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PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
514 S CHURCH ST
HERTFORD NC 27944-1225
Improving dementia care, 6
"News from Next Door"
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2019
75 cents
Report issued on local HAZMAT drill
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Area emergency officials
did a lot of things right dur
ing a disaster drill in Novem
ber but there are equipment
issues that could make it
better, a report shows.
A 56-page “After Action
Report” looked at how area
fire, EMS, law enforcement,
Albemarle Regional Health
Systems and Vidant Chow
an Hospital responded dur
ing the exercise. Chowan
emergency officials were
also involved.
The drill involved a van
that ran into the side of a
train in Winfall. The van was
carrying “plague” and the
container leaked, contami
nating the area and sending
a plume through the area
north of Winfall.
“With any drill, the hope is
to identify things we as first
responders are doing good
and to note areas where we
can improve,” said Jonathan
Nixon, Perquimans County’s
emergency management di
rector. “ The participation
by so many of our county
and partner responders is a
good reminder of the team-
work necessary to provide
quality service.”
The responding agencies
were judged in five areas.
In four of them, the report
found they were able to per
form the tasks “with some
challenges.” In the fifth
area, the report said the.
tasks were performed with
“mqjor challenges.”
The most troublesome
area involved demonstrat
ing the ability to direct, co-
ordinate and control emer
gency activities using the
incident command system
and the Perquimans County
emergency operations plan.
By having mayor challenges
in that area it meant “per
formance had a negative im
pact on the performance of
other activities; contributed
to additional health and/or
safety risks for the public
or for emergency workers,
and/or was not conducted in
accordance with applicable
plans, policies, procedures,
regulations and laws.”
The drill is part of Home
land Security program.
See DRILL, 2
Town explores expanding district
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Hertford officials have decided
to take the first step towards ex
panding the historic district.
With the expansion, more prop-
eify owners could tap federal and
state tax rebates if they make im
provements to their property.
Tim Brinn made the proposal
to the town board on Dec. 10.
He estimated the cost of hiring
a certified historic expert to do
the report would run between
$25,000 and $30,000, even if some
local volunteers did some of the
legwork.
The original study in 1998 cost
about $9,000 and included a lot of
volunteers.
But Brinn said it would cost
nothing to submit the paperwork
to Raleigh to start the process
and that’s what the town board
agreed to do.
The current historic district
contained 154 primary historic
buildings, 223 contributing build
ings and 178 potentially contrib-
riing out buildings.
State historic officials made
three trips to Hertford last year
and believe they found 178 his
toric structures in the town that
aren’t in the first historic district.
One reason Brinn got involved
was because he is troubled by the
number of dilapidated buildings,
mostly homes, in town. Hertford
had 40 liens on property worth a
total of $261,000.
Instead of just going in and do
ing wholesale demolition, Brinn
first wanted to make sure the
town wasn’t tearing down an im
portant piece of its history.
“How do we know the next
Newbold White House Isn’t sitting
somewhere on Dobbs Street,”
Brinn asked.
The federal government offers
a 20 percent tax credit for his-
A map shows areas in red that might qualify to be part of an expanded historic district in Hertford.
toric structures. North Carolina
offers a 10 percent credit, but if
the property is in a Tier 1 county,
there is another 10 percent that
can apply. Perquimans is a Tier
1, or economically distressed,
county.
The clock is ticking in North
Carolina. Some members of the
General Assembly want to get
rid of the historic tax credit after
2019. Brinn said the federal tax
credit would remain,
“If you don’t want to do any
thing, that is fine. I just wanted
to make sure we won’t be taking
down the most historic house in
town, but it doesn’t look like we
will.”
Brinn said Elizabeth City has
already taken action.
“They decided to hurry up and
get started and Elizabeth City
pulled $29,000 out of their tour ¬
ism fund to do it.”
Elizabeth City’s existing his
toric zone was created in 1972,
so there may be a lot more struc
tures that are eligible now given
the passage of time.
“You don’t have to do this (ex
pand the historic district) and can
still bulldoze. And in some cases
even if it is in a historic zone there
are houses that still need to have
to go,” Brinn said.
Towns
facing
rate hike
BY JON HAWLEY
ANO PETER WILLIAMS
Staff Writers
Power customers in Hert
ford, Elizabeth City and Eden
ton will likely see their electri
cal rates rise over the next two
years, as they pass on rate in
creases planned by a regional
power agency.
Hertford Town Manager
Pamela Hurdle said she’s plan
ning for a 1.3 percent increase
on April 1.
The N.C. Eastern Municipal
Power Agency is also plan
ning a 3 percent rate increase
on April 1, 2020, ElectriCi-
ties spokeswoman Michelle
Vaught wrote in an email.
Electricities is the manage
ment firm for NCEMPA, a
power agency for more than
30 municipalities, among them
Hertford, Elizabeth City and
Edenton.
Vaught wrote NCEMPA
would finalize the 2019 rate
increase, if any, in January.
In looking to raise electrical
rates, she said the increases
were not due to increased
. costs from Duke Energy Prog
ress, the agency’s power pro
vider. Instead, she explained
NCEMPA has been under
charging for electrical costs
since April 2017. NCEMPA
I has had expenses come under-
budget, allowing funds to build
up; NCEMPA set the rates low
to draw down that funding.
“NCEMPA’s wholesale rate
to the members is currently
set below projected coSts in
See HIKE, 2
SUBMITTED PHOTO
The moving classrooms at Hertford Grammar School
provide pedal desks, strider desks, collaborative
standing desks workstation, swing desks and kneeling
desks. A grant will fund a second round that will
benefit Perquimans County Middle School.
Grant to expand school program
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
A grant will allow the
Perquimans Schools Foun
dation to expand on a pro
gram that allows students
to move around while they
learn in the dlassroom.
In late 2017, the HCW-
GMW Fund of the North
ern Albemarle Commu
nity Foundation gave the
schools foundation $40,000
to create two kinesthetic
classrooms at Hertford
Gramrnar School.
Kinesthetic is a learn
ing style in which learning
takes place by the students
carrying out physical activi
ties, rather than listening to
a lecture or watching dem
onstrations.
Last month the commu
nity foundation gave Per
quimans $40,000 more so it
can expand the program to
Perquimans County Middle
School. The $40,000 made
up the largest single grant
out of the roughly $100,000
funded last year. Some of
the funds will be used to pay
for an outreach program to
other school districts to
talk about how the program
works.
Brenda Lassiter, the ex
ecutive director of the Per
quimans foundation, said
out of the 32 students who
took part in the program
last year, all but one of them
made strides academically.
The one student remained
steady.
“We truly appreciate the
grant from the Northern
foundation,” Lassiter said.
“The traditional classroom
doesn’t work w'th some
kids. This helps them focus
better and be less disrup
tive.”
In addition to increase in
academic growth, she said
HGS saw a decrease in the
number of discipline issues
in the classrooms that had
the kinesthetic equipment.
The gear can include ped
al desks, strider desks, col
laborative standing desks,
swing desks and kneeling
desks.
See GRANT, 2
Year brought personnel changes
Deputies Play Santa
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Last year brought some
changes to the management
of several local agencies.
In April, Brandon Shoaf
announced he would step
down as Hertford Town
Manager to take a job as a
planner for Chowan Coun
ty-
“I felt I needed to spend
more time outside of work
ing,” Shoaf said at the time.
“The manager’s job, not just
in Hertford, requires a lot of
hours in the week. The offer
I got in Chowan doesn’t re
quire all that outside of nor
mal working hours.”
. Shoaf had worked for
Hertford for the past 11
years, the first four as town
planner and the last seven
as manager.
The town’s interim police
chief and public works di
rector also left.
The town board put Pa- ;
mela Hurdle in charge as j
interim town manager and
in September, voted to give
her the job. The town also
hired Dennis Brown as the
town’s new police chief that
month. A public works di
rector has also been hired.
The town also has suf-
See CHANGES, 2
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Perquimans
County Sheriff’s
Office Sgt.
Kendall Harrell
and Deputy
Brian Gregory
prepare to
deliver Christmas
presents to six
area children.
The gifts were
possible because
of an anonymous
donor.