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THE CHOWAN HERALD
Published In The Most Beautiful Little City On The North Carolina Coast
volume LLIV - No. 5
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, February 4,1988
Single Copies 25 Cents
Behind Litter Brigade
Everybody along the Public
Parade should applaud
Chowan County's renewed
{■campaign to clean up litter
falong its highways and by
ways. We hope that, by the
time this is in print, notice
able progress will have been
made.
Littering is one of the most
serious problems confronting
communities all across the
state. Perhaps it is a more se
rious problem in the south
•than elsewhere. If that is so, it
says something about the
character and sense of values
of the region.
Iredell County is one of the
most beautiful in the entire
state. Its rolling green hills
reflect an agriculture based
on beef cattle and dairying.
,^,lts pastures slope back from
the Interstates to neat homes
and barns on the hilltops.
Yet there are places in
Iredell County that could
qualify as the Litter Capital of
the state. We built in the
country some 30 years ago, on
a road that wasn’t yet paved
"and where not many people
£lived. Since then two
Interstates have been built,
intersecting within a mile of
our place, and the road by our
house has been paved.
■ We look upon all that as
^Progress. It has enabled thou
sands of people living in the
county to make a better liv.
ing. Shopping malls and
Chousing developments have
followed, converting our road
into a heavily-traveled thor
oughfare.
And with it all has come
litter, persistent and
pernicious. People driving by
seem to take pleasure in
aiming their beer bottles and
drink cans at our driveway.
^Plastic hamburger and hotdog
containers are thrown to the
curb, along with the french
fries and catsup and
cigarettes butts which some of
the more fastidious drivers
have emptied from their,
ashtrays into the ever-handy
cartons.
^ These people probably keep
*very neat lawns and grounds
around their own places; but
Continued On Page 4
Possible Bus Driver Shortage Discussed
ay uAi/& unuvf.
School bus drivers, AIDS,
school system accreditation, a
low dropout rate and annual
writing test scores were
among the topics discussed at
the Edenton-Chowan School
Board meeting Monday
night.
It was noted that the U.S.
Department of Labor has
given North Carolina school
systems a reprieve until Au
gust, 1988 of a federal ruling
that all school bus drivers
must be 18 years of age or
older. No 16-year-old drivers
may be used.
Edenton-Chowan currently
has five drivers who are se
niors. Other school systems
around the state are in more
serious circumstances as
most of their drivers are stu
dents.
Ten buses serve Chowan
Jr. High School, seven for
White Oak, 12 for D.F.
Walker and ten for John A.
Holmes High School.
Associate Superintendent
Jim Kinion told the board that
"the prospect is that there will
be no student drivers next
year." Most adults driving
buses work at the schools.
State law says that after
delivery of students in the
morning, buses must remain
on the campus. The driver is
allowed to keep the bus at his
home after completion of the
afternoon route.
Kinion pointed out that for
drivers who do not work at the
school, "They've got to make
some arrangement to be
picked up or stay in town,"
(for Walker and Holmes). He
added, "We could have a po
tential problem with Chowan
and White Oak," in the
northern end of the county.
Superintendent John Dunn
summarized with "I think
what we're saying is that we
have to find a way to deal with
this situation before next
summer."
Director of instruction,
Maxine Britt, presented
writing test scores for sixth
and eighth grade students that
showed a steady improvement
PLEASED - Expressions of pleasure were evident at Monday night’s school board meeting as
superintendent John Dunn presented a certificate for schools accreditation to board chairman
Cecil Frye. Associate superintendent Jim Kinion is at left.
over scores for previous
years. The scores run from
an "NS" at the low end to a 4.0
at the high end. She said that
2.5 and above was considered
good.
In the sixth grade, the per
centage of students scoring
4.0 - 3.5 was 7.2 in 1984 and
6.1 in 1987. Students scoring
3.0 - 2.5 jumped from 26.6 in
1984 to 40.5 in 1987.
In the eighth grade, 4.0 -
3.5, 1985 percentage was 3.7
and in 1987, 7.6. Students
scoring 3.0 - 2.5 jumped from
27.6 in 1985 to 51.2 in 1987.
"You will see that we have
steadily increased since 1984.
This is due to the teachers. We
are very pleased," Mrs. Britt
observed.
School board chairman
Cecil Frye told the board that
"We ranked eighth lowest in
the state" in school dropout
rates. Dunn pointed out that
the school system ranked first
in dropout rates "three years
ago." In answer to a question
from board member Frank
Cox, Dunn said, "I think a lot
Continued On Page 4
Center Funding Request Endorsed
^nowan county uomims
sioners had one of their short
est meetings in recent mem
ory Monday night as they
disposed of a small agenda in
under 45 minutes.
Jack Pruden and Linda
Eure of Historic Edenton re
quested the commission's en
dorsement of efforts to obtain
funds for the Ziegler House
renovations. The funds would
come from the state Depart
ment of Cultural Resources'
budget with the Ziegler project
sixth on that department's
Zoning Questions Answered
(MSSIVNbta. In advance of the
Town Council meeting on Feb. 9 at
which a puhllc hearing will be held to
consider revising of the Historic
Zoning District, we present the
following questions and answers
about the proposed amendments,
provided by Mayor John Dowd and
Edenton Historic Commission.)
Q. What will the amend
ments do?
A. One makes the bound
aries of the Edenton Historic
District under the Town Zon
ing. Ordinance include all the
area now designated by the
Secretary of the Interior as the
Edenton Historic District on
the National Register of His
toric Places.
The area is, roughly,
Edenton between Granville
and Oakum Streets from the
waterfront to Gale Street, with
an extension along Broad
Street.
Much of the area is already
in the town's district.
Significant elements of the
town, however, are not.
The second set of amend
ments will make the terms of
office of the members of the
Historic District Commission
begin after a new Town
Council is elected and ap
points the members. At pre
sent, there is no timetable for
the appointment of members.
At present, the Commission
is required to meet ten days
after an application for a cer
tificate is received. Under the
proposed amendment, the
Commission will consider
applications at its regular
meetings on the first Monday
of each month. The applica
tions must be made ten days
before those meetings.
Of course, the Commission
can meet on call of the chair
man if an application is ur
gent.
Filing Complete For Area Offices
R Hare both declared
tilings tor elective office
closed Monday at noon with
l^all local positions having at
" least one candidate. Races
have developed for one county
commissioner seat and one
seat on the school board.
Alton Elmore was the first
office-seeker to file on
January 4 for reelection to the
county board of commission
ers. No one has filed to oppose
him.
Register of deeds, Anne
Spruill filed for reelection on
the same day and she too is
unopposed.
School board incumbents
Alice Jones and John
. Mitchener, III of the first
i township have no competitii
>' i»» hide for reeli
IVoiloKli
_ scnooi Doard seat
the second township will
{see competition, however,
; Glorious Elliott, incumbent,
| and challenger Emmett E.
, Winborne both filed last
week.
A race has £
j in t|ie third
| the county
R. Wayne
developed
ip slot for
board,
and
for that seat last week.
Goodwin, seeking reelec
tion for a second term, issued
a statement outlining his
reasons for running again.
He urged more community
involvement in governmen
tal decisions and stated his
support for the new 911 emer
gency communications sys
tem and fire, rescue and law
enforcement agencies.
The bulk of the statement,
however, dealt with "one of
my primary concerns," the
school system. Goodwin said
that a "common sense" ap
proach was needed on that
subject.
"As county commissioner,
I will focus my attention to
wards what I believe to be
careless and reckless spend
ing of the taxpayers' money
by the school administration
and Board of Education of
Chowan County."
He continued, "I believe the
mohey should be concentrated
more at the teacher? level
wham education is really de
rived from, rather than at the
administrative level where it
never reaches the students. I
believe it to be ridiculous to
have created positions that
have assistants to the assis
tants."
On the system's physical
plant, ”1 too, would like to
have new school buildings for
our children. However, as
reasonable people, we have to
live within our means of af
fordability." Goodwin said
that as a commissioner, "I
would not put the taxpayers in
a tax-burden situation in or
der to build more buildings
when true education is de
rived from the teachers and
not new buildings."
Schools superintendent,
Dr. John Dunn, pointed out at
a recent school board meeting
that, while the school board
was responsible for identify
ing building needs, the county
board of commissioners was
responsible for 'identifying
funding.
Election to school board
seats is on a non-partisan ba
sis. The other offices this year
are in partisan elections with
only Democrats filing at the
deadline Monday according
to Election Board Supervisor
Marie Akins.
Q. Doesn't all of this in
volve a lot of extra paperwork?
A. The laws of North Car
olina, and the existing Town
Ordinance, both require a
Certificate of Appropriateness
before any alterations can be
made to any building in the
district. The proposed
amendments add nothing to
Continued On Page 8
priority list.
The project would renovate
Ziegler House as a visitor
center for the town, moving
the function from Barker
House. Historic Edenton has
expressed concern about the
wear and tear of visitors to the
older Barker House and also
point out that Ziegler House is
state owned.
A special appropriations bill
for the Ziegler project failed to
gain passage in the General
Assembly last summer.
The board was told that their
endorsement would move the
project up on Cultural Re
sources priority list. A letter
will be written supporting the
request.
The commissioners agreed
to refer a petition to the
Department of Transportation
for eligibility determination
of addition to the state system
of a dirt lane off of SR 1230
(Green Road).
After a public hearing
which saw no opposition
voiced, the board adopted a fi
nal assessment roll for road
improvements to Yeopim
Trail. Property owners on the
street will be assessed $2.07
per foot for improvements.
The commission approved
the reappointment of five
Planning Board members.
They are Jack Evans, An
thony Hathaway, Jr., James
D. Ward, Emily Ambum and
Richard Bunch. A sixth, Tony
Continued On Page 4
Drivers Cause Safety Concern
A problem with vehicle
traffic on the Albemarle
Sound Bridge has attracted the
attention of the N.C. Highway
Patrol. The problem sterns
from work being done on the
new span over the sound.
Bridge safety supervisor,
A.J. Holts, of Cianbro
Williams, bridge contractors,
said that company employees
have come close to being
struck by impatient drivers
who refused to stop during
concrete pouring operations.
Concrete trucks bring the
mix onto the old bridge to be
transferred by bucket and
crane to the new bridge pour
ing operation. Some drivers,
during operations several
weeks ago, pulled out around
flagmen at both ends of one
lane traffic, causing traffic
tieups and hazardous condi
tions for workers.
During pour operations
Saturday, Holts said that
troopers transited the bridge
"at least five times," prompt
ing both truck and private ve
hicle drivers to slow down
and cooperate with flagmen.
The company has had to
call a halt to the cement pour
during the recent span of cold
weather and rain and high
winds. The concrete is being
poured in molds for "low-wa
ter caps" that will support the
bridge columns near the draw
of the present bridge. The new
bridge will have a high-rise
center instead of a draw.
Roadway for the bridge
now extends from the Chowan
shore out to where the rise will
begin and some 1,500 feet out
from the Washington shore.
Holts asked that the public
continue to exercise patience
and cooperation with flag
nen. For the public's driving
safety, officials recom
nended that the new bridge
aot be inspected by the driver
vhile his vehicle is moving.
\nd the Highway Patrol will
le keeping an eye on the situ
ation.
TAKE *ER UP - Cement is transferred from a truck on the Albemarle Sound bridge by crane
to the work site on the new bridge, part of which can be seen in the background. Impatient drivers
using the bridge have caused hazardous conditions for construction workers.