Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / June 25, 2008, edition 1 / Page 1
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St. Anne's leading efforts to help youth m Drought affects local corn crop m RIGHT-ON THE MARK Steamers' alums drafted in MLB bi 482-4418 Wednesday, June 25, 2008 50* Town’s realty tax rate increase nixed By Earline White Managing Editor There was applause Mon day night as the Edenton Town Council voted to hold the line on realty taxes for. the upcoming year. The decision to further tighten belts came two weeks after Town Manager Anne Marie Knighton orig Library opening postponed By Vernon Fueston Contributing Writer As construction crews ap plied the finishing touches to Edenton’s Shepard-Pruden Memorial Library, librarian Rosalie Miller was saddened that the June 24 opening date was missed. Miller had hoped the li brary would be finished be fore the architect’s original estimates of late June. She had also hoped to have the grand re-opening before the departure of out going county manager Cliff Copeland, whose diligence pushed the library renova tion project forward. Miller had speculated the library would be open in May, but that date has come and gone. Still, Miller did not feel the opening would be too far in the future. “It will be very soon,” Miller said. “I don’t want to promise something that can’t be done.” The library’s enlargement has involved doubling the size of the library, adding a two-story wing on to the back of the building, and ex tensive landscaping work. The project began in No vember 2006 and had an es timated completion date of March 2008. The $2.6-million project is partially funded by a low-in terest loan from the USDA. INDEX A Local Crime.A4 Land Transfers.,.A5 Business.A6 Editorial..A7 B Sports Steamers' News.B1 Outdoors...B2 Nature.. B4 C Community News Upcoming Events.C2 Society...C4 School........C5 Obituaries.........C6 Church.................. C7,8 D Classifieds Buy/Sell/Trade...D1 Service Directory.D2 Employment......D4 ©2006 The Chowan Herald All Rights Reserved inally proposed a 3-cent real estate tax rate increase to pay for the debt owed on the new public safety center. One week later the town’s finance committee pro posed only a 1.5 cent rate increase. Residents continued to voice concerns about the ef fect of a tax increase during the current strain on the MAKING NEW FRIENDS .:y .• . • WBk £f|V^fe¥ r, a. to i** * » » Vernon Fueston An unidentified boy gets a good Igck pat from Sam the Clam prior to the plunger race held between innings. Edenton schools down 16 positions due to enrollment Officials expect class sizes to remain constant By Vernon Fueston Contributing Writer Three certified teachers and two teaching assistants received pink slips at the end of school last year, but that’s not the extent of the belt tightening that Eden ton’s schools will face this year A total of 16 jobs have been cut, many by attrition. Those cuts are happening because enrollment in the county’s schools fell by 31 students. How such a small change in enrollment could force such drastic cuts is a lesson in the complex and quirky business of North Carolina school funding. It’s a strange mix of local and state tax revenues, lot tery money, and state regu lations. The biggest hit was felt by the county’s teachers. While three were actually let go, a total of 11 teaching posi tions were cut, the remain ing eight by attrition. Pour teacher’s assistant positions and one clerical position were also elimi economy In order to balance the budget and have no tax rate increase, Knighton recom mended freezing a fourth vacant position with the Edenton Police. “We want, need and will fill the three vacancies we have now and in January after some revenue comes in, look at hiring a fourth,” nated due to decreased en rollment. That caused the j lay-off of two teacher’s as- ; sistants. So, how can a reduction j in enrollment of 31 stu dents cause a loss of 16 jobs to the school system? It all has to do with the way North Carolina funds its schools. “We get funded a year in arrears,” said school super intendent Allan Smith. That means school fund ing that’s pegged to the number of students en rolled is based on last year’s figures. Those fig ures were lower this year than the eight-year average by 31 students. But it’s not that simple. The two previous years were higher than the eight year average, by 116 stu dents. That two-year rise in enrollment, followed by a decrease from the aver age enrollment this year, meant a steep decline in funding. That makes the cuts larg er and particularly painful. Smith said hard decisions had to be made. “We wanted to be certain that class size stayed at an acceptable level,” Smith See SCHOOLS, Page A2 ► Knighton said. Among other areas to be cut were travel funds for the council members to at tend the Electricities con ference in Myrtle Beach and funding for a new ve hicle, diagnostic software, a garage emissions tester and tire changer. “I don’t want us to get caught short,” Councilman Local shop owners feeling effects of economic pinch By Rebecca Bunch Staff Writer Local motorists aren’t the only ones feeling the pinch when it comes to higher gas prices. Businesses are feel ing the impact, positive and negative, too. For local businesses like Peebles it is resulting in higher sales as customers try to save on travel by shop ping at h&ne, according to store manager Jadelle Wag ner. Blit others, like Eden ton Furniture owner Alton Elmore, are seeing a drop in sales as those who used to come from neighboring counties to buy in Edenton are tutting back on travel too. Campaigns to buy local In the midst of the down turn in the economy, the Edenton-Chowan Chamber of Commerce and Destina tion Downtown Edenton launched an ambitious “Buy Chowan First” campaign to encourage shoppers to sup port local businesses. Among the shoppers heed ing the message was Kelly Davis of Edenton. “I’ve always tried to find things in town before I went Jerry Parks said. “The tire changer, for example, has been on the budget for sev eral years ... either we need it, or really need it.” Councilman Steve Biggs also voiced his concerns over having such a tight budget. “I just don’t feel comfort able cutting police protec tion,” Biggs said. somewhere else,” she said. “But now with the higher gas prices, well, that’s defi nitely a factor.” Chamber Director Rich ard Bunch said he felt the campaign’s message really resonated with shoppers and that the timing couldn’t have been better. “I really think the ‘Buy Chowan First’ campaign did a wonderful job of making people aware of the impor tance of shopping first in Edenton and Chowan,” he said. “I had more people ap proach me this time around than in the previous mar keting effort, so I know the message got out.” That message was pre sented to the public in a variety of ways, including newspaper ads, banners and a billboard on Hwy. 32. Linda Ashley, chamber president, said reaction to the campaign was strong among local shoppers. “I’ve heard from a lot of people who’ve told me they saw the ads in the paper, for example, and actually looked here at home before going out of town. They said they were pleasantly sur prised at what they found.” See SHOPPING, Page A2 Parks continued, “I re member the year the coun ty had to increase taxes 8 cents — we’re cutting into the meat [of the budget]; some things have to suffer, but it’s a sad day when you talk about cutting police of ficers.” The budget was unani mously approved Monday. Police nears staffing capacity By Vernon Fueston Contributing Writer After a long, dry spell, Chief Gregory Bonner is close to having a full staff. With only two openings left of the five he once had, one position has been de ferred by the town council until December. The other is in negotiation. It all started eleven months ago when an officer was arrested for evidence tampering. Since then, three other Edenton officers were dis missed. And during that time officers still came and went as part of the frequent turnover common to small town departments. “Two officers went to Eliz abeth City,” Bonner said. “Officers going to other agencies, that’s the biggest problem for turnover. It’s nothing personal with Eden ton.” Bonner said many officers who start their careers in Edenton end up moving on to other law enforcement agencies for a variety of rea sons. Many see a small depart ment like Edenton as of fering little chance for ad vancement. Some move up to bigger city agencies that offer higher salaries. ' Others don’t like the con finement of patrolling a small town day in and day out. Bonner said there is very little difference in salary between Edenton and other 1 small town police depart ments, including Elizabeth City. At $30,000 per year, a rook ie police officer in Edenton > can do reasonably well com pared to other local employ ees. With overtime, an offi- ; cer can expect to earn more. ; Towns like Greenville, Rocky Mount or Raleigh, of course, pay higher. ' > For some officers, a small town is the starting rung on a career ladder. Turn over will always be high but Edenton is no less competi tive that other municipali ties, Bonner said. Entry level officers make their way to the force by way of a 15 week basic police training course offered by the College of the Albemar le and other institutions, Tb See POLICE, Page A2 >
The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
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June 25, 2008, edition 1
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