" E NEWS RECORD
aKKVinG THE PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY SINCE 1901
Thursday, June 5, 1986 25c
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Salute To Class Of 1986
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Special 16 Page Supplement
Community
Calendar
American Legion Meets Tonigjit
American Legion Post No. 317 in Marshall will meet tonight
at 7:30 p.m. in the Legion Hall on Gudger (Back) Street in
Marshall. All members are urged to attend and take part in
the election of officers for the coming year.
Carl Story To Perform Friday Night
Carl Story and the Rambling Mountaineers will perform at
the Spring Creek Volunteer Fire Dept. station house on Friday
night at 7 p.m. This will be the band's final performance for
Madison County audiences prior to their retirement.
Spring Creek VFD Auction
The Spring Creek VFD will sponsor an auction on Saturday
night at 8 p.m. in the fire house.
Kirkpatrick Family Reunion Set
The annual Kirkpatrick family reunion will be held on June
29 in the Spring Creek VFD fire station from 11 a.m. until 6
p.m. Descendants of Jeptha and Martha Kirkpatrick and
friends are invited to attend. For more information, contact
Ethel Kirkpatrick at 627-7300.
Laurel VFD Flea Market Planned
The Laurel Volunteer Fire Dept. will sponsor a flea market
at the fire hall on Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. Proceeds from
the sale will benefit the fire company.
Marshall Board Meets Monday Night
The Marshall Board of Aldermen will meet on Monday night
at 7:30 p.m. in the Town Hall.
Hot Springs Hires
New Policeman
By ANDKKVV KUI.I.KK
Ho? Springs aMcrmen spent much
of Monday's meeting in closed ses
sion discussing personnel matters
The meeting began with a review of
delinquent water customers. The
board voted to disconnect water ser
vice to delinquent customers who
have not paid their bill by June 9.
Alderman Gene Autry did not at
tend Monday's meeting at Town Hall.
Board member Donnie Franklin re
quested that the board meet in closed
session to discuss a personnel matter.
When they emerged from the secret
meeting, the board voted to appoint
Don Magrini as the town's new police
officer.
The board also approved a new in
surance policy to cover town property
and will auction off a .38 caliber pistol
as surplus property.
Town clerk Lillian Whitten then
asked the aldermen to lwHjl a second
closed; door meeting to dfecoss a per
sonnel matter. When they emerged
from the second 20-minute secret
meeting, board members announced
that Mrs. Whitten was resigning her
position with the town. Board
members praised Mrs. Whitten for
her years of service to Hot Springs
residents
The meeting adjourned at about
8:30 p.m. without taking any action
on the town's 1986-87 budget. Mayor
Kenny Ramsey is expected to call a
special meeting to approve the town
budget before the close of the fiscal
year on June 30.
The next regularly scheduled
meeting of the board Wtyl be held on
July 7.
Farmers Sought For FmHA
County Committee
Eligible farmers in Madison Coun
ty are invited to become nominees for
the Farmers Home Administration
(FmHA) County Committee, FmHA
County Supervisor, Douglas E.
Taylor announced today.
As a result of the 1965 Farm Bill,
two of the three members of FmHA
County Committees must be elected.
The third member is designated by
FmHA. The Madison County Com
mittee assists the FmHA county of
fice in determining the eligibility of
applicants for certain types of FmHA
loans.
Generally, farmers who are
residents of the county but not FmHA
borrowers are eligible to become
nominees for the FmHA County Com
mittee.
For this first election only, two
members will be elected at the same
time. One member will be elected for
a term of one year, and one member
will be elected for a two-year term. In
the future, all terms of service will be
for three years each on a staggered
basis.
Nominating petitions must be
returned to the Km HA County office
by June 10. 1986
Additional information and ap
plication forms for those who are in
terested in becoming nominees for
the County Committee are available
at the FmHA county office. Griffin
Building, Main Street. Marshall, N.
C. or by calling 649-2821.
County Commissioners Cut
Property Tax Rate 1
By ROBERT KOENIG
The Madison County Board of Com
missioners voted Monday to lower the
county's ad valorem tax rate to 75
cents per $100 of assessed valuation, a
cut of 15 cents in the present property
tax rate. The decision came at the
close of the board's monthly meeting
following discussion of the county's
1986-87 budget.
The commissioners also cut
Madison County tax collector Harold
Wallin's salary by $200 a month after
meeting briefly with the tax collector.
Wallin agreed to the cut in salary
when he was told he would either
have to take a cut or have his assis
tant cut from full-time to part-time.
After a lengthy, and sometimes
heated discussion, the commissioners
agreed to renew a contract with
Yancey County for joint operation of
the IV-D child support enforcement
office.
Commission chairman James Led
ford expressed opposition to continu
ing the contract and suggested that
operation of the IV-D office be placed
with the Madison County Dept. of
Social Services.
Pat Miller, the IV-D investigator
serving both counties, said it would
be impossible to sever the contract on
short notice and questioned why Led
ford would want to change the pre
sent arrangement. Miller said the
current joint agreement saves the
county administrative expenses.
After a lengthy discussion, Ervin
Adams and Virginia Anderson agreed
to continue the present arrangement
County attorney Larry Leake
presented the commissioners with a
letter from school superintendant
Robert Edwards regarding the evic
tion notice the commissioners sent to
the school board in May.
The day following their defeat in
the May primary, the commissioners
voted to order the Madison County
Board of Education to vacate the of
fices in the courthouse and find other
headquarters. The commissioners
ordered the offices be vacated by
June 1.
School board members responded
by saying that the Board of Education
has no other facilities available, sug
gesting they may have to move to
either the old Ebb's Chapel or Beech
Glen School in order to comply with
the eviction order.
In his letter to the commissioners,
Edwards agreed that the Board of
Education should relocate, but asked
for an extension of the June 1
deadline.
Commission chairman James Led
ford recommended that the county
withhold school funds until the board
of education vacates the courthouse
offices. Larry Leake, who also served
as the school board's attorney, sug
gested that the commissioners hold
off on withholding funds until after
July 1. On a motion by Virginia
Anderson, the commissioners agreed
to extend the deadline until July 1,
after which time, county funds will be
withheld.
Before making the motion, Ander
son complained that the county has
provided the school board with no
cost rent and janitorial services for
many years. "They don't mention
that when they say they need more
money." she said.
The commission took no action on
the school board's 1986-87 budget re
quest during Monday's meeting. The
Board of Education has requested
$1,566,191 including $250,000 for con
struction of new classrooms at Mar
shall Primary School.
The commissioners have discussed
appropriating surplus funds from the
school's 1965-86 budget for inclusion
in the 1986-87 budget, a move school
officials contend would result in a
cash flow problem in August and
September.
Leake told the commissioners that
school officials are considering using
most of the surplus funds for repairs
and to replace desks and other fur
niture in the county's elementary
schools.
In addition to the letter from the
school superintendant, Leake
presented a packet of requests sub
mitted by the county's school
superintendants for improvements at
their respective schools. The school
board was expected to take action on
the requests during their monthly
meeting on Wednesday.
The commissioners also made a
number of appointments during Mon
day's meeting. Harold D. Anderson of
-Continued on Page 2
Three Indicted On Seven
Sexual Offense Charges
Bond Is Set At $150,000
Three Madison Countians, including a county employee cur
rently under suspension, were indicted on Friday by the
Madison County grand jury on sexual offense charges. All
three had earlier been arrested on charges of taking indecent
liberties with children following complaints filed by the
parents of children formerly enrolled aL Abe Marshall Day
Care Center.
Indicted on seven counts each of engaging in a sexual of
fense with children by force were Andrew L. Chandler Jr, also
known as Junior Chandler; Lathem Hensley, also known as
Buddy Norton; and Pam Coli. Both Norton and Coli had been
residents of the Mintz Rest Home prior to their arrests.
Chandler was a van driver employed by the Madison County
Transportation Authority at the time the alleged offenses took
place, sometime between January and last month. Chandler's
duties including transporting day care children and clients of
the Mountains of Madison project in Mars Hill. Chandler was
suspended from his county job hours after he was initially ar
rested back on May 19. He was re-arrested on a second charge
of taking indecent liberties with a child on May 20.
Superior Court Judge Charles Lamm set bond for all three
defendants at $150,000 shortly after the indictments were
handed down. Chandler was freed on bond on Friday night. No
date for a hearing on the charges has been set.
The three were indicted following testimony by Linda Gail
King, an investigator with the Madison County Dept. of Social
Services and Dr. Andrea Gravett, an Asheville physician who
examined the seven children. None of the children testified at
the Friday's grand jury hearing.
In an unrelated matter, the grand jury refused to indict L.H.
Cutshall on charges of voting in elections in 1982 and 1984. Cut
shall, a convicted murderer, is ineligible to vote as a result of
his conviction.
LJOlli Decision Postpones
N-Dump Issue 10 Years
By BILL STUDENC
The WaynesvMIe Mountaineer
Western North Carolina is off the
hook as a candidate for a proposed
nuclear waste repository site for at
least 10 years, according to U.S.
Department of Energy officials.
"Based on our review
of. . .information, it is the depart
ment's opinion that the nation need
not consider a second repository un
til at least the mid 1990s ? or much
later," said U.S. Secretary of En
ergy John S. Herrington in a state
ment released late Wednesday
The news fell on eager ears in
WNC, where a 105-square mile area
of Haywood, Buncombe and Mad
ison counties was among 12 "poten
tially acceptable" repository sites
selected earlier this year by DOE.
And despite some worries that
Herrington's announcement has not
permanently removed the nuclear
waste threat from WNC, U.S. Rep.
Bill Hendon, R-N.C., says those
fears are unfounded.
"We are so pleased that we
haven't had time to sit back and
rock yet," Hendon said in a tele
phone interview from Washington,
D.C., Thursday. "There is just no
question that it's great news for
Western North Carolina. It's over."
Hendon said there would be no
further studies of WNC as a poten
tial nuclear waste dump site.
"Absolutely not. There is no sen
timent for it in Congress. The
decision was made (Wednesday) to
put nuclear waste in one of three
areas in the West ? Washington
state, Nevada or Texas," he said.
"The plans are to expand that re
pository, and not to build another
one, if we ever need the space. This
thing is over. We are off the hook,
and we are off the hook per
manently," he said. /
Despite Hendon's optimism, lop?l
groups which have opposed a WNC
repository since DOE announced
the list.of 12 candidates in^/anuary
are not >o certain. /
"Th*re can be no Celebrating
now,"/saul Dr. Kobort Earnest of
the Haywood Anti-dump Lead
ership Team (HAtT). "We've won
nothjhg. This is^tnly a 10-year post
ponement and in essence we have
/ ' /
J
/ ? 1
not been allowed our day in court. ' '
Earnest said he believes infor
mation gathered by repository op
ponent# would have resulted in the
disqualification of the WNC site for
geelogic, economic and social
seasons.
/ N.C. Gov. Jim Martin, in a Wed
nesday statement, said Her
rington's announcement would "lift
the cloud of anxiety of that has hung
over North Carolina. "
A second site in North Carolina ?
in Wake, Johnston and Franklin
counties near Raleigh ? was also on
DOE's list of candidates
Martin punctuated his statement
with his wish that DOE had ruled
out both North Carolina sites as un
-< onlinunl on Page I
Mars Hill Aldermen Consider 1986-87 Town Budget
" / , V
By WILLIAM LKE
The Man Hill Board of Aldermen
heard from their former mayor
William Powell, who expressed his
dissatisfaction with the town's resolu
tion not to allow sewer hookups out
I side the town limits.
Three or four of the businesses
along Big Branch Road have already
paid, at least for (he water lines,"
Powell told' the aldermen. "They set
up temporary sewer disposal systems
>f their own. fully exp?!ctinK to come
>n line once Mars I Ml had its system
? I I
last
way to get property owners along Big
Branch to petition for annexation into
Mars Hill.
"It sounded like blackmail to me
then, and it still does." said Alder
man Ed Worley Worley was all
prepared to rescind the resolution but
was unable to get a second to his mo
tion.
Board Chairman John Chandler,
acting as presiding officer in Mayor
Owen TQson'a absence, agreed that
builders of Ptna Inn had been told
Powell. "Exception was made for
Madison Manor, and its lines paid
with county tax monies. In a way,
then, we all have paid for the Mars
Hill sewer system " R
Augusta Jenkins suggested the
board determine if there was some
dissatisfaction with the town's resolu
ttM.
"But we need to put the burden on
them to come to us with proa and
coos, rather than each of us going oW
and grttmg different ituptv-sions."
Powell also told the board that
some of the temporary systems
failing and those businesses needed to
have hookup available in the' very
near future. /
IV board/ of aldermen* following
Governing Body, $13,000; Ad
ministration, $71,750; Elections, $15;
Tax listing, $500; Tax Collections,
$790; Public Buildings, $M,M?;
Police Department, $92,900; Fire
Department, $35,057; Streets,
$54,110; Powell Bill Expenditures.
$74,000; Sanitation S35.450 Recreo
tion, $17,050; and Library, $8,000.
Listed a >re xpe
plans for the develop)
for 46 apartment units, 20 one
bedroom ipartment anc 2t two
Booth asked
i he tv>;,rd to a(*rov<> nvonina of the
for is?
Thi N ;ii proposed will be