WarrentarTJaa .Library X
1 17 S .Main St.
larrenton, N.C. 27539
(51) e OTarren Uccori
Volume 94 25* Per Copy Warrenton, County Of Warren, North Carolina Wednesday, March 8, 1989 Number 10
More Than Four And Twenty Blackbirds
Blackbirds by the hundreds fill the sky between Manson and
Kidgeway as they flit from side to side along U.S. Highway 1.
There is no telling how many blackbird pies, fit for a king, this
flock could provide. The birds were a welcome sight to bird
lovers, a distraction for passing motorists.
(Staff Photo by Phyllis H. King)
Some Water Customers
Due Relief, Says Board
By THURLETTA M. BROWN
News Editor
Norlina's residential water
customers who are able to docu
ment breakages in their pipes?
from which the flow has not
entered the town's sewer system,
but has resulted in unusually high
water bills? will be given some
relief, following action taken
Monday night by the board of
town commissioners.
Upon motion of Commissioner
Walter Newman, seconded by
Commissioner James Vaughan,
the board voted unanimously to
adjust water bills for those per
sons, who do not normally use
10,000 gallons of water, if com
plaints are made to the town that
a leak exists that has not involved
the sewer system and the validi
ty of that leak is verified by the
town. The normal monthly water
usage for Norlina residents is
4,770 gallons. Currently, only
eight residential customers ex
ceed the 10,000-gallon-per-month
level, Mayor Bill Delbridge said.
Because the town is billed
monthly by the Town of Warren
ton for the gallons of sewage that
flow through Norlina's sewers,
the new policy is limited to only
those breaks which do not allow
water to flow into the town's
sewer system. The town is billed
monthly by the Town of Warren
ton for the gallons of sewage that
flow through the system. The new
policy will be amended if, after a
comparative study of policies of
other municipalities, further
modification is thought neces
sary.
Board members stressed the
responsibility of Norlina's citi
zenry to inform the town of
breaks, mentioning documented
cases in which known breakages
have been allowed to continue for
as many as three months before
being repaired. Currently, the
town monitors water bills and
telephones customers whose
monthly usage seems excessive.
Those calls will continue to be
made from town hall, the board
agreed.
The board also agreed unani
mously to retain its $250 fee for
establishing water service using
three-fourth-inch to one-inch
meters. For meters larger than
one inch, the fee will be adjusted
by 10 percent to cover the costs
of materials and labor.
The actions have been taken to
comply with regulations required
by Farmers Home Administra
tion in preparation for the town's
approaching bond referendum.
In an unrelated matter, the
board also agreed to expand its
telephone service at the town hall
by authorizing the installation of
a separate line and jack for the
modem to be used by its new
computer system. A modem is a
device which allows computers to
"talk to each other by tele
( Continued on page 9 )
Ground-Breaking Slated
The official ground-breaking ceremony for Cochrane
Furniture Company's new 35,000-square-foot rough mill will
begin today (Wednesday, March 8) at 3 p.m. at the Warrenton
plant. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Traditional In
dustries, White G. Watkins, will be master of ceremonies and
corporate officers expected to attend include: T. E. "Sonny"
Cochrane, president; Jerry Cochrane, executive vice president;
Bruce Cochrane, vice president of sales and marketing; and Bob
Harold, division manager. Also present will be Marshall
Murdock, Warrenton plant manager since Dec. 9, 1988, and Jim
Warren, executive director of the Lincoln County economic
development commission.
Plant operations will cease at 3 p.m. and employees' cars will
be removed from the parking lot by noon. The ceremony will
be held outside and refreshments will be served in the plant can
teen. Tours of the Warrenton plant will also be available.
Board Passes Regulations
Regarding County Burials
The Warren County Board of
Health Monday night passed
regulations regulating burial
practices within the county.
Under new health regulations
adopted by the board, funeral
home directors will be required
to bury vaults at least 16 inches
below the surface.
Warren County Health Direc
tor Dennis Retzlaff said that this
regulation will prevent potential
problems of safety and health,
which can be caused by breaking
of vault seals. "Burial vaults are
not designed to be exposed to sur
face changes of temperature,"
Retzlaff said. "Such exposure
causes eventual breaking of the
A temperate winter morning gave riae to fog in
many parti of Warren County on Sunday. TO* serene
landscape in part of the beauty one can find while
meandering along the shoreline of Lake Gaston ai
visitors hf dthe approach of spring.
(Staff Photo by Dianne T. Rod well)
seals and seepage of water into
the vaults."
The Warren County Depart
ment of Health will inform all
funeral homes which serve War
ren County's residents of the new
regulation, which takes effect
immediately, Retzlaff said.
In other action, the Warren
County Board of Health passed
revised regulations governing the
collection of fees for various
health services. Under these
regulations, scheduled to go into
effect April 1, following confirma
tion by the board of county com
missioners, a new fee for water
samples will be assessed. Re
quests for testing of private water
supplies will be charged at a rate
of $10 for bacteria analysis tests
and $15 for tests for pesticides or
petroleum contamination.
The new fee regulations also in
clude provisions for restricting
services to those persons who
refuse to make an attempt to pay
outstanding balances. Under the
new regulations, individuals with
a balance of over $100 will be re
quired to pay at least $20 to con
tinue to receive clinic services
from the Warren County Health
Department.
Retzlaff emphasized that these
collection policies will affect
relatively few persons. "Clinic
charges are assessed on a sliding
fee scale, which is based on the
client's income," he said. "Few
users of our services are assessed
full charges, thereby decreasing
the possibility that many will
exceed the maximum balance."
Board Approves
Site Purchase
For New School
By THURLETTA M. BROWN
News Editor
Following a report concerning
the progress in planning for the
county's new middle school and
high school addition presented by
architects from the Chapel Hill i
firm of Cogswell Hausler, the i
Warren County Board of Educa
tion gave its unanimous support i
to a resolution to complete the
purchase of the Hawkes tract ad
jacent to Warren County High
School.
The purchase price of the
30-acre tract is $90,000, of which i
$7,500 was paid last November to i
take an option on the land. The i
sellers of the site are Lucas Allen
Hawkes and his wife, Mrs. Alice
Hundley Hawkes. i
The construction documents <
for the high school addition are 35
percent complete, Arthur Cogs
well, firm president, told the
board last Tuesday night. He sub- ]
mitted to the board a set of blue
prints which incorporated revi- i
sions made following consultation 1
with the school board, the in
structional staff and the Division
of School Planning. '
The bulk of the architect's
presentation to the board con
cerned Warren County's new
middle school. According to
Cogswell and Victor Vines, firm
architect, Cogswell Hausler has
completed about 95 percent of the
schematic plan for the new mid
dle school. A schematic design of
the 100,000-square-foot structure
planned for 775 students in grades
six through eight was presented
for comment by the board.
"The building will be basically
filled when we move in? with no
accommodation for the popula
tion growth in Warren County
that will 'take off in the next five
years," Richard Roddy noted.
Because the construction site
has land which slopes, Cogswell
Hausler had recommended a
multi-story, triangular-shaped
structure, which would reduce
expenses incurred by extensive
grading and accommodate the
board-requested sloping roof.
Each wing of the building would
have a ground-level entrance and
an elevator would be included for
handicapped students. A court
yard would be located at the
center of the triangular-shaped
structure. At the front of the
structure, a circular-shaped unit
(the site of the media center)
would join two of the wi gs.
Arthur Cogswell explained the
rationale for the circular junc
ture: "The whole building is very
straightforward and simple with
nothing innately expensive about
it," he said. "Our feeling was that
there needs to be something there
a little bit 'gee whiz,' so that when
the students move through, they
can be excited and given the idea
that things can be different than
what they see everyday."
"But there are no extra bucks
here and it is exciting for some
students to come where there is
indoor plumbing," Roddy said, as
he encouraged the architects to
consider absolute utilization of
space. "The more this gets on "
paper, the greater the idea that
there are not enough funds,"
Roddy continued. "We went to
the voters (who were used to
things being done) piecemeal in
the past with the assurance that
things would be done right and all
at once," he said. "A rectangular
building where the roof does not
leak and the kids can go inside
and learn is what we need."
According to the architects, the
modernistic design had been a
suggestion at the schematic
phase for the |60-per-square-foot
middle school. Vine and Cogswell
also hope to reduce the size of the
building to about 95,000 square
feet.
Board members inquired about
the design of a one-level, more
traditional building. Vines said
his experience had shown that
about 113,000 square feet would
be needed and Cogswell said the
multi-level design would be less
costly than a single-level design.
Vines had also said earlier that
the triangular design would
"shave off half the costs of
roofing."
In the absence of Mrs. Barbara
Brayboy, pending consultation
with department heads and
members of the board, unani
mous conditional approval was
given last Tuesday night to per
mit the architects to proceed with
submission of their concept of the
new middle school to the Division
of School Planning in Raleigh.
Following final approval of the
schematic phase, the architects
will proceed with more detailed
plans.
Students Must
Repay Days Lost
Due To Snowfall
The school vacation days given
recently by Mother Nature and
her bounty of snow in Warren
County have been taken away,
following revisions of the school
calendar made last Tuesday
night by the Warren County
Board of Education.
The county's schools were
closed on Feb. 20 and Feb. 24. To
make up those missed class days,
schools will be in session on
March 24 (Good Friday) and May
29 (Memorial Day). "Barring
any further days lost because of
inclement weather, there would
still be one week left at Easter for
spring holidays," interim super
intendent of schools Dr. Harry S.
Howard said.
The board also approved a
brochure and application form to
be used in the search for a new
superintendent of schools. Dr.
Howard has accepted the interim
post following the departure on
Jan. 31 of former-superintendent
of schools Michael F. Williams,
who accepted a post in the
Roanoke Rapids city school
system.
The recruitment and descrip
tive brochure and qualifications
retuired for the position had been
developed by board members Dr.
Doris Terry-Williams and Rich
ard Roddy, and interim superin
tendent Howard.
According to the brochure,
comprehensive experience in
public education and manage
( Continued on page 9 )
Democrats Planning
Precinct Meetings
The North Carolina Demo
cratic Party will hold its precinct
meetings across the state on
Thursday, March 9, State Demo
cratic Party Chairman Lawrence
Davis announced this week. The
precinct meetings will be held at
the precinct polling places and
will begin at 7:30 p.m.
"Our precinct and county
organizations are the corner
stones upon which all else is built
in the Democratic Party," Davis
said. "It is the responsibility of
each Democrat to attend these
meetings."
In case of severe weather, the
make-up date for the precinct
meetings will be March IS. For
further information, contact T. T.
Clayton, party chairman for
Warren County.
County convention will be held
on April 21.