Newspapers / The Pamlico News (Bayboro, … / March 5, 1981, edition 1 / Page 1
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The Pamlico News 15c Per Copy (USPS 782-460) Vol. 14, No. 9 Serving Pamlico County And Richland Township Thursday, March 5,1981 PTI library p. 0. Box 185 Gran^aborot N* c* 20529 School Bond Referendum tossed Around At Monday night’s Pamlico school board meeting, the board discussed the feasibility of calling for a county school band referendum. The board decided to discuss the matter with the county commissioners possibly during the yearly budget meeting with the commissioners. The school board felt that if the state calls for a state referendum in November, the earliest logical county referendum would be the following May which givea an ample amount of time for information gathering and citizen input. Board chairman linwood Spruill stated that the county needs roughly $4.6 million to do the needed schools im provements. If the state referendum passes, the county could expect roughly $1.7 million, leaving $3.9 million. n ' Booker T. Jones said that with the proposed Reagan cuts he did not see much sense in calling for a referendum. “He (President Reagan) has changed my views,” Jones added, “The feeling I get from people I talk to is not very positive.” The question of cost of a referendum came up. Superintendent George Brinson said that if the referendum could be ran in conjunction with a regular election, the cost would be nominal, basically the cost of the ballots. Jones said that he thought that to run a referendum separately, the board would be talking in the neighborhood of $8000. “It looks like to me,’’ said Pam Banks, board member, “That we’re not getting ahead by just sitting on it.” Building Industry ‘Holding Its Own’ The building trade in many areas of the country has been hurt, affected primarily by inflation and high, fluctuating interest costs. Although there hasn’t been a “boom” in the industry in Pamlico County and Richland Township, it seems thst at least the work has been fairly steady for most of the companies involved in providing homes and structures for businesses. From September I960 through February 1961, building permits for 35 new houses were issued in Pamlico County (figures were unavailable for the Aurora-Edward-Blount’s Creek area). Permits were also granted for 11 additions, 14 permanent storage buildings, 8 garages and 73 mobile homes. Major repairs were also made to four homes. There were four building permits issued far the same six month period within the town limits of Aurora. Hank Williams of Arapahoe, a local building contractor, said that he felt that Pamlico County had not seen the hard times that other areas had because of the retired people moving into the area. These people, he said, are not as bothered by the high interest rates since they are selling one home and using that money for their new home. Williams was optimistic about the future of the building industry and felt that interest rates would be dropping; then builders would then experience a “boom” as people living in mobile homes or rented homes decided to btiild. has built recently are in the $40,00040,000 range. He said that many people are beginning to build smaller homes in an effort to keep the costs of utilities down. He added that people are using more wood siding, as opposed to a brick veneer, as another way to cut construction costs. Gordon Keller of Indian Trace Company in Minnesott Beach said feat he felt business was picking up now that some warmer weather had arrived. Business had been slow though, he said, until the last two weeks. Inflation, he thought, was a more important factor in fee building in dustry that the interest rates. Building costs, be com mented, have been rising 10-12 percent each year. Delamar To Head Fisheries Association Ned Detainer Ned Delamar of Oriental haf been appointed EaScutive Director of the North Carolina Fisheries Association to replace Ross Boyer. Detainer's ap pointment was effective March l, 1981. Delamar recently retired from the State Department of Community Colleges where he served as Director of Speciality Educational programs. Also, he was liaison man between the General Assembly And the State Board of Education on matters concerning the qpununity Colleges. 'While In the North Carolina Representatives the While in the North Carolina House of Representatives Delamar served for eight years mi the House Fisheries Committee and he served, by appointment, on the State Marine Resources Com mittee for 4 years. Delamar feels this experience will help him in hi* position as Director of the Fisheries Association. Delamar, in outlining his goals for the association, sighted the need for stabilisation of the inlets as his number one priority. “I plan," Delamar said, “to go to RiMgh, to Washington, He agreed with Williams that the majority of new building in the county was being done by the retired people moving into the area. People he built for were also asking for a more energy-efficient home - added insulation, in sulated glass far windows and doors, and, often at Keller’s suggestion, the installation of a Geothermal Water Cycle Heat Pump. This type of heat pump, explained Keller, may save 20-30 percent over the traditional heat pump and about SO percent over total electric heat. Gene Broughton, Pamlico County Building Inspector, said that the busiest areas of the county, as far as new building activity went, were Oriental and the Pinedale area. Eleven new homes have begun construction in Pinedale within the last 6 months. Mobile home (Cont’d on Page Four) Business building addition in Aurora. Commissioners Discuss School Board Elections Monday’s topic of the day seemed to be the method of election of school board members in Pamlico County. The Pamlico commissioners, at their February 16 meeting, discussed proposing legislation which would require that school board members be elected to represent on a town ship basis, or in the same way county commissioners are elected. Currently, school board members are elected on an at large basis. The Pamlico commissioners held a public hearing Monday morning to gain citizen input in the proposed change of election practices. Then, Monday night, the Pamlico school board supported, by a 2 to 3 margin, the proposed legislation. PUBLIC HEARING Approximately 35 citizens attended the public hearing on the proposed school board election changes. The largest represented group, the Voters League Of U-CAN (United Community Association Net), spoke in opposition of the proposed legislation. A group of citizens from Goose Creek Island spoke in favor of the proposal. Annette Jones, speaking on behalf of a group from Lowland-Hobucken, 8ald, ‘tWe ( the group) would like to see a vote by township.’' She added, “1 don't believe we’ve (Goose Creek Island) had representation on the school board) in 15 years.” The area, she said, has been neglected in school board representation. A prepared statement, submitted by Preston Whitney, President of U-CAN, stated, “We (U-CAN) feel that the proposed legislation of geographical representation throughout Pamlico County is an attempt to guarantee representation to a small populace of this county and at the same time to disenfranchise and deny equal representation of the poor and minorities on the county Board of Education.” The statement added, “...we see no need for guaranteed geographical representation of the county board of education unless the same guarantee is made for representation of race, sea, and the disadvantage (sic) on all boards.” Board chairman Robert Paul asked Whitney what was meant by “all boards”. Said Whitney, “It’s up to you what we meant” Whitney continued, “If they (township 4) feel they should have equal representation, we (U-CAN) feel the same way.” Whitney also questioned the time at which the public hearing was held He said, “You shouldn’t have a crucial issue like this and want to change it at 10 o’clock in the morning." He added that at that time of the day, most of the work force would be unable to attend at heart* at 10 o’clock in the morning. Replied Paul, “We had to set a time sometime and you can’t do it to suit everybody’s con venience.” Paul added that this was the normal meeting time of the board for the first meeting of the month. “We think we have a good workable system,” said Fred Brown, U-CAN member, "Leave it the way it is because it is added, “If I have any racial hate against anybody, I don’t know nothing about it.” Annette Jones, said, “To us (citizens in No. 4 township), it it (township representation) seems such a fair way to do things.” She said that especially in Goose Creek Island, apatfay for the schools was a growing problem. She at tributed the apathy to the remoteness of the area and lack of representation on the school board. Mrs. Jones said that if the area had a representative, citizens would be more prone to call on that representative than the current members whom (bey may not know. Commissioner Don Lee said that he felt the change was needed because township representatives know their area and people much better than other areas. The commissioners took no formal action on the proposed legislation but urged county citizens to continue to feed input into the board. Comments can be submitted to the County Manager’s Office. SCHOOL BOARD Later Monday night, the Pamlico County School Board endorsed the proposed legislation by a 2 to 3 vote. In opening the discussion, Booker T. Jones stated, “My first question is I don’t understand why the commissioners made this recommendation public and had a public hearing before coming to the board (of education)?” Jones contended that representation by township was not necessarily equal representation because of the current township boundary lines. “This seems like a fair proposal,” said board member Pam Banks. She asked Jones, “What would be wrong with it?” “Nothing,” Jones replied, “if the areas are drawn to represent an equal number of people.” Alton Lee, board member, said that when he first came on the board 16% years ago, the members were elected by townships but shortly after that, it was changed to mem bers elected at large. “I’ve never thought it was fair,” said Lee. Hazel Alcock, representing a group from Lowland Hobucken area, said, “I feel that it would be a fair way to have selection by township.” She added that parents in the area do not “feel close enough” to the boaiU of education members to call them on the phone with problems. (Cont’d on Page Four) Peat Mining Proposed Peatco, a peat mining outfit, made application for a mining permit to the Mining Division of the Department of Natural and Economic Resources on January 20. The proposed mining area is 3000 leased acres in the Light Ground Pocosin in Pamlico County. The application proposes to practice peat milling and peat sod extrusion to a maximum depth of 8 feet in the mining area. According to the application, the peat will be mined over a period of 10 years with 300 acres cleared and 150 acres in production the first year. During year 2,1060 acres will be cleared and 675 placed in production. The schedule continues until year 10 when the peat should be completely removed. The application states that the company will leave the acreage in shape for agriculture, complete with “V” dit ches and nutrient application as recommended by the Agronomic Division and the N. C. Agricultural Extension Service. The application claims no significant effect on fresh water, estuarine, or marine life. The mining will effect the wildlife habitat due to the land clearing. There is also no waste water discharge or air contaminant emmission expected from the mine. Pamlico County officials will be gathering information and input on the proposed mining project. County Manager Bill Rice said that it is most important that county citixens have input into a project such as this. He added that he 1 expected that public hearings will ha veto be called, i County Planner Dick Simmons said that he will be working towards gathering data on peat mining and impact I from other areas faced with the same situation. He added that there are many questions that the county now has about the project and the potential impact in the county. Currently, the county’s Land Use Plan makes no mention of mining with respect to guidelines which the county would like to see followed. State agencies, when making ap plication decisions, consider the Land Use Plan. The Pamlico News will be reporting on this proposed project in further detail in later issues. Girl Scout Cookies Have Arrived The Girl Scouts are proud to announce that the cookies are here. We know that many of you have been anxiously awaiting their arrival, and they are here at last. If you did not have a chance to order them last month and would like to buy a box, it is not too late. Some of the troops ordered a few extra just for special people like you. If you want to place an order, call 745-5147 this week. To all of you who did help us out, thank you for your continued' support. You people in Pamlico County are great! Area Meetings Beaufort County Board of Education, Superintendent's Office, Washington, 8 pan., March 10. Alliance Town Board, 7:30 p.m., March 0 Minnesott Town Board, : 7 p.m., March 10 Firemen's Association, 8 pm., March 19, Hobucken School
The Pamlico News (Bayboro, N.C.)
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March 5, 1981, edition 1
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