Riverwalk

Creating Economic Opportunities in Rural Areas: Making Development Work for You

2011-02-17T19:54:00.000-08:00

Creating Economic Opportunities in Rural Areas:
Making Development Work for You
January 22, 2011
Workshop Summary
The day provided great opportunities to highlight the role of small businesses in our area and review
resources available to assist small businesses. The resources mentioned extended from micro-loan
programs, to business planning assistance, to informal mentoring from established business owners.
The importance of local leadership was the most repeated message from speakers and participants.
Local leaders can make connections within the community, match businesses up with available
resources, and combine forces with neighbors to increase momentum of efforts.
Workshop Notes
Introduction
Chris Stadelman from the Phillips Group welcomed everyone and facilitated the morning session. Chris
introduced the featured speaker, Mr. Lane Bailey. Mr. Bailey is the Regional Managing Director of Golin
Harris, an international public relations and public affairs firm.
Lane Bailey
Mr. Bailey began by noting that he is a West Virginia native, growing up the son of a coal miner in
Mercer County and graduated from Concord College. He got involved in politics while still in college,
working on early campaigns of Senator Jay Rockefeller. He spent many years working for Governor and
then Senator Rockefeller before moving to Golin Harris.
Mr. Bailey noted that we as residents, business owners, and local leaders are in a position to help define
ourselves and the future we want for our region. We need to think about how we want to be seen and
how we talk about ourselves to others. He believes that our region, from Elkins to the Virginia border
along Corridor H, is the authentic West Virginia and that we still have the opportunity to create a “brand
for the region” and use that brand to attract the kind of development we want. He believes that people
outside of WV don’t really know much about WV and that we ourselves sometimes repeat negative
messages about who we are. He also urged participants not to accept the status quo. We can seize the
opportunities that are available, but only if we take some actions.
Mr. Bailey then laid out ten concepts for the future.
1) Think and plan for the long-term—20 years out into the future
2) Get alignment—work together across traditional boundaries and rethink existing boundaries
defined a long time ago
3) Create a brand for your area—you have the real WV here with the combination of natural
areas, hard working people, and businesses
4) Ensure full coverage of broadband service, it’s imperative for new business and without it the
divide is going to widen
5) Use social networks—it is the future of communications and marketing
6) Bring in higher education—colleges and universities have become major economic drivers, reach
out to all possible partners

New blog on food in Tucker County!

2010-12-04T07:20:00.000-08:00

http://tuckercravings.wordpress.com/

Here's you new route from DC

2010-11-19T16:48:00.000-08:00

I did this in 3 hours to Bethesda....With the new stretch of Corridor H open from Moorefield to Foreman, a new set of directions is needed for those who want to spend less time driving. It involves using 66 West so departing during rush hour is not advisable.

From home go to 66 West, then go South on I-81 at the end of 66. In three miles, take the second exit and turn right at the stop sign on HWY 55 West. The speed limit on 66 once you get past Haymarket and also on 81 is now 70 MPH. It just got changed.(70 minutes)

Drive 20 miles on 55 West to the sign for new HWY 55 and take new HWY 55. (25 minutes)

Go 35 miles on the new HWY to the end at Patterson Creek Road (Route 5). Turn right to go north one mile. (35 minutes)

Turn left on Greenland Gap Road and drive 6 miles to T intersection or similar ending where you turn or bear left on Scherr Road and go another 1/2 mile to HWY 93 at the road with 30 curves. (10 minutes)

Go to Davis and on, as usual. (45 minutes)

Total 185 minutes equals 3 hours 5 minutes.

Good things come to those who wait!

2010-09-27T16:58:00.000-07:00

Overnight we are now looking at Corridor H completing to Davis by 2013. This is huge.
Gov. Manchin Announces Plans For Corridor H - WBOY-TV - WBOY.com

Davis Lots for building

2010-08-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

Initial lot offerings within the old town Davis grid are shown (roughly located) in yellow. Corner lots will have two houses. the cluster on Thomas near 5th is set for 3 houses.

View Davis Riverwalk in a larger map

Sure, some people still work in coal

2010-07-25T11:34:00.000-07:00

But this is not the Davis area's future. WV is number two nationally in an industry in decline. And the worst of it is that the very nature of the industry works against the likely future of WV's mountain regions: tourism, geographically independent businesses, active retirement lifestyles, and recreation.

Babcock Lumber Mill site digitized

2010-05-08T14:24:00.000-07:00

Finally done. Hundreds of images have been scanned from the collection of Babcock Lumber Company's archives. Dozens of cool new (to us) images are now available for the public. I am sharing the scan with Cindy Phillips, our town historian of record, and WV University. The point here has been to unearth the only real records of what once stood on the Davis Riverwalk site and the adjacent town park. More to come!

This is not Riverwalk

2010-03-28T06:06:00.000-07:00

Over 20 home sites are available in the grid of downtown Davis for two-story, energy-efficient homes with 3 baths, 4 bedrooms, 9ft ceilings, modern and open layouts, hardwood floors, Hardie plank siding, 50-year storm-rated roofing, front porches with Trex decking, stone counters and more. These homes will be engineered: blower-tested, have conditioned crawl spaces, vented attics, engineered trusses and joists. And before all those features, they are DESIGNED for Davis...Victorian boomtown venacular meets lumber mill pragmatism to yield layouts that support today's casual mountain recreation lifestyle. They are designed for Davis' climate as well: extra glass on south facing walls, low use of valleys and dormers, drainage design not requiring gutters, full ice guard wrap under roofing and more.

The expected timeline is: 4 weeks option selection and ordering; 5 weeks production; 6 weeks with finishing out. 15 weeks from signature to move-in. We expect to require 20% down and pre-qualification on financing when ordering. Total home price is now estimated to vary from the mid $100s to high $100s for most homes. Each site+home+options will have a custom quote, provided after a siting and design consultation.

BTW, I say this is 'not Riverwalk' because the sites offered are in the town grid, on streets such as Thomas, Blackwater and Fairfax. Davis Riverwalk is the undeveloped 7-acre tract between main street and the Blackwater River, expected to coincide more closely with the Corridor H Highway and a general economic recovery for the metro areas on which Davis' economy depends.

Thank you Mr Udall

2010-03-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

Stewart L. Udall, 90, interior secretary was guardian of America's wild places
By Matt Schudel
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 21, 201

Davis is top 10 of best mountain biking areas

2010-03-03T13:38:00.000-08:00

But then we knew that.....You can see this article here.

You can buy the issue at

http://www.zinio.com/browse/publications/index.jsp?offercode=PH01&productId=307332098&rf=osc288&pss=1&bd=1

Under the weight of snow-ice...Kaboom!

2010-03-02T08:59:00.001-08:00

Old buildings that could not be built today per national and state construction codes....this relic went down in Thomas today. Let's hope the owner properly demo's or repairs the building!

Google 'before' shot and photo of aftermath courtesy of Randy Schmiedeknecht and friends, Davis High Valley Realty.

Glimpsing back at the skiing connection between early Davis and Canaan

2010-02-26T16:36:00.000-08:00

A few posts back I published part of an interview with Riley Worden, taken by WVU researchers at the Worden Hotel in downtown Davis in 1958. This nice little piece (below) about Eddie Worden, the grandson of Worden's owner, shows us an example of the deep connection between Davis and the Canaan ski scene. Eddie Worden talks about the department store run by his grandfather across from Worden's, called Belmonts. I am not certain, but I believe Belmont's stood on the lot I own across from the old Worden's lot.

Sometimes it is too easy to see Canaan skiing as the activity of outsiders, and Davis life as the activity of locals. There is a common ground and we celebrate it.

His life tells story of skiing in West Virginia

The Green Premium

2010-02-24T16:57:00.000-08:00

Professional Builder magazine researchers reported recently that 26% of those they surveyed said they would pay no premium for a house certified as green (eg Energy Star or LEED certified). 35% said they'd pay 1-2% more, ie less than the price of a good road or mountain bike. 25% said they'd pay 3-6% more than for a typical house. And only 11% said they'd pay 6-10% for green certification. 2% said they would pay more than a 10% premium.

That would suggest that if our houses were more than about $8K higher than a similar looking non-Energy Star house with the same square feet, that there wouldn't be much of a market. From what I'm learning so far working with the modular vendors, this looks doable. ...more to come on exactly what measures we will take to meet the Energy Star new construction criteria in Davis.

Ready when you are...

2010-02-22T15:50:00.000-08:00

Well, not quite ready yet... But we're putting together base pricing, options, and terms so that we can offer new home construction in the old Davis grid. Looks like there will be three models offered, several lots to choose from (some lots limited to certain models) and a finite list of options/upgrades. This is not the market to build spec houses and see what happens and when. That said, we have an attractive design and can deliver elegant and energy-savvy homes at impressive savings compared to the Valley. We are attempting to carve out a middle ground, where the house has wood floors, granite counters, 9ft ceilings, 3 baths, real tile, hardi plank siding instead of vinyl etc -- ie of a quality you'd find in new construction in the Valley or in the city -- but the price is much lower than those found in the Valley. Starting in April there will be a marketing campaign with signage, email, brochures and advertising. There are many (I mean many) people who voice support, who think it is great to build quality homes in Davis. There are some who kid or badger me about schedule. This is not a project that is watched as a spectator sport. This is project that entails having a buying public, and for the moment, no one is buying much of anything in Canaan Valley or Davis. The exceptions for the most part are sacrifice sales, sales under duress, short sales, auctions and bankruptcies.

If the market is not ready to move, you won't see one of these being built, but I think this Spring/Summer is a good time to make the offer. I would like nothing more than to see a happy family step through the door of a new house on Thomas Avenue or one of the other available streets.

Affordable Housing

2010-02-22T04:40:00.000-08:00

For decades there has been near zero new construction in Davis. In the Davis annex created by Pocahontas Land Co the new construction was often manufactured homes (ie high end mobile homes) that meet HUD standards. These homes have a metal chassis underneath and can be hauled away, though many are built in with foundations and additions. It might cost $45-55 per square foot for one of these, not including the lot.

Average home values in Davis are probably in the $90K range if you net out the shells or near-shells that go for 35-65K (and the shells are often unstable or akimbo). A well-kept and complete small house on a standard 40ft lot might cost $110K. These older, reasonably maintained, homes might sell for $60 per square foot, not including the lot. The per square foot rate will drop as the house gets larger, but most Davis homes are small.

Standard Davis lots (not on corners) are 5,200sft and are worth from $20-24K today -- though you won't find many, if any, on the market. Standard Corner Lots in Davis go for $40-45K and are 7,900sft. The Davis Annex lots are larger (1/3 acre) but generally not thought of as being very desirable since they are not architecturally interesting and are not layed out in the compact format of old Davis.

Affordable housing is something that alot of locals talk about. There are banks and government entities focused on subsidizing the financing and price point of housing in order to provide rental and ownership opportunities for those making some amount less than the average income in Davis. For example, the Randolph County Housing Authority can consider programs for a 1 or 2-person family making $22k or less...now that is alot of folks in Davis. They help prospective buyers figure out what they can afford and then build or find townhouses and single family homes to suit.

Some percentage of the 60+ residences I will eventually build in Davis should be more affordable to buy. They will still be Energy Star and low maintenance. They will still be consistent with the lumber boomtown sytle venacular. But they will be a bit smaller, sit on the smaller lots, and may have laminate instead of stone counters, for example. The Davis housing market could have a future of healthy price diversity. There should be room for a $300K, 4,000sft classic Victorian, a $185K, 1,800sft premium Vic, and a $110k, 1,400sft basic "Katrina cottage" style Victorian. Hopefully, the comparables and appraisal market will develop in sophistication enough to recognize that there can be several categories of new construction in the same village.

I have often noted that if left alone, Davis would gravitate toward "shelter" homes -- cheap, manufactured, one story, unattractive homes that cost $50sft or less and have no interest to 2nd home buyers or active retirees seeking to buy in the area. Along with this trend would be the deterioration of the existing, often dilapidated, housing stock, toward a negative value impact on the underlying land. When lots are too cheap they are left vacant or with derelict buildings, or with collected junk. If lots remain too cheap they become sites for used mobile homes. If lots are just expensive enough, they are only purchased by consumers who will build something that meets national building codes, and with luck, is reasonably fitting for the town. This is one reason that I am glad to see the value of Davis lots double over the 7 years I have been following them.

Still, the home sites -- while relatively hard to find on the market -- are as cheap as they come anywhere. The challenge will be to set design trends that result in affordable housing that looks good, functions well, has low costs of ongoing ownership, and that fits in with houses twice the price. The promise of village life at the doorstep of Canaan Valley is not just for workers, not just for artists and athletes, not just for retirees, and not just for weekenders from Pittsburgh or DC. It will work for a diverse and fun mix of all these people.

The snow grenade and the blame game

2010-02-17T15:18:00.000-08:00

Canaan usually sports around 160 inches annually, and I think it is re-snowing its usual annual right here in front of me tonight. Really, I wouldn't be surprised if we booked 300 inches this year. Downtown Davis has piles of snow as large as small houses, and they're crammed between buildings. Rock and Laurel in Timberline has 3.5ft on the roof and I'm having to shovel away from windows and doors. Yesterday I spoke to the principal plower in chief for downtown Davis and he hasn't had 8 hours of sleep in weeks. He is wearing out his equipment, he is tense, and any pushback could prompt him to bust out that can of woopass. And I don't blame him.

People don't understand. And they don't want to understand either, because understanding will cost them money for no good reason other than: ma nature says so. Our snow plow contractors are presently banished to "snowblivion," doomed to plow the same driveways daily while enduring a peppering of phone calls from homeowners. Why is it more? Why aren't you here right now? This was a fixed price deal! Why is my bill so high?

I am fond of saying that misunderstandings are usually to the benefit of the misunderstander. Well, here we go. Bad news is here and the poor guy in the truck with a plow is here to bring to you.

People on the receiving end of snow inconvenience and damages will need to reset their expectations button.

Fixed price snow plow contractors are hating life -- many contracts in the Valley are fixed price -- one price for the season. Imagine the extra costs being incurred by the plow contractors as they try to keep hundreds of driveways clear. Ok, so last year they collected and scarcely had to show up...there was so little snow, but no one likes it when what goes around actually does come around. I gave my Timberline snow plow guy a pretty big tip today because his truck is dented, his face is drawn, and he isn't sleeping. Let's take care of these plow guys. They are busting hump and don't think for a minute that they're making out. Everyone at the table is taking a hit.

DC gets an object lesson in the perils of unconsidered roof design

2010-02-14T06:06:00.000-08:00

Canaan property ownership, winter roof leaks, and related design work has schooled me in the issues that bear on ice damming. Most people don't even know what it is. This is because they do not live in or visit an area with wintery conditions, or because they are house-science-ignorant (which is fine until you are shopping houses or considering major attic or roof work). DC area residents see a few inches of snow annually, so a DC winter that is delivering 50+ inches in a series of bigtime dumps has meted out more than a few object lessons about ice damming. This is so prevalent that it warranted an article in the Post on the subject (below).

What is ice damming? Ice damming occurs when the roof surface temperature is sufficiently warmer in some areas (typically over the living spaces) than in others (typically over the roof overhangs (soffits). Ice damming is the formation of ice or snow-ice, usually near soffits and in the roof valleys, which in turn holds back water or slush. The result is that areas of the roof experience submersion (unlike a rain storm) and water finds its way into the house.

Canaan and Davis are full of houses with ice damming challenges. I'll run through what I see as the lines of defense:

1. House design - mimimize valleys (sloped troughs created when perpendicular roof slopes intersect). Note that if you place roof ridge lines perpendicular to prevailing winds (from the West by Southwest in Canaan), there will be spindrift accumulation on the lee side of the ridge. Knowing this, you don't want to place gables with windows close to the roofing, nor do you want a roof valley on the lee side of a ridge if you can help it.

The roof temperature needs to be regulated by the design and insulation choices in your roof construction. A traditional unconditioned, ventilated, attic allows the roof to stay cool, but often the area of the roof that crosses over the exterior walls and hangs out from the house (soffit) is even cooler, making the traditional ventilated attic a marginal defense against ice damming. Another way to regulate roof temperature is to directly insulate the roof sheeting. This can be done by foaming with icynene open or closed cell foam from below; foaming must cover both the areas of roof over the attic or living areas as well as the areas of roof over your soffits (roof overhangs). Another approach is to sheet the outside surface of the roof with rigid insulation, or better yet, structured insulated panels (SIPs) that integrated foamboard with plywood. The R-value of one of these solutions will drive the ability of your roof to stay cool in winter. Whether or not to ventilate the attic or rafter cavities below this solution is a separate consideration. Most foaming solutions would suggest closing up the ventilated attic and conditioning the attic. Aside from avoiding ice damming, the benefits include: lower energy bills, cooler Summer afternoons in the house, less sound infiltration from airplanes, and if the attic is closed up and insulated you now have additional storage.

2. When Reroofing. When reroofing in Canaan, it is recommended that you use self-sealing, waterproof, roof wrap as the secondary barrier beneath the shingles or other roofing material. This prevents any breach of the roofing material from becoming a water issue INSIDE the house. Roofing materials should consider the high winds in certain areas of the Valley. Cedar roofing is not recommended because of the high precipitation, wind and temperature variations of the Valley. It is an old-fashioned solution based on the idea that cedar is robust in all conditions, but it is wood -- it does not perform as well as modern roofing materials. Not to mention that forests are never far, and wooden roofs catch fire. Minimize or completely eliminate gutters unless there are foundation drainage issues in conflict.

3. Snow Breaks. These are expensive, let me tell you. They hold snow on the roof rather than allow it to slide off. The strategy here is to hold snow back from the soffits, where ice damming is most prevelant. This holds off the gravitational pressure of snow-ice sliding down the roof toward the soffits. The second reason for snow breaks is to prevent sudden 'calving' of large blocks of snow or ice...a safety consideration with some building designs. In general, the most elegant functional design would eliminate the need for snow breaks by positioning pedestrian areas away from roof driplines and ensuring that the roof is so cool and regulated that it does not experience ice damming.

4. Heat tape. For existing homes that have ice damming issues. This is the best solution. Heat tape elements come on at freezing temps and keep a drainage area open at all times. This does not stop the formation of large ice formations but it keeps drainage areas open to gutters or elsewhere, thus preventing water from backing up through the roofing material and into the house.

Why care? Most don't when they are looking at the kitchen or the master suite. What do they know? It is summer, they have no idea what the implications of roof design entail for winter, or for lifetime ownership costs. But they should, particularly in Davis and Canaan. We are specifically designing the site orientation, roof lines, gable locations, and porches to perform their best. Then we are offering water barriers, insulation solutions, and roof materials that will have our roofs looking smart in the dead of winter, and you will know you were smart when you get your energy bill. You will be feeling even smarter 20 years hence, when the roof is holding up better than your neighbor's.

The DC blizzards have presented more than the obvious inconvenient truth of global climate change. Increasingly, home buyers in DC and in the second home market will look at the cost of ownership, not just the pattern in the kitchen's granite. I think that when it comes to notions of luxury and comfort, buyers will start to consider that it is comfortable not to have soaring cathedral ceilings; it is luxurious not to be worrying about your gutters; and it is downright sumptuous to be cool on the second floor on an August afternoon -- without the AC on.

D.C. area homeowners struggle against melting snow

By Jura Koncius
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 14, 2010

Do you know where this is?

2010-02-11T09:52:00.000-08:00

The houses don't exist yet but the location does. This is the newly completed rendering of our architectural plans for single family homes and 'side-by-sides' for the infill lots in downtown Davis. This is the north side of Thomas Avenue (across from Doc's Guest House). The house on the right sits in front of an existing garage apartment at the back of the lot. The other two units are side by side in that they are built against each other at the first floor. There are 15+ other locations to choose from in the existing Davis grid. Davis Riverwalk homes will be similar but their final designs are not completed. The Davis Victorian homes will be on crawl space foundations and will have their own sidewalks and steps intersecting the community sidewalk. Floor plans for the house on the far right are found in an earlier post. Floor plans on the two others are found here. The houses will be Energy Star rated. Exterior materials are all James Hardi cement board and sheet metal. We are estimating that these houses will deliver in the high $100ks. Options will include basements, in-floor radiant heat, foamed insulation and solar panels.

Builder Concept Home 2010

2010-02-06T07:41:00.000-08:00

Builder Concept Home 2010
It was interesting to see and hear the key design points of this archetypal design for a ~2,500sft traditional house. Most of the design decisions foot with the designs we have drafted for infill lots in Davis. Eliminate grand foyers and separate dining. Integrate kitchen and living/dining. Use science as well as aesthetics to design profiles and window placements. Invest in better ventilation, hot water, cooking, heating and utility solutions. Use transom windows over doors to spread light. Use closets or insulation for noise barriers. Eliminate or make functional any hallways. Make certain rooms multifunctional with little or no remodeling. Use self-sealing roof and house wraps, and flex flashing around window/door installations. Build homes that stand the test of time literally and in terms of resale with little or no remodeling. Build homes that cost drastically less to operate on an annual basis. Purchase homes based on their total cost of ownership and this new notion of resale value that is not simply based on square footage and number of bedrooms/baths.

Immediate considerations for Davis versions: larger and more ruggedized outdoor toy storage and transition areas; greater ratio of stone or other 'bomb-proof' flooring to hardwood flooring; foam-insulated roof sheeting; radiant heat option; foamed walls option; larger garage out back with alley entrance and optional rental suite on top.

Builder Concept Home 2010

WV Living Magazine

2010-02-01T14:38:00.000-08:00

A new WV magazine is out there now, called WV Living. It is a quarterly and makes a fine piece for the coffee table of a Canaan Valley vacation home. I'm running an ad for Rock'nLaurel in the Real Estate Marketplace section of the Spring issue.

That eyesore by the bridge

2010-01-30T11:10:00.001-08:00

For several years Davis High Valley Real Estate has had the property at the bridge (above right, by the pond in the Riverfront Park) listed for the incredibly out-of-sight price of $1.1M. The lot contains the old Highland Motel, a convenience store (complete with inventory on its shelves from years ago (do you think the beer is skunked yet?)), and a gas station (gee do you think there are problems underground?). This 2.7 acre plot has been marketed as a hotel, gas station and restaurant, but in reality it is a demolition job and a substantial gas station removal and remediation project.

This multi-year listing at a stunningly unrealistic price, combined with the public health and welfare damage of an abandoned, open, building chock full of mold, water and who knows what, has been and continues to be an embarrassment and annoyance to area residents. For 5 years people have asked me to please buy this piece of junk and transform it. Sorry, I may have overpayed a bit for one or two parcels, but few people would be foolish enough to pay 8X to 12X its value just because its owner, Roger Fussell, decided to ask for that.

Well, I have learned recently that this gentleman has passed away. I haven't had the opportunity yet to discover whether the property will go through probate yet, and what the plans for its disposition may be.

Sold at a market value that reflects the risk or actual cost of Underground Storage Tank removal and related remediation, plus the demolition of the old hotel, this property is potentially worth less than 1/10 of its asking price. The comps for that section of Davis raw land are around $50k an acre (flood lines considered). I know, because I created those comps buying land on the other side of the Riverfront Park. Now the demo will cost $50K+ easily, and the UST removal will be a minimum of $25K (speaking from experience with a clean removal down the street).

Additionally, a large strip of the parcel runs behind the buildings of main street and is subject to adverse possession claims by every owner who has used that alley as a means of egress over an extended period.

This parcel is the other bookend to the Davis Riverfront Park and is important to the Town's future for that reason, as well as its prominent location. That does not make it valuable, but it makes it extremely important to the community, and to the value of real estate in Davis.

Consider this plan for that property: Where the motel is, a larger multi-story structure with retail and Inn/Hotel/Condo suites; ample parking; an alley and townhouses along the railroad bed strip facing the park. Call or write if you would like to form a team to take out that property when it becomes available.

It IS a small town....

2010-01-30T09:59:00.001-08:00

The Davis Riverwalk tract is shown in beige and the Town of Davis' Riverfront Park is next to it in green. Google has not yet implemented the streets of Davis Annex (west of 7th) , and has a ways to go before our new 911/delivery addresses are accurately reflected.

View Davis Riverwalk in a larger map

Remembering the mill days

2010-01-26T14:29:00.001-08:00

In a vacant lot near 3rd and Thomas Ave in Davis, not a sign of any past structure can be seen. But at one time it seems to have been the site of Worden Hotel. Long since burnt and removed, the Worden Hotel was a favorite of spelunkers in the 50's, as this photo suggests. On June 17, 1958, Mr. Riley Worden sat down with reps from WVU for an interview about how things were back in Davis' boom days. Here is a brief extract of his thoughts on the Babcock mill, which was located along the Blackwater, today the site of the Town of Davis' Riverfront Park and the Riverwalk tract.

Transcript of recorded interview:
Lambert: When were the mills built in Davis?
Worden: Gam Rumbarger, he started his mill in ’(18)85.
Lambert: Where was it located?
Worden: Right down here across from the depot, where the mill always stood. Right below this big bridge down here, you can see a lot of the concrete stuff down there.
Lambert: Now tell us about the operation of the mill and the cutting of timber and the floating of the timber down the Blackwater, Mr. Worden.
Worden: They had no log trains in here then and most of the logs was floated down the river. Mr. A. Thompson and his son, Frank, floated the logs down to the sawmill down here. They had three splash dams. They had one on Sand Run and one on Little Blackwater and the big one up here 2 ½ miles above Davis, and all the logs came into that dam and then they would open the booms for about an hour and let the water bring the logs on down to the mill out here. While Rumbarger’s were in here they only took out the timber, the cherry lumber. They hauled that in from Canaan Valley in big sleds. They didn’t float that, they hauled that.
Lambert: That was done during the winter season.
Worden: Yes, during the winter season.
Lambert: …and the Rumbargers sold their plant to the Thompsons.
Worden: They sold out to the Blackwater Boom and Lumber Company and so the Blackwater Boom and Lumber Company bought out Gam Rumbarger and then Mr. Thompson came in here, he bought a lot of timber up in the swampy land here and he was going to float it down the river too. Mr. Hamilton knew there would be a lot of trouble sorting their logs and Thompson’s logs down here at the mill. Sortin’ them out of course, they stamped them all on the end. Then Mr. Hamilton, when they bought Rumbarger out, Rumbarger then went to Elkins and put in a mill up around Mill Creek. Then Mr. Thompson came in and he built a mill down below town here a mile, before Babcock put in a hardwood mill, but he just had the framework up and that is what started Blackwater Boom and Lumber Company to sell out to Mr. Thompson because they would have all this trouble sorting the logs. Then they sold that mill to Beaver Creek Lumber Company up here. The man who put it in was Jag Allen from Hagerstown and they took all the timber out back on the land.
Lambert: That was on Beaver Creek?
Worden: That was Beaver Creek. I was just a boy when they bought that mill. I was seven years old when they bought that mill and I was five years old when I came to Davis.
Lambert: How many mills were built in Davis?
Worden: Well, the Blackwater Mill burned down twice and they rebuilt it and the Beaver Creek never did burn down. That ran until they had all the timber, mostly all, cut out and they only took the best timber. There was so much timber cut in those days out in this section, at Pendleton Run, out there. A man named Burger had a mill down at Pendleton Run that is 2 ½ miles from here, and he had a big mill down at Douglas. They only took the best timber. The hemlock lumber sawed only brought $6 a thousand and the best of spruce only brought $18 a thousand. Mr. Burger cut this big timber down anywhere from 4 to 5 foot across the tree and just took the bark and left the timber lay and rot, and they did that all over this country.
Lambert: Now tell us a little more Mr. Worden about Rumbarger cutting the cherry and walnut and bringing it in on bobsleds.
Worden: They did that for a couple of years. The snow in those days came along in October and it stayed until April. It never left then the way it does now. It might have been because of the big timber being here, what kept the winters cold. You know back years ago up at your home the winters were colder and lasted longer.
Lambert: What conveyance would they use to bring the sleds in? Would they have horses?
Worden: They used horses. When Mr. Thompson came in here he brought some oxen in with him from up in Ridgeway (PA). They used the oxen where they couldn’t use horses, in the swamps and skidded the logs out with them. I forget just what year it was they came in.
Lambert: Tell us about Mr. Babcock buying the Thompson’s out, Mr. Worden.
Worden: Mr. Babcock came in from Pittsburgh. Him and his two brothers came in and they were here just a few days buying Mr. Thompson out. When they bought Mr. Thompson out they put in a lot of improvement on the mill and then they brought the trees in, the whole tree and tried it. It would take two of the long flat cars to haul the trees in and they had a jig saw across from the mill where they sawed this up into logs instead of hauling the log in. They ran that for a couple of years but that wasn’t a success so they went back to cutting the logs anywhere from 14 feet up to 20 feet. Mr. Babcock had brought in the skidders which Mr. Thompson had never used. They took the timber out of the Canyon with these skidders where Mr. Thompson was going to build a mill down there in a place called Lime Rock. He was going to cut his timber in the Canyon and float it down Lime Rock to his mill down there. Of course, all the timber in high grounds he brought that in on bob trains or he couldn’t have gotten it out of the Canyon by trains. Mr. Babcock had put in a lot of switchbacks down the Canyon and took quite a bit out, what he didn’t get out with skidders. Then he took most of the timber out on both sides of the Canyon on the right hand side of the Western Maryland Railroad, what when down to Hendricks. He took that all out on skidders across the railroad over on the other mountain and that is where they dropped them. Then they loaded them up with loaders and loaded the log trains.
Lambert: About how many camps did they have in Canaan Valley when they were operating in the Valley?
Worden: Mr. Thompson had about five lumber caps and then Mr. Babcock, after he got up in there, he took out so much timber out of the sawmill with skidders, he had in there three or four camps up there. Then they kept on building the railroad they bought a lot of timber over in Grant County. They bought enough timber to run twenty years over there. Mr. Viering was a wood superintendent for Mr. Babcock and he was coming in from Stony River Dam one evening. It was raining and the old gentleman had a straight connected engine and when he got at the top of the hill he didn’t put the brakes on quick enough so the engine got away from him. He had five cars on, flat cars. The men on the train was a fireman, a conductor and another man. They jumped off the train and Mr. Viering came down into the lowlands at a pretty bad curve and the engine turned over and killed him. It buried him in the mud. Well, after that Mr. Babcock then sold all his timber out over in Grant County to people that had small portable sawmills. He quit business then, so that finished up our lumber business. If Mr. Viering could have only lived, our sawmill could have run 20 years longer than what it did.

Digging into Riverwalk site's past

2010-01-15T07:31:00.001-08:00

I'm still reeling from all the impressions made on me by a trip to Pittsburgh Wednesday. Several years ago I had begun poking around on the internet for vestiges of companies, men, and mills that occupied the present site for Davis Riverwalk. I had browsed the few books on the industrial history of the area and found over and over again that Davis history -- despite its scale and duration of boom times - was barely documented.

A couple of years ago I searched with Google for the Babcock Boom & Lumber Company. Amazingly the main operator of the mill operations in Davis, Babcock Lumber, was still in existence and even celebrated its Davis history on its corporate web site. Consider that this is a business that cut and milled virgin timber in the Valley at the turn of the century, and today they still exist as a lumber company with the same name, and run by the grandaughter of the principal founding Babcock, E.V. Babcock.

I began a dialog with the corporate office that eventually resulted in an invitation to visit their offices in Pittsburgh, where we reviewed archives for anything related to the Davis operation. Cindy Phillips, the author of "Images of America: Tucker County", joined me for the visit.

It turns out that E.V's son, Fred Babcock, who died in 1997, had made a sustained effort over years to collect and preserve the history of Babcock Lumber. In that effort he had corresponded with several prominent Canaan Valley community members who had records and photos from the days of industrial pioneering. The folks at corporate still carry Fred's enthusiasm for Babcock's legacy in their hearts, and welcomed me and historian/author Cindy Phillips to come in and review their archives. What is also refreshing is that Babcock Lumber company sees the old photos and documents as both special and -- ultimately -- for the public to appreciate.

Yes, we saw photos we have never seen in the usual collections on the area's industrial history. And these will be collected for the public to enjoy. But for me the biggest surprise was how rewarding it was to get a glimpse of the Babcock family and the corporate culture they built over more than a century. It was captivating to read letter after letter between Fred Babcock and various decendants of the early families of Canaan. It was clear that one could spend several years on a full time basis doing interviews, research and writing from the clues and information we saw Wednesday.

There are no structures, few artifacts and little writing to tell today's residents and visitors what happened right here on this site, along this river. The promise of fuel for our collective imaginations lies in a digital history: history writings, letters, photos and drawings. Many of these bits exist and seem to satisfy the hunger of their collectors or original owners, but you and I don't get to know much of it without going into research mode -- yet.

Fun in the Valley and even living on the mill site in Davis Riverwalk has its merits even with no understanding of its history, but for many it will be that much richer with a sense of the people and stories that took place here, where the Beaver Creek flows into the Blackwater River.

The three 'trade routes' to Davis

2010-01-11T07:58:00.000-08:00

Here is a Google MyMap with the three routes and some initial placemarks. There is an additional segment to our vacation property in Timberline as well.

View Davis Riverwalk in a larger map

Christmas in Canaan

2010-01-06T04:26:00.000-08:00

It's been a classic Christmas

2010-01-02T09:39:00.001-08:00

Kicked off by the Nor'easter December 19th, this holiday season has been blessed with Canaan's full winter conditions. A big lake-effect snow before Christmas, an insane ice storm with 26-mile an hour average winds and 45mpg gusts, a couple of warm days that let the snow become mist...and now the mother of all lake effects is burying us in 2ft of powder while the temps hold in the high single digits...Yes it's the real deal in Canaan this holiday.

Skiing today is limited to those who are either immune to the temps or are out of days to choose from. Wind chill is 5 degrees on the valley floor here, so it is of course out of control up on top.

Since listing Rock'n'Laurel (in Timberline) for vacation rental, we already have our first guest scheduled. Two more pioneers of mountain luxe will be getting the 20% promo discount.

Luxe Rental in Canaan Valley

2009-12-23T08:30:00.001-08:00

Boomtown Design is managing the first-time rental of a unique home I built back in 2000. To learn more about this spectacular house click on this link and explore!\....or copy and paste this link:
http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p269714

Bike race on the Riverwalk patch

2009-11-16T17:11:00.000-08:00

Congrats to Backyard Bikes for running a successful first cyclocross race in Davis. Here are the photos
www.akaflash.com/coverage/biking-cyclo-cross-nov-14-2009/photos

Sixty-odd racers zoomed around the Riverwalk property in an anaerobic sprint round a course of grass, tarmac, trails and obstacles. Cyclocross is a niche sport in between mountain biking and road biking that many have never even heard of, but it is a popular variation for many serious cyclists.

More mountain sports events based in Davis is the future of Davis.

I recently watched a documentary called Race Across the Sky. While not a particularly special piece of work, I found the story pretty interesting. The Leadville 100 mountain bike race has put Leadville, CO, on the map. Abandoned by business following the mining boom, Leadville languished for decades. When I lived in Denver in the early 80's Leadville was known for its grand boomtown building architecture and simultaneously its paucity of economic activity.

Incumbent business types in Davis -- not mentioning names -- have grumbled that mountain bikers don't help local businesses. I say that reflects more on the missed opportunity than the lack thereof.

The Leadville doc was no doubt made and marketed on the Lance Armstrong factor. He had ridden it once before but this time he won, and did so in front of the documentary camera, and boom -- the Leadville 100 is now 100 times hotter, and the queue to ride it no doubt 100 times longer. That's great, but the long term buildup to this was the year-in, year-out, management of a great race in a great place...an extreme race that came of age in an age that celebrates all things extreme, and all who triumph in these rarefied altitudes of mountain sports.

The fellow that runs the Leadville 100 is a community leader. His gig is not just running a race but to include anyone who would dare, and everyone who supports the race and its racers. This is not just literally his position, it is how he feels and how he behaves in the community. The Leadville 100 is about the non-finishers and the families, friends and fans as much as the obvious. It is a race, but it has a huge halo of positive energy and economic benefit for the community. That. Is. What. Davis. Needs.

And it may not come in the package of one race, but there will be an anchor race around which all the other events revolve. It may be a race that exists today but eventually breaks through. Perhaps it will be an adventure race, a mountain bike race, a cyclocross race, a trail race...I don't know. It was a race called "24 hours of Canaan" a long time ago, but that was before its time and did not stay in town.

Sometimes, when nearly everyone who's been at it for 20 or 30 years knows exactly why this and that won't work...well that is when the opportunity can emerge. This Cyclocross race is nice to see in Davis along with Revenge of the Rattlesnake, the WV State Championship race and others. We could host 20 mountain sport events from Davis instead of 3 or 4. And one of them will become a major regional or national event.

Riverwalk's solar foray in the news

2009-10-07T10:49:00.000-07:00

Grid-Tied Solar Panels Offer Quick Payback
Posted Sunday, October 4, 2009 ; 06:00 AM | View Comments | Post Comment

Thanks to generous state and federal tax credits, solar power is seeing a new surge.
Story by Pam Kasey

Kids are going to love Leaf Peepers 09!

2009-09-17T08:37:00.000-07:00

Bring the wee ones to Leaf Peepers 09 in downtown Davis on Saturday September 26. Turn'em loose in a set of 5 inflatables, including bouncer, obstacle course and slide. This attraction replaces carnival rides of years past to focus more on the younger kids while solving some of the logistics issues of getting massive rides up the mountain.

It's good to be photogenic

2009-09-13T04:23:00.000-07:00

I've often marveled that there seem to be more nature photographers working the Valley than there are restaurants. That's because there aren't many people here but there is infinite beauty to be discovered in the vast protected lands surrounding Davis. A friend brought this piece on the Nature Conservancy's site to my attention. The photo was taken by Kent Mason and is copyright protected.

Davis property taxes 09

2009-08-26T09:51:00.001-07:00

Just got off the phone with the Assessor. We discussed the reasons why taxes went up as much as they did on various properties in Davis. Apparently, the county is compelled by law to revisit valuations every three years, and this year has been the year of one heck of an upward revision in values. Approximately 120% on vacant lots and anything from 20-100% on improvements.

The grid of Davis breaks down into 132x60' corner lots, 132x40' standard lots, and the occasional 30 footer. It appears that the typical 40ft lots more than doubled, from about $36 a year to about $85.

The Assessor told me that Davis has finally seen enough sales of lots (over the past year or two) to establish new assessed values for lots in the town...and they are way up. If you could find a lot to buy in Davis, a standard 40' lot would be about $22k, and a 60' corner lot would be about 42k. Unfortunately this was not lost on the assessor, and our taxes have doubled.

With these increases taxes are still low in Davis. The real challenge will be maintaining competitively low property taxes as we start to get more new home construction in Davis.

A White House Farmers Market?

2009-08-23T15:17:00.000-07:00

From the Washington Post:
A White House Farmers Market?

President Obama spoke at the DNC about health care and healthful eating. (Alex Wong -- Bloomberg)
Michelle Obama may have planted a garden on the White House lawn. But she isn't the only one in her family pushing the benefits of fresh, local produce. At the Organizing for America National Health Care Forum on Thursday, President Obama said that improving access to fresh fruits and vegetables is a key part of reforming health care. He also floated another idea.

"One of the things we're trying to figure out is, can we get a little farmers market set up outside the White House," the president said in answer to a question about combatting obesity. "That is a win-win situation. It gives suddenly D.C. more access to good, fresh food, but it also is this enormous potential revenue maker for local farmers in the area."

Obama didn't say anything about how such a market would work, but Ann Yonkers, co-founder of FreshFarm Markets, welcomed the initial idea: "There's a lot of emphasis in the White House on health. So it's pretty consistent with that. It would be great if it happened."

Obama also stressed the importance of creating distribution systems that could link small, local farmers to public schools who want more fresh fruits and vegetables on their menus. (Look for my story on how this is already happening in Charlottesville, Va., in next week's Food section.)

Schools serve French fries, tater tots and hot dogs, Obama said, "because let's face it, that's what kids want to eat anyway." But he noted that the problem is exacerbated because "that food is a lot cheaper because of the distribution we've set up. … Getting local farmers connected to school districts: That would benefit the farmers delivering fresh produce. Right now they don’t have the distribution mechanism set up."

-- Jane Black

Life on Thomas Ave in downtown Davis

2009-08-21T17:03:00.000-07:00

Behind Doc's Guest House, these south-facing homes will be built on Thomas. This is a Sketch Up rendering of the three structures.

Future spa interactive floorplan

2009-08-20T06:22:00.000-07:00

Explore the interactive floor plan in detail at http://www.davisriverwalk.com/ifp-spa/
The spa at Riverwalk Shops will be the last of the 4 spaces within that building, but certainly not the least expensive. This interactive floorplan accurately reflects the layout and uses rather fanciful photos to give you an even better idea. Actual interior designs are not completed, but we anticipate stained concrete floors over radiant heating, stone and wood. When the spa phase is undertaken, we will add dozens of windows to the back of the building to expose views of the Blackwater.

Business models for the spa are still under consideration. It will operate as a separate business in a tenant relationship to Riverwalk Shops. It will likely require several equity partners to fund the buildout, furnishing and equipment. These will likely be private investors who know Davis and Canaan and who want to help make a quality day spa happen in the area.

We anticipate usual day spa offerings but also an annual membership option, providing further discounts on services along with yearlong access to the sauna, steam and lockers. The buildout and occupancy of the three retail spaces in the same building will precede the spa project. Themes for the retail spaces include dining, entertainment, wellness and general retail.

Riverwalk Shops update

2009-08-13T14:02:00.000-07:00

Planning away here...we are carving out a project that would entail building out the exterior that is visible from William Ave (main street) and the 3 retail spaces totaling 5,000 square feet. Each space will have an office with a bathroom, a back entrance, glass storefronts with entry vestibules, high ceilings showing the steel beams of the old Shopnsave, rustic cement floors, separately metered gas and electric. The three retail spaces will share a 20ft deep covered veranda that is over 100ft long. We anticipate offering a solar powered option for early-signed tenants, where rent will be higher but electricity bills lowered by net metering (selling generated electricity back). We will also make extensive use of tubular reflective skylights for daylighting the spaces. Handicapped patrons will come up a ramp underneath the cool tower pictured at the corner of the building. The tower will use reclaimed barnwood and naturally oxidizing posts, beams and metal siding.

There is extensive custom metal fabrication in this renovation. Since the storefronts face the brunt of the weather they will be very high quality, but they are designed to open in strategic locations for cross ventilation in summer.

Retail suite 1 is the largest and has a 20ft wide garage door facing William Avenue. There will be a deck behind the garage door that stands a foot higher than the main store floor, allowing a separate display area or a performance stage (or both). Another advantage of this 2,600+ sft space is that it has William frontage as well as frontage along the new Riverwalk Shops pedestrian veranda. The space will house the anchor store of the center, which will be oriented toward the general public and offer dining, shopping and/or entertainment. The goal here is to have a store that is meaningful to a wide variety of customers spanning locals, second home owners and visitors.

Outside, the sidewalk west from Town Hall will be routed along the perimeter of the renovated building and will continue west at the front of the Spa section. BTW the Spa will not be built out in this project but is planned as follow-on to the retail buildout. Exterior materials will be a mix of rustic wood, stone masonry and sheet metal, with a variety of earth tone colors.

The objective is to deliver space that is competitive with local existing rates but that goes further to offer energy-efficient construction meeting WV building codes. We want to accomplish this while striking an aesthetic chord that harmonizes with the existing historic structures and nods to the industrial history of Riverwalk's location. Most of all we want the space to be effective for the intended tenants to maximize their retail success in Davis, and that means attractive, fun and community-oriented spaces for us all to enjoy downtown.

Sold out Davis farmers market 3 weeks running..

2009-08-13T10:45:00.000-07:00

There is a reason and this new documentary underscores a few of them...

Standalone residence

2009-08-11T15:30:00.001-07:00

Lot 91 on Thomas Avenue in front of the Wilfong apartment. Yes Cory, the one you live in. This may be the first one built but will most likely require a buyer to have committed before ground-breaking. The house will be Energy Star rated, which means much more than the appliances it contains. It will have required R values for all insulation, meet factory and on site tests, including blower testing for tightness. More on whole-house Energy Star certification in a future post!

Farmers Market Saturdays

2009-07-30T08:20:00.000-07:00

Stemple Farms will arrive Saturdays 9am with the following to fill your basket:
lettuce, kohlrabi, onions, swiss chard, broccoli, red beats, green beans, peas, garlic, blueberries and cucumbers.

You may be able to special order for your restaurant or store, or for your own eggs or field-raised chicken by calling James Stemple at 789-2515.

Also sign up at Hypno Coffee for Breadshare orders from the Wolpert Farm, Joel quoted below:

Yo everybody,
I put together the breadshare signup forms. They should be on display at Hypno Coffee on Friday or Saturday. Fill out your form and return it to Tony at Hypno by August 8th. The Breadshare will start the following Saturday, August 15th. I'll deliver the bread there around 2pm.

Note to all Vampire Player Haters, there is also a Garlic Share going down. Same sign up form available at Hypno.

Hope everybody is enjoying the summer fun.

Joel

From Slow Start to Sold Out (in 3 weeks)

2009-07-26T12:36:00.000-07:00

The farmers market was fully sold out by 10:30. Farmer Ben Nelson joined around 10am, which helped handle customer demand. Duck into Hypno for a coffee and stop by the market stalls for some greens or berries; that was Saturday's MO. For yesterday's market we had signs (designed by Kristin Douglas) along main street and flyers posted throughout Davis, Thomas and the Valley. The Parsons Advocate was also able to get the produce list published in "What's Happening" so that people could plan menus. Locating in different spots on the lot and having conversations about what layouts would work best is helping me sort out details for the parking lot and market stall construction.

By next week we'll have some easel-type sidewalk signs to help out with day-of promotion. The Advocate has suggested a sponsored ad where the area restaurants and other businesses that support having a market can pitch in to run an ad promoting the market (sponsors listed on the ad). Please contact me with any interest in this idea.

This year should prove that there is demand for a market, and that there are farmers and crafters to meet that demand. The demand side has been an object of intuitive belief for me, but it is nice to see real people turning out! In addition, it has been fascinating to learn of the number and quality of small farmers, artists and crafters in the immediate area. For next year we'll try to have a few more participants and make arrangements to consistently feature a musician.

Friends of Blackwater Fundraiser a success!

2009-07-13T18:37:00.000-07:00

I attended a fundraiser in Canaan Valley for Riverwalk tenant Friends of the Blackwater Canyon on Friday night. It was hosted by developer and Charleston attorney Steve White. Governor Manchin attended and Speaker Richard Thompson sang and played his guitar for us. Whitegrass, Sirianni's, Timberline Resort and others donated food. Over 30 items or services were donated for the fundraising auction. Expecting 30 or 40 folks, I was amazed to see what looked like over 200 people. Steve's house easily hosted the crowd.

During the event a group of protesters formed at the entry of the subdivision. No one knew what they were protesting until it was relayed that they were against the planned power line called PATH. See www.wvcitizensagainstpath.com. They were at this location on this night specifically because Governor Manchin was present. This confounded the guests, most of whom seemed unfamiliar with the PATH project. The host family told the protesters to stay off the property at one point, though the Governor apparently went out and spoke to two women leading the protest. Tacky as it was to protest outside a private home at a completely unrelated fundraiser, the protest had the positive effect of provoking more conversation by the Governor. The next day I saw the Governor at Landis Realty's ribbon cutting ceremony and asked him what he thought of the protests, and let him know that some folks here in town perceived that he was denying knowledge of PATH, and even it's very existence. Neither are of course the case, but the vibe he was sending was definitely one of distancing himself. The Governor's ribbon cutting speech drifted to the PATH topic, and the Parsons Adovcate then interviewed the Gov for a good 30 minutes.

The more he is challenged on this position, the more he may come to recognize that it isn't fair to play possum to a project as potentially invasive as PATH. From what I've seen and read, Governor Manchin needs to take a more concerned position regarding this project. At the event in Canaan and previously he has said he "has no dog in this fight," but I have trouble accepting that notion when there is so much impact to reconcile. I would think that the state of WV would specifically need its leader to watch over this project and ensure that the voting citizens are not on the raw end of the PATH deal.

Parking lot

2009-07-09T07:15:00.000-07:00

The design for the lot is drafted and will realign parking to be parallel to the building rather than nose to the building. This will keep the front side of the building relatively free of bumpers and metal mass, for easier access and more flexibility for our retailers.

There is some design discussion out there concerning angled vs 90 degree spots. We'll go with 90 degrees to allow bidirectional traffic through the lot. The idea is to impose a minimum amount of order (in keeping with other things Davis, no?). There are recommended bay depths and turnaround widths which we are also incorporating. I will try to provide for one ADA spot up front, though I'm sure it will get plenty of use by the not-so-wheel-chair-bound.

With the new design we plan to eliminate parking opportunities on WV32 (William Ave) along the property frontage. It is less safe and looks like hell as well. We will also border some of the lot's perimeter with log guard rail that will stop thru-traffic, retain errant drivers and pedestrians, yet allow snow plows to move snow through them.

The grass island out front will be made narrower and longer along William Ave. It will feature a stone monument with a wood signage backdrop and uplighting. Each store will be listed directory-style (uniform size) in it's preferred font.

Access to the lot will still consist of two points but their widths will be narrowed to control traffic. The access road to the back of the building will exit the lot near the volley ball court and the other de facto roadways adjacent to the lot will be blocked off with log pole guard rails.

This is the plan. Any inputs are always appreciated.

Leaf Peepers Davis 9/25-9/27

2009-07-06T14:16:00.000-07:00

Below is the anticipated schedule of events for 2009. The official schedule to be published as established...but this should give you an idea of what the weekend holds!

http://www.myspace.com/leafpeepersfestivalwv

Revised elevation and floor plan....

2009-07-05T15:50:00.000-07:00

What we're working on now

2009-07-02T15:22:00.001-07:00

Showing us the way to the market

2009-07-02T08:27:00.000-07:00

If you have ever engaged in mountaineering then you know how much harder it is to break trail in the snow than to follow behind the one who did. Kick steps and plunge steps get tiring fast! The Elkins farmers market has done a professional job of blazing the trail for how to do a small market in this region. They have bylaws, officers and a good number of farmers and food crafters involved. Already the lead farmers and organizers have given me some valuable guidance in how to make the Davis market successful. The more people I talk to, the more I learn of micro-farmers in our area. Due to the climate there are certain crops that do particularly well; broccoli is an example.

I learned that some day a pavillion will be an important element of making the market convenient for farmers and attractive to community members. I also learned that organizing and promoting the markets can interfere with the seasonal work demands of being a farmer, making the help of a non-farmer all the more important. This summer we'll be under tents with no bylaws, no officers and will really just be feeling our way forward.

The Elkins market web site outlines the types of goods generally sold during each month, but they also poll their farmers each week to prepare a bulk email listing the specific crops coming to the next market. The local Chamber of Commerce forwards the market email to their list increasing coverage even more.

After a trial summer of sporadic markets with hopefully a growing roster of candidate members, we will create a similar web site for market customers. You will be able to subscribe to the market update letter and see if the bok choi will be in or whether there will be roaster chickens available, for example.

Another element of a robust farming and crafting community is retailing. Businesses such as the Trail Mix in the Valley are establishing relationships with the boutique growers to be able to offer some of these goods on a retail basis. A given farmer in the region might retail their eggs routinely, and take eggs along with greens or fruit to sell directly at the farmers market. There are different health department codes for retail vs farmer's markets as well.

The message I'm gleaning so far is, "This is not only desirable, but it is achievable."

Save the Blackwater Canyon fundraiser

2009-07-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

Friday July 10th in the Valley there will be a fund raiser with mountain music, auctions, and special guests Congressman Mollohan and Governor Manchin. The fund raiser will be held at the home of Steve White, the developer of Aspen Village near the base of Timberline ski area. Details at http://saveblackwater.org/CanaanHP2009.html

Also hosted by:
Diane Baisden and Sam Jinks
Diane and Roscoe Beall III
Pat and Judy Bowling
John and Debbie Brown
Jim and Laura Cava
Sheila Coleman-Castells
Donna and Carroll Cook
Cooper & Preston, PLLC
Tom and Paula Flaherty
Buck and Kathe Larkin Geary
Steve Haid and Jennifer Taylor
Tom and Stacy Halloran
Rita Haverty
Fred and Tracy Herz
Rose Marie Herz
Mike and Julie Lee
Kim Landis and Butch Nelson
B.J. and Jeri Nibert
Harriett and Paul Nusbaum
Frederick ‘‘ Doc’’ Reichle, M.D.
Geraldine Roberts. Esq.
Darrell and Debbie Rolston
Bobby and Annie Snyder

Mountain bike festival

2009-07-01T11:47:00.000-07:00

The first mountain bike festival was last weekend. It was organized by Davis' own Sue Haywood. http://susanhaywood.blogspot.com/

Farm Mkt Saturday

2009-06-29T12:59:00.000-07:00

Farmer James Stemple will return to Davis Riverwalk to sell lettuce, bok choi, turnip greens, onions, broccoli, eggs etc. 9am to 12pm at 737 William Avenue (parking lot of Highland Prospects, Hypno Coffee, Friends of Blackwater Canyon).

PS - this is a community effort to encourage local produce production and consumption; please pass the word and come buy!

Washingtonated?

2009-06-18T10:05:00.000-07:00

Beware the bubble. Most of us know how Coloradoans historically despise Texans on their ski lifts: friendly, dumb, rich...how on earth did they get that money? We also know about Californication: regular Californian sells house for $1M and comes to Oregon or Santa Fe, bringing a fat/happy mentality with no jobs, just dividend income and house equity. The mountain towns hate the new cultural dimension, don't like regular joe's showing up with so much coin, and blame them for running up values without creating jobs.

Below is an article from today's NYTimes on Bend, OR, and the bust following the boom. It relates the woes of a "new west" lifestyle town's booming and then busting due to a lack of underlying economic strength. My ex-in-laws live there and I love the town. I've watched it evolve from half it's present size of 80,000. I remember getting a tour of a mountain-top subdivision and being told that the Californians lived on the side with mountain views and the rest lived on the side with city views. That made sense. They were here for the aesthetic and had seen their share of cityscapes.

The relevance here is the prospect of Davis being Washingtonated. How real is that prospect? I think it is real. But let's get back to Bend, Oregon. There is more to that boom than house equity transplanted. My father in law had built a logistics software and consulting business that sold to Fortune 100 firms operating worldwide. He had long appreciated Bend's lifestyle and decided to move the company's headquarters to Bend. He built a business condo and rented out space while using the rest for his business. He employed Phd's located across the US and a couple moved to Bend to work in his office. His user meetings and various other events took place in Bend. He hired admins, accountants, lawyers etc. His economic power to relocate his own business and in turn generate incomes in Bend was far from Californication. It was Washingtonation. Intellectual capital. Not house equity. Yes it was driven by a love of the mountain lifestyle and enough personal capital to pursue a dream, but that's about where the comparison ends. What the Bend article sees is Californians. What it misses are the many businesses that started or moved to Bend because of the lifestyle, and they are the real economic story.

I believe that we will see people like my ex-father in-law decide to start or move businesses that are not necessarily retail/hospitality oriented. Businesses that are geographically independent and located in Davis because of the lifestyle. Those kinds of businesses will give us the diversification to see our way through the ups and downs.

Slump Dashes Oregon Dreams of Californians

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/18/us/18oregon.html?_r=1&sq=slump%20dashes%20oregon%20dreams&st=cse&scp=1&pagewanted=all

Mountainbike Festival June 26-27-28

2009-06-17T13:57:00.000-07:00

Davis is a mountain bike mecca. If you aren't already plugged in -- and even if you already know the routes -- here is a great way to ride the Valley. Below is an excerpt from the BWB site overviewing the weekend.

http://www.blackwaterbikes.com/CMBF.html for festival information
Sue Haywood's blog

Friday June 26

Ladies Day! - Sue Haywood will lead a women’s tour and do on trail skills building. We will leave from Blackwater Bikes at 10 am and ride on the Canaan Valley Institute’s beautiful property in Davis. These trails have a mix of open grassy meadows, singletrack in the woods and the famous “moon rocks”. This is geared towards the intermediate rider who wants to try more technical terrain in a fun, supportive atmosphere. Trailside Lunch is provided.

To sign up or for more info suzehaywood@yahoo.com

Saturday June 27

Group Trail Rides starting at 9 am out of Blackwater Bikes .

Organized Rides*
Hardcore- This ride is long and hard, but oh so fun. Ride a mix of the toughest trails on Canaan Mt. led by a local hardcore.
Intermetzo- Not as long or as tough, but really good trail riding.
Ultimate Fitness Ride- Camp 70 up to Beardon’s Knob, Canaan Loop Road, 244 up Blackwater Canyon. No singletrack, but lots of miles.
State Championship Loop -Be a champ, ride the moonrocks, but at a pleasure pace.
Nice and Easy- Camp 70 flat loop along the Blackwater River.
Olsen Tower- Climb up to the tower for an awesome view
Night Ride on State Championship Course- You are a vampire and only come out at night.
Ride Downhill at Timberline Four Season Resort on your own for gravity fed fun.

*(may change due to trail conditions)

Donation to Tucker Country Trails Club requested of $15 for rides.

Sat Nite

Enjoy the local food scene of Davis, Thomas, Canaan Valley and all of Tucker County.

Come have a brew at Mountain State Brewery Company

Listen to music at Brew Pub and Purple Fiddle.

Sunday June 28

9am- noon Trail Maintenance led by the Tucker Country Trails Club on a local riding trail. Come give back to the trails!

10-12 Family and Kids ride on Camp 70 and Dobbin House. Take the kids out and have a good time.

2pm-4pm Bike Hash : Try something different... Let the Canaan Valley Hash Hound Harriers remind you how fun drinkers are with a mountain biking problem.

Come sun or mud!

For lodging see www.visitcanaan.com and www.canaanvalley.org

Fee and Free Camping available in Mon National Forest, CVI, Blackwater Falls State Park, Canaan Valley State Park.

Save the date

2009-06-17T04:31:00.001-07:00

Misunderestimated

2009-06-10T06:13:00.001-07:00

None of our three transplant business leaders made the Town Council. The existing leadership had a much greater ability to guide votes to candidates within their comfort zone than most people expected. Voter turnout quadrupled over last election, presumably because this was a year when several of the council candidates were not the mayor's or existing town council members' picks....The base was energized.

There is definitely a bright line now drawn between traditional locals and transplant locals. Traditionals tend to have lower levels of post-high school education, tend to work in labor professions, and have longer histories in the immediate area. The pro-change set tend to have more education, have lived in urban centers previously and have lived in Davis for years perhaps, but not for generations. This election marked the brightening of that line between the two groups...a greater awareness of the steady changeover of the population from a dwindling, post-mining, labor-led market to a growing service/hospitality/retail-led market that generates service and labor jobs, and which because of its allure, becomes a desirable relocation destination for retirees and small geographically independent businesses.

This defeat will energize the more progressive citizenry of Davis to get busy in a civic sense...to attend Council meetings, to understand the town's issues first hand, to know the ordinances and legal issues for residents, to understand how roads and sidewalks get paved and plowed, to understand the facts bearing on better sewage for the city, to understand these issues from their authoritative sources and to then form considered opinions about how this town's governance should progress.

Yes that may be asking for alot more homework than the old guard may have done. But alas, change is not 10% better than no change; it is at least 3X, because that's the only way old ways can change. Take a look at the before and after picture for our White House. I'd say we're talking at least 5X better; and that's what it took to make real change occur.

Now let's get busy and make Davis the mountain life style treasure that it is destined to become.

Elections Tuesday

2009-06-08T15:37:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Election Day in Davis and the townspeople will re-elect our good mayor...however there is a little drama in the race for Town Council. The Davis Town Council consists of 5 elected people who have been elected without much competition in the past couple of elections that I am aware of. This year three incumbents declined to run, prompting several new folks to raise their hands. What is unique about this year's lineup is not just the competition for spots, but the profile of candidates. Three of the candidates are "new entrepreneurs," ie residents who chose Davis in the past few years for the lifestyle it offers, and are building businesses. They are entrepreneurs who are actively engaged in the town's growth segments -- hospitality/dining and retail that serve permanent residents and visitors. They are also relatively young. The town is friendly to business and friendly in general, but it would be very promising to see several of our town's small business leaders elected to council.

One can imagine an array of political dividing lines between newcomers, old timers, entrepreneurs, miners, retirees etc. Frankly I have not really seen a huge amount of evidence that inequitable treatment or gamesmanship is a factor in Davis government. What I have seen is a sort of no-change approach to government which mostly considers the quiet life of an aging post-mining population. This has been fine for the years I have been involved with Davis and it will be fine for a few more as well. However, the voters of Davis are the residents of Davis, and the residents of Davis are increasingly people who choose Davis for what it is and will become. Folks who are here to build a practice or a company and raise a family have a huge stake in this town. They are the true economic and cultural leaders of Davis and they will lead with the energy they pour into their interests -- in education, culture, economic strength, volunteerism, and the village life they share.

Insofar as this election goes, I won't be surprised if these three 'new entrepreneurs' get elected. If they do, we will have a town council whose collective experience includes what it takes to start and run a business today in Davis. As a developer in Davis I would be ecstatic to see such a huge step for Davis government. I might also get to find out out what the town ordinances are.;)

Designing for Davis

2009-06-04T05:26:00.000-07:00

Michael Mills (Mills Group Architects)and I will work together next week to draw up the concept for a couple of houses to be built on Thomas Ave in Davis. This session will drive the design for the first homes in Riverwalk style, but undoubtedly will evolve and diversify as the project progresses. My goal for aesthetics is to echo the profiles and rythm of Davis' Victorian homes circa 1900 while using a more casual and less ornate lineup of materials and architectural details. So the basic shape of the house would best be defined as Victorian, but the materials lean toward the farm and industrial, and the architectural details are minimized. For functionality, it will be important to understand the demographics of the buying public. The active retiree who bikes and enjoys fishing and bird watching? The young family with one head of household running a small business and the other working for a company? A DC family that loves Davis and Canaan? A couple who has chosen the lifestyle that Davis offers? A major opportunity is to build housing that doesn't require much maintenance and has very low utility bills. Accommodating today's recreation interests is also important. Flexibility in the number of people the house can sleep is important to retirees hosting their families or weekenders with guests. Formal dining and entry areas are not important. Graciously hosting a large cookout or dinner party is important. Large mud rooms with sturdy materials will handle the gear and clothing of mountain living and mountain sports. A separate space for an office, a guest, or for small children to play is important. A front porch acts as an extension to the mud room concept for bikes, skis or as a doorway to the community. Unfortunately, many Davis homes have had their front porches 'closed in' in an attempt to cheaply add interior space. I believe a front porch - big or small -- is a tradition that fits well with today's mountain life style.

Another idea: Side-by-sides. Davis lots are 30 and 40' wide with no setback zoning. People routinely build to within feet or inches of the lot line. Side yards can become useless, dark, snow gulleys - wasted space that leaves exterior wall space needlessly exposed to the elements. One of the photos above shows a 'side by side'....two houses with a section between them that eliminates a side yard, saves some exterior wall exposure, and allows a larger side yard on the other side of each house. Building houses in pairs as side-by-sides may be a good solution in Davis for eliminating some waste and gaining more useful side yards.

A second idea: modernized carriage houses. With 132ft deep lots, Davis homes often have a variety of structures found on the alley. Traditionally these were carriage houses for horses, wagons, livery and workmans' tools. Today many of those are gone...replaced by sheds. Keeping horses is not allowed in Davis any more, and cars are a bit cramped in 10' alleys. Winter makes the unplowed, unpaved, alleys even less likely to accommodate parking. In designing a useful carriage houses of the future, the structure should be set back from the alley to allow turning radius and outside parking. For now we will gravel the public alley up to the properties, but my understanding is that the Town is seeking funding to eventually pave the alleys. A 2-car garage can be topped with a small apartment or studio. A carriage house apartment then becomes a part of the property that can be rented or used by the owner. With this flexibility, the owner can use what parts of the property they need and rent out the rest.

Learning to sell Solar Renewable Energy Credits (ie saving money on the net cost of solar PV array)

2009-06-02T15:02:00.000-07:00

I'm learning so bear with me. If you generate power in WV there are companies out there who are compelled by law to reduce their carbon footprint by producing a certain quantity of renewable energy credits per year. The solar variety are called Solar Renewable Energy Credit (SRECs). Dependng on the state there are fines per SREC not produced. These companies (eg Starbucks does it) must buy SREC's (or create them) at a lower price than the fine.

People or businesses with a solar PV array on the roof have no use for SREC's because they are nothing but credit (ie little gold stars by your name) for having reduced your footprint. It makes sense for large dirty non-compliant companies to pay you and me to reduce the total footprint as long as it is cheaper for them to meet there requirements (or pay the fines) by paying us to do it for them, this opportunity should persist.

There are brokers who approach solar PV system owners and try to sign them up for a 10 year contract without disclosing the accounting definitions used to calculate your net price. For example, they may offer to pay you 50% of their SREC 'sales price' but the one I spoke with wouldn't define sales price, leading me to conclude that their definition can be padded with fees or overhead as they please. It would be true, legally, to look at their agreement.

So I called the power company and they referred me to this hitherto unknown entity called PJM, who operates the Generation Attribute Tracking System. Very helpful folks there are holding my hand through a process that promises to set up Blackwater Overlook as a registered power plant capable of selling its Renewable Energy Credits to the "needy" (ie the dirty who must pay to be clean).

To do this the PV generator has to have a state certification number. What? WV does not even issue such certifications. However! PA and DC apparently allow registration of PV generators that are located in WV. Hmmm. OK I applied for certification. Once gotten I then register the generator in the PJM GATS system as a producer. From there I believe the gig is similarly primitive to craigslist, where I would post Megawatt-Hours (Mwh) (of which I should produce between 2 and 4 per year) for sale. These little bundles of joy go for a few hundred dollars each, depending on the market/legislative forces at work.

It is facinating so far, and I figure that IF it works, the SRECs revenue will just about pay for my time to figure out how to sell the SRECs. Kidding aside, the real opportunity is to add this to the equation for how much it really costs after taxes and SREC liquidation to own a PV array in Davis. The true net cost of the system is what we can compare to the savings in electrical bills. Although the systems and even the need for an SREC trading marketplace will change, it would appear that the Riverwalk Homeowners association could handle much of the administivia for getting the equipped Riverwalk residences in a position to sell off their SRECs.

Parking lots and such -- todo list update

2009-05-28T06:49:00.000-07:00

Lots of small progress items to report in Riverwalk:

1. Boulders have been placed throughout the tract to control vehicle traffic in the Riverwalk greenspaces. Fly fishing is a beautiful thing, but alas you will have to walk a few yards...
2. Volleyball - the posts are set, many trucks of fill have been brought in. Next we roll it, put down fabric, and....then 40 tons of sand. Is there room for a lifeguard chair?
3. Parking lot -- specs are out to 2 asphalt companies and we are waiting on the second quote. We are going with ample sized parking spots that are parallel to the front of the building, so that cars are not parked up against the storefronts.
4. Market stalls -- getting quotes to build a couple of shelters for Saturday markets; will double as picnic area.
5. Split rail fencing - planning rail fence this summer in various sections of the perimeter for additional safety and parking management.
6. Suite 3 is completed for Highland Prospects and they are busily building displays, dressing room and specialty lighting.
7. Suite 2 is getting its cement floor sealed today, complete with some faint oil stains and sawed off bolts from the hydrolic engine lift that once operated in this bay. The floors are really the main architectural artifact telling this building's past use.
8. Solar Photovoltaic System -- up and running. We are at a surplus now but once tenants are in Suite 2 we expect this grid-tied system to generate the majority but not all the electricity usage of Suite 2.

Pete

Teddy said it right

2009-05-18T12:37:00.000-07:00

Roosevelt Island is a pleasant little island between Rosslyn VA and Georgetown/Foggy Bottom. Sienna and I took the wee ones for an island hike mid-day today. Roughly centered on the island is a monument with a statue of Roosevelt and a handful of large walls bearing excerpts from his speeches on various topics such as Youth, Manhood, Democracy, and ahhhh sweet NATURE.

Who put boulders in the park?

2009-05-16T07:38:00.000-07:00

Davis Riverwalk's site is 7 acres along the Blackwater River, adjoining the 5-acre Town of Davis' Riverfront Park. Historically, visitors (mostly fisherman) have driven vehicles where they pleased to access fishing spots. And no one has really cared because they were not investing in the landscaping of the tracts. Both the Park and Riverwalk have been making small greenspace improvements each year for the past 3 years. The Town's Riverfront Park prohibits vehicles and is developing its greenspaces continually. Davis Riveralk allows vehicles to park sunrise to sunset in the Old Shopnsave parking lot. Behind this lot we have maintained a riverfront vehicle access point with parking, turnaround area and canoe beach. At this time, this location is the only spot a vehicle is authorized to park other than on the asphalt lots.

Both the Town Park and Riverwalk have experienced an increase in unauthorized vehicle traffic. This could be due to the improved fishing or the Town's landscape improvements, or both. Traffic is using Riverwalk to enter and drive through Riverwalk green spaces, usually continuing into Town Park property to do some 'tailgate fishing.' Some visitors do this because they find it convenient and some drive to the water because they have handicapped members in their party.

I have contracted to have boulders placed along the allowed vehicle roadways, effectively blocking vehicles from approaching the Town Park's riverfront locations on various paths within Davis Riverwalk property.

A plan for the future: Riverwalk and the Town Park will both have ADA accessible areas in the park. The beach parking area described above will eventually have an ADA-accessible walkway and observation/fishing deck, allowing us to restrict vehicles from that area. Until it does we will permit driving to that location. Our goal is to have no vehicles along the river or on green space. To make this work we will have ample free daytime public parking in Davis Riverwalk along with one or more ADA river access points.

Some folks will invevitably be disspointed by these restrictions in driving. They presumably would prefer to be able drive their vehicles freely on Riverwalk or the Town Park.

Hopefully a few boulders will curtail the offroad driving and parking. Hopefully the community will benefit more from these restrictions than without them.

Davis Apartment Lease or Sale

2009-05-07T08:34:00.001-07:00

Best tenant in the world just moved out. Here are fresh photos of the interior...

Painted, getting trimmed, getting closer....

2009-05-07T08:15:00.001-07:00

This pic shows the incomplete outside but you can see the rusted wainscoting, the rough board siding...All interior walls have been painted and trim is going in. The biggest challenge awaiting is the cement floor. After removing some pretty imposing hydrolic lift hardware and patching the openings, our contractor will be grinding and polishing the floors to get that distressed but smmoooth and useful surface.
PIMBY has continued to work on the installation details for the solar PV array. The electrcian is installing fixtures, outlets and switches next week. We may slide in for the May 15 target date, but my guess is this project will have its straggling bits push that date out a week or two. Stop by the site any time you are in for a coffee at Hypno.

PV Array completed

2009-05-01T04:59:00.000-07:00

We're going to wait for a new product that seems to be just around the corner - a little gizmo that will allow me to display (online) what we're generating vs what we're using in real time and by the month. In the meantime I'll get the generation info monthly and compare it to the bill.

Tuscan Ridge - no bidders....

2009-04-29T06:58:00.000-07:00

...Except the bank. Apparently there were less than 20 people present and most were the usual suspects of the Canaan real estate community. The developers of Aspen Village on the Timberline access road were present, as were a few smaller developers who have completed or managed projects in the area. I suspect many were there mostly to get a reading on how their existing projects would be affected by the fall of this giant. The bids apparently were to start at 1.35M. With no bids forthcoming, the bank took the property. Concensus is that this was a bit of a surprise, and that most had believed there was enough developer interest that one of them would pick it up. Some comments were forthcoming from the bank's distressed asset manager that this is a valuable asset and they would explore how to achieve the best results with it. My guess is that the bank is talking smack and would really like to get rid of the property pronto. Banks HATE things like wetlands protections causing sewage treatment problems and potential lawsuits relating to the Endangered Species Act. Tuscan Ridge is a project with some well-executed master planning, all predicated on the coup of annexing the Town of Davis in order to get the sewage treatment needed for suburban density levels. They didn't expect to find wetlands next to the Davis Town sewage treatment pond. They didn't expect to hear about flying squirrels. And they didn't expect the market for second home vacant lots to fall off a cliff. When you consider these three surprises confronting a project that used trick financing, investment synicates comprised of amateurs located in other areas of the country, and pricing at nearly double the comps found at the PEAK of the market....well the crashdown was pretty hard. I'll call Tuscan Ridge the "Phoenix AZ of Canaan." Up 50%. Down 50%. For this phoenix to rise from it's flames, it must overcome the above trifecta of obstacles.

The reality is that most banks don't do a whole lot with these assets other than sell them. There is some thought that the selling price would be greater than 1.35M because of the now greater costs to the bank in holding and marketing the property. I doubt it. My guess is that the property will sell for less than $2M, and no time real soon.

If you consider that this auction package includes a $1.5-2M lodge, millions in road/sewer/electric infrastructure, extensive master planning and design, and 400+ acres of land....the gross value is probably close to $3M in today's distressed times. Subtract from that theoretical value the discount for sorting out various risks -- resolution of the sewage treatment questions for out-phases, resolution of potential endangered species issues (eg flying squirrel. That might net out to a value of $1-2M. Now that you've got the property and have beat down those risks, prepare to spend $2M more to finish re-planning the property and infrastructuring it. For the return on this project, consider that the number of lots will likely be reduced dramatically for reasons found in the twin risks of sewage treatment and engangered species. Now cap off this scenario with the big unknown of how much demand there might (not) be for an inventory of a few hundred lots.

All this said, I think that the early-phase lots that have full infrastructure, and that the Town can confirm are ready to build, are good deals in the $20-30K area. Much above that and you are paying 2012 prices today. Once the Tuscan out-phase questions are resolved and the project is selling, sure, the value of each early phase lot will approach $50-70K, but I would guess that happens as we approach the 2012 timeframe.

Magnificent 7

2009-04-28T08:35:00.000-07:00

From the south-facing slope of the Blackwater Overlook building, looking east up the Blackwater River. PowerInMyBackYard techs installing the PV array. Pictured are the first 7 of 14 total panels. The "net metering" gear to make this a grid-tied system capable of selling KW back to Allegheny Power has already been installed. The inverter is next. Cool to look at but not visible to the street, these panels will be busy throughout the year defraying the electrical bill for this building.

Closing up the walls!

2009-04-23T11:32:00.000-07:00

Electrical, hvac and plumbing is roughed in and the wood and drywall is going up. We are still waiting on the huge picture window for the back of Suite 2. Each suite will have its special features. Hypno's suite 1 has the corner of glass with Blackwater views. Suite 2 will have the 7x8' picture window and solar power. Suite 3 will have the 14' ceilings and that monster garage door with some very cool rustic wood gates covering the garage door opening.

Excavators are working to clean up and regrade areas around the Blackwater Overlook Building of Davis Riverwalk. Plans include a sand volleyball lot front and left of the building. Also under consideration are market stalls, a public bike rack, picnic table, and a park-style charcoal grill.

Mark you calendar for June 20th grand opening celebration.

Saturday June 20th Grand Opening & Solar Day Celebration

2009-04-15T15:05:00.000-07:00

Davis Riverwalk will be co-sponsoring the grand opening of its Blackwater Overlook building and two new tenants on Saturday, June 20th. Highland Prospects and Friends of the Blackwater will have displays, specials and demonstrations. Highland Prospects is an outdoors clothing and gear provisioner previously located in the old bank building. Friends of the Blackwater is an environmental advocacy group primarily focused on protecting the WV highlands, Blackwater River watershed and the Blackwater Canyon. There will be music, snacks and good community fun for all. Terra Alta farmer James Stemple plans to have his first greens of the season available for purchase. And - since the following day happens to be the first national Solar Day (and the first day of Summer), we will be introducing the first photovoltaic array in Davis -- it's right on the roof of the building! PowerInMyBackYard will be on hand to discuss solar and other alternative energy sources. Join us for the opening of new and expanded locations for these exciting enterprises in Davis; enjoy gossip and a coffee at Hypno; explore the expanded outdoor selections from Highland Prospects; learn what Riverwalk and you could do with solar energy; learn what Friends of Blackwater is doing to protect our natural treasures. Hang with your neighbors and celebrate a new day in Davis. And, oh yeah, hope for sun!

Davis Apt Available

2009-04-15T07:24:00.000-07:00

Dr. Knotts will move out of our Thomas St carriage house apartment this month for an opportunity to be the dentist for her home town. In summer 08 we renovated and remodeled this upstairs 2BR 1BA to have a private stairwell entrance with mud room, new kitchen cabinets, W/D, new ceramic tile and carpet and more. The bonus is the huge storage area on the garage level. Rent is $510/month with 1-year lease, plus gas/elec/water. Call Mack at 304-642-4212 to view, though here are a couple of shots taken before the carpet went in.

WVU article on Davis movers-shakers

2009-04-14T05:54:00.000-07:00

WVU Uncovered Article Here

When it comes to area small businesses, there is distinctly an old style and a new style. There's an evolution in the business models of small public-facing businesses in Canaan and Davis. Boiled down, I'd say that the new guard makes sense to both locals and urban transplants or weekenders.

WVU and the Parson's Advocate both have published articles noting this trend, with I think more analysis of this phenomenal transition to come in the future. We are not just talking about older proprietors being replaced by younger entrepreneurs. The change here is a move past offerings that entail less quality or choice than one might find back in town, toward more unique offerings that celebrate the natural surroundings and considerable gifts or skills of the people who live here.

When I started my own information technology services company, I chose a space that seemed to be dominated by players who were not trying very hard and who were very low tech in their delivery systems, and who offered mediocre quality. That spelled 'opportunity' and indeed it was a huge opportunity.

A tour of the Canaan-Davis-Thomas area has historically been quick to yield complaints from business owners blaming the seasons or weekly cycle, or the population for their struggles. Similarly, a survey of visitors over the years would quickly reveal stories of poor service, closed business doors, lack of beer selection or similar letdowns when engaging the local marketplace. If you think I am generalizing, it is because I am, since if one is not willing to generalize, one cannot understand underlying trends.

Better food, better service and better products are not necessarily code for "less affordable." Better means niche products -- not ones available at Walmart. Better means hand crafted foods rather than just mass produced ones. Better means chatting with the customer rather than listless order taking. Is it really necessary to behave like a zombie when ringing up groceries? Better means busting out the superhot hot sauce. Better means offering locally made and baked pastries that are out-of-this-world delicious. Better means being inspired to put some style into what you offer and how you offer it to the marketplace.

I'm not saying that every business that is slogging along without getting articles written about its innovation is a loser. What I am saying is that the visitors and residents are here and will do much more with local businesses than they do today. There is no cart or horse here. Great businesses attract more consumers and more consumers allow more businesses to start and grow. Fortunately for the Canaan-Davis-Thomas business community, there is plenty of opportunity to design a business for success. Add to that structural opportunity the fact that Corridor H and national trends will continue to interest more people in this little jewel named Davis, and I think we will see many more business success stories.

Tuscan Ridge auction

2009-04-12T18:46:00.000-07:00

Besides numerous auctions and short sales of individual lots bought primarily by out of state flippers, there is now going to be an auction of the balance of at least one of the larger tracts of Tuscan. Apparently Melbourne Properties has defaulted on the loan associated with some large portion of Tuscan Ridge. The Parsons Advocate and Charleston Gazette both have articles on the subject and www.wvlegal.com has the notice. Auction is April 27th 11am and the contact person is ellen Cappellanti, 304-340-1277. Why people bought as many lots as they did at twice their highest conceivable comp values I do not know.

Tuscan will sort itself out, perhaps with fewer lots than originally planned, perhaps not completely within the town limits of Davis, perhaps not completely on Davis water and sewer. But Tuscan will sort out at much lower prices per lot/per acre. It should have happened right up front as part of the marketing decision. Instead, Melbourne subdivided the place into micro lots smaller than my lot in very dense Bethesda, Maryland. Fine, if you've got high land values or an urban format. Greedy if you're in the woods of WV. Greed is apparent in most every step of the Tuscan concept, lot sizes, pricing, marketing and financing offers. They deserve everything they get and hopefully it won't inconvenience the Town of Davis too much.

Wilderness expansion a done deal

2009-03-31T08:41:00.000-07:00

Sierra Club notified me with the message pasted below. Some of you will want to call in with expletives rather than thanks, but I think that on the whole this is a win for the CV/Davis/Thomas community. Seems there is often a lot of belly aching about federal designations as they are passed, but quite often the belly achers themselves are the long term beneficiaries. More tourism, more people deciding this is the area to live, more revenues to businesses, more ways to make a living in the mountains, higher land values since all can be assured that the shared lands will be protected, and so the cycle goes....There is always some way to bitch about things not decided locally. I definitely don't like being excluded from mountain biking the northern section of Dolly Sods and I don't understand the rigidity of not permitting bike trails at all. But nonetheless I wouldn't deny the designation.

What does this mean for Davis? Larger protected area means more visitors in the long term, displacement of several recreation categories to areas with lower protections, higher land values. Bottom line: Davis businesses and real estate will benefit.

Anyhow, here is the news flash:

Last week Congress passed a wonderful wilderness bill, expanding protected Wilderness in the Monongahela National Forest by 37,000 acres. All 5 of our folks in Congress were on board to make this Wilderness expansion possible.

Please take a moment to put in a quick call to your Representative and Senators, thanking them for their leadership and support for the Wild Monongahela Act. Tell them which places in Wild Mon you especially care about, and why Wilderness designation for these areas is important to you!

Rahall 3rd-Big Draft, Spice Run, Cranberry Expansion

Capito 2nd - Roaring Plains West

Mollohan 1st - Otter Creek Expansion, Dolly Sods Expansion

The Honorable Robert C. Byrd: (202)-224-3954 The Honorable John D. Rockefeller IV: (202) 224-6472 The Honorable Nick J. Rahall II: (202) 225-3452 The Honorable Alan Mollohan: (202) 225-4172 The Honorable Shelley Moore Capito: (202) 225-2711

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Sierra Club 85 Second St., 2nd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94105

Solar for Riverwalk building

2009-03-30T15:39:00.000-07:00

Looks like we're going with a 2.4KW system, which will appear as 14 panels on the south facing (river side) roof. Each panel is roughly 60" x 30".

The Department of Energy provides a good basic overview of these systems.

Help Wanted (overalls provided)

2009-03-27T12:30:00.000-07:00

Position: Market Master
Pay: what?
Mission: Cultivate and supervise an open air market on some or all Saturdays of the warm season. Responsibilities: identify and work with farmers, food crafters, artisans to create an open air market in downtown Davis. Find publicity opportunities around Tucker County and online to ensure both residents and visitors know about the market days. Report to the board of directors on revenues, feedback, member status.
Support: Incorporation, insurance, board of directors, prime parking lot location near Hypno Coffee.

Well, that's a start, huh? Really, this looks promising...imagine: 9am on a summer Saturday morning. Folks are grabbing coffee or kicking it on the Hypno deck. Highland Prospects garage is flung open and the summer sale is on. A tent or two in the parking lot...fresh green beans, potatoes, lettuce, strawberries, carrots, turnips -- all grown within 50 miles of Davis, and some right here in town! Maybe you'd see some locally made soaps, jewelry or other crafts as well. Residents who must survive on Shopnsave produce or find their own channels would be elated, and second homers could cook with fresh naturally grown produce. Local produce and crafted foods are a unique and important resource in this community but unless you'll do the research and the driving, it's not happening.

There is a Women, Infants and Children program and Senior's programs that provide for food from farmer's markets. Once the market is certified, then the certified farmers in the market can accept program coupons for produce.

The WVU Extension Office for Tucker County provides extensive informational and advisory support for getting our community market up and running.

Much has yet to be learned and done to make this happen but the way forward looks pretty clear so far. Other than our farmers, cooks and artisans, the players in this story will be the town, the health department, the Extension Office for certification in their aid programs.

Heat fans

2009-03-26T11:21:00.001-07:00

Suite 3 of Blackwater Overlook - Highlands Prospects space. Implementing these simple uni-directional 5-speed fans to push hot air off the ceiling and mix the air for higher average temperature where people will be. They are 56" wide and have greater blade angles and are able to move more air than residential fans. They may be useful in summer but are primarily intended to mix air during the heating season.

Tubular sky lights

2009-03-25T15:13:00.001-07:00

For Blackwater Overlook it appears that 18" tubes will be best. There may be as many as three in Highland Prospects, with each one blasting 1,400 watts max depending on the time of day, the season, the weather, and which side of the roof. The principle here is to take sunlight into a reflective cylinder, bounce it around the silver plated aluminum cylinder until it maximizes, and pour it into the interior through a diffuser or a prismatic lens.

Each skylight costs about $300 and of course several hundred to install. The payback is lower energy use during daylight hours, plus a very pleasant spectrum of natural light in a space that normally would be using florescent.

Placement is important for maximizing light. The angled flashings allow placement on north facing slopes (the front side of the building) while having a chance to grab some modicum of sunlight. The south facing roof slope (backside) of the building is the perfect location for Photovoltaic panels, but also the the tubular skylight exits. Hopefully next week we will get that valuable 'real estate' divvied up and there will be room for a couple of these sky lights. The company is run by a buddy of mine and is located in Arizona. Super helpful VP named Elios gets these things properly configured and shipped. The company is NL Tubular and here is the product spec.

Build A Volleyball Court

2009-03-25T09:41:00.000-07:00

Building a Sand Volleyball Court

Net Height: Net height is 7' 11 5/8" for men and 7' 4 1/8" for women. Co-ed competition is played on a men's height net. The official height measurement is made in the center of the net. The height of the net at the sidelines can be no more than 3/4" higher than the official height. If you're playing on sand, the measurements are made with the sand raked level, and no accomodation is made for your feet sinking in the sand. If you're playing on grass, the measurements are made to the ground, and not the top of the grass.

The Site: The dimensions of a volleyball court are 29'-6" wide by 59'-0" long, measured from the outside edges of the boundary lines. In addition, you should have 10' (more is even better) clear around the boundaries. The result is a complete playing area of 49'-6" wide by 79'-0" long.

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Court Dimensions

The pole may need to be longer in the northern climates. In northern climates footing should be located below the frost line. Locating the footing of the pole below the frost line will prevent "frost heave" of the footing. Check with the local building code for the frost depth.

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When planning the layout pay special attention to the direction of the court. The court should run lengthwise North/South. If the court runs East/West, the court will be virtually unusable in the early morning say, for the start of a tournament and early evenings, such as playing after work. In the morning, the team on the West side of the court stares at the morning sun and in the evening, the team occupying the East court is blinded. The area above the playing surface should be clear and free of all obstructions such as tree branches and power lines.

To keep the sand in the court, where it belongs, and grass and dirt out, there are several schools of thought. The most popular solution is to line the perimeter with railroad ties. The railroad ties establish a very durable boundary, keep the sand in its place, and holds back the encroaching grass. On the downside, they pose a serious safety hazard. Some recommend padding the railroad ties with various materials such as foam pipe insulation, etc. I personally believe the simplest way to deal with the hazard is by establishing a ground rule: "If during the play of the ball, or the continuation after playing the ball, the player touches the railroad ties or leaves the playing area, the ball is dead." This is much like an indoor rule that prevents a player from wildly chasing a ball that enters an adjacent court.

Preparing for the excavation

In most areas, excavating to a depth of 3 feet will be necessary. The first and foremost safety precaution is to call your local "Diggers Hotline" and have them locate any buried power lines and utilities. Be sure to call them ahead of time, as they may need a few days notice.

The best tool for the dig is a front-end loader or "bobcat" which can excavate the base evenly, remove the dirt, and also haul and spread the stone and sand. This equipment can be rented for a few hundred dollars for a weekend. If you're not up to the task of handling heavy equipment, a good landscaping company can be contracted to excavate and haul the stone and sand. Excavate the playing area to the desired depth and pitch the base to one end or corner. A drainage ditch should be dug leading away from the court at its lowest point. Once the base is excavated you can begin laying the drainage pipe. The closed end of the drainage pipe should be placed in the highest point of the excavation and should zig-zag with the open end of the pipe terminating at the lowest point. The drainage pipe should be laid with the perforated side down. This allows water to wick-in from the bottom and sides and be carried away. It is an extremely good idea to wrap the drainage pipe with landscaping fabric before laying the pipe. The landscaping fabric prevents the eventuality of sand and dirt clogging the pipe.

Locate and dig the holes for the net standards. The holes should be dug at least 3' deep and set in concrete. A couple of bag mixes per standard should do the job. Some home improvement centers carry a special "post setting mix" in which all the components for the concrete can just be dumped in the hole without prior mixing. Once the standard is located in the hole, plumb the standard in two opposing directions, and fasten supports so the post cannot move as the concrete is being dumped in the hole. Repeat this process for the opposite standard.

Filling it in

Once the poles are set, cover the base and drainage pipe with gravel and spread uniformly. Roll out and cover the gravel base with landscape fabric. The landscape fabric will keep the sand from filtering its way into the gravel. The final step is to spread the sand, uniformly and evenly throughout the playing area.

Demo complete at Blackwater Overlook

2009-03-24T18:31:00.001-07:00

Didn't take long to get all the old wiring, work benches and such out of the building, and get started marking, cutting, footing and piling up the materials. Should be installing the high efficiency furnace and ductwork toward the end of next week.

We found time for creative ideas! That garage door is a little austere...maybe we design a pair of wooden gate doors that would swing wide for market days. I know a fabricator who could make the massive strap hinges, maybe in naturally rusting steel.

We also fancied the idea of a sand volleyball court just outside the deck area of Hypno. This would fit in perfectly next to a new parking lot arrangement we are planning.

Get your bike ready

2009-03-20T10:08:00.001-07:00

All the riding is not rocky in Canaan. You can always play polo!

Highland Prospects on track for June opening next door to Hypno Coffee

2009-03-19T07:48:00.000-07:00

Work will start this week to build out 2 additional suites within the Blackwater Overlook Building of Davis Riverwalk. Davis' own Highland Prospects, a purveyor of outdoor gear and clothes, will be located in the largest space of the building. The expanded store will have 1,100 square feet, 14ft ceilings, concrete floors and rustic wood walls, and a 12' square garage door for those open air market days. Energy savings are planned with the use of a high efficiency furnace and solar tube skylights capable of lighting at the equivalent of 1,400 watts each during peak hours. The store owners are likely to expand Highland's offerings significantly to attract -- for example -- locals as well as visitors; boaters as well as skiers; and casual walkers as well as backcountry hikers and backpackers. Our construction plan provides for Highland Prospects to start setting up shop in May, and to be fully operational at that location by June.

Suite 2 is only 300 square feet but will have an 8-foot south-facing window with a view of the Blackwater River. Electrical for this suite will be defrayed by photovoltaic system with an array of panels on the back slope of the building's roof. Riverwalk's master plan positions residences and businesses along the east-west run of the Blackwater River, providing a consistently unimpeded view of the southern sky -- crucial for cost-effective solar solutions. I plan to monitor the generation of the PV system and share that information with you through the year, providing a good idea of KW generation possibilities for Riverwalk and Davis overall. Though not confirmed, I suspect that this PV array will be the first, or certainly one of the first, in the Town of Davis.

Getting read for new neighbors next to Hypno Coffee

2009-03-04T14:53:00.000-08:00

Bank financing approved...in fact two banks agreed to terms. Highland Prospects is likely to move into Suite 3, more than doubling their existing retail space. Suite 2 is only 300 square, but will be a "suite" surprise nonetheless. There are 3 organizations considering the space, any one of which would be a great addition to Davis and this building within Davis Riverwalk in particular.

The new facade will encompass what is now the left garage door, adding a nice run of rough wood siding, some naturally rusting metal siding, new windows, a store door, and plenty of sign lighting. Highland Prospects will have 14' ceilings and one heck of a garage door for the sales in warmer months.

By June 1st you should see at least Highland Prospects fully installed and open for business. Later this summer, after Hypno and Highland and myself have seen the way traffic flows, we'll likely pour and stripe a new tarmac lot. There will also be a signage monument near William with some creatively rustic and industrial touches...which are still eluding me... And we wouldn't want to do that without installing a cool bike rack in front of the building;)

Tuscan Ridge homeowners' lodge in foreclosure?

2009-02-26T15:57:00.002-08:00

How could this be? So claims an unnamed bank security rep in Davis who used to be a police sherrif. It would seem that one of the partners pulled out and the property is presently in play at some level. When buyers purchased their lots the bylaws and covenants spell out the terms associated with the lodge, and as I recall it was one sweet deal for the Homeowners Association. So why is there financing on the lodge if the homeowners own it?

As you may know North American Land marketed Tuscan's lots for 90-125K each for Phase 1. Tuscan Ridge was to be annexed to the Town of Davis in consideration of the tax revenues and Tuscan's willingness to fund the expansion of the Town's sewage treatment plant. No sewage plant expansion is in sight at this time.

Fire sale prices. Today there are dozens of lots on the market for as little as 40% of thier original sales prices. Nothing in Canaan compares with this implosion. There have been no resales that I am aware of, even at the low resale asking prices.

Encumbered proposition. How does a seller or an agent explain to a potential buyer that the expanded sewage treatment plant is an unfulfilled promise?...that the lodge -- its central amenity -- is in bank hands?

Comps in downtown Davis for a standard lot -- if you can find one to buy -- are about $22K, or $40k for a corner. That comes with sewer, water, and town services -- but no fancy Owner's Lodge;). Tuscan would be about where it should be for about $35k average price per lot -- but that would require solving the sewer plant issue and making sure the Homeowner's Association isn't upside down.

I would guess that any buyer who had financing for their lot purchase will consider walking away from the properties. Quite a few have already turned them back over to the banks. If you own a Tuscan lot or know more about the status of this development please share.

Next project, next door to Hypno Coffee

2009-02-02T07:17:00.000-08:00

The two big garage door to the right of Hypno Coffee may become just one, with a new storefront design being planned this month. With these financial markets there is always a question mark on financing, but we are nearing the next step forward at Riverwalk. Visitors would enter the building via a common vestibule and then see store doors to all three suites (though Hypno will of course still have their own direct entrance). In warmer months the huge garage door could be opened for open air markets. Though it is an insulated door it will need a barrier while closed in winter. HVAC wrap insulation such as Astro-Foil appear to be a good solution for seaonally battening down the garage door opening. In the hard winter months the entry vestibule will help save energy costs and serve as a place for public postings.

Economically I am trying to stay in line with traditional Davis/Thomas rents while delivering space with low energy costs, low construction waste, and that meets WV construction codes. Not to mention our penchant for the rough and ready aesthetic of the lumber frontier town...

After a successful project and tenant move-in, I plan to re-surface and stripe the parking lot. But first things first!

2009-01-28T06:32:00.000-08:00

A 120-acre tract encompassing the headwaters of Flat Run and containing meadows, wetlands and mature hardwood forest has been added to Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge.

The tract is just north of the CVNWR headquarters and straddles WV32. It appears that the Northlake developers sold it to a conservation entity, which in turn transferred it to the CVNWR. This at least in part seems like more evidence that there are too many lots in Canaan right now.

New family in an old house made new again

2009-01-28T05:17:00.001-08:00

Welcome to Nick and Megan Wallace, their two young children, and I think, a labrador retriever. The Wallace's are moving to Davis this weekend from Mt Storm. Nick is an engineer at the power plant and Megan has lived in Davis in earlier years. The Wallace's are evaluating various business ideas for Davis and are excited to be in town. They will be living in the newly renovated Victorian on 4th and Kent. While it is well and good to rent out a property in Davis, it is truly exciting to help bring families to Davis. When we have young children we are interested in the schools, the bus routes, the parks, child care, and other families with children and related community resources. I know, having a 2-year old and a 9-month old! The slow decline of Davis the lumber and mining town over the 1940s-1990s eventually led to fewer young families. The resurgance of Davis as a mountain life style town is inviting families back to Davis, where they find a super-friendly and small community in an aesthetic mountain setting, where plenty of outdoor adventure awaits. More on our new neighbors to come...

Wilderness is advancing on Davis

2009-01-12T05:31:00.000-08:00

The Senate took one step closer to passing a bill that would make Dolly Sods North into designated wilderness as part of the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area. Also included from the Valley would be the Flat Rock Roarding Plains section south of Dolly Sods.

Here is a map from the WV Wilderness Coalition web site showing the sections to be redesignated as Wilderness: http://www.wvwild.org/WildMonMap.pdf

Here is today's most detailed article I could find on the subject, though more will follow since the vote was only last night. The Campaign for America's Wilderness is one of several organizations allied in the effort to set aside these and other lands across the country. http://www.leaveitwild.org/news/releases/1405

In the Valley there can be found a subset of opions that that I will call unconventional. These are anti-Wilderness views. Close cousins to anti-National Park views. And, yes, there is also a move to consider consolidating public lands in the Valley to create a National Park, though that is years away, if it ever happens. The anti-Wilderness thinking goes something like this: the Federal Government is a bad actor. They encroach on private rights. They say they are here to help and end up restricting our use of the land for fun stuff like ATV's or mountain bikes or horse riding or motocross, or just plain hiking on trails. The anti-wildernss set claims that despite claims that strong protections help the local economy,it actually throttles the local economy by eliminating recreational uses and extractitive uses such as logging and mining.

I'm not sure I agree that the proposed additional Wilderness designations hurt Canaan Valley. I happen to believe that protections are good, so long as we are able to use the land in relatively non-invasive and non-motorized ways. I am an avid mountain biker but I don't want to be allowed to ride just anywhere in our most pristine lands. I want some limited riding in our most pristine lands and I want unlimited riding in more typical lands nearby. The Federal protections discussion is a complex debate and one that has more compromise in its solution than it has winners and losers.

Now let's get down to what's good or bad for Davis and the Valley when it comes to land protections. Long term, it is probably best to add Dolly Sods North as well as Flat Rock Roaring Plains. That said there should be opportunities to traverse them by mountain bike, horseback and skis. To offer a quality lifestyle in the Valley, we do not need recreational networks of mountain bike trails in the pristine heights of Dolly Sods and Flat Rock/Roaring Plains. But we do need that in other nearby, less pristine areas. As an economy, Davis will benefit from these protected designations. With these more subtantial destination parks, the area becomes more nationally recognized as the valuable natural gem that it is. This attracts visitors, but it also attracts home buyers who want to be near pristine and protected lands. If a bigger wilderness grows the Davis economy, how does it do it? Consider the demographic that cares about protected lands and will partially choose to visit or live in the area because of the high Federal protections. These people want a mountain lifestyle for starters. Next, they are choosing a lifestyle location for a business or retirement based partially on the risk that the area's wild areas will be managed well. Being surrounded by thousands of acres owned by Allegheny Power or Pocahantis Land (mining holdings) represents the highest risk to their lifestyle; these guys let nearly anything happen on their land and perpetuate the company town model in Canaan Valley -- I believe these large holdings around Canaan are bad for the economy here because they create a certain lawlessness and inject an uncertainty into the future of the area.

Once lands are protected in a variety of ways depending on the specific lands, we get a portfolio of federal, state and non-profit managed lands that, together, establish the Triple A Rating that says residents can be assured that they are living in an area that won't lose its prized natural assets. People buy homes, retire, open businesses, spend at local businesses and generate an economy. To my mind, the idea that less federal or state protected lands for Canaan equals a stronger economy is misguided. While making designations we do, however, need to be sure we are not choking off forms of recreation and tourism that are appropriate and valuable for the area.

Buying in the Valley - Q&A

2009-01-05T09:22:00.000-08:00

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Pete,
I have been reading your blog/website for awhile now. Keeping updated on the
progress of the riverwalk and davis. I wanted to ask you about buying real estate in canaan valley.
What is your opinion about real estate in davis/canaan? We are talking to several real estate agents and most of them
say davis/canaan hasn't been affected and what they have listed is the best "deal" in the valley.

We have been looking in canaan more so than davis. The reason being is, that one day we would like to move to davis but want to own a few
rentals properties in the area so that we have some kind of income when we make the move.. We are not sure that
we would be able to find decent paying jobs.

My question to you, i guess is: where would you buy in canaan/davis for around $200K that could be rented to skier and/or use as
vacation rental?

thanks

RESPONSE: when it comes to a $200k home in the Davis/ Canaan area there there are three rental scenarios: 1)short term/vacation; 2) season, 3) long term. For a property at this price point you would get supplemental income only from short term or seasonal rental, if that is ok. Of the 10 or so people I know who own a Canaan house (in the $200-350k area), most or all hate the vaca rental program. The agents take 30%+ and add on all kinds of marked up maintenance expenses caused by renters. They seem to book the properties they feel like booking and my feedback is that they do a poor job of it. You end up with your house run down a bit, alot of annoyance, and not much to show for it.. My sense is that the vaca rental market in the Valley has deteriorated except for a new wave of much higher end properties in prime locations. One other exception seems to be the self-marketers who have web sites and are extremely diligent in self-marketing their homes to repeat users. Unfortunately, there are more casualties on the road to vacation rental success than there are contented owners.

Canaan valley has in fact been affected and will be moreso this year. For example, my friend bought a new home in Tline 4 years ago for $370 and is now going to sell it in the low $300s. Her agent confided that CV is down 20%. Oddly, CV agents don't use the MLS much and don't consistently supply a comprehensive list of comps when you are buying or selling. Traditionally in Canaan, there is a lot of unrealistic overpricing reflected in listings, and there are also many unlisted homes that their owners would sell if they felt the market would absorb them. What you want of course is a seller that is not fishing, and is doing what is necessary to move the house.

Davis has perhaps been affected by a few percentage points, but as you can imagine, a house that would have sold for $85K has not fallen 20% -- perhaps 5 or 10% in Davis but not more, simply because they were already a bargain. Davis has a solid long term rental market with good rent-to-value ratios. A quality $100k house brings about $8,000 net income. As of yet, there really is no short term or seasonal market to speak of in Davis/thomas.

I am not sure if this suits the relocation scenario you contemplate, but consider the concept of two structures or units. A scenario we find very attractive in Davis is the arrangement of a house plus garage apartment, or two houses, a duplex, or a connected pair of structures called a side-by-side. You rent one of them out long term (eg 1 year lease) and either rent the other as vacation or not at all, depending on your schedule. In some cases the renter can be made the caretaker (ie mowing the lawn, watching for problems) for consideration in their rent. This type of scenario can reduce utilities, is easier to keep an eye on, reduces the risk of an isolated but not occupied structure, and includes the option to occupy the entire property in the future. There are full timers looking to rent full time in Canaan as well.

As for what I would do with $200k to buy a rental/vacation/retirement property, the neighborhood is very much a life style decision, but if Canaan or Davis, I would definitely consider a property with two units and rent one out long term.

Pete

PS - if you don't mind I may post this Q&A on the blog without your name...

Homes for the new era

2008-12-28T13:46:00.000-08:00

When financing starts to be feasible again and the wounds of the crash are mostly healing, what will people look for in a mountain residence? Well, much of the same things they will seek in an in-town residence: smarter more practical design, lower energy costs, lower maintenance costs, less focus on luxury and more on quality. Energy in-efficient "mcmansion" style houses have high costs of ownership and many will question the value proposition. Large square footage or super-high-ceiling spaces will become more scarce when buyers are not only considering the cost to buy, but the cost to heat and cool as well. Imagine a buyer that insists on knowing the annual kilowatt hour use they should expect!

This article in the Washington Post previews the changes:
Recession Should Change Tastes
By Elizabeth Razzi
Sunday, December 28, 2008; Page F01

What will change specifically for second home buyers in the mountain recreation towns? In touring many western mountain towns over the past few years I've seen many attractive properties that turn a blind eye to the practical matters of snow handling, passive solar opportunity, maintenance cycles required for various materials, and heating costs. These costs -- after all -- were trivial compared to the high values of the homes themselves. Builders were selling to a public that could afford not to consider these costs.

Can we define values in new mountain home construction that transcend the traditional prestige-based notions of good, better and best? In other words, can a design be so fitting for its environment and its owner that it is not judged by level of luxury but by the quality of life it offers? Can we really design structures that have very low ownership costs? If we could, can these designs become a new ideal for ownership rather than a compromise?

Well I'm convinced that one impact the financial implosion will have on the Valley is to make Davis more popular. To the question of 'what do we do now?' the answer may well lie in the details of home design, siting, systems and materials. In addition to the house itself we should look at the cost of maintaining driveway, yard and land. The Total Annual Costs of ownership (not including purchase costs) can include maintenance, gas, electric, water, snow plowing, homeowner's association, cleaning, and lawn care. Who compares total cost of ownership before they buy in Canaan? Sure, they think about it in concept and ask about the HOA fees, but few actually made purchasing decisions with these costs in mind. If homes were to emerge that had radically lower Total Annual Costs, I think they would now find a ready market.

Town or Village living is consistent with the creation of radically lower Total Annual Costs. Because of its compactness and location, Davis offers the best buy in: power, water, sewer, road maintenance, personal auto useage, lawn care. Compare the village life with the artifical "estate home" arrangement of a typical Canaan development -- home after home on it's 2-acre lot with septic or private sewage treatment, a well, a lawn, a big HOA fee. Mountain town life, on the other hand, puts homeowners in a community setting with the ability to walk to grocery, restaurant, or shop -- or to head out on a hike or mountain biking loop without ever starting the car. What's more, many groups or families wish to ride in one car and then do different things on any given day. Having only one vehicle in the driveway is not a problem when so much can be done on foot.

I envision a vibrant town lifestyle at the doorstep of Canaan Valley.

The offset to Annual Costs is to put the property in the vacation rental market. Sharing their home with renters is each owner's decision and can go even further in lowering the bottom-line annual cost. Because mountain homes are often not used full time, it is important for any development to ensure cost-effective and reliable systems for renting the property.

In the conceptual master planning process, we had always thought it important that the Riverwalk structures be cost-effective. What the real estate crash and economic meltdown does is accelerate a shift toward properties designed for energy and cost efficiency, designed to suit a new ethos in mountain home ownership.

What the meltdown will do to the future Riverwalk residence amounts to a big push further in the direction of design and construction for lower total costs of ownership. It is exciting to think that we have the opportunity to define a mountain town lifestyle with Davis Riverwalk, while at the same time offering a solution for the new era in Canaan Valley real estate development.

Blackwater Overlook floorplan - tentative

2008-12-26T09:17:00.001-08:00

Designing for our next tenant

2008-12-18T10:04:00.000-08:00

I am playing with layouts, materials and systems to finish out the other two suites within the Blackwater Overlook building of Davis Riverwalk. Hypno Coffee is doing well in Suite 1, primarily due to the fact that they are well-conceived and well-run business. Additionally, the attractive and high visibility location has helped them add new customers and keep growing right on through the relocation.

For the remaining space in BW Overlook I'm thinking of one small suite, maybe 325-400sft, and one large space of about 1,100sft. Down the road I think Riverwalk would benefit from having its sales and management office in the smaller space, but we can put a starter business in that space for 2009+.

Financing is a major issue in the market we are living with, and will always be a sanity check on future phases of the project.

"Someone" once said something to the effect of, "what does it matter what the tenant business does as long as they pay rent?" Well, it matters bigtime for Riverwalk because the businesses need to attract residents, weekenders and vacation visitors alike. For example, an appliance repair store may be of interest to residents but is of little interest to weekenders here for some fishing. Conversely, a touristy "made in WV" gift shop may be of interest to a tourist but does not interest the weekender, never mind the local. Granted, each business may lean toward one of these demographic spheres, but I want to make sure Riverwalk has a relevant lineup of tenants so that Davis continues to position as a relevant town to all three groups: residents, second home owner/weekenders, and tourists.

Does the business offer something that will be desirable to the present and future population of Davis and the Valley? Does it attract the people who actually spend money on the goods or services it offers? Does the business take a positive step toward defining what downtown Davis is and will become over the next decade?

What a tuneup

2008-12-15T06:42:00.000-08:00

Davis may not be a far drive from Washington but its weather is a world away. Thursday in Davis I was fresh with the memories of riding my mountain bike a day earlier in the fair winter (nightime) weather of DC, but in Davis there was 4" of fresh snow and morning temps in the teens. I drove my bike out on the roof rack to have Blackwater Bikes rebuild the drive train while I was here on other business. I arrived in town Thursday but my bike was frozen to the rack. Got a lighter? Too much wind. Hand warmers from Highland Prospects? Not enough heat. De-icer from Dollar Store? Too little too late. Turned out that a heating pad on an extension cord did the trick. It also pointed out to me by our property manager Mack that the hot water car wash would have done it, if for only the minute necessary to open the rack.

Roger Lilly, the owner and main tech at Blackwater Bikes, ended up replacing the cassette, two chain rings and the chain to bring the Salsa Dos 9er back to whole. The drive train was just worn down and causing chain suck, chain breaks and chunky hesitations that foretell more of the former.

Now Davis is a small town and people therefore feel "familiar" with you enough to call you on it when they see you riding down the street for the 3rd time in the snow. Basically, the message is: "Pete, shouldn't you be skiing instead of timidly riding a bike on snowy sidewalks?" I took some heat but hey the bike was put in full form again by Blackwater Bikes, allowing me to ride back in DC two days later. For some reason I rode like a winded and wounded wildebeast, but the bike was tiptop.

While in the bike shop a few visitors wandered in and one said, "this would be a great place to come to in the summer," touching on a significant business issue for Blackwater Bikes. When it is snowing and honking wind chill down to minus whatever, going biking is not on most people's minds. So what to do in winter? Well the stalwart BW Bikes stands open all winter. No diversification into winter gear or winter sports aside from the obscure but interesting segment of winter mountain biking. Yes this segment exists. That is some serious dedication.

Keep on Planting

2008-12-09T06:29:00.000-08:00

When I built a house in Canaan Valley in 1999 I wanted to plant native trees strategically around the property. Plenty of other residents in Timberline subdivision had planted trees on their lots: norwegian spruce, white pine, colorado spruce, you name it. But none of these grew historically in is area and elevation. I inquired at many nurseries only to find that no, red spruce simply aren't available. So, I ended up paying a guy to go get small red spruce and quaking aspen for me. The aspen came from a private land owner and the spruce came from a special pass the power company has in order to maintain power line swaths through the Monongehela National Forest. Surprise, I had about a 20% survival rate at best, and a particularly low survival rate on the reds.

Seven years later, my subdivision, which often discusses native plants and topics such as what landscaping will survive the deer, announced that we could buy boxes of seedlings via a partnership involving the West Virginia Highlands Conservancy and the Canaan Valley Wildlife Refuge. Quite a few Timberline residents took advantage of this. Many of us also volunteered to plug hundreds of them into the Wildlife Refuge. The seedlings have a much higher survival rate even though the start out only a foot tall.

This past Fall, the Friends of Blackwater and Davis Riverwalk got together to purchase several hundred more and volunteers planted them in the Town of Davis' Riverfront Park and along the Blackwater Falls State Park's Town Trail leading to Blackwater Falls. I also bought 100 more for Riverwalk and planted them in a nursery of my own on the slope in front of Hypno Coffee. In the 1880's as Davis was clearcut and its buildings constructed, the town became known as "stump town," for the size and number of red spruce stumps. Supposedly one could hop from stump to stump all the way across town.

Davis Riverwalk and the Riverfront Park will be one of the few areas of downtown Davis with enough green space to support small plantations of spruce. Some non-natives are located in the park today, but we are fortunate to now have a source of native spruce for its future.

Enjoy listening to this recorded broadcast from WV Public Radio!

Restoring forests in West Virginia's high country

By Emily Corio

Our Town

2008-12-03T06:20:00.001-08:00

This is a birdseye view of Davis this Autumn taken from the southeast. The new WV32 bridge and the Shop-n-Save grocery is in the foreground. William Avenue is Davis' main street, named after one of its founder's sons. The large stone building at the left is Davis' most prominent old structure -- originally the National Bank of Davis. At the turn of the century the train station would have been visible just short of the bank building, where you see the low roofs of the abandoned motel. North of William is Thomas, also named after a son. The small houses along Thomas are mostly built in the early 1900's through 1920's, replacing the federal-style box-shaped and often adjoined buildings that originally lined Thomas. The photo was taken by Ludovic Moore.

Sunset in Timberline after Thanksgiving

2008-12-02T13:43:00.000-08:00

This scene unfolded Sunday evening and lingered for about 5 minutes total. I was reminded why it is better to be here as much as possible. There is simply too much to miss. But in case you weren't this photo is for you.

Hypno blizzard

2008-12-01T18:34:00.001-08:00

Some shots of Thanksgiving 'eve' and the arrival of the new roaster...

ready, set, order a latte

2008-11-17T18:15:00.000-08:00

Ok mongol hordes, vandals, visigoths, telefarians, natives and colonists: you may descend upon Hypno Coffee for a shot. They started serving today.
This a picture of a frustrated Dave the Plumber getting that last P-trap to hold...so now it's tight. Hypno Coffee is there for you now.

Hypno Monday (I think)

2008-11-15T13:37:00.000-08:00

Thank you Larry and Dave for working today to get counters and plumbing installed at the new location for Hypno Coffee, in our Blackwater Overlook building. Looks like the business will be open Monday and shaking out the kinks for the next few days...so Thanksgiving week is looking great. If you'll be in the Valley for the holiday, please come in and visit Hypno Coffee..

The address is 737 William Avenue. As you approach Davis on WV219 from the north you will pass Grant County Bank on the right and Sawmill Restaurant on the left. Then watch for it on the right in the red brick building.

This winter we're planning this one

2008-11-10T10:29:00.000-08:00

While financial planning is underway for this project I am seeking the three retail tenants. Possible categories include handcrafted foods, children's toys or clothing, hobbies such as model trains or puzzles, mountain sports, wildlife and environment-related hobbies, art or photograghy gallery, and community-focused non-profit. I seek businesses that will be of interest to working residents, retirees, weekenders, and tourists. Riverwalk Spa is designed but construction will not start until the 3 retail tenants are moved in and open.

Classic Victorian Done and for rent

2008-11-08T20:33:00.000-08:00

This beautiful 5 bedroom house has 3 new baths and a new kitchen. Great light, high ceilings, ample common areas and a sunroom with southern exposure. Master with ensuite bath and nice mountain view from high up in Davis. Scope it out at www.damaps.com/wv/2001

Rent the whole house for Dec-Mar for ~2,000/month (short term rate) furnished with cable, internet and all utilities. Plan B is to rent individual bedrooms (furnished or no) with shared common spaces with a 6 month+ lease, $400-575.

First business to choose Riverwalk

2008-10-01T17:00:00.000-07:00

Hypno Coffee will roll up its tent in Thomas and set up shop right here in Riverwalk, as the first tenant in the Blackwater Overlook building, formerly the BW Auto Care gas station. We are working for a November move-in but will definitely be in for the start of ski season. The left side of the building was the office for the gas station. We have refinished it inside, added a sidewalk, cut in a large sliding door for that morning sunshine, and built on a 160sft deck for kicking it any time of day. We also expanded one its two bathrooms and fitted it with ADA fixtures and clearances. The floors and one wall are done in rough poplar. Now Hypno is designing its layout and finishing touches, perhaps adding a bean roaster...all for you to start enjoying by December.

Post-Leaf Peepers

2008-09-30T10:17:00.000-07:00

The hurricane rains tried to blot out our weekend but Saturday, after a wet 5K race, was partly sunny enough that I can say even mother nature was a good host.

The RunForIt 5K fund raiser race was a great success for the town's Riverfront Park. The Riverfront Ramblers team succeeded in raising double my corporate sponsoring match, and won the Tucker Community Endowment Foundation's award for 'most money raised.' A second team called Trail Mix contributed additional funds to the Riverfront Park. It looks like the park got at least $22,000 Saturday. More pics below:

Riverwalk

Creating Economic Opportunities in Rural Areas: Making Development Work for You

New blog on food in Tucker County!

Here's you new route from DC

Good things come to those who wait!

Davis Lots for building

Sure, some people still work in coal

Babcock Lumber Mill site digitized

This is not Riverwalk

Thank you Mr Udall

Davis is top 10 of best mountain biking areas

Under the weight of snow-ice...Kaboom!

Glimpsing back at the skiing connection between early Davis and Canaan

The Green Premium

Ready when you are...

Affordable Housing

The snow grenade and the blame game

DC gets an object lesson in the perils of unconsidered roof design

D.C. area homeowners struggle against melting snow

By Jura KonciusWashington Post Staff WriterSunday, February 14, 2010

Do you know where this is?

Builder Concept Home 2010

WV Living Magazine

That eyesore by the bridge

It IS a small town....

Remembering the mill days

Digging into Riverwalk site's past

The three 'trade routes' to Davis

Christmas in Canaan

It's been a classic Christmas

Luxe Rental in Canaan Valley

Bike race on the Riverwalk patch

Riverwalk's solar foray in the news

Kids are going to love Leaf Peepers 09!

It's good to be photogenic

Davis property taxes 09

A White House Farmers Market?

Life on Thomas Ave in downtown Davis

Future spa interactive floorplan

Riverwalk Shops update

Sold out Davis farmers market 3 weeks running..

Standalone residence

Farmers Market Saturdays

From Slow Start to Sold Out (in 3 weeks)

Friends of Blackwater Fundraiser a success!

Parking lot

Leaf Peepers Davis 9/25-9/27

Revised elevation and floor plan....

What we're working on now

Showing us the way to the market

Save the Blackwater Canyon fundraiser

Mountain bike festival

Farm Mkt Saturday

Washingtonated?

Mountainbike Festival June 26-27-28

Save the date

Misunderestimated

Elections Tuesday

Designing for Davis

Learning to sell Solar Renewable Energy Credits (ie saving money on the net cost of solar PV array)

Parking lots and such -- todo list update

Teddy said it right

Who put boulders in the park?

Davis Apartment Lease or Sale

Painted, getting trimmed, getting closer....

PV Array completed

Tuscan Ridge - no bidders....

Magnificent 7

Closing up the walls!

Saturday June 20th Grand Opening & Solar Day Celebration

Davis Apt Available

WVU article on Davis movers-shakers

Tuscan Ridge auction

Wilderness expansion a done deal

Solar for Riverwalk building

Help Wanted (overalls provided)

Heat fans

Tubular sky lights

Build A Volleyball Court

Demo complete at Blackwater Overlook

By Jura Koncius
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 14, 2010