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P4/C3***********5-digIT 27944
PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
110 W ACADEMY ST
HERTFORD, NC 27944-1306
January 2, 2002
Vol. 70 No. 1 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
PERQUUvjatns
Weekly
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3 IP'l^centei^
Town strategic plan to be presented
Final 5-year
plan to be
unveiled at
public meeting
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Everyone can see what
Hertford could look like in
5 years at the public presen
tation of the town’s strate
gic plan on Jan. 23.
Hosted by the Town of
Hertford Main Street
Program, the presentation
will be in the courthouse
annex. Fourteen colorful
streetscape designs, sig
nage recommendations,
area mapping, suggested
plantings and more will he
on display from 5:30-6:30
{{
I 11»I
Part of the 5-year plan will be streetscapes, including
a look at the intersections of Church and Grubb (left)
and Church and Market (right) streets. The plan will be
presented on Jan. 23 at a public meeting.
p.m. in the commissioner’s
room in the annex. At 6:30,
all the displays will be
moved upstairs for a pres
entation from 7-8 p.m.
The designs are the con
cepts of LandMark Design
Group, an interdisciplinary
planning, landscape archi
tecture and engineering
firm in Virginia Beach and
Williamsburg, Va. and
Raleigh. The company was
hired by.,, the town of
Hertford to work with the
Main Street Program to
provide planning and
design services for the
strategic plan for the
Hertford Heritage Tourism
Development area.
In November 1998, the
North Carolina Division of
Tourism, Film and Sports
Development issued a chal
lenge to the town to develop
a wish list and a vision plan
for heritage tourism in
Hertford. In January 1999,
about 85 people came
together to work with the
community to develop a
wish list. As part of the
process, a public meeting
was held, the Heritage
Tourism Development
Council was created, and a
strong pool of localk nowl-
edge and research resulted
in a plan titled “Hertford
and Perqumans County, A
Vision for Heritage
Tourism.
Next, the town made
application and was desig
nated as a Main Street
Community in June 2000.
The contracted with
Perquimans County
Restoration Association for
funding received from the
N.C. Department of
Commerce for the purpose
of Heritage Tourism Pilot
Community Projects. Using
these funds, LandMark was
contracted to work with
Main Street on the strate
gic plan.
The presentation is open
to anyone interested.
PCHS Pirates are
tourney champs
Daily Advance photo
The Perquimans Pirates won the annual Daily Advance Holiday Basketball Classic last week, while the Lady
Pirates came in second. Titus Stepney earned MVP honors for his outstanding play. For highlights of the Lady
Pirates games, please turn to page 6.
SUSAN R. HARRIS
They hung on against a
stubborn Camden team in
the tournament opener,
then cruised to a 63-51 vic
tory in the annual Daily
Advance Holiday
Basketball Classic last
week.
The PCHS Pirates used
and inside-outside game
and awesome first-quarter
shooting to claim the
crown.
Perquimans’ Titus
Stepney earned MVP hon
ors for his play. The point
guard scored 13 of his
game-high 19 points in the
second half, including two
clutch mid-range jumpers
when the Aces cut the lead
to five in the fourth quar
ters. In the last two min
utes, Stepney went 4-for-4
from the line.
Earlier in the game, the
Pirates found offensive
power in guard J’Sean
Wilkins and forward
JerreU Foreman. Wilkins, a
long-range shooter, found
his stroke and dropped in
three consecutive shots
from downtown. The out
side shots that were missed
were grabbed and slammed
by Foreman, who had two
dunks and four rehounds in
a three-minute span.
Wilkins left the game in
the second quarter with an
ankle injury, but the rest of
the talented, deep team did
their jobs to take the win.
Wilkins finished with 15
points; Shavoris Lewis, 13;
Foreman, 11; Monte
Tunnell, three; and Bevon
Miller, two.
Against Camden,
Perquimans won 61-60 on a
put-back by Foreman.
The Pirates went up by
as many as 15 in the third
quarter, but poor decisions
down the stretch allowed
Camden to take a 60-59 lead
after going on an 11-0 run in
the fourth stanza.
Foreman poured in 20;
Stepney, 14; Tunnell, 10;
Lewis, nine; Wilkins, six;
and Edward Meadows, two.
The Pirates will take on
Williamston at home on
Jan. 8.
Some Winfall resident^upset over change in sewer project
ROBERT SHILES by a federal Community done if ei^ugh money was reimbursed the cost of added. fact that pnnnah pram
ROBERT SHILES
Staff Writer
Some local businesses
will have to pay a hook-up
fee to be connected to
Winfall’s new sewer sys
tem, and they don’t like it.
Because “the sewer
grant monies will be
absorbed, upon completion
of the residential hook-ups,
we deeply regret that we
cannot provide the free
hook-up service to our busi
nesses,” reads a Dec. 17 let
ter sent by Mayor Fred
Yates to town business
owners. “Therefore, each
business will be personally
responsible for hooking-up
their business to the town
sewer system.”
Free hook-ups for the
town’s residents are now
underway and are expected
to be completed by
February, said Yates, who
has been working to find
the financial resources to
bring central sewer to this
small Perquimans County
community for more than
10 years. Also, as required
by a federal Community
Development Block Grant
received in 1996, all busi
nesses - as well as residents
- in Old Winfall are being
hooked up to the system
free of charge.
Construction of the $6.4
million project began in
August 2000. Except for
$500,000 that is statewide
clean water bond money, all
of the money to fund the
project is being generated
from a variety of grants.
The most recent grant for
the project, awarded in
November, was $200,000
from the Rural
Development Center.
But businesses outside
the limits of the Old
Winfall contend that they
were under the impression
that like residents and
other businesses operating
within the community they
would share in the free
hookups. The letter, they
said, caught them off
guard.
“We all knew that Old
Winfall would be the first
hooked up and we would be
done if eflCugh money
left,” said Larry Chappell,
of Larry’s Drive-In. “We
accepted that. But when
there was some extra
money (the recent
$200,000), we were under
the impression we would be
hooked up free.”
Russell Hollowell, presi
dent of Hollowell Oil Co.
Inc., also received a letter
saying his business would
not be included in the free
hook-ups, despite his busi
ness being located in Old
Winfall. Yates, however,
said HoUoweU’s receipt of
the letter was a mistake
since his business is
already slated to be con
nected to the sewer system.
Yates defended his deci
sion to make businesses
pay connection fees, since
there is not enough grant
money to hook up all resi
dents and every business.
“They (businesses) were
just put on notice,” Yates
said. “If thbre is money
available after all residents
are connected to the system
then businesses will be
reimbursed the cost of
hooking in to the system ...
Right now the money is
absorbed, but there is a
day-to-day change in this.
This is not set in stone.”
Yates lashed out at the
business owners, claiming
they are not interested in
what is best for the commu
nity. He charged last week
that some of the town’s
business owners care only
about lining their own
pockets.
“The businesses want to
take advantage of the citi
zenry of Winfall,” the
mayor said. “What are they
dong to contribute to the
town, other than just tak
ing people’s money?”
In response to claims by
members of the business
community that they are
left in the dark concerning
the sewer project and other
town issues, Yates said they
should attend town meet
ings and learn what is hap
pening in their community.
“They never come to
meetings to find out what is
really taking place,” Yates
added.
The mayor said that T.A.
Loving Construction
Company, of Goldsboro -
contractor for the sewer
project - has indicated all
town residents and select
businesses should be con
nected to the sewer system
by February. The system is
already up and running,
and those properties
already connected to the
system now no longer need
to use septic tanks.
The new sewer collec
tion system is replacing
individual septic tanks,
many of which are obso
lete and leaking.
As part of the new sewer
system, Winfall has an
agreement with the Town
of Hertford to treat waste-
water generated by
Winfall. The connection
between the town commu
nities runs under the
Perquimans River.
Yates said that he has
dedicated the past 10 years
of his life to getting a cen
tral sewer system for
Winfall, and is proud of the
fact that enough grant
money was obtained over
the years to huild the sys
tem and still provide for all
community residents to
have their homes connect
ed to the system free.
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 36
Low: 29
Snow
Friday
High: 37
Low: 27
Partly Cloudy
Saturday
High: 40
Low: 25
Sunny, Cold