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1958-11-17 Regular Meeting, 331 Wilmington, N.C. November 17,1958 ASSEMBLY The regular weekly meeting o£ the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners was held this day in the Commissionerst Room of the Court House at 9:30_A. M. PRESENT; Chair- man J. M. Hall, Jr., Commissioners L. E. Broadhurst, J. E. Holton, Jr., Ernest R. May- han and Berry A. Williams; Commissioner-Elect Peter H. Braak, County Auditor T. D. Love and County Attorney John Bright Hill. INVOCAT20N - The Chairman called the meeting to order and asked Reverend J. L. Davis, Pastor of the Advent Christian Church, to open the meeting with a prayer for guidance. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES - Upon motion of Mr. Williams, seconded by Mr. Broadhurst, the minutes of the meet- ing were unanimously approved. APPROPRIATIONS - COUNTY DRAINAGE = The Executive Secretary explained that it had been necessary to purchase a chain saw in order to keep ahead of the dragline in cutting rights-of-way and in cleaning out ditches in which Hurricane Helene had blown down trees, the,cost of which was $355.00 less a discount of $55.00 making a net cost of $300.00. Since the tool will be used both by the drainage crew of the County and in the drainage and erosion pro- gram, it was decided that both should share in the cost, therefore Mr. Broadhurst offer- ed a motion that sufficient funds be appropriated' from each of these Tool and Supply Accounts to cover this expenditure. The motion was seconded by Mr. Williams and unanimous- ly approved. ;-" DRAINAGE AND EROSSON - The County Auditor informed the Board that the cost of the Fairlead and dragline bucket authorized by the Board several weeks ago amounted to $1517.5$ and recommended an additional appropriation of $1500.00 to replenish the 3Jrain- , age and Erosion Fund £or the year. Mr. Holton offered a motion that $1500.00 be appro- priated from the Emergency Fund to the Drainage and Erosion Fund. This motion was second- ed by'Mr. Williams and unanimously adopted. MERCHANTS ASSOCIATION APPROPRIATION Mrs. T. D. Love, re resenting the Merchants Association, was recognized by the Chairman and stated that the ?500.00 appropriated by the Board for their use in bringing shoppers from Camp LeJeune and Cherry Point had been a great success arid that the idea had been enthusiastically received both by the personnel at the Camps as well as the Mer- chants here in Wilmington. She said the reports indicated that the purchases made by the shoppers had been quite heavy and that on one or two occasions the firms had been requir- ed to use their trucks'as the packages were too numerous to be carried and in addition, much historical interest had been shown by some of the shoppers and that New Hanover Coun- ty as well as the City of Wilmington had benefited,greatly from tourist advertising and she requested an additional appropriation of $47.92 to cover the cost of the last bus from , Camp LeJeune. Mr. Williams offered the motion that the $47.92 be appropriated from the Advertising Fund to cover this expenditure. This motion was seconded by Mr. Holton and unanimously adopted. Mrs. Love, however, suggested that their Board contemplated operat- ing tk8ni,isf?frvice through the month of Decamber and asked the Commissioners to appro- priatensu'?h activity. Some members of the Board asked about the contribution the, City e was making toward this program since the City itself was one of the major benefactors of this service. Mrs. Love stated that the City had taken over the entire cost of the Christ- ' mas lighting program and,therefore, had not made any conLribution to this project. The Chairman explained that since the money appropriated was a result of taxes collected from other areas in the County such as Carolina Beach, Kure Beach and Wrightsville Beach which received no benefit at all as'a result of the bus shoppers they were reluctant to appro- priate additional funds. ' ? COMNNNITY HOSPITAL COMPLAINT Mr. George Rountree Jr. was recogni2ed by the Chairman and informed the Board that he was representing the Cape Fear'Medical Society and requested some time at their next regular meeting in order to reply to some of the allegations made at the meeting last week in connection with the Grand Jury investigation and report of the Community Hospital. The Chairman instructed the Executive Secretary to schedule Mr. Rountree on the Agenda for next Monday morning. DRAINAGE BOARD APPOINTMENTS - ' Pursuant'to a discussion for the need of a screening Board for dragline ditch- b-ze?r ing operations in the County originally discussed by the Board at their October 20th meet- ing, the £ollowing men were appointed after having been contacted by the Executive Secre- tary and their willingness to serve determined: Mr. Garland S. Currin, Colonel Charles H. Burnett, James Ferger,John Tinga, Herman H. Hall, Morris S. Emmart, and Dirk Swart. They assembled prior to the morning meeting and elected Mr. Garland S. Currin as Chairman of the Drainage Committee. Chairman Hall explained to them that the Board felt a definite ?-- need of some assistance in the investigation and evaluation of drainage projects request-- ` ed by interested citizens, whether agricultural of for other improvements in the County, and would like forat4@l1ommittee to assume the responsibility of recommending the prior- apppl?'? ity for these requestsnas originating needed drainage that perhaps others had not taken the initiative in requesting. He made clear that while he considered agricultural advan- tages important he did not think that their scope of activity should be limited to agri- cultural improvements but should include any project that would benefit the citizens of the County. The question was asked about work inside of the City Limits of Wilmington as well as within the corporate limits of incorporated municipalities. The consensus of opin- ion was that the ;ity Engineers would prefer doing the work within the City Limits of Wil- mington but that the other town officials might be requested to cooperate in work within the boundaries of their respective towns. I qQ$? efp IA_Y ?yi C 0'yy' SENCBA APPROPRIATIONS - Mrs. Alice Strickland, Executive Secretary of the South Eastern North Carolina Beach Association, appeared before the Board and stated that they had experienced the most successful year in their history and that they received requests from 46-0£ the 4$ States as well as 6 of the foreign countries and that the information,sent had really paid off in tourists-visiting our shore line. She stressed the fact that the bid for tourists was most competitive and takes considerable amount of money and since they had not're- quested any appropriation up to this time they would k to have funds to further their advertising program. She also stressed the fact.nr Board, consisting of Mayor`Pro tem Richard F. Meier, Clifford B. Ewart and James E. Hicks, were sponsoring a concerted effort to have Fort Fisher established as a Historic Shrine and pointed out that it was necessary to secure a lease on part of the p'roperty controlled by the Federal Government which exercised restricted ownership over part of the Battle area included in the Sunny Point buffer zone and that the lease would require $100.00 per year. She also stated that another obstacle to be overcome was that other portions of the Battle area was own- ed by other individuals from whom it would be necessary to secure permission and in addi- tion, she understands that a hydrographical survey.has been authorized and an appropria-- tion of $45,000 earmarked for the purpose of erosion work by the State in order to pre- vent the continued wearing awa of the Fort Fisher area. Mr. Holton then offered a mo- tion that an appropriation o£ 41,000 be made from the Advertising Fund for the purpose o£ advertising by SENCBA. This motion was seconded by Mr. Mayhan and unanimously approv- ed. Mr. Williams then offered a motion that $100.00 per year, so long as future Boards agreed, be appropriated from the Industrial Development Fund payable to the United States Treasurer for the annual lease on the Fort Fisher buffer zone property. It was seconded by Mr. Holton and before the,question was put, Mr. Broadhurst offered a substitute motion that the matter be turned over to the County Attorney £or study and recommendation, but there was no second to this substitute motion and the Chairman ruled it dead and when the vote was called on the original motion, Mr. Broadhurst registered a"NO"'vote, the others voting in the affirmative and the Chairman ruled the motion adopted.- NATIONAL TELEVISION WEEK - ' ? - Mr. Ben McDonald, representing Television Station WECT, presented the Board C? with a Proclamation declaring November 16 - 22nd, 1958 as National Television Week. After some discussion, Mr. Broadhurst offered a motion that the Chairman be authorized to sign such a Proclamation. It was seconded by Mr. Mayhan and adopted unanimously. CLEANING CEMETExY LOT '- I Mrs. E. R. Ellis requested the Board to remove a tree from her lots in Bellevue Cemetery since the tree had blown down during Hurricane Helene and.stated that she was an --? invalid and could not go out and see about it. After considering the request, it was the CP? consensus of the Board that they regretted very much that they'could not remove the tree and suggested that the Executive Secretary advise Mrs. Ellis. Mr. Holton mentioned that maybe some of the wood yards would remove it for the wood they could get out of it. SALES TAX - SCHOOL SUPPORT A letter from the Chairman of'tYie Haywood County Board of Commissioners was re- ceived outlining that a research of their retail sales indicated that i:f a one-cent sales tax was added acfoss the board and allocated on a student per capita basis to the public schools on the local level they could easily operate on a"pay as we'go" basis. This would get revenue from people who are now paying little or none but who have 3 to 5 children to educate. This will also secure revenue £rom those families who have' no real estate and ,?,,,? low incomes who in the past have paid little or no tax for the support of their schools. y.,-r•- r He stated that the tax could easily be collected and al].ocated within our present agencies. After expressing their personal views on the matter, Mr. Broadhurst of£ered a motion that the matter be referred to our representatives Hewlett and Yow for study with a view to con- sidering the matter at the next session of the Legislature. This motion was seconded by Mr. Williams and unanimously adopted. PARTICIPATING GROUP INSURANCE - The Newsletter issued by the president of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners outlined that governmental units were beginning to foll:ow the example set by business and industrial firms in taking out group insurance for their officers Vv?? and employees on, a share the premium cost basis. This results in lower premiums. The inference indicates that if sufficient Counties are interested a specific plan will be de- veloped after consultation with representatives from the interested Counties. This ex- pression of interest in no way limits the County in the future but its sole purpose is to determine whether further investigation is advisable. By common consent of the Board, it was suggested that the matter be held in temporary abeyance for study. REPORTS FOR FILING.- The following reports were reviewed and ordered filed for information: (a New Hanover County Home Demonstration Agent (b New Hanover County Negro Home Demonsstration Agent (c Letter of appreciation for trip by Miss Verna Belle Lowery, Home ? Agent ??? ? (d) Thank-you letter from Louie E. Woodbury for recognition regarding the National Association of Insurance Agents. ADJOURNMENT - Mr. Holton offered a motion for adjournment, seconded by Mr. Williams, and unanimously adopted. • ,.,\J ?. W. G. HouExecutive Secretary L?