Well there has been some good news and some bad news as we look back at 2023!

Our social calendar expanded to include lots of great new events: Easter Egg Hunt, Piling Day, Movie on the Beach, and Holiday Party! Huge thanks to the awesome Social Committee and all the wonderful neighbors who come out and join in!

Great times at Chilli Out Night, Spring Fling, Fall Fest and FIREWORKS!!

Our traditional Fall Fest was a hit again!

On the Bad News side: money for long awaited improvements to Shore Drive was diverted again in the 2023 City Budget (waiting for decades for these improvements). Some monies have been restored to the project with proceeds of easements sold to Dominion Power. We thank Councilman Schulman and City Council for their efforts! We hope the funds remain attached to this CIP and the project moves forward.

Many plans in the works for fun in 2024! The Chili Cookoff sign up will be available shortly for the Thursday Feb. 8 event at OPVRS. Maybe this is your year to WIN! Stay tuned for news about wine tasting, Easter Egg Hunt, PHP clean ups, Movies on the Beach, Spring Fling (April 20) and Piling Day (May 5th)! Best wishes for health and joy in the new year to all our Ocean Park neighbors.

At the December VBCCO meeting, Chris Taylor, City Councilman for District 8 and mayoral candidate, talked about the budget issues that face the city: increased spending for storm water projects, wise spending for festivals (the first SITW got $250,000 from the city while an untested Beach It Festival received $1.5 million resulting in a big loss for the city as it brought in only $350,000). He also talked about right size spending for the new school designs. He urged residents to contact their District Council member with their input on the Festival Task Force and the School Modernization Committee.

Sheriff Rocky Holcomb brought his entire staff (not really) and gave an overview of VBSO programs, facilities and challenges – chief among those is the need for a Virginia Beach firing range. Currently ‘crimefighters’ (Rocky’s term for deputies) must travel to North Carolina to renew firearm qualifications resulting in lost time and increased costs. Sheriff Holcomb mentioned a number of programs to include the year around GED program, a Re-entry Program that this year included a job fair for inmates transitioning to post jail life, a food service and landscape service certification programs as well as increased attention paid to providing needed mental health services.

Meetings are open to the public. The VBCCO seeks to bring together the civic leagues and other civic organizations in the city to educate, inform and empower residents of the City of Virginia Beach through its civic organizations. The Ocean Park Civic League is a member of the VBCCO. All members of the civic league are therefore also members of the VBCCO. If you would like to volunteer for a committee or a board position ( right now the secretary position is open), contact: secretary@vbcco.org. On January 24th, City Manager Patrick Duhaney, Planning Director Kathy Warren and Planning Administrator Kaitlen Alcock will join in for a question answer session. This will be a free but mostly likely a ticketed event. Details to follow at VBCCO.org.

Our Ocean Park neighborhood has many connections with CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates). Morgan Ayers served as Board chair until last year. Gaynelle Ayers was an advocate for many years. Tracy Cohen has completed the rigorous training and is now an advocate. We were able to donate over $1000 in gift cards to be given to the children in foster placements. Thank you to all the wonderful and generous neighbors who donated toward this worthy cause!!!

What’s happening at City Council and city affairs:

Storm Water Projects Update. The city council was briefed by Leisha Pica, the Jacobs Engineering Program Manager. She is a great briefer and is very clear and understandable. This video includes Jeff Waller Chair of the Floor Prevention Oversight Board and Keisha Pica. Link to presentation.

City Budget 2023-2024. The budget process is beginning for formulation of next year’s budget. On Dec. 12 the Audited Finance results were presented for Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2023. Following that Davenport & Co. updated the City Council on the financial picture of the city. The main news is that the city will need to find additional sources of revenue for the costs that are over and above the $567million that was provided for in the bond referendum which look to be about an additional $310 million. City Council will have sessions for public input on the budget in February.

Mayoral Election in 2024. Currently the four announced candidates running for Virginia Beach mayor in 2024 are: incumbent Bobby Dyer, City Councilman Chris Taylor, City Councilwoman Sabrina Wooten, and former City Councilman John Moss.

Civic League Meeting January 11 at the Brock Center.

Holiday Light Bike Parade!! Huge thank you to Anita Montgomery for organizing this at the last minute so the tradition would not die! Thank you to OPVRS for the escort through the neighborhood! Thanks to all who joined in!

Fun in 2024! We will celebrate 80 years of the Ocean Park Civic League! Our wonderful Social Committee has great plans for events for 2024! Of course our awesome Chili Cook Off on Thursday, Feb. 8 at the Rescue Squad. More to come: Wine Tasting, Spring Fling April 20th, Movie Nights on the Beach, Piling Day (on Sunday,May 5!). Stay Tuned! (next Social Committee meeting at Taste, January 29th 6:00 pm. All are welcome! )

We had a good turn out for our December meeting. Shane Abell will succeed Blake Norris as Treasurer of the civic league. Thank you Shane for taking on this role and huge thank you to Blake Norris for his five year service as Treasurer for OPCL! We voted in a new member of the Board: Sandra Dawe! Thank you Sandra for joining and helping! The budget was passed.

President Danny Murphy gave updates on a few topics. The city will have to make a decision about choosing a new recycling contract which will include considerable increases in costs. The city has been seeking input on what citizens want:

Proposed Bylaws Changes: