482-4418
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
It's time for pollination
— 3A
50c
County picks PNC to sell Hinton Hotel
Board to seek
demolition permit
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
Time is ticking for Preserva
tion North Carolina to find a buy
er for the former Hinton Hotel.
The Board of Commissioners
chose PNC as the lead agency to
market the Hinton Hotel while
also intending to apply for a de
molition permit. Commission
ers voted unanimously March 4
to contract with PNC to sell the
former hotel that last served as
headquarters to Chowan County
departments. The county is slat
ed to ink an agreement with PNC
this week.
They also voiced their inten
tions to apply for a demolition
permit no later than July 1. A
vote on the action is expected at
the board’s March 19 work ses
sion.
Claudia DeViney, who spear
heads PNC efforts locally, said
the specter of demolition creates
a sense of urgency
“While I’d rath
er they (commis
sioners) not do
this (demolition
permit), many
of the buildings
that we deal with
are threatened
by demolition,”
she said. “We’ve
been dealing with historical and
endangered properties since the
70s.”
A demolition permit keeps the
county’s options open in the event
there’s no progress with finding a
buyer in a reasonable amount of
time.
“The county would only remove
the building sometime after July
1,2014, if no progress is made in
the marketing of the property,”
said County Manager Zee Lamb
via email. “It is the sincere hope
of the county commissioners that
a buyer can be found to preserve
the property”
Part of the reason for the early
application is that while state law
does not prohibit demolition in
historic districts, there is a provi
sion that allows a delay up to one
yean
Although buyers for downtrod
den properties have been scarce
during the sour economy, inter
est has increased across the state,
DeViney said.
“Activity has been dormant be
cause of the economy, but I’m see
ing a turn,” she added. “I think
this part of North Carolina has
been slowest to respond. I think
thisisgoingtobeanexcitingyear.”
Federal ‘and state .tax
incentives are expected to help
See HOTIl, 3A
Pastor
Alexander
dies at
103
From Staff Reports
The Rev. E.C. Alexander
died Monday at his home
just days after his 103rd
birthday.
Alexander served as
pastor at First Christian
Church in the Edenton Mill
Village for almost 68 years
before
his fail
ing health
forced him
to step
aside.
Shirley
Conner, Al
exander’s
surviving
daughter, said Tuesday
morning that she would
always remember her dad
as a man who lived the val
ues he preached from the
pulpit.
Alexander
See ALEXANDER, 3A
Developer
eyes
housing
project
72-units proposed
for Paradise Road
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
After the town rejected
one developer’s plan to
build a multi-family hous
ing project because of al
ready too many empty rent
als in relation to available
renters, another builder
has applied to erect a larger
complex on Paradise Road.
Carolina Project Build
ers of Raleigh has applied
for a conditional use per
mit to erect Patriot Pointe,
a 72-unit multi-family
dwelling on 7 acres previ
ously earmarked for the
failed Beechwood Con
tinued Care Retirement
Community. Patriot Pointe
developers would receive
tax credits that would
See HOUSING, 2A
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
A TfME to Beat
PHOTO COURTESY BY JEREMY GROVES
Blake Ferrell (third from left) took first place in last year’s Kiwanis 5K Run/Walk with a time of 17:41. Anyone who can beat his team this year will be treated to
dinner for two courtesy of the Kiwanis Club.
Kiwanis 5K organizers issue challenge
17:41 is the time
to beat this year
By REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
The Edenton-Chowan
Kiwanis Club is issu
ing a challenge to any
one who participates in its
NC homeowner insurance rates to rise
STAFF PHOTO BY
REBECCA BUNCH
NC-20 Group
President
Willo Kelly
talks with
the Edenton
Discussion
Group about
the high cost
of homeown
ers insurance
in the region,
Thursday
County to lose finance director, tax administrator
Departures come as budget talks, revaluation begin
By RITCHIE E. STARNES
Editor
Two Chowan County
employees are leaving
their respective positions
at a critical fiscal time.
County Finance Direc
tor Kim Woodley and Tax
Administrator Clyde Kep
ley are leaving their posts
for new jobs in the western
third annual 5K Run/Walk
this Saturday starting at 9
a.m. at the Historic Eden
ton Visitor Center.
For one lucky winner
that challenge could end
with dinner at a down
town Edenton restaurant.
Barbara Cavanagh,
chairwoman of the event
on behalf of the club, ex
part of the state. Although
both have been at their
current posts for slightly
more than a year, they
have made key contribu
tions in their brief time of
employment, said County
Manager Zee Lamb.
Woodley, who has the
shortest tenure of the two
at barely over a year, was
instrumental in refinanc
t
plained that last year
the event’s winning run
ner Blake Ferrell — then
a cross-country athlete
and senior class member
at John A. Holmes High
School — set a time of
17:41. Now away at col
lege, he has not signed up
to participate this year,
she said.
Chowan to see
1 percent hike
By CINDY BEAMON
The Daily Advance
Homeowners insur
ance rates will go up this
summer, but not nearly
as much as originally pro
posed.
Insurance Commis
sioner Wayne Goodwin
on March 5 signed a settle
ment agreement that trims
a proposed statewide rate
hike by more than half.
Rates will increase an
ing the county’s debt that
will eventually save tax
payers $10.33 million.
“Refinancing the debt
was huge for the board
(commissioners) and the
county,” Woodley said.
“That’s going to have the
most impact on the citi
zens.”
While Woodley calls
the refinancing her most
“That is an incredible
time,” Cavanagh said of
Ferrell’s achievement,
“but if anyone can beat
it this year, we (Kiwanis
Club) will treat him or her
to dinner for two at 309
Bistro.”
Cavanagh said that
last year 83 people ran
and walked during the
average of 7 percent across
the state beginning July
1. Insurance companies,
represented by the North
Carolina Rate Bureau, pro
posed a 17.7 percent overall
increase last fall.
The rate hike percent
age is actually lower for
mainland counties in the
Albemarle.
For residents in Cam
den, Chowan, Perquimans
and Pasquotank counties,
insurance premiums will
go up 1 percent, rather
than 30 percent as origi
nally proposed.
For example, a resident
significant contribution,
Lamb also points to her
diligent efforts at consoli
dating 15 different bud
gets at the Department of
Social Services. That bud
get reorganization creates
a clearer understanding
of the DSS’ budget in re
lations to the county’s
general fund, Lamb said.
Woodley has also been
event to support the Ki
wanis Club’s scholarship
program for seniors at
Holmes. This year, with
sign-ups still occurring,
the club hopes to attract
even more participants,
she said.
USA Track and Field, a
See KIWANIS, 3A
now paying $1,327 for
$150,000 in coverage will
pay $13 more in annual
premiums under the settle
ment agreement. Had the
higher rate increase been
approved, residents would
have paid $400 more.
Residents in Currituck
County will face' larger
percentage increases, al
though still significantly
less than originally pro
posed.
A homeowner on the
Currituck mainland now
paying $1,519 for $150,000
See INSURANCE, 2A
negotiating the county’s
banking services with lo
cal institutions.
Woodley said her deci
sion to leave was based
on personal reasons re
lated to her family, which
required relocation to
western North Carolina, f l
She will be returning to
See DEPARTURES, 3A
§ EDENTON CHOWAN KIWANIS 5K RUN/ WALK
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* SAT. MARCH 16,2013-9:00 AM HISTORIC EDENTON VISITORS CENTER
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