County Approves Commercial Sewage Area
By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
July 23, 2013
Northampton County Board of Supervisors yesterday finalized the Southern Node commercial service area recommended by the Public Service Authority (PSA).
The area runs along Route 13 about a half mile in each direction from the Cape Charles traffic light, as well as most of Route 13 Business through Cheriton.
The Board of Supervisors accepted a proposal to create a special tax district to fund 75 percent of infrastructure costs. The remaining 25 percent would be borne by all County property taxpayers. The 25 percent is already in the 2014 budget.
The commercial service area of the Southern Node would be the first phase in a two-phase project to provide wastewater service to Cheriton using the Cape Charles treatment plant approximately 2.25 miles away.
Asked if the proposed sewer lines for the commercial properties would be sufficient to tie all of Cheriton into the Cape Charles plant, PSA Chairman Bob Panek said they would not. Panek is also the principal consultant for the Cape Charles treatment plant. [Read more…]
Shore Group Fights Proposed Higher Bridge Toll
By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
July 22, 2013
A group of Shore residents are using 21st-century social media to battle proposed toll increases on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
“CBBT Fair Toll, It’s About Time” is the name of a Facebook page the group started July 16 which as of last night had 122 “Friends.”
The Shore group is using every means available to martial opposition to a plan to increase bridge tolls by 10 percent every five years.
In addition to friending the Facebook page, toll opponents can sign an online petition started by Exmore businesswoman Dona Danziger.
Cape Charles restauranteur Gene Kelly signed the petition “to encourage more folks to live in Northampton County and to enhance businesses who are suffering here.”
The Fair Toll group is headed by Accomack County Supervisor Wanda Thornton, who argues that “neither traffic counts nor safety issues” justify raising tolls to build new tunnels. Thornton formerly served on the Bridge-Tunnel Commission.
Thornton notes that current Bridge-Tunnel tolls generate $45 million a year, while only $23 million is needed for operations and maintenance. The CBBT already has $210 million saved up, according to Thornton. [Read more…]
Corps of Engineers Rejects Request to Deepen Harbor
Blue outline is Cape Charles channel, maintained at 18 feet by the Army Corps of Engineers. The Town requested the depth be extended to 35 feet to benefit existing and potential businesses.
By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
July 20, 2013
The Army Corps of Engineers has rejected a request by the Town of Cape Charles to deepen the Town’s outer harbor and channel.
The request was made in April 2012 by Town Manager Heather Arcos, who wrote: “During the past year businesses in the Harbor have lost significant contracts due to the lack of sufficient depth for moving goods from the Harbor.” Arcos did not specify which businesses were losing contracts.
In response, the Corps of Engineers performed a year-long feasibility study. On June 13, the Corps reported that only one business would benefit from deepening the channel: Bayshore Concrete.
To qualify for full Corps funding, at least two users must be identified. If Bayshore is the only user, it would be required to bear half the expense, which, including interest and maintenance of the channel, could exceed $245,000 annually.
According to the Corps report, Bayshore Concrete stated that it would be “financially unable to meet the single user obligation at this time.”
The Corps study identified three potential future commercial users of the Town Harbor: an aerospace defense contractor from Wallops Island, a small inland cruise ship company, and the Cape Charles Yacht Center, a boat maintenance and storage facility currently under construction. However, none of those potential users would require a deeper channel. [Read more…]
THURSDAY 7/18: Town Council Regular Monthly Meeting
Cape Charles Town Council will hold its regular monthly meeting 6 p.m. Thursday, July 18, at St. Charles Parish Hall, 550 Tazewell Avenue. The agenda and information packet may be read at http://www.capecharles.org/documents/20130718-TCAgendaPacket.pdf
SHER: This Place Gets in Your Blood
By SHER HOROSKO
Cape Charles Wave
July 17, 2013
There are places that get in your blood. This is surely one of them.
Just last week I met the man who farms the field outside my window. “What’s your name?” I ask. “Bud” he says — “You know like Bud Light. Lived here all my life. Never gonna leave.”
I could ask him what it is about the place, but I don’t. I track the gleam in his eye instead. His love spills into the sandy soil, sails the windswept fields and dips into the sea close by.
The land-and-blood-thing is strong in him.
Along the back roads toward Kiptopeke, the fields of corn stretch into the arms of Virginia pines. In Cape Charles Harbor, small orange claws and tiny fins poke through the slats of wooden baskets.
“Will I ever get used to this?” I ask myself while topping my oatmeal with handfuls of blackberries picked from a neighbor’s yard.
This is a land of abundance. The horn of plenty is all filled up.
But not for all.
It is the riddle of Abundance living next door to Hunger that brings me to a hot and dusty field after a midnight run to the ER. Tired, disheveled, and barely thrown together, I pull up to a land lit with color.
The gleaners are here, 46 of them from three Virginia churches. White-laced bags of potatoes, about 8,000 pounds’ worth, are stacked and nestled in the powdery earth and spent green vines.
Gleaning means to “gather what is left.”
Local farmer David Long invites the Society of St. Andrew to come to his field each year to share in the abundance he co-creates on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Every bit of what’s gathered goes to the hungry people who live here.
Looking over the gleaners, it is clear to me that rescuing potatoes requires strong calves or dirt-coated knees. Surrendering to T-shirts wrung with sweat is part of the whole thing, too, and so is a pretty sore back at day’s end.
Volunteer gleaners: Like the hands in the background, hearts are at work. (Photos by Sher Horosko)
Town Staff News: Pruitt Promoted; Testerman, Pfeiffer Hired
Sgt. James Pruitt
Town Planner Rob Testerman
Officer Chelsea Pfeiffer
CAPE CHARLES WAVE
July 17, 2013
The Town of Cape Charles has announced three staff changes: two police officers and the town planner.
Police officer James Pruitt has been promoted to the rank of sergeant. According to the Town statement, “His promotion was based on the performance and work ethic shown since being hired in 2010 and his continued attention to detail while performing the required duties assigned to him by command.”
Pruitt was recognized by Gov. Robert McDonnell last October for organizing a dedication service for the Town’s only officer to be killed in the line of duty.
The Town also formally announced the appointment of Rob Testerman as the Town Planner. A native of Chesapeake, Testerman holds a B.A. in Public and Urban Affairs from Virginia Tech, where he studied urban planning in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies.
After graduation, Testerman was the land use planner for Accomack County for six years before joining the staff of Cape Charles.
His work for Accomack County included rezonings, conditional use permits, ordinance revisions, GIS mapping, comprehensive plan research, and erosion and sediment control inspections. Testerman is certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners.
Chelsea Pfeiffer, the Town’s newest police officer, holds a B.S. in Administration of Justice from George Mason University. She worked for two years as a probation officer for Accomack County and operated the 2A Court Service Unit’s satellite office in Eastville.
Sign Language: Parade Truck Perturbs Planning Commission
Majority of Town Planning Commissioners are upset over sign-fested truck. (Wave photo)
By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
July 15, 2013
Cape Charles Planning Commission has been reviewing the Town’s sign ordinance for more than two years, but the signs on a truck in the July 4th parade brought the issue to a head.
The majority of commissioners expressed displeasure July 9 over signs displayed on a parade truck for the group known as Old School Cape Charles.
Festooned with American flags and plastered with signs, the truck was a moving billboard for the activist group that is fighting the Town’s decision to give away the Old School, basketball court, and parkland to a real estate developer.
“Repeal the Crooked $10 Deal,” read one sign, referring to the price the developer paid for the school and park property.
“Don’t Raise My Water Bill to Pay for More Condos,” read another.
And at the back of the truck: “Stand Up for Your Rights – Don’t Give Up the Fight.”
No planning commissioner found any illegality with displaying signs in the actual July 4th parade. The problem seemed to be that the parade truck was parked on the street both before and after the parade.
Chairman Dennis McCoy said, “What really stuck out like a sore thumb to me was the truck when I came into town this weekend . . . It was not [advertising] any business, and it stayed parked for two days.”
“I complained as a citizen. I thought it was offensive,” said Commissioner Joan Natali, who also is a member of Town Council. She advocated changing the ordinance to allow Town officials to immediately confiscate signs deemed offensive. [Read more…]
Town Flood Insurance Rates Should See ‘Drastic’ Drop
Click on map to view larger image. (An additional click may be required on larger image.) As proposed, only a few tiny areas in the entire Town of Cape Charles are classified “AE,” which requires flood insurance to obtain a mortgage. On the current 2008 flood map (not shown), a majority of the Historic District is classified “AE.”
By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
July 11, 2013
FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) is proposing “a drastic change regarding flood zones in Cape Charles.”
Town Planner Rob Testerman told the Cape Charles Planning Commission July 9 that a majority of the Historic District, currently rated high-risk by FEMA, is proposed to be reclassified at a much lower risk of flooding.
That is wonderful news to any property owner paying flood insurance premiums.
Under FEMA rules, federally regulated lenders require property owners to buy flood insurance in areas labeled “A or “V” on the FEMA flood zone map.
In high-risk areas, there is at least a 1 in 4 chance of flooding during a 30-year period.
In the current 2008 FEMA map, “a majority of the historic portion of Cape Charles is located in the AE Zone,” Testerman said.
But the preliminary map for 2013 “shows the AE zone ending at the beach,“ he noted.
The most flood-prone area is of course the beach itself, which retains a “VE” classification. [Read more…]
