Newspapers / The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, … / June 23, 2022, edition 1 / Page 1
Part of The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
QUIMANS EEKLY “News from Next Door” THURSDAY, JUNE 23, 2022 $1.50 * u* 04 O a:: O ©SCAN ME PAGE Bl Bridge work gives Larry's Drive-In a boost PAGE B3 Edenton DAR chapter wins award for July 4th event PAGE B4 Thach hom ers, Steamers win 3rd straight, downing Clayton PHOTOS BY REGGIE PONDER/THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY A Community Mass Choir performs at the town of Hertford’s first-ever Juneteenth Freedom Day festival Saturday. Roughly 300 people attended the event. Commissioners OK budget with $10 hike in solid waste fee Hertford holds first Juneteenth event Event began at soldiers monument, proceeded to park BY REGGIE PONDER Staff Writer The location of the June teenth festival in Hertford on Saturday was evidence that “change has come,” local his torian Keith Rouse said. Rouse said when he was growing up, he and other Black children “dared not come onto this ground.” “This ground” Rouse was talking about is the green space located behind the Horace C. Reid Jr. Commu nity Building. It recently was named “Central Park,” and Hertford officials have high hopes for the park as a site for community events in the future. Around 11 a.m. Saturday a group of 15-20 people gath ered at the Colored Union Soldiers Monument for an opening ceremony and then walked a few blocks to Cen tral Park for the rest of the Juneteenth festivities. The crowd grew exponentially as the day’s activities con tinued, eventually reaching about 200. Winfall Mayor Fred Yates was one of the speakers for a brief ceremony held at the park. See HERTFORD, A3 Participants in a Freedom Walk head from the Colored Union Soldiers Monument toward Central Park at the start of the Juneteenth Freedom Day festival in Hertford Saturday. Board also approves $6.8M contract tor marine park basin BY REGGIE PONDER Staff Writer Perquimans Coun ty commissioners have adopted a $30.1 million budget for the next fiscal year that holds the line on taxes and water rates but increases residents’ solid waste fee. The Board of Commis sioners voting unanimous ly for the spending plan Monday night that keeps the property tax rate at 61 cents per $100 valuation. The budget also maintains the water rate at $17.50 for the first 1,000 gallons of water used, plus $9 per each additional 1,000 gal lons used. The county’s annual sol id waste fee, however, will increase by $10 to $160 per household. Two people spoke during the public hearing on the budget Monday evening. Pete Per ry ex- HEATH pressed concern that inflation and the over all state of the economy could hamper county rev enues. He recommended that the board adopt a “continuing resolution” that would keep all spend ing levels the same until more is known about what county revenues will be in the fiscal year that begins July 1. Perry also questioned whether it was a good idea to fund the Perquim ans Board of Education’s request for an additional English teacher at the high school. See BUDGET, A2 REGGIE PONDER/THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY Winfall Mayor Fred Yates (center) hugs Hertford Councilwoman Connie Brothers and thanks her for her role in putting together the Juneteenth observance in Hertford, Saturday. Artists eye more Hertford mural projects LaPerrier, Robertson putting final touches on PAL mural BY JOHN FOLEY Correspondent Snug Harbor artist David LaPerrier wasn’t searching for a wall to paint a mu ral on when he happened to walk into The Hertford Bay Tap House. He was searching for Guinness on tap. LaPerrier found not only draft Guinness at Hertford Bay, he also struck up a friendship with Anna Rob ertson, a fellow artist who also works the tap house’s stick most nights. The two began to talk art, as LaPerrier had a hand — and brush — in the rejuve nation of Norfolk, Virginia’s arts district, the last port he was stationed in while in the U.S. Coast Guard. “I volunteered with the Norfolk Art, Committee to help assist with their art district,” LaPerrier recalls. “In the time I lived there I saw a big change in the Neon District. The sec tion of Granby Street and Brambleton Street were just closed shops and no traffic, per se. Once they started the rejuvenation art project you could see See MURALS, A3 JOHN FOLEY PHOTO Artists Anna Robertson (left) and David LaPerrier stand in front of the rear wall of the Perquimans Arts League building where they’re putting the finishing touches on a mural Robertson designed. The pair hope to undertake other building mural projects in Hertford’s downtown. Winfall Council seeking to limit Yates’ dual role Winfall mayor now also serves as town administrator BY REGGIE PONDER Staff Writer WINFALL — Winfall Town Council reportedly has taken steps to limit Mayor Fred Yates’ dual role as mayor and town administrator. Yates confirmed last week that members of the council seem interested in scaling back his role in the town government, includ ing removing funding for the town administrator po sition from the budget. “Based on the system (we have) I think it’s a bad idea,” Yates said. The “system” Yates re fers to is an arrangement by ordinance in Winfall that makes the mayor re sponsible for the town’s day-to-day administration. Since 1995 the mayor has had those duties in See WINFALL, A3 Sheriff starts talks with Winfall to take over policing Perquimans sheriff began policing Hertford last year BY REGGIE PONDER Staff Writer The town of Winfall could be poised to seek a policing contract with the Perquimans County Sheriff’s Office similar to one the town of Hertford 6 " 89076 47144 Vol. 87, No. 25 WWW.PerquimansWeekly.com @2021 Perquimans Weekly All Rights Reserved reached with the sheriff last year. Hertford made the change last summer, dis solving its police depart ment and signing a con tract with the Sheriffs Office to provide policing within the town’s limits. Now Winfall officials have reached out to the county sheriff’s office to start sim ilar discussions. “They have con tacted us about wanting to sit down 2 and talk,” Perquim ans County Sheriff Shelby White con firmed last week. White explained that Perquimans WHITE YATES vice entirely in Winfall. Yates said he believes members of Winfall Town Council may have approached the sheriff about taking over polic ing in the town. He re ferred questions about the future of the police department to Carol sheriff’s deputies already have extensive experience patrolling Winfall at times when the town’s officers are not on duty. Mayor Fred Yates said last week that he has spo ken to the sheriff about providing additional help in certain situations, but not about taking over the ser- Cooper, a member of council. Cooper declined to com- ment on the matter when reached — other than to encourage The Perquim ans Weekly to cover the next meeting of the Winfall Town Council. That meet- ing is scheduled for Mon day, July 11. The Perquimans Week- ly also sought a response from Winfall Mayor Pro Tern Preston White but did not hear back from him by the deadline for this story. Last year the town of Hertford contracted with the Sheriffs Office to take over law enforcement ser vice in the town limits for $350,000 a year. The agree ment, which led Hertford to disband its police depart- ment, took effect July 1. The sheriffs budget for 2021-22 included four dep uty positions, an investiga tor and an administrative assistant to assist with Hertford’s policing. Hertford Mayor Earnell Brown said at the time that dissolving the town’s police department was a difficult decision, but consolidat ing law enforcement ser vices would provide equal or better law enforcement protection to the town. The Perquimans Weekly reported in June 2021 that a town council study had shown the police depart ment’s “effective” budget request for the coming year exceeded $1 million, or 50% of the town’s gen eral fund revenue for the third straight year. The po lice department’s $768,000 budget for the 2020-21 fis cal year consumed nearly 39% of the town’s projected general fund revenue.
The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
June 23, 2022, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75