Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / July 5, 1984, edition 1 / Page 1
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L,* Sending A Message It is true, Edenton found no takers recently when it put its stock up for sale and sought to secede from the Eastern Municipal Power Agency; but there is sympathy along the Public Parade for what the mayor and town-council^ were trying to do. Let's look for a minute at the background of th£ municipal power agencies as they have developed. Both the westeVn agency, known as North Carolina Municipal P$wer . Agency No. 1, •and the easterji model, which later came into hieing, were based on the theory tl\at Nprth Carolina municipalities which own ed their own electric systems.could profit through the joint.ownershjp of power generating-stations own ed by Duke Power Cpmpany and Carolina Power and Light.,1 It re-' quired an amendment to the con stitution to enable these municipalities, acting as a unit, to enter in joint ownership of generating stations with the power companies. Such an amendment was passed by the legislature and later adopted by. the voters. When joint ownership proposals were being sold to the General Assembly^nd'later to the citizens of the several municipalities- it was explained that the municipal power agencies would simply acquire ownership of a part of generating facilities and contract with Duke and CP&L to manage them. This would entitle the municipal power agencies to get their elec tricity at cost, which would be 'cheaper than the wholesale rates then being charged them by Duke, and CP&L. The power would then be retailed to the municipal customers at a lower rate than they were currently paying. The western power agency was the Hrst to compTeTe^fts pufcRalte' which is being financed by revenue bonds. The eastern.agency com pleted its transaction at a% later date, and by the time the interest rate on revenue bonds had increas ed. But it was still considered a good deal. Well, what has happened since that has soured some of the original supporters of the plan? For one thing, the two power agencies are taking on all the aspects top-heavy bureaucracy. They are planning big central of fices and are seeking authority to employ a whole establishment'of consultants, engineers, accoun tants, ratd experts, attorneys and financial advisers. This threatens to eat up the margin of savings which ownership of generating facilities was suppos ed to make possible in the first place. , Not content to let the power com panies manage the jointly-held facilities-which they would have to do anyway--the power agencies now seem bent on setting up a system of parallel management. It is up to the mayors and city > councils of the electric cities to regulate their own power agencies, They can do this by the caliber of the delegates they send to the power agencies* If they continue to send rubber stamps, whtf quickly become captives of the agency staffs, then two’agencies wijl com tmue to go their merry way* j But if more cities follow the ex ample of Mayor Roy Harrell and his Edenton council, then the agen cy managers may begin to get the message. Welcome There is a new, energetic face along Cheapside this week. We are veVy pleased to welcome our childhood friend. Bill Vogedes, to the Public Parade. We are doubly pleased that he brings with him his charming wife, who is already a familiar face to Edentonians, the former Ginger Byrum. She is the daughter of West and Hattie Byrum of Pembroke , Circle. liill comes to town at h time when ' we naturally reminisce about Continued On Page i Volume XLVIII-No. 75s Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, July 5, 1984 Single Copies 25 Cents Parents And Teachers Protest Treatment Of Principal Underwood -by Rotv Anderson Over thirty concerned parents and teachers attended a public hearing held during a regular School Board meeting on Monday evening. The hearing concerned the closing of Swain School, but the fate, of the school's principal, Gilliam Underwood, becarh# the focal point of the evening. As part of the School Board’s $4.7 Million Capital Improvement Plan, Swain School is scheduled to close after the 1984-85 school year and be turned over to the county. Students from the school will* then be relocated to D.F. Walker Elemen tary School. The Alternative School will remain at the Swain location. , The parents and teachers listen ed as Superintendent John Dunn ex plained why the state Division of School Planning has been sug gesting the .closing of the school. Some reasons given were: a) the school does not meet current safe ty standards, b) there is not enough space for a physical education pro gram and c) overcrowded conditions'. The public accepted the necessi ty of the closing, but protested the aeai the Board of Education is of fering the school’s current prin cipal, Gilliam Underwood. At last month’s School Board meeting two motions were made concerning the principals of both Swain and Walker Schools: H to authorize Superiijfdndent Dunn to offer Ralph Cole prihcipalship of the combined D.F. * Walker and Swain Schoois when consolidation occurs and 2) to authorize Supt. Dunn,-to offer Gilliam Underwood assistant principalship of the com bined schools. ’ t A pririfcipalship is a 12-month position, \yhile a yice-principalship is a 10-month position. Also, the pfey scale allowed by the state for a vice-principal is lower than that of a principal. Gilliam,^ho has served 15 years in this school system as opposed to Ralph Cole’s 12 years, has a total of 27 years’ service in North Carolina schools. Included jp their offer of vice principalship to Underwpod, the School Board has'suggfestgd a way to protect his .full’ retirement benefits for 30 years of service. Their suggestion is that he finish his Hospital Budget Will Result In Rate Increase For Patients by Maru /vmburn County Commissioners Monday approved a Chowan Hospital an nual budget which will result in a 9 percent increase in patient rates. The 1984-85 rate increase, based dfrar BVmigV 'dnrpWdhtr per day, will amount to $9.2 million in gross revenues of which $2.3 million must be written-off to Medicaid and JMedicare adjustments and bad debts. The commissioners also acted on a proposal from the North Carolina Department of Transportation to pave the Morristown Koad off Highway 32 North. According to hospital ad ministrator Marvin A. (Johnny) Bryan, the budget represents the second rate increase in two years. Last October, Bryan said, the facili ty, increased its rates by 4 percent. A rate adjustment was necessary due to changes in Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement policies and inflation, Bryan said in a telephone interview. “We’re also trying to economize as much as possible due to the drop in census (occupancy) over the last year,” the administrator added. Rates for rooms remained relatively stable, while larger in creases were seen in special ser vices such as anesthesia and post anesthesia recovery. Charges for anesthesia will increase by $62.00 ,and charges for post-anesthesia will increase by $22.00. Rates for sjpmi-private rooms will increase from $136.00 to 1141.00 per day while rates for private rooms will increase from $142.00 to $148.00 per day, Bryan Hold the commissioners. Out-patients now constitute 40 • • • — - • percent of the hospital s business three months ago they accounted for 18 percent, Bryan said. The approved budget provides for a 3 percent across-the-board in crease in hospital employee salaries to go into effect in April Continued On Page 4 Sound Slated For Water Quality Act First District Congressman Walter B. Jones succeeded yester day in designating the Albemarle Sound as one of four estuaries in the nation slated for a stepped up water quality enhancement program. The Jones provision which must still undergo Senate consideration was included in the Water Quality Renewal Act of 1984, a four-year ex tension of the Clean Water Act. The legislation was approved June 26 by the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 405 to 11. Albemarle Sound was added as a result of negotiations between Jones and the bill’s authors over provisions which came under the jurisdiction of the Congressional panel Jones chairs, the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee. Continued On Page 4 CHANGE IN MANAGEMENT—West Bynim (left) congratulates iis son-in-law, Bill Vogedes (right) who has purchased the family hsurance business on South Broad Street. next year s principalship at bwain, serve as Vice-Principal at Walker during the 1985-86 year and use his accumulated sick leave to make up the final year. During the 'public speaks” por tion of Monday’s meeting. Under wood expresed his disappointment at being offered an assistant prin cipalship position and the sugges tion to use his sick leave to make up his 30th year of service. “I have more service than any principal in the system,” said Underwood. “I do feel my service has been more than satisfactory. I will not use my sick leave for my 30th year of service.” Dr. Dunn told Underwood, ”We’ve tried to develop a plan to assure you that you couia reach retirement time without a penalty of salary. I assure you the board has no intention to tell you to retire. We hope you will stay with the system. You have plenty of years left.” Underwood said that he would ac cept the vice-principalship and Continued On Page I FADING BEAUTY—Although some garden plants, such as this sunflower, were battered and bruis ed by recent thunder storms, the rain brought welcome relief to area farmers whose crops had been .suffering ifom~tbe long dry spell. Howard Speaks To NC Senate Committee by .Viani Aniburn Among the participants in Satur day’s hearing before State Senate committee on the proposed ban on phosphate detergents was Chowan County resident. Captain A1 Howard. Howard, speaking on behalf of the Chowan/Albemarle Water Ac tion Committee, told the lawmakers that, "(The Legisla tion) will be sending a strong signal to the officials of the Com monwealth of Virginia that North Carolina will take every action necessary to restore the quality of the water in our public trust lakes, rivers and sounds. ' Chowan County's water quality spokesman was among the over 200 people who crowded the auditorium of the Legislative Building in Raleigh as the Special Wavs and Means Committee heard testimony from 22 supporters and 15 op ponents of the proposed moratorium on phosphate detergents. The bill would limit phosphates to 0.05 percent of the detergent by weight. Many detergents currently contain as much as 6 percent or 7 percent phosphates. Phosphate ban legislation over whelmingly passed the House after being approved by the House Natural Resources and Economic Development Committee. Sen. Bob Swain, D-Buncombe, chairman of the committee which must approve the legislation before it can be considered by the full Senate, said he would take up the bill by the end of the short session. Phosphate detergent ban sup porters contend that phosphates cause algae blooms that burden the state's waterways, robbing oxygen and killing fish. Ban opponents say a ban wouldn't get rid of enough phosphates to make any difference and that phosphate-free detergents don’t clean clothes well. Also, op ponents say agricultural runoff and wastewater treatment plants are bigger phosphorus producers and should be addressed first. First District representative, Charles Evans a bill co-sponsor, said that a phosphate detergent ban Insurance Company Changes Hands; Bill Vogedes To Assume Ownership This week West W. Byrum relin quished control of his South Broad Street insurance agency after what he called, “a long and gratifying career.” Byrum’s son-in-law. Bill Vogedes, 27, brings to Edenton in surance community his past ex perience as an underwriter for a , major insurance company. “My friends supported me over these last 26 years," Byrum said, “I know Bill will continue that fine relationship and work to serve the best interest of the insuring public." Vogedes, who is now the youngest principal in Edenton's oldest agen cy, is married to the .former Virginia Elizabeth (Ginger) Byrum. Vogedes is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Bill Vogedes of Raleigh. Mrs. Vogedes was the former Teenie "Jones of Edenton. A North Carolina State Universi ty graduate, Vogedes earned a degree in Economics and Business administration in 1979. He was employed as a commercial under writer with United States Fidelity and Guaranty for four years and as a marketing representatives with the Durco Agency for one year. Vogedes expressed his pleasure with the opportunity to purchase a business and raise a family in the town where his mother’s family has lived. He and his wife will live at 212 West Queen Street. Also, Vogedes said he is in terested in the community, “1 would like to be involved in athletic support groups and working with young people.” has widespread support. Evans cited a University of North Carolina poll which shows that 91 percent of those surveyed favored the ban “We need to listen to the people of North Carolina, not the well financed soap and detergent in dustry which is headquartered out of this stale," Evans said Captain Howard, who lives on the Chowan River, urged the panel to “act affirmatively on a 1972 recom mendation for reducing the nutrient input to our public trust waters whether the sources be agriculture, industrial or municipal McCarty Elected To Delegate Seat RALEIGH—Dr. Barry McCarty of Elizabeth City was elected Satur day at a caucus of North Carolina delegates to the Republican Na tional Convention To North Carolina's seat on the influential Committee on Permanent Rules and Organization. McCarty, 31, is a Chairman of the Pasquotank County Republican Party and a candidate for the North Carolina State Senate from the First Senatorial District. He is also a vice president of the American Senatorial District. He is also a vice president of the American Academy of Parliamentarians and served as convention chairman of the 1984 state Republican convention. McCarty won the seat at the caucus by a clear majority in a three way race over former U S. Congressman Gene Johnston, chairman of the state Reagan-Bush Committee, and Pete Partridge, Chairman of the Eighth Con gressional District Republican Party. The Committee on Permanent Rules and Organization will meet prior to the 1984 Republican Na tional Convention and consider recommendations for changes in the party's structure and governing instruments over the next four yeai^s
The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
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July 5, 1984, edition 1
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