LAURINBURG — Scotland County had a busy and eventful year. Below is a list the staff at the Exchange put together of the year’s top 10 stories. Readers should note that we did not put the stories in any particular order, because we felt it was best to leave it up to you decide what the biggest story of 2016 was for Scotland County.

Construction of City Hall

After years of talks about the need for a new City Hall, the Laurinburg City Council voted in November to move to the second phase of a multi-million dollar project — despite outcries from some resident and Mayor Matthew Block.

The new facility will house all city departments is expected to be about 21,675 square feet and cost an estimated $7.5 million to construct. Designs, furnishings and equipment would increase cost.

“Debt is easy to get into. Lenders make it easy but getting out of debt is difficult,” said one resident. “We don’t want our children and grandchildren under financial bondage for a building we don’t need.”

Despite concerns from some about the costs of the building, Council determined it would be more cost effective to construct a new City Hall versus trying to renovate city’s current office city or restore one of the vacant buildings downtown.

The next step is for the city to submit plans to the Local Government Commission that will determine if Laurinburg can afford to take on the project. The commission does this by looking at two categories, fiscal management and debt management with a total of 16 factors.

Block vs. City Council

Building a new City Hall pitted Mayor Matthew Block and the Laurinburg City Council against one another. But the relationship has been adversarial ever since Block began his campaign for mayor in which he ran against incumbent Mayor Tommy Parker but also those on council for failing to lower utility rates, build a recreation center and for wanting to build a new City Hall.

That relationship only grew chillier with Block often criticizing his fellow council members in his bi-weekly column in The Laurinburg Exchange and on social media. Block said it is not his job to get along to go along and will continue to advocate for Laurinburg residents against an unresponsive council.

Council member J.D. Willis, Mary Jo Adams and Dee Hammond have taken time during meetings to chastise Block for his the tone of newspaper column. They have also questioned his grasp of facts and his understanding of the role of mayor. Privately, his fellow board members suggest that the mayor is more concerned with grandstanding that getting things accomplished.

Hurricane Matthew

In terms of weather events, Hurricane Matthew blew the rest away.

The Oct. 8 storm which was supposed to arrive as not much more than a stiff breeze and a rainy day, devastated much of the state with neighboring Robeson County particularly hard hit as the Lumber River swelled to record levels, swamping much of Lumberton, and causing damage throughout the county.

The storm also left thousands of people in Scotland County without power for almost a week following the storm.

Gov. Pat McCrory asked the state to approve $200 million to help with short-term and long-term recovery from the hurricane and wildfires earlier this month. McCrory said the immediate priority is housing for people who aren’t covered by federal assistance and who need help paying rent. He also wants grant money to build rental units in flood-affected areas and funds for local governments, business recovery and long-range planning.

Downtown Revitalization

While building a new City Hall has been a sore spot, the resurgence of the downtown area has been a welcome sight. Representatives from the N.C. Main Street Center came to Laurinburg in January to help officials determine the best course of action for revitalizing the city’s downtown area.

In June, the Laurinburg Art Garden officially opened. The garden, at the corner of Main and Church streets in downtown, features a looping concrete trail that wraps around and through the collection of metal sculptures. This year’s exhibition includes 16 sculptures.

A Greensboro developer purchased the Market Furniture Building and the State Bank building in November. The Market Furniture Building is expected to keep its historic look with the top floors possibly turned into upscale apartments and the bottom floor will be available as a retail space and restaurant. The State Bank will be converted into office space.

Downtown also saw two new businesses open — The Weknd Warrior Trade Company, is located at 110 East Church St., next to the Art Garden; and Colour Me Creatif Paint Your Own Pottery Studio, sits on the corner of South Main and Church streets.

Tema Festival

Downtown Laurinburg also played host to the first ever Tema Festival. The African American Cultural Society of Scotland County created the festival in the hopes to create an American American Cultural Arts Museum in Scotland County. The name Team comes from an African city on the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic coast of Ghana.

The festival was held the first weekend in Sept. and the two-day event drew almost 5,000 people. Tema is the latest event to join a roster of local festivals from now until mid-October, including the Kuumba African-American Festival, Highland Games, John Blue House Festival and the Storytelling Festival of Carolina.

Christmas Parade

Laurinburg hit the big time in Dec. following a video from the Carlie C’s Christmas Parade went viral on social media. A video of cartoon characters from TandL-Characters got more than two million views on Facebook. A clip of the Laurinburg performance was shown on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live and rapper turned actor LL Cool J shared it on his own Facebook page. The 80-second video was posted by Laurinburg resident Mary Adams Elliott to her Facebook page.

The dancers in the costumes, according to the company’s founders Travis and Lavonda McLaughlin, are children ages 8 to 18 who provide spirited performances for a wide variety of events, including birthday parties, church celebrations, parades and graduations.

St. Andrews University

St. Andrews University was also recognized at the national level this year. The was added to the National Historic Register for its architecture and landscape in November. The designation process began six years ago with the help of St. Andrews trustees Larry Horne and Curtis Leonard (Class of 1980), shepherded the application process through the years to completion.

The university was among the earliest college campuses in the United States designed to be widely accessible to students with physical disabilities that included the strategic placement of ramps, electric doors, sidewalks and curb cuts to facilitate easy access to its buildings and grounds.

St. Andrews also celebrated its connection innovative, influential but short-lived Black Mountain College. The university hosted the Black Mountain College Festival over the course of the 2016 Fall semester. The festival paid tribute to the innovation of the arts Black Mountain College is responsible for, which continues to influence many institutions as well as artists. Black Mountain College turned the iconic 20th-century American poet, Ezra Pound’s saying, “Make it new,” into reality.

Scotland County Schools Consolidation

Schools were again a hot topic in Scotland County as the school district moved forward with the second phase of consolidation. The plan involves moving Covington Street Elementary students to Sycamore Lane for the 2017-2018 school year and adding 16 classrooms to Sycamore Lane.

First Tryon, the independent financial advisors, found that the two-phase consolidation would save the district about $2.7 million. The proposed consolidation is expected to cost about $41 million in total. The cost to purchase the land for the new school is not included in that price tag neither is additional technology for the new school and additional classrooms.

Larry Johnson, assistant superintendent of auxiliary services, presented an updated timeline on the construction during a Committee of the Whole meeting in October.

“We are looking at having everything done by Aug. 2018,” he said. “We are around the $35 million range — that’s with the new school, adding 24 classrooms at Sycamore Lane and 22 classrooms at Laurel Hill.”

Sheriff’s vote probe

Scotland County’s District Attorney closed the case on allegations of vote buying in the 2014 Scotland County Sheriff’s race in July. In a 15-page report, District Attorney Kristy Newton said that the investigation failed to produce any credible evidence that either candidate paid people for votes.

The case began when a complaint filed was with the Scotland County Board of Elections just before the polls closed on Nov. 4, 2014, alleging that Scotland County Sheriff Ralph Kersey had paid people to vote for him. Kersey, a Republican, defeated incumbent Sheriff Shep Jones, a Democrat, by 238 votes, out of 10,437 cast.

Kersey and his supporters were accused of offering cash, alcohol and food for votes.

The State Board of Elections ruled that there was not adequate evidence that enough vote-buying occurred to warrant a new election. The board also decided to forward information it gathered about the situation to law enforcement for possible prosecution. In North Carolina, vote-buying is a felony.

Gibson police force

The Scotland County Sheriff’s Office took some heat in August from the residents in Gibson Town Board meeting. Gibson, a town of about 540 people, does not have its own police department.

“The drugs are rampant,” Gibson resident Sarah Wright said during the meeting. “They are extremely bad here. Also the thefts … you can’t walk out the door without locking everything up.”

Wright said deputies have told her that the town needs its own police force. Commissioner Ken Haney said he did not think Gibson could afford pay an officer, whose the basic salary is $45,000 a year.

Chief Lloyd Goins, of the Scotland County Sheriff’s Office, addressed concerns from Gibson residents saying the sheriff’s office does have officers in the area each day during their patrols.

Deputies have also been promoting their presence through “Operation Safe Streets” an effort that includes going door-to-door to talk with residents and explain the services offered by the department.

Courtesy photo After more than a year of debate and public discussion, the Laurinburg City Council voted in November to move ahead with $7.5 million construction project for a new City Hall.
https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_City-Hall.jpgCourtesy photo After more than a year of debate and public discussion, the Laurinburg City Council voted in November to move ahead with $7.5 million construction project for a new City Hall.

File photo Tina Maynard opened Colour Me Creatif Paint Your Own Pottery Studio, one of several new efforts to help revitalize downtown Laurinburg.
https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_Tina-Maynard.jpgFile photo Tina Maynard opened Colour Me Creatif Paint Your Own Pottery Studio, one of several new efforts to help revitalize downtown Laurinburg.

File photo

Hurricane Matthew devastated a wide swath of North Carolina, with neighboring Robeson County particularly hard hit The Oct. 8 storm also left thousands in Scotland County without power for almost a week.

https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_DSC_6977.jpgFile photo

Hurricane Matthew devastated a wide swath of North Carolina, with neighboring Robeson County particularly hard hit The Oct. 8 storm also left thousands in Scotland County without power for almost a week.

File photo A video of dancing cartoon characters from the Carlie C’s Christmas Parade went viral on social media getting more than two million views and garnering a rash of news stories.
https://www.laurinburgexchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_IMG_4666.jpgFile photo A video of dancing cartoon characters from the Carlie C’s Christmas Parade went viral on social media getting more than two million views and garnering a rash of news stories.

Staff report