Newspapers / The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, … / Jan. 17, 1980, edition 1 / Page 1
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V ? -? ? Governor James B. Hunt , Jr. Governor James B. Hunt, Jr., was in Perquimans County last week for a pig pickin' political rally at Angler's Cove. Aside from meeting and greeting area Democrats, Hunt also outlined a few goals and past achievements of his ad ministration. fjrain embargo squeezes area farmers By urn Mclaughlin The effects of the recently Oiled grain embargo on .-Soviet expansionism are j, ^certain at present, but one . thing is certain, the embargo ' will hurt area farmers. They are already feeling the pinch. Last week the grain market responded to President Carter's surprise an ?r nouneement of the embargo is a predictably negative fashion. Many Perquimans County farmers feel that the I market will stay depressed at least for the present. And while some have in dicated support for the president's action, most agree that it will hurt American farmers worse than it does the Russians. "If the Americans don't sell it to 'em the Canadians will," said Fenton Eure, a New Hope farmer who cultivates some 1,100 acres of corn, soybeans and wheat. "There are so many ways they can get around this embargo," Eure said. "We saw the same thing happen with the Japanese embargo a law yflirt ftgrt Rnvhtam ? ?bv. uv/vtino dropped two dollars a bushel and Japan stiO got soybeans. The farmers got hurt." Despite promises that the federal government would buy up the grain contracted to the Russians and gradually release it back to the market, grain dealers say that Jwices will remain down. Broughtoo Dail, of Hertford Supply, said that grain prices might recover to the harvest level by summertime, a season when prices are or dinarily at their peak. "It appears that anybody who kept grain this year (in anticipation of higher prices) will have stored it for free," Dailsaid. Dail said that the gradual release of excess grain by the government will keep the market from peaking, with supply continually out stripping demand. This will mean a long run drop in bean prices of up to 25 cents per bushel and a drop in corn prices of 10 to 25 cents, DaQ predicted. The present impact, though, is more severe. As of Friday morning, Broughton said that corn had dropped from $2.90 to $2.56 per bushel. "The total impact is going to be severe in Perquimans County as faf as the present time is concerned," Dail said. Like most persons in terviewed, Dail had his doubts about the embargo's impact onRnssia. "I feel that the president's hands are tied. He probably had no other option but that doesn't mean it's right." As for the International Longshoremen's refusal to load grain bound for Russia, Dail said that the grocery stores should refuse to sell them bread. Edgar Roberson, of Albemarle Chemicals, predicted a mixed future for grains. "I'm looking for corn prices to go down but I'm still looking for strength out of soybeans," Roberson said. Farmers who must sell grain to meet January note payments will be particularly hurt by the embargo, but Roberson said that the effects would be more lasting. "The farmers are the ones to suffer first," Roberson said, "but it's going to filter right on up. "For the next couple of years things are going to be a lot bleaker around here than they have been," he said. Robert Sutton, who along with two son-in-laws, farms some 1400 acres in the New Hope section of the county, agreed that the situation is bad and said that he hopes it will get better. He said he didn't know whether or not the grain embargo would impact on the Russians. "And what I'm afraid of is that somebody else don't know," Sutton said in reference to President Carter. "With all the good help he's got I sure 'n God hope he knows what he's doing. If he don't he's hurting a lot of people for no reason," Sutton said. ( VEPCO defends rates at chamber meeting Armed with charts and diagrams, two upper level Virginia Electric and Power Company officials invaded the Perquimans County Chamber of Commerce meeting Holi day night in an effort to justify <be utility's electric rates. Southern Division Vice ? President Randolph D. I Mclver held the floor for the lilght while district manager -Clayton .Gentry, based in 3SIixabeth City, offered lup 4>ort > Organised efforts to get the . -'J* utility out of Northeastern North Carolina have been launched through the Chambers of Commerce of affected areas, and Monday night's visit was part of a campaign to counter those efforts. Mclver reiterated prior VEPCO statements that the utility has no intention of leaving North Carolina, gave a detailed background on the reasons for rate discrepan cies, and outlined a plan designed to bring VEPCO rates in line with those of North Carolina utilities in the mid 1980's. In cost of service, Mclver said, VEPCO is lower than the N.C. utilities. The difference comes in fuel cost. VEPCO is heavily dependent on ex pensive oil, whereas the N.C. utilities are more coal dependent In 1M5, the company produced 95 percent of its power with coal. This, however, was unpopular with the environmentalists, and the threat of acid rain made it unpopular with agricultural concerns as well. So the company converted to oil. In 1974, with the Arab oil embargo and soaring prices, it began to look profitable to go back to coal, but the utilities couldn't get any definitive regulations from the En vironmental Protection Agency on emission stan dards. Mclver said the company could not justify the expense of conversion, which he estimated at from $5 to $10 million, unless it could be certain the unit would be acceptable to EPA. It was 1979 before the utility got the information it needed, and in November of that year, an oil-fired station in Port smouth, Va. was converted to coal. Two more such con versions are scheduled in 1980 and another in 1982. While oil prices and un certainty over EPA requirements kept the cost of fossil fuel generated power inflated, VEPCO's nuclear units were being strafed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Mclver said. First, seismic studies closed down Surry I and eventually its sister unit, Surry II, then Three Mile Island affected the North Anna units. North Anna II, a unit Mclver described as complete and ready to go on line, has been caught by the lisencing moratorium that came in the wake of the near disaster in Pennsylvania. "1979 was probably one of the worst years VEPCO has ever had," Melver said. "I'm not coming in here giving excuses," he said but I'm trying to explain why fuel costs are so high." In regards to a petition drive urging VEPCO to sell out to an N.C. power company, Mclver Mid there is a faster way of petitioning for lower electric rates in North Carolina. "A petition you could sign to get the best aid fastest results tor our customers if a petition to the NBC telling them te let > us put North Amu n back on Uae,"heaalK ' Aside from conversions to coel, the company is looking to get Its nuclear units back on storage unit in 1983, a unit Mclver said produces about two and a half times as much power as the standard nuclear unit. In response to a question from a chamber member, Gentry displayed a chart which showed the fuel cost per kilowatt hour of oil generated power to be more than twice that of producing nuclear, with coal generation falling in the middle of the two. "If we can eliminate fuel cost we can get competitive with our neighbors," Mclver said. But VEPCO's long range plan was met with skepticism from at least one chamber member. "We've heard a lot of 'we hoped to but it didn't work out'. Now you say you hope to be competitive with Duke in the mid-lMO's. How do we know this?" asked Lee Brabble, of the Bethel com munity. Mcvlver said that con sultants had projected a plan by which the company could become more competitive. "Where were those con sultants the last 10 years when you've been bleeding our poctetbooks?" Brabble asked. In response, Mclver said that the utilities commission had found earlier decisions to go with oil generation to be sound, and that the utility had no way of forseeing the Arab oil embargo. In answering further questioning from chamber members, Mclver said the utility makes between ( and 7 percent profit, less than the maximum allowable of some 9 percent. (Continued oapMgei) ? - 1 ? Hunt rallies in county Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. was guest of honor at a fund raising rally and pig picking attended by some 300 people at Angler's Cove Restaurant last week. Hunt spent much of the afternoon shaking hands and meeting area Democrats who had paid $10 each to show their support, then climbed on a folding chair and delivered a fiery speech touching on his past accomplishments as governor, and his vision of the future for North Carolina and the Northeast in particular. Hunt said that his tenure as governor has been one of economic growth for the state of North Carolina. Investments have increased steadily during his tenure as governor, he said, creating new jobs and a more diver sified economy. "Can't you just see that curve shooting upward," he said, with a dramatic swoop of the arm. While admitting that the northeast hasn't received its share of the growth pie, Hunt said the picture may be about to change. "It's on the verge of coming here," he said, noting that new industry is looking for clean water, clean air, and people who will work industrially, the kinds of assets the Northeast is well supplied with. Hunt also spoke on public utilities, saying that his ad ministration has been suc cessful in holding down electric rates, except in the northeast, where the rates are 40 to 60 percent higher thaan the rest of the state. "Rates in this part of the state not only make it hard to pay the light bill but make it hard to bring in new in dustry," Hunt said, prompting a vigorous round of applause. Much of his talk, though, was dedicated to rallying the forces. Hunt said that team work is the key to a successful campaign. "Catfish Hunter was and is a great pitcher, but he'd be the first to tell you that the suc cess of any team depends on nine players," Hunt said. "Politics is a team sport," he said. "What we have to do is get everybody working together." While his promises for the future centered primarily on more growth for the area, and a continued fight against high utility rates, Hunt presented a lengthy list of ac complishments during his present administration. "We've done more to put real standards in our schools than has ever happened before," Hunt said. In addition, he said he backed a speedy trials law which was passed by the legislature, as well as fair sentencing legislation and a restitution plan which allows for the victim's losses in some cases. Hunt also pledged support for farming and the needs of farmers. "I think the finest thing we do in this nation is to farm and produce farm products," he said. In an earlier press con ference, Hunt had promised continued support for the improvement of U.S. 17, though he made little reference to transportation in his speech. F iling begins Candidates for three seats on the Perquimans County Board of Commissioners to be decided in the November 4 general election will be selected in primary balloting on May 6. So far, only Democrats have filed for offices presently held by Democrats. Lee Brabble of Bethel has filed for the District I seat presently held by Lester Simpson. Simpson has not yet filed for re-election. Charles Ward and Billy Pierce have filed in District II, as has incumbent Joe Nowell. Waldo Winslow, also an in cumbent from that district, has so far not filed for re election. No candidates have yet filed for three seats on the non partisan board of education. Incumbents whose terms expire include George Baker of New Hope, Preston Stevenson of Hertford, and Emmett Long of Bethel. Incumbent Democrat Jeanne C. White has not yet filed for re-election to the Register of Deeds office. The filing deadline is Feb. 4 at 12 noon. Residents who have not registered to vote may do so at the old agriculture building at 104 Dobbs Street, in the board of elections office, open Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The deadline for voter registration is April 7 at 5p.m. Anyone above the age of 18 who has lived in the county for at least 30 days is eligible to vote. Absentee ballots will be available from March 7 through April 30 at 5 p.m., and may be obtained by contacting the Perquimans County Board of Elections. Winfall Council seeks members The town of Winfall is looking for another coun cilman. The four-member town council has a vacancy created by the resignation of Douglas Umphlett which was accepted last December 3. Umphlett reportedly resigned due to the press of personal business and the feeling that he could not spend the time necessary to fulfill the obligations of a town coun cilman. At its meeting on Tuesday evening, January t, the council diicussed ap pointment of a successor to fill the vacancy. There are three people under consideration for the two-year seat but the council declined to name then. The subject was tabled until the next regular meeting. Winf all Mayor David Trueblood reported that W. C. Bartlett has been doing volunteer work in the town's office several days a month. Trueblood said that "he's been doing a good job and it doesn't cost the town a penny." Trueblood presented monthly bills totaling $832.21 and said that $10,488.01 in' taxes and $1,503.(1 in water revenues had been received during the previous month. Tbe tax receipts represent real estate and personal property taxes for 1871. Tbe councilmen set the first Tuesday of each month for their regular meetings. The council meets at the town office at the water plant at
The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.)
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Jan. 17, 1980, edition 1
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