Town Crier Articles

 

If you are one of many New Town residents operating a home-based business, we'd like to hear from you? Drop is a line at ntratown.crier@gmail.com and tell us about you and your business. If you like send pics or a link to your website! We'd like to feature our local entrepreneurs in upcoming issues

 

 

 

Earth Day this year is scheduled for Thursday April 22 and NTRA Activities Committee will be conducting  a New Town Earth Day Cleanup in our neighborhoods.  The Activities Committee will have trash bags available for pick up to fill as well as guidance on areas that are accessible and those that are either not safe or not NTRA property where trespassing would be permitted. Safety for COVID purposes and use of gloves, grabbers, etc is recommended. Children should be supervised in this family friendly activity. More details will be communicated via email blast to all residents. 

 

 

April may be our time to turn our focus to the environment with Earth day observed on 22 April.  It’s a good time to do your bit as well as to involve the family in how they can make a difference too.  Earth Day is an annual event celebrated around the world to demonstrate support for environmental protection.  Founded in 1970, it is the largest secular observance in the world and is marked by a billion people every year as a day of action.  

 

 

Pick up some litter – James City County has a limited number of litter loan kits available.  Option 1 includes litter grabbers, trash collection bags, orange safety vests and gloves.  Option 2 includes all the above plus a should bags.  For more information, please contact Peg Boarman at (757) 565 0032 or the Office of Sustainability at (757) 259 5375.  

 

Buy a bag for Life – plastic bags are posing a huge threat to wildlife, especially marine wildlife.

 

Go meat-free for a day or a week and expand your cooking repertoire – our love of meat, especially beef, uses up a lot of land, water and produces greenhouse gases. Switching to a meat-free option for a short and frequent period may help.   

 

Go microbead-free – microbeads are tiny beads of plastic that are in many cosmetics, face washes and toothpaste that end up in the oceans and enter the foodchain. Next time you buy cosmetics, check the label first.

 

Walk or ride a bike rather than take the car. Walking and cycling is good for your health as well as the environment.  

 

Give up chewing gum – It is made from synthetic rubber and 100,000 tonnes of this plastic is thrown away every year.  Reducing or cutting out chewing gum altogether will make a difference.  

 

Shop at local farmers markets – it’s a great way to support local businesses and support the environment.  They tend to use less packaging and products are grown or made locally so transport distances are short.

 

Buy a reusable water bottle– billions of plastic bottles are sold every year, so re-using a bottle means we can reduce the amount of plastic we throw away.

 

Make the switch from using plastic straws – bamboo, silicone or even metal straws are a good alternative to the plastic option.  

 

Spread the word – These are just some starter ideas, so if you have good suggestions, why not share them in the comments section.

 

 

 

Most of us have a Lift Master system or Wayne Dalton system installed by Virginia Door.  Life expectancy of the system is 10 years but more likely 5 to 6. The owner’s manual has limited DIY maintenance suggestions. Does your garage door (doors) make a lot of grinding or squeaking noise when you open or close the door? It may be time for some DIY maintenance or a call to a reliable garage door service business.  Speaking from experience, don’t wait until its too late and that large spring cable can break. But thankfully there are a lot of safety features built in so the cable doesn’t spin off the bar. It makes a very loud noise and then of course your door won’t close. 

   

It would seem like a dangerous practice to install a water heater in the attic, 40 to 120 gallons or more of water in a cylinder positioned over your head, a metal container that will eventually corrode and leak—and perhaps even burst if maintenance has not been regularly addressed. So why are there attic water heaters in New Town?  As with every construction practice, there are pros and cons.

 

In the pro column, we have four reasons for that Sword of Damocles over our heads.  The first is accessibility.  A quick pull on a string for the attic stairs allows ready access to the heater, assuming of course, you have installed attic stairs to your attic space and that your attic access is wide enough to accommodate removal and replacement of your water heater should replacement of the appliance become necessary.  According to the 2015 Virginia Residential Code, Appliances and Attics, M1305.1.3, the attic access space should be an opening of no less than 20 by 30 inches, clear of all obstructions, and large enough to remove the largest appliance in the attic, such as a water heater or air handler. This is a minimum requirement and a county or jurisdiction can match or exceed this requirement.  James City County upholds this code as written.

 

The second pro is cosmetic appeal.  A water heater is not exactly gentle on the eye and keeping it accessible but out of site is attractive to many homeowners. Then, too, keeping it out of the garage, a traditional water heater site, leaves the homeowner more garage space for storing other home accessories and equipment.  Water distribution is the third pro, as in theory water in the attic reaches plumbing fixtures faster, and the fourth pro is safety.  It is far easier to keep flammable objects away from the heater in the attic than in the garage where numerous flammable objects are traditionally stored.

 

What are the cons of having a water heater in your attic?  There are only three, but they can cost the homeowner a good deal of money if encountered.  The first is an unwise and unsafe installation of the heater in your attic space.  If the attic construction is unsound and cannot uphold the considerable weight of the appliance, structural damage to the attic floor and the ceiling below will be the result, and there is always the possibility of the appliance breaking through the attic floor to the room or rooms beneath.  The second con is perhaps the most readily anticipated problem with an attic heater, and that is the leaking of the appliance and even collapse of the water tank itself.  Neither event is desirable, and the latter can be catastrophic to your home.  The third con is the cost for replacing an attic water tank, entirely, a sizable undertaking in money and time as it will take two service men or more to remove the old tank and replace it with a new one. Not surprisingly, draining the old tank has to be done via a hose through an open window to the ground beneath.

 

So what can the homeowner do to keep the attic water heater in the best condition possible to ensure its safe operation and a long life?  The easier if not the most cost-effective way is to contract an HVAC company to service your water heater, annually. If you’re a do-it-yourself homeowner and saving money is a goal, you can service the tank yourself by following a maintenance agenda.  These agendas can be found anywhere on the web. One particularly throughout website is sponsored by This Old House and can be found at the link below: https://www.thisoldhouse.com/plumbing/21016402/how-to-maintain-a-water-heater

 

The site advises testing the temperature pressure release valve (TPR), annually, and replacing it if necessary.  The TPR regulates the pressure in your tank by releasing water when the internal pressure in the tank becomes too high, thereby preventing the disaster of an explosion, a maintenance check well worth the time and cost. Another maintenance check advised is to monitor for excessive calcium build-up of the anode rod, a rod made of magnesium, aluminum, or zinc and intended to protect the interior metal lining of your water tank.  The rod is inserted into the water heater storage tank, where it slowly degrades. As long as the anode rod is degrading in the tank, the tank lining will be protected from rusting.  Additional maintenance checks include draining the tank for corrosive sediment and insulating heater and pipes to raise water temperature in a cost-effective way and in a way that places less stress on the tank.  Lowering your tank’s temperature dial by just 10 degrees can save you up to 5 percent in energy costs.

 

If you are thinking of relocating your attic water heater to your garage, be aware that it’s costly and may require the relocation of water lines, venting, gas lines or electrical work, drain pan lines, pressure and temperature lines—and of course, the tank, itself. An easier if not less expensive option would be to replace your attic water heater with a tankless water heater; but there are pros and cons with this option, as well.  For example, with a tankless water heater, loss of power means no water until power is restored, something that is not an issue with a conventional water heater and while hot water is readily available with a tankless heater, it is not unlimited and temperatures are often inconsistent. In addition, installation is costly and may require the rerouting of gas lines and the purchase of additional equipment such as a water softener unit which could take up more attic space than a traditional heater. 

 

Besides an annual maintenance check, homeowners need to keep alert for signs that their water heater may need service or replacement before a crisis occurs.  If you turn on your tap and no hot water is forthcoming or if hot water comes through but eventually turns cold, that could be a clear indication that your water heater is in need of service.  In addition, though your heater will normally make operational noises, if it begins to make strange noises of long duration or if you see rust on the boiler itself, it’s time for a thorough maintenance review.  

 

What other measures can you take to avoid being taken by surprise by your water heater? We’ve all heard horror stories about people who have been away when their attic heater decided to leak or burst.  They are tales not for the faint hearted.  A measure to circumvent these possibilities is to shut off your heater, entirely, or at least lower the temperature gauge if you are going to be away for more than a day or two.  There are devices, costing anywhere from $20 to $100 or more, which can be installed in the drip ban of a heater that will detect moisture and emit an ear-piercing sound to alert the homeowner that something is amiss.  Unfortunately, they are of little use if there is no one home at the time to hear the alarm.  A better device is one that not only detects moisture and sounds an alarm but shuts the system down and notifies the home owner by mobile text that a leak has been detected.  There are any number of companies that manufacture these devices and a simple search on the internet for “Smart Water heater shut off system” will give you a number from which to choose.  These devices and monitoring plans are diverse and can range from $20 to as much as $600.  Whether you contract an HVAC company to service your heater annually, do maintenance updates yourself, or purchase one of these moisture monitoring devices, it’s best not to ignore the sleeping giant in your attic.

 

Spring is in the air and that’s a good feeling! With the arrival of Spring comes the usual spring-cleaning tasks. One task administered by the Asset Maintenance Committee (AMC) is the NTRA’s annual home exterior inspections. This program was designed and adopted by the Board in 2018 to maintain the curb appeal of our homes and the overall property values for all invested in New Town. It is managed by the volunteer AMC of the Board of Directors, with assistance from Town Management. 

       

 

Thursday February 18 via Zoom Sean Kearney spoke to an interested group of basketball enthusiasts.

 

Sean is the Associate Commissioner for the NCAA men’s basketball Atlantic 10 Conference. Among his responsibilities is coordinating the schedule of Atlantic 10 conference games with the TV networks. 

 

Sean has 35+ years’ experience in college basketball as a volunteer coach, head coach and broadcaster. He started at Providence College where his first year coaching there, also first year of 3 point shot, they went to the final four but lost in the semifinals. He also coached at Univ. of Delaware, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Univ. of Colorado, to name a few.

     

 

There’s rarely been such an opportunity to accomplish so much by doing so little.

 

Many residents and guests of New Town Williamsburg have rediscovered a simple, satisfying way to enjoy life, help their neighbors and support the community at large: indulging in the broad array of restaurants and other businesses that make New Town a distinctive regional destination. Right now, people are understandably cautious about spending time in public places, but a year into the pandemic, restaurants in New Town are typical of the precautions business owners are taking to follow the guidelines of industry and medical experts. 

 

Employees wear masks and gloves and replace them often. Managers have adjusted the layout of tables and seating to meet or exceed the recommended six-foot distance and some have added partitions that extend toward the ceiling between booths. Cleaning and sanitizing surfaces occurs at regular, frequent intervals, with extra close attention paid to high-contact areas, such as doors.

 

Outside dining is an option at numerous New Town eateries, many of which already offered patio seating before the pandemic. Sometimes it’s fully enclosed and other times tables occupy a more open-air arrangement. The restaurants provide heaters and soft illumination to make this option comfortable. Some guests come prepared for outside dining, bringing their own blankets, European-style.

 

Many restaurants become so comfortable with ensuring safe dining during these difficult times that the staff has begun to bring back extras that enhance the experience, such as gift baskets for special occasions and live music.

 

And those who still aren’t quite ready to be served at a restaurant are calling in orders for pickup. There are numerous options. 

 

New Town restaurants are constantly thinking as much about how you can safely enjoy the food as what’s on the plate – an area of expertise that was well-established long ago. Regular diners know that the range of options available at New Town can accommodate every occasion and mood, from quick and easy fare to fine dining. There’s ethnic cuisine, eclectic experiences and libations found nowhere else in the Historic Triangle.

 

The attention to safety and service has reassured loyal patrons who have been returning to their favorite New Town restaurants. But there’s another reason the regulars are coming back: a commitment to support their friends and neighbors. Restaurateurs are heartened by the return customers and by the comments of gratitude and support they hear from patrons who are able and willing to spend dollars in their own community.

 

There seems to be reason for optimism that the pandemic may soon be behind us, but after many long months of adversity, New Town’s vibrant commercial district needs support now more than ever. That might come from neighbors who simply want to enjoy a good meal. And it could just as well be a return to regular patronage of the wide range of entertainment personal and professional services. Regardless of how that support arrives, it’s vital – and easy – to show that the New Town community is facing this challenge together.

 

Alan Falquet, our very own New Town geophysicist, is working on it!! Alan has always been an avid explorer.  As a child he would spend hours outside investigating. Majoring in geology in college, Alan then taught physics for several years before taking advanced studies in geology and geophysics at Case Institute of Technology and Harvard. The studies resulted in his leading global geophysical search teams in pursuit of oil/gas reserves.

   

 

Don’t be put off by the fact that Poe, the master of macabre, never lived in this house in the Shockoe Bottom district of Richmond.

             

In a swampy field no more than 30 minutes’ drive away from us, stands the extraordinary sight of 43 ghostly, crumbling and huge busts of the first 43 Presidents. Measuring 18-20 feet tall, these crumbling effigies are impressive and I can only describe them a mixture of Mount Rushmore meets Easter Island meets garden maze.

 

The heads were rescued from the now defunct Virginia Presidents Park, which opened in in 2004.  They were the brainchild of local landowner Everette “Haley” Newman and Houston sculptor David Adickes, who was inspired to create the giant busts after driving past Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.  When the park closed in 2010, Newman asked Hankins to destroy the busts. But Hankins didn’t feel right about it, and instead offered to take the heads and move them to his 400-acre farm. And so began the process of moving 43 giant presidents, each weighing in between 11,000 and 20,000 pounds, to the field where they now reside.

 

After being damaged in the move to a recycling and reclamation farm – the busts are far from looking their best.  They are stained, are homes to birds, bees and other critters, and poor Abraham Lincoln has a hole in the back of his head, where he fell off the flatbed on his removal to the new home.  (Note: PBS had a recent radio interview with John Plashal, one of the tour guides.) 

 

Tickets are timed, to ensure safety and that the numbers are limited, but on your visit you are free to wander in between the statues as well as listen to a short talk about U.S. Presidents and the history of the statues.  We had a lot of fun scrambling in between the massive statues and wading through the mud, which was alarmingly deep in places.  The kids especially loved it (they are 3 and 6 so it was more about the mud and the maze-like feel to display, than the history), so if you can get tickets (which, we were told, are like gold dust), it is well worth a visit.

 

  

 

Several years ago, my wife Janice and I traveled to Sorrento, Italy for a Fall holiday.  I am retired now but I did travel a lot in my later work years and built up numerous frequent flyer points for both airlines (American) and hotels (Hilton).  I was able to take Janice with me on many of my business trips at, basically, no cost to me by using my points for Janice.  Of course, one of those perks was to be able to be upgraded to business class.  Janice traveled with me to Atlanta, Seattle, Canada, Scotland, England and many other locations.  Now, it was Janice’s turn.  She also traveled extensively in the later part of her work career as a representative for a medical device company where she would teach the medical staff how to use her companies equipment. So, we went to Sorrento on her points and stayed on her points.  I do not even remember why I wanted to go to Sorrento, it had no personal connection to me.  It was probably some conversation I had with my son’s wife regarding traveling to Southern Italy.  I am not sure.

 

We flew into Rome, Italy and spent the night at a small hotel.  It had one of those old lifts (elevator) where you had to lift the wire door up to enter the elevator.  Our host was very gracious and allowed us to have dinner even though the arrangement was for breakfast only.  The next day we took the train to Naples where we changed trains for the trip to Sorrento.  

 

Prior to leaving for Sorrento, Hilton wrote Janice and offered an upgrade for only $245/night, additional.  She declined and when we got there, is was like one day into the off season, they upgraded us at no additional charge.  The Italians, in our experience, are wonderful, gracious people.  Everyone associated with the travel industry spoke excellent English.  We were able to purchase items in town even though many of the stores employees did not speak English.

 

We usually walked to town, a mile or so and ate in local restaurants.  We took only one side trip and that was to the Isle of Capri on a privately charted, very small boat.  The photo is of Janice and me.  The object that Janice is holding is:  “Flat Stanley ”.  For those who might not be familiar with “Flat Stanley”, at that time grade school age children were encouraged to have relatives have their pictures taken with:  “Flat Stanley” in their travels.  We sent many, many photos to our grandson.  It cost us a fortune in Verizon overseas bills as he needed them for his school project before we returned home.  We even took a photo of “Flat Stanley” with two Australian teachers who were dining in a table next to us at an outside café in Sorrento.  They were very familiar with:  “Flat Stanley”.

 

We had a lovely hotel in Sorrento with a great view of the Mount Vesuvius across the Bay Of Naples.  That is Sorrento in the foreground, across the Bay of Naples is the mountain that blew up around A. D. 79 and killed every one in the town Pompeii.  For you history buffs, we did travel to Pompeii to view the ruins.  To Janice, a history buff, it was a historical moment with learning how the tracks in the rock were eroded caused by cattle carts and how they had little fast food restaurants, to me it was just a pile of rocks. Yes, we did take a train to Herculaneum, another pile of rocks that was buried at the same time.  The only thing I remember about that is an Italian woman realized that we were going there and realized we did not know it was time to get off the train and she alerted us.  Italians are very nice people.

 

During the trip to the Isle of Capri, the Italian boat driver and buddy, dropped us off at the only town on the Island so we could tour.  While we where there, the two of them went off to snorkel and spear fish.  I do not remember if they caught anything.   What I do remember is that Janice left her hat on the boat when we got off at the end of the trip, the next day, the front desk at the Hilton called us to let us know that the Italian boat driver had dropped off Janice’s hat at the front desk.  God bless the Italians.

  

The newly-opened El Patio Restaurant brings more than brightly colored walls and flashy neon lights, it marks the triumphant return to cuisine that has become in recent years as American as apple pie - that's right - Mexican food...and queso. Lots of queso.

 

You'll find the location comfortably familiar as El Patio sits next to the (we hope) soon-to-reopen New Town Cinemas in a spot that was formerly home to El Tapatio, which left the space (and our queso-loving hearts) vacant almost two years ago. You may find something else a bit familiar...the food. Chef Pedro was the culinary talent behind the original El Tapatio, which first brightened that same corner several years prior. After opening El Patio, Pedro moved on the Jose Tequilas (a sister restaurant of same ownership) before he agreed to return under El Patio's owners, John & Renee Harrell. 

 

Harrell and his wife are first-time restaurant owners hoping to make New Town home in more ways than one. Just weeks after opening El Patio, the Harrell family relocated in Toano into the Village Walk neighborhood of New Town with their children. Harrell says that he and his wife (who is of Peruvian descent) originally considered opening a Peruvian restaurant (we can still hope, right?) but were eager to bring Mexican food back to New Town. While the menu offers many familiar staples of Mexican cuisine, it also features one of this author's favorites - Birria Tacos (pic below), a semi-spicy beef braised in a chile consomme and grilled into tacos shells, which are then dipped back into that consomme as you devour them. This very traditional Mexican dish was once served only on special occasions, but has gained wild popularity on American menus in recent years and is a must-try for all who love tacos.

 

If you enjoy an oversized Margarita or a refreshing El Guapo cerveza with your South-of-the-border fare, Harrell reports that they expect to have their ABC on/off license by the end of the first week of March. 

 

Be sure to visit your new new neighbors and this as well as all of our New Town restaurants as Covid restrictions ease.