Newspapers / The Chowan Herald (Edenton, … / May 29, 2019, edition 1 / Page 2
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A2 THE CHOWAN HERALD, WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2019 CrimeWatch Edenton Police Arrests Bernard Junior Hayes, 39, of Virginia Road, Chowan County, was arrested April 21 on misdemeanor charges of driving while license revoked, possession of open container and failure to appear. A se cured bond of $4,500 was set. He was confined to the Chowan County Jail. Dylan James Sorey, 21, of Rocky Hock Road, Chowan County, was arrested April 28 on a misdemeanor charge of driving while intoxicated. Ac cording to the report, the sus pect ran a red light on North Broad Street and Virginia Road. Arresting officer, Chief H.A. King Jr. Anthony Overton II, 31, of Park Avenue, Edenton, was ar rested April 26, on a misde meanor charge of driving while license revoked. Arresting offi cer, Ptl. S.E. White. Christopher Shadder Walker, 22, of Cabarrus Street, Eden ton, was arrested April 25, on a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery. An unsecured bond of $5,000 was set. Arresting of ficer, CpI. D.A. Smith. Linward Bailey Jr., 48, of West Carteret Street, Eden ton, was arrested April 24, on three misdemeanor charges of failure to appear. A secured bond of $1,500 was set. He was confined to the Chowan County Jail. Arresting officer, Officer A.M. Wynn. Kory Taivon Gilliam, 19, of Tyler Lane, Edenton, was ar rested April 19, on charges of possession of less than .5 ounces of marijuana and driv ing without a license. Arresting officer, Sgt. J.F. Simpson Sr. Keimon Yasir Bailey, 19, of Luke Street, Edenton, was ar rested April 19, on a charge of possession of less that .5 ounces of marijuana. Arresting officer, Sgt. J.F. Simpson Sr. PROJECT Continued from Al David Hollowell, a com mercial fisherman, noted that Groundwater Man agement Associates Inc.’s study the river for one week during the summer of 2018 was when there was a lot of rain. The study was conducted for the proposed project. “They should have done it for two or three years” to get a more accurate study, he said. At one point, the com mission considered dump ing the effluent into Rocky Hock Creek, but the state said no because the creek is too small, Stanley Tynch said. It has a bigger flow than the Chowan River, because it’s so narrow. “It’s like I can’t flush (the waste) down the commode, but I can put it down the shower drain, sort of thing,” he said while shaking his head. Hollowell said, people can tell the Chowan River doesn’t move because of the algae blooms. “You’ve got to be in the river to know it,” he said. “It’s not moving much, es pecially during the sum mer. You can tell where it’s not moving by the algae blooms. “Why use the Chowan River as a dump?” Impact on residents Terry Pratt, a board member of the N.C. Fish eries Association and for mer president of the Albe marle Fishmen’s Associa tion, has been a commer cial fisherman for 60 years. “People are not in favor of this,” the Bertie County resident said. “We’d rather pay the difference for them to go ahead to put it in the sound, so commer cial fishing can go on longer here.” Stanley Tynch owns part of the land that the proposed pipe will go along. His son, Sam Tynch, works at Avoca Farms. Sam’s son was baptized in the Chowan River at Har ris Landing. The pipe is going down the right of way to a pri vate beach that Stanley Tynch co-owners with his brother. His family uses a pier there for fishing and swimming. “People are going to fish and my family is going to swim beside it,” Stanley Tynch said of the pro posed pipe. If the Valhalla plant reaches its maximum ca pacity, about 189,000 gal lons of effluent will be pumped into the Chowan River every day, according to information given by Rivers and Associates. During the May 2 gath ering, farmers were out planting their crops before the rain came. Nixon noted that the recent rains caused them to be behind schedule. Farmers often use wa ter from the river to care for their farms. Herbert Byrum, a fisher man from Cannons Ferry, noted that farmers can’t use the water if it has a high salt content. As an ex ample, five or six years so, the farmers put river wa ter on the plants, but the salt content was so high that it burned some crops. “Every diy summer, the salt becomes a little more concentrated in the river,” he noted. “With that extra (salt water discharge from the plant), we’ll get pure salt water.” Sam Tynch said that the residents are against putting the discharge into the river. “They need to put it where the water runs into the sound,” he said. “They can’t just put it there (Har ris Landing) because its cheaper. Cheaper doesn’t mean its good for the longevity of the project.” Past problems For several years, a pa per mill — Union Camp in Franklin, Virginia — dumped chemicals into the Chowan River several times a year, according to Ricky Nixon, owner of Nixon’s Fisheiy. “When it would come down, the river would be as black as a chalkboard,” he said. “To use the Chowan River for a dump is a totally wrong thing for the county to do. I’m dis appointed that they didn’t bring it to the people who are effected by the pro posal the most.” If the pipe is put in, and a west wind blows, it will flow the wastewater right into the beach, Stanley Tynch said. “We need to get it right the first time, even if it costs more money.” Lack of communication One concern expressed by everyone was what they said was the county’s lack of communication about the project. “There was a lack of communication with the residents affected by the proposed project,” Sam Tynch said. “It would have been nice if they sent residents a letter in their water bill explaining about what’s going on or something like that.” Stanley Tynch said he found out about the project when the Ground- water Management Asso ciates Inc. researchers came to his land for test ing. “Next thing I knew, I got a letter asking for per mission for them to do aerial mapping. That’s how I knew they were tar geting the Chowan River for the project,” he said. “To me, if you’re going to get ready to do a project of this nature, you need to let the public know some thing about it. “ Due diligence Sam Tynch noted that when he’s doing a project for work, he has to use due diligence. The county can look at other technology. Maybe they can try to put the wa ter in a large body of wa ter with similar water chemistry like Pasquotank County has to do, he said. “The sound is saltier; it makes more sense to put it there. ... Maybe they’ll come up with the best solution that’s the same as before. They must make sure they do enough due dili gence even if it costs more to protect our re sources.” “The commission needs to study this more and reconsider it,” he said. “To me, a project like this can set a prece dence. If the county dumps effluent into the river, other counties will follow suit and see what they can put into the river.” Possible impact If the ecosystem is hurt, the county risks hurting the tourism indus try as well as several other industries, Nixon said. “People want to put their homes on the river,” he said. “People will get out of here if the river is salty and destroys the ecosystem.” Stanley Tynch ac knowledged that no one knows exactly what the effluent will do to the river. Those who have lives along the river, know the engineering compa nies are making bad com parisons with other projects and waterways in North Carolina. “They’re not comparing apples to apples,” Nixon said. “This part of the Chowan River is a dead zone, because there is no flow from the island to the US 17 bridge. You have a half mile wide river drop ping into a 3 mile wide space. It cuts the flow.” Pratt used this anal ogy: The Division of Water Quality studies wa ter for its oxygen level every 30 days for 30 min utes. There could be no oxygen in the water for 10 minutes sometime be fore the study was con ducted. It wouldn’t show up on the report, but “if we went 10 minutes with out oxygen, we’d be dead,” he said. “The river deserves more consideration than it’s been given,” he said. “You shouldn’t sacrifice its purity.” ALGAE Continued from Al in places ranging from Chowan Beach to the shoreline by Edenton Bay for more than a week. Monday morning sitting by the dock of bay, even the late great Otis Redding would’ve been able to see the beginnings of patches of blue-green algae strands between the kayak ramp to that area past the trio of Revolutionary War can nons and up to point where the turkey buzzards feast on catfish. Tuesday, the previous night’s rains dispersed some of the al gae, but time will tell what’s ahead. Chowan Edenton-Envi ronmental Group monitors this green menace that has been occurring more fre quently these past few years. Recently, CEEG sampled Arrowhead Beach, the US 17 River Bridge Boat launch, the town dock and on the Albemarle Sound at the Fish and Wildlife Dock near the airport. Warmer water temperatures tend to be a sign when algal blooms start to appear. “There is no evidence at all of any algal cells in any of our samples,” CEEG’s Colleen Karl said. “But that said, I have also had a few reports of algal cells at var ious locations. It is very early in the season, but the water temps on Wednes day (May 22) were near 80 close to shore, so no won der we are seeing a few outbreaks.” The algae tends to gather in areas close to shorelines. “Since the algal cells are wind blown on the surface, they do tend to bunch up in the small bays like Arrow head,” Karl said. “I sort of expect the little pop-up blooms to come and go this time of year. However, I would encourage anyone to let North Carolina Department of Environ mental Quality know if they spot a substantial bloom - especially one that persists for several days.” In past years, staff with the North Carolina Divi sion of Water Reources water sciences program identified the bloom species in the Chowan River as Dolichospermum, a member of the blue- green family of algae. Doli chospermum typically appear bright green. As the bloom decays, the color may change to a milky blue. The decaying algae also produces a strong, foul odor. As yet, no one knows specifically what causes the algae when these out breaks are reported near the beginning of summer, but CEEG still seeks an swers. CEEG is partnering with Dr. Nathan Hall at the UNC-Institute of Marine Sciences as part of a re cently funded Community Collaborative Research Grant. What the algae eat may be a factor that deter mines how they originate, perhaps what practices can be used to best miti gate this problem. “The purpose of this grant will be to determine what nutrients the blue -green algae in Edenton Bay are using,” Karl said. Tuesday morning, CEEG deployed an array of sample bottles at the Barker House. The bottles float in the warm water for several days, so as to let the algae present in the river water grow under typical river conditions. The sample bottles will be retrieved, processed by the CEEG and sent overnight to UNC-IMS for nutrient-analysis testing. The array are launched in the spring, again the sum mer and in the fall to effec tively measure seasonal changes. Town officials and the Albemarle Resource and Conservation Council are closely monitoring the situ ation. To report algae, visit the North Carolina Division of Water Resources web page and/or click this link: https://ncdenr.maps.ar- cgis.com/apps/GeoForm/ index.html?ap- pid=6c240649a40141d- c817adleldd9aeb9a In past summers, the al gal bloom spread from the eastern side of the Chowan River, near Arrowhead Beach south to Edenton, before continuing along the shoreline until just be yond the NC 32 bridge. In July 2018, DWR offi cials issued an advisoiy in response to the bluish- green water that lingered off Chowan Beach since late June. Chowan Beach is about 12 miles upstream from the town of Edenton. Staff writer Miles Layton can be reached at relay lon@ncweek- lies.com EMS Continued from Al The Edenton-Chowan Rescue Squad will keep its name and certifica tions. Its volunteers can work accidents and other emergencies as first-re sponders, using their per sonal vehicles and equip ment. Ryan said neither the squad nor the county own the property itself, so he’s not sure what will happen to the building near the Rocky Hock and Rocky Hock Landing roads intersection. “We need two more per sonnel to pick up the slack due to the lack of volun teers,” Ryan said. He presented three plans to the commission ers. One adds two paramedics to the roster, which would cost $104,000. Another plan calls for hiring two EMTs at about $84,000. The third keeps the staff as is and eliminates the EMS’ transport service. Ryan said they provide intercity facility transports from Vidant Chowan to Greenville and Norfolk. “If we didn’t provide the service, we would run one less ambulance and elimi nate transports at night,” County Manager Kevin Howard said. “I think the question is what level of service does the commis sion want to provide the county?” Ryan said that if EMS doesn’t do non-emergency transports, the depart ment would lose about $318,199.93 in revenue. They did 1,817 transports in 2018 and are reimbursed through Medicare, Medi caid and private insurance. The amount the agency is reimbursed depends on the coverage the patient has, which ranges from $70 to $400. Commission chair Patti Kersey asked Howard what kind of service he would recommend. “I don’t want to drop our level of service,” he said. “We lose $318,000 in rev enue if we eliminate trans ports and gain $134,590 in savings. In the end, we’re really not gaining.” Kersey asked that an evaluation be done to see how to best deal with the lack of volunteers. Since such an evaluation wouldn’t be done in time before the budget is ap proved, the commission adjusted the budget, allow ing EMS to hire two EMTs. The Commission also talked with Water Depart ment Director David Tawes about his depart ment’s budget, which is $1,575,000. Since this past year was Tawes’ first at the job, he didn’t make many changes to how the department runs. “In July, I want to start training staff,” he said. “I had identified 56 projects to do, but we don’t have the resources to do them.” Tawes noted that the water department is not considering replacing old pipes at this time. “In areas like Thick Neck Road, we spent $20,000 to fix all the leaks. And there are just as many leaks now as we had a year ago,” he said. Tawes noted that the water system is operating at a 30% loss every day due to leaks and other infra structure problems. “We’ve got a ton of knock-on couplings that have been leaking for years and the county didn’t know about it,” he said, noting that some of the problem is due to having older struc tures in the county. “Some of those galvanized pipes, if you touch them, they fall apart.” Howard suggested doing a rate study to see whether an increase would be needed to help maintain and replace some of the ag ing water system. Tawes said he thinks residents would be better served if a rate increase was done incrementally rather than all at once. When Kersey asked Tawes if he thought the county’s fees were adequate, he an swered, “Our fees are not reflecting the true cost of water in general.” Commissioner Don Faircloth, who also is a volunteer firefighter, pre sented the county’s fire budget of $716,552. Of the proposed budget, $422,415 is allotted to paid to the Edenton Fire Department. The amount is determined by the num ber of rural calls the town’s fire department covers. “Edenton’s call rate is higher because most of the residents live in the south ern end of the county,” Faircloth said. He said Center Hill and Belvidere (in Perquimans County) service the BANKRUPTCY CL FORECLOSURE O LAWSUITS h- CAR REPOSSESSION C/) TAX LEVIES AND GARNISHMENTS Call Allen C. Brown Attorney 252-752-0952 A Debt Relief Agency helping people eliminate debt through bankruptcy CHOWA^HERALD (USPS 106-380) Published Every Wednesday Adams Publishing Group Entered as a second-class matter August 30, 1934 at the Post Of fice of Edenton, North Carolina, under Act of March 3, 1870. SUBSCRIPTION RATES Daily Advance home delivery area $30* (Chowan, Perquimans, Pasquotank, Camden, Currituck, parts of Gates) Elsewhere in continental United States $47 *Plus applicable sales tax. Activation lee of $2.99 will be collected wit h all new subscriptions. Deactivation fees may apply for early cancellation. To place a classified advertisment, call our Customer Care Center at 252-329-9505. POSTMASTER: SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO: The Chowan Herald • P.O. Box 207 • Edenton, NC 27932 Telephone: (252) 482-2623 Fax: (252) 482-4410 n layton@ncweeklies.com northern end of the county. Belvidere is paid $15,000 ayear. Chowan Perquimans i^fir Habitat ’III for Humanity" Restore Open Tues., Thurs., Sat. 9:00 am to 1:00 pm We pick- up large donations! only Flat Screen TVs will be accepted. NO Faint is accepted 1370 N. Broad St., Edenton 482-2686
The Chowan Herald (Edenton, N.C.)
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May 29, 2019, edition 1
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