WEDNESDAY 4/2: Creekwatcher Meeting with Del. Bloxom
Creekwatcher Meeting is organized by Shorekeeper Jay Ford and is open to everyone who cares about the waters of Virginia’s Eastern Shore. The meeting will be 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 2, at the Nature Conservancy’s Brownsville House. CLICK for directions and details. [Read more…]
THURSDAY 4/3: Cape Charles Business Association Meets at Aqua
The Cape Charles Business Association general meeting is 7 p.m. Thursday, April 3, at Aqua Restaurant (upstairs). This is a general meeting for all current and potential members. [Read more…]
FRIDAY 4/4: Peg Snowden Volk Retrospective at ESO Live Includes Scott & Melinda, Bob Sellers & More
Friday, April 4, share an intimate musical journey at ESO Arts Center in Belle Haven with one of the Shore’s most beloved singer-songwriters, joined by a stage-full of musician friends. Peg Snowden plays guitar and performs a retrospective of original songs written over four decades. [Read more…]
FRIDAY 4/4: Terry Malarkey Recalls His London Suburb
“The Home Front—A London Suburb During and After WWII” is a presentation of the Science and Philosophy Seminar of the Eastern Shore of Virginia to be held at 12:30 p.m. Friday, April 4, in the Eastern Shore Community College Lecture Hall, 29300 Lankford Hwy., Melfa. [Read more…]
SATURDAY 4/5: Make Your Own Rain Barrel Workshop
The Eastern Shore Soil & Water Conservation District in partnership with the Eastern Shore Watersheds Network are holding a Rain Barrel Workshop on Saturday, April 5, from 9:30-10:30 a.m. at the Northampton Courthouse Grounds in Eastville. [Read more…]
SATURDAY 4/5: Celebrate Arbor Day with Free Tree Seedlings
On Saturday, April 5, come and celebrate ARBOR DAY and get some FREE tree seedlings at Northampton County Courthouse Grounds in Eastville from 10:30 a.m to 3 p.m. [Read more…]
Council Deal to Buy Foster Lots Includes Back Tax
At Town Council meeting, New Roots Youth Garden volunteers Joann Fitchett, Jen Lewis, Tammy Holloway, and Brook Thomas receive town seal to display on the garden fence. (Wave photo)
By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
March 24, 2014
In a 5-1 vote March 20, Town Council approved purchasing seven lots at the entrance to town for $100,000 from Bay Creek developer Richard “Dickie” Foster. Council member Frank Wendell opposed the purchase.
As partial payment, the deal includes $61,000 in back taxes owed the town by Foster’s company, Bay Creek LLC.
As reported in the Wave March 20, the town has been paying Foster’s county tax and town tax on the lots since 2010, as well as mowing the grass. A town welcome sign is erected on one of the lots.
The Wave has learned that a comparable lot on the other side of Randolph Avenue east of the Museum recently sold for $4,000 to the owner of Eastern Shore Custom Carts.
No use for the seven Foster lots has been stated, other than display of the welcome sign. Town Council members agreed at the meeting that they do not support the use of the lots for creating a traffic circle as proposed by VDOT and contained in the Comprehensive Plan. A traffic circle would also plow through the New Roots Youth Garden. [Read more…]
Public Hearing Set for Lodging Tax Increase
By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
March 24, 2014
Cape Charles Town Council voted 5-1 March 20 to hold a public hearing on increasing the town lodging tax. Only Council member Frank Wendell opposed the action. The Town Code would be amended to raise the 3 percent transient occupancy tax to 3.7 percent, effective July 1, and cap the contribution to the ESVA Tourism Commission. The public hearing will be 6 p.m. April 17 at St. Charles Parish Hall.
In addition to raising the tax rate, Town Manager Heather Arcos is suggesting other “updates” to the Town Code – most significantly, deletion of language allowing Northampton County to levy a 2 percent lodging tax in the town. This provision in the Town Code is in fulfillment of the 1991 Annexation Agreement between the town and the county. Under state law, a county cannot levy a tax within a town without the town’s permission. The town granted that permission to the county when the county allowed the town to annex the property that became Bay Creek on the south side of Cape Charles.
Another “update” is deletion of a requirement that the town treasurer “ascertain the name of every person . . . who fails, refuses, or neglects to collect such tax. . . .”
Councilman Tom Godwin asked Arcos if she suspected there were many violators. Arcos responded, “I would say that the homeowners that rent without a Realtor or management company – yes.” She added that it was “very time-consuming” for staff to try to monitor the tax payments.
Council member Joan Natali noted that one way to monitor rental activity is by checking vacation websites. “If we have any good citizens who would like to dedicate a couple of hours a week, a month, or whatever, to do some of that research and then provide the treasurer with that information, it could then be followed up in a more targeted way,” she said. [Read more…]
