QUIMANS
EEKLY
“News from Next Door"
THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2022 $1.50
@ SCAN ME
PAGE 5
God's
righteousness
provides perpetual
peace, safe shelter
PAGE 6
Tower warned
boaters of
adverse weather
for 80 years
PAGE 7
Pirates use
strong 4th to
beat Falcons at
home
Hertford begins close look at flooding concerns
Housing Authority director
recalls flooding from Isabel
BY REGGIE PONDER
Staff Writer
Hurricane Isabel happened
nearly two decades ago but
Rhonda Waters remembers it
like it was a week ago.
Waters, who retired as di
rector of the Hertford Housing
Authority, recalled last week
that eight Housing Authority
units on Stokes Drive were
flooded with four feet of wa
ter from the Perquimans River
during the 2003 hurricane.
Waters was among the
first people who showed up
Jan. 18 for an open house on
flooding conducted in Hert
ford by SWCA Environmental
Consultants as part of the N.C.
Division of Coastal Manage
ment’s Resilient Coastal Com
munities Program.
The town of Hertford, one
of 26 communities in the
state’s 20 coastal counties par
ticipating in the project during
its first year, has its eye on
fixing flooding woes as a com
ponent of its Riverfront and
Community Development
Plan.
Other nearby communi
ties that are participating in
the project’s inaugural year
include Currituck County,
Bertie County, the town of
Windsor, Hertford County,
and Dare County.
SWCA staff at the Hertford
open house explained that
their first step was to learn
about flooding concerns in
the town and listen to resi
dents’ stories about flooding.
A second session will focus
on proposed projects to ad
dress flooding.
Waters said eight house
holds on the first floor of the
Stokes Drive building were
displaced by flooding from
Isabel.
“They were never able to
come back in those units,” she
said.
The first floor units were
condemned for four years.
About two years after the
storm, U.S. Sen. Richard Burr,
R-N.C., visited Hertford and
learned about the damage. He
helped secure federal funding
to rebuild the units, Waters
said.
Waters said she hail been to
Washington, D.C., numerous
times before that to try to get
funds to rebuild the units on
higher ground. She said she
was glad to get money to re
build but had hoped for a new
location that does not flood.
Prior to Isabel the site was
not considered part of the
flood plain, she said. Now it
is, and the Housing Authority
carries flood insurance for the
property.
Waters said the building
was on a four-foot foundation
so the floodwaters must have
reached eight feet in order for
people to have water four feet
high inside their home.
Waters recalled that staff
explained to residents of
those flooded units that
they needed to go to the sec
ond floor until help arrived.
As soon as Waters and
other staff members were
able to get their own vehi
cles out they went to the
site and got the families out
of the building and into tem
porary shelter.
See FLOODING, A3
REGGIE PONDER/THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY
Rhonda Waters (right), retired director of the Hertford
Housing Authority, points to a flood-prone spot on a
map as Larry Sandeen of the Hertford Community
Action Team looks on during an open house on flooding
and resiliency in Hertford on Tuesday, Jan. 17.
Snowstorm
causes
no major
incidents
Officials: Residents mostly
heeded warning to stay home
From staff reports
The winter storm that
blew through eastern and
central North Carolina
late Friday and early Sat
urday blanketed Perquim
ans County with snow but
didn’t cause any serious
incidents.
Various parts of Perqui
mans received between
3.5 inches and 7 inches of
snow. But the county es
caped serious weather-re
lated incidents, according
to county emergency offi
cials.
Jonathan Nixon, the
county’s emergency ser- incidents were reported, county emergency officials said,
vices director, credited the
public for not unnecessarily
venturing out on snow-cov
ered roads.
“Thanks to the public for
heeding the warnings and
being cautious and not trav
eling if they didn’t have to,”
Nixon said.
A blanket of white
SUBMITTED PHOTO
This reader-submitted photo of Oak Grove United Methodist Church on Chapanoke Road shows the church
blanketed with snow Saturday following a snowstorm overnight Friday and early Saturday morning. Areas of
Perquimans received between 3.5 inches and 7 inches of snow during the storm but no serious weather-related
The Perquimans Sher
iff’s Office assisted a few
disabled motorists but no
major accidents were re
ported.
Emergency vehicles
were able to traverse roads
safely as needed.
No power outages were
reported in connection
with the snowstorm.
The Perquimans County
Schools were closed Friday
and because of the threat
of icy roads offered remote
learning to students on
Monday.
Citing the possibility
of roads refreezing Sun
day night, Perquimans
officials also elected to
open county offices on a
three-hour delay Monday.
The town of Winfall also
opened on a three-hour
delay Monday. The town
of Hertford, however,
opened at 8 a.m.
The county’s landfill and
solid waste convenience
sites opened after a two-
hour delay on Monday.
Hertford
renames
BLM Ave.
Hyde Park
Name switched back after
residents opposed change
BY REGGIE PONDER
Staff Writer
Hyde Park is again Hyde
Park.
Hertford Town Council
changed the name of Black
Lives Matter Avenue back to
Hyde Park riming its meet-
ingJan. 10.
Councilwoman Connie
Brothers said she had spo
ken with members of First
Missionary Baptist Church,
which is located on the
street, and many of them
expressed concern about
the name change by the pre
vious council to Black Lives
Matter Avenue.
Brothers said church
members were adamant
in their belief that “all lives
matter.”
“They would like it
changed back to Hyde
Park,” she said.
During the public com
ment period at the council
SeePARK,A3
Active shooter drill
set for courthouse
Council ramps up communication efforts
Feb. 4 drill to generate real
response to simulated event
BY REGGIE PONDER
Staff Writer
The Perquimans County
Courthouse will be the site
of an “active shooter” drill
on the afternoon of Feb. 4.
Participants will meet at
the Hertford Fire Depart-
6 ■ 89076 47144
Vol. 87, No. 4
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@2021 Perquimans Weekly
All Rights Reserved
ment at noon for a pre-drill
briefing and then around
1p.m. travel to the court-
house for the drill.
Jonathan Nixon, emer
gency services director for
Perquimans, said county
officials want the public to
know that the drill will be
taking place so they won’t
be frightened when they
hear the sounds of simulat
ed gunfire coming from the
courthouse area.
“It’s a planned
event,” Nixon said.
2 Because some of
the newest 911 emer
gency tele-commu
nicators will handle
See DRILL, A3
Manager must respond to a
citizen concern within 30 days
BY REGGIE PONDER
Staff Writer
Hertford Town Council
has adopted a policy that
requires the town manag
er to respond within 30
days to citizen concerns
expressed at public meet
ings.
The new policy was
proposed by Councilwom
an Connie Brothers at
council’s Jan. 10 meeting.
Brothers, a first-time
town councilor elected
in November’s municipal
election, raised the issue at
the council’s organizational
meeting in December.
Brothers recommend
ed at the meeting that
council adopt a policy
allowing councilors to re
spond directly to citizens
at public meetings.
Brothers said citizens
had expressed to her frus
tration at bringing con
cerns or questions to the
council during the public
comment period at coun
cil meetings, and then
never hearing anything
back in response.
However, Mayor Pro
Tern Ashley Hodges sug
gested that Brothers bring
a formal proposal for a
policy change to council
at its January meeting.
The new policy, which
was unanimously ap
proved at the Jan. 10
meeting, calls for the
town manager to respond
within 30 days to con
cerns expressed by citi
zens.
The change is part of
an overall emphasis that
Brothers has placed on
improving communica
tion between town offi
cials and residents. Im
proved communication
with residents was also
a key platform issue for
Brothers in her campaign
for council last fall.
Sandra Anderson, the
other new member of
town council elected in
November, shares Broth
ers’ concern about im
proving the town’s com
munication with citizens.
Anderson spoke at the
organizational meeting in
December about her con
cern that many residents
were not getting import
ant information from the
town. She said she want
ed the council to work
together to find improved
ways of getting informa
tion out to citizens.
Councilors also ap
proved utility bill inserts
at the Jan. 10 meeting as a
new way of communicat
ing with residents about
things that are happening
in the town. Councilman
Jerry Mimlitsch’s motion
to approve black-and-
white utility inserts was
approved unanimously.
Acting Town Manager
Janice Cole said the cost
for the inserts would be
$113.58. She said she
didn’t think that cost
would be burdensome for
the town.