January 7,
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The Perquimans Wee
350
Vol. 67, No. 1
The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County people
Hertford, North Carolina 27944
Computers
get GPR in
PCHS class
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
CPR is giving old computers
new life at Perquimans High
School.
Students in C.D. White’s
computer engineering technol
ogy class are operating on out
dated computers and turning
them into up-to-date machines.
Then, the computers are
placed in classrooms for use.
The CPR program was initi
ated by ExplorNet, a 501-(c)(3)
non-profit corporation in
North Carolina with a mission
to improve and expand tech
nology-based learning in
North Carolina’s schools, par
ticularly rural and low-wealth
schools. The ExplorNet
Learning Project uses apublic-
private partnership approach
to encourage communities to
coordinate resources from gov
ernment, businesses and indi
viduals for maximum effec
tiveness and minimum public
expenditure.
The local program got a
boost Monday when State
Senator Marc Basn'ight pre
sented the school system with
a check from the General
Assembly for $12,000 to help
fund the program during a lun
cheon attended by school,
business and community rep
resentatives.
According to Dave Boliek,
president of ExplorNet, the
CPR program has many posi
tive benefits. First, it gives stu
dents hand-on training in tech
nology, a very promising
career option for students.
CPR also advances a communi-
i
f: ji%i|
> 5
r
ty’s economic development
efforts by providing needed job
skills.
“There is more computer
power in your car today than
there was in the first lunar
landing,’’ Boliek said to illus
trate the explosion in technolo
gy over the past 30 years.
Boliek said the business
community had been asked to
donate old computers for use
in schools, but often the
machines were not usable
because they were obsolete or
broken. Through CPR, the old
machines can be updated and
allow more student access to
technology. In addition, stu
dents can in many cases now
fix and maintain computers
already in place.
CPR makes efficient use of
available funds, Boliek said.
While new computers can cost
several hundred or even thou
sands of dollars,' students can
rebuild and upgrade comput
ers for $300-800 per unit.
Last year, there were six
CPR sites with 106 students
rebuilding 250 computers. This
year, there are 51 sites with
1,300 students and they antici
pate rebuilding 4,000 comput
ers. Local school boards have
saved an estimated $4.3 mil
lion. The legislature has spent
only $1 million on the pro
gram.
“Kids get skUls. Schools get
computers. Communities
become more attractive for
economic development,”
Boliek said, explaining that
CPR is a win-win program.
“ril teU you, this is the most
exciting thing I’ve seen in
seven years,” White said.
“ExplorNet has done a super
job. It’s a very positive pro
gram. There’s nothing but
good in this ExplorNet pro
gram.”
■
kTES
Daily Advance photos
Both Perquimans varsity basketball teams celebrate hitting the jackpot in The Daiiy Advance'Four-County Holiday
Basketbaii Ciassic iast week. The Lady Pirates siipped past Edenton before the Pirates knocked off host Camden in two
existing, down-to-the-wire contests. For game wrap-ups, piease turn to page 3.
County meeting time will not change
By SUSAN R. HARRiS
. The county commissioners
wiU continue to hold their reg
ular monthly meetings at 3
o’clock in the afternoon.
Commissioner Ben Hobbs
said he was concerned that the
board’s mid-afternoon meeting
time made it inconvenient for
many people to attend the
monthly business sessions. He
added that some people carinot
leave work to attend board
meetings.
ARchie Miller said that
often the audience disperses at
5 o’clock even if the board is
still in session.
Charles Ward, who sat on
the board when there were
both morning and evening
meeting times, sai dhe noticed
no difference in attendance
regardless of the meeting
schedule.
Bert Hayes, who also
brought up changing the meet
ing time early in his term of
office, said the idea of chang
ing the time is to offer the
opportunity for more people to
attend, not to determine
whether more would actually
attend.
County Manager Paul
Gregory explained that in the
past, the commissioners met
on both the first and third
Mondays of each month. One
meeting was held at 10 a.m.
and the other in the evening.
Commissioners
reluctantly OK
mobile home
park in Bethel
PHOTO BY SUSAN HARRIS
State Senator Marc Basnight (back row, left) presents a $12,000 check from the North Carolina
General Assembly to PCHS computer engineering technoiogy teacher C.D. White and his stu
dents (ieft to right) Paul Spence, Joey Manning and Joey Harrell, for the ComputeRecycling
Project.
Three students, all seniors
in White’s class, told how the
program has helped them.
Paul Spence, Joey Manning
and Joey Harrell have differ
ence plans following gradua
tion in June — one will go to
NC State, one has enlisted in
service, and one will go to a
technical school — yet aU said
the program will help them
meet their career goals.
Basnight said that he will
suggest the creation of a sub
committee under appropria
tions to address technology
needs. He said the state must
use technology to the fullest.
He added that the state must
do a better job of balancing the
needs of rural areas.
School board chairman
Wallace Nelson praised the
students and staff in the coun
ty for looking for non-tradi-
tional ways to meet educa
tion’s changing needs.
The decision was made to meet
only once, he said, because
there was not enough business
for two meetings. The 3 p.m.
time was chosen so that coun
ty employees having to appear
before the board were already
in town. He said the board also
decided at that time that
accommodation would be
made for residents wishing to
appear before the board who
could not arrive at 3 p.m. He
has had no requests for that
accommodation, he added.
Developer’s
adherence to
park ordinance
leaves board no
choice put to OK
By SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
Backed into a corner with
little manuevering room, the
Perquimans County
Commissioner approved the
plat for Burnt Mill Mobile
Home Park Monday.
The vote came after a pro
tracted discussion punctuated
with finger-pointing, second-
guessing and hesitation to
approve the park even though
its development is moving in
accordance with regulations
set by the commissioners.
Pete Proctor, a Bethel resi
dent who lives near the mobile
home park being developed at
the 5-mile Y, said a soils spe
cialist connected with N.C.
State University had shared
with him concerns about
drainage and septic tank
installation in the park.
Proctor declined to name the
specialist with whom he
spoke.
Brent Wise of Benchmark
Surveying, speaking on behalf
of developer Phillip
Harrington, countered that
PPCC District Health
Department has approved the
development. He said PPCC
personnel felt that the soil is
adequate for septic tanks in
the 32-lot park. Wise added
that the health department
will check each lot individual
ly prior to the installation of
septic tanks.
Herbert Mullen, attorney
for Harrington, told commis
sioners that Ralph HoUowell, a
certified soil scientist with
PPCC, approved the site.
“Your certified, registered
soil scientist, Ralph HoUowell,
has approved this,” Mullen
said.
County manager Paul
Gregory confirmed that both
HoUoweU, a PPCC supervisor,
and specialist Johyn Morgan
had reviewed the site.
Commissioner Ben Hobbs
said it appeared that the differ
ences in opinion over the
drainage and capacity of the
lots to support septic tanks
were professional conflicts
between soU scientists. He said
the commissioners had to
approve the park because the
developer followed county
ordinances.
Bert Hayes made a motion
to approve the park; however,
he added that he was doing so
reluctantly and only because
the developer had foUowed the
county ordinance.
SUence foUowed the motion.
“Let me say this, I don’t
know what Mr. MuUen has in
mind, but I suspect we’U hear
from him in another venue,”
county attorney John
Matthews said, aUuding to pos
sible legal action if the board
did not approved the plat.
Gregory said that per the
county regulations, no con
struction should have begun
ont he park until it was
approved by the commission
ers. However, the planning
board has traditionally
allowed development to begin
in compliance with regula
tions pending final approval.
There has been no problem
with that procedure in the
past, Gregory added.
He also reminded commis
sioners that their approval of
the park only allowed con
struction to continue subject
to county ordinance. Mobile
homes cannot be moved into
the park untU all obligations of
the developer are met.
Shirley Yates complained
that the planning board did
not inform commissioners
when the mobile home park
request was received.
Gregory responded that he
would take the blame for the
commissioners not being
aware of the proposed park. He
added that in order to keep the
situation from repeating itself,
the commissioners now get
copies of planning board min
utes. He said the only mistake
the planning board made was
to allow the developer to pro
ceed prior to the board’s
approval.
The mobile home park ordi
nance adopted by the county
in 1987 is stringent, and
Harrington is being required
to put in county water, septic
tanks, paved streets, street
lights, parking pads and fire
hydrants in addition to a 10-
foot buffer zone of green plant
ing around the park. The park
ordinance is much stricter
than the subdivision ordi
nance.
Matthews told commission
ers that planning board mem
bers are volunteers who work
hard and devote a lot of time to
their duties. He said they pro
ceeded as usual with the
mobile home park request, fol
lowed the rules and didn’t
anticipate the opposition to
the park.
Finally, Hobbs seconded fel
low Republican Hayes’ motion
to approve the park. Hobbs
said the developer foUowed the
ordinance and hinted that
there could be legal repercus
sions to the county is the park
was not approved. In the end,
there were no dissenting votes.
Hayes ended the discussion
by saying that the fault for the
mobile home park develop
ment belonged to the commis
sioners, not the planning
board, health department or
any other entity. The park was
developed in accordance with
the county’s ordinances, he
said.
Last month, commissioners
chairman Charles Ward
appointed Gregory, Matthews,
Shirley Yates and himself to a
committee to review the coun
ty’s mobile home park ordi
nances after several neighbors
of the Burnt Mill park voiced
opposition to its development,
citing land devaluation and
environmental concerns.
Among those options
bandied about by commission
ers in December were requir
ing a minimum lot size of one
acre, imposing impact fees,
aUowing doublewides only and
total size restrictions.