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BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Opposition to a highrise
bridge and concerns about
the high cost of a lower
swing-span option has some
residents now throwing
their support behind a third
alternative to replace Hert
ford’s S-Bridge.
Alternative E moves traf
fic away from downtown
and onto Edenton Road
Street. As with any of the fi
nal options, it had both sup
port and opposition after a
DOT hearing in 2013. Down
town merchants worried
moving traffic away from
Church Street would hurt
business. School officials
and Edenton Road Street
residents expressed con ¬
D-Mod may be shifting
cerns about the increased
traffic on Edenton Road
Street. Many residents of
the historic district support
ed E because it protect that
neighborhood.
Allen Miles, a Holiday
Island resident, now just
thinks E makes the most
sense. He wrote a letter this
week to both DOT and the
Perquimans Weekly sup
porting “E.”
‘Alternative E when
teamed with the low bridge
causeway replacement de
signed for Alternative B of
fers some real possibilities
and rectifies many of the
bad points of the* other al
ternatives,” Miles said.
The ultimate decision lies
with the N.C. Department of
Transportation and the state
and federal agencies that
must sign off on the deal.
At $27 million, Alterna
tive E is the middle option
of the three final choices.
The cheapest option, Alter
native D-Mod, would cost
about $19 million and in
volves a bridge just as high
as the U.S. 17 Bypass bridge
but extending off of Church
Street.
The most expensive op
tion, Alternative B, involves
building another swing span
near where the S-Bridge is.
It’s expected to cost $36 mil
lion and require $100,000
a year in operations and
maintenance costs.
Critics of DOT’s prefer
ence — D-Mod — claim
See BRIDGE, 9
Wind
critics
voice
concerns
BY REGGIE PONDER
Chowan Herald
EDENTON — County
commissioners from Chow
an and Perquimans counties
who attended a session on
wind energy Saturday said
they would consider both
their own research and pub
lic opinion when making de
cisions about the proposed
Timbermill wind energy
facility on the Chowan-Per
quimans county line.
Although Saturday’s
event at First Presbyterian
Church was billed as an
objective presentation on
wind energy, principal lo
cal organizers were self-
avowed opponents of wind
energy. In addition, the main
• presenter, John Droz Jr. of
Morehead City, is a wind en
ergy skeptic who also is well
known for his skepticism
toward - and opposition to
- the state’s renewable en
ergy portfolio standards.
Dennis Robison, a mem
ber of the host church and
one of the leaders of the
Chowan Edenton Environ
mental Group, explained as
he welcomed people to the
session Saturday that the
church previously had host
ed a wind energy presenta
tion by representatives of
the company working on the
proposed Timbermill proj
ect, so when Peter Lolkema
asked about having a ses
sion featuring information
from the other side of the
issue, that seemed like the
right thing to do.
During a discussion fol
lowing Droz’s presentation
and the screening of the
movie “Windfall,” Perqui
mans County Commissioner
Matt Peeler said the voice of
local citizens would be im
portant as county officials
make decisions regarding
the proposed Timbermill
project. Peeler encouraged
citizens to, come out and
See CRITICS, 8
Food BANK GIVES Out Food
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Volunteers load up a trunk with food on Monday at the Open Door Food Pantry in Winfall. The pantry was
able to provide a Thanksgiving holiday meal to more than 300 families this year.
School experiences electrical problem
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Hundreds of students at
Perquimans Central School
were sent home early last
week because of a fail
ure in an electrical circuit
breaker.
The repairs were made,
but the problem sapped a
dwindling reserve fund to
cover such problems.
School officials say the
problem was no threat to
students but on Wednesday
students were shuttled to
one side of the building that
had heat from a side that
didn’t. On Thursday stu
dents were let out early at
12:30 p.m. so crews would
have time to repair the prob
lem. There are 438 students
enrolled at the school.
The failure was in a 1,600-
amp circuit breaker. *
Jonathan Nixon, the
school system’s director
of maintenance and safety,
oversaw the repair.
“My understanding is
they had issues many years
ago and it had been prob
lematic,” Nixon said. Cen
tral was built in 1999.
What was also problem
atic was that brand of cir
cuit breaker is no longer
made.
The quick solution
Wednesday was to heat
areas with the youngest
students and when the tem
perature of rooms with the
second graders dropped
below 70 degrees, those
students were moved to the
warmer side of the build
ing.
The school system was
able to buy a similar cir
cuit breaker at the cost of
$31,000. Nixon estimates
the unit measured about
24x24 inches and came via
a truck.
The new breaker was
installed by about 10 p.m.
Thursday night.
Nixon said an electrical
fire was not a concern. He
said if anything the circuit
breaker was doing its job
too well and shutting off
prematurely.
Nixon praised Dominion
Power for their help in the
problem.
The circuit breaker prob
lem is the second major
equipment problem this
COA
board size
questioned
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editors
Charles Lacefield isn’t
sure if 19 is the magic num
ber, but he does believe
Perquimans County should
have a seat at the table on
the College of the Albemarle
board of trustees.
Lacefield was named to
one of the 19 seats on the
board shortly after long-
time trustee and former Per
quimans County Commis
sioner Charles Ward died in
September.
The large size of the COA
board was questioned by
one outgoing member of
Pasquotank County Com
mission this month. Gary
White said the board is sim
ply too big and suggested
that some counties don’t
deserve a representative be
cause they don’t contribute
much financially to the col
lege.
Specifically White ques
tioned if Gates County
should have a voice at the
table. Gates contributes
$6,000 to COA compared
to the $1.4 million provided
by Pasquotank County. Per
quimans County provided
$32,500.
“I don’t know what
See BOARD, 9
year for the school system.
In August, a major air
conditioning unit that cov
ers the cafeteria at Perqui
mans County High School
failed.
A replacement was
available, but there was
a six-week lead-time be
fore the unit would arrive.
With temperatures in the
90s some days, the school
system opted to install win
dow units to service the
effected area until the new
unit could be installed.
The actual repair was
$5,894.
Educator returns to his roots in Perquimans County
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Author Thomas Wolfe
may have had it wrong.
Perhaps you can go home
again.
At least that’s what Guy
Webb is experiencing so far.
In 1995 he graduated
from Perquimans County
High School and left to go
off to college at University
of North Carolina-Charlotte.
He went on to earn a mas ¬
ter’s degree
from Ap
palachian
State Uni
versity. For
years he
taught in
the Char
lotte-Meck
lenburg
But when school started
in August, Webb, 37, was
back where it all started. He
assumed a job as an assis
tant principal at his old high
school. And he also heard
from a voice from the past.
“I was staying with my
Mom when I first moved
back and she got a message.
It was a woman looking for
Guy Webb,” he recalls.
The woman was Lenna
Mansfield, his first grade
teacher. Mansfield had seen
a picture of Webb in the
newspaper. .
Webb said the voice in
stantly brought back memo
ries.
“You know how some
times you get those voices
stuck in your head? We had
such a nice chat. She said
she was so proud of me, and
how exciting it was that I
was back.”
Mansfield taught for
more than 30 years, most
of it in Perquimans Coun
ty and most of it with
See WEBB, 9
SUBMITTED PHOTO
New Perquimans County High School assistant principal Guy Webb has returned to
where he started. Webb is pictured with Lenna Mansfield’s first grade class. Webb is
in the front row, fifth from the left.