| UPCOMING
CITY COUNCIL
MEETING
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Feb. 13, 2012
Feb. 27, 2012
March 12, 2012
March 26, 2012
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| Economic and Community Development Newsletter |
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| PARKS, RECREATION &
COMMUNITY FACILITIES
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If you haven't already done so,
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February 13, 2012 Vol. 4 Issue 2
Welcome Welcome to the February 2012 edition of the "Building a Better Richmond" newsletter.
On January 31, I held my third State of the City address at Thomas Jefferson High School. During the address, I highlighted previous year accomplishments and detailed focus areas for our city's future such as reducing and de-concentrating poverty, exploring educational alternatives, improving sustainability, and increasing access to our city's riverfront. Click here to read my speech or view the 2012 State of the City Address video.
Even though we've had a very mild winter thus far, we remain ready to address any possible inclement weather. To keep you informed, we have developed a new on-line application that will enable you to see where snow plows have already been, as well as where they are heading.
 The Snow Plow Tracker map includes information for the City's posted emergency routes, Priority 1 and Priority 2 routes; which includes major arterial routes, such as Broad Street, Midlothian Turnpike and Belvidere Street. It also provides the locations of safety and emergency resources, such as fire stations, police precincts and hospitals, as well as City schools and fire hydrants. You can view the application at https://richssl.ci.richmond.va.us/applications/GIS/snowmap.
Recently, I introduced the RVA Shoppers' Shuttle, a new free monthly shuttle offering transportation for Richmond residents to local grocery stores. The courtesy service is being piloted for residents in the city's food deserts -- areas without access to healthy, nutritional, fresh food. Food desert focus areas for this pilot project include Hillside Court, Fay Towers, Creighton Court, Fairfield, Mosby and Whitcomb. The pilot project will run for a six month period and then the City will assess its usefulness and sustainability. Click here or visit www.Richmondgov.com for a full RVA Shoppers' Shuttle schedule.
This type of transportation support system is one of the preliminary recommendations of my Food Policy Task Force and ties in with my administrations' efforts to create a healthy lifestyle focus in the city. The Mayor's Food Policy Task Force is presently working on recommendations for a comprehensive food delivery system in the city.
As we approach the end of February, I want to encourage you all to make plans now to attend the 2012 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Men's Basketball Tournament. This year's tournament is scheduled for March 2 through 5 at the Richmond Coliseum. I again thank CAA Commissioner Tom Yeager and all of the teams of the CAA for committing to hold the men's basketball tournament at the Richmond Coliseum through 2014.
I hope you enjoy reading the remainder of this newsletter and that you forward it to your friends and family.
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New High School
I am proud to report that we have begun constructing a new Huguenot High  School, the fourth new school under construction in the city of Richmond during my term. This LEED certified school will be the first high school constructed in the city of Richmond in more than 40 years. The building of new schools is part of a collective effort that I led in conjunction with Richmond City Council and the Richmond School Board.
The start of the Huguenot High School construction project involved the removal of the Forest Hill water tank. This water tank was inherited by the City through the annexation of portions of Chesterfield County many years ago. I believe that the building of this new school is a signal of planting seeds for a brighter future. I am proud that we have begun constructing new schools. I am also proud that we are investing in community schools that will provide wrap-around services to improve learning outcomes for our youth.
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New Justice Center
On January 20, Sheriff C.T. Woody, City Council President Kathy Graziano, City Council Vice President Ellen Robertson and community stakeholders joined me in a groundbreaking ceremony for the city's new Justice Center. The $134.6 million Justice Center will be located at the current jail site and will have a rated capacity of 1,032 beds. The facility is slated to open in January of 2014 and to be fully completed by the final quarter of 2014.
 This is an issue that I did fight for, not because it is a popular decision, but because building this new justice center is the right thing to do. My administration is also focused on finding alternative solutions for non-violent offenders and for those suffering from mental illness. We want this to be a facility that actually yields positive results, rather than a facility that drains resources and pulls a community downward. The new Justice Center will be more efficient, provide more humane treatment of inmates, better conditions for the employees and visitors, and will cost city taxpayers less money over the life of the facility.
Tompkins/Ballard Joint Venture, the winning vendor for the construction of the new Justice Center, proposed a single-phased approach so inmates would not need to be moved out of the existing jail during construction. The proposal also was under budget and exceeded my goal of a 40 percent minority participation rate.
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RVA Green
As part of the process to develop and implement Richmond's Sustainability Plan, RVA Green: A Roadmap to Sustainability, I encourage you to attend a public workshop where we will share the draft sustainability plan and gain community input for action steps and resident participation in plan implementation. The workshop will be held on Thursday, February 16, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Richmond Police Training Academy, 1202 West Graham Road.
The Sustainability Plan is part of my Green Richmond Initiative which was created to support the City's sustainability goals of improving our resident's quality of life, creating a healthy environment and enhancing economic opportunity in our city. During the workshop, we will share the draft Sustainability Plan and provide opportunity for community input to develop action steps for resident involvement in the implementation of the plan. Once the community begins implementing the plan, we will use metrics to report annual progress and assess future sustainability efforts for City government and the community.
Please come out and join us as we need your input.
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Black History Month
In salute of Black History Month, I ask that all of us support local Black-owned businesses during the month of February, and continue to invest in our local economy. To aid in this effort, we have and will continue for the remainder of the month print a series of advertisements in the Richmond Voice and Richmond Free Press, listing city black owned businesses in the categories of Entertainment/Restaurants, Beauty/Health/Retail, Home & Auto, and Professional Services. You can also visit www.Richmondgov.com for a full business listing. Look for City tweets indicating where I'm having lunch or what businesses I'm visiting throughout the month. If you would like for your business to be included, please contact the City of Richmond's Office of Minority Business Development at (804) 646-5947 to register your business. The Office provides maximum opportunities for minority, disadvantaged and emerging small businesses with programs geared to inform, educate and motivate minority and emerging firms to become more involved in the City's procurement opportunities and achieve sustainable growth within the city of Richmond.
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Closing
Thank you for taking the time to view this newsletter. I hope you found it informative and insightful and that you will share it with others in your family and community.
For more information on the city of Richmond, please visit www.RichmondGov.com.
Thank you.
Dwight C. Jones
Mayor, City of Richmond
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