BY MILES LAYTON
Here are a few items on the radar that span from Hertford to Elizabeth City to White’s Landing to Tyrrell County.
We’ll start with Perquimans County – Hertford.
Waterlines are being replaced/installed soon, with the first job being at Mead’s Trailer Park, Meads Circle, and Woodland Circle. Why that area first? The answer is that because there are a lot of water lines concentrated in that part of town, it’s best to start there and branch out.
“We’re replacing approximately 17,000 linear feet of water lines,” said Interim Town Manager Doris Walton.
Folks will start seeing door hangers and receive robocalls about water line construction shortly since work is slated to begin within the next few weeks.
“We’re letting citizens know that they have to remove their personal property from the side of their homes so we can get to our water meter. We’re taking the meter from their property and putting it on the town’s property and bringing it to the road,” Walton said.
Walton said Town Hall received a $9,095,850 million state/federal grant package to replace water lines across Hertford – water lines that date back to at least the 1960s.
Walton credits her predecessor, Janice Cole, with leading the charge to acquire the funds for infrastructure improvements from the General Assembly and other sources.
“This is something that Ms. Janice, my predecessor, had gone to the legislature to get funding for – she knew that our infrastructure was old and improvements needed to be made.”
Walton said improved infrastructure is an investment in economic opportunity.
In other news, water/sewer lines breaks — Elizabeth City is facing some of the same issues as Hertford – old clay pipes need to be replaced.
Recently, I received a news tip about a sewer line break on Flora Street in late March. City came out to repair the line soon after it was reported – that’s good news. The bad news is that a clay pipe sewer line break is likely to happen again – that line should’ve been replaced many years ago.
That said, last summer, the North Carolina Emergency Management awarded EC around $820,000 in grants from Disaster Relief and Mitigation Funds for improvements at Flora Street and Riverside Avenue, which have long experienced ongoing flooding.
Speaking of Elizabeth City, there is a disturbance in the force… I can feel it.
Since we’ve begun making inroads into EC, based on a tip from a very reliable news source, the Albemarle Observer reached out to the Office of the State Auditor for any information about the City of Elizabeth being under investigation.
“The Office of the State Auditor does not confirm or deny that a potential audit or investigation is in progress or has been requested,” Randy Brechbiel, Public Information Manager North Carolina Office of the State Auditor.
A non-denial denial – love this scene from All the President’s Men … well, time will tell.
Having dealt with audit investigations in the past, that kind of statement from any state Auditor’s Office or other investigative body is not unusual. As soon as something is official, we’ll pass that news on.
Edenton—Public Works has built a “sea” wall protecting Water Street from erosion caused by the bay’s wave motion. Public Works deployed cinder blocks lined up behind the “big rocks” protecting the shoreline. That should do the trick.
Though this sea wall will serve as a barrier against erosion, it will not protect Edenton from pirates.
As it relates to the materials used in the construction of the wall and not pirate attacks, my mind got to wandering about coastal fortifications in St. Augustine, Fla. — the ease of repairing the Spanish fort’s walls after an attack. Constructed from seashells, coquina stones and limestone, the walls were really resilient. My daughter, who is studying civil engineering at Virginia Military Institute, has had to listen to me talk about engineering projects since she was a toddler.
Chowan County – a recent Chowan County Commission agenda had this line item – the commission will review and consider approval of a petition to NCDOT to abandon a secondary road 1215 (White’s Landing Road) as requested by Stanley and Linda Bunch. That item was tabled for more study at the March 17th meeting.
Check out that sunset at White’s Landing.
If it should pop back up on a future agenda, here’s what it means. Mr/Mrs. Bunch want the county to give its blessing to vacating the end of that road that provides an access point to the Chowan River. They own the land on both sides of that part of White’s Landing – and even if the county gave its blessing, they would have to jump through a few more hoops with the state and county to acquire the road.
Having lived in Rocky Hock, I’m familiar with that property, having walked dogs around sunset to and from that forested cove bordering White’s Landing. That’s an important vantage point for farmers, certainly kayakers, to check the Chowan River’s weather report before making any plans that day. That said, the cove and its little docks are private property and clearly marked no trespassing, so no one should get any ideas.
An item to add to my wish list – because there aren’t many places to launch along the river, I wish that the county would buy that cove and turn it into a public launch spot for boats – nothing fancy or expensive.
Last note: The Tyrrell County Water Department will be flushing water lines in the following areas on April 17-21. Customers may experience times of little to no water pressure. If you have questions please call the Water Department at 252-796-1371, ext. 2627.
Newfoundland Road
Fort Landing Road
Goat Neck Road
Cove Road
Pledger Harbor Road
Shiloh Road
Old US 64
Ludford Road
US 64
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