| 112th Year, 5th Issue | Thursday, September 14, 2000 | Sparta, North Carolina |
At a regular meeting on Sept. 5, Sparta Town Council appointed a new attorney to take the position of town attorney, recently vacated by Wm. Bynum Marshall.
The new town attorney will be William A. "Bill" Graham III, who lives in the Cherry Lane community near Roaring Gap. The action came after a brief closed session.
Graham was not present at the meeting, but was later notified by letter that he had been selected for the position and accepted.
The town's former attorney, Marshall, recently sold his practice in Sparta to Vannoy and Reeves of West Jefferson. Marshall now works for Lowe's Companies Inc. in North Wilkesboro. Marshall represented the town, county and school board here, but stepped down from all three posts to accept the Lowe's job.
As of presstime Tuesday, the county was the only local entity that had not named a replacement for Marshall. Marshall had agreed to help finish up existing matters with the county, in addition to working his new job. Prior to Marshall's tenure with the town, Judge Richard Doughton was the town attorney. Doughton also represented the county, but not the school board. Doughton stopped practicing here when he was appointed as a judge.
Prior to Doughton, Worth Folger held the post.
As for Graham, who once had a practice on Main Street in Sparta, he has now taken a break from actively pursuing his career for medical reasons, according to Town Manager Tom Douglas.
Douglas said that no other attorneys were interviewed for the post and that the town did not take applications or solicit bids for the service. Graham has represented Douglas and Town Mayor John Miller in the past, the manager said.
Graham once was a law professor at Duke University as well, Douglas noted.
A retainer fee of $1,800 per year, $150 per month, will be paid to Graham for his services.
Grandview Drive
Town council discussed the projected widening of Grandview Drive at the intersection with Main Street (U.S. 21).
Until the Sparta Parkway (U.S. 21 bypass) is completed, Grandview Drive is the route that trucks take to return to U.S. 21 after utilizing the bypass.
The Department of Transportation has given Sparta a Small Urban Grant in order to finance the work, but required that the town pay for moving the utility poles back from the road.
The town manager presented council with the estimates for the work from Blue Ridge Electric. The figures that BREMCO gave Douglas priced the work of moving the poles from $28,000 up to $32,000.
"It looks to me like Blue Ridge Electric should do that free of charge," remarked council member George M. Irwin.
The money that the DOT gave Sparta is a part of the normal DOT budget that has been set aside for the project.
"We never got the money and we'll never get the money," said Douglas when asked by council member Robert Andrews what would happen to the money if council voted against the project.
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