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Mattera
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job at
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— 6A
50*;
Local and state crews work to dig out of snow
From staff reports
Tbwn of Edenton, Chow
an County and N.C. Depart
ment of Transportation
employees , — along with
a number of volunteers
and concerned citizens
— worked extra hard last
week to help the commu
nity dig out from the unusu
ally heavy snowfall
DOT Division One En
gineer Jeny Jennings ex
plained that the state’s top
priority was to clear major
roads first Later, crews
moved on to secondary
roads.
Asked about concerns
expressed by some resi
dents that plowing the ma
jor roads left deep snow
blocking entrances to sec
ondary roads or driveways,
Jennings reiterated that the
focus first is on clearing
the traffic lane on the main
road. After that, workers do
come back and try to clear
intersections, he said.
DOT also put out brine
ahead of time on main routes
to make clearing easier.
Major highways in Chow
an County were clear as of
Electric
deal could
lower
rates
. BY JON HAWLEY
The Daily Advance
In a historic move aimed
at lowering utility rates
across eastern North Caroli
na — including in Elizabeth
City, Edenton and Hertford
— Electricities is entering
exclusive talks with Duke
Energy Progress to sell the
N.C. Eastern Municipal
Power Agency’s shares in
four power plants.
If a deal can be reached,
and federal and state agen
cies approve it, electricity
customers across eastern
North Carolina who have
been saddled with high elec
tric rates for three decades
could finally see some re
lief.
Electricities, which pro
vides management services
for NCEMPA, has been in
“low-level” talks on selling
the fouf facilities since 2010,
according to Elizabeth City
City Manager Rich Olson,
who represents the city on
the NCEMPA Board of Com
missioners.
On Monday, Olson said
those talks advanced and
Electricities called together
the board for a meeting in
Wilsoa
Following that meeting,
Olson said the NCEMPA
board approved entering
into exclusive negotiations
with Duke Energy Progress
over selling NCEMPAs share
in plants jointly owned with
the Charlotte-based firm.
Duke Energy acquired ma
jority ownership in those
plants in 2012 when it com
pleted its meiger with Prog
ress Energy, creating Duke
Energy Progress.
See RATES, 4A
02009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
PHOTO COURTESY WAYNE WOODBURY
The Cupola House can be seen in the background as snow is being cleared from South Broad Street after a recent
snowfall.
Friday afternoon. Second
ary roads were mostly clear
with possible icy spots as of
Friday afternoon, according
to the N.C. Department of
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
A hugely successful fundraising effort
and the couple behind it are both be
ing honored by the North Carolina Main
Street program.
The Save the Taylor Theater campaign
has earned Destination Downtown Eden
ton an Award of Merit in the category of
Best Fundraising Effort Jeanne and Pat
rick Cumby, who spearheaded the fund
raising campaign that netted in excess of
See AWARD, 4A
Water valve breaks at downtown intersection
\ From staff reports
A broken water valve
near the intersection of
South Broad Street and
East King Street Saturday
made for a long, wet day for
Town of Edenton staff and
an out-of-town contractor
—and a temporary boil war
ter advisory for some water
customers.
The water had to be shut
off for a while along East
King Street between Court
Street and Oakum Street
The boil water advisory
has been lifted.
The break occurred
Transportation.
The N.C. Highway Patrol
reported no serious acci
dent in Chowan last week
or this week, and only a few
around 8 a.m. Saturday and
the repair work went on un
til shortly after midnight
Public Works Director
John Norris explained that
the water valve broke in
the process of shutting off
the water supply to the Ho
tel Hinton building on East
King Street in the wake of
a broken water pipe at the
building.
Norris attributed the
break to a combination of
the extreme cold and the
age of the valve.
Norris said the Public
Works Department had ex
pected to relax a bit over
Developer gets more time on Hotel Hinton purchase
STAFF PHOTO BY REGGIE PONDER
The Hotel Hinton building, which most recently served
as a governmental office building for Chowan County, Is
shown here In the melting snow on Friday morning.
minor mishaps on second
ary roads Friday as more
motorists began to venture
out.
The Chowan County Sher
the weekend after working
extra hours last week in
snow-clearing activities.
Instead, workers — in
cluding the director—were
at the site of the valve break
throughout the day Satur
day.
Around 9 p.m. Norris not
ed he had been at the site
more than 12 hours and had
eaten three meals there.
There were six town
employees at the site of
the break Saturday, along
with employees of the water
valve contractor.
See WATER, 2A
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
The company planning
to renovate the former
Chowan County office
building on East King
Street now has more time
to evaluate the costs and
options in refurbishing the
structure — but remains
upbeat about the prospect
of reviving the building as
a downtown hotel
Sumit Gupta of SAGA
Development Inc. said last
week that the company
would appear before the
county commissioners to
request an extension of the
due diligence period.
Monday night, the com
missioners agreed to a 90
day extension.
The company and the
iffs Department reported to
the county commissioners
that between Tuesday and
Friday the department re
sponded to 52 calls for ser
CHOWAN HERALD FILE PHOTO
Four hundred ticketholders purchased
soup and a mug during the Nov. 30,
2012 kickoff party for the Save the
Taylor Theater campaign. The highly
successful effort raised $8,000 toward
the cost of purchasing digital projection
equipment to keep the business open.
The North Carolina Main Street program
has recognized the effort to save the
theater by awarding a Best Fundraising
Award to Destination Downtown
Edenton and a Main Street Champion
J Award to Jeanne and Patrick Cumby
|] who spearheaded the campaign.
STAFF PHOTO BY REGGIE PONDER
Water valve contractors from Clayton work to replace a
broken water valve on East King Street Saturday night
under the supervision of Public Works Director John Norris,
county last year entered
into a contract on the build
ing, which also is known as
the historic Hotel Hinton.
Right now, SAGA is mov
ing forward on securing
tax credits and developing
cost estimates. Evaluating
an historic building such
as the Hotel Hinton takes
time, Gupta said.
“But we remain fully
committed to this project,”
he added.
It was in large part the
historic character of the
building and its vintage
charm that attracted the
developers to the structure
in the first place.
Gupta explained that he
and his partners have been
working on the design
plans and strategy for the
Beechwood development
vice and assisted 26 motor
ists. The department pulled
out 21 cars that were stuck
in wintry conditions. There
were five of the traffic mis
haps that required Highway
Patrol or rescue response.
Sheriff Wayne Goodwin
explained that the depart
ment was able to switch
over to four-wheel drive
vehicles for all on-duty offi
cers during the snowy con
ditions.
During the county com
missioners’meetingMonday
night, Commissioner Em
mett Winbome commended
the county’s emergency re
sponders — both staff and
volunteer — for their work
during the storm last week.
Winbome said the sher
iff’s department, fire depart
ments and emergency medi
cal services all had a great
response and he is well sat
isfied with the emergency
services in the county.
Volunteers from the
Crossroads Fire Department
kept the station manned
around the clock, he said.
“I didn’t want those
See SNOW, 2A
in Edenton. But the reces
sion took its toll and that.
project was put on hold, he
said.
Meanwhile, Claudia
Deviney of Preservation
North Carolina showed
the developers the historic
Hotel Hinton Building, and
right away they recognized
it as something special
“My first thought was
something has to be done
here,” Gupta said. He said
he immediately saw a need
and an opportunity to bring
value back to the commu
nity through that building.
Gupta said that as the
firm evaluates the project,
a few points either way on
return on investment will
not make or break it The
See HINTON, 2A
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