Holiday events, gift ideas
Page 3
Pirates bow in third round of playoffs
Page 9
School
Page 6
Subscriber of the Week:
Margaret Dale
r--COi
November 28, 2007
Vol. 75, No. 48 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
**News from Next Door*^
35 cents
Town
wants
water
Christmas is coming!
CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
The town of Hertford has
sent a funding proposal for
a waterfront access project
to the North Carolina De
partment of Environment
and Natural Resources.
If awarded, any grant
from DENR would help pay
for a feasibility study to de
termine what can be done
to tie in the waterfront with
the downtown area. The
town would like to develop
a new public marina on
town-owned property along
the Perquimans River. Two
public waterfront parks just
blocks from the downtown
area, Missing Mill Park and
Municipal Park, would an
chor the site.
Town officials believe the
marina would increase pub
lic access to the Albemarle
Sound as well as the river;
provide a new gateway and
hopefully spur tourism in
the town’s downtown area;
stimulate plans to revitalize
the downtown area through
private investment; lever
age other planned public
projects near the proposed
marina; and improve links
between the waterfront and
proposed pedestrian trails.
Members of Hertford
Council endorsed the fund
ing proposal Nov. 14.
“Our preliminary mar
ket scans indicate a grow
ing demand for more and
larger waterfront access
points and storage facilities
in Hertford,” stated Town
Manager John Christensen
in a letter to Louis Daniel,
director of the North Caro
lina Division of Marine
Fisheries. “Our current
public access points — one
boat ramp, pier and canoe
launch — will prevent our
town from capturing an
appreciable portion of this
market.”
Boating access to the
proposed marina area will
be excellent with the excep
tion of sailboat traffic tall
er than the 35 ft. clearance
under the US 17 bypass
bridge.
Temporary boat storage
or slips would be available
for tourists and residents
alike.
“We envision the public
marina as the catalyst for
future waterfront develop
ment and, in turn, the-wa
terfront development proj
ect as the cornerstone of
the downtown’s renewal,”
Christensen continued.
“The proposed project will
include a public marina
for attracting recreational
boaters and other tourists,
adjoining facilities for sup
porting recreational and
commercial fishing, kayak/
canoe facilities, adequate
parking and pedestrian
amenities that are con
nected to the town’s other
planned pedestrian trails.”
Town officials believe
the marina will eventually
lead to more commercial
enterprises like shops and
restaurants to enhance the
CONTINUED on page 14
,5-
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i
. Perquimans Weekly Photo by PHIL HARRIS
FROM THE TINKLE OF the Salvation Army Red Kettle Drive bell to the growing number of holiday decorations, it's obvious
that Christmas is coming to Perquimans. Activities to help ring in the season will begin Thursday in downtown Hertford. For
a holiday activities wrap-up and gift ideas, please see stories on page 3.
Schools have bully policy in place
CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
While buUying is not a
big problem in Perquimans
County schools, each local
school has bullying preven
tion and intervention strat
egies in place to deal with
the problem when it rears
its ugly head.
The Perquimans County
Board of Education ad
opted an anti-harassment,
bullying and discrimina
tion policy three years ago
which terms “bully” as the
repeated and deliberate
verbal and physical abuse
of one student by other stu
dents. Bullying generally
occurs, the policy states, in
a context where there is a
real or perceived imbalance
of power, physical or social,
between the buUy and the
victim. The aggressive be
havior is unwelcome, un
provoked, and intended to
do emotional harm.
The policy prohibits stu
dents, teachers, adminis
trators, or any other school
personnel to harass, bully
or discriminate against any
person based on any differ
ences such as race, color,
sex, religion, creed, politi
cal belief, age, national ori
gin, linguistic and language
differences, sexual orien
tation, gender identity/ex
pression, socioeconomic
status, height, weight, phys
ical characteristics, marital
status or disability.
The policy also states it is
a violation for any student.
teacher, administrator or
other school employee to
tolerate such harassment,
bullying or discrimination.
To help prevent buUying
from occurring, and to help
deal with it when it does,
each school has its own plan
of action. AH plans are sim
ilar in nature, but geared to
the different age levels.
According to informa
tion provided by Brenda
Lassiter, the schools’ pub
lic information officer,
Perquimans County High
School students sign a
school anti-bullying pledge,
and the school’s anti-buUy-
ing plan is detailed in the
student hand book. In an
effort to achieve a zero tol
erance, the students and
teachers have been given a
way to report acts of buUy
ing to school officials.
“Our interventions will
focus on changes within the
school and classroom cli
mate to increase awareness
about buUying, increase
teacher and parent involve
ment and supervision,
form clear rules and strong
social norms against biU-
lying, and provide support
and protection for individu
als bullied,” states the high
school’s plan of action.
A survey is usually
conducted in the English
classes during the first two
months of school asking
students if they have seen,
heard or experienced buUy
ing, where it occurs, wheth
er or not faculty intervenes
CONTINUED on page 14
New business
Hertford supports
water conservation
Perquimans Weekly Photo by CATHY WILSON
LITTLE RIVER ANTIQUES MALL Sc Collectibles Sc Good Stuff held
its grand opening and ribbon cutting Saturday morning. Owner
Deborah Snyder offers up to 53 vendors displaying a variety of
antiques and collectibles. Yard sales are held every Saturday in
the parking lot, and auctions are held on the premises once or
twice a month. The mall is open Tuesday through Friday 11 a.m.
until 6 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. and on Sundays 1
p.m. till 5 p.m. For more information, call 264-4002.
CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
WhUe the town’s water
supply is more than ad
equate, town residents are
urged to voluntarUy con
serve water.
Hertford council went on
record recently encourag
ing town residents to vol
untarily conserve water in
light of the current drought
being experienced through
out most of the state. Ex
perts forecast drought con
ditions to continue into
early 2008.
“We’re not saying
Hertford is in any dire need
right now,” stressed Mayor
Pro-Tern Horace Reid Jr.
“We just don’t want to get
into the same situation
as other areas around the
state. We’re just asking our
citizens to conserve.”
room
tax
6 percent tax
on hotel, B&B
rooms and
condo rentals
proposed
CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
County commissioners
wiU hold a public hearing
Dec. 3 on a proposed 6 per
cent occupancy tax on hotel
rooms, bed and breakfasts’
rooms, and condominium
rentals located in the coun
ty.
The proposed tax would
be collected on any lodging
in the county that is sub
ject to sales tax. The North
Carolina General Assembly
passed legislation this past
summer authorizing the
creation of a local occupan
cy tax up to 6 percent.
County Manager Bobby
Darden said the state esti
mates a proposed 6 percent
tax would generate $28,000
annuaUy which would have
to be spent on local tour-
ism-related activities.
The Perquimans County
Tourism Development Au
thority wUl be established
and charged with the re
sponsibility of spending
the funds collected from
the occupancy tax. That au
thority wUl consist of six
members, including two
members appointed by the
county, one from Hertford,
one from Winfall, and two
from local businesses that
actuaUy collect the tax.
While county leaders
have talked about impos
ing an occupancy tax in the
past, local efforts met with
opposition and those efforts
never got to the state legis
lature untU 2007.
The public hearing wiU
be held in the Courthouse
Annex BuUding, second
floor courtroom, beginning
at 6:45 p.m.
The public hearing wiU
be held prior to the board’s
regular monthly meeting.
“Compared to other plac
es in the state, we’re in good
shape,” added Commission
er JoAnn Morris.
The resolution passed
by council supports Gov.
Michael Easley’s request
for all state citizens to vol
untarUy conserve water
and hopefully resiUt in a 50
percent reduction in water
use. Conserving water now
wUl also lessen the load on
the aquifer which provides
water for the town.
While county commis
sioners have not passed
such a resolution. County
Manager Bobby Darden
pointed out that the county
has water conservation in
formation on the county’s
website as well as in their
bUling department.
Darden said most of the
critical water shortages
CONTINUED on page 14
HfeMHBt
Thursday
High: 66
Low: 36
Partly Cloudy
Friday
High: 53
Low: 35
Partly Cloudy
Saturday
High: 59
Low: 37
Parly Cloudy