' News from Next Door" JANUARY 8, 2014 - JANUARY 14, 2014 50 cents
JAN OSKEC'D
Boat ramp seen as key to industrial project
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
An industrial-sized
boat ramp could be what
it takes to nudge boat
builders to take a serious
look at the proposed Per
quimans County Marine
Industrial Park, accord
ing to the director of a
state agency in charge of
it.
Bob Peele said devel
opers continue to look
at the site but none have
committed to locating
there. The park is a 72-
acre site next to the Per
quimans County Recre
ation Center.
“If we could bring our
first company in and get
it set up at the Perqui
mans site, it will take off,”
Peele said in a telephone
interview in December.
To fully develop the
site, complete with a
boat basin, would require
about $22 million.
An initial step would
be to build an industrial-
size boat ramp at the foot
of North Granby Street.
It would accommodate
much larger vessels
as well as recreational
boats. Economic devel
opers hope it will attract
some marine-related in
dustry and the jobs that
come with it.
Perquimans County is
seeking $360,000 from
Golden LEAF to help
pay for ramp. The N.C.
Wildlife Commission will
also provide funding and
the county will provide
the property as its local
match.
See BOAT RAMP, 2
PAIR PLAYING Role in TV project
BY PETER WILLIAMS
■ News Editor
A pair of Perquimans
County men are
XI. working on a
television program that
features two fitness mod
els learning about outdoor
adventures.
Ralph Hollowell said
he was approached about
being part of the pro
gram — Fit To Be Wild
— because of his love of
outdoors. Brian Nixon
has helped with filming
some of the episodes.
Nixon earned a degree in
filmmaking from UNC-
Wilmington and also lives
in Perquimans County.
The program centers
around
Hollowell,
Cara Chris
tensen
and Amy
France.
Amy is a
member of
the France
family that
HOLLOWELL
controls NASCAR. Chris ¬
tensen is a fitness model.
The first program is to air
in early April, Hollowell
said. He is not at liberty to
say what network will air
it. The crew is supposed
to produce 13 episodes.
Some of the episodes
have been filmed in
Perquimans County.
One involves the women
shooting a variety of
guns in the backyard
of Hollowell’s home in
Bagley Swamp. France
was the loser in the shoot
ing contest and as a result
had to eat a pickled pigs
foot.
“It was a hot, humid
July day and it was pretty
gross,” said Nixon
The women were also
introduced to the Town of
Hertford, complete with a
view of the Turtle Log and
the S-Bridge.
Other episodes are far
more exotic, including
running with the bulls in
Petersburg, Va. — a new
PHOTO BY MELINDA LAMM
Fitness models Cara Christensen (left) and Amy France pose near the S-Bridge in Hertford last month during
filming for an upcoming TV program.
event for the U.S. held in
August.
“That was intense,”
Nixon said of the bull run.
“I was impressed that
there were so few inju
ries. A couple of people
got injured, but nothing
serious.”
There is footage of
hunting in Pennsylvania,
and deep-sea fishing out
of Cape Hatteras. Other
programs involve chas
ing wild hogs in Bertie
County, watching bull
riding at Top Notch Ranch
in Chowan County and
whitewater rafting in
western North Carolina.
Some footage at Aca-
demi, a defense training
facility in Camden and
Currituck counties may
be use as background, but
Nixbn said more will need
to be done there.
“It was a preliminary
tour with them meeting
the girls,” Nixon said.
“We’re talking about
shooting there in the
future. There are plans
to do one in Africa that
looks at the world’s most
dangerous animals. Hol
lowell has been to Africa
and that means going
head to head with Cape
Buffalo, elephants, leop
ards and lions.
“He (Hollowell) has
been there and he knows
people who can get some
thing like this lined up,”
Nixon said.
As of yet, the crew
hasn’t ventured out to
the Bondurant Driving
School in Arizona, but
that’s something France
wants to include. For
$4,400, regular people can
spend three or four days
learning how to race an
open-wheeled Grand Prix
car. There is also a day
long program for $9,000
to learn how to drive an
advanced stock car.
Hollowell is the envi
ronmental health director
at Albemarle Regional
Health Services and a
member of the Perqui
mans County School
See TV PROJECT, 2
Board to
look at
meeting
policy
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Perquimans school offi
cials will consider a policy
again this month that would
specify how board members
can participate in meetings
even if they can’t physically
be there.
The board reviewed a
draft policy on first read-
! ing in December, but will
have to give it a final OK at a
meeting in January. *
The issue came up be
cause board member Ste
ven Magaro is often out of
town on business. Magaro
[ works as a consultant with
the federal government and
often works out of town. He
wants to continue to play a
• part of the board even if he
can’t physically attend meet
ings and wants other boards
members to have that same
opportunity.
The board looked at a
1. policy in December that
would allow school board
member to participate by
phone or video. That way
a board member outside of
town can listen to others in
the conference room and
participate.
Magaro missed one regu
lar meeting in 2013. He said
he’s made a point to be
there even though he works
in Washington D.C. and he’ll
continue to do so even if the
policy is approved.
“I set up my work sched-
[ ule to go in after meetings
Monday night,” he said.
That means attending a
meeting and then driving to
Washington D.C. and arriv
ing at 2 a.m or 3 a.m.
“If there is a meeting that
isn’t in the regular schedule,
. I take a vacation day off
See POLICY, 2
DOT’s bridge meeting
with agencies is Jan. 16
Holiday Island Takes Polar Plunge
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Making a recommendation on
which alternative to use for a new
bridge across the Perquimans River
isn’t the final word, but officials say
it was a key move.
N.C. Department of Transporta
tion officials insist that they haven’t
made a final decision but agree they
have reached a recommendation.
DOT plans to meet with state and
federal agencies on Jan. 16 at which
time the decision may be final.
DOT came to the recommenda
tion after a meeting in November. A
summary of that November meeting
was released Dec. 30. It shows a will
ingness by DOT to express a prefer
ence -•— something it hasn’t done
in past years. As late as September
members of the public repeatedly
asked DOT officials in a workshop if
DOT had a preference. The answer
was it did not.
The agency now recommends
that the S-Bridge be replaced by a
fixed bridge that extends off Church
Street, bypasses the causeway and
ends up in the area of Larry’s Drive
In on the Winfall side of the river.
Over the last decade more than
10 different options have been dis
cussed, but it was finally narrowed
to three.
There was the version that was
selected — known as D-Mod for D-
Modified. Then there was alterna
tive E — a fixed span that extends
off Edenton Road Street. There was
also a swing-span option — Alter-
See BRIDGE, 2
PHOTO BY PAM HADDEN
Nine people participated in Holiday Island’s annual Polar Plunge, sponsored by the Holiday
Island Yacht Club on New Year’s Day. The water temperature was 48 degrees, but the sun was
out and the wind wasn’t blowing. Pictured are (l-r) Katie Kelly, Ashley Bunch, Schuyler Headley,
Jason Bunch, Jeno Lawrence, Adam Cox, Aiden McGonigle, Harold Dagenhart and Denise Hale.