August 14,1997
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The Perquimans Weekly
350
Vol. 65, No. 32
The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County people
Hertford, North Carolirra 27944
Inside
Ward named
Morehead City
Rotarian of
the Year
Pages
I
Perquimans
4Hers enjoy
week at
Camp Mitchell
Pa^S
Celebrations,
Happenings
Pages 2 and 3
Calling all
students!
The first day
of school is
August 21
Perquimans County
an
All of Us
Community
August’s theme:
Know who
you are
focusing on
Asking yourself what
you stand for;
Personal values
Incorporate these Healthy
HABITS into your daily life and
help make our community a
better place to live!
For All of Us Care
information, contact
Sandra Smith
Perquimans County
Chamber of Commerce
426-5657
-■a.
Fate of causeway traffic undecided
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
The Hertford Town Council
is still in session.
After hearing proposals by
Don Conner of the N.C.
Department of Transportation
on way to curtail heavy traffic
on the S-bridge and causeway,
council opted to recess its
Monday night meeting until
next Monday night to give
council members time to
decide what option they will
take regarding the bridge.
Councilman Erie Haste said
he did not want to wait until
September’s regular meeting
to take action, but wanted
council to have time to consid
er its options carefully before
making a final decision. Town
attorney Walter Edwards
advised the board that they
could by statute recess the
meeting at its conclusion
rather than adjourn to avoid
calling a special meeting.
The option presented by
Conners that seemed most
amenable to the board will
require a combination of mea
sures. First, Conners said, the
town could request that the
route of U.S. Highway 17
Business be changed. The
business route presently turns
off of U.S. 17 at its intersection
with New Hope Road, runs
south across the causeway and
down Church Street, turns
west onto Dobbs Street, then
south again onto Edenton
Road Street. Edenton Road
Street and the bypass route
merge again at the town’s
southern boundaries.
Conners presented council
with a map that showed a new
route -that would leave U.S. 17
bypass at the intersection of
the highway and Church
Street Extended, then turn
west onto Dobbs Street and fol
low the present route back to
the Edenton Road Street-
bypass junction.
Step two would be to desig
nate the portion of Church
Street north of Dobbs Street a
secondary road so that it can
be restricted to light traffic.
Enforcement would come
New businesses open
I
1^.
PHOTO BY SUSAN HARRIS
The Perquimans County Chamber of Commerce welcomed two new businesses to Hertford
with grand opening ribbon cuttings last Thursday. Riverwalk Gallery (above) is located on
Courthouse Square and is owned and operated by Judy Christensen. Cindy’s Crafts (below)
is housed on Grubb Street in the former Morgan Furniture Building. It is owned and operat
ed by Cindy Bowling.
Christensen, Bowling open shops
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
Two new faces have joined the merchants
in downtown Hertford.
Judy Christensen and Cindy Bowling,
owners of Riverwalk Gallery and Cindy’s
Crafts, respectively, were welcomed to the
business commimity by the Perquimans
County Chamber of Commerce with ribbon
cuttings last Thursday.
Christensen offers a variety of items in
her 302 Courthouse Square shop. Riverwalk
offers the work of several local artisans.
From paintings to rings, the quaint
Riverwalk showcases local talent.
Christensen also has antiques, down-home
cookbooks and collectibles.
Many of the items in the Riverwalk
Gallery would make lovely gifts for most
occasions.
The shop owner is not a newcomer to the
Hertford business community. She is the for
mer co-owner and manager of Darden
Department Store which closed earlier this
year.
Riverwalk is open Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-
5 p.m. and on Saturday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Cindy’s Crafts features a variety of craft
items from fabric crochet to ceramics. Items
in the store range from the purely decorative
to those that can be used every day.
In addition. Bowling carries a limited sup
ply of craft supplies for the do-it-yourselfer.
Bowling has offered her handmade pieces
at craft shows and festivals, including last
year’s Indian Summer Festival. Her stock is
a mixture of her creations and pieces she is
selling on consignment.
Grafters interested in selling their work
on consignment are invited to stop by and
speak with Bowling. Store hours are
Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
through a civil ordinance and
fme.
The proposal would allow
school buses to cross the
causeway. Trucks weighing
under 13,000 pounds could also
still cross the causeway leged-
ly, Conners said. 'Trucks
unloading at downtown busi
nesses would also be allowed.
“I know of no way whatso
ever to stop every truck,
“Conners said. “That’s impos
sible.”
When asked if the measure
would help prolong the life of
the historic S-bridge, Conners
replied, “If you take some of
the heavier traffic off of it,
that’s certainly valuable.”
He added that the causeway
is actually more vulnerable to
damage than the bridge.
Conners said other ways
that could be chosen to halt
excessive traffic on the cause
way would be complicated, dif
ficult to understand and hard
er to enforce.
Conners estimated it would
take about 60 days from the
town passes an ordinance to
implement the plan.
“It’s not some long, drawn-
out process,” he said.
While council opted to wait
to make its decision, several
residents attending the meet
ing indicated they thought
council should act Monday.
Council will resume its
meeting Monday at 7:30 p.m.
Existing officer
will serve housing
authority if COPs
grant approved
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
If the Hertford Housing
Authority’s COPs grant appli
cation is approved, it will not
mean a new officer will join
the Hertford Police
Department.
Rhonda Waters, executive
director of the Housing
Authority, spoke to council at
the board’s July meeting,
telling them she has applied
for a COPs grant. Waters said
the grant is worth $82,418 over
a three-year period and would
put a full-time law officer
patrolling the housing pro
jects. The grant requires that
the officer be hired through
the Hertford Police
Department.
While the grant would cover
the officer’s salary and bene
fits. Waters said it would not
cover the cost of outfitting the
officer with transportation, a
weapon and uniforms. She
asked council to consider fund
ing the cost of outfitting the
officer.
Waters reminded council at
that time that the housing
authority had received grants
in the past that funded law
enforcement needs. She said
the authority paid $3,826 for
pagers for the police depart
ment and helped both the
police and sheriffs depart
ment by providing a $7,200
grant to purchase the PIN sys
tem.
Waters said that while local
law officers have cooperated
with the housing authority,
the police department does not
presently have the manpower
to dedicate one officer to the
housing authority full-time.
“We cannot effectively do
the job without an officer,”
Waters said of the authority’s
efforts to improve the quality
of life at the projects. She said
removing those who sell drugs
emd cause problems at the pro
jects is essential to improving
the image and environment at
the projects.
Council instructed Waters,
town manager John
Christensen,-police chief
Bennie Murphy and council
man BiUy Winslow to meet to
discuss the costs of the pro
gram to the town and report
back to council.
Obviously, someone did not
agree with Waters that the
police department does not
have the manpower to devote a
full-time officer to the authori
ty. On Monday, Christensen
told council he recommended
using an existing officer to
cover the projects so that the
town would not be required to
spend the money to outfit the
officer. The town would use
the grant money to pay an offi
cer to be designated to work
housing authority facilities.
There are presently e^t offi
cers on the force.
“I honestly don’t believe we
have enough with those eight
(officers),” said King Street
resident J.O. Gibbs.
Gibbs said she objected to
the town using an existing offi
cer to patrol housing authority
properties. She said there is a
need for an additional officer.
Murphy was out of town on
vacation Monday and
Tuesday, and was not at the
council meeting.
Christensen could not be
reached for conunent by press
time Tuesday. He did not say
Monday night how funding
through the COPs grant will
affect law officers’ schedules,
the niunber of officers on duty
at any given time or the town’s
budget.
Outside
THURSDAY
High: Low:
80s 70
SCAHERED STORMS
High:
Low:
High:
Low:
80s
70
90
70
SCATTERED STORMS
PARTLY CLOUDY