SERVING THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNT
Vol. 84 No. 1
PUBLISHED WEEKLY IN THE COUNTY SEAT AT MARSHALL. N.C. v WEDNESDAY, January 4. 1984 25C Per Copy
Engineer Tells Aldermen
Marshall Sewer Project
Facing Cost Overruns
By ROBERT KOKNKi
The Marshall sewer project
may face cost overruns of up
to $240,000 because of unex
pected rock excavation and
street repairs. Bill Lapsley, an
engineer with Butler-McGill
Associates, the town's consul
tant on the project, broke the
bad news to Marshall town of
ficials during a special
meeting held Thursday after
noon in Town Hall.
While he declined to men
tion an exact figure. Lapsley
said the project could run
"between fifteen and twenty
percent " over budget because
of the unexpected
developments. The project
was originally budgeted for 1.2
million. Additional rock
blasting on the Walnut Creek
Rd. section of the project was
the major cause of the cost
overrun according to the
engineer. "There has been
substantially more rock from
top to bottom than we had an
ticipated," he said.
Lapsley told the town
aldermen and mayor Betty
Wild that they will have to
make several major decisions
regarding the project in the
next week. The engineer said
'that the N. C. Department of
Transportation is pressing the
town to make improvements
to Walnut Creek Rd. beyond
those originally planned in the
project. The additional im
provements DOT is asking
will also contribute
significantly to the cost of the
project .
The project's plans called
for installing a six inch layer
of crushed stone to the roadb
ed before repaving. Lapsley
told the aldermen that DOT is
now requesting that an eight
inch layer of asphalt binder be
installed before the road is
resurfaced. The six inches of
crushed stone originally call
ed for costs $3 per square
yard. The asphalt binder DOT
is seeking would cost $21 per
square yard. The engineer
said, "If the town agrees to
pay the contractor for all he
puts down, there is some ques
tion of whether we can do all
the lines called for in the pro
ject."
Lapsley said DOT plans to
resurface Walnut Creek Rd. in
the spring from the fork at U.
S. 25-70 to the Housing
Authority project. DOT is ask
ing Marshall to resurface U. S.
25-70 from the fork at Walnut
Creek to Main Street.
DOT has an agreement with
Marshall that the town will be
responsible for resurfacing a
10-foot wide section of road
wherever construction has
damaged the road surface.
Lapsley said DOT is willing to
waive the 10-foot resurfacing
requirement if the town will
install the more costly binding
surface.
The engineer said Marshall
has two alternatives, either
convincing DOT to pay for the
cost of the binder on Walnut
Creek Rd. or obtain additional
funds from the Farmers Home
Administration. Lapsley said
he has asked DOT for
assistance, but has not yet
received a reply. Marshall
mayor Betty Wild said she has
contacted the FmHA officials
and made them aware of the
situation, but has not received
an answer. Wild said, "We're
optimistic they can help us."
Lapsley said he has furnished
FmHA with a revised cost
estimate for the project.
The budget overruns have
caused the project's planners
to slow work on the project un
til the financial questions can
be resolved. The slowdown
has caused the contractor,
Taylor and Murphy Construc
tion Co. of Asheville to seek an
extension of the one-year time
limit for completion.
Lapslev told the town board
members that DOT'S decision
regarding the repaving could
"Effect the project substan
tially."
As to the cost for the addi
tional rock blasting, Lap^ley
said that some of the extra
rock excavation may not have
been necessary. He did not
provide the board members
with figures for the additional
cost of the excavation, but
said Butler-McGill Associates
would provide a recommenda
tion as to how much more the
town should pay by Wednes
day of this week.
Lapsley also said that the
lines on Walnut Creek and
Mashburn Hill have been in
stalled and that both Marshall
Primary and Madison High
School are now connected to
the main line. The construc
tion crews are still installing
lines to homes on Walnut
Creek.
Mayor Wild said she would
call another special meeting
of the town aldermen
sometime this week to discuss
the town's options. No date for
the meeting was set at Thurs
day's meeting. The next
regularly scheduled meeting
of the board will be held Jan. 9
at 7:30 p.m.
The town board was also in
formed that the bonds for the
project have been sold at an
interest rate above that an
ticipated because of an error
in calculating the town's tax
base. An error of $2.6 million
in the town's valuation caused
the town to be declared a poor
credit risk, resulting in the
higher interest rate. Wild told
the board that the error was
discovered too late to change
the higher interest r^te. Exact
figures regarding the interest
rate on the bonds were not
made available at Thursday's
meeting.
Thursday's special meeting
was called to approve three
resolutions regarding equal
opportunity on the project as
required by the Farmers
Home Administration. All
three resolutions were approv
ed.
Mayor Wild closed Thurs
day's meeting by thanking the
town's employees for working
during the emergency brought
on by the sub-zero
temperatures over Christmas
weekend. The mayor said,
"They were out there with the
wind chill at fifty below zero
and did a tremendous job. The
whole town owes them a note
of thanks."
Weather Extremes Hit N,C. In , 'S3
By LAURA SK4KKHT
The News and Observer
The bitter cold air that has
blasted across most of the
state for the past week
brought two more records
Saturday to North Carolina to
end a year full of records and
weather extremes.
With an ll-degree
temperature breaking a 1961
record of 18 for the date in
Raleigh and 6 degrees in
Asheville breaking a 1976
recorU of 13. the weather
began to show signs of easing
its icy touch
Forecasts call for
temperatures to rise to the
40's today and Monday and to
the 50's by Thursday. Most
parts of the state had clear
skies Saturday to make the ex
tremely cold temperatures
more bearable.
But the Outer Banks
reported some snow and freez
ing rain early Saturday that
created icy conditions for
travelers. Val Young, a
meterologist technician at the
National Weather Service
Bureau in Cape Hatteras said
roads there were clear by mid
morning Saturday.
The weather set records of
all sorts in 1983. Beginning in
January, the state's weather
pattern was far from predic
table. The year that began
with one of the mildest winters
in recent memory ended with ;
a season that has all the trapp
ings of a record-cold winter.
And sandwiched between
was a two-month heat wave
and drought ? the worst in 30
(Continued on Page
TEMPERATURES rose slighty on Wednes
day, enabling the frozen French Broad River
to thaw. The sudden increase in temperature
didn't last long however. By Thursday night,
temperatures again approached zero.
BILL LAPSLEY, right, addresses
meeting of Marshall Board of
Aldermen Thursday afternoon. Mar
shall mayor, Betty Wild, left, listens
to report on sewer project.
County Jobless Rate
Declined In Nov.
Unemployment decreased
in Madison County in
November according <o
figures released last week by
the North Carolina Employ
ment Security Commission
(ESC). The ESC figures show
ed November's unemploy
ment in the county stood at 5.6
percent, down from October's
5.8 percent mark. The 5.6 per
cent jobless rate is the lowest
among neighboring counties.
IJnrmpkwtMiu v.
Haywood and Yancey Coun
ies increased during
Movember according to the
ESC figures.
Six North Carolina counties
had lower rates in November,
but Watauga County, with a
5.2 percent jobless rate was
the only Western North
Carolina county reporting a
lower jobless rate.
ESC chairman Glenn Jer
nigan said seasonal influences
resulting from declines in
tourism and agriculture were
the main factors in the in
creased unemployment.
, Ujov* ncri!
stood at 7.8 perptfnt in
November.
According to the ESC
figures. 7,890 Madison County
workers were employed dur
ing the month. The 5.6 percent
unemployment figure
represents 470 jobless county
residents.
Buncombe County reported
a 7.4 percent unemployment
rate in November. Haywood
County unemployment in
creased in November from 8.2
ppercent to 0.3 percent. In
Yancey County, unemploy
ment increased slightly, from
?s5 wrceiH i-i 9.? prwrai i ,
(?<Ctl>ber.
Orange and Gates counties
reported the slates lowest
unemployment rate. 3.5 per
cent.
Jaycees Call For Debate
The North Carolina Jaycees
have invited Gov. Jim Hunt
and Sen. Jesse Helms to take
part in a series of face-to-face
debates as part of a request by
the Jaycees to both men to
clean up their campaigns.
In a letter delivered to
representatives of Governor
Hunt and Senator Helms the
Jaycees urged both men to
cease the negative advertising
that has been prevalent in
their unofficial campaigns.
"We as JayfcevS feel that it
is the time to call a halt to the
campaign rhetoric that thus
has marked the unofficial
campaigns cf Senator Helms
and Governor Hunt. We feel
that it is in the best interests of
the citizens of North Carolina
for this campaign to be based
solely on the issues at hand
rather than on distorted
advertising and negative cam
paign rhetoric," said Jim God
frey of Southern Pines, presi
dent of the North Carolina
Jaycees.
"In our letter, we have ask
ed that both Gov. Hunt and
Sen. Helms refrain from the
type of negative advertising
that has gone on so far, and
have presented them with a
proposal to permit them to
discuss the issues face-to-face,
before the voters of North
Carolina," Godfrey continued.
The Jaycees proposal in
vited Hunt and tyelms to take
part in a series of debates held
in various locations across the
state in 1964. The debates -?
would be held once a month
beginning in June and ending
in October.
"We hope that Sen. Helms
and Gov. Hunt will agree to
these debates, so the voters of
North Carolina will be able to
decide who will best represent
our states interests in the
United States Senate," God
frey said.
Farm Income Dropped In '83
By FRANK BORDEAUX. JR.
Summary of 19H3
1983, turned out to be one of
those years which many
farmers would prefer to
forget. Farmers started the
year off with adversity due to
extremely wet fields and had
great difficulty planting crops
on a timely basis. Therefore,
many of them went into the
production season feeling they
had gotten off to a bad start.
In addition, it wasnt' long
before it became obvious that
not only was the season going
to be unusual in terms of a wet
spring, but in terms of
moisture shortages in the
summer. The drought virtual
ly wiped out corn crops for
many farmers and severely
damaged all principle row
crops. Livestock and poultry
producers had increased
death tosses, as well as poor
weight gain due to heat stress.
As the drought progressed
across the U.S. the combined
effect, of the PIK program
previous year's level.
Livestock and poultry pro
ducers watched with frustra
tion as their feed input prices
began to increase at the same
time their markets were load
ed with an oversupply,
resulting in low prices for
their products. By November,
market hog prices had drop
ped to around 40 cents per
pound compared to 54 cents in
the same period in 1982. These
examples just show the type of
frustrating year farmers have
experienced in North
Carolina.
The payment In Kind (PIK)
program was essentially a
stopgap measure that was
designed to reduce the burden
of crop inventories that
overhung the market as we
entered the IMS production
Corn stocks carried over
after the Ittt harvest were a
1963 even though the PIK pro
gram was in place.
The basic design plan for
PIK was to remove acreage
from production, delivering to
farmers surplus stored grain
in lieu of production. This was
coupled with a modest
acreage diversion program
for which a farmer received a
cash payment. North Carolina
farmers placed 34 percent of
their eligible corn and
sorghum base acreage in th
PIK program. This was slight
ly less than the national par
ticipation rate. As a result,
farmers went into the planting
season expecting smaller
crops than in 1982
The impact of the PIK pro
gram on moving prices up
ward was hither accentuated
by the drought which reduced
production below levels which
were anticipated when the
ticipating in the PIK program
at approximately 86 million
dollars.
One of the most dramatic il
lustrations of the impact of
weather stress on farmers in
come positions can be seen by
comparing two extremes that
existed among North Caroina
farmers in 1983. Very few
farmers escaped the effects of
the drought. However, those
who participated in the PIK
program and also had federal
crop insurance probably came
out reasonably solvent this
year / ""Si .
In contrast, in many in
stances thoae fanners who
chose not to participate in the
PIK program or purchase
federal crop insurance and
subsequently received severe
damage from the drought had
been pushed to the brink of
failure by the end of the crop
year. This must be taken into
agriculture or by looking at
some individual cases due to
the wide variations which ex
ist.
Based on current best
estimates, it appears that
farm cash receipts for IMS
will be $3.8 billion in North
Carolina. This compares with
the cash receipts figure in 1962
of $4.1 billion. The $300 million
drop in cash receipts is largely
a result of reduced production
due to heat and dry weather
and lower livestock prices this
year Taking into account all
sources of income, gross farm
income this year it an
ticipated to be $4.3 billion in
cantrast with $44 billion Hi
19V. After subtracting pro
duction expenses, net farm in
come far 1903 is estimated to
be $000 Million, compared
with $1 bilHan Inst year.