Newspapers / The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.) / March 17, 1988, edition 1 / Page 1
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m ?fT'??N* CENTER ? -- 01863 MARcjua. , wrl RD. W SDh0NG ?RANCH^Dn LISA LEDFORD r -V .;. V%'f ' , . Thursday, March 17, 1988 >L_ ' ? A -v*.- . J*'". I Sheriff, County Continue Budget Talks By BILL STUDENC Editor Madison County Sheriff Dedrick Brown says he can reduce his depart ment's spending by about 12,000 a month without laying off deputies. But Ralph Rice, Madison County finance officer, says that's not enough to prevent the sheriff's department from spending more money than the county has in its bank account The Madison County Board of Com missioners last week agreed to give the sheriff's department an addi tional allocation of $46,000 to allow the department to continue operations through June 30. But that amount will not enable the sheriffs department to continue at its current levels, and commissioners told Brown that he may need to lay off two deputies. Before last week's addi tional allocation. Brown had only $11,000 left in the sheriff's depart ment budget for the remainder of the fiscal year. Commissioners also told Brown last week to meet with Rice to figure out how the sheriff's department can operate on its new budget of $57,000. Rice and Brown haven't had much ?I'm going to save at least $2,000 a month with steps I'm taking to cut down in the kitchen and car expenses without laying off any deputies.' Sheriff Dedrick Brown luck reaching an agreement. Brown said Tuesday that he has laid off the cook and closed the kit chen at Madison County Jail and has decreased patrol car expenses - measures that will save about 18,000 for the rest of the fiscal year. "I'm going to save at least $2,000 a month with steps I'm taking to cut down in the kitchen and car expenses without laying off any deputies,'' he said. "I don't know what will happen with that (the deputies)." Rice, however, said that Brown must cut his expenses even more, or the county will be completely broke. The county has only $2,000 left in its contingency fund. "That's just not enough," Rice said. "If he doesn't come out with some more cuts by Wednesday, then I have no choice but to recommend that the commissioners call a special meeting so they can make those cuts." Brown said that's just fine with him. "I'm not meeting with Rice again, and I told the commissioners I would not talk with that son of a b ? Brown said. "I will not have any discussions with Rice whatsoever. If they (commissioners) want to talk about the budget, they can come and talk to me." Several residents have contacted Brown and told him they would donate money to the department to prevent deputies from being laid off, he said. "If the commissioners elect to cut a man, I have been told by the public that they will make up the difference, if that becomes necessary," he said. Brown and other county officials have been at odds before over funding for the sheriff's department. BILL STUDENC PHOTO Divers for the Greensboro Police Depart- Alexander Bridge for the gun used in a ment underwater search team prepare to 1986 murder. search the French Broad River at the Divers Search River For Murder Weapon From Staff Reports Divers began searching in the French Broad River at Alexander on Monday for a handgun alleged ly used in the 1966 murder of an Ohio couple. Members of the Greensboro Police Department's underwater search team are looking for the weapon that Buncombe County Sheriff Buck Lyda believes was used to kill Wesley and Bonnie Mehaffy at Buzzard Rock on May 20, 1906. Lyda said be believes the Mehaf feys killer threw the gun off the Alexander Bridge, into the French Broad River. Divers on Tuesday found several unused bullets in the water beneath the bridge - bullets that Lyda says may have been thrown into the river along with the murder weapon. The bullets are of the same caliber as those removed from the bodies of the Mehaffeys. Lyda last year brought murder charges against Roy Lee Fox, a convicted murder now in prison for the 1966 slaying of Morris Sams - a shooting that occurred at the same bridge. Buncombe County District At torney Robert Fisher dismissed those charges against Fox because of insufficient evidence. ; Lyda said he the gun should pro- < vide the additional evidence he -Continued on back page Raid On Cockfight Nets 19 Arrests | From SUN Reports County Sheriff s arrested 19 Western rus residents Saturday illegal cockfight near Officers with the U.S. Forest Ser vice and the N.C. Wildlife Service discovered the cockfight at about 1! a.m. at a recreation site off Dill Ingham Road in the Coleman Boun dary of the Pisgah National Forest. Forest Service officers. wh<> notifie ih? Buncombe County Sheriff's Department, hid and watch ed the cockfight, taking pictures for .said Li Johnn> I Ofth leriff's Office at the scene a ing the forest. Authorities say that a few people taking part in the cockfight may have escaped on foot through the woods. Deputies will step up surveillanc* in the area as a "preventive measure ' to make future cockfights less likely there. Lloyd said. The 19 people arrested -- all from Buncombe, Madison and Burke < <>un ties - were charged with eockfightin?, a misdemeanor offense punishable by up to a 1800 fin# sbt months in jail, or both All 19 were released on their own recognisance Saturday a ' deputies served them with citations The Schools To Begin Removal Of Asbestos By BILL STUDENC Editor The Madison County Board of Education last week approved the hiring of the Buncombe County school system s resident engineer to conduct a search of Madison school facilities for asbestos. The board agreed to hire Jack Nichols at a rate of $30 an hour to in apct all school buildings for asbestos i develop a plan for the removal of substance. ncy has handed down a set of fyle? calling for all school districts to , v Aspect all school Facilities by 'Oct 30 EPA is calling for the removal of asbestos from school buildings because of federal studies linking the mineral, often used for fireproofing and insulation, to cancer. School officials must also haved adopted a plan for the removal of all asbestos from school buildings - in cluding classrooms, bus garages and administrative offices - by Oct.- 30, Nichols said. Materials containing asbestos must be out of all school facilities by Oct. 12, 1908, he said. EPA Will fine school systems up to its asbefos removal order. Bills are currently under con sideration in tM U.S. Senate and House to extend the program by one year or 18 months, but school officials say they cannot count on one of those bills passing in Congress. Nichols estimated that it would take him between two to three weeks to conduct the asbestos survey and draw up a plan for removal of the fibrous, fireproof material. That would set the cost of meeting federal asbestos requirements at between >4,000 and 96,000. Nichols told the board that other 1 L ||J -I ..lint A, contractors vwuici cnarge Dciwcwj * cents and JQ cents per square foot With 370,000 square faet in Madison County school buildings, that could cost the school system from $14,000 to $37,000. Delinquent Water Accounts Top $20,000 In Marshall By BILL STUDENC Editor Sixty-two Marshall residents and businesses owe more than $100 each to the town for municipal water ser vice, with some delinquent bills as high as $4,000. That was the word given Monday to the Marshall Board of Aldermen by town clerk Linda Dodson. The total amount owed to the town by water customers whose delinquent bills are higher than $100 is a whopp ing $20,751.83, according to Dodson's figures. That does not include over due water bills less than $100. Delinquent water bills have been a frequently discussed topic at meetings of the Marshall Board of Aldermen. The board has, several times in the past, threatened to "get tough" on residents and businesses with overdue water accounts, but has never initiated a sustained effort to collect pioney owed the town. The board again took no action Monday night, although board ; members seemed upset at the , lengthy list of overdue accounts of i more than $100. i There's no sense in bills going four or five years without being paid," said Alderman Ed "Doc" Niles. Niles suggested that the town ! stamp the delinquent bills with a i notice that immediate payment be made. I "We're not even breaking even on < the water," he said. I The town, so far in the 1987-88 fiscal i year, has had to transfer $6,981.84 I from its general fund to the water and i sewer fund to meet payments in the water department, Dodson said. "The best way to approach it is to get a list first and see who owes what and try to do something to keep them from getting mad," said Alderman Jackie Davis. "If we just approach most of these people, they'll take care of it." In other action at Monday's meeting, the board agreed to give the Marshall police officers a raise from $5 an hour to $6 an hour, and other town employees a 10 percent raise. "I'll tell you what I think - IS an tour for the policemen and you all :an do what you want. Five dollars an lour is not a lot of money. That (the -aise) may sound like a lot at one lick, sut it's not for what they do," Davis laid. Lasher Responds To Criticism By BILL STUDENC E4Kor Weaverville Mayor Reese Lasher says allegations that he and town ad ministrators are trying to force the Creek Golf Club down the! town's throat are "ridiculous." "That is absolutely false," Lasher ltly "The people of Weaver I this. They have stated it to me, in petitions and in lit I I annexation. Weaverville I a petition circulated people of Weavervilie don't know what they want or what they're sign ing. And I don't belive that," Lasher uid. Lasher was responding to charges from some opponents of the proposed satellite annexation of Reems Creek ( ioif Club that certain town officials >uvf ' I to win approval of annexa tion without sufficient study. A few vocal opponents of the volun tary annexation of 188 homesites have accused Lasher, Town Manager Charles Home and town attorney Bill Barnes with working privately with golf course develop*-* to win ap proval of annexation. That criticism became especially I Mill I II V I ? <> " evident Feb. 25 when thq WeaverviUe Town Council called special meeting to vote on the Renu Creek Golf Club annexation request (tee related story). The council bad originally tabled the request, on a motion by Councilman Roanie "Butch" Davis and by a 4-1 vote, until March 31 to give council members ad ditional time to study the issue. But three council members signed a mem< calling (or the special nutting and raising the eyebrows (if some town residents "T! rs met with us on a Wea We*vervtfle< ouncilwomun Ann Villiami, ifte ng r nation for than ? ?k, a). In a j | New* I announced that atfe wil?| ng Jowr Ttowr Kffoctiv* March 1 iff i ? C"'. member of W rtlle Town Co M as |*ep? COW I di
The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.)
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March 17, 1988, edition 1
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