482-4418 Wednesday, December 21, 2011
LETTERS TO SANTA
PAGE 7A, 1B-8B
Councilors not required to attend meetings
Boards can link
pay to attendance
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor ,
Although the late Council
woman Phyllis Britton’s pro
longed illness contributed to
lengthy periods of absences
from town council meetings,
state law requires no atten
dance for elected officials.
Records show Britton
missed 19 of 21 meetings in
2011 as the representative of
ward 3. In 2009, the year she
decided to seek re-election
and ran unopposed, Britton
missed 14 of 24 meetings.
During the periods of Brit
ton’s absences she continued
to collect the $350 monthly
stipend paid to councilors
for their service, records
show.
Britton died Dec. 4 after
a lifelong battle with sickle
cell anemia.
In addition to concerns
for her failing health, Town
Manager Anne Marie Knigh
ton said fellow councilors
also expressed Concern about
her inability to attend sched
uled meetings and represent
her constituents. Knigh
ton said she researched the
town’s charter and state law
and found no attendance re
quirement. '
Professor Frayda Blues
tein of the University of
North Carolina’s School of
Government also confirmed
the absence of any such law.
Neither is there any remedy
for the Council to remove an
elected official due to extend
ed absences, she added.
“There is no authority for
a board to remove a board
member to deal with the sit
uation,” Bluestein said. “It’s
up to the board members to
step dpwn.”
Boards also have limited
authority to amend town
charters, which typically
require state legislative ap
proval, Bluestein said.
“They can’t legally modify
their basic powers,” Blues
tein said.
Among those limited ac
tions, boards can tie council
ors’ meeting attendance with
their pay, Bluestein added.
“Some jurisdictions link
See MEETINGS, 6A
Town OKs search for Council vacancy 1
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
The Edenton Town Council is initial
ing a search for someone to fill the
late Councilwoman Phyllis Britton’s
ward 3 seat. Her term was scheduled
| to end in 2013.
f Britton, 64, died Sunday, Dec. 4
I at Brian Center Health and Rehab in
Hertford after battling the effects of
sickle cell anemia since childhood,
j The council agreed at its Dec. 13
meeting with a suggestion by Town
Manager Anne-Marie Knighton about
a suitable procedure to follow.
“In the past, you have interviewed
the candidates at a special meeting,
then spent time contemplating the ap
pointment, and voted on the appoint
i ment at the next council meeting,”
Knighton said.
Knighton recommended that an ad
be published in The Chowan Herald
for several weeks asking those who
were interested to apply. Deadline for I
applications to be received would be I
Friday, Jan. 20. |
The council would then spend time
during a special meeting on Monday, |
Jan. 23 reviewing those applications. |
At that point a special meeting
would be scheduled to interview can- |
didates, followed by a vote at the next
council meeting.
Mayor pro tern Steve Biggs said he |
was in favor of that timetable. i. *
“That would give everybody plenty
of time,” Biggs said.
Britton was first elected to a four
year term in November 2005, and was
re-elected in 2009, both times running I
unopposed. She was appointed in
February 2005 to fill the unexpired
term of Jerald Perry who had moved
outside the ward.
Candy Bomber's Plane
Lands at Airport
STAFF PHOTOS BY RITCHIE E. STARNES
A C-54 that serves as a flying museum depicting the Berlin airlift between the years of 1948 and 1949 soars above
the Northeastern Regional Airport in Edenton Monday morning. The airplane remains at the airport for maintenance
until March.
C-54 to stay in area until March
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
Add another feather to the
wing of Edenton airport’s
quest to become a hub for
aviation history.
A C-54 airplane used during
World War ITs Berlin airlift and
now commemorates the histori
cal event as a flying museum
landed at the Northeastern Re
gional Airport Monday morn
ing for scheduled maintenance.
Monday’s jaunt follows the
plane’s weekend participation
in the annual commemoration
of the Wright brothers’ first
flight at Kitty Hawk. At the con
trols as co-pilot was 91-year-old
Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Gail
See C-54,2A
U.S. Air Force Retired Col. Gail Halvorsen signs an autograph Monday at
Edenton’s Northeastern Regional Airport. Halvorsen, better known as the
original Candy Bomber, after he first began dropping candy to children dur
ing the Berlin Airlift.
PHOTO COURTESY OF AMERICAN SOLAR INTEGRATORS
The panels at the Edenton solar farm on Peanut Drive will be
installed on a racking system with full tilt installation.The angle
of the tilt is about 15 degrees. The panels do not track the sun,
rather, energy is generated when the sun hits them.
Town leases lot
for solar farm
Proceeds to fund economic development
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
Plans are under way to
' establish a solar farm in
Edenton aimed at provid
ing funds for economic de
velopment while also cre
ating a local tax base.
At its Dec. 13 meeting,
the Town Council unani
mously approved an in
terconnection agreement
with Edenton Solar 1, a
limited liability corpora
tion affiliated with Ameri
can Solar Integrators of
Cornelius, N.C. The group
plans to establish the solar
farm on an undeveloped, 8
acre tract owned by Eden
ton Today Edenton Today
See SOLAR FARM, 6A
Woman rear-ends
school bus
From staff reports
Forty-eight students es
caped serious injury after
a woman rear-ended the
school bus they were rid
ing.
Students riding Bus No.
86 from White Oak and D.F.
Walker elementary schools
were taken to Chowan
Hospital where they were
treated and released after
the Dec. 13 crash, accord-'
ing to Edenton-Chowan
school officials.
According to N.C. High
way Patrolman L.M. Hill,
the bus was traveling south
on N.C. 32 about 1.5 miles
away from the schools
when the driver stopped
for. another bus ahead that
was letting students off. At
that time, Ashley Patricia
Jernigan, 30, of Edenton
slammed into the rear of
the waiting bus at 3:30 p.m.,
See BUS WRECK, 6A
Pilot crashes plane near U.S. 17
Neighbors: Not
victim’s first crash
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Chowan Herald
MERRY HILL-A pilot re
mains in critical condition
after crashing his airplane
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
Friday in a field alongside
U.S. 17N near his home.
Neighbors identified the
victim as Michael B. Tay
lor. After rescuers pulled
Taylor from the wreckage,
he was airlifted to Pitt Me
morial Hospital in Green
eville. Bertie County Sher
iff John Holley described
the victim as semi-con
scious when he was pulled
from the wreckage.
As of late Tuesday morn
ing, Taylor was listed in
critical condition, accord
ing to Barbara Dunn, a
hospital spokeswoman.
Holley said the crash oc
curred around 11:30 a.m.
in Midway, between Wind
sor and Edenton near the *
intersection of U.S. 17 and
N.C. 45. Taylor lived about
150 yards from where the
plane crashed.
“It appears it nosedived
into the ground and then
flipped upside down,” Hol
ley said.
Parts from the aircraft,
including the propeller,
See CRASH, 9A
PHOTO BY RITCHIE E. STARNES
Pilot Michael B. Taylor of Merry Hill remains in critical condition after crashing his 78 Piper Toma
hawk in a Bertie County field adjacent to U.S. 17 North near N.C. 45 Friday at 11:30 a.m.
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Father Thomas M. Rickenbaker, Rector CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES
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5:30 PM CHILDREN’S SERVICE
10:30 PM SPECIAL CHRISTMAS MUSIC
11:00 PM CANDLELIGHT COMMUNION
CHRISTMAS DAY SERVICE
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