CHOWAN HERALD
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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2019
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COMMUNITY
Faircloth: Public input needed for school issuv
Timeline among topics
at commission meeting
BY MILES LAYTON
Staff writer
Chowan County Comis
sion’s meeting agenda con
tained a long laundry list of
items Monday.
Commissioners received
an update from the joint
school replacement com
mittee, discussed cost-of
-living raises sought by the
sheriffs office and initiated
plans to finance the reno
vation of the former D.F.
Walker School for use by
the Boys and Girls Club of
the Albemarle. Water infra
structure projects and an
important draft of a water
discharge permit also was
included within the
agenda. And the county
commissioners learned the
difference between
seasonal labor and “unau
thorized” population as
these terms relate to the
2020 census.
A more extensive ver
sion of this story appears
on the Daily Advance’s
webpage. A link to that ar
ticle appears on the
Chowan Herald’s Face-
book page.
Commissioners pro
vided an update about
deadlines and planning
associated with the possi
bility of building a new
high school. See a related
story about the joint com
mittee on page Al and read
an editorial board opinion
about the topic on page A4.
The first public input
session on site selection
for the new high school
will be held at 6 p.m. Sept.
17 at the current high
school, John A. Holmes.
The second will be held at
6 p.m. Sept. 19 at the
Northern Chowan Recre
ation Center. More meet
ings may be held as the
process moves along.
“Public has got to be in
volved in this,” Commis
sioner Don Faircloth said.
“All in all, it’s the public
dollars that are paying for
this. This is something they
have to buy into, under
stand the importance and
ultimately, they have to
know what they are get
ting. We have to listen to
what the public wants. We
want everyone in Chowan
County to be a part of this.”
Commissioner Larry
McLaughlin will spearhead
an effort to generate an on-
line survey for data and
comments that can be
used to facilitate decision-
making.
See INPUT, A3
Putting it Together
John A. Holmes Band Director Lynn Dale (left) works with the band Aug. 1 in front of the Boy Scout hut along
North Broad Street. The band is getting ready for the fall sports season, when it will play during half-time at
home football games.
Timeline set
for school plans
Murphy campaigns in Edenton
3rd Congressional
District election Sept. 10
BY MILES LAYTON
Staff writer
Republican congres
sional candidate Greg Mur
phy stopped by Edenton
Coffee House recently to
talk with supporters and
remind folks that an elec
tion is around the corner.
A special election will
occur Sept. 10 for North
Carolina’s 3rd Congres
sional District. The dis
trict’s former incumbent,
Republican Walter Jones,
died Feb. 10.
Murphy will face Demo
crat Allen Thomas and Lib
ertarian Tim Hanis in the
September election.
Murphy met Wednesday
with leading Republican
See MURPHY, A5
MILES LAYTON /CHOWAN HERALD
Republican congressional candidate Greg Murphy (center) talks with party
leaders from Chowan County about the upcoming election Sept. 10.
Public hearings on future
high school site Sept. 17,19
BY MILES LAYTON
Staff writer
Chowan County resi
dents will have at least two
opportunities next month
to weigh in on whether
they’d like to see the
county’s current high
school renovated or a new
high school built. If they fa
vor a new school, citizens
can also recommend
where they’d like to see it
built.
The first public input
session on site selection
for the new high school
will be held at 6 p.m. Sept.
17 at the current high
school, John A. Holmes.
The second will be held at
6 p.m. Sept. 19 at the
Northern Chowan Recre
ation Center.
Both Chowan commis
sioners and members of
the Edenton-Chowan
Board of Education say the
meetings are important to
learning more about what
the public wants before
moving forward.
For months, a joint com
mittee of school board
members and county com
missioners have met, lis
tened to experts and
discussed the high school
project. Progress has been
slow because of the enor
mity of the decision and
because funding sources
for the project remain un
clear.
The project is estimated
to cost between $35 mil
lion and $44 million — an
amount that may be
funded from a combina
tion of sources, including
proceeds from a bond ref
erendum. Because current
estimated costs are more
than a few years old, ex
perts who have spoken to
the joint committee con
tend that future construc
tion costs may change.
Last week, both boards
set deadlines for formulat
ing plans for the new high
school.
Depending on what pub
lic input is received, the
joint committee has set a
deadline of Oct. 29 to con
sider site selection recom
mendations. A few days
later, on Oct. 31, the boards
will hire a bond counsel, a
financial adviser and a con
struction management
firm at a cost expected to
exceed $20,000.
Then during the first
week in November, the
See SCHOOL, A2
PROPOSED TIMELINE
This is the proposed timeline, so far, for the high school construction.
It was approved by the join committee of the Chowan County Com
missioner and Edenton-Chowan School system. The timeline is sub-,
ject to change.
♦ Sept. 17 - Public meeting will be held about possible site selection
at John A. Holmes High School.
* Sept. 19 - Public meeting about possible site selection will be
held at the Northern Chowan Recreation Center.
* Oct. 29 - Joint Committee votes on site selection
* Oct. 31 - Bond counsel, financial adviser and construction man
agement firm to be hired. Initial cost expected to exceed $20,000.
* First week in November - County Commission and school board
will formally approve the site recommendation.
Jacob Neer, 18, active in politics
Meet Your
NeIGHBOR
BY MILES LAYTON
Staff writer
Defying labels and chal
lenging accepted political
narratives, Jacob Neer is
breaking the mold as a
black conservative.
Neer, 18, who grew up in
Edenton, said he has
worked on several political
'8907 6"4 4813'
Vol. 84, No. 31
6
campaigns for conserva
tive candidates. Soon after
Neer graduated in June,
this Eagle Scout was in
vited to the White House to
speak with Vice President
Mike Pence.
This past summer, Neer
was elected president in
week-long mock election
at a leadership camp in
Washington, DC, called
iGovern East and he has in
terned with Gov. Roy
Cooper’s office.
Recently, Neer was hired
See NEER, A2
0
©2019 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
as director of community
engagement for the Black
Conservative Movement, a
non-profit that has a social
media following of nearly
200,000.
EDITOR’S NOTE
“Meet Your Neighbor" is an occasional series about folks in Chowan
County. Our intent with these articles is not only to introduce, maybe
reintroduce, such people to the community, but to explore the mys
tery as to why our neck of the woods is fortunate enough to attract
such folks. That's a strong dynamic that doesn’t happen every day in
many places. This week, we feature Jacob Neer, an 18-year-old who is
involved in conservative politics. For an extended version of the story,
see the Daily Advance’s website.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Up and coming politico Jacob Neer (right) of Edenton
meets with Vice President Mike Pence during recent
foray onto Capitol Hill.