Vol. 88 No. 27 Thursday, July 7, 1988 25c
Greenhouse Effect:
Fragile Ozone Layer Threatened
? Editorials, Page 4
Tax Rates Lower
Due To Revaluations!
Mars Hill
By HASS1E PONDER
Staff Writer
Due to higher valuation of pro
perty, the Mars Hill Town Board
dropped the tax rate from 70 cents
per $100 last year to 55 cents for
the 1988-1989 fiscal year.
On Friday. June 24, the board
met to discuss and approve the
budget.
The total anticipated in general
funds is $426,754. This includes
174,567 for administration with a
Hot* Springs
By STEVE FERGUSON
Interim Editor
Marshall approved a 1576,079 in
terim budget Thursday including
a decrease in the property tax
rate, lowering it to tt> cents per
$100 of assessed value.
Last year's budget of $311,860in
cluded an 85 cents per $100 of
assessed value property tax rate.
The 85 percent increase is in
Marshall
By HASSIE PONDER
Staff Writer
The $185,798 Hot Springs budget
includes $26,000 for the police
department. $4,968. to. promote
tourism and a raise for town
employees.
That reflects a six percent In
crease over last year's budget.
Town officials say part of the in
crease is due to raising sewer
operations to meet state stan
dards.
The Hot Springs Town Board
four percent raise for town
employees; 1106,822 for the police
department; and $10,800 going to
the upkeep of Mars Hill Recrea
tional Park.
"There are so many teams play
ing ball in the park, it is important
that we keep it up," Town
Manager Darryl Boone said. "We
have to upkeep the tennis courts,
ball field, concession stand and
pay the employees who work over
there."
eluded in more than $222,072 in a
contingency fund for water, and
sewer repairs, said town clerk Lin
da Dodson. Related to that figure,
the town is waiting for word from
the Environmental Development
Agency on a grant to build a
wastewater treatment plant.
Depending on the amount of the
grant from the EDA and other
sources, money may need to be
also set the new tax rate at 60
cents per $100 valuation, down
trom 85 cents last year.
"Hut means some people will
pay more and some people will
pay less, ' seid , Mayor Kenny
ltanH^v !T ? W-> ' % t* '
Like every other town budget in
Madison County, this reflects the
sharp increase in property valua
tions.
"We are hoping that next year
the tax rate will go down," said
Ramsey, "if the beer and wine
The tola] anticipated revenues
for the water and sewer fund is
$303,600. This amount includes
$2O0;6OO for water and sewage
charges
From federal and state grants
the board anticipates $179,123 for
the sewer account. This includes
$160,102 from a federal grant and
$19,021 from state funds.
The water account will receive
$186,000 from federal money and
$186,000 from the state.
taken from the contingency fund,
Dodson said.
Other expenditures include:
?$80,000 for the police department
?$65,000 for town administration
?$55,507 for interest and fees.
?$55,500 to supplement the $180,500
water and sewer fund.
Final approval of the budget is
expected Monday.
vote goes through." The additional
tax revenue will offset the need for
property tax money, he said.
The beer and wine vote is
wlwhiledtor July 19
Other income for the town in
cludes an expected $47,700 in sales
tax and $17,000 in franchise taxes.
The water and sewer fund will pay
for Itself at a cost of $39,000.
The town also proposed to put
the policeman on salary with no
overtime pay. He will still be re
quired to fill out a time card.
Car, Tractor-Trailer Collide
Killing Four InWeaverville
From Staff Reports
Four people were lulled and two in
jured Saturday morning in Weaver
vilie when their car collided with a
tractor-trailer.
The four Buncombe County
residents, Grady James Sharp, 64, his
son Larry Joe Sharp, 37, Paul Glance
_____
Lusk, 76, and Lula Belie Lusk, 49,
were killed on the Highway 25-70 in
terchange with Highway 19-23 in
Weaverville. Dorothy Sharp, 60, and
Shea Burrell, 19, were injured. Sharp
and Burrell were both listed in stable
condition late Tuesday.
The truck driver, Robert McKinley
Keece, 22, of Alexander, was unhurt.
Dorothy Sharp was
driving toward Weaverville and at
tempted to make a left-hand turn in
front of the approaching truck, accor
ding to the N.C. Highway Patrol.
Troopers estimated the car was
traveling at 10 m.p.h. and the truck at
45 m.p.h.
nmmwmm
Paramedics assist one of the accident victims RANDY COX photos
Weavervffle Grant Short Of $120,000 Request
t ?
1 ^ ^ ' ''
| FERGUSON
Interim Editor J
?ivervtlie was denied a (110,000
it to extend a waterlioe for the
new North Buncombe Elementary
School became of the town's
moratorium on nev water hookup*
outside its boundaries.
"I thought we were oo the verge of
getting it,' said Town Manager
vestment for the community
Borne was referring tn w,
vine's request to alter the route of th<
tool's water line to
ko ?P
feet?to th^llne^ J< . I the ? ?'s H
larger than U?p current eight-inch line
on Gill Branch
150,000 is nothing,"
d Mayor Reese Lasher
Home said other scW<eM ere b?
? u ht nt the 3111
iranch grant Tb tota ?at will b
I1M.00I -or "
?"-?
study]
Mm
water
moratorium, but
pected until September The county's
(tension was based on the (act that
funds had to be granted by the <
June Buncombe was unwilling to do
ha i of the
WeavervtDe was unwilling to <
th?b*n until ibe atudy is I
(? bid to buy s
the fire "wi I
did not i
STEVE FERGUSON PHOTOS
Squad boss Lewis ShefFey oversees work on a fire line.
Drought, Lightning Spark Three Fires
By STEVE FERGUSON
interim Editor
Three lightning-related fires have
happened in the Madison County area
in a week's time, the largest burning
14 acres in the Pisgah National
Forest.
More than 100 firefighters, most
from out of state, were called in to
fight the Pisgah blaze which began
June 25 and took four days to contain.
U.S. Forest Service trucks hauled
water from Highway 25-70 near the
Tennessee line more than five mile*
into the Shut-In Creek area. Most m
the fire was ground fire and few trdB
were lost.
We've been washing down tlpl
, mountain for days,'' said squad boat,
bcwig Slieffey of Sugar GrovfcJ^
We had it contained with a fire fine
aH the way around U, and then we had
a 'flopover' in which a burning tree
falls across the fire line."
"We discovered the fire Sunday,"
said Hot Springs District Ranger
Thurman Harp. "But it had been
smoldering for several days before
that."
Two other fires, covering about one
acre each, were also reported. Sun
day afternoon, firefighters fought a
blaze above the Murray Branch pic
nic area, and another was fought in
n Den just across the Haywood
line on Monday. Even smaller
.take several days to contain,
don't sound very large, but
is quite involved, even ia a
that," Harp said.
abnormal to have a
fire this time of year," Harp said,
and tell are our busy seasons
because both times have a lot of dead
vegetation on the ground that is easy
to burn.
"It's so dry now that lightning can
cause a small fire in humus (decay
ing forest floor vegetation) that can
smolder for days before it becomes a
fire," he said.
Recent showers may have done
more harm than good because they t
didn't wet the forest floor enough to
protect it and they were accompanied
by lightning. "By sundown the day we
discovered the big fire," Harp said,
"we got a shower which helped us
slightly but that lightning started
another fire."
"We'll have lo watch this for
several days," said Sheffey.
Firefighters remained in the area
through the Fourth of July weekend.
Pilot Walks Away From Spring Creek Crash
By HASS1E PONDER
Starf Writer
A long holiday weekend nearly end
ed in tragedy when a Cessna single
engine plane crashed in Spring CYeek
on Friday.
All the plane's occupants were
unhurt except for minor scrapes.
Pilot Brenda Von Tungeln, 36, of
Clemson, S.C., and her sister and
brother, were going to visit their
grandparents in Illinois when the
plane's engine stalled.
The Asheville Regional Airport
control tower was alerted of a plane
in distress shortly after 11:90 p.m.,
said Eddie Fox, emergency services
director for Madison County. Then,
they lost the radar signal.
"The pilot circled about 3 times
before she spotted a place to land,"
said Pox. "The plane clipped a utility
pole tearing off the plane's right
wing. It then barely missed the
trailer of James Fisher before it skid
ded some 780 feet to stop in a gully."
Scientists Disagree On Dying Trees
By HASSIE PONDER
Staff Writer
White pine and oak trees are dying
in the higher elevations of Madison
County and experts are unsure about
what they can do to stop the trend.
Most of the problem is occurring in
the western part of the county in the
higher areas of the Pisgah National
Forest. Similar destruction has oc
curred in many of the higher eleva
tions of the Southern Appalachians -
along the parkway, the the national
forests, and in the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park.
"There are several factors that can
affect the dying trees," said Russell
Blevins, Madison County district con
servationist "More than likely it's a
combination of stress, insects and the
acid rain."
However, since this area has been
experiencing an unusual amount of
dry weather over the past few years,
that, too, can be blamed for part of
the deterioration, Blevins said.
"The drought is really causing
serious problems with the trees,"
said Tony Webb of the U.S. Forest
Service. "Because pollutants are
ef the trees dying, the
adds to It. Without the rain,
Can not be flushed out
"The air pollutin is very much
elevated," said Robert I. Brack, a
plant pathologist who is part of a
team of N.C. State University resear
chers who have been studying the
tree deaths for about five years.
Although studies haven't con
clusively proved that pollution is kill
ing the trees, Brack said the cir
cumstantial evidence is compelling.
In weather stations on high peaks, he
said, researchers have consistently
measured ozone levels two to three
times higher than in nearby valleys,
and acid fogs 100 to 1,000 times more
acidic than normal rainfall.
High-altitude forests have survived
in the Southern Appalachians for
ft
thousands of years without succumb
ing to weather extremes, he said, and
there is no reason to believe that air
pollutants previously reached the
levels scientists have measured here
recently.
"This ecosystem has been Just like
this since the recession of the last ice
age," Bruck said. "It has always
been cold up here. There has always
been ice up here. There have always
been clouds.
"While I agree that the drought is
definitely hurting things, it's just the
straw that broke the camel's back."
Other areas are worried about the
loss of scenery which could cut their
tourist dollars, such as Grandfather fjjs 1
Mountain and Mount Mitchell.