What has your Civic League done for YOU?

Greetings Lake Shores Neighbors,

We have our first Civic League meeting of the New Year this Tuesday, 23 Jan. Social at 7 pm, followed by our meeting, including a great speaker on flood insurance, Mike Vernon (Lake Shores neighbor).

We will also have our first Adopt-a-Street of the New Year this Saturday, at 9 am.  We meet at the pump house at the north end of Jack Frost.  Whether a member of the Civic League or not, please feel free to both attend the meeting and join us in beautifying our Neighborhood.  Last month we were joined by Jennifer Lane, Scott Renshaw, and three great children: Max Lane, Seth Renshaw, and Sophia Renshaw!  Thank you so much for coming out and helping!

I want to take this opportunity to point out many of the great things your Civic League does for Lake Shores:

We had our first Haunted House for Halloween, as well as our first Civic League organized Yard Sale in July- special thanks to Tina and Mike Moreau, and Jennifer and Jim Shields!

We continued our Annual Holiday Lights contest- thanks to Corrie and Craig Corey for spearheading this!  We would love to see more folks enter, there were many great decorations in our Neighborhood this year.

We continued with our annual Holiday Celebration in December- thanks to Santa for taking time out of a busy schedule to attend!

We continued our participation in Adopt-a-Street- thanks to Jeannie McDonald and Jack Beck for coordinating and for those who faithfully show up to assist!

We continue to have a very close relationship with the VB Police, thanks to Rick Shelor!  We participate in CAC- Citizen’s Advisory Committee, are working with the City to reestablish Neighborhood Watch, and receive timely updates on crime in Lake Shores and environs- again all thanks to Rick, and Dave Gresens who goes to the CAC meetings.

Rick also coordinates our annual National Night Out event, where we can meet and talk with our local police precinct leadership and officers.

We worked to get brush cleared from the sightlines at Shelton and Independence –  with the possible removal of trees to further improve visibility in the future.  In addition the City has promised to stripe the roadway at the curve between Shelton and School to improve safety- also a Rick Shelor led effort!

We participate in the Virginia Beach Council of Civic Organizations (VBCCO).

We send an annual donation to the Virginia Beach EMS.

We continue to work issues that you, our neighbors, bring to our attention, including stopping a variance by a developer to sub-divide lots in Lake Shores, zoning and code issues, and complaints about the HRSD sewage plant.

We received an informative brief last meeting about a new traffic calming measure available.  We need your input, especially those who live on Jack Frost.  There will be more, including pictures of the “speed tables,” in a future message.

Finally, we worked tirelessly on the issue of traffic noise from Northampton.  In May of last year we had our City Councilman- Louis Jones, 2 State Delegates- Del Stolle and Del Villanueva, and a representative of our State Senator Wagner- J.P. Godsey- at our meeting.  We then had a great turnout at a City Council meeting in June where Councilman Jones sponsored a resolution to conduct a sound study, the results of which would be sent to VDOT, so that the State can provide funding for a sound barrier.

We held a meeting with the City Engineers concerning the makeup and conduct of the sound study- thanks to Dave Gresens  who served as our chief engineer!  At this point in time the City is waiting for the final report, which will be sent to Richmond (VDOT) along with Councilman Jones’ resolution, for funding of a sound barrier on Northampton.

Del. Stolle requested that Lake Shores make a showing at any hearing regarding this, and Councilman Moss has offered to attend with us, as his schedule permits.

Overall, a very productive year.  We look forward to continuing in our efforts to improve our Neighborhood, and we can’t do it without you- please join us on Jan 23rd!

Jim Brinkman

President, Lake Shores Civic League