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"New jrortt Next Door"
WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 2018
BLET students graduate, 6
75 cents
Budget will keep Commission in Hertford for now
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
After rectifying a math
problem, The Albemarle
Commission adopted a new
$6.4 million budget for the
next fiscal year Thursday.
That effectively shelves any
plans to move the 10-county
agency from Hertford to
Elizabeth City.
A week before, the com
mission rejected a proposed
INSIDE
■ The Albemarle Commission last year allowed its director to hire a
firm for a construction management project led by her husband - a
move at least one member of the commission’s Board of Delegates
now describes as a conflict of interest. Page 2
$6.8 million budget that
included money to lease a
more expensive building in
Elizabeth City plus a salary
for economic development
director. Instead the board
voted to adopt a continuing
resolution that would fund
the next fiscal year at tire
same level as this year.
State law requires local
governmental agencies to
adopt a new fiscal year bud
get by July 1.
“A continuing resolution
is not an adopted budget
and the executive commit
tee felt strongly that we
needed a real budget by July
1, and we now have one,”
Executive Director Cathy
Davison said.
Last year Davison floated
the idea of building a new
larger building in Hertford.
Perquimans County agreed
to provide the land for free,
but Pasquotank County of
ficials balked at the idea of
locking themselves into the
long-term debt to pay for it.
The land is located across
Harvey Point Road from the
Perquimans Senior Center.
Instead, the board di
rected Davison to look into
leasing a building that was
large enough to consolidate
all of the board staff under
one roof. The estimated
cost, $154,000 a year, ap
parently was too much for
some board members. The
Commission currently pays
Perquimans County $45,000
a year to rent the space they
use now in Hertford. The
main office is located on
Church Street behind the
See BDUGET, 2
Jones
won’t run
for judge
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Perquimans County Com
missioner Kyle Jones will
not run for a District Court
judgeship this year.
Jones,
32, ex
pressed
an inter
est earlier
this year.
He would
have faced
Judge
JONES Meader
Harriss.
Harriss is seeking his sec
ond term.
The deadline to file is
Friday and Jones made his
announcement Wednesday
evening.
“I wanted to take all the
time the law gave me to
pray about it and come to a
decision. I’m grateful for the
sound advice of a few men
tors.
“I talked to Judge Harriss
and informed him of my de
cision not to seek election
to the District Court Judge
ship.
He won’t rule out running
in the future, but not now.
“I will always keep that
option open,” Jones said.
“For now, it’s my desire to
serve the people of the First
Judicial District by doing
the best that I can as an as
sistant district attorney to
make the First Judicial Dis
trict a safe place for families
See JONES, 2
Program to target school safety funding
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Perquimans County now
has a program that will raise
money to address school
security needs that aren’t
funded in the regular bud-
get.
The K.E.Y.S. program is
a partnership between the
Perquimans County Board
of Education, the Perqui ¬
mans County Sheriffs Office
and the Perquimans County
Schools Foundation.
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
The interior of the new Hertford Bay Taphouse.
Taphouse to open soon
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Area residents will soon have a
place to grab a cold pint in Hert
ford
Stephen Gunther and his wife
Rachel plan to open the Hertford
Bay Taphouse on Grubb Street by
late August or early September.
“It will probably be more like
September,” Stephen said last
week.
The town does not have a busi
ness that just serves beer and
wine.
Gunther said Hertford needs to
adapt to survive, and a tap house
may be part of that.
“We can’t stay the same. If you
want to do that, just look at Plym
outh.”
So far Gunther said he’s had
See TAPHOUSE, 2
SUBMITTED PHOTO
A walk-in cooler waits to be assembled at the Hertford Bay
Taphouse.
The Perquimans County
Commission and the school
board has already address
some concerns, like limit
ing access to each school to
one door. Visitors have to be
buzzed in by somebody in
the office. Tire schools also
have cameras installed in all
buses.
They’ve been useful said
Sheriff Shelby White.
“I’ve worked on cases be ¬
fore and the cameras on the
buses have come in handy,”
White said.
Perquimans is rather
unique in that it will have a
sheriffs deputy as a School
Resource Officer at all four
schools. But White said
while some of the bigger
ticket items have been ad
dressed, there are always
some things that are need
ed.
“There are always little
things here and there that
can be done,” he said. “You
can always do something,
you can never be too safe.”
The K.E.Y.S. project is
similar to those adopted in
Pasquotank and Camden
counties.
In 2012, just after the
shooting at Sandy Hook
See KEYS, 2
Lassiter
named
HGS
principal
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
John Lassiter, a 30-year-
old Perquimans County na
tive, will be the new prin
cipal at Hertford Grammar
School.
The
county
school
board
made the
decision
last week.
He will
replace
Jason Grif
fin who
LASSITER
accepted a job as director
of elementary education in
Craven County.
“We are excited about the
new opportunities Mr. Las
siter will bring to Hertford
Grammar and the district,”
said Superintendent Mat
thew Cheeseman. “He joins
an elite team of educators.”
Lassiter has been prin
cipal at Chowan Middle
School for the past three
years. He plans to start work
at HGS on July 11.
The father of two young
girls said being able to spend
more time with his wife and
family was a big attraction.
“Moving to Hertford
Grammar allows me to
fulfill two lifelong dreams.
One, to be the father and
husband I am called to be.
The time commitments that
come with being an effective
middle/high school princi
pal make balancing work
and family difficult. Thank
you to my wife (Jenna) for
her unconditional support
for the past five years. I love
you. Two, I get a chance to
invest into the school that
Emily and Erianne will at
tend.”
Emily is 4-years-old, so
she’ll be attending HGS in
four years. Erianne is 18-
months-old.
Attending evening events
at Chowan Middle wasn’t
required, but Lassiter said
See LASSITER, 2
Apex considering sale, publication reports
Golf Cart Parade
From Staff Reports
The Virginia-based wind
energy company seeking
permits to build a 40-tur-
bine wind farm in Chowan
County could potentially be
sold to another company, a
wind industry publication
reported recently.
Dahvi Wilson, senior di
rector of public affairs for
Apex Clean Energy, told
Windpower Monthly in April
that Apex is currently under
going a “strategic review,”
and an “M&A transaction
is one of the potential out
comes of that review.” An
“M&A transaction” would
be a merger or acquisition.
Apex currently owns
more than 60 wind projects,
including Ikea’s first North
American wind investment,
according to Windpower
Monthly’s article. It also re
quested permission to build
more than 50 wind turbines
in the Bear Swamp area of
Perquimans County, but the
request was denied by the
Perquimans County Com
mission. Apex took the is
sue to court, but was denied
on appeal.
Apex is still currently
seeking federal and state
permits to build 40 wind
turbines for its Timbermill
Wind project in Chowan
County.
A company official de
clined to say last week how
the potential sale might af
fect the Timbermill project.
“At the moment, we have
no further comment beyond
what has previously been
publicly reported,” said Cat
Strumlauf, Apex’s manager
of corporate communica
tions.
News of Apex’s possible
sale emerged during a talk
about corporate mergers
and transactions at a Wind
power 2018 conference in
Chicago in May, according
to Windpower Monthly.
Frank Palladino, direc
tor at CohnReznick Capital,
told the conference about
his firm’s “experiences
See APEX, 2
Submitted
PHOTO
Primo Viray
created a
replica of
the Statue
of Liberty
for a golf
cart parade
Sunday at
Albemarle
Plantation.
Fireworks In
Hertford and
Winfall are
set for Friday
at 9 p.m.