We will discuss:
Website and new email address – Penny Moulis
Live Oaks along the median of Atlantic Ave. – Penny Moulis
Live Oaks on Lynnhaven Drive
Lynnhaven River NOW fall festival – Oct. 11th – Karen
New Member Orientation – Karen
2014 Live Oak Distribution – StephenNext Meeting: I will be out of town on Aug. 18th – will the 25th work?
Hope to see you there,
Karen
Friends of Live Oaks at VBGov.com.
Friends of Live Oaks in Facebook.
The City had a briefing recently …
Here’s the PDF of what to expect. (15 pages)
July 16, 2013 Meeting Summary – Rich Sobota, FEMA Region III Insurance Specialist
On Tuesday, July 16, 2013, Rich Sobota, insurance specialist for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region III, briefed City staff on changes to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) as a result of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012. Biggert-Waters extends the NFIP until 2017 and encourages financial stability of the program by increasing flood insurance premium rates to actual risk rates for some subsidized properties.
The two classes of properties that will be affected by these rate increases are 1) Pre-FIRM properties and 2) Grandfathered properties. Pre-FIRM properties are those properties in an area with a 1% annual chance of flooding (100-year floodplain) that were built before the first Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM). In Virginia Beach, these are properties built before October 1, 1970. Grandfathered properties are properties that previously had flood insurance, but as the result of a FIRM change are now mapped into a higher risk flood area. In the past, they were allowed to keep paying their old, lower rate.
Restrictions on Operation
It shall be unlawful for any person to:
Operate a personal watercraft unless he is at least sixteen years of age, except any person fourteen or fifteen years of age shall be allowed to operate a personal watercraft if he (i) has successfully completed a boating safety education course approved by the Director and (ii) carries on his person, while operating a personal watercraft, proof of successful completion of such course. Upon the request of a law-enforcement officer, such person shall provide proof of having successfully completed an approved course;
Beginning July 1, 2009, other PWC operators will need to comply with our boating safety education requirement.
Operate a personal watercraft unless each person riding on the personal watercraft is wearing a type I, type II, type III, or type V personal flotation device approved by the United State Coast Guard;
Fail to attach the lanyard to his person, clothing, or personal flotation device, if the personal watercraft is equipped with a lanyard-type engine cut-off switch;
Operate a personal watercraft on the waters of the Commonwealth between sunset and sunrise;
Operate a personal watercraft while carrying a number of passengers in excess of the number for which the craft was designed by the manufacturer; or Operate a personal watercraft in excess of the slowest possible speed required to maintain steerage and headway within fifty feet of docks, piers, boathouses, boat ramps, people in the water, and vessels other than personal watercraft. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a personal watercraft from towing a person with a rope less than fifty feet in length.
Note: The above provisions do not apply to participants in regattas, races, marine parades, tournament or exhibitions approved by the Board of the Department of Game and Inland Fisheries or the United States Coast Guard.Reckless Operation
A person shall be guilty of reckless operation who operates any personal watercraft recklessly or at a speed or in such a manner as to endanger the life, limb or property of any person, which shall include, but not be limited to:
weaving through vessels that are underway, stopped, moored or at anchor while exceeding a reasonable speed under the circumstances and traffic conditions existing at the time;
following another vessel or person on water skis or similar device, crossing the path of another vessel, or jumping the wake of another vessel more closely than is reasonable and prudent, having due regard to the speed of both vessels and the traffic on and the condition of the waters at the time;
crossing between the towing vessel and a person on water skis or other device; or
steering toward an object or person and turning sharply in close proximity to such object or person in order to spray or attempt to spray the object or person with the wash or jet spray of the personal watercraft.
Woo hoo!
Read entire article at Pilotonline.com:
“It’s a major walkway for a lot of people,” Williams said. “It’s good that the people of the city listened to the citizens. Before, they said they couldn’t do it. It’s good that they have found a way.”
Be safe people!
From Cape Henry Shores neighborhood watch …
The following was received by a CHS resident:
We live on Long Creek and frequently deal with boats throwing a wake,
but we’ve never had any of our CHS neighbors as the culprits and we
realize we will always deal w/ disrespectful boaters.However,
tonight a dangerous thing happened on Long Creek and I was wondering
if it’s appropriate to spread an email b/c I suspect the parents of
the culprit or perhaps the friend of the culprit live in our
neighborhood. At approximately 10:15 tonight (after the fireworks) we
could hear a boat speeding in our direction coming from the park.Both of our neighbors across the water on Bay Island happened to be
out and all of us went to the edge in time to see what appeared to be
a grey or blue center console boat, probably around 20′-24′ long,
speed by so fast it’s a wonder docked boats, pylons, or floating piers
weren’t hit. Thank goodness no late-night kayakers or paddle boarders
were out (as there sometimes are) b/c there’s no question they would
have been killed. All of the boats docked along the creek rocked and
hit pylons or bulkheads!After the boat sped by, my neighbor across the water screamed that the boat had turned into CHS. Because it sped by so quickly we couldn’t determine how many people were in the boat, but we’re all reasonably certain there were at least 2 guys who seemed
to be teenagers.If you have any information on who the boaters could have been, please
contact me and i can put you in touch with the resident.
From Jill Doczi post in Facebook:
TO ALL NEIGHBORS & FRIENDS:
The fireworks committee (made up of representatives from all three civic leagues–CHX, OPK, BLP), along with a member of Virginia Beach Fire Marshall’s office and our shooter met last night to discuss the effects of this storm and the fireworks show. Additional phone discussions involved the Coast Guard, the Virginia Beach department of special events and public safety.
After much discussion regarding the safety of pulling this off, we collectively agreed to move the fireworks to
SATURDAY —- JULY 12 — at 9:15 p.m.Several issues played a part in making this decision. Rain, wind and rough seas would delay loading, which was to happen today and takes roughly 10 hours. Likewise, the high wind from the north, waves and swells on Saturday morning would make it dangerous to leave the dock and travel the slow 10-hour trip to the location. Although the evening looks to be beautiful with a possibility of one-foot waves and 5mph winds out of the north, the procedure of getting to that point is unsafe. Staffing issues within the city to pull this off and safety of all personnel involved also came into play.
This has really been a joint effort to pull this off and a joint decision that was tough to make. Much discussion and debate has resulted in what everyone agrees is the best decision. Public safety, fire marshal, Coast Guard, city special events–all have been very gracious and overly helpful in establishing emergency last-minute permits, providing advice, coordinating with us and supporting us.
I know you all are as disappointed as I am but it all comes down to the main reason we have this type of barge show on in the first place—SAFETY. Arthur has created what has always been understood as the worst case scenario. No one ever thought we would have a tropical storm fall on this holiday. In true Shore Drive spirit, I’m recommending we simply have two celebrations now: Arthur parties this weekend and fireworks parties next weekend.
Thank you for your support and understanding.
Jill Doczi
You can still donate to these amazing fireworks too!
Please choose to donate!
Cape Story by The Sea Parade & Fireworks are still scheduled for July 5th.
Learn more at their website.
Following the National Weather Servic 5pm update the tract of the storm has moved slightly to the west such that the eye of the storm could cross the Currituck Bay west of Hatteras. The expected turn to the NE this evening will still carry the soon to be CAT 2 Hurricane Arthur away from VB. Additional changes from our noon update is a slight increase in the wind gusts possibly reaching 50mph. Winds will increase commencing at 3 am in the morning and are expected to remain thru 6 pm tomorrow. Most of the wind will be from the north. Atlantic wave height could reach 12 feet at day break subsiding during daylight. Beach and dune protection are expected to hold. Bay wave height will increase through the morning reaching 6 feet at 2 pm and falling off rapidly after that. Some bay front waterfront bulkheads will be tested. Rain fall total projection remains under 2 inches. Street flooding is expected to be scattered based on downpours and the high tide reducing the runoff flow. Home inundation will be an anomaly. Tidal flooding impacts will be short lived with only a few habitually low spots subjected. Some roads will have high water signs posted in advance. 311 service will operate under normal operating conditions this evening – shutting down at 11:30 pm and resuming at 7 am on Friday morning. As cell service and our communications and data systems are not expected to be compromised the City leadership will be monitoring the storm system and conducting decentralized management of the event.
#LESNERBRIDGE page has been updated with a few more items:
Beloved Lynnhaven Boat Ramp & Beach Facility Info
During #LESNERBRIDGE construction parking is limited to:
CARS: 54 + 3 Handicap spots. (LOST 51 SPOTS)
BOAT TRAILER: 79 (LOST ALL OVERFLOW SPOTS)Beach Access under #LESNERBRIDGE is closed.
Pedestrian infrastructure to reach & cross Shore Drive is challenging.
As Virginia Beach seems to be in the sites of Arthur, consider what precautions that you should take. Storm forecasting is still an art and not totally a science. It is possible to be told that it will be “mostly a rain event” with tropical storm winds of gale force, but storms and their tracks change quickly. Sometimes the last minute shift in course or intensity is to our advantage, sometimes not so. Consider the following preparations:
1. Do not leave your car in an area that floods easily. You can relocate your car to North Great Neck Road to one of the school parking lots. The Great Neck area is high enough so it should not flood.
2. Put some water in containers in your freezer in case power is lost. It helps keep things cold if power should be lost, and will also serve as drinking water if needed.
3. Check your flashlights and battery supply. The new LED type flashlights are 4 times brighter and the batteries last 10 times longer. Great source for light. Know where your flashlights are located.
4. Look at the areas around your house which could flood and make sure nothing valuable or potentially hazardous could get wet (lawn fertilizer, pool chemicals, tools etc.). And don’t forget to bring in all the lawn furniture.
5. If a room floods and the wall board gets wet, the wet wall board should be removed quickly so it will not damage more wall board. If the insulation gets wet remove it also, BUT wear gloves as this stuff itches. If you have to remove a lot of insulation, wear a face mask to prevent breathing the insulation fibers.
6. PERSONAL SAFETY. Don’t drive in water that comes to the bottom of your car’s doors (8 or more inches). You can’t plow through it and the water will come up over your hood. If you get water in your engine (sucked into engine intake), you may have to buy a new engine. When you don’t know how deep the water, go around or go back. Don’t use a BBQ grill in the garage or house as the the carbon-monoxide fumes can kill you and your pets. CO fumes are heavier than CO2, so CO fumes will sink and collect in the lower parts of your house. BE careful. Keep a fire extinguisher handy. If there are down power lines, consider them HOT and LETHAL. Tree branches CAN conduct electricity, as can metal fences, so don’t touch them if your neighborhood has a power outage.
7. Watch out for one another. BE GOOD Neighbors and don’t create wakes on your road. These wakes can do damage to adjacent homes. If you are going away from the area, let your neighbor know in case of damage to your house.
Let us all hope for the best. Our lawns need some rain, but let’s hope the winds are mild and the rains are only refreshing.
The Division of Legislative Services is the legislative branch agency created statutorily by the General Assembly to provide nonpartisan legal and general research services to members of the General Assembly and its standing committees in the House of Delegates and Senate of Virginia.
A few highlights:
SB 74. Real estate loans; flood insurance. The law prohibits a lender from requiring a borrower to provide flood insurance coverage against risks to improvements on real property securing its loan in an amount that exceeds the replacement value of the improvements.
HJ 8/HB 46. Constitutional amendment and voter referendum; real property tax exemption for spouses of soldiers killed in action. The law provides that if the constitutional amendment is approved by voter referendum at the November 4, 2014, general election the General Assembly may provide a real property tax exemption for the primary residence of surviving spouses of members of the military who are killed in action. The tax exemption may not be claimed by a surviving spouse who has remarried.
HB 791. Condominium and Property Owners’ Association Acts; rule enforcement. The law provides that associations may file or defend a legal action in general district or circuit court to seek an order to require that any violation of the condominium instruments or duly adopted rules be corrected. The law provides that before any action is taken to enforce rules violations, the owner shall be given a reasonable opportunity to correct the alleged violation. The law provides that in the event of a legal action involving rule enforcement, the prevailing party is entitled to recover court costs and reasonable attorney fees. Currently, only the association is entitled to recover such costs and fees.
HB 771. Mature driver crash prevention. The law provides for a course in mature driver motor vehicle crash prevention and allows the court to order the course in adjudicating defendants. The law also lowers the age at which drivers are required to appear before the DMV for license renewal from 80 to 75 and requires that licenses issued to persons age 75 or older be valid for no more than five years.
And ….
3 FEET PLEASE. It’s Virginia Law.
“As we see more people choose to ride bikes or walk rather than drive their cars, this extra foot of clearance makes streets much safer for cyclists” according to Champe Burnley, President of the Virginia Bicycling Federation (VBF) who supported the legislation. “We hope that drivers will use extra care when they pass a rider and avoid potential crashes.”
Virginia law currently requires a motorist to pass a bicyclist by two feet. The Commonwealth is the twenty-first state to pass a three foot law.
From an email, unedited:
Friends:
Below is the latest update on the Lesner Bridge replacement project from Chris Wojtowicz, project manager. If you have any questions or need additional information, please let either Chris or me know and we will be glad to help you.
Enjoy your holiday weekend.
Drew Lankford
Media and Communications
Department of Public Works
City of Virginia Beachdlankfor@vbgov.com
(O) 757.385.8062
(C) 757.409.4353Summer has officially begun, and – as you have noticed – so has the construction of the replacement Lesner Bridge project. I have spoken or corresponded with many of you over the past few weeks regarding your concerns with the start of this construction work. Based on these discussions, our project team felt that a brief update on the work and our response to the top three concerns might help folks better understand what work is taking place right now.
Below are the top three questions – and answers – that we have been discussing with so many of you:
Q: “Why wasn’t my property included in Pre-Construction Damage Assessment Survey?”
A: Generally, all properties (10) within 200 feet from a source of vibration that could exceed a threshold particle velocity value of 0.5 in/sec between a frequency of 2 and 10 Hz have been included in the contract documents. We refer to the AASHTO Standard Recommended Practice for Evaluation of Transportation-Related Earthborne Vibrations for selecting this threshold particle velocity – which is the level at which a plaster wall MIGHT begin to crack.
If your property was not included in the contract documents as one of those requiring a survey, then your property fell outside of this zone of influence and has an extremely low risk of structural damage from construction related earth related vibrations. That being said, if the City felt that there was any risk of structural damage to a particular property, that property would have been included in the contract documents as requiring both a Pre- and Post-Construction Damage Assessment Survey.
Beyond the expected areas of influence, seismographs – along with horizontal and vertical control points – have been placed so that the project team can monitor these vibrations in real time and make adjustments to the construction methods if necessary. [As a side note, people “sense” or respond to a much broader range of vibration frequencies and intensities than structures. Intrusive vibration levels might concern some folks at much lower intensities than levels considered critical for structures (0.5 inches/sec between 2 and 10 Hz)].
So even though extremely low levels of vibration may be a nuisance to some people and cause one to become concerned about structural damage, there really is very little risk of this damage. All Pre-Construction Damage Assessment Surveys have been completed at this time.
Q: “Why does the Contractor have to work at night? There is so much noise!”
A: The contractor is only performing work at night that requires temporary lane closures on Shore Drive. Since we are in the summer months, daytime lane closures on Shore Drive are not permitted until after September 30th unless an exemption is granted by the Public Works Traffic Engineering Dept. Both stationary and non-stationary noise at night is now being monitored by the City using an Extech Digital Sound Level Meter to assure the Contractor’s compliance with the contract documents.
Q: “Why did the bridge contractor placed a fence at East Stratford Street and Shore Drive? This impedes pedestrians who want to cross Shore Drive from East Stratford Street to get to the beach since the beach access at the boat ramps has been closed.”
A: New storm drainage and a large stormwater management device need to be installed at this corner. This fence and other barriers are required to “safe-up” the work area and the deep excavation that will be performed. The project team has reviewed the pedestrian access concern and will make some minor design changes (such as moving the stormwater management structure further to the east) to better accommodate these pedestrians. The proposed changes are that the pedestrian signals will be un-bagged and a gate will be added to the temporary fence to allow pedestrians access to the existing crosswalk. These changes will be implemented before July 4th.
The work taking place right now on the project involves modifying the approach lanes at both existing bridges in preparation for shifting the lanes of traffic slightly to the south. This lane shift is required in order to make room for the equipment and utilities needed to construct the new westbound bridge. The crane that is out there now on the west side of the bridges will be used in the construction of the first bridge footing and abutment for the new westbound bridge.
Bridge footing construction will likely begin in August 2014 and will progress from west to east. During this time the concrete casting yard, Atlantic Metrocast Inc., in Portsmouth VA will be prepared for production of the pre-cast concrete bridge sections. Placement of the first bridge segments on the new bridge piers/foundations will likely begin in mid-March 2015.
Thank you again for all of your valuable input that helps us move this project along in a safe and responsible manner. Still to come – Lesner Bridge Construction Webpage with live/time lapse construction video.
Enjoy your summer.
-Chris
Christopher J. Wojtowicz, P.E.
Project Manager
City of Virginia Beach
Department of Public Works
Municipal Center-Bldg 2
2405 Court House Drive
Virginia Beach, VA 23456-9031
Phone: (757) 385-5785
Fax: (757) 385-5668
email: cwojtowi@vbgov.com
Sidewalk at beloved Lynnhaven Boat Ramp & Beach Facility is now closed.
PLEASE keep in mind IF you choose to park there to go to beach it will be challenging to say the least
Note: Photo was not in email but added by the Editor to ensure everyone knows of the challenges using the beloved Lynnhaven Boat Ramp & Beach Facility this coming Holiday Weekend. Be safe people.
From Cape Story Neighborhood Watch:
Last evening (Sun. Jun 29), a small white dog was attacked by a pit bull in our park. The caretaker was also injured when trying to break up the attack. The dog and woman where both taken to the hospital. The pit bull was the one who had been reported missing earlier. Many people are concerned about how the woman and dog are but no one that I have talked to know who they are. If anyone can provide an update, it would be appreciated by all. The pit bull was taken by Animal Control to be put down. Thank you.
Excerpt from email:
I have expressed my concern to Chris Wojtowicz, city engineer in charge of the project, and he responded promptly that he is having his staff look into moving the pedestrian crossing to the west side of the intersection. I am concerned that this may not take place in time for the 4th of July fireworks off Chicks/Ocean Park Beach. There will be large numbers of people crossing Shore Drive for this event and the lack of a functioning cross walk at this key intersection posses a significant safety issue…
Reply today from City Project Manager:
We are working on it and discussed this at this morning’s progress meeting. Some changes will be made as early as today. A changes will be in place by July 1.
Be careful near Lesner Bridge – you must walk into the street to cross Shore Drive.
The sidewalks are closed on Shore Drive and on East Stratford Road.
Be safe with your children walking in the street!
Be safe walking in the street at Lesner Bridge!
Note:
Access to beach is closed under the Lesner Bridge.
Access to beach from the beloved Lynnhaven Boat Ramp & Beach Facility requires you to walk in the street.
#WeLoveShoreDrive 