Sept 2003
 

• Wright Park, Wrong Idea? - Steve Junkersfeld
  
  I just read Mr. Blakenship's article on his perceived over-abundance of parks in the Harbor - and particularly on his dislike for Wright Park. I would like to comment that I think Mr. Blakenship has really missed the point. We chose to live in the Harbor because of the open space and room for recreation. I live across the street from Wright Park and I can tell you that it is well used. It may not be handicap accessible - but it still serves a large number of youngsters in this area. Those youngsters are better off having a park to occupy their time than they would be by reducing the AHPOA debt by $50K.
  
   

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• Major road problem ahead? - By Ben Blankenship
  
  Let's hope that our soggy lawns, spoiled boating weekends and surging mosquitoes are the worst things the never-ending monsoons this year will bring to Aquia Harbour.
  
  Fact is, many Section II and III's residents should keep their fingers crossed in particular for another reason. They drive over it every day.
  
  Haven't you noticed? Quaint Aquia Drive gets right bumpy for a short stretch just west of where Foresail Cove peels down, er, off. Wes and his crew have patched two or three spots there repeatedly. It's been a problem for years.
  
  Worse, the unstable soils in the vicinity can slide when saturated enough. It happened about a decade ago when an a-building Charter home, uphill from the Aquia-Foresail intersection, slid down nearly to Aquia Drive following an especially rainy spell. Things there are okay now, since some retaining walls were installed uphill from the lots most potentially affected.
  
  But as for those saggy spots nearby in the Aquia roadway, who knows?? If we wake up one morning to find a big chunk of pavement washed out, however, all is not lost.
  Commuters will just have to get used to traveling the length of Harpoon in order to detour around the depression. The only other alternative would be to use the emergency gate way out on Titanic, which isn't such a hot idea.
  
  To help preclude such an upsetting, downsliding event, management is proposing to do some reconstruction that might, at best, result in the closing of one lane for a while. For how long? That would be largely out of management's hands.
  
  For you see, not only must the roadway be shored up satisfactorily. Another problem
  concerns the water and sewer lines. It just so happens they run beneath Aquia Drive's road surface by only three or four feet, it's said. The county, not our community, must do what's necessary to take care of those pipes during construction--on its schedule (alas) not ours.
  
  The board of directors was scheduled in late August to consider what to do, if anything, about the road hazard in that area. So far, patch and pray have worked.
  
  Except for that situation, I'd say the Harbour's roads are in pretty good shape. I know, we all gripe about the spaghetti pattern our road system resembles, confusing visitors and newcomers alike. But if you think our lanes have problems, consider a few roads beyond the gate--roads maintained by the state, which is having lots of trouble even doing that, much less improving them.
  
  Some are so narrow and winding as to be truly dangerous. One leaps to mind. It's part of our access from the emergency gate in Section III at the top of Titanic. From that gate to Decatur's Store in Widewater is an adventure to say the least. Another adventure, easier to experience by car, is the route to Aquia Landing, a county public park on the Potomac.
  
  From the Courthouse eastward on Route 630, it's a breeze until you get just past Brooke Point High School. Then you quickly encounter a taste of old Stafford. Turn onto Andrew Chapel and then left on Brooke. Or for a simpler sample, just drive to the county dump on Eskimo Hill Road.
  
  They make even Titanic look good.
  
  Another point: The Aquia Landing area and nearby Marlborough Point feature some truly fine homes. However, their owners must traverse some mighty dicey lanes for eight miles before they reach congested U.S. 1. We get to I-95 much sooner and safer. And we determine how good our own roads must be. The state may never get around to doing much for those roads of our remoter neighbors.
  
  Aren't you smug? Me too, just so long as that Aquia Drive problem doesn't worsen or gets readily corrected.
  
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• Thanks Ray and Len! - Stephanie Johnson
  
  Dear Residents of Aquia Harbour:
  
  If you haven't met them, you should. If you haven't waved to them as they pass you in their Aquia Harbour truck, you should. Who am I talking about? Why of course our Men of Maintenance, Ray and Len. What a pair, what a team!!
  
  One of the reasons my husband and I moved into Aquia Harbour was the sense of community we had as kids, well, these guys typify that community sense. Always smiling, always ready to lend a hand or talk to you about Harbour business. Did you notice the new blue trim on the Preschool, that's Ray and Len, how about the paint job on the Harbour Inn, again, Ray and Len, the nice clean baby pool at the Harbour Inn, who? Ray and Len. Been to the country club lately? Did you notice the nice clean lobby? Again, Ray and Len. That probably does not even touch the amount of work they do for the Harbour on a daily basis!
  
  Recently, I became responsible for one of the Harbour's amenities, Aquia Harbour Preschool, I cannot tell you or thank them enough for all the things they have helped me with to get the school ready for our kids in September.
  
  So, from me.......THANK YOU Ray and Len!! When you see them drive by, wave....when you run into them tell them thanks, you'll be glad you did.
  
  Stephanie Johnson
  AHPS President