• Lt. Naroz gave his police report:
  • YTD the Maymont area has had 1 violent crime and 8 property crimes (down from 12 last year)
  • He reminded everyone to be extra vigilant with shopping season approaching
• Parks Richeson gave a report on Maymont:
  • Visits were up 20% last year and they are up an additional 20% this year
  • 15,000 visits last quarter
  • The Mansion will have Christmas audio tours available
  • The 3^rd floor will hold an interactive orientation to the Jim Crow era
• Betsy Carr gave her General Assembly report:
  • The session will begin the second Wednesday of January
  • This session will be 2 months and will be held in-person
• Amy Robins gave her report on behalf of Stephanie Lynch for the 5^th District:
  • Lower speed limits are being introduced to residential areas
  • New sidewalks are coming in Spring 2022
  • Senior bags will be distributed in the coming months and she needs neighborhood volunteers
  • Police and fire pay and benefits are being adjusted to be more competitive with nearby localities
• Joy Rogers gave an update on the Riverview Park playground vision

Link to the recording of the meeting can be found here:

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/LOkdt6_1gMlW6bPjKwA6h-KSE2a2Akgx8unxb9tTOWlErH9OGEJJtYdFxGUZVajV.Hs3HI8z6vkdmFg2l

PASSCODE: i$uC$@r8

• Joy Rogers opened the meeting around 7:02PM
• Lt. Naoroz gave a crime update for the sector. Crime is down compared to last year (which was a historically low year). There has been a decrease in package theft but unfortunately an increase in violent crimes. There have also been two robberies in the nearby area.
• Amy Robins and Stephanie Lynch gave updates on the 5^th District: the sidewalks are coming and the project will begin in late spring/early summer; a bike survey is also coming (bike lane barriers have been a huge advantage to car speeds in Southside, so keep that in mind as you complete the survey), May 24 City Council officially votes on the budget, Stephanie’s district meeting will be held on Thursday, May 20 at 6pm and details for the Zoom link can be found on her Facebook page.
• Betsy Carr gave an update on the General Assembly meetings and she will be walking through our neighborhood going door to door in the next few weeks.
• State Senator Ghazala Hashmi provided an additional General Assembly update. The Senate is planning to meeting in late July/early August to discuss allocation of federal money. Schools are being pushed as a top priority. She can be contacted via social media.
• Colette McEachin, the current Commonwealth’s Attorney for Richmond has been in office for 18 months and discussed her campaign plan to Restore, Rehabilitate and Reform Richmond.
• Tom Barbour, the challenger for Commonwealth’s Attorney for Richmond spoke about his campaign. He can be contacted by visiting tomrvaca.com.
• William Burnett, candidate for Richmond Sheriff has been with the Richmond Police for over 28 years and discussed his plans, if elected to office. He can be reached through his Facebook page.
• A Dominion representative was unable to make the meeting to discuss plans to move power lines underground. Information will be emailed to those on the mailing list in the next couple weeks.
• Our next meeting will be held (hopefully in person) on September 16, 2021. More details to come.

The full meeting recording can be accessed here: 

Highlights of the meeting are summarized below:

Joy Rogers, President, introduced the Board members and opened the meeting (via Zoom) at 7pm.

Parke Richeson, Executive Director of Maymont gave an update on the park hours which have now been extended until 7pm through October. She also discussed updates on programming and events to look forward to this spring and summer. 

Stephanie Lynch provided an update on vaccinations. The City is currently in Phase 1b which includes 65+, essential workers, and the service industry. She discussed the way for neighbors to preregister. 3 senior housing complexes in our district have now been fully vaccinated. She announced that Phase 2 of the sidewalk project in our neighborhood has been included in the FY 2022 budget $430,000). She reminded neighbors of the additional speed traps on Harrison/Colorado and mentioned that photo speed ticketing was coming. March 18 is her District Town Hall at 6pm and would provide a place to ask questions. 

Justin Patterson gave the Treasurer’s Report. The civic league spent $197.30 so with a balance from last meeting of $4,005.08, we currently have a balance of $3,807.75. Neighbors are encouraged to pay membership dues to Justin at 1805 Greenville.

Officer Naoroz gave a crime update on precinct. Overall, year to date there is a 9% reduction in criminal activity (122 last year to 103 this year). COVID has skewed some crime statistics but overall the district is doing well. He reminded neighbors to lock their car doors.

Jackie and Cassi were special guests representing the Pump House Park project. They provided a history of the group, which started in 2017 and their goal of working to keep it standing. They were enthusiastic to add new members and explained ways to get involved by volunteering. 

Mike Jones was also a guest speaker and gave a brief background about himself and his reason for wanting to run for the House of Delegates seat. 

Betsy Carr gave an overview of the General Assembly session and some highlights on the bills she personally championed this past session.

Joy concluded the meeting and announced our next meeting date will take place in May (details of location to come).

• The January 25 Board meeting was held via Zoom. A recording of the meeting is in the link above and a summary of topics covered.
• The Board members were introduced
• The new conservation easement on Kansas Avenue between Greenville and Carter now has official signage
• Maymont Glow took place in December and provided a nice socially-distanced event for many
• David Naoroz provided the neighborhood crime report for the precinct
• There was a significant reduction in crime for 2020 and we beat last year’s numbers.
• He reminded neighbors to lock their car doors as car theft is common
• Betsy Carr presented a brief report on the House of Delegates session. The session is virtual and that is going well. Her number is 804-986-6852 and her email is delegate.carr@betsycarr.org if anyone would like to contact her.
• Amy Robins provided an update on recent and upcoming events in the 5^th district. A summary of topics covered is listed below:
• Utility relief has been extended – additional information is on Facebook
• Dominion loan forgiveness
• The Mayor releases his budget on March 5
• For COVID testing information, please call 804-205-3501
• There will be a Zoom call with Stephanie on February 25
• Stephanie Lynch’s contact information is: 804-646-5724 / stephanie.lynch@richmondgov.com
• Amy’s contact information is: amy.robins@richmondgov.com
• The Civic League Treasurer’s report was provided by Treasurer, Justin Patterson. The balance at the end of December was $4,005.80.
• Dues can be paid to Justin at 1805 Greenville
• Voting for the 2020 Board member positions took place and the results are as follows:
• Joy Whitney was voted in as the new Civic League President for 2020
• Emily Messer was voted in as the new Civic League Vice President for 2020
• Mark Brandon and Ida Mitchell were voted in as Co-Community Liasons for 2020
• Leah Hopper, Secretary and Justin Patterson, Treasurer remain in their positions for 2020.

https://fb.watch/1ReuPzKToJ/

The meeting can be viewed by clicking on the link above. Highlights include:

• Treasurer’s Report: $3,885.08
• Due collection was suspended in 2020 and will resume in 2021.
• Geese report: 186 domestic geese were relocated in October, 20 remain.
• Lt. David Naoroz provided the precinct crime report. To date, this year there have been 540 crimes. To give it some context, last year was an all-time low of 622 for the full year. He reminded us to be cognizant of package deliveries and to remember to lock car and house doors.
• Delegate Betsy Carr reported that there is an upcoming special General Assembly session and they will be meeting virtually.
• New School Board representative Stephanie Rizzi introduced herself. She can be contacted at stephanierizzi4sb@gmail.com until she enters her new office in January.
• Joy Rogers reported that there are 398 houses and 1 church in our official neighborhood.
• Benjamin Lamont provided a report on the sidewalks. Phase 1 construction will begin in mid-late summer. Phase 1 will include sidewalks on Kansas from Texas to Hampton and on Meadow from New York to Dakota. The dead trees on Kansas will be removed as part of this process.
• The neighborhood is encouraged to decorate your block with Christmas bows. You can be reimbursed if you bring a receipt for the purchased bows to the Treasurer.
• There will be a playground report and update on December 9 at 6PM.
• Stephanie Lynch provided a District update. 130 senior bags were distributed since our last meeting, an infrastructure walk was conducted and she encouraged everyone to use the 311 app to report potholes, sidewalk issues, etc. She made everyone aware of the new additional speeding fine on Colorado/Harrison. The budget session starts in March. December 3 will be Stephanie’s holiday fellowship which will be held virtually this year.

The Civic League September meeting was a virtual Zoom meeting which you can view above. Highlights include:

• 311 app update
• Elias Franz’s tree project at the Amelia Street School
• Guest Andrew Grigsby discussing his non-profit Veridiant which helps homeowners find energy savings (andrew.grigsby@veridiant.org or go to veridiant.org for more information)
• Lt. David Naoroz introduced himself as he is new to our sector and precinct but not the City
• Treasurer’s report
• Stephanie Lynch gave her councilperson report which included topics such as 311, GRTC route changes, elderly tax relief program, polling location and absentee voting updates
• Betsy Carr gave House of Delegate report on the budget which should be public and circulated to the public soon