Newspapers / The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, … / Dec. 3, 1987, edition 1 / Page 12
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Godwin comments on transportation issues I have served on the Board at Transportation, representing the First Division for a little over ten months and I have tried to refrain from answering complaints by the way of the press as I do not believe that that ia the proper forum to use on every complaint directed to any gov ernmental agency; however, I feel that I must answer the constant polit ical thumb-sucking and baby-crying that Senator Marc Basnight contin ues to dole out to the people concern ing the Department of Transporta tion and its lack of concern in the First Division by the use of the press. I feel that 1 am fairly familiar with politics, having had some experience over a period of 15 to 20 years and 1 know that the people oftentimes like to bear that they are not being treated fairly and that you have the capacity to do something about it. The one thing that you must do in this sort of rhetoric is not tell the people what is going on and what is really being done in thier behalf. At the regular Board Meeting of the Department of Transportation on NovemDer ism, we approvea uie con tract totalling $16,419,351.35 for the grading, drainage, paving, marking and the Washington Baum Bridge over the Roanoke Sound and ap proaches on U.S. 64 and 264 south of Manteo Nowhere have I seen Sen ator Bas night acknowledge the let ting of this contract nor have I seen his acknowledgement of the fact that the Department of Transportation is spending millions of dollars in the re storation of the Oregon Inlet Bridge, nor have I seen where there has been an acknowledgement of the thirteen million dollars spent at Mann's Har bor on the ferry facility, along with the several millions of dollars that the D.O.T. paid for the right-of-way north of Duck; therefore, it is hard for me to understand how anyone can feel that Dare County has been left out in the First Division and espe cially Sena cor Basnight since has served on the Board of Transporta tion. If he felt then as he does now, why didn't he place all of the programs into the T.I. P. and why didn't he get U.S. 17 four-laned from Wilmington to the Virginia line and U.S. 64 four laned from Rocky Mount to Jamesville and why didn't he get N.C. 168 four-laned from Virginia line to Powells Point? I think that the public should realize that Dare County is not the only county in the First Division. There are fourteen counties and they all have deserving projects. Per capita-wise, there is more money spent by the D.O.T. in the First Division than any other di vision in the state I am personally fraud of the Trans portation Improvement Program which waa adopted for the yean MM to 19M. In this area I would like to remind Senator Baanight that in the field of bicycling Dare County re ceived aa much or more than any other county in the atate. In the field of aviation. Dare County Regional Airport received $82,000 for im provements of their airport. For the first time, N C. 168 from the Virginia State Line to U.S. 158 at Barco (18.5 miles) has been placed into the pro gram. My main concern aa board member of the First Division in re gard to N.C. 168 in Currituck County is a lesson that we learned on U.S. 17. When U.S. 17 waa four-laned, includ ing the highriae bridge at South Milla, the people of the area were led to be lieve by Governor Hunt and mem bers of his Board of Transportation that an understanding had been made with Governor Robb of Vir ginia. In fact, they met under funeral tents at the Virginia-Carolina line and it waa truly a funeral in regard to what Virginia has done with U.S. 17 and any understanding that the two governors had was buried that day. U.S. 17 in Virginia is -just like it has been for the past 25 years and for those who do not believe the officials of Virginia do not have U.S. 17 in their program and regardless of all of the promises, I don't expect the state of Virginia to do anything with U.S. 17 any time soon. Now should we proceed to be bush-whacked again and four-lane N.C. 168 so that the tourists in the state of Virginia can have a more convenient way to get to the Dare County beaches or should we tell Virginia that some good faith should be exercised on doing some thing with U.S. 17 if we are going to spend millions of dollars on NC 168. In fact, the last time I travelled 168 in Virginia, our road was a much better road than theirs and if they are going to widen the road, why have they only put a two-lane bridge in over the Northwest River. I attended a meeting in the city of Chesapeake, Virginia which was sponsored by Senator Bas night and Senator Bill Parker of Virginia. The proposition was put forth that water from Texas Gulf would be pumped to Chesapeake in return the state of Vir ginia would four-lane U.S. 17. My only comment was, "Let's cut the ribbon on U.S. 17 before we cut the valve on the water." It is my understanding that Sen ator Basnight is credited with saying that the Transportation Inprovement Program is put together in smoke filled rooms and only few people have any in-put in its formulation. If in fact he rnari? ?hi? statement, be might have been referring to tbe time when be served on tbe Board of Transportation. I can truthfully say that that is not tbe case today. Public hearings were held; however, Sen ator Basnight did not appear at the public hearing in Ahoskie. It is true that many meetings have been con ducted and I have done tbe best I could to include everything that I could possibly get with the money supply that is available for the First Division. We have not included pro grams that cannot be funded. I am at a loss to understand what tbe senator was speaking of in the November 14th article when be stated, "If you are going to get someone to move to Hertford County and bring new in dustries in.. ..you are going to need that 4-lane road all along Highway 17 and we are not getting it and that is not good." I can readily understand how 4-laning U.S. 17 will affect tbe counties that it services; however, I cannot unerstand bow it would affect Hertford County when it is serviced by U.S. 13. I am very pleased that the section of U.S. 17 between Hertford and Edenton is now in the program. Sen ator Bas night had an opportunity to put it in the program but failed to do so. When I first came on the Board, I truly wanted to improve and up grade U.S. 158 and I pledged myself to that end; however, Senator Bas night completely took this idea and ran into the wilderness with it by put ting forth the idea of a super highway from the Outer Banks to Interstate 85. i certainly wholeheartedly en dorse such a concept; however, I had to ask the question, "Where was the money coming from?" to which I re ceived the answer that that would be "no problem", and I know different. It is a tremendous problem and I still want to up-grade U.S. 158 to the end that there can be safe travel upon it and I continue to pledge my support to that end. The First Division is a large divi sion; however, no county is too small to be recognized and no town so un populated that their needs should be ignored. It is true that Senator Bas night's home county of Dare has some mounting problems; however, those problems cannot be solved until local governments recognize that they must control the growth which has already gotten out of hand. Promises are one thing. Fulfillment is another. I have made no promises that I knew I could not fulfill and as long as I serve on the Board of Trans portation, I plan to keep that objec tive foremost in my mind. Students help needy family during holiday The job of sharing blessings was felt by the fourth grade students in Mrs. Modlin's class last week. During a regularly scheduled class meeting, the students overwhelm ingly voted to help a needy family in the county. The local Social Services Department was very helpful in iden tifying a family to help. Bonnie's Be-Lo Supermarket do nated a nineteen pound turkey, par ents gave canned and boxed food, and the students made Thanksgiving cards. A parent volunteer drove the class officers to the home of the family to present the basket. The students were very enthusias tic about the experience and will fur ther expand their "sharing" attitude with others throughout the school year. Santa to visit Durants Neck community SANTA VISITS There will be a special visitor in New Hope on Sunday, December 13th. Santa's coming for a visit to the Durante' Neck Volunteer Fire De partment. He will be there from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. So get your list ready and come on out to see Santa. Refresh ments will also be served. Remember Santa knows if you've been bad or good. So be good for goodness sake's! Educational loans available now Educational Loan Funds for 1987-88 Still Available through College Foun dation Realeigh? College Foundation Inc. (CFI) announced this week that edu cational loan funds are still available for the 1987-88 academic year. CFI has financial commitments from North Carolina banks in excess of its current estimates on loan needs for funding its three educational loan programs for 1987-88. N. C. Insured Student Loans are for dependent or independent students and are based on financial need. N. C. Supplemental Loans for Students are for independent self-supporting students and are not based on finan cial need. N. C. PLUS Loans are for parents of dependent students and are not based on financial need. The loan funds are available for ap plications received by the Founda tion up to 30 days before the end of the academic period specified in the loan request. According to their en rollment situation and financial situ ations, students may specify the full academic year, or specific semesters or quarters, as their loan periods. Additional information and appli cations are available from financial aid offices at higher education insti tutions or directly from College Foundation Inc., P. O. Box 12100, Ra leigh, N.C. 27605. Our 99? Installation Special Will Soon End! Regular Installation Will Be $25.00 After This Offer Ends! Call 482-7733 or 1-800-334-5010 Let The Home Shopping Network And C4 Media Cable Help You Avoid The Christmas Rush." C4 MEDIA CABLE P.O. BOX 830 321 SOUTH BROAD STREET EDENTON, N.C. 27932 Joan Frazier and Lana Arnold rehearse their roles as Amahl and his mother for the upcoming production of "Amahl and the Night Visitors." The op*;ra will be performed on December 11th and 12th at S. L. Sheep School Auditorium in Elizabeth City. Hertford police department activities The Hertford Police Department has reported the following activity over the Thanksgiving holiday week end, and the past week. Denise Welch Cooper, Route 2, Box 66- AA, Edenton, N.C., age 25, was ar rested Thanksgiving day for disturb ing the peace and resisting a police officer. The arrest was made at 306 Stokes Drive, Hertford, N.C., at 9:00 a.m. and arose over a dispute involv ing the custody of an eight (8) month old child, the daughter of Samuel Lee Cooper, Jr., and Denise Welch Coo per. Welch was released in the cus tody of her mother by Magistrate B.T. Dails, Sr., trial date is set for December 23, 1967. Arresting officer in this case was Chief Marshall Mer ritt. Gilford Maurice Roberts, age 22 of Route 1, Box 132, Hobb6ville, N.C. was arrested on November 21st after an accident for driving while im paired. Officer Stephen Ten-ill, a wit ness to the accident stated that he was taking enforcement action with another driver he had stopped in the area at 2:15 a.m. when he heard a loud crash and observed Mr. Roberts had failed to turn left or right at the intersection of Church and Dobbs Street. Officer Terrill stated that Mr. Roberts went straight at the intersec tion slightly striking a sign poet and barely missing a large metal utility pole. His car then crossed over the curb, hitting the Holy Trinity Episco pal Church's fence. Officer Terrill es timated the damage to the fence at approximately (2,000.00. Damage to the car was estimated at $1,500.00. Mr. Roberts was transported to Albe marle Hospital by the Perquimans County Rescue Squad for treatment of a broken nose. While at the hospi tal a blood alcohol sample was drawn at the request of Officer Terrill. Mr. Roberts trial date is set for Decem ber 9th, 1987. A secured bond of $200.00 was set by Magistrate J. H. Symons. 17 SOUTH GARMENT CO., INC. CHRISTMAS SALE Girls Spo rtswear 2-14 & Pre-teen *20?? and $35?? Values FOR *6.00 And LESS 9:00 til 4:00 p.m. Sat. Dec. 5, 1987 17 SOUTH GARMENT CO., INC. 17 South Classifieds Winslow Auctions HAROLD W1NS10W 297-2658 BRENT WINSLOW 297-2839 "taction Salts is Our T. Erie Haste, Jr. Real Estate 146 Church St Hwttarf, N.C. Multl^hi Llstlnfi tamlra MTVICV MU 426-5211 Brok*r- Real tor USED CARS 87 CROWN VICTORIA 87 GRAND MARQUIS 87 TEMPO GL 4 Dr. 87 TAURUS GL 4 Dr. 86 LINCOLN TOWN CAR 86 T-BIRD ELAN 86 T-BIRD 86 LTD 4 Dr. 86 TEMPO GL 4 Dr. 86 ESCORT 85 MUSTANG GT 85 Z28 CAMARO 85 COUGAR 2 Dr. 85 THUNDERBIRD 2 Dr. 84 MUSTANG GT 84 TEMPO GL 4 Dr. 84 CHEV CAPRICE 2 Dr. 84 MUSTANG LX, 3 Dr. 83 LYNX WAGON 83 FORD LTD 4 Dr. 82 CROWN VICTORIA 2 Dr. 82 MUSTANG 3 Dr. 82 T-BIRD 82 BUICK REGAL 2 Dr. 82 GRANADA 4 Dr. 80 BUICK 4 Dr. 79 MERCURY XR7 2 Dr. 79 T-BIRD 79 Ford LTD 4 Dr. 84 Mostani GT TRUCKS 87 BRONCO II 4i4 86 F 150 Sfi CLUBWMON 15 PASS. tt KANbtK ritnur 84 FORD CLUBWA60N IS Pm. 83 FORD CU1BWKG0N 15 Pm. PHONK: 426-3243 uj ? r iv. OP IN SATURDAY 9 to 1 HlltTFlND, N.C. MAUI NO. 1741
The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 3, 1987, edition 1
12
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