THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Volum* 57, No. 34 USPS 428-080 Hertford, Perquimans County, N.C., Thursday, August 20, 1??7 30 CENTS
Town of Winfall filing
see pg. 10
Church History
see pfl. 8
Friday in the Park"
see pg. 11
Staff photos by Anzie Wood
Morris Kornegay, principal of Central School, with upcoming kindergardener Robert Harrell.
Area schools to open August 24
The Perquimans County schools
will -open this year on August 24th,
and according to Superintendent Pat
Han-ell, students may just find a few
changes this year.
. First students at the high school
lean expect to be in the new building.
The board of education has accepted
conditional occupancy of the build
up, and if there are no further prob
lems with the facilities they plan to
open school on time with those facili
ties in operation. An open house fea
turing the new facilities will be held
later this fall, at this time no date has
been decided.
Also this year all first grade and
kindergarten students in the county
will be using the IBM "Writing to
Read" program. "Writing to Read"
is a program which uses computers
and other visuals to teaching reading
and writing skills to young children.
The program has been expanded to
include the first grade this year due
to its' overwhelming success in the
school system last year.
Perquimans Middle School will
also see some changes. This year the
school will have a full time guidance
counselor to serve the needs of stu
dents, and it will house all 5th
through 8th graders.
Sewer bids exceed budget
The bids were open for the im
provement to the Hertford Waste
tment Plant Wednesday, Aug.
Town officials were disap
pointed that the bids exceeded the
projected estimates.
Estimated construction costs for
the project were $307,800 way short of
the lowest bid of $582,000.00 sub
mitted by T. A. Loving Company of
Golds boro, North Carolina.
Two other bids by Roanoke Con
struction and George Raper and Sons
were also over the mark with the
Companies bidding $584,000.00 and
$648,950 respectively.
According to Mayor Bill Cox, and
Leo Green, Engineer for the project
the bids will now be evaluated. Green
stated following the opening on
Wednesday that after the evaluations
are made his Arm would make a rec
ommendation to the town. Green fur
ther stated that some negoiation
make take place with T. A. Loving
Company to see if their bid could be
lowered. Greene also said that the
possibility of roadvertising for bids
has not been ruled out by the town at
this time.
Mayor Cox stated on Wednesday
that the town's next step will be to
negotiate with the lowest bidder as
allowed by law and possibly with the
state to see if any more grant monies
are available. "The project must be
done," said Cox. "We will have to
come up with the additional portion
of the money needed," he added.
The bid opening on Wednesday fol
lowed the approved authorization for
the town of Hertford to issue a bond
totaling $200,000.00 which will be used
to fund the town's share of the funds
needed for the project.
The referendum passed on Tues
day by a large margin. 135 people
voted and 126 voted in favor of the
referendum with only nine against
for a total of 135 voters, and 93 per
cent in favor of the referendum.
With the current problem facing
the town regarding bids, Cox also
stated Wednesday that construction
may be delayed. Construction on the
project is tentatively scheduled to be
gin in October, and will last approxi
mately 180 days or six months as de
fined in the EPA grant.
The project will greatly increase
the capacity of the current plant.
Board of Education meets
.. 1 By ANZIE L. WOOD
The Perquimans County Board of
ifSducation met Monday, August 17 at
8:00 p.m. School will begin the 1987
1988 fiscal year with a tenative allot
ment by State Board of Education,
which was set back in March by the
General Assembly. All Final allot
ments will hopefully be received by
next week.
Certain provisions were discussed
by the Board which were set by the
Legislative Committee concerning
the number of students per class
|hx>m. School will be open as sched
uled on August 24. Perquimans
County High School Renovation Pro
ject has been approved and passed.
Fire provisions have been approved
by the Fire Safety Inspector.
There are two major problems con
cerning the final inspection of the
Project, the cooling system and the
floor tile. Both have been scheduled
to be taken care of by the contractors
with the Board of Education's appro
val.
The Summer School Program of
1967 was a tremendous success due to
the devotion and dedication of the
teachers and the program provided.
Jeannie Umphlet gave a report on
the state testing results. They were
as follows:
Algebra I, State - 65.3 percent, Re
gional - 64.2 percent, Perquimans
County - 73.4 percent.
Algebra II, State - 67.2 percent, Re
gional - 64.7 percent, Perquimans
County - 75.8 percent.
Biology, State - 57.6 percent. Re
gional - 57.6 percent, Perquimans
County - 65.6 percent.
Testing scores in Perquimans
County were a higher scoring per
rentage compared with State and Re
gion norms.
The cost of school lunches are:
Breakfast - K-4 ? 15 cents, 5-12?50
cents
Lunch - K-4? 90 cents, 5-12? $1.00
Adult Breakfast - 75 cents
Adult Lunch - $1.60
Reduced Breakfast K-12? 30 cents,
Lunch? 40 cents
Jake Boyce, Assistant Superinten
dent, stated in his report, that two
new positions have been added to the
teaching staff at the middle school.
Ann Flippen will fill the full time po
sition as Guidance Counselor and
Lola Duers will be teaching the Voca
tional Homemakiiuz .
Pat Harrell stated that if there is
any early dismissals due to hot
weather, it will be at 1:15 and an
nounced on WBXB Eden ton and
WGAI and WCNC Elizabeth City.
Basketball coach named
P The Perquimans County Board of
Education announced this week that
Roger Burgess has been hired to fill
the position of varsity basketball
coach at Perquimans High School va
cated earlier this year by Mr.
Webster.
Mr. Burgess' new coaching duties
Weekend Forecast
Forecasters are expecting
mostly sunny skies. Highs in the
liilddle to upper 80s. Lows in the
itiid-60s to low 70s.
will include in addition to varsity bas
ketball, J. V. basketball, track and
assisting with the football program.
Mr. Burgess will also be teaching el
em en try physical education.
Pat Harrell, Superintendent of the
Perquimans County Schools stated
that Mr. Burgess has a strong basket
ball background, and that he is
looking forward to putting together a
strong program for the coming year.
Mr. Burgess is a graduate of East
Carolina University and Lees Mc
Crae Junior College where he played
basketball. HQs past basketball hon
ors include all- conference player in
high school and he was a member at
the all-western North, Carolina bas
ketball team in high school
He is a native of Lenoir, North Car
olina, and is currently teaching and
serving as basketball coach at WUkes
High School, Wilkes County, North
The high school will also introduce
an in-school suspension program this
year for the first time, and students
will have an opportunity to take
dance and drama classes this year
for the first time.
In addition to an increase in offered
programs for the coming school
year, school officials are also pre
dicting an increase in enrollment.
The estimated enrollment for the
1987-88 school year is 1875 students
which is up IS students over the 1986
87 school year.
Revitalization
efforts of
Hertford
On Thursday of last week down
town property owners, local officials,
and interested citizens got to glimpse
into the future as they viewed Hert
ford's downtown facade im
provement proposal.
The proposal which was done in full
color was developed by Nancy
Cherry, Julie Magnotti, and Laurie
Vandiford, three students of Dr. Ab
dul Shakoor Farhadi at East Caro
lina University's school of Environ
mental Design and outlined step by
step phase improvements for the fa
cades of downtown buildings. The
proposal was done in conjunction
with Hertford Horizons.
Hertford Horizons is the title of
Hertford's downtown revitalization
efforts which are currently under
way, and is part of a larger project
being sponsored by Community
Strategies for Economic Progress
(STEP). STEP is designed to help
small communities like Hertford
carry out revitalization efforts and
achieve economic prosperity.
At the viewing on Thursday, John
Chris tenson, Chairman of the steer
ing committee for Hertford Horizons
stated that the proposal would induce
people to improve their buildings
downtown. He also hopes that if one
property owner will get revitalization
efforts of their building started it
might result in the "domino effect"
with other property owners following
suite.
For more information on the fa
cade proposal or the revitalization ef
forts of downtown Hertford contact
the Perquimans County Chamber of
Commerce at 426-5657.
County commissioners
bombed with complaints
The Perquimans County Commis
sioners continue to be bombarded
with complaints about poor water
quality. At their Monday night ses
sion, all the Commissioners reported
receiving calls and visits from irate
county water system customers -
Commissioner Thomas Nixon
summed up the problem, saying,
"It's just a genuine mess."
Ben Chambers, who runs an ice
making business from his home in
the New Hope Community appeared
before the Commissioners requesting
that his water bill for approximately
the past 30 days be forgiven.
According to Chambers, the water
quality has been so poor that he has
been forced to dump thousands of
pounds of ice. "I cannot sell the
stuff," he said. "It has cost
me... somewhere around 30,000
pounds of ice, and I'll tell you, that
ain't cheap."
Although Chambers' equipment
has filtering systems, the systems
have been unable to remove the con
taminants from the water pumped by
the county. He told the Commission
ers that the water is generally of
poorer quality from U p.m. until 9
a.m.
Chambers said his monthly water
bill is usually between $100 and $130.
"Gentlemen, I don't feel like I ought
to have to pay it (this month's bill),"
Chambers said.
"Well, I don't feel like you should
either," answered Commissioner
Lester Simpson.
The Board voted to void Chambers
upcoming water bill. In defense of
the decision, Chairman W. W.
"Welly" White stated, "I don't be
lieve we have many businesses like
Ben's on the System."
Water Department spokesman
Keith Haskett said that his office has
received numbers of complaints
about water quality, as well as calls
from people who have paid the $300
hook-up fee as long ago as four
months and still have no meters.
"We have about 40 meters that
need to be put in bad," Haskett said.
The Board responded that with the
Bethel plant shut-down, poor water
quality, and low manpower facing
the water department at present,
those customers will be forced to
wait at least another week, probably
longer.
County Manager Paul Gregory re
ported that work on the Bethel plant
was scheduled for completion on Au
gust 14th. He said that repairs to the
inside of the plant were complete ex
cept for painting, and that the outside
was finished to the point that the fa
cility can be used.
Water samples taken from the
three lines at the Bethel plant last
week did not pass the state tests. Af
ter re-chlorination, two of the three
lines tested positive. The third line
has again been re-chlorinated. Gre
gory said that pumping could begin
as early as Wednesday, although
state health department officials are
scheduled to inspect the plant Fri
day.
The firm performing the repairs
may be penalyzed by the county for
each day after August 14 the plant
continues to be defunct.
Gregory also presented a new the
ory on the water quality problem to
the Board. Gregory feels that be
cause of the location in which bad wa
ter has historically been a problem,
the culprit could be rust in the White
Hat and Belvidere holding tanks.
Once the Bethel station is fully op
erational and the back-log of water
meter installations is caught up, the
Board agreed to look into the possi
bility of cleaning the tanks
"It's time to get something done,"
said Thomas Nixon.
In other business, the Board: voted
to give public notice of its intent to
enforce local and state laws regard
ing street paving in subdivisions as
requested by the Planning Board;
agreed to negotiate with the Town of
Hertford on making needed repairs
to the town-owned building adjacent
to Missing Mill Park presently being
used by the Recreation Department.
awarded contracts to Petrolane for
gas and Hollowell Oil Company for
fuel oil to be provided to county
maintained buildings.
The companies submitted the low
bids of 40.9 cents per gallon for pro
pane and 61.05 cents per gallon for
fuel oil.
John Christensen and Dr. Farhadi discuss Hertford facade
proposal.
Festival quickly approaching
A. \
The Indian Summer Festival which
is scheduled for September 11th and
12th is fast approaching and the
Chamber of Commerce needs every
one's help in once again making this
a successful event for the county.
Sidewalk sales and displays will be
set up in downtown Hertford on Fri
day, and local businesses will be of
fering something new this year on
Friday, ping pong ball discounts
Ping pong discounts will feature ping
pong balls decorated in different col
ors indicating discounts will be hid
den around the downtown area, and
will be redeemable at participating
In addition to the sidewalk sales
and ping pong ball discounts enter
tainment and other events will also
*?
be taking place throughout the day
Friday. Merchants are once again
being asked to participate fully in the
festival by taking part in al planned
activities.
Saturday will once again offer
events at Missing Mill Park. Enter
tainment as well as a variety of arts
and crafts booths and food booths will
line the park perimeters, and should
provide hours of fun and enjoyment
for festival visitors.
For more information on the festi
val or if you would like to purchase a
booth contact the Perquimans
County Chamber of Commerce at
Ofr-MS7.