At Tuesday’s City Council meeting (6/14), a resolution was passed by a 9-0 vote (Councilman DeSteph and Councilwoman Wilson not present) that will have a city committee conduct a study into the proposed “Neighborhood Dredging” program. The Beaches and Waterways Advisory Commission will conduct the study and will present their findings to City Council in February 2012. This is a positive step for all the residents who have sought dredging program specifics from city official and been given only general information. SDCC sought to have the city officials answer specifics concerning project scope, duration, safety program, environmental impact on Lynnhaven Basin, specifics of the Special Service District (SSD), and the impact on the neighborhoods of the dredging transfer operations. Deputy City Manager Dave Hansen and Mr. Phill Roehrs, City Water Engineer were “general” in their answers and would prefer that the impacted residents to believe that the project will be limited in scope with minimal impact. I am not that assuming or naive to believe that it will be either limited or minimal. In order for the Commission to complete its study, it must first be adequately funded by the city and given sufficient time to do research and then present its findings at a public hearing. Then the findings and recommendations will be presented to City Council who will have the option of either accepting the report or ignoring it. As the Commission is advisory, the Council can do what it wants. Without sufficient time to conduct a reasonable study or without adequate funding, all this resolution stuff that was just passed will be just that, “stuff”. Notice that the city would like to have the study completed and presented by February 7, 2012. It looks like the Commission will have much to do in a very short period of time, considering that Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years fall within the timeframe. I sincerely hope that they will have enough time to find the answers that the residents of Virginia Beach need to hear to fill in all the specifics that as of now are missing. All the impacted residents in the neighborhoods, the motorists that will be stuck behind all the dump trucks in traffic, and those who will be awakened early by the work noises are waiting.