1951-07-23 Regular Meeting. IuIeeti^g of July 16, 1951, co-ti-ued.
A fi-a^cial report of the 4ssociated Charities for Ju^e was received a^d fi7ed.
,•The Board the- resuried co-sideratio- of the Cou-ty's budget.
'•`?.?'. J?-Mr. H. M. Rolard, Supt., of Schools bei^g i- Vlashi^gto-,D.C., co-sideratio^ of tlie school
budget was pcstpo-ed u-tii his retur-.
After checki-g a-d discussi-g detailed budget items of the various departme^ts the Board
? took a. recess urtil 2:30 this after^oo^.
?At 2:30 P.R4.1 the Eoard resumed its study of the Cou-ty's budget with all members prese^t
?`.•`Y.w -?^? except Mr. Ha' J. Love.
. A motio- offered by Ivlr. 0'Shieids to ofier the la.^d a-d buildi^gs k^ow^ as the Old Red
-Cross Sa-atoritur; site fo: sal.e;o- se!31ed bids to be received, was secorded by Mr. Hal1
a-d adopted, a-d advertiseme-t to that effect was ordered.
It was the co^se-sus of the Boe.rd to ,a.pnoi^t a Special I^vestigati^g Officer for the '
Hecorders Court, quthorized by Chanter 1039 SPssio^ Laws 1951, o^ trial basis for six
mo-ths, a-d if fou^d to t,ne best fiI terest afterr that tine, to co^ti^ue the service for
the. b3la-ce of the _°iscai year, at the optio^ of the Board. ,
The Board the- took a recess u-ti1 10:00 o'c'!.ock A.IVI., Friday, Ju1.y ?_Oth, 1951.
CI_erk.
y _
ulilr,-,i^gto^, i?.C., Ju7.Y 20, 1.951.
\
2 7 1
Pursuqnt to recess take^ July 16, 1951, the Eo3rd met at 10:00 o'clock A.M.
- Prese^t: Addiso- Heti^rlett, Ch^irmi-, iis. M. iiql?, Ciaud 0'Shields, Thursto^ C. Davis
s^d -Cou-ty_.9uditor C. P. Smi_th. Upo^ motio^ of 74r. llavis, seco-ded by P,ir. 0'Shiel_ds, hew Aanover Cou^ty hereby agrees"
to permit the use of such lq^d :ecuired by the Li-ited States Air Force as i^dicated on
map prese^ted to us by the IJ-ited States E-gi^eers, vaithout price. It is u^derstood
that the Cou-ty Home a-d other ^ecessary buildi^gs for its operatio^ are ^ot to be
fr?5? disturbed.a^d ar- ^ot i-ciuded. 0^ this property are a^umber of buildi^gs used by
New Hanover Cou^ty a-d if these buildi^gs are removed or destroyed the Cou^ty wi11 expect
them to be appraised a-d paid for o^ the basis of appraisal'made.By reaso^ of the importa-ce of
. this project, this i^formit;io- is -ot to be reieased u-tii sa^ctio^ed by the Corps of E?gi^eers.
. Upo^ motio^ of Pdr. D2vis, seconded by Pvir. 015hie].ds, the Cou^ty Auditor was authorized to
o" make payme^ts to the varmous co-tractors upo^ prese^tatio^ of.certificates of the Architact ,
that the Joh- C. Viessei.l Tubercutosis Ba^atorium has bee-+ completed. Upo^ motio- of ivir. Davis, s?co^ded by Ir`.r. Hail, the Eoard authorizec9 the purch3se of o-e page
edverti,seu,e^t i^ the 1951 editio^ of the Ttorth Caroiina Alma^ac at $100.00 joi^t1Y with the
City of Vdilmi-gto^, which i^ the opi^io- of the Boa.rd ti^rill be be^eficial for advertisi^g the
`adva^tages a-d resources of the Cvu-ty. -
Mr. H.'M:..Rola^d9;Suptof:Schools? ther appeared-to discusstthe schooi budget. While it
' was show^ that the budget is $3'7,850.00 more tha^ last year, ivir. Rola^d said it would -ot
-require a greater tax_ levy over iast year, co^ti^ge^t upo^ receipt of Federa7_ fu^ds. After
?r?.. further discussio^, NIr. Rolard was asked to fur^ish the £soard with a schedul.e of salaries,
, a-d further discussior of the budget vaas postpo-ed pe-di^g receipt of sane.
. ,
^ Upon motio^ of n4r. Davis, seco^ded by ?4r. 0'Shields, Dr. C. B. Davis, Cou^ty H-ealth OfficeT,
PJliss Lucy L. nash, Secretary of the Nev+ Hanover Cou^ty Tubercul.osis A"ssociatio-, Mr.Ra.ymord
D. Christnar, President of the Wi-ter Park Civic C1ub a-d Dr. F.UJ.Ava-t were appoi^ted
members of the Board of Directors of Joh^ C. Wessell Tubercul.osis Sa^atorium to serve with
other members of the Board rece^tl.y appoi^ted.
` The meeti-g the- adjour^ed.
C 1. e r k.
vdilmi^gto^, r'.C., july 23; 1951.
The regul.ar week].y meeting of the Board va,?s he?d at 1_0:00 o?clock A. 1,1.
x - .
'. Prese^t: Addiso- Herovlett, Chairr.ia-, ;ias. M. Ha7.', Cl-aud 0'Shields, Thursto^ C. D3vis,
Hal .T. Love, Cou^ty Attor^ey Iv.qrsde- Fseilarny a-d Cou-ty Auditor C.F.Smith.
Readi-C of the mirutes of inee_ti--g hel.d July 20th, wsre dispe^sed vrith.
Pdayor E. L. ti'Jhite ar_d City Cou-cilmer i'l.Ro^ald La^e, E.S.C3pps, Tas.E.L.4dade a-d City
n4a^ager JaMes R. Be-so^ appeared for a joi-t discussio- of the matter of appropriatirg
fu^ds for the care a-d treatme-t of the i^dige^t sick a-d afflicted poor at James W-qlker
. kod Memorial Hospitq7. u^der authority of HB 856 ( Chapter 906 ), Sessio^ T,aws of 1951•
Members of the Board of P,ia^agers of J3ses 1S1a lker Nemorial Hospital prese^t were; J.C.Roe,
Al.ar A. iv7arshait, C. Heide Trask, R. H. Holiard a-d tierbert Bluethe-thal. ,
' Mayor E.I,.White prese^ted the r.atter for the City Cou^cil by havi-+p the Clerk read
excerpts from the mi-utes of a special meeti-g of the City Cou-cil held o^ Juiy 20, vrhich
foil.ows:
" Mayor White i-quired of the City Attor-ey if he vras ready to report o^ the
hospitai biil - (HB 856).
Thereupo^, the City Attor^ey m-q,de the foilovri^g verbal report: '
" I have exami^ed the Act carfully, siudi.ed a-d reviewed the applicable portio*+s of the
State Co^stitutio^, a-d certai^ Suprer,,e Court cases, a-d froM these studies nade by me,
it is my opi^io^ that the Act is i^valid. -
?(?
ldeeti^g of July 23, 1951, co^ti-ued.
U-der the provisio-s of Secti.o- 24, Article 2, of the Stlte Co-stitutio^, any Act to
razse reve^ue a-d which imposes a tax must be re3d i? each House o- three separate days a-d
the yeas a-d ^ays recorded o^ the seco°d 9^d third re3di^gs i- each House. This Bi11 vias -ot
passed i^ accorda-ce wi,`.h these co^stitutio-al provisio^s. The Biil rel.ates to health; a-d
the primary purpose oi the Bill is to require tne appropr'ia.tio^ of mo^ey i- the i-terest of '
a-d ?id of HeA1th of i-dige^t sick_ 3-d afflicted poor. This Act is a'private' or 'speeial'
Act. Sectio^ 29, of 9rticie 2, of the Co-stitutie- prohibits ?,egislature fro?: passi^g a-d
specia.l or local Act re?a.ti-F, i;o Hea,7th; Pt-d therefore, co-cluded that the Act is i^valid
for the two reaso^s referred to.
I have sunmarized my views i^ a writte- opi^io^ which I am -ow deiiverirg to the
I4Ia^ager a-d members oi' the Cou-cil.I suggest that this matter be brought to the ati:e^tio^
of the Cou-ty Conmissio-ers b,y oe be£ore their meetirg o^ Ido^day ^ext." After further cdrsideratiq"?ourcilma- PTade moved that, i^ view• of the fi-d5.^gs of the
City Attor^ey, the City Cou^cil call a joi^t meeti^g with the Cou^ty Comnissi.o^ers a-d the
Board of n4a^agers of Jayies L,alker Memoria7 Hospital to discuss the subject matter. This i-
additio^ to suggestio- by the n?Yayor that the C1erk fur^ish the Cou^ty Commissio^ers a copy of
these mi^utes, i^cludi^g a copy of the opi^io^ of the City Attor^ey. The motio^ was seco^ded
by Cou-ci7_ma- La^e a-d u^a-ire?ously adopted.'! '
9 copy of the City Attor^ey's opi^io^ was read, a-d i- part stated:.
" It is my opi^io^ that this Act is a?ocal or special Act relati-g to hea].th. Sectio" 29,
of Artiule 2, of the Co-stitutio^ of P'orth Cgroii^a, de^ies to the 7egislature power to pass
3^y loca7., private or special Act re1_ati-€ to hea.lth. A17, payme^ts to be made u^der the
provisio^s of the Act are to be rnade i- the '-terest of health a-d to provide medical care '
a-d atte^tio- to t he i-dige-t sick a-d afflicted poor, a-d it is my co-clusio^ that
^ecessarily the subject r;atter of the act relqted to he,3lth a-d I am, therefore, of the
opi^io^ that the Legis7.ature did -ot have povaer to pass such ?i local or sp2cial Act a-d that
it violates the a,bove cited co•-stitutio-al, provisio-s." '
The foi lowi^g stqteme-t prep3red by our State Se-ator A?_to- A. Le--o^ a-d Represe-tative
Addiso- Hevlett, jr,, was the- read by Se-.itor T,e--o^ a-d prese^tec' to the Board:
"0^ last S?turday r.:or-i-g, July 21, 1951? it was quite a suprise,to see i- the 4Viimi^gto,
Mor-i^g Star that our City Cou-cii is sti'l tryi~F to search for legai loop'holes i^ uihich to
avoid maki-g a^ appropriatio- fo: the i.-dige^t_sick treated by the james Wa1ker T,Zemorial Hospi.tal..
Particularly is this true whe- we fi-d that the Ci.ty alread.y ha.s a,^ approved appropriatio*^ of.
$50,000.00 for Cornmu^ity Hospital. It was impiied that the n3k1-A of a- appropriatio- to
James 4va.lker Hospital u~der the ^ew hospital iaw viould cause a- i-crease i- the City tax r-ate •
of seve^ certs o-? the $;100.00 valuatio^. Thi° is ^ot true as the City , duri^g the past
fiscal year appropriatec? $25,000.00 to the James YJal.ker Menorial fiospital 3^d u-der the -ew
1aw which provides for payrte-t ot the hospital o- a services re^dered basis, the amou^t cbuld
-ever exceed $40,000.00 a-d couid be co-siderable less, a-d thus the City could ^ot appropriate
to the hospital but ?;15,000.00 more tha^ they paid Iast year. Year before last the City Cou^cil
appropriated $35,000.00 for the James Vlal.ker Memoriai Hospital. We might add further that if
the prese-t hospital act is iz^co^stitutio^al the^ the act of 1939, u^der which the City
appropriated for the last 11 years, is also u^co^stitutio^al. The City has, si^ce 1901,
unade appropriatio^s for the be-efit of i^dige-t sick. 0^e of the reaso^s for the ail - otme^t
of two thirds of the profits from the A B C stores wis due to the fact that the City
Authorities, at that time, claimied the City shouid have this perce^ta,ge because of its hospital a-d Board of Heal.th appropriatio^s.
The hospita7. biii passed pa:sed through tne part sessio- of the T,egislature vras do^e,
at what rie beliove, was a request by the City-Cou^cil a-d the Board of Cou-ty Cormissio^e-rs
to secure the passage of legislatio- providi^E for payme^t of the hospitalizatio- cost for
the poor of our commu^ity. 4're Peel_ that the poor tieated 3t James ti'Tal.ker Illemorial Hospital
are just as worth]y oi this ca.re, as those treated i.- a-y cther hospital, i^ our City.
,Tames Walker Merr:orial Hospital is ow-ed by the City a-d Cou^ty. Z;e ca-^ot see how it preserts
a diifere^t problem whe- it cor.es to arpropriatio-s o- the part of the City from the
CoTImu^ity Hospital.
Prior to the i-tioductio- of the hospitai legislatio^ we secured ar opi^io^ T"rom the
office of the State's Attor-ey Ge-eral as to v:hich Subdivisio^ of Gover-me-t was respo-sible
for the hospitatizatio- of the poor. L'V's vrere i~formed that thi.s was largel_y a matter of
1oca1 usage a-d that thEre was -o established state wide policy regardirg this. Some
members of the City Cou-cii_ are avagre of this opi^i.o^. I- our Cou^ty the usa€e has bee^ as
it is now si^ce 1901; I- othez words, a. precede-t of fifty years. The^ to, it was the-
appare^t a-d it is certai- -ov;, that if by lavr, the otiiiga.tio^ afas placed o^ the Cou^ty,
the City tay pa,yers ivould get -o relief thereby but vaould just have to pay more zrhe^ the
Cou^ty had to ra.ise their ra.te because of the cha-ge.
9iso i- co-sideri^g the bill before i-troductio^, vie had at first thought that the per
day cost per irdige-t patie-t shoutd be set at 08.00, which was co^siderable loqer tha^ the
actuai cost b6 the hospitaJ_. This was cha^ged to $7.50 whe- we fou^d that a- additio^al fifty
ce-ts per day for each charity patie^t vaould be avaiiabi.e from the State by virtue of ^ew
legisl atio-, Fvhich vre supported. The bii i vras agai- altered ,so As to provide that the aaou^t
per charity patie-t per day co-tributed bycthe City a-d Cou^ty wouid be reduced i- those
i^sta-ces whe^ Federal fu-ds are available for hospitalizatito^ cost. We, too, supported
Legi.slatio^ to make these r^ederai fu-ds available for the help of our v.'hite a-d colored
i^dige^t sick. Thus the City a-d Cou-ty wou78 be paiyi-g o^1y a part of the actual cost to "-
the hospital for care of the i^digert sick. I- other words, the City a-d Courty appropriatio-
was to meet a part of the actuaJ. cost, with a lim.it of $40,000.00 0- each..The $40,000.00
being a limitatio-, -ot a ma^datory appropriAtio- figure a.s certai^ perso^s wo}ild have-the
public believe.. Notwithstaadi^g the foregoi^g, v;e hqve yet to see where there has bee? a-y
effort to get figures or estimates as to what this cost would be. VJe are of the opi^io+^
that this cost to the Coii-ty a-d City vrill be co-siderab]_y less tha^ the $40,000.00
limitatio^ figure set up i- the bi'•1; i^ fact, it is our thought that it would be about
the sau;e as this past year's apnrorriatio^. V1e thi-k_ that the City Cou^cil should at least
have made some i-quirq alo^g this ?i-e before maki-p the assertio^s credited to them i^
the 'ocai press.
-
2 ( c,
Meeti-g of July 233 1951, co-t?-ued.
Ey i-ue-do a^ el'iort has bee- nsde to give the public the idea that due to the
hospitai biil vre passed ctt the last sessio^ of the Legisiature, City taxes a.re bei^g
i-creased. 4Ve feel that the public shou7d k^otc th3t u-der the provisio-s o£ the
Poweil. Bill, vahich we both active).y sunpor.t, the City of i'lilni-gto^ wi1.l get
• appror.imately S130,000.00 fro!, the State of Torth Caroiina duri^g the -ext fiscal. year.
This is a- e-tirel.y -ew source of rcve-ue for the City of UJiini^gto-. Ir1e r-erely me-tio^
this iact, so that the public ca- judge for itse?i whether our efforts i^ the
Legislature caused a tax i.-crease. -
VJe feel that this-e-tire huiaballo co^cer^i^E the hospital is -othi^g r.iore thar
a- effort or the part of some City afficials to cover up their deficie-cies as
admi-istrators whe- a tax rate i^crease of thirty.ce-ts is i^ the offi-g, despite a
^ew source of reverue givi^g the City $130,000.00 i- additio^a1 fu^ds for the cor.,i-year,'" g
. ' s/s Alto- A. I,e-^o^• ?
Addiso- Hew7.ett,Jr. After ar exte-ded discussio- of the matter ^o
UrYI `???
The Board the^ proceeded with the trarsactio^
Upon motio- of Mr. 0'Shields, seco^ded by Pr7r.
of rot exceedi^g $400.00 to Duke Hospital for
patie^t at State Sa-atorium tra^sferred to Dul
Sa^atorium,
actio^ was taken,
oi Cou-ty busi-ess.
Davis, the board authorized the payrne^t
operatio- for Pir. Lymo^ Frankli^ Batton,Cou-ty
ce Hospital for operatio-A recomme^ded by the
A request of Col. 7+a.lter Nlheel_er. Con,ra-di-F 0?'ii.cer, 137th Air Group, co-ducting
r.r.-a-euvers at T'ew Harover Cou-t,y 9irport, to temporary closc th3t part of Sta.te Highway
o^ the- south side of the "ationa.l Guard qu.qrters, desig-ated as that pa.rt of road K,
?-?I?an co-^ecti-g road Ja^d L et the 3irport a, q safety measure duri^g r:?a-euvers, u7as upo^
. ti motio° of iir. Ha11, seco-ded hy i,Tr. U'Shields, approved a^d referred to NIr. .9. VJilbur
Clsrk, Third Divisio^ Stqte Highwa,y Corrmiesio-er at rayettevilie.
.9 request oP i?ir. J.K.Ba-err,:a-, Ch3?rr,a^ of t"e ;olt1d of irustees of St.A^drews-Cove^a^t
P,resbqteriar Church to abate the 1949 ?:axes due o- property i^ block 48'7, purchased
from P.A.Dawso^ through Jas.E.Holt.o-lir.,,4Ee^t for Church purposes, Ja^uary 8, 1949,
vaas upo- motio- of i:ir. Hall, seco-ded b,y iuir. Tove, decii^ed o^ opi^ior of the Cou-ty
4ttor^ey that ow-ership of the property was ^ot in the church Jaruary 1, 1.949, ?^d the
- Cou^ty, therefore, wou].d ha.ve ro right to ab.e.te the taxes.
Upo- motio- oi ??r. Love, seco^ded by Lir. Davis, the buiJ_di^g o^ 1ot ovi^ed by Johr Gore
i^ block 10, SE4 lot 4, assessed at ?i150.00, v?as o^ recor.une^datio- of the Cou^ty Auditor
-1 ?C?( reduced to 50.00 0^ accou^t of its di7apidated co^ditio^, a^d settleme^t of taxes o^ that
basis for the years 1939 a-d 1940, a-d 1946 through 1950 vras authorized.
A petitio^ of three property ow^ers submitted o^ State form R,10- requesting that
n+, improvemerts to Cherry .4verue i^ Audubo^, Har^2tt Towrship, be exte^ded to F7_oral
Farkway, was upo^ notio^ of ATr. Q'Sh?eids, seco?ded by TaIr. Davis, approved a^d refe.rred
to Pr_r. A. V;i'Ihur Clark, State Highway Co:;,missio^er at Fayetteville for co^sideratio-.
.? /L85 , 1he Commissio^ers agreed, o^ suggestio^ of T;ir. 0'Shie'ids, to check the status of previous
-DP,,,„,o petitio^s forroad improveme^ts a^d drai^age requests.
A commu^icatio^ was received fror! Hecorder H. Wi-iieid Scith recor:ime-di^g the appoi^tme^t
df Sgt. Robert lVi?iia,ms of the 4Vitr:ii-?to- Po7 ice, DePartme-t,to the positio- of Investigati^g
49r? Officer for the Recorders Court, o^ e tempcrgr;,.'hasis for six iao-ths o^ leave of abse^ce
~ fror.i the City Police Depa.rtrce-t to fu1 iii 1 the assig-r.^.e-t %:?it% the Court. no action was
take^.
? A request for diai-age improveme-ts in the roster-rii11 Deve7opMe-t area at Ha^by Beach
-?? by dragli^e oper?tio^ to deepe? the ditch th:cugh said area to the He-iiker ditch, a
-? alsta.^ce of l800 feet, vras gi.ve^ favorable co-sideratio- after previous cotnr,iittme-ts
for dragli.-+e service ha.ve bee- completed.
Upo? motio~ of I,,4r. 0'Shie7ds, seco-??ed by ?42r, Tove, Cou-ty bilis T?'os. 5725 to ?018
/- were approved for payment.
?„ -
A recess was the^ take^ u^tit 10:00 o'clock A.M.,
f?o£ the Cou^ty's budget.
Je.'s42----+4 Ci_erk.
?
VJed-esday, July 259 for furi.her study
t'dilmirgto^,T'.C., July 25, 1.951•
Pursuant to recess take^ JuLy 23, 1.951, the Board met at 10:00 o'c7ock A.M.
' Prese^t: Addiso^ Hewlett, Chairna^, Jas. M. Ha'1, Claud 0'Shieids, Thursto^ C. Davis,
Hal J. Love a^d Cou^ty 9uditor C.F.Smith.
' ?? (} Mr. H.M.Rola^d, Supt., of Schools ?va= prese-t
?(y3'? wereNd?cussed,epartieularly salaries a-d lo?^?
a budget?.for school bard expe^se suggested by
charge for school eve^ts a,t the Stadiur? by 4%
^o actio^ vr?.s take^. Hoivever the school budpe
i^ the tax levy. •
to discuss the school budget. Various items
pay of bus dri.vers. The matter of setti^g up
Iair. G'Shiel.ds a^d i~cre?'si^g the gate receipt
to suppl_erae^t the fu^d was discussed, but
t v:as accepted as prese^ted without i~crease
.9t the i^vitatio^ of the Boasd, Recorder H. Yii-fieid Smith ?npeared ta discuss the
appoi^tme-t of a^ I-vestigatio^ Officer for Recorders Court, a^d o^ his recomme^datio^ a^d
o- rr:otio- of It1r. Ha' 1, seco^ded bv i,4r. Davis, Ser€e^t Robert 19i1liams of the 4Viini-gto^
Police Departme-t vras a;;poi~ted to fili this a.ssig^me^t o- ieave of alase^ce from the City
Po7ice Departme-t 1'or a mar,imurr. period oi sir. morths at a salary of $300.00 per mo-th
in c?udi^g tra-sportatio^ expense, subject to terr.;i-atio^ of this service at a^y tir.e duri^g
the period it may appe?r to the best i-terest.