1958-11-24 Regular MeetingWilmington, N. C. November 24, 195$
ASSEMBLY -
The regular weekly meeting of the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners was
held this day at 9:30 P. M. in the Commissioners' Room of the Court House. PRESENT; Chair-
man J. M. Hall, Jr., Commissioners L. E. Broadhurst and E. R. Mayhan, County Auditor T. D.
Love and County Attorney John Bright Hill. Commissioner Berry A. Williams and Commission-
er-Elect Peter H. Braak were not present since they were attending the National Meeting of
County Officials in Asheville, North Carolina. Commissioner J. E. Holton Jr. was also out
of the city and unable to attend the meeting.
INVOCATION -
Chairman Hall called the meeting to order and asked Reverend Milton Boone, Pas-
tor of Masonboro Baptist Church, to open the meeting with a prayer for guidance.
APPROVAL OF TNE MINUTES -
Upon motion of Mr. Mayhan, seconded by Mr. Broadhurst, the minutes of the last
meeting were unanimously approved as written.
COMMUNITY HOSPITAL COMPLAINT - I
As requested at last weekS meeting, Attorney George Rountree Jr. presented his
written defense of the Cape Fear NIedical Society alleged as an unwarranted assault by the
Board o£ Directors of Community Hospital in answer to the Grand Jury report of October,
1958. By common consent, the Board ordered the written report incorporated into the min-
utes as a record and taken under advisement and studp along with the original document:
ANSWER OF DUCTORS H.A. EATON, S.J. GRAY, AND D. C. ROANE TO THE BOARD
OF TRUSTEES OF COMMUNITY HOSPITAL
"On 15 November, 195$ the Board of Trustees o£ Community Hospital issued
a statement condemning as largely untrue a recent report of the New Hanover
County Grand Jury. This Grand Jury had found the Community Hospital to be
very poorly administered and therefore subst4ndard in its physical plant,
personnel morale, nurse training, and accounting methods.
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We three Negro doctors, comprising three of the four Negro doctors practic-
ing in Wilmington, requested this Grand Jury investigation and our reasons
therefore have been £ully vindacated by its report. Had the Board of Truste.es
taken issue solely with the Grand Jury Report we should have no personal con-
cern with the matter; however, in the statement issued by the Board o£ Mana-
gers chastizing the Grand Jury we three doctors came in for severe denunciation
and unwarranted personal assault. In this regretable circumstance we are forc-
ed to reply to the accusations made by the Board of Trustees against us per-
sonally. While the Board of Trustees have chosen quite general terms'for the
most part in their denunciation of-the Grand Jury and ourselves, we shall list
below the charges leveled at us and acquit ourselves with specific answers.
Our action in this regard is purely for tkie:sake of truth and not in any way to
reaffirm the deficiencies existing at Community Hospital so well enumerated
by the New Hanover County Grand Jury. The false charges and the true answers
to them £ollow:
? 1. '?... in regard to Community Hospital, it (the Grand Jury) has been
- grossly_misled and this Board takes of£ense to the misleading statements made
to the Grand Jury."
A. We testified under oath, and no person under our law is entitled to
know the contents of our statements to the Grand Jury. While our position is
well known we are unaware of any,method by which the Board of Trustees could
know what we said in the confines of the Grand Jury Room in order to label it
"misleading" or otherwise.
B. Fourteen witnesses testified before the Grand Jury.•We do not know the
content of any of their statements. We doubt that the Grand Jury was "grossly
misled" by any of these witnesses.
11. ttPart of the failure (o£ student nurse training program) may be laid
to the non-cooperation of the very physicians who instigated this complaint,
in that they have not kept their schedules in their assignments in teaching'
certain courses to the student nurses, thus hampering their education.«
We three doctors have given voluntary instruction at different times £or
a period of years to student nurses. This service we gladly perform without
charge. The procedure is that upon call by the Director of•the School of Nurs-
ing, or someone £or her, to teach some specified'course, and, it being on a
voluntary basis, a time for the course is set. Whenever any one of us has a-
greed to take a class vre have always met our assignments.
111. "The Grand Jury was presented with a petition making many exaggerated
and untrue statements concerning the hospital. This petition purported to be
from the Cape Fear Nedical Society and implied that it was the work of all the
Negro physicians o£ the County.• After a thorough investigation we have found
that the so called Cape Fear Medical Society consists of only three active
members and this ruthless attack against the hospital was made by these three
mena.Drs. D.C. Roane, H. A. Eaton, and S. J. Gray."
A. Even the most casual investigation would have revealed that at the
time we chose to vo3ce our complaint there were four active members in this
organization- the three listed and Dr. I,eRoy W. Upperman, the Secretary- Treas-
urer since 1941. Although its membership is sma11 all practicing Negro doctors
in New Hanover County are active members of the Cape Fear Medical Society, and
approximately 75% of all paying patients at Community Hospital are patients of
the doctors of this Society. This largely explains our concern. Dr. Upperman
was present at the meeting of the Cape Fear Medical Society on September 3,195$
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Minutes of the Meeting November 24, 1958 Continued
COMMUNITY HOSPITAL COMPLAINT - (Continued)
when the condition of the Community Hospital was discussed, and three
possible remedies outlined to the group by R. R. Bond, attorney at law.
With one dissenting vote attorney Mr. Bond was "employed to use whatever
measures he feels fit to investigate the conditions at Community-Hospi-
tal (minutes quoted as written by Dr. L. W. Upperman, Secretary-Treas-
urer of the Cape Fear Medical Society).
B. The broadside attack on our petition for Grand Jury action as
!!making many exaggerated and untrue statementst? is impossible to answer
adequately because no specific point made in that petition is singled
out. Suffice it to say that all points of the Grand Jury report, raised
. initially by the petition, were in accord with the statements made in
the petition, and that many o£ the Grand Jury £indings related to sub-
jects not even raised by the petition but discovered by the Grand Jury
in the course of their investigations.
1V. "There has been much dissatisfaction on the part of these three
physicians apparently by their not being able to carry out their person-
al selfish ambitions of controlling the entire operation of the hospital."
A. We admit our dissatisfaction with certain aspects of the Com-
munity Hospital; our grievances have been aired in the proper manner,
and our complaints were found to be well established by the Grand Jury.
To label our motives as "more personal than pro£essional« is absurd, in
addition to bei-ng completely,beside the point,•for the real issue was
the condition o£ the Communitv Hosnital and not the motives of those
bringing that condition to the attention of responsible authorities. We
have, in effect, been childishly called "tattletales".
B. To attribute our action to our npersonal selfish ambitions to con-
trol the hospital" is equally absurd, and, like all of the other charges
against us, based upon nothing more than hurt feelings,rather than con-
crete assertions of fact that can be demonstrated to be true or false as
the case may be. The manner in which we have attempted to assert control
of the hospital and the benefits to us of such control are unmentioned
because nonexistent.. Our motives for making the petition of complaint
were completely discussed in a prefa.ce to that petition; however, the
Board of Trustees chose to disregard those reasons for sinister more de-
vious ones of their own creation.
V. "Previous administrators, as well as the present one, have been
pestered by aggravations of these three, resulting in the administrators
finally finding positions elsewhere".
To defend ourselves from the broad-sweeping language employed here
is next to impossible due to the present unavailability of all of the pre-
vious hospital administrators, however, the reasons £or two of the pre-
vious administrators having terminated their employment may be found from
the attached statements of Mr. M. Eugene Bullard and Mr. C. H. Wilson, Jr.,
a previous Chairman of the Board of Trustees and hospital administrator
respectively.
Accusations such as this are so unreasonable as to require little more
than thought to be placed in the discard. ,
V1. "The Board feels that the Grand Jury was deliberately misled in
that the £ull Board did not have the opportunity to appear before the
Grand Jury and that the Jury heard the complaints of the three trouble-
makers referred to above and apparently only interviewed witnesses suggest-
ed by them"., ,
The short and only answer to this vicious and libelous statement is
that we know only the content of our awn personal statements to the Grand
Jury, and that every statement made by us to that body was £ound to be com-
pletely accurate upon their investigations. The other witnesses, fourteen
in all, were not suggested by us and were of the Grand Jury+s own choosing.
We have no knowledge of what was told to the Grand Jury by these witnesses
and by law are not permitted.to know. Furthermore, it is obvious that the
larger part of the Grand Jury report deals with observable facts concern-
ing the physical plant of Community.Hospital which was visited and viewed
by that body. No witnesses could have "misled't under these circumstances
and the Grand Jury reported on conditions as they saw them, not as they
heard about them.
If the Board of Trustees had had as much interest in Community Hospi-
tal as in chastising us and had they applied their energies in bettering
that institution instead of.hurling irrelevant and untrue counter-charges
against the Grand Jury and ourselves there would have been no need for
Grand Jury action in the first instance.,
This answer to the Board of Trustees we make with complete awareness
of their threat to make the,facilities of the Community Hospital unavail-
able to us if we do not show more cooperation. As physicians we are in
a position to make constructive criticisms concerning this institution,
and as the Board of Trustees is composed of laymen we would think that
our advices would be welcome. If_our suggestions for improvements amount
to non-cooperation for which our hospital staff privileges are threatened
to be revoked, then freedom of speech amounts to nothing. To label purely
personal differences rather than professional incompetency as "non-coopera-
tion" and on that basis to exclude us from the Community Hospital would,
in our opinion, amount to an arbitrary abuse of discretion beyond the pow-
ers of the Board. ". /S/ Daniel C. Roane, M.D.
November 24, 195$ Respectfully submitted, /SI Hubert A. Eaton, M.D.
/S S. James Gray, M. D.
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Minutes of the Meeting November 24, 195$ Continued
AIRPORT TAXI SERVIGE -
A letter was received from Taxicabs, Incorporated, requesting renewal o£ the
contract for furnishing ground transportation from the Airport to the City and nearby
points. The only change in the contract was a request to take the limousine out o£
service and use taacicabs which will provide a faster service for a majority of the pas-
sengers since in the use of the limousine those without baggage must wait for those with
baggage to have their baggage delivered. The original contract was for a period of 3
years. Upon motion of Mr. Broadhurst, seconded by Mr. Mayhan, the Board unanimously re-
ferred this matter to the Airport Committee for their study and recommendations.
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VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT APPROPRIATION
Notice was received from the South Wilmington Fire Department informing the
Board that a new tank truck had recently been put in use, therefore, under the present
-agreement with the rural volunteer fire departments, ttiey are entitled to an additional
$20.00 per month. Upon motion o£ Mr. Broadhurst, seconded by Mr. Nayhan, the Board unan-
imously appropriated the sum of $20.00 per month additional from tlre Emergency Fund to
the South Wilmington Rural Volunteer Fire Department beginning December lst, 1958.
REQUEST FOR BOND SALE -
A letter was received from the Consolidated Board of Education'requesting F_5jF,'""?v
the Coiznty to issue $550,000 of the $1,550,000 Bond Issue approved by the voters at the
Election held May 319 195$, the sale to be completed and the money available not later
than February, 1959. The Chairman of the School Board, Mr. E. A. Laney, informed the
Board that he had been in touch with Mr. W. E. Easterling, Secretary to the Local Govezn-
ment Commission who advised that there would be some advantage to the County in the prep-;
aration and sale of the bonds if they were sold in'multiples o£ $1,000,000 or more and
suggested that if the Wilmington Community College Board were agreeable, he thought
that if possible the two issues be oombined and a sale for $1,150,000 be requested. He
also stated that the school properties had su££ered approximately $10,000 Hurricane loss
damages and that it was necessary for them to make repairs immediately and that they
had used money from their regular School Budget - Maintenance of Plant - Repair Build-
ings and Grounds Fund and wanted the Board's assurance that when the insurance payments
were received that an appropriation equal to the insurance receipts be made to increase
their Budget by a likewise amount. He had an insurance check for $5,291•$3 which.was
given to the County Auditor and credited to the Unanticipated Fund. Mr. Broadhurst
offered a motion that the additional revenue received from the insurance companies for
the building damage be appropriated to the School Budget - Maintenance of Plant - Repair
Buildings and Grounds Fund immediately as they are received, equal to the total insur-
ance loss. Mr.Laney assured the Board that the losses sustained were greater than the
insurance coverage and thought that they should know that later in the yaar it might
be necessary for him to remind them of this fact. This motion was seconded by Mr. May-
han and unanimously adopted.
PALMETTO ROAD - • ?s-?-?'
Pursuant to a request o£ Mrs. S. D. Corbett Por the naming of a road running
parallel to Castle Hayne Road and intersecting Brentwood Road, Newton Lane and Victoria
Drive, Palmetto Road was a second choice suggestion and after it had been checked with
the Post Office Department and the City of Wilmington to see that it was not duplicated,
Mr. Mayhan offered a motion that Palmetto Road be designated as the official name. This
motion was seconded by Mr. Broadhurst and unanimously adopted.
.PIPE LAYING ASSISTANCE -
As a result of correspondence and conversations between Mr. H. C. Borneman,
a property owner on Wallace Avenue, and the State Highway Commission about draining a
low area on the State Highway Commission+s right-of-way at the corner o£ Wallace Avenue
and Peachtree Street in which he requested County assistance, the Commissioners agreed
to assist the State Highway Commission in laying pipe provided they dug the ditch and
furnished the pipe. Mr. Broadhurst offered a motion that the prisoner work crew from
the County Farm be used,which was seconded by Mr. Mayhan,and unanimously adopted.
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VOTING MACHINES
A letter was received from Mr. Kingsley F. King, a citizen of New Hanover
County, suggesting and urging the Commissioners to give serious consideration to the pur-
chase of voting machines for use in the thickly populated-precincts. After some discuss-
ion, Mr. Broadhurst offered a motion that the matter be taken under consideration. It
was seconded by Mr. Mayhan and unanimously adopted.
PUBLIC WELFARE - PETITION FOR RELIEF -??
Mrs. Helen B. Sneeden, Superintendent of Public Welfare, presented a Petition v
for County Home care for Mrs. Katie Adams, an indigent person who needs medical attention
and is unable to care for hersel£. Upon motion of Mr. Broadhurst, seconded by Mr. Mayhan,
the request was granted unanimously.
HOLIDAYS - The Executive Secretary informed the Board that employ,ees were requesting
approval for closing the offices next Thursday which is Thanksgiving Day. After some dis-
cussion, the Board decided it would be well to make the decision with reference to the
Christmas Holidays at the same time so Mr. Broadhurst offered a motion that Thursday;,
November 27th be declared a Holiday £or County Employees and that the Christmas Holiday
Season for County Employees start at noon, December 24, and continue until Monday, Decem-
ber 29th and be likewise declared legal Holidays. This motion was seconded by Mr. Mayhan
and unanimously adopted.
TAX SUPERVISOR REPORTS - __T?
Tax Supervisor T. D. Love reported that he had just returned from a school o£
instruction held by the Institute of Government covering new ideas about the handling o£
taxes. He said that imports stored in warehouses in the original crates or packages
are not subject to listing for taxes. He also informed the Commissioners that it was
time to employ Tax Listers and requested consideration for increasing their pay from
$10.00 per day to $15.00 per day in keeping with the Election Officials+ Renumeration.
Action on this request was deferred until a full Board is present.
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n4inuLes.•of the Meeting November 24, 1958 Continued
AIRPORT TRAFFIC REGULATIONS -
Airport Manager John A. Westbrook informed the Board that beginning January
? lst, 1959 all aircraft will be required to have an operative receiver during the hours
? between sunrise and sunset and between sunset and sunrise all aircraft will be re-
quired to have an operative two-way radio. No action was necessary on this item.
DRAINAGE REQUEST -
A letter was received fr.om the Oleander Company requesting dragline drain-
age work at the intersection of Hawthorne Road and Merritt 5treet. Their recommenda-
tion is that a drainage canal be opened Eastwardly through Merritt Street and then
extending Southwardly along the rear o£ the existing houses on Hawthorne Road. They
expressed a willingness to give rights-of-way £or this project and by common consent,
the Board authorized the Executive Secretary to handle this request with the Drainage
Committee since it-was inside-the Wilmington City Limits.
REPORTS FOR FILING AND REVIEWING - • I
?,$Rn (1) Changing in Status Reports of Welfare Recipients •
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(2) Check for $15,067.95 from the State Privilege License and Beverage T
Division, given to the County Auditor
(3) Consolidated Board of Health Report.
N? n WELFARE LIEN -
The Gounty Attorney infCr,nai the Board that he had- been requested by James H.
Berry to clear,up a lien•on some property deeded to him by his father, Julius R. Berry,
located in Block 7, Lots $ and 9 in Foxtown. He stated that the father had received
from the Wel£are Department $2,592.$$ in Old Age Benefits which automatically created
a lien on the property in that amount. The Revaluation Appraisers valued the property
? at $1950.00 which makes the Tax Assessment $975.00. The County Tax Assesser has in-
spected the property and°placed a valuation o£ $1250.00 -$1400.00 on it. It was
the opinion of the County Attorney that James H. Berry would take the chance o£ allow-
ing it to be sold £or taxes rather than pay the lien against it hoping that &t the sale,
he would be able to purchase it at a more reasonable figure. The County Attorney was,
instructed to confer with the claimant, the Tax Assesser and the Welfare Department in
an effort to bring a recommendation back to the B4ard next Monday.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business brought up be£ore the Board, Mr. Mayhan
made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Broadhurst, and unanimously adopted by the
Board, who adjourned to meet after the swearing in ceremony at the first Monday meet-
ing in December and not at their regular scheduled meeting at 9:30 A. M.
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, , /W./G. Houck, Executive Secretary
Wilmington, N. C. December 1, 1958
ASSEMBLY - ' The week]y meeting of the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners was held this day in
the Commissioners' Room at 10:30 A. M. The delay was necessary because of the administering of the
oath of office to Mr. J. M. Hall, Jr. and Mr. Peter H. Braak. PRESERT: Chaisman J. N. Hall, Jr.,
Commissioners L. E. Broadhurst, E. R. Mayhan, J. E. Holton, Jr. and Berry A. Williams, Peter H.
Braak, County Auditor, T. D. Love and County Attorney John Bright Hill.
INVOCATION -
Chairman J. M. Hall, Jr. called the meeting to order and asked Dr. L. A. Taylor, Executive
Secretary of the Wilmington Presbytery, to open the meeting with a prayer for guidance.
REORGANIZATION -
Corrmii.ssioners James M. Ha1J., Jr, and Peter H: Hraak, elected County Commissioners at the
General Election held November 4, 195$ for four year terms, having qualified by taking the oath of
office before the Honorable Walter J. Bone, Superior Court Judge presiding, the Board proceeded to
reorganize „ '
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Chairman - Nir. Williams placed in nomination the name of James E. Holton for Chairman of
the Board £or the year 195$-$9. The nomination was seconded by Mr. Broadhurst and as there was no
further nominations.the bhairman put the question and Mr. Holton was unanimously chosen Chairman.
Vice-Chairman - Mr. Broadhurst then of£ered a motion' that Peter H. Braak be named Vice
Chairman for the 1958-1959 year. This motion was seconded by'Mr. Williams and unanimously adopted.
Chairman Hall, after expressing his appreciation for the cooperation he had received £rom
the members of the Board during his term as Chairman presented the gavel to the newly elected Chair-
man James E. Aolton, Jr. who addressed the Board in appreciation of the confidence placed in him and
pledged his best efforts to continue to work with the Board in an endeavor to do a good job.
Courity Attorney - Mr.Broadhurst offered a motion that John Bright Hi11 be reappointed as
County,Attorney £or the ensuing year.,'This motion was seconded by Mr. Hall and unanimously carried.
Administrative Policies - Mr. Williams offered a motion that the New Hanover County
Board of Commissioners adopt the County Manager form o£ Government as provided in North Carolina
Statutes 153-20. This motion did not receive a second and, therefore, was ruled dead by the Chair-
man. Mr.Hroadhurst then oFfered a motion that the Board continue its administrative policies with
the Chairman as Presiding Officer and that W. G. Houck be reappointed the Clerk-Executive Secretary
to carry out and administer the policies set by the Board asias been the practice in the past ye"ar.
This motion was seconded by Mr. Braak and unanimously adopted:
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