Next Level Hoops Camp

When: June 24-26. Third graders through sixth graders – 9 a.m. until noon, seventh graders through 10^th graders – 1 p.m. until 4 p.m.

Where: Ashe County High School

Cost: $50

Diamond Stars Softball Camp

When: June 24-26, 9 a.m. until noon

Where: Ashe County High School

Cost: $40

Rising third graders through rising ninth graders are eligible to participate.

Diamond Stars Baseball Camp

When: June 25-27, 8:30 a.m. until 11:30 a.m.

Where: Ashe County High School

Cost: $50

Rising third graders through rising ninth graders are eligible to participate.

Coach Wray’s Soccer Camp

When: July 10-12

Where: Family Central

Cost: $50 for one child, $80 for two children, $70 for three children. MUST REGISTER by July 6. Registration forms can be picked up at Magic Video, Family Central, Good Ole Days and Candyshack.

Queens of the Court Volleyball Camp

When: July 10-12. Fourth graders through sixth graders – 8 a.m. until 11 a.m. Seventh graders through 10^th graders – 12 p.m. until 3 p.m.

Where: Ashe County High School

Cost: $60

James Howell | Jefferson Post

The Ashe County Board of Commissioners listened to Ashe County Manager Dr. Pat Mitchell as she commented during the budget meeting. The board includes (from left to right) Commissioners Gary Roark, William Sands, Larry Rhodes, Gerald Price and Judy Porter Poe.

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The Ashe County Board of Commissioners voted and approved the 2013-2014 budget during a meeting Tuesday.

The budget was approved in a 3-2 vote, with commissioners Gary Roark and Gerald Price casting the dissenting votes, primarily because the board went into the county’s fund balance to pay for some of the budgeted services.

“It’s rough to work through this budget each year, especially as our revenue has decreased,” said Commissioner William Sands. “We did go into our fund balance, but I feel that we have an obligation to continue with the progress our county has made.”

“We’re a very progressive county, due to the efforts of many people,” said Sands. He listed improvements in the county court system and law enforcement.

“In the mean time, the cost to operate this county has gone up considerably,” said Sands. Employee insurance alone has increased overall costs by $200,000 since Sands joined the board.

“It takes money to keep that going,” said Sands.

Commissioner Judy Porter Poe agreed with Sands.

“We have expensive increasing and revenues are all decreasing, but we have to fund these services for our citizens,” said Poe. “I don’t like taking out of the fund balance, but someday we will have to increase the property tax; I realize that.”

However, dipping into the fund balance and increasing taxes in the future where two ideas opposed by Roark and Price.

After the meeting, Roark said the board place too much emphasis on spending in this budget, and moved through the process to quickly to consider cutting spending for any programs. This year’s budget was completed in 11 hours, a much shorter time frame than usual.

“They didn’t try to cut anything,” said Roark. “Dr. Mitchell (Pat Mitchell, Ashe County’s manager) advised against spending into the fund balance, and we did it anyway.”

Price voiced his primary concern during the meeting.

“I have a fear and foresee a very substantial tax increase for the people of Ashe County in the very near future, so we’ll let the record speak for itself,” said Price.

Even though Tuesday’s meeting was scheduled to be a public hearing, no member of the public stepped up to the podium during public comment to voice budgetary concerns.

The adopted budget maintained the ad valorem tax rate of $.40 cents per $100 of real property value.

The budget also set the following fire tax rates: Creston’s fire tax rate was set at .06 cents, Fleetwood’s fire tax rate at .04 cents, Glendale Springs’ fire tax rate at .03 cents, Lansing’s fire tax rate at .026 cents, Warrensville’s fire tax rate at .048 cents, Jefferson’s fire tax rate at .029 cents, New River’s fire tax rate at .04 cents, West Jefferson’s fire tax rate at .017 cents, Laural Springs’ fire tax rate at .04 cents, Pond Mountain’s fire tax rate at .08 cents, Todd’s fire tax rate at .07 cents, and Deep Gap’s fire tax rate at .04 cents.

Also, the board established solid waste disposal fees, which included household fees of $130, commercial fees of $62, industrial fees of $52, and land clearing inert debris fees of $42.

Once the budget was adopted, Board Chair Larry Rhodes thanked Mitchell and Sandra Long, the county’s finance officer for their work on this year’s budget.

“I would like to thank Dr. Mitchell and Sandy for all the hard work you did, which made our jobs easier,” said Rhodes.

Other business:

• In a 5-0 vote, the Ashe County BOC approved the Home and Community Care Block Grant budget presented by Patricia Calloway and Mary Owen from Ashe Services for Aging.

• The board approved Long’s request for 2012-13 budget amendments in a 5-0 vote.

• In a 5-0 vote, Chris Robinson and Carolyn Shepherd were reappointed to the Economic Development Commission in the first presentation.

• The solid waste franchise renewal for the Garbage Disposal Service (GDS) was approved in a 5-0 vote.

• The board approved amendments to building inspection permit fees and to building inspection advisory board bylaws in a 5-0 vote.

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For more than 29 years, Bob Light guided young men through the intricacies of collegiate basketball and tennis as well as the path to adulthood. Now, friends and former basketball players are honoring the retired Appalachian State University coach with a scholarship in his name – the Coach Bob Light Endowment for Basketball Scholarships.

More than $15,000 has been pledged toward the $25,000 scholarship endowment.

Light was the men’s basketball head coach at Appalachian from 1957-72. He compiled an overall record of 212-179, including a 94-85 mark in conference play. He led the Mountaineers to the 1967 Conference Carolinas Tournament title and district playoff appearance.

Alumni Tony Gray of Boone, Wayne Duncan of Raleigh and John Dobbs of Gastonia are among the basketball players who benefited from Light’s guidance on and off the court. They are helping honor their former coach by contributing to the endowment.

“Coach Light had a profound impact on my life,” said Gray, who grew up in Maryland. “I was probably destined to go directly from high school to working in the steel mill as many of my classmates did.” Instead, Gray enrolled at Appalachian and was a member of the men’s basketball team from 1962-66.

“He taught me the value of hard work, and his style of coaching emphasized patience, teamwork, discipline, leadership, respect, integrity, trust, character and the importance of a good education,” Gray said of Light’s influence.

Gray went on to become Light’s first full-time assistant coach, a position he held for five years. Gray later directed Appalachian’s Office of Conferences and Institutes, now the Office of Conference and Camp Services, until his retirement in 2002.

“I am forever grateful to Coach Light for giving me the opportunity to play basketball for him and the many lessons he taught me that led to a better life,” Gray said.

Duncan is chairman of Appalachian’s Foundation Board of Directors, former chairman of the Board of Trustees and is a charter member of ASU athletic hall of fame, to which he was inducted in 1975. He said Light’s example led to his and other players’ success on and off the basketball court.

“I feel very fortunate to have graduated from ASU and to have received a strong liberal arts education. This happened due to Coach Light’s leadership and setting an example to make us successful on and off the basketball court,” Duncan said.

Duncan said that during his time as a student-athlete at Appalachian from 1962-65, 99 percent of his teammates graduated in four years without attending summer school. Duncan said he and others are repaying Light’s belief in their abilities as student-athletes by helping other basketball players attend Appalachian, as well as in the example the basketball alumni set for others.

“His players have given back by being involved in their communities in addition to being successful in their chosen profession,” Duncan said.

Light’s influence extended to players’ families as well.

“My life has been wonderful because of Coach Light and Appalachian State,” said John Dobbs, who graduated in 1965 and received a full basketball scholarship to attend Appalachian. “Since I was brought up by a single mom, I was influenced by several men in my life. I saw how Coach Light treated his wife and their children. He always called his wife ‘Sweets’ when he addressed her. I have called my wife, Gayle, ‘Sweetie’ for as long as I can remember.”

After graduating from what was Appalachian State Teachers College, Dobbs embarked on a 30-year career with Speidel. After leaving the company as director of national accounts, he spent five years teaching math in Gastonia. “Being a teacher was much harder than selling Speidel products,” he said.

During his tenure as head basketball coach, Light led the squad to four district playoffs (1960, ’61, ’67 and ’70).

He ranks first in Appalachian history in career wins (212) and conference victories (94) and posted winning records in 10 of his 15 seasons at the helm. His best season came during the 1966-67 campaign, when his squad posted a 21-8 record en route to the league championship.

Light is a two-time Carolinas Conference and NAIA District Coach of the Year honoree. He mentored eight all-conference and five all-district players in his tenure.

After stepping down as head basketball coach in 1971, Light served as the Mountaineers’ head men’s tennis coach from 1974-88. He was inducted into Appalachian’s Athletics Hall of Fame in 1991 for his accomplishments as both the men’s basketball head coach and head tennis coach.

To contribute to the endowment fund, send a check payable to Appalachian State University Foundation Inc. indicated for the benefit of the Coach Bob Light Endowment for Basketball Scholarships. Checks can be mailed to ASU Foundation, Box 32156, Boone, N.C. 28608-2156.