Where the Yellow Goes
' Chowan County’s rural road
system did not fare as well as
some others in Gov. James Mar
tin’s long range transportation im
provement program adopted in
1985. While the average county
was receiving an increase of ,21.04
per cent increase in funding for its
rural system, Chowan was held to
a 12.34 per cent boost.
And in the urban roads system,
where the average increase was
42.26 per cent, Chowan drew a
blank. In fact, if it had not been for
the two interchange projects on
U.S. 17 at State Roads 1319 and
1234, which are estimated to cost
$1.07 million each, this county
would not be in the urban roads
program for any money at all dur
ing the 1985-95 decade.
In the rural roads system,
Chowan’s allocation for the next
10 years was boosted from
$956,000 in the Hunt program to
$1,074,000 in the Martin plan,
which shows an overall increase
for all systems of around a half
billion dollars, from $3.2 billion
under former Gov. Jim Hunt to
$3.81 billion under Martin.
It should be pointed out that
none of these figures include
Powell Bill funds, allocated to
cities for state roads within their
corporate limits, or state secon
dary road funds, allocated to the
counties for improvement of un
paved mildage. Both these funds
are distributed according to
legislative'formulas which cannot
be the executive branch of the
government.
When Gov. Martin took office,
there werp in the 1984 Transpor
tation Improvement Program 72
Interstate, 77 urban and 199 rural
projects listed, for a total of 392.
In the TIP program adopted by
Gov. Martin’s Board of Transpor
tation there are 83 Interstate, 99
urban and 211 rural projects, or a
total of 392.
The Martin plan deleted three
urban and 15 rural projects,
delayed 33 Interstate, 27 urban
and 90 rural projects, accelarated
six urban and 24 rural projects
and added 10 Interstate, 25 urban
and 30 rural.
Of the 34 counties receiving In
■*» ■ »88-had
ding increased, nine had cuts and
the remainder had no change.
Biggest increase dollarwise went
to Alamance County, which
jumped from $64.2 million to $90.1
million. A close second was
Mecklenburg, which jumped from
$175.2 million to $200.1 million. All
Continued On Page 4
Deadline
Approaches
If you are a high school student
and would like to be a legislator,
here is your opportunity.
Chowan County high school
students and young people from
throughout the state are invited to
participate in the annual Youth
Legislative Assembly in Raleigh
at the Marriott Hotel, March 14-16.
The purpose of the mock
legislature is to give young people,
many of whom are not old enough
to vote, an opportunity to voice
their opinions and recommenda
tions on important current issues.
Topics scheduled to be addressed
are criminal justice, discrimina
tion, substance abuse, youth
rights, environment, violence,
education, human sexuality, inter
national affairs and governmental
operations.
Participants will draw up bills,
vote on them and report the
results tp state leaders.
Registration will be on a firs
come, first-served basis. The cost
per students is $64 which includes
lodging for two nights (four
students per room), throe meals
and conference materials. Cost
for adult chaperones is $86.25 per
person (two per room) and $127
(single).
Registration deadline is Feb. 10.
For information, contact the
Youth Advocacy and Involvement
Office, N.C. Department of Ad
ministration, Elks Budding, 121
W. Jones St., Raleigh 27603-1334,
or telephone 919/733-9296.
The Youth Legislative
Assembly and other activities
Ordinances Discussed
By Jack Grove
Three topics promoted lengthy
discussions among members of
the County Board of Commis
sioners at their meeting Monday
morning.
A proposed hunting ordnance
sparked a debate between Com
missioners Joe -Hollowell and
Wayne Goodwin over whether to
require written or oral permission
to hunt on private property.
Hollowell maintained that written
permission should only be re
quired for hunting with center-fire
^jafles awinraliparmisRionfoc^dl.
other types of hunting. Goodwin
felt that written permission should
be obtained for ad weapons used.
The proposed ordinance, as ap
proved by the commission, re
quires written permission for
center-fire rifles and oral permis
sion for other weapons. It also pro
hibits firing of any weapon on
state maintained roads or on the
right of ways. (Currently, the lat
ter provision only applies in
Yeopim Precinct.) The ordinance
will be sent to the General
Assembly requesting passage.
Another proposed ordinance
deals with mobile home parks.
The central issue here concerned
whether to require paving of
streets. As written, the ordinance
i—qiHresfoutr inches of stone stir
face for streets. The county’s sub
division ordinance requires pav
ing. (Mobile home parks don’t
come under the sub-division or
Continued On Page 4
/ m
yg*# f > >v> “
BREAK-IN— Workmen replace a glass door that was shattered by
thieves during a break-in of Quality Shoes on New Year’s Eve.
Break-ins Under Investigation
Several area youths have ap
parently decided to start the new
year off wrong. According to
Edenton Police Chief, John Par
rish, Quality Shoes on Broad
Street was broken into shortly
before or after midnight on New
Year’s Eve.
Entry was gained by smashing
the lower portion of a glass door.
Twenty-five pairs of shoes were
stolen* valued at $1,400. Parrish
said suspects, who are juveniles,
have been interviewed. He said
“there were four or five involved,
maybe more.”
The next night, at 12:55 a.m.,
police discovered that the
Albemarle Shoe Outlet on
Badham Road had been broken
into. Eight pairs of shoes were
taken there. Value of stolen items
in that theft was approximately
$100.
Parrish said that an investiga
tion is continuing and that no
charges have been filed as yet.
On Christmas Eve, thefts were
reported from vehicles in church
parking lots during Christmas
stolen from the back of a pickup
truck owned by Melvin Lane.
A car was broken into and a
purse taken at the First Assembly
of God Church. The purse contain
ed about $90, credit cards, and a
check book. Also stolen was a por
table radio.
Highway Plan
Underway
GREENVILLE—Slowly but
surely North Carolina is fashion
ing a four laned tourist highway
through its most promising tourist
area, deep Eastern North
Carolina.
“I wish it was coming earlier
but Highway 17 will become a
tremendous economic factor
when all 262 miles of it through
North Carolina are completed,”
Lockwood B. Phillips of Morehead
City, said today.
Eastern North Carolina leaders,
as well as state officials, showed
more interest than usual in 17, a
longtime North-South highway
through the state, duringa major
conference on Tourism, con
Continued On Page 4
Proposed Bed and Breakfast development
Bed And Breakfast Inn Proposal Outlined
By Jack Grove
Edenton’s town council
chamber was packed to capacity
Monday evening as a developer
outlined a proposal to build a bed
and breakfast inn on Edenton’s
waterfront. The site of the propos
ed development would be on land
acquired by the town in 1978 for
recreational purposes and which
includes the present police head
quarters and Arts Council
building.
The concept was first introduc
ed to a local delegation who
visited the Inlet Inn in Beaufort,
N.C. on December 16 of last year.
The delegation included represen
tatives of the Town Council,
Chamber of Commerce, Historic
Edenton, Inc., and the Board of
County Commissioners.
Dwayne Anderson, of the
Anderson Benton Co., gave the
town council an extensive history
of his development company and
details concerning the building
and financing of the Inlet Inn and
its impact on Beaufort.
Anderson proposes to purchase
the tract of land that extends from
Waterfront Park to the boundary
of the Leary Oil Co. property and
which is bounded by Edenton Bay
and Water Street.
Architect John MacKae of
Greensboro offered sketches of
the proposal. The project was
designed to blend in with nearby
historic buildings such as Cupola
House and the Barker House. The
two-story design features
balconies facing the water;
horizontal wood siding; metal
roof; and detached chimneys at
the ends of the structure. The con
cept is actually two buildings, one
facing south and other facing
west, overlooking Edenton Bay.
The buildings would be connected
with a breezeway.
Anderson told the council that
the estimated construction cost
would be $55-60,000 pa* room for
a 35 room inn. This would place
the total cost at 2.1 million
dollars.The project would be
financed with an Urban Develop
ment Action Grant (UDAG) ob
tained from the federal govern
ment and private financing.
Anderson proposes to put together
a limited partnership with one
third of the funds being put up by
Anderson and two other partners,
tie said that he welcomed and en
couraged local citizens investing
in this partnership and that par
ticipation could yield as much as
20 per cent on the investment.
In a recent interview, Town Ad
ministrator Sam Noble said that
the town has been looking for a
project for some four years to at
tract a UDAG eligibility. The
federal funds are approved for
certain local projects to en
courage economic development.
The funds granted to
municipalities can then be loaned
to developers at substantially
below market interest rates. As
the funds are paid back, they may
be used for new economic
development loans or for
municipal public works projects.
Noble said that “because of the
Gramm-Rudman Bill, (federal
deficit reduction) in all likelihood,
UDAG funds won’t be available
next year.” He said that the bed
and breakfast inn concept is “the
first feasible project that’s come
along ”
Mayor John Dowd asked Ander
son what such an inn could be ex
pected to bring to the town in
retail dollars. Anderson respond
ed that projected sales taxes
would be $26,000 annually on
revenues of about $500,000.
The council closed its session by
passing two resolutions that would
take the project a step further
down the road. The first approv
ed prelimianary planning with the
Anderson Benton Co. on the pro,,
ject. The second was a resolution
to submit a request for determina
tion of eligibility to the U.S.
Department of Housing and Ur
ban Development for UDAG
funding.
Gil Burroughs, Chairman of the
Citizens Advisory Committee, ap
pointed by Mayor Dowd,
moderated a question and answer
session for the public following the
council session. (This did not con
stitute a public hearing.)
Concerns centered around the
loss of town property to private
development and the impact on
the historic district. Former
mayor Roy Harrell questioned
“losing ownership of the proper
ty completely.” He asserted, “I
thought the waterfront property
was sacred.”
Mayor Dowd responded that the
first thing that had to be done was
find out if the town was eligible for
the federal funds. He pointed out
that the process was just beginn
ing to find out if the project is even
feasible. Dowd said that three
public hearings must be held
before final approval is given.
Noble pointed out that the pro
perty in question was funded part
ly by the U.S. Department of the
Interior for recreational use and
that substitute property would
have to be acquired by the town
for recreational use to satisfy
federal requirements. The
substitute land would have to have
Continued On Page 4
FILING— Clara Boswell, incumbent County Commissioner, flies for
reelection during the opening minutes of the January 6 through
February 3 filing period for the May 6 primary. At left is Marjorie
Allen.