400 Miles Of Lines Planned
For Duplin Water System
By Emily KUlette
The Chowan County water
system involves 208 miles of
waterlines, said Chowan
Water Director Graham
Farless. and will be half the
size of the proposed Duplin
County water system.
According to Engineer Bob
Pittman of Rivers and Asso
ciates in Greenville, the
Duplin water system will
involve over 400 miles of
waterlines and will have
about 350 fire hydrants. The
system will also involve six
deep-water His and four
300.000-gallon storage tanks,
said the project's engineer.
Chowan County Water
Director Farless said Chowan
County was one of the first
counties in the state to install
a county-wide water system
which began operation in
1976. And today the county is
ready to begin a second
phase. Farless said. With the
completion of the second
phase. 140 more customers 1
will be added to the present
service of 2.015. According
to Farless, the county water
system is presently serving
75 percent of the Chowan
citizens. And. in phase one of
the Chowan water system.
Farless said. 208 miles of
waterlines, 120 fire hydrants
at one mile distances, three
water treatment plants, five
deep-water wells, and four
200,000-gallon storage tanks
were installed.
Upon the completion of the
water system, Farless said,
six employees were hired to
run the operation ? a secre
tary, four men and himself.
And. the county water
department started with just
a minimum amount of equip
ment and has purchased
some equipment since
operation began. Farless
said.
[ "When we First started.
J we only had some tapping
r equipment, hand tools, a
J van. two trucks, and a tractor
V with a front-end loader and
J digger," Farless said. "And,
J we inherited some radios
? from the sheriffs depart
t mcnt for communication."
J Since then, Farless said.
? the water department has
* bought a trencher for
? installing new meters and
? several other pieces of equip
? ment. Farless said the
J trencher had paid for itself
?through the money the
*- department had saved by
Z hooking up new customers
J themselves. According to
? Farless, the department in
i stalls about 10 new cus
J tomerseach month.
r New customers wno re
? fused service when the
J operation of the water
* system began are charged
J $150 to connect to the
J system." Farless said. "We
* try to keep the hook-up cost
f as low as possible in order to
J encourage new customers."
f According to Duplin Water
J System Coordinator Alfred
? Dixon. Duplin will require
J a sign-up fee of $10. with a
? $10 deposit, and a $15 charge
to turn the water on for each
' customer, making a total of
; $35. Persons who refuse
r service but decide to connect
to the water system later will
be charged about $250 to
hook up. Dixon said.
When the system was
designed and a sign-up
campaign underway,
Chowan citizens were
charged a $25 deposit for
future water service. Farless
said. When hook-up-time
came. Farless said, less'than
one percent of those who
signed up refused service,
and most of those people had
either died or moved.
The average water bill in
rt Chowan County is $9.60.
Farless said, and the mini
mum is $7. Engineer Bob
Pittman said the average
water bill in Duplin is ex
pected to be about $10.50,
with the minimum of $7.50.
In Chowan, Farless said,
meters are read each month
by men from his department.
"it takes three men four
days to read all the water
meters in the county, and
last year it cost $6,000 to do
all the meter-reading."
Farless said. "And, to save
money, I proposed a plan to
read water meters on a
quarterly basis and the plan
was approved by the county
commissioners."
Under Farless' plan, water
meters will be read every
three months, and during the
two months between, an
average of the past six
months' water use is billed
the customer. And, on the
third month, the 6ver- or
untie r charge is balanced out
and billed to the customer,
Farless says he expects to
save his department about
S8.000 each year by using the
quarterly meter-reading
plan.
Farless said he divided
Chowan County into eight
sections with about 300 water
meters in each section to
help eliminate back-tracking
while reading meters. Each
customer has an account
number according to the
section number and sign-up
number. Farless said, and
these account numbers are
used for billing and records.
According to Farless. the
Chowan water system is self
supporting and phase two of
the water system will receive
SIJ0.000 from the w ater
system funds. Farless said
the water svstem makes
$30,000 to $35,000 each year
and has an average monthlv
hilling of $26,000. Of each
month's receipts. Farless _
said. 40 percent is puid for I
maintenance aiul salaries. I
and 60 percent for the loan
repayment.
Bonds Needed To Continue Board
Of Education Building Program
Duplin County pre
sented the state Department
of Public Instruction a
shopping list of $14 million
worth of needed school
capital outlay projects re
cently, but would receive
only $4.9 million from the
proposed $600 million school
bond issue if the issue were
approved by voters.
However, the Duplin
system now has engineers
preparing a study of the
system's anticipated needs
for the next 10 years. Com
pletion of the study, which
will take into account popu
lation trends, building faci
lity need and priorities, is
expected in March.
Meanwhile, board of edu
cation members expressed
hope the proposed school
bond position will be put to a
vote of the state in November
and win voter approval.
Board Chairman E. L.
Boyettc says without help of
the proposed bonds, the
county won't be able to
maintain its building pro
gram.
During the past decade the
system has spent $10 million
on school buildings with
one-third of the total coming
from county funds. The
county provided the money
without resorting to a bond
issue. The remaining con
struction money came from
i
state and federal lunds.
During that period, the
county built the Rose Hill
Magnolia Elementary, North
Duplin Elementary. Wallace
Elementary and Warsaw
Elementary schools. It is now
completing the Kenansville
Elementary School which will
open in September. It has
added a fine arts building
and some classrooms to East
Duplin High School at
Beulaville. ninth-grade
classrooms to East Duplin
High School at Beulaville,
ninth-grade classrooms at
Wallace-Rose Hill High
School and canopies, lockers
and paved driveways at
several schools.
School board member
Patricia Broadrick insists
counties such as Duplin, a
rural, non-industrial county,
should receive more money
relatively from a state bond
issue than the richer
counties, due to the greater
ability of those counties to
provide school facilities.
County Commissioner D.J.
Fussell. a board member for
much of the largest con
struction period of the Duplin
system, believes the county
has acted intelligently in
putting most of its federal
revenue sharing and some
county money into the build
ing program.
"I think we're the envy of
t f;
? "'r
Hunter Files For
RegisterOf Deeds
Campaigning on a plat
form to make the office of the
register of deeds self
supporting. Ann A. Hunter.
39. of Route I. Chinquapin. '
ha. filed her candidacy for
Lup'iin County Register of
Deeds.
Ann says, "In many
counties the office is self
supporting. In Duplin County
revenue for the office has
totaled over $435,000 and it
has taken an additional
$199,946 in tax dollars to
supplement that cost."
Hunter, a computer tech
nician employed by the
county, is challenging in
dumbent Christine W. Wil
liams. who has bet <-egister
of deeds for the ast 28
years.
"I feel like the people of
Duplin County are ready for
a change. If you give the
people a choice. 1 think it
makes for better politics.
Mrs. Williams has only had
opposition in two elections in
28 years ? once in 1968 and
again in 1976."
Hunter is a graduate of
Chinquapin High School. She
is married to Mac Donald
Hunter, a pipefitter at Camp
Lejeune. and they have two
sons, Donald Eric. 20, and
Hugh Mac. 13.
She is a member of Bethel
Presbyterian Church,
Lyman, and its Presbyterian
Women's organization. She
is. also a member of the
Lyman Volunteer Fire
Department Ladies' Auxi
liarv.
I
most ol the state ana we ve
done it without going into
debt." he says, "but I'll
support the proposed bond
issue too. We still need more
facilities.
Duplin County is providing
its sehool system $2,812,652
from eounty funds during the
eurrent sehool year. While
the eounty pays all or part of
the salaries of some teachers
it does not provide an across
the-board teacher supple
ment.
i lit- Department ot Public
Instruction reported the
county is providing $209.68
per pupil in current expense
from county funds. The state
is providing $885.45 per
pupil and the federal gov
ernment, $207.97.
The state report indicates
the per pupil expenditure of
$1,403.10 in Duplin is $83.75 .
under the state average of
$1,486.85.
The capital outlay needs of
the Duplin system that were
included in a report from
Superintendent C.H. Yelver
ton to the state recently,
included:
An addition to James
Kenan High School for the
ninth grade and an athletic
facility and Tine arts audi
torium; athletic facilities and
auditorium for Wallace-Rose
Hill High School; addition to
North Duplin High School to
^place eight jnobile class
,ri?ms; extensive remodeling
of B.F. Grady School; new
Bculavillc Elementary
School; new Chinquapin Ele
mentary School; expanded
central maintenance facili
ties; and improved waste
water disposal systems.
The system is now nego
tiating with Warsaw to
extend water and sew er lines
seven miles from- the city to
James Kenan High School.
The board believes such an
extension will be more eco
nomical than upgrading the
school facility to meet new
federal Environmental Pro
tection Agency standards.
"Opera" is a shortened
form of the Italian opera
in musica, meaning "musical
AnJrk."
KENANSVILLE-WARSAW ROTARY STUDENT OF THE
MONTH - Mike Slim merlin, a James Kenan High School
senior, is pictured with Rotary member. John Aycock.
Mike was named Rotary Student of the Month for
February.
Rotary Student I
Of The Month I
Mike Summerlin, a stu- <
dent at James Kenan High i
School, was selected as the i
Kenansville-Warsaw Rotary i
Student of the Month of ,
February. I
Mike is the son of Mr. and I
Mrs. Jimmy 0. Summerlin of j
Kenansville. and a senior at
James Kenan. After gradua
tion Mikje plans to attend i
N.C. State University and j
major in engineering.
While a student at James
Kenan. Mike has been active %
in the Pep Club. Teen Demo
crats Club, National Honor
Societv. and a bus driver
;ach year. Mike also played
he lead role in the school
nusical "Scrooge," and is a
nember of the JK chorus.
And. Mike was the 1979 rural ^
Electric Youth Tour winner,
DAR Good Citizen, and was
selected to Who's Who
Among American High
School Students. Mike also
served as a marshal his
junior year.
In the community. Mike is
a member of the Wesley
United Methodist Church
and is presently serving asa A
member of the pastor-parish ?
relations committee.
Announcing
The Candidacy Of
Ann A. Hunter
For
Duplin County
Register Of Deeds
I believe the Register of Deeds office
should be self-supporting.
From 1972 through 1979 revenue for that H ?
office has totaled over $435,000.00. In that
same period of time it has taken an addi
tional $199,946.00 tax dollars to supplement
that office operational costs.
As Register of Deeds I would reduce
operational costs so that added tax monies
would not be needed. H ?
As your Register of Deeds I can serve the
public effectively and efficiently on the fees
I derived from providing that service.
I also believe that 36 years of public ser
I vice (of which 28 years has been served aa ,
I Register of Deeds) is indicative of the need
for a change.
The people of Duplin County built and H ?
I maintain this office. It should and must at
all times be theirs to enjoy as they are serv
ed in an atmosphere that speaks that very
truth. ?
I ask for your vote in the Democratic
Primary election on May 6,1980.
Ann A. Hunter
Candidate for Register of Deeds
[Paid for by Ann A. Hunfar]
- i
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