The ERQUIMANS Weekly i ETV: "Netvs front Next Doof^'' “ ' “JUNE 8, 2011 - JUNE 14, 2011 0 8 2011 Hunter will be suiting up for the COA baseball team, 8 50 cents Commissioners seek 2 cent tax rate hike By CATHY WILSON Staff Writer County taxpayers may see a two-cent increase in the ad-valorem property tax rate for the next fiscal year. In the proposed budget submitted to county com missioners Monday night, County Manager Bobby Darden said raising the county tax rate from 42 to 44 cents per $100 valuation would still give Perqui mans County a very fa vorable tax rate compared to other Northeast North Carolina counties. “With this proposed in crease, the typic^ county homeowner would experi ence an annual increase of approximately $35 per year in their county property taxes when considering the value of their home and ve hicles,” said Darden. “The poor economy continues to take its toll on the county budget. With no expected significant growth in the tax base and continued stagnant economy-based revenues, there is no finan cial improvement expected in fisc^ year 2012. A tax increase is necessary to move forward with the capital projects that have been planned for years. The county’s reserve fund balances are solid, but not strong enough to accom plish these projects without a tax increase. Even with a two-cent tax increase, Per quimans County stUl wfil have one of the lowest tax rates in the state.” Darden said the general fund budget is $12.2 mil lion, or three percent more than the current year’s budget, but stiU below the 2010 budget of $12.6 mil lion. Budget requests this See RATE HIKE, 4 Plant closure may cause loss of homes . RH'GT.O'jC'DURTESY DWQ- Treateoi; wastewater, isioverfl'owings and dirt is hem'g’used'fd'contain'the exG'essiin:partsof Holiday Island' By CATHY WILSON Staff Writer Every Saturday eve ning, the residents of Section H, P, and R in Holiday Island gather underneath shade trees and share a meal on pic nic tables. Jokingly referring to their neighborhood as the “Alphabet City”, the neighbors talk and laugh as they file through a small build ing that bears a large “Friends” sign, filling their plates with grilled hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, and cake. This Saturday eve ning, however, a look of concern filled their eyes as they discussed the ralc'tiMieir hoines lo cated in what is known as the camping area of the Holiday Island sub division located near Albemarle Plantation. The state’s Division of Water Quality (DWQ) has confirmed that the board of governors for the Holiday Island Prop erty Owners Associa tion (HIPOA) voted last week to close the waste- water treatment plant that provides sewer ser vice to the residents of Section H, P, and R. Wastewater disposal and treatment in the camping section has been cited for viola tions for several years, basically since the state permit was first issued in 1972. The treatment plant has operated un der a special order by consent (SOC) since January 2010, then placed under a notice of violation by the state in January 2011 for not meeting required ac tions agreed to in the SOC. According to the state, HIPOA could face up to $155,000 in fines for being out of compli ance. i 1 STAFF PHOTO BY CATHY WILSON Michael and Tiffany Thompson, along with children Damien and Maty Jane, moved to Holiday Island about two months ago after leaving the coastal Louisiana area. They lost their first home in Terrebonne Parrish, La., during Hurricane Katrina. They later lost their jobs when the BP oil spill damaged the area. Now, they face the possibility of losing their home here if the wastewater treatment plant closes. Susan Massengale, public information of ficer for DWQ, said the department received in formal verbal notifica tion of the board’s vote to close the plant versus trying to correct ongo ing problems. DWQ, in turn, requested more details from HIPOA in cluding a formal writ ten notification of the board’s decision as well as more information on how they plan to imple ment the closure and how residents will be removed from the sys tem. Phone calls by this newspaper to HIPOA’s board members for comment were not re turned. • Residents are fright ened, worried, angry, and many are concerned that they have nowhere else to go if they are forced to abandon or move their homes be cause of lack of sewer service from the plant. And health department officials say individual septic tanks can’t be used on property such as camping area lots due to space-based state regulations. Homes in the section range from tag-along campers (some with stick-bunt additions) to double-wide mobUe homes placed on mul tiple lots. Residents purchase the land lots from individual own ers, pay coimty taxes on the properties, pay assessments for use of the subdivision’s com mon properties (such as swimming pool and clubhouse), and pay utility bills for water and sewer to HIPOA/ utility company Nearly 100 wastewa ter plant customers are expected to be impacted by a closure of the util ity plant. “If this place shuts down, we’U be without a home,” said 75-year old Joyce Jenkins, a retired university law library clerk who moved a 70- by-14-foot, 2-bedroom, 2- bath single wide mobile home to three water front lots there in 2002. Her home includes a large deck, screened-in room, and a separate small one-room cabin. “I have not been able to sleep worrying about this,” she added. “It just keeps going over and over in my mind. One of the board of gover nors suggested we buy a residential property instead, but we have a limited income.” Her husband, a re tired insurance sales man, has serious health problems, she added. “That’s another rea son why I just can’t walk out and leave my mobile home,” she said. Tiffany and Michael Thompson, a young couple who moved to the section just two months ago with their two young childfen, are buying their 2-bed room, 2.5-bath home with financing through the owner. They moved to Holiday Island from the Terrebonne Parrish in Louisiana after first See PIANT, 10 PCHS to graduate 126 Friday By CATHY WILSON Staff Writer Perquimans County High School expects to graduate 126 seniors Fri day night outside on the school’s football field be ginning at 7 p.m. Presenting the gradu ation messages this year will be Valedictorian Sam- ueUe Copeland and Saluta- torian Rachel Hudson. Copeland, son of Mac and Symanthia Copeland, leads the class of 2011 Copeland Hudson 89076 7144 with a grade point aver age of 4.6083. He seeks to inspire the younger generation to believe in themselves and accom plish their goals. ' “It sometimes takes peers to pull out the qual ities latent in yourself and if I can do that, it would be a great accom plishment,” said Cope land. Copeland believes his most important lesson learned in high school is he can be as great as he wants to be...and no one can teU him oth erwise. “I have to be my self and can’t change for every new person I meet,” he added. His most cherished memories of high school are those spent with friends. “I will always remem ber the times I spent with my friends inside and outside of class. When we get to the fall of this See GRADUATE, 4 County in bad drought From staff reports Perquimans is one of four area coun ties suffering from severe drought con ditions. “Ihere have not been any reports of water supply impacts. ” Tom Reeder Director, NCDWR As of June 2, Perquimans, Pasquo tank, Camden, and Currituck coim- ties were each experiencing rainfall See DROUGHT, 4 FILE PHOTO Crop duster Craig Craft is seen next to his air plane. Hearing today for windfarm, 2. Crop dusting affected by wind turbines By REGGIE PONDER The Daily Advance A Perquimans County crop duster^ said last week that wind turbines pres- t ent a special hazard to low-flying aircraft — but one that some pilots are able to ad just to. Craig Craft of Craft Air Services said his company already has some experi ence working' around large-scale wind turbines such as the ones proposed for the Desert Wind Energy Project in Per quimans and Pasquotank coimties. “We do some of it out west in Illinois and Iowa,” Craft said. “They have a sub stantial amount of wind turbines.” Wind turbines are an obstacle that some pilots are unwilling to negotiate. Craft said. “There are a lot of applicators that just refuse to work around them,” he said. “There are a lot of applicators that charge extra to work around them.” Some pilots within a company — his own included — will refuse to fly around wind turbines, he said. Farmers who have wind turbines on See DUSTING, 4 Electricities: Wind farm won’t reduce local rates By REGGIE PONDER The Daily Advance | Wind farms will not reduce electric/^ costs in the short run, a North Caro-j lina municipal power executive said last} week. ' While not denying the potential benei fits of wind-generated electricity in terms! of providing some kind of alternative to| plants running solely on fossil fuels, Ken- Raber pointed out that current costs foi' wind generation are at least twice that of prices for conventional forms of genera tion such as coal fired plants and nuclear plants. “\Vs going to he more expensive. I don’t think there’s any question about that. ” Ken Raber Senior vice president, Electricities Services Raber, senior vice president for Elec tricities Services with the N.C. Eastern Municipal Power Agency, said current rates for electricity generated by onshore See RATES, 4

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