Thursday, February 4th
5th District Meeting
Binford Middle School
6:30 pm
Monday, February 8
City Council Meeting
6:00 pm
Monday, February 22nd
City Council Meeting
6:00 pm
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In 2010, Mayor Dwight Jones published a
Guide to Neighborhood Improvements. It has valuable information about City ordinances that may affect you. Get to know your rights and responsibilities.
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Parker Agelasto
804-646-6050
Mamie Taylor
804-908-4232
Ida Jones
804-646-5724
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Standing Committee Assignments
Finance & Economic Development (Vice-chair)
Organizational Development
Education & Human Services (Alternate)
Public Safety (Alternate)
Community Boards
Community Policy and Management Team
Maymont Foundation
Richmond Regional Planning Dist. Commission
Richmond Region Tourism
Transportation Planning Organization
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 The online Citizens' Request System is an online resource for submitting non-emergency service request to the city. Service request options are available for trashcan violations, street sign replacements and street light repair to name a few. If you have service request you can use the Citizen Request System to notify us of a problem of service concern. The request automatically gets routed to the appropriate city service area for action. By providing contact information with the Citizen Request System, you can visit the site 24/7 to check on the status of your request. In addition, if you provide your e-mail address, we will electronically confirm your service request submission. If you have a problem accessing the system feel free to call the city's service request line at 311 or 646-7000. |
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Renew Richmond Pet Licenses
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Don't for
get to renew your pet licenses.
The cost is $10 per animal per year. The required application form can be obtained at Richmond Animal Care & Control and also online.
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MetroCare Heating Bill Program
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Are you facing economic hardships that may prevent you from paying your heating
bills? Then register for the MetroCare Program. The application period is from
December 15 through April 30. To learn if you are eligible under guidelines published
by the Federal Department of Health and Human Services, call the City's Department
of Social Services' Energy Assistance division at 804-646-7046. A family crisis
or change in employment may qualify you for assistance.
For more information, call the United Way at 2-1-1 or 275-2000. The Equal Monthly
Payment Plan can help you budget by spreading your annual gas bill over 12 months.
Based on the previous year's gas usage, an estimate is determined. Each month's
bill shows the actual month's usage and the outstanding balance. Accounts are reviewed
and adjusted each August.
Call 804-646-7000 to enroll today!
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Sportsbackers and Bike Walk RVA have published the "RVA Bikeways User Guide" to improve safety for vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians on our streets.
"The purpose of this guide is to illustrate exactly what the various bikeway types are that we currently have on the ground, as well as some that we may be seeing in the near future. It names and describes the facility type, as well as provides a short explanation on the preferred and legal behavior for people who need to travel on or around these bikeways."
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RICHMOND POLICE CRIME DATABASE
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RAIDS Online helps make it much easier for you to keep track of crime anywhere in the city and communicate with officers.
Get updates for your neighborhood within a certain radius of your address, get email alerts, as well as report crimes or issues in your area and improve communication between the public and the department. You can also analyze the data you select via a map, graphs and analytics, as well as a data grid and data layers.
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I encourage you to share this information with neighbors. However, if you know someone who would like to receive these e-mail updates via U.S. Postal
Service
, please contact Ida Jones and provide the recipient's name and address.
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Dear Neighbors,
The City Council is scheduled to vote on February 8 to support a Bus Rapid Transit project agreement that has been negotiated between GRTC, VDOT, City of Richmond, and Henrico County. I have reviewed the agreement and believe it protects the City from any cost overruns associated with construction of the project. The agreement places the burden of these expenses on the Virginia Department of Rails and Public Transportation. Likewise, the Virginia Department of Transportation is responsible for procurement and construction and will also make available more than $1 Million of incentive funding to assure the project is on-schedule and under budget. The Virginia Secretary of Transportation, Aubrey Layne, has also made a grant available to the City of Richmond to assess every GRTC bus route to determine better connectivity to BRT and improve efficiency in bus route design. Along with the $24.9 Million in competitive TIGER funding, this is a great opportunity for the City of Richmond to transform public transit. I am very supportive of this.
While I am prepared to support the project agreement, City Council has yet to receive an operating agreement to consider. GRTC's pro forma anticipates an operating deficit for BRT of roughly $1 Million after federal and state subsidies and any efficiency that the new system will generate. Who will fund this gap?
The City of Richmond currently subsidizes GRTC with $12.3 Million annually. Ten years ago in 2006, this
subsidy was $7.5 Million. Five years ago, this
subsidy was $11 Million. This is a 64% increase in City subsidy for GRTC in 10 years. How does this compare with other demands for funding such as public education, public safety, and public works? Part of the issue is that in 2012 VCU ended its support of public transit for students by
pulling $2 Million of funding from GRTC to develop its own Campus Connector. Can we guarantee a better chance of success for BRT and financially sustainable public transit if VCU ridership returned to GRTC? I think so.
Therefore, I believe that BRT is good for the City and region but only if all stakeholders get on board. I am therefore prepared to support BRT on Broad Street with the expectation that a bus route restructuring will benefit the entire City and BRT will eventually expand to Henrico and Chesterfield counties. However, I will publicly commit to not increasing subsidies for GRTC above the current $12.3 Million. City Council must demonstrate discipline and focus funding priorities on badly neglected public education, public safety, and public works.
Sincerely,
Parker C. Agelasto
5th District Councilman
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Boulevard Site Development Preliminary Market Analysis
Online Survey Now Available
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The City is requesting public input on an online survey to help determine possibilities for developing the City's land in the Boulevard area. The survey is accessible at
www.surveymonkey.com/r/boulevard2016survey. The online survey will remain open through Feb. 15.
Several public input sessions have been scheduled to also gather community input on development of the Boulevard area. The following Boulevard public meetings are scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 4:
- 9 a.m. - Richmond Main Library, 101 E. Franklin St
- 6 p.m. - Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School, 1000 Mosby St
The Boulevard public meetings that were originally scheduled for Jan. 26 will now be held on Thursday, Feb. 11 as follows:
- Noon - Huguenot High School Community Center, 7945 Forest Hill Ave
- 6 p.m. - Thomas Jefferson High School, 4100 W. Grace St
Residents are also invited to
email
[email protected] and share any comments about the potential redevelopment of the Boulevard.
What I find most interesting in comparing these alternative proposals, is that total revenue from the most recent report shows $8.8 Million in tax revenue over 20 years for developing the Boulevard without a baseball stadium. Davenport project that development of the property without a baseball stadium would net $13.5 Million in tax revenue over the same time period. Davenport also concluded that the City of Richmond would collect $7.8 Million of tax revenue if a baseball stadium was included in the Boulevard development.
Remarkably the two studies agree on the number of hotel rooms as well as square footage for retail and commercial space on the Boulevard. The point of departure is residential units. Davenport recommended less than 1,000 units while Tripp Umbach seeks 4,000 units. Is the trade off, thus, a baseball stadium versus residential units?
As I stated in 2012 and again in recent years, the public supports keeping a baseball stadium on the Boulevard. There are ways to make this happen that do not obligate the City's debt capacity and can increase the revenue to the City of Richmond from a diverse tax base. The Richmond Flying Squirrels are an asset to the City. They also contribute significantly to the tax base by attracting significant attendees from surrounding counties who pay admissions, meals, and sales taxes while enjoying a baseball game. If they leave the City, so goes those tax dollars.
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 The City's
Neighbor-to-Neighbor (N2N) Initiative is accepting its fourth round of applications for Love Your Block grants. The application deadline for this round is
Saturday, March 19th.
In January 2012, N2N was awarded a $10,000 grant from Cities of Service in partnership with the Home Depot Foundation, in the form of Home Depot gift cards toward the implementation of a Love Your Block Program. Love Your Block is a tested, high-impact service strategy in which community members are engaged in revitalizing their neighborhoods one block at a time. Love Your Block aligns perfectly with three elements of the City's Balanced Scorecard: Unique and Inclusive Communities, Community Safety, and Well-Being Sustainability and the Natural Environment.
By way of the Love Your Block grant, N2N provides competitive mini-grants, in the form of $500 Home Depot Gift Card, to city neighborhood groups for the purchase of supplies needed for local beautification projects. Love Your Block grants encourage community groups to identify priority projects and develop volunteer-fueled solutions in the following ways:
1. Improve resident perception of safety, improved lighting, landscaping etc.
2. Reduce crime incidents and other gang/drug related vandalism with graffiti removal, and community garden initiatives.
3. Reduce trash through street cleanups/increase recycling.
For more information on the grant and to apply please visit this
link
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| Online Registration for Park and Recreation Activities |
Richmond Parks and Recreation summer camp registration will start Monday, February 8, at 6:00 pm (online and walkin).
If you are
signing up online, please log in or create an account by Thursday, Feb 4 just to make sure that your account is set up prior to the actual registration date.
If you are signing up as a walk-in, a $100 deposit is required per child (credit/debit cards/money orders and checks - NO CASH).
Date: Monday, Feb 8, 2016 (City residents)
Time: 6:00 pm (online and walk-in registration)
Fees: $250- city residents, $400- non-city residents
Ages: 6-12 (participants must turn 6 by June 20th, 2016)
Summer camp dates: June 27 thru August, 26 (9 weeks)
Summer camp times: 7:30 am to 5:30 pm, Monday-Friday
Online registration accepts Visa and Mastercard credit/debit cards only. If you decide to register at the center, we do not accept cash!
Please click the link below to sign into your account to register. If you do not have an account, please create one at least 4 days prior to Feb 8th so that you can have your city residency verified before registration begins.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact your local Community Center or call City of Richmond Parks, Recreation & Community Facilities Phone: (804)646-5733
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 The City's Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities will host a group art exhibit featuring area African-American artists at the Pine Camp Arts and Community Center, 4901 Old Brook Road. The art exhibit titled "To Sir With Love: African-American Male as Subject" will open on Feb. 5, 2016 with a Meet the Artists reception from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The Spotlight Gallery exhibit will be on display until March 4.
This exhibition will feature images of African-American males in various media including photography, ceramics, paintings, and textile art.
Spotlight Gallery hours are from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.
This exhibit is free and open to the public. For more information or to schedule tours please contact Shaunn Casselle, curator at (804) 646-6722.
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Community Forum on Homelessness - February 10
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The City of Richmond is hosting a "Community Forum on Homelessness" on Wednesday, February 10, from 5:30 - 7:30 pm at the Altria Theater (6 N. Laurel St).
This forum will discuss homelessness in our community and the solutions we can work toward together.
The agenda includes a 1) presentation of results of a survey recently conducted in Monroe Park, 2) presentation from service providers and non-profit organizations provide practical solutions to serving the homeless despite limited funding, and 3) an opportunity to learn how congregations, organizations, and individuals can help homeless people through direct service and connectivity to service providers and non-profit organizations.
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Real Estate Tax Relief for
Elderly and Disabled Residents
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 Those applying to participate in the program for the first time in 2014 will need to
complete and file their application by the March 31, 2016 due date. First time applicants will be billed the full, first half, tax amount due January 14, 2016.
Once their application has been reviewed and the exemption amount for which they are qualified is determined, one-half of the exemption will be applied to the January 14 tax bill that has been paid and the taxpayer will receive a refund for the amount of the first half exemption for which they remitted a payment on January 14, 2014.
To Qualify the Applicant Must:
- Be 65 years old by 12-31-2013 or be disabled at any age.
- Be the property owner or share
ownership
of the property as of January 1, 2015.
- Live in the property.
- Have a Gross income of less than 50,000 for the 2015 calendar year.
- Have a total net worth of less than 200,000 for the 2015 calendar year.
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Granicus Legistar Tracking System
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The Richmond City Clerk's Office has completed its transition to the Granicus Legistar system making access to meeting agendas and information more available. For the first time, citizens can see a centralized calendar of public meetings (please note that not all 72 Boards and Commissions have been set up at this time) that allows for easy navigation between agendas for the Planning Commission, Urban Design Committee, Public Arts Commission, as well as City Council formal and informal sessions and standing committees.
A citizen can now search the content of an ordinance or resolution or other paper and see the complete history of when and where the issue has been on an agenda and the minutes of the particular meeting. Likewise, a citizen can now access more of the supporting documentation such as site plans and letters of support/opposition to particular zoning matters.
Granicus is a significant change in how City Hall communicates with the public. It is also a tool that citizens can use to follow issues that are important to them. I am delighted that City Council supported my request in 2013 to fund and implement this technology on behalf of the citizens.
If you have not already done so, please take a moment to navigate the Richmond Legistar site. Please note, however, that only items since 2012 to the present have been uploaded to Granicus Legistar. The City Clerk's former tracking system will still be available and contains scanned records dating back to the 1960s. Staff continue to work to digitize old records and upload these so the public has access to this important archive.
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If you made less than $58,000 in 2015, you can prepare and file your federal and state taxes for free. The Department of Social Services and Office of Multicultural affairs have partnered with MetroCASH Tax Coalition to help you do your taxes. To find a location near you visit
www.metrocash.org.
You will need the following to file your taxes:
- Photo ID.
- Social Security Card
- All Tax related documents
- Bank Account Information for direct deposit
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| Developments with Lumpkin's Jail anmd Shockoe Bottom |
A year and a half had passed since City Council adopted
Resolution No. R278-2014-117 to request the Administration to pursue designation of Lumpkin's Jail as a National Historic Landmark and a simple letter had not been written to the US Department of Interior to initiate the review. In November 2015 I therefore took the initiative to write Paul Loether at USDI to begin the process.
My letter received a positive response from USDI with their interest in Lumpkin's Jail for it archaeological significance and the "site's place in the context of the interstate slave trade and Richmond's economy." I am encourage that the process is now moving in a positive direction and that staff in the National Parks Service are now advising on the proper commemoration of Lumpkin's Jail.
Many people attended the
Richmond Speaks series and voiced support for a broader conversation about Shockoe Bottom and the sensitive development around the historic resources there. In fact, the majority of participants supported the concept of a memorial park. Combined with my understanding of museum finances and fundraising, as well as support of the Black History Museum, I do not believe that another museum would be sustainable at this time. I therefore have endorsed the plan for a
Shockoe Bottom Memorial Park at the Lumpkin's Jail site and additional city-owned real estate that is in the floodplain.
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| 2016 5th District Meeting Dates |
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