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Wednesday, March 15, 2017
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WWW,CAROLINACHRYSLER.COM 1252-335-0724 1 1001 HALSTEAD BLVD.
ELIZABETH CITY
STAFF PHOTO BY REBECCA BUNCH
Neighborhood residents were invited to come lay some
cereemonial bricks at the site of the new Edenton
Police Station last week. Construction at the site on
North Oakum Street is progressing on time, according
to officials with A.R. Chesson Construction, and is
expected to be completed on time by the first of May.
Chesson earns safety award
as police station finish nears
BY REBECCA BUNCH
Staff Writer
When crews from A.R.
Chesson Construction be
gan work at the site of the
new Edenton Police Station
they had no idea that while
wrapping up the project
they would become the re
cipients of special recogni
tion from the North Carolina
Department of Labor.
Last Friday the company
received a 2017 NCDOL Mil
lion Hour Award presented
by Commissioner of Labor
Cherie Berry after complet
ing 4,394 days without a
lost-time accident. The pe
riod of time covered by the
award was from January,
2005 through Jan. 12, 2017.
Berry noted that it may have
taken the company seven
years to achieve the honor
because of its small size but
said the recognition was no
less deserved.
“That is such a unique
achievement,” she said.
“You put safety above every
thing.”
Company owner Al Ches
son said he couldn’t be
prouder and credited his
company’s Corporate Safety
Officer Andy Holliman and
the mindset of those who
work for Chesson’s.
“It is the policy of AR.
Chesson Construction to
provide a safe working
environment for all of its
employees and subcontrac
tors,” Chesson said. “This is
See CHESSON, 4A
Facing Critical Issues
STAFF PHOTO BY REGGIE PONDER
Edenton-Chowan Schools Superintendent Rob Jackson points out damage to walls during a tour of John A.
Holmes High School at the beginning of Monday’s joint meeting of the Edenton-Chowan Board of Education
and the Chowan County Board of Commissioners.
STAFF PHOTO BY REGGIE PONDER
Robert Wynegar addresses a forum at the Edenton-
Chowan Campus of College of The Albemarle on
Thursday. Wynegar is one of the four finalists for
president of COA.
Final candidate
for COA president
visits campus
County officials mull future of
John A. Holmes high school
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
Chowan County officials expect to
decide soon how they plan to address
critical facility issues at John A. Hol
mes High School.
That was the upshot of a joint
meeting Monday night between the
Chowan County Board of Commis
sioners and the Edenton-Chowan
Board of Education.
Edenton-Chowan Schools Super
intendent Rob Jackson described
the school board as being “at a cross-
roads” in regards to the high school.
The board needs direction from the
county commissioners regarding
whether the county supports replac
ing the current high school complete
ly or renovating the existing facili ¬
ties.
The estimated cost of renovating
the existing two-school classroom
building on the campus, combined
with replacing the remainder of the
high school, is $41.9 million.
The county’s existing debt will be
paid off around 2024, which would
free up about $2 million in debt pay
ments for possible financing of the
high school replacement project. But
county officials caution that there
are other significant facility needs at
College of The Albemarle’s Edenton-
Chowan Campus and elsewhere.
Jackson told the county commis
sioners that school officials are look
ing for direction in the upcoming
budgeting process.
Board of Education Chairman
Gene Jordan said school officials
were looking for a way forward in
the short term and in the long term.
The board is at a fork in the road and
needs input from the county com
missioners to know which way to go,
Jordan said.
The most pressing issue at the high
school is the replacement of half of
the heating and cooling units at the
high school and replacement of the
boiler, which leaks in places and is
wearing out.
Members of the two boards saw
the boiler - complete with water on
the floor from the leaks - during a
tour of the high school at the begin
ning of the meeting. The tour also re
vealed light fixtures that do not work,
steps that are not handicapped-ac-
See SCHOOL, 4A
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
Robert Wynegar told a
group of community lead
ers in Edenton Thursday
morning that just as he
went to Western Nevada
College because of - rather
than in spite of - the chal
lenge of working through
the problems that college
was having, he relishes the
thought of helping College
of The Albemarle move
from being a very good col
lege to being the best col
lege in the country.
Wynegar was the final
candidate for president at
COA to visit the college’s
campuses. Each of the four
candidates visited Eden
ton-Chowan and the other
three campuses of COA
for community forums and
also met with the college’s
Board of Trustees.
The trustees are slated
to meet this week to de
liberate on the selection
of a new president. Presi
dent Kandi Deitemeyer
has departed to serve a
large community college in
Charlotte.
The selection of a new
president comes at a criti
cal time for the college’s
Edenton-Chowan Campus,
as it addresses important
facility needs, the deterio
rating condition of the two-
story former D.F. Walker
School Building — an im
portant landmark for the
local black community
— and the possibility of a
new curriculum offering at
the campus in sustainable
agriculture.
Wynegar told the audi
ence in Edenton that he
believes he has done the
things he went to Western
Nevada to do.
“Now I’m ready for a new
challenge,” Wynegar told a
forum in the Culinary Arts
Building on COA’s Eden
ton-Chowan Campus.’
Wynegar said he was
glad he had been hearing
the word “leadership” in
questions at COA rather
than the word “manage
ment,” because “it means
the college is thinking
See COA, 4A
County’s new finance officer has hospital experience
BY REGGIE PONDER
Editor
A longtime employee of
the local hospital has been
named finance officer for
Chowan County.
Cathy Smith began work
on Feb. 27 as the county’s fi-
6 mi 8 9076"44813 1111 0
©2009 The Chowan Herald
All Rights Reserved
nance officer. The post had
been vacant nearly a year
following the departure of
Willie Mack Carawan.
Smith worked at the local
hospital for 33 years, most
recently as staff accountant.
She retired from the hospi
tal in December 2015 and
after that worked at Waff
Contracting while finishing
a bachelor’s degree in in ac
counting at Elizabeth City
State University.
She graduated from
ECSU in December.
The new job offers her
the opportunity both to use
her skills in accounting and
to learn about local govern
ment accounting.
“It’s definitely different in
terms of the accounting as
pect of it,” she said.
Smith will be attending
classes at the School of Gov
ernment at the University of
North Carolina at Chapel
Hill to earn finance officer
certification. She said she
is excited about attending
the classes at the School of
Government.
She said she’s eqjoying
the work in the county of
fice.
“It’s a lot to learn, though,”
she added.
Smith and her husband,
Jim, live in Chowan County.
She moved here as a child
in 1978 and has lived here
ever since.
“I consider myself local
now,” Smith said.
When she’s not working
Smith eqjoys spending time
with her grandchildren.
STAFF PHOTO
BY REGGIE
PONDER.
Cathy
Smith is
the new
finance
officer for
Chowan
County.
She started
work for
the county
on Feb. 27.
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