Minutes 03/21/2005 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

March 21. 2005 TRANSFORMING NEIGHBORHOODS AND COMMUNITIES Through the City Council's Vision, I believe we have a unique opportunity to rethink our neighborhoods and develop additional solutions that will make them more vibrant, exciting and desirable communities in which to live well into the 21 st century. If we want to develop neighborhoods that will be great places to live now and into the next century, we need to understand, and to be able to describe and measure the basic elements that define good neighborhoods - homes in good condition, adequate parking, good transportation, quality shopping, nearby playgrounds and libraries, and safe streets. I am recommending several important project initiatives within the Capital Improvement Program that will directly impact and improve the quality of live within neighborhoods across our City. The first of these has to do with the Churchland Library. The Churchland community has outgrown the capacity of the existing public library. Although we have explored options with neighboring cities for regional partnering, such opportunities are not available at this time. I am proposing $100,000 in the FY06 budget toward the initial design and planning phase for the new Churchland Library. I am proposing funding of $100,000 for the demolition of 23 vacant dwellings within neighborhoods across the City, as part of our continuing efforts to take out condemned and unsafe structures. In addition, $75,000 is included for weeds and debris removal from private property. The Department of Community Relations and Leisure Services will manage this initiative. As part of the continuing work in the Victory Crossing area, the FY05 budget includes $100,000 designated for landscaping in the area of the westbound off-ramp from 1-264 at Victory Boulevard and for the median of Victory Boulevard in the area of the Victory Crossing Shopping Center. The FY06 budget includes $1,725,000 to continue the effort of making improvements to Victory Boulevard between Cavalier Boulevard and Greenwood Drive. Landscaping will be an essential part of this work and will serve to assure that the improvement and beautification of the area continues. The budget includes $550,000 for the installation of storm drainage piping and closure of the median drainage ditch on Cavalier Boulevard from Greenwood Drive to Victory Boulevard. This project will also include upgrades to the water and sewer lines in the same area, to be funded through Public Utilities. There is $417,600 in the FY05 budget for drainage issues in this area. The Neighborhood Quality Action Plan (NQAP) includes a component on improving the appearance of gateway entrances to the City through more positive visual elements such as landscaping and improved signage. The budget includes $200,000 to be appropriated for this neighborhood transformation initiative. The focus in the FY06 budget will be on North Landing, High Street Landing, High Street corridor and Portsmouth Boulevard at Hodges Ferry Bridge. INVESTING IN OUR EMPLOYEES Employees are any agency's most important asset. Portsmouth is blessed to have competent employees who have established a long-time work culture of meeting and surpassing the expectations of our citizens. The public's work is often performed under difficult conditions, including constrained financial resources. This budget begins to better address the needs of our employees. These are early steps on a long journey to modernize the organization. This budget includes an additional $3.1 million for City employees, in general wage increases, pay range adjustments, retirement and Social Security contributions, and health insurance increases. As part of proposed pay range adjustments, we are making market adjustments for sworn police personnel, which is described in more detail in the section on public safety. In this budget we have included a 3 percent general wage increase effective July 1, 2005, on the current salaries of all City employees. The general wage increase will facilitate the movement of employees within their respective pay ranges.