WarrentonMem.Library X
117 S.Matn St.
Warrenton ,? N ,C . 27589
1
Harren Record
Volume 89 25c Per Copy Warrenton, County Of Warren, North Carolina Wednesday, June 4, 1986 Number 23
Patrol Car
Wrecked In
Road Chase
Warrants have been drawn
against a suspect but no arrests
have been made in a weekend
high-speed motorcycle chase
which resulted in injuries to a
N.C. Highway Patrolman.
Trooper 0. W. Hardy of Wekion
was treated and released from
Halifax Memorial Hospital in
Roanoke Rapids after he lost con
trol of his patrol car and over
turned about 8:30 p.m. Saturday
night near Odell, according to a
report in the Halifax County
Highway Patrol office.
The report stated that the
chase began when Trooper Har
dy, a 19-year veteran of the
Patrol, attempted to pull for
speeding a group of eight motor
cyclists in Littleton. One cyclist
failed to heed his signal and the
chase began.
The trooper followed the
operator through Littleton to
Macon and then down several
rural roads before his car skid
ded on some gravel and over
turned. The 1965 Ford was a total
loss, according to the report.
The driver of the motorcycle
faces charges e? speeding 100
miles per hour in a 55 m.p.h.
zone, speeding more than 15
miles per hour above the posted
limit to elude arrest, failure to
stop for a blue light and siren and
reckless driving.
The Highway Patrol was
assisted by the sheriffs depart
ments from Halifax and Warren
The Rev. Jon Strother, left, pastor of Macon United Methodist
Church, and the Rev. Thomas Smith, superintendent of the Raleigh
District, participate in a service of dedication for the brick structure
which now houses the 100-year-old bell formerly kept in the church's
steeple. The monument is a memorial to the late John Wesley Ed
wards and Florence Roberts Edwards and was built from donations
by the Edwards family and friends. The service of dedication took
place Sunday, June 1, and was followed by a luncheon in the Gard
ner Room of the church. Among the approximately 100 persons at
tending were a number of out-of-town guests, including the Edwards'
sons, Wesley Lloyd Edwards and John Floyd Edwards, and their
wives and children. The bell was removed from the steeple during
renovations to the church in 1974.
(Staff Photo try DlanneT. Rodwell)
County Commissioners Approve
Warren's Secondary Road Plan
By KAY HORNER
News Editor
Warren County commissioners
Monday night approved the N.C.
Department of Transportation's
1906-87 Proposed Secondary Road
Improvement Plan as presented
last week by DOT officials.
It calls for paving of 3.3 miles
of road in Warren County and for
total improvements of $586,076.
However, the board included in
their endorsement a request that
DOT use a portion of $80,000
designated for spot im
provements throughout the coun
ty to stabilize S.R. 1100 from Ax
tell to Soul City.
That recommendation came
after residents living on the road
told the board that traffic on the
dirt road, which is used by
employees of Carolina Sport
swear, Owens Illinois and
HealthCo, was in need of
stabilization.
Two accidents have occurred
on the road this year, one resi
dent said, and in inclement
weather residents have difficul
ty getting to their places of
employment.
The board also voted to grant
a request from Norlina town
commissioners that two county
trash dumpsters located in the
New Clerk Hired
For Municipal Post
Lori Myrick of Warrenton has
begun a period of in-service train
ing for assuming the duties of
deputy town clerk held for
several years by Debbie For
myduval, according to Town Ad
ministrator Vernon R. (Pete)
Vaughan.
Miss Myrick started work in
the town hall on May 36 and is
working with Mrs. Formyduval,
whoae resignation is effective
June IS, Vaughan said.
The new employee is a 1986
graduate of Warren County High
School and has attended Vance
QranviDe Community College in
parking lot of Norlina Middle
School be removed.
In an April letter, the Norlina
commissioners charged that the
dumpsters "created a public
nuisance," and requested their
removal.
The county board instructed
County Manager Charles J.
Worth to seek another location
for the dumpsters.
In other business, the board:
?Renewed a one-year contract
with Waste Industries for $133,000
for solid waste collection in the
county. A bid of $95,000 received
from Refuge Collection Service
was rejected. Worth said the
company, which had an "un
proven track record," was not
yet officially in business.
?Reappointed Commissioner
Francis Alston to the Warren
County Social Services Board.
?Heard a report from
Chairperson Eva M. Clayton that
the N.C. Department of Natural
Resources and Community
Development has been asked to
formulate a five-year capital
development plan for the county.
The department will assist the
county in the project free of
charge.
?Heard a request from Mrs.
Clayton that the county consider
the adoption of a Fair Housing
Ordinance to prohibit discrimina
tion because of race, sex or
physical handicap. "We need to
consider an ordinance and go on
record as accepting or rejecting
it," Mrs. Clayton said.
Fire Loss Reported
At $20,000 Locally
A piece of tree-shearing equip
ment valued at $20,000 was
declared a total loss after it
caught on fire Friday morning
about 11:40 on a logging opera
tion between Embro and Odell.
The equipment belonged to Joe
Greer of Embro.
Fire Captain Walter Gardner
said Warrenton Rural Fire
Department responded to the
fire, sending a brush truck into
the woods where the equipment
was located to keep the fire from
spreading to the forestland.
Cause of the fire was unknown.
The department also respond
ed to a brush fire on Baltimore
Road about four miles outside
Warrenton's city limits Thursday
at 9 p.m.
State Trooper Is Assigned Here
RALEIGH?The 78th State
Highway Patrol Basic School
graduated 48 troopers in cere
monies held Thursday at the
Highway Patrol Training Cen
ter.
William P. Blanks of East Ar
cadia was a member of the
graduating class and has been
assigned to Warrenton.
Joseph W. Dean, secretary of
the N. C. Department of Crime
Control and Public Safety, said
about the graduating class, "We
are very proud of these gradu
ates. They have successfully
completed a very rigorous
course of law enforcement
training and will make fine ad
ditions to our troopers already
on the road."
The troopers took 785 hours of
instruction in more than 71
courses during their 20-week
school. Courses included in
struction in human relations,
criminal and constitutional law,
firearms training, precision
driving and other law enforce
ment subjects.
The new troopers reported to
their duty stations on Tuesday.
They will continue their
education through on-the-job
training and in-service schools
during their careers with the
State Highway Patrol.
From 69 Cents To 76 Cents
Proposed Budget
Calls For Tax Hike
By KAY HORNER
News Editor
A 1986-87 Warren County
budget calling for an increase in
the ad valorem tax rate from 69
cents to 76 cents per $100 valua
tion was presented to Warren
County commissioners by Coun
ty Manager Charles J. Worth
Monday night.
The board has worked with
Worth during the past month on
preparation of the budget, but at
least one commissioner ex
pressed his dissatisfaction with
the increase.
"I'm concerned that we're still
looking at a seven-cent in
crease," Commissioner J. T.
Fleming told fellow board
members. "Seventy-six cents per
$100 valuation is still too high.
The proposed General Fund
budget, at $5,966,905, represents
a 6.7 percent increase over last
year's budget as adopted. But
Worth said yesterday that he an
ticipated that budget amend
ments between now and the end
of the fiscal year would bring that
increase closer to five percent.
Fleming also expressed dis
satisfaction with a proposal for a
four percent across-the-board
raise for county employees.
The increase was granted,
along with special increases of up
to 1$ percent in some cases, to
correct what Worth in his budget
message termed "a number of in
equalities within our system."
Positions targeted for special
increases are in clerical positions
and jailer, dispatcher, janitor,
dog warden and emergency man
agement positions.
According to Worth, about 20
positions are affected.
"On the one hand, we're clos
ing gaps then turning around and
giving four percent increases
which widen the gap," Fleming
said. "I think the people in War
ren County are going to demand
that we do better than this."
A public hearing on the pro
posed budget has been scheduled
for June 18, but a contingent of
Warren County volunteer
firemen were on hand Monday to
protest a $39,000 reduction in the
overall allocation for county fire
departments.
The budget creates a *25,000
contingency fund to be ad
ministered by the Warren Coun
ty Fire Commission, but cuts
allocations for 12 of the 17
volunteer fire departments serv
ing the county in half, from
$10,000 to $5,000.
"There was some feeling that
the $10,000-allocations to the
departments last year were too
much," Worth said.
Lynn Henry, secretary of the
County Fire Commission, made
a brief request that funding be
reinstated, but held further com
ments for the public hearing.
The proposed budget gives
Warren County Schools a total of
$1,337,441 designated as follows:
$1,112,411 for current expenses,
$35,000 for expansion, and
$190,000 for capital outlay.
The schools, which last year
received a total of $1,206,833, had
requested $1,500,000. Of that
amount, $1,142,541 was requested
in current expenses, $124,963 for
expansion and $219,700 for capital
outlay.
Federal Revenue Sharing
Funds of $50,000 were also ear
marked for the schools.
Other highlights of the pro
posed budget include:
--$31,571 for purchase of new
computer software for Warren
County Courts and for the Coun
ty Board of Elections and hard
ware for the Finance Depart
?$62,124 for operation of the
newly created Central Com
munications Department at the
Sheriff's Department.
?The addition of six am
bulance attendant positions as re
quired by the Fair Labor Stan
dards Act ruling on overtime pay
ment. Two positions were added
after the adoption of the 1985-66
budget and funding for four
more, at $12,000 per position, is
included in the proposed budget.
?An increase in the county's
participation in the Warren Coun
ty Agricultural Extension Service
from $83,489 to $95,997.
(Continued on page 20)
For Town Of Norlina
No Increase Is Seen
In Tentative Budget
By MARY C. HARRIS
Staff Writer
A tentative budget for the next
fiscal year, water and street im
provements and nuisance
causing dogs claimed the atten
tion of the Norlina commis
sioners at their regular monthly
meeting Monday night.
No increase in the tax rate and
no salary increases were includ
ed in the tentative budget which
totaled $143,029.
Figured on a tax rate of 50
cents per $100 valuation, the in
itial budget, which is subject to
change before adoption, is almost
identical to the budget which the
town followed in the fiscal year
now ending.
Anticipated revenues for the
General Fund of Norlina, in
cluding taxes and licenses, auto
tags, county ABC profits, interest
and Cable TV, amounted to
$143,085.
Items covered by the General
Fund expenditures include ad
ministration, police and fire
departments, and streets and
sanitation.
Provision for a new billing
machine for the town office,
estimated at $10,000, was includ
ed in the figures tentatively sanc
tioned by the commissioners.
A public hearing is scheduled
for June 21 at 7 p.m., followed by
a meeting of the commissioners
at 7:30 p.m. to review the budget
and make any changes deemed
advisable.
In the section of the budget
labeled Powell Bill Fund, funded
by the state for street
maintenance, the commissioners
added a $2,000 expenditure for a
tamping machine. Anticipated
revenue in the Powell Bill Fund
was $25,128 and expenses were
projected at $24,455.
file commissioners voted to
award the contract for im
provements to the water system
to John T. Harris Construction
Company of Inez. The local con
tractor's bid of $115,503.50 was
the lowest of four submitted for
the project. Other bidders were
Halifax Builders, George W.
Kane and Roanoke Construction
Company.
A pre-construction conference
is scheduled for June 11, follow
ing which work is expected to
begin right away. The project is
to be completed by October.
Commissioners voted to
engage Warrenton Construction
Company to repair potholes on
the streets of Norlina. Town
Clerk Mae Gums noted that
James C. Harris, Jr. of the com
pany had inspected and marked
all potholes and had agreed to
make the needed repairs for
$4,141. Harris was also to be con
tracted to pave atop the new
water line when completed, com
missioners directed.
For the third consecutive
month, the problem of dogs run
ning at large in Norlina took a
(Continued on page 20)
Two Women From Warren
Named To State Council
Two Warren County women
are among 15 North Carolinians
named by Governor Jim Martin
to the North Carolina Council on
Sickle Cell Syndrome. The ap
pointments are effective im
mediately, and the terms of the
members will be at the pleasure
of the governor.
Among the appointees are
Clarice R. Greene of Warrenton
and Martina Goode of NoHina.
Mrs. Greene is a kindergarten
teacher at Mariam Boyd School,
and is a member of the Golden
Circle, a Masonic organization
which offers assistance to the
needy. In addition, she has done
volunteer work with the N. C.
Department of Humar I ^sour
sources' Sickle Cell Sy .drome
program.
Ms. Goode is a public health
dental hygienist who works in
Franklin, Warren, Halifax and
Northampton counties.
The 15-member Council on
Sickle Cell Syndrom was created
to further public education about
sickle cell patients to establish
centers for testing sickle cell
syndrome, and to promote
research in the diagnosis and
treatment of the disease.
Feeding Programs
Planned In County
Warren County schools will
operate three feeding programs
this summer in connection with
planned programs at three coun
ty schools.
The Extension Service of
Warren County will operate
summer camps at Noriina Mid
dle School (June 17-27) and
Hawkins Elementary School
(July 1-11). Breakfast and lunch
will be offered to all children un
der 18 during these weeks.
The Warren County Board of
Education will operate a sum
mer school program at Warren
County High from June 23
through July 34. Breakfast and
lunch will be served to all
-T"