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Jeff Davis photos
Sprucing up . . .
The season has begun!
Time for yard work, planting, seeding, fertilizing, all
sorts of yard work. At Wren Memorial Library in Siler City
this guy got a head start on his Spring workload by
spreading out pine straw. Above, Henry Saunders, of Saunders
Nursery rakes around a tree as Jonie Goodson, left carries
the straw to be placed at the library. With temperatures
this weekend in the high 70’s to almost 80 degrees, there
will be plenty of time to get out and enjoy . . . or work.
Kickbacks probed after audit
By Randall Rigsbee
A former employee of Chatham County’s Animal Control
division is being investigated by the Sheriff’s Department
for allegedly accepting kickbacks from a Georgia chemical
supply company.
The former employee – who county officials declined to name
but who is identified on copies of invoices with the
chemical company as former Animal Control supervisor Randie
Russell – allegedly accepted “gift certificates” from the
now-defunct Stone Cold Chemical Company in exchange for
purchasing the company’s products over a three-year period.
The gift certificates were valued at $350, said assistant
county manager Renee Dickson.
The former Animal Control supervisor purchased $4,244.05
worth of Stone Cold Chemical Company’s products with county
money between 2000 and 2003, according to a report by the
State Auditor’s Office. During that time, the employee
accepted $350 in gift certificates.
The chemical company was shut down in 2003 after Florida and
Georgia investigators seized the company’s documents and
computers detailing “gifts” given to government officials in
several states, including approximately 45 agencies in North
Carolina.
more- See Thursday, Mar 2
paper:
Vol 86, No. 14 |
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Siler City aims to muffle noise
By Joseph Pardington
Things just got a little tougher for the noisemakers in Siler
City. That is because the Town Board on Monday unanimously
approved a revised, stricter noise ordinance after grappling with
it for several months.
The revised ordinance aims to eliminate various forms of noise
pollution within the town limits.
In general, the ordinance targets “any loud, raucous or
disturbing” noise.
Specifically, the ordinance prohibits unreasonably loud motor
vehicles, faulty or enhanced mufflers, after-hours construction
work and unauthorized loud music that booms across the landscape.
Those violating the noise ordinance may be subject to a
misdemeanor, and a civil penalty of $100. The Town Police
Department and other employees designated by the town manager may
enforce the ordinance. “The Chief of Police may decline any
request for a permit to exceed lawful sound limits,” the permit
stated.
Larry Cheek, Siler City town board member, asked that residents
visit the Town Hall if they want to read a copy of the new
ordinance.
The focus of the ordinance appeared to be reducing the sounds
coming from motor vehicles.
more- See Thursday, Mar 9
paper:
Vol 86, No. 15
County utilities director resigns
By Randall Rigsbee
Will Baker, Chatham County’s water utilities director, resigned
late last week, becoming the third person in as many years to
leave the post.
Baker turned in his resignation to county manager Charlie Horne on
Friday.
“He, I guess, had other things he wanted to pursue,” Horne said in
an interview on Monday. “His resignation was not solicited. I
didn’t ask him to leave.”
Horne added, “I wish him the best.”
The county manager acknowledged that the water utility’s
leadership has been unstable over the past three years.
County commissioner Patrick Barnes, in a Monday interview, said
there’s little mystery what is prompting “well-qualified”
administrators to leave the post.
“There’s something wrong somewhere,” said Barnes, who also serves
on the county’s volunteer water advisory committee.
Baker, Barnes observed, “is the third in three years to leave.
We’ve had four in the past eight years. These are all
well-qualified people.”
And, Barnes said, each has cited the same reason for leaving:
conflicts with Bill Lowery, the chairman of the water advisory
board.
“He wants to run the water department,” Barnes said of Lowery. “He
wants to be the czar of the water department.”
Lowery declined to discuss the matter on Monday.
“No comment,” he said.
But the matter may be discussed when the water advisory board
meets on Thursday, March 9. That meeting will be held in the
Dunlap Classroom in the Henry Dunlap Building in Pittsboro
beginning at 7 p.m.
Meanwhile, Horne has appointed assistant utilities director Roy
Lowder, who has been with the department for approximately one
year, to serve as interim director. |
