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.

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