TABLE OF
CONTENTS

THE GRAPEVINE '06

IMPORTANT
INFORMATION

04/04/06
The April town council meeting opened with the Marine Corps League taking the floor to announce thank the town for its support during its 2005 Toys for Tots program. According to club officials, Valdese citizens contributed about 600 toys last year. Countywide, 2,400 toys and $2,450 were collected. Collection bins were placed at the Old Rock School, the Community Center, Myra's, AutoZone, and Valdese Elementary School. The MCL is working on an agreement with auto dealers in the county whereby each time the dealership sells a new car, it donates a bicycle that goes to a deserving child.

The Girl Scouts are nearing completion of their nature trail at McGalliard Falls Park. There is a groundbreaking ceremony set for 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 22nd. The trail is about 1/4 mile in length and winds through the woods on the Church Street side of the park.

Arbor Day is April 26th and the Valdese Elementary School will have a program/ceremony on the football field behind the Old Rock School at 1:00 p.m.

As mentioned before, the closings of Carolina Mills and Houston Hosiery will create a financial strain on the town's utility system. While the lost revenue, approximately $700,000 per year, will not affect the town's regular budget, it will be necessary to shift the burden of the financial shortfall onto the remaining customers. With the changes, the citizens of Valdese will see their monthly bill rise by $5/month and contract customers, such as Triple Community Water will see their bills rise $4/month. Note that the contract customer increase only applies to those customers whose water comes from Valdese. Town Manager, Jeff Morse, notes that the town's average water/sewer bill will still be far below the statewide average of $60/month. The new rates go into effect on the May 1st bill.

Another price increase will also go into effect as the fee for closing a street will rise from $300 to $900. The rise is a direct result of the higher costs associated with closing streets today versus when the $300 rate was set. The recent closing of part of Club Circle made the increased expenses apparent.

Those still in mourning the loss of a full-service gas station in Valdese will soon be able to smile again, as they will once again be able to pull in and say, "fill-er up!" Not coincidentally, the new station will be in the same location as the old one was, diagonally, across the street from McDonald's. A new coffee shop, Main Street Expresso, is now open and will have its grand opening on Wednesday, April 5th, at 3:00 p.m. The new restaurant, adjacent to Village Park, will open in the next few weeks.

The old high school building remains an item of interest and the Trail of Faith has informed the town that it has plans to make some cosmetic improvements to the building, including replacing the gutters and doing some landscaping. They are also exploring options regarding the windows. Currently, the Trail cannot afford to replace all the windows, but they are evaluating options using alternative materials that would meet the town's safety requirements without being as expensive as glass.

On a similar note, Western Piedmont Community College has approached the town about leasing the former band/industrial arts building located between the old high school and the football field.

The third annual Valdese Triathlon is this Saturday, beginning at 9:00 a.m. at the Valdese Community Center. So far, over 230 participants have registered and Jeff Morse expects another 100 to register on race day. The new date is expected to be the official date of the event from this year forward.

Mark your calendars for May 6th as the Relay for Life returns to the football field behind the Old Rock School. The survivor's reception will be held from 5:00 until 5:45 p.m. and at 6:00 p.m. walkers will begin circling the track.

Looking for something to do this weekend? Why not check out Old Colony Players' presentation of Harvey. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 3:00 p.m. on Sunday.

03/21/06
The first day of spring brought snow and sleet to Valdese. While not enough to cause problems, it did lead to the schools dismissing a little early.

At their Monday meeting, the Burke County Board of Education decided to name the new high school off Lovelady Road, Jimmy C. Draughn High School. Mr. Draughn was mayor of Valdese from 1983 until his death in May of 1999.

I have been reminded about this and still keep forgetting to mention it, but the February issue of Our State magazine featured an article on Valdese--albeit an incomplete article. For some reason, the author totally ignored the Waldensian Museum, not even mentioning that it was undergoing repairs and would reopen later this year. There was thorough coverage of the Trail of Faith, Waldensian Heritage Wines, and other local attractions.

If you are interested in art, please consider attending a lecture by Betty Garrou on Religious Art Through The Ages. It takes place this Thursday at 6:00 p.m. in Gallery II of the Old Rock School. Admission is free. Call 879-2129 for more details. Jackie Deaton will speak the following Thursday on the same topic.

Belated congratulations to Valdese Elementary School. On March 2nd, the school was recognized as the second place recipient of the North Carolina Exemplary Reading Award given by the North Carolina Reading Association. Valdese Elementary has focused on the work of Dr. Jim Trelease and Dr. Lester Laminack through whole school staff development on reading and has focused on Trelease and Laminack’s concept of reading aloud to children several times each day for the entire school year.

Speaking of the Elementary School, did you realize how many ways there are you can help the school raise funds with little effort and no money out of your pocket? Many area businesses allow you to link your savings card or credit card to a school of your choice. For every dollar you spend, a small amount is donated to the school. Most grocery stores and some retailers participate. You can also save box tops off of General Mills products and Campbell's soup labels. Click here for more details.

03/04/06
The Civil War Reenactment was held this past Saturday and attracted an estimated crowd of three to four hundred. About forty volunteers donned the uniforms worn nearly 1 1/2 centuries ago and gave visitors a feel for what life was like for soldiers serving at the time. The five-hour reenactment focused on recreating a winter encampment and included a battle at 2:00 p.m. For more details, visit: www.downtownvaldese.com.

In the past few weeks, two textile mills have announced that they are closing. First it was Houston Hosiery, which employed about fifty-five people and just this week, Carolina Mills announced it was ceasing operations, effective April 30th. The company is also closing its Newton plant at the end of May. Together, the two Carolina Mills plants employ about 223 people. Not only is this a loss of jobs for Valdese, but also a major hit on its water usage. I've mentioned before how our water and sewer rates have largely been subsidized by the textile mills who use such large quantities of water that the town can afford to keep prices for citizens to a minimum. Given that Carolina Mills paid about $50,000 a month for water and sewer, that's equivalent to an extra 2,000 citizens, assuming an average bill of $25. This lost revenue will have to be made up for by increased rates for individuals. Just how much of an increase will be necessary is not yet known but will likely be discussed at Monday's council meeting.

Hospice of Burke County will be having a golf tournament this Spring to both raise awareness and as a fund-raiser. This announcement is a bit self-serving for me since I am going to be helping head it up, but anyone familiar with the organization knows its value to our community and our county. Anyone willing to be a sponsor, donate prizes, give time, or just offer some advice is welcome to contact me at rostan@valdese.com.

One item on the Monday council meeting's agenda that concerned me was the "Authorization to utilize the Wastewater Treatment Plant Road by Burke County Schools." I was unable to reach anyone who could explain just what the school would be using the road for but I certainly hope it will not be a primary means of access to the planned high school. I know of a number of people who walk and bike down there throughout the day but there are a number of people there in the early morning and to have high school students racing down that road when its half-dark does would not be a wise decision by the town or the school system. Hopefully the road is simply going to be for emergency or special event access such as football games. I'll include an answer to this question in next week's post, following the council meeting.

02/10/06
The Battle of the Bands, held earlier this month at the Old Rock School was deemed a success, at least in terms of turnout. 362 area youth attended to watch six bands battle for the prize of $362 ($1/ticket.) In the end, it was Pax Imperia who came out on top. After deducting for advertising and other expenses, the Youth Council ended up with a profit of $266. They are considering holding the event twice yearly with the next one coming on Saturday, June 17th. It likely will be held at an outdoor location, though noise issues may prevent that from happening. The Council took an informal survey of those who attended and found that the two things most wanted in Valdese were a skate park and a coffee/waffle house.

The town is adopting a modified ordinance that addresses the demolition of abandoned structures. The new ordinance was patterned after similar models in other communities in North Carolina. Notably, it establishes the position of code-enforcement officer who will inspect properties and determine what needs to be done--from boarding it up, to tearing it down. The ordinance itself is too detailed to go into here, but I believe you can get a copy from Town Planner, Larry Johnson.

The Rock School Arts Foundation is branching out of the Old Rock School and into the community. A Public Arts Program has been created with a six person board of directors to spread art throughout the town--such as the mural at Village Park. To help fund the Program, the town is giving citizens the option of rounding up the payment of their water bill with the difference going to the PAP. For example, if your bill was $25.37, you would round up and pay $26. The extra $.63 would go to the program.

If you want to rent a picnic facility at one of the town's public parks, the fees will increase a bit this year. The new fees are: $30 for four hours and $10 per hour thereafter at Rotary Park, Children's Park, and McGalliard Falls (one side.) If you want to rent both sides of McGalliard Falls Park, it's $50 for four hours and $20 for each additional hour. There will also be an increase in the bowling fees to help pay for the new automatic scoring equipment the recreation department purchased from a bowling alley in Pennsylvania.

Speaking of McGalliard Falls Park, the Valdese First Baptist Church has taken on, as a community project, the replacing of the roof of the picnic shelter. The town will provide the materials and the church will provide the labor.

The town is looking to get fit, or at least a Fit Community Grant of $60,000 that can go toward expanding fitness efforts in the town over the next two years. If their application is approved, the funds would go toward educational materials, health fairs, and public awareness efforts.

Jerry Baker, of Jack B Quick and Burke Oil has made an offer on the land between the former mobile home dealership and the flea market, for $24,000. The town owns the property and must now advertise and allow ten days for upset bids before the sale can be completed.

The trailer park on Praley Street, which was originally scheduled to be used as a practice burn for the fire department has been rescheduled due to the Synthron plant explosion. Fire Chief Charlie Watts still expects the burn to take place before the end of the month. 

01/09/06
The first Town Council meeting of 2006 was mostly routine, especially when compared to December's meeting.

The American Legion made a brief appearance to promote its Memorial Day celebration and encourage the town to become a part of the event. According to a spokesman for the Legion, for the last two years the Valdese chapter has had a better attendance than the Morganton/Burke County chapter. The events begin at 9:00 a.m. with a social hour that includes refreshments. At 10:00 a.m. the official program begins and lasts about thirty to thirty-five minutes. More details will be made available as Memorial Day gets closer.

The restaurant planned for the old NAPA/Flowers building will be called the Dew Drop In Cafe & Catering, which sounds familiar, as if it were in a movie or a country/western song. Anyway, the restaurant is scheduled to open in mid-February. The town will be expanding the parking lot, most likely on the eastern side of the property, adjacent to the Laundromat. A full story can be found in the archives of the Morganton News Herald.

An offer has been made to the town for the purchase of the Waters Trailer Park land on Praley Street. After the offer was received, other parties showed interest so the property may go up for bid in the near future. The lot has not yet been cleared of the trailers. Town Manager Jeff Morse noted that the other trailer park on Highway 70 has been cleaned off and is ready for sale.

The police department electrified the crowd. Nearly literally, as Chief John Suttle requested authorization to allow officers to carry Tasers. The Chief had one on hand and offered to demonstrate its use, but no volunteers stepped forward. The police department would use these only in cases of subduing out-of-control offenders and they would not replace the officers' guns. Any officer who carries a Taser must complete a training course and be shocked with the Taser so that he or she respects the weapon and uses it only when necessary.

Anyone wondering why their debris from the ice storm has not been picked up should know that the brush truck had its transmission fail recently and is currently out of commission. Steve Morrow, Director of Public Works, said that anyone who has limbs and branches that need to be picked up should call Public Works and make a request as the department no longer drives around looking for yard waste.

Finally, outside of the council meeting, Valdese resident and attorney Hugh Blackwell announced his intention of running for Walter Church's House of Representatives office in the next election.