record
GENE R At. DELIVERY ? ?
ople Of Our Communities Since 1 90 1
Officials, Residents Debate Prison Site
By BILL STUDENC
Editor
Madison County commissioners,
meeting Monday with officials from
Marshall, Mars Hill and Hot Springs,
got an earful when an informal
gathering on a proposal to host a
medium-security prison turned into a
full-blown public hearing.
A standing-room-only crowd jamm
ed Madison County Courthouse for
Monday's meeting, originally
scheduled to give county and
municipal officials a chance to
discuss the pros and cons of locating a
300-prisoner facility in Madison Coun
ty
When county residents got word of
the gathering, they flocked to the
courthouse to speak their minds on
what is fast becoming a highly con
troversial issue.
Among the concerns of opponents
of the plan are the possible devalua
SherriH AHen
. . Craggy superintendent
If we get it down here, we're doomed. Madison County may [
be r, but we're not foolish.'
tion of property near the facility,
potential prison escapes and the im
pact on future industrial develop
ment. Proponents of the plan say the
prison would mean up to 100 new jobs
and possibly $35 million a year to the
local economy. They call the facility
a "non-polluting industry."
Adding fuel to the fire Monday was
the news that the only Madiscfa land
prison officials have looked at is own
ed by longtime Democratic leader
Zeno Ponder. It. is the same land
Ponder is charged with purchasing
through a conspiracy while he served
on the N.C. Board of Transportation.
And, further complicating the con
troversy, the land was shown to state
officials by real estate agent Diana
Kingston, the wife of Richard
Kingston, a member of Marshall
Planning Board and the driving force
behind efforts to bring the prison to
Madison. That, many angry residents
?aid, represents a conflict of interest
for Kingston.
All of the controversy may be ir
relevant. The General Assembly has
appropriated $5.6 million to construct
a new facility to replace the aging,
over-crowded Craggy Prison in
Woodfin. Some, including Kingston,
have suggested the county try to con
vince the legislature to build the
prison in Madison.
But, before that can happen, the
General Assembly must agree to
change legislation calling for the
prison to be built in Buncombe Coun
ty
Prison officials have looked at jit-^s
in Weaverville, Swannanoa, Black
Mountain and Enka, but met local op
position at all sites. Gov. Jim Martin
has suggested putting the prison on
state land in Burke County, but
residents there have also opposed
that suggestion.
Many of those who attended Mon
day's meeting voiced the same
arguments that prison officials heard
in Buncombe County. And, for
Craggy Prison Superintendent Sher
rill Allen, it was his second trip in a
week to discuss the prison with
Madison residents. He attended a
meeting last Thursday of the Mar
shall Neigh bars' Association (see
related story),
Allen opened Monday's meeting by
telling the crowd that the state is
planning to demolish Craggy and
build a 100-man work release unit on
the site, at a cost of $1.5 million.
The replacement prison, wherever
it is built, will have an annual budget
of about $5 million a year, not in
cluding a "mini-hospital" and a laun
dry which would employ about 10 ad
ditional workers, Allen said.
"The local chamber of commerce
figures that a dollar turns over seven
times in a year," he said. "If we're
looking at a $5 million budget a year,
you're looking at $35 million a year to
the local economy."
The new prison would employ 100
workers, Allen said, although 16
workers employed at Craggy are
from Madison and would probably
transfer. Craggy Prison currently
employs 74 workers, he said, prom'
r
-Contfaued an back prtge
Leake, Capps Defend Payments
To Madison County's Attorney
By BILL STUDENC
Editor
Larry Leake, attorney for Madison
County, has defended his receipt of at
least (55,000 from county officials last
year, saying that the money was for
legal services rendered over the past
seven years.
Robert Capps, chairman of the
Madison County Board of Commis
sioners, also defended the county's
payments to Leake as appropriate.
Leake and Capps were responding
to an advertisement in last week's
News Record in which the the Bipar
tisan Citizen's Committee For Better
Government ques
tioned $55,430.51 in county payments
to Leake in 1966.
But Leake and Capps both said that
those payments werf for services
rendered by Leake over a several
year period.
"I'm sure that the committee has
also looked at the county's fiscal
record for the last several years, and
that they are aware that the $55,000 is
for legal services rendered to the
county of Madison since July 1, 1979,
which is an average of $7,523.82 per
year," Leake said in a letter to The
News Record and the Bipartisan
Citizen's Committee for Better
Government. (See Leake's letter on
Page 4).
Leake said he has been compen
sated by the county at a rate less than
$20 an hour. "I seriously doubt that
the Bipartisan Citizens Committee
for Better Government can find
another attorney who is willing to
represent his or her client for an
hourly rate, which inclues expenses,
of less than $20 an hour," he said.
Capps, although differing
somewhat on the dollars, agreed with
Leake.
-Continued on back page
Larry Leake
. . .county attorney
Weaverville OKs Recreation Park Plans
By ANNE K1TCHELL
Staff Writer
The Weaverville Board of Alder
man has agreed to apply for a Land
and Water Conservation Fund grant
for a new recreation park to be built
on the property in the middle of town.
During a public hearing Monday,
the board heard a proposal from
Weaverville Town Manager Charles
Home and Land-of-Sky Regional
Council Advisor Jane Miller.
The two officials said that Weaver
ville has a good chance of obtaining
the funds necessary to begin con
struction of the park.
Home said the proposed project
would initially consist of two tennis
courts and two basketball courts.
That first phase of the project carries
a price tag of $151,763.44, Home said.
The proposal calls for three phases
of development, with the most expen
sive phase to be taken care of first,
said Home. That first phase will in
clude grading of property, construc
tion of culverts and laying of water
and sewer lines, in addition to the
recreational facilities.
Later phases call for the construc
tion of additional tennis and basket
ball courts, as funds become
available.
The property the town is looking at
for the recreation park consists of
nearly 11 acres located across frum
the Weaverville Town Hall. The pro
posal calls for development of 8.5
acres, with room for expansion if
funds are available.
The board has until March 13 to ap
ply for the federally funded Land and
Water Conservation grant, which
must also be matched by the town,
Home said.
"I believe your chances are as good
as anyone elses," Miller told the
board Monday night. "There is only
9400,000 available statewide in the
Land and Water Conservation Fund,
but you have a good chance at getting
your grant because this will be a new
park."
Weaverville officials say the park
would fill a void in recreational op
portunities in the town.
"We really don't have enough
recreational facilities in town,"
Home said. "This park will enhance
the quality of life for Weaverville
residents."
According to Home, the town pur
chased the land at nominal cost some
time ago and has been working with
the Land -of -Sky Regional Council to
??cure grant money for the project.
The town has appropriated matching
funds, if the money is granted.
No Action Taken On County Audit Report
By BILL 8TUDENC
Editor
More than ? month after hearing an
auditor list seversl "improperly
documented financial transaction*"
uncovered during an audit of last
year's county financial records.
Madison County officials here yet to
take any action ?o the report.
Robert Cappa, chairman of the
Madison County Board of Commis
sioners, said the commissioners have
simply not had Urn* to talk about
what action - if any - to take concer
ning the audit report. ^
counting firm Gregg * Lasher, P A ,
told the commissioners Jan. II that
he had found many cUacrepandea in
the county's financial record books.
Gregg's report of county finances
from Dec 1, IMS, to Nov so, 1986,
raised several questions about the
financial practices of the former
Madison County Board of Commis
sioners and its wiplaypes.
According to the report, there was
"a significant increase" in county
payments to former commissioner#
and their employees is the months
following last May's primary
former commissioners James
A
Ledford, Brvin Adams and Virginia
And?r*on (ailed to win the
Democratic Party's nomination in
May, a defeat which left them "lame
ducks" until a new slate of commis
sioners was elected.
It waa during that period that many,
of the alleged financial discrepancies
tnrJr plftce.
After hearing Gregg's report last;
month, the current commissioners
were cautious in their response say^
ing they wanted time to ckaely ex
amine the report.
"I want to hx* over this thing and
see if thett things have been done. All
we've got is an audit report. I want to
wait until we can get together and
look at it more thoroughly," Capps
?aid last month.
"If there has been anything done
wrong, we'll turn it over to the
District Attorney,'' he said.
District Attorney J. Thomas
Rusher of the Mth Judicial District
said he has not receive! an\ informa
'ion or requests from the Madison
"Jp'0 rontact Wie the
fwtlmrf on Page 3
\
Richard Kingston, who first suggested that a
new prison be built in Madison, came under
fire Monday when residents learned his wife, a
BILL STUDENC PHOTOS
real estate agent, had shown property to state
prison officials.
Craggy Superintendent
Answers Local Questions
By ANNE KITCHELL
Staff Writer
Area residents are glaring up for
what could become on* of the most
heated debates in the history of
Madison County.
A group of area residents met la$t
Thursday to hear both fides of a piv*
posal to relocate Craggy Prison in
Madison County at a question-and
answer session with Sherrill Allen,
superintendent of the Woodfin prison.
The meeting, sponsored by the
Marshall Neighbors' Association at
the Madison County Public Library,
turned out to be the first of two
meetings this past week on the con
troversial prison issue. (See related
story)!* r^.
Association spokesman Ed Fender
said there is currently no legislation
citing Madison County as a prospec
tive location for the prison, and if
residents want it they will have to lob
by in Raleigh.
Legislation calling for the replace
ment of Craggy says the new prison
must be built in Buncombe County.
?Continued on back page
Hot Springs
Police Chief Wins
Federal Lawsuit
By BILL STUDENC
Editor
A U.S. District Court jury ruled in
favor last week of Hot Springs Police
Chief John Barrett in a $45,000
lawsuit filed by an Asheville man
claiming Barrett used excessive
force when arresting him last year.
The jury deliberated for 20 minutes
last Wednesday before finding that
Barrett did not exceed his lawful
authority on March 12, 1986, when ar
resting Christopher Scott Daniels,
formerly of Weaverville.
Daniels had filed a civil lawsuit in
Asheville in September, charging
that Barrett used unreasonable and
life-threatening force when he shot
out the front tire of Daniels' Jeep,
causing it to crash down a 10-foot em
bankment. Daniels was injured in the
incident, and his Jeep CJ-5 damaged.
Daniels charged that Barrett shot
at bim without justification when
Daniels was attempting to turn
around on U.S. 25-70 outside the Hot
Springs town limits.
Barrett's actions constituted
Ciult and battery, assault with a
dly weapon, intentional infliction
of emotional distress, and gross
negligence, the lawsuit alleged.
Barrett, in answer to the lawsuit,
denied using unreasonable force
when arresting Daniels for allegedly
driving under the influence of alcohol
and reckless driving. Daniels was ar
rested after being seen driving 60
mph in a 90 mph zone, according to
Barrett individually and as police
chief of the town of Hot Springs as
defendant. Also named as defendants
were the Hot Springs Police Depart
ment and Madison County.
Daniels charged that Madison
County was liable for the Hot Springs
Police Department and the employ
ment, training, selection, policies and
procedures of its officers
But U.S. District Court Judge
David Sentelle last Tuesday approv
ed a motion for summary judgement
and dismissed the Hot Springs Police
Department and Madison County as
defendants.
That left only Barrett -- individual
ly and as police chief - to go to trial
last Wednesday.
The case went to the jury after
some six hours of testimony, and the
jury returned with its verdict 20
minutes later.
Daniels had been seeking a total in
excess of $45,000 in the lawsuit -
$10,000 in compensatory damages
110,000 in punitive damages. $25,000
in punitive damages, attorney fees,
court costs fend whatever other
The lawsuit changed that Barrett
had given no warning before shooting
at Daniels' vehicle and that Daniels
did not use any force or try to escape
arreat