View entry - North Carolina Press Association

12A – The State Port Pilot, Southport, NC, Wednesday, January 23, 2013
St. James Town Council
Town’s wayfaring signs likely to stay put
By Amanda Hutcheson
Staff Writer
Town of St. James wayfaring signs along N.C. 211, intended to help
motorists find Town Hall and other buildings, are likely to stay close
to their current locations, as placing them in the state right-of-way
nearer to the road is not allowed.
Two signs, one on each side of the road, have arrows pointing left
or right for the Town Hall, community center, sales office and main
gate to residential St. James Plantation. They were erected a year ago,
and especially intended to help those unfamiliar with the area while
attending events at the community center or potential buyers at St.
James Plantation. They are outside the state right-of-way for the road.
When the signs were initially purchased, the town council debated
the different types and materials that could be used, but concerns
were raised then about the high cost of some of the options, and the
council voted to pursue a less expensive option.
But since the signs were erected, several councilors said, they have
heard comments from residents that the signs are not legible at 55
or 60 miles per hour along N.C. 211. Earlier this month, the council
discussed purchasing larger, easier-to-read signs to address the issue,
though several councilors had the same concerns about the cost of the
larger signs.
‘It sounds to me like our only resort
is going to be to have someone in
the right-of-way division come and
flag the right-of-way on the north
side....’
Josann Campanello
Town administrator
moved into the state’s right-of-way, closer to the road and more visible
to drivers.
But Tuesday, Campanello said she had talked to DOT officials and it
would not be possible to do so.
“Unfortunately, they have a list of signage that they do not get involved with, nor is it allowed in the right-of-way,” she said. “Directions
to Town Hall is one of them.”
While directional or wayfaring signs to some locations are allowed
in the right-of-way, she said, such signs to Town Hall and other buildings are not. But while the signs cannot sit in the right-of-way, the
town might be able to move them closer to it, depending on where the
exact right-of-way line falls.
“It sounds to me like our only resort is going to be to have someone in the right-of-way division come and flag the right-of-way on the
north side, so we can flag that sign in a better place,” Campanello said.
The placement of the signs exacerbates the readability issue, several
councilors said, especially for the sign closest to Southport seen by motorists driving west. Town administrator Josann Campanello told the
council that the right-of-way along that stretch of N.C. 211 meanders
and has a varying width, so that the exact boundaries weren’t known.
As a potential solution, Campanello said she would check with the
N.C. Department of Transportation (DOT) to see if the signs could be
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St. James residents
Solar energy seminar set February 2
By Amanda Hutcheson
Staff Writer
A February 2 seminar will address one of
the much-discussed topics during recent St.
James Planning Board meetings: solar panels and solar energy.
The seminar, sponsored by provider Cape
Fear Solar Systems, is free, though registration is required and there are a limited number of seats.
The program is designed to give homeowners considering solar energy, or those curious
about it, information about solar panels and
an opportunity to ask questions both of experts in solar energy and St. James residents
who recently installed the panels, said Linda
Hanykova with Cape Fear Solar Systems.
Several experts will present informa-
tion during a three-hour period, including
Hanykova and John Donoghue, founder
and president of Cape Fear Solar Systems.
Donoghue is also North American Board of
Certified Energy Practitioners-certified in solar photovoltaics, solar thermal and solar PV
technical sales.
The presentations include educational videos and lectures, and include information
about the types of panels available and how
they are installed, the cost of solar panel systems and rebates and tax incentives that can
help offset that cost, and how much homeowners can expect to save on electricity expenses with solar panel systems, Hanykova
said.
After the presentations, participants will
have a chance to speak to several homeowners in St. James who recently installed solar
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panels and see their homes.
“This way, participants will have a chance
to apply their just-learned knowledge, see the
systems operating, and have an opportunity
to talk to homeowners and ask them questions,” Hanykova said.
The seminar begins at 1 p.m. on Saturday, February 2, in the St. James Community Center. The presentations should finish
about 4 p.m., with participants able to view
solar installations in St. James Plantation
from 4 to 5 p.m.
To register, persons may call Cape Fear Solar Systems at (910) 202-4028 or email pr@
capefearsolarsystems.com; registrations are
on a first-come, first-served basis, and must
be received by Thursday, January 31.
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Judge Ola Lewis vs. Edward Lee Rapp
Jury selection begins in libel lawsuit
Jury selection began Tuesday in the libel lawsuit brought
by Brunswick County Superior
Court judge Ola Lewis.
Lewis sued Edward Lee Rapp
after he posted on Facebook and
on blogs in the spring of 2010,
accusing Lewis of violating judicial codes of conduct. In 2011, a
Superior Court judge granted a
motion for summary judgment,
ruling that there were no issues
of fact that would need to be argued in court and that Rapp’s
posts did not constitute libel.
But Lewis appealed that judgment, and in May 2012 the N.C.
Court of Appeals ruled that the
motion for summary judgment
should only have been granted
in the case of one of the two blog
posts, and that the other post met
the threshold for libel. The Court
of Appeals reversed the Superior
Court decision and remanded it
to Superior Court for a jury to decide damages and whether Rapp
showed actual malice, or that
he knew or highly suspected the
postings were false but posted
them anyway.
Jury selection for that trial began Tuesday, and is expected to
conclude today (Wednesday).
Rapp’s attorney, Hugh Stevens, had filed a motion earlier
this month to disqualify Lewis’s
attorney, Lonnie Williams, arguing that Williams would be a necessary witness in both the issues
of damages and whether actual
malice was present. The North
Carolina State Bar Association’s
rules of professional conduct
prevent lawyers from representing clients in trials when the lawyer might be called as a witness,
with exceptions for times when
the testimony relates to an un-
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As a public figure, Lewis has to
prove the presence of actual malice, or that Rapp either knew the
information he posted was false
or showed reckless disregard for
whether the information was true
before posting it.
contested issue or the nature of
the legal services, or if preventing
that attorney from representing
the client would cause undue
hardship to the client.
Stevens’s motion included numerous emails Williams wrote at
the end of 2009 to area attorneys,
concerning Lewis’s reputation
and professional standing in the
community, and emails Williams
wrote to Rapp after his blog post
informing him of facts he had not
known before posting.
But judge F. Lane Williams
ruled Tuesday morning not to allow Stevens’s motion to disqualify Williams, who will be able to
represent Lewis for the duration
of the trial.
Rapp originally posted writings on Facebook and Carolina
Talk Network, criticizing Lewis
for wearing a button supporting a Republican candidate for
office during a local Republican
party meeting and saying her actions violated the North Carolina
Codes of Judicial Conduct.
Williams emailed Rapp shortly
after the posting, informing him
that Lewis was herself a candidate for re-election at the time.
While judges are greatly limited
in the actions they can take to
campaign for other candidates,
Canon 7B of the Codes of Judicial Conduct includes an exception allowing judges who are
themselves running for election
to endorse other candidates.
Rapp then submitted a second post, where he wrote that
he had been wrong, but said he
would let the “proper authorities” determine whether Lewis’s
behavior violated the Codes of
Judicial Conduct. Rapp wrote
that he thought it was wrong for
an office-holder to campaign for
a candidate and posted parts of
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the Judicial Codes of Conduct,
writing that readers could make
up their own minds.
But Rapp did not include the
part of the codes granting Lewis,
as a candidate for election her-
self, the ability to campaign for
other candidates, and the Court
of Appeals found that post libelous, writing in the opinion that
leaving that specific part of the
codes out was a deliberate attempt to substantiate false accusations.
However, as a public figure,
Lewis has to prove the presence
of actual malice, or that Rapp
either knew the information
he posted was false or showed
reckless disregard for whether
the information was true before
posting it. The opinion noted
that while Rapp may have acted
negligently in not researching the
facts more before posting, he did
not appear to have acted maliciously.
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