Town Staff Recommends Allowing Backyard Chickens
CAPE CHARLES WAVE
February 3, 2014
The Cape Charles Planning Commission will consider a draft ordinance to regulate backyard chicken-keeping 6 p.m. Tuesday, February 4, at Town Hall. Public comments will be heard.
Town Planner Rob Testerman’s report lists both benefits and concerns about backyard chickens. He notes that most communities that allow chickens do not allow roosters, and recommends against that in Cape Charles as well.
Testerman says benefits of egg-laying hens are: fresh and healthful eggs, companionship as pets, fertilizer for the garden, insect and weed control, and community building of like-minded chicken owners.
On the downside, Testerman reports, even hens make noise, although much less than a barking dog. Chickens can smell if the coop is not cleaned regularly, and salmonella could be a risk to the people handling the chickens if they are not cared for properly.
Escaped chickens, chicken predators, and pests drawn to chickens could be addressed by requiring proper enclosures and rodent-proof containers for chicken feed, he suggests.
Property values in communities that allow chickens often increase, Testerman reports. But he recommends against allowing the slaughter of chickens in residential neighborhoods. [Read more…]
Panek Resigns PSA Chairmanship, Remains on Board
By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
February 3, 2014
After Northampton County Board of Supervisors voted January 27 to “stop all future funding until there is a change of leadership in the PSA,” the County’s Public Service Authority was scheduled to meet the next night – the night of the “blizzard.” PSA Chairman Bob Panek said he thought it was important not to cancel the meeting, but not enough members made it through the snow to obtain a quorum.
Panek wrote a memo to the PSA board members the next day, announcing his resignation as chairman. He did not, however, resign from the Board.
Vice-chair J.T. Holland will assume Panek’s duties until the Board elects a new chairman.
In his resignation memo, Panek said he found it “curious” that the County Board of Supervisors chose to end his leadership the way it did. “A simple phone call would have achieved the same thing,” he wrote.
According to a report in the Eastern Shore News, Panek told a reporter that he had no [advance] knowledge of what the Supervisors were going to do. Panek later wrote in his memo that he discussed the action January 28 with Board of Supervisors Chairman Larry LeMond, who he said told him that the “perceived conflict of interest was due to my close association (part time employee) with the Town of Cape Charles.”
Cape Charles Town Council appointed Panek to serve on the PSA in his capacity as a private citizen, even though he is also the Assistant Town Manager, with oversight responsibility for the Town’s water and wastewater facilities. With dual responsibilities, Panek worked to obtain an agreement between the Town and the County to pipe sewage from Route 13 to the Town. However, when the County sought a rate structure from the Town, the Town’s expert, Panek, had to recuse himself. The County is still waiting for a rate structure. [Read more…]
COUNTY SUPERVISORS FIRE PSA CHAIRMAN PANEK
Bob Panek at last September’s PSA information meeting at the Cheriton Fire Hall. He did not attend yesterday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. (Wave photo)
PSA Funding Is Stopped Until Change of Leadership
By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
January 28, 2014
Northampton County Board of Supervisors effectively ended Bob Panek’s Public Service Authority chairmanship yesterday by voting to “stop all future funding until there is a change of leadership in the PSA.” Newly elected Board Chairman Larry LeMond made the motion, which was seconded by Larry Trala and passed unanimously.
The previous Board Chairman, Willie Randall, had maintained that the Supervisors had no power to dictate who chairs the PSA, because PSA members elect their own chairman. Randall lost his seat in the November election to Granville Hogg, and the deciding factor in that upset seems to have been the PSA issue.
The new Board of Supervisors simply used the power of the purse. The PSA is financed wholly by the County, and without funds it can do nothing. Although Panek technically remains chairman, a refusal by him to step down would be a Pyrrhic victory, since the PSA could no longer function.
The opposition to Panek centered on the fact that he is also the assistant town manager for the Town of Cape Charles. A Wave editorial (click to read) addressed the issue last September, maintaining that Town Council’s appointment of Panek to the PSA “violates the principle of separation between a paid public employee and an elected or appointed official.”
Under Panek’s leadership, the PSA turned a deaf ear to public outcry. Last September 17, some 100 residents came to the Cheriton Fire Hall to oppose PSA plans to establish a sewer district around the Route 13-Cheriton area that could increase property taxes in the special district by almost 100 percent. Despite the universal outcry at the meeting, the PSA met immediately afterward to unanimously approve a $70,000 contract with the engineering firm Hurt & Profitt to begin surveying the sewer project. [Read more…]
Town Grants South Port $180,000 Utility Fee Deferral
South Port Investors’ Cape Charles Yacht Center looks to cater to this clientele.
By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
January 23, 2014
Town of Cape Charles offices were closed yesterday due to snow, but that didn’t stop Town Council from holding a special meeting to grant a deferral to South Port Investors of up to $180,000 in utility connection charges.
South Port, the developer of Cape Charles Yacht Center, is engaged in yacht repair and storage, and is soliciting vendors for boat manufacturing, yacht brokerage, boat rentals, sail making, ship stores, insurance, a bistro, retail shops, and a bed & breakfast.
South Port last month requested a waiver of utility charges and fees for property it is leasing from the Town. Unable to reach consensus at its December meeting, Town Council held a special work session earlier this month to further discuss the issue, but still could not agree on what to do.
A week ago, Council held a closed meeting, revealing only that the discussion concerned “property leased by the Town and Town-owned property,” leading observers to conclude that South Port again was the topic.
The thorny issue is that although Town Code requires utility connection charges, Town Council has begun making exceptions. The Shanty Restaurant, built on property leased from the Town, was not required to pay a utility connection fee (which would have been $60,000).
South Port’s legal representative, Cela Burge, said South Port is only asking for equal treatment. She also pointed out that the Town waived a portion of connection fees for the developer of the apartments planned for the Old School at Central Park. (The fees essentially were eliminated by cutting them 75 percent and then giving the developer $41,000 to apply toward the remainder.)
Council member Joan Natali appeared to have forgotten about the Old School: “To my mind our precedent is limited to leased Town property,” she said.
Most recently, the Town reduced connection fees for the new Bay Creek Beach Club from $153,000 to $44,000. [Read more…]
TOWN COUNCIL:
A Thank-You to ‘Sambo,’ PSA, Multi-Use Trail, More
Former Police Chief “Sambo” Brown (now in civilian clothes), Mayor Dora Sullivan, and new Chief Jim Pruitt at Town Council meeting. (Wave photo)
By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
January 20, 2014
Cape Charles Town Council members paid tribute to newly retired Police Chief Charles “Sambo” Brown at their January 16 meeting, and welcomed new Police Chief Jim Pruitt. Mayor Dora Sullivan presented Brown with a duck carving in appreciation of his years of service to the Town.
In other business, Cape Charles Business Association President George Proto announced plans for a 2014 workshop on economic development jointly sponsored by the Association, the Town, and the County. Proto also reminded Town Council that the Business Association had asked both the Town and the County to halt plans for a sewer pipe from the highway until concerns about the effect of highway development on the Town are addressed.
Nevertheless, Assistant Town Manager Bob Panek reported that the Public Service Authority is moving forward with plans to provide wastewater treatment to commercial properties on and near Route 13. (Panek is also chairman of the PSA.) He said that 12 properties had been removed from the planned special tax district, while four other properties had been added. Councilman Frank Wendell asked Panek if plans had been put on hold. Town Manager Heather Arcos responded that the Town “has not made any progress” on providing sewer service to the PSA. [Read more…]
As Shore Gains Political Muscle, Old School Group Urges Protection for Public Property
CAPE CHARLES WAVE
January 14, 2014
With Onancock native Ralph Northam now lieutenant governor, and Nassawadox native Lynwood Lewis in line to be a state senator, the community group Old School Cape Charles wants them to know the story of how Cape Charles public park property was given to a private developer. The group is urging Virginia lawmakers to pass legislation to prevent what happened in Cape Charles from happening elsewhere.
Old School leaders will participate in a telephone conference with Delegate Lewis on Thursday, January 16.
“Since our historic old school was sold without our knowledge or consent for the ridiculous sum of $10, we want to keep that from happening to any other communities in Virginia. The loss of our historic school property in Central Park has left our town with no basketball court and no public meeting space,” said Old School spokesperson Deborah Bender.
Old School has asked Lewis (now a state delegate and expected to be a state senator) to “patron” two bills — one relating to preservation of historical sites, and the other banning state tax credits for any project that removes a public asset to benefit a private developer. The second bill also provides that “no local or state park property may be sold to any developer for private gain.” [Read more…]
SETTLEMENT: Paul Galloway Gets a Lighthouse
Replica Old Plantation Flats lighthouse boasts great Bay Creek location — but what about parking?
By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
January 13, 2014
Anyone want to buy a lighthouse? There’s a dandy one in Bay Creek, and it just might become available at the right price.
Bay Creek LLC had the lighthouse built in 2004 as an exact replica of the Old Plantation Flats Lighthouse that until 1962 stood two miles offshore in the Chesapeake Bay. The replica rises from a lake at the perimeter of the Bayside Village development.
As part of a tentative settlement agreement, Bay Creek LLC is giving Galloway Corporation, owned by Paul Galloway, the lighthouse along with a cash payment of $450,000. The settlement agreements were made available by Bay Creek attorney Jeff Hunn after the Wave published a letter to Bay Creek property owners (click to read) from their Community Association regarding a tentative settlement on their behalf in a lawsuit brought by Galloway and others against Bay Creek LLC.
The settlement terms were not fully revealed in the letter, causing a number of Bay Creek property owners to be concerned that they could lose any future legal right to bring grievances against the Association management.
The settlement letter only stated that Galloway and his associates had agreed to pay their back Association dues. There was no mention of any benefit to Galloway, causing property owners to press for more details. When it became apparent that a number of homeowners would object to the settlement, Bay Creek’s attorney released details of the “global” settlement.
In addition to the $450,000 cash and the lighthouse coming to Galloway from Bay Creek LLC, the settlement also awards him the balance of excess proceeds from the December 2012 foreclosure sale of Aqua Restaurant, Bay Creek Marina, and related properties, which were sold to Robert Occhifinto for $4.6 million. The bank got $3.3 million, leaving $1.3 million (minus fees). Under the settlement, $260,000 will go toward infrastructure improvements in Marina Village East, $50,000 goes to Bay Creek LLC, and the rest goes to Galloway — which should be a little under $1 million. [Read more…]
It’s (Finally) Official: Jim Pruitt Is Chief of Police
CAPE CHARLES WAVE
January 11, 2013
Jim Pruitt’s first day on the job as Cape Charles Chief of Police was Tuesday, January 7, according to Town Manager Heather Arcos.
A formal change of command ceremony will be conducted when Town Council meets Thursday, January 16.
Council originally planned to hold the change of command at the December 19 Town Council meeting, but Pruitt did not immediately accept the appointment, causing the Town to go the first week of January without a police chief. [Read more…]
