Second ctass postage paid
at Btach Mountain, NC 28711
Serving
* Black Mountain
*Swannanoa
<r Montreat
^ Ridgecrest
ater cr/fiea/, Hew we// 5e t/ri//ed
by Dan Ward
Water-too little, too dirty,
pd unpaid for- topped the
pbjects for action by the
Slack Mountain Town Board
November 13 at its regular
tee ting.
Town Manager Mack Kirk
ptrick toid the board that an
tcrease in consumption iast
teek piaced the town's water
sippiy at "the criticai stage."
md said the town may have to
Segin purchasing water from
Asheville soon.
Fourteen days ago, con
servation was working well,"
Kirkpatrick told the board,
but now we are down 11 feet,
S inches ' ' He said con
sumption has risen from
M2,MO gallons per day to
S3,000.
Kirkpatrick told the board
pat an additional well could
lie drilled on the golf course
md m operation in about a
teek. The well would utilize
Ihe existing chlorinator and
Mil house there, and would
cost up to $9500 to drill and put
in operation.
The board voted to use
money from an account set
sside to install water lines on
North Fork Road from Azalea
to Montreat Road to pay for a
tew well. Money remaining
wili be used to fund in
stallation of pipe from Azalea
to Holly on North Fork, with
the remainder tp be done in
would stage. ' ^ . r
Mayor Sobol noted that
Hack Mountain's water may
have to be supplemented with
Asheville water by Friday,
and asked that persons cut
back on water use until the
new well is producing.
As an unintentional
reminder of the cost of buying
Asheville water, Sobol said he
bad approved payment of an
M.600 water bill to Asheville
tor water purchased during
the drought over a year ago.
The town had held up paying
the bill while negotiations
were under way for com
pensation from Asheville for
water flowing into North Fork
Reservoir from Chestnut Cove
watershed, for which Black
Mountain has water rights.
Sobol said it was decided in
meeting with Asheville of
ficials that the outstanding
water bill and negotiations for
water rights should be treated
!s seperate issues.
Aid. Mike Begley said that
iormer Mayor Dick Stone has
offered his services in
negotiations with Asheville on
he water rights. Begley said
here would be no charge, and
hat Stone would be acting in
an advisory function, having
been familiar with the issue
knee the 'Ms.
Clean Water
Representatives of the
Land-Of -Sky Regional
Council gave the board a
presentation on the goals of
the 208 Plan for clean water.
Under the plan, all levels of
government would work with
citizen committees to end
water pollution and to
establish a goal of swim
mable, fishable water by 1983.
Bob Purcell and Sherry
Montgomery, representing
the council's water quality
division, asked that the town
endorse the plan.
Endorsing the plan would
not obligate the town to any
spending, but only to support
of the plan and an agreement
to pass and enforce or
dinances required to meet the
goals, Purcell said. Part of
the plan includes passing an
estimated (60 million in Clean
Water Bonds for Western
North Carolina - much of
which would go toward
establishing the Metropolitan
Sewage District as an area
wide treatment system. 75 per
cent of the bonds would be
financed by the En
vironmental Protection
Agency, and 25 per cent by
state and local funding.
The board agreed to study
the plan, and make a decision
on whether to endorse it at the
next meeting.
McMahan Settlement
The board heard from John
McMahan, son of Mr. and
Mrs. J.E. McMahan, whose
house was destroyed by a
Black Mountain Fire truck in
August.
McMahan told the board
that his parents could not
accept the latest offer given
them for damages in the
accident-$20,741. He told the
board that the expense of
putting a modular home on the
site, at Blue Ridge Road and
Old US 70, has come to $28,438.
That amount, he said, did not
include personal loss to him or
his sister for assisting their
parents, nor did it cover the
toss of income to him for the
last three months, when he
missed work & supervise
demoiition and rebuilding.
McMahan said he would be
willing to settle for $30,000
from the town for real
damages, and medical ex
penses for injuries his parents
suffered as a result of losing
their home and living in the
trailer provided by the town.
Sobol told McMahan the
board would meet again soon
and submit another offer to his
parents.
HUD Grant
Sobol said that the deadline
for submission of Com
munity Development grants
from the Department of
Housing and Urban
Development (HED) has been
moved from March to
January 1.
He said the board will have
to meet in special meeting by
the end of November to call an
additional hearing for
resubmission of a grant ap
plication to install water lines
and fire hydrants in the
Cragmont Community.
Horses and Donkey
One of the more unusual and
lighter items of business was a
petition from Theodore
Douglas and 36 other residents
of the Cragmont Community
complaining of the smell,
noise and "reproductive
acttons' of several horses and
a donkey kept within the town
limits on West College Street.
Sobol said he has resear
ched the town ordinances and
found that while pigs and
goats are prohibited within the
city, no mention is made of
horses. He did say that the
owners of the animals may be
charged under ordinances
dealing with unclean stables,
stables too close to housing,
and disturbing the peace.
An element of humor was
injected after Aid. Ruth
Brandon, a Republican,
suggested donkeys be
outlawed in the town iimits.
Aid. Jim Norton jokingiy
charged the aiderwoman with
piaying poiitics on the non
partisan board.
Soboi suggested that Poiice
Chief Crait Siagie warn the
owners to remove the animais
or be charged under existing
ordinances.
Sidewalks
Kirkpatrick toid the board
that sidewalks had been
completed on Cherry Street.
Montreat Road and Church
Street- He said that between
!200 and $1000 remains in the
Cherry Street allocation.
Aid. A.F. tyson said that as
soon as the remaining amount
is determined, he would like to
see the remainder spent to
complete as many additional
feet of brick sidewalk on
Cherry Street as possible.
Cent on page 10
z^art owe—
Volunteerism thrives at valley schools
as
schools in tie
fact, it may have been aided
by the defeat of a bond issae
aimed at hiring more
teachers.
Gene Deiiiner, principal of
Black Mountain Grammar
School, said Hie phenomenon
is a positive backlash to the
generation gap of the SO's and'
ts
60s.
The phenomenon
volunteerism
More parents and interested
citizens are spending two
R6y c!___
e. And the help
they give goes beyond fund
raisers and athietic boosting.
Parents are working in roles
once reserved for teachers,
such as reading and math
instructors and librarians
"I think volunteerism is the
way to overcome overcrowded
ctassrooms - 1' m tired of
hearing about overcrowded
classrooms,' ' said parent
volunteer Landy Qualls, a
former teaeher herself who
cammufes with her chHd from
Enha to Carver School each
day.
Carver Optional School, as
one might expect, is a sort of
showcase for volunteerlsm.
Out of 54 households
represented at the school,
there will usually be 20 adult
volunteers at the school each
Parent votunteers average two to a ctassroom at Carver. ('Dan Ward)
day, according to Mrs. Qualls.
Virtually every parent has
turned out for special events
such aa building a playground
or producing a play. Without
volunteers, &e open
classroom concept could not
work at Carver, she said.
While in-school parent aid is
not as overwhelming at other
valley schools, it is thriving.
At Swannanoa School, a
group of parents and grand
parents in the PTA
established a student
bookstore on their own
initiative. The closet-turned
stationer, manned by
volunteers, has proven to be a
huge success. Besides getting
children involved in running a
small business and saving
parents the inconvenience of
leaving work to buy school
supplies, the two-for-a-nickel
eraser shop has shown a
considerable profit.
And those who want to work
directly in education are
welcomed, according to
Principal Bin Williams. "We
heavily use those who are
available - mostly in the
primary grades'', he said.
Beside M parent volunteers,
the school will have 25 Warren
Wilson College students, Owen
students, and upper grade
Junior Beta Club members
helping teach remedial
reading and math.
Do teachers at Swannanoa
School feel their authority is
threatened by sharing
teaching duties?
"If I had five student
teachers next quarter, I'd
have 20 teachers running
after them, "Williams said,.
To emphasize die point, he
held up a card passed to each
teacher asking if he or she
would like volunteer aides.
Each name had "yes'written
after it.
Black Mountain Primary
School began actively seeking
volunteers only a month ago.
From a beginning of 10
parents then, there are now 20
who are working with small
groups or individuals on
reading. Another 15
shouldered the annual school
fund raiser.
Jerry Green, principal of
the Primary School, said the
volunteer program has
started off on a cautious, but
optimistic footing. While
Cont on page 10
A reversed photo o/ construction on the bridge across 7-10 in Ridgecrest is a
study in geometric shapes. (Dan Ward, graphics by Taylor)
y4s/t/ey to /cave Retreatjoost
Monroe Ashley, executive
director of the Mountain
Retreat Association says he
will seek a less public, more
academic post after com
pleting four years at the helm
of the association on Sep
tember 30, 1979.
Citing his experience thus
far with the Association as
"instructive, productive and
fulHliing," Ashley stated that
"vocational and other per
sonal considerations'' led to
this decision. The continuing
good working relationship
with the Association' s
Management Council was
affirmed both by Ashley and
the council' s chairperson,
Charles W. Bell of Greenville,
SC.
The Rev. Ashley was
profuse in his praise for the
Mountain Retreat Association'
s staff. Together their prime
responsibly is operation of
the Montreat Conference
Center. This work is carried
on under the ownership and
auspices of the Presbyterian
Church in the United States.
Ashley came to his present
duties in October, 1975. He
entered the four-year term of
office with a varied
background - pastor, college
chaplain, management
counsultant, camp director
and conference center
promotion director. He grew
up in Greenville, SC. He is
married to the former
Roberta Harris of Brevard.
The Ashleys reside on
Virginia Road in Mon treat,
along with their three children
- Matt, John and Alison.
The Mountain Retreat
Association has an 41-year
history in Montreat as an
agency for conferencing. It
fostered early development of
that community, giving life to
Montreat-Anderson College
and the development of the
Town of Montreat. Today its
primary wok is the Montreat
Conference Center, and it still
owns and operates the town's
water system.
Ashley expressed the hope
that the neat 10 and one-half
months would see orderly
changeover for the association
and a fruitful time as he and
his family re-orients. To this
he pledged "full measure of
loyalty, enthusiasm and hard
work."
Mection 78—Voting here in line with county
by Dtn Ward
H voting patterns in the
twannanoa Vaiiey show
Mything, it is that voters here
'ant with the majority in the
Member 7 elections.
^ only one race, for U S.
apresentative to the House,
M voters here disagree with
a* majority. A sub-total of all
^scincta from Broad River to
Seville gave Curtis Ratcliff
' t?5 vote majority over in
^nnbant Lamar Gudzer
Inwever. if only votes from
^ Owen School district are
E —
used, RatcUff ted the
Democratic congressman by
only four votes here
Perhaps the most surprising
outcome in voting here came
in the three contested seats for
schooi board, in spite of a last
minute campaign by parents
to oust incumbents from the
Erwin and Reynoids districts,
resuits were ciose. Official
taiiies for the vaiiey show
those incumbents, Russeii
Knight and Rue ben Caidweii,
iosers by iess than 80 votes
each. The N.C. Board of
Elections as of Monday, was
shli checking figures in the
race between Caidweii and
Bruce Dean Pike from the
Erwin and Reynoids districts,
resuits were ciose. Official
tallies for the valley show
those incumbants
still checking figures in the
race between Caldwell and
Bruce Dean Pike for the
Erwin seat to determine a
winner or call for a new vote.
The Swannanoa Vailey, with
the exception of two precincts,
also feil within a state-wide
average of 55 to 60 per cent
voter turnout.
Those exceptions were
Black Mountain precinct 3,
where 77 per cent went to the
polls, and Broad River, where
only 47.7 per cent turned out.
Although heavy voting in
Black Mountain' s third
precinct would indicate heavy
voting for Lacy Haith, the only
Black and only Republican
running for state represen
tative, the challenger did no
better there than in most
precincts, where he lost
miserably. Most of Black
Mountain's Black community
lies in precinct 3.
Haith, as well as all
Republicans, did best in Broad
River, carrying the majority
in that small precinct. With
the exception of U S. Sen.
Jesse Helm' s bid for re
election and Ratcliff a
challenge to Gudger, all other
precincts went over
wheimingly in favor of
Democrats.
x denotes incumbant
Biack Mountain i
Biack Mountain 2
Biack Mountain 3
Biack M dim tain 4
Broad River
RiceviMe
Swannanoa 1
Swannanoa 2
Board of Education
Enxa
Pruitt
54
8H
107
13
163
34
109
67
115
129
65
13
153
72
198
Erwin
Pike E.E. Caldwell x
81 85
59 82
172 164
76 64
10 7
165 143
40 87
288 359
Reynolds
DeWeese Knight x
82 66
83 79
196 121
68 91
14 9
IK 267
47 56
339 143
Stack Mountain l
Stack Mountain 2
Btack Mountain !
Biack Mountain 4
Broad River
Riceviiie
Swaananoa 1
Swannanoa 2
gggsgggga
NC Senate
gimd(D) x
SHaiaJD) x Krause (R) Morgan (R)
ZH 197 105
Z" 157 154
*! 206 205
MM 21! 206
K 62 50
2*9 355 350
MS mo 139
MB 337 340
NC House
Clarke (D) x^ghon (D)
232 232
266 275
352 377
273 277
40 35
364 396
153 167
499 436
Greenwood (D) x Nesbitt (D) x Haith (R)
177
132
131
172
62
294
122
233
311
398
304
33
365
176
497
267
332
265
41
40V
177
471
US Senate
hgram (D)_Hgtgs (R) a
290 265
247 23!
367 306
226 305
36 91
347 476
155 !94
440 415
US House
Gudger(D)x
317
256
354
243
39
335
155
429
Ratcliff (R)
249
223
313
286
90
506
202
436
Clerk of Court
Elingburg (D) x Carrier (R)
TE!- Hi
2M i33
352
245
34
389
158
450
:eo
161
63
280
113
259
Sheriff
MjpSgeXfD)
279
33
491
197
534
Clay (R)
213
173
177
i70
92
307
155
295