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Hayes Os Siler City Working In Yancey
9
Filing For Primary
Board Os Elections
i
Notes Time Changes
The Board of Elections
isks voters to note the change
in the time period for filing for
office in the 1978 elections*,
The time has been shortened
4 one month: noon January 2
tp noon February 6, 1978.
County offices to be filled
ape the Commissioners (two
year term), Clerk of Court,
Sheriff and Coroner (each a
four year term), all subject to
the May 2 Party Primaries.
mere will be two places
an the Board of Education to
be filled on a non-partisan
basis, the final election to be
held May 2 at the same time
9
Si
EHJETI HI
as the Primaries.
for Soil and Water Conserva
tion Supervisors, which is also
a non-partisan election, have _
until September 8, 1978 to
file.
The filing fee, by law, is
1% of the annual salary for
most offices, SIO.OO for
County Commissioners and $5
for Board of Education.
Registration of voters may
be done at any time by the
Registrars and Judges or at
the Elections office in the
courthouse until April 3rd,
and then Voter registration is
closed for the month preced
ing the Primary.
BURNSVILLE, N.C. 28714
Gudger Plans
—»*i*i*.
W orkshop
Congressman Lamar Gud
ger has extended an invitation
to all local officials of Western
North Carolina to attend an
Intergovernmental Energy
Conservation Workshop to be
co-sponsored by the North
Carolina Department of Na
tural Resources and Commun
ity Development and himself.
The workshop is scheduled for
January 4th and Sth at the Inn
on the Plaza, Asheville.
“The workshop will be
designed to inform local
officials of energy conserva
tion practices and opportuni
ties that are important to local
units of government,” Gud
ger said. “I feel that this
upcoming conference will be
very important because of the
great emphasis being placed
on energy conservation at the
natioflSff level. While we must
all be thinking about energy
conservation, local govern
ments in particular are in an
excellent position to set an
example for their communi
ties. Energy conservation not
only saves energy but saves
dollars! Furthermore in the
near future, additional federal
funds may be available to
local governments that choose
to participate in energy
conservation efforts.” ,
Gudger said that energy
conservation experts from
Federal, State and local
governments as well as the
private sector will be speaking
at the conference on how local
governments can utilize exist
ing energy conservation pro
grams. All local units of
government should attend the
workshop and should encour
age their "council c commis
sion members, professional
managers and administrators,
building inspectors and public
works directors to attend this
conference.
The workshop will begin at
1:00 p.m. on January .4. In
. addition to the regularly
scheduled program, an infor
mal gathering with Congress
man Gudger and guests is
planned for the evening of
January 4.
The Congressman went on
to explain that the Intergo
vernmental Energy Conserva
tion Workshop is the first part
of a two phase energy
conservation program for
Western North Carolina to be
administered by the Depart
ment of Natural Resources
and Community Develop
ment. Phase one of the
program is aimed at inform
ing local governments about
energy conservation practices
and encouraging the involve
ment of local governments in
energy conservation. The
second phase of the program
intends to provide assistance
to local communities in
conducting energy conserva
tion workshops for the people
in their communities.
Burnsville
Fire CaUS*
December 22 at 2:30 p.m.
Margaret Shade residence,
Lincoln Park. Fire.pf undeter
mined origin completely de
stroyed house and furnish- #
ings. 12 men, 2 trucks
responding,
December 23 at 5:05 a.m.
B.H. Higgins residence on
Depot Street. Fire of minor
damage to outside wall and
floor of house from fire
starting in wood pile outside
of house. 2 trucks and 15 men
responding.
December 23 at 12 noon
Dennis Edwards residence
Lincoln Park Road. Smoke
Damage to house due to faulty
fireplace and chimney. 10
men and 2 trucks responding.
DOT Busy Repairing
Flood Damage Here
r
If you think your car is
hard to start on a cold winter
morning, you should try
starting a bulldozer in zero
degree weather.
Or if you think a flat tire is
a hassle to change, imagine
changing a flat on a backhoe
that sits in the midst of a
frigid mountain stream.
Such are the obstacles,
along with lots of mud and
misplaced rocks, that Depart
ment of Transportation (DOT)
maintenance crews have had
to face as they piece back
together the roads and brid
ges in Western North Caro
lina that were so badly
damaged by heavy rains and
flash floods in early No
vember.
Obstacles or no, they have
continued at full-speed ahead
working from “dawn to
dusk”, first, to free those who
were stranded or isolated and,
second, to make emergency
repairs. Secretary of Trans
portation Thomas W. Brad
shaw, Jr. said, “An additional
"*I2OO employees and almost
200 pieces of equipment were
moved from other parts of the
state into the disaster area,
encompassing Ashe, Avery,
Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell,
Catawba, Haywood, Hender
son, Madison, McDowell,
Mitchell, Polk, , Rutherford,
Watauga, Wilkes and Yancey
Counties, to assist in the
repair work.
State Representative Er
nest B. Messer of Canton,
upon touring the areas devas
tated by floods, observed
convoys of DOT equipment.
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A SrS?
Burnsville Lions Cfash has received a grant from lions
International Foundation [L.I.F.] of $4,000 to aid families who
have suffered from the recent Disaster fan Yancey County. Jack
Allen, President of Baitisvllie lions Club, Is shown above
receiving the check from Marvin Calloway, Chairman Zone 0,
District 31-B, of International lions Club. Dr. Harry Baldwin,
District Governor of District 31-B International Liens Club was
unable to be present at the ceremony. The L.I.F. awards grants
to areas of natural disaster all ever the world. Fundi are
received from Lions Clubs In 441 countries around the world.
This makes the first time L.I.F. has made a grant to North
Carolina.
Mr. Allen has been appointed Chief Administrator of the
funds. He has appointed Lions Jerry Newton, Director
Chamber of Commerce, and Everett Dillhigham t*the
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29,1977
He talked with many wfio
suffered from the disaster and
they “....were highly com
plimentary of DOT’s efforts to
get the roads and bridges
back in operation as rapidly as
possible,” he said. “I never
heard any criticism,” he
added. Representative Mes
ser’s district includes Hay
wood, Jackson, Madison and
Swain Counties.
One DOT employee, on
the job in Yancey County,
remarked that he had “been
working 12 hours a day,'seven
days a week for 35 days with
only four days off. I’ve got a
little one at home,” he added.
“I don’t get to see her very
often.”
DOT field personnel as
signed to help with the flood
damage repairs experienced
long hours on the job and little
time at home with the family.
DOT Maintenance Crew
Leader Blaine Peterson of
Yancey Coiinty bragged on
his men, “Every man has
done his part and more. Each
~ one has been mighty coopera- ’
five,” he said, as his crew
labored moving rocks, putting
in pipe, re-routing streams
and operating equipment to
repair an unpaved secondary
road in Yancey County.
At this point, DOT, having
rescued those stranded or
isolated, now nears complet
ing emergency repairs and
will start making permanent
repairs to damages estimated
at more than sls million. A
total of 91 bridges and one
reinforced concrete box cul
vert was destroyed. Eighty
eight other bridges on the
State highway system were
severly damaged. Approxi
mately 390 iles of roadway on
the system were damaged
extensively. Os this, some 289
miles were secondary roads
and some 101 miles were P
primary roads.
“This step marks only the
beginning of reconstruction,”
said Jim Medlin, DOT’s
Highway Division Engineer
for Buncombe, Burke, Madi
son, McDowell, Mitchell,
Rutherford and Yancey Coun
ties. “It will take several
months to get our roads and
bridges back in the condition
they once were. The damages
are so massive and the winter
months will slow the construc
tion process down consider
ably,” he added.
So far the weather has
been “pretty good,” accor
ding to DOT crews in Yancey
and Buncombe Counties. Buj
a couple of mornings the
temperatures have plunged
near zero, and that’s when
David Camp of Rutherford
County had trouble starting
his diesel-fueled “dozer.” “It
wouldn’t even stir for two
days,” he said. It seems he
was particularly , anxious to
remove one of many rocks
from an unpaved roadway in
Yancey County so an are;
resident “could get his
tobacco out before Christ
mas.”
But the worst is yet to
come, warned Medlin. Not
only will the weather get
colder, but snowy and icy
•3
committee to handle the Burnsvflle liens Club Disaster Fund.
The Burnsvlfle Lions Club has pledged an additional S4BO to
the fund and It is expected that other Lions Clubs In District
31-B of Western North Caroßna wIH provide an additional
SI,OOO to the fund.
The grant wfl be used to provide emergency medical
prescriptions and drugs, hot meals, and fuel to fandflep who
have been hard hit by the flood. These penpfe if nib lag
Jordan Realty Office, Jerry Newton at the of
may apply through WAMY Office, of the local
-r Pictured left to light lie Jerry Newton, Jock Allen, IVfaurvlti
15M
_ II
conditions are almost inevlfe
able.
As Medlin’s Assistaijp
Division Engineer Dan
explained it, “Just becausj!
many of the roads
are passable does not me&t
? they are wholly restoreflC.
There are still portions if
undermined roadway,, sec
tions of broken and cracked
pavement and stretches
where great chunks of pave
ment were completely washed
out. A heavy snow will
obscure these hazards and ice
will make the routes even
more treacherous,” he said.
All major roads damaged
‘by the floods have been
signed and, in some cases,
lighted with smudge pots.
“But, as DOT’s Flood Dam
age Coordinator Floyd Bass
put it, “there are just not
enough signs and lights to go
around,” so some 8f the
lesser travelled roads may nbt
be properly marked.
State transportation offi
cials have strongly advised
motorists, those familiar and.
even more so, those unfami
liar with the roads in the
disaster areas, to avoid
travelling the damaged by
ways unless absolutely ne
cessary.
Os course, DOT mainten
ance crews will continue to
alleviate the problems as
weather permits, but it will
probably be spring before
construction can be on a
full-scale basis.
Although State forces will
perform most of the repair
[Cont’d on page 4]