SPORTS MEMORIAL RIDE THREE RIVERS MOTORCYCLE GROUP CONFERENCE RIDES TO REMEMBER FOOTBALL FRIENDS, VETERANS uu STALLIONS 1B uu MEMORIAL RIDE 6A The News Reporter Published since 1890 every Monday and Thursday for the County of Columbus and her people. WWW.NRCOLUMBUS.COM Monday, October 3, 2016 75 CENTS Tax increase for new WHS would exceed 8 cents By Allen Turner [email protected] Columbus County Manager Bill Clark will present commis- sioners with proposals tonight (Monday) to finance $73.4 million in construction for Whiteville City Schools with a steep property tax increase, with or without a sales tax increase. The meeting gets under way at 6:30 p.m. in the courthouse annex on West Smith Street. One of Clark’s proposals calls for a quarter-cent increase in the sales tax and an increase of the ad valorem property tax rate of 8.59 cents to 89.09 cents per $100 value. His second plan would include a property tax increase of 9.42 cents without a sales tax hike, or 89.92 cents total per $100 value. That is in addition to the 2.5 cents ad valorem tax increase he needed to finance proposed county school system construction totaling almost $70.5 million. Clark also said Friday morning that the 2.5 cents proposed property tax hike already presented to commissioners for coun- ty school construction would need to be increased. It was for- mulated with all of the quarter-cent sales tax increase going to the Columbus County Schools instead of being split with Whiteville City Schools. Voter approval of a sales tax increase is far from assured. Columbus County voters historically have not favored sales tax hikes, having turned down such increases three times since 2006. County commissioners have expressed a reluctance to increase property taxes, despite the two school systems having asked for more than $143 million combined for construction purposes. Superintendent Kenneth Garland and WHS Principal Jes Sealey demonstrate the lack of wheelchair access at one of the uu TAX INCREASE 6A school’s restrooms Commissioners tour WHS, Police chief takes ponder problems and solutions message to the streets in area By Allen Turner McDowell inspected the campus Thursday, and James [email protected] Prevatte and Giles “Buddy” Byrd toured the campus Friday. and During the tours, school board members and staff led com- neighborhoods By Jefferson Weaver missioners through substandard buildings, classrooms and [email protected] mobile units that are unsafe during severe weather, and into restrooms that the city has already been warned are not By Jefferson Weaver County commissioners had en eye-opening tour of compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). [email protected] Whiteville High School Thursday and Friday, as school offi- A major focus of Friday’s tour was security – or the lack cials made their pitch for a new facility. of it – at the school. Whiteville Police will have a bit more presence in area neigh- The Whiteville City School board recently announced pro- WHS Principal Jes Sealey had to have the assistance of a borhoods in the coming weeks, but they aren’t necessarily on posed plans to build a $70-plus million campus outside of the school maintenance worker to show the commissioners the patrol. city limits, and has asked the county to foot a large portion more than 300 different keys needed on campus. Police Chief Jeff Rosier kicked off his “Walks with the Chief” of the bill. Commissioners have so far refused to commit to “There’s got to be a better way to do what you need to do,” program last week in Baldwin Woods. This Wednesday, Rosier funding either a move or a new school on the city campus. said Commissioner Giles “Buddy” Byrd. and some of his staff will be out for a stroll in the northern Board members split the tour into two days to avoid hav- Sealey also explained how much of the campus is open, and section of Pinewood, starting at 6 p.m. ing a quorum present outside of an announced meeting. “It’s a way we can connect more with the citizens, and get to Commissioners Edwin Russ, Ricky Bullard and Charles uu WHS TOUR 2A know them better,” Rosier said. Rosier said residents were surprised at first to see the chief and other officers – followed by a cruiser with flashing blue lights – walking down their streets. “I had a couple people who walked with us,” he said, “and New laws keep police video from public five or six who came out to speak with us. We had some Junior Patrolman badges for the kids, and I think we had a pretty good response. We hope to see a lot more on future walks. By Allen Turner previously, there hasn’t been said he never held a gun. The to dictating a study of resolv- Rosier said that getting people to know the officers who patrol [email protected] any state law governing police portions of the video that were ing funding disputes between their neighborhoods has several advantages. videos. Officials could simply released before Saturday were school boards and county “For one, we want people to feel comfortable talking with us,” Eighteen new laws went label such a video a personnel inconclusive on that point. commissions. he said. “If they know an officer, they’re more likely to share into effect in North Carolina record and refuse to release it Other laws, which became Another law change could concerns with him. I want to see my officers out of their cars Saturday, the most publicized on those grounds. Opponents effective Saturday, cover sub- impact Columbus, and other more. You can’t really talk to an officer driving through your being one that dictates videos say the new law makes it too jects as diverse as online pri- counties, which will be un- neighborhood, but if someone sees an officer walking down the from police body cams or dash- hard for the public to access vacy to beach bingo to retired dertaking school construc- street while they’re raking the yard, they are more prone to board cams are not public re- video in controversial cases. public agency service animals tion programs in the near visit and communicate.” cord and may be viewed only In light of the Sept. 20 offi- future. Under the provisions Wednesday’s walk helped Rosier learn more about the history by people shown in the video cer-involved shooting death of Session Law 2016-116, the of the Baldwin Woods neighborhood, as well as giving him a or their representatives. Under of Keith Lamont Scott in authority of school systems snapshot of concerns in the area. the new law, such videos only Charlotte, some lawmakers regarding legal proceed- “I was glad to hear that several people were reassured after can be made public by court or- who supported the bill now say ings and investigations was we helped solve some problems there,” he said. “I heard about der if a judge decides it doesn’t it might need revision. In the modified. The legislature’s some of the prior issues they’d had, so I get a clearer idea how violate a series of tests. Scott case, police released por- Program Evaluation Division we can better serve our citizens there.” tions of a video before the new is directed to study the process It’s a reflection of the tense times, Rosier said, that some peo- Video law became effective. Police of resolving funding disputes ple went inside when they saw the police car, then came back Supporters of the change said that Scott refused to drop between local boards of edu- out afterward to see what was going on. in the police video law say a gun before he was fatally cation and boards of county “We want people to be comfortable calling us, waving us it’s an improvement because, shot by police, but his family commissioners. down, or just coming out to visit,” he said. “The only way we uu LAWS 6A uu ROSIER 4A Edgewood 4th grader Cody Rector finding WHS alumni Shaun Kirk at Saturday’s NCSU game and Volume 127, Number 26 Whiteville, North Carolina DIDYOB grabbing a quick starting lineup picture? • Krystal Hawkins uncorking her first bottle of wine as a Did You Observe? waitress at the Chef and the Frog Friday night? No one was injured. 8 95297 00000 6 2A • The News Reporter • Monday, October 3, 2016 WHS TOUR Continued from 1A during class changes, some practice.” students have to wait for a per- Sealey said that a major son inside the 1960 building to problem facing the school is open doors. ADA compliance. WHS has 75 “We have no way to unlock students who require special these doors from the outside,” needs accessibility of one kind he said. Many of the walkways or another, from wheelchairs are not covered by canopies, to classrooms for individuals and in some buildings, stu- requiring intensive individual dents must go outside to access care. a restroom. Two inspections by federal The school has several gen- ADA officials have not gone erations of buildings on the well, said Anthony Martin, Lee Street campus, ranging a former WHS official who is from the 1920s to the main now an independent consul- classroom building, construct- tant on ADA compliance. ed in 1960 and then renovated “We got lucky each time,” extensively after a fire in the he said. 1970s. Those renovations, City Superintendent Kenneth School Board Member Carlton Garland demonstrated in a Prince said, “were done as second-floor girl’s bathroom cheaply as possible.