By Randall Rigsbee

On Monday, the Chatham County Board of Commissioners approved the county’s fiscal year 2004-05 budget.

Since county manager Charlie Horne presented his proposed budget to commissioners on April 19, the spending plan has undergone a number of changes during a series of budget work sessions conducted over the past few weeks by commissioners.

The budget, which chairman Tommy Emerson described last week as “tight,” maintains for the third year in a row the county’s tax rate of 64.64 cents per $100 of property.

Among the changes the budget has undergone is an increase in the amount of funding for both the county school system and the Sheriff’s Office, though neither received the full funding each had requested.

The approved budget allocates $17,972,623 to the county school system, which is $361,313 less than the Board of Education requested.

The Sheriff’s Office also had asked for an additional $1.5 million to meet growing needs, but receives in the approved budget an allocation of $4,568,395, approximately $240,000 more than was originally proposed.

more- See Thursday, June 24 paper: Vol 84, No. 30

By Cara Rotondaro

County Schools Superintendent Larry Mabe announced formally to the Board of Education on Monday that he will resign from his post in December.

Mabe will work on contract for the remainder of the upcoming school year, finishing in June of 2005.

In a telephone interview Tuesday morning, Mabe said that this announcement was consistent with his plans all along.

“The time has come,” he said.

This will be the superintendent’s 31^st year in the Chatham County school system.

He worked in other school systems as a teacher and assistant principal before taking the job as superintendent in Chatham County.

“When it’s all said and done I will have had 38 years of service. It’s time for me to look into a different stage of my life,” he said.

Mabe’s home is already on the market. He plans to retire to Wilmington with his wife.

But for now, he is looking to the immediate future.

“I’m real excited about this new phase of my life, but until then we’ve got a school system to run,” he said.

On the immediate agenda is the task of replacing two principals.

Moncure principal Teresa Davis is moving on to pursue a doctorate.

Mabe said that replacing Northwood Principal Mike Trifaro, who died suddenly earlier this month, will be an incredibly difficult task.

However, he is ready to undertake these jobs and his final year in the school system.

more- See Thursday, June 24 paper: Vol 84, No. 30

By Melissa Ledgerwood

The town of Siler City will provide much-needed water to the Silk Hope School, after a formal request by county manager Charlie Horne was approved by the Siler City Board of Commissioner Monday.

“One of the sites that has a current under-supply is Silk Hope School,” Horne wrote in a recent letter to town manager Joel Brower.  “The well that for many years provided ample water to the school no longer does.”

Horne said the county would be able to supply the school with water within the next two to three years after the county expands its water system.

Presently, the county is connected to the town’s water system in five different locations.

The county would connect to the town’s water system on US 64 near the Wal-Mart shopping center, Brower said.

The Silk Hope waterline project has been brought to the attention of the town on previous occasions, Brower stated, but is considered now urgent because the school’s well cannot meet demands.

more- See Thursday, June 24 paper: Vol 84, No. 30