Newspapers / The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, … / Oct. 28, 2023, 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
"News from Next Door" SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28,2023 $1.50 @SCAN ME Page 2 Lady Pirates beat North Duplin in playoffs opener Page 3 Gateway to help: Clothes Closet not just apparel store Page 4 Tobias: On eve of invasion, 'Won derful World' harder to see HISTORIC GHOST WALK Edison Ward portrays the"ghost"ofThomas Nixon, a farmer and builder of Elmwood Plantation, at Holy Trinity Episco pal Church, Saturday, Oct. 21, during the second night of this year's Hertford Historic Ghost Walk. PHOTOS BY REGGIE PONDER/THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY/ David Smith portrays the "ghost" of Capt. Benjamin S. Skinner in the sanctuary at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church during the Hertford Historic Ghost Walk Saturday, Oct. 21, in Hertford. About 160 people attended the event over two nights, more than twice the turnout for last year's inaugural event. More than 160 attend 2nd annual event Early voting continues for town elections Hertford, county to receive $6.3M in state budget REGGIE PONDER Staff Writer Turnout on the first day of early voting for the Nov. 7 elections in both Hertford and Winfall was down from two years ago when the towns last held contested elections. A total of 30 voters cast ballots Thursday, Oct. 19; on the first day of early vot ing in the two towns’elec tions. In 2021,44 voters cast ballots on the first day of early voting, according to county Elections Director Jackie Greene. In 2019, the total of first-day early bal lots was 69, Greene said. As of 10 a.m.Tuesday, the deadline for this story, 58 combined one-stop ballots had been cast in the elec tions. REGGIE PONDER Staff Writer HERTFORD—The 2nd Annual Hertford His toric Ghost Walk drew more than twice as many people as last year’s inaugu ral event. Although a final count was not yet available earlier this week, organizers said Sunday that between Friday and Saturday, Oct. 20-21, more than 160 came out for the event, compared with 80 last year. “I have heard a lot of feedback and everybody said they had a won derful time,” said John Long, one of the event REGGIE PONDER/THE PERQUIMANS WEEKLY Gene Boyce waits in the curbside voting space at the Per quimans County Board of Elections Office Thursday, Oct. 19, to cast a ballot in the Nov. 7 Hertford town election. Early voting continues for the town elections in Hertford and Winfall Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and again on Saturday, Nov. 4, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. One-stop voting in the Hertford and Winfall municipal elections is tak ing place at the Perquimans County Board of Elections at 601 South Edenton Road Street. Voting at precinct locations will take place on organizers. The Hertford Historic Ghost Walk is put on by Perquiman Lodge 106 AF&AM,and this year was co-spon sored by Holy Trinity Episcopal Church. Proceeds from this year’s walk will go to the Benja min House in Elizabeth City. Long noted that Ghost Walk attendees were from Perquimans and neighbor ing counties. Guided tours were conducted for groups of about 12, and the tours moved smoothly with no long waits at the various sites. More GHOST WALK | A7 Election Day, Nov. 7, but not during the early voting period. Early voting for both town elections continues weekdays at the board of elections office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Friday. Early voting will also be held at the election office on Saturday, Nov. 4, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. In Hertford, two candi dates are vying for mayor: Ashley Hodges, an incum bent town councilor, and first-time candidate Regi nald White. Gracie Felton, Vir ginia Powell Harvey, Keith Rouse and Rhonda Waters are running for two seats on the Hertford Town Coun cil. More VOTING | A7 Barrow's Alley water project, marine park both to get funding REGGIE PONDER Staff Writer Perquimans County and the town of Hertford received a combined $6.3 million for industrial and economic development efforts in the newly passed $30 billion state budget. Through the efforts of state Rep. Ed Goodwin, R-Chowan, and Sen. Nor man Sanderson, R-Pamlico, the budget includes $1.3 million for increasing water capacity in Barrow’s Alley in downtown Hertford and $3 million for the Perquimans Marine Industrial Park. In addition, there is $2 million for the town of Hert ford as a share of $10 mil lion for the five towns that are part of the Harbor Towns Inc. fast ferry and dinner boat project. Other towns in that group are Edenton, Eliza beth City, Plymouth, Man teo and Columbia. The Barrow’s Alley effort is part of a strategy for growing Brown endorses Hodges for mayor REGGIE PONDER Staff Writer Mayor Earnell Brown has endorsed Councilor Ashley Hodges, the council’s mayor pro tern, to succeed her as the town’s top elected official. She also has endorsed two candidates seeking election to Hertford Town Council in the Nov. 7 election. Brown did not seek reelection as mayor after serving one term in the post. Citing the importance of unity, Brown endorsed Hodges for mayor and backed Rhonda Waters and Keith Rouse for town coun cil. “There is still much to do to grow Hertford to its full est potential,’’Brown said in making the endorsement. “What is required to con tinue this growth are indi viduals who understand the needs of Hertford, support unity in the Hertford com munity and are willing to do what is best for all Hertford downtown Hertford. Apart ments are being planned in the area, and additional water capacity is needed to accom modate the growth. The Perquimans Marine Industrial Park is the coun ty’s primary effort in the field of economic development. Construction of a deep water basin at the site is underway. East Coast Steel Fabrica tors already has a significant footprint at the park, and the company and county have recently reached an agree ment for the firm to pur- * chase four additional acres at the site. A public hearing on that sale is scheduled for next month. Perquimans County has received a total of more than $10 million in state grants, state budget appropriations and Golden LEAF Funding for the park. The county earlier this year sold a five-acre tract to Story’s Seafood for a new waterfront restaurant in the Marine Park. The county has expressed hopes that eventually the park could host businesses employing as many as 400 workers. residents. Therefore, I endorse Ashley Hodges as Mayor, Keith Rouse, and Rhonda Waters as council members.” Brown said Hertford needs a “knowledgeable cohesive team” to complete what the current council has started. She said that is “a place our children want to return to and raise their families, where mature folks want to live, where there are available homes, employ ment, social activities, and a clean and thriving environ ment.” There are two seats on the ballot for town council in the town’s Nov. 7 election. Waters, Rouse, Virginia Powell Harvey and Gracie Felton are running for those seats. More MAYOR | A2 Hertford to buy fire truck without borrowing money REGGIE PONDER Staff Writer Hertford Town Council is 6 “ 89076 47144 11 2 Vol. 88, No. 43 WWW.PerquimansWeekly.com @2021 Perquimans Weekly All Rights Reserved moving forward with plans to buy a new fire truck without having to borrow any funds for the purchase. Council took a series of actions at its meeting Monday to autho rize the purchase of the truck using $659,594 from the town’s allocation of federal American Rescue Plan funds and $50,000 in funding provided by the Hert ford Fire Department to cover the truck’s $709,594 cost. The town’s total American Rescue Plan Act allocation is $673,407.70. Last month the council approved a preliminary resolution for financing the purchase of a new fire truck.The N.C. Local Gov ernment Commission requires the preliminary resolution as a first step toward approving the town’s borrowing of the funds. But town officials decided not to borrow funds for the truck, so town council voted Monday night to rescind the resolution that had indicated an intent to borrow for the project. The previous plan called for tak ing half the cost of the truck from fund balance and seeking a loan for the remainder. Fund balance is the town’s reserve that is set aside for items such as emergencies and special capital projects. Councilor Ashley Hodges said Monday that he is glad the town is not going into debt for the purchase. “It has been a long journey to buy the fire truck,” Hodges said. “I know the fire department is going to be super excited to get their fire truck.” The actions taken Monday included rescinding the previous resolution for borrowing funds and adopting a new resolution ensur ing the ARPA funds will be used in accordance with the federal reg ulations for how they can be used.
The Perquimans Weekly (Hertford, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 28, 2023, edition 1
1
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75