Town Crier Articles

The audience then saw his breathtaking pictures of soaring Bald Eagles with eight feet wing spans and chuckled as he demonstrated how they flew. Paul’s knowledge of which trees housed the Barred Owls, which can turn their heads 270 degrees in each direction, enabled him to capture wonderful images of them. He shared his photos of Cooper’s Hawks, osprey and three types of herons, the Great Egrets, the Green Heron and the Great Blue Heron, which has a 55 inch wingspan. It is the type of heron that Paul most commonly sees at Greensprings. This bird spears fish, turtles and snakes with its dagger-like beak and can swallow a six-pound catfish and you can see the huge bulge as the fish goes down the heron’s throat. But Paul was particularly impressed with the intelligence of the much smaller Green Heron which used twigs, feathers and insects as bait.  

 

After discussing the lives of ducks, Paul explained why Canadian Geese which are  frequent guests at Greensprings, fly in a V formation, something I had always wondered about. The answer is that it enables these larger birds to conserve energy as they fly in the down draft and facilitates visual contact and communication within the flock. As they tire, the birds take turns leading the way.

 

From big birds, Paul shifted to small ones, noting that the Hummingbird only weighs .14 ounces. The Ruby Crowned Kinglet, weighing in at .24 ounces, is rare enough that it took him three years to photograph. Amazingly, the Prothonotary Warbler, a tiny one-half ounce bird manages to fly two thousand miles from South America to Virginia each year. The audience then heard a bird call New Towners are very familiar with, that of the Carolina Wren. While only .70 ounces, its call is so loud it could jolt you out of a deep sleep if you left your window open. 

 

The last in this category were his photos of the female Pileated Woodpecker, another bird whose  jack-hammer-like sound reverberates through the forest. He explained why this bird pounds on trees, and why it does not get a concussion. The woodpecker pecks at tree to get at the insects behind the bark and in the crevasses. It has a long and sticky tongue that curls around the inside of its skull and protects its brain from the pounding.

 

Returning to the deer of Greensprings, Paul noted how much he loves their soulful eyes and appreciates their beauty. Deer live in communal groups, washing each other and caring for abandoned fawns. They use lots of energy, eating six to eight percent of their body weight daily. Paul and Lynn spend so much time in the preserve that they have identified several distinct herds including one with long necks, another with floppy ears, and a third with white noses. Paul has photographed one family for three years and keeps a special watch out for them, photographing their lives and enjoying fawns dashing about with the zoomies.

 

Greensprings turtles were the next topic, with Paul describing the wide variety of turtles from the box to mud to spotted and large snapping turtles, which live in the ponds, streams, lakes and swamps.  He touched on the critical role of beavers in creating the wetlands.  A discussion of butterflies, bees and dragon flies rounded out the talk, which ended with many questions from the audience. Throughout the session Paul’s knowledge of and passion for his subject shone through.

 

A few of Paul's wonderful photos are included below. Others can be found on the NTRA website Photo Album - Greensprings Interpretative Trail. 

 

The next Noon New Town Talk is Thursday, October 16.  Jack Espinal will present “Bats:  The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.” 

 

   

 

 

Place:  NTRA Meeting Room, 5118 Center St

       Time:   Tuesday, September 16 at 12:00         

 

Seeking future speakers: Do you have a hobby or profession or an interesting background story/family history that you would like to share with your New Town neighbors? We are looking for speakers to fill out our 2026 schedule.  Contact Liz-Fones Wolf at efwolf@wvu.edu.

In its April 2nd meeting, the JCC Planning Commission voted to recommend denial of the Westwood Park development plan (5-1) based largely on stormwater management concerns. The Commission discussed the poor condition of the Powhatan Creek watershed and the fact that a Stormwater Management Master Plan is only required to address the impact of an applicant’s new development and not restore any previous damage.

 

ABVA’s representatives noted that the current problems with the Powhatan Creek watershed stem from Tewning Road and Eastern State, “where water is flowing with no stormwater management.” Concern was that any downstream restoration now would ultimately be destroyed by future storms. Several Commissioners expressed concern that the environmental impacts of developing Eastern State land are still not well defined and approval without mitigation will only compound a bad watershed situation.

 

In response to the Planning Commission’s denial, ABVA has been working with the County to revise the project’s stormwater impact and applicant offers. In mid-July, ABVA submitted revised Proffers which reduced the number of units to be constructed in Westwood Park: from 86 to 82 single family homes and 90 rather than 100 total multifamily units. (The new residential total is 172 units with 35 being affordable/workforce units.) The proposed commercial space has also been reduced from 40,000 to 24,000 square feet. ABVA also reduced the amount of passive parkland from 6 to “at least 5 acres.” ABVA states that with a new residential density factor of 2.2 units per gross acre “The density has been reduced considerably from the plan originally shown.”

 

The proposed Proffers further commit ABVA to identify needed stream improvements to sub-watershed #208 on its Master Plan and to make annual contributions to a “Stream Channel Restoration Account” for restoration plans and County construction in the Powhatan watershed’s stream channel. A total contribution of $219,632 is offered adjusted for inflation, based on the new residential unit figures. ABVA has added Stantec as part of its technical team, and states “As part of this project we are proffering funds to make improvements to address existing concerns and committing to stormwater management measures that will protect the creek from future development on the property." Elsewhere in its Community Impact Statement, ABVA notes that "By proffering funds it activates the ability to tap into State matching funds and also allows the proposed improvements to be coordinated with surrounding developments.”

 

JCC Planning Staff are reviewing these applicant changes and will update their findings and staff report as appropriate prior to any Board of Supervisors hearing on Westwood Park. ABVA has up to a year following the April 2025 Commission decision to proceed to this next step in the rezoning process. 

 

[Note that as part of its March 2025 application, ABVA had proposed retrofit of three stormwater best management practices (BMPs) within the New Town area, but this is no longer included. (This BMP retrofit was a revision to its January 2025 submittal where ABVA had proposed a $250,000 payment with inflationary factors to Stream Restoration.)]

 

Since April, the condition of the watershed stream area in New Town has received additional JCC attention. In May the Board of Supervisors appropriated a $120,000 payment from the Developer for remediation of the stream separating Sections 7 and 8 of New Town (Charlotte Park and Shirley Park). This payment was required by the County because of poor results from stream monitoring as stipulated under the 2006 Proffers for those New Town sections. This payment fulfills current Developer obligations for the maintenance of this watershed section.

 

Issue remaining for the New Town community: the proposed retrofit to two deficient New Town BMPS affecting our residential areas (Casey Boulevard and the Suntrust/New Town Ave pond outfall) is no longer included in the Westwood Park application – so who will now bear the cost of this remediation and how do we ensure effective long-term maintenance?

 

 

The larger DR Horton development (365 acres) on the northern side of Eastern State’s property has completed its third JCC Rezoning review and will require resubmittal on several points. A formal Master Plan has been requested by staff before the application can be considered complete. The applicant must also propose “analysis and remediation” of two streams since the development lies within the County’s Powhatan Creek Watershed Management Plan. Like ABVA, DR Horton had noted that since the Eastern State Hospital complex has no stormwater management, stormwater “treatment with regards to quantity and quality from the new development will have a positive effect on the existing natural resources.” Significant comments from Virginia’s Department of Transportation regarding traffic estimates, capacity, as well as the adequacy of proposed improvements also must be addressed.

 

 

Per direction in the adopted 2023 Virginia State Budget, arrangements for new mental health facilities (initially depicted within the Cardinal Ridge DR Horton parcel) are progressing. In May the JCC Board of Supervisors facilitated the transfer of 14 acres of Eastern State Hospital land, which the County had accepted from the Commonwealth in February, to Colonial Behavioral Health for the construction of a crisis center. Colonial Behavioral Health has received a $12 million State contract to build this facility for its emergency services and crisis intervention and stabilization services. 

 

The facility will be located diagonally across from the College of William & Mary Plumeri baseball stadium (1001 Galt Lane.) Since around 2007 State officials have envisioned selling the surplus Eastern State Hospital property in part to increase revenue for mental health services and allow expansion for Colonial Behavioral Health.