482-4418
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SHEPHERD PRUDEN LIBRARY
106 W WATER ST
EDENTON NC 27932-1854
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Mustache for Kids campaign
nears $7,500 goal — 4B
50c
Planning Board to review wind eneigy ordinance
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
The Chowan County Plan
ning Board has dropped a
proposal for a wind turbine
permit moratorium on the
advice of the county attor
ney - but is moving ahead
with a review of the county’s
wind energy ordinance with
an eye to making it more re
strictive.
“I have looked at the ordi
nance and I find it lacking,”
Chairman Lou Surratt said
during a meeting Thursday
night that had originally
been called to consider a
recommendation that the
county commissioners im
pose a 90-day moratorium
on permits for wind energy
facilities.
At that meeting, howev
er, Surratt announced that
based on input from County
Attorney John Morrison, it
had become clear this is not
the appropriate time for a
moratorium.
The proposed 'limber
mill Wind Energy Project
would be located on Wey
erhauser land in the Bear
Swamp area in Perquimans
and Chowan counties. Apex
Clean Energy, the company
proposing that project, is
still in a study phase and
has not yet applied for the
required Conditional Use
Permit from the county. A
permit also would be re
quired from Perquimans of
ficials for the portion of the
project area that is located
in Perquimans County.
The current discussion on
the wind energy ordinance
is not directly related to
the TLmbermill project but
would apply to any devel
oper seeking to construct
a utility-scale wind energy
facility in the county.
Landin Holland, the coun
ty’s planning director, re
See ORDINANCE, 2A
Wind project developer
seeks to clarify height ride
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
Representatives of the
company planning the
Timbermill Wind Project in
Chowan and Perquimans
County noted last week
that Chowan’s wind en
ergy ordinance measures
the maximum allowable
height of a wind turbine
from the tip of the turbine
blade at the highest point
in the rotation.
So the ordinance does
not actually allow the tow
ers to be 600 feet high, ac
cording to officials from
Apex Clean Energy Inc.
Rather, the towers them
selves would have to be
more in the 400-foot range,
according to Apex’s Tyson
Utt =
Utt cited the frequent j
objections to 600-foot j
towers as an example of jj
the misunderstanding he ■
said surrounds the proj
ect. The maximum height 1
of 600 feet as stated in the j
county’s current wind en- |
ergy ordinance applies to |
See HEIGHT RULE, 5A
Officials:
Schools
more than
letter grade
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
Responding to the re
cent release of N.C. School
Report Cards to the state’s
school system, school of
ficials asked parents to re
member that schools rep
resent more than a single
letter grade.
“It is
important
to remem
ber our
schools
are more
than one
letter
grade,” Su
perinten
dent Rob Jackson said in a
message to parents issued
after the release of the
grades.
“Academic achievement
is critical and the focus of
everything we do,” Jack
son said, “but of equal
importance is a school’s
progress in helping stu
dents grow academically,
socially and emotionally.”
Jackson said that when
students start school at
White Oak Elementary,
about 80 percent of them
do so academically below
the state’s standards.
nowever, oy t.ne ena oi
second grade, 80 percent
have grown academically
to be deemed at or above
grade level,” he said.
Continued achievement
occurs as students enter
D.F. Walker Elementary,
Jackson said, where stu
dents have shown “sig
nificant growth” lin com
pliance with the state’s
Read to Achieve mandate
— giving the fourth high
est growth performance in
the northeast region.
Over at Chowan Middle
School, Jackson said, they
have met state student
growth standards for the
past seven out of eight
years and reflected high
growth for six of those
years.
“Ours is the only middle
school in the region to
be recognized twice as a
North Carolina School to
See REPORT CARD, 2A
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
Snow,
Ice
take
over
County
m PHOTO BY
I JENNIFER AMSTUTZ
I Birds
1 —among
I God’s smallest
g creatures
I — looked
I for places to
" perch in the
!I aftermath of
a snow and
ice storm
that invaded
Chowan
County last
week leaving
behind power
outages and
bone-chilling
temperatures.
PHOTO BY CATHERINE BAKER
Crytalized Cypress trees stand in the frozen waters off John’s Island in Chowan County.
—...
PHOTO BY JEFF KNOX
Snow and Ice cover the bright green grass of Colonial Park with the 1886 Roanoke River Lighthouse keeping
watch over the waterfront In downtown Edenton.
Business
expansion
to create
78 jobs
From staff reports
The Town of Edenton has
been awarded a $562,080
loan through the Commu
nity Development Block
Grant program to upgrade
town utilities in support of
a plant expansion expected
to create 78 new full-time
jobs.
IN A RELATED !
STORY
j ■ County’s jobless rate j
; unchanged in December - 2A ;
The ('DBG loan was
awarded to the town to
construct a water line and
upgrade the town-owned
electrical service to allow a
company to expand its ex
isting plant in Edenton by
260,000 square feet, accord
ing to information released
by the N.C. Department of
Commerce.
The name of the company
is confidential at this time,
according to the Commerce,
Department.
lown officials also said
the company’s identity was
confidential at this time.
The business is expected
to invest $30 million in new
construction and equipment
at the Edenton facility and
has committed to create 78
new, full-time jobs, accord
ing to the Commerce De
partment.
Town Manager Anne-Ma
rie Knighton said the town
is excited about the boost
the CDBG funding will pro
vide for the town’s utility
infrastructure.
“We’re thrilled about thus
(CDBG funding) and the
chance to upgrade our sys
tem," Knighton said.
N.C. Commerce Secretary
Jolur E. Skvarla III and As
sistant Secretary for Rural
Development Pat Mitchell
announced this week that
the N.C. Rural Infrastruc
ture Authority approved
18 grants or loans totaling
more than $6 million with
the commitment of 627 new
jobs.
The RLA was established
as part of the Rural Eco
nomic Development Divi
sion at the N.C. Department
of Commerce to assist with
the review and approval of
grants for rural areas in the
See GRANT, 2A
0
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