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Thursday. June is*tr. Vol 24. No |KWra|jtt&KMflg|fegriHMltfg(|gi|P |
^——————— 15 cents per copy
Although rainy days kept most construction
workers indoors last week, it was prime work time
for one meditative dam builder. (Dan Ward)
Lawyer asks fire bound delay
i A - -
I Attorney Martin Nesbitt,
representing the Swannanoa
Volunteer Fire Department,
appeared before the Bun
combe County Board of
Commissioners June 13 to ask
for a six month deferment of
any final decision on the
current fire boundary dispute
between the Swannanoa and
Black Mountain fire depart
ments.
Nesbitt said he asked for the
deferment so that a com
promise could be worked out
between the two communities.
"If they (the Commissioners)
decide it, the issue still won’t
be settled in the minds of
many people, ” Nesbitt said.
Nesbitt said that the six
months was needed so that the
facts of the situation can be
definitely established and an
“educational campaign’' can
be carried out.
The Commissioners seemed
agreeable to the deferment
proposal and expressed a
desire for a compromise to be
worked out between the
communities instead of an
arbitrary settlement dictated
by the board, according to
Nesbitt.
Cleanup list grows
Three more groups have
chosen projects for Swan
nanoa Valley Geanup Day
June 17.
The Highland Farms
Council has elected to take
part in the cleanup-fixup day
by cleaning the ditch along
Tabernacle Koad. In addition,
the group plans to make the
proje»- » on-going one. Bill
Per ?d :s in charge of the
P»->-.
The Cherry Street Framery,
scheduled to open soon in
Black Mountain, has chosen to
Some Black Mountain Pool patrons would rather soak up the sun than soak
in the water (see related column inside). (Clint Williams)
Black Mountain fire
The Black Mountain Fire
Apartment made four runs
'ast week.
On June 7, one truck and
[une men responded to a car
>n! at Blue Midge Road and
Us TO. Minor damage was
rePorted. ,
Also that day, firemen
assisted the Old Fort Fire
Department and the Highway
Patrol at the scene of an ac
cident on Old Fort Mountain in
which three persons received
injuries. One truck and 15
men responded
On June 6, one truck and 11
men responded to a wreck on
US 70 near Burger Hutt No
injuries were reported.
Minor damage resulted
from a mattress fire at the Ed
Harwood residence at 310 Flat
Creek rid. June 11. One truck
and 11 men responded.
The Buncombe County
Ambulance Service made four
emergency, 10 routine, end
three unneeded runs last
week.
plant flowers in planters in
front of the store Saturday.
The employees and staff of
Executive Plaza will clean up
the parking lot and surrounding
area at that office building
Saturday.
Dan Ward at the News has
reported that Quality Forward
in Asheville has donated 200
trash bags to use for roadside
litter on Valley Cleanup Day.
Bags may be picked up at the
News office. The News has
also asked that groups par
ticipating in Valley Cleanup
Day contact the News to
arrange a time photos may be
taken.
Budget, new wells approved
by Dan Ward
The Black Mountain Town
Board passed its $631,930 FY
1978-79 budget on the second
and last readings June 12 with
a great deal of discussion and
some disagreement.
Aid. Ruth Brandon voted
against the budget on the Two
readings, and Aid. A.F. Tyson
opposed it on the second
because of an amendment
proposed by Aid. Mike Begley
that the town purchase one
new car, rather than two used
ones, for the police depart
ment. The two opposed the
amendment because Police
Chief Creight Slagle was n 't
present to confirm that the
police department needed
only three cars.
Begley allowed, in making
the motion, that the board
could reverse the action if
Slagle requested. The same
amount of money—$2,000 plus
a $4,000 carryover from the
present budget—would be
available fa- either purchase.
Begley’s rationale was that
the town would have less
maintanence problems if it
rotated purchases of new cars
and kept less.
Another proposal by Aid.
Brandon was that the town
supply uniforms to active
volunteer .'iremcn. Town
Manager Mack Kirkpatrick
said that he had already
negotiated a compromise with
Fire Chief Sterling Poe
whereby the firemen would
supply their own uniforms and
the town would pay for
badges. Some money for
uniforms would come out of
the existing fire department
budget and fund-raisers.
Water Improvements
The board voted
unanimously to earmark
128,000 in water department
capital improvements funds
from the present budget to
install 2000 feet of six-inch line
between Azalea Avenue and
North Fork Road, and to drill
two wells.
Aid. John Kluttz said that
based on engineer studies,
connecting the two existing
six-inch lines would increase
water pressure in the
Lakewood area. Estimated
cost for the project is 815,000.
Begley said that the town
could solve short-term water
problems and invest in future
water needs by drilling two
wells in a low-pressure area of
town. He noted that building
an emergency reservoir was
costly, and that the possiblity
of being incorporated into
a county-wide water system
was fo far in the future.
The cost of drilling two 30
gallon-per-minute wells and
installing chlorinators at the
site is approximately $5000 per
well, Begley said. Approval
from various agencies is
needed before the town ad
vertises for bids.
Bids takes
Based on advice by the
Local Government Com
mission, the board voted to
rescind acceptance of a bid to
renovate the Golf Course
Clubhouse, accepted a bid of
$2400 to perform the 1978
audit, and chose to hold off a
month on bids to repair
sidewalks on Cherry Street.
Mayor Tom Sobol recom
mended that the town ad
vertise for the third time for
bids to renovate the Golf
Clubhouse. The board had
ewlier accepted a bid by Neil
Bartlett to do the needed work
on a cost-plus basis and had
rejected two other bids
because the contractors were
not licensed. Sobol noted that
contractors were not required
to be licensed to perform work
valued under $30,000. A
dispute arose when Aid. Jim
Norton suggested that Aid.
Brandon had tried to influence
bidding by calling Bruce King
Construction in Asheville.
Brandon denied even knowing
King.
The board accepted a bid of
$2400—$2300 below another bid
submitted—from Crawley,
Price and Sprinkle, Inc. to
perform the town’ll audit again
this year. The board also
voted to put off until next year
a required revenue sharing
audit that must be done every
three years.
Because only two bids were
submitted, the board followed
the recommendation of Town
Manager Mack Kirkpatrick in
tabling acceptance of bids to
repair Cherry Street
sidewalks until a later date.
The board did agree to ear
mark approximately $2000 left
in downtown improvement
funds from the current budget
for the work.
The board also tabled ac
Stanley indicted,
defense attorney quits
Peter L. Roda, the public
defender assigned to Terry
Fisher Stanley, has with
drawn from the case citing a
conflict of interest.
Stanley, who has received a
grand jury indictment for the
murder of Margaret Jenenne
Tarbert, was housed in the
same cell-block as another
client of Roda’s, Conley Davis.
Davis is listed as a “key
witness’'against Stanley, and
Rods said that to be forced to
cross-examine one client in
the defense of another client
would constitute a conflict and
subsequently withdrew from
both cases.
Davis gave a statement to
the Buncombe County Sheriff’
s investigators concerning a
statement Stanley alledeedlv
made to him while they were
in the same cell-block.
When asked if the statement
that Davis said Stanley made
was a confession of guilt, Roda
replied, “Something to that
effect.”
Bruce Elmore is Stanley’s
new counsel. The arraignment
hearing is scheduled for June
19.
ceptance of bids for town
employee health insurance
because a third bid had come
in recently and was not yet
analyzed by Kirkpatrick.
Cemetery Legislation
Mayor Sobol told the board
that State Rep. Gordon
Greenwood has agreed to
introduce legislation in the
next session of the General
Assembly, beginning in
January, to give the town
authority to maintain two
overgrown cemeteries.
Sobol said that locating
relatives to remove brush and
trees from graves has proven
impossible, and the town is
open to lawsuits without
legislative action. He asked
that the board formally
request action from Green
wood before the next session.
Clean Community System
Kay Kruse and Richard
Kendrick of Quality Forward
in Asheville gave a presen
tation on the Clean Com
munity System begun by the
Keep America Beautiful
Commission. The program
included a film on how the
system reduced litter in
Macon, Ga., by 60 per cent,
and photos taken of trash
problems in the Swannanoe
Valley
Sobol asked that the ,
organization supply a sample
ordinance endorsing the Clean
Community System and
suggested that the board will
endorse it.
Appointments
The board made ap
pointments to fill vacancies on
the Zoning Board, the Zoning
Board of Adjustments and the
ABC Board, and appointed a
committee to rewrite the town
zoning ordinance.
The board voted to reap
point H.L. Lackey and Steven
Roberts to the Zoning Board,
and appointed Bob Miller to a
remaining vacancy. They
also appointed Donna Hughes
to the Zoning Board of Ad
justments.
A four-person committee
has also been appointed to
revise the town zoning or
dinance. Money has been
earmarked to print the revised
ordinance in booklet form.
Stanley Garland was
reappointed 4-1 by the board to
the ABC Board, a position that
pays $100 per month. A
motion by Aid. Brandon to
appoint Margaret Slagle to the
board failed.
lawsuits
Town Attorney Bill Eubanks
gave the board a rundown on
lawsuits involving the town
that are still active.
A court decision giving
Vernon and Elsie Elliott
possession of an undedicated
street leading to property
owned by Mountain Triangle
Temple has been appealed by
Margaret Slagle on behalf of
the Temple Eubanks
suggested, and the board
agreed, to take no action in the
case unless a second hearing
rules in favor of the Temple.
A second suit charging that
the town was negligent in
inspecting construction of the
home owned by Buford
Copeland was dismissed by
the court because the town has
governmental immunity
under North Carolina law,
Eubanks said. However, that
$62,000 suit has been appealed
also, he added.
Eubanks suggested that the
town “fight tooth and nail” a
suit against the police
department and four town
employees by Charles Quinn
for use of excessive force in
arresting Quinn for public
drunkenness—a charge he
was later found not guilty of.
The board agreed to defend
the police department to some
extent in the case, but also
agreed to remain flexible on
its policy involving actions of
town employees.
Taylor Retirement
Mayor Sobol pointed out, in
response to comments from
the public about board action
prompting the resignation of
Golf Pro Ross Taylor a few
months before retirement,
that the town does not pay
retirement benefits other than
social security to any town
employees.
Sewer Test BUI
The board agreed to pay
$2,010.89 for its share of srabke
tests performed as part of a
study by the Metropolitan
Sewerage District. The cost
to the town had earlier been
estimated at $2,000.
(continued on page 10)
Alice Bethell
Unique sea creatures her specialty
by Dan Ward
Housed in a neat and non
descript shop on Broadway, as
simple and orderly as a
sunbleached conch shell, is a
business that is a hobby and a
hobby that has become a
business.
Alice Bethell, with the help
of her parents, began Shell
Craft a month ago as a first
business venture. Shells were
an obvious choice for the
Bahamas native who has
collected them most of her
life.
It just started out as a
hobby—I never guessed it
would end up like this,' ’ she
said.
Unlike its cluttered and
garish coastal counterparts,
the shop seems to appeal
quietly more to the interior
decorator than the souvenir
seeking tourist. Alice makes
many of the shell
arrangements, including
terrariums, tiny shell
necklaces and shell animals
for children.
“It’s mainly like gift items.
We try to please everyone. We
have a little of everything,"she
said.
Her mother explained that
Shell Craft was begun to give
Alice business experience
after she graduated from an
academy near Chicago
recently. “My dad predicted
we'd go out of business in two
weeks—he was just joking, of
course,"Alice said. "It’s doing
pretty good, though.”
While business may still be
something of a hobby to Alice,
shell collecting is something
very serious. Although she
has studied and collected
shells for 10 years, including
species unlisted in any books,
she refuses the scientific title
of conchologist. "To be one,
you have^o file the date, place
and name for each shell you
collect,''she said, wincing at
the idea of interrupting beach
combing with record-keeping.
“When people come in, I try
to tell them as much as 1 can
about the shell,''she said.
Most of the shells she sells
are those she collects herself
during the winter months in
Bahamas Others are im
ported from the Phillipines.
Her specialty and first love, it
seems’ are those shells that
defy what has been written
about them by marine
biologists.
She proundly displays her
black moon shells—“I can’t
find them anywhere in any
books’ —her four- and six
legged starfish, and her Bah
mian sand dollars.
"The Bahamian sand dollar
has six holes, while those from
Florida have only five.
Everything written about
sand dollars says that they
have only five holes.’ ’ A
number of the six-holed sand
dollars are on display in the
shop.
Rows and rows of huge jars,
like in an old-time candy
store, house a multitude of
shells for more serious
collectors in a back room.
Beside collectors, local
students often browse through
tne jars for craft materials,
Alice said.
“There’s a lot of things that
you can do with them. Just
think—every sheli is different.
You can just play with them
until you come up with
something,’ ’ said the con
noissieur of the unique.