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SHEPHERD PRUDEN LIBRARY
106 W WATER ST
EDENTON NC 27932-1854
&
482-4418
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Panel to mull future of former DF Walker School
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
The Chowan County
Board of Commissioners is
forming a task force to look
for a way to save the former
D.F. Walker School build
ing.
The commissioners’ Plan
ning and Enterprise Com
mittee recommended provi
sionally that the building be
tom down. But public com
ment at the board’s Oct. 7
meeting encouraged efforts
to save the building, and the
task force was formed as an
intermediate step.
During public comment,
Carolyn Anthony said great
thought and concern should
be given to the future of the
D.F. Walker School Build
ing.
The building still has a
strong structure and it could
be beneficial to the commu
nity, she said.
The former school build
ing also has a great senti
mental value to citizens, she
said.
It would be an ideal site
for educational space or
some other beneficial com
munity use, according to
Anthony.
“Know that tfyere is a
great deal of interest in
preserving the D.F. Walker
Building as a part of our his
tory,” Anthony said.
Anthony suggested the
formation of a task force
to find a common sense an
swer to the question of what
to do with the building.
Commissioner Emmett
Winbome, who chairs the
Planning and Enterprise
Committee, explained that
See TO MULL, 4A
PETER WILLIAMS/THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Kevin Chandler, a spokesman for Apex Clean Energy, discusses the Timbermill wind energy project with a visitor at last Thursday’s Perquimans County Business Expo.
Resident calls for wind energy moratorium
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
A citizen asked the ('howan
County Board of Commis
sioners last week to follow
the Perquimans commissioners
in imposing a moratorium on the
development of large-scale wind
energy facilities.
Patti Kersey, a former member
of the Chowan Planning Board
and an author of the planning
board report from April of this
year that recommended a one
milt' setback and other stringent
standards be incorporated into
the county’s wind energy ordi
nance, told the commissioners
at their Oct. 7 meeting that given
the board’s recent decision not to
approve the stronger standards
for wind energy generation facih
ties, she would suggest a different
approach.
Tlie board should adopt a
moratorium on utility-scale
wind energy development as the
Perquimans commissioners did.
Kersey said.
Perquimans officials decided
they wanted to ensure their wind
energy ordinance was based on
the most recent independent
science, and imposed a 120-day
moratorium in order to provide
adequate time for a review of the
ordinance, she said.
“What a refreshing contrast,"
Kersey said of Perquimans’ 120
day review period - noting the
Chowan commissioners allowed
the planning board only 30 days
for its review.
There is recent independent
data that needs to be taken into
consideration, she said.
“Respectfully, y’all need to
See MORATORIUM, 2A
Expanded permit
requirements eyed
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
Developing a dollar
store or similar business in
Chowan County’s commer
cial zoning districts soon
could become a bit more
challenging.
The county has seen
some growth in that type
of business in the past
year, with a Dollar General
opening at the intersection
of Rocky Hock Road and
Virginia Road and a Fam
ily Dollar near Wliite Oak
Elementary School at the
intersection of Sandy Ridge
Road and Virginia Road.
The county’s cornmer
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
eial districts, B-l and B-2,
currently are located in the
area around the Northeast
ern Regional Airport. But
County Planner Elizabeth
Bryant, answering a ques
tion from Chowan Board
of Commissioners Chair
man Jeff Smith at the Oct.
7 meeting of the county
commissioners, said prop
erty owners in other areas
of the county might wish
to rezone their property to
B-l or B-2 if they thought
it might make the property
more marketable.
The county commission
ers have been generally
favorable toward business
development in the county
but also have expressed an
interest in maintaining suf
ficient oversight of the de
velopment of larger retail
stores- in order to protect
See PERMIT, 3A
Wet weather spell
damages local crops
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
Chowan County soybean, peanut and
cotton crops all have set'll some damage
due to extremely wet weather, according
to an area field crops specialist.
“The peanuts are hurt some but I don’t
think a tremendous amount,” said Paul
Smith, an area field crops specialist with
the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service
who is based out of Gates County.
The loss at this point probably is 5-10
percent for peanuts, Smith said, though
he added that another big rain could
mean a loss of 30-40 percent.
In fact, a 3040 percent loss is what is
expected for the peanut crop statewide,
according to Bob Sutter of the N.C. Pea
nut Growers Association.
Sutter said that counties to the south
SUTTER
such as Bladen, Lolumbus and Duplin TROXLER
have gotten more rain and have had more
peanuts already on the ground when the rains came. There
is concern as to whether growers in those areas will be
able to harvest everything that is out there, Sutter said.
See DAMAGES, 3A
County authorizes
money for repairs
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
The Chowan County
Board of Commissioners
voted last week to autho
rize $100,000 worth of long
awaited upgrades to county
buildings.
Commissioner Emmett
Winbome, who chairs the
Planning and Enterprise
Committee, acknowledged
during the board’s Oct. 7
meeting that the commis
sioners had been putting
off maintenance items. The
action taken at the meeting
is intended to address some
of those needs.
A motion by Commis
sioner Keith Nixon to au
thorize County Manager
Kevin Howard to spend up
to $100,f)0() on capital im
provements passed ‘unani
mously.
Although there was
some discussion about pur
chasing an ambulance out
of capital funds, the board
opted instead to purchase
the ambulance out of the
Emergency Medical Ser
vice budgets.
Howard said the county
had ;ui opportunity to get a
very good deal on an ambu
lance that has only 45,000
miles on it.
Nixon said purchasing
the ambulance from other
funds rather than the capi
tal fluid would leave more
money in tire capital fund
to pay for work on build
ings.
The projects that the
$100,000 is expected to go
to wan! include $31,900 for
stabilization and renovation
of the Shepard Building,
a smaller brick structure
located on the campus of
See REPAIRS, 4A
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