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PROGRESS SENTINEL
VOL. XXXXVI1 NO. 20 USPS 162-860 KENANSV1LLE, NC 28349 16 PAGE$ THIS WEEK 10 CENTS PLUS TAX
Duplin Squads Win Regional Competition
Duplin rescue squads won the top awards in the Area Three First-Aid
I competition among 11 participating counties. Magnolia won first place
' followed by Warsaw in second and Beulaville with third. Magnolia moved
from the number two position last year to the top in the 1984 First-Aid
competition held in Jacksonville during early May, Hiram Brinson, Duplin
emergency services coordinator, pointed out. The rescue squads were
honored for their achievement during^Jhe May 7 meeting of the Duplin
County Commissioners with certificate^ of recognition from the Board.
Chairman of the Duplin County Commissioners Allen Nethercutt is pictured
above presenting certificates to representatives from the three Duplin rescue
squads, left to right, Glenwood Thomas of Beulaville, Ruth Quinn of
Magnolia, and Kenneth Guy of Warsaw, and Duplin County Emergency
Services Director Hiram Brinson.
Expand Disposal Site
Duplin To Buy 133 Acres
Duplia County will exercise its
option to buy 133 acres adjacent to
the landfill east of Rose Hill. The
garbage disposal site will be ex
panded onto the land.
The price is $133,000. The county
Board of Commissioners voted last
week to buy the land even though the
results have not been received on
,|m- ro?l test borjngs made by the state.
State regulations do not permit
landfills in porous soil because
water would pass through buried
garbage.
In other business, the board ap
proved a request by Social Services
Director Millie Brown to close the
social services office May 16 and 17.
During those days, the offices of 18
social workers will be moved from
the social services building to the
Quinn Building.
The director said serving clients
while records were being moved
would be nearly impossible. The law
requires the agency to act imme
diately on' requests for service if the
office is open, she said.
By a 3-2 vote the board refused a
request made by Carl " Pate of Pate
Insurance Agency of Beulaville. Pate
had asked for a letter saying the
board wanted a county insurance
contract bid to be submitted by his
agency rather than by an out-of
county agency of the same insurance
firm.
County attorney Russell Lanier
told the board he wasn't sure such a
step would be legal. Voting against
writing the letter were Commis
sioners D.J. Fussell, Dovey Penney
and Calvin Coolidge Turner. Voting
for it were Commissioners W.J.
Costin and Allen Nethercutt. ;
The board agreed to seek state *
permission to change the proposed
location of the Rockfish Community ,
Center. The center will be financed
by a $24,000 community develop-*
ment grant.
In the grant application a location
near the Swift & Co. turkey plant
west of Wallace was proposed. That
land sale, however, fell through. The
new site is on Secondary Road 1154
beside Rockfish Creek, 2'/j miles
south of the former site. It includes
22 acres.
Merle Creech, arts council direc
? r, received permission to seek
latching grants for improvements in
i he former Kenansville Elementary
chool. The board has appropriated
25,000 for roofing materials. The
alue of county labor to install the
oof is estimated at $12,000.
Sitting as the Board of Equaliza
tion and Review, the commissioners
* ho.ird protests about tax assess
ments.
The board agreed to study a pro
test by Cecil Bostic of Warsaw, who
owns a cenetcry called Devotional
Gardens. The board will respond to
the protest by May 21. The cemetery
is between Kenansville and Warsaw
on N.C. 24.
Bostic protested the increase in
valuation of the property from
$29,500 in 1982 to $47,000 in 1983.
School Officials
Concerned About Energy Shift
Energy ? mostly for heating and
lighting ? is one of the major costs
for North Carolina's public schools.
That cost has steadily shifted from
the state government to the counties
in the past 25 years.
A quarter of a century ago the
state provided three-fourths and the
counties one-fourth of these expen
ditures.
Duplin County officials have
blamed a lack of clearly defined re
sponsibilities between the state and
the counties for the shift.
Duplin County School Superinten
dent L.S. Guy said, "1 do not know
just how it came about. I'm hoping
they'll get some resolution about
responsibilities of county govern
ment and state government. There's
just not a clear enough understand
ing."
Traditionally, Guy explained,
"Counties provide facilities and
state, the programs."
William Peek, associate state
superintendent of schools, said,
"The General Assembly has not
been very responsive to requests of
the state board (of education) in
recent years. . . .The legislature
hasn't put in enough money to keep
up with cost increases. It's' a
tremendous burden on the coun
ties."
For the 1981-82 school year, the
counties provided 66.4 percent of the
school energy costs statewide and
the state only 33.6 percent. The total
cost was $75,964,462 with the coun
ties providing $50,455,181 and the
state $25,509,281.
Bv contrast, the actual totals for
the 1949-50 school year were 74.2
percent of $1,619,219 from the state
and 25.8 percent or $564,574 from
the counties.
The total from both sources for the ;
1949-50 school year was only
$2,183,835, according to figures pro
vided by the controller's office of the
state board of education. The expen
ditures include costs of heating fuel,
lighting, power and water.
While all but a small part of this
cost comes out of tax money, the
state relies primarily on its income
and sales taxes. Counties must rely
mainly on property taxes. The
dramatic shift of energy costs has
forced property taxes up. or forced
school districts to reduce other
services or some of both.
In Duplin County, Jane Kich,
school finance officer, reported the
county supplied $443,028 for the
1983-84 school energy budget and
the state, $208,932. for a total of
$652,060. The county provided 67.85
percent and the state 32.15 percent
of the total. With each cent of
property tax bringing in about -
$67,000, the county's portion of the
school energy cost for the current
school year requires about six cents
of tax levy.
Rose Hill To Sell
Notes For Sewer System
The town board of Rose Hill plans
to sell $375,000 in bond anticipation
notes to finance preliminary steps
toward improvements to its sewage
treatment plant and sewer system.
The board approved the action last
week. Mayor Ben Harrell told the
board he doubted if the town would
need to sell more than $170,000 to
$190,000 of the notes.
The state Department of Natural
Resources and Community Develop
ra .nt is reviewing bids received last
month for the project. The town
board has tentatively accepted the
low bids, subject to state approval.
Low bidders for the project are
Crain and Denbo Inc. of Durham for
the general contract, $898,400; Big
John's Electric Co. of Jacksonville,
$41,400 for electrical work; and
Kinsey Construction Co. of Dunn,
$92,216.40 for the utility contract.
Town Clerk C.T. Fussell presented
a budget proposal calling ?
general fund expenditure of
$236,400 for the 1984-85 fiscal year.
He told the board he expects
numerous changes will be made in
the proposal before the budget is
adopted next month.
Fussell said property taxes would
bring in about $90,000. Other major
income sources he listed are local
option sales tax, $40,000; state
franchise tax, $16,500; garbage col
lection fees, $39,000; and hold
funds, $20,000.
The greatest anticipated expense
is $72,000 for the police department,
followed by $39,000 for the sani
tation department, $25,000 for the
street department, and $16 000 for
the fire department.
Bond and interest payments will
total $22,000 from a debt service
fund budget. Revenue sharing is
expected to add $60,000 and the
state Powell Bill street fund $33,000.
Faison Tax Rate To Remain The Same
Budget office and Commissioner
W.J. Igoe informed the Faison Board
at the May meeting of a need for a
water and sewer fees increase in the
1984-85 town budget. Igoe stated the
tax rate would remain the same as
last year. __
The town of Faison currently has
the lowest tax rate in Duplin muni
cipalities. The town's rate is 57 cents
per ,$100 evaluation. Along with the
lowest tax rate, the town's water and
'.ft' ?
sewer fees are among the cheapest
in Duplin municipalities. The town's
present minimum water fee is S4.7S
for up to, 3,000 gallons and the sewer
charges are SI .20 per 1,000 gallons.
A May 14 work meeting is
scheduled by the board to discuss
salaries for the new budget. Last
year Faison town employees were i
granted a five percent salary in- i
crease. The final budget will be i
presented to the board at the June
k
meeting.
A report from Faison Public Works
Director Fred Wheless advised the
Board not to accept ownership of a
sewage lift station at the Duplin
Apartments until repairs are
completed by Weil's Enterprises.
Wheless submitted a written state
ment to the board advising the
commissioners of mechanical and
potential problems in the working,
condition of the lift station pumps.
Weil's Enterprises began construe
tion of the Duplin Apartments and an
informal agreement was made with
the town to assume responsibility of
the lift station at the completion of
the housing project.
Commissioner Igoe also reported,
on behalf of the Faison Historical
Commission, plans to install a phone
in the town library. The phone is to
be installed immediately and be ??
listed as Faison Library and Historic
Commission. rf'" ; ?
Almost Half
Voters Turn Out
Duplin County voters cast 8,873
ballots in the primary elections last
week.
The total was 46.3 percent of the
voter registration of 19,161 people.
The hotly contested school board
and Board of Commissioners races in
two districts brought out the highest
percentage of voters, 51.55 percent
in District 1 and 53.52 percent in
District 5.
Winners were virtually assured of
election, since no Republicans filed
for the offices.
The District 1 races brought out
1,838 voters out of 3,565 registered.
W.J. Costin retained his District 1
Board of Commissioners seat with
900 votes to 869 for challenger J.
Frank Steed. Costin, 58, a War
saw-area farmer, was seeking his
third term. Steed, 53, owns Steed's
Tire Service. He is a former Warsaw
town commissioner and was seeking
his first countywide office.
The district includes Warsaw
Township and the Faison precinct of
Faison Township.
Two incumbents were pitted
against each other in the District 1
school board race in the first year the
seat was districted. Previously,
school board members had been
elected at large.
Two board members with terms
expiring this year are from Warsaw,
which can now have just one member
from its district. As a result, James
F. Strickland, who won, and Riddick
E. Wilkins, the other Warsaw mem
ber, sought the same seat.
Strickland, 63, received 968 votes
to 744 for Wilkins. Strickland is a
24-year veteran of the school board
and a Warsaw hardware store
owner. Wilkins, 61, had been ap
pointed to the board in 1981 to
complete the term of Patricia Broad
rick, who had resigned to move out
of state. Wilkins was the first black
to serve on the board. He is a retired
county agricultural extension agent.
District 5 commissioner and school
board races attracted 2,164 of the
4,043 people registered.
It was the first election for the
newly constituted District 5 school
board seat. The area that now makes
up the district. Rose Hill, Kenans
ville and Magnolia townships, had
been unrepresented on the school
board for several years.
Amos Q. "Doc" Brinson, 33, a
Kenansville pharmacist, defeated
Lillie Sanders, 39, of Magnolia,
manager of the Duplin. Apartments
complexes in Rose Hill and Mag
nolia, by a vote of 1,017 to 953. Ms.
Sanders won the Magnolia precinct
by 214 to 151 and the Rose Hill
precinct by 333 to 325. Brinson won
the Kenansville precinct by 533 to
396.
D.J. Fussell, 70, of Rose hill, a
16-year veteran of the Board of
Commissioners, retained his District
5 seat by a vote of 1,130 to 890 for
George N. Ammons, 35, a Kenans
ville farmer seeking his first county
wide office. Fussell is a retired
contractor and a vintner.
m m
Kenansville
To Negotiate Bids
For Sewer Hookup
Citing costs higher than engi
neers' estimates, the Town Board of
KtnariSville will negotiate bids to
connect the state prison unit south of
town with the town sewer system.
The low bid was almost $53,000
higher than engineers' cost esti
mates. The work entails laying a
sewer line to the prison and building
a pump station.
T.A. Loving of Goldsboro sub
mitted the low bid of $187,914.57.
The town's engineering firm, Mc
Davjd Associates, estimated the
porject cost at about $135,000.
The state will pay for fhe line
extension. The prison is south of
town on N.C. 11. not far from James
Sprunt Technical College, which is
served by the town sewer system.
Plans will be reworked by the
engineers and a call for new bids will
be advertised. The board did not set
a new date for bids.
In other business, it was an
nounced that Kenansville police
officer Glenn Braswell will be pro
moted to police chief upon retire
ment of Chief Tyson Bostic May 24.
Bostic has served the town for 25
years. Braswell's new salary will be
established by the board at its June 4
meeting. The board voted to ad
vertise for a police officer to succeed
Braswell.
The tv.vard also decided to turn
T 'DpUu-j- by two residents over tr> ,
.ne affev. d? paitmcnts for action.
Sam Middleton complained Tvi*
repairs to his house made under the
town's housing rehabilitation pro
gram were unsatisfactory. The com
plaint will be turned over to Woody
Brinson of McDavid Associates, who
administers the federally funded
housing program.
Annie Washington reported a
drainage problem and asked for a
ditch to be covered or reworked near
her house. The board will order
Steve Drew, public works supervisor
to study the problem.
The contract for the annual town ,
audit was awarded to Pittard & Perry
of Kinston, certified public accoun
tants, on a bid of $1,125.
The 1984-85 budget will be re
viewed in a hearing at 5 p.m. May 26
in the Town Hall.
The board sold a surplus police car
to V.J. Basden of Beulaville for $250.
The only other bid received for the
car was $50.
The board decided against paying
$55,000 for the three-bedroom Kor
negay house next to the former
Quinn Store building and Tastee
Freeze. The board had been con
sidering the house as a possible town
hall.
Proposed Budget Calls
For No Tax Increase
The proposed budget presented to
the Beulaville Board of Commis
sioners May 7 by town auditor Doug
Clark called for no increase in taxes
or water and sewer rates.
The tentative budget was pre
sented with available funds for up to
a five percent pay raise for town
employees, Clark pointed out to
Commissioners. Also, appearing be
fore the Board requesting funds from
the 1984-85 town budget were
members of the Beulaville Recrea
tion Commission, Volunteer Fire and
Rescue Department, and library.
Recreation Commission member
Ken Smith appeared before the
board requesting an additional
$2,000 over the funds allocated to the
department last year. The request
was for $7,000.
Doug Brown with the Beulaville
Volunteer Fire and Rescue requested
$7,000 be allocated to the depart
ment. The request for $7,000 was the
same as Commissioners had
allocated to the Fire and Rescue
Department in the current budget.
The Library Commission in Beula
ville submitted a request for $2,700.
The amount requested by the Library
Commission is the same as allocated
last year by the Board. The town
board approved the requests from
the Recreation Commission, Fire and
Rescue Department and Library
Commission as part of the proposed
1984-8S budget.
Clark will present the final copy of
the proposed budget to the Beula
ville commissioners at the regular
A *
June meeting of the board and a
public hearing is scheduled on the
budget June 20.
Brown also requested the use of
the town computer system by the
Beulaville Fire and Rescue depart
ment for bookkeeping assistance.
The board agreed to provide the fire
and rescue department access to the
computer system. And, the board
agreed to pay a $243.25 bill for street
paving around a hydrant at the fire
department building.
Commissioners were also in
formed of the fire department's
decision to change insurance poli
cies. Brown pointed out the new
policy would cover fire and rescue
members enroute to an emergency
and on site, fire and rescue vehicles
and equipment, and include a mal
practice policy. The new policy
including the malpractice and
member coverage enroute to an
emergency in private vehicles will
cost $400 more than the old policy for
minimum coverage. The old policy
had not offered malpractice or
coverage of members enroute to an /
emergency. Brown said.
Cecil Lanier of the Beulaville
Planning Board submitted a copy of
the new subdivision regulations to
the Commissioners. The planning
board is also preparing a zoning
map, Lanier saidJ The regulations
were submitted and if approved by
the town board a public hearing will
be held before the subdivision
zoning codes are adopted by the
Beulaville Commissioners as law.