Proposed county budget includes tax increase
BY EARLINE WHITE
Staff Writer
The Chowan County Board
of Commissioners met in regu
lar session Monday, June 7 to
discuss the draft budget pre
sentation for 2004-2005. Com
piled by the Finance Commit
tee and presented by5 Cliff
Copeland, County Manager,
the budget calls for a five-cent
increase for county taxes. This
would raise the costlo 74 cents.
“These are issues we can’t
control,” said Copeland. “We
have seen four key areas in
which expenses have risen.
Medicaid has increased, the
cost of living has grown, the
schools need repair/ replace
their capital outlay, and the
EMS needs to be put on a self
sustained basis. I feel that
these are services still need to
be provided for the county. In
order for that to happen we
need an increase in taxes.”
Commission Chairman
Louis Belfield agreed with
Copeland, noting that this is
the first time since he began
serving on the board that the
county has increased taxes.
Other commissioners held
similar views; rather than us
ing the reserve to make up the
difference, increase taxes. This
is the first increase in six
years.
Capital outlay items for the
county calls for three new
sheriff’s car, GIS system, soft
ware for the GIS system, and
renovations to Old D. F. Walker
gym. Copeland remarked that
the schools were a major obli
gation to be considered within
the budget.
“The county is mandated by
the state to address facilities,
maintenance, software and
technology in our schools. Our
county ranks 69 out of the 100
counties in the state for ability
to pay However, our efforts to
provide for the schools rank 17
out of 100. We have remarkable
growth in each of our schools.
It is necessary to take care of
the future generations. A tax
increase is needed to continue
this trend.”
This year’s proposed budget
includes a two and one-half
percent increase in the
school’s current expense fund
ing.
In addition to the increase in
county tax, there will also be
an increase in the water fund.
Copeland proposed that the
initial two thousand gallons of
water remain the same price
but every gallon thereafter is
increased to $3.25. This money
would help future long-range
plans such as elevating the
tanks and updating the treat
ment facility for storage, back
wash and reservoirs.
Emergency Management
was a major concern in devel
oping this budget. Efforts after
Isabel proved that EMS is nec
essary for survival. The event
revealed a lot about the system
the county has been using; pri
marily that it needs to be up
dated. The communications
tower needs to be repaired and
a new console purchased for
the main department. More
staff is needed, especially at
night.
“This was one of the most
difficult issues to address in
this year’s budget - the need to
maintain and grow our emer
gency medical services,”
Copeland stated in his draft
budget message. Monies have
been allotted for additional
personnel and the path toward
EMS self-sustainability
The proposed draft of the
budget will be posted online at
the county’s website this
morning for the public to re
view. “This is a broad over
view,” Copeland said, “But I
believe that it is easily under
standable by the public.” A
public hearing for the budget
is scheduled for June 21 at 6
p.m in the Commissioners
Room in the new courthouse.
The budget can be seen at
www.chowancounty-nc.gov.
In other projects reported on
during the Commissioners'
meeting Monday night:
• Bill Deal, Town Engineer,
has taken bids for generators
at the Valhalla water plant.
The project to reconfigure the
electrical systems to be genera
tor-ready will be completed by
D. L. Teasley, who did all the
previous work at the plant. The
project will take 180 days to
complete - from July to Decem
ber. In the meanwhile, Gregory
Poole was contracted to have
standby generators for the
plant this hurricane season. A
See BUDGET On Page 3-A
Lowe resigns elections post
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer
Rebecca Lowe outlasted
Jesse Helms and Jim Hunt.
She’s been through father
and son Bush terms in the
White House. Local politi
cians have also come and
gone.
Now Lowe, after 14 years
as Chowan County elections
director, is preparing to leave
her post. Friday is her last
day at her East King Street
Office. She’ll assume new
duties in Raleigh June 14
with the Wake County Board
of Elections.
“It’s been a good learning
experience,” Lowe said last
week. “I’ve gotten to know
people all over the state.”
When she began as part
time elections director, the
office was in the old Chowan
County Courthouse. The pre
Revolutionary War site was
often besieged by tourists. It
has been undergoing im
provements for several years.
“This was the last (county
department) to move out
prior to the renovations,”
Lowe said.
Before going to full-time,
Lowe filled in with the county
tax, water, and inspections
department. With the influx
of technological advances,
Lowe — like many others —
Staff photo by Sean Jackson
Chowan County Board of Elections Supervisor Rebecca Lowe has resigned to accept a
new position in Raleigh, NC. Her last day on the job in Edenton will be this Friday.
has grown proficient with
computers.
There have also been new
election laws and regulations
to adapt to.
“(Those changes) have cer
tainly made things different,”
she said.
Fortunately, voter turnout
hasn’t changed much in recent
years. It’s still strong in
Chowan County, she said.
“Our registration is higher
than it’s ever been,” she said,
adding that there were about
6,800 registered voters 14 years
ago, compared to the roughly
9,000 currently on the rolls.
She has electioneering in
her blood. The political pro
cess has shown her the ben
efits of democratic elections.
“It really makes you feel
good to be an American,”
Lowe said.
See LOWE On Page 3-A
Plans proceed
for downtown
beautification
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Managing Editor
With lots of planning and a
little luck, organizers of the
Historic Edenton Streetscape
Beautification Project hope
they will soon be able to bring
new beauty to downtown
Edenton, courtesy of a North
Carolina Department of
Transportation (DOT) En
hancement Grant. The project
is part of the Main Street Pro
gram, of which Edenton is a
member. Phase one of the
project calls for the installa
tion of 62 new lampposts, 25
benches and 12 trash recep
tacles in the downtown area.
According to Town Manager
Anne-Marie Knighton, the
grant process is “very competi
tive” for these funds, which are
a mix of federal and state mon
ies, with a local match re
quired. Total estimated cost of
the project is $386,000 with a
local funds match of $77,360.
She said that over the years
since the original lights and
benches were installed, a lot of
wear and tear has resulted.
And, she noted, that “carpen
ter bees” which are a nuisance
for locals and a cause of alarm
for tourists walking through
the downtown area are very
attracted to the current, wood
style benches. “We will defi
nitely take that into consider
ation when choosing the new
benches,” she said. “We know
that’s a situation we need to
address.”
In fact, Knighton said, the
town began working on some
ideas for replacing those
benches just prior to Hurri
cane Isabel last fall. With , all
the resulting damage to deal
with, the town put that project
on hold. But, Knighton said,
she and the Main Street Board
of Directors are aware of the
keen interest people have in
seeing some changes made.
“I’ve been approached by so
many people who’ve said they
would be willing to donate
money to buy streetlights or
benches in memory of, or in
honor of a loved one.” She said
she hoped those same folks
would be willing to make dona
tions to help the town raise
matching funds for the project.
“Other communities have
been very successful using
that approach,” agreed Ed
See PLANS On Page 3-A
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Stiff photo by Soon Jackson
Gas stations in Edenton have followed the national trend
with prices above $2 a gallon. But local officials are opti
mistic tourism in our community won't be affected.
Nich'olls says tourism still strong
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer
The cost of gas has soared
recently, hitting record
highs, and no one seems to
know how to put the brakes
on pump prices.
A pair of Edenton service
stations charged over $2 late
last month for regular fuel,
before dropping the price a
nickel by last week. Still, con
sumers don’t have much
hope that prices will fall by
much any time soon.
Acording to AAA> the
state’s current average fuel
price is $1,956. It was $1,736
last month and $1,379 a year
ago, or a nearly 60-cent spike
in 12 months. Prices in
Edenton averaged roughly
$1.97 for regular and as much
as $2.17 for premium fuel.
Consumers at pumps in
Edenton through the Memo
rial Day weekend bemoaned
the high costs, but said they
were travelling anyway.
Nancy Nicholls, tourism di
rector for the Edentori
Chowan Chamber of Com
merce, doesn’t expect the
record prices to dampen
tourism here.
Edenton police bring end
to 'one man crime wavef
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer
What essentially was a one
man crime wave was stemmed
by Edenton police late last
month.
A Suffolk, Va. man was ar
rested May 19 on a host of
charges for crimes he allegedly
committed over several days
last month. Cornelius Perkins,
19, is jailed at the Chowan
County Detention Facility un
der $745,000 in bonds.
Perkins has been charged
with two counts of armed rob
bery, two counts of going
armed to the terror of the
people, assault with a deadly
weapon with intent to kill,
first-degree burglary, posses
sion of a stolen vehicle, hit
and-run, leaving the scene of
an accident, and carrying a
concealed weapon.
On May 14, Perkins alleg
edly robbed a local man at gun
point who was in his parked
car in the McDonald’s parking
lot on Virginia Road. The vic
tim told police that Perkins
approached his car mumbling
and then pulled out a chrome
handgun and demanded mo
ney.
Perkins alleged took $11
from the victim before fleeing
across Virginia Road towards
Pizza Hut.
On May 18, police Officer
Rene Wilder responded to a
gunpoint assault and shooting
See CRIME On Page 3-A
“I really feel that we will
have many visitors in spite
of the rising prices,” she
said Tuesday. “The projec
tions for the beaches
around us — Outer Banks,
Virginia Beach areas — are
predicting a very strong
season, the best since 9/11
in fact and many people will
want to visit us on their
way home.”
INSIDE THIS WEEK
Chowan
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