Minutes 03/29/2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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March 29, 2004 components of our Neighborhood Quality initiative. I will address these priorities later in this budget presentation. COMMUNITY FORUMS It is interesting to note that our City government has been engaged with our citizens in many forums over the last several months, beginning with the City Council Retreat in November, held here in our own Renaissance Hotel with many citizens in attendance at informative presentations and discussions ranging from public education to marketing. On January 5, we began the third class of the Portsmouth Neighborhood Academy, an eight-week Monday night course involving interaction of City staff and community leaders. On January 20, we convened for the first of three Community Meetings scheduled for 2004, continuing this new public forum which began last year with three meetings at public high schools. On February 7, City Council held a Boards and Commissions Retreat at the Renaissance, with more than 100 members of Council-appointed bodies learning more about the Spheres of Success and hearing a keynote address from the volunteer chair of the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority, Diane Griffin, who was also Portsmouth's First Citizen last year. On February 25, the Mayor presented his State of the City message to a packed Chamber of Commerce audience at the ballroom at the Holiday Inn Olde Towne. I want to talk a little bit more about that in a few minutes. And on February 28, more than 500 people gathered at I. C. Norcom High School for the ninth annual NEAT Summit with the theme of "Promoting Portsmouth Positives." The NEAT Summit played off the City of Portsmouth's new marketing theme: "Portsmouth. The right place, the right time." Attendees at this summit took part in bus trips and interactive discussions to learn more about the many positive assets and activities in our community. Even long-time residents of Portsmouth said they learned exciting information that they didn't know about their city. I am sure you will agree that this is a remarkable record of interaction between the City Council and staff and the business and civic leaders of our community, a record unmatched by any other city in our region to my knowledge. I want to thank the City Council for your leadership in this succession of community forums, as well as City staff for planning and conducting these activities. All of us are well aware that this is a City Council election year, and I can assure you that the City staff stands ready to work with whomever the citizens in their wisdom elect to represent them. I do want to say a special word of thanks to our Vice Mayor, the Honorable Bernard D. Griffin Sr., who has served on this body since 1992 and has decided on a "second retirement" as he did not run for re-election. Thank you, Vice Mayor, for your steady hand at the helm of our local government. We will miss you. STATE OF THE CITY MESSAGE HIGHLIGHTS As I look around the room, I see that many of you were in attendance at Mayor Holley's informative State of the City message last month. I am certainly not going to take you back through that excellent presentation again, but I do think it is worth noting some of the significant successes that he highlighted. Many activities had a direct bearing on upgrading the housing stock of the city, one of Council's highest priorities. For the first time, Portsmouth served as host city of the Tidewater Builders Association's Homearama showcase, TBA's first on deep water. More than 80,000 people came to Homearama and, among other things, toured Portsmouth's first million-dollar homes. Homearama is the site of the 63-acre River Pointe Village, a $35 million mixed-use development including 35 custom-built homes, 58 senior condo units and 22 acres of retail and office/warehouse space developed by Gee's Group Real Estate Development. All of us were excited about the announcement of New Port at Victory Crossing, a $450 million investment by L. M. Sandier & Sons Inc. including 1,628 living units on 200 acres developed as a unique "traditional neighborhood," the first of its kind in Hampton Roads. We broke ground earlier this year for two new apartment complexes near our downtown. The first was The Myrtles at Olde Towne, a $22 million high-end development of 246 rental units by Roseland Property Company on 10 acres between