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The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County and its people Office food safety Rage 6 Should teens work? Rage 8 Basketball update Rage 9 February 1, 2001 Vol. 69, No. 5 Hertford, North Carolina 27944 013165 110101 01 **C001 PEROUIMAIMS COUNTY LIBRARY no W ACADEMY ST HERTFORD NC Z7944 The J:Ti;KyUIMANS U u Lee wants bus MARIEL BETTENCOURT The Daily Advance Winfall parents have circulated a petition to move a middle and high school bus stop from Main Street to King Street, and presented the peti tion at the Perquimans County Board of Education meeting Monday. According to Joyce Lee, mother of six children, the bus stop at the inter section of Main and White streetsis imsafe. “Main Street is a street that every body passes through,” Lee said. “It gets too dangerous. ... People are rushing to work.” Lee drafted the petition and pre sented signatures to Board of Education members Monday, who said they would review the bus stop to make sure it is in accordance with state law. According to state rules, only chil dren living more than one-and-a-haLf miles away require bus services. Rule 115C-246 also states: “Unless road or other conditions shall make it inad visable to do so, public school buses shall be so routed on state-main tained highways that the school bus, to which such pupil is assigned, shall pass within one mile of the residence of each pupil.” The Main Street stop passes with in one-Tenth of a mile of Lee’s resi dence and is located on a state-main tained highway. But Lee said that until recently, the stop was located at the intersection of King and White streets, a safer spot. The petition calls the Main Street bus stop “totally outrageous,” “much too dangerous” and “unsafe.” According to Interim Superintendent Pat Harrell, trans portation supervisor Richard O'Neal switched the bus stop to King Street only temporarily, due to the construc tion on Main Street for Winfall's new sewer system. Once construction cleared, the stop returned to its origi nal location on Main Street. Lee disputed this, adding that in the six years she has lived in Winfall, her children have always been picked up at King and White streets. As soon as she noticed the change in the bus stop, Lee called O'Neal. > While Lee did not speak to O'Neal, she received a message from his staff that O'Neal reviewed her request, and ' replied that the bus stop needs to remain at its state-mandated location on Main Street. Any other stop is or has been unauthorized except during construction. On Monday, Board Chairman Walter Leigh told Lee that O'Neal and Harrell would again review her request. Harrell added, “It’s a difficult situ ation at best, because of all the con struction.” Construction on the sewer system began August 2000 and will be com plete Sept. 1. Members of the Board of Education also discussed their search for a new superintendent. Gregory T. Todd, former superintendent, retired in December, and Harrell has served as interim superintendent since. All applications for the position will be in by Feb. 28. Interviews with candidates will begin March 16 and or»H 1C Jones speaks to 7th graders Congressman Walter B. Jones Jr. recently made his annual trip to Perquimans County Middle School to talk with seventh grade stu dents. For the past sev eral years. Congressman Jones has made a commit ment to speak with 7th grade students at PCMS as they study the democratic process. Seventh-grade curricu lum includes the study of the democratic process as a citizen of the US and of the world. Anne White, principal, said she believes that exposing the students to the cur riculum with hands-on learning helps bring the subject matter alive. ,,^1 I iMi! Congressman Waiter B. Jones Jr. makes an annual visit to Pequimans Middle School. He was welcomed last week by Hertford Mayor Sid Eley, Principal Anne White and Winfall Mayor Fred Yates. After the Pledge of Allegiance led by Student Council President Stephen Windell, the Congressman, was introduced by Sid Eley, Mayor of Hertford. Congressman Jones dis-; cussed with students what at typical day in the life of a; congressman is like. He- shared the responsibilities; he is faced with daily after; which time he allowed stu dents to ask questions. Congressman Jonest encouraged students to- always put forth their very^ best effort stating that he; was not the best student inj his class when he was in theC seventh grade, but possible^ he was one who put forth thew most effort. In closing, he» reminded the students that they were the future of this{ country and that our coun-; try’s greatness is because of its people. Construction area Work has begun on the additions to the Perquimans County courthouse. Wings will be added to both sides of the structure, adding much-needed space to the Clerk of Court offices as well as an elevator to the second floor and public restrooms that can be used for festivals and other community events downtown. Main courthouse renovations begin SUSAN R. HARRIS Employees in the county Clerk of Court’s Office will have the room,(|(|ie);^, need to better serve the public whi0h¥* the courthouse renovations are com plete. Work has begun on the $670,000 addition/renovation project. The Gardner Company, Inc. is general con tractor on the project, which will add 3,200 square feet to the existing court house, with the total renovation area covering 16,500 square feet. The expect ed completion date is November. “So far, they’ve been real good to work with,” said County Manager Paul Gregory. Gregory added that Clarence Gardner is now heading the company formerly run by his father, Rick. The Gardner Company served as general contractor on the last courthouse addi tion/renovation project about 30 years ago. job and now his son Clarence is doing the addition and renovation,” Gregory said. Included in the renovation is addi tional space for the clerk’s office, aiiew jury room large enough to accommo date the grand jury with nearby restrooms, a new office for the presid ing judge and an office for lawyer- client meetings on court days. An elevator will be installed to allow handicapped access to the second floor of the courthouse, home to the offices of the county manager and finance officer, as well as public restrooms. Interior reconfigurations will make navigating the building much easier and more convenient, Gregory said. An addition that will be a boost to downtown is the addtiion of public access restrooms that can be open dur ing festivals and other community activities. Gregory said the restrooms will be able to be in use without giving access to the entire courthouse. Gregory said county officials have clerk’s office was seriously cramped for space. In fact, the county began set ting aside funds in the general furicfir budget about 10 years ago to pay for the project without having to borrow money. The county will use about $570,000 in money Set, aside plus $100,000 from state court facilities money to pay for the renovations. Clerk of Superior Court Gail Godwin told officials about 2 years ago that the time had come when addition al space had to be added. Architect Jerry Traub began working with the county about 18 months ago to draw plans that answered the county’s need for space without compromising the looks of the historic courthouse. Gregory said three employee park ing spaces may be lost with the addi tions, but that will not be known for sure until construction actually begins and the landscape can be reviewed. “Parking was already at a premium up here,” Gregory said. “We will try to keep employee the parking area so that ' " ► Joyner to stay at PHS ^ MARIEL BETTENCOURT The Daily Advance The Perquimans County Board of Education extended Special Populations Coordinator Elonza Joyner's contract until June 30, 2002. “He's doing an outstanding job in that position,” said Interim Supervisor Pat Harrell at the board's meeting Monday. “He’s a valuable addi tion to the staff at the high school.” A special populations coor dinator works with children who “don't fit the norm,” Harrell explained. Joyner finds ways to help these chil dren stay in school. Board chairman Walter Leigh agreed that Joyner's work in that position has been exceptional, adding that he recently talked to one of his students. “That student was really helped and showed apprecia tion,” Leigh said. Although Joyner retired- recently, a new Perquimans County Schools policy allows teachers to serve one year after retirement. According to Brenda Bail, director of per sonnel, this policy has become more and more popular throughout the state, and in Joyner's case offered a win- win situation. “We just hated to lose him,”- she s9M Tjiesday. Weekend Weather Thursday High: 48 Low: 26 Showers Friday High: 47 Low: 32 Partly Cloudy Saturday High: 58 Low: 35 Partly Cloudy
The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.)
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Feb. 1, 2001, edition 1
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