Colonial Place/Riverview Civic League
COMMUNITY NEWS

April 2009

             April Meeting, Monday, April 13

NEXT BOARD MEETING will be Monday, April 20, 2009, at 7:00 pm.

DEADLINE for the May issue is Friday, April 17, 2009.

THIS MONTH'S MEETING AGENDA:   Monthly police report - Program - Vote on small dog park.

Greetings Neighbors! There is a lot going on in our neighborhood! Residents have approached the civic league about erecting a small dog park for the little dogs to go wild without being run over by the bigger dogs. Our Dog Park Committee Chair, Buffy Masten, has drawn up an idea that utilizes 15% of the existing dog park for the small dog area. The city’s current policy states that the organization making the request for a dog park improvement, must pay for the materials that meet minimum standards and pay for the installation. Please come out on Monday to cast your yea or nay for this project as we will take a vote for the small dog park.

Again, our neighborhoods have been hit by the copper thieves. Our very own PACE Officers caught one copper thief who confessed to 16 crimes of copper theft, several being in our neighborhood, but there have been reports of thefts after this arrest was made. It is of utmost importance that everyone check and secure their basement doors and crawl space accesses to protect your pipes. The Norfolk Police Department will come out to your house, free of charge, and walk your perimeter suggesting ways in which you can improve the security of your home. Please call Crime Prevention at 664-6901 to schedule a security survey. It has been reported that one of the thefts involved carting off the copper pipes with a city issued green trash can. We have a set of stencils with a can of spray paint for residents to label their trash cans with their house number and street address. Please take advantage of these by calling me at 469-3531. Talk to your neighbors and please call the police if there is any suspicious activity going on.

Please come out to this month’s civic league meeting that was arranged by our Vice President, Artemis Stoll. With spring coming, you might find that you would like to join a committee, start a project for the neighborhood, or share an idea for a future speaker.

To quote our President Emeritus, Steve Earnhart:
Life on and around the Lafayette River is worth a smile
It’s not just a neighborhood, it is, my friends, a lifestyle…

This season at Knitting Mill Creek Community Garden got off to a great start on March 12 with seven families/friend groups, five of which are new. We’re happy to have another composting enthusiast helping out this year, too. If you’re walking through the ‘hood, take a look at the spring flowers and the new plantings. There is still room for a few more folks - email rebeccakiser@cox.net.

Another note on lawn care - we just had our lawn class at Master Gardener training, which pointed out that folks who are growing warm season grasses like zoysia and bermuda need to wait until these “green up” on their own before fertilizing; and for folks with cool-season grasses like fescues, concentrate on root growth before pouring on the nitrogen for greening, or else most of it will run off. We were reminded that if we do choose to use special pesticides, herbicides and non-organic nonfertilizers, it is extremely important to follow the directions on amounts and timing. The Lynnhaven River folks have made a couple of real effective comercials about keeping pollution from our local rivers. Happy green times in your gardens!

Crime report:

PACE Officer Paschal reports that February was a very quiet month. Two break-ins, copper thefts. Please check windows to basements and crawl space. Other reports: Set of car tags taken, UPS package taken from porch. Most crimes are happening during the day between the hours of 7:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Use crime prevention by looking around your residence and make sure windows are locked and curtains closed when not at home, shrubbery trimmed. Police are available to do a security survey and will give suggestions for more security, e.g. recording all serial numbers of equipment. Engravers are available for checkout thru CPRV or public library.

Do not put Social Security Number on items. Lights are police officers’ best friends and criminals worst enemy. Make your house more difficult to break in than your neighbor. Please call police if anything seems suspicious.

Guest Speakers: Candidates for Commonwealth’s Attorney

Greg Underwood—Candidate for Commonwealth Attorney
Career: 16 years as a prosecutor; 30 years as public servant; 10 years as military officer
Goals: To engage young people in the community by visiting schools, youth centers, churches. Tell young people about bad decisions and consequences of those bad decisions. He is committed to saving our youth and is tired of locking them up. He has seen too many deaths and want to try another way by building relationships with neighborhoods.

John Coggeshall - Republican candidate for Commonwealth Attorney
Career: 33 year resident of Ocean View, business man that has operated two successful businesses. Defense lawyer, has prosecuted 10 – 12 cases in past 14 years. Passed bar exam after reading for the law.
Goals: To be a Commonwealth attorney that will stay and not run off to become a judge. He will recommend that Com­monwealth attorneys visit civic leagues. Will assist victims of serious misdemeanors. Residents asked questions of the candidates.

Secretary’s Report: Was read and a motion was made to accept minutes as written

Treasurers Report: Cost of newsletters are lower, business ads

Crime Prevention: Please secure basement

New Business:

President has noticed trash in lot behind the Retro Diner. Club on Colley Avenue use the lot for parking. Owner of lot is unaware that club is using lot for parking. Lot owner states that they are cleaning lot twice a week. There is a no tow sign.

Suggestion from Residents: to repave Mayflower Road, redo sewage, street sweeping signs at end of streets. Past Presi­dent reminded that CPRV voted not to put permanent signs on streets about street sweeping.

Unfinished Business:

No word from Mr. Richard Levin about parking lot behind Riverview Theatre.—no contact from Mr. Levin

Announcements:

Buy CPRV Books; Stencils for trashcans available.

Request for donation of any baseball equipment for Youth Program sponsored by the Norfolk Public schools and Police dept which involved kids in baseball.

Adjourned at 8:19 p.m.

What happens if, despite all your prevention efforts, you still become a victim of a burglary, or other property related crime? First, try not to panic. Get to the nearest phone, and immediately call the Police emergency 911 line. It is important for you to remain calm so you can effectively communicate with both police dispatchers and with Police Officers when they arrive.

If you come home to find your home has been vandalized or burglarized, do not go inside or disturb anything on the premises. If you went inside before realizing a crime had been committed, leave immediately and try to remember anything you may have touched or moved inside, and inform officers of it when they arrive.

What if you come home to find a burglar inside the house? The basic rule when confronting a burglar is: cooperate. A burglar frequently lives in fear—of the police, of others, and of himself. Despite the tough-guy role he plays, he’s tense, desperate, dangerous and often high on illicit drugs. Don’t confront him and don’t try to stop him. Assume he is armed and potentially violent. A crowbar, a knife, a screwdriver—typical burglar tools can be just as deadly as a gun if the burglar feels trapped or endangered. Don’t excite him, threaten him or argue with him. Cooperate in any way you can. Stay calm and memorize what he or she looks like. When the burglar leaves the house, try to see his or her direction of travel. Then, call 911 immediately.

Some people might say this is the coward’s way out. Remember, a burglar is often armed, young and strong, and may be desperate or on drugs. By following the above strategy, the victim stands a good chance of getting out of the situation unscathed. If a victim resists, he or she stands a good chance of being killed or seriously maimed in the course of trying to save some of his or her property.

CPRV regular size stickers are still only $1.00 each; mini stickers are a mere $.50 each. Even at these low prices the CPRV treasury benefits and you promote the neighborhood. Now that the weather is finally warming up to the magic 55 degrees required for effective sticker stick, it’s time to wash the family car and put on a bright, new sticker. You could also put a few stickers on your trash and recycling bins in hopes that they will stay in the neighborhood and not wander off, as some have recently, with copper pipes from CPRV homes inside. Stickers will be available at the April meeting. (Please bring exact $$).

Get your “Stickers-by-Mail” by sending a check made out to CPRV to: Jeanne Ullian, 4400 Mayflower Road, Norfolk 23508. Be sure specify the number/size and your delivery address as I usually hand deliver these on my neighborhood walk.

A big “Thank You” to the 50 adults and children who volunteered for our neighborhood Clean-Up. A total of 50 bags of litter together with a moped, two bicycles, two tires, one empty oil drum and a plastic storage container made up the “haul.” The results have been submitted to Keep Norfolk Beautiful,the Norfolk Environmental Commission.

Take a guided paddle along a scenic historic waterway on Sunday, May 3, 2-6 p.m.. Discover the history, commerce and ecology of the Lafayette River and Little Creek watershed. Learn how urban life impacts on a waterway - and what you can do to restore it! Rent a kayak or bring your own - 3 locations - $25.00. For more information 441-1347.

I’m glad it’s feeling like Spring again. Children are playing outside. The ice cream truck is making its rounds. We’re working in the garden, riding our bikes, pushing our strollers. This is what I love best about living in Colonial Place this time of year. People look happy. And then I looked down. It was disgusting. An unusually large amount of trash and debris had been collecting in a corner of the Lafayette River.

Perhaps some of the blame lay with the winter storm the week before but all of us should bear some responsibility of picking up trash when we see it. To my son Greg’s credit, we did just that. Greg suggested we find a long stick, get in our canoe and fish out the debris. We ended up spending about an hour and half on the river, pulling up grocery bags, candy wrappers, beer bottles, soda cans, plastic cups, Styrofoam and some things that remain indescribable.

In all, we collected about 12 pounds of garbage from the river. While it was a dirty day, I must admit, I feel better knowing we did our part to make a difference. And at least for this day, I’m as happy as everyone else walking around the river bank in Colonial Place.

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