BY MILES LAYTON

From a rather short and mundane Chowan County Commission meeting came a rather eye opening discussion about a proposed law that the General Assembly seeks, which we’ll call a power grab away from local government.  

Monday’s commission meeting story also touches on help for veterans, pesticide problems, Edenton Yacht Club and an update regarding the Confederate Memorial — “kicking the can down the road” as one critic of the statue claims.

Back to the state’s power grab — if it becomes law, House Bill 765 – An Act to Reform Local Government Development Regulations in this State – would enact changes affecting local government planning, zoning and development regulations.  

Let that sink in for a minute – the state, in all its wisdom, wants more power to dictate rules about how, when and where property development takes place rather than local regulatory and zoning authorities who know the lay of the land in their communities quite a bit better than Raleigh’s Kommissar central planners who covet a one-size-fits-all approach.

Chowan Commission roundly condemned HB 765 with a resolution opposing the bill in “favor of legislation that respects local authority, reduces regulatory burdens and promotes flexible, community-driven development strategies.”

“The Chowan County Board of Commissioners encourages state lawmakers to work collaboratively with local governments to craft policies that support responsible growth, administrative efficiency and long-term sustainability across North Carolina,” the resolution states. 

Commission Chairman Bob Kirby said after talking with County Attorney Lauren Arizaga-Womble, he saw that HB 765 would have a wide ranging impact on local governance if approved.   

“I personally made a few phone calls and learned that this was a little bit more than just development regulations. It goes a lot deeper than that,” Kirby said. “In talking with our attorney, she was very concerned that if this becomes law, the net effects on the county. It’s an effort at turning, basically, pulling and clawing back development regulations by the state, taking that authority out of the county responsibility, and making it essentially a uniform development code for the entire state.”

Kirby continued, “There’s a resolution that’s been drafted. And, in essence, it says we don’t like this bill, and we like that the responsibility for generating and enforcing, development regulations to remain at the local level; that this bill would take away local control over zoning issues.” 

Kirby said when decisions are made locally, the public has more opportunity for input, and there’s more transparency in decision making.  

“It’s important that the public know this is not something that we’re trying to do under cloak of darkness or anything. It’s a, uh, these things, when they when they come up, they tend to go to a vote very quickly,” he said. “And if you don’t let the General Assembly know formally how you believe they should vote on matters like this, if we waited two weeks, it very well might be gone. We may not have an opportunity to voice our opinion.” 

The Albemarle Commission approved a similar resolution at its board meeting last Thursday, which means leaders across 10 counties will discuss this issue.         

In other news, Veterans Services Director Wayne Bray presented the Board with a request for approval of a grant pre-application to the North Carolina Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (NCDMVA) for grant funds up to $20,000. The grant allows the funds to be utilized to provide transportation to Chowan County Veterans to various VA Centers for services. No local matching funds are required. 

Long and short of it, Bray wants to purchase a van to transport veterans to places such as VA medical centers in Elizabeth City and Greenville, etc.  

Commissioner Ellis Lawrence said he has a 90-year-old brother who needs help getting from place to place, so having a van and helping veterans is a good idea that he supports.  

Commissioner Ron Cummings added, “I’m all for doing this.” He wants to ensure that any van is reliable because there would be a lot of travel involved.  

Commissioner Tony Shaffer asked County Manager Kevin Howard if the County would be responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the van, to which Howard answered that the County would be.  

Kirby suggested putting a plan together to purchase a van, approaching other nearby counties for additional funding that could be used to assist this worthy endeavor.   

In other news, Chowan County Extension Agent Wil Haines presented the Board with a grant pre-application for Extension to apply for $5,658 in grant funds from the Pesticide Environmental Trust Fund to clean up the pesticide container recycling sites in Chowan County enhance and best manage pesticide container recycling to ensure that containers are accepted by recyclers and disposed of properly. The grant was not funded, and Extension staff requested that the Board fund this effort in the amount of $4,850 to grind containers and take them to the landfill – the Commission gave its blessing.  

Also, the Commission approved a Memorandum of Understanding between the Edenton-Chowan Recreation Department and Edenton Yacht Club about the maintenance of the Sunfish sailboats that are owned by the Edenton Yacht Club. This has been a longtime arrangement, now formalized by the MOU, between the County and the Yacht Club. Basically, if a sunfish sailboat in Edenton Bay needs maintenance/repairs, perhaps after an attack by a hungry shark or rammed by a rogue Russian submarine defecting to our waters (hyperbole), then the county will provide funds for routine maintenance if needed. 

Commissioners adopted a resolution authorizing the lease of County-owned personal property, a portion of the space on Chowan County’s Valhalla Radio Tower, located at 1421-B Virginia Road, Edenton. Cha-ching — the commissioners authorized the lease of the tower to T-Mobile for up to 5 years at a minimum annual rental of $25,000, to be paid in equal monthly installments on the first day of each month. 

Commissioners reappointed Tonya Edwards to another three-year term as a member of the Chowan County Joint Community Advisory Committee (CAC/Nursing Home Committee). Congrats!

Lastly, the Commission held a closed session to discuss the ongoing lawsuit over the Confederate Memorial that pays homage to the 47 men from Chowan County families — soldiers killed during the Civil War. No action was taken following the executive session after the Commission resumed the meeting. 

On a related note, the case involving the Confederate Memorial that is percolating up through the court system that was to have had a hearing Monday, but has been “continued” to a date to be determined later under a different judge than Superior Court Judge Jerry Tillett who is retiring May 1.  

On that note, District Attorney and current Superior Court Judge Andy Womble will become the Senior Resident Superior Court Judge. Governor Josh Stein will appoint Judge Tillett’s replacement. 

Here’s the tail end of an email sent near and far from Rod Phillips who is critical of Tillett, wants the monument moved and is a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

From the Department of Breaking News:

Superior Court Judge Jerry Tillett to retire on May 1

Judge Tillett retiring May 1? This can’t be bad news for us. But the Confederates will be wetting their pants, no doubt.

This move is sudden and unexpected, but long overdue. Tillett should have been removed from office years ago:  https://islandfreepress.org/outer-banks-news/03132013-tillettadmitserrorofhiswaysgetpublicreprimand/

In 2023, he actually had a defense lawyer jailed, essentially for trying to save his client from the death penalty:  https://www.theassemblync.com/politics/criminal-justice/dare-county-judge-contempt/

We can suppose that more information regarding Tillett’s quick departure will be forthcoming. Meanwhile, good riddance to this rogue judge.

A hearing had been scheduled for April 21 (Monday) in the Confederates vs. Town of Edenton lawsuit, but this has now been postponed. It will be reassigned to another judge at some point.

Does this seem like still more kicking of the can down the road? You think?

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Back to the Albemarle Observer — Judge Tillett doesn’t need this ink stained wretch to defend him, but I will say he’s a man of principle who has honorably served our region for many years as a District Court Judge, also as the Senior Resident Superior Court Judge for the First Judicial District – that’s saying something. From all accounts, Tillett is a stand-up guy.