Stop the Deforestation of Richmond’s Historic Monroe Park

Letter from neighbor:

Dear Richmond Urban Design Committee and Planning Commission

Monroe Park was once a beautiful public park with its most delightful feature being its vibrant urban tree canopy. Now, under the guidance of a few individuals, it has lost much of its beautiful urban forest which previously served as an aesthetic wonder, habitat for animals and the proverbial “lungs” of our city. The city under the direction of the Monroe Park Conservancy is now requesting to forego planting 8 more trees that were included in the approved master plan and replacing them with planters in order to increase the surveillance scope from cameras attached to the Checkers House soffit. This is unacceptable and I respectfully ask that this request for approval of the tree deletion be denied.

Thank you,

Charles T Woodson
Richmond Va 23220

The tree removal request will be heard THIS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5th at 10am at the Urban Design Committee meeting. Please sign and share!
New petition on Change.org

Yet Another Reminder of Construction and Road Closing

As appeared in the Fan District Association‘s newsletter:

Construction and Road Closing
Starting Thursday, October 5, 2017
The Department of Public Works (DPW) will start construction on the Idlewood Avenue, Grayland Ave, and RMTA on-ramp roundabout. The work is expected to last 120 days. During that time the road will be closed. “Resident and emergency access along Idlewood Avenue shall be maintained at all times. In addition to the roundabout, the project includes:
• Landscaped islands
• Pedestrian crosswalk markings
• Handicap ramps
• New signage
The improvement will reduce vehicle and pedestrian conflict points, provide slower operating speeds for motorists, and shorten the crossing distance.
The project does include up to three (3) weekend closures of the 195 off ramp, including a detour. After all hardscape is installed, the site will be landscaped, stabilized and the erosion measures will be removed. At completion, Idlewood Avenue will be converted to a two-way traffic between Harrison Avenue and Cherry Street.”
If you have questions/concerns, please contact Jian Xu, P.E. at 804-646-5402 or the city’s field inspector, Ned Bailey at 804-646- 1553.

Car Thieves!

A neighbor reported this morning:

Two guys, faces covered by hoods, heading down Laurel looking into car windows.

Another neighbor reported:

My partner forgot to lock the car. One got in but I scared him off. He’s in the gray hoodie. They been on Spring and Cherry . Police are looking for them.

Editorial comment: I guess now that students are back, criminals think we are easy pickings. Its up to neighbors to prove them wrong.

Trash/Recycling Pickup Tomorrow

This Wednesday is a “Red Wednesday”, which means trash and recycling pickup. Ideally, rolling recycling containers are stored and deployed in the back alleys along with trash cans. Please make sure you pick up containers after pickup tomorrow night.

If you have not done so already, don’t forget to sign up for your Recycling Perks.
In order to take your recycling to the next level, read this: 10 ways to improve your recycling.

In recycling news, fibre recycling is in trouble as China slows buying. From Recyling Today article:

By the middle of the week of September 18-22, it was becoming clear to traders in other parts of the world that the September market was going to be a difficult one. A trader based in the Netherlands tells Recycling Today, “Prices are dropping over here and none of the Chinese buyers is in the market.”

Sources in the United States are offering similar portrayals of the market, with one recycler in the southeastern United States saying prices for mixed paper are nearing zero.

“Prices have dropped significantly and orders have dried up,” says the MRF operator based on the U.S. East Coast. “It’s not a situation of where you’re worried about the price, it’s a situation of who can take it, who can move it. I think there are going to be a lot of companies who are going to have challenges staying in business.”

In better news, a new biomaterial, developed by Penn State researchers, could replace plastic laminates, and greatly reduce pollution.