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Vol. LXXI, No. 41
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Single Copies 50tf
Pembroke Circle park has ups and downs, residents say
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer
Although it will have
months to make a decision, the
Edenton Town Council has to
decide whether or not hurri
cane-damaged lots on Pem
broke Circle should become
open to the public.
I During a public hearing at
its Oct. 12 regular meeting,
council heard from both sup
porters and opponents of locat
ing a public park at 113 and 115
[ Pembroke Circle.
Homes at those sites were
i battered by floodwaters during
Hurricane Isabel in September
2003.
The homeowners have ex
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1
BY EARLINE WHITE
Staff Writer
The Main Street Re
source Team gave a public
presentation' on Thursday,
October 14 at Swain Audi
torium to reveal the infor
mation they had discovered
during their week-long stay
inEdenton.
Mayor Vaughan ex
pressed his thanks to the
team for their teri-ific ef
forts over the week.
Rodney Swink, Director
of the North Carolina Main
Street Program, introduced
each team member before
turning it over to them for
their respective presenta
tions. To rile the crowd s
interest in .he Main Street
Program, Swink gave vital
statistics about the impact
the program has given to
other main street commu
nities in the past. “Over
$890,000 have been devel
oped in new investments in
the Main Street communi
ties; over 10,250 new jobs
have been created; over
2,500 businesses created
and nearly 2,600 buildings
have been inhabited,”
Swink reported.
Bob Murphrey, the Main
Street Small Towns coordi
nator for the Office of Ur
ban Development, gave a
detailed report on the eco
nomic restructuring to cur
rent realities for the busi
nesses of downtown Eden
ton. “The primary trade
area of downtown Edenton
is within a five-mile radius.
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INSIDE
Calendar... A2
Church.C5
Classifieds.D3-6
Editorials.A8
Football Forecast.. B6
Learning......D1
Obituaries...C7
Society.C2
Sports.B1-6
On Page Cl ...
“Get up and Go ‘
travel series
begins
pressed interest in participat
ing in a federal buyout pro
gram.
Under that Federal Emer
gency Management Agency
program, the town would ac
quire the land, tear down the
houses, clear the lots, and es
tablish public-use space.
A number of nearby resi
dents have rebuked the idea of
a public park or “green space”
in their neighborhood.
Some opponents told council,
that traffic, litter and noise
would harm the residential
area’s “safe and quiet” atmo
sphere.
“I just don’t feel this (pro
posed park) is a good use for
that property, in that neighbor
A clearer view of Edenton
sum *.3 saaaira
2Q7I197?
October through December
are reported to be the ‘good’
business months, which
means you are attracting real
customers. So far you are cap
turing 23% or $21 million or
retail sales within the 5-mile
radius. But there is $10 million
in potential sales available
within that radius primarily
in pharmaceutical drug, mis
cellaneous, clothing, and gen
eral sales-areas in which you
already deal. Our recommen
dation is that you aim to cap
ture that $10 million and in
crease the availability of those
sales areas,” Murphrey said.
Another area of potential
improvement is clustering
within downtown. There are
apparent linkage issues be
tween businesses, that’ is, all
the clothing stores should be
within close proximity, as with
retail, etc. Murphrey’s recom
mendation is to fill in the gaps
and group businesses, while
moving office space to side
streets. “There are 165 busi
Evans tapped Chowan schools top principal
BY GLENDA JAKUBOWSKI
Contributing Writer
D.F. Walker principal Sheila
Evans is Edenton-Chowan
Schools’ 2004-2005 Wachovia
Principal of the Year.
“Mrs. Evans’ dynamic lead
ership continues to be an as
; .set for Edenton-Chowan
Schools,” said superinten
dent Allan T. Smith.
“Not only does she lead a
strong team of staff and stu
dents at D. F. Walker, she also
works tirelessly for teachers
throughout the system who
are pursuing National Board
„ Certification. Sheila plays an
integral role in raising stu
dent and teacher achieve
ment to ever-higher levels.”
hood,” Bill Pepper, of 111
Pembroke Circle, told council
during the 30-minute public
hearing portion of the hour
and-a-half discussion on the
issue.
Town Manager Anne
Marie Knighton said town
staff believes placing a park
on the lots could be a “once
in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
The town operates 11 parks
and open spaces, and a “pas
sive park” — one without
playground equimpment —
could be a less intrusive op
tion, Knighton said prior to
the public hearing.
“We feel it is our responsi
bility to be advocates of more
open spaces and parks for the
Staff photos by tarline White
nesses downtown,” Murphrey
reported, “but only 31 of those
are retail related.”
Evans now
moves on to com
pete with other
local award re
cipients from the
northeast region
of the state.
One principal
will be selected
from among the
six regional win
ners as the 2005
Wachovia Princi
pal of the Year.
This is the 21st year
Wachovia has sponsored the fi
nancial awards. Local Princi
pals of the Year receive $200.
The regional winners receive
$1,500 for personal use and
$1,500 for their schools; and the
state Principal of the Year re
“Ijust don’t feel this
(proposed park) is a
good use for that
property, in that
neighborhood. ”
— Bill Pepper,
a Pembroke Circle
park opponent
community,” she said.
One Pembroke Circle
couple split on support and
opposition to the idea.
Dabney Narvaez, of 119
Pembroke Circle likes the pas
sive park idea.
Two
findings by
the Main
Street
Resource
Team are
shown above
and at left.
Above shows
a confusing
signage
problem for
area visitors.
At left is an
illustration of
the ideally re
novated
storefront
facade in
historic
downtown.
Julie Metz Thompson is the
executive director of Down
town Goldsboro Development
Evans
ceives $3,000 for her
school and $3,000 for
personal use.
Regional award
recipients will be
selected by Febru
ary, and the state
Principal of the
Year will be an
nounced on April 7,
2005, at a luncheon
in Raleigh.
Evans was assis
tant principal at
Chowan Middle School for two
years and then Director of In
struction in the Central Office
before assuming her post as
Walker’s principal in July,
2002.
She attained her National
Board of Professional Teach
“We feel that could be a
contribution to our commu
nity,” she said. “A green way
could (also) be a very positive
thing.”
Her husband, A1 Narvaez,
was not opposed to the play
ground-free park, but said
private ownership of the
properties should continue.
He was also concerned that
the town would absorb costs
for improvements needed to
build a park or green space
on the properties.
Under the terms of the
buyout grant, FEMA would
pay 75 percent of all costs,
consultant Pat Young told
council and the about 30 resi
dents on hand for the meeting.
Corporation. Thompson
gave the crowd ideas on how
to market and promote
downtown. “Taking it to the
next level would be to in
crease summer sales. Look
at the community calendar
and fill in the gaps with goal
oriented events, keeping the
audience in mind. Don’t hold
a family event on the week
ends when most locals leave
town. Create annual sched
ules early and solicit spon
sors for the events early in
the year. Communication is
the greatest tool for spread
ing the word about your
downtown. Send out a news
letter with the annual sched
ule, create a summer concert
series, an annual dinner or
hold an open house, Make
dining and shopping bro
chures for the visitor’s cen
ter, and use direct mail,”
Thompson indicated.
Thompson also suggested
that Edenton should have a
tag line that could be pub
lished on all the literature
that comes out of it. “Eden
ton needs a slogan that
people will remember and
draw them in,” Thompson
said. She gave a few ideas
such as “Edenton-A Slice of
Americana”, “Where the
Waterfront Meets Main
Street”, and “Making Memo
ries on Main Street”. “Adver
tise downtown as a destina
tion, create t-shirts using the
slogans and get involved,”
Thompson said.
Susan Suggs, ASLA is a
See VISION On Page 5-A
ing Standards certification in
1999 and taught at Chowan
Middle School for 11 years.
Evans was named Teacher of
the Year at Chowan for 1994
1995.
Evans received her Bach
elor of Arts in Education
from the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill in
1986.
She earned her Master of
Arts in Teaching in 1987, ^also
from UNC-CH, and her
Principal’s Certificate in
1994 from East Carolina Uni
versity.
She attends Rocky Hock
Baptist Church. Evans and
her husband, Steve, have two
children, Samuel and Noah.
Opponents, who signifi
cantly outnumbered support
ers of the idea who spoke dur
ing the public hearing, indi
cated that increased pedes
trian and vehicle traffic was
their chief concern.
Pepper pointed out that
Pembroke Circle is a narrow
street without sidewalks.
“It’s not a safe place to get
in and out of,” he said.
Knighton said town officials
could address that and other
issues during the months it
could take to finalize the
grant
“We feel like there are ...
ways we could deal with those
(park opponents’) concerns,”
she said.
Voters
flocking
to polls
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer
With Democratic hopeful
Sen. John Kerry in a furious
race with President George W.
Bush for the White House, vot
ers are already swarming the
polls.
Chowan County Board of
Elections Director Rennie
Harrington-Jones said 124 one
stop ballots had been cast
through Tuesday morning.
Elections officials have said
roughly 600 one-stop votes
were cast in the 2000 general
elections.
This year’s pace could ex
ceed that.
“At the rate we’re going,”
Harrington-Jones said Tues
day, “we probably will (surpass
the 2000 total). We keep dou:
bling.our numbers each day.”,
Escapee:
nabbed
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer
A Columbia man who es
caped from a local jail this
summer was nabbed in Eden
ton on Sept. 28.
A1 Keridell Spencer, 28, was
arrested by Edenton police af
ter a search of apartment 65 at
Davis Place Apartments. Spen
cer had escaped from the
Tyrrell County Jail in July He
was being held there on
charges of probation violation
and two counts of trafficking
cocaine.
Police had received infor
mation that Spencer was in
side the David Place residence
and received consent to search
the apartment, Police Chief
Greg Bonner said earlier this
month. Spencer was arrested
without incident, the chief
said. He is confined at the Dare
County Detention Center un
der a $500,<^)0 secured bond.
The arresting officers were
Det. Aaron Davidson, Det. Sgt.
Rhonda Copeland, and Officer
Joe Felton. N.C. Probation and .
Parole officers assisted in the
arrest, Bonner said.
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