Second class postage paid
at Black Mountain, NC 2S7H
Thursday, October !5, 1981, Volume 29, Number 42
Member of the NCPA
Ginseng hunt
yieids 10 pounds
by Cynthia Reimer
There are those who believe the days
of digging roots for "cash money" have
gone from the mountains. But Clarence
Davis, Daniel Derreberry and Toss
Derreberry know otherwise.
Last week, one day's digging netted
the trio 10 pounds four ounces of
ginseng root. At (135 a pound dried,
the roots will bring them a profit of
about (475 for their day's work.
Ginseng is a root used medicinally by
the Chinese. Dried, it is thought to
restore lost appetite and cure digestive
afflictions. Lt is also in some places
considered an aphrodisiac.
The root sometimes resembles the
figure of a man, with head, body and
legs. It is found in the mountains of
Eastern Asia, Korea and Japan, and
was once abundant in the mountains of
Western North Carolina. Because the
herb was so profitable, it was dug here
until it became scarce.
Davis and the Derreberrys have been
digging ginseng since 1963 when it
netted only $18 a pound, and they still
find as much ginseng as when they
started, the reason, they say, is they
always plant seed back in the places
they dig the ginseng from.
Asked where they found last weeks
record haul, Toss smiled. "Let's just
say somewhere in Buncombe County,"
he said.
Don't worrv about Socia)
Security, Hendon says
by Cynthia Reimer
"We're not going to let you down, I
guarantee it," and "I don't want you-all
to worry about your Social Security,"
was the message 11th District Repre
sentative Bill Hendon brought to about
100 members of the American Associa
tion of Retired People (AARP) Friday
morning.
There were no surprises in the
freshman Congressman's remarks as he
reassured the group. "In my opinion
the best thing we can do for Social
Security is to have a strong economy,"
he said.
In support of President Reagan's
economic policies, Hendon said, "We
have made a historic change in the
course of America. For the first time the
government has reined itself in. For the
first time the government is less. It had
to be done. "
Cutting taxes, Hendon believes, will
revive the incentive to work. When
people are working, they are paying
Social Security taxes and that is how the
faltering Social Security system will be
made healthy again, Hendon said. "Cut
back on taxes, cut back on government
spending and cut back on frivolous
government regulations; that's the
groundwork to save the Social Security
system," he stated.
Hendon said he favors pooling of
funds within the Social Security system
and borrowing from healthy funds, such
as Medicaid, to bail out the retirement
benefit fund.
Discussing other recent Reagan eco
nomic measures, Hendon called the
Food Stamp program "fraught with
corruption and abuse. "
On the controversial school lunch
program, Hendon said, a family of four
with an income of (15,450 is eligible for
subsidized school lunches. "It's not as
awful, folks, as you see on the evening
news," Hendon said.
On block grants, Hendon said,
"You're getting less money but you're
getting less red tape, less government
regulations, less money but no strings
attached."
After Hendon's remarks, he answer
ed questions from the audience read by
members of a panel: Fred Lumb, Lois
Cook and Ed Torrance.
Rep. Bit! Hendon
Town counci!
Town tacks funds to meet obtigations
by Scott Dedman
Black Mountain Town Council voted
Monday night to ask its creditors to
delay billing, saying that for the first
time in recent memory the town cannot
pay its debts. Acting unanimously on a
recommendation by Mayor Tom Sobol,
the council directed Town Manager
Vinson Miller and the mayor to appoach
the town's major suppliers, including
the Black Mountain Lumber Company,
Black Mountain Auto Parts and com
panies which supply chemicals for the
local water supply, and ask them to
delay billing 90 days.
Mayor Sobol said if local suppliers
cooperate until property taxes are
collected in December and January,
Black Mountain will have the money to
meet all other expenses, including
employee salaries and benefits, utility
bills, a "bare minimum" of gasoline
and sanitation costs. His financial
summary estimated these expenses at
(130,000 through December, with
(140,000 in revenues anticipated for
that time.
Little was said about the reasons for
the current financial difficulties at
Monday night's meeting, the last
scheduled before the November 3rd
Town Council election. However, Mayor
Sobol emphasized that Black Mountain
overspent its 1980-81 budget "in excess
of (75,000 " and that "if the current rate
of spending is not cut bade, we will be in
the same shape on the 1981-^2 bud
get."
Compounding the monetary mess,
according to Black Mountain accountant
Midge Blakeslee, is the absence of a full
auditor's report for 1980-81 which was
due by September 30 according to the
auditor's contracts, she stressed that
the Local Government Commission in
Raleigh required the town's Financial
Information Report to be submitted by
October 1. Reached at his Asheville
office Tuesday, town auditor Don
Williams said that there had been an
apparent "lack of communication"
between himself and the town, and that
he had supplied auditor's figures to the
monthly financial report last week,
giving the town all the information
needed to know where it stands. He
explained further that he had lost
several staff members recently while
installing a new computer system, had
been side for a few days at the same
time, and would have the full report in
the hands of council members later this
week. "I do value the town of Black
Mountain as a client," he said, "and I
feel that this lack of communication has
been unfortunate."
In other council action, to ease the
financial strain A.F. Tyson moved that
Black Mountain change its policy for
collection of overdue water bills, saying
that "no matter how unpopular" the
move might be, "we will have to make
our policy more like that of the Carolina
Power and Light Company." Council
voted unanimously to cut off a cus
tomer's water 45 days after initial
billing if full payment is not received,
with an overdue notice sent out 15 days
after billing and cut-off 30 days later. It
Weather
s- review
Oct. 6-high 79, low 47 degrees.
Oct. 7-high 67, iow 60 degrees.
Oct. 8--high 70, iow 35 degrees.
Oct. 9-high 59, iow 34 degrees; trace
precipitation.
Oct. 10--high 56, iow 56; .07 inches
precipitation.
Oct. 11-high 60, iow 47 degrees.
Oct. 12-high 52, iow 46 degrees.
Weather information conr
tesy of WFGW Radio, Black Moon tain.
was noted during discussion that at
ler <. 300 water meters are giving faulty
leadings and that the town's oniy meter
reader has additional responsibilities as
a dog warden. Mr. Miller recommended
and Council directed, that the employ
ee be made a full-time meter reader
and tum over the baiting of dog traps to
the police and other departments during
the colder months, when a warden's
services would be needed less frequent
ly.
In another unanimous vote Council
ordered the closing of a 130-foot section
of Mt. Mitchell Avenue, a dirt and
gravel road which runs between the
Southern Railway trades and tne proper
ties of Mr. Zeke Morris and Ms. Evelyn
Jones. The action was taken at the
request of Mr. Morris and Ms. Jones.
Mr. William Carter asked the council
to refund taxes which he said had been
billed to him by mistake in 1974, his
home being outside the dty limits, and
which his wife had paid by mistake.
After extensive discussion about setting
a precedent of paying interest on
mispaid taxes, Council agreed to follow
the example set by Buncombe County
and to pay Mr. Carter whatever interest
the county would pay in a similar
situation. On Tuesday Mr. R.D. Esk
ridge, tax collector for Buncombe
County and the City of Asheville, stated
that no interest would be paid according
to Buncombe County policy and that
there was no provision in the law for
paying interest on mispaid or overpaid
taxes. According to town officials,
Tuesday afternoon Mr. Carter was
offered and refused a check for the
exact amount overpaid and said he
would consult an attorney.
The only council action to create
dissention among members was a
proposed resolution to allow Ms. An
nette Fox McMahan and her family to
move her new house trailer back to the
site of her old one "for the purpose of
alleviating undue hardship", even
though the property is zoned to prohibit
new house trailers from being placed.
Kathy Wacaster, Community Develop
ment Administrator for the town, stated
that when her office recommended Ms.
McMahan remove her oid trader from
the iot, ther was no updated copy of
Blade Mountain zoning regulations
availabie, and that to her knowledge
none exists. Alderman Margaret Slagle
stated her opposition to the resolution,
saying other residents had been refused
permission to place house trailers since
1970, and that town laws are too easily
amended for one person. She empha
sized in an interview after the meeting
that she hoped Ms. McMahan would
have a nice home on the property and
that she opposed the resolution on
principle. The vote was 3-1 for the
resolution, with Alderman Ruth Bran
don absent.
Several council members were asked
after the meeting if Black Mountain had
ever before been unable to meet its
debts. Both Mayor Sobol and Margaret
Slagle agreed that to their knowledge as
long-time council members, the town
has never before been forced to ask
suppliers for billing delays.
McDonaid's to erect sign;
search for atternative faits
by Cynthia Reimer
Efforts to locate billboards as an
alternative to a 100-foot McDonald's
sign reached a dead end here recently
when the group of searchers found all
land between here and McDowell
County on 1-40 is protected by the
Federal Highway Beautification Act.
The act prohibits billboards on any land
except commercial property with an
existing business on it.
"McDonald's had offered us an
impossible compromise," said Bob
Warren, spokesman for the group
protesting the sign. "They are forcing
us to organize a boycott of McDon
ald's."
Warren said the group asked McDon
ald's to try a )0-foot sign for a length
of time to see if necessary business
would be drawn, or to move the sign
"across the street." McDonald's re
fused, Warren said, and plans to erect
the 100-foot sign.
Concern has been expressed that the
sign will be visible from the Blue Ridge
Parkway. Warren said the Sierra Club
has expressed interest and could organ
ize a national boycott of the hamburger
chain if the sign detracts from the
beauty of the Parkway.
"There's no guarantee this one will
be visible from the Parkway," stated
Doug Stafford, who works for an
Asheville advertising firm representing
McDonald's in this area. The sign is 15
feet across and because McDonald's is
Man injured
on trai! bike
Steve Thorpe, owner of Steve's Body
Shop on South Daugherty Street, was
injured Sunday in a trail bike accident
on Bald Mountain near Hendersonville.
Thorpe suffered head injuries. He was
taken to Pardee Hospital in Henderson
ville and transferred to Memorial
Mission in Asheville. At press time, he
remained in a coma and in critical
condition.
Thorpe was not wearing a helmet a
at the time of the acddent.
located 40 feet below the road grade,
the sign will extend 60 feet into the air
instead of 100. The Parkway is more
than 10 miles from the 15-foot sign,
Stafford estimated.
McDonald's, Stafford said, believes
"one small sign on a single post,
opposed to two large billboards, is
going to be less ugly, more attractive."
He said the decision was "economic as
well as esthetic," because "extensive
research has shown they need to draw
business off the Interstate.
K successful, McDonald's will pay an
estimated (1-2,000 in taxes to the town
of Black Mountain as well as providing
60-70 new jobs for the community.
Warren's group plans to place signs
along 1-40 asking diners to pass up
McDonald's and eat elsewhere. Urey
also plan to distribute brochures printed
with a parody of the McDonald's sign.
Powe!! Bitt provides
$56,546 for roads
State Transportation Secretary W .R.
"Bill" Roberson Jr. announced today
that checks totaling more than $31.3
million have been mailed to 461
municipalities in North Carolina for
local street construction and mainte
nance. The monies make up the fiscal
year 1982 allocation of state street aid
(Powell Bill) funds.
The municipality of Black Mountain
will receive an allocation of $56,546.68
in Powell Bill funds. This allocation is
based on the community's population of
4,093 and its 29.11 miles of local streets.
"Next year, however," Roberson
said, "municipalities can expect an
increase in Powell Bill funds thanks to
the 1981 General Assembly's support
and passage of Governor Jim Hunt's
Good Roads' program. Rut of the
program enacted was the increase of the
state's gasoiine tax by three cents. Of
this increase, three-eighths of a cent
was designated for the Fbweil Biii
ailocations.
"The Good Roads' program assures
cities and towns of receiving one and
three-eighths cents of the net state
motor fuei tax or at ieast $10 million
more than the $31.3 available this
year," Roberson said.
Powell Bill funds are distributed on a
legislative formula based 75 percent on
population and 25 percent on non-state
system local street mileage.
Mystery!..
A painting of North Carolina governors which has hung in City Hall for
years and years fell off the wall last week. When It Ml, It came apart,
revealing two original pastel drawings underneath. They had been used as
padding behind the painting, Town CleA Vinson MRler said. So far, no one
has been able to Identify the couple In the drawings, or the artist.