P The
ERQUIMANS
Weekly
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JUNE 15, 2011 - JUNE 21, 2011
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County approves permit for wind farm
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
County commission
ers have approved a con
ditional use permit for a
300 megawatt wind farm
planned for the Desert area
spanning both Perquimans
and Pasquotank counties.
In a imanimous vote,
commissioners approved
the permit with conditions
following a quasi-judicial
hearing last week.
On Monday, the Pas
quotank County Board
of Commissioners also
granted a conditional use
permit (CUP) for the proj
ect in their county, paving
the way for planned con
struction that could begin
as early as next spring.
If buUt, the project
would be the first utility-
scale wind project not only
SUBMITTED COMPUTER RENDERING
This visual assessment shows
what the view of the proposed
wind farm would look like
looking north from Two Mile
Desert Road just south of the
intersection with Swamp Road.
in North Carolina but in
the southeast portion of
the United States.
Atlantic Wind LLC
(AW), a subsidiary of glob
al wind energy company
Iberdrola Renewables,
plans for the Desert Wind
Energy project to include
up to 150 utility-scale wind
turbines capable of gener
ating enough electricity to
power up to 75,000 homes.
Up to 68 wind turbines are
slated to be buUt in Perqui
mans County.
A host of witnesses for
AW testified during the
hearing that was con
ducted by county board
Vice-Chairperson Jan
ice Cole at the request of
Chairman Ben Hobbs.
Cole, a local attorney who
See WIND FARM, 8
of scams
From staff reports
Perquimans Sheriff Eric
Tilley warns area residents
of various scams that have
impacted local residents,
especially the elderly.
Tilley said elderly resi
dents are receiving phone
calls from someone claim
ing to be a family member
asking for help and need
ing money The caller uses
trickery to first obtain a
family member’s ’ name,
such as a grandchild, and
then uses that name to con
vince the elderly person on
the other end to wire mon
ey to the scam artist.
“If you receive a caU,
check with your fam-
Uy first,” Tfiley urged. “If
the caUer says he is your
grandson, hang up and caU
your grandson first to see if
he reaUy caUed you before
you wire any money.”
TUley says the origin of
such caUs come from out
side the coimtry
“There’s just no recourse
if the scam involves other
countries,” he added. In
stead, Tfiley encourages
residents to simply hang
the phone up if someone
caUs and tries to get you to
send them money
Another scam is fake
lotteries or sweepstakes
letters being sent to local
residents through the maU,
including a recent fake lot
tery letter from Madrid,
Spain. Tfiley encourages
residents to look for red
flags in such letters, like
sentences that encourage
you to keep the notification
See SCAMS, 8
Class of 2011 weathers graduation
\ri
I
STAFF PHOTOS
BY CATHY WILSON
The Class of 2011 is led
onto the football field
at the start of gradua
tion exercises Friday at
Perquimans County
High School.
With threatening skies
gathering behind them,
an enthusiatic crowd ex
citedly greets the PCHS
graduates.
V ;
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
O ne word best
described Friday
night’s com
mencement exercises
at Perquimans County
High School.
Weather.
Held outside on the
school’s football field,
threatening skies and
windy weather caused
122 graduates wearing
caps and gowns to liter
ally grab their diplomas
from Perquimans Board
of Education Chair
man Amy Spaugh and
almost run for cover as
an impending storm cut
the outside ceremony
short.
Graduates, parents
and guests got to hear
both class speakers as
well as state Senator Ed
Jones before the storm
caused school officials
to quickly hand out
diplomas and head for
cover.
Within 15 minutes of
clearing the field, heavy
rain, strong winds, and
lightening covered the
area.
School officials
continued handing out
diplomas to the gradu
ates inside the gym.
State Senator Ed
Jones briefly congratu
lated the class and their
parents.
“When you look at
the state’s drop out rate,
you are the proud and
the few,” he told them.
“But it wouldn’t have
happened if it weren’t
for the support of your
parents throughout the
years. It’s like a good
soup. You put a little bit
See CLASS, 8
Friday is strolling time!
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
Get ready to stroll again this
Friday night during the second
of fom: summertime Friday
Night Strolls in downtown his
toric Hertford.
This Friday’s line-up in
cludes comedy, musical enter
tainment, old-fashioned games,
vendors, food, and book sign
ings.
The fim runs from 5-8 p.m.
Select downtown merchants
wifi be open late as well.
Chris and Mandy Whitehu
rst highlight this event with
the musical entertainment. Or
ganizers say a comedy act and
games such as corn-hole, pie
eating and watermelon seed-
89076
47144
Long
Cherry
spitting contests wifi provide
fun-filled activities to enjoy on
the spacious courthouse lawn.
Three book signings wfi.1 take
place during the event.
Corbin Cherry wifi hold a
book signing for his new book
“Here By The River” on the
courthouse green. A resident
of Hertford, Cherry’s seventh
book is a book of prose writ
ten about the river waters that
embrace both the tovras and
county
It is his first book of prose
written in a few years, he said.
See FRIDAY, 8
5 bridge options up for discussion
By CATHY WILSON
Staff Writer
The nine options of
fered over a year ago
to replace the historic
S-bridge and Cause
way have now been re
duced to five.
The North Carolina
Department of Trans
portation wifi present
those five alternatives
June 21 during a public
meeting at the county
recreation department
from 4-7 p.m.
The five options in
clude:
Alternative A-NEW-
building a new swing
span at the same loca
tion as the current S-
bridge is located along
with a new low struc
ture on the causeway
The new swing span
bridge would open and
close for boat traffic
but would not have a
steel truss like the cur
rent bridge.
Alternative A-RE-
HABILITATE-rehabil-
itate the existing swing
span bridge and build
a new low structure
on the causeway. NC-
DOT officials say this
alternative might not
be feasible because the
existing truss bridge
does not meet current
safety requirements.
Alternative D-re-
place the bridge and
causeway with a new
33’ high fixed bridge
on a new location east
of the existing facil
ity. The northern end
of the new bridge
would connect with
the existing US 17
Business/NC 37 just
south of Larry’s Drive
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SUBMIHED IMAGE
This map shows the route of the S-bridge alternatives now
See BR^GE, 8 under consideration. ^