Colonial Place/Riverview Civic League
COMMUNITY NEWS

February 2009

             Haven Creek Improvements At This Month's Meeting

NEXT BOARD MEETING will be Monday, February 16, 2009, at 7:00 pm.

DEADLINE for the March issue is Friday, February 20, 2009.

THIS MONTH'S MEETING AGENDA:   Monthly police report - Haven Creek Improvements.

Make sure to enjoy your newsletter this month and take a moment to think of all the hard work that goes into putting this news together each month! I would like to express my appreciation to Stephanie Hale for her service to the community in writing the newsletter month after month since September of 2006. Stephanie has done an amazing job and has produced an outstanding newsletter month after month. She has passed the baton onto Blair Barbieri who is building a house on the lot at the corner of Delaware and Newport. Welcome aboard Blair!

The city has worked with residents along Haven Creek to perfect a plan for refurbishing the walking path that is in a current state of disrepair. The city has taken the latest suggestions from residents and they are back at the drawing board. If all goes well, the city will be at our February meeting seeking our approval for the final plan. Please come out and see these amazing plans for a living shoreline and a walking path that we can all enjoy for years to come.

If you read the neighborhood email list (sign up at cprv.org) then you know I have been campaigning with the city to start street sweeping at 9 a.m. when most of the cars have left the neighborhood for work. The city is trying something new and beginning in January of 2009, Colonial Place will be swept on a two-day cycle. The 2nd Tuesday of the month the even side of all streets will be swept and on the 2nd Wednesday the odd side of the streets will be swept. Sweeping times will remain at 7 a.m. – 2 p.m. for all streets except Colonial Avenue, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. These four streets will be swept beginning at 9 a.m. They will conduct inspections to chart curb miles swept vs. curb miles missed and then they will report their findings back to us. Storm water runoff is the #1 cause of water pollution. All residents are reminded to maintain their personal property to the roadway including the curbs, gutters, ditches, and sidewalks. Please be part of the solution and let only rain go down the storm drains.

If you have not already purchased your Colonial Place and Riverview: One Hundred Years of History book, then please do so. Those that have, please take a moment and write your feedback for the book on the Amazon.com Website and read what your neighbors have to say about it. Make sure to keep an eye out for each other and join the neighborhood e-mail list for up to date news.

Allowing animals to defecate on private property of other persons is against the law! Accumulation of dog/animal droppings (feces) contributes to fly breeding, provides food for rodents, may cause disease, and is a public health nuisance. Please be respectful of our neighbors, waterways and environment and pick-up after your pets.

Crime Report: Officer Paschal

• A man was arrested in Colonial Place carrying a sack of copper. The suspect was released, but arrested again in the Nor­view area. The suspect had pawn tickets in his pockets and admitted to getting copper from vacant houses.
• Please make sure houses are locked. Thieves are getting in by unlocked doors.
• There were three auto break-ins this month. All the cars were left unlocked. (electronics, iPods, GPS units)
• Packages taken from porches. Please use signature only deliveries or request no delivery and go to the post office to pick up.
• A bicycle stolen from a front porch.
• A car (left running) was taken from the 7-11.
• January is traditionally a high crime month, so stay alert.
• Caution: don’t put boxes out for trash or recycling because it shows what you have in your house.

• Cars with expired registration can be towed away unless under cover (garages)
• Duplexes are exempt from obtaining lots of building permits
• Illegal rooming houses—five or more unrelated people living under one roof. For discussion for CPRV- change ordi­nance to three or fewer unrelated people under one roof
• Occupancy permit: for rental property to ensure upkeep of rental house from deterioration. Occupancy permits are re­quired. It’s the law. What can we do to require the city to enforce this law?
• Contact: Russell Masten—City of Norfolk- to report a rental sign and request an inspection
• Sherry Johnson—Norfolk CARES hotline. Emails will be routed to proper department and tracked to the system
• Vacant property: If tenant cannot afford to fix up house, call city and there is a list of agencies to help
• Followup is a problem with city. E-mails tend to work best because it leaves a paper trail
• Cynthia Hall, Code Enforcer, Cynthia.hall@norfolk.gov

• Resident Richard Brown, on a committee to study the use of public transportation, addressed the group for a survey of how many neighbors ride HRT bus. 3 hands were raised. Reasons given for not using public transportation: No cover shelters, time involved 10 minutes vs 1 hour, no schedule information at stops, covered windows, low visibility from out­side could be safety issue
• Street sweeping Even side of street 2nd Tuesday, Odd side of street 2nd Wednesday
• Ron Johnson- Blood and platelets donation is much needed
• Senator Yvonne Miller encourages everyone to schedule a tour of the Capitol
• Unity March and Commemorative Program hosted by Mayor Fraim, January 19 @ 10am
• Get signed copy of CPRV 100 years of History

• Every block needs a block captain
• Self defense course – free open to everyone all ages
• Keep lights on front porch to deter crime. Criminals do not like to be seen

• Ask the city about retiming light at Delaware and Llewellyn

• Membership dues collected every January

• Contacted city about fencing off area for small dogs. Will ask for donation for the fence. City will install fence for free.

• How can I better protect my in-coming mail?
  Install an effective (easy, strong, hard to break into) personal locking mailbox and USE THE LOCK. Watch your mailbox for deliveries (when possible). Pick up your delivered mail as soon as possible from your personal mailbox. Never let it overflow unless you want greedy hands picking your mail off the top. If you are away, give a neighbor your mailbox key, and have them pick up and safely store each day’s mail deliveries. Consider electronic banking and direct deposits to minimize the amount of financial data coming into and going out from your mail box. Get your bank to provide you with copies of your cancelled checks. Make sure none were chemically altered to change the payee and amount. Review your credit card and bank statements closely and promptly. Run a credit check regularly. Stay current with local media for news on mail theft.
• How can I protect my out-going mail?
  ALWAYS put outgoing mail into an official USPS collection box. They are hard to break into, in a more public setting, and postal employees monitor them at pickup times. NEVER put outgoing mail into your own personal mailbox. NEVER put up your red flag on your personal mailbox. It’s a perfect signal to a mail thief that there is outgoing mail present. If you must put outgoing mail in your box, don’t raise the flag; postal personnel will still pick it up, but you won’t be advertising that it is there. Stay current with local media for news on mail theft. Be actively aware of mail theft in your neighborhood; watch for thefts in progress and report them immediately to 911. Shred all mail going into your garbage that contains your name, address, or other vital information.
• Why should I use a collection box for outgoing mail instead of using my red flag at home?
  The red flag is the perfect signal to a mail thief that there is outgoing mail (and probably checks that can be altered) in the mailbox. If you must put outgoing mail in your box, do not use the flag. Mail placed in a personal mailbox is unsecured, and cannot be protected other than physically watching the mailbox and catching a thief in the act of robbing your mail. Postal employees monitor USPS collection boxes for mail theft at pick-up times. These collection boxes are hard for thieves to break into, though certainly not impossible. Collection boxes are in a much more public setting, so there is a greater chance someone will see the thief and report the crime.

Many small dog owners have been asking for a long time about the need for a small dog park. So, I am in contact with the City of Norfolk about fencing a small area in the back of the current dog park to accommodate small dogs. When I get the measurements for the area I will look into the cost of the fencing, as I originally did with the current park.

We will need donations from all of the users of the dog park to pay for this, and we can deal with that when the time comes. Another reminder goes out to all of the dog park users to pay attention to when the dogs poop, and to be diligent in scooping. If you see someone else’s dog poop, and the owner is not aware, please point it out to them in a courteous way. A clean dog park is a healthy dog park.

REACH (Reading Enriches All Children) has a great need for volunteers and or interns for daytime assistance in our resource center (next to A.W. Shucks), as well as readers for our Norfolk shelter READ ALOUD programs. We also have an ongoing need for new and lightly used children’s books for our Growing Readers Program, and we are also collecting current adult books for our upcoming spring book sale at Riverview Coffee Parlor. Visit us online, www.reachreads.org, or call our office at 627-4722. Please call ahead before stopping by, as we have a very small staff and want to be sure we are here.

Thank you to Tanner’s Creek for a backseat’s worth of pansies that we planted around the entrances to the Community Garden. I’d love to be outside putting in more – however, as it is February, I’m having to content myself with starting tomatoes in the windowsill and making plans for next month – maybe, if it's nice. ‘09 Season Plans: watch here next month for the planning meeting for the ‘09 Community Garden season. We have many plots open for new gardeners who are willing and eager to grow veggies in earth-friendly ways, and helpful folks who like to tend flowers, turn compost, paint sheds…. Contact me by email, especially if you want to get started earlier.

Mexican Bluebells are the name of the tall stalks of purple-blue flowers that grow late in the summer on the end of the garden near Georgia Avenue, and that walkers are always asking me about. We need to thin them out, as they like to spread – contact me if you’d like to dig some for your yard.

Deadline for articles and advertising is the third Friday of the month

Community News Editor:   Blair Barbieri
              Phone: 908-797-8750
              Email: cprvnews@gmail.com

Newsletter Advertising Chair: James Gregg
              Phone: 757-489-8968
              Email: jamesrgregg@aol.com

Community News Distribution:   Mary Hormell, Phone 627-2392

CPRV Web Page: www.cprv.org