. THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
n ~\ ? r ? n"*"? ? : - ? " ~
Volume 34, No. 16 ' Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C., Thursday, April 20, 1978 15 cents
JULIAN H. BROUGHTON
Candidate for Sheriff
GEORGE HALL
Candidate for County Commissioner
AUBREY ONLEY
Candidate for Sheriff
LOVIC E.MCELROY
Candidate for County Commissioner
JOHN H. LONDON
Candidate for County Commissioner
L10YD R. "FLUTCH" DAIL
Candidate for Board of Education
W.W. "WELLY" WHITE JR.
Candidate for County Commissioner
1 ' ? . I
WALTER L. LEIGH
Candidate for Board of Education
MARSHALL E.CADDY
Candidate for County Commissioner
THOMAS L. "TOMMY" DALE
Candidate for Board of Education
FENTON EURE JR.
Candidate for County Commissioner
CLIFFORD WINSLOW
Candidate for Board of Education
By KATHY M. NEWBERN
Over 150 people turned out in Per
quimans County last Wednesday
night to meet the candidates.
The 120-seat courthouse was filled
to capacity with the overflow seated
in the aisles and standing in the
entrance.
The event was sponsored by the
Hertford Business and Professional
Women's (BPW) Club to allow local
citizens an opportunity to meet, talk
with, hear from, and question can
didates in local, district, and state
-races.
While only two of the nine can
didates for the U.S. Senate race at
tended, nearly all district and local
candidates were present.
Using a five-minute time limit per
candidate, Miss Thelma Elliott, a
BPW member and past Board of
Education member, served as
moderator first recognizing the can
didates for U.S. Senate.
Speaking first was a represen
tative for U.S. Senator Jesse Helms
who will meet the Democratic
nominee in November. The
representative said, "Jesse Helms is
a man of principle and a man of
I I . - * ?
truth and he's gone up there and he's
,told it like it is and he's leveled with
the people of this state. He's a man
of truth and honor and decency. He
said that Senator Helm's has a
dream to free the country from
"government bureaucracy and red
tape."
The eight Democratic candidates
seeking the nomination for U.S.
Senate were recognized next with
two present and one having a
representative on his behalf.
Mrs. Joe Felmet gave a presenta-.
tion on behalf of her husband,"
Democratic candidate for U.S.
Senate. She said, "Joe Felmet ad
(See Meet the Candidates, Page 10)
HONORED AT RECEPTION - A
large group of local citizens were
present Sunday at a reception given
in honor of Dr. and Mrs. Ernesto R.
Lazaro. The new doctor and his
I V. ?I-'."- "_j ? ? - _J
family greeted over 230 guests dur
ing the two-hour reception at Hert
ford Grammar School. (Staff photo
by Ray Ward)
i Welcome extended
by reception
Over 230 Perquimans County
citizens came to town Sunday to
meet, greet, and welcome the coun
ty's new doctor.
The reception was held from 3-5
p.m. at Hertford Grammar School to
honor the doctor and his family and
tio allow local citizens the opportuni
ty to meet the newest additions to
the county.
Sponsored by the Perquimans
County Economic Development
Association and the Perquimans
County Chamber of Commerce
Medical Committee, the event was
described as a huge success.
Dr. Lazaro and his family ex
pressed their appreciation at the
overwhelming welcome they have
received. ?
Democrats to convene
A.T. Lane Sr., Chairman of the
Perquimans County Democratic
Party has announced the
Democratic County Convention for 1
m. April 21. The meeting will be
in the Perquimans County
?
emphasised the importance
each county precinct
by its delegates at the
and said several issued
t decided. Among the action
taken is the selection of
delegates and alternate delegates to
the triennial Congressional District
Convention and to the triennial State
Convention.
The local party members must
also select two members to attend
the Coogressioanl District Ex
ecutive Committee, the Judicial
District Executive Committee, the
State Senatorial District Executive
Committee, and the House of
Representatives District Executive
Committee.
affected by VEPCO agreement
RICHMOND, VA. - North
Carolina's rural electric
cooperatives have signed an agree
ment with Virginia Electric and
Power Company providing for the
purchase of a portion of six of the
firm's nuclear power generating
units over the next seven years.
The power plants in question in
clude one two-unit facility which is
already in operation and a four unit
plant which is expected to produce
its first commercial energy in June.
The agreement, which was signed
here Fnday, culminates almost two
years of negotiations between the
power company and North Carolina
Electric Membership Corporation,
the power supply arm of the state
EMC organization. .
It was signed at the same time
that Old Dominion Electric
Cooperative, Inc., representing 16
co-ops in Virginia, Maryland, and
Delaware, executed a similar con
tract with VEPCO to acquire a por
tion of the same generating
facilities.
The N.C. EMC contract calls for
the EMC's to acquire about 1.3 per
cent of the capacity of the six
nuclear units, or roughly 67
megawatts of power, with an invest
ment of about $51 million.
The investment, which will be
made in monthly increments until
each of the planned units goes on
line, is expected to save the EMC's
more than $4.2 million.' over the next
lOyears.
Terms of the agreement are con
tingent upon the co-op's making ac
ceptable financing arrangements,
which must be approved by the
Rural Electrification Administra
tion. REA officials have already
given a tentative green light to the
purchase plan.
Funds for the project will include
loans from REA and the National
Rural Utilities Cooperative Finance
Corporation, a nationwide lending
institution which provides loan funds
from the private money maitet to
supplement REA loans for co-op
protects.
The agreement makrs the initial
commitment by the 28 Tar Heel
EMC's to acquire their own
generating facilities. Among those
co-ops is the Albemarle Electric
Membership Corporation with its of
fice located in Hertford.
The 28 EMC's now own no genera
tion and must purchase all of their
power requirements from the
private power companies and the
Southeastern Power Administration
at bulk rates for re-sale to their
consumer-members.
"This is a real landmark for the
state's electric cooperatives," said
Alton P. Wall, executive vice presi
dent of N.C. EMC. "It signals the
beginning of a new era in power sup
ply for all of them ? an era which we
hope will eventually lead to com
plete energy independence for the
EMC's in years ahead."
By moving to independence in
power supply, he added, the co-ops
can establish "some control over our
own destiny while also avoiding the
costly negotiations and legal battles
that are required every time our
suppliers want to raise their
wholesale rates."
N.C. EMC spends hundreds of
thousands of dollars yearly in
engineering and legal fees to protest
these rate hikes before the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission
(FERC), Wall said.
Under the VEPCO agreement,
bulk rates for EMC power re
quirements above those being ac
quired 'in the purchase will be set
through the use of a formula based
on the power company's retail rates.
The purchase contract includes a
provision required by VEPCO that
the EMC energy output must flow
only to the six North Carolina co-ops
which are wi thing the VEPCO ser
vice area and which are now buying
virtually all their energy from VEP
CO. Albemarle EMC is one of these
six. The other five are Cape Hat
teras at Buxton, Edgecombe-Martin
County at Tarboro, Halifax at En
field, Roanoke at Rich Square, and
Tideland at Pantego.
Even so, since the purchase is be
ing handled by the state EMC
organization, all of the participating
EMC's would share in the ownership
of the generating units, including the
financial obligations and savings
that come with them, Wall said. All
28 of the state's EMC's are members
of N.C. EMC, but each of them must
approve the final purchase ar
rangements in order to participate
in the project.
' Once each local EMC has acted on
the proposal and the financing is ar
ranged, the co-ops will immediately
acquire a portion of the Surry
Nuclear Station, which features two
788-megawatt units situated on the
James River in Virginia's Surry
County' The BMC's will buy roughly
20 megawatts of that capacity, or
enough energy output to take care of
about 20 percent of the total power
requirement for the six EMC's in the
VEPCO service area.
Other units to be affected by the
purchase are all part of the North
Anna Nuclear Station, which is
under construction in Louisa Coun
ty, Va. It includes two 898-megawatt
units and two 907-megawatt units.
One of the smaller North Anna
units is now involved in start-ip
testing and is expected to go on line
June 1. The second is slated to begin
commercial operations in the spring
of 1979. The two larger units are to
become operational in 1983 and 1984.
When the co-ops buy into the last
of these units, Wall noted, they'll
own about 67 megawatts of capacity,
which will cover almost 40 percent of
the total energy requirements for
the six EMC's receiving the power.
The only other VEPCO generating
facilities now planned or under con
struction are the six units of a
pumped storage plant in Bath Coun
ty, Va., which is scheduled for com
mercial operation in 1982. It was
omitted from the purchase plan.
However, VEPCO and EMC of
ficials have left the door open for
negotiations on additional purchase
arrangements or shared ownership
plans involving other facilities that
might be planned for the years
beyond 1984.
Meanwhile, N.C. EMC officials
are also working on two other fronts
to establish an independent source of
power supply. They are negotiating
with Duke Power Co. on a proposal
to buy a share of a unit of t}ie
Catawba Nuclear Station in York
County, S.C., and they are con
ducting a feasibility study of a peat
fired generating plant that the co
ops might build in Eastern North
Carolina.
Program eligibility
changes are noted
Some North Carolinians may be
eligible for additional food stamps
as the result of a recent court deci
sion regarding emergency issuance
of food stamps.
According to N. Paul Gregory Jr.,
Perquimans County director of
Social Services, instructions have
been received from USDA through
the Division of Social Services in
Raleigh, which direct that each in
dividual in the county who thinks
they are eligible be given the op
portunity to apply. Further, USDA
has prescribed that press releases
be prepared which speak to in
terested individuals.
Since exact language as provided
by USDA must be shown, the USDA
directive is quoted below :
"You may be eligible for addi
tional food stamps as the result of a
recent court decision in Aiken v.
Obledo regarding emergency is
(See Cbtages aoted, page t)
s County Schools Arts Week
f W - i
See
page 6