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By Jennifer Gentile
Daily Times Leader
The controversy over the Oasis nightclub played out again before the Clay County Board of Supervisors Monday.
At the last board meeting in December, resident Paul Damratoski asked the supervisors to do something about the establishment, claiming it was a nuisance. He lives in a trailer near the Oasis, which is located on Highway 45 A just outside the city limits.
Damratoski told the supervisors he is disturbed by the noise coming from the Oasis and also claimed the club was staying open past 1 p.m. — the hour it is mandated to close.
Club owner Sylvester Harris, as well as several supporters, turned out to Monday’s meeting in support of the club, as did property owner John Bennett. Bennett penned a letter to the board, expressing “outrage and indignation” about the events of the last meeting and how they were reported in the local press.
“There was no evidence of your putting forth any effort to obtain any opposing points-of-view or opinions,” Bennett charged in the letter. “To the contrary, there was ample evidence of ‘piling on’ by at least two board members who committed themselves to assisting in the destruction of the New Oasis Club business.”
Referring to Damratoski, the letter continued, “The complaining party in this instance appears to have selectively investigated the organization and operation of the New Oasis Club to create false impressions that would gain some type of a personal advantage in an imaginary conflict.” The December presentation before the board, he claimed, was apparently made “in a libelous and slanderous manner.”
Mentioning that he knows both Damratoski and Harris well, resident Jesse Ivy said, “both of them are good people.”
However, he added, “(Damratoski) moved into a situation knowing they existed there. I don’t feel the board of supervisors has any jurisdiction over whether somebody remains at that location. I feel that’s the jurisdiction of the court.”
According to published reports, Damratoski has said he did not know the site was an active nightclub when he bought the property.
Responding to Harris and Bennett, District 2 Supervisor Luke Lummus said, “We can’t open or close any business. ... (County) Council advises if he wants further action, he needs to go through the court system.”
District 1 Supervisor Lynn Horton said he had looked into the matter and found that all of the club’s licenses were legitimate and up-to-date. He explained that he received a call from Damratoski shortly after Christmas about loud music.
“I called to the sheriff and had one of the deputies go there,” Horton said. “The deputy said there wasn’t anything going on that would be disturbing the peace.”
Attorney Lee Coleman said there is no legal way the board could pass a zoning ordinance applying to one particular business.
“We don’t decide any facts; we don’t have any jurisdiction whatsoever to decide who did what, when, where...,” Coleman added. “Again, that’s why we have the court system.”
The board had a lengthy list of business to tackle after the Oasis discussion, which included choosing a president and vice president. Horton handed over the president’s gavel to District 4 Supervisor Shelton Deanes, and District 5 Supervisor Floyd McKee was tapped to be vice president.
“I appreciate the support I got from the community,” Horton said. “It was challenging, but we made it.”
In other business, Chad Scott, a member of the Ranchers Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, asked for and received the board’s backing as he fights against a mandatory National Animal Identification System. The United States Department of Agriculture is pushing for the system, according to its Web site, to protect the health of livestock and to be able to efficiently trace an animal disease back to its source.
“I’m scared this is going to violate our fourth-amendment (constitutional) right,” Scott said. That amendment guards against unreasonable searches and seizures.
Citing one of his objections to the program, Scott said he fears “they could use it as an excuse to come on my property without a search warrant.”
According to Scott, the USDA has already spent $100 million in tax dollars on the system.
“We can’t afford any more bureaucracy,” he added. Scott noted that he had contacted several state-level representatives about the matter, and after his presentation, the Clay County Board has agreed to express its support.
The board also agreed to back Dr. Johnnie E. Rasberry, president of Southern Atlantic Corporation, as he tries to establish a national program called YouthBuild in Clay County. The program, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, is designed to help increase low- and moderate-income housing. Its other component, according to Rasberry, “is to assist young people in learning basic trade skills,” which increases the labor force.
“I think it would be a good idea for our community,” Rasberry said. The program could benefit the county, he continued, by repairing community centers, apartments, houses, health centers and local government buildings.
The program also helps students wanting to complete high school and those who want to earn their GED or learn a trade.
“Many of our young men drop out of school, many of them end up in the penal system,” Rasberry said.
Some of the ways the county can help, according to Rasberry, include financial help, building materials, tools, transportation and staff support. He added that skilled local inmates could assist with training.
The deadline for submitting a program proposal is Jan. 15.
The board also opened bids supplies as materials for 2009. The supplies and materials included everything from culverts to gravel. Bank First won a bid to be county depository for the 2009-2010 calendar year with a 2.56 percent interest rate.
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