Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / Aug. 23, 2017, edition 1 / Page 1
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CHOWA V HERALD ^SS PRUOEN UBRARY 106 W WATER _ 4 482-44 Three generations visit ancestral 50« home-3B 106 97932-1854 --- ■- ^ EDENTON NO Commission approves solar ordinance changes BY MILES LAYTON Editor The Chowan County Commission approved amendments to zoning reg ulations for solar farms at Monday’s meeting—coinci dentally the same day as the solar eclipse. Commissioners imposed a 120-day moratorium in May on any new solar devel opment in the county to give the board time to study the county’s current ordinance and recommend potential changes. That moratorium ended Monday. Earlier this month, com missioners directed county staff to make some changes to the draft proposed by the Planning Board. In the event a solar farm goes out of business, Com missioner Patti Kersey pro posed changes where the bond or cash bond would be set at 125 percent of the cost to decommission the site as opposed to the 100 percent that is in the ordinance. If the county has to initiate and handle decommission ing then the salvage value can be used to help cover decommissioning costs. Based on Kersey’s re search by talking to officials in Pasquotank County, she sought 125 percent of the solar decommission costs as opposed to 100 percent. Commission Vice Chair ¬ man Greg Bonner said he didn’t think it was right to add more costs to any future decommission process. Commissioners deliber ated on this issue before deciding to stick with the 100 percent figure. Due to a tie vote, Kersey’s proposal failed with Commission Chairman Jeff Smith, Don Faircloth and Bonner voting against the measure while Kersey, John Mitchener and Ron Cummings voting fa ¬ vor. Commissioners dis cussed whether or not a transmission pole would be accepted within the 250- foot setback from a solar farm. They decided that de pending on where the line is located, that it would be acceptable for above ground transmission lines to be placed within the set back zones. Commissioner Ellis Law rence recused himself from voting on the solar ordi nance. During the public com ment period held at the start of the commission meeting, Susan Inglis offered a few remarks lamenting global warming while praising the importance of solar en ergy development. She said Chowan County would ben efit from jobs arising from solar farms. See SOLAR, 3A Counties poised for union BY THADD WHITE For the Chowan Herald RALEIGH — Eastern Carolina will see a shakeup if proposed redistricting maps earn final approval. The new districts for the N.C. Senate and N.C. House of Representatives were ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court, which con firmed a lower court ruling that districts in North Car- olina were gerrymandered on the basis of race. Bertie and Chowan coun ties are set split in the sen ate proposals, but are to be drawn together in the pro posed new house district. Public hearings were scheduled fMonday at i six community colleges throughout the state. Currently the two coun ties on opposite sides of the Chowan River are part of Senate District 3, which is represented by Demo crat Erica Smith-Ingram of Northampton County in the N.C. Senate. In the new proposal, Chowan would join coun ties to its east in a reshaped district, which is made up mostly of counties current ly in District 1. Chowan would join Camden, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Hertford, Hyde, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Tyrrell and Washington counties in the new senate district. There would be no current state senator living in the new district. There would currently be no state senator living in the district, because in cumbent Sen. Bill Cook resides in Beaufort County, which would be removed from the district. Meanwhile, Bertie would remain in the Sen ate District with Martin and Northampton coun ties while adding Beaufort, Vance and Warren coun ties. That new district would put Sen. Smith-Ingram and Sen. Cook residing in the same district. The two state senators are not the only ones who See UNION, 2A STAFF PHOTOS BY REBECCA BUNCH A crowd of about 40 people attended Sunday afternoon’s Memorial Vigil on the Courthouse Green in a show of unity against the violence that took place in Charlottesville, Va. Vigil promotes unity, fellowship BY REBECCA BUNCH Staff Writer A vigil held Sunday afternoon on the town’s Courthouse Green drew about 40 local residents, including several ministers who urged unity and a spirit of fellowship in the wake of the tragic events filled with vio lence and anger in Charlottesville, Va. last week. The non-political event, organized by the newly established Demo cratic Women of Chowan County, was open to anyone who wanted to speak or simply stand in solidarity with the group’s message, “Hate Has No Home Here.” Savannah Sievers, who heads the Democratic women’s group, wel comed those in attendance and said that the idea for the vigil was home- grown. “One of our board members, Anita Leotta, was the catalyst,” Sievers said of the event which she said was intended to focus on replacing hurt with healing. “She has done all the work for this. I’ve only tagged along.” Among the speakers was Rev. Jer ald Perry, pastor of the Whosoever Will Church of God in Christ. Perry made the point that regardless of race and other considerations, all fives matter to God and to those who love them. With God’s grace and love, Perry said, anything is pos sible. “If God can make a black cow to graze in a green pasture and pro duce white milk that can be turned into yellow butter, He can do any- See VIGIL, 3A Top: Ten year old Brenda Joyner was the youngest speaker at Sunday afternoon’s memorial vigil held on the Courthouse Green in Edenton. Bottom: Brightly colored signs proclaiming the message “Hate Has No Home Here” were prominently displayed on Edenton’s Courthouse Green on Sunday afternoon during a vigil held in support of nonviolence and in tribute those who were victims of violence in Charlottesville, Va. Edenton to discuss monument BY MILES LAYTON Editor Edenton Town Council will discuss next week both the Confederate monument on South Broad Street as well as the 2015 state law that prohibits its removal from that site. A vigil was held to remem ber the three people killed in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend. Both council’s discussion on the monument and the vigil are in response to the events in Charlottesville, which involved violent clash es between white suprema cists and self-proclaimed Nazis and counter-protesters during a “Unite the Right” rally against removal of the Robert E. Lee statue from a public park. On Saturday, Aug. 12, ave- hicle driven by an apparent white supremacy sympathiz er rammed into a group of counter-protesters, killing a 32-year-old woman, Heather Heyer and seriously injuring many others. James Alex Fields, 20, of Ohio, has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the incident. The same day, two Vir ginia State Police officers who were monitoring the demonstrations — Lt. H. Jay Cullen and Trooper Berke M. M. Bate — were killed when their helicopter fell from the sky and burst into flames in a wooded residential area on the outskirts of the Univer sity of Virginia campus. As for council’s discussion of the town’s Confederate monument, that will take place at a special meeting Aug. 28. “As you know, In 2015 the NC General Assembly adopt ed legislation which prohib its the removal, relocation, or alteration of any monu ment, memorial, or work of art on public property unless the North Carolina Histori cal Commission approves See MONUMENT, 3A RELATED ■ Despite pleas, commis sioners take no action on Confederate statue - KI Like us on Facebook at /EDENTON-CHOWANHERALD 6 9076"44813' 0 ©2009 The Chowan Herald All Rights Reserved Back to School Bash offers food, fun BY REBECCA BUNCH Staff Writer Besides giving away over 700 book bags to children during the community’s first- ever Back to School Bash on Saturday, the recently formed Edenton United group that sponsored the event also pro vided 600 free meals prepared by Nixon’s Catering. Edenton United is a commu nity organization made up of local churches, civic organiza ¬ tions and businesses. This was the group’s first public activity and organizers, as well as those who benefited, were pleased with the result. “This was such a positive event for the people in our community,” said Pastor Ran dy Pierce of First Assembly of God whose church took part in the event. “In a week where there were protestors voicing opposition to one another, of ten marked with violence and even bloodshed, we had over 30 organizations and churches coming together to sponsor a Christian-focused event that blessed over 700 students in our school system.” “It showed what can happen when we lay aside our differ ences that define us and focus instead on what can unite us,” Pierce added. “I trust this is just the launch of something that will grow yearly and will spread good will throughout See BASH, 2A STAFF PHOTO BY REBECCA BUNCH Parents and kids spent a relaxing, fun afternoon enjoying the Back to School Bash held at John A. Holmes High School on Saturday afternoon.
The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
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Aug. 23, 2017, edition 1
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