’Weirs from Next Door" WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22,2017 50 cents
School plans to use lottery funds for stadium
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The Perquimans County
Schools system is moving
forward with plans to build
a new football field, and lot
tery money will be key to
funding it.
Jim Davison, the school
system’s director of main
tenance, met with Ed Nixon
about the project Monday.
Nixon’s brother, Dr. Wil
liam Nixon, has offered the
schools 32 acres across
Edenton Road Street from
the high school for an ath
letic facility.
The late Charles Ward,
a former county commis
sioner, left $600,000 to the
county for either a new li
brary or a football field. The
library has already been
funded, and commissioners
agreed to use the money on
the field.
An anonymous donor
also donated $250,000 for
the complex.
That leaves the schools
short of the $1.1 million
estimated cost of the new
facility. To make up the dif
ference, the school system
proposes to use state lottery
money that is set aside for
school construction proj
ects.
Davison said the school
board would be asked to
request that the lottery re
lease $274,000 to pay for
the bleachers when it meets
next week. In all, the schools
expect they’ll need $400,000
in lottery funds to complete
the project.
While the school system
can request the release of
the lottery funds, the county
commission must sign off
on the plan. Once the school
board votes on the issue, Da
vison said he would ask for
it to be placed on the county
commission’s agenda.
At least one commission
er, Chairman Kyle Jones,
said he would oppose the
use of lottery funds for the
athletic complex.
“I’ve never voted against
a request of theirs for lottery
funds (but) these last two
budget cycles, their capital
outlay requests have been
rather large,” Jones said.
“Obviously we weren’t able
to fund all of those requests,
so unless the need for those
things has disappeared,
which I highly doubt, they
still allegedly need those
things.
“With the prospect on the
horizon of having to update
our classrooms to comply
with the unfunded state
mandate, that’s another
capital expense coming. So,
this huge expenditure, and
the subsequent plan to fin
ish blowing all of their lot
tery funds on athletics, to
me is short-sighted and too
fiscally-liberal for my lik-
See STADIUM, 2
Mitchell
named
interim
chief
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
CHURCH HOSTS TURKEY Drop
Sgt. Bill Mitchell has been
named interim police chief
in Hertford.
He takes over for Chief
Douglas Freeman who an
nounced he was retiring on
Oct. 30. The board accepted
the request on Nov. 1.
Free-
man’s last
day at
work was
.last Tues
day. He
had been
with the
Hertford
STAFF PHOTOS BY PETER WILLIAMS
Top, Hertford United,
Methodist Church hosted
a two-day Turkey Drop last]
week to collect holiday!
food for local families."
Right, Charles Lacefield,
the chairman of the board
of the Open Door Food
Pantry, holds one of the 21
turkeys that were
MITCHELL depart
ment since
2012.
Town Manager Brandon
Shoaf said Mitchell is a great
choice.
“I think Sgt. Mitchell will
do a great job leading the
department in this transi
tion,” Shoaf said. “He’s al
ready known in the law en
forcement community and
is highly respected. I think
that those that don’t know
Bill will find he’s very ap
proachable, easy going and
fair.
“I am very pleased to have
him serve in this capac
ity and I’m equally pleased
to have team we do at the
department right now. We
have a good group of guys
that are dedicated to the
town.”
Mitchell, 45, has been
with the Hertford depart
ment for just under a year.
He grew up in a military
family — his father was in
the Navy. Mitchell joined
the Marines. He was based
at Camp Pendleton and
served from 1991 through
1995 assigned to a battalion
landing team.
When he got out of the
Marine Corps, he returned
to the Chesapeake area
during the annual ‘
Drop’ at Hertford
Methodist Church,
two-day drive also
1,050 pounds of other
items plus $1,000 in
b -
Three bring
back wins
from fair
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
’Three Perquimans County
competitors brought home the
bacon (excuse the pun) at the
N.C. State Fair this year.
Hayden Dail won for Grand
Champion Pure Barrow and
“Got To Be NC” Champion Gilt.
Colton Meads won Reserve
Grand Champion Pure Bred Bar-
row and LileeAnn Estes won
Grand Champion for her Open
Market Gilt.
. A barrow is a male pig that has
been castrated or rendered inca
pable of reproducing before he
reaches sexual maturity. A gilt is
a young female pig, usually a pig
that has not yet been bred.
Dail is 8 years old and this is
his third year competing at the
fair, according to Lee Dail, his fa
ther. He’s a third grader at Hert
ford Grammar School.
In addition to raising pigs, Dail
also loves football and baseball,
his father said.
“It’s a juggling act.
Raising a champion pig isn’t
a matter of just tossing out food
once a day, the parents of all
three competitors said.
Buddy Meads said his son has
been raising pigs since he was 5-
years-old. He’s 16 now and a ju
nior at Perquimans County High
School.
The competition season for
See FAIR, 2
Horton to lead library programs for kids
See CHIEF, 2
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Phenicia Horton says she found
her dream job.
Horton has been named as the
new full time technician for.chil-
dren’s services at the Perquimans
County Library.
She served as a part-time chil
dren’s librarian for about a year.
The 25-year-old Gates County na
tive earned a degree in early child
hood education from Elizabeth
City. Her original plan was to open
a day care, but fell in love working
in the library.
“I’ve always
loved to read,”
Horton said.
“When I saw this
job on-line, I knew
it was the perfect
job for me. It’s
the best of both
worlds.”
HORTON Horton recently
attended a “Story
Exploring” workshop in Washing
ton, N.C. thanks to a partnership
with Chowan/Perquimans Smart
Start
“It was really informative, and
I’m excited about implementing
some of the things I learned there
here.”
Horton plans to try different
programs during the week and
perhaps something every other
weekend.
“I know parents work during the
week and we want to have some
thing for them. The goal is to get
children to read more.”
Hopefully by the end of the year,
the library staff will be able to move
into the new location on Church
Street. Horton is looking forward
to it, because the children will have
a room all to themselves.
“We had story hour and they
were singing and dancing, but we
had to make sure we didn’t make
too much noise and disturb the
other patrons.”
Michelle Lawrence, the librarian
in Hertford, said Horton is “fantas
tic” at what she does.
“Many of our patrons will al
ready recognize her since she has
worked here part-time for about a
year,” Lawrence said. “We plan to
add more early literacy skills and
ideas to story time at the library to
help prepare our community’s chil
dren for school.”
Pre-school story hour is now
held on Thursdays at 11 a.m.
DOT planning to replace Creek Drive, Wynne Fork Road bridges
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The N.C. Department of
Transportation hopes to re
place two smaller bridges
in Perquimans County next
year.
The first may be a bridge
on Creek Drive in Winfall.
Also on the list is one on
Wynne Fork Road in Hert
ford.
John Abel, bridge engi
neer for DOT Division I,
said the agency wants to
have the Creek Drive bridge
completed long before con
struction starts on replac
ing Hertford’s S-Bridge. The
S-Bridge project could start
within a two years.
The estimated cost of
the Creek Drive bridge is $1
million. The one on Wynne
Fork Road could be $1.5
million.
“All the utilities (on the
bridge) will have to be relo
cated,” Abel said.
The Town of Hertford has
water and sewer lines at
tached to the Wynne Fork
Road bridge now. They will
have to be buried under the
small creek there. A gas line
is already buried under the
water there.
Hertford will also have to
take down power service in
the area. Abel said the town
could reroute electric ser
vice to customers through
existing lines.
Construction on the
Creek Drive bridge is ex
pected to take four to five
months. Abel hopes the
work can be done by No
vember 2018.
DOT is mindful that Cen
tral School is located near-
by and buses use that road
a lot. He said DOT would
like to do most of the work
when school is out of ses
sion for the summer. DOT
also understands the Per
quimans County EMS office
is located nearby.
“EMS is always an issue
with any bridge replace
ment,” Abel said.
DOT was scheduled to
open bids this week on
the S-Bridge replacement
project. DOT is using a de
sign-build process for that
bridge. Contractors will sub-
See BRIDGES, 2
A
gOCKWeMOCK
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1st, 7:00PM
i ^Perquimans Co. High
School Auditorium
$10.00
" SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2nd, 7:00PM
Hertford, NC
Tickets Available at various locations or call 252-221-4875 or 252-333-8567. Email rockyhock opry@live.com