End of the Line for Straight Line Automotive

Cape Charles’ only service station closed on Tuesday. The property is now available for lease. (Wave photo)

By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave

April 19, 2013

There was absolutely no warning — and as recently as Monday it was business as usual at Cape Charles’ only gas station and full-time auto repair shop.

But when owner Mark Richardson put out the CLOSED sign by the gas pumps that evening, he called it quits. After several years operating as Straight Line Automotive, the business is closed for good.

Cape Charles regulars were stunned, since from all appearances the business was doing well. There was always activity in the repair bays, and gas sales were steady.

The business had the distinction of being one of the few gas stations south of New Jersey to provide friendly pump attendants at no extra charge. And even with the full service, Straight Line gasoline usually was priced a couple of cents below stations on the highway.

Straight Line also sold hard-to-obtain ethanol-free gasoline, preferred for outboard motors and small engines.

It was apparent to any regular customer that Richardson sweated the details, and his closing was no exception. Call the station number (757-331-1303) and you’ll hear a detailed message of concern from Mark for his customers.

“I’m afraid we’re ceasing operations,” he begins, and then provides names and phone numbers for a tire shop and other auto repair shops.

Richardson told the Wave that he wanted folks to know that nobody had forced him to close. “I was not actually shut down,” he emphasized. “I’m just not a business person — it was nobody else’s fault.” [Read more…]

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THURSDAY 4/18: Regular Monthly Town Council Meeting

The regular monthly meeting of Cape Charles Town Council is 6 p.m. Thursday, April 18, at St. Charles Parrish Hall. There is also a meeting at 5 p.m. of the Citizens Needs Advisory Committee at Town Hall. Both meetings are open to the public. [Read more…]

LETTER: Park Restroom Needs Better Design and Location

April 15, 2013

DEAR EDITOR,

I am writing to express concern regarding a proposed public restroom for Cape Charles Central Park from a risk management perspective, a functional perspective, and an aesthetic perspective.

While I do not disagree that public restroom facilities would be an enhancement to Central Park, I hope that decision-makers will select a more appropriate site and more architecturally appealing style for the project.

Aspects of concern include the following associated risks and functional challenges:

1. Flooding of facility: A number of areas within Central Park and the surrounding streets are flood-prone due to lack of drainage. The proposed location is adjacent to one of the areas most prone to large pools of standing water, and the foundation trenches already dug are largely filled with standing water and a substantial, virtually constant, area of standing water threatens encroachment into the footprint.

Dangers associated include:

— Public health risk from unclean facilities contaminated with bacteria-laden, stagnant water;

— Public health risk arising from proximity to a breeding ground for mosquitoes;

— Danger of slips, trips, and falls from known hazards, i.e. moisture on walking surfaces and higher potential of algal growth on walking surfaces constantly exposed to standing water as well as slips on icy patches in cold weather.

2. Potential for assaults and other illegal transactions in an unattended facility;

3. Public nuisance and public health risk if facilities are not maintained on a daily basis and locked overnight. The question of adequate funding to support cleaning, maintenance, and supplies should be addressed before the construction is approved.

4. Location relative to need: As a neighbor to Central Park, I have had the opportunity to observe traffic in and around the park. It appears that the area in most need of restroom facilities on a year-round basis is the children’s play area near the old Cape Charles school building. Parents and children are frequent visitors to this area. Tennis courts are also located in this area, although tennis court usage seems much lower than the former basketball courts. As proposed, the restroom facilities would be quite a distance removed from the area of need. [Read more…]

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Town Property Values Drop 35% — Tax Rates Will Increase

By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave

April 11, 2013

It was a long time coming, but properties in Cape Charles and Northampton County have finally been reassessed to reflect current values.

Northampton County, which handles assessments for the Town of Cape Charles, had not done a reassessment for five years — before the real estate bubble burst.

According to Town Manager Heather Arcos, the reassessed values in the Town of Cape Charles are 35 percent lower than last year.

For Northampton County overall, values dropped 20 percent, according to County Administrator Katie Nunez.

During the real estate bubble, values swelled more in Cape Charles than elsewhere in the County, and now those Town values have dropped the most.

Rising property values tempt governing bodies to increase their budgets for “free” – that is, without increasing the general tax rate.

But when property values fall, counties and towns are faced with the necessity of increasing the tax rate just to obtain the same amount of money as before.

Northampton County Board of Supervisors would have to increase property taxes from 54 cents to 70 cents per hundred dollars of property value just to maintain the same income as last year.

But since budgets include cost of living increases and other inflationary items, the tax rate could be even higher. [Read more…]

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Blessing of the Fleet: Cape Charles Is Proud of Its Watermen

BoF boat

April 10, 2013

Last Saturday a rainy, wet

morning turned into a beautiful

late afternoon — perfect for the

6th Annual Cape Charles

Blessing of the Fleet.

There was a great turnout

for a very nice ceremony,

demonstrating that Cape Charles

is proud of its watermen.

Photos by Ron Wrucke

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COMMENTARY:
Why I Went to Court over the Park Bathrooms

Site of future Central Park bathrooms. Due to flooding conditions, bathroom floor will be elevated to height of wooden crossmember behind yellow tape. Access will be via a 60-foot winding ramp. (Wave photo)

By DONALD RILEY

April 10, 2013

Do the people of Cape Charles want a bathroom in the park that mirrors a 1980s sewer pump station?

Do we want a bathroom that is closed in the winter? Does no one live in Cape Charles in the winter?

Do we want bathrooms with two stalls on each side? Are there safety concerns about that?

Those are some questions Citizens for Central Park might have considered when they decided to construct a bathroom in Central Park. They might have polled the residents of Cape Charles to learn their thoughts.

The location also could have been the subject of community input. Do we want the bathroom at the east end of the park, far from the children’s playground in what becomes a lake when it rains? The floor of the bathroom house will be three feet above the ground in order to avoid flooding. Do we want that kind of towering bathroom? [Read more…]

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Gull Hummock Expands: What’s Their Secret?

By TED WARNER
Cape Charles Wave

April 8, 2013

A little more than a year ago, shortly after having received the job offer that would ultimately bring me to Cape Charles, I decided to spend a day driving around the Eastern Shore — to see if could imagine, one day, calling this peninsula my home. I didn’t know what I was looking for. So it was hard to find.

But turning off the highway, just past the Food Lion, I made my way into Cape Charles and drove slowly, sizing everything up.

The first store that I stopped at was Gull Hummock.

“What is a ‘gull hummock’?” one wonders.

A hummock is small mound of earth and, while their formation is its own geological story, whenever you are looking at very lumpy terrain, you can say: “Look at all ‘em hummocks.” Now imagine a colony of seagulls alighting on a hummock. It was a busy day for the seagull and now he just wants a nice place to pause for some friendly chit chat and maybe a wine tasting.

That’s what Gull Hummock is.

It’s a small, warm store, filled to the gills with carefully selected wines, cheeses, breads, soaps, ice creams, chocolates, and other healthy foods (healthy for the soul, at least.)

The good stuff. The gourmet.

“Carefully selected” isn’t an overstatement. Jon and Honey Moore, the owners, travel to wine shows and conventions in order to select the best available products. Their wine tastings are orchestrated for flavor, with three price points, and are a delight. And, when you read the contents of any of the packaged foods, you’ll note the absence of trans fats and all those other chemicals.

Next time you’re there: pick up any product and ask Honey to tell you about it. She’ll tell you a story. [Read more…]

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