Page Masonic Lodge reopens
in new building — 1B
50«
48^-4418
. Wednesday, May 9, 2012
move
Lighthouse hovers over Edenton bay
Structure ^scapes
history of calamity
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
; Its circuitous journey has final
ly come to an end and how appro
priate that it’s a watery home.
Last Tuesday hundreds of spec
tators gathered to watch workers
■»' successfully complete the land'
to water relocation of the cot
tage-style 1886 Roanoke River
Lighthouse - the only remaining
one like it in the U.S. A crew of
professional movers lifted the
Lighthouse and then eased the
structure from the edge of water
front in Colonial Park to pilings
erected nearby in Edenton Bay
where it will become the latest
historical attraction in the town
of Edenton, part of the N.C. De
partment of Cultural Resources.
For a structure steeped in local
history, onlookers chose to see
the latest chapter unfold.
“We wanted to be here for this
historic moment,” said Kathryn
Perry of Rocky Hock as she and
her husband, Jack, watched from
the park. “I don’t think we’ll see
anything else again like this in
our lifetime.
“We love lighthouses,” she add
ed. “But this one in particular be
cause it’s part of us, part of our
history.” v_
Others figured the spectacle
was too unique to pass up.
“I’ve been here watching since
*10 o’clock this morning,” said
Edenton’s Tamatha Thomas dur
ing mid-afternoon. “This is an ex
citing moment for our town. It’s
a once in a lifetime chance to see
a lighthouse moved. I’ve never
seen anything like this happen
and probably won’t again.”
Some understood the signifi
cance of such a prize landmark
gracing an already history-rich
town.
“I think it’s fantastic. I think it
will bring in a lot of visitors and
benefit our entire community,”
said Jack Drage between taking
photographs.
Tuesday’s move marks the lat
est in an incredible sequence of
events aad history that includes
both calamity and survival
According to Linda Eure, site
manager for Edenton’s state
historic properties, Congress
arranged for a lightship be posi
tioned in the mouth of the Roa
noke River to help guide vessels
navigating from the Albemarle
Sound in 1884. At a cost of $10,000,
a 125-ton, three-masted vessel
was built. Whale oil lights cov
See LIGHTHOUSE, 3A
PHOTOS BY KIP SHAW •
(l-r children) Josh Harvill, Molly Harvill, Emma Syphus enjoy front row seats
for the lighthouse moving last Tuesday.
Hundreds of spectators (above left) gather at Colonial Park to witness the mo ving of the 1886 Roanoke River Lighthouse. Workers (above right) make final preparations before moving the structure
over water.
X
Property tax delinquencies
have reached over $900K
Collections to
get aggressive
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
Chowan leaders want to
get more aggressive with
collecting delinquent prop
erty taxes that has soared
to more than $900,000.
| Along with a list of the
county’s top 100 tax delin
36 ■■89076s
4813
' ©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
£ ?
l v‘ ■ 1
quents, County Manager
Zee Lamb relayed the need
for more aggressive efforts
to the Board of Commis
sioners at a recent budget
workshop. He told them
collections had begun to
slide since 2008 when the
county cut a position in
tax collections.
“Collection efforts over
that time have been mini
mal,” Lamb said at the
meeting.
His news surprised
commissioners.
"I can’t believe we have
let the debt service slide,”
said Commissioners’
Chairman Eddy Goodwin.
On Monday, Clyde Ke
pley, tax administrator,
concurred that the collec
tions decline has been due
to a shortage of person
nel.
“They didn’t have the
staff to put toward collec
tions the way we should,”
Kepley said.
Kepley and Lamb reit
erated Monday afternoon
that more needs to be
done to collect back taxes.
Recently renewed efforts
have already netted the
collection of two of the
county’s top five delin
quent accounts for a to
tal of $76,000. Two others
in the top six have set up
payment plans.
See MOTOdY, 2A
*
Chowan toting $21.4M in debt
Plans call for loan
restructuring
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
As the Board of Com
missioners continue to
dig out of a fiscal hole left
from the financial debacle
in 2008, it will next begin
restructuring Chowan’s
$21.4 million debt as of the
fiscal year’s end.
Talks are under way
about refinancing some of
the county’s loans while
paying more principal to
ward others in an effort
to whittle down a stagger
ing debt that continues to
hamstring the county’s
coffers for years to come.
Plans call for the county
■ *
to refinance at least three
loans in an effort to gain a
better interest rate, rough
ly half the current rate,
with a shorter payment
schedule, thus potentially
saving taxpayers nearly
$600,000 over the next sev
en years.
Those loans include: the
$5.1 million owed, at 4.05
percent interest rate and
11 years, for D.F. Walker
Elementary School; $1.8
million, 4.09 percent and
13 years, for the North
ern Community Center;
and nearly $1 million, 4.38
percent at 13 years, for a
second loan taken out for
construction overruns of
the Shepard-Pruden Me
morial Library.
“For a county our size,
we’re carrying a very
heavy debt,” said Kim
Woodley, county finance
director. “We’re exceeding
state averages for a county
our size.”
Chowan’s per capita
debt is $1,455, compared to
the state’s range of $395 to
$1,168.
County leaders want to
reduce the length of the
loans to seven years, which
would result in a lower in
terest rate and less debt
service for a shorter term.
By bundling the three
loans, the county would
also save on legal fees and
any prepayment penalties
with only a single hit.
Chowan officials had
also hoped to refinance a
pair of USDA loans with
SeeOEB^M