INSIDE TODAY
shepherd pruden library
106 W WATER ST
EDENTON NC ,17932-18
kitr
Spring
edition of
Albemarle
Magazine
482-4418
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
50«
School facilities at a crossroads
County, school | Lions hear critical school needs
board to meet
soon on needs
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
Chowan County officials will meet soon
with Edenton-Chowan Schools officials to plan
much-needed replacement of heating and cool
ing systems and other critical projects at local
schools.
Schools Superintendent Rob Jackson made
a presentation on school capital needs during
the Chowan Board of Commissioners planning
retreat Thursday. The commissioners held the
daylong planning session at the Inner Banks Inn
in Edenton.
“This is the kind of dialogue that we need."
Jeff Smith
Chairman, Chowan Board of Comissioners
Tire county commissioners at the retreat es
tablished as a goal the development of a com
prehensive plan to update school facilities in
cooperation with the school board.
Jackson said he wanted to ensure county of
ficials that they would receiv e in a timely man
ner all the information that is needed to make
informed decisions. He said he was grateful for
the opportunity to present to the eonimission
ers information about the school system's long
range capital needs.
Jackson said he understands the commission
ers have to make difficult decisions.
Referring to the local school system as “the
most powerful economic development engine
in the county," Jackson cited numerous criti
cal repairs needed to keep that engine running
sni(x>thJy.
The commissioners at times questioned how
the situation had gotten tills bad - sometimes
wondering aloud if it had resulted from ill-ad
vised priorities in school capital funding.
For instance, when Jackson mentioned
that students and visiting athletic teams can’t
take showers in the locker rooms at the high,
school, Commissioner Keith Nixon noted the
county had spent money on the offices at the
high school. Would showers have been more
See TO MEET, 4A
STAFF PHOTO BY REBECCA BUNCH
Rob Jackson, superintendent of Edenton-Chowan Schools, uses a PowerPoint presentation
to discuss school needs and funding during an Edenton Lions Club meeting Monday in the
fellowship hall at Edenton Baptist Church.
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
Edenton-ChowanSchools
Superintendent Rob Jack
son detailed for the Edenton
Lions Club Monday night
a laundry list of facilities
needs that he said had gone
unaddressed for decades.
“It hurts my heart.
What kind of message
are we sending to our
children?"
Rob Jackson
Superintendent,
Edenton-Chowan
Schools
The county commission
ers, who are legally respon
sible for funding the needs
of the school system, could
rightfully claim they were
not aware of the dire con
dition in a number of areas
within the county’s four
public schools, he said.
With level funding of just
$21X1,000 provided virtu
ally every year by county
government, Jackson said,
school officials in the past
had simply prioritized the
needs of the school system
to meet the $200,000 level
and set the remaining needs
aside to be added to the
school system’s budget re
quests another year.
As a result, Jackson said,
there are existing infrastruc
ture needs such as heating
and cooling, showers that
don’t work, locker rooms
that are neither heated nor
cooled, and a high school
auditorium badly in need of
improvements.
"It hurts my heart,” Jack
son s;ud. "What kind of
See CRITICAL, 3A
Vaughan to seek re-election as mayor
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
Mayor Roland Vaughan an
nounced Monday afternoon
that he plans to seek re-elec
tion.
At die end of his current
term, Vaughan said, he will
have served the town as its
mayor for the past 20 years.
If voters return him to of
fice, he said, it would be for
one final four-year term.
“And you cam print that,” he
said, laughing.
Vaughan noted that he took
more time than he normally
does to make the decision in
which his wife, Peggy Anne,
was a partner.
Me said that as 201f> ap
proached they began talking
about the idea more often.
His wife, he said, knew how
nuieh the office meant to him
and how seriously he took his
responsibilities ns mayor. He
would never do it, he said, un
less he felt he could give the
job a 100 percent effort.
()ne day recently, he said,
his wife looked at him and
asked, "You want to do it,
don’t you?”
"Yes” was his answer. “So
here 1 am,” the mayor said.
But the decision to run
again also incorporated anoth
er decision — that this would
absolutely be the final time he
would seek re-election.
“My wifi' and I decided
that 20 years was gonna be
enough," he said, noting that
there are things he and his
wife would like to do, such
as travel, that have continued
to lake a backseat !
to his role as mayor.
At their age, lie said,
he and his wife can't j
postpone those firings
indefinitely.
His love of serving
the town as mayor is j
one of the reasons he
wants to stay on the
job a while longer, Vaughan
said.
And there are others. He
said he is proud of the town
staff and the job they do and
is proud to Ik* from a town ;is
well maintained as Edenton.
He also praised Town Man
ager Anne-Marie Knighton for
her outstanding leadership
skills.
“Given the modest amount
of money we have in our bud
get,” Vaughan said, “they do a
VAUGHAN
remarkable job.”
Vaughan said he felt
he too brought certain
strengths to the table
when it came to help
ing the town.
‘‘I know a good
number of key people
in state government
and the North Caro
una League ot Municipalities
dial'I have been able to access
when necessary,” the mayor
said.
“And finally,” lie said. “1 have
a desire to serve this commu
nity that has been so good to
me and my family since my
childhood. That’s the number
one reason.”
Vaughan said he was grati
fied to see the local economy
See MAYOR, 3A
Wind developer finds friends in Perquimans
BY PETER WILLIAMS
The Perquimans Weekly
While some Chowan Coun
ty residents are raising con
cerns about building wind tur
bines, guests at a Perquimans
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
r
County Chamber of Com
merce breakfast meeting last
Wednesday seemed to focus
on the economic benefits it
could bring.
The purpose of “Chamber
Conversations Over Coffee”
morning meetings is to get
business owners and agencies
that work witJi them together
monthly to learn more about
what each other dot's and how
they can work together.
The font tat calls for a speak
er to talk for about 15 minutes
and then provide the audience
time to ask questions. Dor
Gieeek, senior development
manager for Apex Clean En
ergy, was the first speaker at
the first breakfast event.
The Charlottesville, Va
company is proposing to built
a 10,000-acre wind turbint
project that will straddle tht
Perquimans-Chowan line.
Gieeek described the $5(X
million project, wliich woulc
include between 100 and 150
turbines, each about 600 feet
tall.
In Chowan County, the proj
ect known as Tiinbennill has
created some controversy, in
cluding a call for a moratorium
on wind turbine development.
'Hie chairman of the county’s
plaiming board also has called
for a complete review of the
county’s land use rules when
See DEVELOPER, 3A
Renewable
energy credit
backed by area
lawmakers
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
The state legislators repre
senting Chowan County hack
extending the state’s renewable
energy tax credit.
Indeed, Sen. Eric a Snuth-ln
■ grant, D-Northarnpton, who rep
resents a district that includes
Chowan, is a cosponsor of the
bill that Sen. Paul Lowe, P-For
syth, introduced last week that
would extending the renewable
energy hrx credit. The proposed
legislation allows individuals
and companies that have con
structed, purchased, or leased
renewable energy pr< >(>erty a
tax credit equal to 35 percent of
the cost of the property, during
the taxable year.
Rep. Bob Steinburg, R-Chow
an, noted he had not seen the
specific language of proposed
legislation for tliis session, but ]
said his expec tation at tliis pc lint ;
is that he will lie supporting it.
“I have supported it in the i
past and I’m likely to support |
it again," Steinburg said of the
SMITH-INGRAM
STEINBURG
See RENEWABLE, 3A
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