4 THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9,2016
Pet Of The Week
Horton cleared of charges
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Orange Tabby
brothers,
Cinnamon and
Butterscotch,
are available
for adoption at
the Tri-County
Animal Shelter
and Adoption
Center in Tyner.
For more
information,
call 221-8514;
From staff reports
An Elizabeth City city
councilor who operates
a Hertford funeral home
has been cleared of misde
meanor assault and com
municating threats charges
last week.
Darius Horton, who had
been accused of the miscon
duct by a former employee
of his business, was on
trial in Perquimans District
Court on Wednesday when
District Court Judge Mead
er Harriss III dismissed the
case against him.
According to Horton,
Harriss threw out the
charges after hearing the
prosecution’s case - a case
that included testimony by
Horton’s accuser,
James Parker, a
former employee
of Horton’s busi
ness.
In a sworn state
ment he gave to a
Perquimans magis
trate in June, Park
er claimed Horton
HORTON
had “hit at me” through a
truck window and slammed
the truck’s door against
his leg, breaking his ankle
bone.
Parker also claimed Hor
ton had berated him with
expletives and threatened
him, saying, “I know where
you five. I’m going to come
to your house one night and
kill you.”
Horton, who previously
denied Parker’s alle
gations, said he had
at least five witness
es ready to testify
in his defense and
refute Parker’s al
legations. However,
they weren’t called
because Harriss dis
missed the charges
in response to a motion by
Horton’s attorney, John
nie Fitch, at the end of the
prosecution’s case.
“There was no evidence
toprove that there even was
a case against me,” Horton
said Friday.
Horton said he believes
Harriss dismissed the case
because there were a lot of
“loose ends” in Parker’s tes
timony.
PROJECT
Continued from 1
“When built, Timbermill
Wind will produce enough
safe, clean renewable en
ergy for 60,000 homes while
providing a significant eco
nomic boost for the area,”
Giecek continued. “We hope
to be a part of this commu
nity for decades to come.”
Apex has proposed a 300-
megawatt wind energy gen
eration facility in the Bear
Swamp and Center Hill ar
eas of Chowan and Perqui
mans counties.
A separate conditional
use permit is required for
each county, which will cov
er the portion of the project
located in that county.
The board approved the
permit with more than a
dozen conditions. Among
those was one intended to
address the objection raised
by opponents of the project
that environmental stud
ies related to the proposed
project have not been made
public. Henry Campen, an
attorney representing Apex,
proposed that one condi
tion of the permit be that
Apex would provide bird,
bat and other wildlife and
environifiental studies to
the county at the time the
company submits a permit
application to the state’s De
partment of Environmental
Quality.
County Commissioner
John Mitchener-called that
condition, which the board
approved unanimously, “a
step in the right direction.”
Patrick Flynn, a property
owner and resident repre
senting himself in opposi
tion to the project, asked
that the board adopt a spe
cific number of birds killed
by the wind turbines as a
condition for stopping the
project. But John Morrision,
an attorney advising the
county, said such a require-
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DAILY ADVANCE FILE PHOTO
Two 500-foot wind turbines are shown at Avangrid
Renewables’ Amazon Wind Farm US East wind energy
project in Pasquotank and Perquimans counties in August.
ment would be beyond the
scope of the county’s per
mit.
Another condition ap
proved by the board was
a limitation on the reloca
tion of turbines within the
project area. Commissioner
Keith Nixon told his fel
low commissioners he was
concerned that staff could
approve the relocation of
turbines within the overall
project area, which poten
tially could mean some
turbines would be closer to
housing developments than
the current project design
would indicate.
Commissioner Alex Ke-
hayes agreed with Nixon’s
concern that turbines could
be relocated closer to hous
ing.
In response to the com
missioners’ concerns,
Campen said Apex was will
ing to have the language in
the permit prohibit any tur
bines from being relocated
to parcels for which turbines
are not now proposed.
As the commissioners
continued to discuss the
matter they settled on not
allowing turbines to be re
located outside of the blue
grid on the site plan submit
ted as part of the application
unless the board of commis
sioners approve such a relo
cation.
Flynn requested even
stronger language that
would have prohibited any
relocation of a turbine from
its designated spot on the
site plan without permis
sion of the county commis
sioners.
But the commissioners
stayed with their condi
tion that no turbines would
be relocated outside the
blue grid — basically, that
they would not be moved
from the core project area
to spots along the periph
ery that would be closer
in some cases to occupied
houses — without the Com
missioners’ approval.
The commissioners’ ac
tion Friday also included
four “findings of fact” relat
ed to the pennit.
With Kehayes casting
the lone dissenting vote,
the board voted 5-1 to find
that the project would not
materially endanger public
health or safety. Kehayes’
dissent focused on the issue
of turbine noise, and annoy
ance from such noise, as a
health concern.
Kehayes pointed out that
even in studies referenced
by the expert witness who
testified on Apex’s behalf
MEETING
Continued from 1
sidewalks retaining wall
treatments and improve
ments to the adjacent right-
of-way.
The meeting will be held
at the Perquimans County
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about sound issues there
were acknowledgments
that at sound levels below
50 decibels, which is less
than the 55-decibel limit in
the county ordinance, some
residents reported annoy
ance related to the particu
lar characteristics of wind
turbine noise.
“From my point of view
that’s a health risk,” Ke
hayes said.
Commissioner Greg Bon
ner said his understanding
of the testimony presented
at the hearing was that the
project would not pose a
health risk for those living
nearby.
Also on a 5-1 vote with
Kehayes dissenting, the
board found that the proj
ect would not substantially
iryure the value of adjoining
or abutting property.
Kehayes also cast the
only vote against the board’s
finding that the project
would be in harmony with
the surrounding area
Once the project is in
place, Kehayes said, the
county won’t look the same
and for many citizens won’t
sound the same.
“I would say this is dis
harmonious,” Kehayes said.
Bonner countered that
the project would be locat
ed in a predominantly agri
cultural area and that it ac
tually will serve to preserve
farmland.
Nixon agreed that the
project might protect the
county’s agriculture indus
try.
Mitchener said he be
lieves property owners’
willingness to lease land for
wind turbines points to the
project being in harmony
with the area
The Chowan board also
voted 5-1, with Kehayes vot
ing against the motion, to
find that the project would
be in general conformity
with the county’s land use
plan.
Closing arguments were
offered Friday by Apex and
by the opponents of the
project.
Bill Bryan, representing
the opponents of the project,
said in his closing argument
that the decision would af
fect the future of the county
for at least 20 years. If the
project is approved, he said,
it would affect development
patterns for Edenton and
Chowan County and effec
tively create a “development
dead zone” in the part of the
county near the project that
will last at least 20 years.
Bryan also objected that
the application was being
considered without the
completion of an environ
mental assessment that he
said was almost surely go
ing to be required for the
project.
“By the time you learn
of all the damage that this
project will wreak on your
county it will be too late,”
Bryan said.
But Henry Campen, an
attorney representing Apex,
said the only issue before
the commissioners was
whether Timbermill meets
the standards established in
the county’s ordinance.
Campen said the evidence
presented at the hearing
demonstrates conclusively
that Timbermill complies
with all of the ordinance re
quirements.
Regarding the decom
missioning of the facilities,
Campen noted Apex would
post a $7.3 million cash bond
to cover decommissioning
costs. The decommission
ing plans contemplate safe
and timely removal of the
equipment at the end of the
fife of the project, Campen
said.
Timbermill has held
more than 20 community
meetings in the area and
opened an office in the area,
Campen said.
Recreation Center from 7
p.m. until 9 p.m.
In addition to DOT and
the Coast Guard, a rep
resentative of the N.C.
Historic Preservation Of
fice is also expected to be
present. HPO is the state
agency that originally
raised concerts about the
impact of a new bridge
and requested the inter
vention of the federal his
toric preservation group.
RECYCLE THIS
NEWSPAPER
HELP
Continued from 1
“I’m pleased that the
designation finally came
through,” Heath said. “We’re
about a month post-storm.
We’re glad out residents are
eligible for assistance.”
Mike Wade, a FEMA
spokesman, said it’s hard to
predict what counties, are
eligible for disaster help.
“There is no way of un
derstanding when,” Wade
said. “It all depends on
when it was submitted. This
(the Perquimans case) was
probably just one of those
timing issues.”
Jonathan Nixon, Perqui
mans County’s Emergency
Management director, esti
mates one structure was de
stroyed by Hurricane Mat
thew, 29 structures suffered
mqjor damage and eight suf
fered minor damage.
Without the federal disas
ter designation, no FEMA
funds could be released to
help those victims.
One of the benefits of be
ing on the list is the state is
waiving DMV fees for things
like getting a duplicate driv
er’s license, vehicle title or
replacement plates for all
those in a .disaster county.
The waiver runs through
Dec. 1. Gov. Pat McCrory
also approved supplemental
food and nutrition service
benefits for those who lost
their jobs as a result of Hur
ricane Matthew.
A joint PTIMA and North
Carolina Emergency Man
agement Disaster Recovery
Center will be open through
Nov. 9 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
at the Pasquotank County
Cooperative Extension Cen
ter.
Recovery specialists
from FEMA, NCEM and the
U.S. Small Business Admin
istration will be available
to speak face-to-face to an
swer questions from people
regarding the disaster as
sistance process, other as
sistance available and help
people register. For those
who have registered, they
can provide an update of
the application status and if
needed, discuss the appeal
process.
Wade urged those who
have applied for FEMA as
sistance not to apply again.
Their original application is
in the system and the disas
ter declaration triggers the
process.
“If they try and re-register
it will throw up red flags and
that makes the process take
even longer,” he said.
Anyone interested in ap
plying for federal help can
call 1-800-621-3362 or go on-
line to disasterassistance,
gov
BURGLARY
Continued from 1
Wholesale company truck
into the building, disabling
and stealing the security
cameras, loading the truck
with cigarettes and then
stealing the truck.
“Although warrants have
been issued, the investiga
tion is still ongoing and
many more leads are being
followed up on,” Freeman
said.
Anyone that has any fur
ther information about the
break-in is asked to call the
Hertford Police Department
at 426-5587.