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PERQUIMANS COUNTY LIBRARY
514 S CHURCH ST
HERTFORD NC 27944-1225
KKKLY
"News from Next Door"
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, 2019
Housing facility dedicated, 9
75 cents
Felton named to Hertford town board
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
After two votes that were dead
locked, Hertford officials agreed
Monday night to appoint Gracie
Felton to be the newest member of
the town board.
She replaces Councilman Archie
Aples who resigned in December.
His departure left the board with
Mayor Horace Reid and three coun
cilmen, Sid Eley, Quentin Jackson
and Frank Norman.
Aples also was the Mayor Pro
Tern and acted in Reid’s place when
he wasn’t available.
The board interviewed four can
didates in a special meeting Friday.
But for two tries, when it came
down to voting a replacement Mon
day, nobody could get a 3-to-l ma
jority vote.
Norman got the process started
by making a motion to appoint Fel
ton. She’s a cosmetologist with a
shop on Church Street The Dobbs
Street resident has a bachelor’s de
gree in social work and a master’s
degree in healthcare administration.
Jackson seconded the motion,
but when it came to a vote only he
and Norman voted yes, and Eley
and Mayor Reid voted no.
So Jackson tried his hand at do
ing the same tiling. He nominated
Felton and Norman seconded it,
but the vote was still 2-2 with Reid
and Eley voting in the negative.
So Norman tried to at least get a
Mayor Pro Tern named. He nomi
nated Jackson who seconded the
nomination but even that vote was
again 2-2.
Then Eley had a go at it and
nominated Robert “Ashley” Hodg
es for the vacant council seat. The
Front Street resident is a software
product manager and business de
veloper. He didn’t get a second on
his motion.
If the board couldn’t come up
with a replacement, the vacancy
would remain until after the No
vember election. That is when
Aples’ term would have expired.
Mayor Reid and Eley also have
terms that end in December.
On the third try, Jackson made
another motion to appoint Felton,
Norman provided the second and
the vote passed 4-0.
The other people who applied
for the vacancy were Martha Bor
ders, a Carolina Avenue resident,
Edgar Salvo, a West Market Street
resident, and Hodges.
Monday’s meeting drew a capac
ity crowd at Town Hall. In addition
to seating in the main room, some
residents had to sit in the hall. The
capacity was to a point that a police
officer was stationed at the door to
tell people they couldn’t come in
unless Somebody else left.
FIELDS named Region Principal of Year
Jackson,
mother
arrested
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor .
Students
celebrate at
school assembly
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
For the second time in three years, Per
quimans County can claim they have the
Region 1 principal of the year.
Melissa Fields, the principal at Perqui
mans Central, learned Friday that she is
this year’s regional winner. There were 14
school district that submitted a nomina
tion for the Region 1 award.
At a school assembly Friday, Fields told
Perquimans Central students that they
were the reason she and the school had
been honored with the recognition.
“You’re the reason for what we do. This
award is about you,” she said.
Referring to the school’s mascot, she
said, “I love my little turtles.”
Central serves students in grades pre-K
through second grade.
Fields has worked for the Perquimans
schools for the past 26 years. She started at
Central working as a fourth-grade teacher
in 1993, a post she held until 1997.
Fields became the school’s media coor
dinator from 1997-2009, and then went to
Perquimans County Middle School, where
she served as assistant principal from 2009
to 2011.
She returned to Central as principal in
2011, where she stayed until 2015 when
she was tapped to take over as principal
at Perquimans County High School. While
she was there, the high school earned its
first “B” grade on state accountability test
ing-
Fields returned as principal at Central in
2017.
There are eight regional principals of
the year. Last year’s Region 1 winner was
Edenton’s D.F. Walker Principal Michelle
White. White started her career working
under Fields in Perquimans. She was on
See FIELDS, 2
STAFF PHOTOS BY PETER
WILLIAMS
Hertford Town Council
man Quentin Jackson and
his mother were both arrest
ed Monday afternoon and
charged with obstruction of
justice by the Perquimans
County Sheriffs Office.
Marion
Leary was
released
on $500
secured
bond.Jack
son was
released
on a $1,000
secured
bond. A
probation officer, sheriffs
deputy and a State Bu
reau of Investigation agent
searched Jackson’s room
in Leary’s house in the 310
block of South Church
Street, the sheriffs office
confirmed.
The Perquimans Sheriffs
office referred all questions
to the SBI.
SBI officials in Greenville
could not be reached for
comment and did not imme
diately return phone calls.
See JACKSON, 2
Left, Perquimans Central
School Principal Melissa
Fields gets a hug from
this year’s NC Principal
of the Year, Tabari
Wallace last week. Top,
Hertford Grammar School
students applaud the
announcement that
Principal Melissa Fields
was named the Region
1 Principal Of The Year.
Middle, Perquimans
Central Principal Melissa
Fields (left) talks with
Michelle White Friday
at Central. Fields was
named 2019 Region
1 Principal of the Year.
White won the Region
1 title in 2018 at D.F.
Walker in Chowan County.
DOT moves up
Harvey Point
repaving
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The timeframe to improve
i Harvey Point Road has been
moved up, but it still will be
years before the motorists
see the work.
The N.C. Department
I of Transportation had the
work scheduled in 2023. It’s
I now been moved ahead to
2020.
Brooks Braswell, a DOT
engineer, said that means
the contract may be award-
See REPAVING, 2
Rotary to
offer tax help
Rezoning to allow
Dollar General store
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The Perquimans County
Commission approved a re-
6 89076 47144 2
zoning last week that paves
the way for the construction
of a Dollar General store
next to Albemarle Planta
tion.
The board voted 6-0 to re-
zone 2.53 acres of a21.7-acre
plot from Rural Agriculture
(RA) to Rural Commercial.
The lot is on Holiday Island
See STORE, 2
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FRONT ELEVATION
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SUBMITTED PHOTO
A drawing shows what the front of the new Dollar General store will look like.
From Staff Reports
The Hertford Rotary Club
will once again be sponsor
ing a volunteer tax help
program as a part of the IRS
nationwide program pro-
I viding vital tax preparation
I services for low to moder
ate-income and elderly tax
payers.
Hertford Rotary Club, the
first Rotary club in North
Carolina to participate in the
VITA program, conducts the
program as a service proj-
See ROTARY, 2