,THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Volume 40, No. 32 USPS 429-080 Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C., Thursday, August 9, 1984 25 CENTS
Johnson-White Insurance
marked the opening of their new
| office at 152 N. Church Street
with a ribbon-cutting and
refreshments on MOnday. On
hand for the opening were (left to
right) Hal Fleming, and Boy
Chappell of Peoples Bank,
William Wray Chappell and Joe
Nowell, Perquimans County
Commissioners, Becky and Allen
Winslow, owners of the business.
Ruby Harrell, employee,
Hertford Mayor Bill Cox, County
Commissioner Welly White,
Perquimans County Register of
Deeds Jeanne White,
Perquimans County Chamber of
Commerce Director Mary
Harrell, Jane Williams Editor of
THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY,
and County Commissioner
Lester Simpson. (Photo by Ken
Castelloe)
Hertford-Winfall receive CDBG funds
Major community
development needs in
) Perquimans County came on
step closer to resolution last
week when Governor James B.
Hunt, Jr. announced that the
towns of Hertford and Winfall
had been awarded Community
Development Block Grants for
1984.
The awards to- the. two towns
are among 69 totaling $31 million
announced by the Governor.
) Hertford will receive $740,000
for community revitalization
projects, while Winfall's $225,000
share of the monies will be used
for economic development.
"Local governments will use
these funds to revitalize their
communities, to rehabilitate
houses, improve basic services
and to help create jobs from new
and expanded businesses and
industries," the Governor
stated.
"I am particularly pleased
that these federal block grant
dollars will work to create or
save 445 jobs and will be used to
rehabilitate more than 1,600 sub
standard houses. Funds for
Board of Education
enacts stiffer child
i release policies
By RUTH MEN GEL
and JANE WILLIAMS
A more stringent policy
concerning student release and
acceptance has been enacted by
the Perquimans County Board of
Education.
Parents desiring their children
to be transferred out of the
Perquimans County School
System now must appear before
the Board of Education to make a
personal request, citing reasons
for obtaining the transfer.
Board of Education members
stated Monday night that teacher
ratio allotments of one teacher
per every 26 students were
threatened when students
transferred out of the system,
1 leading to possible cutbacks in
the teaching positions available
in the county's schools.
During the 1983-84 school year,
15 students transferred out of the
county system for various
reasons.
Five requests for student
transfers out of the system were
brought before the Board at their
Monday night meeting. Several
requests have been acted on
prior to this meeting.
Until this year, the student
release policy has encouraged
leaving students in the system
through the fifth grade, but due
to the large number of release
requests, as well as
consideration of student needs,
the Board voted Monday night to
discourage the release of
students prior to the completion
of the eighth grade.
Most of the transfer requests
have been made by parents that
work outside of the ocunty in the
Elisabeth City and Edenton area.
The five requests that were
presented to the Board on
Monday were granted with th*
stipulation that the parents
would give serious consideration
to returning the student! into the
county's system in the 1985-86
school year.
Two students were accepted
into the system from other school
districts, pending release from
those schools.
In other action the Board:
?Voted to increase the overal
budget for the schools by
$62,500.00 for fiscal year 1984-84.
?Voted to employ seven new
teachers and one lunchroom
worker. There are still several
positions open for the upcoming
school year.
?Met with Sam Ashford,
architect for renovations at the
high school.
Ashford encouraged the Board
to begin seeking contract bids for
the well system for the high
school complex immediately.
The Board voted to send out
specifications for the system to
three firms, and will hold a
special meeting to review the bid
proposals on August 17, at 4:00
p.m.
All bids must be received by
3:00 p.m. on August 17.
?Bids for the School's Food
Service for bread and milk were
accepted by the Board.
Sealtest, who has supplied the
milk for the schools for the past
several years, presented a fixed
bid which was accepted by the
Board.
Continental Bakery (Wonder
Bread) gained the bread
contract, pending notification of
a fixed rate.
?La Claire Anderson, School
Food Service Manager, asked
the Board to consider a price
increase for milk from *> cents to
25 cents, due to lost revenues
during the 1W >1 school year,
and citing an increase in milk
prices for the upcoming year.
The Board voted to raise the
rate of milk to 25 cents.
Breakfast and lunch prices will
remain unchanged this year.
economic development projects
will be matched with
approximately . $3.2 million in
additional public and private
dollars," he said.
Hunt said the unfortunate
aspect of the program is the very
small amount of funds available,
compared to the larger number
of requests for the federal
money. "Although our economy
appears to be improving, the $112
million requested by cities and
counties indicates a continued
scarcity of local resources.
"But it also shows that local
officials have not decreased
efforts to improve the quality of
life in North Carolina, especially
for low to moderate income
citizens, those hardest hit by an
economic slowdown," he said.
The Governor noted that over 80
per cent of each project's funds
will benefit low to moderate
income individuals.
Governor Hunt described the
program's value as
"immediately evident," noting
that the projects will contribute
to continued economic growth
and community improvements.
"While jobs are the most direct
indicator of economic growth,"
the Governor said, "better
housing and improved public
facilities also will have a positive
effect on our economy." He
cited, too, the benefit of
construction jobs created
through work associated with the
neighborhood improvements.
North Carolina's Community
Development in cooperation with
local officials. The program is
administered by the
department's Division of
Community Assistance.
Rating criteria for funds
included the percentage of
benefit to low and moderate
income people, community
needs, a proposed project's
design, its consistency with state
goals and policies, and the
utilization of other public and
private funds for project
activities.
The announcement marks the
third year the state has
administered the program.
Formerly administered by the
Federal Department of Housing
and Urban Development, it was
shifted to the state as part of the
"new federalism" concept in
1982.
All 100 counties and all but the
16 largest cities will continue to
be funded directly from the
federal government. They
include: Asheville, Winston
Salem, High Point, Greensboro,
Burlington, Charlotte, Gastonia,
Salisbury, Concord, Durham,
Raleigh, F a y e t te vi 1 le .
County gains fund
allocations for
secondary road
improvements
By JANE WILLIAMS
Monies allocated to
Perquimans County for
secondary road improvements
will be used to pave two roads in
the county, while special funding
has secured to pave a third road.
Perquimans County
Commissioners received word in
a letter from John Halstead,
District Highway Commissioner,
that $243,000 had been allocated
to the county for secondary road
improvements for fiscal year
1984-85.
The letter stated that these
funds would allow the paving of
the Earnest Moore Road (State
Road 1333) from State Road 1329
to the dead-end, and the Four
Mile Desert Road (State Road
1223 ) at a total cost of $225,000.
The Earnest Moore Road was
set by the North Carolina
Department of Transportation
(N. C. D. T. ) as the top priority
project for the county.
The Four-Mile Desert Road,
which was not included in the
N. C. D. O. T. 's list of 19
priority projects, was noted in
Fiscal Year 1983-84 as a top
priority by the County
Commissioners.
The Commissioners voted
unanimously to use the allocated
funds to pave the two roads, and
to use the allocated funds to pave
the two roads, and to use the
remaining $18,000 for spot
stabilization purposes on other
secondary dirt roads in the
county.
Halstead stated in his letter
that he had secured $50,000 from
other sources to pave the Russell
Bundy Road.
The projects are slated to be
scheduled at the August 10
meeting of the N. C. D. O. T
In other action the
Commissioners:
? Appointed three new
members to serve on the
Domicilary Home Board through
the Albemarle Commission.
The new members, pending
notification and acceptance are:
Annie Mae Baker, Jean Widener
and Thelma Elliott. All three are
one-year appointments.
?Re-appointed Louise Barber
and Eugene Rountree to three
year terms on the Domicilary
Home Board.
?Agreed to send a letter of
support for a 90-bed nursing
home facility in Perquimans
County to serve Perquimans and
G ates Counties.
?Heard a report from Wayne
Floyd of Rivers and Associates
regarding the progress of the
county water system.
?Voted to give the Highway 17
Transportation Association $500
for Fiscal Year 1984-85.
County reaches low
unemployment level
Gordon Allen, manager of the
Employment Security
Commission in Edenton recently
reported that Perquimans
County had one of the lowest
unemployment rates in the State
recorded for June, 1984.
Allen stated that the civilian
labor force for Perquimans
County was estimated at 3,120 in
June, an increase of 130 over the
May estimates of 2,990.
Total employment increased
by 150 persons from 2,860 in May
to 3,010 in June. Total
unemployment in Perquimans
County in June was estimated at
three and one-half percent,
which Allen said represented
about 110 people without jobs.
Allen stated that the
Employment Security
Commission in Edenton offers
assistance to job seekers in need
of jobs and assistance to
employees with job openings by
referring qualified applicants to
satisfy their labor needs.
If you have a job opening
please call the Edenton office at
482-2195 or if you are in need of a
job register in person at 709 N.
Broad Street in Edenton.
Newspaper office opens in new location
' After almost one-half a century
THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
has relocated into a more
spacious building.
The newspaper, which is
published by Advance
Publications of Elizabeth City,
has moved from its former
quarters on Courthouse Square
into the building that was
formerly occupied by Riverside
Insurance Agency at 119 W.
Grubb Street in Hertford.
The insurance agency, which is
also a collection agency for
Carolina Telephone and Pyrofax
Gas Co., has moved into a
trailer-office unit across from
the Town of Hertford Municipal
Building on Grubb St.
Jane Williams, Managing
Editor of the paper, cited several
reasons for the move including
additional office space, visibility,
and parking.
"When the newspaper opened
almost 50 yeara ago the
Courthouse Square location
provided more than ample space
for the paper," Williams said.
"But through the years the paper
and its staff have expanded,
creating cramped quarters and
productivity problems. We feel
certain that the new building will
give the paper's personnel
adequate space for creativity,
better productivity and future
expansion."
THE PERQUIMANS
WEEKLY held a ribbon
cutting and open house
Friday, marking the opening
at their new office at 119 W.
Grubb Street. Present for the
ribbon cutting were (left to
right) County Commissioner
Joe Nowell, Chamber of
Commerce President Shirley
Perry, the paper's Managing
Editor, Jane Williams and
Hertford Mayor Bill Cox.
(Photo by George Wilmore)