THE CHOWAN HERALD
Published In The Most Beautiful Little City On The North Carolina Coast
Volume LLIV - No. 13
■* • srr- g—.. ■■ ■
Edenton, North Carolina, Thursday, March 31,1988
Single Copies 25 Cents
4 ■I'"™"1 -i— 1 "W ' ■
Time To Reconsider
Selection of a new
chancellor at the University
of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill, a long, ur vn-out pro
cess now about to come to an
end, has occasioned some soul
searching among alumni
and other supporters over the
issue of image erosion.
Some have said that the
problem has become so serious
that the university is about to
lose standing among its peers
across the country and have
suggested that, somehow, the
Chapel Hill campus ought to
be removed from the 16-cam
pus system established by the
General Assembly in the
early 1970s.
They say the chancellor
ship of the Chapel Hill unit
has become a shadowy office
that no longer carries the clout
and respect it once did among
the great research universi
ties.
/ Others feel that the
University at Chapel Hill,
conceived as the apex of the 16
campus system, has actually
suffered as a result of the re
structuring, that the process,
instead of pushing the apex
higher, has actually served to
level everything toward an
average.
We do not believe the situ
ation is all that critical, al
though the search committee's
decision to go outside the state
for a new chancellor would
tend to lend credence to some
of those claims.
We believe such problems
as exist have resulted from the
decision, during the early
days of the restructuring pro
cess, to locate the administra
tive office of the 16-campus
system at Chapel Hill. That
has the effect of putting the
President of the 16-campus
system, together with his staff,
on the same campus as the
Chancellor of the Chapel Hill
unit and his staff.
Continued On Page 4
"WHO'LL MAKE IT THIRTYT-One of the many items
auctioned last weekend to benefit the Heart Fund is on the block.
j^A Chowan County Heart Assoc, official said that the auction
brought in some $6,400 that will go toward research on heart
disease. A week's stay at a vacation house in the Bahamas went
for $760.
Delays Plague System
By JACK GROVE
The Town of Edenton's
new wastewater treatment
land application system has
experienced delays in
completion and could run
afoul of state regulations if
not completed prior to July 1 of
this year.
The system was originally
scheduled for completion at
the end of January. The
contractor blamed bad
weather for delays and said
the work would be completed
in June. The completion date
now has been moved forward
to July.
Ford Chambliss, engineer
with the town's consultant,
L.E. Wooten Co., explained a
procedure to avoid state action
to town council at a specially
called meeting at noon on
Tuesday.
Strict state guidelines for
effluent go into effect July 1
and Edenton would have no
problem with compliance if
the land application system
was in operation by then,
Chambliss said.
Council heard that they
could avoid action if they
passed a resolution of intent to
apply for a judicial order of
consent. Implicit in this order
would be a schedule showing
when the system would be in
final compliance. Council
quickly approved the
resolution.
Chambliss told council that
a modification was needed in
slope protection for a dyke
around a holding lagoon for
the system. The lagoon will
have 28 water surface acres.
The engineer said that wave
action breached a dyke of a
similar lagoon at Garner.
He said a 4 inch thick
concrete slab was needed
from the bottom of the lagoon
to two feet from the top of the
dyke for insurance against
wave damage. The concrete
work would add from $300,000
to $400,000 to the cost of the
system and might be funded
with up to a 75 per cent grant
from the federal
Environmental Protection
Agency.
He said that his company
would negotiate the cost with
the contractor and the grant
with state and federal
officials.
Bucky Moore, also with the
Wooten Co., presented bids for
council approval. On bids for
maintenance equipment for
the land application site,
Riddick International of
Ahoskie was the lowest of four
bidders at $23,475 but provided
a personal check instead of a
certified check for the bid
bond in violation of bid
specifications. The bid was
awarded to the next lowest
bidder, Hobbs Implement Co.
of Edenton, a bid of $23,756.57.
Seven bids were received
for the connection of the
Albemarle Regional Health
Center on W. Hicks Street to
the sewer system. George
Raper & Son Plumbing Co. of
Elizabeth City received the
contract with a low bid of
$10,920.
In another matter, Ray
Cohn, engineer with
Southeastern Consulting
Engineers came before
council to present a peaking
Continued On Page 4
NAMES CAP BULKHEAD-Arch Edwards prepares a name to
be placed in fresh concrete atop the just-completed bulkhead at
the new waterfront park as volunteers look on. Edwards is
publicity chairman for the Build The Park Committee. Those
donating $100, can have their name on a foot of the bulkhead.
Edwards said that there were about fifteen feet of bulkhead yet to
be sponsored.
Roads Named
Road signs will soon be
springing up around the
county bearing familiar
names to many and perhaps
some not so familiar.
Four committees, one for
each township, completed
work this month in recom
mending official names for
each county road. If atten
dance at two hearings was an
indicator, public interest in
the names was small. Four
people attended the hearing at
Chowan Jr. High School and
l JPittended the hearing at the
old courthouse.
Some divergence of opin
ion developed where some
roads will change names be
yond natural features such as
stop signs or bridges. One ex
ample is Mexico Road from
N.C. 32 to Bolton's Bridge.
Beyond the bridge, the name
proposal is Bolton's Bridge
Road.
County Manager Cliff
Copeland said that all com
ments on the subject, in writ
ing, over the telephone and at
the public hearings are cur
rently under review by the
commissioners. He said that
the focus has been to use
names known to most resi
dents.
However, in some cases,
the historic name of a road
has overridden the current
common name. A case in
Continued On Page 4
New Voting Plan Under Negotiation
Negotiations are continu
ing on a new voting district
plan for Chowan County.
County officials are-working
with a minority advisory
committee to come up with the
new plan that may be an
nounced within the next two
months.
The initiative was begun
quietly by the County Board of
Commissioners last year as a
result of voting rights law
suits by minorities in various
parts of the state. The com
missioners had "a genuine
concern over the lack of black
representation" on the board
according to County Manager
Cliff Copeland.
Copeland said that after the
announcement of an agreed
upon plan, the process will
include public hearings,
adoption by commissioners,
submission to the U.S.
Department of Justice, Voting
ABC Plans
Underway
Plans are underway for a
new ABC store in Edenton.
The store will be located just
north of the Pizza Hut on U.S.
17 Business North.
West W. Byrum,
chairman of the Chowan
County ABC Board said that
the board is currently
working with an architect on
plans. Construction of the new
store will cost between
$150,000 and $175,000.
Byrum said that the board
had considered construction
of a store in the northern end
of the county but decided that
"it would not be feasible at this
time."
Of the new facility he said,
"We started talking about this
a couple of years ago. We’ve
tried to be sure that we've
looked at all angles."
The present store across
from the courthouse has 2,700
square feet and the new one
will have 3,000 square feet. It
will be a self-serve operation
in an "up-to-date building.”
Byrum s*id the store will
includf "the latest security
Rights Division and adoption
of enabling legislation by the
North Carolina General
Asseihbly.
"Hopefully the new system
will be in place by the 1990
elections," Copeland said in
reference-to the lengthy pro
cess. He said that while nego
tiations were still in progress,
no details could be released to
the public.
There has been no black
representation on the county
board in this century.
APFRECIATED-Certificates of appreciation were awarded last week by the Edenton office of
the Employment Security Commission to employers having the most older workers. From left
are Charles Skinner, ESC older worker specialist, Marvin Shaw of Fisher Nut (category II, 26-75
employees), Anita Tarkington of Tarkington's Dress Shop (category I, 1-25 employees), Maggie
Griffin and Gil Johnson of EIC (category III, 75+ employees) and ESC manager Kathy Keefe.
Mrs. Tarkington commented, "My youngest employee is 68." The awards were in observance of
the annual Older Worker Week.
Closings Are Noted
Easter
This year's Easter holiday
may be confusing to some who
may have business in
Edenton on Friday or
Monday. Banks will be closed
on Friday and open on
Monday this year.
Since the early 1920's,
North Carolina has observed
the Monday after Easter as a
holiday. The Monday obser
vance was set by the legisla
ture in the 20's to allow people
to attend the Wake Forest,
N.C. State baseball game.
That was changed last year
by the General Assembly for a
Friday observance to bring
the state into conformance
with the rest of the country.
Financial institutions, in
particular, had complained
that they lost two business
days in dealings with other
states.
Town and county offices
will be open Friday and
closed on Monday. The Clerk
of Court's office (state juris
diction) will be closed Friday
and open Monday while the
opposite is true for the Register
of Deeds office.
According to the Edenton
Chowan Chamber of
Commerce, local business
closings will vary with some
closed Friday, some Monday
and some staying open
through the holiday. The Post
Office will be open as usual.
All state offices will be
closed Friday. Schools will be
closed all next week for the
holiday while the central of
fice of the school system will
be closed Monday and
Tuesday.
The town has announced a
holiday trash collection
schedule for next week: east
side, Tuesday and Thursday
and west side, Wednesday
and Friday with no pickup of
tree limbs.
Conversion To Begin
Work will begin next week
in the conversion of Swain
School into 38 apartment
units. Developer, Anderson
Benton Co., has awarded the
job to general contractor,
Weaver Construction Co. of
Greensboro.
Sale of the school building
to Anderson Benton was set to
be finalized Wednesday
(yesterday). Sale price is
$100,000.
County Manager Cliff
Copeland said that bids were
opened earlier in the week for
general contracting,
electrical and plumbing for
renovation of the Swain
Auditorium that will remain
in county ownership.
State law requires a
Continued On Page 4