Town Requests $427,000 for South Port Yacht Center
Letter from South Port Investors Chief Financial Officer Dan Brown states that Northampton County decided to “abort” its sponsorship of a grant application. Based on this letter, the Wave reported that the County “would not sponsor” South Port’s application. County Board of Supervisors Chairman Larry LeMond and South Port partner Eyre Baldwin both publicly criticized the Wave for its report.
By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
March 3, 2014
Cape Charles Town Council voted unanimously February 28 to oversee the spending of $427,000 on harbor improvements for South Port Investors’ Cape Charles Yacht Center. South Port has agreed to pay 25 percent of the cost if the Virginia Port Authority will fund the remainder. No local tax money would be used. [Read more…]
Katie Wendell Selected to All-Metro Basketball Team
Cape Charles resident Katie Wendell led Broadwater Academy’s Lady Vikings in scoring this season.
CAPE CHARLES WAVE
March 3, 2014
Cape Charles resident and Broadwater Academy senior Katie Wendell has been selected to the 2014 All-Metro Conference Girls Basketball Team.
Consisting of nine high schools in the Tidewater area, the Metro Conference selects a 12-member all-star team at the end of each season.
Katie was co-captain of her team and played the point guard position. She led the Lady Vikings in scoring, averaging 18.7 points per game. She also was the Metro Conference’s second-leading scorer this season.
Two of Katie’s season highlights were a 32-point performance against Stonebridge Academy, and scoring 8 points in the fourth quarter in a come-from-behind victory over Northampton High School. The Lady Vikings finished the season with an 11-9 record.
On defense, Katie finished fourth in the Metro Conference with 3.5 steals per game. [Read more…]
Mystery PSA Meeting CANCELED with County Supervisors
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This meeting was canceled due to weather and has not been rescheduled.)
CAPE CHARLES WAVE
March 3, 2014
When Northampton’s Public Service Authority meets today (Monday) at 7 p.m., the entire County Board of Supervisors will be in attendance. But what they intend to talk about is unknown: the sole agenda item is “Conduct joint meeting with the Northampton County Board of Supervisors.”
The joint meeting had been scheduled for February 18, only three weeks after County Supervisors voted unanimously to stop PSA funding so long as Bob Panek served as PSA chairman. Panek resigned his chairmanship the next day, announcing at the same time that he would not be able to attend the next two meetings. The February 18 meeting subsequently was canceled at short notice. Panek is expected to attend tonight’s meeting, which is in the Board Chambers on Courthouse Road in Eastville.
The meeting is open to the public, who may address the members. [Read more…]
COMMENTARY:
Zoning Proposals Conflict with Comprehensive Plan
By JAY FORD
Executive Director
Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper
March 3, 2014
The Virginia Eastern Shorekeeper organization has expressed its concern to Northampton County officials over plans to overhaul the County zoning code. The County recently issued a statement by Economic Director Charles McSwain stating that “The proposed zoning code is consistent with the County’s adopted Comprehensive Plan.”
In fact, there are numerous conflicts with the Comprehensive Plan that would make this statement untrue. Furthermore, the County’s Planning Commission has not yet completed the five-year review of the Comprehensive Plan — nor have they held any hearings to present to the public any proposed changes to the existing Comprehensive Plan. [Read more…]
Opponents Campaign Against County Zoning Proposals
CAPE CHARLES WAVE
March 3, 2014
EDITOR’S NOTE: Northampton County is proposing a new Zoning Code. The 125 page document, plus maps, contains changes in land use and development, increased residential densities and decreased setbacks, and adds commercial and other uses in residential neighborhoods with no notice or Public Hearing. Opponents to the changes have developed the following paper:
1—If you live in a Town you may never have received a notice of these changes:
- Town-edge Districts eliminated (removed)
- Agricultural Districts (adjacent)- reduced setbacks for poultry houses-manure storage, industrial uses— rezoning permitted to commercial and multi-family units (p. 10, 11,38) [Read more…]
ORAL HISTORY: Sinking Ships, Ice Breakers
Pocahontas ferryboat steamed between Cape Charles and Norfolk, captained by Bill Evans.
March 3, 2014
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Cape Charles Historical Society has for more than a decade been recording oral histories of the area’s earlier days. In 2006, Bill and Jan Neville interviewed the late Capt. Bill Evans. A grant from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities enabled 15 interviews to be transcribed, and the Historical Society has made this one available for readers of the Wave. All the transcriptions may be read at the Cape Charles Museum.)
Excerpts from a March 31, 2006, interview by Bill and Jan Neville of Ferryboat Capt. Bill Evans and his wife, Grace.
PART 4
CONCRETE SHIPS CONTINUED, BREAKING CHESAPEAKE ICE
You mentioned Les Morgan. What were some of the other captains?
Captain Morgan. Captain Stone, he was a head captain, Captain Justin Stone. There was a Captain Daniels, too, George Daniels. He was from the Norfolk side. They eventually took him off the boat and put him port captain. And then there was Frank — they took him off the boat and made him port engineer. And there was a Nolan Chandler, he was an engineer at one time, and they put him out there as superintendent.
Who was Stanley Lewis? Was he a captain?
Stanley Lewis? He was a captain.
Wilbur Brownley, do you know him? Ed Forrest?
I’ve heard of Brownley but don’t know him. Ed Forrest was a railroad guy. And Brownley, seems like he was railroad, too.
Those concrete ships. Were they WWI or WWII surplus? Did they have a name for them?
Oh, they’re from World War II. They carried freight. I only know them as concrete ships.
I had a friend out in the Pacific in WWII and he said when a Japanese bomb would hit one of those things the air was full of concrete chips shooting all over and the other ships would have to duck. It wasn’t shrapnel, it was concrete chunks coming at you. How did they get from Texas?
They towed them up here. They were floated.
How did you sink them?
That was easy!
Did they dynamite them?
What we did, we took them in there, put them in their place, then we pumped them full of water, each one of them, and put them on the bottom. Then we brought a dredge in and dredged all that out inside of the harbor and put all that dredging in there — in the ships. That settled the ships and that’s how they stayed there. It’s been a mystery to me, because when they first took those ships over there by law if the Virginia Ferry ever went out of business, or moved, they had to move the concrete ships. But it so happened, before the Virginia Ferry went out of business, the State took the ferries over. That’s prior to building the Bridge-Tunnel. So they got by with that one. So the concrete ships are still there. [Read more…]
