By Miles Layton

EDENTON — The Edenton Town Council emerged from a lengthy special and committee meeting Tuesday night having rejected an economic development gesture to a departing manufacturer, reaffirmed its commitment to employee health insurance benefits, and taken early steps toward a major affordable housing renovation on Tyler Lane.

The council also appointed Lucas Belton to the Edenton Preservation Committee and gave consent for town staff to pursue a “blessing box” food pantry program proposed by Miss North Carolina 2026, Sophia Kellstrom.

Speaking of food, there may be a grocery store coming to Edenton Village Shopping Center — I’ll believe it when I see it, but it looks like we may get another grocery store.

And if you read closely enough, there’s an Olivia Rodrigo reference related to MiTek asking council for a favor after the breakup.

There will be more stories about Tuesday’s council meeting — it’s late, raining, and so I’m going to bed. Here’s a small taste for now.  

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Insurance: Council Backs Employees Over Budget Savings

This was awesome – the council opted to support the town employees rather than stick it to them, as corporate America does to its workers when coping with rising insurance rates.

Back to council — the meeting’s most contested debate centered on how the town would absorb a steep health insurance renewal for fiscal year 2026–27. Rand Williams of OneDigital, the town’s insurance broker, presented two scenarios after months of difficult negotiations with Cigna, the town’s current carrier.

Williams told council that claims had risen dramatically over the past year.  

“It was a challenging negotiation,” Williams said. “The town’s medical claims and pharmacy claims have gone up very significantly. There are drugs for chronic illnesses that can often be $50,000 or $60,000 a month or more.”

After shopping the market — including Blue Cross and United Healthcare — Williams said Cigna’s best and final offer came in at an 18 percent increase, down from an initial ask of 26 percent.

“We feel like we’re fortunate to be at 18 percent,” Williams said. “That sounds kind of crazy, but we’re seeing some very ugly renewals this year, probably the ugliest we’ve seen in a long time.”

Williams outlined two paths. Scenario One would maintain zero out-of-pocket premiums for employee-only coverage and share the increase for family tiers, raising total employer costs. Scenario Two would introduce a $25-per-paycheck deduction for employees on the copay plan — $50 per month — while keeping the HSA plan at no cost, limiting cost growth somewhat, and capping potential upside risk. This is the short version of Williams’ remarks.

Williams and Town Manager Corey Gooden jointly recommended Scenario Two, arguing it would incentivize employees to learn about the town’s Health Savings Account option and provide greater budget predictability — which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Subtext — if the employees didn’t eat the cost, that shortfall would’ve needed to be found somewhere in the budget. With citizens riled up over revaluation, I suspect Town Hall will work hard to reduce costs to keep a tight 2026-27 budget, since no one likes higher taxes — proposed budget to be released soon, very soon.

Councilman Patrick Sellers pushed back firmly against sticking it to the employees.

“We chose this plan for our employees. It was the Cadillac,” Sellers said. “If we start saying this other plan’s pretty good, it’s just going to cost you $600 a year — $600 a year is a lot of money to people. What’s our average employee make? $40,000? $42,000? And so $600 is a lot. We chose this plan for a reason.”

Council member Bob Turner echoed the sentiment: “We made the commitment last year. We’ve got to stick with the commitment from last year.”

Sellers moved to adopt Scenario One, maintaining the zero-premium structure for employees. It passed on a voice vote with no opposition.

Letter of Support for Hertford Fails 3–2

How about this one – MiTek – remember them!? Yeah, that company is moving to Hertford.  You may want to read our previous story.

Have this comparison in mind when reading what happened.

Your longtime girlfriend moves to another county to be with her new boyfriend — they want to build a bigger house. 

Though you’re glad she’s happy and healthy, to paraphrase Olivia Rodrigo, you’re not too thrilled about the move either. So it’s a little awkward when she asks you for a letter of recommendation to support the loan she is pursuing to buy the property. On the one hand, you want to be a good neighbor, but on the other, you want to say, “kiss my ass.”  

Back to council — A divisive vote came over a request from ElectriCities that the town sign a letter of support for Hertford’s application for a $2 million U.S. Economic Development Administration grant to build a utility substation for biotech manufacturer MiTek — which is relocating from Chowan County to a marine industrial park in Hertford.

Gooden and Main Street Edenton Executive Director Ches Chesson explained that MiTek, which employs about 90 people, had needed a new 300,000-square-foot facility to replace its aging 150,000-square-foot plant and could not find suitable land in Chowan County within their construction timeline. Hertford’s marine industrial park fits their needs.

“MiTek is moving whether we’re good neighbors about them moving,” Chesson said. “It is unfortunate. If it’s good for the region, it’s good for us and Edenton.”

Chesson argued that signing the letter could yield future goodwill — MiTek still owns its existing Chowan County waterfront property, which Chesson said could eventually become an attractive site for future development projects tied to the regional military and naval industrial base.

Sellers was unconvinced.

“This is a company we begged to stay and left, took ninety jobs and all sorts of money, and now we’re supposed to write a letter that benefits them,” Sellers said. “It just doesn’t sit right with me.”

Long story short, the council voted 3–2 against signing the letter.

Downtown Investment Tops $9 Million; New Businesses Coming

Chesson’s annual Main Street Edenton presentation painted an optimistic picture of downtown momentum. Over the past year, the organization recorded nearly $5 million in public investment and just over $4 million in private investment downtown — up from $3.2 million in private investment the prior year.

Work on 211 South Broad Street, which will become a Provalus office space, is approximately 70 percent complete with a contractual handover date in October. Chesson said Provalus recently brought a client to tour the construction site — unusual for the company — and that the new tenant intends to hire locally.

Per Edenton Village Shopping Center, a grocery store anchor has signed a letter of intent, Chesson said, with an additional tenant for the shopping center in negotiations and another awaiting the outcome of the grocery lease. More on this story to come. 

And Chesson confirmed that Dollar Tree has signed a letter of intent and is expected to open by summer.

Infrastructure work on the Court Street parking project is about 60 percent complete. When finished, Chesson said the project would yield a net gain of approximately 140 parking spaces behind downtown — bringing the total on the rear side to between 260 and 280 spaces. Vertical construction on the parking deck remains contingent on a state budget appropriation.

Chesson also highlighted a push to attract companies tied to the national submarine industrial base supply chain, noting that North Carolina has limited naval defense presence compared to Army and Air Force installations.

“There’s an effort nationally to centralize and make sure the whole supply chain for building submarines and aircraft carriers is built and manufactured in America,” Chesson said. “We see that as a big opportunity to get companies here that are going to hire 50 to 100 employees and provide high-quality jobs.”

Affordable Housing Bond Resolution Moves to Full Council

Council gave favorable direction toward an inducement resolution that would allow the town to act as a conduit bond issuer for TTG Tower Run Limited Partnership, an affiliate of Transcend Group LLC. The company is seeking to acquire and comprehensively renovate Tyler One Apartments, an existing 111-unit affordable housing development at 213 and 201 Tyler Lane, using up to $15 million in multifamily housing revenue bonds.

The renovation scope — budgeted at more than $85,000 per unit — would include new kitchen appliances, updated plumbing and electrical systems, new LED lighting, and community amenities including a business center, exercise facility, community garden, dog park, and campus-wide wireless internet for residents at no cost.

Bond attorney Kristen Kirby of McGuire Woods emphasized that the town bears no financial liability.

“The payments are made solely by the private company involved,” Kirby said. “The town has no financial responsibility whatsoever for the repayment of the bonds.”

The town is also eligible to charge an administrative fee of between one and one-and-a-quarter percent of the bond amount for serving as issuer. A full council vote is expected at the June 9 meeting.

Belton Named to Preservation Committee; Blessing Box Gets Green Light

In brief action, the council voted unanimously to appoint Lucas Belton, of 208 West Queen Street, to the Edenton Preservation Committee. Supporters noted Belton lives in the historic district, previously worked for five years for a preservation firm in Charlotte, and currently reproduces period-appropriate wooden architectural elements for local buildings.

“He gets it,” one council member said. “He’s involved with it already, and it certainly seems like a passion of his.”

Council also reached consensus to direct Town Manager Gooden to continue discussions with Miss North Carolina 2026 Sophia Kellstrom about installing a “blessing box” — a free community pantry stocked with non-perishable food and hygiene items — in a downtown park near the waterfront. Kellstrom, appearing by video from the side of Interstate 85 after encountering a traffic incident, said she has operated a food-insecurity nonprofit since age six and is the first Miss North Carolina in 87 years to visit all 100 counties in a single year.

“The idea is that you take what you need and you leave what you can,” Kellstrom said. “There’s no log of who visits, no camera, nothing to keep anyone from reaching out and taking hold of the resources they need.”

The budget finance committee working session is scheduled for June 2, with public comment on the proposed draft budget at the June 9 full council meeting. Council is expected to adopt the final budget on June 22, effective July 1.