PROGRESS SENTINEL
VOL. XXXXV11 NO. 7 USPS 162-860 KENANSVILLE, NC 28349 FEBRUARY lb. 1984 16 PAGES THIS WEEK 10 CENTS PLUS TAX
Stroud Crowned 1984 Miss Duplin County
Mary Allyson Stroud, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy Stroud of
Kenansville, was crowned Miss Duplin County 1984 in Kenan Memorial
Auditorium Feb. II. Angela Joy Norman, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Warner W. Norman 111 of Rose Hill, was named first runner-up to Miss
?Duplin County 1984. The Shari Jones Stewart Congeniality trophy was
awarded to contestant Oscara Carter of Wallace. Miss Duplin County 1984
performed a ballet in talent competition and Ally son is a senior at James
Kenan High School. Pictured above, left to right, first runner-up Angela Joy
Norman. Allyson Stroud Miss Duplin County 1984. Julia Spicer Miss Duplin
County 1981 and Miss Congeniality Oscara Carter. Allyson will compete later
this year for the title of Miss North Carolina.
Beulaville Board Awards Fencing Bids
Commissioner Rabon Maready
opposed the action by the Beulaville
Town Board to award Furnie R.
Wood and Sqn a fencing contract,
According ft Maready the prv?ess
? showed "implications of bid rig
ging-"
The bid to fence ball fields at
Beulaville Elementary School was
awarded to Wood and Son of
Chinquapin by the Beulaville Town
Board at the February 6 meeting.
Wood submitted the low bid of
$13,550, followed by Baker Fence
Company at $13,876.40; Seegars,
$15,123; and Lowes, $21,158.
The project was increased by 120
feet of fence and tcwn attorney
A Russell Lanier advised the town
~ board to reject original bids and open
a second bidding for the revised
plans. Among the companies sub
mitting bids in the first process were
Baker Fence Company at $13,577,
and Wood and Son at $13,995. Wood
was the only contractor submitting a
bid which included the additonal 120
feefcof fence during the first bidding
pr.;vess.
Recreation Commission Chairman
Alfred Basden reported the recom
mendation from Commission
members to award the fencing
contract to the low bidder, Wood and
Son. Basden reported $7,507 in the
recreation budget for fencing. The
Beulaville Town Board voted unani
mously to fund the additional cost of
$6,000. Beulaville Elementary
School Principal Douglas Hunter
agreed to upgrade the three pro
posed diamonds bv preparine the
infield. Seeding and leveling the
fields had been done last year by the
Duplin Board of Education. *
The Recreation Commission's plan
to enter into a use agreement for the
athletic field with the Duplin Board
of Education was approved by the
town board in November of last year.
The facility is proposed for use by
the elementary school students as a
playground and the citizens of
Beulaville as a softball and baseball
field.
Police protection after 2 a.m. is a
concern of merchant Patsy Smith
who appeared before the Beulaville
Commissioners. Smith told Com
missioners the recent robbery at her
business was the second within one
year and both occurred during the
early morning hours when no Beula
ville police officer is on duty. Three
police officers provide scheduled
protection from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m.
daily. According to Beulaville police
officer Aubrey Murphy, a fourth
officer would be needed in order to
provide continuous coverage for the
town. Service hours of the Beulaville
police department are equal to the
Duplin County Sheriff s Department.
Beulaville Commissioner Joe
Edwards was appointed by Mayor
Wilbur Hussey to work with officer
Murphy >o study the possibility of
staggering police shifts in order to
provide protection during the night
hours.
Commissioners approved the in
stallation of a third telephone line
into the Beulaville Town Hall. Cur
rently two lines carry the load of calls
to the town offices and the police
departments. The additional line will
increase the monthly service fee
from approximately $99 to $135.
The tow n hall was approved as the
site of a voter registration drive
scheduled March 3. Lucille Blizzaid.
a member of the Committee of
Concerned Citizens for Morality,
requested the organization be al
lowed the use of the town hall
meeting room for the morning
registration drive.
Faison Reviews Trash Collection Fees
Faison's commercial customers
may face a rate hike in garbage
collection fees. The Faison town
board appointed Commissioner
Melvin Rogers and town superin
tendent Fred Wheless at the Feb. 1
meeting to study a proposed rate
hike for commercial trash collection.
According to Mayor Francis
McColman, town workers spend two
Apr more hours a week collecting
garbage at some of the businesses
and industries in Faison. The current
rate for commercial trash collection
is $2, the same amount residential
customers pay.
The town of Faison received a
request from Univision cable tele
vision to reduce their company's
performance bond from $10,000 to
$2,000. McColman reported the
company had completed all specified
construction on the cable system.
Commissioner Bill Igoe made a
motion that upon receipt of the
$2,000 bond, the $10,000 letter of
credit be returned to Univision. The
motion passed unanimously.
A motion to extend a water line
. outside the city limits on Faison
Avenue was unanimously passed.
The six-inch water line will connect a
building to become part of the
Charles F, Cates & Sons. Inc. pickle
company.
Complaints were brought before
the Board by Commissioner Jane
Hollingsworth about citizens getting
rusty-colored water in their homes.
Mayor McColman agreed to work
with Superintendent Wheless and
town Engineer Finley Boney to try
and find a solution to the rust
tatnieo water in the system.
Upon the conclusion of a public
hearing on the allocation of $7,088.
the Board voted to fund drainage and
tile improvements, fire and rescue
services, the community building
and contribute to the town's general
funds. The fire and rescue depart
ments will receive $1,500 each,
drainage and tile improvements,
$1.000; the community building fund
will be increased by $1,000: and the
remaining $2,088 will be allocated to
the town's general fund from the
revenue sharing monies.
School Bus Must Pass
Although a school bus passes in
front of her home, a North Duplin
School ninth-grader will continue
walking or riding a mile to board the
bus.
The Duplin County Board of
Education ruled the school bus that
passes the family's home cannot stop
there because the residence is
located outside North Duplin's
school district. The board decided
#
h that if it granted the .anmy s
request, similar requests might have
to be granted.
Last year, the family of Faye and
John Jones moved a mile east of
their earlier residence near Britt's
Store. Their former residence was in
the North Duplin district.
The child still attends North
Duplin School, although the Jones'
present residence is in the B.F.
Grady School area.
A school bus uaveling to [Nona
Duplin School every day passes in
front of their home. The bus carries
special education students from the
B.F. Grady district to the North
Duplin School, which has programs
for "exceptional children."
The bus stopped for the Jones
child earlier in the year, but the
service ended when a check revealed
the residence to be outside of the
North Duplin district.
I
Duplin 4-H'er To Represent State
.Charles Denning will represent
North Carolina at a national 4-H
conference in April in Washington,
D.C., Duplin County Extension
Chairman Lois Britt announced last
?veek.
Denning has been active in Duplin
County 4-H programs for several
years, mis. oriu su.v.
About 50 outstanding 4-H mem
bers were guests of the county Board
of Commissioners last Wednesday at
the 13th annual recognition banquet.
Roxanne Pearsall, county 4-H presi
dent, said the commissioners' 4-H
recognition banquet is unique in the
state.
M -?
Other 4-H memoers recognized
were:
? Angie Hood of Warsaw and
Bryant Murphy of Rose Hill, selected
for junior achievement.
? Amy West of Warsaw and
Eleanor Wade of Walh.ce, recog
nized for senior achievement.
Duplin Board
4"
Rejects Request
For Hospital Loan
A request for a $75,000 loan by the
Duplin General HospitaJ Board was
rejected by the county commission
ers last week.
The commissioners also failed to
take up the hospital board's request
for an increase of $120,000 in the
unrestricted fund appropriation from
the county.
Commissioner D.J. Fussell's
motion to approve the loan request
died for lack of a second.
HospitaJ board chairman Ray San
derson, board members Dr. E.L.
Bovette. Wade Carlton and Albert
Davis and administrator Richard
Harrell presented the request. They
asked for $75,000 for six months.
saying it would be repaid from
Medieaid-Medicare reimbursements
fromt he federal government.
Harrell said the hospital is owed
$178,000 from the federal govern
ment.
In a letter to the commissioners,
the hospital board requested its
S75.000 unrestricted fund appro
priation be increased to $105,000.
Most of the additional money was to
have been used as partial payment
on $294,885 worth of equipment
purchased by the hospital in the past
year.
Commissioner W.J. Costin said
the hospital's biggest problem is that
local physicians do not send patients
to it.
"If the doctors don't send patients
there," Costin said, "no ma'ier how
much (money) we put in it. it won't
make any difference. . . .1 under
stand three doctors in Warsaw are
leaving and that upsets me."
Boyette said part of the problem is
many of these new doctors are from
out of State and have no ties to the
county. ,
"What has the county got to offer,
as a whole? What has the county
done? Some of these doctors are
trained at government expense and
sent here and we know they'll*only
be here a couple of years," Boyette
said. "We can't make doctors prac
tice at Duplin General."
Free care to indigent patients cost
the hospital $07,444 in the past fiscal
vear ana s>8.448 in the previous
year. .
1 he county will pay an estimated
$80,000 for a new roof on the south
w ing of the hospital tljty year.
Harrell answered a question about
hospital use by saying it had 45 to 50
patients' beds occupied in the past
two weeks. The hospital has about 80
beds.
Boyette said average cost per
paiient can be determined by divid
ing the operating budget by the
number of admissions. On this basis,
he said, the average for Duplin in the
past year was $1,576: for Sampson
Memorial at Clinton. $2,102; New
Hanover Memorial. $2,006; Pender
Memorial, $1,638; Duke Medical
Center at Durham, $5.6%. and Pitt
Memorial at Greenville. S2.690.
Duplin Board
Authorizes Bids
For Airport Work
The Duplin County Board of
Commissioners last week authorized
the airport commission to advertise
for bids to complete the long
delayed paving of the aitpon runway
extension.
The airport commission contends
that the 1,100-foot extension was
improperly paved. The county is
suing the contractor. Blavlock Con
struction Co. of Lillington. and its
bonding firm. Balboa Insurance Co.,
either for damages or for satisfactory
completion of the paving.
County Attorney Russell Lanier,
siad Wednesday the extension is
"probably dangerous because of the
unlevel surface."
He said "birdbaths" of water
remain in low areas of the surface
after a rain.
The cost of work needed to bring
the surface up to specifications is
estimated at $30,000 to $39,000.
Lanier recommended (hat the county
go ahead with the project and recoup
its money when the lawsuit with the
contractor is settled. "We'll know
what the actual damages are in that
situation." he said.
The contract for the airport work
was about $100,000. he said.
During the commissioners' meet
ing, it was revealed that the counts
has retained $11,000 from payment
to the contractor. This money will be
applied to completion of the project.
The extension increased the run
way length to4.800feet.
Bcnnie Wilson, chairman of the
airport commission, told the board a
30-acre buffer zone at the end of the
runway is being cleared and sodded.
An electronic guidance system is
being installed to help pilots land.
The project is being financed
through grants and contributions
from airport users, he added.
-ii-tB I >?!- Mi
Denning Goes To National 4-H Congress
\_naries Denning, a North Duplin senior and the son of
Mr. and Mrs. Alvis Denning of Faison. was named
among the North Carolina delegates to attend National
4-H Congress in Washington. D.C. later this year.
According to Duplin Agricultural Extension 4-H Agent
Ray Rhinehart. Denning will be the first local
representative to be selected as a delegate to National
Congress in about lb years. Pictured above, uupun
Agricultural Extension 4-H Agent Ray Rhinchart.
Charles Denning and County Commissioner D.J.
Fussell. Denning was recognized by Duplin County
Commissioners, along with other outstanding 4-H'ers
during the annual winner's circle banquet held Feb. 8
in Rose Hill.
? *