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…]

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SETTLEMENT: Paul Galloway Gets a Lighthouse

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…]

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Lloyd Kellam’s Final Words: Daddy’s Punishments

CAPE CHARLES WAVE

January 12, 2014

(EDITOR’S NOTE:  The Cape Charles Historical Society has for more than a decade been recording oral histories of the area’s earlier days.  In 2002, as one in a series of lectures sponsored by the Cape Charles Library entitled “The Way We Were,” Cape Charles native Lloyd Kellam shared the following account.  In 2012, funded by a grant by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, the recording, along with 14 others, was transcribed. The Historical Society has now made it available for readers of the Wave.  All the transcriptions are also available for reading at the Museum.)  

SEVENTH AND FINAL PART

One of the other things, and this is to tell you how my childhood was, didn’t have anything to do with Cape Charles, sort of like what my parents were like.  Like I said, I was born in a store and had jobs to do and if I didn’t do certain things on time, Daddy would punish me.  Mother would usually punish me and Daddy would talk to me.  If things were important, Daddy would start to punish or if I spoke back to him, he would punish me.  And if I’d say, “I think Daddy that’s too strong,” whatever he gave me, he doubled.

I can remember one time I was supposed to have gotten the Eastern Shore News from the post office right after school and then I was on my own.  Like I told you, once you did your job,  then you were on your own.  But I stayed too long.  And when I got home, I went by the post office and they weren’t there.  When I got to the store, I said, “Daddy, the Eastern Shore News wasn’t there.”  He said, “I know.  I had to hire somebody to go get them.”

“Who’d you hire?”  He said, “Herman Etz.”  I said, “Gee, Daddy, you take his money out of my money.”  “Worse than that,” he said, “I’m going to punish you. You can’t go to the movies, you can’t have your candy, and you can’t leave the house for a week.”  And I said, “Daddy . . . ”  He said, “Two weeks.”  I said, “But Daddy, “Guadalcanal Diaries” is on at the movies.”  I never will forget that.  He said, “Four weeks.”  And then I said, “Can I read the funnies in the newspaper?”  He said, “Eight weeks!”  And I had that more than one time in my life.

At one time, he started out at a month and he got me up to three months in a hurry.  That’s because I had the big bicycle that I told you about with the big basket.  George used to run away, my little brother George, used to run away.  I’ve often said that if I was going to write a book, the title would be, “My Brother Was an Only Child.”  Because Mother always had a soft spot in her heart for George because he was the baby.  But George would run away and wouldn’t mind.

This particular time, it was supper time and he wasn’t home.  Mother said, “Lloyd, go get him.”  And I said, “All right.  I’m going to take my bike.”  “Fine.”  Well, I chased him down Pine Street.  I saw him down there, he was down somewhere around Tazewell and Pine.  When he saw me coming, he was right out in the middle of the street.  As I got closer to him, he started running.  I was in that big basket bicycle and I was going after it at a good clip and the little sucker stopped and I ran over him.  I had to pick him up and put him in the basket and bring him back. [Read more…]

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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…]

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BACKGROUND: A Short Primer on the Bay Creek Lawsuits

(EDITOR’S NOTE: In response to numerous questions and some misinformation, the Wave provides below a synopsis of the lawsuits concerning Bay Creek developers, the Bay Creek Community Association, and its members.)

CAPE CHARLES WAVE

January 10, 2014

The original Galloway lawsuit was filed in Virginia Beach Circuit Court on January 24, 2012, by Galloway Corporation, plaintiff against Bay Creek, LLC, defendant. Galloway complained that in 2011, Bay Creek LLC failed to honor an agreement to buy Galloway Corporation’s share of Bay Creek Marina and Resort property that Paul Galloway and Richard “Dickie” Foster held in partnership.

Paul and Robert Galloway said they stopped paying their assessments because Foster did not fulfill his purchase agreement. Bay Creek Community Association filed a collection action in Northampton County District Court after the first Galloway lawsuit. The court ruled in favor of the Association. The Galloways appealed and were required to post a bond for the amount of assessment due.

The second Galloway lawsuit, which was addressed in the “Notice of Settlement,” was entered in Virginia Beach Circuit Court June 14, 2012, with the Galloways and their companies as plaintiffs and the Bay Creek Community Association officers and Bay Creek companies as defendants. On behalf of the members of Community Association, the complaint concerned the makeup and management of the Community Association Board  as well as debt collection and disclosure concerns. It went to mediation December 3-4, 2013.

The third and final Galloway lawsuit was entered in Virginia Beach Circuit Court August 23, 2012. It is almost identical to the June 14, 2012, lawsuit, except that it names only the Galloways and their companies as plaintiffs and Richard S. Foster as the defendant. It raises the same derivative counts as the second lawsuit and demands a jury trial. A footnote (page 5) says, “Plaintiff will seek to consolidate [the two cases]. . . to ensure that all parties are properly before the Court.” If the settlement is approved, this lawsuit will be dismissed as well. [Read more…]

2nd Bay Creek Letter Clarifies (?) Deadline for Response

CAPE CHARLES WAVE

January 9, 2014

The Wave published January 7 a copy of a letter mailed to Bay Creek property owners from their Community Association regarding a proposed settlement between the Association and Paul and Robert Galloway. (Click here for story.) The letter informed property owners that “All objections [to the settlement] must be received within 30 days of the date of this letter.” But the letter had no date.

A followup letter from the Community Association dated January 2 advises Association members that:

“On December 18, you were provided a Notice of Settlement pertaining to cases pending in Virginia Beach Circuit Court. Please note that any objections to the settlement must be received by the Association before January 17, 2014.” [Read more…]

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Lynwood Lewis Can Thank Cheriton, Nassawadox,
and Cape Charles for Senate Lead

CAPE CHARLES WAVE

January 8, 2014

(Updated January 10 to reflect a 9-vote lead.)

Lynwood Lewis can thank Cheriton, Nassawadox, and Cape Charles for his 9-vote lead over Wayne Coleman in yesterday’s special election for State Senator. Because that’s where his percentage wins were the largest.

Lewis lost his home county of Accomack. He lost in Virginia Beach, and he lost Mathews County. His only wins were Northampton County and Norfolk.

In Norfolk he received 52% to Coleman’s 48%, but in Northampton it was a resounding 59% to 41%. [Read more…]

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Bay Creek Lawsuit Settlement Terms Questioned

By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave

January 7, 2014

Bay Creek property owners were sent a letter (click to read) last month from the Bay Creek Community Association informing them that a mediated settlement agreement has been reached to the lawsuit brought against the Community Association management and Bay Creek companies by Paul and Robert Galloway and their companies.

No property or homeowner should accept this settlement based on blind faith . . . . JOHN C. BOYTOS (Click to read full statement)

The terms of the settlement agreement were only partially revealed in the letter. The Class “A” Unit owners were told that they could object to the settlement and dismissal of the derivative counts by contacting the attorney for the Association.

The lawsuit raises derivative counts concerning the management of the Bay Creek Community Association including the constitution of its Board, its organization, breaches of the declaration and by-laws, breaches of fiduciary duties and loyalty, breach of Declarant Assessments, failure to complete and to maintain common areas, failure to exercise good judgment, violation of Fair Debt Collection Practice Act, and Violation of the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act. [Read more…]

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New Town Website Looks Great but Erases History

By GEORGE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave

January 6, 2014

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was updated at 12:15 p.m. today to reflect that the Comprehensive Plan and one of the six Annexation Agreement documents may be found on the new Town website.)

The Town of Cape Charles has ushered in the new year with an impressive-looking new face to the Town’s website (capecharles.org). At first glance, the new design looks a lot like the Cape Charles by the Bay tourism website, which launched last year. Both websites feature alternating scenic photos on the home page.

On the Town website, five drop-down tabs across the top of the page display links to information such as tax rates, a list of Town departments, and forms — for example, to apply for permission to hold a yard sale.

One tangible improvement over the old website is a staff directory of every Town employee, shown by department. (Although one longtime member of the waterworks staff is missing — an apparent oversight.)

But while the website includes a lot of information previously not posted, it also leaves out some crucial information and documents that previously were available.  Previously the Town website posted the 1991 Annexation Agreements between the County, the Town, Bayshore Concrete, and most importantly, Brown & Root, initiator of the development that later became Bay Creek. These documents form the basis for the legal argument that the Bay Creek South developer, Baymark, is responsible for sharing the cost of the expanded Town sewer system. As the Wave has documented, the Town demanded payment by Baymark several times, but ceased its demands around the time that then-Baymark official Steve Bennett was elected to Town Council. [Read more…]

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Still No Police Chief — Maybe Monday?

UPDATE: Just before noon today (Friday), the Wave was notified by Town Hall that Sgt. Pruitt informed Town Manager Heather Arcos late yesterday afternoon that he would accept the position of police chief. The effective date is Tuesday, January 7.

CAPE CHARLES WAVE

January 3, 2014

Cape Charles Chief of Police Charles “Sambo” Brown retired December 31. Two weeks earlier, on December 16, Cape Charles Town Council appointed Sgt. Jim Pruitt to replace him — “with caveats.”

The appointment was made in open session, as required by state law, but the “caveats” were not disclosed. Nor, apparently, had they been discussed with Pruitt, who almost two weeks later has still not accepted the appointment.

When asked yesterday if the Town had appointed a police chief, Town Clerk Libby Hume said “not yet — he [Pruitt] needs to sign the papers but he’s on vacation.” She said she expects that Pruitt will come in on Monday to sign the papers.

Asked if anyone was serving as interim chief in the meantime, Hume said, “not so far as I know.” [Read more…]

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Model Revealed for Waterman’s Memorial at Town Harbor

CAPE CHARLES WAVE

January 2, 2014

The model depicted above of a Waterman’s Memorial proposed for the parking lot in front of the Shanty Restaurant at the Town Harbor has been submitted to Town authorities. After the model was built, plans were modified from a rectangular layout to a circular one.

According to Virginia Waterman’s Memorial President Edward L. Lewis, the memorial will contain three elements inside a 38-foot diameter circle:

— A bronze statue of a young boy standing beside an empty pair of boots;

— A 16-foot-tall replica of the Cape Charles Lighthouse; and

— A three-section black granite wall displaying the name of the memorial and, on the back side, the names of all lost watermen from the State of Virginia.

The Cape Charles Harbor Area Review Board meets today (January 2) at 6 p.m. at Town Hall to decide whether to issue a Certificate of Appropriateness for the plans. The meeting is open to the public, but there is no provision for comments. [Read more…]

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