Newspapers / The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.) / Oct. 25, 1979, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
ladlsoa County Library Marshall, i.e. 88753 9-80 -*1 * The News Record SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY On th* Insldm ? ? ? Patriots Upset Owen For Homecoming Win ... Turn To Page 8 78th Year No. 42 PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSHALL. N.C THURSDAY, October 25, 1979 15' Per Copy Sewage System For Mars Hill Moves To The 'Near Future' Despite the needs of some 400 residential dwellers, the town of Mars Hill does not have a town sewage system. And despite the unsuitable nature of the soil around town, these 400 residences depend wholly on septic tanks for disposal of their sewage. But after 14 years of slow progress and hundreds of questions from impatient residents, construction of a modern sewage collection and treatment system has finally moved from the far future to the near future. The complex studies required to obtain public funding for such a project are now virtually complete, and the arrangement of funding is due to begin within a few weeks. And according to town officials, a number of agencies can reasonably be expected to help finance the project. The Farmers' Home Administration, for example, has indicated a willingness to loan the town money. And the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has some funds available for such projects, and Mars Hill is in good standing with that agency because its HUD housing project is one of the three such projects in the state operating in the black. Finally, the Environmental Protection Administration can probably be counted on to Court Is Disrupted By Family Fracas Marital discord expanded to a family fight involving nearly a dozen people outside the county court chambers last week, disrupting judicial proceedings and resulting in the issuing of 14 warrants by SherrifE.Y. Ponder. In what was described by one witness as "a good old fashioned brawl," the families of Roger B. Sprinkle and Deborah Reed Sprinkle assaulted one on the stairway. During the fracas an elderly member of one of the families fell down the stairs. For tunately, she was not badly hurt. All parties involved were then brought into the cour troom and reprimanded by District Judge J. Ray Braswell. He cited seven persons for contempt of court because of the disruption; these cases will come to trial Nov. 7. Seven additional warrants were issued for assault resulting from charges and counter-charges by virtually all the participants in the struggle. All are now free on bond. Sheriff Ponder said he could not remember serving a greater number of warrants on a single occasion. Hie trouble arose following a court case in which Mrs. Sprinkle had brought charges again* Mr. Sprinkle. The case was extended with the understanding that husband and wife would receive further marriage counseling. In other business, the sheriff said that Hubert Roberts, 24, and Douglas Presnell, 26, of Madison County, have been extradited from Texarcana, on the border of Texas and Arkansas, to be tried here on charges of breaking and en tering and larceny. Both are being held in the Marshall jail, and bond has been set at $2, 500 each. fund a major portion of the work. Once the town's plans for a sewage system are Anally approved, probably by the end of the year, the project should move along at a steady pace. The grant application for design work will take a out six months. The design work itself should last another six months. Then a grant ap plication for construction can be drawn up in perhaps four months, with construction itself lasting about 18 months. It has taken a long time for the town to come this far. As Mayor Bill Powell says, "We started working on a sewage system when I was first elected ? in 1965." If a system had been built then, it might have cost about $350,000. The same system today might cost about $3.5 million - 10 times as much. And the cost continues to rise. "The biggest problem all along," said Powell last week, "has been the difference between the grant money available and the total cost of the system. During most of those years, the maximum amount of grant money we could accept was limited by law to 50 percent of the cost of the project. The tax base in Mars Hill was so small then that we just couldn't afford to pay for the other half. We couldn't even come close." Those situations have nam changed somewhat. First, the tax base has broadened considerably since Powell took office, thanks partly to two annexations. Then the state has relaxed its rule to allow 75 percent of a sewage project to be funded by grants ? and even more in some cases. The town board is hoping to be allowed to go beyond 75 percent; at today's construction prices, says Powell, paying for even 25 percent of the system "would UNDEFEATED FOR THE 1979 season, the Madison High School girls' volleyball team poses proudly before their final match - and victory - against North Buncombe. The team finished first in their conference. Sophomores on the team are Robin Anderson, Debbie Buckner, Chris Chandler, Rene Cole, Pam English, Robin Hough and Maria Reese. Freshmen are Robin Frisby, Kim Gibson, Amy Knisley, Teresa Norris and DeniseThomason. Marshall To Hold Hearing On Use Of Housing Funds The town of Marshall win conduct a public hearing an Oct SO at 7:10 p.m. in the town ball for the purpose of a ore-aDD i cation to the Department of Housing and Urban can ba used for In puM; hsalth and safety, and development Programs can be designed to be com prehensive in nature or for singie-purpaee projects. All activities must benefit primarily km and moderate Prsvimaly the town of Marshall applied far a comprehensive projec tr SbSL ' *a|fhbnrhood bowing rehabilitation, im provements to distribution and collection Unas, demolition at housing, installation of Ore hydrants, street fan Hind are urged to attend reenmmandabona lor the pre which win be on Jan. I, MM. break the town. We couldn't pay that off In 100 years." The alow, torturous process of slogging through red tape toward a sewage system really began In 1979-74, when the town got a small EPA grant to do what is called a 201 plan. This is a series of studies of "everything you always wanted to know about Mars Hill": the current sewage situation, the ex pected effluent flow, the topography, environment, soil characteristics, erosion behavior, water quality, geology, population forecast, land use, proposed treatment system, alternative treatment systems, and so on. In summary, a 201 study an swers for the state the questions, what's your problem, and what do you propose to do about it? The firm chosen to do the study is the Harwood Beebe Co. of Spartanburg, S.C. In their two-volume study, and numerous visits and con sultations, Harwood Beebe has come up with three possible locations for a treatment plant: one at the site of the present college treatment plant, and two others on Gabriel Creek. The favored location, ac cording to Robert Whi taker of Harwood Beebe, is the site of the college plant, which the college has offered to donate to the town. "A new site would give us more space," said Whi taker early this week, "and more freedom in design, but there probably wouldn't be a great deal of difference in cost." Whitaker says he hopes to have the grant application for the design work in the hands of Mars Hill officials "in the next week or two" and that federal and state funding can be lined up this fall. His own firm will do the design work. Once that work is com pleted, said Whitaker, grant money for actual construction should be in hand by the fall of 1960. Then bids will be let for the construction work, which could begin in late winter or early spring of 1961. The final system, according to Mars Hill Town Manager Dennis McCurry, will consist of the treatment plant and two large pumps. The plant will have a capacity of 450,000 gallons per day, collected by a system of 16 miles of 6- and 10-inch gravity sewers. The plant itself will consist of facilities for chlorination, aeration, holding and settling tanks for solids, and a 15,000 square-foot drying bed. "They'll need the two pumps," said McCurry, "to push sewage from the east side of town over to the treatment plant on the west. There's a ridge running right along Main Street that divides the town area in two, and there will have to be some pretty strong pumps to get over it." Both will be powered by electricity; Robert Whitaker says that the amount of dried solids produced from Mars Hill sewage would not yield enough methane to run the pumps. i ne neea I or a town sewage aystem has grown more obvious each year. Both Banjo Branch and Gabriel Creek contain large amounts of fecal collform bacteria which, as the Harwood Beebe report points out, constitute a potential health hazard. " The pollution comae from two kinds of effluent: seepage and direct dtochyge. The ty^CwTs ^ ' lamS*1 Accenting to the rsport, "The eolli hi the area are ahnoat uulwtaaBy unsuitable for septic unks beceuae af steep HOMECOMING QUEEN Peggy Worley Goforth and her escort, J.H. Fender, proudly smile to the crowd at O.E. Roberts Memorial Stadium after her name is announced. hazards, or high water table." The discharge comes into the streams directly from the three small treatment systems in town. In addition to the simple system put in by Mars Hill College in 1964, there are two others. One is an extended aeration plant operated by the Board of Education for Mars Hill Elementary School. It was installed in 1967 and handles about 10,000 gallons per day (GPD). The other, installed in 1973, is run by Micro Switch. It is also an extended aeration system, with a capacity of 20,000 GPD. The new town system would achieve more complete treatment of odor and bac teria than the three small ones, as well as eliminating the seepage and overflow of the town's septic tanks. Hot Springs Gets $300,000 For Sewage, Water Projects The Fanners Home Administration has approved a loan of $204,000 and a grant of $106,300 to the Town of Hot Springs, Cong. Lamar Gudger announced today. The funding is for con struction of a new chlorination facility; master metering facilities; water lines of eight, six and two inches totaling 12,200 linear feet for the water system; a SO GPM pumping station with 1520 feet of force main; a ISO GPM pump station; two large septic tanks; and one sludge holding tank for the sewage system. Terms of the loan are 40 years at 5 percent. Total number of users to benefit from the project is 249. Man IN early Killed In Tree-Cutting Accident W.C. Ward of Tillery Branch Road, Marshall, narrowly escaped serious ] injury and possibly death last i Saturday in a tree-cutting j accident near his home. i Ward, 35, was pinned between the limb of a falling tree and the trunk of a standing tree. By the time he was freed he had become blue in the face, unconscious, and he had stopped breathing. He was accompanied by Charles Deaver, J.B. Reid, and Harold Reid at the time. According to Harold Reid, J.B. was cutting a very large oak which, instead of falling downhill as planned, was blown uphill so that its trunk shot off the trunk in a downhill direction. A large limb of the tree swept Ward off his feet, catching him across the chest and trapping him against another tree. At first none of the men could move the tree, and when they saw that Ward Superior Court Lists Jurors The Madison County Distict Attorney's office has an nounced the following persons who have been chosen to serve as jurors for the regular criminal session of the Superior Court, beginning on Oct. 29: Calvin Chandler, Robert Max Rice, Russell Franklin, Levi B. Hunter, Ida Mae Thomas, Josephine S. Ray, Jessie Metcalf Whitt, Rastus Rice, Valerie Wilds Payne, Bruce E. Clary, Dollie Mace Peek, Marie Hilton Shelton, Seth Metcalf, Edward Frisbee, Jane Wolfe Thomas, Ted Mylum Meadows, Brown Ammons, Lillian Harrison Whitten, Allen James Payne, Alvania Ramsey. Patricia Ann Dickerson, Landon Ellis Hensley, Herb Frank Shelton, Charles Ball, 1 he Daniels * amily Buv The News -Record The Daniels family, publishers of the Raleigh News and Observer and three other newspapers in North and South Carolina, Tuesday acquired the Mountaineer and three affiliated companies. The companion firms are Pisgah Publishing Co., publisher of the Enterprise with offices in Canton and Candler; Madison County Publishing Co., publisher of the Marshall News Record; and Atlas Press, a Waynes ville commercial prin ting operation. Descendants of the late Josephus Daniels, a former U.S. Secretary of the Navy and ambassador to Mexico, the Daniels family is among North Carolina's oldest newspaper publishers. They own all the stock in the News and Observer Publishing Co. of Raleigh, parent organiza tion for the newly incor porated Mountaineer Publishing Co., which em braces the Mountaineer, Enterprise, News Record, and Atlas Preas. W. Curtis Rubs and M.T. Bridges, co-publishers of the Mountaineer since 1991, an nounced the sale of all outstan aad its affiliated companies to Um News and Observer Frank A. Daniels Jr., News and Observer Publishing Co. president, announced that Clifton Metcalf, the Moun taineer's managing editor, has been named editor of the paper. He will assume respon sibility for its editorial page and continue to supervise its news operations as well as those of the Enterprise and News Record. Charles Bridges, who has worked in various mechanical department positions, will be production manager. Jack Andrews, a former publisher of the Cary News, will be general manager. Frank Daniels Sr. of Raleigh is chairman of the News and Observer Publishing Co. Board of Direc tors. His brother, Jonathan, who was press secretary for President Franklin Roosevelt, is editor emeritus of the News and Observer; he resides at Hilton Head Island. In addition to the N40, the family publishes the Cary News, a weekly newspaper; the Mt. Olive Tribune, a semi weekly; the Beaufort, S.C. Gazette, a five-day daily; and the Hilton Head, S.C. Island Packet, a semi-weakly. "The Danish family is hap py to to backings part of tte Lloyd Willis, Ada Caldwell Willett, Julene McMahan Rice, Edward Bel too Duckett, O.J. Hunter, Allie Brooks Jarrett, Danny Lee Moore, Glenn Phillips, Carson Gosnell, Patricia Darlene Edwards, Delbert Mace, Charles Rollins, Braxton Eugene Meadows, Marion Welmon Peek. Delores Jessup Helms, Alpha Kent Ball, Arnold Bullman, Faye Messer Reece, Betty Fuicher Reese, Ellen S. Buckner, Sybil Dianne Craine, Judy Edwards Wallin, Davis R. Messer, Ansel Sawyer, Joseph Dewey Nix Sr., Ronnie Chandler, Arthur Shelton, Leslie M. Tweed, Clarence Edwin Maney, Katie Nix Webb, Luther Roy Coates. Charles Kenneth Ricker, Lois Marie Layton Boynton, Douglas Shelton, Sandra Buckner Robinson, Janie Nash Boyd, Velda Lee Massey, John Fredrick Gorenflo, Lizzie Marshbanks Briggs, Charlie Carver, William Boberick Chapman, Bert E. Coomer, Jefferson W. Flynn, Sarah Francis Jackson, Ervtn A. Roberts, Burdar Gide Payne, Robert Zelf English, Richard Bailey, Darrell Edward Hunter, Howard Payne and Fays' Ledford. :ould no longer breathe they ill became frightened, finally Harold Reid was able o shift the limb a fraction of in inch, and J.B. Reid picked ip the saw to cut it loose. "That saw never starts on the first pull," recalled Harold Reid. "We were having a lucky day, because it started right up. Then my brother started cutting while I was holding the limb. The saw was right opposite my face and I was breathing mostly sawdust for a while there." The limb came free at last, and the men saw that Ward was not breathing. They pushed on his chest several times before a few feeble breaths began to come. Gradually the breathing grew more regular and Ward's color began to return to normal. By this time the men had gotten word back to Ward's wife, Donna, who was hanging out some laundry. "Harold's wife came a-yelling at me," said Donna Ward, "and I thought for sure he was hurt bad. I was so worried they had to tell me to watch out, because I almost ran across the road right in front of a car. "When I got there they had him standing up. He told me later the first thing he saw when he came to was J.B. standing right over him crying like a baby. I don't know who was the palest of the lot, but they were all real scared. "I'll just have to say it's remarkable that W.C. is still alive," she continued. "He said he just managed to throw his hands up in front of his face or that limb might have caught his head. If he weren't so stocky - he's 5-foot-9 and weighs about 200 pounds - I don't think he'd still be with us. I guess someone was just watching over him that day." Ward was rushed to the hospital but remarkably there was no hemorrhaging or broken bones. He was released the same day, suf fering only a dark band of bruised where the limb held him and a pattern of bruises and scratches down his back from the tree trunk. Two days later be was back at work at WUaon Art's plastic plant in Fletcher, sore but happy to be alive. Farmers Reminded Of Oct. 29 Deadline
The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 25, 1979, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75