EDENTON — Chowan County commissioners approved a set of resolutions on Monday formally placing a $15 million recreation bond referendum on the November ballot.
Monies borrowed through the bond, if county voters approve the referendum, will be used to upgrade some of the county’s parks and recreational facilities.
Only one citizen addressed the Chowan Board of Commissioners during a public hearing held prior to the board’s unanimous vote.
Gil Burroughs, a former member of the Edenton-Chowan Board of Education, expressed frustration with county officials’ decision to remove an indoor swimming pool from the list of projects the recreation bond’s proceeds could be used for.
Burroughs noted the number of times a swimming pool complex has been proposed, planned, and then dropped, including from the new John A. Holmes High School, which is now under construction.
A swimming pool, which many citizens thought would be included in the recreation bond, was stripped from the proposal during commissioners’ budget negotiations after officials said it would be too costly to build and maintain.
“There are many things that it (the recreation plan) will be used for, but a swimming pool is not one of them,” Burroughs said. “It has been expressly removed from consideration. I don’t know exactly why.
“We have many recreational facilities: we have football fields; we’ve got a baseball field; we’ve got soccer fields; we’ve got a fishing pier; we’ve got senior citizens (facilities); we’ve got facilities for basically any recreational activity that our citizens might desire to participate in. We even have pickleball courts,” he said. “You name it, we have sports facilities for our citizens to participate in.
“I fail to understand why the commissioners refused to consider this one thing,” he continued. “You won’t even put this on the (bond) issue for the citizens of this community to vote whether we want one or not.
Burroughs said the reason for not including a public swimming pool among the bond projects couldn’t be that it would increase property taxes. He noted that the bond referendum commissioners “will put before the people is raising taxes.”
“So that can’t be the reason,” he said. “I just don’t understand it.”
Burroughs said he believes Chowan residents would gladly pay additional taxes to support a swimming pool. He also appeared to suggest that some voters may not support the recreation bond because it lacks a pool project.
“Otherwise, no pool, no bond,” he said.
In other business, the board approved a Child Support Awareness Month resolution proposed by the Chowan Department of Social Services. Wayne Parrish, currently an appointee representing Area B, will serve another term on the Chowan County Planning Board. Sonya Rinehart will fill a seat on the ECU Health Community Hospitals Board vacated by Dr. Michael Sasscer, the former superintendent of the Edenton-Chowan Public Schools who departed the district in June.
Most Popular
Comments / 0