■A-J* : V « '» .»■ t »
Celebrate the Fabulous Fourth of July!
in Edenton with the Chowan-Edenton Optimist Club!
Rep. Walter B. Jones (left) and Town of Edenton officials look over runway renovation plans at Eden
ton Municipal Airport. Those official studying the plans with the congressman are (from left to right)
A.B. Harless, councilman; Bill Meyers, chairman, Airport Advisory Board; Rev. J.L. Fenner, councilman;
Town Administrator Sam Noble; and Councilwoman Marina Crummey.
Jones Looks Over Airoort Plans
Rep. Walter B. Jones (D-NC)
was in town this weekend meeting
with constituents Friday at the
Coach House Inn and looking over
renovations currently underway
at the Edenton Municipal Airport
on Saturday.
Jones was instrumental in ob
taining a Federal Aviation grant
of $416,000 for improvements to
Runway 1/19. When the work is
completed, 5,300 ft. of the runway
will be resurfaced and lighting
will be installed allowing greater
access to jets and other aircraft.
“We are fortunate to have a
congressman as receptive to local
government as he (Jones) is,”
said Edenton Town Administrator
Sam Noble on Saturday. He add
ed that the legislator has helped
the town with every federal grant
it has received.
During an interview at the air
port, Jones said he was in favor of
a plan to build jetties at Oregon
Inlet and hoped that a bill in the
U.S. Senate would pass transfer
ring 150 acres of land located in
Cape Hatteras National Seashore
Park and Pea Island National
Wildlife Refuge from the Depart
ment of the Interior to the Army
Corps of Engineers.
Passage of the bill would allow
the corps to build the $100 million
jetties which Jones said would
save over 200 ft. of beach erosion
in the next ten years. He said that
if the bill passed in the Senate, he
was sure he could “get it through
the house.”
“This bill purely and simply
would transfer the land from one
governmental department to
another,” he said. “My job is to
convice people that there is no
money involved.”
Jones said that most of the op
position to the jetties is coming
rom outside North Carolina.
Hospital Kate Increase
Chowan County Commissioners
Tuesday approved a Chowan
Hospital budget which will result
in a 9 percent increase in patient
rates.
The 1985-86 rate increase, bas
ed on an average of 33 patients per
day, will amount to $9.7 million in
gross revenues of which $2.7 must
be written off to Medicare and
Medicaid adjustments, the Hill
Burton program and bad debts.
“The budget this year is going
Continued On Page 4
STARS AT ZOO— This graceful
Gerenuk and its baby are among
the star performers in the African
Pavilion at the North Carolina
Zoological Park near Asheboro.
You and Your Zoo
It’s a long way from here to
purgatory but it’s worth the trip if
you are thinking about Purgatory
Mountain and the North Carolina
state zoo near Asheboro.
With the opening of the African
Pavilion, the North Carolina
Zoological Park moved a step
nearer its ultimate goal of bring
ing together on the rolling hills
and plains of Randolph County
loving exhibits from Africa, India,
North and South America and
other places around the world.
Completed in late 1984, the
African Pavilion represents,
within its 46,000 square feet, all
the major environments of Africa
— the rain forests, the watery
swamps, the savannas,
grasslands and semi-deserts —
with pythons, monkeys, meerkats
and, of course, Ramar and Hope,
the zoo’s lowland gorillas.
Outside, from the four overlook
areas, is a panoramic view of the
plains, 40 acres of open space,
with antelope, greater kudu, Cape
hartebeest, red lechwe, impalas
and other animals living in com
patible herds.
Whether the visitor walks the
two miles of marked pathways or
rides the tram, he will be touring
a natural-habitat zoo equal to the
best in America. He will see giraf-.
fes* and zebras, crocodiles and
touracos, a pride of lions and
playfql chimps, as well as some of
the world’s largest land animals.
There are no bars or cates to
separate the viewer from the out
door animals. Only open land,
naturalized moats and islands to
separate here from the real
habitat of each species.
And then, when you begin to tire
of Africa, there is the R.J.
Reynolds forest aviary, the glass
domed expans
rare and brilliant
wing their way fi~.,
lush tropical world of some 2,4
Volume XLIX - No. 24
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, July 4, 1985
Withdrawal From Power
Company Request Denied
The town of Edenton’s request
to withdraw from the N.C.
Eastern Municipal Power Agency
was denied Wednesday, June 26,
by representatives of 32 Eastern
North Carolina municipalities
meeting in Wilson.
Denial of the request came by a
unanimous vote by agency’s
board of commissioners which
upheld the recommendations of a
committee that had been Studying
tfrirHatW since February.Thfe"
denial was based on grounds that
the agency did not have the legal
authority to let Edenton out of its
contract and that it would be un
fair to the other municipalities to
let the town go without any con
tractual obligation for its 1.6 per
cent share of the agency’s $2.5
billion in bond debt.
Months of controversy have sur
rounded the town’s request to
leave the agency. Edenton Mayor
Roy Harrell charged the agency
with failing to save money on
power costs and has complained
that many of the agency’s 70 staff
members are overpaid.
The agency was formed in 1981
by representatives of the 32
municipalities who had hoped to
save money by purchasing a por
tion CP&L’s generating facilities.
By buying electricity from plants
owned by the agency rather than
CP&L directly, agency members
planned to reduce their power
costs.
One of the mayor’s complaints
against the agency is that the
price Edenton pays for electrici
ty has not come down since the
town became an agency member
in September, 1981. Electric
customers locally are now paying
4 percent more than North
Carolina Power residential rates.
During a 35 minute presentation
to the commissioners Wilson, Har
rell said that the formation of the
agency should have been halted
when CP&L cancelled plans for
two generating plants the
municipalities had agreed to buy.
He also asked if the agency could
be managed by a utility company.
At a meeting between agency
members, Harrell, the entire
Edenton Town Council and State
Treasurer Harlan Boyles held in
Raleigh on May 31, agency of
ficials charged that Harrell’s
criticisms had lowered the
Continued On Page 4
Am American flag attached to a yellow ribbon tied around a tree was
displayed in front of the Dixon residence on West King Street during
the recent hostage crisis. The flag and ribbon were removed when 39
American hijacking hostages were freed on Sunday. June 30.
Magic, a five-piece band that emphasizes old music standards as well as keeping up-to-date with the
top 40 songs on both the Pop and Country charts will be performing from 7 - 9:30 p.m. as part of the 6th
Annual Fabulous Fourth of July Celebration. The yearly Independence Day festivities are sponsored by
the Chowan-Edenton Optimist Club.
East Church Street Redevelopment Project
Forty-five houses located on
Gale and Church Streets and sec
tions of Oakum Street will be
rehabilitated as part of the East
Church Street Redevelopment
Project, according to Lorenzo
Carmon, Community Develop
ment Director.
The Church Street project is
similar to the recently completed
Oakum Street project except that
houses cited for rehabilitation in
the new target area are listed with
the National Register of Historic
Places. Before any work is begun
on the buildings, it must be ap
proved by the NC Division of Ar
chives and History.
“Having to go through the divi
sion is slowing us down somewhat,
but we will still hope to get started
in two weeks,” said Carmon.
The purpose of the $750,000 pro
ject is “to give people a decent,
sanitary place to live,” explained
Carmon. He said most of the
houses to be rehabilitated have
faculty plumbing facilities and ob
solete wiring. Also, 95 percent of
the buildings have no insulation
whatsoever.
Carmon and Town of Edenton
Building Inspector Chuck Nance
decide what work is to be done.
Bids are solicited for the work and
Swarded to the lowest bidder.
Money for the project has been
earmarked for three types of
Mmeowner^: 1) those in the low
to moderate income range, 2)
hose with above average incomes
ind 3) those who qwn rental
Homeowners who meet the low
o moderate income guidlines are
eligible for a $12,500 rehabilitation
grant. If the property is not sold
within a three-year period, the
money will be considered paid-in
full.
A homeowner with an above
average income is eligible for a
grant to cover 80 percent of the
total rehabilitation costs, not to
exceed $10,000, and owners of ren
tal property are eligible for a
Continued On Page 4
Holiday Fatalities: Excessive
Speed Contributing Factor
Approximately 16 persons may
lose their lives in North Carolina
traffic accidents during the long
Fourth of July holiday period, ac
cording to the N.C. State Motor
Club.
The state will count its toll over
a 102-hour period from 6 p.m.
Wednesday, July 3, to midnight
Sunday, July 7. Last year the holi
day fell in the middle of the week
and was observed over a 30-hour
period in which 4 persons lost their
lives in traffic accidents. In 1983,
over a 78-hour period, 11 fatalities
were recorded.
Excessive speed continues to be
the leading contributing factor to
traffic fatalities. “As speed in
creases, so does the number of
fatalities,” Dr. John G. Frazier,
III, president of the statewide
motor club said. “Lower speed
limit has a pronounced effect upon
reducing highway accidents and
as a driver you have the respon
sibility to obey all speed laws and
be constantly aware of the power
you command when you are
behind the wheel of any vehicle,”
Dr. Frazier continued.
The Fourth of July holiday
week-end occurs near the start of
the summer vacation season and.
according to Frazier, vacation
driving is more dangerous than
business or normal everyday driv
ing. Unfamiliar roads, fatigue,
and the tendency to celebrate
before reaching the vacation spot
contribute.
The N.C. State Motor Club con
tinued to emphasize the impor
tance of seat belts and child
restraints as a major protection
against fatalities in vehicle
accidents.
Frazier reminds every motorist
that as of July 1, 1985, the new
Child Restraint law requires that
children less than 3-years of age
must be in a properly installed
and used safety seat. Children
3-years and up to 6-years may be
secured by a seat belt. The law ap
plies to any driver who is
transporting a child under the age
of 6 years. Violators are subject to
a fine of $25.00 (plus court costs).
This new law is viewed as a
safety measure for the child
riding in your car. Children are
the most precious cargo you can
carry and they should be pre
lected. The new law will save lives
md reduce injuries.
Tlu* don h toll now stands at (>5t»;
12 more than at this same time
ast vear.
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