Zoning Protest Draws Crowd
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Circulation 13,000 Free December 12, 2014 Zoning Protest Draws Crowd Story and photo by Ron West The remnants of a nor’easter failed to deter a crowd from rallying at the Northampton Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday in opposition to a proposal to amend the current Zoning Ordinance as well as plans to install a wastewater line along Lankford High- way near Cape Charles. Those at the rally filled the Board Chambers and overflowed into the hallways as the supervisors listened to more than a dozen speakers urging them not to make changes to the cur- rent Zoning Ordinance. It was standing-room-only, thanks to protesters at Tuesday’s Northampton supervisors’ session. For over three years, the county’s Planning Commission has been re- harm tourism and aquaculture. county conducts business. meantime, portions of the building will viewing and rewriting the Compre- Addressing the wastewater line pro- Following the public comment ses- need to be blocked off for the safety. hensive Plan on which a Zoning Ordi- posed by the Public Service Authority sion, the board voted to continue a re- The board heard a request from Dec- nance is usually based. The majority (PSA), Cape Charles resident Debra view of the proposed Zoning changes laration Network Group, Inc., to rent of supervisors have indicated a desire Bender suggested that it is not needed for six months. space on the county-owned water tower to loosen restrictions on the existing and that the people did not want it. She Northampton School Superintendent for Internet transmission antennas. Zoning Ordinance to make it easier for concluded by telling the Board mem- Eddie Lawrence brought to the board’s In support of the request, Machipon- individuals to obtain building permits. bers that with the exception of Super- attention the need to address structural go resident David Kelly noted that parts Speaking against the proposed zon- visor Granville Hogg, they should step safety issues at the high school. of the county have inadequate service ing changes, Roberta Kellam urged the down from their positions on the board. According to Lawrence and Opera- that inhibits business operations. supervisors to withdraw their proposal Cathy Campbell argued that the su- tions Director Chris Truckner, an engi- At least one additional Internet pro- to change the ordinance, calling their pervisors had, in fact, listened to the neer has found safety issues resulting vider also has asked to rent space on efforts unethical. citizens and made changes to their from deterioration of walls in the cafe- the tower. Several speakers echoed Kellam. original Zoning Ordinance revision, teria and ceilings in a hallway adjacent The board agreed to allow Declara- Shorekeeper Jay Ford contended that such as not removing the Chesapeake to the gymnasium. While no cost esti- tion Network’s request. the supervisors have not responded the Bay Preservation Act (CBPA) from mates were given for repairs, Lawrence Nunez reported that Cape Charles opposition. He suggested that they sit the seaside. Agreeing that the county said his staff is looking at places in the Rescue Squad is under a correction or- down with representatives from the needs to grow its economy, she reas- present budget to help offset the cost. der by the State Office of Emergency county to discuss the proposed changes. sured, “Fears of strip malls along Rt. County Administrator Katie Nunez Medical Services (EMS) regarding Former Supervisor Andrew Barbour 13 are based on misinformation.” noted that there will be some surplus response issues. The order runs until stated that while the proposed revi- Northampton High School junior funding left from this year’s budget, the end of the year, by which time it is sions to the ordinance are being adver- Hannah DeMarino urged the supervi- but did not indicate how much. hoped the problem will be resolved. tised as a way to encourage businesses sors to hold their next meeting at the Lawrence and Truckner said they In a related matter, the board re- in the county, they actually would school to allow students to see how the would look into funding, but in the (Continued on Page 8) 2 • EastErn shorE Post • DEcEmbEr 12, 2014 Wallops Recovery Efforts Continue Following Rocket Explosion Orbital Sciences Corporation this earth and impacting just to the north of for ISS cargo deliveries with high lev- es in the first, second and fourth quar- week announced new details in its the launch mount. A detailed engineering els of safety and reliability and mini- ters of 2016 using the upgraded vehicle. plans to resume cargo-flight launches inspection of the Spaceport has been com- mum disruption to schedules. Orbital The greater payload performance of the from Wallops Flight Facility to the In- pleted and MARS engineering teams con- expects these plans to allow it to ac- upgraded Antares will permit Cygnus ternational SpaceStation (ISS) and to tinue to refine the cost and work schedule complish all remaining cargo deliver- spacecraft on each of these missions to accelerate the introduction of an up- for Pad-0A facility repairs, estimated to ies under its current Commercial Re- deliver over 20 percent more cargo than graded Antares launch vehicle. be approximately 12 months. supply Services (CRS) contract with in prior plans. The first new propulsion Recovery from the detonation of an NASA, Orbital, and MARS continue NASA by the end of 2016 with no cost systems are expected to arrive at the Antares rocket seconds after lift-off execution of an environmental remedia- increase to the space agency. Antares final assembly facility at Wal- from Wallops Flight Facility on Oct. 28 tion plan, including pumping water from The company’s plans for the CRS lops Island in mid-2015 to begin vehicle continues for the Virginia Commercial the impact crater and sampling. Initial program and Antares launch vehicle integration and testing. Space Flight Authority, which owns surface water samples indicate no im- include these major elements: •Wallops Launch Site Repairs: The and operates the Mid-Atlantic Regional pact to back bays and tributaries. •Atlas V Launch: Orbital has con- MARS has assessed the clean-up, re- Spaceport (MARS) on Wallops. The environmental team sampled tracted with United Launch Alliance pair and reconstruction work neces- After four successful launches, in- soil in the impact crater and in the for an Atlas V launch of a Cygnus sary to return the Wallops launch com- cluding three Cygnus cargo deliveries area surrounding the launch pad. cargo spacecraft from Cape Canaveral, plex to operational status. Plans call to the ISS, the Orbital Antares rocket Test results showed the contamination Fla., in the fourth quarter of 2015, with for repairs to be substantially complet- experienced an anomaly in its first was contained in the area immediate- an option for a second Atlas V launch ed by the fall of 2015, with recertifica- stage 15 seconds after lift-off from the ly around the crater. This area will require in 2016 if needed. The Atlas rocket’s tion taking place before year end. Spaceport, resulting in a catastrophic removal of six inches of soil for reme- greater lift capacity will allow Cygnus According to Orbital, the flexibility failure of the vehicle. diation, which was to begin this month. to carry nearly 35 percent more cargo of its Cygnus cargo spacecraft to ac- The MARS was spared severe dam- Orbital says its primary objective to the ISS than previously planned for commodate heavier cargo loads, to- age, with the Antares rocket returning to is to fulfill its commitment to NASA CRS missions in 2015. gether with the greater lift capacity of •Antares Propulsion Upgrade: Orbit- the Atlas V and upgraded Antares ve- ublic Earing on alloPs epairs onDay al confirmed its ability to accelerate the hicles, will allow it to complete all cur- P h W r m introduction of a new main propulsion rently contracted ISS deliveries in four Wallops Flight Facility will host an pled air, surface water, ground water, system for the Antares rocket and has missions instead of the five previously information session for the public from 6 and soil. Air sampling is complete and scheduled three additional CRS launch- planned flights over the next two years. to 8 p.m., Monday, Dec. 15, at the Wallops no hazards or environmental impacts Visitor Center to provide updates on en- were identified. The U.S. Coast Guard vironmental remediation work complet- and Virginia Marine Resources Com- ed and underway following the Antares mission patrolled the inland bays and rocket launch failure in late October. ocean for 24 hours following the mis- Experts from Wallops’ environmen- hap and reported no observations of tal team will be on hand to answer water pollution, such as oil sheens. questions about the mishap’s environ- Groundwater in the impact crater mental impact on Wallops Island, as adjacent to the pad has been pumped well as completed and planned testing out, containerized and removed six and remediation efforts. In addition, times since the incident to remove launch and range safety officials will perchlorate, a chemical in the fuel of be available to speak about safety pro- Antares’ second-stage motor. Pumping cesses and procedures before, during, and sampling at the site will continue. Full Service Bookkeeping and after launch operations. In addition, crews have begun ex- “I’m very proud of the work by the cavating soil in the area around the & combined NASA, Orbital and MARS impact crater to remove any residual Full Service Bookkeeping team in the wake of the Antares mis- RP-1, a highly-refined kerosene used Tax Preparation hap,” said Bill Wrobel, Wallops Flight as a propellant for the first stage of & Facility director.