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Wednesday, February 22, 2017
WWW.CAROLINACHRYSLER.COM I 252-335-0724 11001 HALSTEAD BLVD
ELIZABETH CITY
School board seeks start to designing new high school
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
Local school officials plan to
ask the county commissioners to
fund the start of design work for a
new high school in the upcoming
budget
The Edenton-Chowan County
Board of Education did not for
mally vote on the request during
its quarterly meeting Monday, but
gave an informal “thumbs up” to
including $45,000 for high school
design work in the school board’s
budget request to the Chowan
County Board of Commissioners
for the 2017-2018 Fiscal Year.
Chowan Board of Commis
sioners Chairman Jeff Smith said
Tuesday morning that while pre
liminary discussions about high
school construction might start
now, he doesn’t think the county
commissioners will be ready for
in-depth talks about a new high
school until after 2021, when
much of the county’s debt will be
paid off. And even then, he said,
the county will likely look at a
10-year time frame for addressing
critical facility needs in the county
that would include school facili
ties but also other critical county
needs.
Although the main focus in re
cent discussions has been replac
ing the bulk of the buildings at
the current John A. Holmes High
School - basically everything
except the two-story classroom
building - one of the questions
for the design work to answer is
whether to rebuild at the existing
site or build a new school at a dif
ferent location.
It was also the consensus of
school board members Monday
to request a joint meeting with
the county commissioners to talk
about the high school and other
pressing concerns.
Superintendent Rob Jackson
told the board members at the
meeting Monday that it’s important
to reach a decision soon about the
high school because it affects how
the school system should deal
with aging heating and cooling
units at the high school. The units
very much need to be replaced, he
said, but it might not make sense
to replace them if those build
ings will be replaced in just a few
years.
Jackson made a presentation to
the board titled “John A. Holmes
High School - Mapping the Way
See HIGH SCHOOL, 4A
Lock Up Hunger
t
I
■
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Sheriff Dwayne
Goodwin, left, is
joined by Deputy
Heather Matthews
and School
Superintendent
Rob Jackson in
unloading boxes
filled with food
in support of the
annual Lock Up
Hunger food drive
conducted by the
Edenton-Chowan
Schools. See
more stories
inside: Lock
Up Hunger, IB.
Food Pantry, 2A.
r
County approves $116K for repairs at COA campus
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
The Chowan County Board of
Commissioners Monday approved
$116,725 in capital projects for the
Edenton-Chowan Campus of Col
lege of the Albemarle – in
cluding replacing the roof on the
Culinary Building and re-paving the
I tar king lot next to the Administra
tion Building.
A motion by Greg Bonner to au
thorize COA to proceed with the im
provements passed unanimously.
Bonner said he thought it was
best to make the repairs as soon as
possible. Taking care of the facility
needs now should create savings in
the long run, he said
Joe TUmer presented the projects
to the county commissioners at their
commissioners’ regular meeting
Monday night
Turner said he worked with Eden
ton-Chowan Campus Dean Charles
Purser to put together the list of proj
ects.
The projects are:
■ Repair and re-pave the asphalt
parking lot in front of the administra
tive building, $35,975
■ Paint exterior of all buildings,
$16,750
■ Replace the ceiling tiles in the
culinary building and paint the walls,
See COA, 4A
STAFF PHOTO BY REGGIE PONDER
This is one of the rough places in the parking lot that will be repaired
and repaved as part of facility improvements at College of The
Albemarle's Edenton-Chowan Campus.
Manager offers revised picture of county fund balance
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
County Manager Kevin Howard
presented a report Monday on the
county’s fund balance in the Gener
al Fund that confirms the coimty’s
fiscal strength but puts the county’s
reserves in a less glowing light than
figures in the recent audit report.
Although the June 30, 2016, fund
balance as calculated in the audit
report presented at the board’s
Feb. 6 meeting was $7.45 million or
43.1 percent, Howard told the com
missioners at their regular meeting
Monday night that when the figure
is a4justed for funds that have been
committed or set-aside it comes
down to about $4.69 million or
about 27 percent.
County officials pointed out at the
Feb. 6 meeting that the percentage
would be somewhat lower when
longterm county commitments
were taken into consideration.
Howard told the commissioners at
that time that he would present a
report on the fund balance in light
of those longterm commitments.
Howard presented that report
Monday, and it noted a number of
set-asides and commitments:
■ $689,043 - general operators
■ $29,949 - Register of Deeds
■ $35,372 - Senior Center
■ $56,400 - Sheriffs Office
■ $2,352-Soil and Water
■ $81,027 - Cooperative Exten
sion
■ $18,778 - Recreation
■ $365,102 - College of the Al
bemarle
■ $40,246 - Animal Shelter
■ $1,373,690 - Debt Service
Fund.
After hearing Howard’s report,
Commissioner Patti Kersey said
she thinks it’s helpful for citizens to
understand how the fund balance
really works and what it means for
the county.
The county’s fund balance also
was touched on briefly at Monday’s
quarterly meeting of the Edenton
Chowan County Board of Educa
tion.
Schools Superintendent Rob
Jackson cited the article in last
week’s Chowan Herald on the
county’s fund balance. Jackson
See BALANCE, 4A
County
approves
agreement
on jail
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
The Chowan County
Board of Commissioners
voted Monday night to ap
prove an agreement allow
ing the Edenton Historical
Commission to restore the
historic Chowan County
Jail and make it available as
a public exhibit.
The county retains own
ership of the property under
the agreement.
Sally Francis Kehayes of
the Edenton Historical Com
mission was at the commis
sioners’ meeting Monday
night to answer questions
about the agreement.
Lauren Arizaga-Womble,
the county’s attorney, told
the commissioners that she
and County Manager Kevin
Howard had met with Ke
hayes, Chris Bean and Tyler
Dawson last week to dis
cuss the agreement and that
she was comfortable with
the board approving the li
cense agreement.
The historic 1825 Chow
an County Jail is kx'ated
behind the 1767 Chowan
County Courthouse.
Local researchers have
determined that the building
is the oldest surviving jail in
North Carolina They also
believe it was the longest
serving jail in the nation at
the time of its decommis
sioning in 1983.
The executive conunittee
of the Edenton Historical
Commission agreed Tues
day morning to forward the
licensing agreement to the
full EHC board.
A motion by Commis
sioner Ellis Lawrence to ac
cept the license agreement
passed unanimously.
Chairman Jeff Smith said
he is glad the Historical
Commission will take over
the facility and make it an
asset to the county.
The agreement cites as
a rationale for the new ar
rangement that “the Premis
es are of significant historical
value and their preservation
and display would provide
educational opportunities
and other public services
wliich would benefit Chow
an County residents.”
The agreement is for a
See JAIL, 4A
Focus groups explore interest in senior living campus
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
Recent focus group ses
sions held in Chowan and
Perquimans counties were
the most recent step in a
process intended to bring
89076*44813
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
4
a senior living campus to
Edenton.
Larry Lombardi, execu
tive director of the Edenton
Chowan Partnership which
initiated the effort after it
was identifier! as a strategic
goal when the Partnership
began operations over five
years ago.
“According to Charlotte
based Retirement Dynamics
Inc., who hold these senior
living focus groups around
the country, the turnout for
the four groups that met late
last month was tremendous
and the information the
participants provided was
insightful and informative,"
Lombardi said.
“From the Partnership’s
perspective, we thought the
turnout for the focus groups
validated what an earlier
feasibility study concluded
and the enthusiasm and
support for the senior living
project was very positive,"
he added.
Lombardi said once a
site is chosen and under
contract, “there will be ad
ditional focus groups being
held to determine whether
the housing will consist of
cottages and apartments
with various square foot
ages and the types of ameni
ties to be included.”
Windermere Strategic
Partners, an Orlando, Fla
based operation, was rec
ommended by Cy Rich,
chairman of the Partner
ship’s Economic Develop
ment Committee, to per
form the feasibility study.
The project, it was deter
mined, would consist of
three phases - a feasibility
study, the conducting of re
search focus groups to see if
the study justified the need
for the project, and entering
into a contract for a site in
the community.
“WSP recommended
between 100 and 120 inde
pendent living units," Lom
bardi said. “For assisted
living, WSP recommended
between 36-40 units and
for memory care the rec
ommendation was for 16
units.”
He noted that of the
four focus groups held,
there were two that met
on Wednesday, Jan. 25 at
Albemarle Plantation in
Perquimans County and
the remaining focus groups
took place in Edenton at the
Shepard-Pruden Library the
following day.
“There were a total of 70
people who participated;
See SENIOR, 4A
A