May 1, 1961 - 11:00 AM - County Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes

May 1, 19611 3Fit width467Meeting of the Board of County Commissioners of the County of JohnstonMay 1, 1961The Board of County Commissioners of Johnston County met in regular sessionon May 1, 1961, in the Commissioners Room, at 1100 A M, with the following memberspresentiH M Johnson, Chairman, J D Bailey, Floyd C Price, Sr and Frank B HoldingAbsent R G GurleyThe following business was transacted1 George F Batts, Manager G S Tucker Co of Smithfield, exhibited thematerials of which his 11 oz mattress covers were made and proposed to sell to theBoarding Home thirty of these mattresses installed at a cost of qk500, or 3150each His proposal was referred to Commissioner Frank B Holding for investigation2 Chairman H M Johnson exhibited a copy of a letter to T L Upchurch fromTalmadge B Corbett of Selma, dated April 17, 1961 protesting the final notices forthe non - payment of delinquent taxes for the years 1947 -48 and 1949 and requested arecheck of the tax records Mr Upchurch, on request, furnished the Board withunpaid tax receipts of Mr Corbett for these years and assured the Board that priorefforts had been made to collect these taxes3 Noting the fine results T L Upchurch, Tax Collector, was making in the collect-ion of delinquent personal property taxes, Commissioner Frank B Holding moved thatT L Upchurch, Tax Collector, be authorized and directed to extend the time ofemployment of his two additional clerical workers from 15 to 30 days, in order tocomplete in all townships the billing and notification to delinquent personal prop-erty tax payersCommissioner J D Bailey seconded the motion, which was carried4 No action was taken on the suggestion of T L Upchurch for legislative enact-ment for the employment of elderly people for the collection of delinquent personalproperty taxes on a commission basis5 Mr C B Thomas, Representative from Johnston County in the General Assembly,discussed briefly with the Board the progress of the legislature and affirmed thattermination of the tenancy year in Johnston County was December 1 and would requireno further clarification He also clarified the pay of jurors as is more specific -ally expressed in the following letterHonorable Henry M Johnson, ChairmanJohnston County Board of CommissionersFour Oaks, North CarolinaDear Mr JohnsonThe Honorable C Blake Thomas, your Representative in the General Assembly, hassuggested that I write you with respect to the constitutionality of local acts fixingthe pay of jurorsA local act relating to the pay of jurors is prohibited by Article II of Section29 of the ConstitutionIt is true that a number of local acts are passed during each session; however,in my opinion, all of them would be delcared unconstitutional should they be testedin the courtsThe general law of this State, G S 9 -5, 1959 Supplement to the General Stat-utes, provides that the boards of county commissioners of the several counties ofthe state should fix the pay of jurors at not less than 300 nor more than 800per dayThe constitutional prohibition against such acts does not apply to travel allow-ances which may be paid to jurors Such travel allowances may be fixed by a localact of the General AssemblyYours very truly,iT W BrutonAttorney General6 The request of John H Jones of Kenly, N C for an entrance road to his prop-erty from Highway 301 located south of Kenly and the request of J Henry Peedin,Selma, N C for the replacement of bridge across the canal which runs through hisproperty located in Selma Township, was referred to J I Lynch, who appeared beforethe Board in connection with complaints received by the Board7 The tax problem of J Henry Peedin, Selma, N C, was referred to W H Britt,Auditor, for solutionFMMay 1, 1961 Cont 8 In accordance with a request of the Board, C W Tarlton, County AgriculturalAgent, presented plans for the erection of an agricultural building on the Boardhursiproperty cornering at North Street and Highway 301 prepared by the AgriculturalEngineering Department of N C State CollegeThe plan provides offices for the Soil Conservation Department, ASC and FHADepartments, Agricultural and Home Economics Departments with provision for a curbmarket and an auditorium 40 x 96 feett The plans were discussed and it was brought out by Mr Tarlton and Miss Butts,j Home Economics Agent, that minimum changes should be made and that they would likeI to be consulted before final plans are draftedrtl it was the consensus that the plans called for further study before the employ-ment of an architect to draft permanent plans and specifications Cost of buildingwas estimated at 100,0009 Mrs Lulu A Jolliff, Director Welfare Department, gave a verbal report of thefinancial status of the various funds in her department; report on the distributionof agricultural donated commodities, reporting that 720 families had complied with21 being rejected and that 2899 people had been reached She also called attentionto House Bill 567, which would extend ADC funds to children of employed fathers,which she deemed a bad law reporting that she had brought this to the attention ofthe members of the General Assembly and urged the Commissioners to do likewiseShe also brought to the Boards attention the increase in rates for diagnostic andspecial treatment to out patients in out of the county hospitals10 Upon the recommendation of Lulu A Jolliff, Director of the Welfare Department,,Commissioner Floyd C Price, Sr, moved that Mrs Ethel S Williams employment becontinued through June 1961Commissioner J D Bailey seconded the motion, which was carried11 W G Massey, Clerk, was directed to notify Mr Jay P Davis, Director, Commodity Distribution Program, N C Department of Agriculture, Raleigh, N C JohnstonCountys decision to terminate any further participation in the distribution ofcommodities donated by the USDA12 Mr Wilson Jiggs Broadwell made a verbal report on the progress of the CivilDefense Program, outlining briefly the participation of his Department in Operation;Alert 1961 and deplored frankly the lack of interest the Commissioners had shownin the participation of this program He stressed the importance of the CivilDefense Program and how much it meant to him and reiterated his plan to resign asCivil Defense Director ,July 1, 1961 recommending the employment of d fulltimedirector13 The request of Mr Archie Taylor, Solicitor of the 4th Solicitorial Districtfor the employment of an Assistant Solicitor for JohnstonCounty recommending theemployment of Mr Austin Stevens of Smithfield for this position was deferred forconsideration when the 1961 -62 appropriations are made14 Chairman H M Johnson presented a letter from the N C Department of Agri-culture Division of Statistics, stating that Johnston Countys share of the statesincentive pay for farm census reports amounted to 8128360, which was ordered filedwith the Clerk15 The notice of the North Carolina State Board of Allottments and Appeal inconnection with the cases of Tanner Hall and Lonnie M Hall was ordered filed withthe Clerk16 Chairman H M Johnson gave notice of the meeting of the Southeastern N CDevelopment Conference at Clinton on May 3, 1961 and urged the attendance of themembers of the Board17 The statement of J Percy Flowers for damages inflicted by da s running atlarge in killing 49 shoats belonging to claimant in the amount of 79380 was present-ed by Chairman H M Johnson and ordered filed with W G Massey, Clerk18 Commissioner Frank B Holding moved that W G Massey, Cleric, be directed towrite to Captain William Wall of the Salvation Army and express to him the sincereappreciation of the members of the Board for his efficient and cooperative handling,,as Supervisor, the distribution to needy families in Johnston County the commodities,donated by the USDACommissioner J D Bailey seconded the motion, which was carried19 C C George, Janitor, was instructed by the Board to extend his efforts inkeeping the courthouse and grounds in a cleaner and more orderly manner20 After V R Britt, County Attorney, had recommended again the distribution ofunallocated court funds in the office of the Clerk of the Superior Court emanatingduring the administration of the late H V Rose by legislative act, a meeting washeld with E S Simpson, Superintendent of the Johnston County Schools and members460May 1, 1961 Contiof his Board for an equitable distribution of said funds Mr James Earp, Chairman `of the School Board stated that there was no misunderstanding between the two Boardsabout this matter and he was sure the Commissioners would recommend a fair distrib-ution but that he would be satisfied with the funds being distributed on a 50 -50basisCommissioners Price and Holding and School Board Member Harold Medlin spoketheir sentiments in connection with the distribution of the fundsAfter a further discussion among the members of the Board of Commissioners,Commissioner J D Bailey moved that W R Britt, County Attorney, consult with theAttorney General as soon as possible and prepare a bill for enactment by the GeneralAssembly distributing the funds with the school getting 35 and the county 65 withthe funds transferred to the county meeting all contingencies that might arise priorto a three year statute of limitations being placed on the funds for a period beg -inning June 30Commissioner Frank B Holding seconded the motion, which was carried21 An agreement was reached with Mr Roy Coats, Representative in the General,Assembl from Johnston County, whereby House Bill 551 introduced by Mr Coats onApril 24 providing for the compensation of jurors receiving 800 plus 7p per mileround trip travel allowance and 1000 per day compensation for court officials,Plus 7¢ per mile travel allowance would be amended to read That the jurors servingin the Superior Court be paid at the rate of 6W per mile for each day they servedin the Superior Court, it being understood that General Law G S 9 -5, 1959 Supple-ment to the General Statute, provides for the ppayment of jurors by the Board ofCounty Commissioners at the rate of 300 to 800 per day22 Commissioner J D Bailey moved that W R Britt, County Attorney, be instruct-ed to draft legislation for presentment to the members of the General Assembly ofJohnston County for enactment by the General Assembly the suggested fees of Nora PSoutherland, Clerk of the Superior Court, and W G Massey, Register of Deeds, aspresented to the BoardCommissioner Frank B Holding seconded the motion, which was carried23 W R Britt, County Attorney, was directed to draft appropriate legislation- for presentment to the members of the General Assembly for enactment by the GeneralAssembly relieving Johnston County from any liability in connection with the lossof livestock, etc killed by stray dogs, and the transfer of surplus funds in thesinking fund to the Agricultural Building Fund24 H 14 Johnson executed for and on behalf of Johnston County Cancellation Noticeand Release by Insured terminating the surety bond of Roy M Richardson, as ofFebruary 1, 196125 Commissioner Frank B Holding moved that the audit contract for the year 1960-61 be awarded to Daniel G Matthews at a contract price the same as last year, name-ly, Rural Fire Protection Funds, 20000; Johnston County Justices of the Peace,35000; Regular County Audit, excluding the office of the Clerk of the SuperiorCourt and Johnston Memorial Hospital, 4123000Commissioner J D Bailey seconded the motion, which was carried25 The following reports were filed with the BoardT L, Upchurch Tax CollectorL P Creech Veterans Service OfficerM W Knott Electrical InspectorH F Palmer Negro Agricultural AgentSarah Ann Butts Home Economics AgentC N6 Tarlton Agricultural AgentD R Clifton JailorMrs Willye Wright Assistant LibrarianRubert Barbour Dog WardenJohnston Memorial Hospital Plonth of MarchDaily reports of C D Stanley and Russell Britti-1 IiThere b nngg no further business, the meeting was recessed to 2 onTuesday, May 16, 1961, for the purpose of initiating work on the 1 A_k budgetAl?_ U Chairi,61 I