THURSDAY, JUNE 10, 2021
“News from Next Door”
$1.00
@ SCAN ME
PAGE A2
Several injured in
wrecks
PAGE A3
Tri-Councy Ani
mal Shelter Pets
of the Week
PAGE B4
This week in
NC history
Town Council OKs Plans to Disband HPD
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
Hertford Town Council voted
3-2 to approve a law enforcement
services contract negotiated by
Town and County officials that
leads to dissolving the town’s po
lice department.
The basic terms were discussed
in the Tuesday meeting (June 1)
and no changes were made to
the contract during the Thursday
meeting.
Consolidation will officially
take place July 1 when Town Hall
disbands the police department.
Town Hall will pay the county
$350,000 to provide public safety
for Hertford’s 2,100 citizens.
Monday, Perquimans County
Commission signed off on the
contract with the town.
The sheriffs office proposed
budget includes two new depu
ties for county service, and with
the consolidation of the Hertford
Police Department, includes four
deputy positions, an investigator
and an administrative assistant.
Mayor Earnell Brown, Mayor
Pro Tern Hodges and Councilman
Jerry Mimlitsch voted in favor of
consolidating the police depart
ment while councilmen Frank
Norman and Quentin Jackson op
posed the measure.
As HPD’s sole remaining law
enforcement officer, council ap
pointed Officer Dean Polumbo as
interim police chief. Perquimans
deputies patrol the town when
needed under the auspices of a
long-existing mutual aid agree
ment between the town and coun
ty-
Council recently released a
study suggesting the cost of con
tracting law enforcement services
through the Perquimans County
Sheriffs Office could save the
Town hundreds of thousands of
dollars per year versus continuing
to operate a separate police de
partment.
Mayor Brown said it was a dif
ficult decision to dissolve HPD,
but consolidation would provide
equal or better law enforcement
service.
Hodges said he has the utmost
respect for law enforcement, but
the town is unable to afford the
See DISBAND, A2
County
Budget Seeks
Property Tax
Increase
Water Rates, Solid Waste Fees
Poised to Increase
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
Perquimans County Commis
sion’s proposed budget for 2021-
22 seeks to increase property
tax and water rates as well as
solid waste fees for fiscal year
2021-22.
A public hearing for comment
and to consider adoption of the
budget has been scheduled for
Monday, June 21, at 7 p.m. in the
Perquimans County Library.
Budget proposes a 2-cent
increase in property tax rates
from 59 cents to 61 centers per
$100 dollars of value - the low
est tax rate in the region.
Water rates will increase from
$15 to $17.50 (minimum bill)
and from $7 to $9 per thousand
after the first thousand gallons.
The proposed solid waste fee
for FY 21-22 is $150, a $10 in
crease from last fiscal year.
The proposed FY2021-22 bud
get contains a 4% adjustment to
the salary schedule based on in
formation from the salary study
performed by the Management
and Personnel Services (MAPS)
group last year.
The sheriffs office budget
includes two new deputies for
County service, and with the
anticipated consolidation of the
Hertford Police Department, in
cludes four deputy positions, an
investigator and an administra
tive assistant.
Proposed Tax Rate
County department heads
and other agencies submitted
around $22.8 million budget
requests to County Manager
Frank Heath. That’s over $6 mil
lion dollars more than anticipat
ed revenues for the upcoming
fiscal year, Heath wrote in his
budget that was presented Mon
day to the county commission.
The tax rate would have to be
45 cents higher to fully fund all
requests of Perquimans County
for the next year, he said.
In FY 20/21, Perquimans
County implemented austeri
ty measures that ensured the
fiscal health of the County due
to COVID-19. These measures
included a freeze on all mqjor
capital purchases (capped at
$10,000 total per department),
no initial salary adjustments
See BUDGET, A2
89076 47144 2
Vol. 87, No. 24
www.PerquimansWeekly.com
@2021 Perquimans Weekly
All Rights Reserved
PHOTOS BY MILES LAYTON
Greyson Pierce (left), valadictorian, leads the Perquimans High School Class of 2021 to their seats
during commencement Saturday, June 5,2021.
‘Don’t lose that spark’
88 Pirates Earn Diplomas
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
All hail the Perquimans High
School Class of 2021!
Eighty-eight seniors were
awarded their diplomas during
Perquimans High School’s 96th
commencement ceremony on Sat
urday at the athletic field.
Valedictorian is Greyson Pierce
and the salutatorian is Maci Den
son.
Their speeches are published
on page Bl along with many pho
tos from the commencement cer
emony.
Selected by the senior class, the
See DIPLOMAS, A3
PAGE B1-2
More graduation coverage can be
found insie.
‘Love Letters’ to Open at Carolina Theater June 12-13
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Carolina Moon Theater is
pleased to present “Love Letter’s”
by A. R. Gurney as its first play in
the new theater.
“Love Letters” is the story of a
50-year correspondence between
Melissa Gardner and her child
hood-friend-love-interest, Andrew
Makepeace Ladd III.
Carolina Moon Theater pres
ents “Love Letters” by A.R. Gur
ney at 7p.m. on June 12 and
4 p.m. June 13.
Tickets can be purchased on-
line at carolinamoontheater.org
or at Carolina Trophy at 109 N.
Church Street, Hertford Tues
day-Thursday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
This play, a Pulitzer Prize final
ist, has been performed all over
the world. It was first performed
in the late ‘80s. Initially intended
to be a book, it was sent to the
New Yorker magazine that sent it
A group of seniors heads to the stage to collect their diplomas.
right back and said “We don’t pub
lish plays.”
So Gurney decided to rewrite
it as a two-person play with two
actors reading letters back and
forth to one another. It opened in
New Haven’s Long Wharf Theatre
and then went on to be performed
off-Broadway. It ultimately be
came a hit on Broadway at the
Edison Theatre in 1989.
Have ever known someone
who touched every part of your
life? Have you loved someone
across time and circumstance?
Share in the stoiy of Melissa and
Andy as they progress together
through the power of the pen.
Worth noting - theater is cele
brating 10 years of entertaining
people. Perquimans County’s
master thespian Dave Goss, who
will be performing in the play,
praised the theater’s longevity and
See CAROLINA, A2
Round-up
Charter
School and
Turtles
BY MILES LAYTON
Editor
A round-up of all things
Perquimans County...
Charter School Exec
utive Director Don McQueen
said pending the approval of
building permits for renovations
needed to open the Elaine
Riddick Charter School in a
22,500-square-foot facility at 1054
Harvey Point Road, the school
will start classes Aug. 23. He said
150 students have registered to
attend the tuition-free K-3 charter
school this fall.
Though the charter school has
already been approved by the
N.C. Board of Education, in Au
gust of 2020 the board approved
a one-year delay in opening the
school. McQueen said because
of complications arising from the
COVID-19 pandemic, the school
did not meet the metrics it need
ed to open.
The school will be managed
by Torchlight Academy, a Ra
leigh-based charter school where
McQueen works.
McQueen said longtime edu
cator Dr. Derrick Allen will serve
as the charter school’s principal.
When McQueen was asked what
had happened to Mary Felton,
who was principal and chairper
son of the school’s board of direc
tors during the charter school’s
early days, he praised her work
on behalf of the school. School’s
website lists as chairperson for
See ROUND-UP, A3
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Dave Goss will be performing in “Love Letters” when it opens
Saturday and Sunday at Carolina Moon Theater. Tickets can be
purchased online at carolinamoontheater.org or at Carolina Trophy
at 109 N. Church Street, Hertford Tues-Thurs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.