482-4418
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
soc
Mary p
Caron |
helps put I
students \
to work i
at COA I
Inside, A3 I
Aces seek to
defend court
titles
Sports, A8
Springing
forward
Daylight Savings Time begins
2 a.m. Sunday, three weeks
earlier than usual.
Set your clocks!
New PD unit
on the beat at
Chowan Hospital
Inside, A4
f[. Isabel-damaged home to live on at Wharf Landing
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer
Paul Waff and Judy
Adams peered at the hurri
cane-ravaged house and
shared a few words about its
fate.
. It would be gone from its
waterfront resting spot on
Pembroke Circle in just over
an hour. Having been beaten
by the floodwaters from
Hurricane Isabel several
years before, Adams wanted
to rebuild on the site.
Waff, owner of Waff
Contracting Inc., didn’t
want to see the house torn
down. Moving it to new digs
on the banks of the Chowan
River made more sense to
him.
“The house is mine now,”
Waff said as the six-room
home began its trek from
land onto a barge last week.
Aided by Worth Hare &
Son House Movers Inc.,
Waff helped guide the home
onto a barge that would haul
its hefty cargo across
Edenton Bay, around a bend,
and then upriver to Wharf
Landing.
Waff said the house would
become the dockmaster’s
quarters at his new develop
ment near the Chowan River
Bridge.
But the move itself was
enough to draw a crowd.
About 20 onlookers gathered
in a vacant lot (another loss
to Isabel) as the house began
its journey.
Loaded atop wooden
beams and steel girders, the
house began its trip with a
few tugs from a truck driven
by Sonny Jones.
Aboard the barge, a crane
operated by Marshall Evans
pulled a cable attached to
the front of Jones’ rig.
After a jerky 10 feet or so,
Waff and Worth Hare Jr,
called a stop to the move
ment.
Nothing was wrong. But
as each move up onto the
barge was finished, workers
scrambled to rearrange the
thick boards Jones’ rig crept
over.
It would have been a
quicker move, Waff said, if
not for a tall cypress tree
just south of tine house.
Waff decided not to cut the
tree down, which led to a
move at an angle —
not
the typical straight shot.
Still, it took just 50 minutes
for the house to reach its
temporary resting spot bn
Waff’s barge. Waff decided not
to complete the trip on the
water that day, last Thursday,
as high winds threatened.
The house reached its new
home yesterday.
For the two crews, it was all
in a day’s work. But it takes
more than a day to get such a
job done, Waff said.
“This is about a two-week job
from the start to the time we
set it down,” he said.
The house-moving was the
second big job in recent weeks
for the crews.
Late last month, Waff
oversaw the removal of an
abandoned railroad bridge 4
that spanned Queen Anne 1
Creek.
The bridge won’t be going
back up, Waff said. Plans are to
reuse whatever can be sal
vaged.
Much like the house on
Pembroke Circle.
"Instead of tearing it
down,” Waff said, “we
decided to move it.”
Earline White/The Chowan Herald
Sean Jackson/The Chowan Herald
From left, crane operator Marshall Evans and
contractors Worth Hare Jr. and Paul Waff consider
moving a six-room Pembroke Circle home onto a
barge so it can be floated to Waff's development on !
the Chowan River. There it will be used as the
dockmaster’s quarters for a marina at Wharf Langing. {
Boat
plant to
ship in
40 jobs
Average wage to
be $14 an hour at
Chowan facility .
BY SEAN JACKSON
Staff Writer
Construction of Millennium
Marine USA should begin
within the next three months,
Edenton-Chowan Chamber of
Commerce Executive Director
Richard Bunch said.
The Canada-based boat
builder has tapped Chowan
County to be the home to its
newest facility, located at the
airport industrial park.
Using a $75,000 grant from
state coffers, the company had
been eyeing the Chowan site
for several years.
A local development team
had been working to secure the
deal since last October
“It was determined by our
economic development corpo
ration that this was a good
match,” Bunch said.
Millennium is expected to
create nearly 40 jobs and invest
$1.5 million over the next sev
eral years.
The average hourly wage is
expected to be roughly $14 an
hour, according to a news re
lease. The county’s standard
wage is nearly $12 an hour.
Millennium’s top official
also felt Chowan was a good
match for his company.
“After three years dreaming
of opening a boat manufactur
ing plant in the United States,
Northeastern North Carolina
has made my dream come
true,” said Cory Guimond,
president of Millennium Ma
rine. “My decision was based
on location, the skilled
workforce available and the
existing boat building indus
try.”
State officials also ap
plauded the decision.
See BOATS, Page A2 >
INDEX
M
i
p\
i
£'
A Local
Land Transfers ..A5
Opinion.A7
Sports....A8,10
B Classifieds
Buy/Sell/Trade.......... D1
Service Directory.. D2
: Employment............ D3
C Community News
Upcoming Events .....C2
Society ..C4
Obituaries...,,.C8
Church...........;C9,10
D 2006 Tax Listings
\M-y
M
M
• • •* 'i ■ t.
02006 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
County rezones Soundside Road tract
BY EARLINE WHITE
Staff Writer
Despite public opposition at
Monday’s county commission
ers meeting, the board unani
mously voted to approve a re
zoning of 42-plus acres on
Soundside Road from agricul
tural to general business dis
trict.
A request for rezoning was
submitted by Mark and Dossey
Pruden last month for their
property adjacent to the
airport’s industrial area.
At Monday’s meeting
Pruden said that he had no par
ticular plans but felt that the
business district was an appro
priate request for the area.
Following questioning and
meeting with the Edenton
Chowan Planning Board, a rec
ommendation for approval
was given to the commission
ers.
Among those who spoke out
against the rezoning was
realtor Janet MacKenzie, rep
resenting a potential property
owner in the area.
MacKenzie said that the lack
of architectural guidelines es
tablished for such a district
and the wide variety of op
tions available for industry
under in it were her major ar
eas of concern. ,
“Mr. Pruden may have good
intentions for the property, but
future owners may not. Under
this district the owner can
open a bar/tavern right beside
a church,” MacKenzie said.
The pastor of the neighboring
Albemarle Baptist Church, Greg
Brinson, also addressed the com
missioners on his similar con
See ZONING, Page A2 ►
Eocky Hock Ruritan Club
icake smm/am
Rocky Hock Community Center
Saturday, fctareh 10,2007
Sapper. SjOOPM * 7;00PM
Auction - 7:30PM»UNTIL
PLATES
$5.00/Person