P8/C8******CAR-RT LOT**C 002 A0092
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PRUDEN LIBRARY
106 W WATER ST
f DENTON NC 27932-1854 _
7 New Dollar General number
one in repinn — TR
482-4418
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
50*
EMS worker helps with water rescue
From staff reports
Harriet Dehart had an un
forgettable experience last
week when she was part of
a challenging — and danger
ously chilly — rescue near
the Sound Bridge on N.C. 32.
Dehart, an Edenton resi
dent who works for Wash
ington County’s Emergency
Medical Service, was on an
ambulance returning to Cre
swell from Vidant Chowan
Council
backs
Dixon
recusal
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
The town council voted
unanimously at its Feb. 11
monthly meeting to allow
Councilman Sambo Dixon
to recuse himself from dis
cussions or votes regards
ing the selection of a new '
site for the
Edenton
Police De
partment.
"Dixon
owns a
house on
North Oa
kum Street
that is con
tained in Option 2' on the
list of four possible sites
the council is considering.
While it is not his personal
residence, the fact that he
owns it legally precludes
him from taking part in any
discussions or votes on the
matter as long as Option 2
remains on the table, ac
cording to an opinion from
the School of Government
at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel HilL
“A town council member
generally has a duty to vote.
(He or she) may be excused
only on matters involving
their own financial interest
or official conduct,” said
Frayda S. Bluestein, profes
sor of public law and gov
ernment at UNC-CH.
Bluestein noted that
some types of issues affect
board members as citizens
in the same way that his or
her fellow citizens are af
fected — for example, in
the case of tax rates or util
ity rates.
“The more directly a
matter affects a particular
board member, the more
consideration must be
made for whether it is a
conflict for that particular
person,” she said.
Bluestein added that
whilpTne voting statute that
gprans actions by town
^council members does not
' specifically address wheth
er a person who is excused.
from voting must also re^
train from commenting on
the issue.
“In a quasi-judicial mat
ter, such as a conditional
use permit or variance, the
law is clear that a person
with a conflict cannot par
ticipate,” she said.
DIXON
0
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
Hospital when her partner
on the ambulance noticed
spotted the immediate af
termath of a single-car acci
dent on a slick road during
the Feb. 12 snowfall.
“My partner saw the
splash,” Dehart recalled last
week. “We watched it hap
pen. We didn’t see the car go
in; we just saw the splash.”
'Hie accident occurred
around 3:45 p.m. and was
part of a rash of nine ac
*
State, local officials welcome new firm
BY REGGIE PONDER
• Editor
The work of Edenton and Chow
an County officials — including
the Edenton-Chowan Partnership
— in helping Standard Medical
Acceptance relocate its headquar
ters here is a model for economic
development in rural areas state
wide, Commerce Secretary Sharon
Decker said Monday.
“Welcome to North Carolina,”
Decker told William D. “Bill” Lan
zen, chief executive officer of SMA,
during a ceremony welcoming the
firm to Edenton, Chowan County
and North Carolina. “We’re very
glad that you are here.”
The company, which will be re
locating its operations center from
Manhattan to the second floor of
Edenton’s Town Hall building, is
expected to create 32 high-paying
jobs in the community over the
next three years.
SMA is described as a technol
ogy leader in the valuation and col
lateralization of healthcare receiv
ables for leading banks.
Hanzen said that when he first<
visited Edenton he was struck by
something different — something
he couldn’t quite put his finger on
— about the place and its people.
“From that point forward it just
moved on, and here we are six
months later/ Lanzen Said.
He said it was a remarkable ac
complishment for the community
in just a six-month period.
Decker called local leaders the
“unsung heroes” of economic de
velopment
The state sets policy, and has
made important progress in areas
such as tax reform and regulatory
reform, Decker said.
“But economic development
happens at a local level,” Decker
said “You are the guys who at the
end of the day have to make it
work.”
Rep. Bob Steinburg, R-Chowan,
called SMAs location in Edenton “a
precursor of things to come.”
“Northeastern North Caro
lina has got a tremendous future,”
Steinburg said “I have no doubt
about that"
Steinburg praised the Edenton
Chowan Partnership.
“This group is doing yeoman’s
work,” Steinburg said. Tax reform
. and regulatory reform set the right
foundation, he said, “but at the end
Commissioner Mitchener files for reelection
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
Chowan County Com
missioner John Mitchener
has filed for reelection.
Mitchener has represent
ed District 2 in seat 2 since
2010.
“I ran mainly to try to un
derstand how we got in the
financial mess that we’re
in,” Mitchener said, refer
ring to his successful bid in
2010.
Mitchener filed Feb. 12.
’ Earlier last week, Com
missioner Jeff Smith filed
for reelection in District 1.
cidents that occurred in
Chowan County during an
hour and a half period of
snowfall
Sheriff Dwayne Goodwin
reported last week that a
Dodge Charger ran off the
road just north of the Sound
Bridge on Highway 32 and
became submerged in a ca
nal
The driver of the Dodge
was transported by ambu
lance to Vidant Chowan
THOMAS J. TURNEY/THE DAILY ADVANCE
Edenton Mayor Roland Vaughan (left) signs the lease agreement with the President of Standard Medical
Acceptance, Inc. William Lanzen at the Welcome Ceremony and Reception for the Standard Medical
Acceptance Corporation, Monday.
of the day somebody iis going to
have to sell this thing.”!
That’s where local officials and
local economic developers come
in, he said. \
Lanzen thanked, the Edenton
Chowan Partnership for its help and
support He said Frank Miglorie of
the Edenton Chowan Partnership
had been “stalwart” throughout the
company’s relocation process.
“I can truly say that if it weren’t
for him we probably wouldn’t be
here today,” Lanzen said.
Lanzfen described the. Support
Center, a Raleigh-based commu
nity development lender, as a big
part of the reason the company is
coming to Edenton. |
Both Mitchener and Smith
are currently serving their
first terms on the board
The filing period for coun
ty commissioner, sheriff and
clerk of court ends at noon
on Feb. 28.
Mitchener served on the
county’s school board from
1982 to 1994. He chaired the
board from 1990 to 1994. *
He said that when he ran
the first time he didn’t un
derstand why the county
wasn’t having its audit re
port presented in an open
meeting the way the school
board did
The county now has the
Hospital
At presstime the identity
of the driver was not avail
able.
Dehart explained that she
and the other Washington
EMS worked called dispatch
and reported the accident
They asked the driver if
she was hurt She replied
she wasn’t hurt but her foot
was stuck.
“She just couldn’t get
out,” Dehart said.
“They really had faith in us
earlier in our life cycle than most
people would,” Lanzen said of the
Support Center.
Lanzen praised the joint effort of
state and local officials from Com
merce Secretary Sharon Decker
and Gov. Pat McCrory to town and
county officials and organizations
such as the Golden LEAF Founda
tion.
“We’re glad to be here,” Lanzen
said. “We’re looking forward to be
ing here a long time.”
Lanzen said he believes the firm’s
location here is the beginning of
even more jobs coming here.
“What a remarkable journey this
has been for us at SMA,” Lanzen
public pre
sentation
of the au
dit report,
he said.
“There
is a lot
that has
changed,”
Mitchener
said. “We learned through
the school of hard knocks
about internal checks and
balances that should have
been in place that were
not”
This year, he’s running be
cause the county has a lot of
work to do in rebuilding its
Initially, the water level
was about halfway up the
car door.
The EMS workers tried
to get the driver out of the
car and onto the roof, but at
first were unable to.
Dehart said that fortu
nately, Gates County Sher
iffs Deputy Bernard Brooks
— who lives in Chowan
County — happened by the
scene and offered his assis
tance.
infrastructure, he said.
Mitchener said there is
maintenance that has been
deferred that needs to be
addressed. There is a lot of
work that needs to be done
at the two-story Walker
Building on Oakum Street,
at Swain Auditorium and at
other facilities around the
county.
A fire station for the
southern part of the county
also is a high priority, Mitch
ener said.
In Chowan County, open
seats are clerk of court;
sheriff; county commission
er District 1, seat 2; county
Brooks helped in trying
to coach the driver onto the
roof, Dehart said. The driver
started to become some
what upset because the
water level was rising and
water was beginning to seep
inside the car, Dehart said.
When the water got to the
inside of the window, Dehart
tried to hold onto the door
while pulling on the driver
. See RESCUE, 4A
said. It has been remarkable, he
said, from the start of the company
in New York and now “the remark
able journey in North Carolina” “
Decker said she is excited that
SMA is here and also excited Hurt;
the partnership between local offi
cials, state agencies and nonprofits
in bringing the firm to Edenton and
.Chowan County will be a model for
the rest of the state. 1
Entrepreneurial initiatives such
as SMAs are really the future of
job growth in rural North Carolina,
Decker said.
Asked whether local incentive
packages — such as one recently
See SMA, 2A
commissioner District %
seat 2; and county commis
sioner District 3, seat 2. Z
The filing period for thS
Edenton-Chowan Board of k
Education begins June 27
and ends July 25. Board of
Education Seats open this
year are District 2, seat 1;
and District 3, seat 1.
The filing period for the
Soil and Water Board runs
June 2-7. There are two
positions available on that
board.
Sheriff Dwayne Goodwin
and Clerk of Court Mike
McArthur have both filed
forreelectioa
Friday, February 21, 2014
COCKTAILS 6PM DINNER BUFFET 7PM
t V
9
v>
UnlImIteli Print*, Decoys and More!
Door Prizes, Gun Auction,
CHOWAN COUNTY
ummiteaBaiique
American Legion Post 40
Catering provided by
Topside Restaurant and Catering
Tickets: $60 available at door Includes buff«t & membership.
111 .""■■■ >y'”.r "*■■■■1 -—-—yr
FRIED SHRIMP & OYSTERS,
TUNA BITES, ROAST PORK LOIN