Newspapers / The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.) / May 26, 1988, edition 1 / Page 1
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S^^HWPRI Serving Madison And Buncombe Counties kfxbrfzW T Jf-fi r ' * Ex-Councilwoman Blames Defeat On Mayor Kathy Young ...unsuccessful applicant By BILL STUDENC Editor Former Weaverville Coun cil woman Kathleen Young says fre quent differences of opinion with Mayor Reese Lasher cost her in her bid to All a vacant town council seat. Young contends that Lasher con vinced another council member to vote against her even though that councilman had originally urged her to apply for the open council seat. Both Lasher and Councilman Frank Spears denied the allegations, attributing the charges to a case of "sour grapes" on the part of Young. The Weaverville Town Council last week selected Robert Dreibelbeis, town Board of Adjustment* chair man, to fill a vacancy created by the March resignation of Councilwoman Ann Williams. The council, a week after inter viewing five candidate* far the job, picked Dreibelbeis by a 3-2 margin over Young, former vice mayor of Weavervilie who lost by 100 votes in her November 1987 re-election bid. Spears, who now admits that he asked Young to sign up as a candidate for the vacant seat, and Councilman Bernard Koesters voted for Dreibelbeis while Councilmen Harold Payne and Ronnie "Butch" Davis voted for Young. That 2-2 tie forced Lasher to cast the deciding vote, and the mayor voted for Dreibelbeis. Young, in an interview Friday, had some sharp words, blaming Lasher for convincing Spears to vote against her. "I didn't really think Frank would do what he did. He must be extremely loyal to the mayor," Young said. "Why else would they take a man who is inexperienced? Why else would they take a man who had not run for office?" she asked. But Lasher and Spears both denied Young's criticism. "I have never told a commissioner how to vote, and I will not. I will tell the council what my opinion is on any issue. I only ask them to do what is best for our community," Lasher said. "I will, of course, support a can didate who aligns themself with my positions. It would be redundant for me to support someone who didn't," he said. "I want to support people who want to continue the progressive programs that are going on in Weaverville." Spears said his decision to vote for Dreibelbeis - and not for Young, a longtime friend - was a difficult one. He denied that Lasher played any role in helping him make that deci 'I have never told a commissioner how to vote, and I will not.' Mayor Reese Lasher 'Reese is one of these people that if you don't agree with him, he gets upset with you.' Ex-Councilwoman Kathy Young ?ion. "She (Young) has had some pro blems with the mayor, with the town attorney and with the town manager. Evidentally, she's had some pro blems with at least one of the other council members," Spears said. "I couldn't see putting somebody back on the council that was having problems with nearly everybody while all the others get along fine with everybody," he said. "We've had things going pretty well the past five or six months. I couldn't see any point in stirring things back up again." Young, however, charged that Lasher is trying to get a group of "yes-men" on the council. "I feel like I need to represent the town, not just what one man wants. What's the point of having a five-man board if everybody has to do what the mayor says?" Young asked. -Continued on Page It Petitions: Don't Lift Weaverville Water Tap Ban By BILL STUDENC ? ? ' Editor iR^rr Petitions are now circulating in Weaverville calling (or town officials to refrain from lifting a 14-year moratorium on water service outside corporate limits until the town can develop its own source of water. Former Council woman Kathleen Young, an unsuccessful candidate for a vacant seat on the Weaverville Town Council (see related story), is behind the petition drive. "Right now, I don't feel like the town should open it up to everybody outside the town limits," Young said. "If we had the water, I would say II yes. The town should allow the Ashevile Buncombe Water Authority to pro ceed with plans to serve the northern end of Buncombe County, the petition states. Weaverville Mayor Reese Lasher last month suggested that the town look into lifting its longstanding ban on the extension of water taps outside the town limits. The town, which hat frequently been forced by dry weather to ask residents to take water conservations steps, has not allowed any new water taps to be constructed outsidetthe cor porate limits since 1974. , That moratorium, Lasher said, has prevented Weaverville and tMe rest of the northern Buncombe County area from developing to its full potential. The town last year adopted an agreement with the Asheville Buncombe Water Authority which Weaverville officials say should pro vide them with all the water they need, for customers both inside and outside the town limits. But Young's petition states that the town council should not lift the water moratorium until it has an indepen dent water source in place. The agreement with the Asheville Buncombe Water Authority is design -Continued on Page It Walnut Students Visit Hospital, See Classmate's Winning Vuleo Sister Mary Veronica Schumacher, president of St. Joseph's Health Services Corp., presents 5-year-old Amelia Uffelman of Walnut with a special award. From Staff Report! Kindergartners and Hrst graders tram Walnut Elementary School took a field top to St. Joseph's Hospital in AsheviUe last twit to honor one of their own. Five-year-old Amelia Uffelman, a student in Sandy Ford's kindergarten and first-grade class at Walnut, was the star of the day, as hospital officials declared last Tuesday "Amelia Day.' And 27 of Amelia's classmates, several of her teachers and her principal, Sidney Harrison, hop ped aboard a school bus and made the trip to from Walnut Asheville to take part in the festivities. Why would a big city hospital take time to honor a little girl from a small, rural school? Because Amelia has the starring role in an award-winning video produced by St. Joseph's Hospital's education department. Entitled "Amelia Gets Her Ears Tubed," the documentary video recently received a national award of merit from the Catholic Health Association. The video was produced last summer and shows Amelia actual ly undergoing surgery to remove fluid from her ear - a process call ed a myringotomy - and photographs taken after the opera tion. The video is designed to be shown to children aged ? and younger to help alleviate their fears about having an operation, said Judy Waiters, director of education at the hospital. "The prospect of having an operation is frightening to many of us. To the patient 6 years old or younger, it can be terrifying," Walters said. The video actually has a threefold purpose, she said: to help children deal with pre surgery jitters; to introduce them to hospital staff members they may be meeting during their hospital stay; and, to show -Coo tin lied on Page 11 County Revaluation To Impact 1988 Tax Rate In Mars Hill From Staff Reports Property owners in the town of Mars Hill can expect a lower ad valorem tax rate for the 1968-89 fiscal year, but that doesn't mean they should expect to shell out fewer dollars come tax time next year. The recently completed revalua tion of all property in Madison County has at least doubled Mars Hill's tax base, said Darhyl Boone, town manager. Mars Hill officials, who are now working on the budget for the new fiscal year, will try to decrease the tax rate to keep individual tax bills at about the same level as the current year, Boone said. "We're trying to keep it so that peo ple will be paying pretty much in line with what they had last year," he said. But, until officials in Mars Hill - and Madison County's other municipalities, Marshall and Hot Spr ings - get word from the Madison County Tax Office about the new values of property inside town limits, they cannot set the new tax rate. The towns depend upon tax valuation figures from the county office. After the recently completed pro perty revaluation, conducted at the request of the Madison County Board of Commissioners, the value of most land in the county has doubled and, in some cases, tripled. County officials say that past valuations did not ac curately reflect the true value of pro perty. The revaluation has given officials at both the county and municipal levels a whole new set of figures to use when working on their budgets for the coming year. And, until j' municipal officials learn from the; county the total value of property in V.- 4 ' -Con tinned on Page it - - . - ''V M ' ? "4| Atmosphere Amanda Ledford and her lUUel David. ? i joy h( uhts at th? ?Ury Sc m| Spring Carnival Hot Springs Is Making Plans For 2nd Annual Homecoming By HA8S1E The town of Hot ! ting wedy for its M -K. ?i | back home and to ghra currant townsfolk an o?> rv?UH? > festivities are Ling* High .School will have a on at ? a m Hffe* surviving members ? | graduating dm, vill be I Ul in I be tc honor J] hi S (SI High bi
The News-Record (Marshall, N.C.)
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May 26, 1988, edition 1
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