Newspapers / The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, … / Oct. 24, 2007, 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
\ I Nixon school maintenance head| Page 2 Weeks new heritage tourism officer Page 4 Sports Page 7 Subscriber of the Week: Marie Hobbs ■ j: OCT 2 4 2007 ■ October 24, 2007 Vol. 75, No. 43 Hertford, North Carolina 27944 - ■ - **News from Next Door ft 35 cents Board okays zoning change CATHY WILSON Staff Writer A Greenville partner ship has plans to construct river-front luxury condo miniums and townhouses on Church Street Extend ed. Tugboat Properties, LLC is planning to create Hertford Bay Marina, a project that not only in cludes townhouses and condominiums, but a pro tected harbor and boat slips as well. In addition, they hope to create com mercial acreage that faces U.S. 17 to include a mo tel, restaurant, and retail Stores. But, the town’s zon ing ordinance needs to be amended first before the project gets underway. Members of Hertford’s Planning Board started that process last week by recommending changing the zoning district in both areas. Planning board mem bers agreed to recom mend that Hertford town commissioners consider rezoning approximately 17 acres located near 700 Church Street from R-10 to TR, which basically allows smaller sized lots per acre. They also recommended that 15 acres at 200 Ocean Hwy. South be changed from residential to com mercial. Hertford Town Council members are expected to take action on the plan ning board’s recommenda tions next month. Jim Midgette, one of six partners involved in Tug boat Properties, LLC, said he is very excited about the project, but noted no time line has been developed for construction yet. Zoning issues have to be resolved and then the project goes to the engineers for plan ning. He envisions over 100 luxury condominiums and town homes as weU as 120 boat slips on the property that kisses the Perquimans River. The artist rendition of the project also shows a pool, tennis court and clubhouse. The commercial project on Ocean Highway calls for a motel, restaurant, a retail strip center and a boat storage facility on five acres. The rest of the prop erty is wetlands. “We see a real need there for a motel,’’ Midg ette noted. “That message has also been relayed to us by the local town officials. We are hoping that a motel wiU anchor the retail area in the project. “We see this project as beneficial to the town,” he added. “It will present a wonderful entrance to the town.” One of Tugboat’s part ners is a developer who has extensive experience in developing such proj ects, Midgette said. CONTINUED on page 11 PCHS SAVED A 'fe.' Photo courtesy BRENDA LASSITER, PERQUIMANS COUNTY SCHOOLS SCHOOL PERSONNEL AND VOLUNTEERS tear down ceil ing tiles, remove damaged furnture and pack and remove books for drying Sunday after a fire on the school's roof was extinguished (above). Perquimans Weekly Photo by SUSAN HARRIS FIREFIGHTERS CLIMBED ATOP THE media center at the high school, removing smoldering debris after extinguishing the blaze. Those who entered the building used air packs to protect their lungs from the smoke. PCHS damaged by Sunday blaze the roof of the building housing the media center, computer labs, a distance learning classroom and administrative offices around 6:50 a.m. Within minutes the empty campus was crawl ing with firefighters and school personnel. Hertford, Winfall and SUSAN HARRIS Editor & Publisher Hertford Police Depart ment’s routine patrols may have averted a true disaster in Perquimans County. An officer riding by the high school early Sunday morning spotted fire on Bethel fire departments were first to respond, along with Emergency Management Coordinator Jarvis Winslow, town of Hertford Maintenance Su pervisor Melvin Jackson, Superintendent Dwayne Stallings, PCHS Principal James Bunch and schools Maintenance Director Jonathan Nixon. Belvi- dere-Chappell Hill, In ter-County and Durant’s Neck fire departments re sponded later. Nixon responded im mediately, arriving at the school before fire units, according to Schools Pub lic Information Officer Brenda Lassiter, who was on the scene Sunday. CONTINUED on page 11 Public: Rethink veteran marker SUSAN HARRIS Editor & Publisher Everybody agrees that it is needed in Perquimans County. But where a veter ans' monument should be placed is drawing several opinions. The commissioners voted in June to front the money — estimated at about $7,000 — to a Veter ans Monument Committee the county had appointed last winter to study placing a monument to veterans in the county. Those who lob bied for a monument said Perquimans was the only county in the state with out a structure dedicated to veterans, and that one was deserved by those who have served in the armed forces. The committee designed a monument bearing the insignias of aU branches of service and proposed plac ing it on the right side of the brick sidewalk leading to the court house door (as you face the court house) near the sidewalk along Church Street. The group said they would pay for the monum ent from donations, including funds raised from the sale of bricks for walkways leading from three existing walkways to the monument. With what appeared to be the county’s blessing, the committee ordered the monument for installation before Nov. 12, Veteran’s Day. On that date, a monu ment dedication, to which numerous local, state and national officials have been invited, was planned. Over the past couple of weeks, however, there has CONTINUED on page 2 Schools treated to prevent MRSA staph CATHY WILSON Staff Writer With the spread of the methicillin-resistant staph aureus, better known as MRSA, the local school sys tem is taking steps to try to prevent it from occurring in schools. Last Saturday, school custodial staff cleaned all schools with disinfectant even though no reports of children infected with MRSA have been received. Custodians were origi nally set to do the overall cleaning during the teach er workday' scheduled for Monday. “It’s about keeping our children safe, and waiting until the originally sched uled date of Oct. 29 (teach er workday) was no longer feasible,” said Brenda Las siter, Perquimans County schools’ public informa tion officer. “We complete ly disinfected aU . schools including restrooms, lock er rooms, weight rooms, cafeterias, desk tops, etc... The administration felt it imperative that we begin disinfecting schools daily beginning immediately. P'vJ ji Photo courtesy BRENDA LASSITER, PERQUIMANS COUNTY SCHOOLS THE MAINTENANCE STAFF OF Perquimans County schools met Friday and learned how to disinfect local schools in an effort to prevent the MRSA bacteria. Custodians worked Saturday to disinfect the entire school system. “Compensating custo dians to work overtime is a smaU price to pay for the health and well-being of our employees and stu dents,” she added. The spread of MRSA is apparently growing state wide, including in school systems. Many school sys tems nationwide have been closed for disinfecting, and one 14-year-old boy in Vir ginia has died from the bacteria. As of last week, one stu dent in Currituck County has been diagnosed with MRSA as well as 10 stu dents at Elizabeth City State University. Perquimans County School Superintendent Dwayne Stallings called a meeting Friday morning with Maintenance Director Jonathan Nixon, Chemical Specialist Buck Bunch, and Lassiter to develop a proactive plan for treat ment of the schools as well as informing parents. Cus todians were trained that afternoon on how to prop erly clean and disinfect the schools with Anolyte, a cleaner 100 times more effi cient against bacteria than bleach. One reason school offi cials didn’t hesitate to take action is due to the sports activity in the schools. “As you know, student athletes travel from school to school and visit locker rooms, weight rooms, etc for athletic events. This increases risks for our stu dents,” Lassiter added. Jill Jordan, health edu cation director and public information officer for Al bemarle Regional Health Services-, said her depart ment works closely with schools and other agencies in educational and preven tive measures related to MRSA. Staph bacteria are com mon bacteria that can be found in the nose and on the skin of about one out of every three people. MRSA bacteria, however. is not killed by the type of antibiotics normally used for staph infections. Even so, most MRSA infections can be treated with other, more powerful antibiotics. Many people carry MRSA on their skin, but most will never get sick from it. Skin infections be gin when the bacteria in vade through small CONTINUED on page 11 Weekend Weather Thursday High: 73 Low: 62 Few Showers Football Friday High: 79 Low: 65 Few Showers Saturday High: 81 Low: 57 SCAHERED T'storms
The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 24, 2007, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75