Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / Aug. 26, 2015, edition 1 / Page 1
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P0/C8..,»,i eol^ Wat°*7tDEN l«Rar vW,'""'W'../ 2n:onnc^sS4 / upon uoor noses back to school event — 6B 482-4418 Wednesday, August 26, 2015 Solar generation facility perihit approved ■ Exec: Construction could begin early next year BY REGGIE PONDER Editor A 110-acre solar farm development planned for Yeopim Road has its spe cial use permit from the county planning board and construction of the facility could begin early next year. Charlotte-based 02emc LLC plans to install a 20-megawatt solar gen eration facility on about 110 acres at 740 Yeopim Road. The entire tract the company is purchas ing is 177 acres, but Chief Operating Officer Adam Foodman said 110-120 acres would be part of the actual energy genera tion facility. And only about 50 acres of the facility would be “under glass” or actually covered by panels, ac cording to Foodrnan. The Chowan Planning Board voted 5-1 at its meeting Aug. 18 to ap prove the special use permit with an additional condition, formulated by new board member Linda Peterson, that within 12 months of the facility’s ^easing to actively gen ?rate electrical power it would either bb decom missioned or the process >f re-permitting the facil ity for an additional pe riod would begin. The lone dissenting vote was cast by board member Jim Robison, who had extensive ques tions and concerns about decommissioning, noise, fire safety and whether the project was appropri ate for an agriculturally zoned area. “This is an industrial facility,” Robison said. “This is not agriculturally related industry.” Foodman said one ben efit of the project would be that the land would remain in agriculture without impermeable surface. The company uses sheep for land mainte See PERMIT, 2A Smooth first day for schools BY REGGIE PONDER Editor Reagan Elkins said she had a good summer, but Monday monring she was ready to take on the fundamental fifth-grade tasks of “learning and meeting new people" The 10-year-old said math is her favorite subject, and she was looking forward to fifth grade math in her final year at D.F. Walker even as she ac knowledged the math this year might be kind of tough. Meanwhile, just down the breezewav at White Oak El ementary School, O-year-old Shuan'Niva Miller was ready to start first-grade. And Shuan'Niya had a singu lar clarity about what would be die best part of the first-grade experience. “You know what I’m going to say: ‘Recess'”' Shuan’Niya said. “1 like to play.” With some parental encour agement, she admitted she also was looking forward to .catling and othei classioom pursuits. "I like reading,” Miller said, nodding. Ariana Dowell was start ing kindergarten at White (>ak School. Arriving for the first day with her mother, Tamara Phillips, at her side. Ariana said she was looking forward to learning a lot this year. . Raymond Brown, the head custodian at White (>ak - who also works with the buses at the school - said the buses were in top condition for the first day of school. “All of them are running pretty good tlus morning,” Brown said. “We've got a cou ple that are running a little late - but that's expected on the first day" Brown explained he moni tors the bus traffic as it arrives at the school. “I make sure the kids gel off safely, mid where they're sup posed to,” Brown said. Principal John Lassiter at Chowan Middle School said all the preparations the staff matte during the summer paid off with a great first day. “It has been outstanding" Lassiter said. Idle locus throughout the summer, Lassiter said, has See FIRST DAY, 4A SI AH PH010SHY HttiOlb HUNUfcK Shua'Niya Miller, 6, (top photo) accompanied by Shuan Miller (left) and Tanya Miller, arrives to school at White Oak Elementary on the first day, Monday. Students and parents arrive to White Oak Elementary Monday morning. Town officials taking time with building decision BY REBECCA BUNCH Staff Writer Town council members decided at their monthly work session Monday night to take a step back and do more homework before act ing on either of two propos als for the future use of the former Northeast Commis sion building. The decision followed a lengthy, animated discussion concerning how to proceed to determine the highest and best use of the property. Several council members 6 0 ©2009 The Chowan Herald All Rights Reserved said they i»;ui been con duced to put the breaks >n making a decision after talking with members of the Edenton Yacht Club about lie impact that either the proposed microbrewery or he proposed restaurant/re lail space would have on the waterfront and the future use of a building adjacent to the property by the Sun fish Sailing program. The program, geared toward young people, is operated out of that building by vol unteers from the EYC who help a paid instructor teach the Edenton-Chowan Rec reation Department -spon sored program. The program stores equipment there and uses the building to teach classes on rainy days. Councilman Sambo Dixon noted that he , had taken a I walk around I the property with one of || those volun- a leers, Kermit I Layton. He \ said he came away feeling it was crucial to preserve the sailing program. “I think we need to grow that program,” he said. Councilman Jimmy Stall ings concurred. “I think we need to,ex pand the sailing program, if anything,” he said. Stallings said, with about 40 people seated in the au dience, that he wanted the public to understand the council recognized the sig nificance of the decision STALLINGS they were being railed upon to make. “We re not taking this lightly," he said. “We want to do what we feel like is best for the commu nity.” Sailing regattas offer big benefits to communities in which they occur, noted Councilman Steve Biggs, a boat owner and member of SailNC. Biggs said that the group had recently hosted three regattas. “Everything so far has been in Manteo," he said. See DECISION, 4A Wind ordinance amendment talks continue tonight BY REGGIE PONDER Editor The Chowan County Planning Board will meet tonight to continue its consideration of proposed amendments to the county’s wind energy ordinance. The board met more than three hours Monday night and recessed its meeting until today (Wednesday) at 7 p.nt. Before the board for its consideration are a staff report from Planner Elizabeth Bryant and an alternate proposal from board mem ber Jim Robison. Both make the ordinance stricter to some degree or other, but Robi son’s version much more so. The Robison alternate essentially presents in more precise or formal terms the points of the original planning board recommendation from April. “It was not a prohibition of wind energy. It was a need to consider ail the facts involved in wind energy facilities." Jim Robison Planning board member The April pro posal included a one-mile setback from non-partici pating properties, a 35dBa noise limit, an escrow account to cover regulatory costs and a bond to cover decommis sioning costs. The staff report includes a setback of one and half times the turbine height from non - paiUCipHIUlg piop erties, a 55 dBa limit and a decommissioning plan that takes into consideration salvage value of materials. The upstairs training room at the comity’s office building was packed for the board’s meet ing Monday, and several members of the public spoke on both sides of the issue. A number of legal questions occupied the board for a significant part of the meeting. Among those questions were whether board members William Monds and Linda See AMENDMENT, 3A Stemburg appointed to fisheries panel BY JON HAWLEY The Daily Advance STEINBURG Suite Hep. Boh Steinburg, R-('how;m, has been ap pointed to the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries C’onunis sion. a 15-stale policymaking body for recreational and commercial fishing across the Eastern Seaboard. Appointed a few weeks ;u>o bv Gov. Pat MeCrorv. Steinburg said he’s already plunged into the fishing issues the 45-member body considers, attending its summer meeting in Alexandria, Va., last week. The body must balance envi ronmental and commercial interests as well as follow federal law . when setting policies for the liarvest of diverst' fish species from Maine to Florida Steinburg said he’s excited to join the body because fishing is “a big part of our economy” in his six-county district. Steinburg Is the only North Carolinian state law maker on the body, he added, which has three appointees from each state. He joins N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries Director Louis Daniel III — also the Atlantic commission’s chairman — and Doug Brady of Beaufort . Steinburg replaces former Sen. Clark Jenkins, D-Edgecombe, who lust liis re-election bid last year. Steinburg said he tried to attend as many subcommittee meetings of the commission See FISHERIES, 3A I
The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
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Aug. 26, 2015, edition 1
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