Comments on: Town Council Chickens Out

By: Rob Testerman

Rob Testerman — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 15:06:56 +0000

For the sake of accuracy, I would like to correct a bit of the above article. During the monthly staff reports Councilman Bannon referred to a comment that was made by Ms. Bender at the public hearing, where she stated that the town had paid me $25,000 to work on this chicken study and ordinance. Councilman Bannon asked if I had any idea where that number may have come from. Bannon provided no cost estimate. My response was that no, I did not know where the number came from, but if you look at my salary at Cape Charles, $25,000 would mean that I devoted all of my time, from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday, working exclusively on the chicken ordinance and nothing else, for approximately 8 months. While I don’t have an estimate of how many hours were devoted to this, I can say with 100% certainty that it was nowhere close to even half of the amount of time implied by the $25,000 figure. That conversation can be seen and heard at the 33 minute mark of the meeting found at the following link, for anyone interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM6Ffo4-aJ4

By: Wayne Creed

Wayne Creed — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 13:22:39 +0000

Whether or not you thought this was a grand priority, Mr. Testerman should be applauded for some very fine work. Thanks to his research, we now know quite a bit about the urban chicken business. To all you chicken and egg enthusiasts, do not take this as the final word. The only thing finite here is the term of a Town Council member. Things can always change. In Orwell’s Animal Farm they reminded us, “Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough…Yet he is lord of all the animals?”

By: Pam Barefoot

Pam Barefoot — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 11:59:07 +0000

I was disappointed to see the chicken coop idea shot down. My cousin has an amazing one in her back yard in Raleigh NC, where an annual tour of chicken coops brings in money for a worthy cause. Thousands of people come to Raleigh’s famed city coops each year. Here’s a link to the Tour D’Coop in Raleigh with lots of photos. http://tourdcoop.com/

By: Deborah Bender

Deborah Bender — Tue, 21 Oct 2014 13:30:16 +0000

Let’s see….I attended the joint planning commission & council public forum and clearly stated the amount of money the town had spent on the chicken study as being $25,000.00. A few days later Chris Bannon comes up with the same amount of money spent.

Thank goodness I provided that eye opening amount of money and Councilman Bannon was paying attention.