2010: YEAR IN REVIEW

Military News

Eight squadrons to come to base

  After a year of hearings and studies, the Navy announced on Dec. 9 its plans to base eight squadrons of new F-35B Joint Strike Fighters at Cherry Point.

Five others are headed for Beaufort, S.C.

Local officials and even Gov. Beverly Perdue pushed the Navy to place 11 of the 13 squadrons at Cherry Point. Perdue attended a public hearing on the basing options on June 15 at the Havelock Tourist and Event Center.

The decision will bring 128 new aircraft to Cherry Point and mean 1,194 additional military personnel. Construction on the base to prepare for the squadrons totals $507.7 million.

The first jets are scheduled to arrive in 2020. However, technical problems with the Marine Corps version of the jet have prompted Defense Secretary Robert Gates to seek a two-year delay in the program to make sure the jets are ready. The Navy has not commented on how that delay may impact the timing of the new jets, which are to replace Cherry Point’s AV-8B Harriers.

Denn relieved of command

Cherry Point’s commanding officer, Col. Douglas Denn, 47, was relieved of his command on Oct. 28 after he was charged with driving while impaired.

Denn was stopped by Newport Police at 11 p.m. Oct. 25 on U.S. 70 near the intersection of Carl Garner Road in Newport. Denn’s Saab was clocked at 67 mph in a 55 mph zone. He later registered a blood alcohol level of .14, which is over the state’s legal limit of .08. 

Denn was charged with DWI, possession of an open container and speeding.

Denn, an F-18 pilot with 3,500 flying hours, had been base commander since August of 2009.

Col. Philip J. Zimmerman, a chief of staff for 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (forward) eventually took command of the base on Nov. 15.

Catfish Lake Road ban

After a spate of injuries from single-car rollover wrecks and a wreck-related death, the Marine Corps banned Marines and sailors under its command from using the road other than for recreational purposes.

Catfish Lake Road serves as shortcut between Cherry Point and Camp Lejeune. The 18-mile dirt and gravel road bisects the Croatan National Forest and is an alternate route from paved highways to the north and south.

The ban was prompted by the Nov. 9, 2009, death of Pfc. Erika Saucier, who rolled her truck and died while 14 weeks pregnant. A Marine and his sister were seriously injured in another rollover wreck on Catfish Lake Road on Jan. 7. Two Marines were killed April 16, one month after the ban, when three Marines overturned 13 miles from Maysville on Catfish Lake Road and landed in a canal upside down. Mark Lawson, 24, of Havelock, the driver of the Jeep Cherokee, was charged with two counts of death by motor vehicle. His passengers, Brandon Allen, 22, and Elliot Teisler, 21, died in the wreck. The three Cherry Point Marines had reportedly been out fishing.

Weather

Aftermath of tropical storm floods Havelock

No named tropical storms or hurricanes made direct landfall on the North Carolina coast during the 2010 hurricane season, but it was the remains of Tropical Storm Nicole that brought heavy flooding to Havelock.

The National Weather Service in Newport reported that 8.75 inches of rain fell at Cherry Point on Sept. 30. In a five-day period, 16.44 inches of rain was recorded at Cherry Point, with a report of 17.42 inches of rain in Havelock.

The result was flooded yards and parking lots, overflowing ditches and shin-deep water on several roads.

At Pine Villa, vehicles in the parking lot were inundated and some apartments had water inside. Schools were closed.

There were no reports of any injuries or serious automobile crashes despite intermittent loss of power that shut down operation of traffic signals during the storm.

Havelock city government

Sewer capacity near and end

Havelock officials spent 2010 trying to figure out how to increase the city’s sewer capacity.

The pinch on wastewater availability prompted commissioners to take a conservative stance on future allocations. In January, the board denied a sewer allocation request for 54,720 gallons per day from the developers of Independence Place, a 240-unit apartment complex to have been located behind Walmart off Catawba Road. The developer, Place Properties, later announced it was withdrawing its plans to build in Havelock.

Havelock’s plan to acquire 284,000 gallons of sewerage per day from New Bern hit a snag when New Bern’s newly-elected Board of Aldermen opted against it.

New Bern did, however, strike a deal to provide sewer to the developer of  Croatan Station, a 450-unit residential and commercial development. Havelock agreed to provide water to the development, and there was talk of ultimately annexing Croatan Station. However,  in October, developer Eddie Ellis announced that he was going to hold off on development, citing a difficult economic and regulatory environment.

Meanwhile Havelock continued to look to North Carolina and the U.S. Department of Agriculture for financing of its $11.8 million project to relocate Havelock’s wastewater discharge pipe from Slocum Creek to the Neuse River. If accomplished, capacity would increase from 1.9 million gallons per day to 2.25 million gallons per day.

The relocation is also the first step in a master plan to ultimately increase capacity to 3.5 million gallons per day by 2023.

City seeks cleanup of site

Havelock city officials stepped up efforts to get the old Phoenix recycling site near Tucker Creek cleaned up.

Officials from the N.C. Division of Waste Management’s Inactive Hazardous Sites Branch began an initial assessment of the site on Aug. 19. 

County and state officials and legislators toured the 34-acre property on Aug. 26.

The site had been abandoned for 10 years with more than 150,000 cubic yards of unprocessed waste scattered about the area.

Sand Inc. of Havelock, whose president is Teresa R. Coleman, of Lenoir, owes thousands of dollars in back taxes on the property to Craven County.

DWM gathered samples of water wells Sept. 7 at residences on Pine Grove Road near the site and announced in early October that the water was safe for human consumption.

DWM hired the firm Soils and Materials Engineering of Raleigh to gather samples from seven ground water test wells and six vapor monitoring wells for testing beginning Oct. 5. S&ME removed about 1,600 pounds of electric capacitor parts and debris from the site and found no PCBs in the adjacent soil but did find high levels of arsenic and benzo(a) pyrene.

Groundwater tests found levels of arsenic, manganese and chromium in excess of state groundwater standards. Vapor samples were found to contain methane and hydrogen sulfide in excess of state standards. Other tests of surface water found three volatile organic compounds, five semi-volatile organic compounds and evidence of 14 metals.

DWM officials said that the findings do not indicate any health hazard for nearby residents, and more tests are planned.

The city hopes to one day turn the site into a park.

Residents pay more in budget

Havelock’s city leaders faced a difficult budget year, one that ended with a property tax increase for most residents.

The Board of Commissioners did lower the property tax rate from 53 cents to 46.5 cents per $100 in property value, but because of Craven County property revaluations in 2010, many property owners in Havelock saw their tax bills increase.

Commissioners decided to raise water and sewer rates as well as increase the garbage fee by $2.25 to $13.25 per month.

City employees also felt the impact of tough economic times. There were no cost-of-living adjustments and hiring was frozen.

In the end, the budget for the year came in at $15.7 million in what City Manager Jim Freeman described as “no frills.”

“It’s been the worst budget year I’ve ever been involved in, and I was first elected in 1979,” Havelock Mayor Jimmy Sanders said.

New fire station opens

Havelock Fire and Rescue members, and city, state and federal officials dedicated its new West End Station at Tucker Creek on April 7.

The 11,761 square-foot building cost $3.8 million. A $3.1 million low-interest loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture helped paid for the new facility.

The station houses a new “quint” firetruck equipped with a 75-foot ladder. The E-One truck cost the city $688,000 including equipment.

The structure has three bays and is equipped with rooms for 18 firefighters. It has a full kitchen, office spaces, workout room, training room and a communications capability that can serve as a full electronic information technology backup for the rest of the city.

Crime

Johnson convicted

It took a jury less than an hour May 20 to find Desmond Johnson Jr., 23, of Havelock, guilty of second-degree murder in the Aug. 24, 2008, beating death of April Renee Torres, 30, of Havelock.

Johnson was sentenced in Craven County Superior Court to 15 1/2 to 19 1/2 years in prison. The sentence was the maximum allowed under state law.

Prosecutors were fighting for a first-degree murder conviction, but the 10-woman, two-man jury found that prosecutors failed to prove the elements of pre-meditation, deliberation and intent required for a first-degree murder conviction.

The brutal beating came after Johnson noticed Torres, his former girlfriend, was with another man.

Johnson beat Torres with his own fists in the garage of a residence on Scotch Pine Court. She later died at Pitt Memorial Hospital in Greenville.

Torres was a mother of two children.

Father charged in infant’s death

Jeffrey Ray Guerrero, 24, of Havelock, was arrested Dec. 14 and charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of his 4-month-old daughter, Graciana Leighanne Guerrero, on Dec. 12.

The child’s mother came home from a break from work shortly after noon and found her baby unresponsive. She told a 911 operator that her husband was “passed out” in the bed after having apparently consumed vodka. Havelock emergency personnel could not revive the child.

An autopsy revealed the child died from suffocation, prompting the arrest of the father.

Guerrero was placed in the Craven County Jail on a $1 million bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 5.

Guerrero had three prior convictions for driving while impaired and had pending charges of driving while impaired and other charges, plus a habitual impaired driving charge, in Jones County.

Deaths

Former principal Gainey dies

Former Havelock High School Principal O.K. “Red” Gainey died from complications associated with leukemia on Dec. 6.

The 72-year-old was principal at Havelock High for 30 years from 1970 to 2000, when he retired. He estimated he had delivered more than 7,000 diplomas to Havelock High graduates during his tenure.

After his retirement, he still stayed involved in education as a member of the Craven Community College Board of Trustees.

Base Marine dies in Afghanistan

Cherry Point Marine Cpl. Joshua R. Dumaw was killed June 22 in Afghanistan.

He was on combat patrol near Delaram when an improvised explosive device went off. Dumaw, 23, had been in Afghanistan for just over a month when he was killed in the explosion.

Dumaw, who was assigned to Cherry Point’s Military Police Company, is survived by his wife, who was pregnant with the couple’s first child at the time of her husband’s death.

He was honored at a memorial held at the Cherry Point Base Chapel.

Student killed in crash

A car crash on Ferry Road on the morning of April 19 took the life of Haley Mills, a 13-year-old seventh-grader at Havelock Middle School.

Her sister, Amanda Mills, was driving her and her brother, 11-year-old, John Mills, to school when she pulled out from an intersection and collided with a truck hauling sod at the entrance to the White Horse subdivision in Cherry Branch.

The community instantly came together to show support for the Mills family.

Supporters erected an impromptu memorial at the scene of the crash, and a fundraiser was held the next week. The first ever Haley Mills Memorial Cup was held on Nov. 19 in honor of the standout soccer player who was also a member of the middle school band.

Items of note

Median project delayed

The East Main Streetmedian project, scheduled to begin in spring, was delayed as Department of Transportation and Havelock officials worked on the plan. A compromise was worked out involving the intersection of Woodhaven Drive, and DOT says the project is back on for 2011.

CERT director removed

Michael Sides was removed as director of the Community Emergency Response Team after his arrest on drug charges in January. He later agreed to a plea deal that could result in the dismissal of charges after a year of probation.

LaPenta pleads

Robert Alan LaPenta Sr. pleaded no contest March 31 to eight felony counts in relation to embezzlement of Havelock Little League money. LaPenta was ordered to pay restitution of $13,000 to the league.

Schipper killed at college

Havelock resident Jonathan Schipper, a sophomore at Mid-Atlantic Christian University in Elizabeth City, was killed Oct. 3 in a dorm room.

Christopher David Amyx, a fellow student, was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting.

Dog helps rescue owner

Glen Walker, 88, credits his dog Dottie for helping rescue him after he fell at Flanner’s Beach in July.

The dog repeatedly barked at a park service worker who followed the dog to Walker, who had fallen among rocks and was hidden from view for about four hours.

FRC East building opens

Fleet Readiness Center East opened its new Engineering Product Support Facility off Fontana Boulevard on Dec. 14.

The new building brings together about 200 workers who had been spread out at different locations.