Application period starts Tuesday for Richmond Recovers Grant Program
The City of Richmond will begin accepting applications Tuesday for its Richmond Recovers Grant Program. The $3 million grant program is targeted to small businesses and nonprofits affected by the economic upheavals of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Businesses and nonprofits with fewer than 50 full-time employees and revenues below $5 million last year can apply for the program, which will award grants ranging from $10,000 to $15,000 that recipients can use to reimburse employee wages and benefits, pay rent and utility bills, and use as working capital.
The program is funded by the city’s $20.1 million federal CARES Act appropriation. Mayor Levar Stoney announced the program in a COVID-19 briefing last week. Grants will be awarded until the funds are depleted; applications can be submitted online via this link.
Chesterfield approves use of $51.6 million in CARES Act funding
The Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors approved the appropriation of $51.6 million in federal CARES Act funding on Wednesday. The approval follows the appropriation of about $10 million in CARES Act funding in June.
Of the new appropriation, about $8.4 million was earmarked for business assistance programs, and about half of the funding ($28.1 million) was allocated to the school district. The full breakdown of funding usage can be found here.
Powhatan planners to hear solar farm request
The Powhatan Planning Commission is expected to consider a request for a conditional-use permit needed to pave the way for construction of a solar farm.
The facility would be located on about 930 acres located along Three Bridge Road, about a half mile east of the road’s intersection with Maidens Road. The solar arrays would occupy about 175 acres of the land.
The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday. The full agenda can be found here.
50-unit townhome project approved in Varina
Henrico County approved a development plan for a 50-unit townhome project on 31 acres on the north side of Oakleys Lane east of Oakleys Place in Varina. The two-story units will make up the third section of The Bay Cos.’ Townes at Oakley’s Bluff development.
The plan was among others approved this month by the county’s planning director, who was given authority in April to unilaterally approve development plans and preliminary subdivision plats during the COVID-19 pandemic. The full agenda with director decisions is available here. The Planning Commission continues to review rezoning and provisional-use permit requests.
Black Lives Matter street mural endorsed
An image of how the proposed street mural would appear from above. (Courtesy City of Richmond)
At its Aug. 17 meeting, the Richmond Planning Commission approved a review of a temporary street mural proposed for East Grace Street between Ninth and Eighth streets. The yellow-lettered mural would read “Black Lives Matter” and would stretch nearly 200 feet long and 24 feet wide across the two-lane street across from the entrance to the Virginia State Capitol.
Venture Richmond is proposing the mural, which would follow similar installations in Washington, D.C., and seven other cities across the country. The mural would be painted over five days by Richmond artists Hamilton Glass and Ed Trask.
Venture Richmond’s request includes letters of support from Glass, City Councilmember Ellen Robertson, the Downtown Neighborhood Association, and local ad agencies The Martin Agency and West Cary Group. The commission received one letter opposing the mural from a city resident.
Henrico names former Richmond deputy as new police chief
Henrico County hired Eric English as police chief effective Sept. 14. English, currently police chief for the city of Harrisonburg, will succeed Humberto “Hum” Cardounel Jr., who retired Aug. 28 after more than four years as chief and nearly 32 years with Henrico Police.
Eric English
Cardounel announced in June he was electing to take Henrico’s Voluntary Retirement Incentive Program, a cost-cutting measure made available to county employees during the COVID-19 pandemic that offers enhanced benefits to eligible employees who elect to retire.
English has more than 30 years of law enforcement experience. He served with the Richmond Police Department from 1989 to 2018, rising through the ranks to become deputy chief of operations in 2011 and deputy chief of support and business services in 2016. He was named Harrisonburg’s chief in September 2018.
A UR grad, English has a master’s degree in public administration from VCU and attended the Senior Management Institute for Police. He also is a certified law enforcement instructor.
He is a member of the International and Virginia associations of Chiefs of Police and is president of the central Virginia chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.
Application period starts Tuesday for Richmond Recovers Grant Program
The City of Richmond will begin accepting applications Tuesday for its Richmond Recovers Grant Program. The $3 million grant program is targeted to small businesses and nonprofits affected by the economic upheavals of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Businesses and nonprofits with fewer than 50 full-time employees and revenues below $5 million last year can apply for the program, which will award grants ranging from $10,000 to $15,000 that recipients can use to reimburse employee wages and benefits, pay rent and utility bills, and use as working capital.
The program is funded by the city’s $20.1 million federal CARES Act appropriation. Mayor Levar Stoney announced the program in a COVID-19 briefing last week. Grants will be awarded until the funds are depleted; applications can be submitted online via this link.
Chesterfield approves use of $51.6 million in CARES Act funding
The Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors approved the appropriation of $51.6 million in federal CARES Act funding on Wednesday. The approval follows the appropriation of about $10 million in CARES Act funding in June.
Of the new appropriation, about $8.4 million was earmarked for business assistance programs, and about half of the funding ($28.1 million) was allocated to the school district. The full breakdown of funding usage can be found here.
Powhatan planners to hear solar farm request
The Powhatan Planning Commission is expected to consider a request for a conditional-use permit needed to pave the way for construction of a solar farm.
The facility would be located on about 930 acres located along Three Bridge Road, about a half mile east of the road’s intersection with Maidens Road. The solar arrays would occupy about 175 acres of the land.
The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday. The full agenda can be found here.
50-unit townhome project approved in Varina
Henrico County approved a development plan for a 50-unit townhome project on 31 acres on the north side of Oakleys Lane east of Oakleys Place in Varina. The two-story units will make up the third section of The Bay Cos.’ Townes at Oakley’s Bluff development.
The plan was among others approved this month by the county’s planning director, who was given authority in April to unilaterally approve development plans and preliminary subdivision plats during the COVID-19 pandemic. The full agenda with director decisions is available here. The Planning Commission continues to review rezoning and provisional-use permit requests.
Black Lives Matter street mural endorsed
An image of how the proposed street mural would appear from above. (Courtesy City of Richmond)
At its Aug. 17 meeting, the Richmond Planning Commission approved a review of a temporary street mural proposed for East Grace Street between Ninth and Eighth streets. The yellow-lettered mural would read “Black Lives Matter” and would stretch nearly 200 feet long and 24 feet wide across the two-lane street across from the entrance to the Virginia State Capitol.
Venture Richmond is proposing the mural, which would follow similar installations in Washington, D.C., and seven other cities across the country. The mural would be painted over five days by Richmond artists Hamilton Glass and Ed Trask.
Venture Richmond’s request includes letters of support from Glass, City Councilmember Ellen Robertson, the Downtown Neighborhood Association, and local ad agencies The Martin Agency and West Cary Group. The commission received one letter opposing the mural from a city resident.
Henrico names former Richmond deputy as new police chief
Henrico County hired Eric English as police chief effective Sept. 14. English, currently police chief for the city of Harrisonburg, will succeed Humberto “Hum” Cardounel Jr., who retired Aug. 28 after more than four years as chief and nearly 32 years with Henrico Police.
Eric English
Cardounel announced in June he was electing to take Henrico’s Voluntary Retirement Incentive Program, a cost-cutting measure made available to county employees during the COVID-19 pandemic that offers enhanced benefits to eligible employees who elect to retire.
English has more than 30 years of law enforcement experience. He served with the Richmond Police Department from 1989 to 2018, rising through the ranks to become deputy chief of operations in 2011 and deputy chief of support and business services in 2016. He was named Harrisonburg’s chief in September 2018.
A UR grad, English has a master’s degree in public administration from VCU and attended the Senior Management Institute for Police. He also is a certified law enforcement instructor.
He is a member of the International and Virginia associations of Chiefs of Police and is president of the central Virginia chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.