Newspapers / The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, … / Aug. 23, 2001, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
The only newspaper for and about Perquimans County and its people Lady Pirates JVs take win Pages Eure earns technology award Pages Kids have FUN at 4-H day camps Page 2 The u [51 PEROUlHANi, iamv 1*0 W «(...«• lEMy' sr « Hi-Rl FORD Nc E7y44 August 23, 2001 Vol. 69, No. 34 Hertford, North Carolina 27944 UlKLr/ County gets $2.7 million sewer grant Holiday Island, Plantation to be served SUSAN R. HARRIS The county is poised to go into the sewer business with a $2,693,781 grant from the Rural Center. Perquimans applied for help with the project that win provide sewer service to residents of both Albemarle Plantation and Holiday Island. The project is known as the Minzie’s Creek Sewer District Project. The funds will be used to purchase and rehabilitate the sewer system at Albemarle Plantation, and extend service to the 614 existing homeowners in Holiday Island. County Manager Paul Gregory said the county will sit down Friday with engineer BUI Diehl of Diehl and PhiUips in Cary and Dick George, who has served as the county’s con sultant on the project, to begin final planning on the project, including engi neering and re-checking costs. Diehl wiU be the engineer on the project. George wiU continue to work with the coimty as a consultant and planner, and Gregory said Martha Daniel Hobbs, the county planner, wiU also work on the sewer project. Gregory said the project wiU probably approach $3.5 million. The county has already contacted the Rural Center about another $400,000 grant to help defray costs. The applica tion package for that request wUl be submitted soon, he said. Holiday Island has long sought help from the coun ty due to failing septic tanks in the subdivision. In fact, there is a moratorium on buUding in the subdivi sion because lots there wUl not perk. Failing septic Dally Advance photo Sen. John Edwrqads talks with Gayle Howe during a visit to the Newbold-White House Sunday, in the back ground is Hertford Mayor and Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Sid Eley, dressed in period attire com plete with a black hat. Joyce Mitchell (right) works in Edwards' office in Greenville. Edwards stops in Hertford Sunday BOB SHILES The Daily Advance U.S. Sen. John Edwards says that he enjoys visiting constituents living in rural areas of the state because they remind him of home. “I grew up in Robbins, a small town in the Piedmont that's very much like the small communities in this part of the state,” said Edwards, the North Carolina Democrat. “I feel a kinship with the people living in rural areas. I feel I really know them.” Edwards was on a whirl wind tour of eastern North Carolina this weekend, starting in Pamlico Coimty on Saturday and finishing with a brief stop in Currituck County on Sunday. During a Sunday morn ing service at the Shiloh Baptist Church, Edwards spoke about values and his trip to the Middle East. “The values you get growing up in a small com munity mean a lot,” he said. “They always remain with you.” He described his recent week-long visit to the Middle East — his first as a U.S. senator — as a “tremendous learning experience,” and one that provided him greater understanding of that trou bled region. “There is a very bad situ ation there. There is lots of violence, and lots of people are dying needlessly,” he said. While in the Middle East — a trip many tout as improving the senator's for eign-policy credentials as he considers seeking the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 — Edwards said he met for an hour with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. He also had the opportunity to meet with other major Israeli, Egyptian and Palestinian leaders. “But the most moving and meaningful part of the trip for me,” Edwards, a Christian, added, “was being able to visit the place where — at least historical ly — Christ was crucified and died. I was able to kneel and pray at the site for some time. It is some thing I will never forget as long as I live.” After a stop at Jimmy's Barbecue in Sunbury, Edwards traveled to Hertford and toured the Newbold-White House — the state's oldest brick house. LuAnne Pendergraft, heritage tourism officer for the state Division of Tourism, noted that the senator's support for devel oping the Newbold-White House had recently helped secure a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The grant, she said, will be used to fund the services of 10 scholars working to devel op an interpretive program for the historic site. “This site is so impor tant to the history of this area and the state,” the sen ator told about 50 people gathered outside the old brick farmhouse. “This his tory must be preserved. It's important that people be educated about this.” Edwards addressed the issue of building a strong state economy, one in which all citizens benefit. “We need to make sure that not only some areas of the state, such as the Triangle, develop,” he said. “We have the responsibility to ensure that all North Carolina prospers. “We need to support our agriculture, tourism and recreation,” he continued. “At the same time we need to attract business (to rural areas), something which can only be done if we pro vide quality education, a weU7trained work force and the necessary technology... We must make sure that all of North Carolina is at the table and sharing in the prosperity.” Edwards noted that he has been pushing hard for- passage of his number one priority — the establish ment of the Patient Protection Act. He is spon soring the Senate version of the patient's rights bill along with Sen. John McCain of Arizona. A different version of the bill has been approved in both the House and Senate, Edwards said, and now the bill has been for warded to a conference tanks in the community, which borders both the river and sound, threaten water quality. After years of looking for answers, the county was able to negotiate with Albemarle Plantation and make an offer on the subdi vision’s sewer system. Under the terms of the pro posed sale, the county must maike sewer service avail able to all Plantation resi dents, who will pay tap-on and monthly fees for serv ice. Only the present home- owners in Holiday Island will be served by the sys tem, which will collect waste through piping from present septic tanks. The system will not clear the way for ftirther building in the subdivision at present. In preliminary discus sions about the sewer proj ect, it was estimated that service will rim about $35 per month. Tap-on fees will be determined based on final anticipated project costs. Locals should be ready for storms County, Red Cross stress preparedness committee where points of disagreement in the two versions of the bill will be worked out. “There's a simple idea behind this bill. People should have the right to make their own decisions about health care,” he said. Questioned about his position on the type of pre scription drug plan that should be available under the Medicare program, Edwards noted that Medicare should include a prescription plan similar to that already available to Medicaid recipients. “There are seniors now having to make decisions about whether to pay for food or their medications,” he said. The senator also said that he does not support using money from the Social Security Trust Fund to help balance the federal budget. “When the budget gets out of balance, the only place to go is to Social Security and Medicare. I think that is a mistake,” Edwards said. “I believe the government should be run the way the average North Carolina family manages its budget.”, Following his stop in Hertford, the senator attended the 67th Daniels Day Family Reunion on Roanoke Island. With his final stop Sunday in Currituck County, Edwards has now visited 87 of the state's 100 counties. SUSAN R. HARRIS Having escaped the dev astation of a mqjor hurri cane for so many years may be the undoing of folks in Northeastern North Carolina. Perquimans County Emergency Management Coordinator Harry Winslow, County Manager Paul Gregory and Red Cross representatives met Friday to share informa tion on hurricane pre paredness. They explained what should happen when fore casters predict a hurricane will make landfall here. The only Red Cross- approved pre-hurricane shelter in the county is Perquimans County Middle School. The reason is because Central School has too much glass in its design and the two schools in Hertford lie in flood- ways. While the school property at the Hertford sites is not likely to flood, the streets around both are prone to standing water. Red Cross has strict cri teria for pre-hurricane shelters. Dare and Currituck have none because they are very high risk counties. Perquimans, Chowan, Pasquotank, Gates and Camden are con sidered high risk. Perquimans, Pasquotank and Gates have one approved shelter each; Chowan has two. Camden has none. Gregory said as the county plans its communi ty center to be located at the commerce centre, offi cials are taking pre-hurri cane shelter criteria into consideration so that there will be a shelter on each side of the river. All stressed that early preparation is important. People should gather emer gency items, including canned foods, bottled water, battery-powered radios and flash lights with extra batteries, blankets, and put them in a water proof storage area ready to take with them should they have to evacuate. When a storm is forecast to hit, those items, plus things such as prescription medications and important papers such as insurance stored in plastic bags, should be gathered. Shelters generally open when the storm is predict ed to make landfall in 18-24 hours, and give 5 or 6 hours notice of their opening. The county will publicize its decision to open shel ters on DIXIE 105.7 and WTKR, WVEC and WAVY. If shelters open, all people living in mobile homes and in low-lying areas should get out of their homes. Those people should either go to the homes of family or friends or go to the shel ter. People should go to the shelter during daylight hours, not at night with high winds and blowing rains. Often, roads flood early. And hurricanes may spawn tornadoes. If going to a shelter, bring bedding, important papers in plastic bags, quiet entertainment, med ications, diapers and baby products, battery-powered radios with earphones, spe cial foods (such as for dia- betes),and snacks. Do not bring animals, alcoholic beverages, drugs or weapons. People caught with those items will be turned over to law enforce ment who patrol the site. Animals should be left at home, secured in a garage or other safe area or taken to a vet. Those who go to a shel ter should also inform fam ily or friends so someone will know their where abouts. The Red Cross has placed several free pam phlets on preparing for storms at the county library for residents to pick up. The most important thing residents can do to limit risk to life is be pre pared, Winslow said. “Early preparation is important,” he said. “We need to be ready.” WppiTFian Weather Thursday High: 87 Low. 70 Possible Shower Friday High: 88 Low: 71 Dry Saturday High: 87 Low: 72 Partly Cloudy
The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Aug. 23, 2001, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75