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v Wednesday,'September 10, 2008
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Library opens SEE BELOW
ANIMAL HOSPITAL 3
GIVES PUPPY LOVE Cl
Commissioner candidate
charged with felony A2
State
okays
county
debt plan
By Vernon Fueston
Contributing Writer
State officials approved
Chowan County’s debt re
structuring plan Sept. 2, eas
ing its cash flow crisis and
staving off a state takeover
of county finances.
Now that
two big debt
payments
have been ex
tended, the
county is ex
pected to be
back in the
black, start
ing in November, County
Manager Peter Rascoe said.
This will allow the county
to cover monthly expenses
until next year * when two
other large loans start com
ing due.
The approval came in a
meeting of the state’s Local
Government Council.
Rascoe
Loan extension
The LGC was considering
a request by the county to ex
tend two loans owed to BB&T
from 15 to £0 years, reducing
the payment amounts and
delaying the due date of the
next annual payment.
Getting approval from the
LGC at this meeting was the
reason behind Rascoe’s hot
ly protested decision to push
1 a revised county budget and
realty tax increase through
a county commission meet
\ ing Aug. 14.
In that meeting the county
reduced expenses by 10 per
cent, eliminating most part
time jobs, and raised realty
| taxes.
Rascoe said a balanced re
vised budget was required
if the LGC were to approve
the debt restructuring. With
a $1.04 million annual loan
payment due Sept. 29 and
another $391,000 due April
31, Rascoe said approval at
this LGC meeting was es
sential.
The first loan extended
was the $9.95 million loan
for the construction of D.F.
Walker School. Its $1.04 mil
lion payment, due Sept. 29,
was reduced to $710,000 and
postponed until March 29.
‘ Another loan for $4.5 mil
lion covered the construc
tion of the Northern Chow
an Community Center. Its
April 31 payment of $391,000
was reduced to $258,000. Its
due date will remain the
same.
Both loans were extended
an additional five years.
| ; Positive cash flow ahead
_ Sarah Long, LGC spokes
person, said that while the
county has been operating
with a negative cash flow, it
has managed to avoid dip
ping into its legally mandat
ed $723,000 cash reserves.
,f - Those reserves include
b what is left of the dounty’s
$20 million “Hospital Fund,”
I $566,000.'
1 * Long said she expects the
; County to begin operating in
the black during the mo'nth
of November and expressed
optimism about the outlook
| jj for the remainder of the fis
; ’ cal year after January, 2009.
U : See LGC, Page A2 >
,89076m44813i
02006 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
An artist's rendering of the Beechwood Square condo villas illustrate possible home sites.
Beechwood groundbreaking nears
By Rebecca Bunch
Staff Writer
Construction at the Beechwood subdivi
sion behind Farmer’s Foods is set to begin
next month.
Sumit Gupta, a developer on the project,
said that non-binding reservation agree
ments for condos at the site are currently
being accepted.
“We would like to give locals the first op
portunity to get on our priority list,” he
said.
Those condos are to be located in what will
be known as Beechwood Square, the first
phase of construction for the subdivision.
Gupta explained that Beechwood Square
would consist of 48 luxury condo villas,
which will range in size from 1,600 to 1,900
square feet.
“These will not be ‘age-restricted,’ but will
have access to most of the amenities offered
at Beechwood,” he said. “These (will be) se
nior friendly unite.” .. , . . •
Library celebrates grand re-opening
By Vernon Fueston
Contributing Writer
After more than six month’s closure, li
brarian Rosalie Miller finally got a chance
to show off Edenton’s re-modeled Shepard
Pruden Library, Thursday night.
The open house was crowded with li
brary patrons, civic and government offi
cials.
Spotted in the crowd were County Man
ager Peter Rascoe, Town Manager Anne
Marie Knighton, Chamber of Commerce
Executive Director Richard Bunch, and
former County Manager Cliff Copeland.
The library has added a two-story wing
for book stacks and meeting facilities. A
new, dedicated children’s room was a hit
with younger patrons and comfortable
sofas and wing-backed chairs graced the
reading rooms.
The $3.6 million renovation doubled
the library’s square footage while private
The next phase of the project will consist
of 49 single family “Garden Homes” plus 12
duplex “Courtyard Cottages,” ranging in
size from 1,700 to 2,400 square feet.
Those will comprise “The Gardens at
Beechwood” portion of the development
which will be age-restricted, Gupta said.
Long-term care
Gupta said that a proposed Continuum
Care Retirement Community (CCRC) is also
being considered for inclusion in the Beech
wood subdivision.
He noted that CCRC’s “are unique to long
term care” because they offer a variety of
levels of care to older adults within a single
community.
“While permits are not in hand for the
CCRC,” Gupta said, “(we) hope to obtain
these permits very soon.” .
Big investment
4. Town Manager Anne-Marie Knighton
A See BEECHWOOD, Page A2 >
contributions added
artwork, upgraded
furniture, a microfilm
reader and wide screen
television for the 'activ
ity center.
For library patron
Joan Nizborski, seeing
the new library was
wonderful. But having
' it open again was even
better. She said she saw the library as an
important part of the town’s social fabric.
“The library staff were the first people
who welcomed me to the town when I
moved here fifteen years ago,” she said.
“It’s more than just the building.”
Lou Rogers was impressed with the new
children’s room.
“I’m just going, wow!” she said. “I see
such a change. I love the doll collection.
I’m sure the children are going to love it.”
WHAT IS IT? WHO DID IT?
L
mumsMSiak
mm
Vernon Fueston !
... •: . ‘ ' ■ ' . . I.
It appeared overnight. A four-sided structure in the Edenton Bay that appears ■
to be a duck blind has local officals curious.
The trouble is no one knows who put it there.
Officials with the N.C. Wildlife have said that legally the blind can stay, but think
that it is a bad location. .
If you have any information about the structure or who put it up, call the Town
of Edenton at 482-7352. ■ ' ,
\4& %
New maps may
change town’s
flood zones
Officials do not
.know how many
properties will be
affected
By Vernon Fueston
Contributing Writer
Some town property own
ers may need to purchase
flood insurance because
of new revised maps rec
ommended for council ap
proval.
Kent Pierce with the plan
ning and inspections office,
said he does not know how
many properties are af
fected or if more properties
will be considered to lie in
a flood plain than before
the changes.
♦ ♦ ♦
One benefit to homeown
ers of the new system will
be an easier determination
of a property’s flood plain
status. The new maps are
based on aerial photogra
phy.
Before the new maps were
available, property own
ers had to hire a surveyor
to determine a property’s
status.
Property insurance does
not pay for flood damage,
whether a property is lo
cated wit’.'in £ flood plain
or not. 'T
Only separately pur
chased flood insurance will
cover flood damage.
But property owners
whose land is determined
to be in a flood plain may be
required to purchase flood
insurance by their mort
gage companies.
Piexxe said the changes
are part of a standardiza
tion x-equired by FEMA and
the state.
Localities are required
to adopt the new language
Local 6-year-old dies in
automobile crash
By Earline White
Managing Editor
White Oak student Mag
gie Bunch has been very
quiet the past few days —
ever since she was told her
best friend Ryan was killed
in a traffic accident.
Ryan, a quiet 6-year-old
with golden blonde hair,
was killed and his grand
mother injured Friday in
an car accident.
Ryan, who lived with his
family on Drummond’s
Point Road was a first
grader and attended Rocky
Hock Baptist Church.
He played soccer with
the Edenton-Chowan Rec
reation Department, and
was the son of Ethan E. and
Tabitha Chappell Benfield.
Grief counselors were,
at school Monday to talk
to students about the acci
dent.
The accident happened
on N.C. Highway 32 about
three miles north of Eden
ton just before 3 p.m. Fri
day The road was slippery
due to heavy bursts of rains
brought by Tropical Storm
Hanna.
Inez Perry Chappell, of
Edenton, lost control of her
2007 Toyota Corolla on the
rain-slicked road, skidded
Property owners can
vievy the new flood plain
maps in the Planning and
Inspections Department
offices, 108 E. King Street
or on line at
www.ncfloodmaps.com.
and terminology, revamp
ing the way flood planes are
labeled and defined, by Oct.
te. * + *
Town Manager Anne
Marie Knighton said she
will insure the town coun
cil meets before the dead
line to insure compliance.
The date of the next coun
cil meeting — Oct. 14 —
may be subject to change,
she said.
Knighton said public no
tice will be limited to a half
page ad in local papers to
conserve costs.
Failure to comply with
the new flood plain map
ping system could make the
town’s property owners in
eligible for flood insurance.
In other business, the
planning board recom
mended council approval
of the installation of an
ATM machine at 232 Vir
ginia Road.
The property, located next
to Burger King, is dwned by
Southern Bank. ' 1
Charles Britton, spokes
man for the bank, said the
ATM will be a temporary
measure.
He said the bank has defi
nite plans to build a branch
on the property within
three to five years.
The board recommended
approval with several con
ditions, including one re
quiring the ATM be placed
in the back third of the
property.
sideways and crossed the
center lane into oncoming
traffic, a trooper with the
N.C. Highway Patrol told
The Daily Advance.
Chappell was then struck
by a 2000 Chevy S-10 pickup
driven by Marshall Jordan
Jr.
William Ryan Benfield
who was seated in a booster
seat behind Chappell, was
killed.
Ryan and Chappell, his
grandmother, had just spent
the afternoon together at
the annual Grandparents’
Day Celebration at White
Oak. They were headed
back to town when the ac
cident happened.
Chappell was transported
to Pitt Memorial Hospital
in Greenville, where she re
mains as of press time with
severe internal injuries.
The other driver, Jordan,
suffered a broken right
wrist and a deep cut in his
left shin.
He was treated and re
leased at Chowan Hospital.
Jordan told authorities
that the rain, caused by
Tropical Storm Hanna, was
moderate at the time of the
crash.
Ryan’s funeral was held
yesterday.
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