During Lynwood Lewis’ town hall meeting in Cape Charles, he noted that the General Assembly would once again be discussing the plight of Atlantic Menhaden in the Bay, and that there appeared to be some momentum behind moving regulation away from the General Assembly and over to the VMRC. Despite the hopeful tone, for many Rec fishermen, they will believe it when they see it. Many believe problem with Menhaden stems from as systemic culture of corruption, not just in Virginia, but also at the Federal level, all the way to the Atlantic States Fisheries Management Council, and until that is addressed, not much is going to change. It is the belief of many that the subsequent discovery of a few lines of faulty computer code—which eventually forced the start of a shift in the way ASMFC’s estimates menhaden stocks, exposed a willful attempt to overfish the stock.
Archives for January 2016
WCCR-THERESORT.COM almost a casualty of Royalty Rate and Web Changes
Thousands of Radio Stations scramble to re-build their streaming infrastructure as thousands of small internet stations go silent.
Cape Charles, VA. January 14, 2016 – WCCR-THERESORT.COM, a Cape Charles Internet Radio Station, is undergoing major changes…for you, the listener…you shouldn’t experience any interruption of the daily stream you enjoy now. You’ll notice some changes to the website…right now you can see two new buttons on the “Music” page on the website (wccr-theresort.com) that are marked “Live Streaming Beta Test.” The buttons will lead you to the new Music stream for WCCR-THERESORT. Feel free to “listen in” as they build and fine tune WCCR-THERESORT. The Station is being re-built because the Live365 streaming service it is currently hosted/streamed on is going out of business at the end of the month. That means all of a sudden, Stations have to redo Audio/Platform software, Copyright licensing, Music libraries, required metadata for reporting etc.
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VB Delegate sponsors bill to raise oyster leasing to $5000 per acre
Dave Mayfield of the Virginia Pilot reports that Bill DeSteph of Virginia Beach is sponsoring a bill that would raise the $1.50 an acre per year for the right to lease the bottoms of state-owned waterways for growing oysters and clams to $5,000. The fee increase would be for beds planted within 1000 feet of residential property. The specifics seem to indicate that this bill is mainly aimed at curbing the activities of Virginia Beach waterman that work in and around the Lynnhaven River. The legislation is one of several bills DeStaph has introduced which stem from pressure by Virginia Beach waterfront homeowners, who have complained that these oyster farms are encroaching on their properties. It is doubtful this legislation has much hope of gaining any traction in the General Assembly, given the increased profile of the state’s aquaculture industry.
Property owners along the Lynnhaven River and its tributaries in Virginia Beach listed protests to the oyster lease applications, siting problems while trying to navigate boats around oystermen and their cages. There have also been claims that oyster aquaculture close to shore, with the low lease rates, will hurt property values.
“We’re trying to put out a strong position and open a strong discussion on what can be done, “ said DeSteph. He also notes that shellfish growers, in the past have opposed any changes to the rate, but that it may be time them to meet in the middle with waterfront property owners.
The leasing program is managed by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. The VMRC has not taken a position on the bill, but has noted that up to 50% of the leased waterways could be affected.
Representatives of Shellfish Growers of Virginia referred questions to the group’s chairman, Doug McMinn, owner of Wake-based Chesapeake Bay Oyster Co. He hasn’t responded to phone and email messages.
Science and Philosophy Seminar: Prequels to the United States Constitution, Jan 22nd
Science and Philosophy Seminar of the Eastern Shore of Virginia has scheduled a seminar, “Prequels to the United States Constitution.” The free 90-minute seminar will be held at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, Jan 22 in the Lecture Hall of the Eastern Shore Community College, 29300 Lankford Hwy, Melfa, VA 23410.
Mau VanDuren will lead the Seminar and will discuss “The Many Heads and Many Hands” that inspired James Madison to design his “More Perfect Union.”
VanDuren is a retired international consultant, author, and political campaigner. He and his wife Jackie found nature and friends in Accomack, Virginia.
These seminars are occasionally rescheduled on short notice. Prospective attendees are urged to check the Seminar’s website (www.SciPhi.org) shortly before a scheduled date.
Science and Philosophy Seminar is an informally organized group that meets more or less regularly to explore and discuss a wide array of topics, ranging from philosophical speculation to scientific research. All Seminars are open to the public. Admission is free.
Contact: Terry Malarkey
757-710-3001
Arts Enter to add Tap with Will Pfeifer
Arts Enter School of Dance is happy to announce tap dance classes, taught by Will Pfeifer. Classes are scheduled for Wednesdays at 6:30, and are open to all ages. Will is a distinguished tap dancer, having studied under Ms. Mara at IM Dance for several years. Mr. Pfeifer performed in all the spring shows, while helping teach many of the younger dancers.
Will will be focusing on all aspects of tap, including jazz styles.
For more information, contact Arts Enter:(757) 331-2787
North Beach Expansion: Dredging to begin soon
If you enjoyed the large, expanded beach last summer, the 2016 season will be even better. The next phase of the federal Cape Charles Navigation Project is set to resume within the next few weeks. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has released bid documents and the bid period will close on January 25, 2016. The next phase of the project involves the dredging of Cherrystone Channel to a depth of 18 feet—this will result in close to 200,000 cubic yards of fine sand dredge material being added to the Town beach, as well as the upland site. The project is expected to last 120 calendar days.
DEQ renews water quality monitoring agreement
RICHMOND, VA. — The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality will renew an agreement supporting citizen water quality monitoring and thank the hundreds of Virginians who dedicate their time to this effort at an event Wednesday, November 18, 2015.
For more than 15 years, DEQ has partnered with state and local conservation organizations to give citizens the tools and training needed to accurately assess water quality. The information these volunteers collect is used at the local, state and federal levels to identify potential water quality problems — and to find solutions.
DEQ Director David K. Paylor will join leaders from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, Izaak Walton League of America, Virginia Citizens for Water Quality and Virginia Water Monitoring Council to sign a new partnership agreement supporting citizen water quality monitoring.
The November 18 event at Browns Island (directly across from Tredegar Iron Works on Tredegar Street in downtown Richmond) is open to the public. The signing event will begin at 1:30 p.m.
Board of Supervisors Repeal Zoning
In a stunning move, the new Northampton Board of Supervisors repealed the controversial and highly contested 2015 zoning ordinance that passed during a lame duck session of the Board on December 5th 2015. Supervisor Robert Duer, after receiving permission to add an action item to the agenda, offered a resolution that would repeal what had just been put in place a month earlier. Certainly a victory for opponents of the ordinance, it was also a severe disappointment for factions that worked for over 3 years to push the then proposed zoning through.
Supervisor Bennett offered a reserved response, “In the future I hope there will be some positive things happening for the citizens of Northampton County, we have a constituency that is very intelligent, but at the same time…but I have to vote against this.”
A visually disappointed Vice Chairman Larry LeMond commented, “Obviously after spending the last two years on the new zoning, like Mr. Bennett I’m not surprised, I was hoping we would take the new ordinance, that we admitted wasn’t perfect, but was better than the one we had, but just improve on those certain items instead of just throwing the whole thing out.”
An emotional and tearful Granville Hogg added, “It is not what you and I want it is about what we want as a community, I asked for your help and those voters have responded, they have made a statement, but the job doesn’t end there, there is a commitment to make it work. Thank you.” After Hogg finished, there was an extended standing ovation by members of the audience.
Newly elected Chairman Spencer Murray continued, “In the 30 years that I Deborah and I have lived in Northampton County I cannot recall an issue that has consumed more resources; this issue has confused and divided our citizens to the extent that many questioned the motives of others, and have lost faith in their government. The public spoke to this issue on November 3rd of last year. I believe the expedited 2015 vote on the zoning ordinance threw the baby out with the bath water, yet I understand the action we are about to undertake will be a bitter pill to swallow for those that have worked on this for close to 3 years, this is not an attempt to put the genie back in the bottle and go backwards, the amendments we propose tonight take us forward in many ways. I ask the staff and the public to scrutinize these amendments, provide the feedback, we are asking for no shortcuts. We will listen.”
The voted passed 3 -2, Hogg, Duer and Murray for, LeMond and Bennett against.
SPECIAL: Dufty, Why a Credible and Competent County Attorney Team is Critical to a Sustainable Future
The record in the proceeding known as the drafting and adoption of the 2015 Northampton County Zoning Ordinance is replete with comments from this writer that the Board of Supervisors (BOS) was not being properly advised on legal issues pertaining to this matter from its counsel, the legal team consisting of County Attorney Bruce Jones and assistant Bev Leatherbury.
My interest in ensuring that the county supervisors were being properly advised on Code and case law is personal, and it reaches back to my experience with county government over twenty years ago.
You see, in 1993 I was a millwright in a steel mill in Watervliet, NY and had been so for 10 years. I was at the top of my pay scale, and we were quite comfortable on that salary. But shortly after the November elections, I got a call from a newly-elected Legislator that the Republican majority in that governing body had picked me to be Executive Director of the Environmental Management Council, an entity established under state law to advise elected leaders on issues of the environment and natural resources. Naturally, just being a wrench in a local mill, I declined. I had no government experience, although had successfully sued the state on several occasions (by the seat of my pants) as head of a 3,000 member environmental group. But they insisted….repeatedly. So I took a pretty sizeable pay cut and on January 2, 1994, I took the helm of the 19-member council.
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Town Searches for Its Identity
Looking to attain a more focused methodology as a way for Cape Charles to discover its true self, to ‘Brand’ itself,Town Manager Brent Manuel brought Kyle Meyer, Community Development Administrator, Dept of Housing and Community Development program to give a presentation on the Virginia Main Street program, a proven method to help streamline, and possibly fund the process. The Virginia Main Street Program is touted as a “preservation-based economic and community development program that follows the Main Street Four-Point Approach™ developed by the National Trust Main Street Center”.
The so-called Four-Point-Approach can basically be broken down into the components Organization, Promotion, Design and ‘Vitality’. Basically, this so-called ‘methodology’ is prompting losers like us to collaborate with each other, build consensus and create a unique, personal myth as a means to promote us as ‘losers not so much’, clean up our space so we don’t offend white middle class shoppers…oh, and vitality means doing whatever we can to bolster and prop up the merchant class so they can thrive, all at the expense of the ordinary people.
Essentially what this will entail is creating yet another organization (believe it or not the town has already done this) called the Main Street Committee, which will be focused on the so-called ‘revitalization of Cape Charles’. Eventually, this will lead to another ‘Board of Directors’ replete with a paid full or part time Executive Director to run this Felliniesque carnival. In a nutshell, this is yet another organization that will require chunks of taxpayer cash just to exist; as was mentioned many times that evening, to survive, this also has to be a ‘public-private’ partnership, meaning aside from them foraging through your pockets for any loose change (your taxes), you will also be expected to support the effort through generous donations.
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