1953-12-21 Regular Meeting?,??
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Meeting of December 1./?, 1953 - Continued - ?? Qt?,Up,:,n motion of i?ir. D;:vis, seconded b5 Mr. 0'Shields, County bills No. 1581 to 1643 were approved for payment.
A recess was then taken until 12:00 o'clock noon, Wednesday, December 16, 1953.
v - Clerk. •
/ Wi1mington, N. C., December 16, 1953.
Pursuant to recess taken Monday, December 14, 1953, the Board met at 12:00 o'clock noon.
Present: R. T. Horton, Chairman and Com,-nissioners Claud O'Shields, Thurston C. Davis, Hal 'S. Love, Raiford
Trask, i9arsden Bellamy, County Attorney, and T. D. Love, County Auditor,
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Mr. Fred [dilletts appeared to object to the application of the 15% of the value of a home-owm er's real estate
set-up to determine the value o£ his Personal ef£ects; said it vras too high. Should be assessed on a reason-
•able and normal brisis, 10% would be better. Speaking of the propose3 Hospital 3ond issue, he felt the tax•
should be spread among all the people, otherwise the tax burden will fall on real estate which can't stAnd it,
inasmuch as the Bond issue could be carrie9 by those who pay little or no taxes, N;r. Willetts was told, there
- being no sales or o'ther similar tax set-up to reach all the people, there is very little that can be done about
' it.
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/Mr. 0'Shields suggested that we leave the tax situation as it has been hereto£ore, inasmuch as we don't ]mol•1 what
1'0j", the new basis suggested will yield, and tahy complicate it now if the keturns iaill equal the same results as last
year. Thzt we work on the proposed new basis for next year, and was opposeu to any fixed percentage on tax-
payers' hones to determine his Personal Househols values.
` The matter was discussed at great length, and Mr. Trask moved and it was seconded"by A7r. Love and adopted:
That, 10% of Real Estate value be set up to determine the taxable value of Household Furniture; 40% of fair
roarket vrslue of Inventories; 40% on Nachinery and Equipment to a depreoiated value of not less than 10% mini-
t mum of cost; Motor Vehicles to remain as shown in Blue Hook retail values as in the past, and that the Tax List-
ers be instructed to secure the maximum amount o£ Personal Property values from the tax-payers when taking their
• taac lists.
pon motion, the, Board unanimously•agreed to postpone the Hospital Bond Issue matter unti3 the final decision
in the Airport matter has been made by the I4avy.
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?y Upon motion, the Board agreed to pay Alex Lashley $500.00 in full settlement on account of injuriea sustained
/bJ him on May 15, 1952, while employed by New Hanover County, by lifting the gate of the dog truck being oper-
ated by the Countyy, plus $65.00 £or the purchase of a brace, upon signing a contract to be prepared by the
County Attorney, releasing the County from further liability.
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' The meeting then adjourned. ?
>G =4'_ ?w- Clerk. .
Wilmington, N. C., December 21, 1953.
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The regtzlar weekly meeting of the Bcard was held this day at 10:00 o'clock A.M.
Present: R. T. Horton, Chairmanend Commissioners Claud 0'5hields, Thurston C. Davis, Ha2 J. Love, -Raiford Trask,
^ Marsden IIellamy, County Attorney, and T. D. Love, County Auditor.
Copies of the minutes of December 3, 1953, having been mailed to each member o£ the Board'. the same were upon
c motion of Mr. Davis, approved.
With re£erence to the £unds in the hands'o£ Clayton C. Holmes, Attorney, which represents the net proceeds from
0, the sale o£ the,Halsey Williams Estate Property fortaxes aue the City and County, Block 280. Instructions
? were again given to request Mr. Holmes to turn over the said fun3s to the Clerk of7the Superior Court to make
such 3isposition of the same as he may be directed by the Court. " U on motion of Mr. Trask, seconded by Mr. Davis, the Board, on recor,unenaation of the County Attorney, ordered
p the bancellation of the County Auuitorts $50,000.00 Bond covering the Sinking Fsnds Account, for the reason
there is no longer a Sinking Ftznd Account, the issuance of long term Bonds has been discontinued an3 replaced
? by Serial Bonds for which.a tax is levied for each year in which payments of Bonds an3 interest fall due.
And, the County Auditor's $45,000.00 Bond as Treasurer of County Funds was ordered increased to $50,000.00. ?
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? Upon motion of Mr. Trask, seconded by Mr. Love, the Board gave instructions to have a staternent prepared of
" all Bond and Insurance Policies carried by the County, for checking and stndy at the next meeting, to enable
' - the Board to take such further action that may appear to the best interest o£ the County.
Upon motion of Mr. Trask, seconded by Mr. Love, the Board authorized the closir.g of the Crounty Offices from
?,?12:00 o'clock noon Thursday, December 2l,th, to 8:30 A.M., Monday, December 28th, 1953, in observance of the
Christmas Holidays, and all day Friday and Saturday, January lst and 2nd, respectively, in observance of the
, New Year.
li ?e Chairnan brought up agAin the matter of setting a yard stick on a percentage basis for uniform listing o£
F?? Personal Yroperty. Mr. T. D. Love, the County Auditor said 10% minimum depreciation was too lola, and woula
mean a loss to the County, an3 recommended not less than 25% of cost, The Chairman advised businesses have
, been requested by letter to list Machinery, Fixtures and Invento:ies at 100$. b1r. Trask said it would be best
to let businesses list at what they say it is worth, an3 tax them on that, hir. Horton then asked what are we
` going to tell new indust'ries? Mr. Trask answered,°List at fair marlcet value' and if out o£ line will adjust
to a uniform level." After further discussion, Mr. Trask moved and it was seconded by A1r. Love and carried,
that the action o£ this Board at meeting of December 16, 1953, setting 10% of real estate values on homes to
' determine the taxable value of Household Elurniture, and so £orth, be and the same is hereby rescinded, an3 in
lieu thereof, the fo7lowing was unanimously adopted:
That it be left up to the tax-payer to list his personal property at its true market value accord-
ing to law, at what he expects to pay taxes on. Inventories to be.listed at 40% of cost. Motor Vehicles
at Blue Book"average cash value", as heretofore.
?A lter received from Mr, Ben E. Douglas, Director State Department of Conservation and Development con-
cerning the urgent need for a comprehensive study of those £actors bearing upon the economic health of Eastern
North Carolina, and to that end have engaged the services of a well known firm of New York consultants, to devise
and recommend measures by which better use may be made of our Inland Ports and idaterways, seeking our coopera-
tion to members bf the consultant's staf£ on the occasion of field visits to our community, was approved and
the letter referred to the Chamber of Commerce £or its suggestions.
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476 Meeting of December 21, 1953 - Continued - ,
At this point Mr. Trask asked that he land owners be requested to back-fire their lands under the supervision `
of Mr. L. E. Sullivan, County Forest Fire Warden during Dec(mber, January and part of February, to prutect
-? the forests from destruction by fire during the dry spring months iahen sap is in the trees.
A report was received from Mr „ V, W. Herlevich on the completion of his wark covering a timber cruise of a
portion of the County, showing:
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36,910 Acres Cruised Pine Timber 122237 MBF Hardwood 1,659 MBF
. Pine Cordtaood . 33,686 Cords Hardwood 2,718 Cords
Mr. Herlevich also submitted his bill for the above service in the amount of $736.00. '
The Chairman asked who do we want to include in our Ti.mber contract appraisal program to meet the expense
?dfor Forest Fire Control. +
bir. tdarsden Bellamy, County Attorney, raised the question to the effect, if a separate v,alue should be placed
?Vt on the standing timber, should we not take off of the land value, an amount equal to the assessment we add to
the timUer.
The question of anticipated receipts from additional values to be placed on timber was,discussed, and it ap-
pearing that it would not produce enough to justify the expense for continuing Forest Fire Protection) which -
is zt-up in the current budget at $6,160.00. It was therefore upon motion of Nir. O'Shields, seconded by Na•,
Trask and carried that the State-County Forest Fire Control program be discontinued at the end of this fiscal
year, June 30, 1954.
Upon motion of Mr. Love, seconded by Mr. Dsvis, authority was given to purchase large scale Aerial Maps, Mas- '
_ ? ter Sheets, Small Cards and so forth, of our farm lands and city areas for assessrr.ent purposes, from the United ?
States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. ..
?Letters of thanks and appreciation were received from State Training Schools and Institutions, for the Christ-
_ S mas Fund contributions received from this County.
No objections were raised by the Board to the United States District Ehgineer granting a permit to G. W. Proctor '
-and Gladys B. Proctor, and C. L. Williamson, Jr., to construct a dike and fill in front of their property on
Atlantic Intracoastal Watcrway at Niddle Sound, approximately 500 feet south of light No. 122.
A Communication was received from the Neia Hanover County Fire 7nspection Committee, approving the payments to
the following Rural Volunteer Fire Departments for November as per oontract: i
` Castle Hayne V.F.D. for Tra.iler $15.00 --Ogden V.F.D. for Truck $50.00
? Seagate " 15.00 --Winter Park Truck & Trailer65.00
?-Wrightsboro Trixek & Trailer 65.00
The Committee also reported that Castle Hayne and N{yrtle Grove Sound Departments have,completed their Fire
Trucks, and put same in service as of December 1, 1953. •
Upon motion, the Wilmingi;on Chapter, American Re3 Cross, was granted the use of the old hangar at the Air-
-\port for the storage of supplies needed in case of a disaster from tornado or otherwise that should strike
_Q here, requested by Mr. L. C. LeGwin, Jr,, Chairman of the Sub-Committee on purchase and supplies, for an in-
definite period of time or until such time the Navy demands t?,e use of the same.
/Reports for Novernber were received from the following and ordered filed:
Community Hospita.l - Board of Health - James Walker Aospital
Housing Authority of the City of Wilmington
State Board of Public Welfare, Division o£ Institutional and
Protective Service covering the County Home -
Airport report on sale of aviation gasoline and N,iscellaneous rents. '
Mr. Mars3en Bellarry our County Attorney :or 41 years having given notice of his intention to resign at meeting
v? of December 7, to become effective January l, 1954, was asked by the Chairman to re-consider the matter, but
C not being so inclined, the Chairman then presented two (2) applicntions for the position, to-wit: Mr. John
Bright Hill and Mr. Cicero P. Yow. The foregoing matter was discussed in caucus by the Board, and upon motion
of Mr. Davis, seconded by Mr. Trask, Mr. Cicero P. Yow was appointed County Attorney to succeed Mr. Ntarsden
Bellazqy, retired, at the same salary paid to Mr. Bellamy, by unanimous vote of the Board,
'N\r- Upnn motion of Mr. Davis, seconded by Mr. 0'Shiel3s, County bills Ido. 16/+L, to 1670 were approved for payment.
The m eting then adjourne3. +
Clerk. .
? 4lilmington, N. C., Deceraber 28, 1953. ?
The regular weekly meeting o£ the Board was he13 this day at 10:00 o'clock A.M.
Present: R. T. Horton, Chairman and Commissioners Claud O'Shields, Thurston C. Davis, Hal J. Love, Raiford
? Trask, County Attorney Marsden Bellatqy, County Auditor T. D. Love and Cicero P. Yow, County Attorney Appointee,
-C who will assume the duties of his office January 1, 1954.
The meeting was opened with prayer by the Reverend J. S. Crowley, Retired Presbyterian Minister.
The following resolution in recognition and appreciation.of the loyal, faithful and valuaUle services renderec,'
- e this Board and County by Nr. Narsden Bellarqy, the retiring County Attorney, was rettd by the Chairman and iui-
animously adopted: ,
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WHERF.AS, after forty-one (41) years of' service, Mr, isarsden Be11amy, Sr., has seen fit to voluntary
retire from further duties as County Attorney o£ New Hanover County, on January 1, 10,54, to enable him to devote
more o£ his time to his private practice and busi-ness affiliations, and
, WHEREFLS, with his retirement from the responsible position of Attorney for New ?ianover County, there
comes to an end a real epoch in the historical annals of our community, and •
WHEREAS, for forty-one years he has guided succeeding Hoards of County Commissioners wisely and safe-
ly thru many perplexing legal shoals and channels, and
WHER.EkS, the recognized and accepted fact that n`ev! Hanover County has been one of the best and most
conservatively managed in our State, is due, in large measure, to I4r. Bellattyts unswerving integrity and £idel- ity to his office, his comprehensice 1mowledge of the Iaw, his business ability and wisdom in advising Board
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