482-4418
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Developer wants Council recnsals
Four councilmen
own rental property
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
Developers seeking a
conditional-use permit to
build a larger government
subsidized housing com
plex are demanding that
two Edenton councilmen
Budget
spares a
tax hike
County staff to
get COLA raise
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
For a third straight year
Chowan County taxpayers
will avoid a property tax
increase while county em
* ployees will get their first
pay bump since 2007.
County Manager Zee
Lamb an
nounced
v Monday
that the
county’s
tax rate
will re
main at
68 and */«
cents per Lamb
$100 valuation and that
the county will again con
. tribute to its fund balance
for the 2012-13 fiscal year
while also giving county
employees a 2 percent pay
' hike. The county will iso
pay their health and den
tal benefits. In Monday
morning’s Board of Com
missioners meeting, Lamb
presented his annual bud
get with total revenues and
expenditures at $16.1 mil
lion.
Last week, Lamb pre
sented a first draft budget
that by meeting’s end need
ed cuts of roughly $400,000
before a budget could be
balanced without a tax in
crease. He managed to find
the necessary cuts within
various departments while
still contributing $213,814
to the county’s reserves.
Part of Chowan’s goal is to
reach a fund balance of $4
million, or 25 percent of its
General Fund.
“I believe by the end of
next year, we can achieve
that target,” Lamb told the
board.
If there was any spark of
contention it came when
Sheriff Dwayne Goodwin
expressed concern that
his department has had to
freeze positions for the past
two years to help balance
the county’s budget. Good
win reluctantly agreed to
defund the 911 director’s
position as well as the need
for another deputy.
“I’m as tight with a pen
ny as anybody,” Goodwin
said. “I’m afraid we’U be
back here next year and
we’ll be without one (911
v director).”
See BUDGET, 2A
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
»=1 WT> V ■
recuse themselves
from the decision.
A week after Coun
cilman Bob Quinn
challengedEvergreen
Construction offi
cials about the com
pany’s plans to build
a 50-unit multi-fam
ily housing complex
along Coke Avenue,
company executives want
Quinn and Sambo Dixon
Ben Rinehart, a retired lieutenent colonel, points to his many Citations earned during his 22 years in the U.S. Marines. Rinehart was a decorated helicopter
pilot.
Army pilot tracks down Marine to say thanks
Rescue occurred 46
years ago in Laos
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
Forty-six years after
gunfire sent his *
reconnaissance plane
plummeting to a fiery
crash in Laos, one of the
two survivors found the
Privott
recused Trom participat
ing in the quasi-judicial
hearing because of a per
Marine who saved his life
and stopped in Eden
ton last Monday to say
thanks.
After decades of trying
to identify and locate his
hero, Mark Bellamy, an
U.S. Army retired lieute
nent colonel, finally met
Ben Rinehart, a retired
lieutenent colonel, of the
U.S. Marines, in a setting
other than a helicopter.
Returnees will be boost to Steamers
iiBHl
ni£ PHOTO
josh Branstetter, a right-handed pitcher from Delta State,
was a Coastal Plain League All-Star pick for the Steamers
last summer before suffering a season-ending ankle injury.
Stallings
ceived conflict of interest.
Evergreen’s Tim Morgan,
vice president, said both
There were no hugs for
these two retired war
birds. Instead, they
shared a firm handshake
and smiles before sitting
down in Rinehart’s living
room where they reflected
on the harrowing ordeal.
“This was an opportu
nity for me to say thanks,”
Bellamy said. “My chil
See HERO, 3A
Four players back
from CPL finalist
By CHIC RIEBEL
Daily Advance Sports Editor
When the 2012 Edenton
Steamers begin arriving in
town this weekend to pre
pare for Tuesday’s Coastal
Plain League opener at
Hicks Field against the
Peninsula Pilots, first-year
coach Steve Moritz will
feel like he already has a
good thing going.
That’s because Moritz,
who was an assistant un
der Dirk Kinney on last
year’s CPL runner-up, will
be welcoming back four
players who helped the
Steamers set a franchise
record for victories in a
season.
men own rental properties
in Edenton and have been
the most vocal opponents
of the proposed project.
“It makes me question
whether they can be fair,”
Morgan said Monday.
“I believe there is a
conflict of interest (finan
cially) with (them) hearing
our case and they should
excuse themselves from
the vote,” Morgan wrote
V
Season Opener
Tuesday, May 29,
Steamers vs. Penin
Steamers Preview
Meet the 2012 team In
our special, two-page
preview on May 30
J
Pitchers Joshua Brans
tetter, Jordan Egan and Da
vid Teasley and outfielder
Nathan Burns are the re
turnees.
“It was important to
bring some of those guys
back," Moritz said in a tele
phone interview earlier in
the week. “If you look at
tho way we won last year,
it was by playing the game
right and playing hard.
in a May 18 email to the
Chowan Herald.
“In my opinion, this
would be no different than
a new grocery store want
ing to come to town, with
representatives from Food
Lion and Lowes Foods sit
ting on the town board,
voting on whether the new
store should be granted a
See DEVELOPER, 2A
If
*
This photo
shows Ben
Rinehart when
he was Marine
captain, the
same rank when
he rescued then
U.S.Army Capt.
Mark Bellamy on
Feb. 4,1966.
“These four guys know
how to do that. They know
how to prepare for games.
They know how to ap
proach the game. They un
derstand roles.
“Having a core group
from last year will help us
instill the same things in
this team and they’re go
ing to help me adjust to be
ing the head coach.
“I couldn’t have asked
for four better guys to be
coming back. They were
outstanding on and off the
field.”
Branstetter and Egan
were voted into last sum
mer’s CPL All-Star Game.
Branstetter, a right
handed starting pitcher
from Delta State, was 4-1
with an ERA of 1.34 before
See STEAMERS, 7A
• visitodonton com
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