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, THE HERTFORD NC 27944
ERQUIMANS
.^Weekly
Pets of the Week, 7
"News from Next Door"
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 28, 2018
75 cents
Electricities to market new park
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
A group that helps man
age municipal utilities in
North Carolina, including
the one in Hertford, will
be helping market the Per
quimans Marine Industrial
Park.
County and town officials
joined ElectriCities last
week in helping erect a new
sign at the site near the Per
quimans Recreation Center.
ElectriCities of North
Carolina Inc. has designated
the 71-acre project a “Smart
Site.”
The designation guaran
tees that the site has met
stringent requirements and
is shovel-ready for new de
velopment.
Perquimans County eco
nomic development con
sultant Dave Goss said the
move by ElectriCities is a
“huge deal.” It has the mon
ey and contacts to market
North Carolina sites looking
to relocate or expand.
“They’ve run full page
ads, sometimes two pages
in key magazines promot
ing Smart Sites throughout
North Carolina,” Goss said.
“That’s real exposure that
we couldn’t afford to do.”
ElectriCities created the
Smart Sites program in 2014
to help member communi
ties prepare shovel-ready
sites for economic develop
ment.
“In today’s competitive
environment, it’s rare for
a company to locate on an
undeveloped property,” said
ElectriCities Economic De
velopment Manager Brenda
Daniels.
“New and expanding
companies expect existing
buildings or a prepared,
shovel-ready site to shorten
the amount of time needed
for construction.”
ElectriCities markets
Smart Sites at trade shows
and industry events around
the world. In the past Elec
triCities has paid for a booth
for Perquimans County to
promote the site at a trade
show in New Orleans that
See PARK, 2
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Hertford Mayor Horace Reid (left) and Perquimans
County Economic Development consultant Dave Goss
steady a new sign at the planned marine industrial park
last week. Electricities will be helping marketing the
project.
"'It sure beats the old one. It's so spacious."
County dedicates new library
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Perquimans County dedicated
its’ first library in 60 years the first
ever library built for that function
last week.
The facility on Church Street
has been more than a decade in
the making.
Bill Ross has been a member of
the library board for the past 10
years.
When asked how long members
have been talking about a new one
he said “10 years.”
The new facility replaces one
on Academy Street that opened
in 1957. It was created from the
lunchroom of the old Hertford
Grammar School after the main
structure burned. Prior to that it
was the library was located in a
converted house next door. After
the library left there, it has been
used as a senior center until the
new facility was created on Har
vey Point Road. Historic Hertford
Inc. occupies the space now.
The library cost about $2.5
million. The county commission
agreed to use $500,000 in reserve
funds to pay some of the cost and
financed the rest for 10 years. The
developer, a Georgia firm, agreed
to pay $30,000 in liquidated dam
ages because the project was de
layed. The original construction
deadline was in September and it
wasn’t until December before the
county accepted the building.
The county owns the building,
but it’s part of the Pettigrew Re
gional Library system. It operates
three other libraries including the
one in Edenton.
Perquimans County Manager
Frank Heath was praised for his
role in the library project. Heath
called the library “a reflection of
who we are as a county.”
Walker and Marjorie Rayburn
were there for the opening Thurs
day.
“It sure beats the old one,” he
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Perquimans County Commission Chairman Wallace Nelson cuts the ribbon while three children help
hold it steady last week during the grand opening of the new Perquimans County Library.
said.
“It’s so spacious,” she said.
When it came time for the ribbon
cutting, Nelson did the honors but
made sure three children too part
by holding the red ribbon steady.
Nelson said the library “speaks
loudly about us as a community”
and our priorities to foster life-
long learning.
The new library isn’t just the
end. Judi Bugniazet, the direc
tor of the regional library system
and a former Perquimans County
librarian, said two 3-D printers are
on the way. Through a grant, she
got a grant for a 3-D printer at all
four library. The grant will also
provide a 65-inch iMac computer.
Perquimans County Commis
sioner Fondella Leigh called the li
brary “something we can be proud
of.”
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
A crowd of people gather for the dedication of the new Perquimans
County Library last week.
Census:
County
grows
slightly
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Perquimans County has
grown a little since 2010 and
it was the influx of people
] moving in that fueled the
increase.
The U.S. Census Bureau
released estimates last
week.
The figures showed there
were 13,474 people living in
Perquimans in 2017. That’s
21 more people than in
2010.
While the growth is small,
0.2 percent, it’s still an in
crease. Other surrounding
counties lost population
during that same period.
Chowan’s population fell
by 688 people to 14,105 dur
ing the seven-year period.
Pasquotank’s numbers
feU by 918 to 39,743. In
Gates County, there were
11,544 people last year.
That’s down by 653.
The state as a whole
grew by 737,936 people be
tween 2010 and 2017. Com
bined, Wake and Mecklen
burg counties made up for
328,419 of the increase.
When it comes to why
Perquimans saw an increase
in population, it was due to
“domestic migration.” That’s
the term for when people al
ready living in the U.S. move
to somewhere else in the
country. Perquimans picked
up 234 new residents as a
result.
As for “natural increase”
the county population fell
by 189. That means more
See CENSUS, 2
Children’s festival to mark 10th year
From Staff Reports
The 10th annual Week of
the Young Child Children’s
Festival and Safe Kids Day
will be held on April 14 from
10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the
Perquimans County Recre
ation Center. The free event
is open to all families, to cel
ebrate young children and
the joy of learning through
new experiences. Activities
will be offered inside the
gym and the surrounding
grounds.
Week of the Young Child
is an annual celebration cre
ated in 1971 by the National
Association for the Edu
cation of Young Children
(NAEYC), focusing public
attention on the needs of
young children and their
families and to recognize
the early childhood pro
grams and services that
meet those needs. Chow-
an/Perquimans Smart Start
Partnership held their first
local event in 2009 with 96
attendees. Over the years,
both attendance to the
event and local support has
grown.
Three years ago, Chowan
County Safe Kids and Albe
marle Regional Health Ser
vices joined the Smart Start
Partnership as co-hosts of
the event. With local focus
on preparing healthy chil
dren for Kindergarten, the
event has grown to not only
offer educational activities
and experiences, but to also
provide parents with infor
ihation concerning resourc
es for their families.
Last year, 44 service orga
nizations participated in the
festival handing out good
ies, providing learning ac
tivities, and giving parents
information. More than 100
volunteers from the com
munity, service agencies,
and local area businesses
were on-site. The Boy’s
and Girl’s Club even bused
students out to eqjoy the
event.
The Perquimans County
Recreation Center has more
than 200 parking spaces
right on the river and has
been the home of the event
for the past eight years. Due
to the parking and large
acreage, it has proven to
be the best space to accom
modate the event and its at
tendees.
The event will once again
have the benchmarks of the
annual event: pony rides,
bounce houses, fishing,
bike rodeo, car seat checks
and face painting.
School clubs and high
school students needing
community service hours
are encouraged to contact
Sarah Williams to be a part
of the event planning and
day-of-event activities. Ser
vice agencies that serve
families are asked to con
tact Williams to register to
be a vendor at the event.
There are no admission fees
for this event, nor booth reg
istration because of dona
tions from local businesses
and community members.
For more information
about the event, how to
get involved, or to make a
donation, contact Williams
at 482-3035 or swilliams.
cpssp@gmail.com.
Schools seek money
for capital projects
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The electronic system
that allows managing the
heating and cooling of four
schools is outdated and
school officials are asking
for $150,000 to replace it.
Jim Davison, the main
tenance director for Per
quimans County Schools,
said the system is about
13 years old. With passing
time, new equipment has
been added with new soft
ware.
The problem is the
Direct Digital Controls
(DDC) master control Sys
tem has not been replaced
and can’t be upgraded any
more.
Davison said the schools
are one update away from
being locked out.
“We’ll lose the ability
to receive alarms and re
motely trouble shoot,” he
said.
That means the only way
to check the status of a
piece of the system would
be to go to it. The units are
often located in ceilings or
under floors.
One of the bigger ticket
items is $150,000 to re
place the floor in the gym
at Perquimans County
Middle School. The new
surface will be a rubber
like substance that will be
better suited for a variety
of activities, Davison said.
In terms of personnel,
Superintendent Matthew
Cheeseman listed his pri-
See SCHOOLS, 2