THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 24, 1996 TAG: 9603240048
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HERTFORD LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
New financial problems at the Albemarle Commission have storm flags flapping for the 68-member board of directors, and an April meeting is planned to examine the agency's operation.
The Albemarle Commission is a Hertford-based panel that performs civic services for local, state and federal governments. It is supported in part by 24 cities and counties in northeastern North Carolina, but has had a history of outlays exceeding income.
Three years ago Hal Walker, the present director of the Albemarle Commission, replaced a previous director in the midst of an earlier money crisis.
In recent weeks, Walker has notified some of the local beneficiaries of his commission that their programs and financial aid would be reduced from previously promised allocations to make up a shortfall of more than $200,000.
One of the first Albemarle Commission clients affected is likely to be the Dismal Swamp Canal Welcome Center on Route 17 near the Virginia state line. The welcome center, which serves both boaters and motorists, is supposed to get at least $75,000 a year from the commission.
Penny Leary, the director of the welcome center, said last week she had been notified some of the $75,000 appropriated for the welcome center by the General Assembly, would be held back to cover ``indirect'' expenses incurred by the Albemarle Commission. She says that none of the $75,000 should be used to help prop up the commission's sagging finances.
Leary is paid $21,340 a year as the welcome center director to make sure North Carolina smiles brightly when visitors arrive. She has two paid assistants and is responsible for the upkeep of the center.
Walker, the Albemarle Commission director, said part of his anticipated cash flow had been reduced by retrenchment programs.
``Some of our federal grants are being cut back as much as 18 percent,'' Walker said. ``And we have to absorb that somehow.''
Several Albemarle Commission members said they would suggest to the full directors' board in April that the welcome center operation be turned over to the Northeast North Carolina Economic Development Commission.
The suggestion brought quick approval from state Sen. Marc Basnight, D-Dare, the president pro-tem of the state Senate.
``It would seem to be better - and more appropriate - if the Dismal Swamp Canal Welcome Center was managed by our growing Northeast N.C. Economic Development Commission,'' he said.
``The northeast agency has a tourist division where the welcome center seems to belong,'' he added.
The economic development panel also has more than $1.8 million in unspent funds earmarked for pump-priming in northeastern North Carolina, a financial report revealed last week.
The chairman of the panel, Jimmy Dixon, believes funding for the welcome center should be increased.
Dixon, also a Pasquotank County Commissioner, is expected to confer with Basnight about the transfer.
``The Welcome Center is an asset to our area and I would recommend raising the center's budget to $100,000,'' Dixon said.
Basnight got his political start nearly 20 years ago as a member of the state Board of Transportation during the first and second terms of Gov. James B. Hunt Jr.
One of Basnight's early enthusiasms became the Dismal Swamp Canal Welcome Center.
Later, several northeastern legislators made sure the welcome center received an operational stipend from the state.
``Years ago I introduced the first bill that provided $75,000 a year for the welcome center,'' said former state Rep. Vernon G. James, D-Pasquotank.
``We found we had to have an official agency to handle the money and the Albemarle Commission was a convenient place for that,'' he said .
James attended the Thursday meeting where Albemarle Commission Director Walker related the news that reduced cash flow would make it hard for the agency to meet its obligations in full.
Another Albemarle political leader who spoke up for fully funding the welcome center was Zee B. Lamb, chairman of the Pasquotank County Board of Commissioners and an Albemarle Commission advisor for many years.
``I don't think it would be proper for commission officials to withhold any of the funds appropriated specifically for the welcome center,'' Lamb said. by CNB