Town Council Rolls the Dice on Interest Rates
By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
November 13, 2013
Cape Charles Town Council is poised to refinance nearly $1.2 million in debt at its Thursday, November 14, meeting, when Council members are also expected to endorse a proposal to borrow an additional $1 million.
Most of the existing debt was for water and sewer infrastructure. Money allocated to hook up new wells was instead used to buy the new library building, so now the Town needs to borrow $300,000 for the wells, among other projects.
Current Town debt is at a fixed interest rate. But the Town has contracted with a Richmond financial advisor, Davenport & Company, who recommends paying off two fixed-rate loans in favor of a cheaper variable-rate loan.
Anyone with a home mortgage is likely to understand the difference between fixed-rate and variable-rate loans. Fixed-rate loans are issued at a higher interest rate because the bank bears the risk if interest rates go up in future years. Variable-rate loans have lower rates at first, because the customer (in this case the Town) bears the risk of future interest hikes.
In 1992 the Town borrowed $1.58 million to construct the water tower. That was a 40-year loan at a fixed rate of 5 percent, and there are 19 years left to pay. Davenport recommends paying off that loan and replacing it with a 20-year loan from PNC Bank. The PNC interest rate would be 2.65 percent for the first 10 years, which amounts to a substantial reduction in annual payments.
But there’s a catch: In 2023 the interest rate would change to reflect whatever the rate might be at that time. While that future rate is anybody’s guess, almost no one thinks it will match the present historically low rates. And some people fear that hyper-inflation could bring sky-high rates in future decades. [Read more…]
SATURDAY 11/16: Rootstone Jug Band at Palace Theatre
SUNDAY 11/17: Wine & Cheese Benefit for New Spay Service
Eastern Shore Spay Organization is holding a wine & cheese benefit 2-5 p.m. Sunday, November 17, at Chesapeake Bay View (212 Bay Avenue) in Cape Charles. [Read more…]
Plenty of Empty Rooms at Local Inns, Owner Says
Click above to hear Fig Street Inn Bed & Breakfast owner Donna Kohler address the Cape Charles Planning Commission.
By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
November 12, 2013
Perceptions that Bed and Breakfasts in Cape Charles are doing a booming business are not accurate, Fig Street Inn owner Donna Kohler told the Cape Charles Planning Commission November 5. The reality is that occupancy last year averaged 28 percent among the five B&Bs in town, she said.
Kohler addressed the Planning Commission after the Wave reported October 3 that Commissioners wanted more motels on Route 13. Commissioner Joan Natali said, “I’d love to see two or three hotels out on Route 13. The occupancy of our hotels has been consistently full. The reason is we have become a wedding destination.”
Not so, refuted Kohler. Even in August the occupancy rate was only 53 percent. “There is the idea that we need more rooms because we’re becoming a wedding destination and we need places for these guests to stay. Speaking only for my bed and breakfast, wedding guests aren’t staying at my inn . . . they make up under 10 percent of my business,” she said.
Kohler noted there are “multiple weddings” on any given weekend. “We know that the guests are coming, but we also know that they’re not choosing to stay in town.
“Is it appropriate for the Town to be concerned about a market that is basically a pass-through?” Kohler asked. “They’re here for one reason only – a wedding – and they are literally in and out in less than 24 hours.
“There is not enough demand for the inventory that already exists,” Kohler said. “If there were, I would think that the Hotel Cape Charles would be open year-‘round.
“You might want to say that we’re a summer destination and we need places for people to stay in the summer months,” Kohler continued. “That is not necessarily true. For August 2013, my inn had an occupancy rate of only 46 percent – far below what anyone would expect of a peak season. [Read more…]
SATURDAY 11/16: ‘Swine & Wine’ Boys and Girls Club Benefit
One of the coolest events of the year will be taking place Saturday, November 16, when the Boys and Girls Club of the Eastern Shore will hold its sixth annual Swine and Wine event at Central Green in Painter. [Read more…]
FRIDAY 11/15: Phragmites — The Truth Behind the Invasion
Science and Philosophy Seminar of the Eastern Shore of Virginia presents “Phragmites: The Truth Behind the Invasion” 12:30 p.m. Friday, November 15, in the Lecture Hall of the Eastern Shore Community College, 29300 Lankford Hwy, Melfa. [Read more…]
Town Property Tax Bills Mailed; Due December 5
CAPE CHARLES WAVE
November 11, 2013
(NOTE: A link to a list of delinquent Town taxpayers appears at the end of this story.)
Town of Cape Charles property tax bills were mailed November 8, just before Veterans Day, when mail will not be delivered. Although most local residents received their bills on Saturday, many Town homeowners maintain primary residences elsewhere, and will not receive bills before November 12 at the earliest.
Taxes are due December 5, or 24 days after November 12. Payments postmarked after December 5 are subject to a 10 percent penalty in December and monthly interest thereafter.
Town Treasurer Kim Coates informed Town Council October 17 that Northampton County sent out property tax bills in September, “but their IT staff didn’t get the file to our admin staff until last week.” (The Town relies on County records to generate its tax bills.) [Read more…]
WHEN THE BAND STOPS PLAYING:
The Dark Side of PTSD
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Cape Charles resident Joe Vaccaro submitted this commentary with the request that it be published on Veterans Day. It is his latest article in observance of American Legion Post 56’s “Year of the Veteran.”)
By JOE VACCARO
American Legion Post 56
November 11, 2013
There are over 830,000 veterans residing in Virginia, and that number includes some 700,000 men and 130,000 women. Within those numbers are over 669,000 wartime veterans who have served their country in time of need. The Eastern Shore of Virginia lays claim to over 5,000 of those men and women living among us; also living among them is the dark potential of suicide.
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, 22 veterans take their own lives every day. That data is from 1999 through 2011 and only contains information from 21 states, with large states such as California, Texas, and Illinois not reporting any information. Throughout the years combat veterans have been returning home seemingly unscathed by the battles they have fought, yet the suicide rate for our recently returning veterans continues to climb. The troops, especially the career minded, view any cry for help as a career blemish that could tarnish a record of valor and hard work, and halt an upward climb through the ranks. The attempt to gather facts to combat this national tragedy is too skewed to be of any solid value.
Part of the problem is that there’s no uniform reporting system regarding these deaths. So it’s up to a coroner or funeral director to enter a veteran status or note a suicide on a death certificate. This makes it extremely difficult to determine a veteran’s status unless the person is known to them, which begs the next question of how do they collect that data on homeless veterans? [Read more…]
