City Manager’s Update Fire Chief Dave Hutcheson talked about leadership challenges and the principles he tries to follow as the leader of the Virginia Beach Fire Department during a speech Thursday. He was one of four area leaders invited to provide remarks as part of the Second Annual Commander, Naval Air Force Atlantic Leadership Symposium hosted for sailors at the Joint Forces Staff College in Norfolk. Chief Hutcheson shared the stage with Norfolk Sheriff, Joseph Baron, Volvo Penta Americas President and CEO Ron Huibers, and Navy Force Master Chief Huben Phillips. He talked about the scene of the Navy jet crash in 2012 and the impact a 1996 fire in Chesapeake had on his views of work-life balance. Two firefighters were killed in that fire after the ceiling collapsed on them. Virginia Beach Development Authority (VBDA) meetings will now be available to view online. The Communications Office used this week’s meeting as a soft launch to test live streaming capabilities from the Department of Economic Development’s boardroom. The meeting was streamed live to VBgov.com and just like City Council and Planning Commission meetings, video of complete coverage is posted on the City’s YouTube channel. Streaming to Facebook is planned for the future; some equipment still needs to arrive to support that capability. The Virginia Beach Development Authority facilitates the expansion of the tax base through increased business investment. VBDA meetings occur on the third Tuesday of every month beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the Department of Economic Development’s boardroom. Council Member Sabrina Wooten will host Ignite, a City workshop focused on helping small businesses learn how to compete to win government contracts, on Saturday, Feb. 23. Topics include overcoming issues facing SWaM businesses, doing business with state and local government, where to find opportunities and avenues to winning public contracts. The event will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the 2nd floor theater of the Advanced Technology Center. Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation is hosting a job fair to find energetic, qualified employees for a variety of spring and summer part-time positions. The department is looking for dedicated individuals who have demonstrated skills and are looking for opportunities to work with kids, teach swimming, or work outdoors in one of our scenic parks. Employment areas include aquatics, athletics, parks and natural areas, landscape, recreation center support staff, therapeutic recreation, youth programs, and camps. Parks & Rec hiring managers and team members will be at Bow Creek Recreation Center (3427 Club House Rd.) on Thursday, Feb. 28 from 4:30 to 8 p.m. providing information and answering questions. Those interested in attending should bring their resume and dress to impress. Current openings can be found online at VBgovCareers.com. Contact: Dena Kimball, (757) 385-1117, [email protected]. There’s still time to check out the Community Heroes Poster Exhibition. Available through the end of February, posters are located at all Virginia Beach Recreation Centers, the Meyera E. Oberndorf Central Library and the Oceanfront Area Library. Additionally, the Office of Cultural Affairs is highlighting an African American Community Hero each day this month on Facebook in celebration of Black History Month. Visit www.vbpublicart.org for more information on the project. The Department of Public Utilities is currently accepting entries for the 2020 Water Awareness Calendar, but the deadline is fast approaching. Virginia Beach residents in kindergarten through 5th grade can enter by submitting an illustration showing how they help conserve water, prevent backflow contamination, or properly dispose of fats, oils, and grease. Winning artists will be honored in a ceremony held in the spring. Entries must be mailed or brought to Public Utilities during normal working hours (Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.). No entries will be accepted without a completed entry form. All entries must be brought to Public Utilities or postmarked by March 1, 2019. For more information such as contest rules, submission specs and entry form, visit www.VBgov.com/pu. Tourism is one of the city’s major economic engines and it takes more than brick and mortar to keep this vibrant machine going. A talented, dedicated workforce is the heartbeat of our local tourism industry. They deserve recognition and you can help give it to them! Take the opportunity to nominate your favorite hospitality superstar in one of more than 30 categories for the Convention & Visitors Bureau’s 2019 National Travel & Tourism Awards. Submit your nominations online by Friday, March 1. Winners will be announced at the annual award luncheon on May 8. The Department of Emergency Medical Services held its 29th Basic Life Support (BLS) Academy graduation ceremony on Thursday, Feb. 21. Vice Mayor Jim Wood, Council Members Aaron Rouse and Sabrina Wooten attended the ceremony to welcome 33 new graduates who completed a 14-week curriculum of Basic Life Support training. Vice Mayor Wood and VBEMS Deputy Chief Tom Green provided remarks and advice to the graduates and were sworn in by Chaplain Ruby Christian. The graduates will soon begin their field internship time running with one of the 10 volunteer rescue squads, and will be released as Attendants-in-Charge, ready to staff an ambulance once requirements are complete. The ceremony also recognized the promotion of Captain Mike Brown. Congratulations to the newly graduated and promoted. A portion of N. Lynnhaven Road near the intersection of Virginia Beach Boulevard is temporarily closed to safely facilitate utility work that began this week. This closure is expected to be in place until mid-April, weather permitting. Area residents will have access to their properties at all times. Contact: Marcy Garnett, (757) 385-4910. Westbound traffic on Laskin Road, from Red Robin Road to Bayway Road, will be down to one lane beginning Saturday, Feb. 23, to complete roadwork on the westbound bridge deck. Weather permitting, work will take place from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. and should be complete by Sunday, Feb. 24. Contact: Lonnie Minson, (757) 675-8714. Utility work on Bow Creek Boulevard will begin Monday, Feb. 25. To safely facilitate this work, Bow Creek Boulevard will close temporarily between Kings Arm Drive and Burgesses Lane. Weather permitting, the closure is expected to be in place until Friday, March 8. Area residents will have access to their properties at all times. Contact: DeWayne Craddock, (757) 385-4140. As part of its Aging Infrastructure Program, Public Utilities is replacing the sanitary sewer pump station serving Kempsville’s Lark Downs neighborhood. Work includes construction of the new pump station and demolition of the existing pump station. Construction began mid-January and is scheduled to be completed in December. The 44-year-old pump station, located at 704 Monmouth Lane, has reached the end of its useful life. The new pump station will help ensure safe and reliable sanitary sewer service to the surrounding community for many decades to come. Virginia Beach was selected for the March cover of Teach & Travel, the official publication of the Student and Youth Travel Association (SYTA), a non-profit professional trade association promoting domestic student and youth group travel and provides research that informs, educates and advocates for student travel. The Convention & Visitors Group Tour Sales Team secured the coverage in the March issue, which includes a five-page spread that focuses on the latest and “what’s new in Virginia Beach” as a travel destination for this lucrative market. ♦ Feb. 19, 2019 – Copy of a City of Virginia Beach news release titled, “Meeting of Three Commanders Virginia Historical Highway Marker to be Dedicated March 6.” ♦ Feb. 19, 2019 – Copy of an article from CoVaBiz Magazine titled, “Virginia Beach’s New Mayor Bobby Dyer.” ♦ Feb. 20, 2019 – Copy of an article from The New York Times titled, “Miami Battles Rising Seas.” ♦ Virginia Beach Television (VBTV) Program Schedule | Feb. 24 through March 2, 2019. Media Contacts Mark Reed | [email protected] | (757) 385-8573 Jolilda Saunders | [email protected] | (757) 385-4621 News Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Meeting of Three Commanders Virginia Historical Highway Marker to be Dedicated March 6 VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (Feb. 19, 2019) — The Virginia Beach Historic Preservation Commission will dedicate a state highway marker to commemorate the Meeting of Three Commanders on Wednesday, March 6 at 3 p.m. This dedication ceremony was previously scheduled in January. The marker will be placed close to Lynnhaven Colony Park on Shore Drive near where the meeting is believed to have taken place. The marker dedication ceremony will be held at the park shelter, 3125 Shore Drive. In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony will be held in BoBo’s Restaurant, 3139 Shore Drive. Parking for the event is available at the restaurant and a reception will be held at BoBo’s after the event. Gen. André Lanata, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation of NATO Allied Command Transformation, will be speaking at the dedication ceremony. He is a French Air Force officer. Gen. Lanata will be joined by Virginia Beach Mayor Robert M. “Bobby” Dyer on the program. The public is invited to attend. The meeting occurred Sept. 18, 1781 between Gen. George Washington, commander-in-chief of the combined American and French armies, the Comte de Rochambeau, commander of the French expeditionary army, and Admiral François Joseph Paul de Grasse, commander of a large French fleet of warships. These commanders met aboard de Grasse’s flagship on Lynnhaven Bay. It was here that the final strategies were devised that led to the stunning Franco-American victory at Yorktown. The text for the marker was researched and developed by local historian Jorja Jean, who received a grant award from the Virginia Beach Historic Preservation Commission to fund the marker.