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ERQUIMANS
Chef runs
aground with
food trucks,
"News from Next Door” JANUARY 19,2011 - JANUARY 25, 2011
Winfall still struggling with finances
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
While Winfall’s overall
general fund increased last
year, the town’s unreserved
general fund balance is in
the negative column for the
third year in a row.
. According to an indepen
dent audit conducted by
Winston, Williams, Creech,
Evans & Company, LLP
in Oxford, WiirfaU ended
No police
report
needed in
bus wreck
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
School officials say em
ployees acted appropri
ately last week by moving
a school bus involved in an
incident with a fuel truck
before law enforcement ar
rived on the scene.
Brenda Lassiter, public
information officer for the
school system, said law
enforcement did not have
to respond to the scene of
the accident and no police
report was necessary be
cause only minor damage
occurred.
On Jan. 11, mirrors on a
school bus driven by a sub
stitute driver and a Cross
roads Fuel oil truck clashed
while meeting each other
on New Hope Road around
8:45 a.m. Both mirrors on
the drivers’ sides were
shattered, and one student
passenger window was
cracked, added Lassiter. No
injuries were reported.
Fifteen high school stu
dents were onboard Bus
128 at the time. They were
transferred to another bus
and transported to school.
Bus 128 was driven to the
bus garage area.
“Perquimans County
Schools elected not to ob
tain a police report be
cause, in our opinion, the
incident was not a ‘report-
able’ crash,’’ noted Lassiter.
“A ‘reportable’ crash, as de
fined in general statutes, is
a crash involving a motor
vehicle that results in one
or more of the following: a)
death or injury or b) total
See REPORT, 2
Weekend
Weather
Friday
High: 45 Low: 31
Showers
Saturday
High: 42 Low: 25
Mostly Cloudy
Sunday
High: 46 Low: 25
Clouds and Sun
89076 A
the 2010 fiscal year with
a general fund balance of
$122,667, an increase of
$31,659.
However, the town’s im-
reserved fund balance was
-$12,089 or -2.39 percent of
total general fund expendi
tures for the fiscal year.
The state’s Local Govern
ment Commission (LGC),
which oversees county and
municipal fiscal matters,
requires local governments
to main
tain a min
imum of 8
percent im-
reserved
funds (or
about one
month’s
average
expendi
tures) for
use in the event of emer
gencies, or during times
of unexpected reduced rev-
Yates
enues. Audit figures show
the town incurred a net loss
of $161,416 in the water and
sewer fund which also owed
the general fund $101,772 at
the end of the fiscal year. In
addition, the cost of run
ning the town’s sanitation
program exceeded fees
charged to customers.
Mayor Fred Yates says he
has notified the LGC of the
audit’s findings, and was
told the town would receive
a letter. He feels, however,
that the town is on the right
track by increasing the
overall general fund.
“We’re being as conser
vative as we can,” he said.
“The problem comes in the
water and sewer. We were
buying more water than we
coUected for it. We were los
ing money, too, when that
water went through the
sewer.”
Yates believes the town
will do better this current
fiscal year since the county
took over the town’s water
department back in Au
gust. In addition, the town
will take part in the state’s
debt set-off program that
deducts money owed for
unpaid town taxes from
state income tax refimds.
The town will continue
to cut expenses, he added.
See AUDIT, 2
Honoring
y King's life
and work
STAFF PHOTO BY CATHY WILSON
Youth members of New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church flag ministry participate in the first
Dr. Martin Luther King Parade in Hertford Monday.
Dr. M.L King Jr.
BRETT A. CLARK/THE DAILY ADVANCE
The choir and audience members celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day at New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church on Monday.
King’s faith seen in his works
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
A local evangelist
compared the life
of Dr. Martin Lu
ther King, Jr. to the life
of Jesus during special
services honoring Mar
tin Luther King, Jr. Day
on Monday.
“Look at Jesus Christ
and see the man, Mar
tin,” urged Evangelist
Doris Felton before a
large crowd at New
Bethel Missionary
Baptist Church. She
pointed out how both
men shared likenesses.
were despised by the
world for their historic
actions, and their beliefs
in spreading the word
of God. In addition, they
were ridiculed for show
ing love for aU mankind,
and for working to end
prejudice, injustice and
racism. Both men loved
God, were filled by the
Holy Spirit, and worked
to release the captives
and set the downtrodden
free, she said.
She pointed out that
both men died while
serving the will of
God, and that each man
accomplished more in '
death than during his
individual time on earth.
They both were
despised by the world,
persecuted, yet provided
freedom for mankind in
death.
“Look at Dr. King,”
See DR. KING, 4
County passes ordinance allowing wind turbines
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
County commissioners
recently approved a zoning
amendment that will allow
wind turbine farms in Per
quimans County
The amendment, passed
Jan. 3, allows a review pro
cess for locating, erecting,
operating, and decommis
sioning small, medium,
and large-scale wind facili
ties.
. Commissioners ap
proved the amendment
unanimously following a
public hearing on the zon
ing proposal during which
no residents spoke.
The ordinance will per
mit small wind energy fa
cilities (up to 120 feet taU),
and require a condition^
use permit for medium
and large-scale wind facili
ties (up to 250 and 600 feet
respectively) in the rural
agriculture districts.
Pennsylvania-based
Iberdrola Renewables has
expressed -an interest in
buUding a wind farm on
acreage that transcends
both Perquimans and Pas
quotank counties in an
area called the Desert.
“I expect to receive an
application requesting a
conditional use permit
from them probably some
time in April,” said Coimty
Planner Donna Godfrey. “I
understand that approxi
mately 60 percent of the
facility is expected to be in
Perquimans County”
See TURBINES, 2
Thurs(jayjanuary 20, 2011 r'uniA/AM 11 MTV
Cocktails 6 PM Dinner Buffet 7 PM \-.nUWAIN I Y
American Legion Post 40
Catering provided by Edenton Bay Oyster Bar & Seafood
UNLIMITED
Tickets are $50 and include buffet and membership, and wili be available at door.
Ducks Unlimited Banquet
Door prizes, Gun Auction, Prints, Decoys and Morel
Prime Rib | l^rimp
Crabs 1 Tuna Bites