'
\
482-4418
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
RESURRECTION CELEBRATED B6
County to close on properties
By Vernon Fueston
Staff Writer
.. The County is expected to
close soon on the sale of its
former Chowan Community
Center, located across the
street from Chowan Middle
School, and is advertising for
upset bids before accepting
an offer on another property
The community center
building sold to a Chowan
County qouple for $51,000,
but is subject to a lease held
by the Chowan Rifritan Club,
which uses the building as a
meeting hall.
The community center
building is not the more re
cently constructed Northern
Chowan Community Center
located on the same side of
Virginia Road as Chowan
Middle School
County Manager Peter Ras
coe said the club will stay in
the building for now and will
negotiate with the new own
ers about any arrangements
after its lease runs out.,
Rascoe also said the county
is looking for upset bids after
receiving an offer of $5,000
for a 1.1 acre wooded lot lo
cated in Yeopim at 306 Indian
Trail Road.
Interested parties have un
til April 11 to place their bids
for the property.
Proceeds from the sale of
both properties will be used
to rebuild the county’s gen
eral reserve fund.
VERNON RJESTQN/THE CHOWAN HERALD
Worth Hare stands in front of the Bandon Kitchen’s brick hearth, safely nestled on a flat bed truck and awaiting its journey to the James
Iredell House in Edenton where it will be restored as part of the historic compound there.
By Vernon Fueston
Staff Writer
As workers secured the old brick
hearth from the Bandon House kitch
en to a flat bed truck, Robert Turner
was watching with more than casuai
interest.
Turner, who used to own the build
ing, said he was glad to see the struc
ture finally get the treatment he had
hoped once to give it himself.
The kitchen joined its former neigh
bor, an old smoke house from the same
plantation, at the James Iredll house
in Edenton where it will be restored
as a companion structure to the for
mer Supreme Court justice’s home.
Back when Turner bought the
structure, he had hoped to renovate it
personally
“When I bought it about 25 years
ago, the property was in pretty bad
shape,” Tinner said. “The right wall
was separating and leaning outward.
I needed some braces and support to
keep the wall from falling out and the
ceiling from falling in.” M
The 20 by 20 foot kitchen and nearby
smoke house were originally part of
the Bandon plantation complex, but
the main building burned down some
time in the mid 1960’s.
As the neighborhood of Arrowhead
Beach grew up around the property,
vandals took their toll. Kids used the
kitchen as a hangout and party place.
When Turner boarded it up, they
knocked a hole in the hearth’s brick
to get in. Finally, Turner sold the
■ »• • ■ *■,,jc •--* . *•’ *
property to the James Iredell Founda
tion, which planned to restore both
structures.
Linda Eure, site manager for the Ire
dell house complex, said the kitchen
would help complete the Iredell house 51
site. Most homes of the well to do dur
mg the early nineteenth century had
separate kitchen structures as a fire
precaution.
She said the kitchen was built some
time around 1827 and is an uncommon
find.
“It’s one of the very few surviving
kitchen buildings in North Carolina,”
she said. “Hope plantation construct
ed a kitchen on their site based on its
design. We’re very pleased to have
it.” ,,
Pilgrimage nears; thousands expected to attend
By Rebecca Bunch
Staff Writer
Organizers of the Biennial
Pilgrimage say they’re expect
ing a nice turnout despite the
downtown in the economy.
c “We’re doing quite well
with pre-ticket sales,” said
Marge Soper, co-chair of the
event scheduled for April 24
25.
r “With the economy the way
it is, we weren’t sure what to
expect but response has been
very good,” she added.
: Part of those visitors will
Foundation to hold seminar on taxation at Edenton’s 1767 courthouse
By Vernon Fueston
Staff Writer **
* A major constitutional
Seminar is scheduled to take
place in Edenton’s 1767 Court
house, The event, featuring
scholars and activists, will
examine the North Carolina
constitution and the powers it
«6. 89076"44813
ill
L318 0
* 02009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
be coming in tour buses, hold
ing about 55 passengers each,
Soper said. Three of them
have so far confirmed they
will be here.
Twelve private properties,
nine public buildings, three
churches are scheduled to be
part of this year’s tour which
is sponsored in odd-num
bered years by the Edenton
Woman’s Club.
According to the Albemarle
magazine, the oldest home on
the tour will be Greenfield,
circa 1752; the newest, the
C.S. Vann House, built around
\ ' v . ■ ' i * , .
gives the state when it comes
to taxation.
A film crew will be on hand
to record the event for a docu
mentary.
The forum, titled “The
North Carolina Constitution
and the Power to Tax,” is ex
pected to attract hundreds of
participants from around the
state according to its organiz
ers.
The John Locke Founda
tion’s North Carolina History
Project and the North Caro
lina Institute for Constitu
tional Government, sponsors
1910.
First-timers on the tour will
be the Pack House at Shelton
Farms, Long Beach, the Folk
Taylor, C.W. Vann and John
Branning houses.
Those who love outstand
ing architecture alortg with
local history will find some
outstanding examples of
Federal (Shelton Farm, Mul
berry Hill), Victorian (Zeigler
House, home of the Historic
Edenton Visitor Center), and
Georgian (the Cupola House)
styles on the tour.
For hours, tour headquar
of the event, had considered
New Bern for the conference.
The selected Edenton instead
because of its historic roots
as a center for tax protests.
Edenton was the scene of
the nation’s first political
action by women when Pe
nelope Barker hosted a “tea
party” to boycott English tea
there in 1774.
■“We’re just so lucky to
have this here,” said Bob
Steinburg, the chairman of
Chowan County’s Republican
Party.
“I think that with all that’s
If you go
What 2009 Pilgrimage
When: Friday & Saturday,
April 24 & 25
Where: throughout county
Cost: $25 per person
ters and ticket information,
call (252) 482-3400 or 1-800
775-0111, e-mail nancy.nich
olls@ncmail.net or visit
www.visitedenton.com.
gone on today, with govern
ment seizing powers that are
not theirs, we need to be fully
aware of the rights we are pro
vided under the United States
and North Carolina constitu
tions,” Steinburg said.
A reception on the court
house grounds will precede
the seminar, beginning at 5
p.m. The program will begin
inside the courthouse at 6 p.m.
Overflow seating is planned
in the upstairs ballroom for
those unable to fit into the
courthouse chambers. .
Speaking at the forum will
By Vernon Fueston
Staff Writer
Chowan’s commissioners
have received their final draft
of the county’s audit for the
year in which it determined
that its reserves, including
over $20 million received from
the sale of Chowan Hospital,
had been depleted.
The figures show the state
of the county’s finances for
the period beginning June 1,
2007 and ending June 30,2008.
News of the depleted reserve
funds was released 'July of
2008:
The .commissioners had
passed a resolution promis
ing not to spend money from
the hospital fund and allow
ing the option to spend only
75 percent of the interest.
Between 1999 and 2008 the
county’s Web site shows 20
transactions taking money
from the hospital account to
taling almost $19.6 million.
Those moneys were apparent
ly, used cover budget deficits
in the general fund.
The fuhd, listed in the audit
as Health Care Reserve 1 and
Health Care Reserve 2, had a
current balance of $585,000
on April 1 of this year.
According to the audit, the
commissioners had crafted a
balanced budget calling for
$18 million in both revenues
and expenditures, but figures
Commissioners hire
new auditing firm
By Vernon Fueston
Staff Writer
Chowan’s commissioners
hired a new auditing firm for
annual reviews the county’s
books, replacing a long-stand
ing relationship with J. P.
Timberlake, a local firm, and
selecting Martin Starnes and
Associates of Hickory.
The county sent out 42 bid
requests to firms around the
state but only two companies
submitted bids for the job.
Timberlake elected not to bid
for the contract.
In the end it came down to
a choice between Starnes and
the firm of Pittard, Perry and
Crone of Belhaven.
Finance Officer Lisa Jones
recommended the commis
sioners select Starnes even
though the company’s $48,000
contract was $7,000 higher
than it’s competitor.
Jones said she based her
recommendation on Starnes’
expertise in the area of local
government accounting.
The firm handles 27 county
and municipal governments
around the state.
be Gene Boyce, an attorney
who has represented citizens
in fights against the state re
garding tax matters. Dr. Jeff
Broadwater, a historian from
Barton College and Dr. John
Dinan, a political scientist
from Wake Forest University
will also speak.
Robert Orr, Executive direc
tor of the North Carolina In
stitute for Constitutional Law
and Former North Carolina
Supreme Court Justice, will
also speak and John Hood,,
the Locke Foundation’s presi
dent, will moderate.
Financial
snapshot
Deficit for '07-’08 — $3.28
Previous Deficits
at the end of the year showed
a $3.28 million deficit for the
county’s general fund.
A shortfall in revenues ac
counted $2.6 million of that
deficit. Expenditures exceed
ed those planned in the bud
get by only $25,000.
Also listed in the audit were
Chowan County’s 10 largest
payer's of property taxes to
the county. All of them were
businesses.
Among the 10 were four
manufacturers, two shopping
centers, two real estate com
panies, one logging company
and a farm supply firm. The
largest taxpayer was a shop
ping center.
A review of past audits
shows Chowan County has
operated with a deficit for all
seven of the years that audits
have been posted on the coun
ty’s Web site.
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
$3.33
$2.89
$2.37
$2.98
$1.40
$1.84
(in millions)
She said Pittard does the au
dit work for only one county
' Regionally, Camden, Pitt
and Nash counties are served
by Starnes.
Jones said the fact that only
two firms bid on the county’s
work was not unusual.
She said many firms replied
that their workloads would
not allow them to take on the
contract.
Commission Chairman
Eddy Goodwin asked if the
price quoted included per
sonal appearances before the
commissioners to answer
questions.
Jones said the firm’s quote
allowed for unlimited consul
tatipns on site.
County Manager Peter
Rascoe said the state’s Local
Government Commission
suggests counties rotate ac
counting firms every three
years.
The county has used J. R
Timberlake as its auditing
firm since 1985.
Before that, Chowan had
used Timberlake’s prior
partnership, Timberlake and
Sykes, going back to 1978.
Steinburg said he, hopes
the seminar, as well as the tea
party demonstration planned
for April 15, will put Edenton
on the map as a center of po
litical activism.
“If this goes well and we
have strong support, Edenton
will be a starting point for
eyents like this in the future,”
he said.
Interested persons can reg
ister for the program at the
Locke Foundation’s Website,
www.johnlocke.org/events,
or call them at (866) 553-4636.