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oath Oh office—Legislators take oaths of office in the House
of Representatives Monday afternoon. Sworn from the First District
are Rep. Vernon James of Pasquotank (foreground) and Rep. R.M.
mm
(Pete) Thompson of Chowan (at left). It was standing room only in
the visitor galleries as friends and family of the legislators viewed the
opening day proceedings of the General Assembly.
Local Residents
Attend Swearing-In
By JACK GROVE
After an interval of 22 years,
Chowan County again has a legis
lator in the General Assembly.
R.M. (Pete) Thompson was sworn
into office in the House of Rep
resentatives Monday morning
along with some 30 other
freshmen. The earlier Chowan
legislator was Jim Earnhardt, an
Edenton attorney, who stepped
down in 1965.
About 30 county residents made
the trek to Raleigh to see Thomp
son and veteran First District
Rep. Vernon James of Pasquo
tank take their oaths of office.
Alton Elmore, Chairman of the
County Board of Commissioners,
was present for the opening
ceremonies and commented that
the visitor galleries were “just
jam-packed.” He credited the
number of new legislators with at
THE CHOWAN HERALD
Published In The Most Beautiful Little City On The North Carolina Coast
Volume HI 11 - No. 7
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, February 12, 1987
Single Copies 25 Cents
1 *
Free Ride For Too Long
North Carolina Railroad Com
pany was in the news recently
because, with no operating ex
penses of its own, it had managed
to run a deficit during the last
fiscal year. That prompted us to
take a closer look at the sub
. merged portion of this corporate
iceberg.
North Carolina owns a little
over two-thirds of the stock
outstanding in the North Carolina
"Railroad Company, which, in
■Virn, owns-some 474.8 miles- of
track and siding from Charlotte
through the Piedmont Crescent
and the state capital to Goldsboro.
More precisely, the state owns
3,000,200 of the 4,000,000 shares,
.the remaining 999,800 being held
by private citizens. Thus, the state
controls a very big company. In
addition to the tracks, its holdings
include six acres of land in Char
lotte’s business district, 150 acres
just south of Clayton, and several
other parcels of land, together
with improvements, along the
line.
But all of this property is
operated by Southern Railway
Company under a 99-year lease
entered into back in 1896, when
dollars looked much bigger than
they do today. This lease expires
January 1, 1995; but a second
lease covering the Charlotte pro
perty, signed in 1968, when dollars
didn’t look so large, is just as
sweet as the first. It expires on
December 31, 2067.
Under the terms of the first
lease, Southern Railway gained
control of property, roadbed and
facilities for an annual rental of
only $286,000, but agreed to pay all
income, property and franchise
taxes. Under the second lease,
covering the property in Char
lotte, Southern Railway agreed to
pay an annual rental of $90,000
through the 50th year, then no
more than 6 per cent of the ap
praised value of the property per
ypar for the balance of the con
tract.
Thus, for $376,000 a year, the
Southern Railway Company has
enjoyed the use of a property now
Valued from $125 million to $512
million, depending on how you
look at it. Evep at the rate of 6 per
cent and at the lowest value, the
state ought to be receiving..
$7,500,000 a year.
From that it is apparent that a
great deal will be at stake when
the original lease comes up for
ftihewal in 1995. How much is this
property really vortb to toe .
Southern RailwayCompany? It is
an important link in the South
i’s system,
Washington south. A
ion of its traffic moves
Center Hill Home Is Destroyed In Early Morning Blaze
The home of James Monds in
the Center Hill community was
completely destroyed by fire Mon
day night. No one was home when
the fire was discovered.
Center Hill Fire Chief Leon
Evans said his department was
called just before 4 a.m. Tuesday
after a motorist noticed the blaze.
The home was engulfed in
flames when firefighters arrived
and Evans said, “You couldn’t
even tell where it started. When
it’s like that, you just feel
helpless.”
Edenton Fire Dept, has
answered three alarms recently,
two for minor fires.
Fire Chief Lynn Perry said the
first occurred just before 9 p.m.
February 6 when a chimney
caught fire in the home of Samuel
Robison on Bayview Drive. No
damage was reported.
A stove fire at the home of Alice
Williams brought the fire depart
ment to 72 Chowan Court at 7:44
a.m. Monday. Smoke damage was
minor.
Perry and Chowan County
Forestry Ranger Roger Spivey
Council Delays Decision On Rezoning
Edenton Mayor John Dowd
stepped aside as presiding officer
at the town council meeting Tues
day night during two rezoning
hearings for property, owned by
Judy Earnhardt Adams, that
straddles N.C. 32 north oii the east
side of the intersection with U.S.
17 bypass.
Dowd gave as his reason, a
business relationship with
developer Bob Thomas through
Dowd’s real estate company.
Thomas is planning the construc
tion of a shopping center on the
west side of U.S. 17 at the intersec
tion with N.C. 32. Mayor ProTem
Willis Privott then presided.
The first hearing dealt with a re
quest to rezone 20 acres located at
the southwest corner of the
highway intersection from R-20
(residential) to CH (highway
commercial). The parcel is adja
cent to the Edenton United
Methodist Church.
The second parcel of 20 acres is
across Virginia Road (N.C. 32)
behind McDonald’s and the
Golden Corral. That request was
for a change from R-20 (residen
tial) to CS (shopping'center).
After well over an hour of
spirited exchange from various
speakers for and against the re
quests in an over-flowing council
chamber, the council voted
unanimously to continue the sub
ject to a February 24 meeting and
a final decision. The continuance
was due to council’s concern that
adequate notice by mail had not
been given to neighbors bordering
the Adams property.
Gil Burroughs and Thomas
questioned the rezonings. Bur
roughs was concerned about
future use of the first parcel if the
rezoning was passed and Adams
subsequently sold to another
developer who might not follow
her stated aim of developing a
professional park. The park would
have offices for medical and other
professionals. Highway commer
cial would also allow such other
businesses as auto repair, shops,
mobile home parks and service
stations.
Adams’ attorney Troy Smith,
countered that town ordinances
and building permits would hold
the property to the planned use.
Some council members showed
through facial expressions, their
doubt at this assertion.
Adams said at the hearing, “I
would like to tell you that I met
with the planning board (Monday
night) and they were unanimous
in their approval (of the rezon
ing).” She also assured the coun
cil, ‘‘I want to enhance what’s
there.” Several members of the
adjacent church spoke in favor of
the rezoning.
From the audience, Rae Knox
asked if Mrs. Adams wasn’t also
considereing a restaurant for the
location? Mrs. Adams
acknowledged that she was con
sidering that possibility.
During the hearing on the other
tract, a representative of a
development company retained
by Mrs. Adams, provided infor
mation on a proposed shopping
center to be called Colonial Shop
ping Center. He said that three an
chor tenants, dubbed “triple A
tenants,” had been located.
While he said that the identity of
the three could not now be iden
tified, “ We foresee this as a
regional center, not just for
Edenton.”
David Twiddy spoke out against
the center, contending that pro
perty values of residents on Mor
ris Circle near the complex would
fall. The developer replied that his
company had seen property
values go up in other areas where
it had built shopping centers.
Thomas rose to say, “I can be
accused of speaking from a selfish
interest.” He said that at the plan
ning board meeting, the state
ment was made that “her tenants
would completely bypass Edenton
if this wasn’t approved.” Calling
it a childish statement, he said,
“If they would bypass Edenton,
Continued On Page 4
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MAKES POINT—Judy Earnhardt Adams points to the location of a proposed shopping center behind
McDonald’s and the Golden Corral. She spoke at a town council hearing on rezoning of her property for
that purpose. Counciltnen (1 to r) are E.N. (Pete) Manning, Herbert Hollowell and Mayor Pro Tem Willis
Privott.
have issued a word of caution
after a brush fire was contained
on Airport Road around 2:30 p.m.
Monday.
Since the fire started on the
shoulder of the highway and burn
ed into the edge of the woods,
Perry said they believed the fire
was caused when someone threw
a burning cigarette from a pass
ing vehicle.
“I know we’ve had a lot of rain,
but the ground surface is getting
dry and it’s time for people to
start burning for spring clearing.
A brush fire can get out of hand
quickly, especially in high winds.
People should be careful when
they begin to burn fields and dit
ches,” Perry said.
trading such huge crowds of
family members and friends.
The chairman said that the
hometown folks had a good view
of Thompson and James during
the proceedings. It was a cold and
extremely windy day across the
state and Elmore, noting that it
was cold and flu season and that
there was 100 per cent attendance
of legislators, said, “It’s quite an
accomplishment to have
everybody present on swearing-in
day.”
Thompson’s desk is right behind
that of James at the right front of
the chamber facing the Speaker’s
chair. In noting this fact, Elmore
offered, “Pete is very fortunate in
having a veteran such as Vernon
James to help guide him along as
a freshman. Of course, he could do
well on his own, but he can do
tremendously better with a good
friend like Vernon James.”
Other observations were made
by town councilmen Allen B.
Harless and E.N. (Pete) Mann
ing, also in attendance. Manning
said, “If more people had realiz
ed the impact Thompson will have
on the local area, there would
have been a lot more of our local
citizens there.”
Elmore, Harless and Manning
had never attended an opening
day of the General Assembly. The
councilmen couldn’t get into the
crowded gallery and could only
watch through a glass wall.
Harless nonetheless found it
“very impressive”, though he
could not hear the proceedings.
He commented, “It has been a
number of years since we’ve had
someone from Chowan County to
be our Representative. I don’t
think it’s anything but true,” That
the citizens of the county will have
more direct access to the
legislature, “however, he’s there
to serve the whole area.” He
pointed out that Thompson has
roots in Perquimans and Pas
quotank Counties as well. He
summed up, “It’s always an ad
Continued On Page 4
FARM SAVE DAY—Businessmen and farmers across the area have
worked together to sponsor a day of tribute to farmers Saturday in
Elizabeth City. Tom Byrum (left) donated time and offered a building
and Mike Nixon (right) and his father, Earl Nixon, donated porkers
for the pig picking.
Farm Save Day Nearing
By JEANETTE WHITE
Valentine’s Day is traditionally
a day of love, and people in the
Albemarle area will use the day to
show love and appreciation for
farmers from Carolina to Cali
fornia.
Area businessmen and planners
are expecting up to 100,000 people
from across the nation to con
verge on Elizabeth City State
University Saturday for Farm
Save Day, planned so growers can
meet at a grassroots level and talk
about solutions to problems that
have caused the farm crisis.
The idea began more than a
year ago when Eugene Meads of
Pasquotank County tried to think
of a way to say thank you to the
nation’s farmers. From his idea,
the plans have snowballed.
One worker with Farm Save, W.
A. Weeks said, “Response has
been fantastic, overwhelming. We
have had calls from people every
where. We have whole planes
booked and caravans driving
from Georgia, the Eastern Shore
arid places in North Carolina.”
As plans grew, a command post
was necessary to handle calls and
publicity. Monday afternoon the
vibe-president of the N.C. Future
Farmers of America, volunteers
from the Coastguard and Week’s
wife were answering calls on one
of 17 toll-free coast-to-coast lines
donated by telephone companies.
Continental and Eastern Air
lines have provided trans
portation at 80 percent discount,
local businesses and farmers are
donating food for an all-day pig
picking with up to 150 hogs, host
families and motels are providing
housing and ECSU is providing
meeting places and a cafeteria. A
shuttle service from Norfolk air
port to Elizabeth City will provide
transportation.
Renowned entertainers who
have contacted Farm Save and
said they would like to help in
clude Ricky Scaggs and Joe
Namath. Edie Adams, who lost an
almond farm last year, cannot ap
pear but will hold a press con
ference on the West Coast to talk
about the plight of farmers. Per
quimans County’s James (Cat
fish) Hunter will be a guest. One
company provided a computer to
answer 10,000 telephone calls dai
ly so Hunter could talk with peo
ple asking for information.
A restaurateur in Danville, Va.,
called to say he is bringing a
cooker 17 feet wide and V feet
long to cook 660 pounds of pork in
four hours. I \
In Chowan County, hogs were
Continued On Page 4