I I
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
' THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Volume 36, No. 50 USPS 428-080 Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C., Wednesday, Dec. 24, 1980 20 CENTS
* County joins protest of proposed telephone rates
With a public bearing on the matter
fast approaching, Perquimans County
has joined other area units of govern
ment in opposing rate hikes proposed by
Carolina Telephone.
The county commissioners made the
(j) decision on a motion by Charles H. Ward
in a meeting on Monday, Dec. 15.
Last week, Ward said he based his
opposition on the magnitude of the
requested rate hike, and what he
maintained is poor quality service.
"I just think tht rate hike is too much
at one time," said Ward. "They're
having a hearing next month and I
?) thought we ought to go on record as
opposing it," Mid Ward.
"We've got enough on us already
without adding anything else," he said.
According to the Carolina Telephone
proposal, rates for residential phone
service would increase by about a third
in the county, as would rates for business
phones.
An additional requirement would be
that telephone customers purchase their
own phones or rent them from Carolina
Telephone at a cost of 11.25 per month.
Carolina Telephone's area public
relations officer, Bill Meekins, said the
company would encourage customers to
rent or purchase their phones from
?inwiiii? Kiim iwni
Carolina Telephone because the com
pany would not be obligated to service
other types of phones.
Repairs to the telephone unit would not
cost the customer if he were renting it
from Carolina Telephone, Meekins said.
Other increases are proposed in such
areas as service connection charges,
directory listings, key and push button
telephone service, and auxiliary
equipment.
But Ward argued that phone rates are
already high enough, particularly in light
of the service provided by Carolina
Telephone.
"We've really got the poorest
J ' ??? . _
telephone service of anywhere I've ever
been," said Ward, "and the rate is about
as high as anywhere you'll ever go."
The town of Hertford has also opposed
the rate hike for the same basic reasons
as those expressed by Ward.
Meekins, however, said that besides
paying for increasing costs, the hike is
needed in order to improve services.
An increase in extended area service,
which allows county residents to make
phone calls to neighboring counties
without paying long distance rates,
would have the greatest impact on
county telephone rates.
Meekins said the cost of maintaining
the service is not being borne by the
counties that presently benefit from it.
A public hearing has been scheduled
Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. at the Knobbs Creek
Recreation Center in Elizabeth City in
order to guage public reaction to the
proposed rate hike.
Conducted by the N. C. Utilities
Commission, the hearing will give
concerned citizens and public officials a
chance to speak on the matter.
The town of Hertford will have a
representative present. Perquimans
County, however, apparently will not.
"My suggestion was to have a
representative there," said Hertford
mayor Bill Cox. "If nothing else, I'll be
there," he said.
Ward said the county would be content
with writting a letter of opposition to be
sent to the N.C. Attorney General's office
and entered on record in the rate case.
The N.C. Public Utilities Commission
will rule on whether or not the rate hike is
justified. Among the commission's op
tions are to approve the rate hike as
proposed, approve it with adjustments,
or to reject it.
Area residents wishing to comment on
the rate proposal should be present at the
public hearing. Written statements may
be submitted to the Chief Clerk, North
Carolina Utilities Commission, P.O. Box
991, Raleigh, N.C., 27602.
Early evening chimney fire
Inter-county firemen attempt to tm-stop
a creosote-clogged chimney following a
fire at the Jerry HaO residence in
Woodville. TU the season for chimney
Urn, and persons atSfadiis wood heat
should make rare their chimneys are
dean and their heaters are properly
installed.
ARPDC director set
w The Albemarle Regional Planning and
Development Commission hired a for
mer county manager to fill the position of
executive director at their regular
monthly meeting Thursday.
Don C. Flowers, Jr., who has served as
county manager for both Alamance and
Brunswick Counties, is expected to take
over the reigns from acting director Ray
McClees on Jan. 6. McClees has served
CD as ARPDC director since Robert
Whitley's resignation in June.
Flowers, 40, is a graduate of Atlantic
Christian College and has done graduate
work at the University of Detroit in
Michigan. An Army veteran, he is
married and the father of three children.
According to Billy Owens, personnel
committee representative, some 70
applications had been considered before
the committee decided on Flowers, who
was recommended by the state
Economic Development Administration.
The board also approved the establish
ment of a new position of assistant
executive director for licClees.
In other business, Wayne Lee, of the
North Carolina Department of Labor,
reported on the progress of the recently
established apprenticeship program.
The $289,000 program is designed to
provide oo-the-job training and night
school instruction to the economically
disadvantaged.
Various trades presently incorporated
into the program include electrical,
heating and air conditioning, boat
building, cooking, and carpentry.
Although Lee said that 20 applicants
had thus far been accepted into the ap
prenticeship program, his agency was
seeking 15 additional participants who
meet eligibility requirements.
The nine-month program includes 9
weeks of classroom instruction, expected
to begin Feb. 9. Job training will being in
April and continue through Sept. 15.
Time to pay those taxes
_ Tax dollar* are pouring into the
W Perquimans County coffers as residents
rush to get their 1M0 assessments paid
before Jan. 7 and avoid a 2 per cent in
terest penalty.
As of Friday afternoon, the tax office
had collected $9M, <71.80, Just under half
of the 1M0 assessment of $1,267,903.12.
"People have been paying in real
well," said tax supervisor Keith Haskett.
A slump in collections was thought to
have been a possibility because of the
poor farming year, but Haskett said that
payments are running about the same as
?
Brrrr... old man
winter is here
Dm the long-Johns tad that extra
pair of socka, old nan winter is here,
aad this time he eaaM hi Uke he meant
The Elisabeth City flight service
recorded the coldest weather of the
on the
year, appropriately er
A) flretday of winter, Dec.
Aad according to tha flight aenrtee,
I ??*?" of a- ?
snow-fall on Chrtatmu ere.
So a white Christmas appears
unlikely, bat remains a possibility.
A better bet is that temperatures
wi& be slightly warmer today (Dec.
M). wfth lows ia the bit fooling
back tows to the Ms for Christmas.
So handle up, and pit another log on
the Ore. Santa Clans win have to find
another entrance this year
last year at this time.
The influx of money has come at an
opportune time for the county, as interest
on investments is soaring. County
finance officer D.F. Reed, Jr. recently
invested county funds at 16.5 per cent
interest and was anticipating that the
rate might go even higher.
~ Haskett said that the collections office
will continue to be busy up until Jan. I,
the last day that taxes can be paid
without penalty.
Taxes paid by mail can be received oo
the morning of Jan. 7 without an interest
penalty.
After January, a .75 per cent monthly
interest penalty win be added to the
delinquent tax note.
County residents must also list their -
property for tax purposes during the
month of January. There are five tax
listers spread across the county who will
be taking throughout the month.
After January, a li per eent penalty
wfll be tacked on to the total pnperty
rah*. V
County schools
F amily life curriculum
to be established here
The Perquimans County School Board
decided last week to institute a com
prehensive curriculum dealing with
family life.
Although aspects of family life are
dealt with in high school biology, health,
and home economics classes, schools
superintendent Pat Harrell said there
was a need to coordinate such efforts.
"We want to make sure that things
being identified as important (to a family
life curriculum) are included," said
Harrell, "and avoid gaps and
duplications."
The the county school system has
completed an outline of a comprehensive
family life unit and the board decided at
their regular monthly meeting last
Monday to investigate thoroughly that
particular course of study, as well as
possible alternatives.
According to Morris Kornegay,
Perquimans County school coordinator
of education in grades 7-12, development
of a family life unit was initiated in the
county some three years ago.
A committee consisting of county
health and physical education teachers,
as well as community representatives,
outlined a course proposal based on a
need expressed by area health depart
ments and regional health educators.
In addition to the course outline, the
committee identified policies that they
felt should be addressed before im
plementation of the program.
Among the committee's concerns were
identifying who should teach the course,
in what grade to begin the study, what
staff development is necessary and
available, and whether a student may opt
out of the program because of conflicting
beliefs.
The board is expected to begin ad
dressing such questions after the first of
the year.
In other business, the board moved to
establish a policy dealing with student
requests to transfer to neighboring
school districts.
Harrell said that due to Perquimans
County's more stringent graduation
requirements, several students have
attempted to transfer to surrounding
counties where the number of units
required for graduation were not as
great.
Perquimans County High School
requires that a student complete 21 units
of study before graduation, the highest
number required in the area, according
to Harrell.
In another policy matter, the board
moved to establish regulations governing
school employee leave of absence.
Although the county school system has
not offered a leave option in the past, a
recent employee request prompted the
board to work on establishing such a
policy.
The board moved to grant the em
ployee a three-month leave and to set
guidelines later that will address
maximum leave allowed, continuation of
employee benefits, job assurance, etc.
Harrell announced that a $33,210 grant
had been awarded the Tri-County Career
Counseling and Placement for the
Handicapped project.
The money is expected to fund ad
ministrative costs for planning stages of
the project that is designed to aid han
dicapped students in Perquimans, Gates,
and Chowan Counties.
The planning grant will expire in June
of 1981, when Harrell said that funds
would be sought for implementation of
the project. Paul Ward, Perquimans
County Testing Coordinator, is coor
dinating the three-county effort.
In other fiscal matters, the board
learned that the Juvenile Justice
Delinquent Prevention Act grant of some
$10,649 had been audited. The grant funds
the counseling program available at
Perquimans Union School, which is
under the direction of Lueta Sellers.
In personnel matters, Harrell an
nounced that vacancies still existed for a
vocational agriculture teacher, an
elementary learning disability teacher,
and a secondary LD teacher.
Although Harrell said that several
inquiries had been made, none were
qualified except for one applicant for the
voc-ag position. "And he is still thinking
about whether or not he wants to relocate
to this area," said Harrell.
Harrell said that it was possible to
employ an uncertified teacher if he or
she is willing to work towards cer
tification.
A total of eight applications have been
received for the newly-established
position of assistant principal at
Perquimans Union School. Harrell said
that the interviewing process would
begin after the holidays.
The meeting was held at Hertford
Grammar School, in keeping with the
board's newly-established policy of
meeting at a different county school for
the second regular meeting of each
month.
Brenda Terranova presented an ac
count of a unit recently completed by her
gifted and talented students utilizing film
as a means of understanding poetry.
Students were taught motion camera
operation and mechanics, and worked
with a variety of lenses to achieve dif
ferent types of effects. Ultimately, the
students wrote, directed and produced
their own films depicting a particular
poem.
Mrs. Terranova aired one classes'
effort which depicted a western scene
complete with swinging doors and saloon
girls.
Students also studied the history of
film making, the development of car
toons, and produced their own
animations as well.
In other business, the board learned
that:
?Perquimans County has been selected
to present a program on gifted education
at the annual Region I Principal's In
stitute, slated for Jan. 24;
?that seeding at the Perquiamans County
High School football field has been
completed;
Six jraar old Aapla WUmb, a atafaat at <
HwUM< Grammar School, poaad tha
iliilig later la tMa raar*? "Later* to
wv o?r ndpt drawtag, aal will rtcato
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