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SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISOlsKjOUNTY
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79th Year No. 19
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSHALL, N.C.
THURSDAY, May 8, 1980
15' Per Copy
PICKING UP TRASH provides a
bonus for these seventh graders
from Walnut Elementary School.
Dennis Anderson, Darrin
Chandler and Frank Johnston are
retrieving aluminum cans to recy
cle later this month in Asheville.
The proceeds of the effort will go
toward the class trip being
organized by their teacher, Miss
Robinson.
CP&L Shocks County
With Big Rate Increase
The Carolina Power & Light
Co., which furnishes all the
electricity distributed by the
French Broad Electric
Membership Corporation, has
filed for a I960 rate increase
substantially larger than ex
pected.
The increase, according to
Manager Charles Tolley, will
probably result in a rise in
retail rates of somewhere bet
ween 20 and 35 percent.
The reason for the uncer
tainty in this figure is that
CPAL is allowed to pass along
"fuel costs" as a separate
item, and this amount varies
every month.
Tolley said there is no way
of knowing how much CP&L
will charge in the coming year
for fuel. But if the charge is
the same as last year - $430,000
- then the electricity rates for
customers here would in
crease by 29 percent.
The wholesale increase to
French Broad itself is
estimated to be between 35
and 50 percent. However, the
increase on customers' bills
will nto be this great because
other costs - maintenance,
billing, salaries, debt on the
new building, and so on - are
not going up. The expense of
buying electricity from CP&L
accounts for 63 percent of the
total expenses of French
Broad. This expense last year
for French Broad was just
over $5 million.
Other French Broad costs
will not go up this year
because they were covered by
the 4'/i percent rate increase
levied in January.
According to CP&L's an
nouncement, the company is
asking for a wholesale in
crease for power sold to
cooperatives and
municipalities that averages
14. S percent statewide.
However, for various reasons,
the increase will be ap
preciably larger than the
average for wholesale
customers in the western part
of the state.
CP&L asked for the increase
to go into effect on June 17. If
the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission ap
proves it, French Broad will
begin billing under the new
rate on July 1. The increase
may be delayed by as much as
five months if the commission
decides to do so.
Tolley expressed shock at
the size of the increase. He
had been advised by people
within CP&L that an increase
would be coming this year,
and that it would be on the
order of 8 percent. He private
ly estimated 12 percent, but
was unprepared for a rise of
the present magnitude.
Most of the reason for the
size of the increase has to do
with one of the many
subtleties of rate structure.
Of the 18-co-ops statewide
who buy their power from
CP&L, 15 of them use far more
power in the hot summer mon
ths than in the winter. This
"peak demand" figure is
always far higher than the
average demand.
CP&L has traditionally
argued that they must build
enough power plant capacity
to meet this peak demand in
June, July and August, even
though demand during the
4 . * . ?% * . . * v ?'
County Board's Painful Choice :
Lower Spending Or Higher Taxes
The board of commissioners
had a preview last Friday
night of the budget squeeze to
come, as finance officer David
Caldwell brought in the
preliminary budget requests
for the coming fiscal year.
These requests from county
departments totaled well over
16 million; the entire budget
this year is just over $5
million.
The problem is aggravated
by the fact that some federal
sources that provided money
this year will be restricted or
even eliminated as Congress
tightens its own spending in
Washington in an effort to
balance the federal budget.
The amount available to the
county as federal revenue
sharing, for example, may
plunge from $285,000 to
$115,000.
By far the largest increase
is being requested by the
Board of Education. The
board is asking for $822,000
from the county this year,
compared with half a million
dollars last year. The figure
requested compares with a
total county budget last year
of just over $1 million.
This figures does not appear
likely to rise in the coming
year if the commissioners
hold to their vow not to raise
taxes. Several members spoke
out forcefully against any in
crease this year, warning that
budget requests would have to
be pared sharply.
"A lot of people are going to
be unhappy in the next two to
three months," said Commis
sioner James Ledford.
"People are asking for more
money than we have. I am for
cutting wherever we have to,
because I am not for raising
taxes this year in this reces
sion. There's no way people
can pay more taxes in times
like these. This is going to be a
crucial year for us. Federal
| DR. EVELYN UNDERWOOD ac
> cepts a $15,000 check from Wayne
McDevitt of the western office of
: the Department of Natural
Resources and Community
Development for construction of
the Mars Hill library. Looking on
are Ruth Anderson, left, and
Roger Swann, newly appointed
town manager of Mars Hill.
Mars Hill Gets Grant For Library
) apartment of Natural
Ad < ommumtv
to assist in tlx
hu branch
County Public
According to Dr. Evelyn
Underwood, help was aksed
from Rep Liston Ramsey.
Wayne McDevitt of the
western office of the Depart
ment Of Natural Kesourros
and Community Development
assisted in riling the tffUl
" ' J
as part of the matching I
proposed In a grant to the Ap
heen submitted to the Z. Sroitt
v n<>) ds foundation in
Wins ton -Salem If
money is drying up. We're just
going to have to make some
deep cuts. ''
However, the commis
sioners face the unpleasant
prospect of laying off county
workers if they do not raise
taxes.
Caldwell told the county that
it is behind in its cash flow
balance by some 112,000 in
general funds and $1V,000 in
federal revenue sharing,
amounts that will have to be
made up by June 30, the end of
the present fiscal year. "The
money situation looks very,
very grim," he said.
The commissioners pointed
out that the county has done a
great deal in the last year with
the money spent, including
preparation of the industrial
park, water lines and con
struction of the Marshall
senior citizens' center.
In other business, James
Brown, supervisor of the coun
ty landfill, told the commis
sioners that his department is
still having severe problems
with overfilling of the green
boxes, especially near the
Buncombe County border.
"We are having to send an
extra truck over there at least
twice a week," he said. "Last
week we had IS containers
over there, and I don't want to
have to take any more. The
worst part is that people have
been ripping the bags open
and scattering the contents all
over the place. When our men
get there they have to pick up
all this mess by hand, and that
takes time.
"The fellows are really get
ting disgusted to find the con
tainers full and overflowing
and stuff scattered all around.
It's coming to the point where
we're going to have to bring
the containers into a central
area and lock them up. Then
we'd end up with roadside
just like we used t*
ly. I don't see how Jim can
keep going the way the situa
tion is. The green boxes in
Sandymush and near John
Hensley's store are just
ridiculous."
The commissioners agreed
to try to better enforcement,
and to look into obtaining
LEAA funds to put a deputy on
the roads for that purpose.
Brown also said that the
county needs to do a design
survey for the new landfill
site, including borings, aerial
(Continued on Page 2)
rest of the year is far lower.
Therefore they have charged
those IS customers a premium
during the rest of the year for
having to maintain the extra
capacity just for summers.
Recently, however, the
regulators have ruled that this
method of pricing, known as
"ratcheting,"is unfair. And
CP&L has absorbed revenue
losses as a result.
To make up for these losses,
the company has raised rates
everywhere, and the places
that feel it most are those
which did not have big rat
cheting figures before. These
are the western co-ops, where
peak demand comes not in the
summer but in winter. So the
(Continued on Page 2)
Board Of Education
Agrees To Reconsider
Use Of Team Project
The Board of Education
agreed Monday to reconsider
its withdrawal of permission
for the Team Project to work
in the county schools.
The Team Project is com
posed of representatives of the
health department, the Blue
Ridge Community Mental
Health Department and the
Department of Social Ser
vices.
Last month the board, ac
ting after a meeting with
school principals, voted to ban
Team people from the schools,
following complaints about
lack of coordination and plan
ning.
Appearing before the board
on Monday were Larry
Thomas, director of the Blue
Ridge program in Ashevilie;
Garnette Sprinkle of the
health department; Ed Mor
ton, director of the health
department; and Joe Martin,
director of the Madison office
of Blue Ridge.
The purpose of the Team
Project has been to afford ex
pert counseling for school
students on such matters as
discipline, alcohol and drug
abuse, and personal problems.
Everyone attending thei
meeting seemed to agree that 1
such counseling is much need
ed in the schools.
School board member
Uerald Young told the group:
"The only way you are going
to get this program back is to
sell it to the principals. I would
say that two of them were
more air less in favor of the
program, but the rest were
not. They said it was disrup
tive and that "in some cases"
people did not show up for ap
pointments with parents and
students.
Ed Morton agreed there was
a serious communication gap
between the Team people and
the schools, and that this gap
must be closed before the pro
ject can work.
The Team group agreed to
produce a concrete plan of
operation for presentation to
the board at their next
meeting.
Hunt, Green, Carter Win
The Democratic and
Republican primary elections
on May 6 produced no sur
prises in Madison County, as
2,506 voters went to the voting
machines on a clear, windy
day with temperatures in the
70s.
According to unofficial
tallies from the Board of Elec
tions, Gov. James B. Hunt Jr.
doubled the vote count of his
Democratic rival Bob Scott,
1,471 to 716.
Lt. Gov. Jimmy Green beat
challenger Carl Stewart Jr. in
a much closer race by a count
of 1,148 to 889.
President Jimmy Carter
easily swept all 11 precincts in
the presidential preference
contest from Sen. Edward
Kennedy. Carter drew nearly
six times as many votes as
Kennedy, 1,711 to 319. These
votes are not binding,
however.
Ronald Reagan, the favorite
Republican, also finished far
in the lead over his only re
maining opponent, George
Bush, 275 to 89
Unofficial returns are sum
marized on the chart below.
Other returns not on the
chart include the following:
On the Democratic
presidential ballot, 72
Democrats cast their votes for
California Gov. Jerry Brown
Seventy-seven expressed no
preference.
On the Republican presiden
tial ballot, John Anderson got
eight votes, Howard Baker
three; John Connally, seven;
Phillip Crane, zero; and
(Continued on Page 11)
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