FRIDAY 6/14: Pipe Organ Concert at Historic Hungars Church
SATURDAY 6/15: Great Bay 5K and Fun Run/Walk for Charity
ANALYSIS: Huge Sewer Bills Due to Town Council Missteps
With water bills an election issue in 2012, Town officials paid a portion of new sewer bond out of general savings. (Wave photo)
By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
June 11, 2013
NEW MINIMUM USAGE UTILITY RATES 07/01/13 $107.92.
So reads the message at the bottom of this month’s utility bill sent to every household and business in the Town of Cape Charles.
Technically, the message jumps the gun, because Town Council has not yet voted for the increase or even held the required public hearing.
But Town staff and elected officials have made clear that the rate increase is a foregone conclusion.
Meanwhile, an analysis by the Wave finds that the increase continues a years-long pattern of hiding the true cost to Town residents of sewage treatment.
The Wave analysis further reveals that Town Council and staff manipulated utility billing in the run-up to the 2012 Town elections, spending Town reserves to avoid increasing utility bills in an election year.
Finally, Town records disclose a disturbing pattern of cutting utility connection charges even as the Town planned an expensive new sewage treatment plant. In addition, the Town miscalculated badly in assuming that the new treatment plant would be partially paid by the developers of Bay Creek. [Read more…]
Town Plans $7 Million Budget; Public Hearing June 20
CAPE CHARLES WAVE
June 10, 2013
The Town of Cape Charles proposes to spend almost $7.2 million in the new fiscal year beginning July 1.
Estimated income and expenses are shown in the table below.
The Town Council will hold a public hearing 6 p.m. Thursday, June 20, at St. Charles Parish Hall to receive written and oral comments on all proposed disbursements.
The budget will be discussed and brought to a vote a week after the public hearing at a special meeting 6 p.m. Thursday, June 27, at Town Hall.
Following are proposed tax rates and user fees:
Vehicle Tax: $31 per state registered vehicle, (Trailers $18, Golf Cart Decal $31)
Real Estate Tax: $.2759 per $100; Personal Property Tax $2 per $100; Boat Tax $0.01 per $100
Transient Occupancy Tax: 3%; Meals Tax: 5%; Admissions Tax: 3%; Short Term Rental Tax: 1%
WATER RATE:
Residential 0-2,000 gal.: $34.50 minimum; 2,001 to 5,000 gal.: $2.63 per 1,000; 5,001 to 10,000: $3.75 per 1,000; 10,001 to 15,000 gals: $5.00 per 1,000; Over 15,000 gals: $7.50 per 1,000;
Commercial 0-2,000 gal: $34.50 minimum; 2,001-10,000 gal: $2.50 per 1,000; 10,001-15,000 gals: $3.75 per 1,000; Over 15,000 gals: $5.00 per 1,000
SEWER RATE:
Residential 0-2,000 gal.: $60.85 minimum; 2,001 to 5,000 gal.: $4.11 per 1,000; 5,001 to 10,000 gals: $5.85 per 1,000; 10,001 to 15,000: $7.80 per 1,000; Over 15,000 gals: $11.70 per 1,000;
Commercial 0-2000 gal: $60.85 minimum; 2,001-10,000 gals: $3.90 per 1,000; 10,001-15,000 gals: $5.85 per 1,000; Over 15,000 gals: $7.80 per 1,000
GARBAGE: $12.57 per month
COMBINED MINIMUM MONTHLY WATER BILL (water, sewer, garbage): $107.92
Move Cars for Street Sweeping June 10-13
The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) will be sweeping the streets in the Historic District Monday through Thursday, June 10-13.
The North Side of Avenues and the West Side of Streets will be done on Monday, 6/10, and Tuesday, 6/11.
The South Side of Avenues and the East Side of Streets will be done on Wednesday, 6/12, and Thursday, 6/13. [Read more…]
Tall Ships Festival Boasts Elizabethan Actors
A colorful troupe of Elizabethan re-enactors will again recreate life of the 16th century for visitors of all ages at the Tall Ships At Cape Charles festival June 14-16, complementing the historic tall ships gracing the Town Harbor. [Read more…]
CAPE CHARLES BY THE BAY: Tourism Website Debuts
New Town website proclaims Cape Charles a “Harbor for the Arts.”
By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
June 9, 2013
The long-awaited website promoting Cape Charles as a tourist destination went live Thursday at http://www.capecharlesbythebay.com.
The $15,000 website was funded by the Cape Charles “Our Town” project through grants and contributions.
The website banner proclaims “Cape Charles by the Bay – Harbor for the Arts.” A visitor to the website sees a succession of five billboard presentations, each for three seconds.
First is “Love Your Harbor (Relax in Cape Charles),” with a photo of a sunset over the Bay. (Curiously, the Town Harbor is not shown.)
Second is “Love Your Sweet Dreams (Stay in Cape Charles),” with a close-up of rocking chairs on the porch at the Town’s oldest B&B, Sea Gate, owned by Vice-Mayor Chris Bannon.
Third up is “Love the Charm (Shop in Cape Charles),” featuring a smiling Meredith Restein, proprietor of Moonrise Jewelry on Strawberry Street.
The fourth rotation is “Love Your Drive (Golf in Cape Charles),” with an overlook of Bay Creek’s Jack Nicklaus course facing the lighthouse.
Last comes “Love the Adrenaline (Play in Cape Charles),” depicting wetsuit-equipped kite boarders on the Bay. [Read more…]
PLANNING COMMISSION:
Outlet Mall, Holiday Inn on Route 13?
Assistant Town Manager Bob Panek
By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
June 7, 2013
Cape Charles Assistant Town Manager Bob Panek briefed the Town Planning Commission June 4 on wastewater treatment and development-related possibilities on Route 13 near the Cape Charles traffic light.
“One of the things this area needs is a hotel,” Panek said. “Something like a Holiday Inn, a Hampton Inn. To my way of thinking it’s no threat to the B&Bs or Hotel Cape Charles, it’s a completely different market.”
Cape Charles could attract a lot of people who “don’t want to pay $200 a night in a B&B,” Panek said. “There is a market for that $80 a night [room].”
Panek noted that the Ultra Triathlon which had been scheduled in Cape Charles for September 7 had been canceled, which he blamed on lack of hotel space. (However, Town Manager Heather Arcos told the Wave that organizers canceled the Triathlon after learning that a similar event would take place elsewhere the same weekend.)
Another development the assistant town manager envisions just outside Town limits on Route 13 is “a little outlet mall like Tanger Outlets up in Ocean City or Williamsburg, that type of thing,” Panek told the Planning Commission.
“One of the complaints I’ve heard from people vacationing here is that some of them get pretty bored,” Panek observed.
Town Council and Planning Commission member Joan Natali agreed: “There’re not enough places to shop,” she said. To which Panek responded, “You can’t buy a pair of underwear in the Town.”
But Commission member Andy Buckholtz worried that Route 13 development “would be driving people out of town or keeping people from driving into town. The whole purpose of this Planning Commission is to drive people into this town,” Buckholtz emphasized. [Read more…]
