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P The
ERQUIMANS
"News from Next Door"
July 1, 2009 - July 7, 2009
i/ED
1 2009
Volunteers
are the
heart of
Historic
Hertford
Page 4
Changes
are under
Dear Perquimans
Weekly readers:
As you may have read
in Susan Harris’ recent
column, we have made some
changes at The Perquimans
Weekly office.
Susan accepted a position
as our customer service
manager in Elizabeth City.
In this role, she is respon
sible for ensuring that we
provide the best customer
service possible for our
readers of The Perquimans
Weekly, The Daily Advance
and The Chowan Herald. Her
department is also respon
sible for Classified advertis
ing sales and support for the
three papers.
Given the excellent job
Susan did as editor and
publisher of the PW, we’re
confident she will excel and
improve our operations.
She also plans to continue
to write her column and
provide coverage of Perqui
mans high school sports.
With Susan’s departure,
we organized the manage
ment responsibilities in the
Hertford office. Bev Alex
ander continues to be our
advertising sales represen
tative. Bev is part of the
overall advertising team,
including Daily Advance and
Chowan Herald sales staff,
under Sales and Marketing
Director Gene Fowler.
Cathy Wilson remains Per
quimans County reporter for
the PW and the go-to person
for editorial coverage. She
reports to Mike Goodman,
who oversees our editorial
staff in Elizabeth City, Eden-
ton and Hertford.
General administration
and publisher responsibili
ties, such as accounting and
finance, have been consoli
dated in our Elizabeth City
office, under my direction.
Our mission is to provide
our Perquimans County
readers and customers with
comprehensive hyper local
news and information and
the best community newspa
per we can. We believe our
reorganization wiU better
enable us to meet that mis
sion.
We welcome your sugges
tions and feedback. Contact
information for the Hertford
staff and the managers can
be found on page 2. We sin
cerely thank you for being a
loyal reader and customer of
The Perquimans Weekly
Ann Hoffman
Publisher
Weekend
Weather
Thursday
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Saturday
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County pays its share of extra jail costs
By Cathy Wilson
Staff Writer
Perquimans County cut a
check last week to Pasquo
tank County for $247,366 to
help pay for cost overruns
for the $19 million regional
jail currently under con
struction in the neighboring
county
County Manager Bobby
Darden said Pasquotank
County Manager Randy Ke
aton requested both Perqui
mans and Camden counties
pay their percentage of ap
proximately $1.2 million in
unreimbursed extra jail ex
penses already footed by Pas
quotank. Keaton asked the
localities to pay by June 30.
Darden said Perquimans
paid the funds out of the 2008-
2009 general fund balance
with the understanding that
the funds will be reimbursed
to Perquimans from either
contingency funds for the
jail project or from expected
additional jail financing.
“I would have done the
same thing,” Darden said of
Pasquotank’s request. “We
knew Pasquotank County
has been carrying this fi
nancial burden for quite a
while. We know we’U get our
money back either from con
tingency or from additional
financing.”
The Albemarle District
Jail Commis
sion is cur
rently con
structing a
new regional
jail facility
in northern
Pasquotank
with costs
shared by
Camden, Pas
quotank, and Perquimans
counties. Camden’s share of
unreimbursed extra expens
Darden
Causeway to close again
>•
FILE PHOTO BY JUSTIN FALLS
North Carolina Department of Transportation officials expect the resurfacing on the southbound portion of the U.S. Highway 17 high
rise bridge to be complete by July 30. Unfortunately, the causeway will close again for repairs on July 6 forcing motorists to enter
Hertford using the U.S. 17 northbound high rise bridge which is one lane each way due to the closure of the southbound bridge. With
the added traffic, law enforcement officials urge caution when traveling in the construction zone.
High-rise bridge should open soon
By Cathy Wilson
Staff Writer
The bad news is, another
section of the causeway is
failing and highway offi
cials will close the roadway
for repairs July 6. The good
news is, the southbound
high-rise bridge on U.S.
Highway 17 is expected to
reopen by the end of July.
From the time the cause
way closes until the high-
rise bridge opens, travelers
and residents will have to
travel the two lanes over
the northbound high-rise
bridge to enter Hertford
from U.S. 17.
Division Engineer Jerry
Jennings said the North
Carolina Department of
Transportation will close
the causeway July 6, or
before if the damage is
deemed unsafe, because
another section of the road
has collapsed. Highway of
ficials are monitoring the
causeway daily since a
250-300-foot stretch rapidly
settled over the past few
weeks.
“There is a chance we
might have to close it soon
er if it gets to the point of
being unsafe,” he added.
A red highway cone now
marks the spot where the
old concrete slab under
neath the causeway has
failed. The road is set to re
main closed until Sept. 18.
“The exact length of time
for road closure depends on
how the work goes,” said
Jennings. “We don’t expect
it will take any longer than
that.”
Resident Engineer Randy
Midgett said the resur
facing project which has
closed the northbound high
rise bridge on U.S. 17 is go
ing well.
“The contract date for
completion is July 30 and
it’s definitely on schedule,”
he said. “Things are going
well out there. There is a
good chance we can open
it up sooner. The concrete
work is complete, but we
stiU have some patching to
do.”
The southbound bridge
closed last March and re
routed traffic to the north
bound bridge while the
construction crews resur
faced the two lanes.
This summer’s closure
of the causeway marks
the third time the road has
been closed since Septem
ber 2007 to repair pavement
failures.
Contact Cathy Wilson
at cwilson@nccox.com
es to date is 13 percent or
$153,132. Pasquotank’s share
is 66 percent or $777,437. The
share for Perquimans is 21
percent.
Apparently, the extra ex
penses won’t be reimbimsed
by the jail’s USDA loan until
the project obtains addition
al financing, Darden said. Of
ficials estimate the jail proj
ect will need an additional $1
million in financing before
completion.
Winfall,
Hertford
seats up
for vote
Filing period July 6-17
for the Nov. 3 elections
By Cathy Wilson
Staff Writer
Four council seats, two in
Hertford and two in Winfall,
wiU be decided during mu
nicipal elections slated for
Nov. 3.
According to Eula Mae
Forbes, director of the Per
quimans County Board of
Election, the filing period
for those running in the fall
municipal election will open
July 6 and close July 17.
So far, only one incumbent
has said he wiU seek re-elec
tion.
Hertford’s
Vice Mayor
Horace Reid
said he will
run for office
again after
serving 12
years.
Hertford
Council-
woman
Reid
JoAnn Morris, however, said
she will not seek reelection
in the fall. Morris has served
for eight years.
Morris cited her age as the
reason why she will not seek
office again.
In Winfall, seats currently
held by councilwomen Donna
Mummert and Debbie Jean
Whedbee will be decided.
On Monday, Mummert said
she is undecided whether she
will seek re-election. She has
served on Winfall council for
six years.
Efforts to reach Win
fall Councilwoman Debbie
Jean Whedbee were unsuc
cessful. .
Contact Cathy Wilson
at cwilson@nccox.com
Hertford, Winfall July Fourth celebrations set
Food, fun, music and fire
works will highlight the local
July 4th celebrations in the
county.
Both Hertford and Winfall
plan events that end with a
bang: Fireworks shot over the
Perquimans River.
A non-motorized parade,
featuring pedal and push-pow
ered decorated tricycles, bi
cycles, wagons, tractors and
strollers, will start the cel
ebration in Hertford around
5 p.m. as they line up at the
Hertford Baptist Church
parking lot at 5 p.m.
Decorated to the hilt, chil
dren of aU shapes and sizes
wiU pedal or walk from
Market Street to Chmrch
Street to Grubb Street to the
Missing MiU Park where the
rest of the evening’s events
wiU occur.
Spectators may watch from
the streets, or wait for the pa
rade at the park where food
vendors wUl offer a variety
of Independence Day favor
ites including hamburgers,
hotdogs, fish and chips, Ital
ian sausages, popcorn, snow
cones, funnel cakes, and
homemade ice cream. Patriot
ic music wUl entertain as the
children enjoy the dunking
booth and basketball games.
AU boats that navigate near
the park — whether powered
by paddle or motor — are
asked to decorate in holiday
style in honor of the day
Of course, the highlight of
the day wUl be fireworks set
off around 9 p.m. Bring your
lawn chairs or blankets to en
joy the light show.
This year’s 4th of July cel
ebration in Hertford is spon
sored by the Perquimans
Chamber of Commerce.
Over in WinfaU, the town
plans a gospel celebration
sponsored by Mike Chandler
of REJOICE 100.9. at Winfall
Landing Park from 3 p.m. to
8 p.m. featuring great music,
food, drinks and lots of fun.
The celebration wUl end by
watching the fireworks dis
play across the Perquimans
River.
Performing for the gospel
block party wiU be Pastor Av
ery Barnes and the Sons of
God, CoCo McMUtian, Andra
Cross, Faithway Doves and
many others.
For more information or to
participate in the WinfaU cel
ebration, caU 426-5015.
FILE PHOTO
The annual July
Fourth
fireworks display
will be held at
Missing Mill Park
in Hertforcfand
in Winfall on
Saturday at 9 p.m.
Other activities are
also planned for
the Independence
Day celebration.