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Lane recognized by Directors
Council of Vidant Chowan
Hospital — 4B
Mid-Oakum site ‘preferred’ for new police station i
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
The town council at its
March 11 monthly meeting
voted 5-1 to approve Option
1 as the preferred site for
the Edenton Police Depart
ment’s new location. .
Councilman Steve Biggs
cast the lone dissenting
vote.
The site, one of four un
der consideration, was the
same one recommended to
the council by town staff as
its choice last month. It also
was the first choice of the
Jones
speaks
to local
GOP
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
Rep. Walter Jones brought
his message of non-interven
tionist foreign policy and
controlling federal debt to
the Chowan County Repub
lican Convention Saturday.
The keynote address by
Jones, a Republican who
has represented the state’s
3rd District in Congress
for nearly two decades,
addressed focus topics:
Foreign policy, debt, Obam
acare and presidential ex
ecutive orders.
Jones opened his speech
with an insistence he would
never again support sending
America’s men and women
to war unless it was done ac
cording to the Constitution.
He would spend a great deal
of time on that point and re
turned to it near the end of
his address.
Jones said most of the
spending on the war in
Afghanistan has been “off
budget” but eventually will
be have to be paid for by
future generations.
Some $1.5 trillion has
been spent in Afghanistan,
Jones said, and Afghan
President Hamid Karzai has
been trying to negotiate an
agreement to keep the Unit
ed States in that county for
10 more years.
Karzai is a “crook” and
See JONES, 4A '
*:
pi
STAFF PHOTO BY REGGIE PONDER
U.S. Rep. Walter Jones,
R.-N.C., speaks to
the Chowan County
Republican Convention,
Saturday.
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved ‘
citizens advisory committee
that ranked each of the four
potential sites using criteria
developed during a commu
nity meeting last summer.
Option 1 includes parts
of the North Oakum Street
and East Albemarle Street
neighborhoods.
Biggs said prior to the
vote that he was not will
ing to express a preference
for a particular site without
knowing how much ex
pense would be involved.
“I can’t vote in good con
science for any of them,"
Biggs said. “I think we’re
In case of emergency...
Emergency helicopter available around the clock
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
A 24-hour emergency
medical helicopter is now
based in Chowan County.
Air Methods began operat
ing the emergency helicopter
service out of Northeastern
Regional Airport on a part
time basis last month.
But on Monday the com
pany went 24-hours-a-day at
the local airport
The EC-135 twin-engine
helicopter is housed in a
hangar at the airport, ready
to take to the air in an emer
gency.
The helicopter provides
the potentially Ufesming sear
vice of enabling a patient to
get to a high-level treatment
center within the one-hour
critical period for emergency
response. ~ >
Jim Huffman, a flight med
ic with Air Methods, said
the helicopter carries “ev
erything our big critical care
trucks have, but condensed
down to a little bit smaller.”
Jon Berge, an Air Meth
ods pilot, said the helicopter
typically will fly a patient
to a nearby trauma center
— either in Norfolk, Va, or .
in Greenville depending on
factors such as weather and
distance.
The helicopter operates
independently.
“We are not tied to any
particular hospital area,”
Berge said.
The Air Methods crews
currently are staying in tem
porary quarters. But the
Plans underway for emergency dive team
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
The Chowan County Sheriff’s
Office is in the process of organiz
ing a local Emergency Response
Dive Tteam to assist in water-based
rescue efforts both here and in the
area.
James Bell of Edenton, who will
lead the team, said Sheriff Dwayne
Goodwin has been working with
him for several months to draw up
Looks like ‘green light’ for Hotel Hinton project
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
The historic Hotel Hin
ton building could be open
as a restored hotel and res
taurant in the fall of 2015.
That was part of the
upbeat report presented
by Bob Howsare and Fred
Vollat of SAGA Construe
kind of jumping the gun.”
Tbwn Manager Anne-Ma
rie Knighton explained that
the reasoning behind iden
tifying a preferred site was
so that the process of hiring
an appraiser could move for
ward without the expense of
ail of the sites having to be
appraised. Should the pro
jected cost be excessive or
other issues develop with the
Option 1 site, other sites that
remain in the running could
be considered, she said.
Option 2 was eliminated
from consideration at the
council meeting, an ac
STAFF PHOTO BY REGGIE PONDER
A1r methods flight medic Jim Huffman displays some of the emergency medical equipment on the helicopter
stationed at the Northeastern Regional Airport.
iJ: '
company plans to build an
office building to house the
staff.
The crews work 12-hour
shifts.
The on-duty staff at all
times consists of three crew
members and a mechanic.
The crew includes a pilot,
tion and Development at
the meeting Monday night
of the Chowan County
Board of Commissioners.
SAGA Development is
in the process of purchas
ing the structure from the
county. The historic build
ing on East King Street
most recently was used
by the county as a govern
tion that freed Councilman
Samba Dixon — a property
owner in the neighborhood
covered by that option—to
once again participate in the
discussion and subsequent
vote on a preferred site.
Dixon had asked to recuse
himself due to a potential
conflict of interest if that
site was chosen. *
The council has yet to
vote on a definite site where
the new police station would
be built.
Public Works Commit
tee chair Jimmy Stallings,
whose committee brought
nurse and paramedic.
Air Methods also has a
base in Rocky Mount
In an emergency situ
ation, the helicopter is
requested by ground per
sonnel such as emergency
medical technicians and
then is dispatched through
plans for how the
team will be orga
nized to best as
sist in emergency
situations.
“Dwayne just
came to me and
said, ‘James, I
want you to take BELL
the lead on this,”
Bell, who has been diving since age
14, recalled.
The team that Bell — who in
mental office building.
Chowan Board of Com
missioners Chairman
Keith Nixon said during
the meeting Monday night
that he believes the proj
ect will be successful. He
explained that the project
still has to go through the
town’s planning and per
mitting process.
the matter before the coun
cil, emphasized that the ac
tion they were taking was
not a permanent selection.
That vote will come later.
“We’re not saying this is a
permanent site,” he said
Biggs responded that he
still was concerned about
whether approving an ap
praisal for just one site was
a good use of funds.
“We should be prudent
with our money,” Biggs
said
With Option 2 eliminated
and Option 3 not receiving
much support from citizens
a regional communications
center.
Berge said word is just
beginning to get out that
the helicopter is now based
here.
“People are learning that
we are here,” Berge said.
Air Methods is headquar
Mr* 2007 was named
¥ *1 North Carolina
I' jJjaM Teacher of the
jp*' Year and is now
■ «JL m a v*rtua^ learning
consultant for the
HI _ ' JH of Public Instruc
G00DWIN don’s N.C. Virtual
Public School —
has put together includes five ex
perienced divers from the commu
nity including Steve Taylor, Worth
Nixon said he hopes to
close the deal out in the
next two to three months.
Howsare said what
SAGA is planning is 60 ho
tel rooms and a restaurant.
“We’re very excited
about this project,” Vollat
said.
Howsare said the plan
is to begin construction in
that have been in touch with
town officials, it appears
that Option 4 is the only
strong remaining contender
for the new location site.
Option 4 includes the North
Oakum Street and Walker
Street neighborhood.
Dixon urged the council
not to delay taking action on |
declaring Option 1 the pre
ferred site, saying the prqj- j
ect needs to move ahead
“I think it’s time to move
on this,” he said. “I think the
committee is ready for this
to be done. I think it’s time
to roll”
tered in Englewood, Colo
rado.
According to the com
pany’s website, it has op
erations from Alaska to Key
West, Fla.
The company has more
than 300 bases of operations
in 48 states.
Rinehart, Greg Shackelford, Ed
ward “Scooter” Basnight and Alan
Stulick. The team is also expected ?
to have one alternate, Bell said.
Goodwin said that he was very
pleased Bell had agreed to lead the
team. f
“I’ve known James since he was
teaching my kids at Chowan Middle
School, and I knew he was a diver," *
Goodwin said. »
See DIVE TEAM, 3A ; ,.;l
late summer, with a 10-12
month construction period
to follow. That should put
the hotel ready to open in
the fall of 2015, he said.
Historic preservation
specialist Heather Feam
bach is helping the devel
opers secure historic pres
ervation tax credits for the
project.
f
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