City Council heard public comments Tuesday, March 23, on the issue of electronic display signs (monument style).  Two speakers asked that the City permit such signs and asked for an ordinance to be adopted which defines the parameters for such signs.  A number of speakers asked that Council concur with the City Manager, Jim Spore, who opposes electronic display signs.  Grace Moran, from the Shore Drive Community Coalition, spoke to the impact that such an ordinance would have on a mixed use area such as the Shore Drive Corridor.  She stated that if the City did not follow the recommendation of the City Manager, that Council should adopt the more stringent limitations of the Alternate version proposed by the Planning Commission and recommendations made by the Council subcommittee tasked with the wording of the ordinance.

City Council plans to vote on the issue March 30.

A copy of all versions of the proposed ordinance can be obtained upon request from grace@sdcc.info or by clicking on this file LED_Sign_Ordinance.pdf

Ever play that game with your kids trying to get them to guess the object that you have in mind?  Today, I’m looking at a house in our area and wondering about disaster planning.  Let’s play. What is the biggest opening in your house that when it opens up in a hurricane, can lead to the destruction of your entire house?  Correct!  The garage door.  The garage door is possibly the weakest point in your house that once breached by strong winds, will let wind and rain into your house and cause the internal structures like your ceilings and walls to fail. If you don’t believe me, consider that when Hurricane Andrew hit southern Florida, 85% of the homes there were destroyed when their garage doors failed.  Granted, Hurricane Andrew was an awesome Cat 5 hurricane, but what does it take to push your garage door in or pull it out to expose your garage to nature’s furry?

    While some of the new steel garage doors do a pretty good job with impact protection from blowing debris, they are only as good as their track supports. If your garage door is an original with your house and is made of wood with plywood panels, I would inspect it carefully. If the framing or panels are rotted, I recommend replacing the door with a new steel door.  If you think that is expensive, consider your deductible. If the track supports allow play in your garage door (you hear a lot of “clunking” when the garage door is opened or closed, or if you can move or twist the vertical tracking supports with your hand, it needs to be improved and strengthened.

    I am serious about the damage that can occur to your house if the garage door fails.  Hurricane force winds can either blow in the doors or suck it out.  Once the garage becomes open to the hurricane elements, your house will become a wind tunnel.  Even if walls don’t get blown out, if the attic insulation, the pink itchy stuff, gets blown throughout your house, it can present a major health hazard and headache.

    Remember, garage doors are designed to go up and down, not prevent the garage door from being blown in or out. Like putting your hand out a car window while doing 65 (?) mph on the interstate, wind pressure against your hand will present a significant force.  If you are a handy person, you can use galvanized brackets (like Simpson Strong-tie) and Southern yellow pine 2”x 4”’s to construct vertical bracing INSIDE and OUTSIDE of the garage door to reinforce it.  This option would cost about $100-$200 depending on the size of the door, and a couple of hours of work to construct, while installing a new garage door would costs upwards of $1500.

    For more information on this, go to any of the do-it-yourself centers like Taylors, Lowes, or Home Depot.  Excellent information is also available at http://www.floridadisaster.org under Hurricane Retrofit Guides.  Beware! There are too many fly-by-night handymen and garage door companies who will glad to sell you a steel door that is “hurricane storm rated”, BUT fail to reinforce your track brackets to prevent roller pullout.  Your panels will be intact, just located in somebody else’s yard after the hurricane.  Overall, reinforcing your garage door is one of the best things that you can do to protect your house.

    Let us hope that we will have a quiet hurricane season, but after the storms of this winter, I don’t think that will be the case.

By

Go to pepsi refresh project everyday and vote for our Ocean Park Volunteer Rescue Squad!

  * Rebuild Volunteer Rescue Squad Building

Overview

The building was recently flooded by a storm that destroyed much of the contents in the building.  The building is several decades old and needs a new roof and interior refurbishment.  We are trying to raise money to help defray the cost of the rehab that is coming out of the operating budget.

VOTE everyday!  From their FAQ’s:

May I submit more than one vote from the same IP address?

Yes. However, you may only vote up to 10 times per account per day, but each vote must be for different projects.

About Voting:

Requirements for Voting:

Each Application Period is followed by a Voting Period. Individuals who are only interested in registering on the Website in order to vote (as defined below) will be required to meet the Eligibility Requirements listed above in Section 1 and will be required to follow the directions on the Website to register as a Voter. An individual can register on the Website as either a Participant or as a Voter but not both.

Click here for more info.

From an email:

As of the close of business on Monday, March 15, 2010 the contractor had completed hauling sand to the eastern portion of Cape Henry Beach.  The project included hauling 50,000 cubic yards of sand and reached from Ships Watch Court, where replenishment from the navigation project terminated, to the border with First Landing State Park/Kendall Street received sand from this effort[.]

Restoration of the Oak Street beach dune-access is anticipated to be completed by this Wednesday March 17, 2010 (with sprigging of the beach dune-access (sides of dunes) to be performed in the coming weeks).  Oak Street is also scheduled to receive street sweeping this Wednesday.  Public Works Operations has observed no damage to Oak Street and will re-review Oak Street upon completion of the street sweeping.  Public Works – Operations is scheduled to rake Cape Henry Beach this week as final completion of the beach replenishment.

A topographic survey of the beach has been scheduled to commence next week to document the ‘after placement’ condition.

Thank you for your comments and input.  If you have any questions or need additional information, please let me know.

Drew Lankford
Media and Communications
Department of Public Works
City of Virginia Beach
dlankfor@vbgov.com
(O)  757.385.8062
(C)  757.409.4353

From Cape Story Neighborhood Watch:

The following was received from a neighbor.

Just wanted to give the following information. On Friday March 5th, at my place of work 3033 Shore Drive in Cape Henry Center, two teens came in around noon asking for job applications. When I turned away to get the papers, one teen reached over my desk & took my wallet , containing cash, credit cards Ids etc. Each teen also took some items off the counter. They were both females about 5’4. One has dark eyes, long dark hair , freckles was wearing a dark sweatshirt & her nose pierced. The other had shoulder length blonde hair & blue eyes & was wearing a black & white checkered jacket.
They were also seen in Bloom & at Great Neck Vet earlier in the day. The police have been notified.
                                          Thanks,

Please remember to call 911 if you see a crime in action and call 385-5000, option 1, to report crimes after they have occurred or to report any suspicious activity.

Neighborhood Watch Coordinator
Cape Story by the Sea

From Pilotonline.com:

Under the new regulations drawn up by a City Council subcommittee, LEDs would be restricted to text.

Moving images would be prohibited. The messages could change every 30 seconds. Previous proposed rules had the time between messages, known as “dwell time,” at 5 seconds and one minute. The regulations would also limit the signs to two colors on a dark background.

More about Google Fiber:

Our networks will deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today, over 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. We’ll offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people.

From VBGov.com:

Release Date:  Tuesday, March 9, 2010 12:30 p.m.

The City of Virginia Beach is requesting citizen input regarding possible participation in a fiber broadband trial being conducted by Google.

Google is planning to build and test ultra-high speed broadband networks in one or more trial locations across the United States. Google’s stated intention is for these proposed fiber networks to deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today with 1gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections.

To be considered for participation in this trial, the City of Virginia Beach must complete a Request for Information (RFI); as part of this process, the city is requesting that citizens complete a short survey in order to assess the level of community interest and support for this type of trial.

The city has a very short window of opportunity in which to respond, so citizens wishing to participate should complete the survey no later than March 23. Responses will be tallied and incorporated into the application RFI process.

To participate in the survey, please visit http://www.VBgov.com/surveys and select the Google Fiber for Communities survey. Citizens can learn more about the Google Fiber for Communities trial by visiting http://www.google.com/appserve/fiberrfi/public/overview.

Survey Questions to take at VBGov.com:

1. Do you feel our city and its residents can benefit from faster Internet connectivity?

2. How could you or your business benefit from this project?

3. Recognizing that new fiber infrastructure would have to be added to our city rights-of-way, would you still support this project if you personally would be impacted by the undergrounding or construction process?

4. Do you currently subscribe to a high speed Internet service provider (DSL, cable, fiber)?

Please take some time to consider how you’d answer #2 – then click here to take the survey.

More about the experimental project from Google:

Or downloading a high-definition, full-length feature film in less than five minutes. Or collaborating with classmates around the world while watching live 3D video of a university lecture. Universal, ultra high-speed Internet access will make all this, and more possible.

More from CBS News:

From Drive Smart Virginia:

80% of all crashes and 65% of all near-crashes recently studied by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute involved driver inattention within 3 seconds of the crash.

For you, the driver, take the pledge too:

I,______, pledge to lead the way by:

  1. Committing to limit or stop the use of cell phones while driving.
  2. Asking loved ones and friends to limit or stop the use of cell phones while driving.
  3. Being informed about traffic safety laws in my area.
  4. Learning more about how distracted driving can harm me and others.
  5. Being courteous to other drivers on the roadway by reducing tasks (dining, grooming, talking on cell phone, etc.) while operating a vehicle.
  6. Modifying my driving behaviors to maintain satisfactory driving performance and attentiveness.

Please, take the pledge now and share this with everyone you know.

From an email:

***UPDATE ****  As of 3-5-2010, The contractor was not able to work on Wednesday 3/3/10 (due to the Nor’easter) and the remaining sand material removal from the Maple Street Dredge disposal area is taking longer to remove than we first anticipated.  We anticipate completion of the truck haul early next week and then another week to re-establish the Oak Street vehicular beach access

The following is the third weekly update for the Cape Henry Beach truck haul replenishment contract as provided by Phill Roehrs, Water Resources Engineer with Public Works Engineering:

“As of the close of business on Monday, March 1, the contractor had hauled 36,000 cubic yards of sand to the eastern portion of Cape Henry Beach.  The entire reach from Ships Watch Court, where replenishment from the navigation project terminated, to the border with First Landing State Park/Kendall Street has received sand from this effort.

Approximately 4,000 cubic yards of material remained available at Monday’s close for hauling to the beach – our revised estimate for total quantity is 40,000 cubic yards.  The remaining material will be spread to the east of Oak Street.  The sand quality continues to be outstanding.

Hauling did not occur this past Saturday, February 27; the contractor used the time to scour the Maple Street Dredged Material Management Area for all remaining sand, creating a final stockpile and reconfiguring the staging for efficient hauling this week.  We anticipate that the haul will be completed sometime this week.  The restoration of the Oak Street vehicular beach access will commence immediately following the truck haul.  Work hours for the truck haul and the beach access restoration will continue as 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.

No citizen concerns were received this week, and there have been no reported traffic incidents.  No damage to Oak Street has been observed, however a final and detailed inspection will occur after the completion of the beach access restoration and any needed repairs will be promptly scheduled.  A topographic survey of the beach has been scheduled to commence next week to document the ‘after placement’ condition.”

If you have any questions or need additional information, please let me know and I will be happy to assist you.  Thank you.

Drew Lankford
Media and Communications
Department of Public Works
City of Virginia Beach
dlankfor@vbgov.com
(O)  757.385.8062
(C)  757.409.4353

The City Manager will deliver the 2011-2012 budget no later than March 23.  Vice Mayor Louis Jones and City Councilman Jim Wood have agreed to come to the March 29 meeting of the Shore Drive Community Coalition, at 7:30 p.m. in the Ocean Park Volunteer Rescue Station, to give us some idea of what stays in the budget and what goes, as it relates to us.

City Council will offer their recommended modifications to the City Manager and vote on the final budget sometime in May.  Now is the time to hear and see what they will be looking to modify.  And to give our City Council representative our opinions.

From Councilwoman Barbara Henley Regarding Electronic Signs

February 27, 2010

My understanding at this time is that the electronic billboard ordinance will be considered by the Planning Commission at the March 10 meeting.  The LED sign ordinance proposals were referred to a subcommittee of council for further comment, and it is expected that it will be brought back to Council on March 9.  Since it had been advertised for that day, that would be a good time for council to receive public comment, whether a vote is taken at that time or not.  It is very important that we have a complete hearing on both of these issues, and I do appreciate your community’s interest and involvement.

From an email:

Hi Grace,

Just saw your post about electronic billboards.  I have to drive down Great Neck Rd several times a week and truly do not appreciate the glare of the Wave Church’s new sign (especially when it’s an all white background with bright blue letters – it’s almost blinding).  If I recall correctly, the city of Virginia Beach at one point was trying to get Shore Drive named a scenic byway.  I’m not sure if they still are, but Scenic America is very much against the electronic billboard.  They’ve even prepared a downloadable power point to present to city officials.  Scenic Virginia is likewise against the signs.

I’m attaching some great links I found in 10 minutes of research:  Most importantly:  Electronic billboards attract attention and therefore distract drivers.  The number one cause of accidents is distraction and the number one cause of distraction is an outside person, object or event (like a digital sign).

Best of Luck,
Carol B.

http://www.scenic.org/billboards/digital – has a downloadable power point prepared for presentation to local zoning commissions
http://www.scenicvirginia.org/LEDbillboard.html
http://www.scenic.org/billboards/safety/
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=233895

1.  [PPT] Regulating Digital Signs and Billboards (S606) Sponsored by Zoning …

File Format: Microsoft Powerpoint – View as HTML
Apr 28, 2009 … Video LED Billboards. Regulating Digital Signs and Billboards (S606) … Research on Electronic/Video Signs and Traffic Safety … Virginia Tech Transportation Institute Center for Automotive Safety Research. March 22. …
law.wustl.edu/landuselaw/powerpoint/digital%20signs%20apa%202009.ppt

  2. [PPT] Animated Signs

File Format: Microsoft Powerpoint – View as HTML
LED & Video Display Signs: The Next Frontier for Sign Codes … outdoor full color, full motion LED digital sign for higher speed roads around town, … Virginia Tech Transportation Institute Center for Automotive Safety Research. …
law.wustl.edu/landuselaw/…/Digital%20Signs%20Marya%20Morris.ppt – Similar

1.  [PDF] MEMORANDUM

File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat – Quick View
Oct 15, 2009 … Noble noted that schools had LED signs that displayed many messages each …. Digital billboards have been the subject of much debate and research. … and Gibbons, Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, for FOARE (2007). … message signs will not enhance traffic safety and could increase crashes. …

Click to access 20091015_PHED2.pdf

From an email:

Dear Ms. Moran

Thank you for your email sharing your views regarding the proposed ordinance regulating digital signs in our City.

We agree, this is an important issue.  City Council will be receiving the report of the subcommittee reviewing the ordinance amendments on March 9, 2010, and a vote is tentatively scheduled for March 23, 2010.  Please be assured your comments will be given serious consideration at that time.

The time you took to make us aware of your concerns is greatly appreciated.  Citizen input is vital in our decision-making process.

William D. Sessoms, Jr.
Mayor
City of Virginia Beach
Office of the Mayor
2401 Courthouse Drive, Building 1, Room 234
Virginia Beach, VA 23456
757-385-4581 (MAIN)
757-385-5699 (FAX)
wsessoms@vbgov.com

New Topic for site is LED Billboards.

Here’s the first comment posted there, from an email to Grace:

Dear Grace,
I live in Laurel Cove which is off of Great Neck Road.  Our neighborhood protested the LED sign that WAVE Church wanted to install some time ago.  Many of us from adjacent neighborhoods on Great Neck Road made our opposition to these unsightly and distracting signs known by attending a meeting in which a City Council member and someone from Zoning Dept.  were present.  They listened and , in essence, told us it had already been decided to allow WAVE Church to have their sign.  We were told that the church had threatened that if they were not allowed their large sign they had the right to put smaller LED signs at each of their four entrances.  All of this left many with the feeling that the church was not a “good neighbor” but a bully and our City Council was owned and operated by the business community here…including the Adams billboard company.  So – good luck with your opposition.  …fight hard and fight to win.  Shore Drive has been stripped of so much of its unique beauty by zoning laws already I can only applaud your efforts. You may forward a copy of this e-mail to Virginia Beach City Council.
Joan U.

Previously – What do ya think of LED Billboards? We’re looking for your comments.

From Pilotonline.com:

The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Thursday granted more than $1 million to help Virginia localities replace and repair infrastructure damaged in November’s nor’easter.

At WAVY.com:

FEMA) promised more than $1 million in Public Assistance (PA) funding Thursday to help Virginia localities repair and replace public infrastructure damaged in the wake of the severe storms and flooding associated with the 2009 November Nor’easter and the remnants of Tropical Depression Ida.

From FEMA:

Hazard Mitigation Grant Program
(Assistance to State and local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations for actions taken to prevent or reduce long term risk to life and property from natural hazards):

  All jurisdictions in the Commonwealth of Virginia are eligible to apply for assistance under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.

Virginia Severe Storms and Flooding Associated with Tropical Depression Ida and a Nor’easter at FEMA.gov.

Yeah!
From Virginia Beach’s City Page:
Free Wireless Internet Available
at All Virginia Beach Public Libraries

The Virginia Beach Public Library now offers free wireless Internet at all 10 of its locations.

Many library services and materials are available on the Internet, including online encyclopedias, periodicals, downloadable books and audio books, language learning software, small business resources and more. Many customers use the library Internet to apply for jobs.

Before wireless service, customers were limited to the library‘s computers, which are in high demand. Now, customers with wireless-enabled laptops, cell phones or PDAs can access the Internet and online library resources inside any library.

The service is free to library customers and requires no special software or pass codes.

Just spoke with an Engineer at P/W and he mentioned Parsons has been tasked with looking into the storm water issues caused the damage re: Nor ‘Ida and his best estimate for best case was the study would be done around the end of April.

It will be posted here when we get it.

The following is the second weekly update for the Cape Henry Beach truck haul replenishment contract as provided by Phill Roehrs, Water Resources Engineer with Public Works Engineering: 

“As previously reported, hauling began on February 10, 2010.  As of the close of business on Monday, February 22, 22,000 cubic yards of sand had been hauled to the beach and spread between Ships Watch Court and Oak Street.  The contractor is now placing sand east of Oak Street.

We have revised our estimate of the quantity of sand available to be approximately 35,000 cubic yards – the contractor has been able to remove quality sand down to elevation 2 feet, NAVD, within the Maple Street Dredged Material Management Area, almost two feet deeper than we had originally anticipated.  Again, our intention is to remove all available sand from the Maple Street site, we are actively looking for every opportunity to maximize the volume.  We are also closely monitoring the material quality with a full-time inspector at the borrow site, no objectionable loads have left the site. 

We continue to field-adjust the cross section to assure that the fill operation will extend all the way to First Landing State Park with the largest possible beach berm dimension.  The finished beach is a substantial and notable improvement.  The sand placed on the beach is of such a quality that it is difficult to distinguish the new material from the existing beach sand – from color to grain size to shell content.  We have not discovered any pockets of deleterious material, but if found on final inspection we will promptly schedule a visit by Beach Operations to sift and groom any objectionable areas.

Work hours continue as 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.

With roughly 13,000 cubic yards to go, we anticipate the hauling will be complete by the end of the first week of March.  We continue to monitor the condition of Oak Street, and will schedule repairs if necessary immediately after hauling and the Oak Street beach access restoration are complete.

No concerns or objections from citizens were received during this week, and there have been no traffic incidents.” 

From Pilotonline.com including comments:

The city went to court last year to condemn property for public recreational use and the replenishment. Beach officials had asked all the Cape Henry Bayfront owners to sign over public easements to the beach in exchange for the sand. The landowners who wanted the sand to protect their homes from storm damage turned over the easements. But those who wanted to maintain their private property rights, which date back to Reconstruction, refused and were eventually defeated in court.