The
Published Monthly
Morrisville & Preston
ress
October 25, 1995^
Merchants
skeptical
of key box
By Ron Page
An ordinance requiring Morris
ville business owners to mount lock
boxes on their buildings drew a
strong protest at Monday night’s
meeting of the Board of Com
missioners.
"It’s like Big Brother," said Scott
Beerman, owner ojF The Deli Box
and chairman of the town’s Plan
ning and Zoning Board.
The Board of Commissioners
enacted an ordinance in Septanber
1994 requiring businesses to place
building keys inside a lock box to
provide access to the building in
case of fire. The businesses have
until September of 1996 to comply.
The lock boxes, called "knox
box" key entry systems after the
name of the manufacturer, are
made of reirjforced steel and are
about four inches square. They can
be opened by fire officials with a
master key that can’t be duplicated.
, "I know the intent is safety, but I
just don’t feel right giving keys to
outsiders," Beerman said. The mat
ter was not on the agenda and
Beerman’s comments came during
the period allotted to the public.
Commissioner C.T. Moore said
the public safety committee is
aware of concern on the part of
some small business owners and
would review the ordinance. Moore
serves on the committee with Com
missioner Leavy Barbee, who is the
chairman.
Beerman told the board he feels
the ordinance violates rights of
privacy. "The saying is that a man’s
home is his castle, and so should a
small business be considered a
castle," Beerman said.
Beerman indicated that other
business owners are opposed to
lock boxes. "The ones who have
called me said they are not going to
do it," he told the board.
The same rapid-entry system is
used in other North Carolina com
munities, including Raleigh, Cary,
Greensboro and Charlotte. The or
dinance adopted by the Morrisville
commissioners is similar to the
Wake County ordinance.
In addition to "knox boxes," Mor
risville businesses storing hazard
ous m^erials also must have an
outside data storage box containing
information on the type and loca
tion of hazardous materials.
In other business, the board ap
proved an ordinance cutting the
speed limit on Moirisville Parkway
at the Morrisville Elementary
School from 35 miles per hour to
25 miles per hour from 30 minutes
before to 30 minutes after school
time.
Veterans Day falls on Saturday,
Nov. 11, this year, and town em
ployees will get the Friday before
off as holiday time rather than the
conventional Monday after. Ibe
Sm HOLIDAY, pages
THE COLORS OF FALL-An eye-catching dis
play of pumpkins at Paul and Wilma Phillips'
house on N.C. 55 in Carpenter is pretty enough
to illustrate an October calendar. The couple
also sell Indian corn, gourds and straw for
autumn decorating.
Roadside farmer doing his part to
promote pumpkins, sweet tater pie
By Ron Page
You can’t miss the Phillips’ place
on N.C. 55 in the Carpenter Com
munity. It’s the house with the
orange front lawn.
The orange comes from the
pumpkins Paul and Wilma Phillips
have lined in rows out front of the
L-shaped ranch they have called
home since 1951.
Can you imagine Halloween
without a jack-o’-lantern? Not to
worry. There are plenty of pump
kins this year, especially at this
trim homestead where several thou
sand have been harvested from 10
of the 35 acres the couple planted
this year.
"We got a late start because of all
the spring and early summer rain,"
says Phillips, who is a retired air
lines employee. "The fields were
soaked a^ we couldn’t even walk
on than in June. It was about the
second week in July when planting
look place.”
Phillips has been selling his
pumpkins and Halloween items
such as Indian com, gourds, straw,
com stalks and colorful mums for
the past 20 years. Each year the
front lawn turns orange as the fall
season gets under way. People in
the area refer to his place as "The
Pumpkin House."
TTie pumpkins include varieties
such as Big Max, Jack-o’-Lanterns,
Carolina Gold and Mammoth Gold.
One of the more popular varieties is
the Pumpkin FHe, which is only
slightly l^er than a softball.
Phillips says the pulp is ideal for
pie filling since it is thicker and
meatier than other styles.
"But I don’t care for pumpkin
pie," he adds. "Don’t like things too
spicy. My favorite is sweet potato
pie with vanilla seasoning." Does
his wife make pies from what they
grow? "She’s an excellent baker,"
Phillips smiles.
The look turns to a frown,
though, when he talks about a com-
See DEER, page 2
A PRIVATE LESSON-Coach Larry Jackson of Preston Highlands offers
some pre-game advice Saturday to two of the players on his 14 and under
soccer team. The girls are, at right, his daughter, Meri, and her friend, Lindsey
Klein of Morrisville.
Prestonwood fields abuzz
with latest craze-soccer
By Ron Page
It is midweek, and the teams made up of 7 and 8-year-old
boys and girls mn to their places across the field in Preston
for an afternoon practice. The whistle sounds, and a young
blond boy approaches the ball to kick off.
"Time! Time!" shouts the coach. "Jimmy, how many times
do you have to be told to stay behind the kicker? And Jen
nifer, keep those hands down."
Now it is Saturday, same time, same place. Tots not bigger
than a yardstick, some as young as 4, others 5 and 6,
scamper about in colorful team shirts. The size of the fields
are almost as short as they are.
"Yuk," a 5-year-old boy says after slipping in a muddy
area. It had been raining Thursday and Friday. "That’s O.K.,
Kyle. Here, let me help you clean those hands,” says the
coach. "White kicked the ball out Red throws it in. Go
ahead, Jamie."
Welcome to recreaticmal league soccer—the fastest grow
ing participation sport in the nation. In communities across
the country, youngsters like those in Preston trot about in
shorts and shin jx'otectors, imitating their favorite p-o, col
lege, or high school soccer player.
Five days a week, from about 5 p.m. to dark, the two fields
off High House Road across from Prestonwood Country
Club buzz with youngsters. Boys and girls up to 16 years old
practice the fundamentals—dribbling, passing, moving the
ball from one foot to the other as their coaches encourage
their efforts.
Games take place on Saturdays and Sundays, with the
younger children playing under close sup^ision. Every
hour and a half a new batch of youngsters uites the field.
See SOCCER, page 2
Candidates
share views
on issues
Veterans vie for mayor’s post;
newcomers eye District 3 seat
By Ron Page
Acting Mayor Billy Sauls and
Margaret E. Broadwell want to be
mayor of Morrisville. Observers
agree that both know the problems
the town faces, and each has a view
on how to approach them.
Those same observers also agree
that when all ballots have been
counted after the Nov. 7 election,
whoever wins will bring experience
to the office.
Says Sauls: "Growth is going to
happen. That’s a forgone conclu
sion. I’m for growth...bui in an or
derly fashion."
Counters Ms. Broadwell: "Physi
cal change is inevitable for a town
like Morrisville. But this town has
allowed developers to dictate
policy."
So the stage is set for the con
frontation brought about by the
resignation in May of Mayor Ernest
Lumley when he announced plans
to move to Nash County after 13
years in office.
For the 53-year-old Sauls, owner
and operator of the Billy Sauls Ex
xon station, it means either becom
ing the new mayor or continuing
his present position as a member of
the Board of Ccanmissioners.
An at-large commissioner in the
middle of his second four-year
term, Sauls became acting mayor in
May when Lumley resigned. Sauls
would resign as commissioner if he
wins the mayoral race.
His only opponent to fill the
remaining two years of Lumley’s
unexpired four-year term is Mrs.
Broadwell, herself a former Morris
ville commissioner.
Beginning in 1985, Mrs. Broad
well, 46, served two consecutive
terms as commissioner, but chose
not to seek re-election in 1993. In
stead, she ran unsuccessfully as
mayor, losing to Lumley by a nar
row margin. It was her first attempt
to gain that office. A former real
estate agent, she is a substitute
teacher in the Wake County public
school system.
As for the rest of the field, in
cumbents Leavy Barbee, 67, and
C.T. Moore Sr., 58, are running un
opposed, Barbee as commissioner
for District 1, and Moore as com
missioner at large.
What was to have been a three-
way contest in District 3, however,
is now down to two candidates,
Rosemary Johnson and Mark
Silver-Smith. Ruth C. Grimsley
withdrew as a candidate earlier this
month to devote more time to her
church.
Sauls feels the election provides
the opportunity for "laying the
groundwork for a wonderful small
town." He says the key is how you
plan for it. "We must plan now for
what’s ahead and have the vision
that things are going to happen
whether you want them to or not."
The groundwork was started, he
feels, with the 20-year sewer and
water agreement made in Septem
ber with the town of Cary to supply
those services. He feels the pact is a
good one and more cost efficient
than building a $12.5 million con
nection system to get the services
from the city of Raleigh.
’Why spend the money v/hen we
don’t need to spend it?" he says. "It
would have b^n millions more,"
adding it would also have been
financially impossible for Morris
ville to supply its own utilities.
This is one of the financial deci
sions Mrs. Broadwell questions.
She would have preferred the town .
contracting with Raleigh instead of
Cary. She says it appears poor
financial planning eliminated the
possibility of building the connect
ing system with Raleigh.
"I believe the contract helps Cary
as much as it helps Morrisville,”
she says. "My concern is that Cary
See VETERANS, page 2
NO STOPPING THEM NOW-The sign at the railroad crossing
says "Stop," but Billy Sauls and Margaret E. Broadwell, the candi
dates for major of Morrisville, plan to keep running until the polls
close on Nov. 7. Both Sauls and Broadwell have experience both
in office and on the campaign trail.
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