LETTER: Thanks for Supporting Crabby Blues Festival

May 7, 2013

DEAR EDITOR:

First of all, thanks to the over 1,000 persons who attended the Crabby Blues Festival on a sunny but blustery day at Cape Charles’ Central Park to benefit the Cape Charles Christian School.

Our school is thriving in no small part thanks to the generosity of a host of people year round and to sponsors who make fundraisers like this one possible.

Using the park is just another way the school maintains its connection to the fabric of the Town; our kids also helped move the library materials to their new location just the day before the festival.

Thanks for the draw provided by the diverse talents of John Baldwin, Johnny Mud, the Cape Charles Band, the Shy Teds, Frank Russell and The Fish Band, Scott & Melinda, and Heather and the Oyster Boys, all of whom generously donated their time, and to Heather Travis who arranged for them to do so.

Thanks to the donors of items to the silent auction and to Leslie Savage for her hard work in pulling in an excellent variety of items. [Read more...]

LETTER: Park Restroom Needs Better Design and Location

April 15, 2013

DEAR EDITOR,

I am writing to express concern regarding a proposed public restroom for Cape Charles Central Park from a risk management perspective, a functional perspective, and an aesthetic perspective.

While I do not disagree that public restroom facilities would be an enhancement to Central Park, I hope that decision-makers will select a more appropriate site and more architecturally appealing style for the project.

Aspects of concern include the following associated risks and functional challenges:

1. Flooding of facility:  A number of areas within Central Park and the surrounding streets are flood-prone due to lack of drainage. The proposed location is adjacent to one of the areas most prone to large pools of standing water, and the foundation trenches already dug are largely filled with standing water and a substantial, virtually constant, area of standing water threatens encroachment into the footprint.

Dangers associated include:

– Public health risk from unclean facilities contaminated with bacteria-laden, stagnant water;

– Public health risk arising from proximity to a breeding ground for mosquitoes;

– Danger of slips, trips, and falls from known hazards, i.e. moisture on walking surfaces and higher potential of algal growth on walking surfaces constantly exposed to standing water as well as slips on icy patches in cold weather.

2. Potential for assaults and other illegal transactions in an unattended facility;

3. Public nuisance and public health risk if facilities are not maintained on a daily basis and locked overnight. The question of adequate funding to support cleaning, maintenance, and supplies should be addressed before the construction is approved.

4. Location relative to need: As a neighbor to Central Park, I have had the opportunity to observe traffic in and around the park. It appears that the area in most need of restroom facilities on a year-round basis is the children’s play area near the old Cape Charles school building. Parents and children are frequent visitors to this area. Tennis courts are also located in this area, although tennis court usage seems much lower than the former basketball courts. As proposed, the restroom facilities would be quite a distance removed from the area of need. [Read more...]

3 Comments

LETTER: County Should Not Cut School Board Positions

March 23, 2013

DEAR EDITOR,

We would like to register our disagreement as well as displeasure concerning the consideration by the Northampton County Board of Supervisors with the elimination of the two at-large members of the school board, thereby reducing the number of members from seven to five.

Removing the two at-large positions for this first election will possibly eliminate candidates who happen to live in the same district. Currently, if as many as three citizens worthy of being elected live in the same district, they nevertheless are able to run for election (two at-large and one in the district) with the possibility of being elected.

With the elimination of the two at-large positions only one of those three candidates can be elected. The chance for diversity of all kinds so necessary in our community will be lessened. We need more voices rather than less at this very important time. [Read more...]

3 Comments

LETTER: Make Old Library Available to Community Groups

March 12, 2013

DEAR EDITOR,

Cape Charles is about to have a beautiful new library. The old library building and excess computers should be provided to organizations that are focused on community activities, both educational and recreational.

Concerned Citizens of Cape Charles, a non-profit organization, was formed by local residents in 1989. The working class community organized to be better informed, educated, and empowered to become a part of the civic decision-making process, and to accept responsibility for self improvement and in turn community improvements at a time when the Town did not have the human or financial resources to sustain itself.

The organization’s mission is to improve the lives and living conditions of the working class residents through human development and the creation and development of a sustainable community.

Concerned Citizens became the advocate and the voice for the disenfranchised. The organization brought many resources to Cape Charles, including hundreds of student volunteers who worked on community projects including installing shelves in the Library, painting a senior’s house, moving scenery at Arts Enter, and gardening at the Museum.

The group also fought for changes to promote community stability such as zoning laws that allowed in-fill housing development and other laws favorable to improving the quality of life.

Channel 10 was on our side when the Town wanted to use $1.2 million in Community Development Block Grants for infrastructure improvements instead of the most critical need of housing rehabilitation.

Concerned Citizens also brought national media attention to its fight to save the predominantly African-American Northeast neighborhood when a developer’s plan for a resort retirement community would have destroyed the neighborhood and displaced its residents. [Read more...]

3 Comments

LETTER:
Group Seeks to Preserve Cape Charles Colored School

March 6, 2013

DEAR EDITOR,

There are no front yard signs in support of “the other Old School Cape Charles.” However, there is definitely an effort gaining momentum to preserve the history of another Cape Charles former public school building.

This movement has been characterized not by spirited debate and public hearings, but by the same quiet dignity and determination that led to the creation in 1928 of the Cape Charles Colored School.

The school is situated just over the hump from the Historic District to the Bay Creek golf community. It is an unassuming red brick building. Spray paint evidences its brief history as an eel processing plant. The modest structure belies the storied and important history of the school. [Read more...]

8 Comments

LETTER: Innkeeper Warns of ‘Certified Check’ Scams

January 31, 2013

DEAR EDITOR:

There is a rental scam going on that we should all be aware of.

It begins with a rather normal reservation request on line. Prices and dates are confirmed. These are often unusual names —  I have received a reservation request from Lychagina Kudryashov claiming to be in Ukraine (but I have also received requests from England). Often the requests come from “priests” coming on retreat or extended stays.

People do not stay at B&B’s for a month!

The requests also usually have some sort of grammatical error, leaving out words or capitalization.

Sometimes it helps to respond by asking questions. The scammers usually cannot say what airport they are coming into, or even their form of transportation.

The scam is that they claim that they cannot give a credit card number for deposit over the Internet or phone because of security reasons. Instead, they promise to send a check.

They then send a check for a huge amount of money, asking that you deposit it and send on the rest to a travel agent or whatever.

The scam is that it is a fake cashiers check, and they are playing with the time it takes for the bank to realize that the check is fake.

If you do send on the extra money as a “courtesy” to your international guest, you have been scammed.

Recently I received a cashiers check for $5,450 from the Credit Union of Atlanta, Georgia. It looks very legitimate.

I called the bank’s security and they told me it was fraudulent, not from their bank, and that they have been trying to catch up to the forgers for some time. [Read more...]

5 Comments

LETTER: Town Courts Should Have Multiple Uses

January 14, 2013

DEAR EDITOR,

QUESTION: How many young people use the tennis courts?
ANSWER:  Almost none.

QUESTION: How many young people used the basketball court?
ANSWER: About 15 each day, including Cape Charles Christian School students.

QUESTION: How often are the tennis courts used?
ANSWER: Less than once a week.

QUESTION: How often was the basketball court used?
ANSWER: Every day.

QUESTION: What was the cost of the two lighted tennis courts?
ANSWER: Over $90,000.

QUESTION: What was the cost of the one unlighted basketball court?
ANSWER: Under $5,000.

In many municipalities, recreational facilities are designed for multiple uses to save money. This is done through proper allocation of space and time based on demand and equality.

It is tremendously selfish to think that it is a big burden on one or two tennis players to wait an hours for a court, while 10-15 young people who have no place to play basketball have to wait months for the possibility of a court being built. [Read more...]

LETTER: Convert One Tennis Court to a Basketball Court

January 11, 2013

DEAR EDITOR,

Was it necessary for the town to remove the basketball hoops at this time?

The developer of the old school, Echelon Resources, has requested more time before beginning construction, due to the court hearing in late January.

Couldn’t the town have waited to see the outcome, or at least discussed the matter with residents to come up with an alternative solution?

The basketball court was the center of physical activity for children and young men and women of all colors, and it was the only exercise facility available to students at Cape Charles Christian School.

One basketball court was enough to entertain and provide exercise for 10 or more youths at the same time.

No one complained about the rusted hoops, broken chains, uneven court, or lack of safety measures to protect the children from running to the middle of the Madison Street to retrieve the basketball.

The basketball court was the ONLY place where children and young people got away from TV, cell phones, text messaging, and computer games.

It was a place where young people could learn to work in a group and cooperate with each other.

There is a solution to our loss of a basketball court: Convert the two tennis courts to one tennis court and one basketball court. [Read more...]

2 Comments

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