assistant Chief Mark Haraway told commissioners that he was struggling with high turnover, saying 42 employees have parted ways with the org since March.
"If we don't do something, you're not going to have anything to absorb July one, there ain't going to be any people," he said.
The county is hoping to complete the merger by July 2026. Pender EMS and Fire asked commissioners to pass a benefits package that would provide nearly $900,000 for pay boosts, training, benefits and signing bonuses. The commission elected to table a vote on the matter til the next meeting — an unwise move, according to Commissioner Jimmy Tate.
"We can't play with fire safety for folks. That's not political. It's an issue, and we need to get people some — they need help," he said.
Commissioner Brad George recused himself from the vote due to a conflict of interest.
Brunswick County considers stormwater
And finally, in Brunswick County, commissioners met for the first time since the deadly shooting in Southport on September 27th. Commissioner Marty Cooke praised the response from law enforcement and emergency services.
"It was almost immediate. It was like stepping on a fire ants' nest, how fast everybody did in a coordinated aspect," he said.
Commissioners also revisited stormwater improvements. Brigit Flora, an engineer working for the county, presented a series of recommendations aimed at preventing flooding in the county. They included using NOAA Atlas 14 rainfall data, which she says would be more up-to-date and specific than the information they’re currently using.
Flora also proposed making adjustments to the stormwater ordinance. The suggested changes include requiring stormwater infrastructure for what’s known as ‘100 year/24 hours’ storms — basically, more intense rainfall than what earlier plans could accommodate — at all new developments, with a potential exemption for smaller commercial sites.
The other suggested change is increasing riparian buffers from 30 feet to 50 feet, and mandating 20-foot riparian buffers for wetlands. Riparian buffers are tree and plant buffers on the sides of bodies of water that help absorb rising waters. Currently, the county does not require them for wetlands.
The county voted to use federal data starting this week, and set a public hearing date for November 17 to discuss the two proposed stormwater ordinance changes.
