The Daily Southerner, Tarboro, NC

Local News

November 3, 2009

Resident concerned about landfill

T. J. ROYAL

The Edgecombe County Board of Commissioners business on Monday included approving debt service payments for school construction projects and listening to concerns about the Edgecombe County Landfill.

The debt service repayment is for $316,241, paid by June 30, for classroom improvements made at various Edgecombe County Public Schools buildings.

The board also approved $81,400 for payment for tile installments in classrooms at eight schools, including the three high schools. There was also $75,000 approved for HVAC replacement work at North Edgecombe High School.

Those funds are from the county's Public School Building Capital Fund, which is supplemented by the North Carolina Education Lottery.

During public comments, Collin J. Webb Jr., a Suggs Road resident, raised his concern about extra land owned by the county near the confines of its Construction and Demolition Landfill along Colonial Road.

Webb said that a previous Edgecombe County Board of Commissioners had told him of its plans to close the landfill and turn it into a ball park and recreation area. Though he did not have it with him at the meeting Monday, he also said that previous county management had given him, in writing, an intention of its purposes with the landfill.

County Manager Lorenzo Carmon, who attended Monday after missing October's board meeting as he recovers from heart surgery, told Webb that the county still has plans to use the land for equipment that captures and converts into energy the methane gas emitted from the landfill.

In February, the commissioners signed an agreement with Environmental Credit Corp. to install the equipment. If it goes through, Carmon said the county is looking at using the energy from the methane gas to power a manufacturing facility to dry out sweet potato skins.

The county has "no plans whatsoever to expand the existing footprint of the landfill," Carmon added. The county contracts with Bertie County for all of its municipal waste, while construction and demolition debris is the only waste allowed to be buried in the landfill on Colonial Road.

Carmon and Commissioners Vice Chairman Charlie Harrell both told Webb that because the county has financial liability over possibly hazardous conditions caused by activity at the landfill, it has the incentive to ensure things are run properly.

Two companies also were denied by the commissioners Monday from having tax penalties set aside for filing personal property past the county's March 15 deadline.

Montana Tractors wanted to have a $4,059 late fee, 10 percent of what it owes in taxes on personal property, waived by the commissioners. Nomaco also sought an abatement on a 10 percent tax penalty.

Bob Goltz, vice president of operations for Montana Tractors, said the late listing by his company was due to a "lack of communication" between its corporate headquarters in Springdale, Ark., and its offices in Tarboro. Montana bought Farmtrac at auction in November.

Cindy Vice, vice president of finance for Nomaco, said its tardiness was due to a clerical error, where it was assumed the company had an extended deadline to meet its listing obligations by April 15. It was noted that 72 of North Carolina's 100 counties have the April 15 extended deadline to list property.

County Tax Assessor Cindy Coker told the commissioners the March 15 deadline for Edgecombe had been in effect since 2002. It was accepted so tax assessor staff, which means Coker and one other employee, would have time to complete all filing documents for the 2,800 corporate accounts within Edgecombe.

Commissioners Chairman Leonard Wiggins noted that the board could not go against state statute enforcing the penalty, while Commissioner Viola Harris noted that "it's not the first year" the county has had the March 15 deadline.

The commissioners also:

• Awarded the It Starts With U Foundation $97,000 to help 50 recently released inmates and ex-offenders find employment and resources in the community to help them reenter society. The funds come from a $138,885 grant from the N.C. Department of Crime Control and Public Safety.

• Accepted $37,700 from the N.C. Agricultural Development and Farmland Trust Fund, for consulting services from Agricultural & Community Development Services, to help the county determine best practices and best usage of farmland by Edgecombe County farmers.

• Approved new rates for Edgecombe Home Care and Hospice services. Routine home care for Hospice was raised $5, to $145. Continuous home care for Hospice patients increased $31, to $835 per day, and inpatient care also was raised $30, to $640.

• Declared November as Nonprofit Business Awareness Month, because of the contributions made by non-profit businesses to the local economy and the economy of North Carolina. Housing and Economic Development Director Eric Evans cited The N.C. Center for Nonprofits that such businesses have invested $76 million, and created 1,000 jobs, in Edgecombe County.

Text Only
Local News
  • Teresa Bryant headshot.jpg Bryant declines to seek re-election

    Teresa DeLoatch Bryant announced she will not seek re-election to the District 2 seat she now holds on the Edgecombe County Public Schools Board. The announcement came 91 days before the May 8 Primary Election and nearly a year after the first-term plus one year board member announced her resignation for personal and career reasons. She later rescinded her decision.

    February 6, 2012 1 Photo

  • MimiHerman.jpg W.A. Patillo receives $5,000 poetry grant

    W.A. Pattillo School has been awarded $5,000 from the North Carolina Arts Council for Poetry in the Classroom with Mimi Herman.
    The funds will be used to provide a week of poetry writing experiences for seven fourth grade classes through the expertise and creativity of Herman. Students will gain self-confidence, and will view themselves as writers rather than merely consumers of literature. They will learn to use language effectively and creatively to communicate thoughts, feeling, and impressions.

    February 6, 2012 1 Photo

  • IMG_5889.JPG Pizza Bowl

    The biggest football game of the year brings the largest sale of the year for two area pizza restaurants.
    Tarboro branches of Pizza Inn and Dominos Pizza are gearing up for Super Bowl XLVI Sunday by increasing their regular employee lineup by as many as seven.
    Pizza Inn is running a special that they believe will keep them busy throughout the day. Last year they sold over 200 large pizzas on Super Bowl Sunday compared to 50 on an average Sunday.

    February 3, 2012 1 Photo

  • Edgecombe unemployment up in December

    TARBORO — Unemployment rates increased in 93 of North Carolina’s 100 counties in December. Rates decreased in four counties and remained the same in three.
    Edgecombe, which saw a slight improvement in November, fell back to its October 2011 level (15.7%). Of the 100 counties in North Carolina, Edgecombe and Dare are tied at third highest in unemployment. 

    February 3, 2012

  • Three ECPS campuses ahead of First Lady's nutritional guidelines

    When First Lady Michelle Obama and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced new guidelines for the nutritional overhaul of school meals last week, they could have chosen three of Edgecombe County's public schools as their models.

    February 2, 2012

  • Lynn_Cale.jpg ECC Executive Named to United Way Board

    J. Lynn Cale, associate vice president of instruction at Edgecombe
    Community College, has been named to the United Way Tar River Region
    Board of Directors.
        The Tar River Region serves Edgecombe and Nash counties. Cale
    will serve a one-year term, from January to December 2012.
        He and other board members oversee 41 local health and human
    service programs funded through United Way as well as 21 Community
    Partners and various community development partnerships.
    RIGHT: J. Lynn Cale

    February 2, 2012 1 Photo

  • Pattillo Alumni Association on the move

    The Board of Directors (BOD) of W.A. Pattillo High School National Alumni
    Association, Inc. held a meeting on Jan. 21, at Pattillo School under the leadership of its President, Dr. Fred S. Wood, Jr.  All of the officers except one were in attendance, accompanied by 9 of 16 Board Members and 9 of 10 Appointed Standing Committee Chairpersons.

    February 2, 2012

  • BandSEDriverHouse.jpg Local students selected for N.C. Eastern All-District Band

    Three Edgecombe County Public Schools students have been chosen to play in the All-District Band. Lillian House, an alto saxophone player and Kaitlin Driver, a French horn player both eighth graders from South Edgecombe Middle School and West Edgecombe Middle School eighth grade flute player, Taylor Joyner earned the honor this year and will grace the stage at East Carolina University’s Wright Auditorium Feb. 3.

    February 1, 2012 2 Photos

  • Robbery prevention

    Community education on robbery prevention shares equal importance with the search of robbery suspects. Robbery prevention may seem unachievable, but we can not continue to ignore the problem of robbery in our community. As local citizens, we should create ways in which everyone can benefit from the knowledge of robbery prevention.

    February 1, 2012

  • GHW 01-28-1221.JPG George Henry White: tribute to a great American

      Why isn’t George Henry White a household name?  If Vincent Spalding has anything to do with it, that will soon change.
         Long ignored in African American history books and recognitions, George Henry White of North Carolina was elected to Congress in 1896, and re-elected in 1898, becoming the last African American elected to Congress after Reconstruction, and the first to serve in the 20th century.

    January 31, 2012 1 Photo