Meeting - September 18, 2023

Welcome and Introductions Joy welcomed everyone to the meeting, and a few new faces atthe meeting introduced themselves . Police Report – no police staff at meeting Neighbors mentioned one car was stolen in the neighborhoodrecently; a couple of cars were rifled through recently . Staff from Maymont were guests at the meeting: Krista Weather-ford, Kathy Garrett-Cox, and Parke Richeson Maymont got a $10 million grant and working with the U . S. Economic Development Administration to plan out how to usethe money. Goals for the project:preservation (of the Dooley Mansion – updating roof, HVACsystem, fire suppression system)education (building out different spaces for wildlife engage-ment – expanding bobcat exhibit; fox is getting new holdingarea; reconstructing rapture valley to prevent it from beingslick; adding a behind the scenes area to view the bears;two new species coming – porcupine exhibit across fromthe fox in a new habitat (porcupines used to be native to VA) and coyote exhibit, highlighting why they are found in VA now; DWR naturalized coyotes in VA a few years ago)accessibility around Maymont (connecting different partsof Maymont that will be more ADA compliant – less steepand better for kids and strollers)Start date is when EDA signs off on Maymont’s proposal andthen the work will be contracted out . Not losing any species to make room for the new ones. Not doing an energy audit at this time but looking into grantsto evaluate energy Maymont-wide. Most of Maymont animals came from animal rehabbers and Department of Wildlife Resources and are no longer re-leasable . 100th Anniversary of Maymont will be 2025-2026. As part ofthe celebration, Maymont is conducting an oral history project– looking for stories of how folks engaged with the estate overthe years; photos and stories would be great; hoping to informfuture exhibitions; would love to talk to long-time residents ofour neighborhood . Maymont is supportive of the city improving safety at the Shirley Street entrance, but no specific improvements areplanned right now . City of Richmond guests: T orrence Robinson and Carla Childs(employees from City of Richmond Dept . of Public Works)Starting October 1st – leaf collection of bags can be placed atthe curb (10 bags or less); the city is requesting residents usebiodegradable bags; in November, you can pay $30 for the cityto vacuum up leaves along your curb and this is available until March; the city encourages composting to dispose of leaves; in November and December there will be unlimited leaf bag col-lection from the curb; the city is preparing now for snow sea-son, the goal is always to clear the roads within 48 hours . Sidewalks updates:Maymont Neighborhood Sidewalks Phase 1 project is com-pleted Phase 2 project is under design – installing sidewalks on Colorado (Hampton to Georgia; Greenville to Carter);working with city arborist to impact as few trees as possible– neighborhood side streets are on hold due to impacts toexisting trees Phase 3 is in the funding stage right now; may be able to in-stall rubberized sidewalk that would work better with treeroots Trees – large limbs have fallen on Georgia recently; City saidthey are still in clean-up mode from the storm a few weeksago, 240+ trees in the city were damaged from the recentstorm; the 311 app is helpful to report large brush piles thatthe city needs to remove . Speed tables in the neighborhood are expected to be installedby June 2024, including two on Hampton Street; neighbor- hood has requested one on T exas Avenue leaving T exas Beachparking lot . Riverview Park – adjacent field is future home for a play-ground; neighborhood has requested regular mowing next tocommunity garden and moving of boulders to make room forplayground . DPW cleanup for Zone 7 will be rescheduled because of re-cent storm; date TBA.5th District updates from Stephanie Lynch (5th District Coun-cilmember) and Amy Robins (5th District Councilmember liaison)Keep cars locked . If you have a Kia or Hyundai, consider awheel lock. Thanks f