p8/C8* ^ . r qo2 AO1-09 .....cab-pt b° -t|in.l-»M'\l,ll,"'\,U" ,,,'l"l,l »>V .,—,a— vi 1 irrARY '^WDpSuDEN LIBRARY 482-4418 ‘Mr. J’s Polar Plunge’ benefits Special Olympics - 6A Wednesday, January 7, 2014 County seeks site, cost info for substation BY REGGIE PONDER Editor The Chowan County Board of Commissioners on a split vote Monday di rected the county manager and Edenton’s fire chief to identify a potential site for a fire substation in the south ern part, of the county and to report to the board-on the cost of building a minimal standard substation. Although a first step to ward the possible construc tion of a substation, the ac tion at Monday’s meeting did not amount to a com mitment to actually building the facility. The action followed a public hearing on the pro posed substation. Commissioner Alex Ke hayes’s motion passed with Commissioner Keith Nixon and Commissioner Emmett. Winbome voting against it. Southern Chowan resi dents Tom Credle, Marvin Strzyzewski, Fred Powers and John Dunn spoke dur ing the public hearing in fa vor of the substation. Credle also asked that the committee that studied the fixe substation issue also consider the prospect of eventually going to a countywide professionally staffed fire service. Dunn said a substation could improve response time, reduce insurance pre miums for some homeown ers by hundreds of dollars a year, and improve property values in southern Chowan County. Powers said a substation could benefit a number of employers in the vicinity of the Northeastern Regional Airport. Homeowners also would benefit, he said. After the public hearing was closed, Chairman Jeff Smith asked Edenton Fire Chief Craig Forlines to clar ify the point about response time. “Response time will truly not change much,” For See SUBSTATION, 4A Harris takes oath of office at historic courthouse BY KEUulE PONDER Editor Meader Harms took the oath of offic e Friday as the 1st Judicial District's newest district judge in a special session of court at the 1767 Chowan County Court house. Judge Chris Bean admin istered the oath in his final official act as a district court judge. Harrlss was elected in November in an uncontest ed race. Bean said it was nice change of pace to have a brief and pleasant session of court . “It is very nice that we can havy a relatively short session of court and a hap py session of court,” Bean said near the conclusion erf Friday’s ceremony. About 125 people - most ly representatives of the legal and law enforcement communities from across the district and business and civic leaders from Edenton - packed into the Colonial era courtroom to witness Harriss’s oath of office. “This is a position of honor and trust and this is something that 1 do not take lightly,” Harriss told the crowd after taking the oath. Bean, citing an article written by a district court judge in one of the state’s other districts, noted the range of cases heard by a district court judge, includ ing criminal, juvenile, and ' family cases. Harriss stressed the im portance of fairness. “The bottom line is tieing fair and impartial," Harriss said during an interview fin day. “Tire law is the law. My job is to find the facts from what has been presented to me.” It is the responsibility of a judge* to apply those facts to the law without any sway from anybody else or any consideration of personal opinion, Harriss said. "1 aim to find the truth,” Harriss said “1 pray to find See HARRIS, 4A STAFF PHOTOS BV REGGIE PONDER New District Court Judge Meader Harris (above) is administered the oath of office Friday by retiring District Court Judge Chris Bean. The ceremony was held inside the 1767 Chowan County Courthouse and at Harris’ side is his wife, Jennifer. Members of the audience show their support for new District Court Judge Meader Harris after he completes his oath of office. Next move on local grocery front unclear BY REGGIE PONDER Editor A spokeswoman for Food Lion said this week that the company was unable to comment on public specula tion the grocery chain Ls try u\g to “kxk out" potential competitors from the Eden ton market. Town Manager Anne Marie Knighton mentioned the speculation in recent remarks to the Chowan Herald. “It Ls suspected, based on All Rights Reserved rumor, that Food Lion Ls tak ing stops to look out another grocer from occupying ei ther the former Farmers Food store or the grocery store currently occupied by Food lion at Eilenton Village Shopping Center," Knighton said in an email statement to the newspaper in response to a reporter’s query about challenges and opportunities for the town in 2015. But Christy Phillips Brown, a Fers of N( 'KM PA. Tills move to sell NCEM PA’s ownership interest in power plants to Duke is expected to retire a signifi cant portion of NCEMPA’s debt in effect lowering its wholesale power costs, town officials said. “Lower wholesale power costs will mean lower rates for Edenton utility custom ers," Knighton said. “The town council will consider See POWER DEAL, 4A * i