Town Council Spending $10,000 to Patch up Fishing Pier

By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave

January 29, 2013

Cape Charles Town Council faced a Catch-22 at its January 24 meeting: Wait until September for federal funding to repair or replace the fishing pier damaged by Hurricane Sandy — or fix it at Town expense and risk forfeiting funds from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency).

But the decision was unanimous: Council could not accept keeping the pier closed through the summer, and so voted to patch it up at Town expense.

The hope was still that FEMA eventually would pay to replace the heavily damaged portion of the pier, which is the part built alongside the jetty.

But Town staff were less optimistic than at the previous Council meeting, when Public Works Director Dave Fauber had said that “FEMA is going to be dumping a lot of money in it to fix it and fix it right this time.”

Now, Town staff are worrying that FEMA is too preoccupied by the storm damage in New Jersey to give priority to Cape Charles.

Council’s dream is to build a new section of pier away from the jetty, closer to the harbor, connecting to the deeper water portion of the existing pier. The cost could be upwards of $300,000.

Unfortunately, FEMA would not bear any of that cost — the agency is willing only to repair or replace an existing structure, not build a new one.

So the Town plans to fix up the old pier just enough to be safe for the summer.

The Catch-22? If the Town does too good a job on repairs, FEMA might decide the pier doesn’t need to be replaced.

Wave Attenuators Get Thumbs Up

In other business, Town Council voted to move forward with plans to build floating wave attenuators at the entrance to the Town Harbor. [Read more…]

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Arts Enter Photo Contest Supports New Tourism Website

January 29, 2013

Arts Enter has announced a photo contest to help develop a tourism website called CapeCharlesByTheBay.com.

The website will promote Cape Charles as a lively, beautiful, and sustainable place with the arts at the core.

Approximately 20 photos will be selected as finalists or honorable mentions and will be featured on the website and supporting marketing campaign.

A photography show and exhibition at the Stage Door Gallery will recognize winners and entrants.

The Contest is open to all photographers, regardless of residence. Photos must be submitted electronically to [email protected] by  Friday, February 15. Visit http://www.figstreetinn.com/ccphotocontest.html for complete contest rules.

For the most up-to-date Contest info and for a sneak peek at some of the entries, “join” the Photo Contest Event page on Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/events/564557523572908/. [Read more…]