Vdl. XLVI-No. 13
MANUFACT URIN& EMPLOYMENT
VEPCO VS. STATEWIDE
38 b i i
20 ■ — ;===B , —-
* > "7 ' %
II
21
7 71 73 74 75 70 77 71
1 i
yurt
VEPCfI .i.i —. (15 counties, including Halifax)
STATEWIDE
Public Parade
Pointing The Finger
Readi Kilowatt, a character
drawn to appear like a bolt of
lightning, has long been the em
blem of the electric utility in
dustry. The emblem usually ap
peared in red. Remember?
Readi Kilowatt is not used much
anymore. The consumer sees red
now at the very thought of the cost
of electricity; and justly so. It is
especially true in 22 counties of
Eastern North Carolina served by
Virginia Electric and Power
Company.
Sixteen communities and six
rural co-ops purchase electricity
wholesale and re-sell it to 56,000
customers. In the case of Edenton,
the retail rate “tracks” Vepco’s,
which is paid by another 70,500
customers.
Operation Overcharge, a
volunteer consumer group, was
on Vepco’s high rates which in
part are claimed to be the result of
mismanagement. Stan Hege of
Edenton-Chowan Chamber of
Commerce spearheaded a petition
drive which resulted in Gov. Jim
Hunt calling for an investigation
by the N. C. Utilities Commission.
The finger pointing hasn’t
stopped with that inquiry. Only
recently the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission in
Washington, D. C., instructed staff
to conduct an eight-month indepth
study of Vepco. Sen. Robert
Morgan, Rep. Walter B. Jones of
the First Congressional District,
and Rep. Robert W. Daniel, Jr., of
Virginia’s Fourth District, have
played a key role in happenings at
the national level.
Meanwhile, two newly
organized Power Agencies in Tar
Heelia are moving ahead with
negotiations to obtain joint
ownership in generation facilities
of Carolina Power & Light
Company. This ultimately would
result in CP&L serving Vepco’s
area in Eastern North Carolina.
The Town of Edenton and
Albemarle Electric Membership
Corporation are members of
Power Agency No. 2.
Representatives of Power
Agency No. 2 met earlier this
month in Richmond with top
Vepco officials to discuss the
eventual termination of Vepco
service to the members.
In earlier strong language, Gov.
Hunt invited Vepco to get out of
North Carolina. Among his
charges that Vepco’s high rates
are detrimental to industrial
development in Northeastern
North Carolina. Vepco has
claimed that Gov. Hunt played a
numbers game by including 14
comities in the figures he used,
conveniently leaving out Halifax
Comity, a county which has 96 per
cent coverage by Vepco.
Vepco says figures supplied by
the N. C. Bureau of Employment
Security Research for the 15
counties in which Vepco is the
primary electric supplier (in
cluding Halifax! show this area
has outpaced the state. (See
chart.)
«Continued on Page 4
' | ft I ' I—l I 1 \lkf A l\l U Ihi fcr A I 1
§ ■ m j fl H BMHB H mm H Mb
.ißi B ™ , * i Bi B Bmbiß Bi Bi Bbbß B^
Revaluation Will Increase
Chowan County Tax Base
Revaluation of property,
scheduled to begin this spring with
a completion date of July 1, 1981,
can be expected to result in a
higher tax base but a lower tax
rate, reported Bob Carroll,
president of Carroll-Phelps Ap
praisal Co., in a conference
Wednesday morning.
The Winston-Salem based firm
was awarded a $125,000 contract
by the county for this project. New
values will be posted by January 1,
Gov. James B. Hunt
Hunt To Visit
Gov. James B. Hunt, Jr., will
bring his bid for re-election to
Chowan County on April 9. He will
greet voters at the Chowan County
Courthouse on Broad Street at 2
P.M. on that day.
James C. (Pete) Dail and
Sheriff Troy Toppin, co-chairmen
for the Hunt For Governor com
mittee here, said the visit will
probably be the only one Gov.
Hunt makes to this county prior to
the May 6 Democratic Primary
election.
“We hope that a good number of
citizens from throughout the
county will come to the courthouse
on April 9 at 2 P.M. to personally
meet Gov. Hunt,” it was stated.
f 1 «*s>’%, - : C^B' i f©S^^^^^Hcvg|j'}S4pi>';^^^B^' :^f ; ;'{f%
■. ymuasSmxskM *** Hf —a »■
■% ¥-t **w ~ tRSI
jfS\ M
M vfv ■
■?« ft* B Sr .a BPW v i |Bh|
~ m f ; . 3. __ Hp
■M ; 'J£ - m.fti T&CC I «s*/|
' ,' 4* ,'4, #** /"11V \
""'r hPWP, V*l » * v>»o*r\ #«Sfpßt^
TREE CITY, USA —Nomination of Edenton for the Tree City, USA award brought with it various
gifts proclaiming the designation, including a flag, road signs and a wall plaque. Displaying the
gifts, from the left, is Ralph Winkwirth, director of the Division of Forest Resources, Mayor Roy L.
Harrell, W. B. Gardner, town* administrator, Rodney Swink, landscape architect, and Roger
Spivey, Chowan County Forest Ranger.
* v . ■* % ~-4;; ■ ' . :\*. • ' .
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, March 27, 1980
1982 and will be used for budgeting
starting in the 1982-83 fiscal year.
Carroll said it was important for
property owners to understand
that revaluation will result in an
equalization of the tax burden and
will bring property values in line
with the true market values.
A uniform schedule of market
prices in the form of a tax
assessment manual will be
presented for review and approval
by the tax office before going to
the county commissioners for
adoption as the assessed valuation
of properties. All assessed values
will be based on 100 per cent of the
appraised value, as is required by
law.
“With today’s inflated real
estate prices, it would be natural
to assume that revaluation will
add a great deal to the tax base
enabling the county to adopt a
much lower tax rate,” Phelps
commented to Cliff Copeland,
county manager,
Jethro, tax supervisor.
At the same time, he said it is
impossible at this point to
estimate which classes of property
will be the most effected. “The
final results will have different
impacts on different property
owners,” Carroll said. “As the
equalization process goes into
effect, some property will be
valued more, some will stay the
Continued On Page 4
Edenton Receives Tree City, USA Award
Edenton became one of only six
municipalities, this year, to earn
the National Tree City, USA
award sponsored by the National
Arbor Day Foundation. In an
informal ceremony last Thursday
afternoon at the Municipal
Building, Ralph Winkworth,
director of the N. C. Division of
Forest Resources presented to
Mayor Roy L. Harrell a plaque,
Tri-County Career Center
Progress Report Is Heard
HERTFORD The wraps wore
taken off this week of tentative
space summary and proposed
program areas for the Tri-County
Career Education Center to serve
Chowan, Gates and Perquimans
counties. The estimated cost is
nearly $5-million.
Clifford Winslow, chairman of
the feasibility Steering Com
mittee, and Kenneth L. Stalls,
project director, said Monday that
once the committee approves the
document efforts will begin im
mediately to secure “brick and
mortar” money. Up until this time
no local funds have gone into the
two-year project.
Coastal Plains Regional
Commission and the State
Department of Public Instruction
have provided funds for this
unique concept which Stalls says .
is already drawing attention from
other areas of North Carolina.
“They are coming in to see how we
are putting it together,” Stalls
said.
Junior Livestock
Show, Sale Set
The twenty-sixth annual
Chowan County Junior Livestock
Show and Sale will be held
Tuesday, April 8, at the American
Legion Fair Grounds. The show
will be at 2:30 P.M. and sale at
7:30 P.M.
Eighteen boys and girls will
show hogs and seven steers. Nine
trophies will be presented by the
following businesses: Albemarle
Production Credit, Peoples Bank
g_ . rrv,,o4 PAmnonv TUliFnhftnoi.’o
' ArUftu. - S -
Pharmacy, Hollowell & Blount
Rexall Drug Store, Albemarle
Motor Company, Chowan Farm
Bureau, Edenton Savings and
Loan Association, J. H. Conger &
Son, and Albemarle Cooperative
Association.
Judges for the show will be
Bruce Shankle, Livestock
Marketing Specialist for the North
Carolina Department of
Continued On Page 4
road signs and flag in recognition
of urban forestry efforts begun
about 10 years ago.
Winkworth said, “The Tree City,
USA award is not just an honorary
promotion but is one of real ac
complishment.” He pointed out
that in order to receive this award,
a town must enact a tree or
dinance, appoint a tree board and
have a comprehensive program or
Furthermore,, Winslow, who is
president of the State School
Boards Association, is encouraged
by the spin-offs which are al
ready developing. The thrust at
this time, he added, is to convince
every possible funding agency
that they need to be a part of this
unique program.
The tentative programs number
26 and the proposed facility would
be able to handle 600 contracts per
day. There are some 2,019 students
in the target area within the three
counties.
It is proposed that a 104,370-
square-foot facility be built at an
PROGRESS REPORTED ON TRI-COUNTY PROJECT
Clifford Winslow, right, chairman of the Steering Committee for
Tri-County Career Education Center, and Kenneth Stalls, project
director, discuss details of tentative space requirements and
program areas. Development of the curriculum has been top
priority in Phase II and 111 this year.
»MjpMnnii j - t rn j
Census Day Is 1 uesday
Next Tuesday, April 1 is an
important day in Edenton as well
as in all of the U.S. That is the day
1980 Census forms are to be mailed
back. Local officials have joined in
encouraging each household to
take a few minutes to complete the
census questionnaire.
The form takes relatively little
urban forestry that includes a
budget representing at least $1 per
citizen.
Receiving the award, Mayor
Harrell commented, “Edenton is a
town that is proud of its history, its
waterfront and its trees, and not
necessarily in that order.”
“We are happy when you come
to see what we have and not just
when you come bearing gifts,” he
said.
Earlier W. B. Gardner, town
administrator, said Edenton’s
urban forestry program began
about 10 years ago when NCSU
performed a tree inventory as a
first step in the project. Since
then, he said, there has been
progress in planting in new sub
divisions and removing old and
diseased trees. Landscaping of the
entrances into the town is ex
pected to be completed in the next
few years.
He reported that a $23,000
contract was recently awarded for
landscaping of the new waterfront
park.
Gardner also commended
Rodney L. Swink, a landscaping
architect with Forest Resources
for his assistance.
Milan J. Muzinich, regional
manager of the Department of
Natural Resources and Com
munity Development,' represented
Secretary Howard Lee at the
presentation. Muzinich said the
secretary sent his congratulations
and said the award was one that
showed “total community in
volvement.”
Muzinich also cited Chowan
County Forest Ranger Roger
Spivey for a job well done.
Single Copies 20 Cents
estimated cost of about $4-million.
Another sl-million would provide
the necessary furniture and
equipment.
Stalls and Winslow both stressed
that development of such a center
would not compete with College of
The Albemarle. “We propose to
send them a better product,”
Stalls said. COA President Parker
Chesson is working closely with
the tri-county group.
Stalls said the intent is to insure
that there are no surprises along
the way. To accomplish this the
committee has involved the
Continued on Page 4
time for a household to complete,
about 15 minutes for the short
version with 19 questions and
about 45 minutes for the long form
with 65 questions. Only about one
in six households, selected at
random, has received the long
form.
Data collected from the census
provides the basis for fairly ap
portioning the seats in the House
of Representatives. In recent
years, court rulings on the one
person, one-vote principal have
led many state and even local
governments to use census data to
draw legislative district and ward
boundaries. So if people are
missed by the census, it means a
potential loss of political
representation at all levels of
government.
The 1980 census will provide
information that is used to direct
the distribution of millions of
dollars in federal funds to state
and local governments. Latest
estimates place the cost of the
census, spread over 10 years, at
nearly sl-billion. Each year,
through revenue sharing and
about 100 other federal programs,
much more than that is allocated
to states and smaller jurisdictions
in a single month according to
their population.
Information received through
the census can be helpful to
community groups in setting up
programs and even in con
struction plans.
While the census is mandatory,
all answers are protected from
Continued On Page 4
Spring Concert
The Edenton Chorale Society
will present its annual spring
concert this Sunday, March 30, at 4
o’clock at Edenton Baptist
Church. The program consists of
selections from the Easter portion
of Handel’s Messiah as well as
anthems and spirituals ap
propriate to the Easter season.
The public is cordially invited to
attend.