Columbus County Community Chat

It’s easy to be overwhelmed at Christmas.

An estimated one-third of U.S. citizens don’t buy the first present until the week before Christmas,
Christmas cards must be written and addressed, and major meals must be prepared for Christmas day.

But despite the histrionics, uneasiness and heightened emotions that often come with the season, we’re always impressed with the number of people who take time to help others at Christmas. 2007, from what we’ve seen, has been no exception.

There are the church groups who arrange carolling at the nursing homes, there are the families that adopt less fortunate families, there are toy runs by bikers, there are school kids sending care packages to our soldiers overseas, there are people asking friends and family to donate to good causes rather than give gifts…and the list goes on.

The bad news is that the freneticism of Christmas isn’t likely to change anytime soon. The good news is that peace and happiness can just as easily be found if the true joys of Christmas – compassion and love for our fellowman, especially the less fortunate – are observed.

This year, make Christmas what it is supposed to be: a reflective and rewarding time that is centered on others rather than yourself.

By NICOLE CARTRETTE
Staff Writer

It sounded good to Columbus County Commissioners.

A couple hundred thousand in cash and another $125,000 in gate credits from Waste Management won the favor of six of seven commissioners Monday Dec. 17.

The agreement to sell the three-sided metal building located at the closed New Hope landfill comes just weeks after the county was told they didn’t own the building.

At that time the county was told it could either renew a five-year transfer station agreement with Waste Management or buy the building for the company’s $325,000 book value.

Waste Management had something different to say Monday.

Error on value

Greg Peverall, of Waste Management, told the board an error had occurred in the calculation of the building’s book value and it was actually only worth about $171,000 and that his company in the “spirit of trust and good faith” had a new offer.

That offer was to pay the county $325,000 for the building with $200,000 being in cash and the rest in gate credits at the transfer station.

Under the plan the county will receive an additional $90,000 over the next five years in gate credits for the land the building sits on and 56 cents per ton for trash moved through the station.

Waste Management will forego the annual consumer price index increase for the next two years for more than $400,000 in savings, Peverall proposed.

Contracts concurrent

The county’s curbside pick-up contract and transfer agreement will both run concurrent for five years. Both will expire on Dec. 31, 2012.

Fuel surcharges will continue.

Peverall wanted a 10-year lease on the building and option to buy the land and scales from the county in five years but the board pushed for the five-year lease.

“At our December 3 meeting we had to buy the building,” Commissioner Bullard said. “Why is it you are asking to buy the building?

“Who owns the building?” Bullard insisted.

“We own the building,” Peverall said.

Sell building

“Mr. Chairman, I personally oppose the selling of the building. I feel like we have a noose around our neck. We only have 30 days to negotiate a contract,” Bullard said of the contract that expires Dec. 31. “I just don’t feel it’s a smart move on the county’s part. I just oppose selling the transfer station.”

Peverall suggested the county would have the option to buy the building back in five years at fair market value but have a 10-year lease on the land.

“They want to lease the land for 10 years with a five-year contract and I oppose that,” Bullard said.

Chairman James Prevatte agreed.

“This is something Mr. Peverall and I discussed and I told him this might be a problem,” Prevatte said.

Commissioner Amon McKenzie appeared frustrated that the two board members who met with Waste Management, Bill Memory and Prevatte, didn’t have a clear-cut recommendation on the proposal.

Prevatte explained that he and Memory met with Peverall a few times but he did not like some details Waste Management wanted in the contract.

“They paid to build the building but it was never put – the building – in their name,” Prevatte said.

No last minute

Prevatte explained that he had asked for the contracts to run concurrently and asked for a one-year notice of the renewal date so that the county will not be caught with renewing a contract at the last minute.

“Other parts are what they have offered,” Prevatte said.

“I think we need to look at the lease on the property. It needs to coincide with the five-year contracts,” Commissioner Ronald Gore said. He said he would like the county to have the option to buy the building back at tax value.

Peverall said if the company was spending $325,000 on the building the sale value in five years should not be the tax value.

“One of the things we discussed was a negotiation of the price,” Memory said. He said the company and the county would both get an appraisal and then negotiate the price.

“Right now they are moving forward. I think they realize they made an error and we have spent a ton of money with them,” Memory said. He pointed out the company had agreed to concurrent contracts.

Good faith

“I think that’s a good faith effort on their part,” Memory said, before adding that he too agreed the lease should also be five years not 10.

“We have a gentleman’s agreement to work out the details in 30 days,” Memory said. “We can’t afford to let 170 tons (of trash) a day build up.”

“I was in the understanding that you two negotiated this and it was my understanding in essence you had agreed to the proposal,” Commissioner Sammie Jacobs said to Memory and Prevatte.

“The committee went there; do you have a proposal?” McKenzie added.

“I don’t have a problem with giving them a lease for five years but I can’t obligate past the five years,” Prevatte said.

“Do we pass up the $200,000 cash they propose to give us?” Jacobs asked.

“I oppose,” Bullard said. “In five years the board will not have the money to buy any building.”

Move on

“We can do either one,” McKenzie said. “I want the recommendation so we can move on.”

“We are leasing the land itself and selling a three sided building for a price that is pretty hefty and would put $200,000 in our coffers,” Memory said.

Memory said he didn’t see what the problem was. “There is already a problem with the floors,” Memory said. “I’ve looked at it.

“This is an opportunity for Columbus County to reduce solid waste fees by 56 cents a ton. Unless we have someone standing outside the door with a better offer, gentleman, I think we had better take some action on it,” Jacobs said.

“They have made some good offers,” Bullard said, but did not back down from his opposition to the sale.

Consider cash

“We should maybe consider the cash payment,” McKenzie said, but questioned if it could be put in a lease, not sale, of the building.

Peverall said he would not be willing to lease the building on those terms.

“Why is the building so important?” Bullard asked Peverall.

“What would you lease the land for?” Prevatte asked.

“I’ve not been prepared to offer any other,” Peverall said.

“Mr. Chairman, are we passing up $200,000?” Jacobs asked. “I thought you had it negotiated.”

“Personally, I think it’s a good offer,” Memory said.

Prevatte asked about extending the negotiations an additional 60 to 90 days.

“We would prefer while we are all here to make it work,” Peverall said.

McKenzie said the county is not displeased with its service from Waste Management. “We feel two parties can agree and we can at least work with them and at least trust them,” McKenzie said.

McKenzie said a recommendation should have been made by the negotiating board members.

“We cannot decide for seven,” Prevatte declared. “I’m telling you there are two points there I don’t agree with.”

Problem here

“I’m beating a dead horse here,” McKenzie said.

Memory said it was a matter of how the proposal was worded.

“We have a problem here, gentlemen –that’s 170 tons a day that’s got to be moved out of county,” Memory said. “We could put money in the bank to reduce the cost of waste collection. We are looking at almost $1 per ton in savings with the five-year lease and extension in five years.

“That’s a lot of money for us,” Memory said. “We could lose the $200,000 and lose the 56 cents gate credit.”

Prevatte pointed out that they had negotiated the lease from $60,000 to $90,000 and no CPI increase in 2009.

Good job

“I think you did a good job. We just need to follow through,” Jacobs said.

Another obstacle in negotiations was a provision that if the county chooses to buy the building back, they need to let Waste Management know two years before the contract expires, or in 2010.

“That lets them know if you are or are not gong to renew the (waste) contract,” Bullard declared.

“I see no problem giving them two years,” Jacobs said.

“In the spirit of moving forward we will make a six-month concession,” Peverall said. The county must notify the company by July 1, 2011.

Peverall explained the permitting process for a transfer station could easily take a year and they would need time to site a new one.

Memory made a motion to accept the proposal with the suggested amendments. His motion was seconded by Commissioner Lynwood Norris. Only Bullard voted “no.”

• Chairman says better deal forthcoming but is quiet on company never listing building with tax office.

By NICOLE CARTRETTE
Staff Writer

Waste Management has never paid taxes on a building located at the county-owned but closed New Hope landfill.

Two weeks ago in a board meeting a representative with the company told Columbus County commissioners the three-sided metal building was worth $325,000 on their books and the county could either buy it or renew a five-year contract.

County Tax Administrator Richard Gore said Thursday it was not brought to his office’s attention during revaluation that the building was not county property. While the building is valued at $59,000 on the tax books, it is exempted as being county-owned.

“No one knew that it belonged to Waste Management, “ Gore explained. “They never got a building permit.”

“Nobody has told me that they own it,” Gore said. “I’m just hanging loose until somebody tells me whose it is.”

Gore said if the county and Waste Management agree it belongs to the company, the office could go back five years to collect taxes which would amount to about $3,000 in taxes and penalties based on the $59,000 valuation, not Waste Management’s value of $325,000.

The Waste Management office building is listed with the tax office as well as a number of vehicles.

It is unclear why a building permit was never obtained or why no taxes have been paid on the building.

When asked about the building not being listed with the tax office, Commissioner Chairman James Prevatte had little to say about the situation.

“I have to be careful because there is some negotiation going on there,” he explained. “It’s not listed in their name at this time.”

It appears that possible offers, which Prevatte did not disclose, have put the tax issue on the back burner for now.

“I can’t divulge the contract negotiations right now but it doesn’t look as bleak as it did,” Prevatte said. “It’s a contract negotiation.”

Prevatte said he and others had met with Greg Peverall, a representative with Waste Management, to discuss the contract and a subsequent meeting was planned prior to Monday’s commissioners meeting.

Prevatte said he had requested that someone with the authority to make changes and actually negotiate the contract be at Monday’s (tonight’s) meeting and that person would likely be Peverall.

Under the county’s current transfer station agreement, which must be renewed by Dec. 31, the county owns the land the transfer station is on but does not own the building or most of the equipment used at the station.

The county does not receive any portion of fees per ton nor a reduction on its waste and user fees for hosting the transfer station, with the exception of 33 percent of the fee paid on inert debris dumped at the closed landfill.

The county finance office could not determine the exact amount of money being paid to the county for such measures but said it appeared to be minimal.

Public Utilities Director Leroy Sellers said it was his understanding very few trucks from out of county come into the station.

According to the contract, trash may be hauled into the station for transfer to larger trucks from a 100-mile radius, which would include other counties in North and South Carolina.

At the previous public meeting, several commissioners blasted the contract as being to the benefit of Waste Management.

Commissioner Bill Memory said the county appeared to be between a rock and hard place and pointed out the county residents had paid the company millions over the years only to be told a metal building on their own property was valued at $325,000.

Waste Management had offered to defer consumer price indexing increases for the first year of the renewal that would have saved the county more than $400,000 a year but most commissioners weren’t agreeing that it was such a great deal considering the county’s waste contract with the company is around $6 million and not including fuel surcharges.

“This is, in my opinion, a one-sided contract,” Commissioner Ronald Gore said Thursday, but pointed out he hoped negotiations would bring forth a better deal for the county. “We need to see some issues ironed out,” he said, pointing out “there is room for negotiation.” Ultimately he admitted: “I think we are going to have to renew the contract.”

Interim County Manager Leo Hunt was reluctant to comment on what his recommendation would be to commissioners.

He has prior commitment and will not be at Monday’s meeting but did have concerns that the board found out about the contract at such a late date – less than a month before its renewal .

“I wish I’d known about this earlier – this almost slipped by us,” Hunt said.

As for the building not being taxed, Hunt said that would likely change and referred the reporter to the tax office. “It looked like it belonged to us,” he explained.

Commissioners meet tonight (Monday) in the Dempsey Herring Courthouse Annex building at 6:30 p.m.

Other agenda items include a request that the county purchase additional land for the airport, a county recreation department update, and a scheduled closed session for personnel to interview manager candidates.

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has chosen Columbus County Schools as one of two school systems in the state to be part of a new initiative to discover root causes of low student performance and what the districts’ strengths and weaknesses are.

DPI will send a team here and to Lexington City Schools over a three-year period to find ways to reverse low student performance.

Our hope is that the experiment will be a learning experience for both local educators – and especially for DPI.

DPI has a diminished reputation among the local education community that it must overcome.

For too long, DPI has made decisions from its ivory tower in Raleigh, decisions that have translated poorly to rural areas like Columbus County. Words like “out of touch” and “pie-in-the-sky” are often heard.

It’s no wonder that many teachers left Tuesday’s meeting with a heavy dose of skepticism.

But let’s be positive here. This experiment, which Columbus County is lucky to be a part of, has a chance to work.
At least one good decision has been made already – that this is a three-year process, not a six-month or one-year dog and pony show.

The time spent here will give DPI a first-hand look at what it’s like to educate students in a poor area where issues like low parent involvement and literacy, a lack of emphasis at home on education and poverty-related social ills make teaching a monumental task. We can’t think of a better laboratory than Columbus County.

And it’s not like teachers and administrators here aren’t trying. They are, but when one walks through Wal-mart, for example, and sees a parent or guardian slapping their children around, or realizes what young children are exposed to in movies, music and television, it’s easy to see that education has to be more than reading, writing and arithmetic. It’s so sad to see bright, young people beaten down by a crumbling or non-existent support system, but that’s what teachers are up against.

Our hope is that DPI will truly see this as an opportunity to create something that – in their own words – will be “national model.”

Likewise, we hope that local teachers and educators will participate willingly. The folks at DPI may recommend radical changes, and teachers need to be prepared to embrace them because these changes just might work. Radical change may be the only solution, in fact, we’ll be disappointed if at least a few extraordinary and bold initiatives aren’t tried.

If there’s one catch phrase that must be remembered during this process, it is “open-minded,” and it’s got to be from both sides.

Clearly, what’s being done now isn’t working, in large part because of social changes that have occurred outside the classroom over the years.

Education must evolve with those changes.

It will be a shining achievement for both the county schools and DPI if that evolution begins right here.

In his book, “Where Have All The Leaders Gone?,” Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued what appeared to be a doomed Chrysler Corporation from collapse in the 1980s, credits much of the company’s successful turnaround to the people he hired as his lieutenants. Finding good people to work for you is a key to effective leadership, Iaccoca says.

That’s why hiring the right county manager should be job number one on the commissioners’ list.

Columbus County has advertised for a county manager for some time now and commissioners say they’ve found no one who they think can do the job.

Former County Manager Jim Varner has been gone for a while, and while Interim Manager Leo Hunt has held down the fort in the meantime, he says he’s ready to fade into retirement.

With round one of interviews apparently unsuccessful, we think the county commissioners should reassess the process.

For starters, the job calls for applicants to have a master’s degree with county government experience. Having someone with both those qualifications would be nice, but we believe this severely limits the pool of candidates. Some of the finest journalists to ever work for The News Reporter, for example, didn’t go to journalism school.

We’re also concerned by recent comments by commissioners that the county can’t afford the salary that some candidates might demand.

We say we can’t afford not to pay a top-notch candidate. Rookies and low-man-on-the-totem-pole candidates will demand a salary in the $50,000 range. A good manager’s salary will start in the $80,000 or $90,000 range.

If the commissioners are shooting for a $60,000 manager as they have in the past, then the county will likely be saddled with an average to below-average manager.

As we’ve said many times before, the commissioners should hire a quality manager and leave him or her alone to do his or her job.

With the county’s finances at a precarious level, the need for economic development and better planning, we urge the commissioners to broaden their search and remember that the cost of hiring a good manager will easily be recouped.

If the commissioners want to turn Columbus County around, do what Lee Iacocca did – hire the best people and the rest will take care of itself.

Disposal of the county’s garbage is an expensive proposition – about $5.8 million annually – so any contract negotiations should be taken seriously and with much thought.

The county commissioners haven’t been known for their due diligence on tedious documents in the past, but they deserve credit for raising questions about the latest contract extension proposal from Waste Management.

The commissioners had planned to cancel their Dec. 17 meeting during the Christmas season, but have instead chosen to use the time to get more answers from Waste Management on their valuation of a three-sided metal building they’re offering the county at the “bargain” price of $325,000. As so often happens with monopolies, Waste Management has given the county the choice of paying $325,000 for this grossly overvalued building or accepting another long-term contract for waste transfer.

Whether the “deal” Waste Management is giving the county in the new contract is a good one needs study, but the commissioners are right to raise a red flag about the price of this shell of a building.

There are other issues that need to be thought out as well, such as aligning the transfer contract with the time frame of the collection contract because it’s not practical to have one contract commensurate with the other.

Second, the contract requires a minimum of 100 tons of garbage a day be moved through Waste Management. That kills any incentive to recycle or cut the waste stream, which would save taxpayer dollars in landfill fees.

Making sure taxpayers get the best deal in contract negotiations is what the commissioners are elected to do, even if it means working through Christmas. This is one trashy deal that wasn’t swept under the rug.

If there is a department of county government that must do its job well, it’s the 911 Center.

No matter how good the county’s fire, police and EMS services are, their efforts will be diminished if there are procedural issues at the 911 Center .

Sheriff Chris Batten recently appealed to the county commissioners for help in resolving issues with the 911 Center and communications with his deputies.

When it comes to stressful jobs, 911 dispatchers are at the top of the list. We have a dedicated crew at the 911 Center here, but they need to be in an environment where they can do their jobs effectively.

Bear in mind that dispatchers not only answer phone calls, they also dispatch them, type in information for record keeping, plus maintain radio communications with responding units – all simultaneously. Usually, four dispatchers can handle what comes in, but sometimes, several emergencies happen concurrently. That’s when you don’t want to be understaffed.

Several problems listed by Batten and brought to light recently need to be addressed. Perhaps the first is the simplest: 911 dispatchers here have to handle too many non-emergency calls. Often, these are calls for situations like interrupted water or sewer service or lost pets.

Citizens should expect answers to these calls, but intermingling these with heart attack or house fire calls is putting too much stress in an already stressful environment.

Batten is correct in asserting that whoever is handling sheriff’s department calls needs to be a sheriff’s department specialist – someone who understands law enforcement and is familiar with sheriff’s department protocols.

Can these current issues be resolved by honing procedures for non-emergency calls and rethinking operations? Maybe, but the 911 Center’s performance will never be predictable because of the nature of emergencies, which often occur en masse.

There are plenty of areas where the county can cut expenses, but the 911 Center isn’t one of them. Error has to be on the side of caution.

• State agencies converge on Silver Spoon farm.

By JEFFERSON WEAVER
Staff Writer

State water quality and environmental officials are investigating a livestock waste spill in the Silver Spoon area.

The spill, which was apparently swine waste, was reported Wednesday around 6 p.m., according to officials on the scene. The owner, Barry Freedman, raises hogs for Murphy Brown. He contacted the state Division of Water Quality immediately, investigators said.

A response team was on site by 7 p.m. Wednesday, returned Thursday morning, and was scheduled to return each day until the spill is cleaned up.

Murphy Brown was scheduled to have suction trucks on the scene by 7 p.m. Thursday. Officials were using an airplane to photograph the extent of the spill.

The state investigator, who asked not to be identified, said representatives of the DWQ, Soil and Conservation Service, and other agencies were monitoring the spill, which apparently spread from a waste lagoon to a drainage ditch.

The ditch drains into a creek that feeds a sensitive wetlands area downstream, he said.

Freedman reported to The News Reporter Thursday night that the spill resulted from an irrigation hydrant malfunction. It is the first spill at the farm in 11 years of operation.

By JESSICA WAYNE
Staff Writer

When it comes to long-term relationships Claude and Mary Bowen have written the book. Married in 1932. the couple will celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary on Dec. 24.

“We’ve been together all this time and we haven’t separated…not once,” said Mary. “I didn’t know it was such a big deal (making it to the 75th anniversary) until people started calling and talking about it.”

The couple started dating when Mary was a girl of 14 and they got married right after she turned 16.

“He was about my only date,” Mary said as she laughs and pats Claude’s knee. They sit sides touching on the couch with familiar ease. Their love for one another is obvious in the way they hold hands and the uncanny way they seem to know when the other is about to speak. Theirs is obviously an anniversary of love and celebration.

“It feels good (looking back on 75 years)” said Mary, “and I give the Lord credit. When I wake up in the morning I thank the Lord.”

Despite numerous health problems Claude and Mary still live in their home without assistance care. Their daughter, Sonya Bowen, said: “Dad still drives them both to town and doctor’s appointments and he still gets around well. A few months ago he drove the lawn tractor into the ditch and flipped it over. He climbed out and went to get the other tractor to pull that one out and he’s almost 95.”

“We’ve had two women… I didn’t see much work being done. One of them cooked, but we didn’t like it (her cooking) and Claude said he’d rather go to town and get food, so that was the end of that,” Mary said.

“We chose to stay home and help each other,” Claude explained, “I’m getting too old for another wife, so I’ve got to take care of this one.”

Mary spends much of her day doing exercise to keep her arthritic joints loose. She sits and uses her walking cane, lifting it over her head 15 times and smiling as she demonstrates.

“It’s amazing; when she started the exercises she could barely lift the cane off her knees,” said Sonya. Claude spends much of his time taking care of the yard and the house. “I’ve been at war with pecan leaves for about three weeks now,” Claude said with a big smile.

Mary and Claude were born three miles apart and attended separate churches and schools. Claude was a member of the Happy Hill community, now called Union Valley. He recalls, “There was one building and we had school and church in that same building.” Mary lived in the Mishop Springs community. By chance Claude attended Mishop Springs church for one year and as luck would have it, he met Mary.

The two decided to get married and when Mary told her father his comment was, “If you’re gonna get married, you’ll need a new dress.” She chuckles as she tells the story. “No, he was not happy but they (her parents) were reasonable about it. Most people my age ran off if they wanted to get married. I didn’t do that… I had to have a new dress to get married in.”

The dress Mary chose was red, which was and still is her favorite color. “I’ve tried to keep the fact that my dress was red a secret. Back then, you had to get married in white or blue, but red has always been my favorite color,” said Mary.

Claude and Mary spent their wedding night in the home of Mary’s sister. Friends assembled on the lawn to serenade the couple and bang pots and pans to keep them up all night. It’s an Irish tradition known as shiveree.

“People have quit that foolishness now,” Mary said, but she and Claude both smile at the memory.

The couple had three children, sons Bronnie Frionda and Harold LaFredge, and daughter, Sonya Cherie. “I didn’t like family names like Jim, Bill, Sam and all that stuff. 1 wanted something outside of the family,” said Mary. “I made a mistake when they started school. 1 gave the school both their first and middle names. 1 wanted them called Frionda, LaFredge and Cherie, but the school called them Bronnie, Harold and Sonya.”

The first year of their marriage Claude and Mary resided with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Columbus (Lummie) Bowen. Five years later, in 1937, the couple built their own house. They both agree that they have never wanted to live away from Whiteville.

“I have bought close to a dozen different locations, locally, and I could never make up my mind to build on them,” said Claude. “We’ve come close to it, but never did.”

“I’ve never wanted to live anywhere else… well, maybe other places around Whiteville, but not away from Whiteville,” said Mary.

They laugh as they recall stories from years past. Topics range from World War II bombings to Mary’s romantic interest before she met Claude.

A particular favorite involves this reporter’s “Uncle Dump.” With some prodding from her grinning husband, Mary relates the story: “I dated Dump for a while when we were kids and they say he used to write letters 13 pages long to me and hide them in the Dewey Meadow’s collard patch. But, that was before we were old enough to date. When we were (old enough to date), he met Lona Bowen (Claude’s first cousin). Claude and I got married before they did, but we were always good friends,” Mary shared.

Claude worked at Todd Furniture in Wilmington for a year during their marriage, but soon returned to the farm. “It was either come back to the farm or be drafted. We had three small children at home, so he came back here,” said Mary.

The couple also recalls hearing about the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941.

“We were listening to the radio when they announced that Pearl Harbor had been bombed. We jumped in the car and drove to the radio station. I don’t know why we did that,” Claude shared.

“It was a fearful time. We had those black blinds on the windows and it was a dark town. Everyone just sat in the dark,” said Mary. Blackout blinds were used to reduce light inside houses to a minimum in an effort to avoid enemy air attacks. The theory was that if the enemy could not see the houses from the air they would not bomb the communities.

“Now we hear war so much I reckon we’ve just got use to it but it was a different time back then,” Mary explained.

According to the Bowens, a long-term marriage is easy to attain if you follow two simple rules. “You have to have patience cause you’re going to have problems, but most of the time you can iron them out,” said Mary.

Claude sits quietly as she speaks, but chimes in at the end of her sentence with, “You have to forgive and forget…and never try to win an argument.”

The Bowens suggest that those considering marriage, “Be slow about it and think about it, because the way people are now, they think, ‘I’ll get married and if I don’t like it, I’ll get out of it.’

“When we got married you didn’t get a wife on trial. Back then it was for keeps,” Claude said, “and it still should be that way.”

By JEFFERSON WEAVER
Staff Writer

Whiteville officials are trying to revive plans to establish at least one National Registry historic district in the city.

“It’s been proven that historic districts are beneficial to revitalizing downtowns,” said City Manager Josh Ray. He and planner Lainie Johnston have been reviewing the 1997 and 2003 historic district plans for ideas.

Johnston said one of the key steps will be recognizing which areas would be best for the designation.

“Whiteville has an uptown and a downtown,” she said, “plus the Madison Street corridor.

All these areas have different strengths, and their own particular character.”

To gain historic district status, a municipality must submit plans to the National Parks Service highlighting the historic nature of homes and businesses in the target areas.

If the district is approved, the municipality and a local historic district commission writes guidelines designed to maintain the appearance of the area, and to provide an additional tool for managed growth.

Property owners who choose to purchase or restore properties in the districts can be eligible for significant tax breaks, Johnston said.

“When people hear that they can save big money by following historic district guidelines,” Ray said, “they tend to listen a lot more closely.”

Historic districts have come under fire in some cities because of the restrictive nature of local rules. Ray and Johnston emphasized there is no desire to do that here.

“It’s all about promoting the city,” Ray said. “We want to do what we can to improve and revitalize the area. When you get people interested in coming downtown, merchants will provide places for them to go. Right now there’s virtually no place to walk to downtown after dark. There’s no reason, aside from the health benefits, to walk around downtown at night. We’d like to change that.

“If we give people a reason to go downtown after 5 p.m.,” Ray said, “then we’ll see more development.”

Johnston said she is exploring which areas to include in the proposed districts, as well as how far they should extend out from the Madison Street corridor.

“We have a lot of things to examine from the start,” she said. “How far out will it reach? Should we concentrate on one of the three centers first? Do we emphasize business or residential property? There’s a lot to consider before the work can begin.”

Ray also pointed out that some simple beautification tasks will go far toward helping preserve and improve the uptown and downtown areas.

“Something so simple as planting a few trees can make all the difference in the world between a bare parking lot and an attractive place,” Ray said.

Ray and Johnston said the onus of the project rests on the community.

“This isn’t something we’re pushing,” he said. “Right now, there is no historic district commission, and we don’t have a part of town government dedicated to establishing an historic district. It has to be something the people want to do. If the people want it, we’re here to help.”

Johnston pointed to her own hometown of Tarboro as an example.

“For a number of years,” she said, “you couldn’t sell a house downtown. Then the revitalization effort got underway (after the town was flooded by hurricanes).

Now you can’t sell a house in the suburbs. People are reaching out for that neighborhood feeling again, and they like having things within walking distance.

“I grew up being able to walk to the store, and walk to church,” Johnston said. “People are wanting a return to that, and an historic district can help.”

“I think it would be a big boost for the City of Whiteville,” Ray said, “but only if the people want it. The property owners have to be willing to take the steps to make it happen.”