County, Town Tax Rate Slash Totals 40 Cents
THE CHOWAN HERAJLD
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t Volume XXXVII—No. 24. Single Copy V, Tents
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Edenton, Chowan County, North Carolina, Thursday, June 11, 19i ■
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HERE LIE SEVEN—Shown above amour a clattered desk at The Chowan Herald Is
a census form, where It ha» been since before the counting began April 1. It is com
pleted and has information about a family of seven. Preliminary population figures
released show Chowan County lost 946 people in the period between 1960 and 1970.
Here are seven who haven’t been counted. How many more are there in Edenton and
Chowan County? (See Public Parade).
|3ttbltc |Jararie
Give and Take
The following note was addressed to
us at “The Chowan Disappointment”:
“Congratulations to your newspaper
for receiving the Willard Cole Award.
“I hate to admit it but you do have
the best weekly in the state. All the
the credit should go to Mr. Bufflap, I’m
sure, because it was even better before
you came along.
“Congratulations, anyway.” v
It was on the letterhead of an Eliza
beth City hardware firm which carries
the slogan: “The Town’s Tool Box” and
Igned by the biggest nut in the box,
W. T. Culpepper, Jr.
There may be those who toeapder,
along the Public Parade unaware of the
fact that Mr. Culpepper is one of two
representatives from the House District
ih the N. C. General Assembly. He and
Rep. Phil Godwin of Gates do a credit
able job.
Nevertheless, Chowan had better rep
resentation, as did numerous other coun
ties, before the district system. If we
must put up with anyone from EC to
represent this hub of the Albemarle, then
Bill Culpepper is about the least trouble
of anyone we know.
> Touche!
Feeling of Being Left Out
“Our progress as a nation depends
today, as it has in the past, on meeting
our national challenges with knowledge
and reason. To do so, we must con
stantly take stock of ourselves. The
census is an essential tool for this pur
pose."
So wrote Secretary of Commerce
Maurice H. Stans on the official 1970
census form.
Then he concluded: “The census is
deeply rooted in America’s heritage. I
hope you will take pride, as you com
plete your questionnaire, in exercising
the opportunity it gives us once, again to
strengthen our nation’s development.”
We concur in Mr. Stans’ statements.
One can substitute the word “town” or
“county” where he used “nation” and
it would be just as true. Therefore, it
is just as important that an accurate
/count be made.
Continued on Page 4
4-H Activity Day
District 4-H Activity Day will be held
in John A. Holmes High School on June
18. There will be 31 different demon
strations being presented during the
morning as well as “Share the Fun” (tal
ent), tractor operator, public speaking
and dress 1 revue.
•This is a most important day for
4*H’ers. /.
In the afternoon the awards program
will be in the gymnasium at 1:30 o’clock.
At this time aU 4-H participants will be
given an award and what a thrill when
district winners are announced, states
Mrs. Gladys B. White, Extension agent.
The district winners will win a scholar'
ship to N. C. State 4-H Congress in July
to participate in the state contest.
Also District project winners will be
announced and awards presented and
district officers for 1971 win be installed.
White Attending
State Workshop
Paul White of Tyner will represent
Chowan County at the 1970 Resource
Conservation Workshop to be held at the
N. C. State University in Raleigh the
week of June 8-12, according to Lloyd
C. Bunch, chairman of the local Board
of Soil and Water Conservation District
Supervisors who are sponsoring the youth
at the event.
Jr)
sored by the N. C. Chapter of the Soil
Conservation Society of America, the
N. C. Association of Soil and Water
Conservation Districts and the State Soil
and Water Conservation Committee, is
designed to acquaint students with con
servation and natural resources develop
ment as well as career opportunities in
conservation fields.
According to Bunch, the boys will re
ceive instructions in many phases of con
servation and natural resource develop
ment.
Named To Post
Mrs. Irene Dunbar, owner of West
ern Gas Service and other Edenton busi
nesses, has been named to the Small
Business Administration Advisory Coun
cil. Mrs. Dunbar will represent the
First District.
The announcement of her appoint
ment was made by Ed Bass, chairman,
Chowan County Republican Party.
47 Lots Available In New Morgan Park Development
Work is now underway on develop
ment of a new subdivision in Morgan
Park with 47 residential building lots
and a one-acre recreation area.
The development of the second phase
of this area is being done by Coastal
Carolina Land Company, Inc., owned
by Haywood Jones and Merrill Evans,
Jr-
Jones, president of the corporation,
said work is now underway on the street
layout and survey of lots. The work is
being done by Waff Brothers, Inc., and
M. E, Beltrami, respectively.
The subdivision, a recent portion of
the Town of Edentdh annexation, will
have paved streets, curb and guttering
as well as town water and sewer. The
building lots will contain at least 20,000
square feet with building restrictions be
fog written into the deeds.
Jones said his company would begin
building houses for sale in the area
around August 1. He said it is antici
pated that work by the town will begin
about the same time. Lots, however,
Paul is the son of
Mr. and Mrs. Fred
A. White, Jr., and
will be a junior at
Chowan High School
next fall.. He is ac
tive in the Future
Farmers of America
program and is on
the baseball and
basketball team at
Chowan High.
The workshop, an
annual affair spon-
Commission
Holds Firm
To Promise
Chowan County commissioners de
liberated late Thursday night when they
approved a preliminary $ 1.6-million bud
get and set the tax rate at $1.55 per
SIOO valuation. This is a 30-cent slash
in the rate, the same amount it was ad
vanced this year to pay for the new
Chowan Hospital.
It was about midnight when the final
discussions ended and the motion was
made to approve the budget and set the
tax rate for fiscal 1970-71. The spe
cial tax levy for rural fire protection
will remain at five-cents.
The rate is based on a valuation of
$32.5-million, up $1.5 million over this
year. The levy will bring in $507,000.
While no definite action was taken,
the budget includes a 4 per cent cost
of living increase.
Commissioners, while managing to hold
the line on many items, used surpluses
and anticipated revenue from the local
option sales tax as principal means of
cutting the levy, as they had promised
when campaigning for approval of the
sales tax here.
They restored a five-cent levy for
capital reserve and put in a. .037 levy
for ambulance service. Medicaid, budg
eted for $50,000 in fiscal 1969-70, jump
ed to $269,487 in the new budget.
The budget, as prepared by Mrs.
Pansy Elliott, county accountant, re
flects revenue other than from the tax
levy of $1,125,915.90 from other sources.
Commissioners put the entire anticipat
ed sales tax revenue of $106,400 into
the debt service fund for school building
and hospital bonds.
Edenton-Chowan Board of Education,
at the request of commissioners, revamp
ed its budget to reduce it by some $35,-
000 and maintain a required levy of 86
cents —the biggest single item in the
levy. The school budget is $700,811
with $421,311 anticipated from sources
other than the levy.
The Social Services budget is $555,095
with $483,595 coming from sources oth
er than local tax funds—the bulk being
Continued on Page 4
School Calendar For Term Is Set
Edenton-Chowan Board of Education
has set August 28 for the opening of
the 1970-71 school term with the first
day being set aside for pupil registra
tion. Schools will operate only one-half
day on this date.
Supt. Bill Britt explained the first day
would not count toward the school year
but buses would operate although it is
considered a non-attendance day by the
state. He said the early opening of
school would allow more Christmas holi
days as well as an earlier closing—June
2, 1971.
The board gave considerable dis
cussion to the school calendar at Mon
day’s meeting prior to adopting the
schedule. It allows a Labor Day holi
day on September 7. In the past few
years schools have not opened until af
ter this holiday. Because it falls so
late this year, Supt. Britt said schools
must open sooner so they can end the
term at a reasonable time in 1971.
The board, with Dr. Edward G. Bond,
chairman, presiding, accepted the resig
nation of five more staff members. They
are: Mrs. Mary Ann Morris, Miss John
will be available for sale to individuals
prior to this. .
The first section of the Morgan Park
i
amJL-. <*- ra
.' "* :X ' -!»*»- .
Jones Studio Photo
Work Underway on New Section of Morgan Park
m ?
Iw" fst
Luther C. Parks
James C. Dail
Dail Voted Post;
Parks Employed
James C. (Pete) Dail, 35-year-old
councilman-at-large, Tuesday night was
elected mayor pro tern of the Town of
Edenton. Dail then presided over one
of the shortest couqcil sessions in recent
years but one with an action-packed
agenda.
The unusual circumstances surround
ing the emergency election of a mayor
pro tern came about due to the hospi
talization of Mayor George Alma Byrum
and the resignation of Luther C. Parks.
Parks resigned at a special budget ses
sion Monday night, after having made
application for the position of fire chief.
Town Administrator W. B. Gardner
opened the regular meeting Tuesday and
explained the unusual situation. He
presided during the election of Dail,
which took only minutes because he was
the -only nominee.
The council accepted the resignation
Continued on Page 4
nie M. Blackeney, Mrs. Lois Venters,
Miss Diana F. Brabble, and Miss Linda
Kay Basnight.
Sears was awarded the contract for
fencing at the new driver education driv
ing range. The low bid was $2,982.64.
Max Warren was awarded the contract.
to audit the superintendent’s books and
Edenton Jaycees were authorized to use
school property for sponsorship of kid
die rides. The Chowan High ballpark
was allowed to be used for summer
recreation.
The board approved a revised budget
of $700,811, of which $313,935.37 will
come from sources other than local
funds.
First ’7O Census Figures Show Loss
Preliminary population figures for the
17 counties in the Greenville Census Dis
trict have been released and show Cho
wan with a decrease of 940 as compared
to the official 1960 census.
Jerry Scott, who supervised the taking
of the 1970 Census of Population and
subdivision on U. S. 17, west of down
town Edenton, contains 23 lots and was
developed by Jones.
New Budget
Given Okay
By Council
Edenton Town Council gave speedy
approval Tuesday night to a record $1.2-
million budget and a tax rate of sl.lO
per SIOO valuation. This is a 10-cent
reduction in the existing rate.
Councilman Leo Katkaveck, finance
committee chairman, explained that the
budget had been reviewed Monday
night at a special session and he made
the motion that it be adopted and the
tax rate slashed.
The budget actually comes to sl,-
270,559.23, up from $1,087,314.71 for
fiscal 1969-70—the town’s first budget
in excess of sl-million which required a
20-cent tax boost, the first in more than
two decades.
The revenue from property tax, based
on sls-million assessed valuation, will
be $160,000. Electric revenue accounts
for more than half of what is anticipated
from sources other than taxes.
Town Administrator W. B. Gardner
explained that the new budget includes
$15,000 for sidewalk construction, out
right purchase of new equipment, two
new police cars, two additional police
men, two laborers in the Street Depart
ment, as well as a 10 per cent pay in
crease for municipal employees. Also
included is interest on bonds expected
to be sold later this year.
“We are extremely pleased to provide
all these extra services and at the same
time lower the tax rate,” he said.
The town anticipates $30,000 from
the local option sales tax voted last year.
During that campaign the councilmen
said the money would be used to hold
down property taxes.
Gardner has also pointed out thqt the
transfer of funds from profits of the
Electric and Water Department amounts
to $114,239.23 in the new budget. Also
included is $35,000 in surplus town
funds.
Budget Comparison
Department 1969-70 1970-71
Administrative .._$ 36,626.00 $ 40,962.00
Fire .... 37,106.27 46,187.00
Pclice 86,393.18 105,459.48
Street 149,313.26 192,024.75
Elec. & Water __ 702,000.00 750,889.23
Miscellaneous 75,876.00 73,926.00
Capital Res. Acct. 61,110.77
$1,087,314.71 $1,270,559.23
Clean-Up Time
A month-long campaign to clean-up,
paint-up, and fix-up has been launched
by the Citizens Advisory Committee.
Wallace Evans, chairman, said at a
recent meeting of CAC neighborhood
representatives agreed beautification is
one of the pressing needs of the com
munity. Seven of the eight neighbor
hoods were represented at the meeting.
Evans said town officials are joining
with neighborhoods in this endeavor. He
encouraged people to work on this pro
gram during the month of June.
Housing in this area, reports a 1970
preliminary population in Chowan Coun
ty of 10,789. The 1960 official census
was 11,729.
Os the 17 counties in Scott’s district,
only four showed population gains in
the preliminary' report. They were Dare,
Pasquotank, Pitt and Washington. Cho
wan, Gates and Perquimans counties, ac
cording to the report, showed approxi
mately the same losses.
Bertie shows a decrease of nearly
5,000 people while Pitt showed an in
crease of more than 2,000.
Robert Dail, who supervised 11 enum
erators in Chowan County and two in
Gates, was frank to admit he is puzzled
at what transpired. Dail said he was
relieved of his duties some two weeks
early because of lack of funds for the
district. He said his area was consoli
dated with several other counties and
he is unaware of what happened after
this.
“For one thing the maps were all
fouled up,” Dail said. He pointed out
there would not be an accurate tally for
the Town of Edenton since the new
town limits were not taken into consider*
ation.
The General Assembly in 1969 ap
proved a local bill which extended the
limits and more than doubled the acre
age of the town. At the time W. B.
Gardner, town administrator, said the
town’s population would increase by
“at least 1,000” due to the annexation.