THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 13, 1996 TAG: 9603130512
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CURRITUCK LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
The Knotts Island Volunteer Fire Department apparently will receive county money to continue operating after an accountant gave a favorable report of a recent audit.
That should be good news to the Knotts Island Volunteer Fire Department, which reportedly has only enough funds to operate for about two weeks.
Anne Romm said Monday night she plans to issue an unqualified report for the fire department once a bank confirmation is received. That is the same rating all other Currituck County fire departments received.
That report should be ready by next Monday's Currituck County Board of Commissioners meeting, said Romm, a Moyock accountant and independent county auditor.
The station ran into financial problems after contract negotiations broke down last summer, and Currituck County officials refused to release any funds from the $79,136 approved for fire and emergency medical services on Knotts Island.
At issue was a series of county audits that Currituck County officials believed were necessary to ensure taxpayer funds were being used properly. The money - which is 80 to 85 percent of the station's annual operating budget - comes from a tax Knotts Island property owners pay for fire protection.
Since 1993, the private fire department had failed to furnish all the information needed for Romm to conduct an audit, county officials said.
Romm said earlier that she needed certain documents, including bank statements, to ensure funds were not being commingled - a common mistake for departments to make initially.
After a meeting with commissioners last month, the fire department, through an attorney, agreed to release all information Romm needed for the 1993 audit.
The firefighters also asked to have another audit conducted, at the station's expense, by someone not related to the county staff. Romm is the wife of William R. Romm, the county attorney.
The fire station also designated Martha Burns as the member to assist the auditor. During past visits, authorized personnel were available to provide information.
``Because of the help and cooperation of Mrs. Martha Burns prior to my visit there, the documents that I needed to see were there and in order and made available to me,'' Romm said, reading from a letter to commissioners.
``The members of the fire department seemed to have a better understanding of audit requirements and were very pleasant and cooperative,'' she continued.
At Monday's Board of Commissioners meeting, a member of the fire department's board of directors said the station was ``not putting anything over on the county.''
``We weren't trying to hide anything from the community, be dishonest or anything else,'' said Bruce Rentrop.
Also Monday, the county attorney gave an update on collections for delinquent taxpayers in the county.
``For a majority of individuals, the board has agreed to payment schedules. These payment schedules have been met,'' Romm said.
Among the exceptions: the developer of The Village at Ocean Hill, which has paid about $26,000 on a $347,000 outstanding tax bill.
The county has started a title-search process that could lead to a public auction of affected lots in the oceanfront community owned by developer Ocean Hill Properties Inc. of Kitty Hawk.
In other action at Monday's meeting, commissioners unanimously:
Approved a new water attraction in Corolla that allows patrons to sling water balloons at each other, to be located behind the TimBuck II shopping area and a go-kart track. Several business and property owners in the area opposed the attraction, believing it would only aggravate an already existing problem with water balloons damaging private property. Proponents, including TimBuck II developer Buck Thornton, argued that it would give families another recreational option while vacationing in Corolla.
Approved establishing vested rights for subdivisions at the preliminary plat stage of a development, rather than the initial sketch plan phase. This will require developers to provide more detailed engineering plans and site testing before vested rights are given.
Approved skirting on all single-wide and double-wide mobile homes brought into mobile home parks, mobile home subdivisions and individual lots after March 11.
Adopted the concept for The Surfrider Foundation's Adopt-A-Beach program in Corolla.
Approved a new ball field in Jarvisburg. by CNB