P The
ERQUIMANS
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ROTARY Names Students of
The Month for January, Page 3
"News from Next Door"
FEBRUARY 29, 2012 - MARCH 6, 2012
50 cents
Board advised on industrial park drainage
By PETER WILLIAMS
Staff Writer
The trees are cut and the clock
is ticking.
Now what?
That’s the situation presented
to the Perquimans County Board
of Commissioners Monday night
by consultants working on Phase
III of an industrial park off Har
vey Point Road.
Dwane Hinson and others laid
out plans to the board during the
work session but no decisions
were requested and none were
made.
The county owns the 118-acre
site and timber has been cleared
from 72 acres of it. The rest forms
a buffer zone around the perim
eter of the project. What Hinson
asked the board to consider is
taking the next step — digging
small drainage ditches on-site to
allow the land to dry out.
The county is working under
a permit by U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers to develop the land,
but the permits typically are
good for five years. Perquimans
has had theirs for about two. Dig
ging the ditches would be a good-
faith effort at showing the county
is working on the project.
For about $14,200, Hinson
suggested digging 1,500-feet of
V-shaped ditching about three
feet deep. That would cost about
$7,500. Another $6,700 would be
needed for erosion control.
“I think all of us want to dry
it (the site) out,”
board Chairman
Ben Hobbs said.
How much
the board wants
to spend to im
prove the site
was debated.
More intensive
ditching and re
Hobbs
tention ponds could be built, as
well as roads. But each comes
with a dollar cost.
The clock isn’t only ticking on
the Army Corps permit. Mother
nature has her own clock. Hin
son cautioned that some discus
sion should be done about how to
control the vegetation
“In three years, it’s going to
start growing back up. Clearing
the land for more intensive de
velopment will require several
thousand dollars per acre rang
ing in cost from $70,000 to $140,000
dollars, plus the cost for the es-
See DRAINAGE, 5
Need More Room To Jump Around Colson
murder
suspect
arrested
PETER WILLIAMS/THE DAILY ADVANCE
Pre-K teacher Angela Burke claps in rhythm as two students in her class jump in time to a song at Perquimans Central School, Friday. Higher kindergarten
enrollment could mean the school district would have to limit pre-K to just one class in 2012-13, even though Gov. Beverly Perdue has provided more money
for programs across the state.
Lack of space confining pre-K programs
Perquimans County
Sheriff Eric Tilley says
luck played a role in the
quick arrest of a suspect
in the murder of a Hert
ford man last week.
Michael
Helms, 19,
was ar
rested Feb.
22 for the
death of
28-year-old
Chad Aus
tin Colson
the day
By PETER WILLIAMS
Staff Writer
By PETER WILLIAMS
Staff Writer
M ore money won’t neces
sarily mean more kids
in pre-kindergarten
programs in Perquimans County
because there isn’t enough space
to take the students that have
already applied.
The public school system has
gone from three pre-k classrooms
in 2010-11 down to two this year
and may only have enough space
for one next year.
Last week Gov. Bev Perdue’s
released a plan to provide an
other $9.3 million for pre-k and
add 2,000 more slots statewide
for at-risk 4-year-olds. The other
four counties in the Albemarle
area can expect to get money to
accommodate 57 more kids. Per
quimans won’t get any because it
hasn’t been able to use its exist
ing allocation.
The issue boils down to space.
School systems must by law ac
cept children in grades k-12 but
they don’t have to provide facili ¬
ties for the 4-year-olds.
Perquimans Central School
had a flood of kindergarten
students apply for this school
year, which squeezed out the
space that could have been used
for pre-k classes. Next year this
year’s kindergarten students will
See SPACE, 4
before. Colson’s body was
found Feb. 21 in a shallow
ditch on Holiday Island
Road. Results of an autop
sy have not been released,
but Tilley said he be be
lieves Colson was stabbed.
Helms worked for a com
pany doing construction
work in Chowan County,
but Tilley would not re
lease the name of the com
pany.
“He(Helms) was working
in Edenton and the compa
ny bent over backwards to
cooperate with us,” Tilley
said. “The man who owns
the company didn’t want
the name of the company
released and since he bent
over backwards to help, I
said OK.”
Tilley said Helms’ father
told the sheriffs depart
ment that his son had been
arrested in the past in
South Carolina for break-
See ARREST, 4
S-bridge closing for repairs
From staff reports
The “S-bridge” on Church Street
in downtown Hertford will be
closed to vehicle traffic for up to up
to a week starting March 5 while re
pairs are done to the bridge tender’s
office.
On Jan. 7, the driver of a F-250
pickup truck lost control and struck
street signs, tree limbs and a pump
station before hitting a piling that
supports the office. The truck in
turn went into the Perquimans Riv
er. The driver, John Rodney Griffin
III of Williamston, escaped serious
injury. He was charged with driving
while impaired in connection with
an accident.
Randy Williams, a bridge engi
neer with the N.C. Department of
Transportation, said he hopes the
repairs to the 1928-era swing bridge
FILE PHOTO/THE DAILY ADVANCE
The S-Bridge in Hertford, is seen in this photo taken May 20,2010. The bridge will
close briefly starting March 5 while repairs are made to the bridge tender’s office.
6 89076 47144
2
won’t take long, but he’s allotted
five days for the job.
“Not only did he hit it, it broke off
the piling,” Williams said. “There
is no danger of the bridge house
falling in, but if we got a heavy
storm come in, it’s not as stable as
it was.”
The old wood piling with be re
placed with one made of concrete.
Boat traffic will be able to pass
through the span during the re
pairs, but few boats do in the winter,
Williams said.
“This time a year we’ll have a few
openings a month.”
Three more file for
commissioner seats
By PETER WILLIAMS
Staff Writer
Four people had filed for
seats on the Perquimans
County Commission as of
Monday.
Kyle Jones, 26, and Julie
Stamper Phelps, 50, filed
the necessary paperwork
Monday to become candi
dates for the county board.
Matthew Peeler, 51, filed
on Friday and incumbent
Janice Cole turned in her
paperwork on Feb. 13. The
deadline to file is Wednes
day.
Also filing for office
Monday was Steven Maga
ro who is seeking a seat on
the Perquimans County
School Board. He is now
one of three seeking one of
. three seats on that board.
Others are Arlene Yates
and Susan Cox. Register of
Decision
2012
Deeds Deborah Reed filed
on Feb. 13 and was unop
posed as of Monday
Jones, a Republican,
recently received his law
degree from Liberty Uni
versity School of Law in
Lynchburg, VA, and will
sit for the North Carolina
Bar Exam this week. He
also attended East Caro
lina University, where he
earned a B.S. in Political
Science and Public Admin
istration.
He wants to make Per
quimans his home again.
“I went through a phase
where I wasn’t sure I want
ed to come back, weighing
See THREE FILE, 4