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PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARt''^*..
110 W ACADEMY ST i>>^
HERTFORD, NC 27944-1306
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'Portraits & Painters' coming
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Caring for camellias
Rage 3
Lady Pirates burn track
Rages 6
April 14, 2004
Vol. 72, No. 15 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
Perquimans
Weekly
Board will not move to reroute US 17
SUSAN R. HARRIS
The Town of Hertford
did not approve a motion to
request that the N.C.
Department of
Transportation reroute
US. Highway 17 Business
in regular session Monday
night.
The proposed change
would have moved the
south end of Highway 17
Business from its present
Edenton Road
Street/Dobbs Street route
to South Church Street.
The change was a com
ponent of a strategic plan
approved earlier by the
town to try to bring visitors
to the area into the down
town business district.
Those who formulated the
plan said that the Church
Street route would be more
direct and attractive, and
would create a more com
mercial corridor into town.
Mayor Sid Eley even
pointed out on a map that
the town had sought grant
funds and installed a side
walk down Church Street
Extended as a component
of the plan.
However, board mem
bers, even some on council
when the strategic plan
was approved, said they did
not think Highway 17
should be rerouted.
Councilman Marvin
Hunter said he saw no need
to change the route, con
tending that as it is, it runs
through the historic dis
trict.
Fellow councilman
Carlton Davenport said he
feared moving the' route
would take away incentives
to repair buildings along
the existing route.
Councilman Horace Reid
had a completely different
angle on the move: It could
take even longer to get
Edenton Road Street paved
if the change is made, he
contended.
Reid said that although
state transportation offi
cials attended council’s
March meeting and said
making the change would
have no impact on funding,
he still believed that chang
ing the south portion of the
present U.S. 17 from a pri
mary to a secondary road
would take away its priori
ty. Reid said history sup
ports his opinion.
Both Eley and Town
Manager John Christensen
said that U.S. Highway 17 is
on the needed paving list
submitted to the DOT every •
time the town requests
paving.
Historic Hertford, Inc.
Manager Wendy Jewett
said the strategic plan.
including rerouting U.S. 17,
was proposed in an effort to
get traffic down Church
Street to keep local busi
nesses viable.
She said that from her
office in the Visitors Center
on Market Street, she hears
visitors say that they took
the U.S. 17 Business exit
onto Edenton Road Street
and then missed the Dobbs
Street turn.
“They kind of get lost,”
Jewett said. “They don’t
even realize we’ve got a
downtown.
“...We can’t afford to lose
people downtown,” she
added. “We’re looking for
the quickest way to get peo
ple downtown.”
Jewett added that rerout
ing U.S. 17 would also mean
less traffic would come by
the high school, which
could be important in the
future as plans caU for part
of the high school’s facili
ties to be built across
Edenton Road Street.
Although there was a
motion made and seconded
to move U.S. 17, it was
defeated on a 2-3 vote.
The question came
before the board last
month; however, it was
tabled as councillors
Carlton Davenport and
Anne White were not pre
sent.
Keel building work work on the web
get HTC extension
Lassiter has
until July to
make building
■ habitable
SUSAN R. HARRIS
The Keel building on the
corner of Edenton Road
and Grubb streets escaped
demolition one more time
Monday night.
Hertford Town Council
voted unanimously to give
owner Randy Lassiter
another chance to make the
building habitable.
Lassiter purchased the
Keel building in , saving it
from demolition at that
point in time. The town had
already taken ownership of
the building from the Keel
family, and had begun
cleaning out its contents.
Town Manager John
Christensen said about 75
tons of debris had been
removed from the building
by the town, and had paid
almost $50 per ton for its
disposal.
Lassiter then purchased
the building from the town
in April 1999, paying $1 plus
the back taxes. He was
given six months to get the
exterior closed in and van
dal-proofed, and one year to
renovate. Lassiter did do
some work in the building,
but did not get it completed
per the agreement.
The town continued to
negotiate with Lassiter on
the building until 2003. On
Feb. 26 of that year, the
county building inspector,
at the request of the town,
inspected the building and
noted its deficiencies.
The building inspector,
town attorney Ike McRee
and Lassiter discussed the
project during a hearing on
Aug. 21,2003. An agreement
was reached that Lassiter
would bring the building
up to state code within 90
days.
Lassiter did apply for a
building permit, which he
received, and he once again
began working on the dete-
rioriating structure.
- But in September,
Hurricane Isabel struck,
and the building sustained
even more damage from the
force of the storm.
Christensen said
Lassiter spoke with him
and asked that the town
give him more time to reno
vate the building in light of
the additional damage
caused by the hurricane.
Council voted on Feb. 9,
2004 to issue an order of
demolition for the building.
Lassiter was notified of the
decision.
Lassiter came to the
council’s March meeting to
request additional time, but
with only three members in
attendance, council opted
to table the request until
April.
Monday night, Lassiter
appeared before council
again. He said that in light
of damage to the building
during the storm, he has
opted to take down the sec
ond story of the building
and create a one-story
structure. He has worked
on the buidling over the
past few weeks, and said
with two more Saturdays of
work, he expects to have the
second floor bricks taken
down and ready to haul
away.
Lassiter added that the
bricks are having to be
removed by hand because
the power lines outside are
so low a contractor he con
tacted was afraid his equip
ment would hit the lines.
He added that there should
be no safety issues after two
weeks.
The plans for the build
ing call for pouring a mono
lithic slab and building a
new truss roof system. He
plans to turn the building
into two apartments.
Lassiter said the demoli
tion should be complete
within 30 days and the
building ready for occupan
cy by July. He added that he
had put money into the
building and now needed it
to generate income.
“I apologize for my poor
performance on that build
ing,” Lassiter told council.
“I can assure you that I’m
back on go.”
Council voted to give
Lassiter the time he
requested, but Mayor Sid
Eley told Lassiter, “I’m
going to tell you if it’s not
done it’s going to be demol
ished.”
Lassiter purchased and
renovated the former
Darden Department Store
building on Church Street
and has purchased and
improved an old gas station
on Dobbs Street.
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The historic construction of the periauger, a Colonial
era log boat, is being beamed worldwide by a web
cam installed at the N.C. Maritime Museum's
Watercraft Center, the site where the boat is being
built. The progress of the boat's construction can be
viewed at the site www.estuarylive.org.
School partnership
earns state award
An area educational
partnership earned
statewide recognition
recently at the 2004 Colege
Tech Prep Conference.
The CTP consortium
comprised of College of
The Albemarle (COA),
Edenton-Chowan Schools,
and Perquimans County
Schools were honored with
two silver-level
wards—one for College
Tech Prep Partnership
Recognition and another
for Promotion of College
Tech Prep.
The College Tech Prep
Partnership Recognition
Award recognizes innova
tive approaches toward
partnering with businesses
and other educational insti
tutions. It is presented to
consortia that have workea
well together to identify the
results and benefits of a
CTP partnership and fob
lowed through with imple
mentation of activities and
programs.
The award for Promotion
of College Tech Prep recog
nizes clear and effective
efforts to promote and dis
seminate information
about CTP programs and is
awarded to consortia dis-
PCRA
homes
tour set
Perquimans’ past will be
the focus May 15 and 16
when the Historic Homes
Tour of Perquimans
County and Spring Garden
Party return.
Sponsored by the
Perquimans County
Restoration Association,
the homes tour will feature
a dozen individual proper
ties along with a restored
historic village.
Among the properties on
the tour is the 1775 Creecy-
Skinner-Whedbee House,
reputed to be the oldest
standing dwelling in
Hertford.
Also on the tour will be
the Temperance Hall (1851),
Edmund Blount Skinner
House (1845), Douglas S.
Darden House (1900),
Thomas S. McMullan
House (1905), George Major
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tiPh
The Temperance Hall on Front Street is one of several
buildings that will be open to the public during the
bienniel Historic Homes Tour of Perquimans County on
May 15 and 16.
Carriage House (1900),
Josiah Nicholson Jr. Store
(1833), Holy Trinity Church
and churchyard (1849),
First Baptist Church (1897),
M. James Bookseller and
Newbold-White House: A
Quaker HOmestead (1730).
Pefhaps one of the most
unique stops on the tour
will be Perquimans Village
(1710-1840), a grouping of
buildings moved in and
restored by Ben and Jackie
Hobbs. The village, which
is used as a private home,
bed and breakfast and fur
niture-building enterprise,
consists of the Richard
Pratt House (1760), Bear
Swamp House (1837),
Bennetts Creek House
(1750^, Flat Branch House
Continued on page 10
playing the best efforts in
marketing to aU stakehold
ers.
The awards were accept
ed by partnership represen
tatives from Edenton-
Chowan Schools, Rob
Boyce, Assistant
Superintendent, and Nelle
Hyatt, Director of Media &
Technology: and from
College of The Albemarle,
Lynne Bunch, president,
Lynn Hurdle-Winslow, Vice
President of Corporate &
Continuing Education,
Althea Riddick, Vice
President of Instruction,
and Bob Lowney, Edenton-
Chowan Campus Interim
Dean. Brenda Spruill,
Membership Director from
the Edenton-Chowan
Chamber of Commerce
also attended the confer
ence and received the
awards on behalf of area
business and industry.
The Edenton Chamber of
Commerce Education
Committee and local CTP
partnership have jointly
sponsored a three-part
business and education
summit. The summit
focused on workforce devel
opment from various
Continued on page 10
No action on
zoning request
SUSAN R. HARRIS
Hertford Town Council
again took no conclusive
action on a zoning request.
Continued on page 10
Weekend
Weather
THURSDAY
High: 62
Low: 47
Few Showers
Friday
High: 64
Low: 46
Partly Cloudy
Saturday
High: 68
Low: 52
Sunny