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482-4418
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Changes coming for solid waste fee
Error shows $150K
garbage fee debt
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
Efforts are underway
to change the way county
residents pay their solid
waste fee.
Instead of finding the
$15.50 solid waste fee on the
monthly water bill, plans
include making it an an
nual fee that will appear
School Bus Crash
Victims Responsible For Meds
r
PHOTO BY RITCHIE E. STARNES
More than 1,800 Edenton-Chowan students, or 76 percent of the system’s student body, ride the school bus as a mode of transporta
tion. Riders are not covered by the state in the event of a wreck whereby an uninsured or under insured motorist is at fault. Holmes High
students, shown above, prepare to leave at the end of Monday’s school day.
Teenage driver at fault had no insurance
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
Parents of the 22 Chowan
Middle School students tak
en to the hospital in April af
ter a school bus crash will be
responsible for paying their
child’s medical expenses.
Parents learned that they
would have to turn their
child’s medical bills over
to their own automobile in
surance carrier since the
teenage driver at fault in the
April 22 collision had no li
ability insurance. Neither is
there liability coverage for
underinsured or uninsured
on a school bus, according
Questions raised about who owns Courthouse Greens
County, state
lay claims ^
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
There seems to be some
confusion about who owns
the Greens that front the
1767 Chowan Courthouse.
0
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
- i _
on the yearend property
tax bill. The change should
help the county improve its
collection rate while also
keeping it separate from
the water bill.
. “We’re going to revise
the solid waste ordinance
so. the bill will be on the ad
valorem property tax bill
instead of the water bill;
that way we’ll catch every
body,” said Paul Parker, in
terim county manager.
Chowan County commis
sioners learned last Mon
to the N.C. Department of
Justice.
“Someone has to be liable
other than the parents,” said
Patrick Railey, parent of a
daughter who was a victim
of the bus crash. “Somehow
the school should take care
of this.”
Parents were instructed
via a June 3 letter to forward
their medical bills to the
Edenton-Chowan Schools
Transportation Department.
But, a month later a second
letter was mailed to parents
instructing them to contact
their personal auto insur
ance carrier. Attached to
that July 29 letter was a state
During last Monday
night’s Board of Commis
sioners meeting, county
leaders revealed that
the county still owns the
Greens and not the state as
previously indicated.
Amid plans to declare
the historic jail and jailer’s
house surplus property as
a prelude to donating the
property to the state’s His
toric Sites, the Courthouse
Greens - a rectangular
lawn that lies between the
historic courthouse and
Edenton Bay - was also,
listed as potential prop
erty for surplus. But, com
day night that a handful
of customers had not been
paying the fee. Whereas
the county can disconnect
a customer’s water service
to ensure garbage fee pay
ment, there is no way to en
force the county’s 150 well
users who pay their fees
quarterly.
“For the ones who use
a well, there is no mecha
nism for enforcement,”
Parker said.
Eight out of 12 delinquent
accounts have not paid the
letter, dated the same day.
“There is no provision for
underinsured or uninsured
motorist liability in the
Tort Claims Act,” the letter
stated. “This is contractual
coverage commonly avail
able-in commercial and per
sonal insurance policies but
has no application under the
Tort Clams Act.”
The Highway Patrol re
ported that Justin Chap
pell, a John A. Holmes High
School student, mistook
the bus’ caution lights for a
turning signal on the foggy
morning before turning his
pickup truck into the path
of the bus. The bus was
missioners asked that Paul
Parker, interim county
manager, proceed with the
jail and jailer’s house, but
keep the Greens under the
county’s domain.
On Thursday, Parker
said there is no contractu
al evidence that the Greens
were ever turned over to
the state, but added that
the matter is still under
review. He acknowledged,
however, that the state
has been maintaining the
Greens and that the His
toric Sites rents the lawn
See GREEKS, 3A
. solid waste fee. Parker said
the eight customers contin
ue to “ignore the bill” while
the other four are making
payment installments.
Adding to the problem
is a software glitch that
shows the delinquent cus
tomers , owe penalties in
terms of fines and interests
for past due charges. While
the county can charge pen
alties for delinquent water
invoices, it cannot charge
past due fees for solid waste,
Parker said. The software
heading north along N.C. 32
on the final leg to CMS when
Chappell turned off Sandy
Ridge Road and into the bus’
path. Trooper C.D. Mont
gomery then said Chappell
believed the bus was slowing
to turn right into White Oak
Elementary
Although none of the
students were seriously in
jured, all of the 22 students
involved in the crash were
taken to the hospital for
treatment. Five were taken
by ambulance. Any student
that complained of not feel
ing well was sent to the
See CRASH, 6A
installed three years ago
automatically treats the
garbage fee the same as wa
ter service. Consequently,
records show Chowan has
an outstanding debt of
$150,000 related to garbage
fees.
“We know that’s not
right,” Parker said. “We’re
trying to get a realistic
number. We’re going back
and researching the ac
counts that have not been
paid.
“This is really a comput
er-generated problem,” he
added.
Parker acknowledged
that the county still has to
figure out how to collect the
delinquent debt.
John Morrison, county
attorney, nixed further dis
cussion so the board could
meet in closed session and
review potential remedies.
“We have to make a rea
sonable attempt to collect
the debt before we can take
any legal action,” Parker
said.
Scores
down,
but more
take SAT
E-Chowan raises both
score, participation rate
By KRISTIN PITTS
Staff Writer
Even though area students as a whole
appeared to do less well on the SAT this
year than last year, more students are
taking the college-admissions test, re
sults released this week indicate.
The average score on the test fell in
three of five area school districts but
participation rates climbed in four of
See SAT, 6A
United Way
is working
to help you
Live United is the slogan for the United
Way of America. It speaks for itself. Now
it’s time for all of us to walk the talk.
The Albemarle Area United Way
launched its annual fund-raising cam
paign last Tuesday with a goal of rais
ing $400,000. Most of the donations come
through employer campaigns. For exam
ple, Piedmont Gas recently , completed
their workplace campaign with 100%
participation. The employees of our
banks, hospitals, government agencies
all support the area United Way with
See AAUW, 4A
PHOTO BY RITCHIE
STARNES
There is a duel
over ownership of
the 1767 Chowan
Courthouse
Greens. Chowan
County officials ’
claim they own
the property while
the state points
to documents
that originated
centuries ago.
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