Newspapers / The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.) / April 2, 1987, edition 1 / Page 1
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Covering Hoke County The _ RAEFORD, NORTH CAROLINA ews - Journal Very special arts On page IB Don’t forget to spring forw^d Sunday morning Volume LXXVIII Number 50 Thursday. April 2.1987 2§'CENTS Attempt fails to obtain compensation for lost revenue By Sally Jamir News-Journal Staff Writer A recent attempt by Hoke County officials to obtain financial compensation for potential tax revenues that were lost as a result of establishing Ft. Bragg was not successful, according to county spokesmen. County Manager William (Bub) Cowan said last Fri day that he was informed by Bill McEwen, ad ministrative assistant to Congressman Bill Hefner, that the county could not obtain compensation in lieu of taxes for land taken from Hoke in order to form the military reservation around 1920. The attempt is one of several that have occurred over the years, according to former Hoke Commis sioner John Balfour. “This is something the county has been trying to do for years,” Balfour said. This most recent attempt occurred during the Na tional Association of Counties (NACo), Legislative Goals Conference in Washington last month. Cowan and Commissioners Cleo Bratcher, Tom Howell and Chamber of Commerce Neill McPhatter discussed the possibility of this com pensation in a session with Congressman Bill Hefner, according to Cowan. McEwen said last Thursday that Hefner was looking into the matter using sources such as the Chief Counsel of the House Committee on Government Operations, the Armed Services Department and the U.S. Budget Committee in order to discern what was possible in the matter. “It’s not the kind of request you get every day,” McEwen said. “It may or may not be possible.” Prior to the decision on Friday, McEwen said Hefner’s office would take the matter “all the way to the end” in researching the matter for the county. McEwen said that the operations committee chief counsel said there was a statute “on the books” which was “loosely drawn up” concerning compensation of this nature. However, the recent finding by the congressional of fice defines the type of military reservation which is eligible for this kind of compensation as being “passive” as opposed to “active.” According to the federal government, in the case of Hoke County, the military base is considered active. Cowan said a compensation was made for timber on Hoke County land acquired by the Army, in the amount of $15,000, which went to the school system when the decision was made in 1984. The county “fought for it for a long time,” Balfour said of the bill which entitled Hoke County this money. Yet, apparently it was a negligible repayment for the resources which the county has sacrificed, according to Balfour. “My interpretation of definitions regarding the military base is that the Hoke County portion of the base is not active,” Balfour said. According to the Ft. Bragg information media of fice, the land for the reservation, was established by the government as a field artillary site in 1922, but ac quisition of land started prior to this time. The 50,711 acres in both Cumberland and Hoke Counties, which originally made up the reservation, was purchased in August of 1918, for $934,064. The total cost for purchase of the land and develop ment of the reservation at that time was approximately $14.5 million, $18.45 being paid for each acre, accord ing to the office. The total number of acres located in Hoke County which now makes up Ft. Bragg is approximately 92,000 acres. According to Hoke County Tax Administrator Dale Teal, the amount of tax revenues which would have been received from this land area in Hoke County had it not been purchased, and even if it was only con sidered waste land, would be approximately $55,890. This land value is based on a figure of $75 per acre of waste land multiplied by 92,000. This figure is then used to multiply times the tax rate in Hoke of 81 cents. Ft. Bragg has a yearly operating bill of more than $1 billion, according to the information office, and has a $2.8 billion impact on the 10-county area surrounding the base. Membership drive begins The Raeford-Hoke Chamber of Commerce is kicking off a membership drive this week that will last until the end of May. Currently there are 150 chamber members. Lawanna Hayes, manager of the local chamber, would like to see that figure doubl ed. “We would love to get another 150 members, and there’s no reason not to,” Hayes said. Established chamber members are being encouraged to go out and bring new members into the organization. As an encourage ment, those chamber members who sponsor a new member will receive 10 percent of the new member’s dues. Hayes said a large chamber membership will benefit the citizens of Hoke County. “The whole community is helped by hav ing more members, Hayes said.” The April-May membership drive, the first in three years, is be ing conducted during the last two months of Terry Houston’s term as chamber president. Houston said he feels a member ship drive is important at this time because “we’ve heard a lot of positive comments this past year, and we want to keep up the momentum we’ve got going.” Chamber members will be hear ing about the membership drive in the President’s Newsletter for the month of April. Houston began sending members his monthly newsletter last June when he became president. At the end of each newsletter, Houston gives a reason for being a chamber letter. His reason for last month was: “Because the most ef fective and constructive influence is the force of organized business and citizens functioning through the Chamber of Commerce for the purpose of improving our com munity.” Houston, who joined the chamber six years ago as a representative of Burlington In dustries, established committees at the beginning of his term as presi dent. Chamber members were assigned to those committees and worked on projects such as the Depot, The Turkey Festival, “Light Up Raeford” and The Yard of the Month. Also this past year, a 10-member Partners in Education board was established. “Partners in Education should enhance education in Hoke Coun ty while at the same time enchance the businesses in the county,” Houston said. “We’re excited about what we’ve done this year. But 12 mon ths go by fast-, I’m disappointed we couldn’t do all we wanted to do,” Houston said. “We’ve got a team that believes in what it’s doing.” Both Hayes and Houston en courage new members to join the chamber. “If they (potential members) can’t come to meet with us, we’ll bring them an applica tion,” Houston said. Membership drive Raeford-Hoke Chamber of Commerce Manager Lawanna Hayes, left, and Chamber President Terry Houston look over plans for the membership drive. They hope to double chamber membership during April and May. Business, civic leader dies at age 70 Thomas K. McBryde Thomas F. McBryde, business, agricultural and civic leader of Hoke County, died Tuesday morn ing in Moore Regional Hospital in Pinehurst. He was 70. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Thursday in Raeford Presbyterian Church, the Reverend John Ropp officiating. Burial will follow in the Raeford Cemetery. McBryde is survived by his wife, Mrs. Peggy M. McBryde and two sisters, Mrs. Frances Fitzsimons of Raeford and Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Tovey of Nampa, Idaho. McBryde was a successful businessman and active in many community affairs, being named Kiwanis “Man of the Year” in February of 1981 for his signifi cant contribution to the city and county. Born April 21, 1916 into a well- known family in Hoke County, McBryde was associated with the business community of Raeford and Hoke County for over 50 years. He owned Raeford Lumber Company until selling it to Bill Clark in December of 1985 and was former president of the Raeford Chamber of Commerce and was director and vice president of both Raeford Savings and Loan and The Bank of Raeford. He graduated from Raeford High School in 1935 and attended Presbyterian Junior College for two years and Davidson College for two years. After completing his education, he returned to Raeford and managed the sawmill operation for his father. The business later became Raeford Lumber Com pany. McBryde served in the armed services during World War 11. In 1947, he became part owner and manager of Raeford Lumber Com pany. He helped build many Hoke County homes in the 1940s and 1950s and was a building consul tant for organizations in the area. McBryde’s family lived on a farm and he also was a livestock farmer, successfully raising cattle for a number of years. McBryde had an active voice in the industrial affairs of the com munity, serving on various in dustrial commissions and assisting in the development of plants in the county. He served as director and presi dent of the Hoke Development Corporation and also as a Hoke County commissioner from 1966 to 1978, holding the office of vice chairman of the board. A lifelong member in the Raeford Presbyterian Church, McBryde served the church in many ways. Recently Elder Emeritus was bestowed upon him by the congregation. Members of the session of the Raeford Presbyterian Church will serve as honorary pallbearers. Emergency program in trouble By Sally Jamir News-Journal Staff Writer The Hoke County Aid to Families with Dependent Children Emergency Assistance program has helped many area residents but faces problems in administration, according to Department of Social Services Director Ken Wither spoon. Witherspoon said Monday at a DSS board meeting that although there have been benefits from the program, problems exist in trying to meet the needs of applicants who come into the office. “The problem is staffing and trying to get it (the program) ad ministered,” Witherspoon said. The DSS director reported that thus far the program has served 166 clients at a cost of $7,800 to the county. He said the total cost of the program is $31,500 of which the county pays 25 percent. According to figures released recently by the DSS office, the 1987-88 budgeted amount for the program is $73,913. The federal government pays $36,957, or 50 percent of this amount. State and county government each pay $18,478, or 25 percent of the total amount. Witherspoon expressed the hope that the contingency fund would not need to be utilized in order to meet the needs of the public assistance budget. The AFDC-EA program serves three clients a day and takes in quiries from two people a day on the average, Witherspoon said. Each day the DSS office spends about four to six hours processing these applicants. He said the newly acquired clerical staff position which the county approved this year has not been utilized by DSS for the pro blem it was meant to solve but has instead been needed to handle the overflow of clients for the emergency program. Witherspoon said he sees a need for the local legislative represen- (See DSS, page 2A) County off list of potential waste sites By Sally Jamir News-Journal Staff Writer Hoke County officials were told recently by the N.C. Hazardous Waste Treatment Commission that the county is no longer being con sidered as a possibility for a hazar dous waste treatment facility, ac cording to a county spokesman. Commissioner Wyatt Upchurch said Monday that county officials had received a letter dated March 27 from the Commission saying that two sites in the county were “no longer under active considera tion” by the Commission as poten tially suitable for the facility. The two sites being considered were near the Sandhills Youth Center and the McCain Farm Unit. The Commission said in the let ter that the sites “do not meet the site-selection guidelines adopted by the Commission.” “I’m glad to get this news,” said Upchurch, regarding the decision. The commission letter emphasiz ed that the sites are ruled out only for the purposes of the N.C. Hazardous Waste Treatment Com mission. However, they were not ruled out “for any other industrial or hazardous waste treatment facility,” the letter said. Beauty pageant Stevenia (Steve) Phillips, right, the reigning Miss Buttercup and Haroletta (Harold Livingston, first runner-up, share a tense moment as the winners • names are called Saturday night. The beauty pageant raised money for The Hoke Music Booster Club. More pageant pic tures can be found on page 7A. Around Town By Sam Morris The weather has been nice for the past week, except for occa sional rain. The thermometer has reached into the 70s and the nights have been in the 50s. On Tuesday a cold front was on the way through North Carolina and it was to be below freezing on Tuesday night. We hope this doesn’t hurt the^ peach crop. The fields are all wet and it will be awhile before the farmers can start their crops. We don’t know how far they are behind, but with the tractors, it doesn’t take as long to catch up as it did years ago. The forecast is for the temperatures to start back up and it should be nice by the weekend. * * « Last week 1 mentioned in an item in this column about the Hoke County Democrats Conven tion to be held Saturday, April 4 at the Courthouse, the time for this meeting will be at 1 p.m. Elsewhere in the paper is a writeup and complete details about the convention. Hope to see you there! (See AROUND, page 2A)
The News-Journal (Raeford, N.C.)
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April 2, 1987, edition 1
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