The Continuing Saga of Moonbeam Bagels

Tales from the campfire
This is a work of fiction.

As the weather has been suitable for spending time out around the
campfire more people are out and talking about the great bagel shop in
the community.  We had wondered about the lack of open business hours
and the long hours into the night of the business while closed.
People have come forward and explained.  The business being open
interferes with the money making back door operations.

The front door operation had a very limited menu while the back door
operation has a huge assortment of chemicals used to alter your mood
and pain level.  We are now wondering if the backdoor business is
cutting the business of our local doctors and medical centers, but has
probably increased our emergency rooms and undertaker business?

We had also wondered why the business had such a huge presence, large
square footage, yet little front door foot traffic to justify the
large retail space.  Is the retail side for laundering all the
backdoor business income?

How do you go about ordering backdoor bagels?  Hold the cream cheese?
Can coffee hold a candle to the back door chemical pick me up?

While waiting to get your best in the area bagel or hanging out in the
parking lot (we have to wait because of the limited hours and highly
limited production) be sure to keep your smart phone handy to get
pictures of people going to the back of the building for business.

You have to wonder why the owner of the bagel shop was once
complaining about the spice shop that existed next door.  Did the
owner need the space for the chemical business or was the problem the
competition?

We need a good bagel shop, but one that has the front door open for
bagels that does not sell out in two hours each day.

Remember this is a work of fiction and tales around the campfire.  No
writer of this work of fiction uses illegal chemicals to alter mood or
pain level.

As we hear more interesting tales around the campfire we will share
them with you.  If you have any stories, fact or fiction, you would
like to share we are always here to share.

The Villages of Gloucester Trying to Bilk Gloucester Taxpayers??

On April 3, 2018 the Gloucester County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on changes to the previously approved high-end golf course, residential and commercial development known as The Villages of Gloucester. (Previously submitted under the project name, The Barrens)

The following is an email I sent to the Board of Supervisors. Take a few minutes to send the Board an email asking them to deny The Villages’ proposal. We have provided the Supervisors' email addresses and the link to the public hearing information at the end of this article. 

Kenny Hogge, Sr.

Greetings Board Members,

The proffer statement contained in The Villages of Gloucester’s proposal is lacking to say the least. Once again, we have a developer who boldly expects Gloucester taxpayers and utility customers to foot the bill for future infrastructure and services upgrades that will be a direct result of the proposed development. This road has already been traveled two times in the past.

When The Villages of Gloucester was first proposed it was called The Barrens.  That proposal was denied by the sitting board of that time for, among other reasons, not offering reasonable proffers to offset impacts on the community. One such example was the developers offer to build a 350,000 water tower instead of a one million gallon tower.  (A one million gallon tower that would be turned over to Utilities was later approved when the proposal was resubmitted under the new name.) The developers initial offer to build the smaller tower would have been acceptable if Utilities only provided metered water to the tower and the development retained possession of the tower and associated distribution systems within the development. That would mean the development would have to retrofit their tower to be compatible with Gloucester’s distribution system; not Gloucester retrofitting our system to be compatible with the development. They would also maintain, repair and replace their tower and distribution system, read meters and bill and accept payments for water usage within the development. Under such a scenario there would be little to no impact on Gloucester’s public water system. 

Unfortunately, the current proffer statement eliminates the construction of a water tower all together. A piece of land that must be claimed by the County within five years is all that is offered; therefore, when buildout of The Villages reaches a certain point, the burden of funding the construction of a new tower and associated piping will fall completely on Utilities’ water customers and Gloucester’s taxpayers, while the developer walks away with a fat profit. That is not how free enterprise is supposed to work.

There are several other items contained, or not contained, in the new proffer statement that will result in future costly impacts on Gloucester taxpayers. The developer claims the project will be cost prohibitive if the proffers contained in the previously approved proffer statement are required to gain approval of their current submissions. Then maybe Gloucester is not the right place for such a development or the developer is not the right fit for Gloucester. 

Just because the developer’s project did not come to fruition during the time since it was initially approved is no excuse for not providing reasonable proffers in their current proposals; nor is it a valid excuse for the developer to expect Gloucester taxpayers and utility customers to enhance their profit margin or reduce their losses, whichever may apply.

The Villages proposal should not be accepted as being reasonable on numerous levels. Please deny the proposal.

Kenneth E. Hogge, Sr.

Gloucester Point

Chris Hutson              chutson@gloucesterva.info 

Mike Winebarger       mwinebarger@gloucesterva.info  

Andy James               ajames@gloucesterva.info 

Robert Orth                rorth@gloucesterva.info  

Ashley Chriscoe        achriscoe@gloucesterva.info

Kevin Smith               ksmith@gloucesterva.info

Phillip Bazzani           pbazzani@gloucesterva.info  

Link to public hearing information: http://gloucester.granicus.com/DocumentViewer.php?file=gloucester_e2bbe333f33513aa14c4f9877bcd4564.pdf&view=1