1 482-4418
§' ____
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
GRADUATION
Holmes
class of
2010
bids farewell 1B
2 interim manager candidates interviewed
I By RITCHIE E. STARNES
1 Editor
Two prospective candidates
for the interim county manager
post have been interviewed as
s applications continue to come
| in.
No decision has been made on
who will hold the reins as inter
im im manager while a search for
' - a permanent replacement also
| continues. After quickly nar
rowing a group of applicants
for the interim job to two men,
the Chowan County Board of
Commissioners interviewed a
STAFF PHOTO BY REBECCA BUNCH
A.R. Chesson Construction workers wear protective clothing while working on the exterior wall near the top of the Roanoke River Lighthouse in Edenton, last week.
Structure could return to watery site
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer ,
m recently discovered pocket
of contaminated soil may
^H^delay completion of the
Roanoke River Lighthouse resto
ration project. New plans call for
the Lighthouse to be set on piles
in the water.
Edenton Town Manager Anne
Marie Knighton said that while
employees of the A.R. Chesson
Construction Company were
preparing the site, they smelled
an odor later determined to be
petroleum.
Knighton said once she was
notified of the discovery, she con
j Ex-assist, principal
! sues superintendent
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
|
I' ' '
> Less than two weeks
after a former Edenton
Chowan assistant prin
| cipal filed a civil lawsuit
against the Board of Edu
cation, she filed a second
% suit aimed at the schools’
| superintendent.
Mary L. Felton filed the
suit against Superinten
dent Allan Smith June 8,
further alleging that Smith
| ■ is directly responsible for
her reassignment that re
sulted in a demotion and
a loss of valuable' admin
istrative experience, court
records show. The suit al
02009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
■V-:'
“Vle’ve had some very qualified candidates so far.”
Eddy Goodwin
Chairman, Chowan County Board of Commissioners
first candidate Thursday and
the second on Monday, accord
ing to County Clerk Susanne
Stallings.
Chowan County Board of
Commissioners Chairman
Eddy Goodwin called the two
interviewed as “excellent” can
didates. He also indicated that
additional candidates could be
Contaminated
soil delays
lighthouse |
ISSJect
“funding has
not been found to
restore the interior
of the lighthouse.... ”
Nancy Nicholls
Tourism director,
Chowan County
tacted an environmental consul
tant, AMEC in Raleigh.
“They had helped the town
with contaminated soil on the
site when we expanded the park
ing lot in Colonial Park,” Knigh
leges that Smith abused
his authority en route to
derailing Felton’s school
administrative path.
On behalf of Smith and
the school board, attorney
Eva B. DuBuisson'of Ra
leigh’s Tharrington Smith
LLP, filed a request Mon
day that she be given more
time to respond to Felton’s
charges. Felton previ
ously filed suit against the
school board on May 25,
demanding $25 million in
damages. She’s seeking $1
million for Smith’s alleged
actions, records show.
Although Felton had re
ceived favorable reviews
for her job performance
as an assistant principal
at John A. Holmes High
School, Smith transferred
her to Chowan Middle
School where she was
to work as a guidance
.
called in for an interview.
“We’re collecting resumes and
deciding which ones to bring in
for an interview,” Goodwin said.
“We’ve had some very qualified
candidates so far.”
Applications for the perma
nent job have also begun to
come in for review, Goodwin
added.
ton said.
Town officials believe the
contamination may have come
from an oil company that previ
ously occupied the land. But they
believed the area where the light
house was to have been erected
was clean, Knighton said.
A comprehensive soil assess
ment was performed in 2005 in
conjunction with the parking lot
expansion.
“We had taken soil samples all
■ over the park, including some
taken near the area of contami
nation,” Knighton said.
Knighton said that section of
the land came back under the
level that would have labeled it
Webcam video shows fiery plane crash
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Chowan Herald
Chowan County Sheriff
Dwayne Goodwin released
a Webcam video Friday
morning that depicts Mon
day night’s fatal plane
crash at Edenton’s North
eastern Regional Airport.
The footage, taken from
the airport’s Webcam,
shows the northbound
Online video!
To see a video of the 4
" crash, visit our website at
| www.dailyadvance.com,- ?|
". . ' ■ i-'1
plane piloted by Joseph
S. Konicki of Sullfolk, Va.
and William Thomas Jor
dan, 69, of Edenton veer
ing sharply to the west
seconds after takeoff and
diving into a wooded area.
Flames erupted from the
plane’s impact, followed by
smoke billowing through
the treetops.
Jordan perished in the
“There has been a good
amount of interest in the posi
tion and I expect it to pick up
once we get more advertising
out there,” Goodwin said.
Meanwhile, the board ap
proved June 8 that Carrie By
rum, human resources manager,
serve as the county’s point per
son until an interim or county
as contaminated soil. But now
a pocket of contamination has
been discovered within that sec
tion.
“So, we’ve got an issue, if we
move forward with our plans and
sit the lighthouse close to the wa
der’s edge,” Knighton observed.
“The contamination has to be
dealt with because it (lighthouse)
would be a permanent structure
located over this (contaminated)
area.”
At this point, several other
sites on the waterfront are being
investigated, Knighton said.
“One site would be right in the
See STRUCTURE, 2A
Smoke from the crash of a plane that went down shortly after taking off from the Northeastern
Region Airport on Monday, June 7 is seen in this image taken from an airport Webcam video.
crash while Konicki sur
vived with burns to his
body
“Mr. Konicki managed
to free himself and then
tried to get Mr. Jordan out,
but was unable,” Goodwin
said Friday. He added that
Jordan was pinned in the
plane that was engulfed in
flames. Goodwin had pre
viously reported that the
manager is named. Byrum will
serve as both the contact for the
public and department heads.
Goodwin said he expects the
interim to be hired within the
next 30 to 45 days. Once the in
terim is in place, the commis
sioners can dedicate more time
with finding a permanent hire.
June 7th marked the final day
on the job for County Manager
Peter Rascoe. Having worked
for the county since 1999, the
last two as manager, Rascoe
left to become town manager
for Southern Shores in Dare
County.
Town
rebukes
9-1-1
funding
Refers to fee as
‘double taxation’
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
At its June 28 meeting,
the Edenton Town Coun
cil is expected to hear a
finance committee recom
mendation that the town
not pay the county for its
use of the 911 central com
munications.
The finance committee
— Sambo Dixon, chair,
Bob Quinn and Steve Biggs
— developed the recom
' mendation at a June 1
meeting after a request by
Chowan County that the
town contribute funds for
the service.
Town Manager Anne
Marie Knighton, who also
attended the finance com
mittee meeting, said the
committee was “unified in
its belief that a contribu
tion from the town would
constitute double taxa
tion.”
Town of Edenton resi
dents, who pay town and
county taxes, are already
helping to fund 911 through
their county tax payments,
Knighton said.
There are no funds avail
able in the town’s 2010-11
fiscal year budget that
could be used for that pur
pose, the committee noted.
See TOWN, 2A
pilots were simulating an
engine problem at the time
of the 7:30 p.m. crash.
The video recording
See VIDEO, 3A