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''News front Next Door
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APRIL 15 - APRIL 21, 2009
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Winfall
will not
sell plant
Documents point to
planned sale
By Cathy Wilson
Staff Writer
By Susan Harris
Editor
The town of Winfall is not
trying to sell its water system
to the county.
“Winfall is not trying to seU
you anything,” Mayor Fred
Yates told commissioners last
week. “We’re
not looking
to make any
money, just a
legal way to
transfer it over
to you.”
“We weren’t
planning to
laies thing either,”
answered Perquimans Board
of Commissioners’ Chairman
Mack Nixon.
Yates appeared before coun
ty commissioners April 6 after
a recent newspaper article re
ported that WinfaU was trying
to seU its water system to the
county, and County Manager
Bobby Darden said the county
didn’t plan to buy it.
But that’s not what docu
ments obtained by this news
paper indicate.
In a Feb. 9 letter written by
Yates to Sharon Edmundson,
director of the Local Govern
ment Commission’s fiscal
management division, Yates
stated: “...we are in negotia
tions with Perquimans Coun
ty for them to totally take over
our water system and aU oper
ations. Since we are currently
purchasing our water from
them, this would be an easy
transition. We feel it would
take a financial burden off of
the town and at the same time
save the customers money
“Part of the negotiations
would possibly include some
form to cash considerations
from the county for our water
system. This woidd allow the
water and sewer fund to reim
burse the general fund for the
loans given to this fund. The
proposed takeover would take
effect July 1,2009.”
The LGC is a division of the
state treasurer’s office.
Edhiundson met with Win-
fab officials on Feb. 24 to dis
cuss the town’s dismal finan
cial condition.
In a letter dated March 23
to Yates, Edmundson wrote;
“Your decision to negotiate
the sale of your water sys
tem and aU its operations to
Perquimans County effective
aPH i 5 2009
Warriors arrest citizens for Relay Wandering
toddler
found safe
PERQUIMANS WEEKLY PHOTOS BY CATHY WILSON
A little prayer could help! Galya Collins and Greg Clark, pastors of Hertford United Methodist Church and Hertford
Baptist Church respectively, plead for “bail" after being “arrested" Saturday during the fun-filled jail-a-thon sponsored
by the Woodland Warriors Relay for Life team. About a dozen folks from around the county were brought in, held in the
makeshift cell in front of the courthouse annex building, and raised at least $200 bail each before they were released.
Organizers say the “prisoners” raised about $2,500 to help fight cancer.
Above, The Woodland Warriors who held a bake
and hot dog lunch sale Saturday did a brisk
lunch business which included feeding some of
the employees working on the U.S. Highway 17
bridge.
At right, collecting coins to help flush away can
cer Saturday were Patricia Cartwright and her
daughter Casey. Patricia knows what donations
to the Relay for Life can do. She is a cancer
survivor after being diagnosed with melanoma
in 2002.
By Cathy Wilson
Staff Writer
■ A one-year-old toddler is safe after
walking away from the home she was
left in unattended Tuesday morning.
Hertford Police Chief Joe Amos said
the little girl was left alone at 408 Meads
Loop Road by her father, Kenny Felton.
Felton, police said, left the sleeping chbd
to visit with friends in another resi
dence in Meads Trader Park. The chbd
apparently awoke whbe her father was
gone and walked out the door barefoot,
wearing only a tee shirt and a diaper.
Luckily, a neighbor saw the child walk
ing around outside and took the chbd
back inside her home, police said. When
a famby member coibd not be found, the
neighbor carried the chbd to the chbd’s
grandmother.
Amos said police were notified around
8:40 a.m. after the mother returned
home from taking an older sibling to
school and stopping by a store on the
way home. Felton tried to stop the moth
er from notifying police of the missing
chbd, Amos said.
“They looked around for a whbe on
their own before they cabed us,” he
added.
The chbd was unharmed even though
the morning temperature was in the low
40s.
Police said Felton became bebigerent
during their investigation and would
not cooperate with police.
Felton, 48, is charged with misde
meanor chbd abuse by neglect as web
as resisting and obstructing a police
investigation, Amos said. He was trans
ported to Albemarle Regional Jab under
a $1,000 bond.
The Perquimans Department of So
cial Services was also notified, Amos
added.
Group begins to
market water-
Butterfield slim on stimulus details
See WINFALL on PageA2
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
High: 60 Low: 45
Mostly Cloudy
Friday
High: 68 Low: 49
Sunny
Saturday
High: 73 Low: 55
Partly Cloudy
Local school system
projected to receive
nearly $800,000 in funds
By Cathy Wilson
Staff Writer
While local school officials expect
to receive federal stimibus funds for
the school system, they haven’t been
told yet how to use it.
Congressman G.K. Butterfield an
nounced recently that the schools
in his district coibd see more than
$78 mibion in federal stimulus fund
ing including funds for Perquimans
County schools.
The Perquimans County School
System is projected to receive
$344,961 in Title 1 funds and $411,000
in Individuals with Disabbities Edu
cation Act (IDEA) funds. Hab of the
funding is expected to be distributed
this spring, and the second install
ment is expected later this fab.
Title I is the largest federal el
ementary and secondary education
program that authorizes federal aid
to local schools for the education of
disadvantaged students. The aboca-
tion formula primarby considers
the number of chbdren aged 5-17 in
poor families and the state’s level of
per pupb spending for public K-12
education.
IDEA provides funding to states
for the education of chbdren with
disabilities. The allocation formula
considers the number of chbdren
receiving services and a district’s
relative poverty.
Superintendent Dr. Dwayne Stab-
ings expects limitations on how Title
I and IDEA funds can be spent, but
PERQUIMANS WEEKLY PHOTO BY CATHY WILSON
Congressman G.K. Butterfield spoke briefly last week to school administrators from
northeastern North Carolina meeting at Perquimans County High School. He an
nounced recently that the schools in his district could see more than $78 million in
federal stimulus funding including funds for Perquimans County schools.
hopes the funds can be used to help
fib in funding gaps appearing in nor
mal state abocations. He added that
the funds can orby be used for the
next two years, and should be used
on innovative projects or student de-.
velopment improvement programs
that haven’t been done before due to
lack of funding.
“Of course, when the funding for
those projects is gone, we have to
pick up that cost,” he said.
How and where to insert federal
stimulus funds into the 09-10 school
budget is just one of the issues fac
ing school administrators.
Funding sources are not as robust
as in the past, and the system has ac-
tuaby lost about 100 students, mean
ing less state funds as web.
The start of the 07-08 school year
saw 1,802 students in the Perqui
mans .County school system. That
number dropped to 1,711 the begin
ning of the 08-09 school year.
School officials believe the drop
is due to fambies moving out of the
area looking for work elsewhere.
And, school officials are waiting
on the state’s own budget approval
which may affect class size as web
as local funding.
“The economy is bleak right now.
We recognize that funding sources
are not as robust as before.”
Stabings believes, however, that
retirements and attrition wib take
care of any funding holes that might
appear in the ongoing budget pro
cess, but notes that staff may be
shifted depending on the needs.
The board wib hold a work session
at PCHS Aprb 23 at 7 p.m., then ap
prove a budget on April 27.
+■
By Cathy Wilson
Staff Writer
Roanoke River Partners, Inc. (RRP)
wbl market and take reservations for
the county’s three recreational water
side campsites on the Perquimans River
and its tributaries.
Perquimans County commissioners
agreed last week to partner with the
non-profit group to promote the sites and
book reservations at Bear Garden Point,
Cypress Woods, and Mib Creek camping
platforms located on the Perquimans
River and two tributaries, Mib and Rac
coon creeks. The group wbl take reser
vations via phone and online through
its website www.roanokeriverpartners.
org. They wbl cobect the $10 per person
per night reservation fee with a nightly
minimum of $20 per campsite.
In addition, RRP wbl market the sites
via the group’s website, distribute bro
chures and other imformation to poten
tial visitors, and promote the site during
their speaking engagements around the
state.
RRP wib also report to the county
how many reservations are scheduled
quarterly, and provide a report of res
ervations and camping fees cobected on
an annual basis.
RRP wib keep 35 percent of ab rentals
as their service fee.
The campsites had previously been
booked through the county’s recreation
department.
'The Mib Creek site, situated in an old
cypress gum forest, offers two platforms
connected by a boardwalk and can be
accessed from the public boat ramp in
Hertford. The paddling trab from Hert
ford to the campsite meanders along an
official state-designated birding trail.
See CAMPSITES on Page A2
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