P11/C11******CAR-RT LOT**C 001 A0027
P , THE
ERQL
PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
110 W ACADEMY ST
HERTFORD NC 27944-1306
WE E KLY
Christmas parade photos, 7
"News from Next Door"
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2017
50 cents
County green lights athletic complex
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The Perquimans County
Commission gave the green
light last week for the
school system to use lot
tery construction money to
pay for part of a new foot
ball field.
The vote was 3-2. Com
missioners Joe Hoffler,
Charles Woodard and Wal
lace Nelson supported the
expenditure. Commission
ers Kyle Jones and Fondella
Leigh opposed the move.
Commissioner Ed Muzzulin
was absent on Monday.
Jones opposed spending
lottery funds for a football
field because the school sys
tem might face other press
ing capital expenses.
In North Carolina, coun
ties are responsible for
building and maintaining
school buildings. The state
provides much of the mon
ey for teachers.
The school system gets
about $125,000 a year in
money from the lottery that
must be spent on capital ex
penses. Monday’s request
was to use $274,000 from the
account to pay for bleachers
and a press box. The school
system has about $389,000
in the account right now.
On Tuesday Jones said he
spoke his mind and voted
his conscience, and is now
ready to move forward.
“Respectful dissent is a
sign of a healthy democratic
Republic. Our board has
spoken. I’ll do whatever I
can to support our school
board’s direction on the
complex.”
Superintendent Matthew
Cheeseman said he under
stands there may have been
some concern over the lot
tery money.
“I recognize why they vot
ed no, but I think there may
have been some misunder
standing that we were going
to blow the whole thing on
the athletic field,” Cheese
man said.
The school board already
has $600,000 for the field
that was left in the will of the
late Charles Ward. An anon
ymous donor has already
agreed to pay $250,000 for
the field house.
Plus the lottery fund is
constantly getting a quarter
ly infusion of cash, Cheese
man said.
“We get about $125,000
a year in installments and
See COMPLEX, 5
Nelson
named
new chair
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The Perquimans County
Commission has a new
chairman.
' Every year, during the
first meeting in December,
the board votes on officers
for the coming year.
On Dec. 4 Commissioner
Kyle Jones, who was chair
man, nominated Wallace
Nelson to serve in 2018.
The vote was unanimous in
favor with one member, Ed
Muzzulin, absent.
Fondella Leigh, who
served as vice chair for the
pastyear, will remain in that
post by unanimous vote.
“When I became chair
man, I told them I’d only do
it for a year,” Jones said. “It
was a privilege to nominate
Wallace. I’ve known him
since I was 15, and we’re
fortunate to have him and
Fondella leading us.”
The previous chairman
before Jones was Janice
Cole. She held the post for a
number of years before she
decided not to run again.
Jones reflected on the
past year.
“Our accomplishments
are built on the good deci
sion-making of prior boards
of this county. So I’m con
scious of the fact that our
decision-making will influ
ence future boards, which is
a big part of the reason why
I’m so adamant about keep
ing spending low.
“When I campaigned in
2016,1 made it clear that our
older-adult and senior popu
lation were priorities for
me, and I think our budget
reflected that. All the data
we have suggests we’re go
ing to get older as a county
in the next few decades, so
I’m going do my best to see
that area continue to be a
budget priority.
“Back in my old ‘seat,’ I
See NELSON, 5
SCHOOL CHRISTMAS Cards
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The winning Christmas card entry from Perquimans County High School was created by
Jessicah Brown. The winning verse: ‘May your Christmas sparkle with moments of love and
laughter. May the year ahead be full of happiness and bliss’ was also written by Brown.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The winning Christmas card entry from Perquimans
County Middle School was created by Mackenzie
Davenport. The winning verse: ‘The gift of love, the
gift of peace, the gift of happiness, may all these be
yours at Christmas’ was written by Macon Winslow.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The winning Christmas card entry from Hertford
Grammar School was created by Madilyn Young. The
winning verse: ‘May all your holiday wishes come true.
Have a happy holiday’ was written by Khila Smith.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The winning Christmas card entry from
Perquimans Central School was created
by Amarila Donovan. The winning verse:
‘Christmas is a bright star shining
in your heart’ was written by Kailey
Henard.
Sheriff
talks about
church safety
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Church members looking for a sin
gle solution to secure their sanctuary,
they found out there may not be one.
Sheriff Shelby White presented a
program last week to a group of about
100 people at Perquimans County
High School.
The meeting was prompted in part
because of a shooting in Texas in No
vember that left 26 people dead and
20 people injured.
There was another one in 2015 in
South Carolina that left nine people
dead.
The circumstances of both of
those were different. In the South
Carolina case, the shooter came and
worshipped with members of the 201-
year-old Emanuel African Methodist
Episcopal Church before he pulled a
gun and shot church members.
In the Texas case, the gunman burst
in on a service already in progress and
killed his victims.
White said he scheduled the meet
ing in hopes he can help churches that
are thinking about security.
“I think it went well,” White said of
the meeting in the PCHS auditorium.
He said some of those who attended
were from Camden and Pasquotank
counties. That might because Pas
quotank County didn’t hold a similar
meeting until Dec. 12.
“I have an open invitation to people
if they wanted me to come and take a
look at their church for ideas,” White
said.
One of the questions White has had
involves members of the congregation
wearing shirts that say “Security.”
“I don’t recommend it,” White said.
“That’s just my opinion.”
In one instance, he thinks of this.
“If you’re a bank robber going to
rob a bank, who would you shoot
first? The person in ‘security.’”
One thing churches can look at re
volves around doors.
Do you lock them? How old is the
church? How many doors?
White said you have to go on a
church-by-church basis.
“You have to think about the fire
code,” he said.
See SHERIFF, 3
Families file lawsuit in fatal Belvidere helicopter crash
From Staff Reports
The families of two people
killed in a Duke Life Flight crash
in September have filed a lawsuit,
claiming the helicopter’s manufac
turer knew there was a risk of en
gine fires and that the pilot was at
fault for not following emergency
procedures, The News and Ob
server reported this week.
The helicopter, which was
based at Johnston Regional Air
port in Smithfield, was en route
from Elizabeth City to Duke Uni
versity Hospital on Sept. 8 when
it went down in a field in Perqui
mans County.
Nurses Kris Harrison and Crys
tal Sollinger, pilot Jeff Burke and
patient Mary Susan White Bartlett
were all killed in the crash.
The lawsuit filed Monday by
Bartlett’s husband and Harrison’s
wife claims the cause of the crash
was a failure of the No. 2 engine
and that witnesses to the crash
reported seeing smoke trailing be
hind the helicopter before it went
down.
“All evidence points to a blocked
engine drain line,” said Gary Robb,
the attorney representing the
See CRASH, 5
Town fined $4,000 over sewer incident Man dies in US 17 wreck
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The Town of Hertford
has been fined $4,067 be
cause the contractor it uses
to haul and spread sewer
sludge incorrectly applied
it on a farmer’s field.
The action was in viola
tion of the town’s Depart
ment of Environmental
Quality permit. The sludge
is what’s left over after the
treatment of wastewater. It
can be spread on agricul
ture fields as a fertilizer af
ter it is tested to make sure
it’s safe.
Town Manager Brandon
Shoaf acknowledged the
town violated the permit.
He said it was the first time
the town applied solids
since the permit was is
sued in October 2016. “The
short of it is, our contractor
that hauls and land applies
sludge for us, spread the
sludge on an unpermitted
field, too close to property
fines and buffers without
our permission,” Shoaf
said.
The sludge was sprayed
too near a ditch and a resi
dential property line. An of
ficial of DEQ said the field
is located on the north side
of Snug Harbor Road about
a mile and a half south of
Bethel.
The town self-reported
the violation as soon as
town officials realized the
proper notification wasn’t
given and immediately had
See SEWER, 2
From Staff Reports
A 21-year-old Currituck
was killed in a one-car
accident early Thursday
morning on U.S. 17.
Chandler Davenport
was northbound about
one tenth of a mile south
of the Perquimans-Pas
quotank County line when
the 2007 Mazda right off
the right side of the road
at a slow speed and came
to rest in a large ditch.
The N.C. Highway Patrol
reported there was minor
damage to the vehicle. The
wreck happened shortly
after midnight.
A 23-year-old passenger
was injured and taken to a
hospital but was not in se
rious condition, according
to the report.
Troopers are waiting for
an autopsy and toxicology
reports.