Newspapers / The Warren record. / March 11, 1987, edition 1 / Page 1
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WarrentonMem.Library X - 17 S.Maln St. Warrenton. N.C. 27589 (jllje Harren Stecarii Volume 90 25? Per Copy Warrenton, County Of Warren, North Carolina Wednesday, March 11, 1987 Number 10 Members of the Warren County Planning Board look over a map of the proposed F & M Mobile Home Park being developed a mile south of War renton at the intersection of State Roads 1602 (Hamme's Mill Road) and 1600 (Baltimore Road). The 30-lot park, developed by Mr. and Mrs. Albert Ferguson of Raleigh and Mr. and Mrs. Emmett McGhee of Rt. 4, Durham, received the board's final approval. Looking over the park map are, left to right, Cathy Wilson, industrial developer who serves as recording secretary of the board; Chair man Selby Benton, Secretary Butch Meek, Zoning Administrator Chester Forrester, Board Member Freddie Hargrove and Paul Gower, Health Depart ment sanitarian. (Staff Photo by Howard Jones) Subdivisions Are Approved The creation of two small sub-' divisions in Six Pound Township was looked on with favor by the Warren County Planning Board which met here in regular session on Thursday night. The subdivisions?both on the shore of Lake Gaston?won board approval after owners or their representative appeared before the board. A nine-lot subdivision, to be known as Section II of Robinson Ferry Estates, was given the ap proval of the board subject to an inspection by the Warren County Health Department. Plans for the subdivision were shown by Mr. and Mrs. Willie T. Robinson, developers of the pro ject. Eight lots comprising Sec tion I of the subdivision had won board approval in 1983. The board also looked favorably on plans of Tanglewood Land Company's Pete Rudd to develop 10 lots in North Carolina making up part of Timbucto Sub division straddling the Virginia North Carolina line. Surveyor Marvin Crutchfield of Chase City, Va., representing Rudd, told the board that the en tire subdivision, which includes 49 lots in Virginia and two com monly shared with North Caro lina, had access from a North Carolina road. He said the Mecklenburg County, Va. Plan ning Board was considering final approval Thursday night. Approval was given to the preliminary plat presented by Crutchfield. Clyde Harris, representing himself and John Nelson of River Forest Associates, appeared before the board for informa tional purposes. Harris showed the board a sketch of two buildings planned for location near the Dockside Restaurant on Lake Gaston. Both structures will serve as a base of operations for a program, en titled "Discover Lake Gaston," developed by River Forest Associates. The board also learned, as a matter of information, of a divi sion of property in Smith Creek Township by Donna Lynn Frazier Paschall and Susan Rose Frazier to provide a two-acre tract of land to be used by First Baptist Church of Norlina as a cemetery. Resurfacing Bids Sought By Warrenton Officials By MARY C. HARRIS Staff Writer The Town of Warrenton this week began advertising for bids for the resurfacing of two War renton streets, Mayor B. G. White told commissioners Monday night at their regular monthly meeting. Both Front Street and Bragg Street are targeted for im provements as soon as pro cedures can be completed for soliciting and awarding bids on the projects. The bid opening is scheduled for Monday, March 23, the mayor said. Up for consideration by the commissioners Monday night were a number of budget amend ments recommended by accoun tant Kermit Copley and the town administrator's office to allow transfer of funds for covering ex penses not anticipated when the budget was prepared and ap proved at the beginning of the fiscal year. The board approved all amendments, which were necessary to cover insurance and bonds at the wastewater plant, maintenance and repairs on town-owned vehicles and various supplies. Board members reviewed a list of delinquent taxpayers who Mayor White said had been reminded by letter of their tax obligations. The commissioners instructed office personnel to advertise the list as early, as guidelines allow in order that col lections may be facilitated. Street Commissioner Bobby Edmond? reported the National Guard had assisted in clearing the town's streets following the several inches of sleet which fell during February. The commis sioners commended the Guard's efforts in easing travel dif ficulties following the storm. Commissioner Charles White announced plans for a walking tour of Warrenton scheduled for April 5 by the Warren County Historical Association. A number of houses and churches would be open to the public during the tour, he said. School Needs Top $3.2 Billion In Assessment Made By State Warren County's estimated $10.8 million school project was included in the projected $3.2 billion estimated recently by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction as the cost of providing "good school facilities" across the state. According to State Superin tendent Craig Phillips, the estimated cost of providing good school facilities for children in North Carolina rose from the $2.2 billion estimate in a 1984 survey to the dollar amount reported in the latest survey of city and coun ty boards of education and boards of county commissioners. The survey figure reflects the cost of housing all students in safe, attractive and functional facilities which are in compliance with the recommendations of the Basic Education Program. In commenting on the survey results, State Superintendent Phillips said he appreciated the time and effort spent by local boards and school system of ficials on the surveys. "I think we now have a comprehensive pic ture of the facility needs of systems in this state." He added that "A solution must be found to ease the school facility needs to keep up with the Basic Education Program implementation." Governor Jim Martin's pro posal for a $1.5 billion state bond issue to help finance local school projects is often mentioned as a solution to needed finances. Dr. Phillips did not endorse this pro posal which is expected to be con sidered this spring by the N. C. General Assembly. Wake County reported the largest estimate of needs? $337,173,321?of all responding counties. Amounts reported by neighboring county and city systems in descending order of magnitude appear below: System Projection Franklin $32,75$,500 Vance $26,108,050 Nash $22,439,000 Roanoke Rapids $21,021,951 Rocky Mount $19,200,000 Halifax $13,275,910 Walking Tour Of Warrenton Planned Next Month A walking tour of Warrenton has been slated for Sunday, April 5, by the Warren County Historical Association. Billed as "Warrenton in the Spring," the tour will feature eight historical sites, including two churches and five houses in Warrenton and one house at Inez. Tour hours are set tor 1-6 p.m. Cost of tickets is $5. Emmanuel Episcopal Church and the Warrenton Presbyterian Church, both on North Main Street, will be open for the tour as will the following houses: Somerville-Graham House on Front Street, home of Mrs. George Franklin; Wilson Christmas-Davis House on West Macon Street, currently known as Traub's Inn; Fitts-Mordecai Plummer House on Plummer Street, home of Mr. and Mrs. Richard E. Hunter, Jr.; Whit some (Coleman-White-Jones (Continued on page 10) Educators Meet Monday Snow Make-Up Days Scheduled By Board By THURLETTA M. BROWN Staff Writer Tuesday's snow flurries and those yet to come may not negate the solution reached Monday night by board of education members to the problem of days missed by the recent snow and ice. Eleven student days have been missed due to snow: Jan. 22-23, 26-30 and Feb. 17-20. Two student days were made up on March 5 and 6 after teacher work days originally scheduled for those dates were moved to Jan. 29-30. Nine student days remain to be made up. State law allows the board of education to shorten the school term by two days. A third day may be forgiven if the last day of the school year would fall on Monday. Available to the board in its Monday night meeting for con version from annual leave, legal holiday or work day status were five days at Easter (April 20-24) and Memorial Day (May 25). All but two days at Easter (April 20-21) will be converted to regular school days. (Memorial Day-May 25-has lost its holiday status.) The last day for students will be Wednesday, June 10. Final tea cher work days will be June 11, 12,15 and 16. The board also approved a re quest for an additional $8,400 in county funds to support the in terscholastic athletic program for the spring. Current operating procedures assume tnat football, the primary revenue sport, will pay for itself and provide income sufficient to cover the non revenue-producing spring sports. Reports received from prin cipals, James Wilkerson and the Rev. Willie T. Ramey, indicated that revenue lost as a result of in clement weather would make this impossible for the upcoming spring season. Reports from Superintendent Mike Williams indicated that $24,920 had been spent to operate the programs at WCHS, John Graham and Norlina. In addition, $6,500 in board funds has been budgeted and spent for coaching supplements. Because athletic participation is an important part of some students' educational ex periences and because collegiate recruitment often provides op portunities not otherwise available, the request was approved. Following its 75-minute closed executive session, the board made plans to draft a question naire to furnish residence infor mation; took no action on three cases regarding school atten dance in districts outside that of residence and approved the following requests: ?That Tiwanda Talley be per mitted to continue attending Northside School. Bank Break-In Try Said Unsuccessful An apparent break-in attemp ted Saturday night at First Citizen's Bank netted only frustration for the would-be rob bers and minor damage to the ex terior of the Main Street financial institution. According to Brad Carroll, vice president, individuals tried to break into the night depository "There was only damage to the wood paneling amounting to about $100," he said. "Either so meone scared them off or the lights and location caused them to give up." The incident is being in vestigated by the Warrenton Police Department. \ ?That Kyiandra, Corei and Shawn Sommerville be permitted to continue attending school in Warren County. In other business, the board: ?Accepted the resignation of Ms. Sharon R. Hopper, in dustry/education coordinator at WCHS, effective Feb. 13. ?Approved the employment of Randall D. Willie, indus try/education coordinator at WCHS, effective March 10. ?Approved the employment of Ms. Hope Weissbord, math teacher at WCHS, effective March 17. ?Heard a report on the one re maining vacancy?job placement counselor at WCHS (one-half position). ?Heard a report on personnel turnover. ?Heard a report on the Annual Writing Assessment results. ?Heard a report on class size exceptions. ?Approved overnight trips re quested by the WCHS Distribu tive Education Club, S.A.D.D., the National Honor Society, seven academically gifted students, Student Council members and members of the North Warren Safety Patrol. ?Approved amendments to the 1986-87 budget. ?Heard comments from rep resentatives of the North Warren Alumni Association regarding their wish to lease the old ad ministration building there. By School Patrons ^ Concerns Are Voiced Over New Proposals Parental concerns remain in the forefront of issues presented to the Warren County Board of Education. Present at the Mon day night meeting of the board were parents with concerns about the proposed long range bidding plan and the impact of that plan and its planned transfer of sixth graders from the South Warren attendance area. Also present were parents to discuss the need for parental involvement in com mittees appointed to study the impact of weighted grade point averages and the current format of grade reporting. Speaking from the Fishing Creek Township/Arcola-area was parent Glen Richardson, who spoke on the proposal to transfer 150 students from the Warrenton attendance area to Vaughan. "Our area is the only one in the county without a school," he said, "and our children must be bus sed further than any others in the county." According to Richard son, Fishing Creek-area students are bussed 16-20 miles under the current configuration of school assignment. Richardson provided insights gleaned from his earlier par ticipation on the high school site committee as a vehicle for cur rent considerations of the pro posed middle school. "At that time, we had problems with the selection of a site," he said. "There were problems with sewer requirements and before it was all over, the dollar amount that we started with was not what we ended up with," he reported. "You say that it will be $7,000,000 now, but I think that it will end up being eight, nine or ten million before it is all over." Richardson was reacting to the middle school portion of the proposed $10.8 million school capital needs project. "Large is not always best," he said. "A building cannot teach." As an alternative to the pro posed construction of a middle school, Richardson suggested modification of existing struc tures. "The Hawkins elementary building is in good shape. The gym needs some work. Why not add a wing and then the middle school would not be needed?" he said. "North Warren has a 27-acre tract. Why not add another wing and move Norlina students there?" Richardson admitted to having distance from day-to-day school concerns overt but he spoke to < tionsof a! taxes have increased by $200 already. That increase will be more with a bond referendum for the $10.8 school project." The issue of teacher morale was addressed. "When teachers with advanced degrees are pas sed over and appointments to the position of assistant principal are given to individuals with only four-year degrees, morale is not good," he said. "Building a new school will not solve that type of problem." "Ten years ago, Warren Coun ty had a good school system. To day I'm not so sure," Richardson lamented. "Maybe the board knows something, but I don't," he concluded. Board member Yarborough Williams acted as spokesperson for parents of the South Warren attendance area with concerns about issues raised in the January meeting of the board? the transfer of the sixth grade from the school. "There is a love by parents for the school," he said. Williams added that reports from the PTA president indicated that parents were forming a (Continued on page 3) Lawmen Impound Several Illegal Gambling Devices Three illegal gambling machines have been impounded in the Warren County Sheriff's Department following citations issued last month by the state Alcohol Law Enforcement Agency. Removed from the Wise Truck Stop and Restaurant were three illegal gaming devices: Draw 80 Poker, Electronic Video and Silver Falls. Use of slot machines and related devices is illegal in North Carolina. The machines discovered are of the variety that pay quarters for credit points earned in play. F. E. Flowers, ALE agent assigned to Warren, Vance and Franklin counties, during routine inpections of ABC permits, had discovered the machines on the premises of the business operated by James Roger Gup ton. When warnings to remove the machine were ignored, < tions were filed and the i were impounded, assisted by other i Sgt.
March 11, 1987, edition 1
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