P The | M P9/C9******CAR-RT LOT**R 008 D0017 ' Iiii.i.i..|i l .i. l iiini.|.|..|ii. 1 |i|i|i. | iii.iii 1 |i.. 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 AMHM& « CORBEL* FRONT ELEVATION sous w* W 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

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