CMYK Death threat over health care reform
Smoltz cut by Red Sox
Union Chapel UMC rises from the ashes
Local & State, Page 4A
Sports, Page 1B
Faith, Page 1C SATURDAY, August 8, 2009
Volume XCV, No. 184
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Third Back-to-school supply drive Projects arrest in for LEAF '08 Davis request slaying Commissioners OK applying for grants of over $1.1 million
Nephew found body of snack truck driver, 48
By AL WHELESS Daily Dispatch Writer
From STAFF REPORTS
A third person has been arrested in the Nov. 29, 2008, death of Joseph Arrington Davis III. Davis, 48, a snack truck driver, was found dead at his home at 4489 Stagecoach Road near the Granville County line. He had been killed with a shotgun and possibly another weapon. Sheriff Peter White said Friday that Charlie Christopher Terry, 31, of 1091 Jo Jackson Trail, Halifax, Va., was charged with first degree murder and robbery with a dangerous weapon. Terry is serving a sentence in the Piedmont Regional Jail in Farmville, Va., for a conviction in Mecklenburg County, Va. White said the process of extraditing Terry to Vance County is under way. Previously, two other Virginia residents — Sandra Small, 39, of Nelson and Terrell Freeman, 22, of Chase City — were charged. They are being held in the Vance County jail. Davis’ body was discovered in a bedroom by the man’s nephew, Brandon Davis, who stopped by to check on his uncle who hadn’t been seen for a few days. Davis was last seen alive at various times on Nov. 26 while he was making deliveries in the community, White said at the time. Send comments to news@ hendersondispatch.com.
Daily Dispatch/ASHLEY STEVEN AYSCUE
Above, from left, Terri Hedrick, from the Vance County Schools, Linwood Martin, a member of the United Way’s Volunteer Center’s board, Nancy Gray, from the United Way of Vance County, and Joan Robinson, from Kittrell Job Corps Center, wait for donations of school supplies outside Chick-Fil-A Friday morning. The drive was sponsored by Chick-Fil-A, the Henderson-Vance Chamber of Commerce, the United Way Volunteer Center of Vance County and the Vance County Schools. At right, Kittrell Job Corps students Kendetta Terry, left, and Javonte Wimbush take a monetary donation from the driver of a passing car.
Expenses, drop in water usage move Oxford toward rate study By WILLIAM F. WEST Daily Dispatch Writer
Index Our Hometown . . . . . 2A Business & Farm. . . . 5A Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . 6A Light Side . . . . . . . . . 7A Sports. . . . . . . . . . 1-4B Faith. . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5C Comics . . . . . . . . . . . 6C Classifieds. . . . . . . 7-9C
Weather Today Humid
High: 94 Low: 68
Sunday Hot
High: 97 Low: 72
Details, 3A
Deaths Henderson Talmadge W. Ayscue, 62 Marjorie J. Finch, 69
Obituaries, 4A
OXFORD — The City Commission’s Public Works Committee on Friday morning recommended that the full commission give the go-ahead to a $27,081 study of sewer and water rates by Raftelis Financial Consultants of Charlotte. The full commission will take up the matter at the regular monthly meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday. “I think we should do it,” Committee Chairman Paul Kiesow said. “I have to say that I was really impressed with what they do,” committee member Walter Cantley said of he and his fellow city officials having made a July 13 trip to the Queen City to meet with Raftelis representatives. “And it appears that we don’t have much of a choice on this one,” Cantley said. Oxford’s engineering department is a two-person operation with City Public Works Director Larry Thomas and Technician Dud Frazier. Commissioner Bob Shope, who attended Friday morning’s committee meeting, also said he will vote for hiring Raftelis. The committee in June agreed to City Manager Mark Donham’s request to get moving on having the outside study. Donham at the time cited the reasons. One is the Kerr Lake Regional
Panel: City should take a $27,000 look at what it charges consumers Water System Advisory Board, of which Oxford is a partner, approving a 6 percent rate increase in April to help cover increasing operating expenses and plans for a future expansion of the plant, which is in northeastern Vance County. Another is a need to spend approximately $21 million on projects. Donham at the time said that, in addition to this being for Oxford’s share of the Kerr Lake water plant, this would include building a third water tower in Oxford, upgrading aging utilities lines in the older part of the city and a potential expansion of the city’s state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plant near the Interstate 85/N.C. 96 interchange. And Donham at the time said the city needs to keep in mind potential customers in the Triangle North Granville business park, which is taking shape near the I-85/U.S. 158 interchange and minutes away from VanceGranville Community College and Henderson. Donham and Thomas at the time additionally said Oxford was experiencing a decline in water consumption, with Thomas having noted usage was down by approximately 200,000 gallons daily. And one of the questions to be addressed in the study would be
how to fund Oxford’s expansions and improvements. The previous City Commission in July 2006 unanimously approved a study by Raftelis. The study recommended a residential sewer rate increase of approximately 17 percent, to be timed after the wastewater treatment plant came on line and to soften the impact on the municipal treasury when the city repays loans for the plant. The city discontinued discounts for industries using more than 500,000 gallons of water per day, with examples being the Revlon cosmetics plant, the CertainTeed roofing shingle plant and the Bandag tire retreading plant. The rate structure went into effect in January 2007. In other business Friday morning, the committee agreed to recommend that the full commission accept a bid of $59,694 by H.G. Reynolds Co. Inc. of Henderson to improve drainage in the Meadowbrook residential area near Thorndale Country Club. Thomas said that the lowest bidder, Ellington and Son of Oxford, lacked the proper licensing. Ellington and Son Inc. had bid $55,026, while Osborne Co. of North Carolina, which is in Eden, had bid $83,334. The problem having prompted the project is that a creek — while dry at the moment — winds from higher ground into Meadowbrook and through a Please see OXFORD, page 4A
A phone survey of other Vance Commissioners Thursday and Friday morning unanimously upheld the Planning Commitee’s 2-1 approval of three proposed projects for Golden LEAF Foundation grants totaling $1,180,000. Chosen at a noon meeting on Thursday were: • Spending $250,000 in seed money in connection with the proposed construction of a sewer line along U.S. 1 in Kittrell that could foster economic development. • A water distribution project costing $750,000 that could serve Carver Elementary School, which is on well water, in addition to nearby residences and businesses • Installation of 100 additional hydrants costing a total of $180,000 to increase fire protection in Phases 1A and 1B in the County’s water district that is waiting to become reality. Two of the committee members — Danny Wright and Terry Garrison — were in favor of the $250,000 expenditure related to the sewer line along U.S. 1, but Chairman Dan Brummitt wasn’t. Those surveyed who were in support of the committee’s decision were Tim Pegram, Vice-Chairman Eddie Wright, Scott Hughes and Deborah Brown. Brummitt said if the $250,000 were spent on the sewer project, there is no guarantee at this point that it will ever be built. The chairman related that possibility to the idea of applying to the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center for a $40,000 grant that would be used to identify the sewer line route, as well as engineering problems. The line had initially been intended to serve the Kittrell Job Corps Center, but the school is proceeding with repairing its sewer plant, which would make the proposed U.S. 1 route unnecessary for that purpose, Brummitt said. He told his fellow committee members that he would like to see if residents of Bear Pond and Kittrell could be consulted to get their ideas on the project. According to Brummitt, the proposed four-inch force-main would not have the capacity to serve economic development and future growth. The chairman said the sewer line could end up costing $4 million to $5 million dollars before it’s finished. Brummitt wondered whether the Golden LEAF Foundation would take back the $250,000 at some point if it were not actually spent on the project. He expressed hope that the money could be applied to some other effort, if necessary. Wright estimated that construction and completion of the sewer line could be five to 10 years away. The commissioner also supported a large forcemain. “We won’t borrow money for this project,” he said. “My objective is to find other sources.” He thought the $250,000 “would still be Vance’s money,” and could be used for other purposes, if needed. According to Wright, the proposed project is in line with merging infrastructure closer to Raleigh. “I support all three projects.” Garrison described himself as in agreement with Wright’s comments about the sewer line. “I think it’s doable,” he said early-on in the meeting. “We need to use our Congressional delegates to do it.” The rush among the board members Please see PROJECTS, page 3A