Mayor
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Asst. Town Manager
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Code Enforcement
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Welcome to the official Town of Cape Charles Newsletter. This publication is available by submitting your email address to gazette@capecharles.org or by contacting the Town Office at 757-331-3259 x10.

The purpose of this electronic newsletter is to pass factual, informative and timely information to the citizens of Cape Charles and to any other individuals who have a business, property, travel or historical interest in our Town.

The information contained in this newsletter is considered to be the "official word" on the Town’s activities as noted by our Town Manager. The Cape Charles Gazette will be a news source that will report weekly events, upcoming Town activities, articles of interest to our citizens, Town projects, safety & security issues, and emergency announcements.

We hope that you will enjoy receiving the Cape Charles Gazette.

For additional information please go to the Town’s website at http://www.capecharles.org/or contact us at gazette@capecharles.org.

CODE ENFORCEMENT

Doug Smith, Code Enforcement Officer, reported that he and Assistant Code Enforcement Officer Jeb Brady performed twenty-two (22) fire inspections last week.

Doug said that Code had to have four (4) lawns cut last week after the property owners refused to comply with written warnings to cut the lawn on their property. Doug said they sent out seven (7) additional notices to other property owners regarding overgrown lawns.

Code Enforcement resolved fifty-one (51) of the fifty-nine (59) annual inspections required this month regarding elevators, fire alarms, sprinklers and commercial range hoods. Doug reported that the Fire Inspection Program, initiated by the Town over the last few months, has revealed that there were a few outstanding issues in the community that Code was unaware of. Doug also reported that the home and business owners have been very cooperative in resolving the issues. The goal of this program is to save lives and property.

Code Enforcement issued the Erosion & Sedimentation (E&S) Control permit for South Port Investors Parcel # 14.

Code Enforcement is in the final stage of taking enforcement/construction "action" on residences located on 500 Block of Strawberry Street, the 600 Block of Madison Avenue and the 300 Block of Jefferson Avenue. These structures are all in very poor condition and pose a hazard to the general public. Code expects to de-construct all of these buildings within the next month.

Code met with the owners of a building on the 400 Block of Randolph Avenue and is working with them in their attempts to renovate and save their structure.

Doug & Jeb received the second submittal of E&S Control Plans for South Port Parcels # 19 & # 20 as well as Parcel # 90-A-1A. They also performed an additional nine (9) E&S Inspections in the Town over the last week.

Doug assisted the Town Manager, Joe Vaccaro, with the removal of an illegal business sign that took three months to remove. The Town thanks the owners for the sign removal.

TOWN HARBOR

Smitty Dize, Harbor Master Extraordinaire, reported that the Harbor Staff completed a rough draft for their Oil Spill Control & Countermeasure Plan (SPCC) this past week. Smitty thanked Chief Jack Williamson, U.S. Coast Guard Station Cape Charles, for his tremendous assistance in constructing this SPCC.

The Town Council unanimously approved the submission for the application for the Boating Infrastructure Grant at last week‘s Council Meeting on Thursday, August 14, 2008.

Smitty reported that a vessel from the Netherlands, with two (2) people onboard, rescued a "lost" young man from the waters near the Town Harbor after they discovered him clinging to a day marker yelling for help. Smitty said it is unknown at this time how long this young man was in the water but the couple told Smitty that this young man did not have the strength to pull himself back into his dinghy. Smitty does not have any further information to provide the public at this time.

Smitty made the following announcement:

Notice to Annual/Seasonal Slip Holders who are Town residents: The Harbor has just started using their automated marina billing system at the Harbor. They apologize to customers who did not receive last month’s bill. That system error has now been corrected. The automated system did not recognize a 10th of a cent on the bills so some of the Annual/Seasonal Slip Holders who receive a 10% discount may see a small increase in your rent. Example: the regular rate per foot is $3.25 – 10% =2.925, this will be automatically rounded off to $2.93 which is a ½ of a cent increase per/foot per month. If anyone has any questions regarding their bills or this procedure please contact Smitty at 757-331-2357.

PLANNING

Tom Bonadeo, Town Planner, reported that he has been working on a site visit to property located on Route 642 (Old Cape Charles Road). The purpose ofthis "site visit" is to better understand the proposal that these property owners have made to the Town regarding the possible purchase of same.

Tom participated in the Eastern Shore of Virginia Broadband Authority Technical Advisory Meeting last week. He said they discussed the Request for Proposal for engineering services and some issues involving the two (2) Grants for Parksley & Cape Charles.

Tom met with the new President of Bayshore Concrete in order to continue to keep an "open line of communications" between our good neighbors and the Town. Tom discussed some issues regarding recycling old concrete and briefed him on some environmental issues.

LIBRARY

Ann Rutledge, Town Librarian, reported that the Summer Toddler Preschool Storytime was held this past Thursday and a total of fourteen (14) children and their caregivers attended the event. The theme was Summer Fun.

The Summer Teen Movie Night and Summer Kids Movie Night sponsored by the Friends of the Library, the Cape Charles Committee on Children & Youth and the Town of Cape Charles continues and a total of thirteen (13) children and young adults attended the movies last week. The next teen movie scheduled for presentation this coming Wednesday, August 20, 2008 is The Mask and the kids movie will be Mulan II. Please contact Ann at the Library for further information at 757-331-1300.

On Friday, August 15, 2008, the Library hosted fourteen (14) children from the Migrant Headstart Program from our good neighbors in Cheriton. These wonderful children are a welcome addition to our Town Library. Ann also reported that our Library had over 250 visitors last month. This has been a busy summer for our Library and we expect the programs and the Library usage to continue throughout the rest of the year.

TOWN CLERK

Linda Carola, Assistant Town Clerk, reported that her office continues to respond to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and answering questions regarding our Beach & Park.

The search for a new Town Clerk continues and the Mayor and Town Council conducted interviews with five (5) candidates last Monday & Tuesday (August 11 & 12, 2008). All of the applicants for this position did very well during the detailed interviews and the Town Council has selected three (3) candidates for further processing.

The Town has received eight (8) applications for the Assistant to the Town Planner position. The applications will be pre-screened this week and presented to a selection committee.

The Town Clerk’s Office noted that the Cape Charles Official Website, www.capecharles.org, has four (4)"new" postings as of last week and we highly encourage all citizens to view these documents to better understand how their local government works:

Freedom of Information Act, Conflict of Interest Act and the Public Records Act documents are now available here.

Annexation Agreement documents from 1991 are available here.

PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT

Dave Fauber, Director of Public Works, is proud to report that Freddie Meditz, Waste Water Treatment Plant, passed his Class III Certification Examination for Waste Water Plant Operations. This is a major achievement for Freddie and the Town and we congratulate Freddie.

Dave further stated that he continues to operate with a "skeleton crew" due to injuries and scheduled vacation with family. Dave said the PWD crew continues to work and is now engaged in assembling a "communications room" for the Cape Charles Volunteer Fire Company. This room is being assembled as part of the overall plan for expanding and upgrading the Town Hall. These efforts are underway to save the Town monies and consolidate work efforts. The public is invited to view these work efforts during normal work hours; Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

POLICE

Chief David Eder reported that the Cape Charles Police Department (CCPD) responded to fifty seven (57) calls for service in the Town last month and twelve (12) calls for service outside of the Town limits that included four (4) 10-13 calls (Police asking for assistance due emergency conditions such as a shooting, large fight, major car accident or loss of life etc.).

Chief Eder also reported that the CCPD issued eighteen (18) traffic tickets, ten (10) traffic warnings, five (5) parking tickets and were involved in four (4) misdemeanor arrests last month.

Investigative efforts into the attempted abduction of a six (6) year old female continue and the CCPD is pursuing and investigative lead that was sent via e-mail to the CCPD regarding a similar incident that took place several months ago in this geographical area. The public is asked to please report all suspicious activities to the CCPD or the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office.

ASSISTANT TOWN MANAGER & TOWN MANAGER

With the Summer of 2008 coming to a rapid end; the Town would like to note that the Cape Charles Committee on Children & Youth, the Park and the Town Library have been the big hits this year. This would not have been possible without the assistance of Perry Kiriakos, Roberta Newman, Clayton Newman, Chuck Little, Jim Weiner, Ann Rutledge, Dee Morris, Chris Bannon, Joan Natali, Tad Taborn, Kim Dunton, Nan Bennett, Rico Trower, Heather Arcos, Dave Fauber, Matt Pruitt, Chief David Eder, Ralph Orzo,  Birdie’s Bayside Mini Golf, Rayfield’s Pharmacy, Coldwell Banker Harbour Realty, New Ravenna, Southeast Expeditions, Sun Trust Bank, American Legion Post 56 (SAL), and the Cape Charles Coffee House.

PRESS RELEASE

On Tuesday, August 26, 2008 the Virginia Aquarium will honor us once again and travel to Cape Charles to present a training session on marine animal rehabilitation. This will include human interactions with our magnificent sea creature neighbors, dolphin and turtle artifacts, items that the VA Aquarium has recovered from stranded animals, whale bone flipper puzzles for the children and a group of their volunteers who will present a slide show and videos on our sea bound neighbors of the Eastern Shore.

This is a free event for children and adults and it will take place at the Gazebo on Bay Avenue starting at 9:30 AM.

The Town of Cape Charles welcomes the return of the Virginia Aquarium and the Stranding Team to the shore and looks forward to their informative presentation.

Thank you again for the privilege and opportunity to serve this great Town and all the citizens here.

We are now in the Hurricane Season and adverse weather is likely to occur on the Eastern Shore and everyone needs to be "individually ready".

The Town of Cape Charles has recently installed a Flood/Severe Weather Warning Siren in the Historic District of Town. It is located on Mason Avenue across the street from the service station. In the event that the siren goes off, please tune to one of the following broadcast stations for severe flood or weather information and directions.

In the event of an electrical outage, please pay attention for information and directions from the Police & Fire Department who will broadcast information & directions in a mobile manner from their emergency vehicles.

"A man does what he must - in spite of personal consequences, in spite of obstacles and dangers and pressures - and that is the basis of all human morality."
John F. Kennedy

Joe Vaccaro
Town Manager
Town of Cape Charles, VA
757-331-3259 x20

All information contained in this publication is believed to be true and correct at the time of publication.
Not responsible for typographical errors.

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Municipal Corporation of Cape Charles
2 Plum Street
Cape Charles, VA 23310
757-331-3259

Copyright © 2008. All rights reserved.