JUL 2 SECT
The ujrzmr
ERQUIMANS
. W1 E K LY
"News from Next Door" JULY 23, 2014 - JULY 29, 2014
Town looking at utility deposit policy
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
An outgoing member
of the board is urging the
Hertford Town Council to
change the way new utility
customers are charged.
Anne White, who will
step down July 28 when she
takes a seat on the Perqui
mans County School Board,
made a vocal push this
month to make the change
before she leaves.
Under the current policy,
new customers have to
pay the equivalent of two
months worth of electric
and water payments based
on the consumption at their
new address. New custom
ers in Elizabeth City and
Edenton pay a flat $200 for
electric service and $25 for
water.
The board had asked
Town Manager Brandon
Shoaf to look into the mat
ter. He estimates a typical
new Hertford customer has
to provide a $389 deposit.
The figure was based on
an average. He looked at a
variety of existing accounts
in Hertford ranging from
smaller homes to some
large historic ones.
White argues that Hert
ford’s policy is keeping
people from relocating to
the town. “I don’t think
people should have to move
out into the county because
it’s too expensive to live in
Hertford,” White said at a
July 14 board meeting.
New customers who
have a solid history of pay
ing their utility bills on time
don’t have to put up a de
posit under the current sys
tem. Shoaf said about half
of Hertford’s utility custom
ers qualify. But White said
working people often find it
hard to keep a perfect pay
ment record.
See POLICY, 7
DOT open to design changes
DOT: Are ways to ‘spruce up’ D-Mod’
COMPUTER GENERATED RENDERING COURTESY NC DOT
A computer generated image shows the proposed new bridge from the Hertford side of the Perquimans River. . ^
COMING NEXT WEEK
■ See how another eastern North Carolina
town adapted to a new bridge.
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Once the location of the new bridge in
Hertford is firmly established, the North
Carolina Department of Transportation
will be ready to start looking at how it can
“spruce up” the design to make it blend in
with the town.
One of the extras for the bridge op
tion known as D-Mod was displayed last
week during a meeting at the Perquimans
County Courthouse. Other options, like
lighting are also on the table.
Jay McInnis, DOT’s project engineer on
the planning phase, said the visual images
presented on July 14 were “plain old va
nilla stuff’ with concrete walls.
“My point is there are things the de
partment can do to spruce up Alternative
D-Mod.” But none of the changes can be
addressed in depth until D-Mod wins final
approval.
DOT’s willingness to make modifi
cations in the area of appearance and
design isn’t 100 percent voluntary, McIn
nis said. Some things it’s bound to do by
COMPUTER GENERATED RENDERING COURTESY NC DOT
This image shows how U.S. Highway 17 Business would enter Hertford once the
D-Mod bridge is built.
law because that part of Hertford has a
historic designation. The removal of the
S-Bridge will disturb that historic nature.
One design option shown last week was a
decorative bridge railing.
If DOT was building the bridge in the
area of Edenton Road Street — one of the
final three options — DOT would take
recommendations for lighting and design
changes into consideration but the town
would likely be required to share the
cost.
“There is a better chance (of DOT
shouldering the cost) with D-Mod than
there would be with Alternative E,” McIn
nis said.
Some of those talks have been going
on all along according to Brandon Shoaf,
Hertford’s town manager. One of those
involves taking the lights from the S-
Bridge and incorporating them in the new
bridge.
See D-MOD, 2
Schools adopt
new standard
for athletes
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Athletes in Perquimans County can’t
miss more than 13 days of school dur
ing any semester and must meet all pro
motions standards and have a 2.0 grade
point average in order to be eligible to
play starting next year based on a new
school policy.
The changes aren’t a radical depar
ture from the old policy.
Attendance enforcement has fallen
under the North Carolina High School
Athletic Association in the past. How
ever given the diversity of schedules
and curriculum offered by school sys
tems across the state, the association
opted to let local school boards set the
policy.
The one adopted recently by the Per
quimans County board sets the 13 day
standard for missed days. In the past
the association’s standard ewas ath
letes had to attend 85 percent of their
classes.
Brenda Lassiter, a spokesperson for
the school system, said 13 days and 85
percent both work out about the same.
Thirteen isn’t a magic number, said Su
san Cox, a school board member and
former athletic director. Some semes
ters cover 95 days and some semesters
have fewer than that, but 13 is an easy
number parents and students can re
member.
Perquimans County Superintendent
Dwayne Stallings has been a member
of the athletic association board for
the past six years believes the new
standards will work.
“Seat time has changed so much,”
Stallings said last week. “There are so
many formats now that our students
can receive education from on-line to
face to face with a teacher to virtual
school. What’s different is it puts the
responsibility on the LEA (Local Edu
cation Agency) to more or less monitor
it.”
If the NCHSAA approves the Per
quimans changes, students must have
passed a minimum load of work during
the preceding year to be eligible at any
time during the present year. There is
an exception. A student who receives
an incomplete which causes him or
her to fail to meet minimum scholas
tic requirements is ineligible until the
course is satisfactorily completed, and
eligibility is restored immediately.
All students must also meet the
See STANDARD, 2
County welcomes new librarian
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
After a career of working in larger librar
ies in the Boston area, Anita Bennett wanted
a change and Perquimans County was the
place for it.
Bennett started work this month as the
head librarian at the Perquimans County Li
brary.
Her last posting was with Northeastern
University, a place where she’s been for
the past 11 years. Prior to that she worked
in various roles at public libaries since she
graduated college in 1990.
“I was interested more in a community
level postion,” she said last week. “I felt my
strengths are directly working with people
and fundraising. I wanted to work in a small,
rural library rather than one in a big city.”
With an enrollment of 13,000, Northeast
ern University almost has as many students
as Perquimans County has people. While
she worked in Boston, she said she lived in a
rural area and commuted to work.
Her goal right now is to reach out to the
community she’ll serve.
“Engaging with the community is impor
tant,” she said.
Bennett and library board members plan
See LIBRARIAN, 2
STAFF PHOTO BY RETER WILLIAMS
Anita Bennett, the new librarian at Perquimans County Library, poses for a photo
while talking at the library last week.
Upcoming Steamer Events: For more info Call 482-4080
FRI. 7/25
SUN. 7/27
MON. 7/28
TUE. 7/29
ST
Pepsi Night
Open Door Church Night
and Pre-Game Fan-Fest
(Gates ooen at 5:30)
2nd Annual Home Run Derby
$50 to enter
Donations encouraged for admission
Perquimans County Strikeout
mustache giveaway
Historic Hicks Field’s
75 th A/f/f/^^a^
with reduced concession prices