The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County and its people
Pirates win conference openers
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Police learn, teach car seat safety
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December 16,1999
Vol. 67, No. 50 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
The
12 013165 11/10/2000 *C20
PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
110 W ACADEMY ST
HERTFORD NC 27944
DEC 15 1999
Perquimans
EEKLY
Two men charged with rape after party
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
Two Perquimans County
men face rape charges after
allegedly sexually assaulting a
woman at a party earlier this
month.
Jerrell Christopher Jones,
21, of Rt. 6, Box 202, Hertford,
and Jimmie Delane Ritter, 17,
of Rt. 6, Box 198, Hertford,
were charged on Dec. 4 with
first degree rape. Bond for both
was set at $75,000 secured.
During a Hrst appearance in
court on Dec. 8, the two
requested a bond reduction,
according to Perquimans
County Sheriff Eric Tilley.
Ritter was released the same
day under a $25,000 bond
secured by property according
to records at Albemarle
District Jail. Jones was stiU
detained on Dec. 13, according
to jaU personnel.
Tilley said the alleged vic
tim, who he said is not a jeuve-
nile, told law officers she
attended a party in the
Woodville community on Dec.
3. Jones and Ritter also attend
ed the party, she said. The vic
tim said she fell asleep and
awakened to find Jones and
Ritter sexually assaulting her.
One man was allegedly holding
her down, while the other
raped her, Tilley said. The
alleged incident occurred
either late Friday evening or
early Saturday morning, the
sheriff said.
Jones and Ritter are sched
uled to appear in criminal dis
trict court on Jan. 12.
New
leaders
take
charge
Wiggins is
county board
chair; Eley
sworn in
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
A changing of the guard has
taken place in Perquimans
over the past two weeks.
Shirley Wiggins was chosen
by her fellow board members
to chair the county commis
sioners last week. Wiggins’
election makes her the first
woman to hold the seat. She
served as vice chair in 1999,
while Charles Ward was chair
man. This year, Wiggins is wUl
lead the board, with Ward as
vice chair.
In Hertford Monday, an
emotional John Beers moved
from the town’s board table to
the audience for the first time
in 36 years as Sid Eley was
sworn in as mayor.
“Don’t let anybody pull any
thing over on you,” Beers
advised Eley before handing
over the gavel.
Beers was first elected to
council in 1963, serving 28
years on council and two
terms as mayor.
“This has been a life saver
for me because it’s taught me a
lot about Hertford and its peo
ple,” Beers said. He added that
he was proud to have served
the town, and thanked his fam
ily for their support as he
served the community. Beers,
whose wife, Betty Jean, and
daughter, Mary Lindsay, were
in the audience, received a
standing ovation from a
. packed board room.
Also stepping down was vet
eran councilman Billy
Winslow, who opted not to seek
re-election after serving for 28
years. He thanked the resi
dents for the opportunity to
serve and said he will continue
to be interested in the town.
Later in the meeting, Winslow
was chosen as the board’s at-
large representative on the
Perquimans County Economic
Development Commission.
Both men received rocking
chairs from the town. Their
wives were presented with
poinsettias.
Eley was joined by several
family members, including his
wife. Candy; son, Teddy; broth
er and sister-in-law; aunt; and
cousins.
Please see MAYOR, page 6
Spreading holiday cheer
'rf. '-.s ••
Ss,:
All’ll
Kindergarteners in Mrs. Ward's and Mrs. Lothian's classes spread holiday cheer in downtown
Hertford and at the Brian Center Monday with lively Christmas carols, jingle bells and enthu
siastic, "Merry Christmas!" wishes.
Town holds firm on impact fees
Ward: Group
will likely not
build motel
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
Hertford won’t get a motel.
That’s what developer
Charles Ward told the town
council Monday after council
refused to back off its water
and sewer impact fees.
Ward, who said he repre
sents a group trying to raise
money to build a motel on US.
17 Bypass between Jackson
Wholesale and the Perquimans
Village Shopping Center, said
the estimated $54,000 in impact
fees will halt the $2 million
project.
“If ya’U can’t help us we’ve
just got to knock it in the head
or move to another town,”
Ward said.
The group includes both
Ward and his step-son Michael
Winslow, part-owner of
Jackson Wholesale. A feasibili
ty study shows that Hertford is
not a destination, and there
fore is not a good place to put a
motel. Ward said. However, the
group chose to continue to
investigate the possibility of
building a franchise motel
here.
Ward said that although the
study showed that the only
motel that would work in
Hertford is a budget motel, the
group is trying to build a
Comfort Inn because of its
attractiveness. However, Ward
said budget prices must be
charged for the rooms.
The impact fee for the pro
posed 60-room motel would be
$54,000. That amount is $550
per room for sewer and $350
per room for water, or $900 per
room. The town implemented
impact fees on development to
help offset the cost of water
and sewer expansion and
upkeep. The fees must be paid
for lots in subdivisions, also.
Ward said that property tax
on a $2 million motel would
help defray the town’s costs. At
the present rate of 49 cents per
$100 valuation, a $2 million
property
yall can’t help ?
us, we’ve just got
to knock it in the
head or move to
another town.”
^ '* ' Charles Ward
Partner in a proposed;(
motel in Heitford
would bring
in $9,800
per year in
property
tax. (Note:
The coun
ty is in the
middle of
a revalua
tion, with
new val
ues sched
uled to be
implemented in January.
Traditionally, the property val
ues have risen and the tax rate
decreased after a revaluation.)
The town has discussed an
economic development incen
tive plan which would refund
85 percent of property taxes
back to qualifying develop
ments for 5 years. If that plan
were to be implemented for the
motel, the group would receive
back $8,330 per year, or $41,650
over 5 years, based on the pre
sent tax rate.
“I’m very interested ... in
having a motel in Hertford,”
Mayor Sid Eley said. He sug
gested that the economic devel
opment package be used for
financial relief for the motel
developers. Eley also asked if
spreading the fee over a 5-year
period would help.
But Ward did not want to
explore other options. He said
the group will meet again
Thursday to discuss the motel
construction, but he does not
think they wUl opt to move for-
Daily Advance photo
PHOTO BY SUSAN HARRIS
New Perquimans County Sheriff Eric Tilley poses in his car
Tuesday. Tilley, who served as chief deputy under Ralph
Robinson, who died late last month, was tapped to take the
late sheriff's place by the Board of Commissioners last week.
Tilley tapped
for sheriff
ward, at least not in Hertford.
He indicated the group may
decide to build in Elizabeth
City.
Councilman Horace Reid
questioned Ward about his
willingness to move the project
to Elizabeth City, a town with
higher impact fees than
Hertford. Ward said it would
be feasible because of the
greater likeli
hood of higher
occupancy in
Elizabeth City
While all
council mem
bers expressed
interest in the
motel, none
moved to waive
the impact fees.
“I think that
jgglljgllljllll the impact fee
is just a cost of
doing business,” said Carlton
Davenport. He added that if
the economic analysis for the
motel is close enough that the
$54,000 in fees may decide
whether it is built or not, per
haps the time is not right for a
motel in Hertford.
New councUperson Jo Ann
Morris said that if the town
waived the fees, a precedent
would be set that could cause
problems with other develop
ment in the future. Davenport
agreed.
“Once you waive it (the fee)
then you may as well not have
it,” he said.
In addition to the impact
fees, the motel would pay a
$25,000 tap fee for a 6-inch
water and an 8-inch sewer con
nection.
Later in the meeting as the
board reviewed the 1998-99 fis
cal audit performed by Rhonda
Gregory, CPA, it was noted that
Ward is the town’s 10th largest
taxpayer. Albemarle Village is
first on the list.
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Editor
Eric Tilley is The Man.
The 36-ye£u:-old Perquimans
High School graduate became
the county’s top law enforce
ment official last Monday
when the coimty commission
ers named him sheriff.
“I accept the challenge. I
hope I can do as good a job as
Ralph (Robinson). I hope I can
fill his shoes. He left some big
ones,” Tilley said upon his
appointment. He was accompa
nied at the meeting by his wife.
Sherry.
Tilley served as chief
deputy for about 15 months
under Ralph Robinson, who
died on Nov. 28 after having
served just under one year of
his four-year term. Robinson
had been appointed sheriff by
the county c jmmissioners
effective Aug. 1, 1998 to com
plete the term of David Lane.
Tilley was also sworn in at that
time. He went to work fuU time
on Sept. 1,1998.
TUley has come full circle —
and up a few steps — since
beginning his law enforcement
career in 1987. His first job in
law enforcement was as a
deputy for the Perquimans
County Sheriffs Department
under then-sheriff Joe
Lothian.
The deputy left the local
department in November 1992
to accept a job as an Elizabeth
City police officer. In early
1996, his career brought him
back to work in Perquimans as
a surveillance officer with the
state department of proba
tion/parole. Last year, TUley
completed the circle when he
agreed to become Robinson’s
chief deputy. Last week, he
took the step up to sheriff.
When Tilley started his cir
cular career, the sheriff had
three deputies — Tilley,
Robinson and James Logan.
Now, there are seven deputies.
Serving at present are Nathan
Zachary, Mario Reel, Lee Price,
David Layne, Ersal Overton Jr.
and Jeffery Johnson. With
Tilley’s promotion, there is
one position open. In his first
decision as sheriff, Tilley told
the commissioners upon his
appointment that he would opt
for a patrol deputy instead of
hiring a chief deputy.
The county has had one
deputy working at night for a
long time,” Tilley said. “It’s
clearly not protecting the citi
zens and clearly putting that
deputy at risk. At this point, a
road deputy would service the
county better.”
Tilley said he has a couple of
candidates who have already
been through Basic Law
Enforcement Training in mind
for the slot.
Last week, Tilley hit anoth
er scheduling snag when Price
broke his leg while playing
with the children at Hertford
Grammar School. Price serves
as D.A.R.E. officer. Tilley said
Monday that Price cannot
work patrol duty for at least 8
weeks, but may be able to
return to the classroom to keep
the D.A.R.E. program going
before that time.
Weekend
Weather
Thrusday
H^if^ 62
Icm 42
^AmY Clqwdy
Friday
m
imtU
CiOimY
Saturday
Him 5S
Low: 37
ScAtTIRED SHOWIRf