f•rrentonMam.Library X 117 S.Maiti St. V*rrenton, N.C flje Harren iRecnrfc Volume 87 25* Per Copy Warrenton, County Of Warren, North Carolina Wednesday, August 1, 1984 Number 31 Business Districts Get Boost By KAY HORNER News Editor The business districts of Warrenton and Norlina are getting a boost with the renovation of two buildings constructed during the early 1900s. On Warrenton's Main Street, the building best known as Burroughs Grocery is getting a facelift and interior renovation and will house the real estate operation of Warrenton Insurance and Real Estate. ine new ornce snouia be ready for occupancy by September 1, accord ing to W. Monroe Gard ner, president of the company and the build ing's owner. Gardner plans to restore the exterior front of the structure to its original look, and is using photographs provided by the N. C. Department of Archives and History as a reference. It was through the department's photo graphs of Main Street that Gardner was able to date the construction of the building as sometime between 1910 and 1912. The building, which was built by J. M. (Jim) Gardner and has remained in the Gard ner family, also housed Quality Grocery and more recently a pool room operated by John E. Rooker. In Norlina, Bill and Bettie Hicks, owners of Village Pharmacy, are renovating the former Walker Drug Company on Hyco Street. The building was con structed in 1914 by Dr. Tom Holt, Sr., father of Dr. Tom Holt who currently practices in Warrenton. It has always housed Walker Drug Company, operated first by M. E. Walker and then by his son, Harry W. Walker, until his retirement this Dast June. The Hickses hope to move from their current location at the intersec tion of U. S. 1 and 158 within the next two months. >, The Norlina Town Hall and Police Depart ment are also taking on a new look with the painting of the build ing's exterior and remodeling of the in side. According to Town Clerk Mae Gums, $2,000 was budgeted for the improvements, which will include paneling for the clerk's office and construction of cabinets. School To Open Headmaster B. L. King has announced that Warren Academy students will report to school on Wednesday, Aug. 22, at 8:30 a. m. to begin academic year 1964-85. Kindergarten students will be dismissed at 11 a. m., and students in grades 1-12 will be dismissed at 11:15 a. m. Hie school store will be open to students wishing to buy snacks and school supplies. Chief W. R. Richardson, head of the Haliwa Saponi Indian Tribe of Warren and Halifax coun ties, greets Gov. James B. Hunt Jr., during a cam paign rally held on the Warren County Fairgrounds last Wednesday night. At left is Dr. J. P. Green of For U. S. Senate Seat Henderson. More than 450 persons were on hand for a barbecue dinner and an address by Hunt, who is campaigning for the U. S. Senate seat now held by Jesse Helms. (Staff Photo) Hunt Brings Campaign Here Gov. James B. Hunt told Warren County Democrats attending a fund-raiser here last Wednesday that Sen. Jesse Helms, his op ponent in the November U. S. Senate race, had been "negative and backward" and an "embarrassment" to the state of North Carolina. The charges were leveled by Hunt at a $10 a-plate barbecue supper of pork and chicken at the Warrenton Lions Den attended by a crowd of more than 450. In a speech peppered with barbs at theincum bent senator, Hunt said this was a "critical year" for North Carolin ians. Citing a study which ranked North Carolina in the bottom slot in the amount of federal dol lars received per capita, Hunt asked, "Is that ef fective leadership for North Carolina?" An enthusiastic crowd chorused "No." Hunt assured his audience that he would not vote for cutbacks in areas vital to residents of Warren County, and promised to see that toxic PCBs in a state landfill in the Afton area would be dug up and destroyed when detoxification technol ogy became available. Opponents of the land fill, which was located here in 1982, charged at that time that the state selected Warren County because of its rural nature and the poor, minority makeup of its population and that Hunt turned his back on the county in allowing the location of the land fill here. "I will always have that on my heart and in my mind," Hunt said. The governor reiter ated his support for Social Security and assailed Helms for op posing a bipartisan plan for making the program more financially sound. He noted that "even ; President Reagan" ? supported the plan. Hunt reminded his audience, which was predominantly black, that Helms had voted against reading programs, the school lunch program for poor children, the Headstart program, and college tuition assistance, while voting in favor of tax credits for segregated schools. He also touched on foreign policy, criticiz ing Helms for not sup porting economic assist ance to Central America. Urging his supporters • ' 9r™' " to register "everybody.. . .who draws breath if they're over 18 years of age" to vote, Hunt asked the group to make use of bumper stickers. Being without one, he quipped, "is like going around naked." Lake Development Is Facing Expiration Of Property Option While state and coun ty officials study amendments to Warren County's zoning ordin ance to address con struction of multi family dwellings on Kerr and Gaston lakes, a Virginia developer faces an expired option on a tract of lakefront land where he proposed to build a multi-million dollar planned unit de velopment (PUD). Gerald R. Brock of Bracey, Va., who presented his preliminary plan to the Warren County Plan ning Board three months ago, related his dilemma to the board at its regular meeting last Thursday. "He requested that we initiate some kind of en dorsement or approval to allow him to proceed with actual closing on the option he had," ac cording to 0. L. "Butch" Meek, board secretary. "The Planning Board made that approval sub ject to the county com missioners giving ap proval with a zoning or dinance to allow condos and townhouses (in the zoned area) and with the No President Can Be Found Chamber Search Proves Unfruitful By KAY HORNER News Editor If benign neglect can kill an organization, the Warren County Chamber of Commerce seems headed for a quiet demise. The last meeting of the chamber's Board of Directors was held this past January and presided over by then-President Wayne Clower. At that time, a nominating committee was ap pointed to submit a roster of candidates for top of fices. The search began—and ended—with the president. "They couldn't find one single person to be president," Gower said last week. That was the last anyone heard from the cham ber. It currently has about 40 members and a little over $900 in the bank. Although it lacks a full board of 13 directors, it does have seven active directors who were appointed in February 1983 for three and two-year terms. "I think the old board should meet and decide if we should have a membership meeting in the fall of future and prospective decide if they want a chair The chamber, which Cl< as many as 100 membe waning interest on the par years and Charles Hay president two years ago si disband if it were not goinj According to Clower, "Catch-22" situation las! members in order to ge more projects, but new n join because the chamber < The last project sponso the Warrenton Christmas 1 Its Articles of Incorpors ber was formed to "advt and prosperity of the Wan citizens and all areas of shall prosper." Unless a president can Warren County will hav« benefit of a Chamber of Co members and let them iber,"Clowersaid. wer indicated could have *s, has been faced with t of its members in recent es during his term as ggested that the chamber ; to be active. the chamber was in a year. It needed more nerate more money for embers were hesitant to lid so little. •ed by the chamber was 'arade. tion state that the cham nce the general welfare en County area so that its its business community >e found, it appears that to prosper without the nmerce. stipulation that the state Health Department would have to certify engineering plans for the sewage treatment plant to handle those units." Currently, only the lake areas of the county are zoned and the or dinance addresses only single-family resi dential, lakeside camp and business, and neigh borhood business categories. Meek said yesterday that the Planning Board is scheduled to meet this week with representa tives of the N. C. Depart ment of Natural Resources and Com munity Development, who have drawn up a "study draft" of zoning amendments. However, Meek was unable to say when a final draft might be presented to the commissioners for their approval. The Planning Board has contended that it does not have the authority to approve PUDs in the zoned area. In June, zoning ordi nance amendments which were proposed in 1977 by the Planning Board and tabled in definitely by the com (Continued on page 13) Dry Weother Needed Tobacco Market a Opening Nearing Warren County tobac co growers and ware housemen are preparing for the opening of the Warrenton Tobacco Market on August 9, ac cording to Mrs. Alice Marie Robertson, sales supervisor. Mrs. Robertson said this week that four warehouses will operate on the local market this year. On opening day, Currin's Warehouse, owned by L. 0. Robert son, Jr., will have first sale. Second sale will be conducted at Farmers, owned by Gordon Limer and Harry J. Carter. Tobacco taken to High Dollar, the owners of which are Ronald E. Stainback, C. J. Stain back, M. P. "Bo" Carroll and Glenn R. Riggan, will be auction ed on the third sale. Cen tre, owned by Tommy Wagner and E. M. Moody, will house the fourth sale. County Extension Chairman Russell King said Tuesday that the local tobacco crop is be ginning to show some ill effects from the recent abundant rainfall and that dry, sunny weather is becoming a pressing need. King said that two weeks ago he judged this year's crop to be the "best we've had in several years," but that the recent wet weather is causing some dis eases, the most common of which is brown spot. The excessive moisture is also causing problems with curing the tobacco, a condition known as barn rot, according to King. Another disease that has been noted in some of the county tobacco fields is mosaic, although this is not necessarily a result of the wet weather. King also reported that blue mold has appeared in several counties, as nearby as Halifax Coun ty, Va. In spite of the recent problems, King ex pressed encouragement that there is still the potential for a good tobacco crop. USe F°r S,Udge',s Found ^ Warren County 1 m By MARY C.HARRIS Staff Writer "The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank." So states the title of a best selling book of humor by syndicated columnist Erma Bombeck. However, that observation is finding serious application in communities throughout the country, and in Warren County in particular. For the past 18 months, treated sewage known as "sludge" has been used for on-site fertiliza tion at the Warren County Regional Waste Water Treatment Plant, according to Macon Robertson, plant operator. This usefulness of domestic waste as a soil conditioner is realized only after certain procedures have been followed for a prescribed period of time. The Warrenton plant, located on Highway 401 at the southern edge of Warrenton, has been in operation for two years. It employs the dewatering method for treatment of the sewage from Warrenton, Norlina, and Soul City. This method consists of an extended aer ation process during which the sludge, kept in oxidation ditches, is constantly aerated and broken down by bacteria. Robertson explained that further breaking down occurs in an aerobic digester, which works in much the same way as the human stomach. The digested sludge is neutralized and then run onto drying beds for vacuum filtration. The treatment process having been thus completed, the sludge is removed from the beds and then routinely trucked to the Warren County Landfill for burial. Recently, however, it has remained at the waste water treatment plant and has served as fertilizer for grass. Robertson stated that it is used at a sludge-age of approximately six months. The fertilization value of sewage sludge is not equal to that of commercial fertilizers because it is deficient in phosphoric acid and potash. Even so, it does yield good results as ammonium nitrate for lawns, farm products and greenhouse plants, among others. Robertson pointed out that this practice seems to be taking hold in a number of cities and communities as administrators are recog nizing the potential for double savings. Appli cation of sludge as fertilizer not only cuts fer tilization costs but also prevents the sity of sludge burial at the landfills. State law requires that used portions of landfills be covered with topsoil and seeded with grass, a requirement which lends itself to the use of the sludge-fertilizer as a soil conditioner there. Robertson described the sludge as a pow dery substance as compared to the untreated sewage which is only five to seven percent solid. In appearance and odor it resembles a mold or rich garden loam. It can be spread by the dump bed of a truck. As with all types of fertilisation, the soil should be tested to determine the saturation. If over-fertlliiation has occurred, the lost elements In the soil should be replaced to achieve the proper balance. Individuals, businesses, and agencies desiring to make use of the sludge for fertilis ing are required to make application to the state, as use without special permit is restric ted to the premises of the treatment plant The green grass growing at the waste water treatment plant suggests that Warren County is keeping abreast of studies regarding the use of sludge and that further possibilities may lie ahead.
