Serving
} Thursday. June 16, 1977, Vo!. 33. No. 35
^ Black Mountain
* Swannanoa
* Montreat
* Ridgecrest
200petition against
fire district growth
by Dan Ward
Approximately 200
iouseholds have signed a
[etttion to remain outside the
jwannanoa Fire district and
'ontinue receiving service
rom the Black Mountain Fire
Apartment.
A pubiic hearing is
cheduled June 20 for opinions
n whether the County Board
f Commissioners should
ixpand the Swannanoa
'olunteer Fire district to a
ve-mile radius from its
esent three-mile radius,
cit an expanston would take
in a number of houses and
businesses now covered by the
Black Mountain Fire
Department.
George Nalesnik, p!ant
director for Singer-Kearfott,
said he would like to see his
plant continue to receive
service from Black Mountain.
He said a switch to coverage
from the Swannanoa Fire
Department would result in
higher insurance costs and a
reduction in the quality of
protection. He said that
changing from the services of
a full-time, fully-staffed
department to an all-volunteer
department was a "step back
ward.''
Tom Hixon, Swan nan oa fire
chief, said that the rationale
for expansion of the district
would be expiained fuliy at the
hearing.
"We are just offering people
a service,' he said. "If they
dont wan it-fine.'
Grady Rozelle, who works
with special projects for
Beacon, and is a proponnent of
the expansion, said the district
boundaries were drawn in
conjunction with state
recommendations on ex
panding fire districts to
uniform zones.
Greenwood coMSMFfe(%
S.S. ^payments
by Elizabeth Maxwell
he Board of Com
isionersof theTown of
ntreat at its meeting on
te 9 heard reports by Mayor
xweii concerning old
mess. The Town Counsel,
illip Carson, has contacted
te Representative Gordon
-enwowi to ash his help in
ving the problem of
rnactive social security for
ice. Mr Carson has also
-viewed a deed transferred
and Mrs. R.L. Camp
*) the town for a piece of
%ierty lying between
ssembly Drive and Texas
ioad Extension. Following
he advice of counsel, the
card ordered that the deed be
korded and that it be stated
p the minutes that no coo
peration has passed from the
bn to the Campbells and
m the town, be recording
t deed waives no claims
that it might have had to the
property conveyed or to any
other property in a like
situation. The Board moved on
to the principal business of the
meeting, the second reading of
the proposed budget for FY 77
78. Several amend
FY 77-78. Seven ! amend
ments to the budget as
presented at the first reading
were made, including the
addition of funds for a truck
jor the Streets Department
and 8300 for recreation.
Several citizens, residents of
Texas Road Extension, at
tending the meeting expressed
delight over the designation of
$7500 of Poweli BiU funds for
the replacement of a bridge
washed out last year and
giving access to their street.
The total of the proposed
budget is now $118,500. The
third and final reading will be
on June 23 at 7:30 in Gaither
Hall.
The financial report for May
was presented by Com
missioner E.E. Crisp and
accepted. Mr. Donald
Williams was named auditor
for the 1976-1977 books.
The open meeting was
adjourned to go into executive
session.
THE BLACK MOUNTAIN TOWN BOARD
MEETING HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED FOR
JUNE 20 AT 7:30 P.M., CITY HALL.
^eef f/ip ^oarcf
(Larry Wilson — liaison
by Dan Ward
Wilson secs himself
liaison between town,
prence center and coUege
itreat. And he shouid-he
for all three,
hch institution in Mon
treat has a cooperative at
titude, but each is also
engageed in its own ob
jectives,"he said.
"Sometimes it leaves the
board in the role of
peacemaker."
Wilson, as dean of students
at Montreat-Anderson
CoUege, recreation director
for the Mountain Retreat
Association and town com
missioner, sees a need to bring
about "cooperation between
the three groups to deveiop
mutuaiiy beneficiai projects."
One of these, in the pianning,
is a town park near the gate to
the town.
Wilson said interest in iocai
government in Montreat has
been minima!. "The nature of
the community is that it's
aimost impossible to get
strong community support,"
he said. Wiison cited the
transience of the population as
the main reason
"interest seems to increase
with probiems,"he noted. "As
iong as the streets are pat
ched, snow is removed and
poiice are at work everything
is hunky-dory. As soon as a
bridge washes out, peopie
start coming to meetings."
"This isn't ati bad,"he
added. "I believe that the size
of government shouid be no
greater than the demands of
the citizens "
Wilson noted that many of
the town's most severe
probiems are out of the hands
of the town government He
cited the town's water and
sewer system-which are
owned and maintained by the
Mountain Retreat
Association, operating as a
private utility
Wilson is optimistic that
future projects wiii come
about through cooperation as
the probiems present them
selves
"! think all these probiems
can be soived by cooperation
between town management
and the major organizations of
the town,"he conciuded
A view o/Biach Mountain/romHwy. 9 south. ^PhyiiisGenetti)
Beil to install new circuits
by Nelle Laetsch
More electronic telephone
equipment is being installed in
the Bladt Mountain 'W'
centra! office to meet the
increasing telephone demand
in the Swannanoa Valley area,
according to R.B. Moore,
Southern Bell's manager for
Buncombe County.
The switching center is
gaining 400 new telephone
numbers and a like number of
tine terminations to bring the
office capacity to over 4,000
customers. Also, additional
equipment is being added to
increase the capacity for
automatic number iden
tification on direct dialed long
distance calls. Total cost of
the extension project is
$200,500.
In pianning for long range
growth, new circuits are being
An Appalachian deiicacy /ound /avor with Hanna
Ashy o/Lebanon whenR. Curtis Ratc!(//, Chairman
o/ the Buncombe County Board o/ Commissioners
gave him his /irst taste o/ ramps. Ashy was one o/
severai journaiism students at Warren Wiison
Coiiege who attended the ramp /estivai sponsored
annuaiiy by Ratcii/f at the Union Haii on Sardis
Road. (Photo by Duncan Grosbaii).
**o*iee Report
B!ach Mountain Police
conducted nine investigations
this past week. They issued iO
"Parking not allowed'tickets
at the pool on June 10. They
arrested two for public
drunkeness. They arrested
one for DU1. They issued four
speeding citations, one for
exptrea mspecuori uctte! ana
one for screeching tires.
They answered three civil
disturbances and one
domestic disturbance.
They tmasported three to
Detox.
The police assisted seven
motorists. They also ient
assistance to Sheriffs Police.
Black Mountain
Fire Department
Three trucks and 23 men
from the Black Mountain Fire
Department were on duty to
combat storm-related
problems around town on June
6. including downed power
lines and trees.
On June 10, one truck and 11
men were called to put out a
brush fire on U S. 70 east.
Also on June 10, one truck
and nine men were called to
put a car fire at Garland
landscaping
FmE DEPARTMENT
AMBULANCE
The fire department am
bulance made three
emergency runs and one
routine
BUNCOMBE COUNTY
AMBULANCE SERVICE
The ambulance service
made 22 routine runs, two
emergency and was not
needed for two.
added to increase the calling
channels between Black
Mountain and Asheville.
This work is expected to be
completed by July.
by Dan Ward
A cancelled check for (1000,
made out to the Town of Black
Mountain, was supplied to
Black Mountain investigator
Bill Stafford by Gene Ervin,
newly-appointed supervisor
for Region 10 of the Crime
Control and Public Safety
Administration.
It was brought to the at
tention of the News recently
that Ervin had arranged to
by Dan Ward
You know Theresa Smith?
Yeah, that's the one. Fine
basketball player for Owen,
sports awards, blue jeans,
tennis shoes.
She just became Miss North
Carolina Teen in Montreat
June 5.
"I guess I feel...great," the
6-foot pageant winner said
recently in trying to describe
her reaction to winning the
title. "I feel 1 tucked out. I
didn't even think of winning."
Wearing a crisp white dress,
set hair and a touch of make
up, she presented an image in
striking contrast to earlier
images of a lanky, straight
haired athlete putting in a
hook-shot.
"ItS not that bad," Theresa
said of balancing the athlete
and beauty queen roles.
"Even if you're a tomboy you
want to be a girl now and
then."
Now she's going to have to
be a giri alot. Her pians for the
summer include a number of
appearances at other
pageants, parades, festivals
and fund-raisers. She predicts
that she will come out in the
red financially for her ap
pearances as Miss NC Teen,
but the experience will be
valuable in a career of
modeling
A recent Owen graduate,
Theresa has been studying
modeling from Ann Knight of
Black Mountain for about a
year. Ms. Knight approached
Theresa with the idea of en
tering the Miss Teen contest
onlv one week before it was
Owsied ARC chief
charges poMfics
by Dan Ward
The former supervisor %
Region 10 of the Crime Control
and Pubiic Safety Ad
ministration has toid the News
that one of the reasons he was
given transfer orders was that
political forces wanted to
keep him from testifying in
the trial of Melvin Spencer
Warren for larceny of 72
bottles of liquor from the
Black Mountain ABC store.
Fomer supervisor Bill
Ingram arrested Warren on
December 27, 1976. His
transfer, had he not resigned
last week, would have moved
him to Region i2, based in
Durham.
Ingram also noted that John
Brooks, director of en
forcement for the state Board
of Alcohol Control in Raleigh,
had sent him a directive three
weeks prior to transfer orders
that Ingram and his agents
were to be taken off ABC store
enforcement.
Brooks said he did not give
orders that Ingram take his
agents off of the ABC stores.
He said, "1 didnt even know
we had agents on the ABC
stores He said the agents are
expected to spend most of
their time investigating beer
and wine establishments. He
said they are free to inspect an
ABC store if (hey wish
In calling the transfer a
political one, Ingram cited
records indicating his
replacement in Region 10,
Gene Ervin, and the new ABC
officer II, James Berlie
Simmons, are incompetent
and have engaged in unethical
and possibly illegal actions as
ABC agents.
Both Ervin and Simmons
refused to comment on
IngramA charges.
"The only time HI talk about
it is in front of a judge,' was
Simmons'only comment.
Ingram cited purchase of a
tractor by Ervin from the
Town of Black Mountain
without submitting com
petitive bid as an example
Ingram also referred to two
letters he said he sent to
Brooks alleging cases in which
Simmons had falsified arrest
records, destroyed another
agentA cover and left the
region while on duty.
Brooks said he did not recall
receiving the memos from
Ingram. He also said his files
do not contain the memos at
this time.
Ervin, one letter relates,
conspired with Simmons
either intentionally or through
negligence in falsifying arrest
records.
Ingram said he ordered
Ervin to look up records of
arrests Simmons had claimed
ar his own. Sir-mot r a*
companied Ervin, and ac
cording to Ingram& memo to
Brooks, Ervin went to a si toe
store, leaving Simmons to
falsify records Ervin was sent
to obtain.
Ingram also noted that the
number of arrests made by
the two men suggest they are
either incompetant or in
tentionally overlooked liquor
violations. Out of over 1300
establishments checked by
Ervin as an ABC agent in 1976,
he made no arrests. In con
trast, Lenore Topp, a rookie
female agent, made 13 arrests
in 136 checks, the record
states.
Ingram said the case
against Warren for alleged
larceny of liquor while he
was an employee of the Blade
MountainABC store may be
prejudiced by close ties
between Ervin and the former
town manager and mayor of
Black Mountain, as demon
strated by the sale of a
tractor, at coat to Ervin by the
town.
C D. Lindsay, former town
manager, said the only ties
between Black Mountain
government and Ervin were
professional. "We treated
him as one of our police,'he
said. He said no favoritism
was shown Ervin by
arranging the purchase of a
tractor, as he had done the
same favor for others.
Tractor deal under investigation
have the tractor bought
through the town from the
Department of Tran
sportation. No record of the
town having been reimbursed
is in town Hies. The town paid
$1000 for the tractor.
An investigation is now
underway by StaHord to find if
there is cause of indictments
as a resuit of the deai. Legally,
a town must advertise for, and
obtain competitive bids before
selling property.
Charies D. Lindsay, former
town manager, said he had
often obtained equipment and
materials for persons as a
means of saving them money.
He said that he practiced a
policy of having a check for
the purchase price before
paying, with city check, for
the merchandise.The credit to
and withdrawal from town
funds would occur at the same
time he said. "We swapped
checks-thatA all, he told the
News.
He added that he considered
publicity of the tractor deal
with Ervin to be "Political nit
picking.'
Jon Creighton, the present
town manager, said the town
has sold property without
advertisement, but with
competitive bidding, since his
own administration began. He
said he was unaware ad
vertising auction of property
was required.
Center to center-stage easy
held. Theresa said she would
have entered one earlier if it
hadn't conflicted with
basketball.
Beauty pageants are no
longer the body show they
once were, as Theresa found
out.
"It isn't just a beauty
pageant. The interview counts
alot," she said. "The judges
want you to be honest. If you
try to fool the judges, you'll
lose."
Ms. Knight said Theresa
was favored by the two women
and one man who judged the
pageant because of her
honesty. When asked whai. she
planned to do for the rest of
her life, Theresa was the only
girl who admitted that she
wasn't sure what she wanted
to do, Ms. Knight said.
Ms. Knight also said the
judges favored Theresa
because she has a
"wholesome North Carolina
approach that people would be
proud to have representing the
state."
Part-time modeling with the
security of a secretarial job
seems to be in the offing for
the time being for Theresa
out snes still deciding "!
could teach riding and make
twice what I can as a
secretary," she ponders,
being an experienced hor
sewoman.
In the meantime, she is
working for her family at the
Silverman Co. on Tunnel Rd
Theresa is the daughter of
Larry and Gloria Smith of
Asheville.
Next fall, it will be off to the
Miss North Carolina pageant
for Theresa to try to follow in
Susan Profitt's footsteps.
And following in Theresa's
footsteps are Dawn McCrite
and Kelly Williams of Mon
treat and Swannanoa,
respectively. They were first
and third runners-up in the
Little America Miss contest,
heid aiso in Montreat. Keiiy,
3^4 is the daughter of Mary G.
Williams of Swannanoa.
Chris Wojtyna of Black
Mountain was fourth runner
up in the NC Teen com
petition.
.al V