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