4 THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28,2016
OWNER
Continued from 1
“My hearing is very sen
sitive so I’m sure I’m going
to be affected, too,” Flynn
said.”! have very sensitive
hearing and I am outside
and I hear a very high-picte-
hd sound and I ask people,
‘do you hear that?’ and they
say ‘no.”’
Flynn said he has attend
ed hearings in both Chowan
and Perquimans on the pro
posed wind energy project
and has heard testimony
about sound from the ex
pert witnesses called by
Apex.
But he said he also be
gan doing his own research
when he learned that some
of the planned turbines
would be located near his
home. That research point
ed him to studies identifying
possible health concerns
related to sound beginning
just beyond 35 decibels.
The local wind energy or
dinance establishes a sound
threshold of 55 decibels.
Flynn said that based on
the latest trends in Euro
pean siting on wind energy
facilities, the sound limit
should be 35 decibels and
the setback for the turbines
should be one mile. Euro
pean nations currently are
increasing setback require
ments to two kilometers,
which is a little more than a
mile, he said.
“I’m not against wind en
ergy but I’m against things
that affect my family’s
health,” he said.
Flynn is one of the prop
erty owners who is repre
sented by an attorney in
opposing the proposed Tim
bermill Wind Project at the
permit hearings currently
being held by the Chowan
County Board of Commis
sioners.
In addition to the health
concerns, which he said are
what troubles him most,
Flynn also is bothered by
the way the turbines could
detract from his enjoyment
of the home’s rural setting,
where they have plans to
keep a few animals and
raise some vegetables.
He stood in the yard last
week and pointed to where
he understands the closest
of the turbines would be.
But he also pointed to other
locations on three sides of
the house where he expects
turbines to be visible from
his home once the project is
completed.
“The visual impact —
these things are going to
destroy my sunset views,”
Flynn said.
When Weyerhauser har
vests the trees that currently
provide some visual screen
ing the visual impact will be
even greater, he said.
“But I’m going to see it
at a little over half a mile,”
Flynn said.
He noted he and his wife
have invested a lot of time
and effort in the home.
“We’re working on the
house,” Flynn said.
They have cleared an area
and are working toward get
ting a few animals and plant
ing some vegetables. With a
bam on the property, they
have talked about boarding
horses.
When they bought the
house about six years ago
they did a lot of work, in
cluding raising the founda
tion, he said.
“We’ve got all the hard
work out of the way,” Flynn
said.
Now he worries the work
could have been in vain be
cause of the development
of the wind energy project
nearby.
“We don’t want to aban
don our house,” he said.
Flynn said that ever since
the meeting of the Chowan
County Planning Board
in July, during which the
proposed Timermill Wind
Project was discussed and
public comment was heard,
he has been reading about
wind energy facilities.
“Everything I have read
and looked at has been trig
gered by the planning board
meeting,” Flynn said.
He has looked especially
at the health information.
One of the things he has
concluded is that the facili
ties affect people differently,
based partly on pre-existing
conditions they might have
and how that affects their
sensitivity to sound.
“The experts are trying to
reassure everybody that ev
erything is going to be fine,
but I would have to question
how it’s going to be for peo
ple living close,” Flynn said.
He said he also is con
cerned that environmen
tal concerns are being left
largely to state and federal
agencies and that local of
ficials are making a deci
sion on the Conditional Use
Permit for the Timbermill
project without adequate
information about possible
environmental impacts.
Flynn keeps coming back
to the stricter development
standards that European
countries are moving to
ward.
“The thing that stands out
is we really need to look at
what other countries that
have had wind energy lon
ger than we haveare doing,”
Flynn said. “I have no prob
lems with wind turbines in
the (Albemarle) Sound (or)
in deserts. But when you’re
putting those things around
people you’re introducing a
lot of problems.”
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EXCUSED
Continued from 1
long as he was able to see the
transcript and get caught up
on the proceedings.
Nixon is chairing the hear
ings because the board’s
chairman, Commissioner Jeff
Smith, has been recused from
participating in decisions re
lated to the Timbermill proj
ect. Apex’s plan for the proj
ect includes land that is part
of Smith’s family farm.
Both Smith and Winbome
represent the county’s 1st
District.
Bill Bryan, the attorney
representing opponents of
the project in Chowan Coun
ty, objected Monday to mov
ing forward with the hearings
Do you live or work
in Perquimans County?
Are you trying to be more active?
Perquimans Get FIT! is a FREE exercise and
walking program designed for adults, 18 years and
older, to increase physical activity levels and lead
healthier lifestyles.
Join us on October 15th from 9:30-12pm at Bagley
Swamp Wesleyan Church.
This kickoff includes:
• Health Screenings • Zumba Class
• Healthy Living Information • Healthy Lunch
Best of all, it's FREE, but Registration is required.
To register or for more information,
please contact Amanda Betts at 426-2115
or amanda.betts@arhs-nc.org or go to
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to register.
PROJECT
Continued from 1
the environmental assess
ments aren’t required at this
point.
They also argue that
background sound data
isn’t required under the or
dinance. Instead the ordi
nance requires data on how
much sound each wind tur
bine would make.
While Apex has not set
tled on just what kind of
turbine it will use, the CUP
RAIN
Continued from 1
were swapped with all the
excess water and a mixture
of sewage and water spilled
in both Hertford and Win
fall.
NOTICE OF GENERAL ELECTION
PERQUIMANS COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA
A general election will be held on Tuesday, November 8,2016 in Perquimans County.
Polls will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on the day of the election, Tuesday, November
8. One-stop early voting will be held at the Perquimans County Board of Elections office 601
S. Edenton Road St. Hertford, NC 27944. One-stop early voting will be open from Thursday,
October 20 until 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 5. The hours are as follows: October
20-21, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. October 24-28, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. October 31-November 2,
8:00 AM - 5:00 PM. November 3-4, 8:00 AM - 7:00 PM. November 5, 8:00 AM - 1:00 PM.
Canvass will be held in the Perquimans County Board of Elections office at 11:00 a.m. on
Friday, November 18.
Absentee voting by mail is available. Requests for an absentee ballot must be made on an
absentee request form (available on the State Board of Elections website and at the county
board of elections office), and must be received in the Perquimans County Board of Elections
by Tuesday, November 1. Absentee voting requires the voter to complete an application on
the return envelope that must be witnessed by two qualified persons or a notary public.
Completed absentee ballots must be returned to the Board of Elections by 5:00 p.m. on
Election Day (ballots received by mail after this time will be considered timely if they are
received within three business days and postmarked on or before Election Day). Voters may
receive assistance voting a mail-in absentee ballot from a qualified person of their choice.
All persons who are registered to vote with Perquimans County may vote in this election.
Persons who are not already registered to vote in the county must register by Friday, October
14 to be eligible to vote in this election. Voters who are not registered in the county by that
deadline may register and vote during one stop early voting only, and will be required to
provide documentation of their identity and residence. Voters who wish to change party
affiliation or who have changed name or address must do so by the registration deadline.
Voters who fail to timely make a change in name or address in the county must update the
information when presenting to vote, and may be required to vote a provisional ballot.
Voters voting in person are entitled to assistance by an election official, or, if assistance is
needed due to disability or illiteracy, by a qualified person of their choice. Voting sites are
accessible to all voters. Curbside voting is available for voters who are not able to enter
voting sites.
Persons with questions about registration, polling places, early voting, absentee ballots, or
other election matters may call the Perquimans County Board of Elections Office at 252-
426-5598.
Board Meeting Dates: October 18, 25, November 1, and November 15 at 10:00 AM,
November 7 at 5:00 PM, and November 8 at 2:00 PM.
Dianne M. Layden, Chairman
PERQUIMANS COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS
without Winbome present.
He noted he had made a simi
lar objection at a previous
session when Commissioner
John Mitchener was absent
for medical reasons.
On that earlier occasion
the board rescheduled the
hearing until a time and date
when Mitchener could be
present.
Bryan also asked that Bob
Kirby, a 1st District resident,
be heard on his opposition
to proceeding without Win-
bome present.
But Nixon told Bryan it
was strictly a board matter.
He said would not hear from
the attorney or witness on the
matter.
Kirby, the 1st District
resident who had asked to
speak regarding Winbome’s
application included calcu
lations based on the worst-
case scenario of the five tur
bine models Apex is looking
at. Apex argues that even
then, it will still be less than
the limit of 55 decibels the
county ordinance requires.
Henry Campen, the lead
attorney for Apex, argued
that the county’s own con
sultant, Clarion ruled that
the CUP application was
complete and the planning
board agreed.
“The planning board
wouldn’t have done that if it
Hertford Town Manager
Brandon Shoaf estimated
his town’s spill amounted to
about 300,000 gallons. The
Town of Winfall reported
a spill of about 30,000 that
went into a swamp that leads
to the Perquimans River.
Shoaf said town employees
treated areas of the spill with
lime on Thursday.
Shoaf said what spilled
was mostly just rainwater.
“Unless we lose some
thing at the sewer plant, it’s
always going to be diluted
and not much of that is sew
er.”
The mixture of rainwater
and sanitary sewer water
was discharged into the
Tom’s Creek portion of the
Upper Perquimans River.
absence, told the Chowan
Herald it was not right for
the hearing to be held with
no one representing the 1st
District.
“I have no representation
here tonight,” Kirby said.
“That is not right”
Kirby said there had been
discussion at the meeting
about how far some wit
nesses had to come for the
hearing. But he said that even
though he had come only 15
miles he was important be
cause he’s a taxpaying citizen
of Chowan County.
The hearing Monday was
held at Swain Auditorium but
the board chose at the end of
Monday’s meeting to recon
vene Tuesday at the Public
Safety Center on Freemason
Street. The hearings were
was not complete,” Campen
said.
Apex lawyers have argued
that even with county ap
proval in both Perquimans
and Chowan, the project
cannot go forward unless
it also meets the standards
set by the state and federal
government.
Katherine Ross, another
Apex attorney said regula
tory bodies wouldn’t have
considered doing an envi
ronmental review without
the county’s CUP first.
“If we had gone to the
The local sewer spills were
dwarfed by one in Elizabeth
City. Some 1 million gallons
of untreated wastewater
flowed into Charles Creek.
“What we are discharging
is predominantly rainwater,”
Elizabeth City City Manager
Rich Olson said in a follow-
up interview with The Daily
Advance Thursday evening.
Shoaf said this is the third
such big rain event. There
was one in June and another
one in July. In one case five
inches fell in the span of
an hour. In the other about
eight inches fell in an hour
and a half.
Because of the rain last
week, state officials were
warning people last week to
use caution with all water-
slated to continue Wednes
day at 9 am.
Commissioner Alex Ke-
hayes expressed concern that
excusing Winbome would
mean the 1st District would
have no vote on any issue
voted on Monday night But
he added that he realized the
board needed to make prog
ress on the hearings.
A motion by Kehhayes to
accept Winbome’s request
to be excused passed unani
mously.
Bryan submitted a motion
for a continuance of the hear
ing to a later date, since the
board had scheduled hearings
this week for Monday, Tues
day and Wednesday and one
of his witnesses lives in Mary
land and can only be here on
Thursdays or Fridays.
Army Corps of Engineers
first, they would not have
met with us,” she said.
At least two more hear
ings are scheduled for Oct.
17-18.
Time is becoming a factor
now. The seats of three of
the six commissioners are
up this year. The election is
set for Nov. 8. Chair Janice
Cole and Peeler aren’t run
ning. Vice Chair Kyle Jones
is. Of the three other candi
dates, at least two of them
have been vocal opponents
of the Apex plan.
based activities like boating
and swimming. Because of
the storm there are exces
sive bacteria levels in the
water or introduced other
substances into the water at
potentially unsafe levels.
“Waters impacted by
these heavy rainfalls can be
come unsafe for swimming
and recreational activities,”
said J.D. Potts, manager of
the N.C. Recreational Water
Quality Program. “Floodwa
ters and storm water runoff
may contain pollutants and
should be avoided.”
State officials are moni
toring the situation, working
with impacted communities
to address needs, and keep
ing a close watch on overall
water quality.
The Rotary Club of Hertford
11th Annual Scholarship Concert
Saturday, October 1, 2016 at 7pm
Perquimans County High School Auditorium
305 S. Edenton Road Street, Hertford, NC 27944
Reserved Tickets $18.00
Call 252.426.5246
General Admission Tickets $15.00
available at
Perquimans County Chamber of Commerce, Carolina
Trophy, Hertford Hardware, or from your favorite Rotarian
from The Rotary Club of Hertford.
Opening Performance
The Center Players
from the Arts of Albemarle!