Residents and OPCL board members have met several times with city staff concerning various issues with the Ocean Park beach access points. There has been considerable interest in these issues and the Ocean Park Civic League takes its role of providing information about the community seriously. In a surprise move, the city has proposed an ordinance concerning the Raleigh Ave. Beach Access with essentially no public notice. On December 6th, the City Council will vote on the new ordinance.

OPCL is pursuing a request for deferment of this agenda item to give residents and stakeholders an opportunity to participate. A deferment would only be granted at the City Council Meeting not ahead of time so those interested parties should register to speak at the December 6th City Council Meeting if they want to be heard. (​​​”A citizen who wishes to address the council concerning an agenda item must register with the city clerk or deputy city clerk at 385-4303 prior to the meeting.“) Residents may also send an email to the council members: CityCouncil@vbgov.com. Any updates regarding this issue will be posted here on the website.

The new ordinance: “Ordinance to AUTHORIZE temporary encroachments into a portion of City right-of-way known as Windsor Crescent re maintain existing stone patios, stone walls, PVC fence, brick steps, fire pit, wood fence and grassy area at the rear of 3868 Jefferson Boulevard.” Details of the agreement with the city can be found in pages 172-199 of the Bookmarked City Council Agenda .

Meet us on Zoom for a virtual meeting on Thursday, December 8th at 7:00 pm. Several important items will be on the agenda. We hope to have updates on the Beach Access Ordinance, the 7th Senate District Special Election and more. Follow this link to register for the meeting: Zoom Meeting December 8th Register. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

On Tuesday, November 29th from  6:30-8:00 pm, Council Member for District 9, Delceno Miles hosted a Bayside District Town Hall Meeting and invited everyone to hear updates from city staff on Public Works, Storm Water, Economic Development, Planning, Police, Housing and Neighborhood Preservation.

Thank you to residents for attending the November meeting at the Brock Center! Joash Schulman was kind enough to attend as he is starting right off getting to know his constituents! We passed the budget and voted in Christy Allen as the new Secretary of the civic league. Read all the details in the minutes! November General Meeting Minutes. President Danny Murphy moves things along efficiently keeping the meeting to less than an hour! Mission accomplished! The Zoom link is working well and we had folks join us on Zoom as well. As always send any questions or comments to president@opcl.org.

If you lost this scarf at Fall Fest contact: communication @opcl.org

So many people to thank for the great time at the OPCL Fall Fest! Thank you to the Brock Center for their support and partnership as they provide a beautiful venue for this event and our monthly meetings. HUGE thanks to the volunteers who made the event happen: first and foremost Joanne Lappin Parker who kept 100 balls in the air to bring it all together!

Kudos to Jenny Snyder and Natalie McIntyre for lassoing great raffle prizes donated by local businesses. Jenny is also our Instagram artist keeping us up to date! Thank you to our generous sponsors who donated our raffle prizes!

Thank you to the volunteers who set up, manned the bar, food, t-shirt and raffle tables: Dave and Maribeth Gamble, Jennifer Jackson, Anita and Josh Montgomery, Tim Lindemann, Karen Urban, Merle Younkin, Chris Lewis, Jason and Margaret Cascio (Peggy wins BEST face paint! And led the children’s costume parade!) Janna Gentler, Christy Allen, Blake Norris, Betty Dierstein, Brian Snyder and Debbie Cohen! Thank you to the Membership volunteers: Shane Abell, Sharon Grossman, Andrea Lindemann, Jill and Dan Speasmaker! Cookie bakers: Patsy Hassell-Garris and Charlene Cerza!

Thank you to our president and oysterman: Danny Murphy- also chef of the smoked jackfruit bbq!

At the Tuesday, October 18 meeting City Council Meeting, City Councilman John Moss thanked President Danny Murphy, Todd Solomon and Public Works Director Mr. Hansen for working toward a solution that would address residents’ concerns about private use of the Transfer Station.

The ordinance to allow private use of the Lynnhaven Transfer Station was passed. A number of people spoke in favor including a group of 17 neighbors on Crab Creek who have gotten together to pay for the dredging of Crab Creek. In addition to the boating access, they describe how silted in the area has become noting the impact also on wildlife and the marshes. The contractor who will do the work also spoke noting that using the Thalia Transfer station adds almost 30% to the cost of dredging and the use of much more fuel since it is much farther away.

Thank you to President Danny Murphy who pushed for these guidelines! And also thanks to all who helped put them in place including Councilman John Moss, Council Member Delceno Miles, Mr. Hansen and Mr. Solomon.

We have 10 new yard signs that we would like to distribute around the neighborhood to be put out the week before our monthly meetings to remind residents of the OPCL meeting. If you live near a spot that gets a lot of passersby and would be willing to put a sign out once a month, the week before the Ocean Park Civic League meeting, and then take it down and store it-let us know! Write to president@opcl.org or communication@opcl.org.

Thursday night’s Ocean Park Civic League meeting welcomed several guests and offered neighbors the chance to visit and also ask questions of the speakers. City Council District 9 Candidate TJ Morgan introduced himself and followed up with a question period. Delceno Miles is the new City Council Member filling Louis Jones’ seat. She introduced herself and talked about her priorities for the next months. Residents also had questions for her. One question regarded a land purchase by the McLesky company that will be coming before the city council. Council Member Miles gave her assurance that she would pay close attention to the details forthcoming in the City Council Friday Packet and provide followup. Residents also voiced concerns about long time lack of promised infrastructure improvements in Ocean Park. Ms. Miles said she was committed to listening and looking into all concerns.

Several issues were addressed in the business portion of the meeting: the Lynnhaven Wharf/Crab Creek Dredge Transfer Station changes proposed by the city and the suggested operating parameters we support , Lynnhaven Boat Ramp Safety Issues and Ocean Park beach access plans. Minutes of the September 15th meeting: September General Meeting Minutes

The Thursday meeting was also broadcast over Zoom with enhanced audio and a different video strategy. We are happy to report that folks listening in via Zoom saw and heard a big improvement! Coming in person is still best but it’s certainly a great alternative if you want the latest but can’t get to the meeting. Southside OPCL Board rep Brian Snyder followed the Thursday meeting on Zoom: “Thanks for offering the option to listen to the OPCL meeting through Zoom. With our young children, it’s not easy to attend in person but glad to have the Zoom option for updates on Civic League activities.”

City Council Member John Moss, incumbent for District 9, and School Board incumbent for District 9 Carolyn Weems have been invited to the October 6th Ocean Park Civic League meeting which will be held at the Brock Center.