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"News from Next Door" WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2016
Perquimans Central School student go
on Field Trip to downtown Hertford, 8
OCT 1 9 JECT
50 cents
Debate over second wind power project resumes
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The debate over a second
wind power project in Per
quimans County resumed
on Monday, but even if a lo
cal decision is reached this
week the issue probably still
won’t be resolved, officials
say.
Representatives from
both sides have said a legal
appeal to any decision will
happen and the courts may
ultimately decide the issue.
Apex Clean Energy is
involved in quasi-judicial
hearings on a Conditional
Use Permit (CUP) for Tim
bermill. The application was
filed in May and after re
view by the county planning
board, the hearings before
the county board started
in September. Before Mon
day’s hearing started in the
Perquimans County Court
house Annex, the Perqui
mans County Commission
had already met for about
28 hours over five nights on
the issue. Perhaps because
of the judicial nature of the
hearings — only expert wit
nesses are allowed to speak
—or perhaps because of the
length of the hearings, only
a few dozen people attend
ed Monday’s hearing. A year
ago, the courthouse annex
courtroom was packed to
overflowing.
Monday’s hearing was
the first of three more this
week. The board met again
on Tuesday and there is a
Saturday session at 9 a.m. if
needed.
Chad Essick is one of
the lawyers representing
local opponents of the Tim
bermill plan. When the ses
sions ended in September,
they had a witness, Robert
Rand, who was testifying
but didn’t get a chance to be
cross-examined by lawyers
for Apex before the evening
came to a close.
Essick said Rand wasn’t
available Monday, so instead
Perquimans County Com
mission Chair Janice Cole
allowed Essick to present a
new witness and the board
would take up Rand’s cross
exam on Tuesday.
Essick presented Mike
McCann, a property ap
praiser from the Chicago
area. Apex presented its
own property appraiser as
a witnesses last month. The
impact of a wind power
project on property values
See WIND, 3
County recovering from storm Police
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
More than a week af
ter Hurricane Matthew
dumped 14-inches of
rain, Perquimans County
appears to be drying out
and things are returning
to normal.
Perquimans County
Emergency Manage
ment Director Jonathan
Nixon'reported Monday
that Chinquapin Road
remained washed out
and there was still high
water on Gregorys Lane
in Woodville, but other
roads were clear.
Highway 37 (Belvidere
Road) was closed until
Friday because water
was crossing the road.
About 18-inches water
did flood an activity area
at Bagley Swamp Wes
leyan Church, forcing
church members to tear
out the drywall and in
sulation in the walls and
flooring.
• All the water caused
sewer systems to fail
in Hertford and Winfall
during the storm. It also
raised water levels in a
storage lagoon operated
by the Albemarle Utility
Company. To deal with
that, AUC got permission
from the state Depart
ment of Environmental
Quality to spray effluent
on its approved spray
fields beyond the normal
limit. That will create the
runoff of about 15,000
gallons, which will be
disinfected with chlorine.
All of the runoff will be
on property owned by
AUC.
Local students were
See STORM, 2
Top, a N.C.
Department of
Transportation
pickup truck
drives through
a low spot
on N.C. 37 in
Belvidere Friday
afternoon.
The road was
reopened to
traffic after
nearly a week.
Right, workers
remove road
barriers on
N.C. 37 near
Layden’s
Supermarket
Friday, marking
the reopening
of the road in
Belvidere.
STAFF PHOTOS BY
PETER WILLIAMS
probe
shooting
From staff reports
The Hertford Police Department
is investigating a shooting Saturday
morning that sent a man to the hos
pital.
Police were contacted about 2:30
a.m. Saturday by Vidant Chowan
Hospital reporting that a man had
been shot.
Lt. Webb responded and con
tacted the victim, Marvin Woodard,
according to Police Chief Douglas
Freeman.
See SHOOTING, 4
Schools
see lunch
demand soar
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The introduction of higher qual
ity food and a different way of
serving it is prompting a surge in
the number of students and even
adults buying lunch in a Perqui
mans County school cafeteria, ac
cording to school officials.
Through the first six weeks of
the school year, Perquimans Coun
ty cafeterias were serving about
1,200 student lunches a day out of a
school system with 1,600 students.
Last year the figure was about 850
to 900 lunches a day. The increase
runs across the board from stu-
See LUNCH, 4
Church demolishes old house to make room for growth
Heavy
equipment
makes quick
work of
demolishing
a home
at 211 W.
Market St.
in Hertford
Monday
morning.
STAFF PHOTO BY
PETER WILLIAMS
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The demolition of a
105-year-old home on
West Market Street Mon
day will pave the way for
future expansion of Hert
ford United Methodist
Church and provide long-
needed parking spaces
for now, church officials
say.
• Some residents mourn
the loss of the house they
say they fought to save.
Don Hurst, a member
of the church, said the
property at 211W. Market
St. was purchased about
six years ago. It sits next
to the church’s parson
age, which in turn sits
next to the church.
“When we looked at
the house we were not
looking at the house, we
were looking at the land
for future expansion,”
Hurst said.
But the original idea
was to use the three-story,
4,000 square foot home
for meetings for a while.
That proved to be
problematic,” Hurst said.
One February the utility
bill was about $800.
“The house had dete ¬
riorated faster than we
thought it would and we
just couldn’t afford to
keep it open for one or
two groups,” Hurst said.
Hurst said the church
was open to giving the
house house to someone
interested in moving it to
another site.
“We couldn’t get an es-
See CHURCH, 3
Crawford trust to provide ongoing scholarships
From staff reports
The estate of the late Dr.
John Crawford and his wife
Betty is expected to provide
enough scholarship money
to endow an annual $1,000
scholarship for a local student
through the Perquimans Coun
ty Schools Foundation.
Officers of the foundation
made an announcement of the
gift this week.
Dr. Crawford retired from
his practice as a physician in
Virginia Beach in 1973 and
began a second career work
ing for Family Planning in
northeastern North Carolina.
Both he and his wife moved to
Hertford where Betty’s mother
had grown up and where there
were relatives and friends.
As the couple grew older,
they moved to the Outer
Banks in 2005 to be closer to
family. But during their years
in Hertford they were active
members of Holy Trinity Epis
copal Church. Betty worked in
the school system and volun
teered in the hospital and on
the rescue squad. John was a
member of Hertford Rotary
and led tours at the Newbold-
White House.
Dr. Crawford died in Sep
tember 2007. His wife died in
June.
But two decades ago they
executed a trust agreement
as a part of their estate plan
ning to ensure that support
would continue even after
their deaths for the things they
loved. They named Eastern
Virginia Medical School and
the Perquimans school’s foun
dation as beneficiaries under
the agreement.
EVMS was named as a two-
thirds beneficiary under the
trust. The Perquimans founda
tion is to get the other third.
In cash, that represents more
See CRAWFORD, 2
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The late Dr. John Crawford and his wife Betty
have left a portion of their estate to the
Perquimans County Schools Foundation.