Virginia Sea Turtles Need Help
January 9, 2013
Best Nest Interiors Relocating to Virginia Beach
Inside Best Nest on Mason Street, the preeminent interior furnishings business on the lower Eastern Shore.
CAPE CHARLES WAVE
January 8, 2013
Another lower Mason Avenue business is leaving town.
Best Nest Interiors, located at 115 Mason Avenue, has announced that it will close its Cape Charles store after Monday, January 14.
The announcement came in an email from Town Council member Joan Natali to subscribers of “Cape Charles Happenings.”
According to the announcement, Best Nest is relocating to the North Beach Shoppes on Shore Drive in Virginia Beach across the street from Kroger, one block from the bridge tunnel.
“We hope to continue to be a part of Cape Charles. Our home is here and we will maintain a warehouse here for our Cape Charles customers,” owners John Selway and Nikki Schroeder wrote. “We will be keeping in touch with all of you as we make our exciting move to the ‘big city.’ We value all of the support we have received on the Eastern Shore for the last six years.”
The owners anticipate opening the Virginia Beach store January 18.
Best Nest also once operated a store on Highway 13 in Cheriton but closed it several years ago.
Best Nest has furnished a number of prominent homes on the Eastern Shore, including the new Bay Creek house next to the lighthouse which recently sold for $1.2 million completely furnished.
The west end of Mason Avenue has seen several commercial departures recently, with the biggest hit being the closing of Bank of America at 201 Mason. The bank building subsequently was purchased by the Town of Cape Charles for use as a library.
Harbor Grille at 241 Mason Avenue closed in 2011, but Brown Dog Ice Cream opened at the same location this past July. However, Brown Dog is closed for the winter.
Before Brown Dog opened, a frozen yoghurt shop was planned for the 200 block of Mason, but the owners got no further than erecting a sign before work stopped. [Read more…]
Town Closing off Playground Parking Lot
New playground entrance is separated from the park by a lagoon. (Wave photo)
CAPE CHARLES WAVE
January 4, 2013
Town of Cape Charles maintenance workers yesterday removed a section of fence around the “Cape Kids” playground at the park and installed the archway that has been leaning against the adjoining school building since September.
The wood outline of a locomotive now faces the inside of the park. Reportedly, a new woodcut locomotive will be attached to the outside of the arch as well.
As can be seen in the photo above, the new entrance lies on the other side of one of the park’s holding ponds.
The former entrance led to the playground parking lot where the heavy equipment can be seen. The Town sold that lot December 21 to a developer for $10, along with the school and the basketball court.
According to the terms of sale, the Town is required to close the former parking lot entrance to the playground within 14 days of the sale, which is today (Friday).
Parking for the playground will now be on-street only. [Read more…]
County Appoints First Economic Development Director
CHARLES McSWAIN
COMPILED FROM NEWS SOURCES
January 4, 2013
Northampton County has appointed Charles McSwain as its first Director of Economic Development.
The county has lacked any comparable position since 2003, when the director of sustainable development position became vacant.
Effective January 14, McSwain will be responsible for coordinating and overseeing all economic development, including increased business recruitment, job creation and diversification of the county tax base.
He also will oversee a re-organized department that will encompass planning, zoning, building inspections, and code enforcement.
A Northampton County press release describes McSwain as “an experienced economic development professional with significant private and public sector experience in real estate development, team management, and project siting.”
McSwain operated a private consulting firm for the past three years in Florida focused on developing strategy and policy for transportation efficiency and business retention and expansion. [Read more…]
CORRECTION: Kiptopeke Inn Still for Sale
January 2, 2013
The Kiptopeke Inn is still for sale.
The Wave incorrectly reported December 29 that Robert Occhifinto, who on December 28 bought Bay Creek Marina, AQUA restaurant, and adjoining properties, earlier bought the Kiptopeke Inn. Although Occhifinto has bought other properties, including the Peacock Motel, and did make an offer on the Kiptopeke Inn, his offer on the Inn was not accepted. [Read more…]
Bye-Bye Basketball: Town Removes Developer’s Hoops
Plenty of space to dribble, but nowhere to shoot: The Town of Cape Charles removed the hoops and backboards Thursday from what had been the Town’s only outdoor basketball court. The school building on the right also contains a basketball court, but the Town closed it in 2006. (Wave photo)
By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
December 28, 2012
When the Cape Charles town maintenance staff returned to work Thursday following a 3-day Christmas holiday, their first job was to dismantle the basketball court at Central Park. That was accomplished by removing the backboards and hoops. Only the uprights remain.
The work by Town employees was not performed on Town property. Exactly one week earlier, Mayor Dora Sullivan signed over the park basketball court, the playground parking lot, and the old Cape Charles school to Echelon Resources, Inc., a private development firm.
According to nearby residents who watched the hoops being removed, it was a poignant sight. A young boy who lives up the street was shooting baskets, as he does almost every day, when the work began. When one goal was taken away, he moved to another, and then another. When time came to remove the last hoop he took a final shot, and went away with the distinction of being the last player ever to shoot a basket on the Town court.
No other basketball court exists either in the Town or anywhere nearby.
Since Echelon now owns the property, the question arises why Town employees were used to dismantle the basketball court. According to Assistant Town Manager Bob Panek, the Town did not want to represent that the park basketball court was available for use by the public. He feared that if someone were injured on the court, the Town could be sued, even though it no longer owns the court.
Panek told the WAVE that the Town has retained the backboards and hoops in storage.
Under the terms of the sales contract, the equipment belongs to Echelon.
Panek confirmed that no plans exist to build a new basketball court. “Talk to Town Council” — it’s their decision, he said. [Read more…]
WEATHER: Making Waves in a New Mercedes
December 26, 2012
Our intrepid photographer snapped this photo Wednesday morning BEFORE high tide. A late-model Mercedes attempted to navigate Plum Street at Central Park but thought better of it and turned around. If it keeps raining, and if anyone has an underwater camera, please email the WAVE a photo of road conditions on Thursday!
Lewis, Randall Brief Cape Charles Residents on 2013 Issues
State Delegate Lynwood Lewis and County Supervisor Willie Randall (Wave photo)
By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave
December 24, 2012
“Northampton County is truly on the move,” District 1 Supervisor Willie Randall told a Cape Charles audience December 18.
Randall and State Delegate Lynwood Lewis held a “Town Hall” meeting on county and state issues.
According to Randall, Northampton County’s priorities are education, economic development, health care, bond refinancing, and waste collection.
EDUCATION: All positions on the seven-member school board will be up for election in November, Randall said. (Current school board members are appointed.) Thereafter, school board terms will be staggered.
Randall added that he will also be on the ballot for re-election in November.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Randall said the county has advertised for a new director of economic development and has narrowed the list of applicants to two.
Asked what the county was doing about Riverside Shore Memorial Hospital’s impending relocation to Accomack County, Randall said there is time to work on a solution since the move is two to three years away. [Read more…]
