Category Archives: Environment

A WALK ON THE WILD (MARSH) SIDE by Mary Reid Barrow

Posted on by

In case you missed it, Mary Reid Barrow had a terrific article in the 9/29/13 Virginian-Pilot that showcased Pleasure House Point.

TALL GRASS HERE, scraggly grass there, tiny flower here, weird berry there.

That’s about all you see growing in the marsh unless you visit with someone who opens your eyes wide to the beautiful plants that live in the sand along the river’s edge.

A walk with Lynnhaven River Now and naturalist Vickie Shufer at Pleasure House Point in Virginia Beach did just that recently. Lynnhaven River NOW is a group that works to keep the Virginia Beach river clean, and Shufer is a native-plant expert.

Click here to read the entire article A WALK ON THE WILD (MARSH) SIDE on Page F3 of Sunday, September 29, 2013 issue of The Virginian-Pilot

Hampton Roads Solar Tour – Saturday Oct. 5th – 10am to 4pm

Posted on by

In conjunction with the American Solar Energy Society’s National Home Tour, Tidewater locals are opening their doors to shine a light solar energy systems. This free event organized by the Solar Group of the Hampton Roads Green Building Council consists of 2 dozen tour sites across the region and features a host of resource efficient and sustainable technologies in addition to solar. New locations on this year’s tour include a state of the art dwelling developed by students from ODU and HU, a LEED Platinum home on the Eastern Shore, and a solar concentrating steam generator in Norfolk.

For Shore Drive residents, 2 homes are conveniently located at the North End and were showcased in the Virginian-Pilot’s coverage of the tour.

For more information about the tour and green building in the region, go to www.tidewatercurrent.com

To learn about the sites on the tour and to register, visit www.HRSoloarTour.com

Click here for a copy of the flyer

Barbara Duke to Speak at Friends of Live Oaks Meeting Monday Sep. 23rd

Posted on by

Friends of Live Oaks meeting

Monday, Sep. 23rd

at the Bayside Rec Center on
First Court Road.

 

Barbara Duke, Senior Planner with the Department of Parks and Recreation,

will talk to us about the city’s new Urban Forest Management Plan. 

There will be an opportunity for questions.
For more information contact Karen at tomandkarenmurphy@gmail.com

What’s happening to Live Oaks re: Bridge Construction?

Posted on by

From the project manager in response to an email:

Thank you for your attached letter regarding the Lesner Bridge. We are very excited about this project and eager to begin the work next spring.

As you noted in your letter, there are going to be some impacts to the live oaks associated with this project. We do have to remove approximately 12 live oaks to accommodate the new bridge. We have already removed some of these trees with the gas line that was bored under the Lynnhaven Inlet (on the north side of the existing bridges). This work was completed several weeks ago. The remaining trees will be removed when construction begins next spring.

We do recognize that the live oaks are an important natural resource in this area. This point was made clear during the public meetings that were held for this project. In order to mitigate the loss of these trees, we are currently planning to install 25 new live oaks with the project—this equates to a 2:1 replacement ratio. These trees have been incorporated with the overall landscaping plan to ensure that they have the best opportunity for survival in this harsh environment.

With regards to relocating or transplanting the existing trees, I did speak with our Operations staff at Parks & Recreation. They take care of the landscaping maintenance throughout the City. Their experience with transplanting live oaks has not be very positive in this area. Specifically, they noted the following issues:

1. The soil is too sandy for live oaks

2. The live oak root systems are not compact, which makes transplanting difficult

3. The salt environment is harsh on trees in this area

Since our Parks & Recreation staff maintain the landscaping in this area, they do have a lot of firsthand knowledge regarding the survival rate for certain species. We try to incorporate this real world information into our landscaping designs so we can provide the best planting plan for each project. Based on this information, we are not planning to relocate any existing live oaks at this time.

If you have any further questions or need more information, please let me know. Thank you for your time and interest in this project.

Sincerely,

David S. Jarman, P.E.

Transportation Project Management Supervisor

Department of Public Works

City of Virgina Beach

757-385-4144 (direct)

757-385-4131 (main)

Public Meeting on Stormwater Management Program and Floodplain Ordinance Set for Sept. 26

Posted on by

More at VBGOV.com:

The meeting agenda will include the following:

· The Floodplain Ordinance is being changed to meet the most recent FEMA requirements. An overview of the changes will be presented by city staff.

· Stormwater Management Program changes, including a revised ordinance and technical design criteria, are required by state law.

PHP clean up Saturday

Posted on by

From Ocean Park Civic League:

As a Civic League, we have undertaken the task of providing cleanup services at this wonderful resource right in our back yard. We hope to do this 3-4 times a year. Our next opportunity is this Saturday. Remember, many hands make for light work. Please come help.Details are below.

Join us for another Clean Up at Pleasure House Point(PHP)
Saturday, September 21
9-12 AM
Check-in will be at the first Marlin Bay entrance coming from Shore Drive
Bags and plastic gloves will be provided

Please contact Susie Walston, susieandmac@gmail.com, if you have questions.

“OF ALL THE places to get to know the Lynnhaven River, Pleasure House Point, the city’s beautiful new natural area off Shore Drive, has been the greatest meeting ground.”

Posted on by

Read Mary Reid’s article & view photos at Pilotonline.com.

20130915-065223.jpg

VB Parks & Rec wins award for PHP

Posted on by

Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation is pleased to have received three awards on Monday, September 9, 2013 at the 2013 Virginia Recreation and Park Society (VRPS) Conference in James City County, Virginia.

The Best New Environmental Sustainability Award was presented in recognition of the preservation of Pleasure House Point Natural Area.

This natural area was acquired and preserved in July 2012 by the City of Virginia Beach through a forward-thinking partnership with the Trust for Public Land (TPSL, in collaboration with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF). This 118-acre legacy acquisition contains a mile of shoreline on the Lynnhaven River and Pleasure House Creek.

With the assistance of TPF, CBF and the grassroots efforts of the community, the City of Virginia Beach succeeded in preserving one of the last undeveloped parcels of land on the Lynnhaven River.

20130911-124605.jpg

Friends of Live Oaks (FOLO) will be giving away about 150 live oak trees on Saturday October 12 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Posted on by

FOLO

Friends of Live Oaks (FOLO) will be giving away about 150 live oak trees on Saturday October 12 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Linkhorn Annex (the former Linkhorn Elementary School) at 1413 Linkhorn Road. Live Oaks are the official tree of the City of Virginia Beach, and FOLO members want to assure their survival for future generations to enjoy.

Since its founding three years ago, FOLO has given away about 500 live oaks (approximately 7 feet tall). If you would like to have a live oak for your yard, request forms are available at Virginia Beach public libraries and recreation centers and online at vbgov.com/liveoaks.

Although there is no charge for the trees to be given away on October 12, recipients of the trees ( and those who admire live oaks and want to ensure their presence here for future generations) are encouraged to purchase a yearly membership in Friends of Live Oaks, for only $10.

You can view the flyer here.

The tree is one of the most distinctive and recognizable plants in the city and immediately brings to mind our coastal areas and maritime ecosystem. They resist salt spray and storm surges, having survived Hurricane Katrina in areas where everything else was reduced to rubble.

Save a tree and request your live oak tree at this link at VBGov.com.

VB Audubon Bird Walk at PHP – Sat Sept. 14th @ 8am

Posted on by

The Virginia Beach Audubon Society will have a bird walk on Saturday, September 14th, at 8:00 am at Pleasure House Point.

 It is open to the public. We will walk the Preserve for roughly two hours looking, identifying and photographing birds as well as other wildlife in the area.  

The trip will be led my Master Birder Steve Coari and will include about 15 Audubon members.

Pleasure House Point Draft Master Plan to be presented at SDCC Monday Aug 26th meeting

Posted on by

Ms. Barbara Duke, Project Manager for Parks and Recreation will present the latest update on the Pleasure House Point Master Plan.

Last year 25 stakeholders worked with the City’s Parks and Recreation department to gather citizen input on what Pleasure House Point should and shouldn’t become.  A draft Master Plan was created and the stakeholder group disbanded.  The City has been working on the draft plan with final intentions to make it an official adopted plan for the natural park.   

Come out to hear the latest update on the Master Plan for Pleasure House Point and provide comments.

Monday Aug 26th at 7:30pm Ocean Park Volunteer Rescue

Click here for to see the draft master plan from last year.  Please be aware the file is 16 Mb and may take a little while to download.   http://www.vbgov.com/government/departments/parks-recreation/design-development-projects/current-projects/Documents/php-stakeholder-presentation-7-30.pdf

Virginia Beach Audubon Society has a dedicated PHP page

Posted on by

And we linked to it at our dedicated PHP page!

Check out the Audubon Society’s PHP page.

Virginia Beach Audubon has been very active on this property since it was announced in 2012. Field Trips by many especially the visitations by Steve and Julie Coari with help from Dianne Hinch, Keith & Karen Roberts, Jim Marcum, Brian Prendergast and a few others have identified over 122 species to date. Below is a full list of the birds at this site and dates that they were sited. Pictures throughout this page are from PHP shot by Steve, Keith, Brian and Julie.

20130819-221845.jpg

“August 19 – August 30: Mobilization of Site Facilities The construction fencing, erosion and sedimentation control, project temporary offices, signage and temporary utilities required to support the construction efforts will be set up on site.”

Posted on by

From the Hourigan Construction Blog about CBF’s Brock Center:

This month begins the jobsite mobilization in support of the construction for Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Brock Environmental Center.

Photo Credit: About CBF's Brock Environmental Center page

Photo Credit: About CBF’s Brock Environmental Center page

Super exciting stuff!

Article on dredging: “Two years ago, neighborhood residents packed a meeting room to tell city officials not to build a transfer site in a residential area on Maple Street along Long Creek.”

Posted on by

At Pilotonline.com:

A crane on a barge will scoop mud and sand from the bottom of the Lynnhaven River. The dredged material will be brought ashore at the Thalia Dredged Material Transfer Facility, and trucked to a spoils site off Oceana Boulevard.

20130812-204258.jpg

“I stumbled upon the TerraCycle website the other day and was super excited to read that someone is turning cigarette waste into industrial products like plastic pallets. Recycling cigarette butts?! How great is that?”

Posted on by

How great is that indeed!

The recycling part, not the ignoramuses who toss cig butts.

Any one try this yet?

From AskHRGreen.org about the Terracycle website.

cigarettes-on-beach-sized

Preserving Pleasure House Point “was the wisest move the city has made in decades.”

Posted on by

Be sure to read Candy Hatcher’s piece in the Pilot entitled Treasure at Pleasure House Point.

Now we can walk down a suburban street that becomes a trail that winds along the water, by dunes, through a maritime forest. We can go there to think. Or simply to appreciate the tranquility. It’s why we live here. At least, it’s one of the reasons.

RELATED!

Be sure to be careful traveling around Marlin Bay Drive – road next to Pleasure House Point, and in Pelcian Dunes, around Woodlawn Avenue – there’s a number of young Yellow Crowned Night Heron’s wandering around the streets.

Photo Credit: Kevin O'Hara

Photo Credit: Kevin O’Hara

“A shortage of oyster shells is hamstringing efforts to rebuild oyster reefs and restore native stocks ravaged by decades of disease, overharvesting and pollution. To fight the trend, Virginia officials this week were busy mining 10,000-year-old shells…”

Posted on by

Read entire article & view amazing photos at Pilotonline.com article.

Having an Oyster Roast or Clam Bake? Save those Shells! at LrNow.org

20130710-170757.jpgOyster shells from local oyster farmer going back in Lynnhaven.

“For effective stormwater management, the combination of landscape vegetation and a specially designed filter media allows bacteria, metals, nutrients and total suspended solids (TSS) to be removed naturally.”

Posted on by

Editors note: this is not an endorsement for products from Filterra by SDCC. Merely an informative post to learn more about this system.

Check out Filterra Bioretention Systems.

Filterra Bioretention Systems harness the power of nature to capture, cycle and immobilize stormwater pollutants to treat urban runoff.

There's an interesting animation of how their system works on their website.

There’s an interesting animation of how their system works on their website.

Get the Scoop on CBF’s Brock Environmental Center. Come out for ice cream and information on construction of Brock Environmental Center at Pleasure House Point.

Posted on by

Tuesday, July 16, 6 p.m. Ocean Park Rescue Squad 3769 E. Stratford Rd.

Download 2 page PDF about presentation PHP Open House Flyer

See ya there!

See ya Tuesday July 16th!

See ya Tuesday July 16th!

ATTEND OUR MEETING MONDAY! “Come hear the City’s interim plan to fix stormwater problems for areas east of the Lesner Bridge. There will also be an $80+ million project that could impact homes and businesses. You will definitely want to attend and learn the study details.”

Posted on by

Meeting at:

Ocean Park Volunteer Rescue Squad

STARTS 730pm

VIEW MEETING AGENDA at SDCC.info

Dave L. Hansen – Deputy City Manager will be making the presentation.

As article below mentions, City Council will be voting on the recommendations in August 2013.

They plan to present the idea to the Shore Drive Community Coalition on Monday before taking it to the council in August, Hansen said…But [Todd Solomon] said the city should explore some less-expensive solutions, such as using inflatable pipe plugs to prevent tidal flooding, like the one installed in Ocean Park before Hurricane Sandy.” at SDCC.info