Town Crier Articles

It’s not too late to get your car ready for the worst of the coming winter weather. The following are some maintenance tips and suggestions from me to you with help from AAA and Bridgestone to help keep us safe and avoid an inconvenient and time-consuming roadside wait for assistance.  

 

• Get the battery tested: On winter’s coldest mornings, we’ll need our car’s battery to be fully charged and in good condition to start the engine. 
• Examine antifreeze levels: Antifreeze is a mixture of water and ethylene glycol, or propylene glycol. It’s essential for keeping our vehicle’s engine functioning properly no matter the season. Without it, our car’s engine could overheat in the summer or seize up in the winter.
• Add repellent to windshield fluid: Scraping ice-covered windshields and windows is an arduous, chilly task. Adding a hydrophobic repellent such as Rain-X to your windshield, will ease the scraping process.
• Keep window washer fluid full: Replace windshield wiper fluid often.
• Maintain window defrosters in working order: Being unable to see clearly before and even behind us creates unsafe driving conditions.
• Check (and possibly replace) your tires:
  • As temperatures drop, so will tire pressures—typically by 1 PSI (pounds per square inch) for every 10 degrees Fahrenheit. Proper tire pressure levels can be found in the owner’s manual or on a sticker typically located on the driver’s door jamb. 
  • Examine tires for tread depth. If there is any uneven wearing and cupping, then we may encounter difficulty driving in winter. Tires with less than 4/32” of tread have reduced traction in wet and snowy conditions.   
• Check your headlights: Snow, dirt and grime hinder the headlight’s ability to illuminate the way. Consider purchasing a headlight restoration kit, which will restore the headlight housing ensuring the best visibility. These kits range from $20 - $40 and are available at most automotive stores.  
• Have a professional check the brakes: Car brakes don’t always give a warning when they’re worn low or experiencing other problems.  
• Consult your owner’s manual for guidance: First and foremost, be sure to follow instructions in your car’s owner manual.      

The James City County Board of Supervisors (BOS) has not yet taken any legislative actions on the two pending development projects for Eastern State Hospital surplus land.

 

 

Jim Icenhour, BOS Chair, announced at the scheduled October 14th public hearing that the Westwood Park applicant had requested a postponement.

 

In an October 14 email to the JCC Director of Community Development, ABVA’s attorney requested that the “Board of Supervisors defer this case until its February 10, 2026 meeting. We look forward to participating in the Comprehensive Plan discussions that will take place in the meantime.” BOS voted to open the public hearing and then postpone any staff presentations until this February 2026 BOS meeting.

 

Following this agenda item, a planned public hearing on the Comprehensive Master Plan Land Use designation change for the Parcel C Eastern State Hospital property was similarly opened and then postponed until the December 9, 2025 BOS meeting. When the JCC Master Plan was updated in 2021, it retained the designation of Public Lands for the Eastern State property given the limited available information on the potential impacts of a land use change to Mixed Use. (Note: the BOS had postponed action on this Parcel C land use designation change in April 2023 until a rezoning application was submitted for consideration. ABVA’s formal application (Z-23-0004) for Westwood Park in May 2023 triggered the need for a Master Plan revision.)

 

In preparation for a December 2025 BOS vote, the Supervisors held a short discussion of the Eastern State Master Plan land use change at its October 28th BOS business meeting. JCC Staff had prepared a memorandum explaining that geographic specific language could be adopted for both Mixed Use and Economic Opportunity districts. The Chair requested that staff develop additional information on the different levels of mixed use, including the “economic opportunity designation” that might be applied to Eastern State Parcel C. Supervisors expressed concern that there was too much residential coming to the area – both from a traffic congestion and economic diversity perspective. Per their discussion, the County needs to find a balance that is “truly mixed.”

 

The Westwood Park development rezoning public hearing was called to order and remains open. Residents who have not previously commented may still submit written comments or plan to speak at the February 10, 2026 BOS meeting. Similarly, the Master Plan land use change hearing also remains open and additional public comments may also be considered at the December 9th BOS meeting. The address for comments is: Community Development, 101-A Mounts Bay Road, P.O. Box 8784, Williamsburg, VA 23187-8784 or email: community.development@jamescitycountyva. gov

 

Have you taken steps to prepare your home for the coming winter weather? After the heat of summer and the crisp, sunny days of fall, it’s hard to imagine that winter weather will soon arrive, but taking steps now to prepare your home for colder temperatures could save you money on heating bills and costly repairs, and might even help to keep you and your family safer, dryer, and warmer.

 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, has some suggestions you might want to consider to consider:      

• Insulate and weatherstrip:  Add insulation to your attic, basement, and crawl spaces. Seal drafts by applying weatherstripping to windows and doors and caulking any visible cracks.

• Protect your pipes:  Prevent frozen and burst pipes by insulating pipes in unheated areas like your garage or basement.

o   During extreme cold, let indoor faucets on exterior walls slowly drip to keep water flowing.

o   Open cabinet doors under sinks to allow warm air to circulate.

o   Know how to shut off your main water valve in case a pipe does burst.

• Prepare your heating system: Have a professional inspect and clean your heating system and chimney every year. Also, keep flammable materials at least three feet away from all heat sources.

• Clean gutters: Remove any debris from your gutters to prevent ice from building up and causing roof damage.

• Maintain your roof and trim trees:  Inspect your roof for loose shingles and check with a professional to ensure your roof can handle the potential weight of snow and ice. Trim any tree branches that could fall on your home during a storm.    

 

At October's noon talk, New Town resident (and Board Chair), Jack Espinal, spoke about one of his passions - bats.

 

Jack’s interest in bats began with a childhood visit to Moaning Cave In California. His first bat acquaintance was Juri, a fruit bat. We learned some bats are mammals that hibernate during the winters in caves and or migrate, depending on the species.  

 

 

We saw an informative presentation with two pictures in particular of Austin, Texas. That city has a large population of bats that residents and visitors line up at dusk to watch the flock emerge and fly over a bridge to begin their hunt for a meal of flying insects.

 

Jack reassured us that while vampires were not real, vampire bats are. However, they aren’t in the United States and usually bite hooved animals in Mexico and Central America where they live. Researchers have discovered that vampire bats have an anticoagulant in their saliva. Another bat fact that needs more research is bats rarely get cancer. Scientists have discovered they have a gene that suppresses the disease.

 

Of the 1,500 bat species. 30% are endangered. Some things we can all do to protect bats are don’t use pesticides, leave dead trees on the ground, and don’t hunt bats.

   

It’s time to run and walk in New Town in October!  

 

On Saturday, October 4, New Town hosts the Run for the Hills, sponsored by 501(c)(3) nonprofit Here for the Girls and the Colonial Road Runners. This event features a 1-mile route and a 5k route. Walkers and runners of all skill levels are welcome on both courses! Here's a link to the website  with full details. 

 

Volunteers will be pinking up New Town in support of this event! If you have pink ribbons or other decorations, please show your support by decorating your porches, yards and mailboxes. Volunteers will be decorating the two long fences in Charlotte Park and various other points to help mark the routes. If you would like to help decorate the neighborhood on October 3, please send an email to sommer3553@gmail.com.

 

         

 

Next, on Saturday, October 25, New Town embraces purple as it hosts the Walk to End Alzheimer’s, sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Association and many local businesses. See the flyer below for registration details. Volunteers are also needed for this event! Please visit https://signup.com/go/dAgehoV to sign up to volunteer!

 

If you have purple ribbons or flowers from previous events, please show your support for the participants by decorating your porches, yards and mailboxes! Volunteers will again be decorating the long fences in Charlotte Park and other points along the way. If you would like to help decorate the neighborhood on October 24, please send an email to sommer3553@gmail.com.

 

Show your pink and purple colors to support these events!

The James City County Board of Supervisors is holding its public hearing to decide on the rezoning of Parcel C of the Eastern State Hospital surplus land on Tuesday, October 14, 2025 at 5:00 PM. Residents are invited to attend and speak on the development or to submit written comments (by mail, fax or email). The hearing will be in the Government Center Board Room, 101 Mounts Bay Road, Building F.

 

The meeting agenda will be available on the JCC website next week.

 

Prior to this hearing, Jamestown District Supervisor Jim Icenhour is holding an informational meeting about the Westwood Park project tomorrow evening, October 2nd at 7PM at Legacy Hall, 4301 New Town Avenue.

 

Background: Westwood Park is the 79.56 acres development by ABVA adjoining Charlotte Park in New Town and is proposed to build 172 units (82 single family and 90 multifamily homes) with its own parks, pool and amenities, and homeowners association. An additional 24,000 square feet of commercial space will be provided. Access to the new community would be via Discovery Park Boulevard. As currently depicted, Westwood Park will have no association with New Town. The impacts of the development on stormwater protection resources and traffic have been continuing concerns, and led the James City County Planning Commission to not recommend its rezoning approval in its April 2025 meeting. Since then the applicant, ABVA, has modified its plan to mitigate some of these issues. JCC Staff will report its evaluation of these additional changes to the Board of Supervisors. (See August Town Crier article.)

 

The Board of Supervisors must now decide whether or not to approve the rezoning of public use land to multi-use for this development.

 

For those of us in Charlotte Park and Shirley Park with individual irrigation systems, I came across an interesting recommendation from the James City Service Authority (JCSA).

 

For whatever reason during July when we endured over 100 degrees for weeks, I did not adjust my irrigation, and the water bill hadn't increased. 

However, when I received the August bill, quite a bit more water was used, because the irrigation wasn't running properly following a power outage, despite the 9 Volt battery in our system to save settings. That's a lot of responsibility for a little 9 Volt battery. Another good reason to check your control panel for a low battery indicator, or to check your run schedules occasionally.

 

Anyway, battery and settings restored I did increase the run times a bit, hence more water.

 

Ok, here’s what JCSA recommended. When you submit your irrigation meter reading to HRUBS (which goes towards adjusting your sewer bill), jot down or note how many gallons used from month to month, this way, lest you forgot you adjusted your irrigation, you can determine whether there is a leak in your underground irrigation, or even with the home.

 

A bit late in the season now for sharing this tip, but starting next year, you might consider JCSA’s recommendation to perhaps catch a problem before it develops.

 

At any rate with aeration and overseeding now in progress, irrigation is key to the health of your lawn.

With slides and recorded bird calls, Paul Griswold succeeded in taking a rapt audience of New Town residents on a virtual walk through the Greensprings Interpretive Trail at the September 16 noontime talk.  

 

Upon retiring from Connecticut to New Town, Paul found a new passion, becoming a self-taught photographer and naturalist. Having grown up in an urban setting for most of his life if you said birds, he would say pigeons. His journey into the diversity of wildlife started in Williamsburg, where he began taking pictures of the birds and animals in New Town.  

 

Then he discovered the Greensprings, a landscape of wetlands, beaver ponds and forests. Often accompanied by his wife Lynn, he began walking the trails and boardwalks virtually every day, documenting what he saw and what he was learning about nature with his camera. Through observation and through research, Paul gained an intimate knowledge of the Trail’s wildlife and their habitats which he shared with his audience.

 

Paul began his talk by describing the preserve and discussing the history of Green Springs.  It is the site of an 1781 Revolutionary War battle as well as the site of Mainland Farm, which was founded in 1609 by the Royal Governor Sir William Berkeley and is the oldest continuously cultivated farm in America. Paul showed photos of a trampled circle in the farm’s wheat field, probably created by a group of sleeping deer, and of deer with their heads poking out of the wheat.

 

With fall nearly here, we see crews in the neighborhood aerating and overseeding. We all know about aeration right, opening up the soil with tiny openings to decrease compaction, reduce thatch in the lawn, and allow oxygen and nutrients into the lawn.

 

Wait. Thatch? Thatch is a build-up of living and dead grass and other organic material in the lawn. This can cause a variety of issues with seed germination and a healthy lawn in general, so sometimes you have to dethatch. Remove material. This often involves gentle raking and removal of excess material. You want to go lightly here, or you’ll create a whole other project.

 

Bottom line - if your lawn's failure to thrive is due to soil compaction, you will want to aerate it. If thick thatch is the problem, you will instead need to dethatch your lawn. Done together, you will want to dethatch first and then aerate.