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Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Town OKs money for station construction
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
The town council voted
unanimously Monday to ac
cept a proposal from BB&T
to finance construction of
the new police station.
Councilman Elton Bond
was absent from the coun
oil’s work session Monday
night.
The motion to approve
included a caveat, however,
that should another pro
posed lender, USDA, lower
its interest rates on April 1,
the town could elect to go
with that option.
Town Manager Anne-Ma
rie Knighton said in a March
24 memo to the council that
the town had solicited bids
from 13 banks and had re
ceived four proposals.
“It appears now that
BB&T offers the lowest one
— 2.89 percent for a 15 year
note,” she said. “USDA is
the next best option and the
USDA will be issuing a new
interest rate April 1 — the
rate may change, may de
crease or may increase. The
rate now offered is 3.125
percent. We can structure
payments for a 15-year
note.”
Knighton noted that the
town’s original financial
analysis was based on a rate
of 2.69 percent but for 20
yeans.
“Based on what w are
paying the county now for
our lease ($166,000) plus
the savings we project by
no longer paying 26 percent
of the maintenance and up
keep of the common space
(at the Public Safety Center)
— approximately $22,000
— we will have to identify
approximately $16,000 in
additional funds to make
the annual loan payment to
BB&T of $204,000. We have
identified sources of funding
See NEW STATION, 3A
Heroes coming for fishing tourney on Pembroke Creek
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
Saturday’s Top Shelf Fish
in’ Festival will offer 50
wounded warriors and
disabled veterans a first-rate
fishing experience on Pem
broke Creek.
Operation North State is
the all-volunteer statewide or
ganization that is sponsoring
the fishing tournament. Local
organizers for the event have
been American Legion Post
40 and the Pembroke Bass
Club.
l ne nost venue is Bayside
Marina & Grill.
Although all of the neces
sary volunteers are on board,
there are still three ways the
public can help out with this
weekend’s tournament.
One way is by donating
items for door prizes.
“You can’t have enough
door prizes,” said Terry Sny
der of Operation North State.
Another way to pitch in
is by preparing a covered
dish for the post-tournament
meal.
“We can always use a cov
ered dish,” Snyder said.
Snyder mentioned that one
important way people can
support the Top Shelf Fish
ing Festival is by turning out
Saturday afternoon to view
the weigh-in and cheer for the
participants.
He said he recommends
people show up around 2:15
p.m. at Bayside Marina to
watch the weigh-in.
See FISHING, 2A
STAFF PHOTO BY REGGIE PONDER
Corey Byrum, 23, of Winterville, brings in the boat Monday afternoon after a day of fishing on Pembroke Creek. Assisting him at the boat ramp at Bayside Marina is his father,
Walter Byrum. The marina will be hosting the Top Shelf Fishin’ Festival Saturday for wounded warriors and disabled veterans. Walter Byrum says he will not be participating in
Saturday’s event but is excited to hear about it because his father, Murray Byrum, who ran the Westside service station across from where the marina is located, was a veteran.
Search continues for escaped inmate Singleton
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
Tlie inmate who escaped cus
t<xly at the Chowan County Jail
Sunday remained at-large Monday
as authorities focused the search
on the escapee’s home city of
Charlotte.
Chowan County Sheriff Dwayne
Goodwin said Monday that Kelvin
Singleton, 26, Is believed to have
left Chowan County and likely
has headed for Charlotte, where
his mother, his child, and other
friends and relatives live.
“I don’t think he was here very
KELVIN SINGLETON
long after he got out," Goodwin
said. Officers set up roadblocks in
East Edenton and stopped a num
ber of vehicles, he said.
In addition, officers talked
to people in the neighborhoods
around the jail, and no informa
tion turned up from that, he said.
The community has always
been very helpful with informa
tion but in this case there were
no anonymous tips or any other
information coming in, Goodwin
said.
“There was nothing coming in,”
he said.
Singleton escaped late Sunday
afternoon after pulling an impro
vised knife on an officer, Goodwin
said.
Singleton, who was being held
at the jail on charges stemming
from a January robbery at Pearl’s
Tobacco Plus on Granville Street,
also faces charges in Mecklenburg
County, Goodwin said.
Goodwin said this was the first
time since he had been sheriff that
an inmate had pulled a weapon on
an officer.
“All of the procedures were fol
lowed,” Goodwin said.
But the sheriff said once Single
ton had been locked up again,
his office will turn its attention
towar d figuring out whether any
thing more could have been done
to prevent the escape and how to
prevent future escapes.
Right now the priority is to cap
ture Singleton and return him to
custody, Goodwin said.
Goodwin said the staff at the jail
had not previously encountered, a
situation in which an inmate wield- ^
ed a knife, and the incident will be
reviewed to determine what else if
anything could have been done to
prevent the escape.
“They are supposed to do ev
erything they can — everything
humanly possible — to prevent an
escape,” Goodwin said.
Since the knife apparently was
See ESCAPED, 3A
Council still undecided about future of ex-Commission building
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
The town council contin
ues to wrestle with the fu
ture of the former Northeast
6“"89076"44813l
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
Commission building.
At its monthly council
work session Monday night,
Administrative Committee
chair Steve Biggs noted that
despite ample discussion the
council had been unable to
reach a consensus on what
to do with the building.
Biggs then said that de
spite initially voting to sell
the building he has now had
a change of heart and thinks
“We've discussed
it to death."
Steve Biggs
Dhairman,
administrative committee
hat the town should keep
ownership.
"The long and short of it
s, I’m not satisfied with the
idea of selling the building
and I know we’re not going
to give it away,” he said, re
ferring to an idea put forth
by one of two developers
interested in purchasing the
building. “At this point I don’t
think we should sell it"
Biggs added, however,
that in the interest of some
decision being made about
the building’s future he
thought the matter should
be sent to the full council
at its next monthly meet
ing for final discussion and
hopefully a decision being
made.
“We’ve discussed it to
death,” he said.
Mayor Roland Vaughan
voiced support for the idea,
saying he would be pleased
to see the matter move out
of committee so that prog
ress could be made.
Vaughan suggested that
both prospective owners
who iiave expressed in
terest in purchasing the
property be notified of the
action. Both parties have
already told the town they
are not interested in leas
ing the building, he said,
because it would not allow
them to take advantage of
existing historic preserva
tion tax credits.
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