Newspapers / The Warren Record (Warrenton, … / Jan. 11, 1989, edition 1 / Page 1
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- WpjffP v . ? \ ' ? * ? - t ? "?rrentonH.m. Library I 1 I7 S . Ha in St. Warren Jkrorii Volume 94 25? Per Copy Warrenton, County Of Warren, North Carolina Wednesday, January 11, 1989 Number 2 Summer School Bus This is not a convertible for the campus crowd, but a surplus school bus which has been converted for business use locally. This bus once carried students to and from school in Person County before being cut down to size for a new line of work. (Staff Photo by Phyllis H. King) Educators Meet On Monday Night Board Moves To Find New Chief By THURLETTA M. BROWN News Editor The first steps along the path leading to the selection of a new superintendent for Warren Coun ty Schools were taken Monday night, when the members of the Warren County Board of Educa tion set for Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. a meeting here with a representa tive of the North Carolina School Boards Association for the pur pose of securing information that would facilitate the employment of a replacement for current superintendent Mike Williams. Williams tendered his resigna tion recently, effective Jan. 31, to accept a position with the Roa noke Rapids School System. Gene Causby, executive direc tor of of NCSBA, will address the board in the special meeting and discuss all facets of the superin tendent selection process. A search committee is expected to be appointed at the next meeting of the board on Jan. 24 and "stopgap" actions? the appoint ment of an interim superinten dent, etc.? are expected to be discussed. Speaking from the floor on behalf of the county's citizenry, Mrs. Janice Crump asked that the board consider having a pub lic forum to solicit local input in the selection process. "There are persons 'in the trenches' who have concerns," she said, adding that the hiring of a new super intendent often brings with it a change in direction in the school system. "I would like to see the board solicit input on the direc tion to be taken by the Warren County system in the next five years." Mrs. Crump's comments were received as information, with no action taken to schedule a public forum, but the board did request from Superintendent Williams a "State of the System" report at its Jan. 24 meeting. That meeting will also be the forum for continued discourse? and possible action? concerning the placement of teacher assis tants on the salary scale. A policy, presented Monday night to the board by Assistant Super intendent James Jordan, was tabled and referred back to the committee responsible for its development, following questions relating to the language of the proposed new policy. The board recommended the adoption of a policy that would provide an ob jective way of placing the coun ty's teacher assistants on the salary scale initially, as well as a means of dealing with the prob lems experienced in the past. ? Prior to the discussion of the proposed policy, Mrs. Shirley Pendergrass, a teacher assistant whoae salary had been reduced, had appeared before the board to request that her original pay grade be reinstated. The board agreed to schedule for executive session at the Jan. 24 meeting, a review of the circumstances of Mrs. Pendergrass and Mrs. Gail Cooper. Five unidentified teacher as sistants did receive a "yay ac tion" Monday night, when the board approved a $4,632 expend iture (including benefits) to recognize their successful com pletion of academic programs. Although action was taken for the unnamed five teacher assis tants?who had not received in crements for completing the pro grams since employment? all current and new assistants will be governed by the new policy to be adopted, effective July 1 of this year. In other business, the board: ? Received a report that the failure of Hawkins Elementary School to modify its parent con ference schedule in November (due to the large number of teachers there involved in eve ning graduate study) did not ad versely affect the rate of par ticipation. The percentage of at tendance at Hawkins was 62 per cent; across the system, 62 percent; ? Received a comprehensive, computer-generated budget re port for 1988-89 and approved amendments to that budget; ? Accepted the resignations of Marvin Tharrington (transporta tion supervisor) and Ms. Vivian Peckham (South Warren class room teacher), and heard a report on four vacancies? ele mentary guidance counselor, ele mentary music teacher (North Warren, Vaughan and Northside) and transportation supervisor; and ? Approved an overnight trip to New Bern by the WCHS Na tional Honor Society, April 7-9. Only Two Shortcomings Noted By Warren County's Auditors By THURLETTA M. BROWN News Editor An unqualified opinion of finan cial solvency? with only two shortcomings noted? was the evaluation received Monday by the Warren County Board of County Commissioners, as the results of the 1987-88 audit of the county's operating funds were presented by representatives of the firm of Garrett, Sullivan, Davenport, Bowie & Grant, CPA's? Walter Davenport and Howard Fitts. Of the two types of opinions possible during audits? "quali fied" (which indicate among other things unsound accounting practices and questionable finan cial solvency) and "unqualified," the type characterized by the CPA present as "the best type of opinion that can be given to an organization." According to Walter Daven port, Warren County's govern ment deserved an "unqualified" opinion. "We commend Mrs. (Susan) Brown and the staff of tne county (or maintaining records and support documenta tion in such a manner that pro vided an easy audit trail," he said. Davenport also said that the county's records were main tained in accordance with Gen erally Accepted Accounting Prin cipals (GAAP). Exhibits presented to the board gave credence to Davenport's statements, for 1987-88, Warren's general fund? the county's nor mal operational fund? showed total assets of $3.5 million and liabilities of slightly over $1 million, leaving a fund balance of about $2.4 million. Of that fund balance, $439,000 has been put in reserve by state statute, $66,000 is reserved for inventory, $300,000 is reserved for school capital outlay, $400,000 has been desig nated for subsequent years and there is an undesignated fund balance of $1.3 million. "What this means to an ac countant la that as of June 30, 1988, if all assets were converted into cash and all liabilities paid with that cash, you would still have over $1.4 million in hand," Davenport said. "In the instance of the Warren County Govern ment, you have had a very sound fiscal management policy." The accountant also said that as of the end of June of last year, Warren County showed general fund revenues of $7.2 million and expenses of $6.8 million. "That $351,000 remaining is yet another benchmark to determine how financially sound an organization is and again, for the year ending in June of 1988, you were finan cially sound," he concluded. "Overall, you have budgeted a loss of $490,000, but in actuality, you had excess revenues of $351,000, so for the 12-month period, you had an $841,000 better year than you had budgeted. "We operate under the as sumption that our staff performs with competence, so we are not amazed at the A + rating," Chairman Eva Clayton said. "Nevertheless, we pause to ex press our appreciation of the work done by our staff." "As a part of the audit, we also look at weaknesses and make recommendations," Davenport said. Steps were taken by the board to correct two shortcom ings in internal control? the prac tice of recording tax releases before they have been approved by the board and the need for timely deposits with the finance officer of cash received by some departments. Mrs. Brown recommended to the board that the two tax offices be advised that releases not be forwarded for processing until after all necessary approvals have been obtained. She also noted that the board's recent ac tion granting to the county manager the authority to ap prove releases of less than $100 should expedite the release process. "It has come to our attention that some departments do not ( Continued on page 8) New Restaurant Plans Are Unveiled Plans have been finalized for a new restaurant in Warrenton and the grand opening is forthcom ing, Mrs. Monika Perry and Robin Capps, entrepreneurs in the joint business venture, an nounced this week. The new Courtyard Inn is the "brainchild" of Mrs. Monika Perry, owner of the former Traub's Inn, and Robin Capps, a native of Areola. According to Mrs. Perry, the Courtyard Inn, a restaurant featuring "quality southern cook ing at reasonable prices," will be open for business by the end of this month. The Courtyard Inn will operate in the building occupied former ly by Traub's Inn. The proposed hours of operation call for the establishment to open for break fast at 6 a.m., with lunch and din ner being offerd for sale until closing. The restaurant will be closed on Sundays. j Plenty of parking will be available in the back of the building, Mrs. Perry said, and en couraged area residents to patronize the new restaurant. Mrs. Perry also said that over night accommodations would still be available, although at a price reduced from those charged for the "bed and breakfast" option available at Traub's Inn. Re duced from the previous M5-$55 rates, overnight accommoda tions?without the inclusion of breakfast? will be offered for $35-f40, depending on the room selected. Dates Decided For Bond Issue Vote In Norlina Norlina's citizenry will be sum moned to the polls on Tuesday, March 28, to register their "yays" or "nays" in a referen dum concerning the sale of $300,000 in water bonds for the replacement of asbestos-laced transite pipe that courses along the town's streets. Action taken Monday night by the Norlina Board of Town Com missioners set into place a schedule of events for the ap proaching referendum: ? Feb. 6? public hearing to receive citizens' comments. ? Feb. 8? publication of bond order, assuming adoption by the board. ? Feb. 27? registration dead line. ? March 28? referendum. ? March 30? canvassing of returns by Norlina Board of Elections. ? April 3? publication of ref erendum results by board of com missioners at regular meeting. By action of the commis sioners, three citizens were ap pointed to serve on the Norlina Election Board: Jimmy Overby ( chairman ) , Julian Farrar ( sec retary) and Mrs. Dot Bobbitt. "We want to assure the people again that taxes or water bills will not be raised to pay for water line replacement," Mayor Bill Delbridge said. "The forty per cent of the local option sales tax that has been designated for capital outlay and debt retire ment is more than sufficient to amortize the bond," he added. In other business, the board: ? Received as information a report that 84.06 percent? or $58,844.62? of the budgeted 1988 property taxes had been col lected; Seafood Market To Open Tomorrow Fish and seafood "fresh from the ocean" will be available to area residents, following the grand opening of T&G Seafood on Thursday. According to Charles Williams, owner and operator of the new fish market, the store's hours of operation will be: 2-6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and from 9:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Sat urdays. T&G Seafood will be located at 110 S. Bragg Street, next to the Williamsburg Manor office build ing. "We plan to stock a variety of seafood, including fish, shrimp and oysters," Williams said. A lifetime resident of Warren County, Williams is married to the former Ernestine Jordan of Ridge way. They have two chil dren: Gary, age 17, and Tiffany, age eight. ? Approved bringing water and sewer service to the Hill Top Oaks Subdivision; and ? Received a commendation sent from Phillip P. Riley, depu ty commissioner of insurance for the state, for their support of the grant program for rescue squads and urged other departments and citizens to show similar support for their firefighting and rescue personnel. Byrd's Planning Store Addition For Deli, Bakery Acreage has been purchased and plans are under way for the complete remodeling and en largement of Warrenton's Byrd's Food Center located on E. Macon Street. According to H. Wa' -rt. president of Byrd's F Inc. , the front of the strucuu < be completely redesigned and store will be enlarged by 8,1 square feet. "We have a large number of projects in the works already, but we expect to get the Warrenton renovation under way sometime this year," Byrd said. The former Currin property? which abuts the existing Byrd's plant, extending behind Wil loughby's, Inc. to Hall Street and to the boundary of the now incinerated Currin 's Warehouse ?has been purchased by Byrd's Food Stores, Inc. The site will house both the expansion and ad ditional parking facilities. "We're very glad to see the renovation come and it is time for a "new face,' " Eddie L. Short, assistant manager for the War renton store, said Monday. Current plans call for the addi tion of a new feature for the War renton store: a Deli/Bakery. The new department will offer hot and cold foods, as well as fresh baked goods, Byrd said. "It's a sign of the changing times," he added. "More people are accep table of this type of service." Offering service similar to that in Byrd's Henderson store, the Deli/Bakery is expected to feature hot meals, with a choice of meats and vegetables, as well as cold cuts and other items. "We hope our area customers will en joy the new service once it has been implemented," assistant local manager Short said. Byrd's Food Stores, Inc. has its main office in Burlington. The 38-supermarket chain has annual sales of close to $200 million, Byrd said. North Warrenton Home Burglarized A North Warrenton residence was the site of a break-in and larceny reported last Thursday afternoon, a sheriff's spokesper son said Monday. According to the report filed by Det. E. A. Coleman, Ms. Betty Jean Lassiter reported unauthor ized entry into her N. Main Street residence. Entry is believed to have been gained by bending a screen at the rear of the struc ture, making vulnerable the win dow underneath. Personal effects contained in the house had been packed in an ticipation of relocation to another residence, the sheriffs spokes person said. Reported missing were one dia mond duster ring valued at $28, two gold chains valued at $17S, a 12-gauge single-barrel shotgun valued at $300 and a Benrus watch for which no value was given.
The Warren Record (Warrenton, N.C.)
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