Council Deal to Buy Foster Lots Includes Back Tax

By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave

March 24, 2014

In a 5-1 vote March 20, Town Council approved purchasing seven lots at the entrance to town for $100,000 from Bay Creek developer Richard “Dickie” Foster. Council member Frank Wendell opposed the purchase.

As partial payment, the deal includes $61,000 in back taxes owed the town by Foster’s company, Bay Creek LLC.

As reported in the Wave March 20, the town has been paying Foster’s county tax and town tax on the lots since 2010, as well as mowing the grass. A town welcome sign is erected on one of the lots.

The Wave has learned that a comparable lot on the other side of Randolph Avenue east of the Museum recently sold for $4,000 to the owner of Eastern Shore Custom Carts.

No use for the seven Foster lots has been stated, other than display of the welcome sign. Town Council members agreed at the meeting that they do not support the use of the lots for creating a traffic circle as proposed by VDOT and contained in the Comprehensive Plan. A traffic circle would also plow through the New Roots Youth Garden. [Read more…]

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Public Hearing Set for Lodging Tax Increase

By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave

March 24, 2014

Cape Charles Town Council voted 5-1 March 20 to hold a public hearing on increasing the town lodging tax. Only Council member Frank Wendell opposed the action. The Town Code would be amended to raise the 3 percent transient occupancy tax to 3.7 percent, effective July 1, and cap the contribution to the ESVA Tourism Commission. The public hearing will be 6 p.m. April 17 at St. Charles Parish Hall.

In addition to raising the tax rate, Town Manager Heather Arcos is suggesting other “updates” to the Town Code – most significantly, deletion of language allowing Northampton County to levy a 2 percent lodging tax in the town. This provision in the Town Code is in fulfillment of the 1991 Annexation Agreement between the town and the county. Under state law, a county cannot levy a tax within a town without the town’s permission. The town granted that permission to the county when the county allowed the town to annex the property that became Bay Creek on the south side of Cape Charles.

Another “update” is deletion of a requirement that the town treasurer “ascertain the name of every person . . . who fails, refuses, or neglects to collect such tax. . . .”

Councilman Tom Godwin asked Arcos if she suspected there were many violators. Arcos responded, “I would say that the homeowners that rent without a Realtor or management company – yes.” She added that it was “very time-consuming” for staff to try to monitor the tax payments.

Council member Joan Natali noted that one way to monitor rental activity is by checking vacation websites. “If we have any good citizens who would like to dedicate a couple of hours a week, a month, or whatever, to do some of that research and then provide the treasurer with that information, it could then be followed up in a more targeted way,” she said. [Read more…]

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EDITORIAL: Blame the Wave

March 24, 2014

Going to the Post Office, it’s hard to miss the posters attacking the Wave, including accusations of “schemes to denigrate our town.” Another claim stapled to the telephone pole is that “the Wave has been screaming about wasteful spending and that we are going bankrupt.”

The postings appeared on the telephone pole this past Friday, the morning after former town councilman Larry Veber addressed Town Council with a similar message. “Something that’s very concerning,” Veber related, “from what I hear from people who come into town. Two people recently that love Cape Charles and were so impressed with Cape Charles – they looked at everything, and said, ‘listen – we understand your town is going bankrupt!’ . . . ‘Everything we read about in the Wave – it’s bankrupt. You guys are going under! You are really in serious, serious trouble!’”

Veber continued, “We need to have somebody who’s going to give the information and not editorialize it.” . . . “There’s a group somewhere that keeps on talking, keeps on beating, and it’s hurting our town – in my opinion it’s having a tremendous negative effect on Cape Charles.”

Our response is that Mr. Veber’s accusations are utterly ridiculous and without foundation. What he doesn’t like is that the Wave actually reports the news – good and bad. The inner circles of any government never want bad news reported, and if possible they will print their own Pravda – or in the town’s case, the Gazette. [Read more…]

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ORAL HISTORY: Delivering Milk by Horse and Wagon

March 24, 2014

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Cape Charles Historical Society has for more than a decade been recording oral histories of the area’s earlier days.  A grant from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities enabled 15 interviews to be transcribed, and the Historical Society has made this one available for readers of the Wave.  All the transcriptions may be read at the Cape Charles Museum.)

David Mitchell speaks April 12, 2001

PART 1

I was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and I left there at the age of five and came to Cape Charles.  I lived with my aunt and uncle, Jesse Mitchell and Sally Mitchell.  My uncle worked for the town back in those days.  He used to haul garbage, and the garbage dump was over where the Coast Guard housing is right now [Washington Street east of Sea Breeze apartments].  Used to be the dump pile.  They had a horse and wagon they used to haul garbage with.

I always loved having my own money, so at an early age my Uncle Jesse had me working.  He used to do a little gardening and he would sell butter beans and tomatoes and stuff from his garden.  And he would take orders from private homes to sell butter beans and we had to help shell them and so forth.  And, of course, he would give us a little bit for helping and delivering.  My aunt used to wash laundry for families and she did some housework also.

When I was about 12, Mr. Gladstone had a dairy.  I know a lot of people are familiar with Gladstone Dairy over on the other side of Washington Avenue.  His father had strawberries and stuff.  I didn’t know that much about his father, but I did know Paul Gladstone.  I used to watch the cows and they would graze along Washington Avenue.  They had fields along it, but no fence.  So I happened to be out there playing one day and he came by and asked me if I wanted to keep the cows from going out in the street.  He’d give me something for doing it.  Well, I was playing anyway, so I told him yes.  So I would just throw a rock out and make them go back and then I would continue to play.  I’d see them come over again and I’d throw and make them go back.  And I guess he must have seen that I was faithful in what I was doing, so when I got a little older he gave me a job at the dairy. [Read more…]

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EXTRA! Town Council Mulling Another Real Estate Deal

CAPE CHARLES WAVE

March 18, 2014

As required by law, the Cape Charles Town Clerk today posted notice of a Thursday, March 20, closed-door meeting of Town Council to discuss, in her words, “another real property acquisition opportunity.” The notice, shown above, fails to state what property is being considered.

According to Virginia law,  “A general reference to . . . the subject matter of the closed meeting shall not be sufficient to satisfy the requirements for holding a closed meeting.” But in keeping with past practice, the clerk nevertheless has failed to identify what property is being considered.

After the Wave began covering Town Hall in 2012, the clerk did begin providing slightly more information about closed sessions. Previously, for example, when Town Council met to secretly negotiate a no-bid contract to divest Central Park property for $10, the meeting was described by the clerk only as consideration of an “Unsolicited Confidential Proposal,” with no hint that real estate was involved.

Virginia law also makes strict limitations on closed sessions even when a real estate deal is under consideration: The public may only be excluded in cases “where discussion in an open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiating strategy of the public body.” [Read more…]

Town to Spend $100,000 on Welcome Sign Property

By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave

March 17, 2014

Cape Charles Town Council agreed in a closed-door meeting March 10 to spend $100,000 to buy seven empty lots on the corner of Randolph Avenue and Fig Street owned by developer Richard “Dickie” Foster’s Bay Creek LLC. According to Town Manager Heather Arcos, “the general consensus was for the Town to move forward with the acquisition.”

The town has no immediate plans for the property, which displays a “Welcome to Historic Cape Charles” sign. The town’s Comprehensive Plan and VDOT’s 2020 Transportation Plan call for a traffic circle at the intersection of Randolph and Fig, according to Arcos.

No formal vote is allowed during closed meetings, so Town Council will officially vote to buy the property during its regular meeting Thursday, March 20. Although the decision has already been made, 3-minute public comments may be expressed at the meeting (6 p.m. Thursday at St. Charles Parish Fellowship Hall, 550 Tazewell Avenue). CLICK to read the memo and draft resolution.

The town has leased the seven lots from Foster since 2010 with first right of refusal should the property be offered for sale. A similar number of commercial lots on the other side of Randolph Avenue (not owned by Foster) have been for sale for more than 10 years.

The lots the town plans to buy are valued on County tax rolls at $50,000 each, for a total of $350,000. However, since the real estate bubble burst in 2008, vacant lots in the Town of Cape Charles typically have sold for only a fraction of their assessed value. [Read more…]

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Town Council Plans 23% Increase in Lodging Tax

By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave

March 17, 2014

Cape Charles Town Council plans to raise the town’s lodging tax by 23 percent — only four years after enacting a 50 percent increase. That will bring the total lodging tax increase over four years to 85 percent (from 2 percent to 3.7 percent). If as expected the Council votes to go ahead with the tax increase at its Thursday, March 20, meeting, the next step will be to hold a public hearing in April.

In addition to the town tax, lodgers pay 5.3 percent state tax and 2 percent county tax. A state tax increase (from 5 percent to 5.3 percent) took effect in 2013. Combining town, county, and state rates, a lodger currently pays 10.3 percent tax. During discussion at a February budget retreat, Town Council members agreed it would be a good idea to “round off” the total tax amount and so have decided on a .7 percent increase – for a total lodging tax of 11 percent.

The idea to raise the lodging tax comes at a time of record receipts due to the town’s increased popularity for vacation rentals. In 2010 the town began contributing one-third of lodging tax receipts to the Eastern Shore of Virginia Tourism Commission.  The contribution to the Tourism Commission grew from under $10,000 in FY 2011 to over $16,000 in FY 2013. Now the Town Council wants to “cap” contributions to the Tourism Commission rather than continue giving a full one-third. It then wants to use the increased funds available to support tourism-related endeavors such as the website “Cape Charles By the Bay.”

Northampton County was authorized by the Town to collect the transient occupancy tax under the Annexation Agreement of 1991. The agreement was that a 2 percent tax on town lodging was to be remitted to the county on a monthly basis. At the end of each year, the county was to return the full amount plus interest to the town for 10 years. After 10 years, the county would keep the 2 percent tax for its own purposes.

At some point both the county and the town began charging lodging tax, with increases over the years until the total town/county tax rate equaled the present 5 percent. According to town code, the county is still supposed to collect the full tax monthly, and then remit the amount above 2 percent back to the town. But in 2010 the then-town treasurer stated that during her tenure she had never received a remittance from the county. Current town records also fail to indicate that any lodging tax is being returned by the county to the town. [Read more…]

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An Even Odder ‘Odd Couple’ Opens 3/21 at the Palace

March 17, 2014

Unger and Madison are at it again! Florence Unger and Olive Madison, that is, in Neil Simon’s hilarious contemporary comic classic: the female version of “The Odd Couple” coming to the Historic Palace Theatre. Performances are Friday, March 21, at 8 p.m.; Saturday, March 22 at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, March 23 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $15 adults and $5 students and are available at the box office immediately before performances.

Olive, like her original male counterpart, is divorced and living in cheerful chaos in her New York apartment. At Olive’s invitation, the suicidal Florence, newly separated from her husband, moves in and is soon finding comfort in cooking, cleaning and fussing until Olive is almost reduced to a nervous wreck. It becomes clear that the patterns of their disastrous marriages are already re-occurring.

Instead of the poker party that begins the original version, Ms. Madison has invited the girls over for an evening of Trivial Pursuit. The Pidgeon sisters have been replaced by the two Constanzuela brothers. But the hilarity remains the same. Taking the stage at the Palace Theatre for these performances are Fran Loper, Mellisa Stein, Joanne Dean, JP Pare, Christie Iversen, Victor Abrahamian, Susan Kovacs, and Sherri DeMarino.

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EXTRA! Hundreds Turn Out Against County Zoning Plan

By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave

March 13, 2014

Over 200 persons turned out Tuesday night (March 11) at Northampton High auditorium for a combined Board of Supervisors/Planning Commission public hearing on a proposed new zoning code for Northampton County. Some 50 members of the audience rose to speak – mostly in opposition – and the meeting, which began at 7, carried on until 11 p.m.

One old-timer said the meeting reminded him of 1994, when in the same auditorium hundreds of locals gathered to protest a county-endorsed plan to build a maximum security federal prison off Bayview Road. Wednesday night’s gathering may have been the most outspoken opposition to county plans in 20 years, he said.

The heat began to rise well before public comment time began. County Economic Development Director Charles McSwain and his staff led off with an overview of the proposed zoning code, which he noted had been in the works for a very long time — three years. That led Planning Commission member Roberta Kellam to bristle, “If there is a problem with timing, perhaps you should look in the mirror.”

There was more than a hint of bad blood between the appointed Planning Commission, chaired by Martina Coker, and County staff – specifically McSwain, who only arrived a year ago but has since been the focal point for change in the county. Verbal exchanges included the following:

COKER — Why is the zoning ordinance not in accord with the Comprehensive Plan? Why has a revised Comp Plan not been released? Why has there been no public input to the Comp Plan before tonight?

McSWAIN — This was all done at the request of the Board of Supervisors.

COKER — Aquaculture could be greatly affected by the proposed changes. Have there been any studies done on what the effect might be?

McSWAIN — No specific studies have been done about that. [Read more…]

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BUDGET WORKSHOP:
Town Requests More Staff, Higher Pay, New Truck

By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave

March 10, 2014

Cape Charles Town Manager Heather Arcos has asked Town Council to approve a 2 percent raise for all town staff. Speaking at a March 6 budget workshop, Arcos reminded Council members that town staff had received no COLA [Cost of Living Adjustment] in FY 2014 and only a 1 percent COLA in FY 2013 and FY 2012.

Arcos also recommended a 93-cent increase in the cost of trash pickup, which is included in residents’ water bills. She noted that under the town’s new contract with Davis Disposal, the current charge per household for trash is $13 per month and will rise in September to $13.50 per month. The increase will add another dollar to residents’ $108 monthly water bill. [Read more…]

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Town Planner Tasked with Drafting Chicken Ordinance

By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave

March 10, 2014

“If written properly, a backyard chicken ordinance is feasible for Cape Charles. It boils down to whether or not the Town wants it,” Town Planner Rob Testerman told the Planning Commission March 4. Commissioners agreed that Testerman should draft a suggested ordinance to allow keeping backyard chickens under controlled conditions. At present, the town’s ban on agricultural activities in residential areas contains no exception for chickens.

“Backyard (urban) chickens are allowed in residential districts in various localities across the country, state, and Eastern Shore, from city settings such as Madison, WI; Chicago, IL; and Brooklyn, NY; to small rural towns like Onancock, Chincoteague, and Eastville,” Testerman reported. “They are allowed on lots as small as 3,000 square feet, or in some cases the minimum lot is much larger,” he said. Two towns that do not allow backyard chickens are Exmore and Wachapreague, he noted. [Read more…]