482-4418 Wednesday, February 27, 2013 Groups eye marketing Hotel Hinton Three non-profits ;| want to pitch in iBy RITCHIE E. STARNES Editor Attention has again turned to the future of the former Hotel | Hinton that previously served |g as the comity’s administrative I building. m Now vacant because of its in | efficiency, the East King Street H structure has drawn renewed 1 interest of stakeholders that pre fer the building be rehabilitated for new use. Preservation North Carolina, Destination Downtown Edenton, and the Edenton Chow an Partnership all want to assist Chowan County with coursing the future of the 1926 built hotel. The three stakeholders met with the Chowan County Board of Commissioners at its Feb. 19 work session to tout its inten tions amid hopes of securing the _ county’s commitment to stay the course with the efforts. “This is a property we want to do something with and we want to do the right thing,” said Com missioner Emmett Winborne. On behalf of PNC, Claudia DeViney reiterated the non-prof it’s experience at marketing for gotten properties, particularly those with history. “This is what we do. And we have the track record to prove it,” said DeViney, who also talk ed with commissioners last year about marketing the historic building. She continued that PNC was prepared to promote the build ing by either the county donat ing the structure or an option to huy. The latter would be exer cised after PNC found a buyer, she added. DeViney compared the project to the former Wilrick Hotel in Sanford. “It had gotten in terrible condi tion,” DeViney said. “Our build ing (Hotel Hinton) is in much better shape. “We would as always look for a buyer who would look for the highest and best use,” she add ed. In the Wilrick Hotel project, the new owner converted the building into a mixed-use struc ture with the middle portion des ignated as condominiums and the bottom floor as retail. The owner resides in a private quar ters on the top floor, DeViney explained. Commissioners’ concerns about a lengthy process prompt ed DeViney to add that PNC would require at least a one-year commitment to find a buyer. “Somebody interested in a See HINTON, 2A Firetruck spurs | possible I substation By REBECCA BUNCH ? Staff Writer 1 ’ The Edenton Fire De partment could soon add a second location. The proposed substation would be located in the southern end of the county, Fire Chief Craig Forlines told the Town Council at its monthly committee meeting session held Mon day night. In response to a question from Councilman Willis Privott regarding a pro posed location for the sub station, Forlines said he would like to see it estab lished on Haughton Road. Forlines said that vol unteers would operate the substation. “We have the person nel,” Forlines said. . A key part of establish ing the substation, For lines said, would be for the town to accept a 1991 Spar tan fire engine that has been declared surplus by the North Carolina Forest Service. The fire engine has 43,916 miles on it and pumps 1,000 gallons per minute. There would be no cost to the town for the engine, Forlines said. The only ex pense would be for insur ance and tags, he said. The engine would be used at the substation to respond to fires, he said. “My hope is that you’ll not allow this opportunity I to slip away,” Forlines told | the council. Mayor Roland Vqughan questioned how a substa tion would impact response times. Forlines said that re sponse time to Drummond nj Point Road, for example, | would be cut from the cur rent 18 minutes to seven minutes. “I think it’s (accepting I engine) a great sugges ! tion,” Councilman, Jimmy | Stallings said. “I think we absolutely need to move forward on this.” 1 Stallings asked if there was any way that the coun cil could take action on the I request Monday night, as | Forlines had hoped, but I was told by Town Manager | Anne-Marie Knighton that I under the council’s current I structure they could not gap year 89-day NOLS experience prompts college decision By RITCHIE E. STARNES Editor As high school graduation approached, Garrett Stanley hadn’t a clue what he wanted to do next. He was rudderless about his immediate future. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do about college,” Garrett remem bered. His father, Gary, agreed about his son’s uncertainty about life after high school. “He was all over the map, think ing about college, the military,” ; Gary said. “He wasn’t sure about majors or careers.” His son’s confusion apparently began a few years earlier. “Garrett first started stressing out about his future in junior high school,” Gary added. Instead of pressuring him to be more decisive as he entered early adulthood, Garrett’s parents showed patience and suggested he take a year off - a gap year - to find his way. So instead of starting college in the fall, he picked up a five-day a week part-time job. Then Gary encouraged his son to attend a National Outdoor Leader ship School (NOLS) in Wyoming. “Students on our courses learn leadership by doing. This might mean planning and executing a detailed route and destination on a topographic map, or leading the way down Whitewater rapids,” said SUBMITTED PHOTOS Part of the 89-day NOLS expedition included white water canoeing on the Green River in the canyons of Utah. It was here that Garrett Stanley's canoe became submerged in the rapids. Brent Wallen, NOLS spokesman. “Whatever the day’s activities are, thef Student takes on the tasks, often with minimal to no instructor involvement.” Never a Boy Scout or even an outdoorsman, Garrett embarked on a cross-country excursion that included 89 days in the rugged wil derness of the Rocky Mountains. There he would hike, canoe, camp, and survive the mountainous ele ments with 10 others. Phase I of the expedition featured 10 days of hiking in See EXCURSION, 5A • • " 1 Garrett Stanley (middle front) poses with his fellow students in the can yons of Utah, part of a 89-day wilderness expedition through the National Outdoor Leadership School. Water-based businesses eye Edenton Bay By REBECCA BUNCH Staff Writer Two water-based businesses could soon become a reality in Edenton. The Town Council is expected to take action at its March 12 regular monthly meeting on the requests. The)first is a proposed floating be