' v.. ,
Voluntary Water Conse
fory On
Community
Calendar
Lions Softball Tourney Set
The Marshall Lions Club will sponsor men's and women's
softball tournaments beginning on Aug. 18 on Blannerhassett
Island in Marshall. The tournament will feature a double
elimination format to determine champions.
For more information or entry forms, contact Clyde Hagan
at First Citizens Bank 649-2245 or Roy Reeves at 649-2011.
Marshall H.S. Class Of 1966 Reunion
The Marshall High School class of 1966 will hold their reu
nion on August 9 beginning at 6 p.m. on the Island in Marshall.
For more information call 649-2814 or 649-3740.
Marshall Aldermen Meet Monday
The Marshall Board of Aldermen will meet on Aug. 11 at
7:30 p.m. in the Town Hal.
Sanford To Address Breakfast
Former Gov. Terry Sanford, the Democratic candidate for
the U.S. Senate, will attend a Democratic Unity breakfast at
Madison H.S. on Aug. 30. Breakfast will be served beginning at
8 a.m.
American Legion To Meet Tonight
American Legion Post No. 317 in Marshall will hold its mon
thly meeting on Aug. 7 at 7 p.m. at the Legion Hall on Gudger
St. All members are urged to attend.
Optimists Meet Tonight At 7 P.M.
The Madison Central Optimists Club will meet tonight at 7
p.m., at Mary's Restaurant on the Marshall Bypass. All
members are asked to attend.
Briggs Family Reunion Planned
The Rev. G. W. Briggs family reunion will be held August 10
beginning at noon in the Oak Grove Fellowship Building. All
decendants and friends are invited to attend and bring a
covered dish.
Coates Family Reunion On SuncHfy
The Coates family reunion will be held on Aug. 10 at the
Reems' Creek Wildlife Club near Weaverville. Lunch will be
served beginning at 12:30 p.m. All family and friends are in
vited to attend.
Griffin Family Reunion On Aug. 24
The Griffin family reunion will be held on Aug. 24 at the
Mars Hill Elementary School. Lunch will be served in the
cafeteria at 1 p.m. All family members and friends are invited
to attend and bring along a picnic lunch.
Depot Rescue Meeting Set
There will be a meeting on August 15 at 7 p.m. in the
Madison County Court House to discuss saving tfk Marshall
train depot. All interested persons are invited to aft end.
RECORD
E PEOPLE OF MADISON COUNTY SINCE 1901
Thursday, August 7, 1986
25c
County To Computerize
Tax Listings, Revaluation
By ROBERT KOENIG
Madison County commissioners ap
proved a $254,710 contract to com
puterize county taxes Monday during
their regular monthly meeting. The
contract includes $131,000 for the up
coming propery revaluation.
Tax Management Associates, Inc.
of Charlotte was chosen to coordinate
the revaluation and will also install
an IBM computer for tax listings, bill
ings, collections and real estate ap
praisals. The contract approved Mon
day calls for the company to install a
computer with five terminals in tax
offices in the county courthouse. The
package also includes a printer for
preparing tax bills and necessary
software. The company will also train
county empl"' les to operate the new
system.
Mike Cook, esident of the com
pany, attend* Monday's meeting.
Cook told the commissioners that the
computer equipment will be installed
in September. Work on property
revaluation will also begin on Sept. 1
according to the terms of the con
tract. The revaluation process is to be
completed by Nov. 1, 1988. Hearings
on revaluation are scheduled to begin
in July, 1988.
The contract states that all county
property is to be valued at 100 percent
of its market value as of January 1,
1989. The contract was unanimously
(approved on a motion by Virginia
Andprson
P^ior to the regular monthly
meeting, the commissioners con
ducted a brief public hearing on a
proposal to increase the sales tax one
half cent. Earlier, the commissioners
?
voted to increase the tax and ear
mark proceeds to the Madison County
Board of Education The tax is ex
pected to provide and additional
$450,000 annually to fund school con
struction.
No one attending Monday's
meeting spoke for or against the pro
posal and teh commissioners voted
once again to increase the tax and
give 100 percent of the proceeds to
local schools. The new tax will take
effect on Oct. 1.
Fire District Vote Set
The commissioners also set Oct. 4
for a special fire district tax vote in
Townships 2 and 11. The Laurel Fire
District vote will be conducted by the
Madison County Board of Elections.
Housing Authority Board Appointed
The commissioners also expanded .
the Madison County Housing Authori
ty from five to nine members. New
members appointed to the board
were Joe Justice, Richard Kingston,
Taylor Barnhill, Ron McBride and
Garland Adams. They will join cur
rent board members Maynard Cody,
Don Anderson, Garland Woody and
chairman Emery Wallin.
Water. Sewer Funds Transferred
The commissioners also approved
resolutions transferring county clean
water and waste water funds to the
towns of Marshall, Mars Hill and Hot
Springs. The funds are to come from
state funds allocated by the General
Assembly to the county.
-Continued on Page 5
MARSHALL RAILROAD DEPOT WILL SOON FACE the
wrecking ball if a new home for the building can't be found. An
Aug. 15 meeting in the county courthouse has been planned to
discuss ways of preserving the historic station.
Jury Near Complete
For Rios Trial
Jury selection neared completion
Tuesday for the first degree murder
trial of Jimmy Dean Rios. Ten jurors
were accepted by the defense and
prosecution attorneys during Tues
day's session in the Henderson Coun
ty Superior Court. Two more jurors
and two alternates have yet to be
selected.
Rios is charged with the murder of
State Trooper R.L. Coggins in
September of last year. His trial was
ordered moved from Madison County
to Hendersonville after defense
lawyers convinced Superior Court
Judge Mary Pope that Rios could not
receive a fair trial in Marshall.
Earlier this year, a Buncombe
County jury convicted William Bray
of murder in connection with the
trooper's death. Bray and Rios were
escaped prisoners from an Arkansas
jail at the time of their capture on
Sept. 17, 1985.
Bray has been brought to Craggy
-Continued on Page :t
Mitchell Steps Down At Wolf Laurel
^ By WII.MAM LEE
Under pressure from the
stockholders of Bald Mountain
Development Corp., Fondren Mit
chell tendered his resignation from
the Board of Directors over the
weekend.
Mitchell volunteered his resigna
tion from the board and as its direc
tor, Saturday, stating reasons of age.
Removed as General Manager of
Wolf Laurel Resort four weeks ago,
the 72-year old Mitchell has been in
failing health of recent years and felt
he could no longer serve the Bald
Mountain Development Corp.
Mitchell will still retain his 31 per
cent interest in Bald Mountain
Development as prospective buyers
are still being courted.
"The day-to-day management of
Wolf Laurel is trying enough on a
young man, especially under the dif
ficult circumstances that have
befallen us," said Joe Earman, in
terim General Manager, in a plea to
let any ill-feelings between property
owners and Mitchell be put to rest.
"He has been very co-operative
with me in making the transition in
management easier. Any records,
even' correspondences have been
made available."
The Board of Directors named N.B.
Riles to serve as Ihterim President
and Heroll Bellamy to serve as In
terim Director until the annual
stockholders meeting on Aug. 14.
Although it has been a tough road to
pave for Wolf Laurel, the resort
development seems to now be headed
on the right course again with Ear
man claiming its assets finally ex
ceeding liabilities.
"Our current as^fcts exceed
liabilities. t>y three to one, " Earman
said, "We are internally solvent and
all bills have been paid." ,
Earman said the development now
has in excess of $200,000 in money
market accounts, achieved by
"reshuffling proper accounts."
"We sold some assets and collected
a number of past debts and managed
to pull it together," Earman said, ad
ding that the resort has doubled or, in
some instances, tripled its revenues
from the restaurant, hotel and golf
course through incentives and
specials "to get the property owners
out there in abundance."
Its sudden about-face, however,
does not keep a $900,000 loan from
Household Finance Corp. Commer
cial Realty, Inc. from staring down at
Wolf Laurel. Earman said the loan
company h?s agreed to an unlimited
extension of the variable rate loan,
currently paying out at 10.5 percent
interest and fixed at two percent over
current prime rate.
"They have been willing to extend
the loafc until the Mountain can be
sold, quite willing to continue collec
ting their interest payment." said
Earman.
The stockholders continue the
search for prospective buyers.
However, Earman feels the resort is
now in good enough financial shape
that even if not sold the ski slopes can
still be opened for ski season this
year.
"We are going to make this a
premier resort and a viable and sol
vent company in the process. We had
a problem and that problem is 95 per
cent solved," said Earman.
Weaverville Primary School Replacement Is Promised
School Board Declares Emergency, Promises Action
By ROBERT KOEN1G
Several hundred Weaverville parents crammed into
the lunchroom of the Weaverville Primary School on
Monday night to hear of plans for replacing the aging
facility. Sitting in chairs normally used by their children,
the parents listened as the Buncombe County Board of
Education promised to give construction of a new school
top priority
Weaverville Mayor Reese Lasher called for the special
meeting to address the parents' concerns for the safety of
their chHdren. The school was condemned in June follow
ing release of an engineer's study of the 65-year old
school.
School board member Marshall Roberts explained the
problems to the standing-room-only audience of parents.
An architect, .Roberts is the North Buncombe represen
tative on the school board.
Robert* said the school, the oldest in Buncombe Coun
ty, was constructed in 1921 without plans provided by a
professional engineer. The wooden truss support system
in the building's roof is inadequate and poses a potential
safety hazard, he said.
The roof design In the building has a load-bearing
capacity of only five pounds per sq. ft. Current state law
requires a load-bearing capacity of 30 pounds per sq. ft.
' Hie old wooden trusses were inadequately designed and
installed," Roberts said. "It started with an inadequate
design and just got worse."
A 1979 study of the building uncovered the structural
problem, but board members maintain that engineers
i of the building until this past
w ? ?
??? - V ? ?
two floors At Roberts' sug
to condemn the entire
tional funding. Dover said that the board expected to
begin work 0/1 the project immediately and would hire an
architect to design the new school at the board's next
meeting.
Roberts said that replacement of the school was twelfth
on the school board's list of priorities prior to the June
condemnation. At that time, the replacement project was
moved to fifth on the priority list. Roberts went on to tell
the parents, "I think we are now ready to move this up to
a number one priority."
This suggestion didn't sit well with Owen District board
member Wendell Begley. Replacement of Owen H.S. is
currently the board's top priority. After hearing Begley's
objections, Roberts moved that the school board declare
the Weaverville Primary School an emergencysituation
and seek funding from the Buncombe County Board of
Commissioners.
Funding the project on an emergency basis, Roberts
said, would not affect Owen High School's standing as the
board's top priority on the planned construction
schedule
School board chairman Vernon Dover also said that the
school board is preparing a bond package to present to
the county commissioners and that construction funds for
Weaverville Primary might be included in such a
package. Dover said, however, that a vote on the propos
ed bond referendum might not be held before next spring.
Plans call for Weaverville students to be housed in tem
porary trailers that have been installed on the school
grounds. At the monthly Town Council meeting in June,
Mayor Lasher disclosed that sr eral of the trailers failed
- - -?? l _/ A ' - tl J.
WORKMEN PREPARE TRAILERS AT WEAVER
VILLE PRIMARY SCHOOL. Fourth grade ciaitet at the
school wiU be hawed la the trailer during the upeomiaff
school year. Parents learned details of the plan at Mon
day night meeting in Weavervllle.
'4- % . ' v 0) ,
going to be comfortable, but to nuke the situation batter,
we're going to have to go through some inconvenience.' '
The lack of recreation facilities at the school was also a
topic of many parents' questions With the condemnation
of the school's main building Weaverville Primary
students will not have an Indoor gymnasium Playground
equijxnerv
room for the trailers and the only facility remaining is ?
baseball field in front of the school.
but say that $25 into would
behind the Weaverville Post <
board coM net accept the offer I
it prohibited from making
that is not owned outright ty the school system
Plans < all For the school's fourth grade students to be
also be boused in the