Colonial Place/Riverview Civic League
COMMUNITY NEWS

March 2009

             Guest Speakers At This Month's Meeting: Commonwealth’s Attorney Candidates

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

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

THIS MONTH'S MEETING AGENDA:   Monthly police report - Commonwealth’s Attorney Candidates will speak.

Spring is fast approaching and I am looking forward to all the beautiful spring colors that will soon pop out in our neighborhood. When making a decision about lawn and garden care this year, please do your research on environmentally safe products that you can use. Remember that the runoff from excess chemicals and fertilizers goes directly into the waters surrounding our neighborhoods.

The CPRV Civic League voted in February to approve the City’s plans for the Haven Creek Walking Path Project. This project will have an elevated walkway the runs over a living shoreline about five feet east of where the current path is. Neighbors were able to work with the City this past fall and winter to tweak the designs. Rather than the bulky railing design that is on the current boat ramp, the walking path design calls for a railing with a screen effect, allowing for visibility through the railing when standing back at a distance. There are permits to be pulled and bids to be made, but we should physically see this project take root sometime this fall if all goes well.

Those old copper pipes under our homes and in our basements continue to be a hot commodity. I encourage everyone to secure their basement doors, windows, and crawlspaces to help ward off these criminals. Make sure to call the police at 441-5610 as soon as you see something suspicious in our neighborhoods. Go ahead and put that number in your cell phone. I also encourage you to sign up for the neighborhood e-mail list. Instructions can be obtained at www.cprv.org. This is a great tool to communicate note worthy community news in between monthly newsletters. See you at March’s Civic League Meeting!

There are two significant dates to remember this March. The first is March 10. That’s when a special election will be held to elect our new Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of Norfolk. Two candidates are in the running. The position was vacated by Jack Doyle who was appointed as a Circuit Court judge.

The second date is March 9. At 7 p.m. that evening, CPRV residents will have an opportunity to hear both candidates speak at our Civic League meeting. Republican candidate, John Coggeshall and Democratic candidate, Greg Underwood each enthusiastically accepted our invitation to speak on election eve.

Mr. Coggeshall is a Norfolk attorney who has “been practicing court-appointed family and criminal law, and civil litigation for 14 years.” You can learn more about him, his background and stance on the issues, by visiting his website at www.johncog.com.

Mr. Underwood has served as Norfolk’s Senior Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney since 2001. Prior to that, he was a Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney in Virginia Beach. Details of his experience and platform can be found on his website at www.gregunderwood.com.

Crime Prevention:

• PACE Officer Pascal reports there were two break-ins last month. There has been a high rate of break-ins throughout Norfolk. Suspects are school age kids who are not in school. Most break-ins are occurring during the day. Please notify police if you see school age kids in area during school hours.

• Haven Creek Walking Path presentation by Chuck Joyner, Norfolk assistant city engineer; Rebecca Francese, Waterway Architectural and Engineer Firm; and Tracy Quast, URS Architectural and Engineer Firm
  Objectives for walking path: to elevate the walkway, to protect water way and wetlands
  
• General concept:
  • Create new pathway through a created living shoreline to provide access, aesthetics, shoreline protection and habitat
  • Revise outfalls and drainage patterns to help reduce flooding from rainfall events (This new concept would help with stormwater rainfall, but will not stop major flooding events from major storms)
  • Low level stone sill to protect the living shoreline upland and reduce sillatation Design changes:
  • Raised path extends approx 130 ft north of New York Avenue to just past the hammerhead at Rhode Island
  • Raise wooded path and shift it approximately 5 ft toward Haven Creek
  • Wooden slates
• Residents Q&A:
  Q: Why does the walkway have to be elevated up to 5 ft? Concern that it will be invasive
  A: Walkway will have to be elevated to protect wetlands. The closest homeowner deck is 8-10 ft. from walkway. Walkway is moved as far away from homeowners property as possible. City has agreed to plant vegetation to buffer
  Q: Why does walkway have to be elevated?
  A: To protect shoreline and wetlands
  Q: Has a floating walkway been considered?
  A: Floating walkway would not feasible. It would be a design nightmare, would block drainage and not feasible for walking path.
  Q: Why does the City need a 3 year easement to homeowner’s property?
  A: City will need a temporary easement to continue to monitor plant vegetation
  Q: Will sill be enough to control erosion by boats?
  A: Yes, it should be. No wake zone. Department of Parks and Recreation will post signs. City council to vote on no wake zone.
  Q: Will pathway help water flooding?
  A: New design will make storm water improvements, but will not stop weather storms flooding that usually occur 2-3 times a year. Design will improve pooling effect at Mass and RI
  
• MOTION:
  Motion made by Mr. Nusbaun to approve the City concept plans to construct and proceed with permit and development of the construction plans of the walkway
• DISCUSSION:
  A number of homeowners are not satisfied about walkway. Two hands were raised when a question asked who was not satisfied. Security: Walkway may make homeowners property more secure since water will be between walkway and property line. Recognizing that the city is trying to improve public benefits while being aware of personal rights.
• VOTE:
  27 for the motion 5 oppose
• Project is funded and would likely start this fall.

Crime Prevention: Janine Roman

If neighbors are disruptive, please talk to neighbors and call police officers.

Beautification:

March 7 & 8 Cleanup Please adopt street and email Audrey with street names. Call in the number of bags of trash or old

April 18th: Turn in electronic pieces. WHRO parking lot

Eco River ride May 3

Dog Park:

There is a need for an enclosure for small dogs within dog park. Estimate from city $3,000. Still working on getting other estimates.

Unfinished Business:

Dr. Bob Ake, former resident of Colonial Place will speak on Wednesday, Feb 18 at St. Paul Church about sighting a rare woodpecker in Arkansas.

Candidates for Commonwealth Attorney will be at next meeting. Special election will be in March.

Congratulations to Jack Kennedy for donating almost 18 gallons of blood to American Red Cross.

Correction:

In the January issue, Randy Johnson was named as the resident who held the special holiday raffle. It was, in fact, Ron Johnson. Our apologies, Mr. Johnson.

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Garden Corner
Becky Kiser

Hooray for my favorite time or Year! Daffodils, tulips, forsythia, spirea, little green things poking up from brown, dead places…..Spring is great. Speaking of dead, brown places, spring is also when we start wanting to green up our lawns. In a recent Master Gardening class, our speaker for the day (wildlife and environmental expert) asked us what was the most dangerous environmental thing in our yards – answer - the lawn. Wildlife habitat speaking, he said, it’s like a desert. Chemically, it’s a great source of undesirable runoff into the storm water (and therefore rivers), and it’s a water hog as well. So – some places to go for more environmentally friendly ideas:

• From a CPRV neighbor - www.naturemoms.com/blog/2008/05/06/ natural-and-green-lawn-care/
• From my ramblings – wildflowerfarm.com – home of the eco-lawn
• Keep Norfolk Beautiful – norfolkfolkbeautiful.org
• VA Master Gardeners – vmga.net
• VA Tech site – hort.vt.edu/master gardener

Knitting Mill Creek Community Gardeners – We will have our organizing meeting on Thursday, March 12, at 5:30 pm. We’ll meet at the garden (behind Fellini’s parking lot) unless the weather is awful; in that event, we’ll gather at my house. For more information, email me at rebeccakiser@cox.net , or call me at 407-5087. Happy Gardening!

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Welcoming Committee
Michelle Aragones

Hello to all!! I have not officially introduced myself, so here I go. My name is Michelle Aragones, and I am heading the Welcoming Committee for CPRV. I presented the idea to the board during this past summer and I am sorry to say that it took the back burner. But I am really excited about the opportunity to welcome our new neighbors to this wonderful neighborhood. I love this place...the houses, the location, and the people I am meeting. My husband grew up in the house we currently live in and I would love for my girls to grow up in the same neighborhood.

Here’s my goal for this Committee...to have all CPRV businesses represented in the Welcome bag. I want new residents to be aware of what’s right in their back yard. All the great restaurants, shops, cafes and if anyone has a home business, please bring me your information. I would love to have everything made so when someone moves in, we will be ready to Welcome them. Which leads me to the “we,” if anyone would like to be apart of this committee I would greatly appreciate it. I would need help getting fliers, coupons or whatever the business would like to contribute to the bags. And I am open to any ideas and suggestions anyone may have. My e-mail is love2wah@yahoo.com and my cell is 235-0480.

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Got Assessment?
James Gregg

If you feel your property assessment is too high you can contest it. On your assessment form there is a phone number for the assessor. In Norfolk it is 757-664-4732. They are there to answer your questions.

Before you call to contest your assessment, you need to do your homework. You need to have the values of homes, sold in your area recently, that are close to the size and quality of yours. This way you can show by comparison how you are justified in asking for a change in your property assessment. Some home owners even hire a real estate assessor to make a formal evaluation of their property to back up their case.

There will be a public hearing in May 2009 to hear appeals for assessment change requests. The exact date and location will be posted in the newspaper closer to the date.

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What’s Going On
There is so much going on in the Riverview Village Business Corridor!

Support your neighborhood Girl Scouts. Girl Scout Cookies will be for sale on Saturday March 7, from 10 a.m. to noon. The booth will be at the Riverview Coffee Parlor located at 4117C Granby Street.

One Eleven Art Gallery & Studios has an upcoming exhibition: “A New Direction,” presented by Betsy Rivers-Kennedy. Betsy Rivers-Kennedy, a Riverview resident, presents a new magical portfolio of collages, drawings and paintings. The show opening is Friday, March 6, from 7 to 9 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. The exhibition runs through April 1st. One Eleven Art Gallery & Studios is located at 111 Pennsylvania Avenue, right off Granby Street across from the Riverview Theater. (757) 625-1110. Public hours are Wednesday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. and Sunday 1-4 p.m.

Want a Special Night out that will not break the budget! Stop by Crackers on Monday Night. Bottle Wine is Half Price.

The Riverview Village Business Association would like to Welcome Happy Go Lucky. Located in Bloom- the Art of Flowers, this cute gift boutique has that something special you will not find anywhere else.

Need a Child’s Birthday Present or a Baby Gift? Save gas and time. Stop by the Silver Rattle and check out their environmentally friendly gifts.

Support Your Local Businesses and Shop the Neighborhood First.

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REACH Needs Your Help

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.

REACH Book Sale
REACH (Reading Enriches All Children) will hold a book sale on Saturday, March 28, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Riverview Coffee Parlor. There will be current fiction, non-fiction, mysteries, cooking, crafting and entertaining titles for sale. Come fill a bag for $10 or buy books for a donation. Treat yourself and put books in the hands of homeless children with the money that we raise.

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Traffic Committee
Randy Cook

I have been in contact with the head of the Traffic Department and I am waiting for them to meet with me to discuss the possibility of extending the length of the light on Delaware Avenue and possibly adding a left turn lane at that intersection.

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Electronic Recycling
Audrey Webb

Electronic Recycling will take place on Saturday, April 18 at the parking lot adjacent to WHRO-TV. Just drive in and your vehicle will be unloaded for you. Any questions please call me 623-1197.

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Thank You!
to Knox Presbyterian Church
From the Colonial Place/Riverview Civic League and residents, for their generosity in allowing us to meet there for our monthly meetings.

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COMMUNITY NEWS is produced by:
              The Colonial Place/Riverview Civic League
              P.O. Box 6130
              Norfolk, VA 23508

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

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