OHNA Meets Tonight

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The Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association is meeting tonight (as usual, fourth Tuesday of month) at 7 pm at the William Byrd Community House.

Because last month’s meeting was cancelled, the agenda is very full.

A few points-

The American Civil War Museum at Tredegar will attend to discuss repairs to their historic site’s structures. Attending will be Patrick Saylor, Director, Marketing and PR; Christie Ann Bieber, Director of Strategic Initiatives; and Andrew Phinney, Facilities Manager, to discuss “some work that will be taking place at Historic Tredegar during the next few months. Specifically, we will be doing badly needed repair and restoration work on the canal wall at the back of the Tredegar site. The project is set to begin Feb. 23, with the removal of trees and vegetation along the wall.”

Emily Francis, a candidate for the 10th district Senate race, will be attending. “I’m running for state senate in the 10th District and was hoping to speak with you about the race before your neighborhood association meeting tomorrow”

From Rev. S. Abbott Bailey, Members of “St. Andrew’s and the Grace-on-the-Hill Residents are planning a storm-drain marking project in Oregon Hill to raise awareness about water quality, which is particularly important given our proximity to the James River.

The Tredegar Green issue was rescheduled for the March meeting.

Protest Against Dominion

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This morning there was a protest march against Dominion Power that purposefully blocked the intersection of Tredegar Street and Brown’s Island Way (aka 2nd Street Connector) to raise awareness of Dominion’s role in profiteering, pipelines, pollution, and climate change. Eventually fire trucks were called to assist a massive police presence in clearing protesters from the street.
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Editorial: You have to wonder if Dominion executives are regretting their arrogant insistence on building their riverfront headquarters and 2nd Street Connector. Their corporate hegemony, combined with some of their biggest supporters corrupting and dishonoring state office is just making citizens angrier.

City Responsibility

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Please note, it has been determined that the City is responsible for snow removal, condition, and maintenance of the 195 bridge overpasses, including pedestrian sidewalks, along Idlewood, Cumberland. Parkwood. No more deceitful ducking of issues by saying that the RMA or VCU is responsible. And if there is any problems with budgeting, I suggest money be cut and repurposed from Vulture Richmond’s “Clean and Safe” program, which currently receives over a quarter of million from the City.

Richmond Had Rails: a kind of time travel

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From Richmond Had Rails FaceBook page:

VCU Libraries today announced the launch of an interactive version of a Richmond map atlas from 1889, allowing for a kind of time travel, because through the use of overlays, viewers may compare the cityscape of then with that of today (courtesy an integration with Google Maps). The application features photos and illustrations due to linkage with VCU Libraries’ extensive collections of antique images.
Of interest to those following the progress of “Richmond Had Rails” is that the Baist Atlas Map received publication just a year after the trolleys started rolling in Richmond. On Panel 16, which surveys Church Hill, you can see the site of the shops where Julian Sprague and his team originated the first ever city-wide electric powered streetcar. The technology utilized then is, with some improvements, still what powers transit throughout the world, when Richmond had rails.

Here’s the interactive Baist Atlas: http://labs.library.vcu.edu/baist-atlas/
And a link to a VCU news story: https://news.vcu.edu/article/Interactive_map_from_1889_reveals_Richmonds_rich_architectural

Trash/Recycling Pickup Thursday

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Due to the snow, trash/recycling pickup will be delayed a day from the regular red Wednesday to Thursday this week. Please make sure you pick up containers after pickup Thursday. They do not belong on the sidewalk after Thursday night.

In order to take your recycling to the next level, read this: 10 ways to improve your recycling.

In recycling news, the Virginia Senate has adopted SB1103 introduced by Jeffrey L. McWaters, a Virginia Beach Republican, which would explicitly authorize the commonwealth’s cities and counties to decide whether to impose a ban on plastic bags in their jurisdictions.

CenterStage, Altria Theater Exempted From Real Estate Tax

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From Style article:

Richmond CenterStage and its parent group ignited a minor furor in October when they revealed they owed $1.75 million in back real estate taxes and wanted the city to cover the tab.

Following a heated public hearing, City Council eventually consented to pay the bill. What was left unclear was whether the performing arts organization — which operates the Altria and Carpenter theaters — would begin covering its own real estate taxes.

As it turns out, that won’t be an issue because Richmond-area state lawmakers have CenterStage’s back. Both houses of the General Assembly passed legislation specifically tailored to exempt CenterStage from any real estate tax obligations.
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