482-4418
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
DOT: Expect delays with bridge replacement
Engineer predicts
4-6 week delay
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
Concerns mount wheth
er the contractor will meet
deadline on the Queen
Anne Creek bridge re
placement.
A N.C. Department of
Transportation engineer
said Monday that it’s not
likely Palmetto Infrastruc
ture will complete the $1
million bridge replace
ment by Aug. 24, despite fi
nancial incentives to finish
early. DOT engineer Shawn
Decision
2012
y :r
Luton Steinburg
Steinburg
outraises
Luton
Candidate raised
$26K, spent $18K
By REGGIE PONDER
The Daily Advance
Chowan Republican Bob
Steinburg’s campaign for
the 1st District seat in the
N.C. House of Represen
tatives has raised $10,000
more and spent more than
twice as much as Pasquo
tank Democrat Bill Luton’s
campaign, according to '
reports filed with the N.C.
State Board of Elections
last week.
Luton is a member of the
Elizabeth City-Pasquotank
Board of Education. Stein
burg is a former chairman
of the Chowan County Re
publican Party.
The Friends of Bill Lu
ton Committee has raised
$16,400 as of June 30, ac
cording to the report filed
July 11. The campaign re
ported spending $6,930 as
of the June 30 close of the
second quarter.
Steinburg’s campaign
has raised $26,200 and
spent $18,000, according to
the report.
Steinburg expressed ap
preciation for his fundrais
ing so far.
‘‘Obviously I’m pleased
that I have been able to
raise the amount of mon
ey that I have,” Steinburg
said.
Luton downplayed the
significance of the fund
raising gap at this point.
"I’m not concerned
about the difference, es
pecially since we actually
have a little more cash on
hand than my opponent,”
Luton said.
Steinburg reported cash
on hand at $8,200. Luton’s
cash on hand was reported
at $9,400.
The two candidates
agreed that the crucial
fundraising period is just
See 0UTSPEMT, 3A
89076"44813
02009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
Mebane said the South
Carolina based contractor
will most likely go weeks
beyond the deadline.
“He’ll (Palmetto) be four
to six weeks late because
that’s his history,” Mebane
said. “I said it from the
get-go. I hope he proves me
wrong, byt I don’t see it
happening.”
Mebane estimates that
Palmetto is- 40 percent be
hind schedule after less
than a month on site.
“The news is not good,”
Mebane added. “Hopefully,
he can speed it up. But,
that’s not his history”
Palmetto’s Gregg Can
niff said that while the
Sailing Away
SUBMITTED PHOTO BY KERMIT LAYTON
A male youth participates in the Edenton-Chowan Recreation Department's Sunfish sailing lessons last Wednesday morning.
Open to boys and girls in grades 6-12 the class is taught by certified instructor Brian Donnelly of Edenton.
Council OKs waterfront camera
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
The Edenton Town Council ap
proved the purchase of a camera to
put downtown’s Colonial Park un
der electronic surveillance, but not
before questions were raised about
other more high crime areas.
The camera is one of five being
purchased as part of what will
become a town-wide camera sys
tem. Others being purchased for
the downtown area include one
District leader seeks more diverse Rotary
Morgan plans meeting
with Edenton club
By WILLIAM F. WEST
The Daily Advance
HERTFORD — Rotary’s leader for
northeastern North Carolina says his
priorities include creating a larger
and more diverse membership, includ
ing at the currently woman-less Eden
ton Rotary Club.
Speaking to about 40 Hertford Ro
company may not meet the
incentive completion date
that pays the contractor
an extra $1,500 for every
day the project is finished
early, the job will be done
within the contract’s 90
day window.
“We put together a really
aggressive schedule to get
that money, now they're
(DOT) beating us over the
head with it,” Canniff said.
“For them to say we’re 40
percent behind, we’ve only
been out there 20 days.”
Construction was set
to begin June 11, but that
start was reportedly de
layed. Palmetto failed to
secure permits to run a
paid for by Albemarle Bank and
another by Destination Downtown
Edenton. Two that are being paid
for by Edenton Housing Authority
will be installed along its property
on Blade Street. Councilman Steve
Biggs cast the lone dissenting vote.
Biggs questioned the need for
surveillance cameras downtown
saying he did not feel it could be
considered “a high crime area.”
“I just think we need to spend
our money more prudently,” Biggs
said.
tarians Tuesday morning, Rotary
District 7720 Governor Skip Morgan
said increasing diversity is part of his
overall goal to boost the club’s mem
bership rolls in the region,
Worldwide, Rotary has about 1.2 mil
lion members, but Morgan told Hert
ford Rotarians that the organization’s
membership in North America has
been on the decline.
To boost membership, Morgan plans
to embark on a publicity campaign to
See ROTARY, 3A
t
waterline whereas, which
could have been done as
early as February, Mebane
said. Canniff argued that
DOT could have supplied
the permits to save the con
tractor time.
Since construction be
gan, the project has been
riddled with delays.
Mebane cites the delays
as various mishaps due to
poor workmanship. Por
tions of Palmetto’s work
has had to be done again
due to construction mis
takes, Mebane said.
Canniff counters that
the delays have been due to
See BRIDGE, 3A
Councilman Sambo Dixon sug
gested that perhaps the town could
look for a way to purchase addi
tional cameras that could be placed
in greater crime areas.
“I think we ought to (install
cameras in) the areas that have
the most crime now, not just these
five,” Dixon said.
Biggs said that he agreed the
council should discuss ways to fo
cus on the high crime areas, if the
See CAMERAS, 3A
STAFF PHOTO BY RITCHIE E. STARNES
A crew with Palmetto Infrastructure works to replace a bridge at
Queen Anne Creek. Indications suggest the bridge replacement
will not be completed by Aug. 24.
Chowan
voters
lead
runoff
More than half J
cast ballots here
By PETER WILLIAMS
The Daily Advance
More than half of the 594
Albemarle residents who
voted early for Tuesday’s
state runoff election were
in Chowan County, accord
ing to statistics released
Saturday.
Early voting ended at 1
p.m., and by that time 315
Chowan voters had either
stopped by the elections of
fice to vote or mailed in a
ballot. In Camden County,
just 33 voted early Pasquo
tank County had 130, Per
quimans 74 and Currituck
42.
Chowan County had the
only race involving a local
candidate in the Albemar
le. Ed Goodwin, the chair
man of the Chowan County
Board of Commissioners,
is facing Kenn Gardner for
the Republican contest for
secretary of state. In the
May election, nearly 80
percent of Chowan voters
backed Goodwin.
Out of the 315 ballots in
Chowan, 295 were from peo
ple who came into the office
to vote, said Rebecca Lowe,
the elections supervisor. In
all, 3 percent of Chowan’s
voters cast early ballots.
“Our county was very
much aware of the second
primary,” Lowe said.
Still, she admits, 315 bal
lots out of 10,571 registered
votes isn’t going to set any
records. She’s seen turn
out, including the actual '
vote on election day, as low
as 2 percent.
Lowe figures taxpayers
will spend between $10,000
and $11,000 on the runoff.
Lowe said She said Pitt
County is looking at a bill
See EARLY, 3A
fe*i^
STAFF PHOTO r
BY BRE1TA1 CLARK .
Skip Morgan, j w,
governor for
Rotary District
7720, speaks to •
Hertford Rotarians y
during a breakfast /(%
visit at Captain f M \
Bob's Seafood 4/^ ’
in Hertford,last'/
Tuesday. 1.
.. , * '