Last night someone tore down a lot of the temporary street cleaning signs that were put up by the City (as well knocking over a trash can or two and being an asshole in general).
Despite this, the City should be starting street cleaning with the west side of S. Laurel Street tomorrow. Beware, cars should be towed, as some blocks should really get cleaned of fallen leaves.
From City Council announcement:
All Richmond Residents are invited and encouraged to attend
WHAT The Honorable E. Martin “Marty” Jewell, Councilman, Richmond City Council, Central 5th District, will hold an Occupy Richmond Community Forum at Richmond City Hall on Friday night.
The purpose of the meeting is to have an open forum for members of Occupy Richmond, a self-described economic and human rights movement, to express their concerns. This event is free and open to the public and all Richmond Residents are invited and encouraged to attend.
WHEN Friday, January 20, 2012
6:00-8:00 p.m.
WHERE Richmond City Council Chambers
Richmond City Hall
900 E. Broad Street, 2nd Floor
Richmond, Virginia 23219
WHO The Honorable E. Martin “Marty” Jewell, Councilman, Richmond City Council, Central 5th District
CONTACT For more information, please contact Councilman Marty Jewell,
Richmond City Council, Central 5th District, at 804.646.5724 (tel); or
marty.jewell@richmondgov.com (email).
Having written about Dominion Power and renewable energy on this site before, there is simply no reason to let up.
Here’s the latest, including a solution for the General Assembly in the form of HB 657:
Virginia’s “voluntary” renewable portfolio standard is voluntary for utilities, but it’s mandatory for ratepayers. Utilities charge citizens for the energy they buy to meet the goals, and then they get to charge citizens again for their bonus under the law. The idea behind the law was to incentivize utilities to buy renewable energy, but utilities have treated it as an entitlement program for their shareholders and are doing the minimum possible to earn their profit.
Everyone thought the 2007 law setting up the renewable energy incentives would result in Virginia-made wind and solar energy. That hasn’t happened, and yet utilities are collecting their full bonus amounts just as if they had made a real effort.
Dominion Power ran advertisements in 2010 claiming they were building wind farms “to power Virginia’s energy future.” Those ads misled everyone into assuming they were doing just that. But they have built no wind farms in Virginia.
Dominion talks a good game about renewable energy, but the reality came out in its rate case this fall, when it had to reveal the energy sources it was using to meet Virginia’s renewable energy goals. Almost all of it consists of old conventional hydroelectric plants from dams. None of it comes from projects built after 2000, and none of it is wind or solar.
Legislators should support HB 657 (Rust), the RPS reform bill, in its current form, including the provisions for Virginia-made wind and solar energy. If the final bill does not incentivize wind and solar in Virginia, the RPS law should be repealed rather than charging ratepayers millions of dollars extra.
The Virginia-made requirement makes sure that the ratepayers who are paying for the renewable energy are getting the benefits of it. Building wind and solar energy in Virginia is important to create new jobs here for Virginia’s young people, to increase energy supply without adding air pollution, and to give Virginia a stake in these fast-growing industries.
From City Council announcement:
First meeting of the Richmond City Council GRTC and Transit Study Task Force to be held
First meeting of this important Task Force
WHAT The first meeting of the Richmond City Council GRTC and Transit Study Task Force will be held. The purpose of the Task Force is to make recommendations to Richmond City Council with regard to enhancing mass transit in the Metro-Richmond area and the efficiency and effectiveness of the GRTC Transit System. This first meeting will serve as an organizational and planning session to develop a work plan for the Task Force. The meeting is free and open to the public and all citizens are invited and encouraged to attend.
WHEN Thursday, 12 January 2012
4:00-6:00 p.m.WHERE Richmond Police Academy
1202 W. Graham Road, Room 247
Richmond, Virginia 23220 (In Richmond’s Northside)
Free Parking is located in front of the building.WHO Members of the Richmond City Council GRTC and Transit Study Task Force
CONTACT For more information, please contact The Honorable Bruce W. Tyler, Councilman, Richmond City Council, West End 1st District,
at 804.357.6007; or bruce.tyler@richmondgov.com.Background ____________________________________________________________________________
Richmond City Council GRTC and Transit Study Task Force
Richmond City Council established the Richmond City Council GRTC and Transit Study Task Force on September 27, 2010 by Richmond City Council Ordinance No. 2010-173-166.The objective of the Richmond City Council GRTC and Transit Study Task Force is to provide a report to Council within in a year of its first meeting which recommends the following:
1. Any legislation, plans, policies, and programs that promote efficient mass transit in the city;
2. Economic development, economic growth, employment and tourism strategies that include public transportation; and,
3. Public relations and education programs to increase public use of mass transit.
The Task Force shall also work with interested private organizations to improve the service and efficiency of the GRTC.
– E N D –
A few other points of information-
Oregon Hill’s bus route that came down to China Street was eliminated over a year ago, though you may still see bus stop signs in the neighborhood.
According to transportation application Abogo, the transportation cost for an average household in Oregon Hill is $629/month vs. a regional average of $844. While transportation CO2 impact for an average Oregon Hill household is 0.29 metric tons/month vs. a regional average of 0.78 metric tons.
The RVA Green roadmap for Sustainability, updated as of last month, has some recommendations for GRTC on its last few pages.
The Times Dispatch had a report on a recent Planning Commission meeting about the proposed 2nd Street Connector. It did not mention Oregon Hill citizens’ troubles with the project, but it did focus on concerns about what the road might mean for future use of the historic Kanawha Canal.
Excerpt:
The Richmond Planning Commission on Tuesday approved a final design for the estimated $1.3 million Second Street Connector despite concerns that the culvert may be too small to allow boats to pass if water flow could someday be restored to the canal.
“The purpose of the canal is to float boats. If we’re going to float boats on this canal, they’ve got to be able to pass this constriction,” said Jack Pearsall, who is trying to reignite interest in restoring a functional canal system stretching from Great Shiplock Park to Maymont.
Pearsall, who served on a Historic Richmond Foundation committee that studied the idea more than 20 years ago, estimated that the culvert would be about 12 feet high with only about 6 feet of clearance if water flow were restored. That means typical canal boats wouldn’t be able to pass, he said.
Meanwhile, C. Wayne Taylor has compiled some very interesting images of the canal area on his blog. They are well worth checking out. If nothing else, they give some perspective on how important this area has been to Richmond’s identity over the decades.
Which vision will City Council and City government ultimately align with, the citizens’ desire for a working, refurbished canal or another corporate driveway? Who does the City work for?
From press release:
RICHMOND, VA (Jan. 5, 2012) . . . Richmond Animal Care & Control, the city of Richmond public animal shelter, welcomes the new year with an all‐out effort to find more loving homes for shelter pets than ever before! Volunteers are needed to assist with a variety of activities including cat and dog adoptions held on Saturdays throughout the city. Foster homes for cats and dogs are also needed. All volunteers must be at least 18 years old. For details, please contact Paula Ritter, outreach coordinator, at Paula.ritter@richmondgov.com.
Adoption hours are Tuesday – Friday, 1:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. and Saturday, noon until 4:00 p.m. The shelter is located at 1600 Chamberlayne Avenue in northside/ downtown Richmond. All pets are spayed and vaccinated. Pets available for adoption may be seen online at www.richmondgov.com/animals. The shelter adoption phone number is 804‐646‐5575.
Donations of blankets, towels, pet beds, kitten food, baby food, peanut butter and toys for cats and dogs are always needed.
Thanks and Happy Holidays to the City’s Parks and Rec!
Speaking of Special Use Permits, local citizen watchdog C.Wayne Taylor has been just as concerned about the latest flurry of riverfront planning as Oregon Hill neighbors.
He has started asking some very pertinent questions and has come to the conclusion that, despite what local officials may or may not say, Dominion Resources’ riverfront SUP has legally expired:
In 2001, City Council approved a special use permit for the Dominion Resources headquarters on Tredegar Street. The permit increased the maximum allowed building heights within a sloping “envelope” that extended from 60 feet above ground level to 160 feet above ground level.
Under the terms of the permit, it would automatically expire if certain conditions were not met. The city maintains that the conditions were met and that the permit is “still valid.”
The facts indicate that the permit expired. The property owner failed to meet the deadline for using the special use permit. The development that occurred on the property complied with the zoning regulations and did not require the special use permit.
Look for Dominion to try to quietly go behind the scenes and change things to their advantage. After all, this is what they do. And continue to do.
And don’t look for the local corporate media to cover it, after all, this is what they they won’t do. Why is it up to this little neighborhood community news site to mention the local connection to the MF Global story, where a former United States Congressperson and Governor “doesn’t know” where over a billion dollars went?
Citizens, remain vigilant!
From Times Dispatch
From Richmond.com
From Richmond Magazine
From HillsandHeights.org
One tidbit I received from a City employee who was there was that the new canal bridge is tentatively scheduled for installation for January 2.
With James River Park leader Ralph White retiring, citizen input for riverfront planning may become even more important.
CITY OF RICHMOND Riverfront Plan
The Department of Planning and Development Review invites members of the public to attend the third Public Forum on the Richmond Riverfront Plan:
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
6:00 pm
Virginia War Memorial
621 South BelvidereThe Consultant Team from Hargreaves Associates will present a draft plan that outlines the overall design concept for Richmond’s riverfront, followed by an opportunity for public comment. The draft plan will describe public realm improvements, emphasizing pedestrian and bike connections, transportation corridors, and identification of anticipated future private development, with a prioritized plan for implementation.
The presentations from the first and second forums are available on the Department of Planning and Development Review’s webpage on the City website at www.richmondgov.com
Parking is available at the Virginia War Memorial, the adjacent Virginia Housing Development Authority, and along Second Street.
For more information contact
James Hill, City of Richmond
Telephone: (804) 646-7552
E-mail: James.Hill@richmondgov.com