Word on the street is that, following the passing of the Downtown Master Plan, 5th District Councilperson Marty Jewell will be holding a fundraising party this Wednesday, hosted by the Ripp family.
Some background here, here, and here.
Hopefully the Downtown Master Plan will be one topic of discussion at tonight’s Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association meeting.
From this past Tuesday
From this past Saturday
Despite multiple communications over the past year with the City’s Public Works and Community Development, as well as letters to the property owner, this trash pile remains a sore spot. Its right along the sidewalk and its one of the first things people see when they enter into the neighborhood from the west. Visitors to the Tuesday Byrd House Market often have to walk around it. Despite City Code violations, the trash cans are hardly ever taken away from the street back to the residents’ yards. Really, one easy solution would be to create a trash containment area along the alley which goes north behind the residences just a few yards away, and make sure residents use it. City trash trucks are supposed to be picking up from the back alleys in the neighborhood. The owner of these row houses which face the 200 block of S. Cherry, is a man named Hugh Edmunds. He continues to rent to VCU students while he lives over in the Windsor Farms neighborhood.
There have also been multiple noise complaints about these houses over the past few years, with at least one being on the Richmond police CAPS list. Sadly, some of the longtime residents on the 300 block of S. Cherry have moved away in part to the ongoing nuisances.
Years ago, I used to attend parties at 238 S. Cherry when Mike Gangloff lived there. Mike ran his own record label, Radioactive Rat, from that house. Sometimes he would even have bands play there. He made a point of warning neighbors a few days before and making sure the loudness was over before midnight. Then we would QUIETLY hang out while enjoying a few of Mike’s excellent homebrew pumpkin ales.
DPU TRAFFIC ALERT
Franklin Street between Pine & Belvidere Streets
RICHMOND, VA— Beginning Thursday, July 23, 2009 through Friday, July 24, 2009 at 7 a.m. the City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities will be lining a sewer main along Franklin Street from E Pine Street to the intersection with Belvidere Street.
During construction the right and left lanes of Franklin will need to be closed from approximately Laurel to Belvidere, leaving the center lane available for traffic. The right southbound lane of Belvidere Street will also be closed from Grace Street to beyond the intersection of Franklin and Belvidere streets.
Motorists should follow all posted detour signs. Motorists are asked to proceed with caution around the construction area.
The City of Richmond Department of Public Utilities provides natural gas, water, wastewater and stormwater services to more than 500,000 residential and commercial customers in the metropolitan region. DPU also operates electric street lighting utility, which maintains more than 37,000 streetlights throughout the City. For more information, call DPU’s Customer Care Center at 644-3000 or visit DPU’s Web site at www.richmondgov.com/dpu.
Candidate Silver Persinger is at it again. In his own words:
I created this petition to Richmond City Council. A friend was recently stopped by police for not having a light on her bicycle and fined $100. Sign this petition to reduce the fine and pass it along to your friends. If several hundred people sign it, we may have a shot.
Click here to sign the following petition.
Petition to Reduce Fine for Riding a Bicycle without a Light in Richmond, Virginia
We, the undersigned, request that Richmond City Council reduce the fine for bicyclists who ride a bicycle at night without lights from $100 to $15.
Whereas, bicycle riding is a healthy form of transportation that is good for rider and the environment; the City Council should value and encourage the contribution that bicyclists make to reducing the impact of transportation to the city and the environment.
Whereas, bicycles are predominately ridden with young people, students, and the low income; a $100 fine presents a financial hardship for the majority of bicycle riders. On July 24, 2009 the Federal Minimum Wage was raised to $7.25. A $100 fine represents over 13.5 hours of labor at minimum wage, or over a third of an employee’s weekly wages.
Whereas, most bicycles are equipped with reflectors, the bicycles are visible at night by reflecting the headlights of oncoming automobiles.
We object to the $100 fine and request the City Council to create an ordinance which would reduce the fine to $15.
Often, the resolutions that come before City Council have their basis in one of the committees that meet before City Council. One of the most important of those Council committees is the Land Use, Housing, and Transportation Committee, which usually meets monthly on a Tuesday afternoon (for example, July 21, at 3 pm in Council chanbers at City Hall).
Here are a few items from the agenda for the upcoming LUHT Committee meeting that may be of interest to Oregon Hill residents and Richmond citizens in general:
Presentation(s)
Monroe Park Improvements Planned by Monroe Park Advisory Council – Larry Miller,
Project Management Analyst, Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities.
Central VA Waste Management Authority (CVWMA)Presentation – Kim Hynes, Executive
Director, CVWMA
Papers for Consideration
Public Works
4. Ord. No. 2009-138 (Patron: Mr. Hilbert) – To amend *** the Code *** for the
purpose of establishing procedures and guidelines for the maintenance and removal of
trees on City-owned property and to establish an Urban Forestry Commission.
…the police will be ready!
News Release
Richmond Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit Receives $1.1 Million Dollar Grant
July 9, 2009
This week, the Department of Criminal Justice Services notified the Department that its EOD Unit will receive $1,176,300 in federal funds from the Department of Homeland Security.
“This will enhance our operational capacity with equipment allocations and training with our local, state, federal, and international law enforcement agencies. The grant allows us to add public value to our community without a local financial impact,” stated Assistant Chief Dave McCoy.
Contact: Sgt. Ron Brown
Richmond Police Department
Phone 804-646-0607
Fax 804-646-3496
http://www.richmondgov.com/police
Click here to get to the PDF of the newsletter.
Some excerpts:
During the month of June 2009, Sector 413 experienced an overall increase
of crime by 7% as compared to June of 2008.
…
There were 5 robberies to individuals in Sector 413 during June 2009. Two
of these occurred in Oregon Hill.
…
6/16/09-618 Idlewood Ave – 0148 a.m., the male victim was
robbed by 4 b/males. These males were later apprehended in a
taxi cab on the Southside and charged with this robbery.
(Note: This was reported on this site earlier.)
…
06/21/09 – (attempt) – 100 S. Cherry Street, 0315 a.m., the
male victim was walking on Cherry Street when he was
approached by a b/m. The suspect had a knife and demanded
the victim’s money. The victim struck the suspect and ran to his
home.
…
1 house break-in on Laurel Street
…
In the last week the trend has been to remove license plates from vehicles.
2 occurred on Pine Street in Oregon Hill. Monroe Ward and Jackson Ward
had 3 a piece. We feel they are stealing them for the expiration date
sticker.
…
Three individuals were arrested in the Fan district for graffiti. We feel these
individuals are also responsible for some of the tags located in Oregon Hill,
Jackson Ward and Monroe Ward.
…
The homeless continue to bring complaints and are tied into some of the
crimes I have touched on. The detectives and Officers have worked very
hard at identifying these individuals and what areas they may be hanging
around.
I am very glad to hear from Richmond Water Utility officials that, according to initial estimates, VCU will pay for 2,356 ERUs resulting in an annual stormwater utility charge of approximately $106,000. I am told this involves 185 parcels. This is a lot better than nothing, which is what I was initially lead to believe and I do appreciate their willingness to answer questions. Now, how does this compare to average annual residential charge of $45? And what is VCU doing to actually solve its stormwater runoff issues? More scrutiny is not a bad thing.
In the meantime, a few more notes:
The stormwater utility issue is refocusing attention to the water rates issue. Silver, as usual, is doing a lion’s share.
Its great to see more neighbors using rainwater barrels, some of them bought at the Byrd Market. It’s also good to see the City getting with the program…
I would love to see Richmond establish a ‘Green Alley’ program like Chicago’s (not to be confused with Oregon Hill’s Green Alley)
Now, what about micro-hydroelectric and grey water systems?
Given some of the recent events, this is welcome news. Still, citizens should recognize opportunites to volunteer.
This Tuesday evening there are two meetings of note (actually, I am sure there are more than that, but two are what my brain is currently handling).
One is a national health care policy symposium held on the VCU academic campus. Unlike some earlier meetings on health care, this one will actually include more view points than just ‘the public option’ one that the Obama administration is pushing. Its being held by a group called United Virginia.
Please click here for more information.
The second one is for the City’s Fifth ‘Central’ District, hosted by City Councilperson Marty Jewell. It is from 6 pm to 8 pm at the Southside Comunity Services Center (4100 Hull Street). On the agenda are presentation on the new stormwater utility, crime report, traffic calming issues, and more.