---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Kim Ringeisen
<kim@ropewalk.io>
Date: Tue, May 19, 2026 at 1:52 PM
Subject: Response to May 18, 2026 BOC discussion: public input on John A. Holmes
High School project funding
To: <board@chowan.nc.gov>
Cc: Stallings, Susanne <susanne.stallings@chowan.nc.gov>,
<kevin.howard@chowan.nc.gov>
Dear Chair and Commissioners,
At the May 18, 2026 regular meeting, during the
Board's discussion of jail funding options,
Chair Kirby stated that citizens
appeared to be forgetful or to have bad memories about the Board's
deliberations and citizen input on the John A. Holmes High School project.
The attached letter responds to that assertion with the Chowan County meeting record itself, covering 2019 through May 2026. It includes a short summary, a timeline at a glance, and full citations from official County records.
The letter also asks the Board one specific question, and requests publication of three documents referenced in the meeting record but not included in any posted agenda packet. If information changes the timeline or meeting occurrence, I will update my records with any missing data corrected by your response.
Thank you for your consideration.
Kim Ringeisen
527 Yeopim Road, 405 S Broad Sreet, Edenton
==============================================
Note: See County Response below
Letter to Chair and Chowan Board of Commissioners, May 19, 2026
Kim Ringeisen 527 Yeopim Road Edenton, NC 27932 kim@ropewalk.io
May 19, 2026
The Honorable Chair and Members of the Chowan County Board of Commissioners
Re: Public input on the John A. Holmes High School project funding, $50M authorization to $85M
ceiling
Dear Chair and Commissioners:
At the May 18, 2026 regular meeting, during the Boards discussion of jail funding options, Chair Kirby
stated that the Board had held many discussions on the Holmes High School project, that he had a stack of
papers concerning the projects details, and that citizens appeared to be forgetful or to have bad memories
about the Boards deliberations and citizen input on the project.
I write to address that assertion directly. The Boards own meeting record, from 2019 through May 2026, is
summarized in the timeline and citations attached to this letter. The short version follows.
What the record shows
September 17, 2019. One publicly advertised hearing on the Holmes High School project. The project was
being discussed at that time under a bond approach that would have required a citizen vote.
November 3, 2020. Chowan voters rejected the quarter-cent Article 46 sales tax tied to the project, 52.56 to
47.44 percent.
March 22, 2021. At the Joint Board of County Commissioners and Board of Education Committee meeting,
USDA financing was formally presented to the Board by the Countys outside financial advisor, Davenport
Public Finance, as a case projecting no impact on the current tax rate at a $50M project scope. At the same
meeting, the construction company representative on the project, Mr. Rick Ott of MB Kahn, spoke directly on
USDA loan timing: if the school occupies the building in July 2024 the first payment on a USDA loan would
not be due until the 2025/26 fiscal year. Less than a month later, on April 19, 2021, the Board adopted
USDA financing at $50M.
April 19, 2021. Board authorized the project at $50M via USDA loan. No publicly advertised hearing.
May 2, 2022. Board held a publicly advertised hearing for the much smaller DF Walker loan. The format was
available, and the Board knew how to use it.
September 5, 2023. Board increased the project ceiling to $85M. No publicly advertised hearing.
Through May 18, 2026. Every later funding action, including multiple change orders and budget
amendments, was handled at a regular meeting with the standard three-minute public comment slot.
A three-minute public comment slot at a regular meeting is not the same as a publicly advertised hearing on a
projects scope or funding. The first lets a resident speak for three minutes on any topic, with no requirement
that the Board provide the project terms in advance. The second is announced in the legal notices ahead of
time, with the loan terms and project scope made available for citizens to review and prepare informed
comments on the specific decision before it is made.After the Board pivoted to USDA financing, no publicly advertised hearing was held on the loan terms or the
project cost at either the $50M authorization or the $85M ceiling. Citizens now raising the projects cost
growth are responding to the record itself, not to forgotten or mistaken memories of citizen input that the
record does not reflect. They are also responding to the second tax increase they are being asked to bear for
the cost of this new high school: the 3-cent General Fund rate increase adopted in the FY 2024-25 Budget
Ordinance, and the proposed FY 2026-27 rate of 60.25 cents, which is 5 cents above the published revenue-
neutral rate of 55.25 cents.
The question I am asking
Will the Board identify any publicly advertised hearing, as distinct from a regular meeting with three-
minute public comment, at which either the April 19, 2021 authorization of the Holmes High School
project at approximately $50M in USDA loan financing, or the September 5, 2023 ceiling of
approximately $85M, was presented to citizens for review before approval? If such an advertised hearing
occurred at either tier, please provide the date and the BOC agenda reference. If no such hearing
occurred, the meeting record itself establishes that fact.
Missing documents I am asking the Board to publish
Three documents that the meeting record references as informing Board decisions on the Holmes High
School project do not appear to have been posted in any BOC agenda packet for citizen review. I ask that the
Board publish them:
1.The USDA-required feasibility study, referenced at the February 14, 2022, June 20, 2022, and July 11, 2022
2. BOC meetings. Any updated Davenport & Associates financial analysis prepared after the April 5, 2021 no impact on
current tax rate projection. That projection was based on the $50M project scope; the public meeting
record does not reflect an updated analysis for the $85M ceiling adopted September 5, 2023.
3. The Construction Manager at Risk contract between Chowan County and MB Kahn, referenced in BOC
minutes from January 2022 forward.
Each of these bears directly on the projects funding and the tax-rate effect on Chowan property owners.
How this compares to the jail funding discussion
The Boards discussion of jail funding at the May 18, 2026 meeting was careful and detailed, with a proposed
$4.2M buy-in to join the Albemarle District Jail discussed alongside annual operational costs. The careful
review the jail decision is receiving now, and the publicly advertised hearing the Board held for the much
smaller DF Walker loan in May 2022, are not what the Holmes High School USDA loan received at either the
$50M or the $85M tier.
The Holmes High School USDA loan, at $85M authorized and approximately $81.2M audited (per Chowan
County FY 2024 audit, p. 73), is roughly twenty times the size of the $4.2M jail buy-in the Board is carefully
reviewing. The smaller decision is receiving the careful, structured review the larger one did not.
Thank you for your consideration.
Respectfully,
Kim Ringeisen
=============================================
Supporting Material
Timeline at a glance
Date Event Forum Public input format
Sept 17, 2019 Holmes HS hearing at ~$50M
(under then-active bond
approach)
Special joint BOC + BOE Publicly advertised hearing
on project scope
Aug 26, 2020 MB Kahn rep tells Board:
Camden must return funds if
its bond fails
BOC special meeting Three-minute public comment
Nov 3, 2020 Ό’ Article 46 sales tax for
Holmes HS
Election Voter referendum (rejected
52.56-47.44)
March 22, 2021 USDA financing presented
(Davenport); MB Kahn rep
Ott advises on USDA loan
timing
Joint BOC + BOE Committee Three-minute public comment
April 19, 2021 Authorization at $50M via
USDA loan (7-0)
BOC regular meeting Three-minute public comment
Feb 14, 2022 USDA-required feasibility
study commissioned
BOC emergency meeting Three-minute public comment
May 2, 2022 DF Walker loan publicly
advertised hearing
BOC regular meeting Publicly advertised hearing
on the loan
June 20, 2022 USDA loan status update BOC regular meeting Three-minute public comment
Sept 5, 2023 Increase to $85M ceiling
(7-0)
BOC regular meeting Three-minute public comment
Dec 5, 2023 LGC approves $35.0M USDA loan
NC LGC consent agenda None at LGC
June 17, 2024 FY 2024-25 budget adopted;
rate +3’ to $0.695
BOC budget hearing Budget hearing
Feb 3, 2025 Tech Package change order,
$103,139.45
BOC regular meeting Three-minute public comment
May 19, 2025 A/V Package change order,
$612,777.73
BOC regular meeting Three-minute public comment
Aug 18, 2025 Window film change order,
$40,000
BOC regular meeting Three-minute public comment
May 18, 2026 Four further change orders /
contingency, ~$320,970
BOC regular meeting Three-minute
=======================================
Note: A response was received from the county and is posted here along with corrections to the above
In summary considering the county's response, the following is true:
FYI, this confirms that no financial analysis by Davenport on the total $85M, only the $50M. It also clarifies that the noticed meetings did occur, however, they only covered the initial amount, not the $85M total. That the state does not require a noticed meeting for increases or ceiling meetings, which is odd, but the county is in compliance with the status on meetings and notifications based on this new finding. Still, citizens at the two meetings did not understand the $85M total or tax implications because they focused on the initial amount that stated no tax implications