1
0485 8606 1
PAMLICO TECH,
PO BOX 185
GRANTSBORO nc
**B002
COLLEGE
28529
Weekend Accidents.
Page 10
Catching Ferry Easier.
Page 13
The
&
1
No Change In 74c Tax Rate
Pamlico Commissioners Approve
$3.7 Million Budget
I
For the fifth consecutive year,
Pamlico County’s tax rate will re
main the same. The tax rate was
set Monday night, June 16, at 74
cents per $100 valuation when the
Pamlico County board of commis
sioners adopted a $3.7 million
budget following a brief public
hearing.
No citizen was present during
the hearing to provide input.
In order to balance the
$3,726,668 1986-87 budget, the
board found it necessary to ap
propriate $419,146 in fund balance
monies.
The budget for the current fiscal
year, which ends on June 30, is
$3,477,281.
The county budget will be ex
amined in detail in a future issue.
Dan Jones, director of the men
tal retardation division of the
Neuse Center, appeared before
the commissioners Monday night
to request their support for the
construction in Pamlico County of
a group home for mentally retard
ed adults.
Jones explained that federal
HUD funding is currently
available for the building of such
homes and that the local
Associaton of Retarded Citizens
(ARC) has already sent in the $850
fee to indicate their interest in be
ing considered for the application
process.
Homes for mentally retarded
adults are curently operating in
New Bern and Vanceboro with a
third scheduled to open in
Newport later this month.
Jones pointed out that funding
for such projects is likely to
become “slimmer and slimmer”
in the future years.
Three residents of the home, he
Carteret County Residents Express
Concern About Septic Tank Regs At
Meeting With State
(Editor’s Note: On Thursday
night, June 12, a meeting took
place in Carteret County on the
septic tank denials in that county.
Even though the names and com
munities are different and might
not be familiar, the same problem
is plaguing Pamlico County and
many of the comments made by
the Carteret County residents
could be, and probably have been,
made by Pamlico County property
owners. The article, by News
Time staff writer Beth Blake, is
reprinted here in its entirety with
the permission of The Carteret
County News-Times.)
Denial of septic tank permits,
particularly east of Beaufort,
drew a crowd of more than ISO
persons Thursday night at a
public meeting conducted by N.C.
Secretary of Human Resources
Phillip J. Kirk.
The meeting staged at the
Crystal Coast Civic Center,
Morehead City, was requested by
Billy Smith, chairman of the
Carteret County Board of Com
missioners.
inconsistency, unfairness and
refusal to compromise were
allegations made by speakers,
several of whom claimed they had
Pamlico County, Mesic
Seeking CDBG Funding
Pamlico County and the town ot
Mesic have each applied (or Com
munity Development Block
Grant* (CDBG) (or bousing
rehabilitation (or fiscal year 1986.
And, according to the North
Carolina Department o( Natural
Resource! and Community
Development (NRCD), (or the
fifth consecutive year, requests
(ar exceed the amount ol money
available. This round, 138 local
governments have asked (or 168
million; m.2 million is available
(or community revitalization pro
f
facts.
The county has requested
$538,470 for their project and
Mesic Is seeking $255,139.
NCCD’s Division of Community
Assistance will review and rate
each proposed project. Factors
considered include the severity of
n«ed, the feasibility of the project,
the benefit to low and moderate in
come persons and the local
government’s commitment to
community development.
Grant awards will be announced
In late July or early Auguat.
H
lost income because their proper
ty had been found unsuitable for a
septic tank.
Secretary Kirk said the purpose
of the meeting was to listen to the
concerns, not to change decisions
of state or county health officials.
Other state officials in atten
dance were Dr. Ronald Levine,
state health director; Steve Stein
back, state on-site sewage
disposal director; Dr. Martin
Hines, advisor to Secretary Kirk;
Malcolm Blalock of the on-site
program; Jim Stamey, en
vironmental health section chief;
Dr. Robert Uebler, state soil
scientist; and Linda Sewall, assis
tant chief of the environmental
health section. Mr. Steinbeck and
Secretary Kirk were the only state
officials who made comments dur
ing the meeting.
Local officials included all five
county commissioners, County
Health Department Director Gor
don Davis and County Board of
Health chairman Elmer Dewey
Willis. Mr. Davis and Mr. Willis
welcomed the public, but commis
sioners made no comments.
A lack of communication and a
lack of understanding of health
regulations, especially of the ap
peals process, were two observa
tions that Secretary Kirk made
after the three and one-half hour
meeting.
“Don’t get the idea that deci
sions will be reversed,” he said at
the close of the meeting. “But that
doesn’t mean they won’t be recon
sidered.”
He warned that some land was
unsuitable for septic tanks.
Land that is at or near sea level.
(See CARTERET, Page 11)
Beaufort School Board Discusses
Possible Uses Of Bond Monies
The Beaufort County Board of
Education discussed the school
bond referendum and phase one of
the recommended facilities needs
in the county, but took no official
action at their meeting on Tues
day night, June 10.
County superintendent Clifton
L. Toler read the recommenda
tions that hav resulted from a
state and private studies. They in
cluded a consolated high school
for Bath and Belhaven, a voca
tional building at Aurora High
School which will also include
home economics, six or seven
classrooms at Bath elementary
school, six or seven classrooms in
Aurora to house a middle school
and two or three classrooms at
Cbocowinity.
Toler said, “I feel like all these
thing* can be done as well as
enlarging the libraries at
Boltin van, pinetown, Aurora’s
Snowden Elementary and
Cbocowinity.”
If the $12 million bond referen
dum is passed by county voters in
November, the county’s share of
the bond money and the money
•' ' t
1
***> tv
said, must come from a institu
tion. Jones commented that
Pamlico County citizens would be
given priority for all slots.
During the day, residents will be
involved in such things as the
Adult Developmental and Ac
tivities Program (ADAP). They
are not allowed to remain at the
home.
The proposal was due June 16,
he said, but an extension until the
end of the week was granted. The
proposal will include a budget,
which will be prepared by Neuse
Center, a letter from the area
mental health agency (Neuse
Center) committing funding, a
pledge of $2,500 “seed money”,
which in this case is being provid
ed by ARC, and letters of support.
Jones said the proposal would
name Neuse Center as the
operator of the home. A home can
be operated by a non-profit
organization such as ARC or a
mental health agency under the
direction of a local advisory
board.
The commissioners adopted a
resolution of support.
Recreation department director
Betty Mason was present to
discuss proposed plans to move
her department to another part of
the courthouse.
Presently located in a three
office suite on the second floor of
the annex, the commissioners had
proposed to move the recreation
department into the office now oc
cupied by emergency manage
ment and building inspections.
The building inspections depart
ment, with two inspectors and a
full-time secretary, would be mov
ed to the annex suite; emergency
management coordinator Charles
Toler would take over Gene
Broughton’s office and recreation
and emergency management
would share a secretary.
Mason told the board, “Our
department is being sacrificed
because of changes in other
departments.”
She explained that the move
would mean a loss in storage
space and private office for the
employees and that five people
would be expected to work in a
(See BUDGET, Page 11)
currently Deing neia ny tne county
will be nearly $9 million.
Board memberGarry Jordan,
from the Aurora school district,
said that he realized that facilities
did need upgrading but that he
was concerned about upgrading
the curriculum for the 229
students at Aurora High School.
Jordan and Calvin Pittman,
Chocowinity school district, ex
pressed the need for a new high
school consolidating Aurora and
Chocowinity on the south side of
the river.
Chairman Jimmy Raper
(SeeBEAUFORT, Page ll)
Outbreak OfParvo,
Coronavirus In Area
If that four-footed member of
your family hasn’t been protected
against parvovirus and cor
onavirus, it would be a good idea
to take him to the veterinarian.
There has been an outbreak of
these two potentially fatal
diseases in the area, according to
a local vet
Dr. Kirby Harriss of Coun
tryview Animal Clinic in Bayboro
and Countryview Animal Hospital
in Kinston says that the otfice has
been receiving a number of calls
recently from people explaining
that their dog, who didn’t seem
Just right for a few days, suddenly
became very ill.
Symptoms of parvovirus and
coronavirus are similar, although
they don’t seem to be quite as
severe for coronavirus, she says.