Newspapers / The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.) / July 27, 1983, edition 1 / Page 1
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MADISON COUNTY LIBRARY SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUN ?^?R:;iDELIVERV, 28733 82nd Year No. 29 PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSHALL, N.C WEDNESDAY, July 27, 1983 15' Per Copy Sales Tax Increase Approved By TOM GILMORE and ROBERT KOENIG North Carolina Speaker of the House Liston B. Ramsey, back in Marshall Monday following the longest General Assembly session in history, visited the offices of The News Record to discuss the sessions accomplishments and short comings. Ramsey told The News Record that Madison County will receive $40,000 from the state to provide day care and senior citizen services. The funds to assist the county's young and old were approved during Friday's final day of the session. "Ballancing the budget, as required by the state constitu tion, was one of our major acomplishments. Passing Governor Hunt's Safe Roads Act was another." Speaking of the so-called Ridge Law which prohibits buildings on the top of moun tain ridges, Ramsey said, "I'm satisfied with thp bill we passed. It will affect some 20 or 21 counties. It'll prevent the development of unsightly motels." Asked if he was satisfied with the version of the half cent sates tax increase which passed in the final week of the session, Ramsey said, "We'd still be in session if I wasn't." Ramsey held out for a version of the bill that would allow local governments to use the money as they see fit. "It's a half cent that the county com missioenrs can spend as they see fit. Madison County will probably benefit as much from the extra half cent as we do now from the one cent local option tax because of the way the funds will be distributed. Proceeds from the tax will be distributed on the basis of population. At present, the one cent tax goes back to the source of the revenue. Madison County was getting far less back due to our closeness to Asheville and its shopping malls." Ramsey estimated that as many as 72 to 75 counties will benefit from the distribution formula. When asked why the General Assembly did not reduce or eliminate the sales tax on food as proposed by Sen. Kenneth Royall, Ramsey said, "Senator Royall's bill was complicated. The House never got to consider the bill because the Senate didn't pass it." Continued on Page 7 THE ANNUAL CARNIVAL spon sored by the Marshall Vol. Fire Department opened Monday in Mar shall. The carnival will continue through Saturday. .V ?( ;*<? i^fii<iWi >gr I W'ville Shopping Center Planned A South Carolina developer who hopes to build a new shop ping center on Weaver Blvd. in Weaverville told The News Record Monday that he plans to have the facility ready for a Dec. 1 opening. Robert Small, president of Small Associates of Green ville, S.C., said, "We're ex cited about putting together a new shopping center for Weaverville. Hie plan needs to so one step further before we can proceed. The Weaver ville Board of Adjustments will have to hear the plan." Small said that the new center will house a Bi-Lo supermarket and a Rite-Aid drug store. A third store in the center will be built, but no te nant has been selected as yet. No contract with Bi-Lo has been signed for the project, but the developer said that a contract will be signed after the shopping center received final approval from the town's zoning board. "We anticipate starting con struction sometime, in August and expect to finish the* pro ject in about three and a half months. We would like to open around Dec. L" Small said he has not chosen a contractor to build the new center yet. While no details on the stores' size were available, he said, "Bi-Lo is building the most modern stores anywhere. I'm sure the people of Weaverville will be pleased with this new facility." Weaverville town manager Larry Sprinkle Jr. said that no date for a zoning board hear ing has been set, pending the written request for the zoning change. A hearing is expected within the next few weeks. The Weaverville town council ap proved the zoning change at their July 18 meeting. The council unanimously approv ed a change from R-l residen tial zoning to C-2 general business for the seven-acre site on the north side of Weaver Blvd. Reader Survey ? ? ? p? 3 Ledford: County Needs Half t Tax Madison County residents will soon begin paying an addi tional one-half cent sales tax if James Ledford, chairman of the Madison County commis sioners, has his way. Ledford told The News Record on Monday that the county needs the additional revenue to fund school con struction. He said that he would recommend the com missioners approve the tax in crease at the next meeting of the county commissioners scheduled for Aug. 5. "We'll probably be one of the first counties in the state to ap prove the sales tax increase," he said. The General Assembly ap proved the additional sales tax during the final week of the session, llnder terms of the legislation, counties can im pose the additional tax either by act of the county commis sioners or through a public referendum. Revenues from the tax increase will be distributed to participating counties on the basis of population. The law requires that at least 40 percent of revenues from the tax in crease be used to fund school construction or retire debts from past school construction. Ledford called for the Madison County Board of Education to come up with a plan for school construction. "We'd like to see the school board develop a plan for br inging our schools up to stan dards. We don't want to make a hasty decision and we need a detailed plan for improving our schools," he said. During Monday's interview, Ledford also said that the county will receive $40,000 for day care and senior citizen services. The funds were ap proved on the last day of the General Assembly session in Kaleigh. The commissioner said that the increased fun ding will not result in restor ing personnel in day care posi tions who were recently cut from the county payroll. Mars Hill Bond Issue Vote Set For Aug. 3 Mars Hill residents will go to the polls Aug. 3 to decide the fate of a proposed 11,150,000 bond issue to finance im provements to the town's sewer system. The bond issue is part of a $2.4 million finan cial package to replace sewer lines throughout much of the town. Mars Hill officials estimate that 90 percent of the town's residents will be served by the new sewer system when it is completed. The financial package that will fund the package is similar to one Marshall voters approved last August. Funds for the project will come from grants from the Farmers Home Administration, Mars Hill College and the North Carolina Clean Water Fund and from the 91.15 million bond issue voters will decide on in next week's referendum. Mars Hill town officials and Mars Hill College President Fred Bentley have urged town residents to approve the bond issue. Bentley was out of town Monday attending a conven tion in Norfolk, Va. At a public QUESTION SHALL the order authorizing $1,150,000 of bond secured by a pledge of the faith and credit of the Town of Mars Hill to pay capital costs of im proving sanitary sewer facilities, including the acquisition, construction and installation of lines, force mains, interceptors and pumping stations and the acquisition of equipment and machinery required therefor and the acquisi tion of necessary land or of rights-in-land and a tax to be levied for the payment thereof, be ap proved? hearing on the bond issue held in June he explained the school's position saying, "Mars Hill's College has a mandate to install a new sep tic system. We have no choice in the matter. If the town were not to approve this project, we will have to proceed im mediately with plans to have a secondary treatment plant operating by September of 1984." Mars Hill College has agreed to donate $150,000 for the project and will turn over its present system to the town to be included in the moderniz ed system. A new waste treat ment plant would be con structed for the town near the site of the school's present plant. ? According to cost estimates provided by the engineering firnj of McGuire-Beebe of Spartanburg, S.C., the new treatment plant will cost almost $600,000. Pour pump (Continued Page 8) Politician Becomes Editor For A Day By ROBERT KOENIG NEWS ITEM: FORMER STATE SENATOR TOM GILMORE OF JULIAN ANNOUNCES CANDIDACY FOR GOVERNOR. PLEDGES TO WORK AT 84 DIFFERENT JOBS ACROSS NORTH CAROLINA AS PART OF HIS CAM PAIGN. When Tom Gilmore announced his workday plan, many of my colleagues in the press pass ed off the idea as just another campaign gim mick. Others wondered why he chose the number 84. While my fellow scribes were con sidering the significance of the choice, I saw the opportunity for a good story and some cheap help around the shop. Politicians and the press spend a great deal of time criticizing each other. It comes with the territory. I thought it would make for a good story to have a politician sit in an editor's seat for a day to see how the other half lives. On the day after his announcement, I wrote to the can didate inviting him to sit in my chair for a day. To my surprise, he took me up on the offer. We decided that July 25 would be the day Froin a year's experience behind the editor's desk, I knew that Monday, our deadline day, would be the longest and hardest day of the week. It would be worth postponing my vaca tion* few days to watch a politician put in a 12 or li-hour day. We finalized our plan for his day behind the editor's desk at the press convention and I left him with instructions on how to find Marshall. He was to report for work at 9 a.m. If he's smart, I thought, he'll come down with a cold or something and back out. It was exactly 9 a.m. when my "Editor For A Day" walked through the door. "Editor Par A Day" is sort of like the old TV show, "Que?n For A Day" except instead of a refrigerator, I you g?t ? Hiwrtirtw. First task of the day is to pore through the mail. Monday's mail is usually heavy and this weak was no exception. Trash can by his side, the candidate pored through the news releases informing him of such significant news as the finai deadline for entries in the Miss USA the trash bin." The News Record is happy to report little bits of news that concerns Madison County, but a small paper such as ours can't af ford the luxury of reporting minutes from Massachusetts. After reviewing the mail, it was time for a visit to Marshall Elementary School. No real story there, but I thought it would be helpful if a candidate for governor saw the conditions of Madison County schools first-hand. Marshall Elementary principal Fred Haynie and Bob Ed wards conducted us on an informative tour that provided the visiting editor with food for editorial thought. v . After touring the school, it was time to check in at the jail to see if anyone had commit ted may hem over the weakend. Considering the heat wave, I expected to hear of some Juicy crime story. Sheriff Ponder reported the weekend was fcfutet one. We got the details of a pet raid on Hayes* Run, listened to one of she sheriffs parables and returned to the < Gilmore lide Meianie Reed could notify the tele sion ar l t little experiment
The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.)
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July 27, 1983, edition 1
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