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2 THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY, WEDNESDAY, JULY 8,2015 Chowan Board tables wind energy ordinance proposal BY REGGIE PONDER Chowan Herald , The Chowan County Soard of Commissioners voted unanimously Monday night to table a proposal to make the county’s wind en ergy ordinance substantially stricter. X'Both Chowan and Perqui mans Counties are consider- ing a project called Timber- mill, which would include turbines that are 600-feet tall to the top of the blades. Lin Bond presented the petition to the Chowan board on behalf of Citizens for Pro tective Wind Ordinance. Bond noted the Planning Board had recommended six changes to the existing wind ordinance. The petition has garnered more than 645 signatures, according to Bond. Commissioner Alex Ke- hayes briefly chaired the meeting Monday night after Lauren Womble, the county attorney, recommended that Chairman Jeff Smith not vote due to a conflict of interest. Womble said her re search, which had included consultation with the School of Government at the Uni versity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, had led her to the conclusion that Smith should not vote on legisla tive matters related to wind energy because of his own ership interest in a family corporation that has entered into negotiations with Apex Clean Energy Inc. regarding the Timbermill Wind Energy Project. Smith said he didn’t agree with the attorney’s determi nation but would abide by it. At the request of Commis sioner Emmett Winbome, Womble also reported on her research into whether Winbome would have any conflict of interest on the wind energy issue. She said she had found that Winbome does not have any conflict of interest in the matter. Smith noted he had never tried to hide his family’s ne gotiations with Apex regard ing the project. He has been upfront from the beginning, he said. Smith said he was con cerned that the area he rep resents in the northern part of the county is losing a vote in the matter because of his recusal from voting. Kehayes pointed out that Commissioner Ellis Law rence was not present at the meeting. “We do not have to take a vote on this,” Kehayes said, adding he would hate to see Lawrence’s absence affect the outcome of the vote. But Kehayes added that at some point the board should vote on the matter and stop sitting on the recommenda tions that came to the com missioners from the Plan ning Board in April. Winbome said he thought the matter should be tabled since commissioners had just seen the petition for the first time at the meeting. Womble noted that the commissioners would not be able to vote on the Plan ning Board’s recommended text amendments at Mon day’s meeting, since the text amendments would require a public hearing. What the board could con sider, she said, would be set ting a public hearing on the proposed text amendments. The board tabled the en tire consideration of the mat ter to a future meeting. During the meeting Mon day, people on both sides of the issue offered emotional pleas to the board. Liz Alons, a supporter of the proposed amendments, expressed concern about the proximity of large-scale wind turbines to people’s homes, the potential cost of decom missioning the turbines, ef fect on property values, and health effects of noise. But Gil Burroughs said it would be “kind of ridicu lous” to restrict the turbines’ sound level to 35 dBa when a radio or TV in your home would generate 70 dBa. Bill Whichard said the county needs jobs and rev enue, but 600-foot wind tur bines could do more harm than good. “Let’s not sell ourselves down the river for the mon ey,” Whichard said. OUTREACH Continued from 1 involvement will mean they can tackle larger projects, like porch repairs. Spaugh and others have to inves tigate what projects it can handle and what projects it cannot. “We’re not nearly as capa ble as the Baptist Men when it comes to construction. We’re not doing disaster re lief. We’re doing stuff that regular folks can’t or won’t do. “Somebody may say the porch needs to be redone but you get in there and the entire house needs rebuild ing. We’re not set up for that. “We’re staying away from plumbing and electrical be cause those things have to be inspected, but we can fix BANKRUPTCY a porch to be better that it was.” The combined Youth Workcamp Home Repair Ini tiative will include adult and youth volunteers from the surrounding area that will perform such work as porch repair/construction, step repair, exterior painting, in terior painting, wheelchair ramp repair and construc tion, mobile home skirting, and yard clean up. “Last year it was a labor thing. Tins year we’ll have Baptist Men involved and Forest Park and Fountain of Love Church in Elizabeth City involved,” Spaugh said. He said the group has worked with both Hertford Town Manager Brandon Shoaf and Perquimans Coun ty Manager Frank Heath. Spaugh and Phil Johnson, another “Love PQ” organiz er, went out driving around to look at potential projects last week. No new projects are being accepted, but vol unteers and donations are needed. Last year “Love PQ” drew 70 volunteers. They spent about 1,200 hours working on 22 homes. Some spent the entire week working. Some spent just one day. Some of the volunteers still had to work that week, but they pitched in one night at the Albemarle Food Bank to help sort food. “My concept — my idea — for Love PQ was to make it for more than just one week,” Spaugh said. “This year we held a five-on-five basketball tournament, a free event, as a way of lov ing on the community. That was a Love PQ event. It’s all about loving your commu nity.” “If we had the money we STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS Pastor James Spaugh of Bagley Swamp Wesleyan Church (right) and others cut down tall grass along a railroad line in Hertford last year as part of Love PQ Week. The event will be held this year starting July 27. could pay carpenters to do some work, but then the average person wouldn’t be able to love on the commu ¬ nity in a tangible way.” Anybody interested in volunteering this year, is invited to call the church at 426-2792. “We’re going to get dirty and we’re going to help some folks,” Spaugh said. STOP Foreclosure STOP Lawsuits STOP Car Repossession * STOP Tax Levies and Garnishments Call Allen C. Brown Attorney #252-752-0753 ^ A Debt Relief Agency helping people eliminate debt through bankruptcy can we talk STORAGE? Let's face it, you have things that are important to you, but you need help! BUDGET Continued from 1 Stallings in the lurch. “We’re in limbo,” he said last week. “We know what we’re getting locally but on the state level there are some big holes.” One of those deals with the fate of teacher assis tants. The Senate budget plan would cut back the number of assistants in favor of more funding for certified teachers. The Sen ate plan would cut 8,500 TA positions over two years. “The message the politi cians are sending is, ‘Y’all have a happy Fourth of July! We’re going to the beach! Maybe we’ll fire you when Call TODAY 252-482-2019 all seasons self 1212 it Oakum SI., El3 storage Edenton www.allseasonsselfstorage.us “We always welcome new patients." COMFORT • QUALITY • EXPERIENCE REGATTA Continued from 1 Ace in the Hole from Pas quotank finished second and Tuff Mary from Osprey took third. In the non-spinnaker Class B division, Barbara Jean III from Edenton fin ished first, Autumn Wmd from Osprey was second and Ember from Edenton was third. In the cruising Class C di vision, Tax$ea from Osprey was first, lolar from Eden ton was second and Carillon from Osprey finished third. Colinton is scheduled to hold an event on Sept. 26. The Pasquotank River Yacht Club will be hosting a regat ta on Oct. 3. we get back,’” said Melinda Zarate, state secretary of the North Carolina Associa tion of Teacher Assistants at a press conference in Ra leigh. Stallings said with the fu ture in question, he’s been leaving teacher assistant po sitions unfilled when some one retires. There were 20 TA’s in the local school sys tem last year and three have retired. Unlike tenured teachers who have a reasonable ex pectation that they’ll have a job, teacher assistants don’t have the job security. The school system can and has used a Reduction In Force (RIF) policy to eliminate jobs, including teachers. In 2011, 19 Perquimans em SUBMITTED PHOTO Bruce Hobson, Fred Levine, Micki Levine, members of Osprey Yacht Club boat Tax$ea, pose with Osprey commodore Buzz Savage. Tax$ea was the winner in the cruising class during a recent regatta at Albemarle Plantation. ployees were told that May not to expect to be back next school year. Teacher assistants are used almost exclusively in classrooms with younger students. A few are used with older students in spe cial needs classrooms. “We would not replace them with another full-time position,” Stallings said. “We’re trying to stay ahead of having a RIF. We try and be good stewards of the po sitions we have.” Funding for driver’s train ing is also in limbo, but Stall ings said that is less an issue because the next class isn’t scheduled until September. The school system does have some local money to make building improve ¬ ments next year, but Stall ings said the items that will take priority would be those that involve safety like light ing and sidewalk repairs. It also has federal funds available that can be used to enhance the Wi-Fi reception in schools. All the schools had Wi-Fi, but there were ar eas where the signal wasn’t strong enough. That became apparent when the school ' system rolled out a one-to- one initiative last year that put iPad computers in the hands of every child from third grade through 12th. New teachers this year are scheduled to report on Aug. 11 for three days of orientation. All teachers are scheduled to start working on Aug. 24. Modern Dentistry in a relaxed environment dental Associates 103 Mark Dr. Edenton, NC perietal and Cosmetic Zbentisty (behind Chowan Hospital) Perquimans MWeekly (USPS428-080) Vol. 83 No. 27 Published each Wednesday. A publication of Cooke Communications North Carolina, LLC Established 1934 111 W. Market St., Hertford, NC 27944 Mike Goodman Publisher Peter Williams News Editor Bev Alexander Advertising Representative Phone 252-426-5728 • Fax 252-426-4625 Email: perquimansweekly@ncweeklies.com Subscription Rates In Daily Advance home delivery area $25.25* All other continental U.S $31.50* *Plus applicable sales tax in N.C. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Perquimans Weekly. Hertford, NC 27944 Correction Due to incorrect information supplied to the Perquimans Weekly, Daniel Signorelli’s name was not included in the ninth grade A Honor Roll at Perquimans County High School. Patricia's Grille 960 Pentier Rd. Hertford (between Edenton & Hertford off Snug Harbor Rd.) 252-426-2906 patricias-grille.com Open for Lunch Friday, Saturday, Sunday. & Monday Open For Dinner Nightly except Tuesdays Catering The Grand Opening for THE SILLY HOMEY Thursday, July 9 • 5:50-7:30pm located at 407 S. 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The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.)
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July 8, 2015, edition 1
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