Lewis, Randall Brief Cape Charles Residents on 2013 Issues

By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave

December 24, 2012

“Northampton County is truly on the move,” District 1 Supervisor Willie Randall told  a Cape Charles audience December 18.

Randall and State Delegate Lynwood Lewis held a “Town Hall” meeting on county and state issues.

According to Randall, Northampton County’s priorities are education, economic development, health care, bond refinancing, and waste collection.

EDUCATION: All positions on the seven-member school board will be up for election in November, Randall said. (Current school board members are appointed.) Thereafter, school board terms will be staggered.

Randall added that he will also be on the ballot for re-election in November.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Randall said the county has advertised for a new director of economic development and has narrowed the list of applicants to two.

Asked what the county was doing about Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital’s impending relocation to Accomack County, Randall said there is time to work on a solution since the move is two to three years away.

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Riverside representative Susan McAndrews provided the audience with a perspective on emergency care. The key in an emergency, she noted, is to have a plan for rapid response mobilization. This can include partnerships with other entities. For example, Riverside is working with Eastern Shore Rural Health, she said.

BOND REFINANCING: Randall said that refinancing municipal bonds from a 5 percent to a 3 percent interest rate will save millions of dollars.

WASTE COLLECTION: The county is working to bring District 4 waste collection on line.

STATE DELEGATE LYNWOOD LEWIS

Lewis gave an overview of the 2013 General Assembly session beginning January 9 and lasting six weeks.

The budget will be a top priority. Even though the state has a $220 million surplus, it could go quickly because so many needs have been postponed.

Lewis said that Gov. Robert McDonnell’s priorities are to allocate $130 million for the state’s rainy day fund; increase spending on water quality and transportation; and give teachers long-overdue raises. However, the raises would require a match from the localities where they work.

Other General Assembly issues are uranium mining in Virginia, port privatization, transportation infrastructure, and drone test sites.

Lewis was asked how the state will deal with federal funding cuts. He noted that funding cuts would not affect the Eastern Shore as much as areas like Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia, where there is a lot of military spending.

Natural gas availability, wind and solar energy subsidies, and the higher cost of gasoline on the Eastern Shore compared to across the Bay were among other issues raised with Lewis.

Members of Old School Cape Charles asked Lewis about the propriety of the state Department of Historic Resources’ possibly providing tax credits to help a developer convert public space into private apartments. Additionally, Lewis was told, the Town of Cape Charles failed to follow Freedom of Information Act requirements when rejecting alternate proposals for the school.

A representative of the Old School group asked Lewis to act as the patron for a bill to amend and reenact §15.2-2306 of the Code of Virginia, relating to preservation of historical sites and architectural areas. The bill would prohibit developers from receiving public property when residents wish to rehabilitate it for public use. Lewis said that he would review the request.