SUPPORT YOUR
HOKE COUNTY RESCUE SQUAD
Volunteers Trained and Equipped To Serve You.
INSTALL PIPE - Two of DOT's bridge maintenance employees replace
with pipe a bridge located on a dirt secondary road near Enka Village in
Buncombe County. A pump draws water out of the working area as the men
build a headwall.
J. H. AUSTIN
INSURANCE
X
SINCE 1?M
auto-fire-life nA'
CASUALTY
114 W. Edlnborough Avenue Phone I7S-9U7
N.C. Highway Crews Work Overtime
To Repair Damaged Mountain Roads
If you think your car is hard to
start on a cold, winter morning,
you should try starting a bulldozer
in zero-degree weather.
Or if you think a flat tire is a"
hassle to change, imagine changing
a flat on a backhoe that sits in the
midst of a frigid mountain stream.
Such are the obstacles, along
with lots of mud and misplaced
rocks, that Department of Trans
portation (DOT) maintenance
crews have had to face as they piece
back together the roads and
bridges in Western North Carolina
that were so badlv damaged by
heavy rains and flash floods in early
November.
Obstacles or no, they have
continued at full-speed ahead
working from "dawn to dusk",
first, to free those who were
stranded or isolated and, second, to
make emergency repairs.
Secretary of Transportation
Thomas W. Bradshaw, Jr. said,
"An additional 1200 employees and
almost 200 pieces of equipment
were moved from other parts of the
State into the disaster area, encom
passing 16 counties, to assist in the
repair work."
State Representative Ernest B.
Messer of Canton, upon touring
the areas devastated by floods,
observed convoys of DOT equip
ment. He talked with many who
suffered from the disaster and they
"...were highly complimentary of
DOT's efforts to get the roads and
LIST YOUR
PROPERTY
The Law Requires That You Do This
During The Period From
Jan. 3 ? Jan. 31, 1978
LISTING BEGINS
Tuesday, JAN. 3, 1978 (Due To Holidays)
Notice is hereby given all persons owning Real or Personal Property that they appear before
the taxlisters for their township between Jan. 3 and Jan. 31 and make return to them of all
property for purposes of taxation. Failure to list will subject taxpayer to a fine of 1500.00
or imprisonment not to exceed six months. All property owned January 1, 1978 must be listed.
All Mobile Home Park and Aircraft Storage Facility Operators must furnish to the Tax
Supervisor the name of the owner of each mobile home or airplane and a description of each
by January 15, 1978. Extensions for reporting Inventory may be granted upon written request.
All mobile home owners must register with the Tax Supervisor's office to obtain a registration
decal.
REAL ESTATE ...
All taxable real property, including buildings and
improvements and machinery permanently affixed
to the Real Estate.
HOUSEHOLD. KITCHEN FURNITURE. FARM
Household furniture and goods, including
electrical appliances and tools of trade. All farming
equipment, swine, livestock, poultry . farm supplies
a:ul firm products praduccd prior ?u 1974.
OTHER PERSONAL PROPERTY
Radios, televisions, air conditioners, guns, hie . des,
jewelry, diamonds, typewriters, boats and motors,
golf equipment and office equipment.
MOTOR VEHICLES...
All automobiles and trucks in your possession or
registered in your name. Mortgages do not change
the ownership or affect the listing. Also house
trailers, airplanes, scooters and motorcycles.
STOCK, FIXTURES, EQUIPMENT...
Merchandise, finished goods, equipment, furniture,
fixtures goods in process, raw materials and
samples.
ALL OTHER TANC1BLE PROBERTY NOT SPECIFIED
Applications for the Use Valuation and Assessment of
Agricultural. Horticultural or Forest Lands must be
submitted to the Tax Supervisor by January 31, 1978.
WHERE TO LIST PROPERTY ? (By Township}
ALLENDALE - Mwh Willa McLauchlin at home
Monday thru Friday 8 A.M. to 5 P.M.
HAEFORD TOWNSHIP - You can list your taxes Monday thru Friday
8 A.M. to 5 P.M. and Saturdays 8 A.M. to 12 Noon
at the Courthouse Annex directly behind the Courthouse
BLUE SPRINGS, ANTIOCH, McLAUCHLIN,
QUEWHIFFLE, and STONEWALL TOWNSHIPS will be listed in the
NEW COUNTY LIBRARY, Main Street, Raeford, N. C.
8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. and
Saturdays 8:00 A.M. to 12 Noon.
PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO LIST CARRIES A FINE
OF *300.00 OR IMPRISONMENT NOT TO EXCEED SIX MONTHS.
I. G. Simpson Jr., Tax Supervisor
WASHED OUT ~ Over 390 miles of roadway in the North Carolina
mountains was damaged by floods early in November. So many roads were
damaged that the State doesn't have enough signs to mark them all.
Department of Transportation crews are working overtime to repair
damage in the I6-county disaster area.
bridges back in operation as rapid
ly as possible." he said. "1 never
heard any criticism."
Representative Messer's district
includes Haywood. Jackson. Madi
son and Swain Counties.
One DOT employee, on the job
in Yancey County, remarked that
he had "been working 12 hours a
day. seven days a week for 35 days
with only four days off. I've got a
little one at home." he added. "I
don't get to see her very often."
DOT Maintenance Crew Leader
Blaine Peterson of Yancey County
bragged on his men. "Every man
has done his part and more. Each
one has been mighty cooperative,"
he said, as his crew labored moving
rocks, putting in pipe, re-routing
streams and operating equipment
to repair an unpaved secondary
road in Yancey County.
At this point. DOT. having
rescued those stranded or isolated,
now nears completing emergency
repairs and will start making
permanent repairs to damages
estimated at more than $15 million.
A total of 91 bridges and one
reinforced concrete box culvert was
destroyed. Eighty-eight other
bridges on the State highway
system were severely damaged.
V'
v:'~ '
Approximately 390 miles of road
way on the system were damaged
extensively. Of this, some 289 miles
were secondary roads and some 101
miles were primary roads.
"This step marks only the begin
ning of reconstruction," said Jim
Medlin, DOT Highway Division
Engineer. "It will take several
months to get our roads and
bridges back in the condition they
once were. The damages are so
massive and the winter months will
slow the construction process down
considerably," he added.
So far the weather has been
"pretty good." according to DOT
crews in Yancey and Buncombe
Counties. But a couple of mornings
the temperatures have plunged
near zero, and that's when David
Camp of Rutherford County had
trouble starting his diesel-fueled
"dozer."
"It wouldn't even stir for two
days." he said.
It seems he was particularly
anxious to remove one of many
rocks from an unpaved roadway in
Y ancey County so an area resident
"could get his tobacco out before
Christmas."
But the worst is yet to come,
warned Medlin. Not only will the
REPAIR BRIDGE ?? A DOT maintenance crew struggles to replace the
washed-out span on the bridge over Turkey Creek just north of Leicester in
Buncombe County.
FURNITURE SALE
End of Year
SALE
40% OFF
upToiv /o urr
ON ALL FURNITURE
Shelton Furniture
1 1 ft W trfinbof oiiah Tel. 8 7 5 8 17 2 Roeford, N C
weather pet colder, but snowy and \
icy conditions are almost inevita
ble. . ?
As Medlin's Assistant Division
Engineer Dan Martin explained it,
"Just because many of the dam
aged roads are passable, does not
mean they are wholly restored.
There are still portions of under
mined roadway, sections of broken
and cracked pavement and
stretches where great chunks of
pavement were completely washed
out. A heavy snow will obscure
these hazards and ice will make the
routes even more treacherous." he
said.
All major roads damaged by the
floods have been marked and, in
some cases, lighted with smudge
pots. But, as DOT's Rood Damage
Coordinator Floyd Bass put it.
"there are just not enough signs
and lights to go around," so some
of the lesser travelled roads may not
be properly marked.
Mate transportation officials
have strongly advised motorists,
those familiar and. even more so.
those unfamiliar with the roads in
the disaster areas, to avoid travel
ling the damaged byways unless
absolutely necessary. '
Of course, DOT maintenance
crews will continue to alleviate the
problems as weather permits, but it
will probably be spring before
construction can be on a full-scale ?
basis.
Although State forces will . per
form most of the repair work, some
major road and bridge construction
will be let to contract. Presently,
repair work at 29 locations will be
let to private contractors. Esti
mated cost of these jobs is S7.8
million.
"These are being let to contract
as quickly as possible because of
the urgency to get them back in
operation," Bass said. He also
indicated that roads and bridges
carrying the highest 'average daily
traffic' will be the ones Fixed first.
The number of school buses, homes
and people affected by a certain
road will be taken into considera
tion.
It is evident that DOT has put its
best foot forward in dealing with
the flood disaster. Chairman of the
Yancey County Commissioners
Carl Carter said, "I think DOT is
doing an excellent job. It is doing
everything humanly possible. I 3
have no criticism whatsoever. Now,
alot of people have called me up to 4
see when their road will be fixed,"
he continued, "but I haven't
received any complaints in the
county."
Yancey County was the hardest
hit in the 16-county region of
Western North Carolina, declared
a national disaster by President
Jimmy Carter.
Governor James B. Hunt. Jr.
made the comment, "I have seen
firsthand the damage that the
floods did to schools, businesses,
homes, roads, and the lives of the
people who live in our mountains.
And I have seen Firsthand how hard
our State employees, including
those in the Department of Trans
portation, are working to help
bring the lives of those mountain
people back to normal."
A conversation between a bridge
maintenance crewman and an area
resident exemplified DOT'S co
operation. E.J. Ledford, in charge
of the DOT crew replacing a bridge
on Hooker's Gap Road in Bun
combe County was approached by a
lady on foot. She asked, "Will you
fix a place for the kids to get across
the creek this afternoon so they
won't have to walk all the way ?
around?" Ledford's crew was busy
at work in knee-deep water, but he
replied, "Yes ma'am,* we'll fix a
place for them." He later explained
that they would place planks across ,
the creek as a temporary walkway
for the children. 1
A brief chat with Segal Phillips,
who lives on unpaved Bloody Fork
Road in Yancey County, summed
up DOT's efforts quite well. As he
trekked down his muddy road
completely destroyed by a nearby
stream, he stopped in the midst of
DOT crews at work to say, "These
boys done a good job.'
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