The Pamlico New
1C
Vol. 17, No. 17
20* per copy
USPS 782-460
Wednesday, April 25, 1984
The Easter Bunny was pre
sent at the annual Pamlico
County Easter Egg Hunt,
sponsored by the Recreation
Department, on Friday.
I
I
Area Meetings
Pamlico County Board of Com
missioners - Monday, April 30,
7:30 pm, Courthouse, Bayboro.
Arapahoe Town Board - Thurs
day, May 3,8 pm, Town Hall.
Mesic Town Board - Thursday,
May 3,7 pm, Community Center.
Weather Forecast
(Information supplied by the Na
tional Weather Service, Wilm
ington)
* Chance of showers and
thunderstorms Thursday and Fri
day. Fair Saturday.
Highs in the 70’s and lows in the
50’s throughout the period.
Need a gift for that hard-to
buy-for person? How about an
Island? Governors Island will
go up for sale again next mon
th.
Countywide Transportation
System Possibility For Pamlico
Last week, the Pamlico County
Board of Commissioners approv
ed an expenditure of $150 as part
of a match for updating the
Transportation Development Plan
(TDP) for Pamlico County. With
state and federal aid and through
the Craven County Department of
Taansportation, Pamlico County
hopes to provide transportation to
those county residents who do not
have easy access to it beginning
July 1.
In January, the Town of Mesic
received the final report of their
Public Transportation Improve
ment Study. The study concluded
that although additional public
transportation is needed, for
Mesic to undertake the project
would be cost prohibitive. The
commissioners hope, however,
that a system coordinated by
Craven County and utilized by
Craven, Jones and Pamlico Coun
ties will prove feasible.
Pamlico County manager Bill
Rice explained that during
1979-80, Coastal Progress
operated a transportation system,
funded partially with federal Ur
ban Mass Transportation Ad
ministration (UMTA) monies. At
that time, the poissbility of
establishing a regional system
was studied, he said, adding that
“it never got of the ground;” ap
parently some portions of the
study were inadequate.
Craven County then “pulled
out,” said Rice, and formed its
own system in conjunciton with
the Council on Aging. The purpose
of such a system, said Rice, is to
provide human services
transportation-transport to the
doctor and various agencies and
training and evaluation centers.
The Craven County transpoirt
tion system is curently providing
services for Pamlico County
residents who are clients of Neuse
Mental Health Center and the
Craven Evaluation and Training
Center. Craven County has recent
ly applied for $5,000 in Section 18
funds with which to update their
TDP. Since they also transport
residents of Jones and Pamlico
Counties, these must also be in
cluded at an additional cost of
$3,000. Section 18 funds, which are
federal dollars, require a 10 per
cent local match; split evenly,
Jones and Pamlico must each pay
$150 for an update.
The proposed project, titled
Craven Area Rural Transit
System, is scheudled to begin
operation July 1 with funding from
federal, state and local sources
totaling $92,250 for capital and ad
minstrative costs-$46,675 to
replace three vans, $6,825 to
Island For Sale
..dgain
For the second time, Governor’s
Island in Pamlico County will go
on the auction block to be sold to
the highest bidder or bidders, in
whole or in part. The sale of the
4,800-acre tract, known locally as
Jones Island, is scheduled for May
5 at 11 am at the Ramada Inn in
New Bern which was also the site
of the original auction. The first
buyer of the land, a Tampa,
Florida, man, will forfeit all rights
to the property if it is resold and
may lose a deposit of almost
$200,000.
Joseph Eways of Florida first
purchased the property for $1.96
million. At the time of the sale,
which was held last year, he wrote
a personal check for $294,000, the
required deposit of 15 percent of
the purchase price. The account
on which the check was written,
however, contained only $184,000
it was later learned.
A federal court judge earlier
this year granted Eways an exten
sion, of time during which to pro
duce the remainder of the deposit
and-the balance of the purchase
price. Both deadlines passed
without any further payment be
ing made. Instead, said Hunt Bax
ter, Eways’ New Bern attorney,
an appeal was filed on the basis
that the title to the property was
not clear as had been promised by
the contract signed by Eways at
the auction.
Eways is still interested in the
island, reiterated Baxter in a
telephone interview Saturday,
April 21, although not with the pre
sent encumbrances on the title.
One title problem has been
and natural gas interests owned
by one party have been acquired.
Other problems, though, still re
main, he said.
The appeal has yet to be ruled
upon, he said. Should the island be
sold at the auction next month,
Eways, of course, would no longer
have any legal rights to the land
itself, Baxter explained. At that
point, Eways would, through the
appeal already filed, try to
reclaim the $184,000 deposit being
held.
Support Your
| Rescue Squad
4
retrofit a van for handicapped ac
cessibilty and $39,750 for ad
ministrative assistance. Existing
routes will be modified with new
routes established as demand in
creases. Fifty percent of the
operating costs will be paid by
state and federal funds with the
remainder coming from local
sources. Rice said that it costs ap
proximately 42 cents per mile to
operate the vans. No figures on
Pamlico County’s potential liabili
ty are yet available. “It’s still in
the embryonic stage,’’ com
mented Rice. The completed pro
posal with cost estimates should
be available within the next month
or so, he added.
Rice said that in Pamlico Coun
ty the system could possibly pro
vide transportation for those par
ticipating in the senior citizens’
programs and for those attending
Pamlico Technical College. Some
of PTC’s Job Training funds could
be used to pay for the students’
transportation, he said. DSS
clients could also use it; social
services has federal funds which
are used for transporting clients,
a chore now performed by DSS
employees. The establishment of
a couritywide system would,
therefore, also save manhours,
allowing the DSS employees to use
the time more productively.
Anyone who wished could use
the system, Rice said. Tickets or
tokens could be sold, perhaps
through local businesses.
“On the first blush, it looks like
something the county’s needed for
a long time,” he commented.
Emily Keel, left, ad
ministrator of Tri-County
Health Services in Aurora, and
Hope Lucas, health educator,
hold a certificate received
recently from the Department
of Health and Human Ser
vices, Community Health Pro
motions Program, recognizing
the achievements of the CPR
component of the Car
diovascular Risk Reduction
Program.
Farming Outlook Good
Despite Wet Season
“Potatoes look extremely
good,” according to the Pamlico
County Agricultural Extension
Service, which also has high hopes
tor other crops this season.
The potato crop has suffered
some minor losses in isolated
areas duetto poor drainage ag
gravated ny the wet season, said
Fred May, chairman of the
Agricultural Extension Service.
But the majority of the crop looks
quite good.
The cabbage crop is also doing
well, said May. Cutting will begin
in 3-4 weeks with peak production
in 4-5 weeks.
The severe mildew problem ex
perienced with the wheat crop last
year has not been present this
season, he said, perhaps because
of the more-than-normal rainfall.
May speculated that the excessive
rain may have resulted in a loss of
nitrogen, a contributor to mildew,
through leaching.
Tobacco “looks fair,” he said, if
there are a sufficient number of
plants available. Some growers
have had problems with their
transplants because of the rainy
year but May said they should be
able to obtain transplants from
other local farmers. Planting has
been delayed a week to ten days
but should begin soon. The
lateness might even prove
beneficial, he said, since the soil
will be warmer and the danger of
frost past.
Most farmers will also be a
week to ten days late planting
corn, said May, again because of
the wet fields. Corn that was
planted early and Is already up
n»ay have yellowed from the ex
cessive moisture and cool
weather, May said, although there
has probably been no permanent
?
damage. Because of the rain the
soil around the early-planted corn
may have crusted. May recom
mends light cultivation to aerate
the soil.
May anticipates little change
from last year in the prices
growers will receive for corn and
grain; if there is any change, it
will probably be downward, he
said. Without the PIK (Payment
In Kind) program in operation
this year, the acreage planted in
corn, he estimated, will be double
that of last year. “And if Pamlico
County’s doing it, everybody else
is too.” Increased supply general
ly means lower prices.
Cabbage prices are excellent
now, said May, but Pamlico Coun
ty growers, since they will be
harvesting their crops at about the
same time as many others, will be
competing for their share of the
market. “A lot of demand will
have been satisfied by the time we
get our crop to the market,” said
May.
With a short potato crop last
year along the east coast, May
commented that he thought potato
prices should be better than they
are now and that he did not
understand why prices weren’t
higher. “The shortage is not being
reflected in the prices, ’ ’ hesaid.
In general, according to May,
growers hitting the markets first
or getting their contracts early
stand the best chances of getting
the higher prices.
HOME GARDENS
With the return of warm
weather, the home gardeners can
be seen out on their plots of land,
tilling and planting. May suggests
that the home gardener soil sam
pie to determine exactly what the
needs of his particular soil are. If
lime is called for, he said, only
dolomitic limestone should be us
ed; it also contains magnesium,
another needed mineral. Stay
away from calcitic limestone, he
cautioned; it is also known as
quicklime, builders lime or
hydrated lime. Calcitic limestone
should only be used in special in
stances, for such diseases as
clubroot, he commented. Soil
sample kits are availble althe Ex
tension office.
Too much lime, May explained,
can be harmful, stunting the
growth of the plants and turning
then yellow. In most soils, an ap
plication of lime should last 3 to 5
years. Sandy soils will require
lime every year, May said, but a
lesser amount than for other,
more lime-retentive soil types.
Now is the time to plant such
vegetables and fruits as green
(See FARMING, Page Sixteen)
Elections Drawing Near
With elections coming up soon,
May 8, to be exact, candidates’
campaigns are gearing up and
voters are trying to learn where
each would-be office holder stands
on the issues. But some voters ap
pear to be rather confused about
which candidates for whom they
can vote.
Neither Pamlico nor Beaufort
County will have a Republican
primary for local offices such as
county commissioner although
there are some Republicans who
have filed for the seats. Since none
of the Republicans who filed face
opposition from a fellow party
member, they won’t appear on the
ballot until the general election in
November. In fact, since none of
the Democratic candidates have
opposition from a member of their
party, there won’t even be a ballot
for the Beaufort County Commis
sion next month.
For the Beaufort County Board
of Education, which is a non
partisan election, two seats are up
for grabs-those for the Chocowini
J
ty and Long Acre districts. Since
the election is non-partisan, all
registered voters in Beaufort
County, regardless of party af
filiation or district of residence,
can make a choice on May 8 by
marking their ballots.
The same holds true for the
Pamlico County school board.
Although candidates for school
board file by township, they are
elected by the entire voting body
in the county, regardless of the
township in which the voter
resides or party affiliation. All
voters will receive the same ballot
for the board of education.
For the county commission,
there will be a primary in Pamlico
County but it is open only to
registered Democrats. All
Democrats voting will receive
identical ballots for the county
commission; all voters vote for all
seats.
Republicans will have a can
didate for county commissioner
on the ballot in November.
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