.P10/C5
jPERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
.110 W ACADEMY'ST
HERTFORD, NC 27S44-1306
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2/15/2005
Perquimans
Weekly
Teen arrested for robbery, possession
February 16, 2005
Vof. 73, No. 7 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
ERIN RICKERT
A local teen was recently
found in possession of mar
ijuana after he was brought
in on robbery charges,
police said.
Jamar Fletcher, 18, of
405 Dobbs Street, was
arrested and brought into
the Hertford Police
Department Feb. 4 after he
was identified as the indi
vidual responsible for a
robbery that took place in
the Food Lion parking lot.
“While he was being fin
gerprinted and pho
tographed he was found to
have drugs on him,” said
Hertford Police Chief Dale
Vanscoy.
Vanscoy said officers
found 1.3 ounces of mari
juana distributed into 23
small clear plastic bags in
the teen’s pocket.
Police had arrested
Fletcher just a day after he
allegedly robbed John
Hoggard, 18, of 142
Riverview Drive.
According to police,
Fletcher approached
Hoggard in the parking lot
the evening of Feb. 3 imi
tating a gun with his hand
in the pocket of his coat as
he demanded Hoggard give
him money. Believing the
gun to be real, Hoggard
handed Fletcher $20.
Vanscoy said Hoggard
was able to identify
Fletcher because he had
attended school with the
boy before Hoggard gradu
ated in 2004.
Fletcher was charged
with common law robbery
and possession with intent
to seU and deliver narcotics
and is being held on a
$12,500 secured bond.
Hertford, county
mull sub^visions
UP WE GO
Significant
growth may be
in store for
Hertford
ERIN RICKERT
Town council members
were faced with requests
from two developers
Monday night that could
increase Hertford’s popula
tion by 50 percent — steal
ing three quarters of the
additional capacity the
town plans to add to the
sewer system.
Together, Timberline
Land Company and Page
Development are request
ing close to 450 new resi
dential lots connect to the
system.
On Edenton Road Street,
Page Development plans for
141 lots while Timberline
Land Company plans for
close to 300 lots on the cor
ner of US 17 and Harvey
Point Road.
“This is not normal,”
said Hertford Town
Manager John
Christensen. “This is huge
ly abnormal. It’s a good
problem to have, but we
have to look at this wisely.”
Christensen said in the
last three and a half years
alone Hertford has only
made 14 new connections to
the sewer system.
Continued on page 10
County
expands
subdivision
moratorium
ERIN RICKERT
The Perquimans County
Board of Commissioners
recently approved a mea
sure modifying the current
siK-month moratorium on
area subdivisions five lots
and larger to include two
lots.
“Basically the concern
was that they [developers]
will do four lots and thne go
ahead and do four others,”
said Perquimans County
Manager Bobby Darden.
“We are trying to keep
everyone on the same play
ing field.”
The moratorium, which
was originally passed in
December 2004, halts subdi
vision development until
June 6.
It was originally initiat
ed to allow additional time
for two things: to form
plans so the county’s two
water plants can better
accommodate the area’s
sudden growth and to dis
cuss possible changes not
only to subdivision regula
tions but also the process
for approving them.
In the last three years,
development of waterfront
Continued on page 10
PHOTO BY ERIN RICKERT
Members from the Blueway/Greenway Steering Committee gathered along with
town officials in Missing Mill Park to help Public Artist Maura Bordes Cronin install
the first of four risers planned for the county Thursday. The risers, all at least 150-
feet in length, will also be placed at the Newbold White House, Winfall Landing
Park and Academy Green Memorial Park through March as part of an effort to
highlight some of the trailheads for the Blueway/Greenway Plan. Cronin said the
riser pattern emphasizes steps being taken in the Blueway/Greenway Plan, which
works to develop areas for those interested in biking, kayaking, walking, and
canoeing.
Educators
help
residents
succeed
ERIN RICKERT
A new continuing
education program
made possible through
a partnership with
Perquimans County
Schools and the
College of The
Albemarle is now
available to help some
county residents finish
what they started.
The general educa
tional development
program, held at 6
o'clock each Monday
and Wednesday
evening at Perquimans
Central School, has
only been available
since mid-January, yet
already directors are
dealing with an over
whelmingly positive
response.
Continued on page 10
HGS kitchen steamer catches fire
ERIN RICKERT
Close to 500 students and
50 staff members were
evacuated from Hertford
Grammar School the morn
ing of Feb. 9 after a steamer
caught fire in the School’s
cafeteria.
No one was injured in
the mishap and damage to
the school and equipment
was minimal.
Cafeteria Manager
Marlene Pierce said the
steamer caught fire not
long after she applied
chemical delimer to clean
the machine — a task they
do a few times a year.
Pierce said she and another
cafeteria worker were
scrubbing the inside of a
walk-in cooler when she
heard several of her co
workers yeUing, “fire.”
“I ran out and saw the
steamer on fire,” Pierce
said. “I unplugged it think
ing the fire would go down
but it didn’t.”
As the room began to fill
with smoke. Pierce said she
became concerned because
several gas tanks and gas
appliances surrounded the
steamer.
Pierce said it was
around 9 a.m. when she
called the school’s secre
tary, Linda Godfrey, and
told her to call 911 and send
Janitor Robert Banks to the
cafeteria to assist.
Meanwhile Pierce
grabbed one of the fire
extinguishers from the
wall, pulled the pin and
began spraying chemical
flame-retardant on the
flames inside the steamer
until Banks could take over.
Once Hertford Fire
Department arrived at the
scene the flames were
under control and fire
fighters were able to
remove the steamer from
the cafeteria.
“The damage is minimal
to what it could have been,”
said Brenda Lassiter, pub
lic information officer for
Perquimans County
Schools. “No one was
injured.”
Lassiter said the steam
er, which the school pur
chased in 1998 when they
remodeled, was valued at
$6,200.
Vacant
positions
mied
across
county
ERIN RICKERT
While many thought the
start of the New Year was
just another year gone by,
2005 brought about many
changes and some new
faces to Perquimans.
Several vacant positions
as well as a few new posi
tions were filled across the
county, with talented indi
viduals from both close and
far away.
Newly graduated from
Virginia’s Mary
Washington College with a
bachelors in historic
preservation, Sarah Parr
was recently hired by the
Perquimans County
Restoration Association as
the new site manager for
the Newbold-White House.
Parr, who succeeds Ann
Jones, began her work with
the historic Quaker home
stead Jan. 13.
“I want to work with the
vision of making the
Newbold-White House a
more cohesive site,” Parr
said. “I want it to be more
interactive for children and
families whether it be
exhibits in the visitor cen
ter or the house itself.”
Parr moved to the area
from Williamsburg, Va.
where she worked as an ori
entation interpreter at
Colonial Williamsburg.
Since her move, Parr
said she has been working
to learn the area and the
demands of a job requiring
she keep the oldest brick
house in North Carolina
open for visitors.
Days earlier, on Jan. 10,
Matthew Peeler was hired
Continued on page 10
PHOTO BY ERIN RICKERT
Hertford firefighters check out a steamer that caught
on fire during cleaning at Hertford Grammar School
last Wednesday. The school was evacuated, but there
were no injuries resulting from the incident.
Each school in the coun
ty has just one of these
machines and it is used by
the school to steam things
like vegetables and
spaghetti.
Pierce said loosing the
steamer, which they use
everyday, will affect how
meals are served at the
school.
“It’s going to affect us
bad,” Pierce said. “We use
it like a person.”
Lassiter said it could
take up to two weeks before
they receive a new steamer
and until that time, extra
people wiU be needed to do
Continued on page 10
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 49
Low: 26
Partly Cloudy
Friday
High: 46
Low: 30
Sunny
Saturday
High: 53
Low: 35
Partly Cloudy