This week, the Mirror sat down on warm summer evening to chat with Mayor Proto about things Cape Charles. Most of the questions we posed to the Mayor came about from conversations we have had with concerned citizens; some we posed ourselves.
Mirror: The Bay Creek Sale of $31k of land– who sold it? What is going on with that? Has the town received taxes on that?
Proto: Right now, we have received your questions, and Deborah is working on it.
Mirror: Well somebody made $31k on it, and according to state code that is taxable….transferring it to a non-taxpaying entity such as the Bay Creek HOA to avoid paying taxes is not going to cut it, so I hope we find out.
Mirror: Have you read the Annexation Agreement? This question relates to the previous question.
Proto: I don’t understand the question…
Mirror: The Annexation Agreement, Law 27 handed down by the Annexation Court, a three judge panel, clearly states that the developer is responsible for all improvements to the roadway.
Proto: Which road are we talking about, just to be clear?
Mirror: Route 642.
Proto: Oh. But that road is for improved access to the Harbor.
Mirror: Yes, but does that matter? The “improvements (emphasis implied)”, include widening the road…the project is even named 642 Improvement Project.
Proto: Yes. But I still don’t understand. Now, if I were a Bay Creek resident, I wouldn’t want to have to pay, or the Homeowners to pay for this…and if I lived there, I think I might rather have an older, more rural road rather than a shiny new roadway…
Mirror: The developer, not the homeowner…this is about Annexations, and in Virginia they are taken seriously. This was an odd one, where a town is asking to annex land solely so that a developer can build on it. The state is always worried about who is going to bear the cost, and they were clear that the town(taxpayers), since at the time it was smaller and poorer, should not pay for the wastewater plant, or improvements to Route 642….
Proto: The Town is not paying for it…VDOT is…
Mirror: The taxpayers, somebody in the town like me, who still pays state, federal and local taxes, is paying for it. Also, with all this transferring of assets going on, like a bad episode of Lets Make a Deal, whether someone like the HOA or Kevcor, through the transfer of assets and sale has now assumed responsibility for the Annexation agreement…well, that could be funny. The State Police or the Attorney General really needs to pull back the curtain and take a look.
Proto: This is the first I’ve heard of this.
Mirror: We published several, lengthy articles on just this last fall and winter. Why hasn’t Council gotten an opinion from the Attorney General on this?..
Proto: I don’t quite understand why that would be necessary? I have to…
Mirror: An opinion would probably clear this up; if the agreement is no longer binding, or they’re not going to enforce it, just get rid of it.