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PROGRESS SENTINEL ,
^VOL. XXXXIV NO. 35 USPS 162-860 KENANSV1LLE. NC 28349 AUGUST 30. 1979 10 PAGES THIS WEEK 10 CENTS PLUS TAX
Duplin Democrats Vote
i To Elect School
Board By Districts
?
The Duplin County Demo
cratic Executive Committee
Alvoted Thursday night in
^ favor of electing the Board of (
Education by Commissioner |
districts. This change was
approved by a vote of 113 to 8 j
and climaxed more than a ]
year of study and debate on ,
^ the issue. ,
W The change to districts was
earlier approved by the 1
Board of Education and is j
designed to insure that <
members are evenly distri
buted throughout the county.
The State legislature will
?| have to approve the change
before it becomes law. 1
The proposal calls for:
--District 1: one seat for (
Faison and Wolfscrape town
ships with a population of <
5,165. 3
*
??District 2: two seats for
Clisson, Smith, Limestone,
Mbertson and Cypress Creek
townships with 11,442 in
habitants.
--District 3: two seats for
Island Creek (Wallace),
Rockfish and Rose Hill town
ships with a population of
11,856.
District 4: two seats for
Warsaw, Kenansville and
Magnolia townships with
1,552 inhabitants.
The Committee voted
121 */? to 11 in favor of
rhanging the term of office to
1 years instead of the present
> years. A motion to change
he date of swearing in a new
ichool Board member in
December following his elec
tion was passed unani
mously. A new member must
currently wait until April
following his election to take
office.
Executive Committee
members voted 44'/j-87
against a proposal to raise
.the number of Board of
Education members from S
to 7. Also defeated by a vote
of 27'/i to 104 was a motion
to elect School Board mem
bers on a non-partisan basis.
The Executive Committee
filled two vacant offices by
electing Carolyn B. Ingram
of Kenansvilie as first vice
chairman of the Duplin
County Democratic Party and
Gerald Carr of Rose Hill as a
member of the N.C. Demo
cratic Executive Committee.
Duplin County Students
* Start School Friday
Those big yellow school
bus^s. 137 of them, will Itit
_ the roads Thursday as
drivers move the vehicles
'from the bus garage in
tfenansville to the starting
_ point of I liflij routes.
The buses will start on
their routes early Friday to
bring most of the expeirted
9.000 Duplin County
students to their schools for
Friday's half-day orientation
session.
School will continue from
8-11:30 a.m. Friday. The
normal class schedule will
begin at 8 a.m. Tuesday.
The Duplin school system
employs about 700 persons,
officials said, including about
450 professional workers.
* .
Special Water Bond Election
i
September 4 In Kenansville
There will be a special
water bond election held in
, the Town of Kenansville oiv
W Tuesday, September 4th.
j The polling place will be in
the Fire Station which opens
j at 6:30 a.m. and closes at
{ 7:30 p.m.
I Claude L. Hepler, chair
f man of Duplin County Board
? of Elections, released the
9 proposition to vote "Yes" or
"No" as follows:
> Shall the order adopted on
> July 18. 1979, authorizing
not exceeding SI 70,000
Water Bonds of the Town of
Kenansville. North Carolina,
for the purpose of providing
funds, witlt any'other avail
able funds for enlarging,
extending and improving the
water system of said Town,
within and without the
corporate limits of said
|& Town, including the con
'W struction of facilities for the
supply, storage and distribu
tion of water and appur
tenant facilities, and the
Mrquisition of necessary
land, rights of way and
equipment therefore, and
authorizing the levy of taxes
in an amount sufficient tc
pay the principal of and the
interest on said bonds, be
approved?
According to Woody Brin
son, town administrator ot
Kcnansville, the referendum
has received endorsements
from the Kenansville Area
Chamber .of Commerce,
Kenansville Voluntary Fire
Department, Kenansville
Javcees, and Duplin General
Hospital Board of Trustees.
Richard Harrell, president
of the Kenansville Chamber
of Commerce, polled the
membership which gave an
overwhelming endorsement
of the project. Harrell also
stated in a letter from the
Duplin General Hospital
Board that without the water
system improvements, the
accreditation of the hospital
was in jeopardy. In making
their endorsement, the Jay
cees commented on the
1 impact that the project would
I have on the Town's growth.
A spokesman for the Jaycees
> stated that the Jaycees
unanimously endorsed the
project at their August 13
meeting.
Fire Chief Lauren Sharpe
has stated that the water
system improvements should
improve fire protection. The
additional storage capacity of
a 250,000 gallon tank, the
looping of dead-end lines,
and the replacement of 40
year-old lines with new
8-inch lines should put the
Town's fire protection sys
tem in top shape. According
to Chief Sharpe. after the
project has been completed,
then an inspection by the
N.C. Fire Insurance Rating
Bureau will be requested to
determine if l?enansville's
fire insurance rating can be
changed from a rating of 8 to
7. If this rating is obtained,
an insurance premium
savings of one to fifteen
percent might be possible.
OUTSTANDING FINANCE OFFICER 1979-80 Chairman of the Duplin
County Commissioners William Costin presents county Finance Officer
? mmmrnarmm mm r
Russell Tucker with a statewide award of Outstanding Finance Officer of
the Year.
Russell Tucker Named
Outstanding Finance Officer
Duplin County Finance
Officer Russell Edwin Tucker
was named "Outstanding
Finance Officer 1979." The
statewide award was pre
sented to him at the NC
Association of County Com
missioners meeting on
August 16th in Raleigh.
Chairman William Costin
said Tucker was an out
standing finance officer in
this county, but he was glad
the st^e recognized Tucker's
dedication. According to
Costin, the number one
interest of Tucker is the
growth of Duplin County,
and he has gone beyond the
call of duty as finance officer
to promote the county.
Tucker was one of 100
finance officers (one from
each county) in North Caro
lina considered by a nomi
nating committee for the
award. Buck O'Shields. vice
president of the state or
ganization, presented Tucker
with the award. Finance
officers and county commis
sioners attend the state
association meeting which
is held each year.
Tucker is a resident of Pink
Hill. He graduated from
James Kenan High School in
1962 and from East Carolina
University in 1966. He also
attended the Institute of
Government at UNC-CH
where he received a certi
ficate in county administra
tion.
Tucker worked two years
as a staff accountant with
A.M. Pullen & Co., certi
fied public accountants, in
Greensboro before he was
hired as Duplin County Ac
countant in August of 1968.
The title has been changed
to County Finance Officer,
and Tucker is responsible for
planning, maintaining and
directing the receipts and
disbursements, and account
ing of Duplin County's reve
nues ai.d expenditures. He is
also responsible for manag
ing investments of county
funds and the compilation
and preparation of the
annual budget.
Tucker has been a member
of the N.C. Association of
County Finance Officers
since 1968 and served as
president in 1977-78. Also,
he has been a member of the
Duplin County Mental
Health Board, the Advisory
Committee to Local Govern
ment Commission. Finance
Committee of the Duplin
General Hospital, and the
Duplin County Arts Council.
Tucker is a past treasurer of
the Hospital Building Fund
and a past member and office
holder of the Region "P"
Human Development
Agency.
Tucker is a member of the
Smith Presbyterian Church
where he is a deacon, former
Sunday School superinten
dent and teacher, member of
the Area Cluster Council, as
well as choir member and
director.
Duplin Secondary Road 1306 To Be Closed Two Weeks
The Division of Highways
of the North Carolina De
partment of Transportation
will close Secondary Road
1306 in Duplin County to
through traffic for approxi
mately two weeks, according
to Division Engineer Ted
Funderburk.
The road, located near Red
Hill about .3 mile from
Secondary Road 1519 toward
i
Secondary Road 1521, will be
closed from Tuesday. Sep
tember 4 to Tuesday,
September 18.
The temporary closing will
allow NCDOT maintenance
crews to replace a pipeline on
the road. Traffic will be
detoured over local roads.
W.C. Casteen, bridge
supervisor, said that every
effort is being made to
complete the project as soon
as possible to minimize any
inconvenience to the
traveling public.
4 Design Hearings For 1-40 Spark Controversary In Duplin
By Emily Klllette
<0 A public hearing was held
August 21st to discuss the
alignment and design within
the approved location of sec
tion B of 1-40 at the North
Duplin High School. There
were about 200 present.
Section B is a 25-mile
length of 1-40 from south of
Newton Grove to north of
Magnolia. 1-40 is a 90-mile
freeway from Benson to
Wilmington which is being
constructed to provide a
direct connection for the
0 coastal plains to the port of
Wilmington. The total
project is estimated to cost
$267,500,000; costs of
section B are $60,042,000,
Funds for the project will
come from the federal
go.irnment who will supply
P r, 75 percent and the state of
North Carolina paying 25
percent. According to the
Department of Transporta- .
tion officials, a true inter
state is 90 percent federally
funded and only 10 percent
state funded.
\
The right-of-way width of
1-40 will be 320 feet with two
one-way lanes each 24 feet,
and a 46-foot median
between the lanes. The re
maining 220 feet will be
divided on either side of the
freeway as shoulders. High
way officials indicate^} that a
46-foot median is needed for
.safety reasons, and the 110-*
foot shoulders include
expansion room for the
future. According to highway
department figures, there
will be as many as 9.000
automobiles traveling 1-40
daily in 1965. and by the year
2005, an estimated 15.100
daily travelers. The design
speed for 1-40 is 70 miles an
hour.
Bill Garrett of the Depart
ment of Transportation con
ducted the hearing and
explained relocation 'and
appraisal procedures for
property owners affected by
1-40. Garrett answered ques
tions and explained the
design of the proposed over
passes, dead-end roads, and
access locations of section B.
.. Garrett then opened the
meeting to citizens who
wished to comment on sec
tion B of 1-40. Garrett or
highway officials traveling
with him answered ques
tions posed by the citizens at
the hearing. Individual
comments were recorded by
officials.' and these remarks
will be part of a public record
which will be reviewed by the
Board of Transportation and
the administrative and
engineering staffs of the
Division of Highways and the
Federal Highway Adminis
tration before the final deci
sions on the project.
In section B there will be
19 homes relocated. Many of
the speakers at the hearing
were property owners. The
first speaker was Ben War
rick, an attorney from Clin
ton. who was speaking on
behalf of John C. Warren of
Sampson County. The
Warren family has a hog
farm, and the proposed loca
tion of 1-40 will take the only
suitable place for part of
their operation.
J. G. McGowan of Faison
questioned officials for rea
I
sons 1-40 would cut through
two fields of his farmland.
McGowan said he would not
object to the road going
through his woodland, but he
asked the department to
spare his cleared land. Ac
cording to him. 1-40 would
split two of his cleared fields
and isolate part of the land
making it hard to reach and
farm.
Jimmy Sauls of Bowden,"
who will not be affected by
the 1-40. urged citizens
against the location of the
new freeway to voice their
opinions. "The government
is spending our tax money
the way they please, so now
is the time to fight before it is
too late," Sauls said. He said
the state is letting citizens
down by not using existing
roads such as NC 701 or NC
421. "Theje is a great de
mand for prime farmland in
the state, and afte'r the
concrete is poured, it will be
too late to try to fight," Sauls
said. He also urged con
cerned citizens to write their
representatives and con
gressmen before it was too
late.
Jack Williams of Faison
was concerned with appriasal
values of land. Williams felt
the only fair way to set land
values would be to use local
appraisers. "What recourse
do I have if I don't like the
appraisal value the transpor
tation department gives
me?" Williams questioned.
"And I am sure I won't." he
added.
Highway officials ex
plained that if the owner of
the property could not agree
with the transportation
appraisal value of the land, a
court hearing would set a
price.
' Other speakers followed
Williams with questions
about the value of their land.
Many citizens felt appraisal
of their land "as if they
wanted to sell" was not fair.
They felt there should be
compensation for not
wanting to sell, but being
forced to. Other citizens had
questions about taxes on the
money they receive as pay
ment for their land. Chair
man of the Duplin County
\
Commissioners, William
Costin, offered his help an
swering tax questions.
Speakers also expressed a
concern about the width of
the right-of-way and asked
why it was not decreased.
Concern was also expressed
about the location meetings
held in Smithfield and
Benson. Citizens questioned
officials concerning publica
tion of meetings choosing the
* specific location of the 1-40
corridor. Highway officials
stated there were news re
leases sent to area news
papers and radio stations
concerning the corridvr loca
tion meetings. According to
the officials, the design
hearings could yiejd only
minor shifts in alignment and
a complete shift of the
corridor would be very un
likely.
A public hearing August
22 in Teachcy on Section C of
1-40. drew nearly 400 people.
Strong support was shown at
this meeting for the proposed
freeway along with concern
from property-owners who
would lose land to 1-40.
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1