I
A BETTER CHOICE — We
heartily endorse the alternate
plan put before the city council at
its July 8 meeting for use of
municipally-owned property on
the Edenton waterfront and want
to commit the Chowan Herald to
do its part toward raising the
funds at the appropriate time,
i While the modified bed-and
breakfast proposal advanced by
Anderson-Benton Corp. is not as
objectionable as the original pro
posal, it still amounts to creeping
commercialization of the water
front area, which is not the direc
tion we feel the city ought to be
moving.
We believe that the proposal by
| Gil Burroughs and Ross Inglis to
involve local civic and communi
ty groups in the development of a
waterfront park in three stages to
be workable; and we know the end
result would generate more com
munity pride and spirit than the
plan offered by the outside
developers.
As proposed, Phase I, calling
> for the stabilization of the
shoreline and construction of bad
minton and volleyball courts at a
cost of $7,000 to $10,000, is a
modest beginning which can easi
ly be achieved. Phase II, calling
for further development of the
park area at a cost of $9,000, is a
next logical step after the first.
Phase III, calling for the erection
i of a boathouse and other ap
propriate facilities, is estimated to
cost some $20,000 and will require
a litte more effort. But nothing
succeeds like success, and the
third step may actually be easier
than the first two.
We especially liked the offer by
Burroughs to provide the boats
and give sailing lessons free.
There must be any number of
younger people, not to mention
some who are older, who would
love to have an opportunity to
learn the basics of sailing. Such
lessons are offered the public up
on the Clvactes river in Boston,
but with a difference. Up there
you have to pay.
So, we hope the council will look
' Continued On Page 4
Accident
Takes Life
An apparent drowning last
Wednesday evening took the life
of Joseph Keith Byrum, 21 of
Chowan County. The accident
took place while he was swimm
ing with several friends in
Albemarle Sound behind the
Soundview Restaurant in
Washington County.
Calvin Garrett, 24, said that he
was swimming with Byrum at
about 7:30 p.m. when the victitn
dove off a pier into shallow water.
The water depth was reportedly
two to three feet at that spot. “He
dove too deep,” Garrett said.
Byrum was pulled from the
water unconscious and not
breathing witnesses said. Mouth
to mouth resusitation was started
and CPR administered by Guy
Davenport, a bystander, until the
local rescue squad arrived on the
scene, according to Washington
County Sheriff Jim Whitehurst.
The victim was pronounced dead
at Chowan Hospital.
Doug Belch, Director of Chowan
County Emergency Medical Ser
vices, said, “This is the first re
cent fatality that 1 know of.”
Referring to the shallop waters
along the sound’s shoreline, he
said, “We’re very fortunate that
we don’t have more of them.”
Hie EMS director said that
there has been one accident a year
for the past two summers involv
irig neck injuries associated with
diving in the sound.
Byrum, of Route 3, Edenton,
was employed by Wilber Ray
Bunch and Sons Farm. He is sur
vived by his mother, Louise Gray
McClenney. of Edenton; his
father, Joseph B. Byrum of Eden
ton; his wife, Candace Potts
Byrum of Edenton; a daughter,
Lauren Pickell of Merry Hill; and
a son, Thomas Kevin Byrum of
Edenton.
(I
Edenton-Chowan Alternative School To Close
The Edenton-Chowan Board of
Education heard comments Tues
day from interested citizens con
cerning the projected closing of
the Alternative School that has
been housed in the basement of
the Ernest A. Swain School. The
board proposed to close the school
as a cost-saving measure.
School Superintendent Dr. John
Dunn led the meeting off with a
discussion of budget cuts man
dated by the county and state
governments. He pointed out that
$30,000 was cut due to a recent
county property tax hearing when
commissioners lopped three cents
off an originally projected IS cent
per hundred increase.
The state legislature also sur
prised school officials by a six and
one-half cent salary increase for
teachers and a straight $75 per
month raise for non-certified staff
personnel such as custodians,
aides and maintenance personnel.
This cost the school budget
another $19,258 in unexpected ex
penditures, Dunn said. The board
had budgeted for a five per cent
increase.
“The board was faced with
some rather tough decisions,” the
superintendent said. He cited
statistics concerning dropping
enrollment figures in the Alter
native School and a much high per
pupil expenditure. During the
1985-86 school year, it cost $5,166
to educate an alternative student
while the student cost at John A.
Holmes was $1,881.
Holmes principal Rob Boyce ad
dressed keeping the program
alive at his school. He said the
school could absorb a maximum
of twenty students whose entry
level into the Holmes program
would be much like the in-school
suspension program. The goal of
the program would be to allow as
many of these students as possi
ble to become involved in the
regular instructional program as
their progress in attitude and
academics reached acceptable
levels. There would be one
teacher for every ten students and
“We’re talking about using our
home ec room upstairs,” Boyce
explained.
Dunn told the listeners that none
of the teachers in the present
Alternative School would lose
their jobs. “We would lose two
people, a secretary and a
teacher’s aide,” he said.
Board Chairman Cecil Fry then
opened the hearing to comments
from the audience.
Mack Livesay, with the State
Division of Youth Services told the
board that December 7, 1977 was
a memorable date, the date on
which the Edenton-Chowan Alter
native School opened its doors.
The state official said that the
goal of the program was “To com
bat juvenile delinquency and pro
vide services to young people at
risk.” He termed it, “One of the
most viable programs that’s been
presented.”
“The last program presented is
usually the first one to go,’’ he
said. I’m happy to see that it could
be absorbed into Holmes High
School. With the Alternative
School, you’ve almost completely
done away with drop-outs. This
school has made a very signifi
cant contribution to the State of
North Carolina,” he concluded.
A graduate of the Alternative
School, Gwen Balcredi of Raleigh
Continued On Page 4
EXPLAINS BUDGET CRUNCH—School Board Superintendent Dr. John Dunn explains why budget cuts
will make it necessary to close the Edenton-Chowan Alternative School. He said that an unexpected coun
ty budget cut, coupled with a higher than expected state-mandated teacher pay raise cut deeply into the
school board’s funds.
THE CHOWAN HERALD
Published In The Most Beautiful Little City On The North Carolina Coast
Volume XLX - No. 30
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, July 24, 1986
Single Copies 25 Cents
Swain Possible Apartment Site
A preliminary step has been
taken in the possible conversion of
the abandoned Ernest A. Swain
School property into an apartment
complex for the elderly. Chowan
County Commissioners heard a
Charlotte developer, Dwayne
Anderson of Anderson-Benton Co.
outline the proposal. This is the
same company that proposes to
build an inn on Edenton’s
waterfront.
Tbd board Of commissioners
recently decided to market the
school through the N.C. Preserva
tion Fund, a non-profit organiza
tion that handles sales of historic
properties. The goal is to preserve
the historic building and at the
same time realize a financial gain
for the county. Revenue would go
toward renovation of the
auditorium behind the school for
community use.
County Manager Cliff Copeland
told the commissioners that a con
tract had not yet been executed
with the Preservation Fund
because the building had not yet
been deeded to the county from
the School Board. Despite this, the
organization is continuing to
market the property, Copeland
said.
Anderson, a former city plan
ner, said that he had done most of
the planning for the downtown
area of Tarboro. As examples of
the work his company has done in
converting buildings for apart
ments for the elderly, he pointed
to the Belvidere Hotel in
Reidsville, with 35 apartments
and the R.M. Wilson‘High School
in Rocky Mount, with 54
apartments.
The approach for Swain would
be the construction of ten apart
ments each on the second and
third floors. The first floor would
be reserved for amenities for the
residents as well as the public.
These amenities would include of
fice space, a recreation area and
public toilets as well as an area
that could house a civic organiza
tion such as the Edenton-Chowan
Arts Council.
Anderson said that the standard
size classroom makes an “ideal
module” for a one bedroom apart
ment. He said that the one pro
blem with this type of construction
was affordability.
The developer said that the unit
cost for each apartment was ap
proximately $45,000. He said that
a new loan program combining
forces of the N.C. Farmers Home
Administration and the N.C.
Housing Financing Agency Would
make possible a low-cost loan to
a developer for this type of hous
ing. Only historic renovations
would qualify.
These agencies have targeted 29
rural counties of the state as eligi
ble for the program. Included are
Perquimans, Tyrrell, Bertie and
Chowan. The 29 counties are
divided into four areas with
Chowan being one of nine in this
area. Each targeted area of the
state will receive only one pro
gram, Anderson said.
He said that his company would
need some kind of cost-share
agreement with the county for
some of the amenities such as an
elevator, landscaping and public
toilets. With the low-cost financing
and cost-sharing, Anderson said
that the apartments could be
available to tenants for a rental of
$210 per month plus utilities of
about $50 per month for a total of
$260.
Commission Chairman Alton
Elmore told the group that he had
attended Wilson High School in
Rocky Mount and had subsequent
ly seen the development there He
said that at the time he saw the
apartments, he didn’t know who
the developer was. He termed it a
“first class facility.”
Anderson said that his company
needed a letter from the county
stating its interest in the proposal
and including any “subject to’s”
that the county might wish to in
clude. He said that the letter
Continued On Page 4
BANKER HANDS OVER DEED—Marshall Tetterton, President and
Chief Operating Officer of People’s Bank hands the deed for Edenton’s
old People’s Bank building to Mayor John Dowd during a ceremony
on the building’s steps Wednesday morning.
Bank Donates Building
The oldest bank building in
historic Edenton will have a new
Sales Tax Hike Set For Fall
A measure passed by Chowan
County Commissioners Monday
morning will make it a little easier
to figure sales tax for customers
and merchants alike. The board
passed a hike of a half cent in local
sales tax which could mean an ex
tra $100,000 in revenue to the coun
ty the first year.
The combined state and local
sales tax now amounts to a nickel
on a dollar. Other area counties
passing the increase this week
were Pasquotank, Perquimans
and Camden.
ARCHITECT OUTLINES APARTMENT PLANS-John MacRae of Anderson-Benton Co. describes plans
for the conversion of the Swain School into one bedroom apartments for the elderly. Each apartment would
have a full-sized kitchen. Commissioners A1 Phillips and Clara Boswell study sketches during the
presentation.
The public hearing on the mat
ter brought no opposition from the
few residents who. attended the
session. A1 Howard of Arrowhead
Beach pointed out to the commis
sioners that the General
Assembly was not overly
generous in recent revenue
legislation.
“The legislature gave with one
hand and has taken a <• ay with the
other,” Howard said. He referred
to a bill removing personal pro
perty tax as a county revenue
source. County Manager Cliff
Copeland said that this would
amount to a loss to the county of
some $74,000. Commissi, i chair
Continued On Page 4
life, thanks to Peoples Bank and
Trust Co.
The bank Wednesday donated
its 75-year old Bank of Edenton
building to the Town of Edenton.
It will be used to house municipal
offices.
Marshall Tetterton, President
and Chief Operating Officer of
Peoples Bank, presented the deed
to Edenton Mayor John Dowd and
the Town Council in a ceremony
at the building.
Tetterton said, ‘ W’e at Peoples
Bank can think of no higher pur
pose for this fine old building than
to serve the modern-day needs of
a town that has done so much to
recognize and preserve the
history, culture and architecture
of its past.”
Mayor John Dowd responded,
“We deeply appreciate Peoples
Continued On Page 4
Contractors Form Association
By JACK GROVE
A new association of builders
was born at a meeting of licensed
general contractors last Friday.
The noon lunch meeting was
called by contractors to air
charges of misconduct on the part
of local unlicensed contractors
and to question procedures used
by town and county building in
spectors in issuing permits.
A special guest at the meeting
was Mark Selph of Raleigh, field
representative of the N.C. Licens
ing Board for General Contrac
tors. He told the group, “I work
for you," and called for an infor
mal meeting of questions and
answers. Selph is the only field
representative for the state and its
one hundred counties.
He said that there were, prob
lems in all the counties with
unlicensed contracting activity.
State law requires that anyone
contracting to build a structure
costing $30,000 or more must be
licensed by the state. An exception
is a person or corporation building
on his own property with the in
tent of occupying the building.
It is this exception that the con
tractors felt was being violated. It
was charged that unlicensed con
tractors have sent property own
ers to obtain building permits in
their own names to circumvent
the law. In cases such as this, the
property owner must be on the job
site daily to supervise construc
tion. Selph said that this provision
of the law “opens the gate to
unlicensed contractors." Calling it
a defective law,” he said the ex
ception constituted "the bugaboo
Continued On Page 4