2 THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8,2014
Community
BOAT RAMP
Continued from 1
Instead of 20-feet wide,
like a normal ramp, the
proposal calls for one
twice as big. The project
also includes dredging the
area in the river to make
it; deeper because larger
tipats would require that.
What Perquimans is pro
posing is a ramp as large
S3 the one in Wanchese,
Were the catamaran
plaker Gunboat has a
plant.
While funding to cre-
afie the $22 million over
all park has failed to ma-
t^rialize, the boat ramp
Wuld be a good first
Step, according to Rich-
Bunch, the regional
Biarketing director for the
(Northeast Commission.
*5“When you get that to
the next level, you’ll see
some serious activity,”
Bunch said.
The county, Northeast
Commission and
Electricities have
been marketing the
Perquimans park
for the past three
years at a trade
show for work-
boat buyers in
New Orleans. The
issue was brought
BUNCH
up at an Economic Devel
opment Council meeting
in December.
Perquimans County
Commissioner Ben Hobbs
asked Bunch how many
jobs the county would be
looking at from the pros
pects they’ve spoken to.
The answer was “at least
500.”
Building the boat ramp
alone wouldn’t be enough
to attract that many jobs,
officials were told. The
500-job estimate was
based on the full proposal
with the boat basin. With
the ramp alone the county
could be looking at 20 to
40 jobs, Bunch said.
Bunch said when work
moves forward on
the park, things
will start to hap
pen. The hurdle
comes from a
chicken or the egg
situation. Federal
and state officials
won’t seriously
consider spending
$22 million to dig a boat
basin at the park with
out a strong promise that
an industry will bring in
jobs. Without the boat ba
sin, industry hasn’t been
quick at making that deci
sion.
The state only has three
sites set aside as marine
industrial sites. The main
one is in Wanchese, but it’s
built to capacity. There is
a small one in Engelhard
that has one tenant but
not much room to grow.
Then there is Hertford.
The Perquimans site
has the room. The basin,
as proposed, would use
about 16 of the 72 acres.
But surrounding the site
are 300 acres of county
property that also could
be developed.
Peele said he’s seen
boat building activity pick
up in Wanchese, although
the industry hasn’t totally
recovered.
“The industry is doing
better than it was three
years ago. Things were
awful then. Speaking
about Wanchese, every
boat builder in town has a
boat to build this winter.”
That hasn’t been the
case recently.
He estimates that near
ly 300 people are work
ing. That’s up from a low
of 200 at the worst of re
cession but not yet to the
400 figure during the peak
in 2005-06.
“Is this a (statisti
cal) blip? Nobody really
knows. We still have a
ways to go from here.”
Peele counts 27 boats
longer than 50 feet in con
struction at this point.
That includes six being
built Gunboat, a maker
of high-end ocean-going
catamarans. At the worst,
about 15 boats were un
der construction and at
the peak the number was
between 25 and 30.
“I’m hoping we’ve seen
the worst.”
Peele said the Perqui
mans site is well suited
for building workboats
that don’t require more
than 10 feet of water to
navigate. Hertford’s dis
tance from the ocean isn’t
a big factor.
“It’s very close to the
Intercoastal (waterway)
and when you’re talking
five miles in boat, that’s
not very far. There are
boat companies all over
the country that are not
even on water and some
travel further than that.
And the further you move
up that way, the better
protected your are from
hurricanes and that kind
of weather.”
The ramp alone is a big
step, Peele said.
“By building a ramp that
wide you really expand
the types of boats that
can use it, and it also can
be used for small boats. It
will help us with our mar
keting effort if that ramp
is funded.”
Peele will be able to go
to clients and show them
the ramp and say, “this
is there now” as well as
show them the plans of
what the boat basin can
look like in the future.
“By having the ramp it
shows them we’re seri
ous.”
“I expect things are go
ing to grow, I’m feeling
good and the boat ramp
is just what we need right
now. I think something is
going to happen on that
site, and I want to thank
the board of commission
ers and the EDC for being
such wonderful partners.
We all knew this going in
that it was going to take
time.”
BRIDGE
Continued from 1
native B — which would
veer off Church Street and
more or less parallel the
current bridge and then
follow a fixed span bridge
to the same spot as the oth
er two. Option B was also
the most expensive by far
at an estimated $55.6 mil
lion. The favored option is
more like $21 million and
wouldn’t require a bridge
tender.
Joseph Miller, a project
planning engineer for DOT
insists the final decision
can’t come until after the
Jan. 16 meeting.
“If these agencies con
cur on NCDOT’s preferred
alternative, a newsletter
announcing the selected
alternative will be sent to
property owners and post
ed on the project website,”
Miller said in response to a
letter to the editor written
to the Perquimans Weekly
by a property owner who
will lose her home if D-
Mod is approved.
Miller called the report
from the Nov. 18 meeting
“minutes” and not a final
report.
“The recommendation
made at the post-hearing
meeting is an internal, in
terim decision and may
not reflect the final deci
sion regarding the selected
alternative. NCDOT does
not normally announce
alternative selections un
til after DOT’s preferred
alternative is presented to
the agencies I mentioned
earlier.”
Jay McInnis, the project
engineer, said it’s unlikely
that the decision from the
Jan. 16 meeting will run
counter to the recommen
dation of Nov. 18, but said
it is possible.
McInnis also agreed
funding remains a ques
tion.
“Now like every project
that is going to be let (for
bid) after July 2015, it is in
limbo,” McInnis said Tues
day.
DOT is working under
the assumption that right
of way acquisition will still
take place sometime in the
2016 fiscal year and con
struction can start in 2018.
“We’ll know more by the
end of this year,” he said.
Years of public hear
ings narrowed the choices
but it didn’t develop an
overwhelming consensus
of which version was the
best. Alternatives D-Mod
and E each had about the
same number of people
supporting them based on
input last fall to DOT. The
swing span got the least
amount of support.
DOT’s preference for D-
Mod did please town offi
cials and many in the busi
ness community.
Town Manager Brandon
Shoaf said the town was
happy with the recommen
dation.
“I think D-Mod most
closely matches the town’s
wishes,” he said.
Sid Eley, the executive
director of the Perquimans
County Chamber of Com
merce, perhaps captured
the feelings of a lot of
downtown merchants.
“I’m happy they kept it
downtown, I’m just sorry
we had to lose the S-
Bridge.”
But DOT says the S-
Bridge has to go.
Simply rehabilitating the
85-year-old structure was
considered and rejected by
DOT. It’s not wide enough
to bring it up to current
road standards and would
have to be reduced to one-
way traffic.
Eley would like to see it
saved and moved to Miss
ing Mill Park and used
somehow in the water-
front plans. That was done
in Greenville with the
Greene Street Bridge, but
the cost was over $500,000
and took years to com
plete.
There remains more
work to be done by state
and federal officials.
Rep. Bob Steinburg, who
represents Perquimans
County, has supported re
placement plans, wasn’t
sure when funding for the
new bridge would be avail
able but he considers it a
priority.
“We’re not going to
have the environmental is
sues like with the Bonner
Bridge. There is no ques
tion it (the replacement)
is needed. If we don’t have
that access we’re in trou
ble across the board.”
The new bridge is ex
pected to have a 75-year
lifespan.
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Mike Jordan
Financial Advisor
321 S Broad St Suite A
Gaslight Square
Edenton, NC 27932
252-482-0134
www.edwardjones.com
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MAKING SENSE OF INVESTING
Town of Hertford
Board Vacancy Notice
The Hertford Town Council is
seeking residents of the Town of
Hertford interested in serving on
the Hertford Planning and Zoning
Board of Adjustments. This Board
TV PROJECT
Continued from 1
Board. At age 45, Hollowell
never saw himself being a
part of a TV program, much
less one involving fitness
models.
“I’ve always enjoyed do
ing things outdoors, hunting
and fishing,” Hollowell
said last week. “To be hon
est when I started I was
involved in just helping out
and then it turned out they
wanted me more involved
and actually be a part of
it. They wanted me for the
risky parts.”
The target audience for interesting departure from
the program is men between his normal job. He’s worked
the ages of 39 and 54. on film projects since gradu-
Nixon admits it was an ation, and has one — Elev-
PHOTO BY MELINDA LAMM
Brian Nixon (left) films
fitness model Cara
Christensen on Church
Street recently.
en Eleven — in the editing
phase and worked on the
HBO series “East Bound and
Down.” He also works now
at Food Lion in Hertford and
with his father at Belvidere
Farmer’s Exchange.
“It’s been a rocky road,”
Nixon said of film project
thus far. But things are start
ing to fall into place. They
are beautiful ladies and both
of them are real sweethearts.
They are both passionate
about this.”
acts as an advisory board for land use planning
issues, decides on conditional use permits and
variances, and hears appeals of the Town’s Zoning
Ordinance. Interested parties must be legal resi
dents of the Town of Hertford. Interested parties
• are asked to send in a letter of interest to Brandon
Shoaf, the Town Manager at PO Box 32, Hertford,
NC 27944. For further information, please call
(252) 426-1969. Letter of interest will be accepted
post marked no later than January 17,2014.
POLICY
Continued from 1
(from work) so I can at
tend.”
The problem could be a
spur of the moment meet
ing called for an emergen
cy session.
How the policy is
crafted could limit what
a board member could
do if he or she isn’t in the
room.
The board reviewed a
draft amendment that ad-
—NOTICE —1
Perquimans County TAX LISTING DATES
All persons who own property subject to taxation must list during the month of Janu
ary. Any persons who fail to do so will be subject to penalties prescribed by law.
Due to legislation, real property and licensed vehicles do not require listing by the
taxpayer. However, if you have made any improvements to your real property, you
must list that with the Tax Department. All other personal property such as boats, jet
skis, unlicensed vehicles, farm equipment, businesses, etc. can be listed with the lister
in the county Assessor’s Office between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday thru Friday
starting January 2 through January 31, 2014. You may also list on the abstract that
was mailed to you. If you have personal property or made improvements to your real
property and did not receive an abstract, please contact our office. These abstracts
must be returned to our office by January 31, 2014.
If you are a business and you need an extension, our office needs a letter requesting
an extension by January 31, 2014.
If you are 65 years old or older, or totally and permanently disabled, and your in
come is less than $28,600, you may qualify for a tax reduction.
Persons owning real property under cultivation, in forest management or horticul
ture land may qualify for a tax-reduced valuation (land use). If you are not already
in the land use program and you feel you qualify, please contact The Tax Office for
qualification.
The Tax Office is located at 107 N. Front Street (in the back of the courthouse)
Hertford, NC. Our telephone number is 252-426-7010 or 252-426-5564.
Bill Jennings, Perquimans County, Tax Administrator
dressed some of the things
members might want. For
example a member who
isn’t physically there may
not be counted as being
part of a quorum. The
board has six members
and at least four need
to be present in order to
form a quorum so they
can take official action.
Having three people in
the room and one partici
pating remotely wouldn’t’
count as a quorum.
The absent board mem
ber also may or may not
vote or participate in a
quasi-judicial proceeding.
They also can’t be a part
of a closed-door meeting
used to discuss pending
litigation, property issues
or personnel.
The last policy listed
on the list of 10 approved
in December would also
limit the number of times
a board member can use
the policy.
At present the atten
dance policy reads “a
board member is discour
aged from participating
remotely in regular board
meetings in a 12-month
period.”
School spokesman
Brenda Lassiter said the
board plans to meet with
its attorney — John Leidy
— on Jan. 13 to determine
a limit. The number could
be placed in the sentence
between the words “meet
ings” and “in.”
The Perquimans Coun
ty Commission does not
have a formal policy to
address the situation, ac
cording to County Man
ager Frank Heath.
“A commissioner could
in theory call in to listen,
P ThE
ERQUIMANS
WEEKLY
(USPS428-080)
Vol. 82 No. 2
Published each Wednesday.
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Established 1934
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but they couldn’t vote be
cause they aren’t physi
cally present,” Heath said
in December.
Magaro doesn’t have
a problem with a board
member participating in
a closed-door meeting via
telephone. But with that
right the responsibility to
make sure they do it from
a private place.
Because Magaro deals
with some sensitive in
formation with FEMA, he
knows there are places
— like public transit —
where he doesn’t use tech
nology because someone
could overhear him.
“I had to take an oath
of office (from someone
in D.C.) and I did it from
here (Hertford). There has
to be some application of
prudence. You don’t want
somebody calling in for
a closed door meeting
and doing it from McDon
alds.”
Magaro insists there
need to be limits on what
the board can do in a vir
tual setting.
“The N.C. open meet
ings law provides for the
public to see and inter
act with you. If you had a
100 percent virtual board
meeting a question could
be raised about that. The
public’s intention is to
come to the meetings and
see live people.”
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