The Green Infrastructure Center Inc. (GIC) has partnered with the Richmond Regional Planning District Commission (RRPDC) , the City of Richmond and the firm of E2 Inc. to assess the city’s green infrastructure. Green infrastructure is the natural building blocks that make cities liveable and healthful. Green infrastructure includes the tree canopy that keeps the city cooler in summer while cleaning the air; the rivers that provide habitat for fish and recreation for people; and the parks and other greenways that provide respite for people and habitat for birds and other wildlife. This new partnership between the GIC, the RRPDC, the city and E2 Inc. will evaluate and map Richmond’s green resources and seek opportunities to expand it. Funded by a grant from the Virginia Coastal Zone Program and the Altria Family of Companies, and the Virginia Department of Forestry (DOF), the project will apply a variety of information sources such as satellite imagery, city data and on-the-ground i...

City officials announced today an aggressive plan to address an estimated 613 open pothole requests throughout the city of Richmond, including those logged via www.seeclickfix.com. Since the beginning of the fiscal year, 1,846 potholes have been filled. "The number of potholes has increased substantially in recent weeks as a result of the record snowfalls that the area has experienced," said Chief Administrative Officer Byron Marshall. "DPW crews have been deployed on a strategic basis to ensure that we close out our pothole repair blitz within the next several weeks." Pothole repair is an ongoing operation of the Department of Public Works (DPW) in the city of Richmond. Since February 16, DPW crews have filled 80 to 100 potholes on a daily basis as weather conditions allow. Under the stepped up action, Priority 1 streets, or main arterials, are being focused on initially. But city officials expect to have potholes on both the main arterials and Priority 2 roads fil...

The city of Richmond's Belmont Library, located at 3100 Ellwood Avenue, will be closed on Monday, February 22, 2010, to prepare for substantial renovations. This one-day closure will allow for an inventory of library books and materials to be conducted. Mayor Dwight C. Jones first announced the library renovations in March 2009 during his biennial budget proposal to City Council. More than $9 million, over the term of the project, has been set aside to complete renovations to all city libraries. Renovation funding is being provided through the "Building a Better Richmond" fund of the city's Capital Improvement Plan. The Belmont Library renovation will be in phase two, which is scheduled to start in the winter of 2010. ###

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation today released the first ever nation-wide County Health Rankings . These rankings show how cities and counties within Virginia compare on many factors that influence health and provide a snapshot of residents' health in each locality. Mayor Dwight C. Jones issued the following statement in response to the issued report: "I appreciate the work of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in raising awareness about the multiple influences on health. It is good news that Richmond ranks well compared to other Virginia localities in terms of covering the uninsured and providing access to primary care physicians. However, our successes at ensuring access to health care services are being countered by the social and economic factors that add daily stress to the mental and physical health of residents. "Richmond ranks 128 out of 132 localities in terms of life expectancy and 107 in terms of feeling mentally and physically healthy. These telling ranking...

Mayor Dwight C. Jones, City Council President Kathy Graziano, School Board Chair Kim Bridges, and School Superintendent Dr. Yvonne Brandon Regarding the Recent Proposal to "Unfreeze" the Local Composite Index of Ability to Pay for Education City officials announced their disappointment in a recently proposed change to the introduced State budget involving the local composite index. The introduced State budget included a "freeze" on the local composite index, which is the measure of how much a locality can afford to pay for K-12 education. This freeze was extremely important to the city of Richmond, and most localities in the Richmond region. "The proposal to 'unfreeze' the local composite index hits us at a most unfortunate time. We are in the process of assessing the first round of reductions to our schools, in the range of $13.7 million, from the introduced State budget. We are also balancing other potential cuts to our locality - another $7.8 million...

Due to the inclement weather, the Belmont Branch of the Richmond Public Library system will be closed on Wednesday, February 10. All other libraries in the Richmond Public Library system will close at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, February 10. All Richmond Public Libraries will resume normal operations on Thursday, February 11. For more information, call (804) 646-7223. ###

WHO: Mayor Dwight C. Jones George Cloutier, Author United States Conference of Mayors WHAT: Partner America Program Reception and Dinner WHEN: Tuesday, February 9, 2010 at 5:30 p.m. WHERE: Bull and Bear Club 901 East Cary Street, 21st Floor BACKGROUND: Mayor Dwight C. Jones will be honored by the U.S. Conference of Mayors this evening during a special event to discuss the challenges and opportunities for small businesses today. George Cloutier, author of "Profits Aren't Everything, They're the Only Thing" is the special guest for the program that will follow dinner. Partner America is a public-private partnership created by the United States Conference of Mayors and American Management Service Incorporated to help small and mid-sized businesses improve profits and sales through management and technical assistance in hundreds of cities and states across the nation. ###