QUIMANS
EEKLY
“News from Next Door”
SATURDAY, JUNE 3, 2023
$1.50
(■) SCAN ME
PAGE 2
Getting ready:
Perquimans preps
for storm response
PAGE 3
Huntzinger
wins GProTour
tourney at
Sound Golf Links
PAGE 4
Berry: Hert
ford produced
D-Day’s young
est US combat
ant
First fast-speed ferry set to arrive in Edenton
Penelope will begin service
in mid-June after testing
BY PAUL NIELSEN
The Daily Advance
The Penelope, the first
of two fast-speed ferries
that are part of the Harbor
Towns ferry system, was ex
pected to arrive in Edenton
this week. However, it will
still be several weeks be ¬
fore the boat officially starts
carrying passengers to six
harbor communities around
the Albemarle.
Harbor Towns is a region
al private nonprofit that will
own and manage the ferry
system that features the two
smaller fast-speed ferries,
which are nearing the end
of construction in Bryson
City, and the Eagle I dinner
boat. All three vessels will
be based in Edenton.
When first announced,
the fast-speed ferries were
slated to provide scheduled
service between Elizabeth
City, Hertford, Edenton,
Plymouth and Columbia.
But Manteo on Roanoke
Island in Dare County was
added to the system in Feb
ruary.
Peter Thomson of Harbor
Towns said the second ferry,
PHOTO COURTESY SMOKY
MOUNTAIN JET BOATS
The Penelope, one of
the two fast-ferry vessels
Harbor Towns plans
to use transporting
passengers between
six Albemarle Sound
communities, including
Hertford, is shown under
construction at Smoky
Mountain Jet Boats in
Bryson City. The Penelope
was scheduled to arrive in
Edenton this week.
See FERRY, A6
The American Legion Post 126 Honor Guard presents the colors Monday at the Memorial Day observance in
Hertford. Roughly 100 people attended the ceremony on the lawn of the Perquimans County Courthouse.
Perquimans eyes
3-cent increase in
county tax rate
Proposal includes 5% COLA
for workers, school increase
BY REGGIE PONDER
Staff Writer
HERTFORD — Perqui
mans County officials are
eyeing a 3-cent increase in
the county’s property tax
rate.
If adopted as part of the
2023-24 Perquimans Coun
ty budget, the increase
would raise the county’s
property tax rate to 64
cents per $100 of assessed
property value from the
current rate of 61 cents.
County Manager Frank
Heath is slated to present
the budget proposal to the
Perquimans County Board
of Commissioners at a
meeting on June 6. The
public hearing on the bud
get will be June 19.
HEATH
Under
state law
the coun
ty is re
quired to
adopt a
balanced
budget
by June
30 for the
fiscal year
that begins July 1.
The proposal to in
crease the next fiscal
year’s property tax rate
by 3 cents was part of pre
sentation Heath made to
county commissioners at
a budget work session last
week.
Heath told commission
ers that he’ll recommend
that the county’s solid
waste fee remain at $160
a year for each household
and business. The county’s
See PERQUIMANS, A6
Hundreds attend Memorial Day observances
BY REGGIE PONDER AND
VERNON FUESTON
Staff Writers
Hundreds of residents in
Perquimans and Chowan
counties remembered those
who made the ultimate sac
rifice for their country at
Memorial Day observances
Monday in both Hertford
and Edenton.
In Hertford, Marine Corps
veteran John Benton remind ¬
ed an audience of roughly a
hundred on the Perquimans
County Courthouse lawn
that they were there “to re
member those who served
and didn’t come home.”
“For some of us it is
something we feel that we
must do to honor those who
have made the ultimate sac
rifice,” Benton said.
For some the remembrance
See MEMORIAL, A6
No tax increase in
Chowan’s $19.4M
proposed budget
Evans retiring from E-Chowan after 35 years
Evans led all 4 of district’s
schools during long career
BY TYLER NEWMAN
Correspondent
EDENTON — Thirty-five
years and four schools later,
6 " 89076 47144
Sheila Evans decided that it
was finally time to retire.
Evans, who had served
as an educator in Chow
an County since February
1988, ended her prolific
career in the community’s
public schools in March.
“A lot of people have
asked me why,” she
said in an interview
several months ago.
2 “I didn’t retire at 30
years because I wasn’t
ready. So then I asked
myself: ‘when do you
See EVANS, A6
KIM ULLOM PHOTO
Sheila Evans retired in March from the Edenton-Chowan
Schools after a 35-year career that included stints as
either assistant principal or principal at all four district
schools.
Budget includes 3% COLA for
workers, adds 2 DSS staffers
BY VERNON FUESTON
Staff Writer
EDENTON — Chow
an County’s proposed
budget for 2023-24 is
more than $950,000
larger than the cur
rent year’s budget but
doesn’t include any tax
or fee increases.
County Manager Kevin
Howard said the county’s
proposed $19.4 million
budget doesn’t include
a tax increase because
county officials were
able to offset the pro
posed budget’s additional
spending through more
revenue from interest
income and increases in
sales tax revenue. The
current year’s budget was
$18.5 million.
Howard said there
will not be any big
changes for any depart
ments or programs in
the budget other than
adding a few positions
in some key depart
ments.
He said the Chowan
Department of Social
Services will add two
employees to cover ex
pansion of the Medicare
program. Gov. Roy Coo
per signed a bill in April
expanding Medicaid in
the state. The measure is
expected to increase the
number of North Carolin
ians eligible for Medicaid
insurance coverage by
600,000.
Howard said the budget
See CHOWAN, A6
Vol. 88, No. 22
WWW.PerquimansWeekly.com
@2021 Perquimans Weekly
All Rights Reserved
Every day is Saturday...
at PerquimansWeekly.com
News updates, events, scores, all updated during the week.
Stop by perquimansweekly.com for the latest on your local community.
01$
fU^WM* wW' CAMM***
More about your community every day at Perquimansweekly.com