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Wednesday, February 15, 2017
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WWW.CARDLINACHRYSIER.COM I 252 335-0724 11001 HALSTEAO BLVD
ELIZABETH CITY
Officials eye summer opening for jail
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
Local officials hope to
have the historic Chowan
County Jail open as an at
traction and educational
exhibit by this summer.
The Chowan County
Board of Commissioners
and the Edenton Historical
Commission are working
toward an agreement they
hope will allow the old jail
to open for visits by tour
ists and locals alike.
Sally Francis Kehayes
of the Edenton Historical
Commission told the coun
ty commissioners at their
Feb. 6 meeting that the
EHC is very interested in
the 1825 Chowan County
Jail.
The jail is located behind
the 1767 Chowan County
Courthouse.
Kehayes mentioned that
Dawson Tyler, John More
head and Keith Nixon, a
former county commis
sioner and former chair
man of the Chowan County
Tourism Development Au
thority, had been doing a
lot of work on the historic
jail project
Local researchers have
determined that the build
ing is the oldest surviving
jail in North Carolina They
also believe it was the lon
gest-serving jail in the na
tion at the time of its de
commissioning in 1983.
Tyler told the county
commissioners that there
is a good working plan in
place to clean up the build
ing and make it safe for
citizens and tourists.
The exterior door at the
historic jail has already
been replaced, lyier said.
The county commission
ers put $5,000 in this year’s
county budget for renova
tions at the historic jail and
Kehayes reported that the
EHC has raised $17,000 for
the project.
The proposal from the
EHC is to get a signed
agreement between the
EHC and the county that
will enable the project to
See JAIL, 2A
STAFF PHOTO BY REGGIE PONDER
The new wooden door at the historic 1825 Chowan
County Jail is among the first of the renovations being
completed to get the jail ready for visitors.
Important Part Of History
Alumni
push for
saving
Walker
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
Alumni of the historic
D.F. Walker School con
tinue to call for the pres
ervation of the two-story
Walker School building on
North Oakum Street.
This building matters,”
Carolyn Anthony of the D.F.
Walker Alumni Association
told the Chowan County
Board of Commissioners
during the public comment
period at the board’s Feb. 6
meeting.
Anthony called the build
ing, located on the Eden
ton-Chowan Campus of
College of the Albemarle,
an important part of the his
toric Edenton community.
In March of last year
the county commissioners
indefinitely suspended a
committee tliat had been
looking at future uses for
the former D.F. Walker
High School building on the
COAs Edenton-Chowan
Campus. One of the con
cerns expressed at that
time was a need to clarify
what the possibilities for
the building might be under
die terms of the county’s
lease agreement with COA.
County and college of
ficials also are awaiting a
successor to former COA
President of Kandi Deite
meyer, who left the college
late last year to take a post
at another community col
lege in die state.
FILE PHOTOS
Carolyn Anthony of the D.F. Walker Alumni Association addresses a forum on
the future of the former D.F. Walker School building in this file photo. The Walker
alumni group Is calling for preservation of the building, which is shown below.
r
Anthony has been a vo
cal advocate for finding a
way to save the building
and keep it in use for edu
cational purposes.
The idea of using some
part of the two-story build
ing as a museum or cultural
center drew broad support
at a forum on the building’s
future that was sponsored
last year by the local Ra
cial Reconciliation Group
and the D.F. Walker Alumni
Association. The museum
has been envisioned by its
supporters as one part of
a multi-use project at the
building that might also in
clude office space, tutoring
programs and recreation.
D.F. Walker High School
educated generations of
black students in the Eden
ton community in the years
See ALUMNI, 2A
Audit County
fund balance
still growing
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
Nearly a decade after
Chowan County officials
stared into the abyss of a
fiscal crisis and began an ef
fort to rebuild the county’s
financial foundation, the
county’s cash reserves con
tinue to grow, according to
the latest audit report.
The county’s available
fund balance in the General
Fund was $7.45 million at
June 30, 2016, up from $6.9
million at June 30 of the pre
vious year, according to the
report That represents an
increase of $540,000 in the
available fund balance.
The available fluid bal
ance was at 43.1 percent at
the end of Fiscal Year 2016,
up from 40.9 percent at the
end of Fiscal Year 2015.
Jill Vang of Martin-Stames
and Associates presented
the audit report for the fis
cal year that ended June 30,
2016, at the county commis
sioners’ Feb. 6 regular meet
ing.
Although the report that
Vang prepared shows a 43.1
percent available fund bal
ance, county officials are
quick to point out that the
percentage is somewhat
lower when longterm coun
ty commitments such as
capita] funding for College
of the Albemarle’s Edenton
Chowan Campus are taken
See FUND, 2A
Solar growing part
of power supply
From staff reports
As solar farms begin to
show up with increasing fre
quency in northeastern North
Carolina, Dominion North
Carolina Power is adopting
more solar power as part of
its overall power supply.
Dominion spokeswoman
Daisy Pridgen said recently
that while the company
has no wind generation in
North Carolina or Virginia,
the company has longterm
agreements in place to pur
chase 553 megawattsof solar
generation in its northeastern
North Carolina service area In
Virginia 398 MW have either
been completed or are under
construction, she added
“Dominions goal is to have
a balanced generating portfo
lio that is highly reliable, cost
effective and environmentally
resjxmsible,” Pridgen said
“The cost of energy powered
by the sun Ls coming down
and becoming more and more
affordable for residents and
businesses. With their help we
will continue to work hard to
find ways to develop projects
See SOLAR, 2A
Governor urges communities to apply for disaster relief
From staff reports
Help is still available
through the state for com
munities affected by flood
ing last fall and other natural
disasters that have affected
the state during the past few
months, according to Gov.
Roy Cooper.
Cooper last week urged
local governments affected
by four 2016 natural disas
ters to apply for disaster re
lief funds immediately.
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All Rights Reserved
“Disasters struck North
Carolina hard last year,
from Hurricane Matthew in
the east to wildfires in the
west,” Cooper said “Com
munities are working tire
lessly to get back on their
feet and we’re offering a
hand to those who need it
most”
Local governments are
encouraged to apply for
grants from $30 million in
funds available through the
Disaster Recovery Grants
Program, offered in partner
ship by the Golden LEAF
Foundation and the N.C.
Department of Commerce’s
Rural Economic Develop
ment Division.
The funds will aid recov
... i‘i«>mi»ii-n nun
ery from Hurricane Mat
thew, wildfires that affected
North Carolina’s western
counties, TYopical Storm Ju
lia, and TYopical Storm Her
mine. Grants will be award
ed to local governments for
repair, replacement, or con
struction of infrastructure
projects like water, sewer,
sidewalks, and storm dam
age, or similar projects.
The Disaster Recovery
Grants Program was autho
rized in December when
the North Carolina General
Assembly passed fhe Disas
ter Recovery Act of 2016,
which allocate funds to both
the North Carolina Depart
ment of Commerce's Rural
Economic Development
Division and the Golden
LEAF Foundation. The two
organizations developed a
partnership to accept appli
cations and distribute relief
funds to qualifying projects.
Projects that address ur
gent disaster relief, disaster
recovery, and community
resiliency will be priori
tized.
Initial applications for
funding are due March
3, 2017, and initial grant
awards will be distributed
by April 6,2017.
For more information on
eligibility and how to apply
for the Disaster Recovery
Grants Program, visit gold
enleaf.org or nccommerce.
com.
Home repair assistance
for Matthew victims
From »taff reports
North Carolinians in 49
counties whose homes
were damaged by specific
natural disasters in 2016
may now be eligible for re
pairs financed by the N.C.
Housing Finance Agency.
Using a special appro
priation from the General
Assembly to the state’s
Housing TVust Fluid, the
Agency is awarding fund
ing to local organizations
for the rehabilitation of
owner-occupied homes in
counties affected by natu
ral disasters.
To be eligible for assis
tance, households must
have bean damaged by
Hurricane Matthew or
TVopical Storms Julia and
Hermine and have in
comes below 100 percent
of the area median in
come. Chowan is among
See MATTHEW, 2A
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