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The
ERQUIMANS
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Boy’s Basketball Coach Johnson
marks 500th career victory, 8
"News from Next Door" WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2016
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Region Granted Trade ZONE STATUS
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Perquimans and six other
counties in northeastern
North Carolina now have
international status as part
of a Foreign Trade Zone
(FTZ) based at the Port of
Virginia.
The U.S. Department of
Commerce signed off on the
deal in late November and
Virginia and North Carolina
officials announced
it last week.
Getting FTZ sta
tus for the northeast
has been a huge goal
for Sen. Bob Stein
burg, (R-Chowan),
and he welcomed
the news that it’s fi
nally a reality.
STEINBURG
cades, maybe lon
ger,” Steinburg said.
Foreign Trade
Zones (FTZ) are ar
eas geographically
inside the United
States, but are le
gally considered
outside its customs
territory. Compa ¬
“Somebody told me this
is probably the biggest eco
nomic news in our region
in at least the last four de ¬
nies that locate in FTZs can
benefit by using special pro
cedures to encourage U.S.
activity by reducing, elimi ¬
nating, or delaying duties.
Cathy Davison, the direc
tor of the Albemarle Com
mission, said on a scale of
l-to-10, the FTZ announce
ment ranked at the top of
the scale.
While the Port of Virginia
may seem far away, Davison
said it’s really not.
Davison said it is 61 miles
from the Portsmouth Ma
rine Terminal to the Per
quimans County Industrial
Park. The industrial site in
Isle Of Wight, Va. is only 29
miles, but it’s down a two-
lane road. The Franklin
(Va.) Industrial Park is 58
miles from the Portsmouth
facility. The one in South
ampton Industrial Park is 54
miles from a port.
And Steinburg said the
North Carolina sites have a
big advantage - availability
and cost.
“They (Virginia port of ¬
ficials) are in the position
where they have land avail
able, but it’s very limited and
veiy expensive,” Steinburg
said. “Here is the northeast
we have lots of land and it’s
cheap.”
Also included in Trade
Zone 20 are Camden, Chow
an, Currituck, Gates, Hert
ford and Pasquotank corm
ties. Combined they add
See TRADE, 2
Football
stadium
plans
proceed
Editor’s Note: This is the
first story of a two part se
ries.
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Perquimans County High
School should have a new
1,000-seat football field by
the start of the 2018 season.
Donations, not tax mon
ey, should be enough to get
the first phase completed.
“I fully expect you should
see a football stadium
across from the high school
in about 15 months,” Super
intendent Matthew Cheese
man said last week.
The project won’t be an
■ as costly as the original $6
million plan that included a
track, soccer field and ten
nis courts but it’s a start to
show the project is moving
forward.
In 2010 Dr. William Nixon,
a Perquimans native who
now lives in Wilmington,
offered to give the school
system 32 acres across
Edenton Road Street for the
sole purpose of building an
athletic complex. Originally
Nixon set a five-year dead
line to make the athletic
complex a reality, but he
has since granted a five-year
extension.
The latest donation
comes from an anonymous
source that has agreed to
pay $250,000 to build a field
house with bathrooms. The
largest gift is $600,000 do
nated by the late Charles
Ward.
“This is not Texas foot
ball,” Cheeseman said. “I
don’t mean that in a bad
way. They are building
high school stadiums that
cost $50 million or $60 mil
lion but they also have high
schools with 5,000 or 10,000
students.”
PCHS has about 1,500
See STADIUM, 2
STAFE;RHOTjBW|^^
repairs
PROPOSCD PtRWiMAHS COUNTY COMVERCt PARK
SUBMITTED PHOTO
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
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A design shows
the proposed
Perquimans
Marine
Industrial Park
with a man-
made boat
basin. The
Perquimans
County
Recreation
Center is
located to the
right at the foot
of South Granby
Street. A new
boat ramp will
be located to
the left at the
foot of North
Granby Street.
closing
Jan. 9 for
Officials hope for funding of industrial park
Editor’s Note: This story
eludes a two part series.
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
con-
If the federal government starts
looking for “shovel ready” infrastruc
ture projects to boost the economy,
Perquimans County has one ready
and waiting.
The 72-acre Perquimans Marine
Industrial Park has the land, the utili
ties and the state and federal permits
just ready to go, said Bob Peele, the
director of the N.C. Seafood Indus
trial Park Authority.
“This project is about as shovel
ready as you can be,” Peele said last
week.
The issue has been money.
It would cost about $22 million to
fully complete the project with a 350-
foot-long, 10-foot deep man-made
boat basin with direct access to the
Perquimans River. It would cost
about $7 million to build the first
phase. Perquimans County recently
struck out with a grant $5 million
grant request from Golden LEAF for
the first phase.
See FUNDING, 2
Search is on for
a new sheriff
From Staff Reports
Potential candidates for
Perquimans County Sheriff
have until Dec. 30 to submit
an application.
Sheriff Eric Tilley is retir
ing in on Jan. 30.
The Perquimans County
Commission is looking to
replace him. The person will
need to be
a resident
of Per
quimans
County
and have
the quali
fications
to serve
as sheriff.
TILLEY
6
89076 47144
“Our board is commit
ted to a fair, nonpartisan
process that results in the
best sheriff for the coun
ty,” said Kyle Jones, the
chairman of the county
2
See SHERIFF, 3
The N.C. Department of
Transportation will be clos
ing Hertford’s S-Bridge to
both vehicular and boat traf
fic from Jan. 9 until at least
the end of March.
DOT will remove the as
phalt-wearing surface and
replace it with a wooden
deck using 6x12 inch tim
bers. The wood will weigh
about half of what the as
phalt weighs and put less
strain on the gears and sup
port structures. The repairs
are a stopgap measure to
buy time until a replace
ment bridge can be built.
DOT engineers hope that
can start sometime in late
See BRIDGE, 2
Janice Cole scholarship could grow
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Janice Cole (center) poses with Brenda Lassiter, executive director of the Perquimans
County Schools Foundation Inc. and Bob Clinkscales, the chairman of the foundation
board. The foundation will administer a scholarship in Cole’s name.
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Donors are invited to help
ensure that a scholarship
honoring Janice McKenzie
Cole continues for genera
tions to come.
Cole stepped down this
month after six years on the
Perquimans County Com
mission. The last four were
as chairman of the board.
The Janice McKenzie
Cole Mentoring Scholar
ship was created by fellow
commissioner Kyle Jones.
Jones funded the first year
and plans to continue to
See SCHOLARSHIP, 3