THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17,2016 3
SUBMITTED PHOTO
A regional response vehicle was used during an emergency exercise last month for
area officials.
Groups train with hazmat gear
From Staff Reports
Ninety-one local emer
gency responders partici
pated in a regional hazard
ous materials exercise on
July 26 at the Crossroads
Fire Department in Chow
an County.
The purpose of the ex
ercise was to give the re
sponders hands on training
in managing a hazardous
materials incident and to
insure their awareness of
the resources available to
them in the event of an in
cident.
The exercise was spon
sored by the Chowan-Per
quimans Local Emergen ¬
TEXT-2-911
Continued from 1
• The first text message
to 9-1-1 should be brief and
contain the location of the
emergency and type of help
needed.
• Be prepared to answer
questions and follow instruc
tions from the Telecommuni
cator.
• Text in simple words -
do not use abbreviations.
• Keep text messages brief
and concise.
• Text location infoima-
tion is not equal to current lo
cation technology - GPS co-
ordinates cannot be tracked
while texting 9-1-1.
• 9-1-1 messages can take
longer to receive, can get
out of order or may not be
received.
• Text-to-9-1-1 is not avail
able if you are roaming.
• A text or data plan is re
quired to text 9-1-1.
• If texting to 9-1-1 is not
available in your area, or is
temporarily unavailable, you
will receive a message indi-
FUNDS
Continued from 1
will also be able to expand
storage space on the lower
level of the two-story build
ing to provide safe access
and create office space that
is adequate and secure.
Sandy Stevenson, a
PCRA member working on
the renovation plan, said
the group hopes to be able
to start construction this
fall and be complete by next
April when the new season
starts.
The current building is
about 3,500 square feet. The
addition will measure about
800 square feet.
“It will really give a more
effective space for our ex
hibits,” Stevenson said.
Getting heavy things
down to the first floor is a
safety issue, both men say.
“When you going up
stairs, it’s not safe,” McMul
lan said.
One couple - Catherine
and the late William Nixon
- have been instrumental in
funding the Newbold-White
project, McMullan said.
“When they were young
er, they were very active
and their children have been
supportive,” he said.
Donors for this latest
phase of restoration will be
honored in a special memo
rial section of the visitor’s
center.
The historic home is cur
rently open on Thursday
through Saturday from 10
a.m. until 4 p.m.
Donations can be mailed
to the PCRA at P.O. Box
151, Hertford, NC, 27944.
The phone number of the
visitor’s center is 426-7567.
cy Planning Committee
(LEPC) through a U.S. De
partment of Transportation
grant. The responders came
from six fire departments
(Edenton, Cross Roads,
Bethel, Belvedere, Durant’s
Neck and Inter-County),
Chowan and Perquimans
EMS, the Hertford Police
Department, the Chowan
County Sheriffs Office, Vi-
dant/Chowan Hospital and
Chowan and Perquimans
Emergency Management.
Chief Craig Forlines of
the Edenton Fire Depart
ment, the chairman, split
them up into three work
ing groups for the exercise.
Each group rotated through
cating that texting 9-1-1 is not
available and to contact 9-1-1
by other means.
• While texting 9-1-1, you
cannot include more than
one person (9-1-1) in the
message. Do not send your
emergency text to anyone
other than 9-1-1.
Staff at the 911 center was
trained on the Text-to-911
service in March. Nixon said
AT&T, Sprint, US CeUular
and Verizon were all online
with texting in July.
“T Mobile confirmed they
had no network coverage in
Perquimans County,” Nixon
said.
Nixon asks residents not
to test the new system, but
instead use it only in a real
emergency.
“We do not recommend
people place test 911 calls
nor would we recommend
sending a test text. It really
is as simple as entering the
three numbers 911 in the to
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the three parts of the exer
cise, which included;
• A simulated truck ac
cident involving hazardous
materials. The responders
had an opportunity to dis
cuss their actions at an in
cident of this type and how
they would manage the
scene. They also got to set
up Perquimans County’s
portable decontamination
unit.
• A review of a State Med
ical Assistance Team trailer
which has the capability of
providing mass decontami
nation for larger hazardous
materials incidents. The
trailer is stationed in Pas
quotank County.
box and entering the request
in the message box. Exam
ples might be ‘I need the po
lice’ or ‘send an ambulance’
or ‘need fire department.’”
Nixon said the county
started working on upgrad
ing equipment in the 911
Center in Winfall in Septem
ber by applying for funding
The Text-to-911 service
wouldn’t have been possible
without the $315,000 grant
the county recently received
to upgrade the 911 system,
but Nixon said the texting
element represented a small
part of that expense. The
Text-2-911 is based on the
911 center’s ability tef get In
ternet service. Right now the
center just has one internet
provider, but Nixon said he’s
working to get a second one.
“Were going to get redun
dancy,” he said. One of the
services will rely on a T-1
phone line while the other
would use a fiber optic line.
DR. CHRIS KOPPELMAN^DDS
DR. ETHAN NELSON, bDS
482-5131
103 Mark Dr. Edenton, NC
(behind Chowan Hospital)
HEARINGS
Continued from 1
planning board deals with
aren’t as big as the decision
involving mutli-million dol
lar wind power projects.
In March, the board con
sidered a case involving a
grandfather who wanted to
carve out a two-acre par
cel to give to his grandson
but on the surface the code
didn’t allow that.
During the moratorium
the plarming board did meet
and on Dec. 8 a majority
voted to recommend that
the county increase the set
back between the turbines
and existing homes to one
half mile (2,640 feet). The
ordinance at the time and
now set the defacto set
back at 1,500 feet.
In favor of the vote were
Brenda Lassiter, Donald
Manley and Lewis Smith.
Opposed was A.O. Roberts.
Paul Kahl, the chairman,
did not vote.
The planning board also
recommended the county
require Apex pay $50,000 to
set up a fund that the coun
ty could use if it needed out
side experts to review the
project. The board did not
take up the issue of requir
ing the developer to guar
antee that property values
wouldn’t decrease because
the project was built.
In February, the county
The money to create the
texting service comes from a
surcharge phone all custom
ers pay every month to fund
911 services. The fund is ad
ministered by a state agency.
“The goal of the North Car
olina 911 Board is to provide
the same level of 911 service
across North Carolina, from
Murphy to Manteo,” said
Richard Taylor, the execu
tive director of the NC 911
Board.
“The deployment of text-
to-911 in Perquimans County
is a another step in reaching
that goal. Our citizens com
municate with a variety of
technologies and it’s awe
some to see Perquimans’ 911
Center rising to the challenge
for their residents.”
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commission resumed dis
cussing the issue and in
the end deadlocked in a 3-
3 vote along political lines
when it came to increasing
the setback requirements.
The commission did agree
to require the developer
set up the $50,000 fund.
The commission also asked
Apex to address the issues
of “blade drop” and “ice
throw” when it came time
to submit a Conditional
Use Permit (CUP) request.
Blade drop is when for
some reason a turbine
blade might fly off. The is
sue was how far would it
go. Ice drop concerns what
would happen if ice formed
on a turbine blade and was
somehow thrown off.
After more two years of
research Apex submitted a
CUP request in May.
While the county’s set
back requirements weren’t
changed, 50 of the 57 tur
bines proposed by Apex
for Perquimans County
are a half mile (2,649 feet)
or more from the nearest
occupied building or resi
dence, based on the CUP
request. Twenty are a mile
(5,280 feet) or more.
According to the CUP,
the nearest home or build
ing is 1,952 feet away from
a wind turbine. There are
four in Perquimans that are
more than 9,000 feet away.
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About 10,000 acres of
the 16,000 acre project is
owned by Weyerhaeuser, a
timber company.
The planning board re
viewed the CUP applica
tion in July and again ear
lier this month. In the end it
concluded the application
Apex submitted compiled
with the county’s zoning
rules.
Just one of the members
voting -Lassiter - voted
“no” to one of the four rec
ommendations. It had to
deal with if the project was
in “harmony” with the area.
Lassiter said she’s not
opposed to wind energy in
general, but she thinks it’s
too early to approve anoth
er project in Perquimans
County. The Amazon Wind
Farms East project is cur
rently under construction
and is set to be operational
by December.
“Simply stated, I’d feel
more confident if we see
how the first project ben
efits us or negatively im
pacts us before we jump
overboard into another
project,” Lassiter said. If
you research wind energy
and/or Apex, you will see
negative issues which ex
ists. I just don’t want it to
be too late for our county
to be able to add conditions
to the project to provide the
citizens extra protection.