VOL. 70 NUMBKK
Office Space Controversy Rocks County Courthouse
By CONNIE BLACKWELL
Asheville Citizen Staff Writer
A controversy between the
new Madison County Board of
Commissioners and Superior
Court Solicitor Clyde M.
Roberts over office space for
Roberts came to a head here
Monday.
Roberts, who was solicitor
for Madison and Buncombe
counties until the new district
court system went into effect,
and is now solicitor for
Madison, Yancey, Mitchell,
Avery and Watauga counties,
has had an office in the
Buncombe County courthouse
and maintained a private
office in Marshall.
Shortly before the
Republican board of com
missioners (defeated in
November) left office on Dec.
7, the board gave Roberts as
an office the room in the
County Airport Plans
Are Discussed Here
The Madison County Board
of Commissioners agreed
Monday to invite mayors, or
their representatives, of Mars
Hill, Hot Springs and
Weaverville to the February
commissioners' meeting to
discuss an airport for the
county.
Dr. Bruce Sams, former
mayor of Mars Hill and
chairman of the board, said he
was in favor of an airport "if
we can get the funds" but
suggested that other towns in
the county, and Weaverville in
Buncombe County, be invited
to discuss the possibility.
William Reeves of
Weaverville, county attorney,
told the board that there were
no uncommitted funds in the
present budget and that all
that could be done now on
construction of an airport is
"to weigh the sentiment."
He said, however, that
preliminary studies and
discussions should be made so
that the board would know
what was feasible and
desirable before June and
time to plan next year's
budget.
The airport would primarily
benefit the towns and
developments along the U. S.
19-23 artery. It would not be in
competition with Asheville
Airport, according to Zeno
Ponder, area farmer and
businessman, who spoke in
favor of the airport, but would
be used as "a supplement to
Asheville and would be a big
step in the development of
Madison and North Bun
combe," he said.
Miss Sally Ann Webster of
the Asheville office of the N. C.
Department of Local Affairs
presented information on
preliminary plans to the
current board.
Madison County
Library
Marshall, N.C 28753
!i.r
courthouse used for the past 10
years for driver's license
examinations two days a
week, for social security and
unemployment commission
work space, and for the
meetings of the board of
commissioners.
The new Democratic board,
according to Chairman Dr. R.
Bruce Sams of Mars Hill, had
to hold its December and
January meetings in the office
of Robert Edwards,
superintendent of Madison
Commissioners Lock Solicitor's
By CONNIE BLACK WEM.
Citizen Staff Writer
Clyde M. Roberts, 24th
Judicial District solicitor who
found his office in the Madison
The department had a
contract which expires March
1 with the old county board to
aid in planning in several
areas, such as the airport,
housing and a sanitary land
fill. The airport was discussed in
December at a meeting in
Mars Hill and was referred to
the county commissioners
because the first step would
be hiring a consultant to study
sites and the county, or a local
group, must pay the con
sultant's fee.
Miss Webster told the board
that the fee was reim
burseable, if the airport is
eventually built. If not, the fee
will have to be paid in full by
the local group, she said.
She said about 75 per cent of
the total construction cost,
which could run from about
$260,000 on up, was available
from the Federal Aeronautics
Administration, the state, and
other federal sources. Ideally,
she said, the county might be
able to get 90 per cent help,
but "realistically you can
expect 75 per cent."
The department's planning
is for a "basic utility" in
stallation that will ac
commodate about 95 per cent
of all propeller aircraft under
12,500 pounds and will include
a one-mile runway (about
4,000 feet to begin with), paved
runways, clear approaches,
an apron, a taxiway from the
apron to the runway, and
entrance roads. Turnarounds
at each end of the runway
would be optional at first as
would runway lights, she said
The consultant, whose fee
would be between $5,000 and
(6,000, would select a site to be
approved by the board of
commissioners.
MAKSIIALI.. . ('. TIH'KSDAV, JAM I!V 7. III7I
County schools.
And, Sams said, no driver's
license examinations have
been given since Dec. 7
because State Highway Patrol
Examiner I). G. McClure said
the room Roberts is now using
is the only one in the cour
thouse with enough space in
which to give eye tests.
Sams said in a statement
late Monday that he; the other
two board members, W K
Moore of Spring Creek and
Ervin Adams of laurel; and
County Courthouse here
padlocked Tuesday morning,
said courts in the five counties
in Ins district "are going to be
bogged down."
He said late Tuesday that all
his files and confidential
material for district and
superior courts in Madison,
Yancey, Mitchell, Avery and
Watauga were in the office,
which was locked un Monday
night by the county board of
commissioners.
Emery Metcalf, county
auditor who also acts as
courthouse custodian said late
Tuesday that all furniture in
Roberts' office and all his
files-"everything but the
sweepings "- had been placed
in the board of elections of
fice. Metcalf said the key to
the elections office was of
fered to Roberts Tuesday, but
that he refused to take it
Roberts said he was not sure
at this tune what his course of
action would be, but that he
wanted everything to
"proceed legally." HGe said
he did not know where his
things were.
A Republican, he has been
involved in a controversy over
the two-room office space with
the newly-elected Democratic
Board of County Com
missioners since the board
took over in December.
The office was assigned to
him by the previous board,
which was Republican. The
outgoing board also paid for
the furniture for the office in
advance.
Both Roberts and the
current board charge
"politics" is behind the other
party's attitude.
Roberts said Tuesday that
"this is just some more petty
politics. They're just not
satisfied with winning
everything." Formerly
McClure To Resume
Exams Here N
Announcement has been
made that D. G. McClure, auto
license examiner, will resume
his schedule on next Wed
nesday in the Madison County
courthouse. Mr. McClure is in
Marshall every Wednesday
County Auditor Emery
Metcalf, who serves as
courthouse custodian, "have
tried persistently for the past
two weeks to negotiate with
Roberts and offered him
either of two other offices in
the courthouse or his choice of
two private offices some 100
feet away from the cour
thouse He said, "Roberts has
declined and refused to
cooperate and finally said
Monday that he would take the
solicitor lor Madison and
Buncombe counties, lie is now
' since the district court
sy stem went into effect i
solicitor for the five counties.
Dr. R. Bruce Sams of Mars
Hill, chairman of the present
Ixiard, said Monday that "our
predecessors along with their
friend Cyde M. Roberts have
attempted to inconvenience a
and lav the hi
at our door "
Roberts said late Tuesday
that the offices were not
assigned him at the last
minute before the ad
ministration changed as the
present board claims, but had
tieen given him much earlier
in the fall.
Roberts said he read a letter
from Bert M Montague,
director of the administrative
office of the North Carolina
( ourts in Raleigh, to the Ixiard
at a meeting Monday. He said
the letter, received in July,
advised him that counties are
required by statute to provide
the solicitor with office space
and furniture in the county m
which he resides.
The letter, however, did not
say that an office in the
courthouse is mandatory but
that it was highly desirable, he
said
Roberts said he read the
letter to the board Monday
and repeated that he had been
given the rooms "in good faith
by the preceding board" and
wanted to keep them. He said
the present commissioners
"just want to push me
around down there."
He said the alternate offices
(at one of four locations ac
cording to Dr. Sams) were not
appropriate for an office
housing records for five
counties. And he charged that
the rooms he was occupying
had not been used as much or
for the purposes the com-
L icen s e
ext Wed.
and Thursday.
For the past several weeks
he has been in the Mars Hill
City Hall fulltime. He will
continue his schedule in Mars
Hill as in the past.
matter to court before he
would move out of the office
space assigned to him by the
past Republican Ix
Sams said the
iard "
previous
board not only assigned the
commissioners' meeting room
to Roberts for an office but
ordered and paid for in
advance several thousand
dollars worth of furniture and
lour window shades costing
$;'HI) :i.r) He said Roberts would
be allowed to use the fur
niture, that "lie will need it loi
Offi
e
nnssioncrs said Metcalf said
two carpenters will begin
win k at II a in Wednesda
transforming a .10 by 40-foot
room on the third floor into a
two room office for Roberts
He sad tile would ! installed
and general improvements
i u r n if r a
ASCS Is Accepting
Feed Applications
Because of the seyere
drought conditions this past
summer, Madison County was
approved as a natural disaster
area and an emergency
livestock feed program has
been activated, according to
Emory Robinson, chairman of
the Madison County
Agricultural Stabilization and
Conservation committee
Farmers with eligible
livestock who suffered a feed
shortage due to the drought
may make application and
secure approval to purchase
CCC owned corn at a discount
pice to feed their livestock if
they meet all the eligibility
requirements, Robinson said
Eligibility requirements in
clude the filing of a financial
statement on which the ap
plicant lists his assets and
liabilities. Other requirements
that must be met are: ( 1 ) he
does not have sufficient feed
i including hay or pasture ) for
his livestock for the
authorized period; (2) a
serious loss of his crops ( in
cluding his available hay or
pasture) must have been
suffered by him because of the
emergency; (3) feed pur
chases (including forage)
larger than usual are
necessary because of the
emergency; and (4) it would
be an undue financial hard
ship for him to obtain suf
ficient feed through normal
trade channels. In explaining
this, Robinson stated that
undue financial hardship is
deemed to exist only when the
applicant's financial
resources preclude his ob
taining required feed from
1 Or n.i; con
whatever olfice lie uses " but
that the window shades
wouldn't fit anywhere else
"Our predecessors in
collaboration with their
friend. Clyde M Roberts,
have attempted to in
convenience a lot of people
and lay the blame at our
door." Sams said, and added
thai the board has "taken
steps to see (hat it has
x issession 1 1 the much needed
oMice space and that the
driver's license examinations
will resume Tuesday for the
regular Tuesday and Thur
sday hours ( ach week
.Sams said We w ill furnish
Roberts adequate space to
i any out the duties of his
office if h" will only show
some spin: ol cooperation
Roberts, in a telephone
i on versa! ion f nun his home in
Marshall late Monday ,
dei lined to comment on the
situation but said he would
make a complete statement
later
normal suppliers without i 1 i
imperiling continuance of his
tanning, opera! ions ; i 2 i
defaulting on existing
financial obligations; 1 .i i
unsound txirrowing. or '1'
excessive disposal of
livestock
1'iic chairman said that for
use m feeding primary
livestock which include dairy
cows, rows and bulls for
breeding, and replacement
heifers and calves the cost of
corn purchased through the
program will be $1 13 per
bushel, and for secondary
livestock i all other livestock)
the cost will be $1 48 f o b. at
an Asheville handler's place of
r u r n r o p .i ,g o s -
(.on rth on se
11 on rs C.h n n e l ;
Open Sat. A.M.
Following their meeting on
Monday, the Board of County
Commissioners announced
new office hours for the
Madison County courthouse.
Beginning Tuesday of this
week the courthouse offices
will be open from 8:30 a.m. to
4:30 p.m. Monday through
Friday and from 8:30 a.m. to
12 o'clock noon on Saturday.
The commissioners stated
that the reason for the change
in office hours is due to the
fact that the courthouse,
which had previously been
closed all day on Saturday,
will now be open until noon on
that day.