BY MILES LAYTON AND NICOLE BOWMAN-LAYTON

Last week was busy, so it’s time to get caught up with the latest from Edenton Town Council.  

Our story discusses council’s plans regarding long-abandoned houses, a salary study that impacts town employees, a spoiler alert about future business development and an update about the Albemarle Queen. 

During council’s most recent meeting March 24, Assistant Town Manager Dewayne Whealton provided an update about houses that have long been empty. Some haven’t had electricity in more than 20 years and forget about being current on property taxes – “No cap” – as the kids say at John A. Holmes High School, same meaning as “for real” as the kids used to say.   

First, Whealton talked about the homes that council gave a lifeline to in January – a 75-day update on what’s being done to repair/save these houses. Their fate may be more conclusively decided at the council’s next meeting on April 8 in Council Chambers.  

Next, Whealton provided a new list of properties that violate the code books for various reasons – see the list below. 

As with the other batch, council gave property owners 90 days to figure something out or else face the consequences – properties that have long been in tax foreclosure and without utilities. These places may have owners who are hard to find, perhaps with dozens upon dozens of heirs.

Fun fact: If a house has 125 heirs and one of those folks dies, the legal process of what to do next may have to be reset because the heirs all have to be on the same page when making decisions. 

Side note – regardless of the number of heirs, it’s best not to make it too easy for any local government or business interests to acquire private property – Google Kelo v City of New London.      

Anyway, when the time comes, council may consider whether to make modest repairs on some homes so as to put liens on these properties. What does that mean?

Because of the liens, that means when – if – these properties are sold, the town will recoup the money spent for repairs, taxes, etc., and maybe even have money left over too. Town Hall’s ties to the property are but another tool to better direct the future of these homes that are in freefall. 

Fiscal conservatives — don’t get the vapors about spending taxpayer money to polish a turd. If council takes this route, it will not a complete rehab that would cost several thousands of dollars, more like just enough money to shore up these homes cosmetically to keep them from being what tort lawyers describe as “an attractive nuisance” – make them safer with enough repairs to serve as a bandaid until a buyer invests.

The question then becomes – Do you invest in these properties or do you cut bait? That’s a question that the council will have to answer at a later date.  

In that balancing act of whether to save or surrender an old abandoned house, there is the possibility that one of these homes could be a historical diamond in the rough. If so, buyers may be eligible for tax credits needed to subsidize the restoration process.  

Councilman Sambo Dixon said that the Lane House seemed undistinguished at first glance, being a small structure on East Queen Street, but it was later determined to be the oldest house in North Carolina. 

“Some of these other ones I don’t know about, but somebody might look under it and see a 200-year-old beam and it might be the oldest house in the state,” he said. “I just think we need to be really careful not to bulldoze something that is historic and means contributing to the National Register of Historic Places, even, you know, that zone. So I mean, you know, some of these things are probably contributing in some way and they’re eligible for tax credit.”

That being said, this writer, known to be a restorer of old homes, has doubts about whether the properties on this list have much historical value, but time will tell.   

That latest list includes:

• 111 E. Carteret St. – has been in tax foreclosure since 2005; vacant with no electricity since at least 2007
• 204 E. Petersen St. 
• 508 N. Granville St. 
• 800 Dr. MLK Jr. Ave.
• 1350 N. Broad Street

When reflecting on a past council meeting, one thing to consider is that restoring these homes could provide another source of affordable housing. Being acutely aware of this problem personally, the cost of housing has far outstripped pay scales for many people struggling to survive in a capitalist economy beset by inflation and stagnant to nonexistent salary increases – “no cap”. Meaning, it would be nice to have less expensive nice homes in the area during a time of insane prices with high interest rates, perhaps calling houses in the low to mid $200,000s “affordable.”    

Salary Study for Town Hall

In other council business, Becky Veazey of MAPS Group presented a salary study that, if approved, would update/revise an existing pay scale chart. The last time the salary scale was updated was 2020.

I’m going to throw this statistic out there to set the stage – a US Chamber of Commerce study suggests that the cost of employee turnover is estimated at 66% to 125% of annual salary, Veazey said.  

Think about that – if Town Hall, certainly corporate America, loses an employee who finds a slightly better paying job in a nearby county, that is a net loss in terms of training, experience, etc. to the bottom line. 

Speaking from experience, media corporations view employees as line items in a ledger, which is why the company’s productivity and profitability seldom advances. That dollar an hour the boss might save from a reduced salary line-item from staff turnover turns into a loss after more money is spent to recover lost productivity especially when training a new employee — that’s something to consider when employee turnover is high for good workers.  Then again, corporate media management has never been known to be intelligent.   

Town Hall shouldn’t fall into this trap – you don’t want your experienced police officers or knowledgeable/friendly town staff to move to jobs in other cities just to keep ahead of the cost of living. The longer they stay at a job that does not keep pace with the cost of living, the more it equals a net loss in pay – sharing this truth is called “saying the quiet part out loud.” Trust me – good workers know when they’re being screwed.        

Moreover, you don’t want a salary scale that doesn’t reward experience, longevity and loyalty to Town Hall. That salary study presented at the council meeting revises and upgrades the system to ensure that a new hire isn’t earning more than an old hand doing the same job.

Flip side – since no one is going to say it – this step chart will surely increase the cost of government. That’s OK if Town Hall can keep pace with increased revenues vs. expanded expenses – that means Edenton has to continue to grow economically or raise taxes to meet its financial obligations. 

SPOILER ALERT: One example of that growth includes the area near Feyer Ford, along Whitemon Lane. A proposal that is in the paperwork stage – getting approval to conduct traffic studies, zoning changes, etc. – calls for a new shopping center with grocery store, gas station (reportedly Royal Farms), hotel, and a fast-food restaurant. For a look at the study by Colliers International, the file is at the bottom of this story.

Another proposed project includes apartments near 1311 Paradise Road. The town’s Planning Board will hold a public meeting at 6 p.m. April 7 on the Major Special Use Permit Application from Edenton Holdings LLC. The apartments will be marketed to workforce, young families and retirees. The application is available for review at the Planning Office, 400 S. Broad St., Edenton.

More about this issue will appear after council gives the final greenlight to study – meaning, how much is Town Hall’s final salary chart going to cost taxpayers.  

New Traffic Pattern on Broad Street

NC Department of Transportation came to Edenton on Saturday to repaint Broad Street, altering its traffic pattern from two lanes each way to one lane in each direction with a wide turn lane in the middle.

The change is between Virginia Road and Queen Street. The change was done although the road was not repaved. In a previous Council meeting, council agreed to make the switch once repaving is completed, supposedly summer 2025. The plan had included to bicycle lanes, but those were scrapped.

Albemarle Queen undergoing repairs, repainting

Last thing – if you’ve walked through Edenton Marina in recent weeks, perhaps you’ve noticed that the Albemarle Queen has been undergoing scheduled maintenance and repairs. She will get new Cummins diesel engines, be repainted from stem to stern, and there will be a new carpet with increased sound absorbent material installed in the main salon.  

“We expect to be operational starting May 1 but obviously we need to get the scheduled repairs and other planned work done on Albemarle Queen prior to that date,” said Nick Didow, president of the Harbor Towns project. 

Around two months from now, the Albemarle Queen and fast ferry boats – Penelope and Moses Grandy – will be familiar sights on the Sound. That said, the Penelope is for sale, so I asked Didow about that boat’s future. 

“We plan to start the season May 1 with the Albemarle Queen and both fast ferry passenger boats – Penelope and Moses Grandy – unless we find a buyer for Penelope.  She is the prototype of the new, custom Hysucat design by naval architect Rob Schofeld.  The naval architect, builder, and we learned much about the manufacturing, assembly, electronics, and power systems for this new design, most of which were applied to Moses Grandy.”

Didow continued, “After encountering several manufacturing and mechanical issues last summer, we now believe we have both boats running well with the issues now resolved. If we do find a buyer for Penelope, we may replace her at some point with a sightseeing boat suitable for cruises on the Roanoke, Chowan, Scuppernong, Perquimans, and Pasquotank rivers, and maybe even on the Dismal Swamp Canal.”

On that note, calling all captains  –  “We are also in the process of recruiting several qualified captains for all our boats,” Didow said. Send inquiries to – nick_didow@unc.edu (Didow) or Peter – pytsue@gmail.com