5
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COUNTY LIBRARY
6ENERAL DELlVEfY
Lady Patriots 1
MARSHALL
NC
26753
THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY SINCE 1 90 1
Thursday, March 6, 1986
25c
Gospel Singing Planned For
March 14
Ed Ball will host a gospel singing at the Tri-County Baptist
Tabernacle on March 14 at 7 p.m. The Spencer Family from
Ohio will be the guest singers. Everyone is invited to attend.
Retired Teachers To Meet March 12
The Madison County Retired Teachers will meet on March
12 at 11 : 30 a.m. at Mary's Restaurant on the Marshall Bypass.
Marie Willis of Mars Hill will be the guest speaker. All retired
school teachers are invited to attend.
American Legion Meets Tonight
American Legion Post No. 317 will hold their monthly
meeting tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the Legion Hall in Marshall. All
members are urged to attend.
School Board Meets March 12
The Madison County Board of Education will hold their mon
thly meeting on March 12 at 10:30 a.m. in the Madison County
Court House.
GOP Lincoln Day Dinner Saturday
Madison County Republicans will hold their annual Lincoln
Day dinner Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria of Mars
Hill College. Associate Supreme Court Justice Rhoda Billings
will be the featured speaker.
Dems Hold Precinct Meetings
Tonight
Madison County Democrats will hold precinct meetings
throughout the county tonight at 8 p.m. Meetings will be held
at all local polling places. Democrats will elect delegates to
the county convention scheduled for April 5.
Weaverville Library Program Set
"Delving Into Your Roofs" will be the subject of a program
at the Weaverville Public Library on Sunday at 3 p.m. The
program will explore family research, particularly in the
Reems Creek area.
Guest speakers will include Doris Cline Ward of the Old Bun
combe Genealogical Society, Sarah Cole and Blanche Roberts
Robertson who is currently working on a history of the area.
County Jobless Rate
Unemployment declined in
Madison County during January, ac
cording to figures released this week
by the North Carolina Employment
Security Commission (ESC.) In
county joblessness stood at 7.2 per
cent of the workforce during the first
month of the year, a full percent point
less than the December reading of 8.2
percent.
The ESC report estimates that 460
Madison Countians were without
work during January. 80 fewer than
the previous month The ESC
estimates also report that the
county's force force declined during
the month by 190 workers, accounting
for much of the decline in the overall
employment rate.
statewide, unemployment stood at
5.9 percent in January, according to
the BSC estimates
The decline in Madison County
unemployment ran counter to the
trend in neighboring counties in
January. Buncombe County reported
an increase in joblessness to 5.6 per
cent, up more than two percent from
December. Haywood County also saw
unemployment increase by 2.6 per
cent to a January reading of nine per
cent. Yancey County joblessness also
increased by more than a percentage
point to 3.8 percent.
In Tennessee, Cocke County
reported that state's highest
unemployment rate, 24.6 percent,
despite adding more than 200 jobs
during the month.
April 16 Is Deadline
For Nuclear Dump
Comments
ison County Nuclear
?Waste Education Committee reports
that residents wishing to make wril
ten comments to t he U.8: Department
of Energy concerning the :
uclear waste storage facility have
until April 16 to hev? their comments
included in the
Although t
ficidls did not -a 3 so luring last
week's public briefing in Vsheville it
ti
DOE ave specific
eluded the
Tlx NucMtr %ast? Edwatio.
UkystajI
mcr m
I beading
respond to letters I
which do not include this information,
but only letters which fulfill this re
quireroent wW Da included in (he
public record for this stage of the pro
1 be to U.S.
Department of Eaergv CryataMar
rati Offk* MOO Soath CM?
V venae. ArgonM. 111.
50 Attend Mars Hill
Public Hearings
Aldermen To Study Proposed Rules
By ROBERT KOENIG
An estimated 50 Mars Hill residents and businessmen at
tended Monday night's public hearing on a proposed or
dinance governing outdoor advertsing. Many of the
businessmen present voiced objections to the plan to restrict
billboards and other forms of outdoor signs.
The public hearing was held prior to the start of the regular
monthly meeting of the board of aldermen. A second public
hearing concerning changes in the town's fire code was held
following the sign ordinance hearing.
Mars Hill Mayor Owen Tilson opened the meeting by telling
the audience, "I could be down in Florida living the good life. I
don;'t have to be here, but I want to be. I can assure you we're
not going to do anything to hurt Mars Hill. We're not going to
have a lot of political mess. We're running this tiown on a non
partisan basis."
Tilson said that the hearing was called to learn the public's
reaction to the proposal. The board took no final action on the
proposed ordinance during Monday's meeting.
Mars Hill druggist Ed Howard worried that the proposed or
dinance would lead to lawsuits. Tilson responded, saying, "We
want to take care of this before they (billboards) get here."
Insurance agent Clyde English, who also operates a Big
Branch Rd. restaurant, said he opposed a proposed ban on
flashing electric signs. English has a flashing sign outside his
restaurant. He told the meeting, "I would like my sign to stay
as is."
Former hardware store owner Bob Phillips said he believed
that the provisions of the proposed regulating off-premises
advertising were unenforcable. Phillips also warned that a
ban on off-premises advertising would hinder development by
national chains such as Holiday Inn.
Bill Zink Jr., operator of Zink's Small Engine Repair, also
argued against the proposal. Zink said a provision calling for
removal of political signs within ten days of an election was
too short a time period. Zink also questioned a provision of the
proposal that would ?ban signs obstructing passageways and
defended flashing neon signs, saying, '1 can't see a thing
wrong with flashing signs. I don't think they're a bit distrac
ting."
Finally, Zink said he opposed the proposal because it would
prohibit forms of outdoor advertising not yet invented.
J.F. Robinson asked if Signs at his Texaco service station
and the Western Steer Restuarant would have to be removed.
Mayor Tilson said that most of the signs presently standing
would meet the requirements of the proposed ordinance.
Tilson added that a sign Robirison erected on cemetery pro
perty adjacent to the Western Steer would have to be remov
ed.
In response to another question, Tilson said that the or
dinance would be in effect in the one-mile jurisdictional area
outside the town limits.
Another businesswomen said the proposal would discourage
business at a time when Madison County has one of the state's
lowest sales tax incomes.
Robinson also warned that the proposal would harm the
business community. He said, "You remember what Mars
Hill looked like in 1966- 13 empty buildings and most of them
falling down. We'll have the same situation again if something
isn't done."
Dr. Evelyn Underwood, a member of the Planning and Zon
ing Board and one of the authors of the proposed ordinance,
told the hearing, "It was imperative that we do some planning
in advance of this growth, and not just grow up like Topsy."
Dr. Reese Steen, also a member of the planning board, told
the hearing, "We expect this growth to come very rapidly. We
felt it was imperative that we do something now. We conferred
with businessmen and asked, 'What size sign do you need?'"
Electrician David Emerson also spoke out against the pro
posal and called on the town to begin an inspection program to
enforce the county building code.
Both Steen and architect Wayne Roberts said they sup
ported creation of a Board of Appeals to hear disputes arising
from the proposed sign ordinance.
The public hearing concerning the sign proposal adjourned
at 8:30 p.m. A second public hearing on proposed changes in
the fire code followed immediately.
Mars Hill fire chief Eddie Fox outlined points in the code
which will be changed. The changes deal with permits for one
-Continued on Page 8
Hot Springs Aldermen Meet
The Hot Springs Board of Aldermen
learned how to apply for state grants
during their monthly meeting held
Monday night.
The board listened to the steps in
volved in grant application as
presented by Myra Grant, a
representitive for the Land of Sky
Regional Council. Grant explained
that up to $750,000 is available to the
town for economic development and
other community revitalization pro
jects.
Randall Lanier,, water supervisor
for the town, told the board that he
had purchased the flow meter and
compositor for the sewer system. The
board had ordered the purchase at
the Feb. meeting.
Lanier said that due ' to stricter
state rules on sewer systems now in
effect, extra maintenence would by
required. The water supervisor asked
the board for extra compensation for
the additional work he would be re
quired to perform. The aldermen
agreed to Cable the issue of Lanier's
salary.
The aldermen also learned that a
60-year franchise granted to Carolina
Power & Light by the town for elec
tric service will soon expire.
Chip Hutchins, a representitive of
CP4L, presented the board with a
host ofreasons for renewing his com
pany's franchise.
A second reading of the franchise
document will be held at the April
board meeting. All residents are urg
ed to attend the reading.
The board also heard complaints
from residents about foul smelling
dog pens and old cars being left on the
roads. The board agreed to send
notices to offenders. Further action
was promised if the notices are ig
nored.
The next regularly scheduled
meeting of the board will be held on
April 7 at 7:30 p.m.
Dump Opponents Ask Martin
To Take Tough Stance
By BILL STUDENT
Staff Reporter
Gov. Jim Martin's ? "town
meeting" in Asfieville Thursday
developed into an anti-nuclear
dump session.
Martin scheduled the session to
heir what's on the minds of Western
North Carolinians.
Martin got an earful, as organ
izations from Haywood, Buncombe
and Madison counties used the
meeting to present a united front
against the location of a proposed
nuclear waste repository in West
ern North Carolina.
Representatives of anti
repository groups from each of the
three affected counties presented
petitions bearing thousands of sig
natures to Martin during the meet
ing in the Asheville City Council
chambers.
"We gave to the governor tens of
thousands of signatures that were
the result of our preliminary pet
ition drive, Robert Earnest of the
Haywood Anti-Dump Leadership
Team, said this morning. "And we
than
Buncombe and Madison counties
was on that list, along with a second
North Carolina site, near Raleigh.
DOE set up a 90-day period to
receive public input on its selec
tions, and a final recommendation
on the 12 sites is scheduled for July.
Opponents of the repository told
Martin that DOE will not consider
the factors most relevant to the
WNC region until after that rec
ommendation. And that means that
WNC will probably remain on the
list until 1992.
The major reasons that WNC
should be removed from DOE's list
as soon as possible are economic.
Earnest said.
Western North Carolina depends
heavily on tourism, and many be
lieve that tourists will not want to
come to an area that is home to a
nuclear waste dump.
"The issues that pertain to this
area will not be considered until the
1990s If we are still being con
sidered by 1992, I have no doubt
we'll be disqualified then. But I
don't want us to have to wait that
"That's a vague phrase, and I
think the law actually was intended
to imply that if damage was done to
somebody's property, that they
would be reimbursed," Earnest
said. "But a broader interpretation
would imply that the government
would be responsible for any econ
omic hardship within the broad
based area."
Martin told the overflow crowd
during Thursday's meeting that the
state was attacking the issue from
three sides.
? The metamorphic com
position of the rock bodies in WNC
and central North Carolina makes
the rock too fractured to allow con
struction of the underground
storage vaults.
? The location of underground
water tables above the rock form
ations.
? Proximity of both North Car
olina sites to growing population
centers.
Earnest and other repository op
ponents say DOE needs to consider
three other factors, and needs to
consider them now :
? Population variables. The
population figures used by DOE did
not take into consideration summer
residents, tourists, nearby college
populations and a large number of
people living on the outskirts of
cities and towns, but not counted ?s
being within the city.
? Tourism. The site's location
CwHiwrt in Prr "
FBEMC Ni
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>. l i i of directors of the Fren
? eg Bread Electric Membership Carp,
named a nominating committee at
,Un meeting in Marshall mi Tuea
iy The nominating oommittee will
?eat on March II it p m the co
operative's headquartan on VS. 113
pykerxull of
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and H.G
Yancey County; M.A Jr
? iaket of Mi hell Oc it}
nd Ursk Shelter of Unicoi County
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4)1 const* r can
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n mbrrs if th. board ol
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