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106 W WATER ST
EDENTON NC 27932-1854
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
June 22 vs Fayetteville SwampDogs
(Wayback Wednesday: Rock N Rollin in the 70's) Daily Advance Night
June 27 vs Lexington County Blowfish
(500 Hot Dogs), Bertie County Night
July 1 vs Peninsula Pilots
(Kids Run the Bases,Open Door Church Night)
County adopts budget with 1.5-cent tax hike
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
The Chowan County Board
of Commissioners voted unani
mously Monday to adopt a 2016
2017 county budget that raises the
property tax rate by 1.5-cents and
increases local funding for school
operations by roughly $61,000.
The motion by Commissioner
Keith Nixon passed unanimously
at the board’s regular meeting
Monday night.
The increase in the tax rate
means someone with a house val
ued at $100,000 will pay an addi
tional $15 in property tax on that
house.
The budget does not increase
water rates or other fees associat
ed with the county’s other funds.
Total General Fund spending
increases by nearly $767,000 over
the current year’s budget,
from $13.4 million in 2015-2016 to
$14.2 million in 2016-2017.
The Edenton-Chowan Schools
will receive $562,000 in capital
outlay funding and $3.55 million in
current expense funding.
Based on figures presented by
school officials during discussion
of the budget for the upcoming
year, school officials will need to
find $110,500 within their own
budget in addition to the amount
provided by the county in, order to
meet the school board’s goal of re
storing salaries and supplements
to where they were prior to reduc
tions made in 2009 because of the
county’s fiscal crisis.
Edenton-Chowan Schools Su
perintendent Rob Jackson said
dining the public hearing on the
budget that the restoration was
the school board’s top priority in
terms of the 2016-2017 budget.
Commissioner Greg Bonner
said he would have liked to have
done more for the schools in this
budget.
Nixon said he would have pre
ferred to increase the tax rate by
only half a cent rather than 1.5 cents.
But he acknowledged that the board
had debated budget issues and come
See BUDGET, 4A
Ground broken for new Edenton Police Station
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
he groundbreaking for the
new Edenton Police Station
JL was held on June 15 at the
site, 301 North Oakum Street.
Community leaders and resi
dents, along with members of the
architectural firm and the con
struction company that will pro
duce the building, shared in the
celebration.
Police Chief Jay Fortenbery of
ficially greeted everyone on behalf
of the town.
“I’m proud to be your police
chief on tliis momentous occa
sion,” he said. This has been an
exciting project so far.”
Mayor Roland Vaughan wel
comed the crowd.
Tliis Is a momentous and spe
cial day in our community,” he
said.
Vaughan noted that tliis was a
project that had enjoyed a high
degree of public participation and
input as the process moved for
ward.
“Tliis project is one that has in
cluded cooperation, collaboration
and input from the community,”
he observed. “In return, it is our
responsibility to be good stewards
of the public’s dollars.”
See STATION, 4A
STAFF PHOTO BY
REBECCA BUNCH
This rendering
created by
Oakley Collier
Architects
of Rocky
Mount shows
how the new
Edenton
Police Station
will look. The
station will
be located
on North
Oakum Street
as part of a
neighborhood
revitalization
effort by
the Town of
Edenton.
Developer still keen on Edenton waterfront site for brew-pub
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
Raleigh businessman .John Glover con
firmed Monday that he remains committed
to establisliing a brew-pub on the Edenton
» waterfront should he win approval from the
town council.
On May 10 the council voted to revisit the
issue and invite Glover to come to Eden
ton for conversations after initially voting
against selling the former Northeast Com
mission building to him for his proposed
new business here.
Glover said that while he was heartened
by the show of support from tire community
his primary concern remained what would
be best for the town as a whole.
“Sincerely, my interest is what’s best for
the town of Edenton,” he said.
In response to rumors that other commu
nities were interested in having the brew
pub locate elsewhere in the area should
Edenton decide to pass on the waterfront
location for the project, Glover acknowl
edged he had been approached by the may
or of Windsor about possibly locating his
brew-pub there.
“1 told him that my interest was in Eden
ton at this point,” he said.
Glover acknowledged having met with
local residents who had specific concerns
about his project as well as town officials
since the vote last month occurred. Af
ter listening to their concerns, he said, he
talked about them with his architect who Ls
developing design plans for the proposed
brew-pub that Glover will be able to show
the town council when he returns later this
summer.
“They’re working on other options (based
on community input) to see if they’re vi
able,” he said.
Town Manager Anne-Marie Knighton
said after the last, council vote she had in
vited Glover to return to Edenton for a
See BREWPUB, 4A
Lombardi new director of Partnership
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
A Connecticut native
with a background in net
working and high-tech
has been hired as the new
executive director of the
Edenton Chowan Partner
ship.
t Larry Lombardi’s first
day in his new role was
June 1. He follows Frank
Miglorie, who was the
partnership’s first director.
In 2007 Lombardi and
his wife, Jessica, bought
a house in Edenton. But
since early 2008 he had
been working in Norfolk,
. Va., in economic develop
* ment, and had been re
quired to live in Norfolk
because of that job.
The couple just recently
moved into their home
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
LOMBARDI
here.
“It’s
kind of
like a
home
coming,”
said Lom
b a r d i ,
who is a
relative -
though a distant one - of
legendary football coach
Vince Lombardi.
Lombardi said he is ex
cited about the expansion
at Jimbo’s Jumbos and
sees food processing as a
great opportunity to grow
jobs in Chowan County.
The peanut processor
is implementing an expan
sion that will add about 70
jobs within the next year.
“We would like to ex
pand that,” Lombardi said
of the conuuunity’s food
processing industry.
With the strength of
agriculture in the county,
food processing is a kind
of low-hanging fmit for
expanding the indus
trial base in Edenton and
Chowan County, accord
“We really did look
exhaustively for who
we thought would be
the Ideal candidate
for this position.”
Jeff Sackrison
Edenton Chowan
Partnership chair
ing to Lombardi.
“Agriculture is a great
industry here in the com
munity,” Lombardi said.
Another strength for
Chowan is its access to
the deep water port in
Virginia, Lombardi said.
A lot of companies would
like to be near the port but
can’t find open land in or
around Norfolk, or prefer
to be in a small town set
ting, he said. That makes
the port in Norfolk a great
opportunity for Edenton
and Chowan, he said.
Edenton Ls fortunate to
already have fiber in the
ground, Lombardi noted.
Broadband is a critical
piece of infrastructure in
economic development,
he said.
Jeff Sackrison, who
chairs the Edenton Chow
an Piirtnership Board of
Directors, said the board
conducted an extensive
search in order to find the
new executive director.
“We really did look ex
haustively for who we
thought would be the ide
al candidate for this posi
tion,” Sackrison said.
Lombardi said lus main
emphases are bringing in
dustry here to create jobs
for people in the town and
county, and retaining the
businesses that are here
now.
The expansion at Jim
bo’s Jumbos is a sign that
the partnership already
is doing a lot of the right
things, according to Lom
bardi.
“That’s huge,” he said
of the expansion and the
public-private effort tliat
went into making it hap
pen.
Teen killed in
ATV accident
The Perquimans Weekly
HERTFORD - A Perqui
mans County teenager died
Thursday from injuries she
suffered in an aU-lerrain v e
hicle accident.
Perquimans Sheriff Eric
Tilley said Madelyn Marie
Bynuu, 14, of the 300 block
of Goodwin Mill Road, was
pronounced dead at the
scene.
Bynun, who had just
completed the ninth grade
at Perquimans County High
School, was the daughter
of Paul Matthew Byrum Jr.
and Carrie Bridgers Bynun.
She is also survived by her
brother, Branson Matthew
Bynun.
Carrie Bynuu is em
ployed by Chowan County.
At tire meeting Monday
night of tire Chowan County
Board of Commissioners,
I the invocation by Chainnan
Jeff Smith included a prayer
for peace and strength for
the Byrum family and die
entire Chowan County com
munity.
Tilley said Byrum and
smother girl were aboard a
Polaris ATV on property be
longing to Byrum’s
family off Goodwin Mill
Road, when the ATV hit
both a culvert and a small
tree and flipped over, trap
ping Byrum underneath die
vehicle.
The other girl was not se
riously injured and ran to get
help, Tilley said.
The Behidere Fire Depart
ment responded but had to
get a truck to lift the ATV off
Byrum, he said.
“They couldn’t lift it off by
hand,” Tilley said.
Neither of the gills were
wearing seat belts or helmets,
die sheriff said. Tilley said
state law requires helmets for
See ACCIDENT, 4A
Chowan tdenton Optimist Glut)
37th ANNUAL
Fabulous 4# of July
COME TO EDENTON’S WATERFRONT
EAT DINNER AND ENJOY
NORTH CAROLINA'S LARGEST
“Over the iHiaier Fireworks SIium”
Entertainment by
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(Adam Evans) of Edenton
MECHANICAL BULL RIDING
LOTS OF FOOD,
FUN, CRAFTS,
RAFFLES AND
GAMES FOR
CHILDREN!!!
Please Support Out Fabulous 4tfi of July
WE NEED YOUR FINANCIAL HELP!
MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO
CHOWAN EDENTON OPTIMIST CLUB
108 Meadow Lark Dr., Edenton NC 27932
IRS Tax Exempt ID It available upon request
T