THE
ERQUIMANS
J ^ WE EK LY.
"News from Next Door"" MARCH 25, 2015 - MARCH 31, 2015
INSIDE TODAY
Spring
edition of
Albemarle
Magazine
available
50 cents
Fed Ex looking to expand in Hertford
STAFF PHOTO BY
PETER WILLIAMS
Heavy
equipment
prepares the
site for an
expansion at
the Fed Ex
distribution
center in
Hertford last
week.
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Fed Ex is looking at mak
ing a mqjor expansion to
its distribution hub in Hert
ford.
The company is request
ing permission from the
Town of Hertford to build
an 18,723-square-foot build
ing adjacent to the current
location In the Perquimans
County Commerce Park on
Granby Street.
The company built the
present 28,000-square-foot
distribution center at the
industrial park near the
Perquimans County Recre
ation Center in 2009. The
current land, structures and
improvements is valued at
about $1.6 million on the tax
rolls.
What isn’t clear is how
the expansion will impact
employment at the Fed Ex
center.
Hertford Town Manager
Brandon Shoaf said it prob
ably wouldn’t involve a lot
of jobs.
“It’s been a long while
See FED EX, 2
Charter
school
creates
issues
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Perquimans County
schools can’t stop the exo
dus of students to a new
charter school in Elizabeth
City, but Superintendent
Dwayne Stallings said the
school system can work to
be the best it can be.
Two; new educational
options in Elizabeth City
could siphon off Perqui
mans County students and
the thousands of tax dollars
that come with them.
The state has approved
the creation of a new char
ter school — Northeast
Academy of Aerospace and
Advanced Technologies in
Elizabeth City. At first it’s
expected to draw 120 stu
dents in grades eight and
nine but eventually would
expand to include grades
10,11 and 12.
About 20 of the initial
batch of 120 students are
expected to come from Per
quimans County.
Perquimans also could
lose students to Grace Mon
tessori Academy, a new
childcare center that will
open in the former Winnie
Wood Child Development
Center building. Initially
Grace Montessori will be
open to ages six weeks
through kindergarten. There
See CHARTER, 4
A FRESH Look
STAFF PHOTOS BY PETER WILLIAM'S
Henry Lovejoy peers through a opening in a stained glass window he was working on at Holy Trinity Episcopal
Church in Hertford last week. A few of the windows date back to when the church was built in 1857. Some
windows had to be repaired and the protective outside layer on all the windows will be replaced with clear
safety glass.
Henry Lovejoy
replaces a
protective shield
over a stained glass
window at Holy
Trinity Episcopal
Church in Hertford
last week. The outer
layer had become
cloudy over the
years and will be
replaced with clear
safety glass.
Group
raising
money for
scholarship
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Lewis Smith took his
four-year college degree
from N.C. State University
and went on to work for the
next 33 years with the N.C.
Cooperative Extension Ser
vice.
Now Smith and others
are working to give other
Perquimans County stu
dents a little help in getting
that same education.
A BBQ and fried chicken
plate fundraiser next month
is designed to help raise
money for an endowment
that will provide a $1,000
scholarship to a local stu
dent who wants to study ag
riculture at N.C. State. The
endowment fund would be
named after Smith.
Smith-said he didn’t have
a scholarship when he at
tended N.C. State, but ad
mits tuition wasn’t nearly
that high back in the 1970s.
Smith figures when he at
tended State it cost $300
a semester for tuition and
the school didn’t have a
cafeteria. “It was a great ex
perience,” Smith said. “You
don’t learn everything from
the books, but it gives you
the ability to learn.”
He took that education
and put it to immediate use.
“I graduated on May 10,
1980 and started work with
See SCHOLARSHIP, 4
Chamber encouraged
by breakfast meeting
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Chamber officials say
they are encouraged by the
first in a series of monthly
breakfast meetings.
About two dozen busi
ness people showed up for
the event Wednesday at the
Perquimans County Exten
sion Center in Hertford.
For Susan Cox, the presi
dent of the chamber, the
biggest thing is getting local
business leaders together in
the same room so can get to
know each other better.
“We think we know what
businesses need, but what
they may need is something
we haven’t thought about
yet,” Cox said.
The agenda for the meet
ings will be driven by the
business that are there.
See CHAMBER, 4
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Don Giecek, senior development manager for Apex
Clean Energy, speaks to a group Wednesday during a
Perquimans County Chamber of Commerce breakfast
meeting held at the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service
office in Hertford.
Turbine project gets
a warm response
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
While some Chowan
County residents are rais
ing concerns about building
wind turbines, guests at a
Perquimans County Cham
ber of Commerce breakfast
meeting Wednesday seemed
to focus on the economic
benefits it could bring.
The purpose of “Chamber
Conversations Over Coffee”
morning meetings is to get
business owners and agen
cies that work with them
together monthly to learn
more about what each other
does and how they can work
together.
The format calls for a
speaker to talk for about
15 minutes and then pro
vide the audience time to
ask questions. Don Giecek,
See RESPONSE, 4
Sales tax change could help
Perquimans, double revenue
INFORMATIONAL Sign INSTALLED
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Perquimans County
stands to see a huge increase
in revenue from sales taxes
if a tax proposal is approved
in Raleigh.
Senate Majority Leader
Harry Brown, a Republi
can from Onslow County,
introduced a bill on Mon
day that would redistribute
sales taxes on a per capita
basis. Right now most of the
sales tax stays in the county
where the sale is made.
Perquimans County
Frank Heath hasn’t seen
the specifics of the bill, but
a news graphic published in
the News & Observer of Ra
leigh indicates Perquimans
County stands to see then-
sales tax revenue double.
Dare County on the other
hand would see a 59 percent
decrease.
“I won’t make a comment
on the politics of it, but I will
say that it would improve
our revenues significantly,”
Heath said. “The more we
See BILL, 2
STAFF PHOTO.
BY PETER WILLIAMS
Larry Hair stands
on a ladder to
reattach the
top of new
informational
electronic kiosk
for the Town of
Hertford at the
corner of Church
and Market
streets. The town
used a grant
from the North
Carolina STEP
program to pay
for the kiosk.