"News from Next Door"
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2,2023
$1.50
©SCAN ME
PAGE 2
Artist, PAL
benefactor Pardue
dead at 79
PAGE 3
Water Turtles
swim program
again gets
funding boost
PAGE 7
Lady Pirates
sweep Knights
in volleyball
on the road
HERTFORD NC 27944-1225
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3
Google to buy 100% of power from Timbermill project
Apex plans to invest
$350M in local economy
VERNON FUESTON
Chowan Herald
EDENTON — Google, the
multinational tech giant, will pur
chase 100% of the power gener
ated by the Timbermill Wind-
farm in Chowan County once the
project becomes operational, Apex
Clean Energy announced Tuesday.
The Timbermill project will
consist of 45 wind turbines on
10,000 acres, Apex said. Construc
tion has already begun on the facil
ity, which is expected to go online
in late 2024. Once the project is
operational, Apex will become
Chowan County’s largest taxpayer.
The announcement came at
a breakfast meeting Apex spon
sored for local civic leaders,
businesses, and potential contrac
tors at Edenton United Method
ist Church on Tuesday.The 345-
foot turbines will generate 189
megawatts of electricity, with each
wind turbine producing useable
electricity 90 percent of the time.
That amount of power is com
parable to what is used by 47,000
homes each year.
More PROJECT | A6
VERNON FUESTON/C
HOWAN HERALD
Jimmy Merrick of Apex
Clean Energy presents
a PowerPoint program,
on the company's pro
posed 45-turbine wind
facility during a break-
fast meeting to explain
the projectto local busi
ness and civic leaders at
Edenton United Meth
odist Church, Tuesday.
'Great first day of school"
Nearly
1,700
back in
school
Facilities upgrades
eyed as students
return to classes
REGGIE PONDER
Staff Writer
Perquimans County
Schools went back to class
Monday with a number of
facility improvements on the
horizon.
“We had a great first day
of school across our district
yesterday,” Superintendent
Tanya Turner said Tuesday.
The stage is set for a good
year, according to Turner.
“We are fully staffed
preK-8 and our few vacan
cies at the high school are
all covered by our teach
ers teaching through their
planning periods or highly
qualified retired teachers
filling those areas which
is so exciting for our stu
dents,"Turner said.“All
of our students are receiv
ing free breakfast and lunch
this year. Our middle school
now has art which is an
exciting addition to our cur
riculum and will help our
Hertford hopefuls address flooding needs
REGGIE PONDER
Staffwriter
Candidates for mayor
and town council in Hert
ford believe the town is
moving in the right direc
tion to mitigate flooding
concerns, but also acknowl
edge that much more needs
to be done.
Both mayoral candidates
and the four town council
hopefuls in the town’s Nov. 7
election were recently asked
a question about the town’s
stormwater infrastructure
needs and the town should
pay for them.
6 " 89076 47144
Vol. 88, No. 35
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@2021 Perquimans Weekly
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PERQUIMANS COUNTY SCHOOLS PHOTO
Students arrive by school bus on the first day of classes at Perquimans Middle School, Mon
day. Nearly 1,700 students are enrolled in the Perquimans County Schools for the new year.
students meet the gradua
tion requirements.”
Turner said last week that
Perquimans County Schools
was expecting about 1,693
students, which is 40 more
students than last year’s
enrollment of 1,653.
Turner also said bus trans
portation went well for a
first day of school.
Hodges Rouse
Only Town Councilor
Ashley Hodges, who is
running for mayor, and
first-time town council
candidates Keith Rouse
and Rhonda Waters
responded.The newspa
per did not receive answers
from mayoral candidate
Reginald White or town
council candidates
Gracie Felton and
Virginia Harvey
2 Powell.
Both Hodges and
Waters cited the
importance ofinfra-
structure maintenance
“Our transportation
department did a great job
preparing for the first day,”
Turner said. “All in all, trans
portation ran smoothly for a
first day of school with only
typical problems that will
easily get worked out.”
School officials said last
week that students and
school officials are excited
and repair
in their
answers.
Rouse
said he did
not know
enough
about the
issue to
offer specific ideas right
now, but indicated confi
dence in the overall direc
tion of town management.
PW: What else needs to
be done to improve storm
water drainage and flood
resilience in Hertford?
How should the town pay
for it?
Mayoral candidates
Hodges: “At a mini
mum we need to replace or
repair most of our waste-
water and stormwater col
lection piping, relocate crit
ical infrastructure out of
the flood plain, and build
about the district’s new track
and soccer field at the Nixon
Athletic Complex, the com
pleted renovations to the
softball field and plans for
the district’s new intermedi
ate school.The school is in
the design process and will
serve grades 3-8.
More SCHOOL | Afi
and maintain flood mitiga
tions like retaining walls, liv
ing shorelines, and drainage
ditches.
“These items range from
modestly pricey to enor
mously expensive, so we must
be strategic in how we fund
them. Manager Cole and her
staff are developing a com
prehensive Capital Improve
ment Plan to map out future
investments and ensure util
ity rates adequately cover
expenses, which is a mini
mum requirement to con
tinue seeking millions in fed
eral and state infrastructure
funding.
“It’s also crucial to avoid
taking out additional debt in
whatever we do, as our cur
rent debt load is the major
reason for the high utility
rates we pay today.
More ELECTION | A6
School board omits
specific targets in
minority biz policy
White: Policy
should include
hiring targets
REGGIE PONDER
Staff Writer
Perquimans County
Schools officials have
opted for a policy that
encourages opportunities
for minority-owned and
female-owned businesses
but does not set a specific
target for doing business
with those firms.
The school board voted
at its Aug. 22 meeting to
adopt a policy that calls
for making a good faith
effort to provide oppor
tunities for “historically
underutilized businesses”
to do business with the
school district. But the pol
icy stops short of estab
lishing any kind of target
PHOTO COURTESY PAM HADDEN
Hertford's Indian Summer Festival will be held in down-
town Hertford Friday and Saturday, Sept. 8-9.
103 vendors sign
up for Indian
Summer Festival
Two-day Hertford
fest is Sept. 8-9
REGGIE PONDER
Staff Writer
HERTFORD —The
Indian Summer Fes
tival has grown to the
point where more streets
will need to be closed to
accommodate the activi
ties.
“The Indian Summer
Festival looks like it will
be a huge, huge success,”
Town ManagerJanice Cole
said at the Town Council
work session Monday eve
ning. “We have a lot ofven
dors.”
The event this year is set
for Sept. 8-9.
■ percentage
that the
district
would
attempt to
achieve.
A'
White
motion
by board member Anne
White to add a goal to the
policy failed to get a sec
ond.
White said she likes the
language of“aspire to.”She
said setting a goal does
not require anything to
be done, but provides the
school district something it
can aspire to.
She said she believes it
is important for the school
district to be clear about
its commitment to inclu
sivity in all areas, including
opportunities to do busi
ness with the schools.
More BOARD | Afi
Town Council voted
at the work session to
close not only a section
ofChurch Street Street
downtown, but also Mar
ket Street between Church
Street and Covent Garden.
Town officials said
Monday that there were
103 vendors for the festival,
up from about 80 last year.
And Councilman Jerry
Mimlitsch said that there
could have been as many as
30 more vendors had there
not had to be a cutoff for
logistical purposes.
“Wow!’’Mayor pro tern
Ashley Hodges responded.
“One hundred vendors
from where we started is
just unbelievable.”
More FESTIVAL | Afi