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“News from Next Door”
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2019
Tour touts benefits of high speed ferry, 3
$1.00
DOT seeks change in water quality permit
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The N.C. Department of
Transportation is seeking
to modify a water quality
permit in order to allow a
contractor to build a 200-
foot long temporary trestle,
some of it over wetlands, for
the construction of the re
placement of the S-Bridge.
The trestle is needed so
a barge with a crane can
access pilings and other ma
terials in a staging yard, ac
cording to the request filed
on July 29.
The crane is driving five
pilings that will serve as a
test to make sure they are
the proper length. Once
that is done, eventually 190
more pilings will be needed
for the new bridge. The con
tractor, McLean Construc
tion, needs a place to store
the pilings on land and then
access them with the crane.
Finding an appropriate
site has taken time, said Tim
Hass, a spokesman for NC
DOT.
“It took the contractor
more time than expected to
find a suitable staging area
for the project, which I’m
told will be at the old Daven
port Motors site,” Hass said.
DOT looked at four other
sites, but ruled the one be
hind Bear Garden Road was
the best location for a stag
ing area.
Two of the sites were lo
cated upstream from the
S-Bridge. One was the va
cant Feed and Seed location
on Grubb Street. DOT ruled
that out in part because it
would introduce a num
ber of large, heavy trucks
onto smaller town roads. It
would also face the same
problem with a site near
Winfall Town Hall. The main
issue was both of those
would require navigating
through the existing bridge.
“The use of this site would
require frequent opening
of the existing swing span
bridge,” DOT wrote in its
request for the change. “In
addition to traffic nuisances
this would cause, the poten
tial for bridge malfunction
increases each time the
span is opened.”
Another site was down-
stream near the foot of the
U.S. 17 high-rise bridge on
the Winfall site. It was ruled
out because the water depth
was less than three feet and
it would have required a
See DOT, A2
New SRO
hired for
Perquimans
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
When the opening was
created for a School Re
source Officer in Perquim
ans County, Stacey Edwards
took it,
“I’ve been
in law en
forcement
for about 15
years, and I
was looking
to expand my
law enforce
ment career
and I already
live in Per
EDWARDS
quimans County,” Edwards
said.
Edwards, 35, is coming
to the Perquimans sheriffs
office after a year and a half
spent as an officer at Eliza
beth,City State University.
Prior to that she had eight
years with the Elizabeth
City Police Department.
She’s also worked with the
Pittsboro Police Depart
ment and the Gates Sheriffs
office.
When school opens this
month she will be the SRO
assigned to Perquimans
County Middle School.
She’s lived in Perquimans
for the past 10 years and
has a pair of 8-year-old
twins.
“I always like the interac
tion with the community I
am serving,” Edwards said.
“Law enforcement is ever
changing, it’s not your typi
cal 9 to 5 job.
“I’m looking to interact
ing with the students,” she
said Friday. “I want to be
somebody they can look up
to.”
Edwards and her fami
ly moved to Gates County
when she was 10 years old.
She graduated from Gates
County High School, and
then earned a four-year de
gree in criminal justice from
Elizabeth City State Univer
sity.
Edwards fills a voice
since Brian Watson left
the sheriffs department
to work at the shipyard in
Virginia. He had been at
Hertford Grammar. Faran
Sawyer, who is on ma
ternity leave, is expected
back in October. She was
at PCMS. Tori Arroyo, will
serve as SRO at Hertford
See EDWARDS, A2
STAFF PHOTO BY PETER WILLIAMS
Evan Copeland, the new band director at Perquimans County High School, gestures during a band camp last
week.
Perquimans band directors wed
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
To say there will be close
collaboration between the
band directors at Perqui
mans County High School
and Perquimans County
Middle School might be an
understatement.
They got married on Sat
urday.
Evan Copeland, 23, the
new band director at the
high school and Katelyn
Lesko Copeland, 25, the
band director at PCMS,
had been dating since
2014. They met at East Car
olina University.
The wedding was held at
Pine Knoll Shores.
He said she is the larg
est reason he left as band
director at Chowan Middle
School to accept the PCHS
Area first responders to be honored on Aug. 17
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
The third annual First
Responders Appreciation
Day will be held on Aug. 17
at 3p.m. at The Crawfish
Shack.
job. He is a Chowan Coun
ty native.
“We’ve always wanted to
team teach together so this
has been a dream of ours,”
he said. “We make a good
team and we’ve already
been team teaching around
the state.
“You know it’s really
nice to find somebody that
shares the same passion as
you do,” Evan said about
his wife and music. “We
never run out of stuff to
talk about.”
Katelyn is starting her
second year as band direc
tor at PCMS.
He is a tuba player by
trade, and earned his Bach
elors of Music Education
in 2018 from East Carolina.
“Katelyn plays piccolo
See WEDDING, A2
Connie Brothers and
her mother Vanora saw the
idea of an appreciation day
a few years back.
“I’ve never heard of any
thing being done in this
area, and as someone who
has had to frequently use
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Katelyn Lesko (left) and Evan Copeland were
married on Saturday. Katelyn is the band director at
Perquimans County Middle School and Copeland is
the newly named band director at the high school.
ambulances because of my
asthma, we decided to do
it,” Connie Brothers said.
“We all use their services
one way or another.”
The Perquimans County
NAACP sponsored the first
one and Lend A Hand Min
istry, the second year. The
Town of Hertford has ear
marked $500 for the event
this year and proclaimed
the date “First Responders
Day.”
Both of the first were
held at the Perquimans
County
hires fire
marshal
BY PETER WILLIAMS
News Editor
Perquimans County now
has a new,
marshal.
OVERMAN
part-time fire
The po
sition was
eliminated a
decade ago
after the last
mqjor reces
sion, but is
funded in the
budget this
year.
Barry Overman said he
would start reaching out to
local businesses to sched
ule appointments to stop
by. State law requires the
certain establishments get
a fire inspection. For some,
like schools and nursing
homes, it is at least once a
year or even twice a year.
Others, like insurance of
fices and others, need to be
inspected once every three
years. It’s that final category
that hasn’t been inspected
as it should have been that
Overman will also address
in his new role.
Overman is not an unfa
miliar face for many. He just
retired after a 30-year career
with the Elizabeth City Fire
Department. Even when
Perquimans was without a
fire marshal on staff, Over
man was called in to inspect
the highest priority places,
like schools, and investigate
suspicious fires as a con
tractor.
Now Overman is on the
county’s staff as a 20-hour
employee.
Perquimans County Man
ager Frank Heath said Over
man will provide help with
the ultimate goal - keeping
residents safe. Perquimans
has seven volunteer depart
ments and Overman will be
there to help.
“He’ll be available as
sist these departments. He
See MARSHAL, A2
Comity Recreation Cen
ter. This year, the center
is booked for that date,
so Crawfish Shack was
picked. “We think it will
be great,” Brothers said.
See RESPONDERS, A2
Meeting planned to discuss algal blooms
Rock Autism
The Chowan Herald
Scientists and community
leaders will come together
on Aug. 24 to discuss harm
ful algal blooms in north-
eastern North Carolina.
This summer, state officials
issued multiple warnings
for residents and visitors to
avoid contact with algae on
the region’s waters.
The meeting will be held
at the College of the Albe
marle’s Edenton campus, in
the Culinary Arts Building,
118 Blades St. It will begin
at 8:30 a.m. with public pre
sentations. At 11:15a.m.,
partners from universities;
federal, state and local
agencies; and community
organizations, will hold a
work session aimed at im
proving communications
among organizations and
for the public.
“The presentations will
highlight what we know
and are learning about al
gal blooms in the region,
See ALGAE, A2
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Crowds gather
for the third
annual Rock
Autism Music
Festival last
weekend at
The Crawfish
Shack.