At the March 9th Ocean Park Civic League Meeting at the Brock Center in the Pleasure House Point Nature Center. We got new information about several topics! Officer Schonbach updated us on the new technology being implemented and latest statistics in our neighborhood.

• Dan Adams, Coastal Program Administrator for the Virginia Beach Dept. of Public Works, provided updates:
• Ocean Park dune grass planting and sand fence installation. We are finalizing the purchase order to do the planting and fence installation with the company Coastal Transplants.  We are near the end of planting season, but the work should begin within the next three weeks and should take about a week.  It takes about 2 years for the grass to grow in but it will look great!
• Upcoming beach nourishments at Cape Henry, Chesapeake Beach and Ocean Park: The current schedule is for work to start by the end of March and will take about 90 days. The work times are Monday-Friday 7:30-4:30 but since we are getting a late start, we may seek to extend those hours. Regarding dredging of Lynnhaven Inlet, the USACE is currently in the process of developing contract bid documents (i.e., plans and specifications) to conduct a full dredge of the Lynnhaven Inlet.  The current schedule is to go out to bid for this project in the late summer/early fall 2023.  Dredging work is currently scheduled to begin in winter 2024.  Sand dredge from Lynnhaven Inlet will be placed on Cape Henry Beach.

District 9 Councilman Joash Schulman joined us and explained the background of the need for City Council action before January 2024 on the election system in Virginia Beach. He also talked about the school budget and the new property assessments. He encourages residents to contact him with questions and concerns: jschulman@vbgov.com.

The Virginia Beach City Council will have to formally adopt a new system for elections in Virginia Beach prior to the 2024 election. The changes that were made for the 2022 election have not been formally written into the city’s charter. The City Council wants to look at various options for structuring the election system in Virginia Beach. In order to educate the public and get feedback about the options, the city is organizing mail surveys, television and newspaper advertisements, a website and 12 town halls, including one in each district and two at centrally located sites with virtual attendance opportunities.

President Danny Murphy gave updates on several recent informative meetings: Town Hall with Chris Taylor, City Manager’s Listening Meeting and the Bayfront Advisory Commission. Also noted were upcoming Social Events: Spring Fling on April 22 at Taste, May Piling Event and a planned Beach Cleanup with details to follow!

For full details: see the March General Meeting Minutes which will be posted shortly. You can access the recording of the meeting also: Zoom.us/OPCL March 9 General Membership Meeting.rec/play. Passcode: 7U?MJ!We

You can pay your 2023 OPCL Membership Dues and pick up your 2023 sticker! Pay your dues with PayPal or with a credit card in CheddarUp!

We have new sky blue hoodies in sizes L, XL and 2XL! They are $40. Also new are long sleeve t-shirts in sky blue and light gray ($25) in sizes Med.- 2XL. Contact communication@opcl.org. Free delivery! You can pay for your shirts/hoodies by credit card here: my.cheddarup.com/c/ocean-park-t-shirts-sweatshirts cart. We have limited availability of short sleeve shirts-contact communication@opcl.org.

We also have short sleeve t shirts and athletic gray hoodies!

If you receive this email that looks like it is from Danny Murphy, president of OPCL please delete! It is a scam email .

We have new sky blue hoodies in sizes L, XL and 2XL! They are $40. Also new are long sleeve t-shirts in sky blue and light gray ($25) in sizes Med.- 2XL. Contact communication@opcl.org. Free delivery! You can pay for your shirts/hoodies by credit card here: my.cheddarup.com/c/ocean-park-t-shirts-sweatshirts cart. We have limited availability of short sleeve shirts-contact communication@opcl.org.

We also have short sleeve t shirts and athletic gray hoodies!

Here’s a message from Mary Ellen Faust: “ I am always amazed at the people who come out to volunteer for the OPCL cleanups for OUR Adopt-A-Spot, Pleasure House Point Natural Area. Especially on a day like today with temperatures in the 30’s! Today more than 200 pounds of refuse were removed with the help of 18 volunteers! Ashley and Levy, her lovely lab, were first out! Our civic league president, Danny Murphy, didn’t just show up, he was out there for the full three hours, wading out in the water and in the reeds, making drops and going back out for more!! Tetsuo O. and Debbie Cohen (pictured below) came early, too! Thanks to Liz Janney, Joshua, Anita and Savannah Montgomery, Merle Younkin, Michael Pearman (dragged out a pickup truck tailgate!), Dave Fortier (working the creeks!), Kevin and Sayer Davis brought more car parts and “stuff” (overachievers!), Laura Hugings and Christina Miller (came for a walk and joined right in!), Chrissy Mason and Georgia Pitrone!! If I left anyone off, apologies, however, considering that I had little hope that ANYONE would even show, I was truly overwhelmed by the support!! Thanks again you lovely people!!”

The Bayfront Advisory Commission met on Thursday, February 16th at the Ocean Park Volunteer Rescue Squad. At the meeting Mr. Dan Adams gave several updates on sand replenishment along the bay and about the dune grass planting: “A contract is being prepared for dune grass and sand fence installation as follow on to compliment the beach restoration work completed last spring. This work will occur in March. The next placement and source of sand for Ocean Park will most likely be the next cycle of dredging of the Lynnhaven Federal channel in 3-4 years. Method of sand transport is hydraulic(pipeline).”

Highlights from the January BAC meeting:
“CHAIR’S REPORT:
Mr. Davenport also welcomed Councilman Chris Taylor of District 8 and Councilman Joash Schulman of District 9. After the introductions, Mr. Davenport reviewed the BAC Strategic Priorities document for FY 2021 and 2022. Mr. Schulman added that he will push for funding in the budget for the Shore Drive Corridor Plan update and will stress the implementation of the Shore Drive Phase III & IV CIP projects. Mr. Taylor discussed the possibility of using TIP funds on improvements to Shore Drive. Other priorities discussed included the regulation of density in the Shore Drive Corridor, sand replenishment, crosswalks and other pedestrian safety measures on Shore Drive, and affordable housing.“