City Manager’s Update Nearly 300 Virginia Beach residents attended the June 6 community interest meeting to gauge support for pursuing a Blue Zones designation, portraying our city as a destination of well-being, health and longevity. Blue Zones co-founder Nick Buettner came in for the meeting. He explained the initiative and how it involves the cooperation of citizens, businesses, public schools, restaurants and grocery stores to impact people’s “life radius” — all of the things that influence their daily lives. These organizations are then encouraged to optimize their spaces and practices for better health. The idea to bring Blue Zones to Virginia Beach started with Tide Swimming President Katy Arris-Wilson. She approached the City and worked with Deputy City Manager Ken Chandler to shape the local launch of the initiative. After successful application of a Community Services Micro-Grant with support from Councilmember Shannon Kane as council liaison, Tide Swimming brought Buettner to town for the kick-off meeting. Initial citizen feedback has been positive; 58% of attendees at the interest meeting completed a survey following Buettner’s presentation with results as follows: 97% want the City to consider an inclusive approach to population health 96% want the City to consider partnering with Blue Zones 67% selected various focus groups they would be interested in volunteering to help us achieve the Blue Zones designation 11% indicated interest in becoming a corporate sponsor More than 30 cities throughout the United States have already earned or are in the process of earning a Blue Zones designation. Given the potential for positive outcomes, the next steps to becoming a Blue Zones community for Tide Swimming includes maintaining momentum on this initiative to change the community for the better, focus groups, and educating and driving community stakeholder interest. Virginia Beach high school graduations began this week and will finish June 16. The Communications Office’s Multimedia Services division streams them live on www.vbschools.com, records the graduation ceremonies, which are available to watch on demand at www.youtube.com/VirginiaBeachSchools, and rebroadcasts each ceremony on VBTV (Cox and Verizon cable channel 46). Each graduation will play at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on the scheduled dates below: Adult Learning Center | Monday, June 18 First Colonial | Wednesday, June 27 Bayside | Tuesday, June 19 Princess Anne | Thursday, June 28 Green Run | Wednesday, June 20 Renaissance Academy | Friday, June 29 Kempsville | Thursday, June 21 Landstown | Monday, July 2 Salem | Friday, June 22 Ocean Lakes | Tuesday, July 3 Tallwood | Monday, June 25 Kellam | Thursday, July 5 Green Run Collegiate | Tuesday, June 26 Cox | Friday, July 6 Contact: Communications Office, (757) 385-4679. Since the Communications Office introduced Publicinput.com as the City’s new online survey tool earlier this year, more than 13,000 participants have completed surveys. Department staff has reviewed and considered nearly 128,000 responses and 4,000 comments from residents about various City projects. The platform is mobile-friendly and there is nothing to download. Citizens have had the opportunity to weigh in on major development projects such as the Dome Site and the Entertainment District, share their opinions on the Atlantic Avenue off-season parking trial, and choose an artist for the Mount Trashmore stair mural. Now on the site: a survey to provide input on resort area parking, and a new one will be added next week, to solicit ideas on how to enhance (“activate”) Atlantic Avenue. To access the open surveys and to see results from completed surveys, visit publicinput.com/VirginiaBeach. The Hampton Roads Chamber hosted its annual Valor Awards on June 6, which provides the business community an opportunity to thank and recognize the noble men and women in public safety for their extraordinary acts of courage and resourcefulness in the line of duty. This year, members of the Virginia Beach Fire and Police Departments received Silver Valor Awards. This week, we’re featuring the VBFD employees who received awards. Next L-R: Master Firefighter S. Sass, Master Firefighter N. Williams, Captain week, we’ll turn the spotlight on the M. Cooley, and Firefighter D. Costlow. VBPD employees. The firefighters from Company 18, A-Shift, were presented with the award for saving two occupants trapped on a second floor balcony during a two-alarm fire on Dec. 31, 2017 at Willow Lake Apartments. The fire quickly spread through the attic and roof of the building, resulting in heavy structural damage. The first units arrived within four minutes of the call and reported heavy smoke with limited visibility. They quickly located two women on the balcony of the end unit and were able to remove them safely from the burning building. Officers from the VBPD, who were in the area when the fire broke out, were able to rescue two other residents. More than 60 firefighters responded to the call along with units from the Virginia Beach Police Department and the Virginia Beach Emergency Services Department. This large fire could easily have resulted in multiple fatalities had it not been for the quick actions of our first responders. Realtor.com®, the trusted resource for homebuyers, sellers and dreamers, offering the most comprehensive source of for-sale properties, among competing national sites, ranked Virginia Beach as no. 8 on their list of “Top 10 Most Affordable Beach Towns of 2018.” The article highlights Virginia Beach as having the lowest average down payment (6.8%) of the 50 largest housing markets in the country. To read the article and see the complete list, visit www.realtor.com. Court Appointed Special Advocate Administrator Season Roberts, Virginia Beach Police Captain Reo Hatfield and Convention & Visitors Bureau Public Relations Specialist Teresa Diaz were among this year’s graduates of the Chamber’s LEAD Hampton Roads’ Signature Program. The graduation capped off “BRAVO!”, its annual gala celebration of Hampton Road’s top regional leadership. Close to 400 business and community leaders gathered at the Norfolk Waterside Marriott for a reception and dinner honoring visionary leaders and celebrating LEAD’s 30th year of serving the region. The Signature Program is a nine-month program designed for experienced leaders seeking to expand their circles of influence, knowledge of the inner working of Hampton Roads and opportunities to serve. Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation has embarked on a $2.5 million project at Mount Trashmore Park to bring new enhancements to one of the city’s most popular recreation areas. The new features will offer greater accessibility and better accommodate special events. The following improvements will be made: Replacing the stairs on the side of the hill Replacing the old docks with a handicapped- friendly boardwalk and scenic overlook with benches and lower railings (currently under construction) Pedestrian walkway improvements New park office with public restroom A permanent amphitheater-style stage (expected completion by Summer 2019) Vendor pads placed with plug-ins throughout the special event area for vendors Skate park renovations (now open) The National Park Service officially placed the Virginia Beach Courthouse Village and Municipal Center Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places on June 4. The Virginia Beach Historic Preservation Commission initiated the nomination, which Marcus Pollard of Commonwealth Preservation Group compiled and submitted. Placement on these registers is honorary and recognizes structures, sites and districts that embody the historical and cultural foundations of the state and nation. The historic district encompasses approximately 110 acres and consists of a traditional courthouse village to the east and a mid-20th century planned municipal complex to the west. The village portion of the district consists of the historic court buildings and residential and commercial resources on small lots near the road, as well as three older dwellings on large, formerly agricultural lots. The municipal complex features large, mostly Colonial Revival style, office buildings interspersed with large parking lots, mature landscaping, sidewalks and a few gridded streets. There are 35 contributing resources and eight noncontributing resources in the district. These range in date from the late 18th Century Whitehurst-Buffington House to 1970s office buildings. Grammy award-winning band Toto will perform at the Sandler Center for Performing Arts on Tuesday, Nov. 6, as part of their 40th anniversary tour. Tickets are on sale starting today at the Sandler Center box office, over the phone at 877-YNOTTIX or www.ynottix.com. Contact: Sandler Center, (757) 385-2787. Join us at the Virginia Beach Farmers Market for a craft show, children’s activities and live entertainment at the Honey Festival on Saturday, June 23 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lots of local honey for sale and the Tidewater Bee Keepers will be on site. For more information, visit VBgov.com/farmersmarket. ♦ June 15, 2018 – Copy of an inter-office memorandum from Purchasing Agent Taylor Adams regarding the Construction Bid Summary Report for May 2018. ♦ June 7, 2018 – Copy of a letter with attachment from Kristina D. Chastain, Resort Advisory Commission president, to Mayor Louis Jones and City Council regarding reallocation of money to TIP fund. ♦ June 7, 2018 – Copy of a letter from Kristina D. Chastain, Resort Advisory