Potomac Bay Estates

Hurricane Zeta is predicted to make landfall on the Louisiana-Mississippi Gulf Coast Wednesday afternoon and evening, Oct 28.  Zeta will then reduce to a tropical depression, bringing rain and wind to our neighborhood late Wednesday through Saturday.

Here is the latest track projection for Zeta from the National Hurricane Center.  The letter D indicates a Tropical Depression — rain with winds less than 39 MPH.

Here is the forecast for our area from the National Weather Service office in Wakefield VA.  (Scroll down the page, look for Northumberland County.)

.WEDNESDAY...Mostly cloudy early in the morning, then becoming
partly sunny. A slight chance of showers early in the morning.
Highs in the lower 70s. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of
rain 20 percent.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...Mostly cloudy. Rain likely after midnight.
Lows in the lower 60s. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of
rain 70 percent.
.THURSDAY...Showers. Highs in the lower 70s. South winds 10 to
15 mph. Chance of rain 90 percent.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...Showers, breezy with lows in the lower 50s.
Southwest winds 15 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph. Chance of
rain 90 percent.
.FRIDAY...Mostly cloudy with showers likely in the morning, then
partly sunny with a chance of showers in the afternoon. Windy
with highs in the upper 50s. Chance of rain 70 percent.
.FRIDAY NIGHT...Partly cloudy. A chance of showers in the
evening. Breezy with lows in the lower 40s. Chance of rain
30 percent.
.SATURDAY...Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 50s.

 

 

 

 

 

A few weeks ago we sent to everyone an email describing the results of a year-long trial of the mowing schedule for the large, 7-acre common area behind the homes along the southern (non-water) side of Potomac Drive.

This large field is not simply an empty field. In fact, most of the area is septic drain fields that serve 30 of our 52 lots. Waste water is piped from these lots into the drain fields in the large field. For this reason, the grass and brush on the area must be cut regularly to prevent large root intrusion into the septic drain fields.

The area of concern is on two plats of our neighborhood that are posted on the PBE POA website:

• Tax map 12A-1
• Tax map 12A-2

Previously the area was cut four times a year. In late fall of 2019, a group of homeowners asked that the cutting be reduced to allow and encourage use of the area by ground-dwelling and ground-nesting birds. In 2020, we cut the area before April 15 and after August 15, which is the nesting season for several species native to our neighborhood. The result was gratifying as a few nesting pairs with fledglings were observed that had not been seen for several years.

The area is being cut today, October 8, as the third and final cut for this year.

We now are in the process of certifying the 7-acre area as a Bird and Wildlife Sanctuary. To that effect, we have suspended mowing in that area from approximately April 15 to August 15 to enable the grass and wildflowers to flourish. We have already had sightings of Eastern Meadowlarks and are hopeful of attracting more bobwhites, indigo buntings, bluebirds, flickers, migratory songbirds, and other bird species along with many varieties of butterflies.

We ask that everyone tread carefully and limit human activity in this area and let us know what varieties you observe. It would be fun to keep a list of sightings and dates for our website.

Thanks to everyone for making our neighborhood a friendly place for everyone as well as for our feathered and furry neighbors.

PBE POA Annual Meeting

• Saturday, Sep 26
• 1:00 pm
• In the picnic area at the west end of Potomac Drive
• The Association will not provide food because of virus concerns.  You are welcome to bring your own.
• Please wear mask and maintain distance.
• THANK YOU

If you are not able to attend, please assign your proxy. To assign a proxy, please send an email to the PBE POA email account: potomacbaypoa@hotmail.com

Include:

• Your lot number
• Your name(s)
• The name of the person to whom you are assigning your proxy.

Most proxies are assigned to one of the Board of Directors officers:

• Dave Williams, Pres
• Frank Goyette, VP
• Martha Hulse, Treasurer
• Joe Schlatter, Secretary

The remnants of Hurricane Sally are forecast to pass south of our neighborhood beginning late afternoon, Thursday, Sep 17 through the night, ending morning, Friday, Sep 18.

• Rain is forecast to start around 6:00 PM Thursday and end by 8:00 AM Friday.
• Heaviest rain is forecast be between 9:00 PM and 5:00 AM.
  • We are forecast to receive 2-3 inches of rain.
  • No flood warnings have been issued, however, be prepared for water to collect on roads, especially roads in low-lying areas.
• Winds overnight are forecast to be steady at 5-7 MPH with gusts to 10-15 MPH.

The Northumberland County Sheriff’s Office is investigating suspicious activity in the Sunnybank area (Sunnybank is on the east end of the county, near Reedville).

The Sheriff’s office recently was alerted to two people in a white minivan with no front license plate who had attempted to lure two children into the van. The children got away safely. Officers were able to obtain detailed descriptions of the individuals.

The driver was a white male 50 to 70 years old, average height and weight, wearing a brownish colored shirt and a baseball cap with longer hair tucked into the hat. He had a long beard that was brown near his chin and faded as it went down, missing front teeth and a scar on his left cheek. He had a black wedding band on.

The female was described being in her 50’s and of small frame. Wearing a purple shirt and blue jeans, bob styled hair cut with dirty blonde hair color. She was also missing front teeth. She had a large purple ring on her middle finger.

If you see vehicle or individuals matching this description please contact the Sheriff’s office at 804-580-5221.

We have put in the mail to everyone an announcement of our outdoor annual meeting to be held on September 26, 1:00 PM, in the picnic area at the west end of Potomac Drive — a few notices were not mailed, but will be hand-delivered.

First, we need to apologize for a typo in the letter announcing the annual meeting. The letter refers to our “202 annual meeting” — which, of course, should be our “2020 annual meeting”. Sorry for the error — it’s a long story.

The letter you will receive includes:
— a letter announcing the 2020 annual meeting;
— a proxy form for those who cannot attend;
— a roster verification form on which to correct your information on our roster
— documents: last fiscal year financial statement, current fiscal year budget,and, required reports (water system and construction);
— a return envelope to return the proxy form and the roster form, if needed.

The remnants of Hurricane Laura are projected to arrive in our area Saturday morning and be gone by Saturday evening.  The AccuWeather forecast is:

• Winds and rain from remnants of Hurricane Laura will arrive around 11:00 AM, Saturday, August 29; and depart after 6:00 PM.
• Rainfall expected:  0.26 inch
• Sustained winds:  15 MPH
• Gusts to:  20-40 MPH

You may have noticed that the big 14-acre common area behind the homes on Potomac Drive was mowed Saturday for the first time since April.

Previously this area was cut (bush-hogged) four times a year: In mid-May; before July 4; before Labor Day; and late-October-early-November.

In 2019, one of our folks pointed out that the big common area appears to be a nesting ground for Eastern Meadowlarks and by cutting the area in the mid-summer, we were destroying nests and young birds. The Board decided to cut the big area before April 15 and after August 15, the start and end of the Meadowlarks’ nesting season.

We had the area cut just before April 15 this year. In June and July, some of us occasionally spotted a pair of Meadowlarks on the edge of the tall grass, in addition to hearing their calls from time to time.

After the area was cut last Saturday, Jim Robinson – who cuts the area – reported he flushed two adult birds and three almost-grown birds. His description was of the Eastern Meadowlark. Today (Monday) one of our neighbors drove across the big common area and flushed what must have been the same birds – two adult and three almost-grown juveniles, clearly Eastern Meadowlarks.

Because these birds return to their nesting areas year after year, we may see an increase in their population next year.

Our population of Northern Quail (Bob-White Quail) seems to be down this year. Typically we hear four or five birds whistling from various parts of the neighborhood. This year we have heard only two – maybe three – different birds calling and no one has reported the occasional sighting of an adult quail being followed by a dozen or so little birds.

For those of you new to the neighborhood, our county is home to Red and Grey Fox as well as coyotes. Local hunters tell us that they are seeing fewer fox and more coyote; coyotes are known to kill young foxes. If you see what looks like dog tracks and dog droppings on your property, it’s likely coyotes roaming around, though they tend to avoid occupied areas.

We are beginning to see this year’s deer fawns. If you are in a wooded or grassy area and find a spotted fawn curled up in the grass, do not touch the fawn, get away from it and by all means keep dogs away. The mother doe likely has left the fawn there while she feeds or goes for water – the fawn is not abandoned.

Our neighborhood did not suffer damage from Tropical Storm Isaias other than small tree limbs down, lots of water in lawns and the roadway, and loss of electrical power.

The main part of the storm moved in around 2:00 AM Tuesday bringing with it high wind and heavy rain.  By 10:00 AM, the storm had departed, skies were mostly clear, temperature was in mid-70’s and humidity was low but rising.

Total rainfall in our neighborhood was over 5 inches.

Highest wind gust measured here was 38 MPH.

Electrical power was lost around 9:45 when a tree fell over Newman’s Neck Road, about a quarter mile outside our subdivision.  The tree took down the two power lines that serve our neighborhood.  As of 2:00 PM, we are still without power.

You can check the status of power outages in our area here on the Northern Neck Electric Co-op Outage Viewer.

The National Weather Service in Wakefield VA has issued a tornado alert and a TORNADO WARNING for our area in effect until 6:45 AM. As of 5:00 AM Tuesday, August 4, a tornado was confirmed in the area between Heathsville and Callao moving NW at 55 MPH. Other tornadoes were confirmed in the area of Wicomico Church. As of 6:00 AM, no reports of damage have been received and it does not appear that our neighborhood was affected.

CURRENT TORNADO WARNINGS ARE IN EFFECT UNTIL 6:45 AM.

As of 6:30 AM, Tuesday, August 4:

• Our neighborhood has received 3.75 inches of rain in past 24 hours
• Rain continues to fall at rate of 2 inches per hour
• Winds are steady at 12 MPH from the SE with gusts to 30 MPH
• Storm is located approximately 80 miles SW of us, moving NNE at 28 MPH
• Storm center will track over or near our neighborhood between 8:00 and 9:00 AM
• Our neighborhood has not experienced power outages as of 6:30 AM.
• Our neighborhood is under flash flood warnings that will last until Tuesday night — Wednesday morning, Aug 4-5.

Latest information on Hurricane Tropical Storm Isaias is available from the National Hurricane Center, .

The National Weather Service office in Wakefield, VA posts updated storm information as well as tornado warnings.

The combination of high winds and heavy rains likely will result in downed trees; downed power lines; and, local flooding.

UPDATE:  As of 6:27 AM, tornadoes have been confirmed on the ground near:

• White Stone — about 25 miles S of us, below Kilmarnock
• Near Montross in Westmoreland County
• Near Lancaster Church in Lancaster County