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WEDNESDAY, March 23, 2011
Serving All of Person County Since 1881
Copyright The Courier-Times inc. 2011 All Rights Reserved
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Our 129th Year — No. 24
Roxboro, North Carolina
Two Sections — 22 Pages
County does not need council
s
approval to seek occupancy tax
Bv PHYLISS BOATWRIGHT may not need the city’s approyal to in- disappointed that the they couldn’t Last week, Wilkins told The Coi
By PHYLISS BOATWRIGHT
C-T staff Writer
pboatwright@roxboro-courier.com
Some members of Roxboro City
Council are in fayor of joining the
county commissioners in an effort to
increase the hotel/motel occupancy
tax rate here, but The Courier-Times
learned late Tuesday afternoon that
Rep. W.A. (Winkle) Wilkins, D-Person,
may not need the city’s approyal to in
troduce the bill in Raleigh.
Following a special meeting yester
day on Community Deyelopment Block
Grant (CDBG) funding the city has
received. Mayor Samuel Spencer told
council members that he would like for
them to hear from Councilman Ralph
Clark regarding a conversation Clark
had with Wilkins last weekend.
Clark told council members he was
disappointed that the they couldn’t
“sit down together with the county and
make things work” for the benefit of
both bodies.
“We’re the only city in the county,”
Clark said, “and we must be partners”
with the county commissioners. “... it’s
time we sit down as a group, face to face,
and try to mend relationships,” Clark
said before telling council members
about his conversation with Wilkins.
Last week, Wilkins told The Courier-
Times that he would have great difficulty
getting the state House of Representa
tives to approve a b ill that would allow the
county to raise the hotel occupancy rate
here by one percent if both city council
and county commissioners were not in
agreement on the matter.
At their last regular meeting, on
See COUNTY back page
Sam Spencer
SPRING HAS SPRUNG!
Carol Garrett / C-T
WORKING HARD — C-T employee Carol Garrett spotted this bee busy at work this weekend preparing
to land on a grape hyacinth and do the task that bees do this time of year.
Solar energy expansion
gains 3-2 nod from
county commissioners
By TIM CHANDLER
Courier-Times Editor
tchandler@roxboro-courier.com
The Person Board of County Commis
sioners, by a 3-2 vote Monday morning,
approved a special use permit request
for a solar energy generator submitted
by Carolina Solar Energy, LLC.
Two years ago, commissioners unani
mously approved a similar request from
Carolina Solar Energy to place a solar
energy generator in the Person Indus-
Roxboro's
police, fire
departments
post impressive
numbers
By PHYLISS BOATWRIGHT
C-T Staff Writer
pboatwright@roxboro-courier.com
Person County's jobless rate
rises to 11.3% in January
By TIM CHANDLER
Courier-Times Editor
tchandler@roxboro-courier.com
Unemployment rates increased in
99 of North Carolina’s 100 counties
in January and Person County was
included in the majority.
According to numbers released Fri
day by the Employment Security Com
mission (ESC) of North Carolina, the
jobless rate in Person County rose 1.4
percent in January to 11.3 percent.
The lone county not to see an un
employment increase in January was
Washington County. That county’s
jobless rate remained the same at 11.6
percent.
“The January 2011 data reflected a
decrease in 86 counties over the year,”
ESC Chairman Lynn R. Holmes said.
“We continue to recognize that there are
still challenges ahead of us as we con
tinue to rebuild our local economies.
“North Carolina’s workforce devel
opment partners continue to provide
services focused on helping people get
back to work,” Holmes added.
North Carolina had 37 counties that
were at or below the state’s unadjusted
jobless rate of 10.5 percent in January
In December, the state had 40 coun
ties at or below the state’s unadjusted
unemployment rate of 9.7 percent.
Jobless rates increased in all 14 of the
state’s Metropolitan Statistical Areas
in January.
The unemployment rate increase in
Person County in January marked the
third consecutive increase. The county
had a jobless rate increase of 0.5 percent
in December and an increase of 0.8 per
cent in November.
Total employment in Person County
in January decreased from 17,129 in
December to 16,543.
Person County’s total labor force —
the number of people available for work
— decreased in January from 19,019 in
December to 18,649.
The number of unemployed Per-
sonians increased by 216 persons in
January to 2,106. The county had 1,890
unemployed persons in December.
For the third straight month. Orange
County had the state’s lowest jobless rate
in January at 6.5 percent, which was up
from 5.8 percent in December.
Also for the third month in a row,
Graham County had the state’s highest
unemployment rate in January at 19.4
percent, which was up considerably
from its jobless mark of 15.8 percent in
December.
Twenty-three counties in the state had
unemployment rates between 5.0 and
9.9 percent in January, which was down
from 43 in that category in December.
Seventy-seven counties in the state
had jobless marks higher than 10 percent
in January, which was up from 57 in that
category in December.
January unemployment rates for
area counties follow, with their De
cember rates shown in parentheses:
Alamance, 10.8 percent (10.1); Caswell
11.3 (10.5); Durham 7.7 (7.1); Forsyth 9.8
(9.1); Franklin 10.3 (9.4); Granville 10.2
(9.6); Guilford 10.3 (10.1); Orange 6.5 (5.8);
Vance 13.0 (12.5); Wake 8.0 (7.5); Warren
13.2 (11.7).
The Roxboro Fire Department’s re
sponse time is lower than that of most
departments in the area and the Roxboro
Police Department saw fewer violent and
property crimes last year.
During Monday’s regular March
meeting of city council. Fire Chief
Kenneth Torain said his staff of 21 paid
and 25 auxiliary/volunteer tirefighters
had a response time of 3.68 minutes to
calls within the city and 9.74 minutes to
county calls.
The Carrboro and Burlington Fire
Departments’ response time was 4.5
minutes; Cary firefighters averaged a
time of 4.1 minutes; the Durham Fire
Department had a time of 4.9 minutes,
and Greensboro Fire Department’s re
sponse time was 3.4 minutes.
See SCHOOL page AlO
INSIDE Wednesday
Agenda A2 Classified B8-9
Commentary A5 Do You Know A3
Editorial A4 Entertainment B2
Extension Notes A9 Inside NASCAR A8
Legal Notices B9 Lifestyle B4-5
Looking Back A3 Mini-Page A7
Movies A2 Obituaries At 1
PHS Honor Roll B6 Sports A6-7
TV Listings B3
4 8 7 9
0 8 6 9 6
trial Park near the intersection of U.S.
501 and Crown Craft Boulevard.
Commission Chairman Jimmy B.
Clayton, along with Vice Chair Kyle
Puryear and Commissioner Ray Jef
fers voted in favor of the request, while
Commissioners Sam Kennington and
Frances Blalock voted against Puryear’s
substitute motion.
Kennington had earlier offered a
motion to approve the request from
Carolina Solar Energy with the addition
of screening of the project “along the
501 corridor. ” Kennington said he would
like the screening to be evergreens to
the height of the fence.
“I feel like it is a minimum request
to ask,” Kennington said. He later re
ferred to the deal proposed between the
county and Carolina Solar Energy as a
“sweetheart of a deal.”
Stovall told The Courier-Times
Tuesday that he took exception to that
comment.
“If you look up the definition of
‘sweetheart of adeal,’ it reads that there
is a presence of corruption,” Stovall
said. “This is a great deal for Person
County.”
Stovall said that, not only is Person
County adding an additional $5 million
to its tax base by approving the request
from Carolina Solar Energy, it is also
saving between $6,000 and $7,200 annu
ally on maintenance at the site, which
was being done at a charge of “between
$500 and $600.”
The $27,500 lease equates to an an
nual payment of $1,100 and a monthly
payment at close to $92.
“It also opens the door for other eco
nomic opportunities,” Stovall said.
In 2009, the estimated property tax
that the county would receive annually
for the initial investment by Carolina
Solar Energy was $4,500.
Puryear noted that the special use
permit had gained unanimous ap
proval from the Person County Plan
ning Board.
Jeffers also pointed out that he was
“not in favor of imposing any more”
restraints to the request from Carolina
Solar Energy Jeffers said he did not view
the current site as “unsightly.”
With Monday’s approval, Carolina
Solar Energy will lease seven acres
of a 50-plus acre parcel at the site off
U.S. 501.
In March of 2009, commissioners
granted a special use permit to Carolina
Solar Energy for a four-acre site adja
cent to the current proposed site.
Stovall said Monday that the terms
of the deal with Carolina Solar Energy
call for a 25-year property lease at a
cost of $27,500, which is the same as the
See SOLAR backpage
Steve Joyner named to NCVPS Advisory Board
By GREY PENTECOST
C-T Staff Writer
greypentecost@roxboro-courier.com
Steve joyner
Roxboro Community School Technol
ogy Guru Steve Joyner was recently
appointed by the North Carolina State
Board of Education (SBE) to a two-year
term on the North Carolina Virtual Pub
lic School (NCVPS) Advisory Board.
Joyner told The Courier-Times that
the SBE was looking to diversify the
advisory board by including people
with different backgrounds, including
business. He said RCS teacher Melissa
Bartlett, who is also a State Board mem
ber, sent in his resume.
Joyner believes his previous experi
ence in the private sector and as mayor
of Roxboro helped him get the appoint
ment, along with the fact that he works at
a charter school, and is the only charter
school representative on the board.
The board governs and advises the
NCVPS, a program that allows students
to take courses online.
On Feb. 22 Joyner participated in his
first meeting with the board. The board
met virtually and discussed matters
such as the budget and revision of the
by-laws.
“For the first meeting as far as I was
concerned,” said Joyner, “it was just
an opportunity to meet the folks and
understand what my role is, which we’re
working on.”
He said the new members are also
being asked to consider what subcom
mittees they may be interested in.
Joyner said he would probably be
most useful on the technology commit
tee.
Through his involvement Joyner said
he hopes to be able to bring requests
from RCS and Person County Schools
before the board.
Since NCVPS offers courses to stu
dents that schools may not be able to
afford to offer in house, Joyner said
it helps in tailoring a student’s educa
tion to meet his or her specific needs,
which is preferred over a “one size fits
all” approach.
“It’s an efficient way of educating,”
he said, “and that’s what [RCS is]
about.”