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2 THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12,2015 INSURANCE Continued from 1 the approval of the Perqui mans County Commission, Heath said he submitted that request last week. Per quimans County has 97 em ployees in the heath plan. Even if the request is granted, Perquimans won’t see rate relief until next year. “They said they’d accept 10,000 more, but there is no timeline,” Heath said. “We just want to be early to get our names in. Just because we get in, doesn’t mean we’re going. At least we’ll have a spot reserved.” Heath budgeted for the $843,000 this year. The county did have a bad year for claims in 2014- 15, but Heath said July was good. Heath agreed with Jer ry Parks, the director of ARHS. Price alone won’t be the only factor the county looks at. Heath said AYDLETT Continued from 1 N.C. State University to pursue a degree as a veteri narian. But not all of his credits from his bachelor’s degree in biology would transfer so he was facing a lot more schooling. That’s when the school superintendent in Camden County asked him what he Ruston Howell Kelley Duruman Christian Ford DVM DVM DVM Small Animal Medicine & Surgery BOARDING AVAILABLE Appointment Preferred Hours: Mon-Fri. 8:00 - 5:30 • Sat. 8:00 - 12:00 noon 1515 PARADISE ROAD, EDENTON www.chowananimalhospital.com • 252-482-4113 JOSEPH GINSKI, MD We are pleased to welcome Dr. Joseph Ginski to the staff of Vidant Pediatrics- Edenton. He completed residency training and a neonatal fellowship at Vidant Medical Center in Greenville. His areas of interest include lung, intestinal and vision problems in premature babies as well as learning difficulties, asthma and diabetes in children. Dr. Ginski joins Dr. Bart Resta and Mia Peterson-Spencer, nurse practitioner, in the practice which is a nationally recognized patient-centered medical home. This means these providers are a central resource for coordinating your health care needs and value your input in making decisions. They are all dedicated to addressing your child's health care needs and are accepting new patients. As a patient of this practice, you have full access to the resources of Vidant Health, including Vidant MyChart. It allows you to track your child's health records 24/7— from your computer or smartphone. Learn more at VidantMyChart.com. IBS Schedule an appointment at 252-482-7407. 203 Earnhardt Drive, Suite A, Edenton VidantHealth.com Perquimans would look at the total package of what’s covered. Parks said there’s no way of knowing the exact cost of State Health Plan cover age for local governments until the General Assembly approves a state budget and the plan’s administra tors “know what it is they are working with.” The General Assembly is operating on a continuing budget. The deadline to ad join is Friday, but it can be extended. Bunch also said that Pas quotank, Perquimans and ARHS would not seek to exit or dissolve Northeast Albemarle Group Health if they switch to the State Health Plan. They would stay on as members and continue offering dental insurance and other cover age to their employees, he said. Keeping the health group alive preserves a backup option if the State Health Plan becomes a bad deal, he added. was doing. At that point Aydlett figured he’d have to work a few years to earn money before going back to school, so he took a teaching job. There was something else — the Vietnam War. Biology and science teach ers were except from the military draft at the time, and Aydlett figured he was more valuable in the class- room than he would be carrying a rifle in the field. WIND RULES Continued from 1 backing of the Iberdrola proj ect at the groundbreaking, including his statement that wind power is part of his “all of the above” energy strat egy. Alarge crowd ofTimbermill project supporters attended the meeting, with many wear ing green camouflage buttons proclaiming their support for wind power. And while speakers at the July 6 meeting of the county commissioners were overwhelmingly in favor of stricter wind energy regula tions, speakers at Monday night’s meeting were just as overwhelmingly in support of keeping the current ordi nance as it is. Cy Rich, chairman of the Edenton Chowan Partner ship, said he was aware of the county’s struggle to pro vide services for citizens with a limited tax base. The wind energy facility would build the tax base, he said. In an interview with The Perquimans Weekly Monday, Perquimans County Manager Frank Heath said each of the turbines built by Iberdrola are estimated to produce about $5,000 in county tax revenue. About 50 are to be cited in Perquimans County. The $250,000 a year in taxes they would pay amounts two about two cents on the coun ty’s property tax rate. Once built, the Iberdrola project would be the largest single taxpayer in Perquimans County by a large margin, Heath said. Rich said the county’s ex isting wind energy ordinance is aligned with ordinances in neighboring counties and is consistent with the advice provided by N.C. State Uni versity. The wind energy indus try is growing exponentially, Rich said. States have al lowed the growth of wind energy because they have determined it is not a threat to public health and safety, Rich said. The peer-reviewed scien tific studies that have been done have shown that wind energy is not detrimental to public health and safety, he said. Randy Martin said the county has a company ready and waiting to build a wind energy project. He said he is concerned about chang ing horses in mid-stream by amending the ordinance at this point. That would send a negative message to other companies that might be con sidering Chowan County as a potential location, he said. Rebecca Martin said her daughters had been ecstat ic when they learned that Chowan County had been se lected as a site for a proposed wind energy facility. She said the 2013 wind energy ordi nance is a good ordinance that would allow the county to participate in the develop ment of clean energy for the future. “You cannot be dependent on unclean energy forever,” Martin said. During discussion on the process for considering the planning board recommenda tions and the citizens’ petition in support of those propos als, County Planner Elizabeth Biyant explained that based on her understanding of the county’s unified develop ment ordinance, the process would be for her to draft a text amendment based on the VIDANT Pedlatrics-Edenton z THE SHORES ' AT LANDS END HOMEOWNERS' ASSOCIATION ANNUAL MEETING WILL BE HELD ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 22,2015 AT 12:00 NOON. | THE MEETING WILL BE HELD AT THE CLUBHOUSE All property owners at The Shores k are welcome to attend. > » THE PERQUIMANS Weekly (USPS428-080) Vol. 83 No. 32 Published each Wednesday. A publication of Cooke Communications North Carolina, LLC Established 1934 111 W. Market St., Hertford, NC 27944 Mike Goodman Publisher Peter Williams ...News Editor Bev Alexander Advertising Representative Phone 252-426-5728 • Fax 252-426-4625 Email: perquimansweekly@ncweeklies.com Subscription Rates In Daily Advance home delivery area $25.25* All other continental U.S $31.50* *Plus applicable sales tax in N.C. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Perquimans Weekly, Hertford, NC 27944 planning board recommenda tions and then submit it to the Planning Board for review. The planning board’s rec ommendation on that text amendment would then come to the county commis sioners for consideration and a public hearing would be scheduled on the text amend ment, according to Bryant. Susanne Stallings, clerk to the Chowan Board of Com missioners, said that if the planning board could meet on the text amendment this month, then it should be pos sible to schedule a public hearing at a meeting of the county commissioners in September. A motion by Commis sioner Greg Bonner to get that process started with the drafting of a text amendment and review by the planning board passed 4-2, with Com missioner John Mitchener and Commissioner Emmett Winbome voting against it. Chairman Jeff Smith, whose family farm has been in discussions with Apex Clean Energy regarding a possible lease of land for the company’s Timbermill Wind Project, did not vote. Smith has been advised by the county attorney not to vote on matters related to the wind energy ordinance or the Timbermill Wind Project. Commissioner Keith Nixon expressed a concern that the Planning Board in develop ing its recommendations did not consider the Perquimans and Pasquotank wind energy ordinances. Nixon also said he has been concerned about the Planning Board’s split on the recommendations. He said he would like to see a unani mous vote from the Planning Board on recommendation language for the wind energy ordinance. Commissioner Ellis Law rence said he saw no need for amendments to the wind energy ordinance. “We have an ordinance,” Lawrence said. During the public com ment period Monday night, two speakers backed the planning board recommen dations for stricter wind en ergy regulations. Tom Credle cited the infrastructure fail ures and other longstanding issues with the Riversound I Development as evidence of the need for strict oversight of development. Development can be either a blessing or a curse, and it’s the commissioners’ responsi bility to protect the citizens from the curse of unwise development, according to Credle. Liz Alons also spoke in fa vor of amending the county’s wind energy ordinance. She said a wind turbine should not be allowed less than a mile from someone’s home. But Bill Elliott called the proposed wind energy facil ity a “golden opportunity to improve this county.” Elliott said he was in favor of the county’s wind energy ordinance as approved in 2013. Bill Jordan, who said he is a landowner and lifelong resident of Chowan County, spoke about the need to build the county’s tax base. “This is a wonderful proj ect to do it,” Jordan said. Bob Emory, who said he was representing Weyerhaus- er, said Weyerhauser supports the Timbermill project as a use that is environmentally friendly and compatible with the company’s tree-growing business. A.O. Roberts, a resident of Perquimans County, said the current Chowan ordinance is in line with what is in the Perquimans ordinance, and the commissioners should go forward with the existing ordinance. Gary Swanner also ex pressed support for the Timbermill project, saying it would be good for the en vironment and also provide financial benefits to the local economy. Swanner also countered a frequently cited objection to the project - that it would hurt the community’s tourism industry. Swanner said the wind en ergy project actually would boost tourism, making Chow an County a place where peo ple could come to see both the past and the future. Gene Jordan urged the commissioners to keep the wind energy ordinance as it is in order to encourage de velopment. “Chowan County needs to be encouraging develop ment, not discouraging it,” Jordan said. Jen Banks of the South- eastern Wind Coalition said Chowan’s existing ordinance strikes a balance between allowing the development of wind energy facilities and ensuring they aren’t built in places that are not suitable. The ordinance protects the health and safety of citizens and is aligned with similar or dinances in nearby counties and consistent with model ordinances in North Carolina and other states in the region, she said. Steve Lane also spoke in favor of moving forward under the county’s existing wind energy ordinance. The planning board recom mendations focused on six proposed requirements: * Provide a property value guarantee to non-participat ing property owners within two miles of a property line of a participating property owner * One-mile setback from property line * Acoustical limit of 35 dBa * Meaningful environmen tal tests * Escrow account for the life of the project * Adequate decommission ing terms and conditions.
The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.)
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Aug. 12, 2015, edition 1
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