Newspapers / The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, … / Aug. 24, 2016, edition 1 / Page 2
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2 THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24,2016 WIND Continued from 1 A-1, which is the county’s zoning district for agricul tural areas with low-densi ty residential uses, Giecek said. Bill Brian, an attorney representing neighboring property owners who op pose the project, objected to the basis Giecek had pro vided for his assertion that the project would be in har mony with the area. John Morrison, an at torney advising the county, asked Giecek if he would provide a “better founda tion.” In response to further questioning, Giecek said he had been in the area a great deal and looked at the prop erties included in the proj ect. He added that he also had been on many of the adjoining properties. After hearing Giecek’s additional testimony, Mor rison instructed the com missioners that they could accept the testimony from Giecek and give to it what ever weight they chose. Brian asked a series of questions challenging Giecek’s claim that the Tim bermill Wind Project would be in harmony with the sur rounding area. In response to Brian’s cross-examination, Giecek acknowledged there were “a couple” of properties in Chowan County that are not part of the proposed project but are surrounded by properties that are. Giecek said he did not know whether those non participating properties in cluded occupied dwellings. Asked how close the nearest turbine was to the Town of Edenton, Giecek said that it was a little over a mile from the town limits. When Brian asked if there were any other in dustrial uses in the area, Giecek said large machin ery is used in the area and a railroad runs through it. Brian described the pro posed wind energy as an industrial use — essentially a type of manufacturing — because it would take a natural resource and con vert it into something else. Converting wind into elec tricity is a manufacturing process, Brian said. Giecek said he views wind energy generation as “a process that is much like farming.” In response to further questioning, Giecek al lowed that the wind tur bines would convert wind into electricity “through a mechanical process.” Brian noted that the por tion of the project located in Chowan would include 48 turbines and that the tur bines would be nearly 600 feet high. Giecek said the wind en ergy project would support the area’s agricultural char acter by providing revenue to farmers and timber own ers. “Diversified revenues help them to maintain their agricultural practices,” Giecek said. Campen pointed out in his opening statement that the county commissioners were meeting for a quasi-ju- dicial hearing and the pur pose was not to consider the wisdom of the project but to gather evidence. The decision must be based on competent evidence, he said. Campen indicated the county ordinance places the burden on the applicant to prove that the application complies with ordinance requirements but places the burden on opponents of the application to prove that the proposed use would endanger danger public health, safety or welfare; would substantially harm adjoining property values; would not be in harmony with the area; or would not be in general conformity with the county’s land use plan. The proposed Timbermill Wind Project as submitted in the application meets and exceeds the ordinance’s set back requirements, sound level requirements, shadow flicker requirements, and standards for design and in stallation, Campen said. The decommissioning plan that has been submit ted meets ordinance re quirements, he said, adding Apex would be providing a $7 million cash bond for de commissioning. Campen said the presen tation of evidence would show that Timbermill is regularly consulting with state and federal environ mental agencies. Testimony by a medical doctor will show that there is no clear and consistent relation between wind tur bine sound and disease or other negative health im pacts, Campen said. A licensed real estate ap praiser will testify that the proposed project will not substantially damage ad joining or abutting property values and is in harmony with the area, Campen said. Steve Weber, another attorney for Apex, called Thomas Blackwell of HDR as a witness. Blackwell explained he is an environmental scientist with HDR, an engineering firm that has an extensive environmental sciences planning department. HDR is the firm that was hired by the county to assist county staff in the technical review of the CUP applica tion for completeness and compliance with industry standards. During cross-examina tion by Brian, Blackwell confirmed that the indus try standards for the wind industry have been devel oped by the wind industry itself. Blackwell testified that the HDR review had deter mined that the application had not failed the require ment to include any re quired Environmental As sessment since no EA had been required at that time. He acknowledged that the CUP application indicates a wetlands permit likely will be necessary for the project and that the wetlands per mit could include a require ment for an EA. At the present moment, no determination has been made by the Army Corps of Engineers in terms of what type of permit would be re quired, Blackwell said. If an EA is required, then it should be a condition of the CUP that the EA be pro vided to the county once it’s completed. During cross-examina tion by Brian, Blackwell confirmed that the county commissioners would not have an opportunity to consider environmental impacts under the process recommended by HDR. Blackwell said the envi ronmental review would be done by state and federal agencies. Commissioner Alex Ke- hayes asked Blackwell what triggers the section 404 permitting process that he had referred to in his tes timony. Blackwell said the trig ger is “impact to the waters of the U.S.” He went on to explain that the determina tion of the type of permit required is made by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. If the Corps of Engineers requires an “individual per mit,” a higher level of re view is called for in order to obtain the permit, Black well said. Kehayes asked Blackwell if he was aware of the wet lands impacts associated with the proposed Timber- mill project. He said he was not. Commissioner Greg Bon ner asked if it was possible that an Environmental As sessment might not be re quired for the Timbermill Wind Project. “It is very possible that one will not be required,” Blackwell said. CONCRETE Continued from 1 tested before it was poured, McPherson said. The 104 wind turbines that will soon dot the landscape will tower more than 400 feet into the air, but they’re anchored by a base made up of concrete plus rein forcing steel. Each foundation required 640 cubic yards, or roughly 64 truckloads. A cubic yard of concrete is roughly4,000pounds, and a truck can cany about 10 yards. The developer of the project - Avan- grid Renewables- is building 104 of the wind turbines in Perquimans and Pas quotank counties. Most of the concrete was made at a batch plant constructed on site off Four Mile Desert Road. The Elizabeth City yard was available as a back-up source. The concrete work went on six days a week. “We never worked on Sundays,” McPherson said. It started about 7 am. and went all day long. Sometimes crews might start earlier or work later in order to beat the heat. McPherson said the gerieral contrac tor, Wanzek, tried to minimize the dis ruption to neighbors in the area He said they kept water trucks running for up to 12 hours a day to spray down the new gravel roads to cut down on dust. “Anything the farmeis needed, they tried to help them with,” he said. Most of the people working on the concrete job were local residents who already worked for the company, said Tommy Charles of CRMP McPherson, who has worked for CRMP since 1984, has no plans to retire anytime soon. CRMP has another big job coming out It will handle the con crete part for building the replacement of the Bonner Bridge. Paul Copleman, a spokesman for the developer of the Amazon project, said the company still expects the project will be complete in 2016. “The plan remains for the entire proj ect to be done by the end of the year. What that means we will begin testing turbines when they are fully erected. People may see turbines spinning and that just means they’re being tested and generating some power.” SUBMITTED PHOTO Jimmy McPherson (first row, left) stands with the crew after the last foundation was poured for the Amazon Wind Farms East project. Minzies Creek v Sanitary District Monthly meeting will be held on SATURDAY, August 27, 2016 AT 10:00am The Meeting Will Be Held at 139 Treasure Lane, Hertford Introducing PahadiAje Pet Pewits A luxury boarding experience Visit our website or come by for a tour of our new state-of-the-art facility PET RESORT premier pet boarding for dogs paradisepetresortnexom tyM HAUL fob buehuatiwiA 252.482.4113 S-BRIDGE Continued from 1 from visiting Hertford dur ing the day, it keeps the people who bring in larg er boats on trailers from launching in Hertford and heading down river. Hertford Town Man ager Brandon Shoaf said it “seems” the limiting of boat traffic is more this sum mer, but he added “it has has also been much hotter, for much earlier (most of June) than year’s past.” The issue is some boat ers that want to get to Hert ford to use the town’s new nine-slip marina, but they can’t come and go as they please during the day. “As far as marina traf fic, it seems to have had HOUSING REHABILITATION ASSISTANCE PERQUIMANS COUNTY FY 14 SINGLE FAMILY REHABILITATION LOAN POOL PROGRAM Perquimans County has been awarded $170,000 for a Single Family Rehabilitation Loan Pool Project (SFRLP) from the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency funded through the HOME Investment Partnership Program.The SFR assistance is offered through a 0% interest, deferred-forgivable loan to cover rehabilitation costs.The primary goal of the SFR Program is to encourage the comprehensive rehabilitation of scattered site, single family dwellings that are listed as real property. Perquimans County is requesting qualified residents of Perquimans County apply for housing rehabilitation assistance. Pre-applications can be obtained at the Perquimans County Court House located at 128 North Church Street, Hertford, NC 27944; or by calling the County Manager's office at (252) 426-8484. All pre-applications must be returned to the above noted address as soon as possible. Perquimans County will select dwelling units to receive housing rehabilitation assistance. Eligible applicant households must be low income, include an elderly (62 years old or older) or disabled household member and owner occupied. Dwellings must be cost effective to rehabilitate and have clear titles. Manufactured homes and properties with reverse mortgages are not eligible. A household is determined to be low income based on the following income chart: a negative impact,” Shoaf said. “From what I’ve heard from cruisers, if they’ve ar rived in the mid-day hours, they’ve had to anchor on the outside of the bridge and wait until later in the day for it to open, when it cools off. To my knowl edge, none have left and not docked at the marina because of that, but it is an inconvenience for them.” It’s also an inconvenience for boaters who want to put in at the boat ramp behind Hertford Town Hall and proceed down the river. “I do think it hurts some traffic at the boat ramp,” Shoaf said. “Of course, a good number of boats that access the upper Perqui mans River from here do not need the clearance of the open bridge, but there are some that do.” The issue could have been far worse. The N.C. Wildlife Commission had planned to close the New Hope board ramp this year to make repairs. Sara Sherman, a boat ramp engineer for the Wildlife Commission, con firmed that the repairs were pushed back because commercial fishermen pro tested. “Right now we’re pro jecting it could be some time after Oct. 1. That could change based on input from the crabbing season.” By next summer, the sit uation should be better for boaters. Abel said DOT plans to take the S-Bridge out of service in January or Feb ruary and make some need ed repairs and replace the asphalt surface of the road with wooden timbers. The timbers will weigh less and that will put less strain on the equipment. In the pro cess, DOT can also shorten Perquimans ^Weekly (USPS428-080) Vol. 84 No. 35 Published each Wednesday. 2016 INCOME LIMITS FOR PERQUIMANS COUNTY SFR 14 PROGRAM 1 $29,400 2 $33,600 3 $37,800 4 $42,000 5 $45,400 6 $48,750 7 $52,100 8 $55,450 This information is available in Spanish or any other language upon request. Esta informacion esta disponible en espanol o en cualquier otro idioma bajo peticion. Por favor, pongase en contacto con 252-426-8484 o en la Oficina del Administrador del Condado de Perquimans para esta solicitud. 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. Activation fee of $1.99 will be collected with all new subscriptions. Deactivation fees may apply for early cancellation. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Perquimans Weekly, Hertford, NC 27944 the bridge by about an inch. That should be enough he said to prevent the bridge from swelling shut during extremely hot weather. By next summer there also should be a new boat ramp. The Wildlife Com mission intends to build the new one near the Perqui mans County Recreation Center. Construction was supposed to start on July 1, but has been delayed. Sher man did not have a specific date on when the construc tion will start, but in the past she’s said it would take about 90 days to com plete the project. In the meanwhile John Beardsley, the Wildlife of ficer serving Perquimans County, said boaters with questions about where they can launch can visit the Wildlife Commission’s website,http://www. ncwildlife.org/Boating/ Where-to-Boat Sheriff’S Reports Perquimans Sheriff ■ 8/6 Tony Michelangelo, Longview Estates, failure to appear, $3,000 secured bond. ■ 8/7 Rochelle Reid, Howell Street, Winfall, injury to personal property, $500 unsecured bond. ■ 8/8 Edward Chappell, Belvidere Road, communicat ing threats, $500 unsecured bond. ■ 8/10 Arlen Colson, Hogneck Road, possession of stolen goods, larceny after breaking and entering, two counts of possession of burglary tools, two counts of breaking and entering, unsealed wine/liquor in passenger area, littering not more than 15 pounds. $62,000 secured bond.
The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.)
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Aug. 24, 2016, edition 1
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