Newspapers / The Warren Record (Warrenton, … / Dec. 9, 1987, edition 1 / Page 1
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Warrent3nH?m.Llbr?r 117 S .Mala St. farrenton, H.C. 27 ?h t Harrat Stemrii Volume 90 25c Per Copy Warrenton, County Of Warren, North Carolina Wednesday, December 9, 1987 Number 48 Norlina notary public Jean R. Frazier prepares to congratulate new Norlina mayor Bill Delbridge following the administering of the oath of office on Monday night. At right is Mayor Delbridge's wife, Esther. Less than an hour after administering oaths, Mrs. Frazier was hired as the new t'.vn elerk, replacing Mrs. Mae Gums, who had held the post for four decades. See other photos and stories on page 13. (Staff Photo by Howard Jones) Mayor, Commissioner Take Oaths Veteran Town Clerk Dismissed As Norlina Board Meets Monday By HOWARD JONES Editor Mrs. Mae C. Gums's 39-years of service as clerk of the Norlina Board of Commissioners came to an abrupt and unceremonious end Monday night following a 45 minute executive session ol a newly installed town board. A hint that a change in per sonnel was in the offing came as the town's five commissioners, Mayor Bill Delbridge and town attorney Julius E. Banzet hud dled in a conference room of the town hall. Mrs. Gums was ad vised at the onset that he presence was not required in the conference room, a break with normal practices. The executive session was one of several held in recent weeks, billed as gatherings to discuss "personnel." When the meeting was over, commissioners filed into the room and voted 4-1 to discharge Mrs. Gums, replacing her with Mrs. Jean R. Frazier, a Norlina native who has served since August 1984 as water clerk. Voting for the change were Commissioners James Vaughan, William Leonard, Dwight Pearce and newly in stalled Commissioner James Knight. Commissioner Walter Newman cast the dissenting vote. Commissioners agreed to give Mrs. Gums severance pay and have her remain covered by health insurance until age 65. No mention was made of the salary Mrs. Frazier will receive, or whether a second clerk will be hired to handle the water ac counts. Monday night's meeting began on a festive note as Mrs. Frazier, a notary public, gave the oath of office to the mayor and full board. It became more of a somber occasion after Mrs. Gums turned over her seat to Mrs. Frazier and quietly left the room. Mayor Bill Delbridge told those in attendance that only urgent matters would be discussed Monday night, and that routine business will be dealt with at a called meeting later this month. The new mayor said he hoped to have a written agenda for each meeting, and that he plans to get out a newsletter to fully inform town citizens of municipal ac tivity. Delbridge said he will also insist that commissioners receive a financial statement at each meeting. Delbridge announced that tie had signed up tor the first class in municipal administration at the Institute of Government, and that he wanted a contingency plan for snow removal in the town put m writing. As the session wound down, following reports from tin town's auditor and community block grant supervisor covered elsewhere in this paper, Delbridge made committee assignments. William Leonard was made fire commissioner, Dwight Pearee was named police commissioner, Walter Newman was named trash, water and sewer commissioner and James Knight was made street commissioner. James Vaughan was re-elected mayor pro-tern. Norlina Road Work Included Green Light Expected For Warren Projects Six road resurfacing projects in Warren County are expected to be approved by the state Transportation Board at its Dec. 11 meeting in Raleigh. Department of Transportation spokesman Bill Jones, a V.'arrenton native, said the con tracts are expected to total $.190,655.20, and barring an un foreseen snag, will be awarded to S. T. Wooten Construction Co. of Wilson. Wooten is also expected to be confirmed as the low bidder for resurfacing 9.6 miles of road in Vance County, amounting to $186,220. Among the Warren County projects, none of which is ex pected to be begun before April 1,1988, are the following: ?Resurfacing of .3 mile of N.C. Highway 4 between the southern town limits of Littleton and the Halifax County line. ?Resurfacing of 6.8 miles of U.S. Highway 1 between the nor thern town limits of Norlina and the Virginia state line. Resurfacing of .45 mile be tween Hyco Street and the east city limits of Norlina and the resurfacing of 1.75 miles be tween the Norlina city limits and State Road 1305 ? Resurfacing of 5.85 miles of State Road 1344 between State Road 1318 and State Road 1357, north of Vaughan. ?Resurfacing 1.6 miles of State Road 1311 between U.S. 1 and State Road 1305 east of Wise. Contracts involving the resur facing of 193 miles of roadway in Wake, Durham, Vance, Warren, Franklin, Granville and Person counties are to be considered when the board meets at 9 a.m. in Room 150 of the Highway Building in Raleigh, Jones said. Per Pupil Spending Rank High By THURLETTA M. BROWN News Editor Warren County has been ranked in the top 31 percent of the state's 140 school systems in a comparison of the county's tax base and per capita income to what is actually spent per pupil attending schools here. Receiving an overall ranking of 43rd, Warren County ranked lower overall than nearby Vance County, which received a ranking of 22, but higher than neighboring Northampton, Halifax and Franklin counties, which re ceived overall rankings of 48, 62 and 64 respectively. The rankings were released at the end of last month in a report prepared by the Kaleigh-based Public School Forum of North Carolina, a private, non-profit agency. The study was done following the establishment this year by the N.C. General Assembly of a "critical needs fund" to help local governments to fund school con struction. Legislators had ap propriated $98 million of a $3.2 billion school building plan, and had agreed to add $10 million each year. A conunission charged with the task of dividing the money and setting criteria for determining which school systems were most deserving was also created. The study also ranked the 140 school systems on actual effort? a five-year average of actual county spending per pupil?and ability to pay?a comparison of adjusted property tax valuation per child. On these scales. Warren Coun ty has been ranked 103rd in ac tual effort and 124th in ability to pay. Rankings for nearby counties are as follows: Vance?109 in ac tual effort, 140 in ability to pay; Northampton?113 in actual ef fort, 118 in ability to pay; Halifax?112 in actual effort, 116 in ability to pay; and (Continued on page 12) SBI Helping Investigate Two Warren Fires Several fires occurred in War ren County this week, as firefighters found themselves needed once again in various areas of the county. The first fire call came at ap proximately 3:30 p.m. on Tues day, Dec. 1. The fire was at the home of General Williams, Sr. of Rt. 2, Warrenton. Apparently, Williams left his home that morning at 6:30. Later that day, a passer-by noticed that the house was on fire and im mediately called for help. The Afton-Elberon Fire Department responded to the alarm and called for assistance from War renton Rural Fire Department. After firefighters were assured that they had put out all of the flames, they returned to their respective stations. But at 7 p.m., another call brought them back to the same residence. The fire apparently had started in a room where there had previously been no fire. Although firefighters were sure that they had completely put out the fire, they were uncertain why the blaze had ignited in another room. The next morning, Afton Elberon firefighters were again called to the Williams residence. The fire had rekindled and destroyed more of the house and its contents. Firefighters were becoming suspicious about the cause of the flames, and Sgt. tawrence Harrison of the War ren County Sheriff's Department and SBI Agents Steve Jones and Patricia Johnson were called to i. ? scene to investigate. Damages to the house and its contents have been estimated at $35,650. Another fire on last Tuesday required the attention of Norlina Fire Department firefighters. Apartment 701 of the Pines Apartments in Norlina, occupied by Brenda Alston, was in flames. Firefighters received the call at 8:06 p.m. and immediately responded. A1 Bennett, chief of the Norlina Fire Department, said that upon their arrival, they could see the intensity of the fire. He noted that a lot of flame was in the back bedroom of the apart ment, and it appeared to have been moving toward the hallway and living room area. After putting out the fire, Ben nett said he became suspicious when investigating inside the apartment. He stated the area with the heaviest amount of damage was the back bedroom, an area where there was nothing to burn and no apparent cause for fire. This caused Bennett to call the Sheriff's Department. He con tacted Sgt. Lawrence Harrison, who in turn called on the SBI to investigate. At last report, the investigation proved the fire was started from a flammable liquid located in the bedroom. The apartment and its contents sustained heavy smoke and fire damage, estimated at $22,000 to the apartment structure, and $6,000 to the furnishings. The investigation is still under way. (Continued on page 7) Better Watch Out! Three of hundreds of Warren County youngsters who crowded into Warrcnton on Sunday afternoon strain to catch a glimpse of what's coming down Main Street. To see for y ourself what the > oungsters saw, see pages 6 and 7. (Staff Photo by Dianne T. Kodwell) Developer Said Shopping For Location For Center A Raleigh real estate company, interested in developing a shopping center in Warrenton, is shopping for a parcel of land on Warrenton-Norlina Road, The Warren Record has learned. According to Bruce Whitten with Drucker & Falk Realty, his company is looking at between 10 and 22 acres in the area. "We were interested in the Warrenton area because there is 110 retail business there to speak of," Whitten. a Henderson native, said in a telephone interview this week. Flans, Whitten said, are "extremely preliminary," but discussions are under way with two retailers interested in locating in the center. Whitten said his company hoped to have something definite worked out within three months. Meek Is Named New Chairman Oscar L. 'Butch" Meek has of White Hock. Lot No. 19 will be been elected chairman of the enlarged and three lots, Nos. 32, Warren County Planning Board 6B and 2B, will be created in the and Karl Hehl has been elected Fishing Creek Township secretary, replacing Meek in that Subdivision, office. - The recombination into three Meek succeeds realtor Selby lots of .75 acre each of lots 24-40, Benton, who had held the office of belonging to Mrs. Cora T. Wat chairman for a number of terms. son, contingent upon health The elections were held on Dec. department approval. A variance 2 following words of welcome was also granted for the three from the board to Jim Elam, new lots, which did not meet the newest member of the group. 200-foot building depth require Discussion continued on pro- merit, cedures for review of minor sub- ?A final plat submitted by A. divisions, which contain five lots K. Mustian for eight one-acre lots or less and will not create any on S.R. 1600 in Warrenton Town new roads. When completed, the ship, subject to health depart new policy and procedures will be ment inspection. submitted to the Warren County ?A final plat submitted by Commissioners for approval. Ralph Gibbon Willey for a 49,378 In other business, the board square foot lot that had been a gave approval to: part of the old Salmon develop ?A final plat submitted by ment in River Township, subject Amos L. Capps for continuation to health department approval. Shown here are the charred furnishings that remained last Tuesday's fire in a unit at the Pines Apartments la Nortlaa. apartment, being occupied by Breads Alston, sustained W,NI damages. An additional K.OM In damages has been reported for tl contents. <Pho?o by Brenda Clarke)!
The Warren Record (Warrenton, N.C.)
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Dec. 9, 1987, edition 1
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