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Commissioners hear appeals for school funding
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
An instructional assistant
at D.F. Walker Elementary
School appealed for more
funding for the local schools
during the public hearing
Monday night on the 201t>
2016 Chowan County bud
get.
Brenda Ward, who iden
tified herself as an instruc
tional assistant at D.F.
Walker, said she thought the
school system had not been
looked at as seriously as it
should have been. Teachers
are spending more money
out of pocket on supplies
every year, and positions
are being cut, she said.
County Manager Kevin
Howard’s recommended
budget included a six-cent
increase in the property
tax rate. The recommended
budget increases funds for
school capital outlay by
some $400,000, but does not
increase funding for school
current expense. The cur
rent expense budget is the
money the school system
uses for instructional and
operational needs.
The county’s current
property tax rate is 70 cents
per $100 valuation.
At a special meeting on
the budget during the last
week of May, Howard an
nounced administrative
adjustments that brought
the tax rate increase down
to 4.5 cents. And the com
missioners during that spe
cial meeting gave tentative
backing to a plan that would
increase the property tax
rate by two cents.
Each cent on the prop
erty tax rate is expected to
generate about $132,700 in
revenue.
A two-cent increase in
the property tax rate would
amount to an additional $2
on the annual tax bill for
every $10,000 of assessed
value of property. On a
$200,000 house, for instance,
it would mean $40 more on
the annual county property
tax bill.
Howard has reported
to the commissioners that
Emergency Medical Ser
vice revenue shortfalls and
the rising cost of employee
See BUDGET, 3A
John A. Holmes High School graduates 176
■ Class of 2015 earns record
$4.3 million in scholarship funds
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
V_x for the John A. Holmes High
School Class of 2015 as gradu
ates prepared to enter college,
the military or civilian jobs amid a
challenging season in the society
and the economy.
“Go out into the world and
fix it,” said O’Kelley, the school’s
Tfeacher of the Year for 2014-2015.
“Go out into the world and do bet
ter, and be better, as we all know
you can.”
JAH presented diplomas to 176
graduates Saturday morning in a
ceremony at the school’s athletic
complex.
O’Kelley challenged the gradu
ates to make good decisions about
what would be next for them.
“We are all one decision away
from a very different life,” O’Kelley
said.
She referred to the graduates as
“my kids” and spoke about how
the students at the school are like
family to her.
“Part of who I am today is be
cause of you,” O’Kelley said.
At the beginning of her remarks,
O’Kelley asked the graduates to
take 10 seconds just to breathe and
to er\joy the moment.
“Today I have nothing but praise
and love for you,” O’Kelley said,
underscoring the significance of
arolynn O’Kelley had a
straightforward proposal
See GRADUATION, 4A
STAFF PHOTO BY REGGIE PONDER
The 2015 graduates of John A. Holmes High School turn their tassles during the graduation ceremony Saturday morning at the school’s
athletic complex.
STAFF PHOTO BV j
REGGIE PONDER I
Bryant Lee |
Chappell,
Class of 2015
valedictorian,
addresses
the class
Saturday
morning
during the
graduation
ceremony.
STAFF PHOTO BY
REGGIE PONDER
Adriana
Rojas, class
salutatorian,
addresses
the Class of
2015 Saturday
morning during
the graduation
ceremony.
Council approves Hotel Hinton parking agreement
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
Despite reservations ex
pressed by some downtown
business owners, town
council members voted
unanimously at their June 9
monthly meeting to approve
a lease agreement making
84 parking spaces available
to the Hotel Hinton.
The spaces are located
behind the historic struc
ture - wliich most recently
served as a governmental
office building for Chowan
County - in the town’s mu
nicipal parking lot between
East Eden Street and Court
Street.
The agreement specifies
that the spaces “are to be
used (by SAGA, the devel
oper) in connection with the
development and operation
of the Hotel Hinton project
mid for no other purpose
for a term of 84 years aid a
least' payment of $500.”
Should tiie hotel ever
close, town officials said,
tht> agreement would be
come null aid void and
the town would once again
take control of the parking
spaces.
The vote followed a pub
lic hearing during which
several local merchants said
that while they understood
the value of the project in
terms of bringing additional
revenue to the town they
had concerns about the im
pact of so many downtown
parking spaces no longer
being available for use by
their customers. Town offi
cials have estimated that the
hotel would add between
$12 million and $13 million
in revenue to the tax base
once it Ls up and running.
The project is also expected
to create 50 new jobs, most
of which town officials ex
pect to be filled by local
citizens.
Under the current ar
rangement, there will be a
total of 70 public parking
spaces available with 54 of
them located in the park
ing lot behind stores in the
downtown area
Heather Newingham,
co-owner of tire Christian
Book Seller, said retailers
on Broad Street feel that a
lack of adequate parking
already exists. She said that
i:
allowing the hotel to lease
84 of the existing spaces
would only make the situa
tion worse.
“For 10 years, I’ve talked
to the police department
about doing more to enforce
the 2-hour parking,” New
ingham said. “That’s always
been a complaint of mine
(insufficient parking).”
Newingham said that
taking away parking places
behind the hotel building
would force older custom
ers to walk further to get to
her store, making it likely
they would decide to stay
home. She added that hav
ing construction workers
and others associated with
the Hotel Hinton project
park in the existing parking
lot would add to the conges
tion once work gets under
way at the site.
“The construction will
hurt us,” she said.
Larry Sellers, who co
owns retail space in the
downtown area, had a dif
ferent take on the situation.
Sellers said that statistics
show the majority of hotels
See PARKING, 4A
Town approves sale of
energy generation assets
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
During its monthly meet
ing on June 9 the town
council voted unanimously
to approve an agreement
years in the making that is
expected to lower utility
rates for its customers.
0
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
The following morning
Mayor Roland Vaughan and
Town Manager Anne-Ma
rie Knighton signed docu
ments authorizing an asset
purchase agreement and
power purchase between
the North Carolina Eastern
Municipal Power Agency
and Duke Energy Progress,
Inc.
“As of 8:30 this morn
ing, we’re all signed up,”
Vaughan said later that day.
During the council meet
ing Knighton called the fi
nalization of the agreement
“a historic and momentous
occasion”.
Edenton is one of 32
NCEMPA member commu
nities required to sign off on
the $1.2 billion transaction.
Electricities, the man
agement arm of NCEMPA,
has worked for years to fi
nalize such a deal whereby
Duke would purchase the
power agency’s shares of
four power plants resulting
in lower electric rates in
participating communities.
Knighton described the
deal as “a complex trans
See ASSETS, 4A
Herald plans corrected
version of graduate photos
From staff reports
The Chowan Herald’s
graduate photo pages for
the John A. Holmes High
School Class of 2015 in
the June 10 edition of the
newspaper left out a num
ber of graduate photos
from this year’s class while
including some photos of
last year’s graduates.'
Because of the impor
tance of high school gradu
ation as a milestone in the
life of the student and the
student’s family, the Chow
an Herald is working with
the high school staff and a
photography studio to put
together a correct version
of the graduate photos.
The details have not been
finalized but the newspa
per expects to run the new
version in the June 24 edi
tion.
“While these errors cer
tainly were unintentional,
the Chowan Herald under
stands the importance of
graduation to individuals
and families and regrets
any confusion, inconve
nience or disappointment
the mistakes in last week’s
edition might have caused
for graduates, family mem
bers; advertising sponsors
or others in the commu
nity,” said Reggie Ponder,
news editor of the Chowan
Herald. “We look forward
to resolving this situation
as best we can by running
a correct version of gradu
ate photos for the Class of
2015. The newspaper ap
preciates the community’s
support of the graduates
and the local schools, and
we intend to be a good
community partner our
selves.”
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