Category Archives: government

City Offices Closed For Labor Day

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From City press release:

Media Advisory
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
Contact: Tyler Hill
Office: (804) 646-4642
Tyler.Hill@Richmondgov.com

City Offices Closed for Labor Day

Richmond, VA – City government offices, including City Hall, will be closed on Monday, September 3 for Labor Day. City offices will reopen at regular business hours on Tuesday, September 4.

Labor Day closings include all branches of the Richmond Public Library which will reopen on Tuesday, September 4. Broad Rock Library, which is normally open on Sundays, will be closed on Sunday, September 2.

The following community centers will be open Saturday, September 1: Bellemade, Southside, Randolph, Powhatan and Hotchkiss.

All community centers will be closed Sunday, September 2 and Monday, September 3. City pools will be open from noon until 5 p.m. on Monday, September 3.

Richmond Animal Care and Control will be closed Sunday, September 2.

Refuse collection will not be performed on Monday, September 3 as the City’s Solid Waste Management Division will also be closed. This closure will result in a one-day delay of refuse collection for the week, as the collection schedule will begin on Tuesday, September 4 and continue through Friday, September 7.

The East Richmond Road Convenience Center and Hopkins Road Transfer Stations are also closed on Monday, September 3. Each facility will resume its normal schedule on Tuesday.

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OHNA Meeting Tuesday Night

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From email announcement:

This Tuesday, OHNA will hold its monthly meeting at 7PM at St. Andrews Church at S Laurel and Idlewood. City Council liaison Amy Robins will present the results of the parking permit survey and hopefully we can agree on parameters for those seeking parking permits on their individual blocks.

We will also have our regular updates from RPD, VCU Police, VCU, and Councilman Agelasto’s office has provided petitions to make the recently changed stop signs into all way stops which I will distribute. We look forward to seeing you and having a productive meeting!

Aging Assistance

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While the City population is going to be instantly getting a lot younger as VCU students move in this weekend, it’s important to recognize that much of the City’s full-time population is getting older.

One resource that should not be overlooked is the City of Richmond’s OAPD. The primary goal of the Office on Aging & Persons with Disabilities (OAPD) is to promote independence and enhance the dignity of Richmond’s aging and disabled populations by connecting these individuals with the necessary resources to meet their needs. The office targets older adults age 55 and older and persons with physical and sensory disabilities.

Councilman Agelasto to hold meeting for the Richmond Central 5th Voter District

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From City press release:

All Richmond Central 5th Voter District residents invited and encouraged to attend

WHAT Richmond, Virginia – The Honorable Parker C. Agelasto, Richmond City Council, Richmond Central 5th Voter District, will hold a meeting for the Richmond Central 5th Voter District. The planned program/agenda for this meeting includes the following:

· Virginia General Assembly Legislative Update

The Honorable Jennifer McClellan, Virginia State Senator
Senate of Virginia – 9th Voter District

The Honorable Betsy Carr, Virginia State Delegate
Virginia House of Delegates – 69th Voter District

· Richmond 300 City Master Plan Updates

· Richmond Central 5th Voter District Updates

· Questions and Comments

WHEN Thursday, August 16, 2018
6:45-8:00 p.m.

WHERE Richmond Public Schools – Binford Middle School
1701 Floyd Avenue; Richmond, Virginia

CONTACT For more information, please contact: Amy Robins, Liaison for The Honorable Parker C. Agelasto, at 804.646.5724 (tel), or amy.robins@richmondgov.com (email).

Background
Councilman Agelasto typically holds individual meetings throughout the year that include information on his goals and accomplishments; a topical agenda; and, special guests. All Richmond Central 5th Voter District residents are invited and encouraged to attend.

Councilman Agelasto’s upcoming individually scheduled meetings and community clean-ups:

COUNCILMAN AGELASTO’S MEETINGS

Thursday, October 25, 2018; 6:45-8:00 p.m.
Patrick Henry School of Science & Arts
3411 Semmes Avenue; Richmond, Virginia

Thursday, December 13, 2018; 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Woodland Heights Baptist Church
611 West 31st Street; Richmond, Virginia

COMMUNITY CLEAN-UPS
The following community clean-up meet-up locations will be announced through the civic associations, through Councilman Agelasto’s e-newsletter, and on his Facebook page.

Saturday, September 15, 2018; 9:00 a.m. – Noon
Reedy Creek and Swansboro West Neighborhoods
Morning meet-up location to be determined

Saturday, October 20, 2018; 9:00 a.m. – Noon
Swansboro and Woodland Heights Neighborhoods
Morning meet-up location to be determined

– E N D –

VCU’s ‘Free Ride’

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This past week Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) announced that it had signed an agreement with the Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC) that will give their students and employees unlimited access to the new $65 million Pulse system and all other GRTC bus routes. In other words, as much local media trumpeted, VCU students and workers will get to ride ‘for free’.

Of course, this is welcome news. If nothing else, it may alleviate parking pressures and reduce carbon emissions. However, Richmond citizens should look past the headlines and consider the big picture of VCU’s ‘free ride’.

The conversation about the need to grow GRTC and mass transit in general has increased measurably as VCU has grown in both population and physical plant. All along, this community news site has advocated for more commitment from counties and universities to GRTC and mass transit. This call has only increased as ‘The Pulse’ BRT project has spent federal and state funds for implementation.

The problem is that with federal and state monies now spent, more and more of the cost burden will be shifted back to City taxpayers. And VCU, despite the announcement this week, is still falling very short in its commitment. $1.2 million is a drop in the bucket. Heck, VCU probably spent close to $1.2 million on all of the PR for their new ICA building. One year is not that long. Consider that VCU has made more of a commitment to its basketball coach than Richmond’s mass transit.

So what, the neoliberals say, college basketball brings in more money and GRTC can’t even support itself. VCU spends so much on transportation per student, university administrators say (if I was a student, I would be looking at where that money is going exactly). Yet, despite supposed sports profits and rising tuition, more poor and longterm Richmond residents are getting forced out of the City with rising tax bills. The City of Richmond continues to pay the overwhelming majority of GRTC’s budget and now it has increased its operational costs. Remember when ‘The Pulse’ backers said that it was designed to help Richmond’s poor? Now the largest entity by far on ‘The Pulse’ route is hedging its bets and waiting to see how the chips fall.

The local media and elected officials should be questioning this ‘deal’ more, but the majority of them won’t for fear of falling out of VCU’s favor (and advertising budget). If VCU alumni want to arrogantly claim that ‘they built this city’, they should be required to put their money where their mouth is. Other urban universities do more than brag.

An Appeal For Intermediate Terminal #3

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Following up on an earlier post, neighbor Charles Pool has written an appeal to the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation of the recent DHR determination that the Intermediate Terminal is not eligible for listing on the National Register.

In the document linked below, he lists a dozen reasons that the Terminal and adjacent structures are eligible for listing on the National Register and that the demolition of the Terminal would constitute and adverse impact on historic resources.

Pool appeal to the ACHP, NPS and HUD regarding Intermediate Terminal #3, Richmond, VA

Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association Statement

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The Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association has released this statement, following the meeting last month…

Dear Oregon Hill Neighbors,

The Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association (OHNA) is the neighborhood civic association. Separate from OHNA, is the Overlook Unit Owners Association (HOA) at Outlook Townhomes (south of Holly Street). All residents are invited to join OHNA’s monthly meetings on the 4th Tuesday of the month at St. Andrew’s Church on the corner of S. Laurel and Idlewood at 7pm. Since we meet during dinner hours, neighbors host a potluck. Please feel free to bring something small to share if you can.

Over the years, multiple neighbors have approached OHNA to discuss a Residential Restrict Parking Zone similar to what The Fan and Carver have due to parking pressures. Residential Restrict Parking Zones must be backed by the neighborhood civic association. You can learn more about Restricted Parking Districts using the link below. It is highly recommended that you review the city website before taking the survey. You will see that The Fan and Carver’s restrict parking zones are different. Oregon Hill’s will also be unique based on the community’s feedback via the survey and at the meeting.

Restricted Parking Districts: http://www.richmondgov.com/Parking/RestrictedParkingDistricts.aspx

At the July OHNA meeting, President Todd Woodson made the decision to throw out all previous signed petitions. This decision was made to increase community awareness through a paper flyer campaign, online survey, and posts on Facebook and Nextdoor.

Website: www.oregonhill.net (Editor’s note: This website is an independent community news site that does not necessarily represent OHNA)
Facebook (closed group): Search “Oregon Hill Community”
Nextdoor: www.nextdoor.com
Online Survey: https://goo.gl/forms/BO98EfQ4GYCAUsbz2

Please take 5-10 minutes to complete the online survey (longer is you explore the links within the survey). Due to financial and time restraints the survey will only be available online. This data will be on display at the next OHNA meeting on Tuesday, August 28, 2018 at 7pm to help determine the details of the petition. Please note the survey will close on Tuesday, August 21, 2018 at 11:59pm so the data can be compiled. Filling out the survey does not replace the requirement of the paper petition. Results from the survey do not stop neighbors from continuing with a new paper petition (see sample).

The DPW Parking Division will be on hand at the next OHNA meeting to walk Oregon Hill through the process of determining the petition’s language. Your feedback through the survey will greatly speed this process up. The requirement for the Department of Public Works (DPW) Parking Division is 60% of a block face (one side of the block) must sign in support of the restricted parking zone. The neighborhood must have 10 block faces with 60% or more signing the petition for the Parking Division to conduct a parking study. (One block equals two block faces.) There is no need for a second petition stating a neighbor is in opposition, the neighbor just does not sign the support petition. After the parking study is complete the Parking Division will help draft an ordinance to bring before City Council to be adopted. The parking ordinance cannot be edited for an entire year.

Several of you have asked what the Randolph Neighborhood Association is proposing. You can learn more on their website. They have been listening to Oregon Hill’s discussing for four years. Due to their parking pressures, they plan on moving forward whether Oregon Hill does or does not. They will be handing out flyers over the next week too. Website: https://randolphrva.com/2018/06/02/restricted-decal-permit-parking-zone/

If you have any questions that the links above or in the survey do not answer OR are willing to help flyer the neighborhood, please email OHNArva@gmail.com.

Thank you all for your time,
Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association

P.S. Richmond residents with local government service questions & non-emergency requests are reminded they can call 311 (804.646.7000), use the www.rva311.com web portal, and/or the RVA311 app to report such things as: potholes, streetlights, illegal dumping, abandoned vehicles, overgrown lots, etc. The RVA311 mobile app is available on SmartPhones via the Google Play or Apple Stores.
Richmond’s previously used apps/portals, such as RVA One, See-Click-Fix, MPACT website, and the Citizen Request System are no longer in use as of June 15, 2018.

Education Compact Meeting Scheduled/Goldman’s Proposal

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On Monday, July 30 at 6pm City Council, the School Board, and the Mayor are meeting for the Education Compact quarterly joint meeting at the Main Richmond Public Library (101 East Franklin Street).

It will be very interesting to see if there are substantial changes in direction and priority. From an earlier post:

One big question is if the Mayor and other leaders who ran and were elected on ‘Education’ platforms will continue to champion the Tom Farrell coliseum plan while ignoring the Put Schools First movement. No doubt, we will hear the same tired and false arguments about how Richmond needs to increase its tax base BEFORE modernizing schools. Don’t fall for them. Take note of what is being financed before school modernization, and who proposes what. Another question is what political candidates will eventually emerge to challenge the leaders who don’t want to put schools first.

Meanwhile, from former Chairperson of the Democratic Party of Virginia and local activist Paul Goldman, on school modernization financing:

Part (1): STATE LEVEL. Assuming the $250 million annual projection is accurate, it is being both principled and pragmatic to propose using $150 million of the $250 million to support the debt service on the first-ever state K-12 school bond issue. To repeat: These are not funds from a new tax but merely from taxes currently owed yet knowingly not paid. Thus both parties can support this approach without violating any platform promises. Part (2): LOCAL LEVEL. Since this is a first-ever proposal, it makes sense to ask localities – legally responsible for local school maintenance and modernization – to match $100 million from this historic state contribution. I have studied local financial resources. This is a very fair number to use with accomations for certain distressed localities. Part (3): Brown II Mandate: The fact Virginia refused or failed, depending on your point of view, to live up to the state’s responsibility under the long overlooked maintenance and modernization part of the decision doesn’t justify continuing to avoid responsibility 63 years later! Indeed, the opposite imperative is more to the point. In that regard, the state can afford to allocate $150 million annually to fix school facilities covered by that case but never properly addressed.
THE BOND ISSUE MATH:’
Part (1) can pay debt service for roughly a $ 3 billion dollar 30 year bond issue at current rates. Part (2) can pay debt service for roughly another $ 2 billion and Part (3) can pay debt service for roughly an additional $3 billion. Added together: $8 billion potential. The plan outline assumes the state will be backing everything and that certain laws will be amended accordingly. Thus a bipartisan consensus is possible to develop an historic state/local effort to address the “crumbling” school facility crisis distressing Governor Northam. I have conceived it as a pilot program, requiring state and localities to work together here. Should the Kaine-Evans legislation pass, the dramatic reduction in local school modernization costs for many projects would allow the bond issue contemplated here to be more far reaching.
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The key point: All three parts are independent by design . Part 1 is the base of any state initiative. It can pass stand alone. Part II is my judgment of a likely political decision to have a match type requiremeant with consideration for hard pressed areas. Part III is my own view that a Brown II initiative is both orally and historically justified/right thing to do and would be enactable you got pervious consensus for Parts 1 and 2. Like any other bold out of the box idea, it is a work in progress, designed for improvement by others. But progress requires someone doing the work to get it out there so the discussion has a concrete reference point. Improvements welcomed!