Newspapers / The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, … / May 19, 1988, edition 1 / Page 1
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THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY n^v, m.y ? f Arts Extravaganza i see pg. 1 1 N. C. Special Olympics see pg. 1 3 ? Students visit paper see pg. 3 Area schools denied critical needs funding (EDITOR'S NOTE: Portions of this article are reprinted from an article which appeared in The Daily Ad vance on Sunday, May 15th. The arti cle originally was received by The Daily Advance from AP and staff re ports.) RALEIGH: Area school systems apparently will have to look to other sources for money to rebuild their de teriorating classrooms and build ings. A state commission on Friday refused to allocate any critical con struction funding to local counties in cluding Perquimans County. The Commission on School Facility Needs voted to divide $119 million for school construction among 29 other North Carolina counties despite charges that some of the state's most needy school systems were over looked. "You do have counties that have special situations that were left out and are not going to get any money," said W. C. "Bill" Owens, who is the chairman of the Pasquotank County Commissioners. Currituck County, for example, got no construction money through 43 percent of its students are in build ings classified by the state as sub standard. These buildings are old, of ten in violation of fire codes and should be abandoned, said Darrell Spencer, director of the Department of Public Instruction's school plan ning division. The commission, however, gave $2 million to Caswell County, which has all of its students in classrooms clas sified as adequate or better. " I have a problem with that," said Owens, who voted against the com mission's spending plan. Commission co-chairman Marga ret Tennille of Winston Salem said the commission tried to work out dis tribution of the money as fairly as it could. " Of course, in a case like this, somebody is going to be unhappy," she said. Perquimans County had identified over $12 million in school facilities needs in their long range plan earlier this year, but received no money from the commission. " We are going to have to look for other sources of money to fund pro jects included in the plan, " said Pat Han-ell, Perquimans County School Superintendent, in an interview on Monday. Perquimans County had ranked 37th out of North Carolina counties in terms of need, and Harrell stated his disappointment at the commission's decision. Robeson, Columbus, and Harnett counties were the top money win ners, each getting $10 million - the most allowed under the formula used by the commission for awarding funds. The 10-member commission was appointed by the North Carolina Gen eral Assembly to decide where to spend money allocated for school systems with critical building needs. The legislative set aside $96 million for the 1987-88 fiscal year and another $10 million for each of the next nine years. The money is part of a $3.2 bil lion, 10 year school construction plan approved by the legislature last sum mer. All of the spending formulas con sidered by the commission, including the one it settled on, ranked counties on the basis of wealth as determined by per capita income and the amount of property, sales and intangible taxes available per student. Owens questioned the validity of the statistics. The formula, for exam ple, placed Tyrell County as the third richest of the 60 counties applying for the money. "Anyone who has been in Tyrell County knows better," he said. James Ellerfoy, superintendent of the Johnston County Schools, told the commission he is busing 450 elemen tary students to buildings across the county, because their school burned down on Christmas. Last week, he closed a school in Clayton to replace ceiling tiles containing dangerous as bestos. The school's 775 students will be divided between a church and a school that had been closed for six years, he said. But the commission gave no money to Johnston County, which also has nine substandard buildings. It did, however, give $450,000 to Rocky Mount Schools, which reported re placing roofs on two schools as its two major needs. Owens asked the commission to spread at toast $3 million among the 10 counties in the northeast corner of One state, but Owens' request was denied "I'm disappointed, but I fought as hard as I could," Owens said. "I don't think they addressed critical needs across the state. Spring flowers are popping up everywhere! Ernest Hardy has been working all over town recently at his spring gardening. Recently we caught him working in a bed of Poppies in front of the Hertford Municipal Building. Commodites distribution scheduled Wednesday May 25, 1988 8:30- 12:00 RAIN DATE: 5-26-88 ^ Perquimans County will receive cheese, butter, corn meal, instant milk, flour and rice for distribution to the needy of Perquimans County in May. We hope to have good weather for the day of distribution; however, we have made a rain date of May 26, 1988 if needed. The Hertford Lion's Club will begin the distribution at 8:30 a.m. It will be conducted at the Ice Plant, Grubb Street in Hertford and will be avail able to all income eligible households in Perquimans County. Households having four or more members should bring a helper with them to assist in carrying the food to the car. All households who will not be able to pick up their commodities may use a representative for this purpose. The commodities card or application must be signed in the correct places for this to be acceptable. No house hold will be allowed to pick up food for more than themselves and one other household as representative. There will be two lines at the distri bution site. The second line will be for the handicapped and-or disabled; WHO ARE PRESENT AT THE DIS TRIBUTION to pick up their food. A Doctor's note, stating the disability, must be provided. Cars may not be driven into the dis tribution area. Please remember to park in only authorized parking areas as the Hertford Police Depart ment will be patroling the area. Applications may be obtained from the following agencies beginning May 16, 1988: Department of Social Services, Health Department, Eco nomic Improvement Council, Catho lic Social Services, Senior Citizen Center and the Open Door Ministries at the Ice Plant. The Commodities Distribution Pro gram is available to all eligible per sons without regard to race, color, national origin, age, sex, religion, handicap, or political beliefs. Infor mation about regulations against dis crimination and how to file a com plaint may be secured from the N. C. Division of Social Services, 325 N. Sa lisbury Street, Raleigh, N. C., or from your county Department of So cial Services. The income criterior are listed be low: Library receives construction grant Gov. Jim Martin and Cultural Re sources Secretary Patric Dorsey an nounced that public libraries in four teen North Carolina counties including Perquimans County will re ceive state construction grants total ing $1,187,500. Twenty-four public li braries applied for a total of $2,788,016. A joint committee of the State Li brary Commission and the N.C. LSCA Advisory Council met with Sec retary Dorsey and State Library staff on May 10. The committee rec ommended the following counties re ceive construction grants for the sec ond year of the 1987-1989 biennium, which is this coming fiscal year. Following are the amounts awarded to the counties: Caldwell, $62,500; Craven, $97,500; Cumber land, $100,000; Dare, $125,000; David son, $125,000; Duplin, $75,000; For syth, $62,500; Johnston, $62,500; Lenoir, $80,000; Martin, $75,000; Mecklenburg, $62,500; Perquimans, $75,000; Pitt, $65,000; and Sampson, $120,000. Appropriated by the General As sembly, this funding must be matched dollar-for-dollar locally. In addition, a maximum of one con struction grant per library system per year is permitted. Individual awards may not exceed $125,000 nor may they cover more than 10 percent of the total annual library construc tion appropriation. All library construction grant ap plications were evaluated utilizing the following criteria: (1) North Car olina library services areas with ei ther no library or an inadequate fa cility receive the highest priority : (2) the individual needs of the proposed project's service area were carefully considered and evaluated; and (3) the planning already completed, the availability of local matching funds and the projected construction sched ule were also important consider ations. This funding is to be applied to ward construction of new library buildings; acquisition, expansion and remodeling of new and existing fa cilities; and the purchase of nec essary library equipment and fur nishings. Board of Transportation lets contracts Beaufort? The State Transporta tion Board has awarded construction contracts to four lane almost IS miles of a strategic highway corridor that connects central and northeastern North Carolina. The corridor is comprised of US 64 from Raleigh to Plymouth and US 17 from Williams ton to the Virginia line. It is one of 20 identified by the board last November as important to the state's economic growth and to the reduction of traffic congestion in ur ban areas. The contracts, which totaled $17.2 million, account for more than half of the $33 million in construction im provements approved by the board at its meeting May 13 in Beaufort. Coo tracts were for $7.5 million to pave a 1S.S mile section of US-M being built from Rocky Mount to Tarboro in Edgecombe County and for $0.7 mil lion to build dual bridges over the Roanoke River on US 13-17 at Williams ton. The new bridges will connect Bertie and Martin counties. Governor Jim Martin Said the board's action is another step in his administration's effort to assist eco nomic development efforts in north eastern North Carolina. "The four laning of this corridor is crucial to the future of this region. As we move into the 21st century, this corridor will be a life line to the com munities along its path," Governor Martin said. Other contracts awarded by the board were for $6.3 million to build the next phase of Fayetteville's Cen tral Business District (CBD) Loop; for $3.2 million to widen to five lanes 1.2 miles of Walnut Street in Gary in Wake County; and for $907, MB to complete a connector from Oxford's Outer Loop to Wattdns-WUkinson Road. Contracts to replace bridges in Durham, Lee, Caldwell, Lincoln and Henderson counties also were awarded. In all, the board awarded contracts for work in Bertie, Martin, Edgecombe, Durham, Wake, Cum berland, Granville, Lee, Caldwell, Lincoln, Henderson, Union, Mecklen burg, Montgomery, Greene, Jones, Lenoir, Duplin, Sampson, Onslow, Pender, Franklin, Vance, Warren, Person, Alamance, Watauga and Al exander counties. In other action, the board adopted a $100 million capital improvements program for replacing physical fa cilities of the Division of Highways during the next 10 years. The pro gram, an update of last year's pro gram, includes numerous projects within the department's 14 highway divisions and the ferry division. Perquimans County to refinance county bonds $2.6 million savings expected Perquimans County Commission ers expect to save Perquimans County taxpayers over $2.6 million by refinancing two water and one school bond through an offer made possible by the Farmers Home Ad ministration recently. Following several meetings the week of May 2nd, the commissioners voted to tentatively accept a proposal offered by Wachovia Bank and Trust Company to refinance the bonds. According to County Manager Paul Gregory, the .ounty is currently pay ing 5 percent interest on the bonds, but the new proposal presented by Wachovia Bank will reduce the pay ments, and the Farmers Home Ad ministration will pay part of the prin cipal owed by the county as an incentive for them to refinance the bonds. Under the new proposal, the county will have a 20 year payment schedule at a fixed interest rate of 10.75 per cent for the first 15 years, and the re maining five years of payments would carry an interest rate of the prime interest rate plus .25 percent. Gregory estimates that the annual payments' made by the county under the new proposal will total $294,990.00, compared to payments now being made by the county, which total $282,000.00 on the three bonds. The first water bond was issued by the county in 1977, and totaled $1.6 million. The second water bond was issued by the county in 1982, and has a balance currently of $463,000. The third bond is the school construction bond, which was issued in June of last year. It has a principal balance remaining of $2 million, and the county has not made any payments on this school construction bond. By refinancing the Farmers Home Administration will reduce the prini pal balances owed by the county on the three bonds as follows: the first water bond, $656,500, the second wa ter bond, $204,700, and the school con struction bond's principal will be re duced by $882,680, thus reflecting a $2.6 million dollar savings to the county. The board of commissioners also turned down a request by the North Carolina Department of Transporta tion for right-of-ways along U. S. Highway 17 needed for four laning the road from the weigh station to the intersection of U.S. 17 Business in Hertford. The commissioners tentatively denied the request, because they stated they wanted to wait and see if the North Carolina General Assem bly would provide funds to help the county move approximately four miles of water lines, which must be moved for the project's completion. The cost to move the lines is esti mated at $150,000.00. By tentatively dening the request, the board will not delay the project as it will be several years before the NCDOT reaches the intersection where the right-of-ways were re quested; however, the board does hope that this will cause the general assembly to help out with the project. There being no further business the meeting was adjourned. Local school board makes request for budget hike Perquimans County Commission ers listened intently last week as Per quimans County Board of Education members requested an 8 percent in crease in funds from the county for the upcoming 1988-89 school year. The school board's $1.8 million bud get request for next year is approxi mately $141,400,000 more than the board received from the county for the present school year, but mem bers of the board of education stated on Wednesday that they felt the bud get request was realistic, and a con servative budget proposal. According to Superintendent Pat Harrell, the actual increase in the budget over last year will be $103,000 considering interest income, money carried over from this year, and fines and forfeitures. Four items accounted for the ma jority of the increase requested by the board. The four included: a five percent increase in employee sala ries, $25,000 to comply with new regu lations concerning asbestos in the schools, $30,000 for increased electri city costs in the schools, and $20,000 for additional custodial services at county schools. Members of the board of education did not ask for any additional money under capital outlay requests. This total will remain the same as last year, $351,000. That figure includes $88,000 that board of education mem bers are requesting the county trans fer from items funded in the current expense budget last year. The schools are also going to be benefiting from the Basic Education Plan, adopted by the North Carolina Legislature last summer. State money will be used next year for ad ditional secretaries, support posi tions, vocational education positions and programs and more. Clifford Winslow, chairmairof the board of education, and Pat Harrell said they realize in coming years Perquimans Schools will be in need of many things, which will require large capital outlay expenditures. At the present time, Winslow said el ementary schools in the county are crowded, and in the future some of the county's facilities may have to be replaced. "As time goes on, Perquimans County schools will need sizeable amounts of capital outlay funds. Our elementary grades are crowded, and we are faced with decisions of contin uing to repair or replace them," said Winslow. Board of Education members stated state officials are predicting a 31 percent student increase in the county by 1997, and the county must be prepared. The 1988-89 current expense budget request presented totals close to $1 .47 million, which is increased by $141,00 over 1987-88. Funds are earmarked to expand the guidance counseling de partment in the county's elementary schools, and will use funds to begin planning to offer foreign language classes in the elementary grades as soon as 1990. The only capital outlay project out lined for next year is construction of a $75,000 warehouse. $25,000 has been allocated for in spections of local schools for asbestos as required under newly mandated federal laws, and development of a plan for removal. The county will consider the school board's request as well as other de partmental budgets in June. After a public hearing on the proposed bud get, the county's final budget will be adopted in July. FHA changes income limits Recent changes in the Farmers Home Administration housing loan program mean more families may be able to qualify for loans to either build new or repair old homes. The program was recently changed to enable more families to construct, purchase or repair modest homes. Money is available to purchase lots, landscape and provide waste and sewage systems when construc tion is involved. The size of the home to be financed is also tied to the num ber of people in the family. Present interest rate on a rural housing loan is nine percent with re payments up to 38 years under cer tain conditions. "Payments are baaed on the gross family income at an interest rate within the family's ability to repay a loan," said Melvin E. Howell, FmHA's county supervisor for Per quimans and Chowan. New income limits are based on Federal Housing and Urban Devel opment limits for adjusted income, which is the gross family income minus $480 per child under 18 years old. Qualifications in Chowan & Perqui mans are one family member of ad justed income at $13,600, two at $15,500, three at $17,500, four at $19,450 and five at $20,650. Families must have good credit history and steady employment to se cure these loans. Applications for Chowan and Per quimans counties may be made at the FmHA office in the county office building on Church Street Extended in Hertford
The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.)
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May 19, 1988, edition 1
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