February 2, 1959 - 11:00 AM - County Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes

February 2, 19591 6Fit width263Meeting of Board of Commissioners for the County of JohnstonFebruary 2, 1959The Board of County Commissioners of Johnston County met in regular sessionon February 2, 1959, at 11;00 A M, in the Commissioners Room, with the followingmembers presentH IT Johnson, Chairman, J D Bailey, Floyd C Price, Sr, R G Gurley,and Frank B HoldingAbsent; NoneThe following business was transacted;1 Upon the recommendation of Rhetta Martin, Tax Attorney, the following motionwas adoptedOn a motion made by Commissioner R G Gurley, it was moved that a quit -claimdeed be made to Aldine Finch upon the payment of 14853, representing payment infull of taxes through 1958, conveying two lots in the Town of Clayton, foreclosedin the name of Aldine Finch, F R 6, page 122 Mr H W Lassiter, of Four Cake, Route # 2, presented a petition, irregularin form, requesting that the Tool Bridge in Ingrams Township be pavedCommissioner Frank B Holding moved that the State Highway Commission berequested to hard-surface that certain road in Ingrams Township, described asfollows;Beginning at F R Temples on Blackmans Crossroads road and StricklandsCrossroads and runs thence to M J Allens store on Highway # 96, being a distanceof 46 miles, and designated as Project No 1 on the attachedmapFloyd C Price, Sr seconded the motion, which was adoptedpetition and map enclosed with this order For reference see H W Lassiter,Four Oaks, N C, R #23• Mr J Milton Byrd, of Willow Springs, Route # 1, requested verbally that tilebe placed at the intersection of a path joining that certain road in Pleasant GroveTownship, described and identified as Project No 2 on the attached mapCommissioner Floyd C Price, Sr moved that the State Highway Commission berequested to investigate the aforementioned request and take appropriate actionCommissioner J D Bailey seconded the motion, which was unanimously adopted4 W G Massey, Clerk, reported that Bill Smith, Johnston County RecordersCourt Officer, had been receiving a salary of 6000 per month instead of 1p5000,which had been stated when motion was passed by the Board on January 5, 1959 allow-ing him 5000 per month for his servicesCommissioner Floyd C Price, Sr moved that the amount of 5000 be strickenfrom the aforementioned order of the Board, and that the amount of 6000 be insert-ed in lieu thereofCommissioner R G Gurley seconded the motion, which was unanimously adopted5 J L George, County Attorney, presented the following three bills, which anAssistant Attorney General had drawn at the request of he and W H Britt under adirective of the BoardMr George explained the nature and the powers contained thereinA bill to be entitled an act to amend G S 153 -9, Subsection 43, relatingto Farm Demonstration and Home Demonstration Agents so as to make the sameapplicable to Johnston CountyThe General Assembly of North Carolina do enact;Section 1 Subsection 43 of G S 153 -9 is hereby amended by striking outthe period at the end of the subsection, inserting a colon in lieu thereof, andadding the following wordsProvided, however, Paragraph b of this subsection shall apply to JohnstonCountySec 2 All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with this Act are herebyrepealedSec 3 This Act shall be in full force and effect upon its ratification284February 2, 1959 ContpiA bill to be entitled an act to amend G S 153 -77 so as to authorize the issuance N,rliof Bonds and the levy of a tax for County Office Building Purposes in JohnstonCountyThe General Assembly of North Carolina do enactSection 1 G S 153-77 is hereby amended by adding a new paragraph at theend thereof to read as followsr The erection and purchase of a building or buildings, including thenecessary land and equipment therefor, to provide necessary office space forcounty governmental officials and agencies including auditorium facilitiesSec 2 This pct shall apply only to Johnston CountySec 3 All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with this act are herebyrepealedSec 4 This Act shall be in full force and effect upon its ratificationA bill to be entitled an act to extend the time for making the quadrennial Re-valuation and Reassessment of Real Property in Johnston CountyThe General Assembly of North Carolina do enactSection 1 The Board of County Commissioners of Johnston County is authorized]to postpone until the year 1961 the quadrennial reassessment and revaluation ofreal property in Johnston County as required by G S 105 -278Sec 2 All laws and clauses of laws in conflict with this Act are herebyrepealedSec 3 This Act shall be in full force and effect upon its ratification6 Commissioner R G Gurley moved that the three bills as read by Mr George,County Attorney, be approved and that they be submitted to the Johnston Countyrepresentatives in the General Assembly for their approval and introduction tothe General Assembly for enactment into lawCommissioner Floyd C Price, Sr seconded the motion, which was unanimouslyadopted7 Upon the recommendation of W H Britt, Auditor and Tax Supervisor, thefollowing motion was adopted;On a motion made by Commissioner Floyd C Price, Sr, seconded by CommissionerJ D Bailey, it was ordered that the period for 1459 tax listing be extendedthrough February 10, 1959, and W H Britt, Tax Supervisor, be instructed to imposepenalties in compliance with G S 105 -331, Section 1109, Sub - section 3, for allthose listing late8 Commissioner Frank B Holding moved that the bond of Janie Woody Strickland, kDeputy Clerk of the Superior Court, in the amount of 1,00000, beginning fromDecember 1, 1958 and terminating December 1, 1959 be approvedCommissioner R G Gurley seconded the motion, which was unanimously adopted9• ids Lulu Jolliff, Superintendent of the Welfare Department, accompanied by iiMr and Mrs Kenneth Taylor, of Smithfield, reported that she had been able to fi n dllfloor space to adequately house the Welfare DepartmentMrs Jolliff introduced Mr Taylor, who stated that the front part of theStanley Building on Second Street was available for rent, and that the two floorsof the building contained floor space amounting approximately to 4400 -4500 squarefeet and that a parking area on the side of the building would go with the rentalof the buildingThe renovation of the building was discussed and it was estimated that thenecessary repairs would cost approximately from 600000 to 10,00000 Mr Taylorstated that the building as it now stood would rent for 17500, plus 5000 forthe parking lot per monthHe also stated that the rear part of the building was under consideration forrental to an electric company, but he had determined that this would in no wiseinterfere with the work of the Fdelfare DepartmentThe question was raised whether the Federal Government would participate inthe renonvation of the buildingCommissioner R G Gurley moved that Mrs Jolliff and Mr and Mrs Taylorsecure estimates for the renovation of the building and Mrs Jolliff to determinewhether the state and federal governments would participate in the renovation ofthe building and report their findings to the Board at 1000 A M on February 16,1959Commissioner Frank B Holding seconded the motion, which was adopted265February 2, 1959 Cont10 Mrs Lulu Jolliff, Superintendent Welfare Department, reported that Mrs LouiseMcGregor, Superintendent of the Boarding Home, was dissatisfied with the rate of paythat the county was now paying for the fifteen old inmates at the Boarding HomeAfter a thorough discussion of this matter, it was deferred until the nextregular meeting of the Board11 Wilson Jiggs Broadwell, Civil Defense Director, filed a map of JohnstonCounty despicting routes, units, etc to be used by the Johnston County Councilof Civil Defense and citizens of the county in case of emergencyHe presented the following proposed budget, requesting its adoptionProposed Budget forJohnston County Council of Civil DefenseFY 1959 -1960Part 1 ADMINISTRATIVE, M -25 -2, OCDMMr Broadwell stated that it was imperative that this proposed budget beadopted, in order for the county to receive matching funds on July 1, 1959• Itwas the concensus of the Board that the adoption of the proposed budget for theCivil Defense Program was premature, and that the Board should not at this timecommit themselves to approving the proposed budget, as presented12 The following letter as presented by C S Coats was turned over to J LGeorge for investigationFebruary 2,1959The HonorablesThe County CommissionersGentlemenI have a matter I would like to bring to your attention today, which I thinkit of vital importance to the citizens and tax payers of the county and which shouldbe of great interest to your board and all concerned with its activity I am sureall of you know me, but to those of you who may not, I am C S Coats, a nativeborn Johnstonian, and recently retired from the Federal Liquor enforcement service,with more than thirty years of Government service behind me, having worked inseveral states during those many years, but the last five of which were spent herein the county, with my last sixteen months assigned to the Dunn post of duty,working Johnston, Harnett and avayne countiesAs regretable as it is for me to say this, over the past few years JohnstonCounty has had one of the greatest liquor enforcement potentialsof any county inthe state, ranking second to Wilkes, and sometimes ahead of that county, based onstatistics compiled by the Charlotte office of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division,copies of which I received monthly prior to my retirement However, in numbersof stills seized, Robeson ranks first in the state, but theirs are small, individualoutfitsCounty ShareOCDM ShareTotal1 Salary Director90000900001800002 Salary, Secretary12000012000021}00003 Telephone82508250165004 Postage87508750175005 Printing1000010000200006 Office supplies, equipment maintenance220002200040007 Travel300003000000008 Rescue1500015000300009 Training100001000020000ADMINISTRATIVE TOTALS314000314000628000Part II OPERATIONAL, M -25 -1, OCDM1 Communications Races Equipment6000060000120000Part III SURPLUS PROPERTY, SP -202, OCDMLOCAL SHARE1 Property for local Civil Defense Councils 100000100000100000Part IV COUNTY APPROPRIATION NECESSARY534000Part V REIMBURSABLE FUNDS TO COUNTY474000Part VI ACTUAL COST TOTAL TO COUNTY374000Part VIII COUNTY APPRU PRIATION FOR FY 1958-1959397000Mr Broadwell stated that it was imperative that this proposed budget beadopted, in order for the county to receive matching funds on July 1, 1959• Itwas the concensus of the Board that the adoption of the proposed budget for theCivil Defense Program was premature, and that the Board should not at this timecommit themselves to approving the proposed budget, as presented12 The following letter as presented by C S Coats was turned over to J LGeorge for investigationFebruary 2,1959The HonorablesThe County CommissionersGentlemenI have a matter I would like to bring to your attention today, which I thinkit of vital importance to the citizens and tax payers of the county and which shouldbe of great interest to your board and all concerned with its activity I am sureall of you know me, but to those of you who may not, I am C S Coats, a nativeborn Johnstonian, and recently retired from the Federal Liquor enforcement service,with more than thirty years of Government service behind me, having worked inseveral states during those many years, but the last five of which were spent herein the county, with my last sixteen months assigned to the Dunn post of duty,working Johnston, Harnett and avayne countiesAs regretable as it is for me to say this, over the past few years JohnstonCounty has had one of the greatest liquor enforcement potentialsof any county inthe state, ranking second to Wilkes, and sometimes ahead of that county, based onstatistics compiled by the Charlotte office of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division,copies of which I received monthly prior to my retirement However, in numbersof stills seized, Robeson ranks first in the state, but theirs are small, individualoutfits266February 2, 1959 CentDuring my last 16 months at the Dunn post, with all of Harnett County,Johnston, up to the Southern Railroad beyond the So R R is assigned to Raleighand ail of Wayne until -last July, the greater part of our activity was right herein our great county of Johnston where, I believe at least 80 per cent of all ourseizures at the Dunn post were made, as well as the larger number of arrestsLikewise, of these many seizures here in Johnston, I dare say that at least 80percent of them were made on information received by me, either in unsigned letters,telephone, or by informers coming to my home to give the informationThis, however, is beside the point, as there is and has been a bad situationexisting in this county over the past few years in connection with the liquorenforcement activities, with both the State and the Federal laws being grosslyand perm-iscously violated in relation thereto, on the part of the Federal officers,and out of County officers, called in to assist, with approval of the Charlotteand Atlanta offices of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division, and to which I wasalso a party, under instructions of my superiors and who approved the activitiesAs your County Attorney, Mr George will tell you, there is no law in NorthCarolina, which authorizes the removal of any property seized at any distillery,or otherwise for any violation of the State liquor laws, from the county in whichit is seized to some other county for dispostion under the North Carolina StateLaws No officer of any other county has any jurisdiction out of his own countyin any other county, except as he is with a lawful officer of that county, a Stateofficer or a Federal officer And, thus when an out of county officer is in thiscounty with the Federal officers all his acts are under color of the Federal, andnot the State laws, and any property so seized in such joint ventures, is seizedunder the Federal and not the State laws And, once property is so seized, underthe Federal law, it cannot be released from Federal custody, except by order TheUnited States District Court, of the district in which seized, or an order of theSecretary of the Treasury, when seized by any agency of the Treasury, as inliquor casesWe all know, and your attorney will advise you, that all property seized inliquor violations, under the State law, must be disposed of in the county in whichseized, and the proceeds go to the school funds of the respective county Butthere is and has been literally thousands of dollars worth of ligitimate, valuableand salable property seized by Federal and out of county officers, in JohnstonCounty, taken out of our county, to adjoining counties, evan as far away as Lenoir,for disposition under the North Carolina State laws For example, on July 10,1956, a-1955, two -ton Chevrolet truck was seized on State route 42, in WildersTownship, by two officers of the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division and a WakeCounty ABC officer This vehicle was removed to Raleigh, where it was stored, asa Government seizure, for several days, then with the approval of the Supervisorin Charge, Alcohol Tobacco Tax Division, in Charlotte, was released to thejurisdiction of the Wendell Recorderls Court, later sold under an order of thatcourt forthe sum of 2,00000, and in October, 1956, the Treasurer of Wake Countyreceived the proceeds, less the court and advertising costs, which, under theState law, went to the Wake County school fundsIn that case the Federal officers had a right to remove the vehicle to Raleighfor disposition under the Federal law, in which event it would have been forfeitedto the Federal Government and assigned to some Federal Agency for official use,But, the only ,State court having jurisdiction over this particular vehicle was theClayton Recorders court, in which event the Johnston County school fund would havereceived the proceeds therefromDuring the last 11 months of my service, at the Dunn post, ending November 30,1958, 1 participated in the seizure of 197 stills, at 121 distilleries, 103,392gallons mash, 1,357 gallons whiskey, 14 vehicles and 57 arrests But, not havingbroken these down into counties it is my opinion that at least 75 to 30 percentof all this activity was in Johnston, with Banner and Meadow Townships leading thelist, and many seizures were so made in my absence by my co- Federal Investigators,which are not reflected in my own reports And, in such event, where vehiclesor arrests were involved the cases were made under the Federal lawsIn the greater number of the above still seizures, we were assisted by outof county ABC officers and deputies, from Fayetteville, Clinton and as far away asKinston, and all of whom are fine officers, men of integrity, who enjoy the arrange -iment, as it has proven to be a very lucrative business for them financially But,as stated above, the Federal and State laws are being grossly violated, as forinstance,In no arrest cases, in these joint ventures, where valuable property has been -seized, such as sugar, liquified gas tanks, pumps and jars, the seizures are writtenlup by the Federal officers as State cases, with all property destroyed, except, say I4 gas tanks, worth 51000 to 41500 each, 500 pounds sugar, 5000 and other itemsof like com,iercial values, these items being retained by ABC officer John Doe orRichard Roe,as the case may be, for disposition under the North CArolina State Laws,,`when, as a matter of fact, the property is sold privately by said officers, whodraw salaries from their respective counties, and are furnished with late model-cars, all radio equipped And it is for the use of this radio equipment, in mostinstances, that the Federal officers call in the out of county officers267February 2, 1959 ContMost of these seizures are made in what are called saturation raids , some-times with the use of a private plane, in which the observer will carry a walkie-talkie radio, to communicate with car, or ground forces when a still is spotted,and thus direct the ground men to it, and in many instances several men areinvolved and many stills are so seized in a single day; sometimes two or threedays raids occur in this countyA good example is December 1, 2, 3, and 4, 1958, when a plane was availablefor those days, seizing a total of 53 stills, with all but two in Johnston County,and with the exception of one each in Sm thfield, Boon Hill and Wilders Townships,all were seized in Banner and Meadow Townships, with a total of more than 40000worth of valuable property carried out our great county by one ABC officer, inviolation of lawI have talked to a numer of good citizens of our county about this situation,and even several alleged violators have been to me about the matter, with a viewof bringing an end to such practices I have even been asked by responsiblecitizens of our county such questions as, Why are some of our county officers onthese raids and being this property to the Courthouse for disposition, actuallyunder the State liquor laws These questions I cannot answer, and am not beforeyou to talk about any of our own officersBut, I will say this; Johnston is a large county, heavily populated, withonly six salaried Deputies, one of whom stays in the office one day a week,leaving only five available Then, too, in a county as large as Johnston, withas many liquor violations as we have had over the past years, with all the otherenforcement and civil activities that have to be performed by a Sheriffs office,with such a small force of deputies as we have in this county, the liquor lawscannot be effectively enforced on a county level Yet, it appears to me, as itdoes to many other citizens I have recently talked with, that this great countyof ours is entitled to some enforcement of the liquor laws on a county level, andnot leave so much of it done by the Federal forces, with the assistance of theout of county officers as above outlined This gentlement, is what has oftenbeen referred to as washing our dirty linen And right now, there must be atleast fifty or sixty citizens of our own Johnston County, under bonds for theU S District Court at Raleigh for spring sessions of that court They hadmuch rather be in their own local courtsI am not asking that your board create any new departments, or jobs for anyother persons, but as a private citizen and taxpayer of my own native JohnstonCounty, after more than thirty years of service to our Federal Government, I dorespectfully present this proposition to you with my suggestion that it be givenyour most careful study, with a view of considering every detail along the linesof giving both the alleged violators and the non - violators more liquor law enforce-ment on a county level, whereby the valuable and ligitimate property seized inliquor law violations may be brought in to the Courthouse for appropriate dis-position, as well as bringing the alleged violators into our local courts, andthus enhance the school funds of our county by many thousands of dollars annually,and not keep on forcing them into the Federal Court, where fines and sentencesimposed do our county no goodIt is my honest belief that a rural police or county constabulary would bemost effectiveRespectfully,C Stanton Coats13, Mr Rudolph Howell, of Smithfield, acquainted the members of the Board withthe importance of the Neuse River Rasin project, and urged that they write theirCongressmen on behalf of this worthwhile project4 The resignation of W R Britt as Assistant Solicitor of the Superior Courtof Johnston County was submitted by Chairman, H M JohnsonCommissioner J D Bailey moved that the resignation of W R Britt, AssistantSolicitor of the Superior Court of Johnston County, be accepted as of January 1,1959 and that 9 G Massey, Clerk, express to MrBritt their appreciation for theable and conscientious service he had rendered the citizens of Johnston CountyConrndasioner RG Gurley seconded the motion, which was unanimously adopted15 The appointment of an Assistant Solicitor of the Superior Court of JohnstonCounty was brought to the attention of the Board It was determined that no fundshad been allocated for the salary of an Assistant Solicitor from 1 -1 -59 to 7 -1 -59•Commissioner J D Bailey moved that the appointment of an Assistant Solicitorof the Superior Court of Johnston County be deferred until appropriations weremade for the 1959 -60 budgetCommissioner R G Gurley seconded the motion, which was adoptedFebruary 2, 1959 Cont16 Report from the Department of secondary roads of the State Highway Commissionshowing all contract construction projects for which expenditures have been madesince July 1, 1957 and the present status of each project was filed with W GMassey, Clerk17 The payment of 32953, representing Johnston Countyls Ahare for the salaryof a full time Secretary and General Counsel to the North Carolina Association ofCounty Commissioners was deferred until the meeting of the Board on February 16,i18 The following reports were filed with the BoardL P Creech Veterans Service OfficerL R Johnson Negro County AgentC W Tarlton County AgentG F Brown Eledtrical InspectorLulu Jolliff Superintendent WelfareDepartmentD R Clifton JailerSarah Ann Butts Home Demonstration AgentEvelyn Bishop County LibrarianThe meeting was recessed until February 16, 1959 at 1000 A M for thepurpose of securing estimates from Lulu A Jolliff, Superintendent Welfare Departmentfor the renovation of the Stanley building and for discussing the proposed legis-lation with the Johnston County members of the General AssemblyCha? Cle