by Marvin Ennis
Shore Drive residents: please copy or write a brief paper letter and send to Corp of Engineers opposing the proposed 76 slip marina in this sensitive Sandbridge area adjacent to the Back Bay Wildlife Refuge..We know what small craft including jet skiis have done to our community.  Please send by April 28 (Thursday).

Are speeding cars a problem in your neighborhood? Your NewsChannel 3’s wants to hear from Hampton Roads residents that are fed up with speeding drivers.

[Saw this story on the web. Thought you might enjoy it.]

A Japanese company and an American company decided to have a canoe race on the Missouri River. Both teams practiced long and hard to reach their peak performance before the race. On the big day the Japanese won by a mile.

[These are not the official minutes from the meeting where engineers from the City discussed studying building a 6-lane Lesner Bridge.]

Some of the highlights of the meeting, particularly the presentation and discussion of the Lesner Bridge, included information that the State and Federal Government would fund building a 6-lane bridge but would not fund rehabilitating the bridge due to it’s current condition.

The contact info for the Engineers responsible for building a 6-lane Lesner Bridge are at the end of this article.

Dear Shore Drive Residents,

Now is the time to make your voice heard?  Based on recent information received at tonight?s SDCC general meeting, there is a very good opportunity to direct some of your hard earned tax dollars back to the Shore Drive area.  Your support is greatly needed to help push for funds to be redirected to the Shore Drive area.  Help bring some of those double-digit increases back to our neighborhood.

Learned this evening at the SDCC meeting, Councilman Jones & Wood have been working behind the scenes with Lynnhaven River 2007 to get Osprey Point Nature Park built.

Notes from Shore Dr. Advisory Commission meeting April 21, 2005.

Discussion started with the Shore Dr. Demonstration Project.  The SDAC expressed satisfaction with the open communications they?ve been having with the city and the progress being made.  The city is in the process of modifying and updating the plans based on feedback from the SDAC and Councilman Jones indicating that he is working on getting the necessary funds in the budget to start the planning and design work.

They also see the study as a sign that the city wants to eventually widen Shore Drive…
But city planners said residents? fears are unfounded.

[Please note: Currently, there is official city documentation that has a right of way for 6-lanes on Shore Drive, plus turning lanes, etc. that is an encroachment on real estate on Shore Drive.]

The title could be about the Hampton Roads, Virginia Beach… even the Shore Drive area.

Demographer William H. Frey says recent retirees seek more mental stimulation and physical activity than older generations. That?s one reason they are more likely to pick nontraditional retirement communities offering universities, recreation and cultural activities.

Notes from Dorinda who attended the SDAC Meeting on April 21st.
Thank you!

After some major behind the scenes scrambling, Public works appeared at the SDAC meeting to do the same presentation for SDAC that they will for SDCC on Monday night.  They reiterated that in spite of the fact that there is a CIP on VBGov.com[page 29 of 59 of .PDF file at this link] for a 6 lane Shore Drive (in addition to the 6 lane bridge) there are no current plans for a six lane bridge.  And they continue to wonder why we don’t trust what they say.

[Please note: the image above is from an official document the city must file as part of the planning process to budget funds for the CIP or Capital Improvement Program. The document is linked to above.]

An intriguing editorial about how VDOT should change their condemnation process when acquiring property for new highways.

JOIN US—AND THE REST OF THE NATION—FOR A NIGHT ON THE TOWN! Thursday, April 28, 2005

Dining Out for Life is a one-day restaurant fund raising event benefitting AIDS Service Organizations in over 25 cities nationwide. The Hampton Roads DOFL benefits Full Circle AIDS Hospice Support, and we hope you will join us for this one-night dining out extravaganza!

SDCC GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING – March Minutes

March 28, 2005

Minutes:

1.    President Todd Solomon called the meeting to order at 7:35 PM.  Fourteen members and guests were present.

2.    Delceno Miles was introduced and invited to tell us about herself and about her candidacy for Delegate in the June election.

Shore Drive Community Coalition (SDCC)- General Meeting
Monday April 25, 2005
7:30pm to 9:00pm
Ocean Park Fire & Rescue Hall

[If you can attend only 1 SDCC meeting this year – this could be the one.]

The topic of this month?s program is the proposed $1 million CIP project (#2.168) to replace the Lesner Bridge.  The program will be presented by Ms. Heather Ham, the Public Works project engineer in charge of this proposal. 

Ms. Ham will discuss the current status of the proposal, design requirements, schedule, bid process and potential for bridge refurbishment or replacement with a 4-lane structure.  Ms. Ham will also discuss the proposed CIP project (#2.857) requesting to make Shore Drive 6-lanes from the Norfolk border to Great Neck Road.  To date, the recommended but not approved funding of this project is $180 million. 

Questions will be entertained at the completion of this program.

From the initial look at the current Capital Improvement Plan, or CIP, the study appears to be budgeting about $1M to study rebuilding the Lesner Bridge into 6-lanes.

Transportation:
The CIP will provide funding for an in-depth study to determine ultimate alignment, appearance, impacts, and project needs for a replacement Lesner Bridge…

The above quote was from this page at VBGov.com.

Several concerns with that particular statement.

Regardless of the outcome, the project is a good move on the city?s part, said Dan Baxter, president of the Virginia Beach Council of Civic Organizations.

Baxter said the city has a long way to go to win the public?s trust.

?When the public is involved in the solution, they?ll buy into it,? Baxter said. ?They may not agree with it, but they were given a voice.?

We need e-mails and or phone calls to council people NOW supporting our effort to establish a park at the spoils area.  The parks dept, supporting our request, has sent forward an unfunded CIP (capital improvement project); it is CIP# 4-038. 

On the bright side, Cape Henry Shores residents like to joke, their kids are all going to be track stars by the time they reach high school. Their hypothesis is based on the fact that their children grow up learning to beat 60 mph traffic on Shore Drive in Virginia Beach.

We have a total of $7403.43 in the treasury. Finding a site for the Oyster Roast is under way. As we continue the fight against a 6 lane bridge and highway, it would help if citizens let their Council Person know their view on the road and bridge.

If you want a visual image of what a 6 lane bridge could look like, drive down Hampton Blvd in Norfolk. It is a relatively new bridge over the Lafayette River, there are no large buildings near the bridge and with a little imagination one can mentally transpose that bridge to the Lynnhaven Inlet. In my view a 6 lane Lesner Bridge would be a disaster.

[Thanks to Dan for the following info!]
Visit National Recreation and Park Association’s website.

“Member Request Day” an Opportunity to Save LWCF State Assistance

What?s Happening: The President has recommended terminating the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) State Assistance program from the federal budget in FY 2006. The House Subcommittee on Interior Appropriations holds the purse strings to these funds. This subcommittee is holding “Member Request Day,” on April 13, to receive their House colleagues’ priority funding requests.