You can use mine.

Test test testing.

That one works, though.

This one works.

Test one two, testing one two.

Jim, are you getting anything in the control room?

Testing one two is this going out.

Test one two, test one two.

Hello, hello.

Everybody still says their name.

We're good.

Test, test.

See it feared being replaced with old technology.

All right.

All right, good evening, everybody.

The planning commission pre-meeting for September tenth, twenty twenty-five is now in session.

Welcome to the pre-meeting tonight.

Thank you for taking part in the business of our city.

First order of business is our agenda overview discussion.

So we will now uh review those four items and determine placement on either the consent or regular agenda.

So our first item is item one Sawyer property.

Uh Miss Neal.

Updates for us.

Good evening, Commissioners.

I have no updates on this item, and we received no public comment.

Thank you, Miss Neal.

Uh Commissioners, any conflicts with this application?

Commissioners have any questions for staff.

Any discussion?

All right, hearing none.

Any objection to placing this item on the consent agenda?

I would like to see that on the regular agenda.

No problem.

Item one will be placed on the regular agenda.

All right, our next item is item two.

Mr.

Bell.

Updates.

Staff has no updates on this application and received no public comments.

Thank you, Mr.

Bell.

Commissioners' conflicts.

Any objection to placing on the consent agenda?

All right, seeing none, item two will be placed on the consent agenda.

Next item.

Item three, real street tattoos.

Mr.

Bell, back to you.

Yep.

Uh no updates on this one as well, and no public comments on this one either.

All right.

Thank you, sir.

Commissioners, any conflicts with the application?

Any questions for staff?

Any discussion?

Any objection to placing on the consent agenda?

All right.

Item three will be placed on the consent agenda.

Next item.

Item four, subdivision approval timelines.

Updates for us.

Um there is one uh public comment, more of a question, um, an email that was sent today asking what the bill was that was passed that resulted in this text amendment.

Okay, thank you very much.

Commissioners, conflicts with the application.

Any questions for staff?

Any discussion?

Any objection to placing on the consent agenda?

Item four will be placed on the consent agenda.

So as of now, the consent agenda consists of items two, three, and four, and our regular agenda consists of item number one.

All right.

Next order of business uh planning commission committee reports, old business, uh any committee actions or reports needed.

All right, thank you.

Next, we have upcoming items.

Summary of new public hearing item applications received.

Mr.

Bostwick.

Good evening, Commissioners.

This month's summary of new applications in the pipeline include three rezonings, one of which has a companion conditional use permit, one standalone conditional use permit, one solid waste management conditional use permit, two special exception applications, and one subdivision variants.

So quite the range of applications.

No doubt.

Thank you very much.

Uh Ms.

Neal, initiated text amendments.

No new initiated text amendments to report.

That's easy and simple.

All right.

If I could add on that one.

So last night uh there was a request for an initiating resolution.

So that will be coming forward uh regarding billboards.

So that'll be heading your way here shortly.

Thank you, Mr.

McNamara.

And we'll go right back to you for any comp plan updates.

All right.

So our monthly update for comprehensive planning efforts.

Uh first we'll go to the big one, and that's the comprehensive plan update.

Uh so a couple things to report.

Number one, we've completed our five uh open houses uh across uh the city, and we I thank Commissioner Cruz for showing up to just about every one of those, I believe.

So I appreciate his support there.

Uh in general, you know, really good interactions with the public.

Uh, you know, overall, I believe we're in a really good spot.

Uh and we are collecting those comments right now and making sure uh you know where any edits are necessary, where we're making those edits and revisions.

Uh so going forward, uh we have uh our public comment period does close on September 26th.

So we're we're getting close to the end on that.

So uh we would encourage anyone in the public that that has not gotten their comments in yet, please get those in so that we can make those changes as we move forward towards the public hearing process.

Uh we are updating the document as comments come in with uh a new staff version being presented to planning commission.

So you will be getting a new version of that document with the revisions, and we'll make sure to to note any of the revisions that have taken place since the first document that you've seen.

Uh an initiating resolution was adopted by City Council last night, so they've uh asked uh you to consider uh repealing the previous comprehensive plan and and adopting the new one.

We begin in 120 days on this uh request, so uh we are moving forward with that.

Uh City Council works uh session is scheduled for September 24th on the plan itself.

So that will be first contact with uh council with the actual draft document in hand.

And we do anticipate uh bringing this to planning commission for public hearing on October 8th.

So some uh some critical dates moving forward, uh, but all good stuff, and we're really excited to move this project forward.

Our next one is our Deep Creek Area Plan.

Uh next week we'll be having a community meeting on September 17th.

Uh so we'd love to see folks come out there.

That'll be at the Deep Creek uh community center from 5:30 to 7:30.

Uh the draft document right now is in hand with uh with staff, and we're making uh revisions right now and and requesting some changes, so it's not quite ready for public consumption as of yet, but we are getting close.

Uh we're in process of developing some detailed renderings for some of our opportunity sites here, so we're really excited to get those in hand and to uh include them in the plan as well.

And then ongoing work with the South Military Highway Federal Road Study.

This is a part of the plan, uh, but there will be detailed uh uh analysis and recommendations as it comes to the feeder roads along South Military Highways part of this plan.

So we think that that's critical in particular for the focus area of the uh South Military area.

So uh looking forward to moving this forward.

And then great news here.

So the Green Bar Area Plan was adopted by City Council, so it is now officially uh city council policy, and we are beginning work on implementation uh through multiple efforts right now uh with with conversations with uh our state delegation with certain uh matters, and then uh also in-house here, we are beginning to look at linking our our our growth areas with our areas for preservation and and we've talked about the transfer of development rights program uh for quite some time, but giving you the first real update on this.

So our TDR market analysis is complete at this time.

And uh we're beginning on initial uh program recommendations being prepared.

Uh so our first briefing will be to City Council in October as part of our City Council retreat.

So we're looking forward to that conversation as we uh begin uh getting this program up off the ground and then linking it to zoning to really implement the uh the green bar area plan.

So exciting uh exciting news there.

And then uh just to touch briefly on the Western Branch area plan.

We are uh continuing to work on procuring a consultant for this.

Uh, you know, one of the things that we're doing in-house this time is uh completing our own existing conditions report.

So that's underway, and we're looking uh to get some of that baseline data so when uh we do procure a consultant that we'll have that in hand so they can hit the ground running uh with the report and uh really getting to our public engagement and uh our our program development.

And I believe that is what we have for this month.

Thank you, Mr.

McMahon.

Commissioners, any questions for staff or Mr.

McNamara?

All right.

Looking forward to next month and hearing the comp plan.

That should be uh should be a fun night.

Okay.

Um, any general uh final thoughts or comments that we need to address.

All right.

If not, pre-meeting is adjourned at six sixteen.

Okay, let me uh phone.

I have the attention of everyone in the council chambers and those outside in the lobby.

Tonight's planning commission meeting is scheduled to begin in fifteen minutes.

If you wish to speak at tonight's meeting, we ask that you complete and submit a speaker card before the meeting begins.

May I have the attention of everyone in the council chambers and those outside in the lobby?

Tonight's planning commission meeting is scheduled to begin in five minutes.

If you were to speak at tonight's meeting, we asked that you complete and submit a speaker card before the meeting begins.

Planning Commission public hearing for September 10th, 2025 is now in session.

Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

For those who wish to participate, you are invited to remain standing for the invocation.

Commissioner Bearfield will lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

The invocation will be offered by Commissioner Squelia.

Good evening.

Tonight we give thanks for the opportunity to serve and to help shape our community and for the trust that's been placed in us.

The work we do here is a reminder that citizens' voices matter, and that every side deserves to be heard and respected as we make recommendations to those elected to represent us all.

Life is fragile, and leadership is a responsibility we must carry with humility.

Liberty endures only when people are willing to stand with courage and when we respect others who do the same.

Let us all be mindful to carry out our duties to our communities with wisdom, with respect, and with a steadfast commitment to liberty and service.

And above all, let us remember to love one another as he calls us to be seated.

And as a reminder, please silence your cell phones.

I'd like to welcome each of you to our meeting tonight.

Thank you for taking part in the business of our city.

Mr.

Bostrick, please call the roll.

Commissioner Bearfield.

Present.

Commissioner Cruz.

Present.

Commissioner Gilman.

Present.

Commissioner Hackworth.

Present.

Commissioner Malone.

Here.

Commissioner Swelia.

Here.

Commissioner Spruel.

Present.

Commissioner Williams.

Present.

Chairman Gurloff.

Here.

The minutes for the August 13th, 2025 public hearing are being considered for approval.

The commissioners have any corrections or revisions.

Seeing none, the minutes are approved by unanimous consent.

Commission rules and procedures are available at the table in front of the chambers on the screen in the chambers.

They're also available online on our website.

The chair asks that each of you please follow these guidelines tonight.

Speakers who violate the rules of the public hearing will receive one verbal warning within the course of the evening.

Upon planning commission action of either approval or denial, the remainder of the items shall be heard by City Council next month on either the third or fourth Tuesday beginning 6 30 p.m.

here in this chamber, unless otherwise announced tonight.

So our second order of business is the consideration of the consent agenda.

The consent agenda contains those items that the planning staff believes are unopposed and have a favorable staff recommendation.

Speakers on items placed on the consent agenda will be given a total of five minutes to address the commission.

If you have an objection to an item being placed on the consent agenda, please note your objection when you address the commission.

So at this point, the consent agenda is as follows items two, three, and four.

Mr.

Bosterwick, please read the consent agenda items into the record.

The first item is agenda item number two.

It is PLN-USC-2025-016.

The project is right start early childhood center.

The applicant owner is right start early childhood center incorporated.

The proposal is a conditional use permit to expand a child daycare center.

The location is 1028 Shelley Street in the River Crest Planning Area.

Based on the findings contained in the staff report, staff recommends that PLN-USC-2025-016 be approved with stipulations as listed in the official agenda.

Next is item number three.

PLN dash USC-2025-028.

The project is real street tattoos.

Applicant is Triple 9 Tattoos LLC.

The owner is D O R L C.

The proposal is a conditional use permit to operate a tattoo parlor.

The location is 732 Eden Way North, Unit J in the Greenbrier Planning Area.

Based on the findings contained in the staff report, staff recommends that PLN dash USC dash 2025-028 be approved with stipulations as listed in the official agenda.

Finally is item number four.

PLN-TXT-2025-006.

The project is subdividion approval timelines.

The proposal is an ordinance amending the subdivision ordinance, Chapter 70 of the Chesapeake City Code, Article 1, Section 70-1, and Article 2, Sections 70-21, 70-22, 70-23, 70-24, 70-25, 70-27, and 70-28, and the zoning ordinance, appendix A of the Chesapeake City Code, Article 15, Section 15-102, and Article 18, sections 18-202, 18-203, 18-204, and 18-303 to modify the subdivision approval authority, timelines for action on subdimit submitted plots and plans, and the measurement standard in order to reflect statutory changes enacted by the 2025 session of the General Assembly.

Based on the findings contained in the staff report, staff recommends that PLN-TXT-2025-006 version data June 30, 2025, be approved as listed in the official agenda.

That concludes our consent agenda.

Thank you, Mr.

Bostrick.

Commissioner Hackworth, do we have any speakers for items on the consent agenda?

We do.

Please call the speakers.

First speaker speaking in support of agenda item number two, Yvette Anderson, who has indicated they are available for questions.

Next speaker, please.

Next speaker speaking in support of agenda item number three is Claudia Aguera, who has stated that they are available for questions.

All right, thank you.

Next speaker.

Next uh speaker speaking in support of agenda item number three, Vic Nichols.

Vic Nichols, 1124, Mill Lake Quarter.

So you know I live close to this.

Um when we had a tax shop come before, I supported that because took a poll out of the people in Greenbrier, and they were for it.

So we have uh another one before us.

Obviously, the fillings are the same.

So I hope that you will take the um Greenborough residents, vote in favor of this to have them come into our community.

Thank you, Ms.

Nichols.

Next speaker.

Next speaker speaking in opposition of agenda item number four, Markela Moore.

My name is Marquila Moore, and I live in the Washington borough.

And hopefully you'll be happy to know that I'm not speaking in opposition to the General Assembly, have no problems with the timelines.

And as the slide showed you, that's what you should be voting on tonight, the subdivision approval timelines.

However, in reading the backup, there are two other things in there.

One, removing the Planning Commission as approval authority, and removing the requirement for the applicant to provide public notification.

And my concern with this is that it is to me is implied that the General Assembly changed these, and the General Assembly did not.

And I think it would be clearer if we did this in two steps.

One, just deal with what the General Assembly changed.

And apparently changing the uh approval authority and removing the requirement for the applicant to provide public notification as something that wants to be done, that should be handled separately.

Because the General Assembly didn't have anything to do with that.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Moore.

Next speaker.

That concludes our speakers.

Okay.

Commissioners, any discussion for these items.

All right.

Hearing none, a motion is an order for the approval of the consent agenda with the applicable stipulations or proffers as read into the record by Mr.

Bostwick.

So moved.

Second.

All right.

We have a properly made motion by Commissioner Squalia and a second by Commissioner Cruz.

Commissioners, please prepare to vote.

Please vote.

Mr.

Bostrich, please record the vote.

By a vote of 9-0, the motion carries.

Thank you.

Next order of business tonight is the regular public hearing agenda.

When there are three or fewer speakers, each speaker will have five minutes to present comments to the commission.

If there are four or more speakers, each speaker will have three minutes to present comments to the commission.

Mr.

Bostwick, please present the first public hearing item.

The item is PLN-REZ-2024-014.

The project is Sawyer property.

Applicant owner, J and L.

Sawyer Holdings, LLC.

Agency is Williams Mullen.

The proposal is a conditional zoning reclassification of approximately 22-acre portion of a 72-acre parcel from R 15S residential district and A1 agricultural district to R 10S residential district, 18.8 acres, and R 15S residential district, 3.2 acres.

The location is 1917 Elbow Road in the Greenbrier Planning Area.

Mrs.

Neal will now present staff's findings.

Staff offers the following findings.

The proposed rezoning is consistent with the 2035 Chesapeake Comprehensive Plan Land Use Section, which designates the project site for low density residential uses and preserving the wetlands on the southern portion of the property is also consistent with that portion of the property's conservation land use designation.

The proposed development accomplishes City Council's desired outcome of connectivity by providing multiple vehicular and pedestrian connections to the existing development to the west and a future connection opportunity to the east.

The proposed rezoning incorporates elements of smart growth principles, passes the level of service standards, and as proffered, ensures the building design will feature high quality building materials and provide an attractive amenitized and walkable neighborhood.

Based on these findings, staff recommends that PLN R E Z 2024-014 be approved with the proppers listed in the official agenda.

Thank you, Ms.

Neal.

Commissioner Hackworth, do we have any speakers for this item?

We do.

Please call the speakers.

First speaker speaking in support of agenda item number one, Grady Palmer.

Good evening, Chairman Gurloff, members of the planning commission, city staff.

My name is Grady Palmer.

My new business address, 222 Central Park Avenue in the City of Virginia Beach.

So uh strange, strange times.

So uh grateful to be here tonight.

Um I want to thank staff for all their effort uh on this project.

Um this is a proposal uh to rezone uh man I know is Mr.

Sawyer known for many years, um, has owned most of the much of the property along Elbow Road.

Uh this is the last bit of property that Mr.

Sawyer owns.

This is the homestead uh that he lives he lives on.

Um so we are proposing to uh take a portion of it to R10 S zoning uh district for 43 proposed single family homes.

And so we've heard a lot, I know you have heard a lot about uh the housing crisis.

Certainly single family homes are needed in Chesapeake, not only in Chesapeake, but just about everywhere.

Uh but this this is a critical uh supply for the next few years uh for single family housing.

I know that you've seen uh recently a lot of uh uh condominium development uh along Elbow Road uh in Centerville Turnpike.

Um I think this is a welcome addition to what what we've seen, uh a good amount of condominium development.

So I think h home ownership, single family home ownership is important.

I think I think that's and that's why we're here tonight.

Uh just want to talk a little bit about staff's uh architectural requirements.

Uh as you know, uh that has gone up considerably.

Uh staff's review of architecture.

Uh that uh this project is no exception uh for that, and so there's very detailed uh elevations that are that are proffered, architectural requirements that are proffered, and so uh while that's been painful for us as an industry to get adjusted to uh uh we thank staff for their guidance, have done a great job in helping us sort of come come to terms with it with the new reality in Chesapeake.

One of the other features of these of this proffer is uh which I wasn't aware of, and staff brought it to my attention.

Uh there may be some artifacts in the area, uh so we have proffered to conduct a phase one cultural study before any land disturbance uh permits are approved, basically uh historic uh uh uh uh auditor basically comes out and and drills test wells and looks around and make sure, and if there is any you know any artifacts that are found, we'll immediately notify uh the Department of Historic Resources, all construction efforts stop, and they'll come out and investigate and collect uh the artifacts.

So that that has been covered.

Uh, do want to talk about schools for a minute.

Um, this, unlike a lot of the projects that you have approved recently, uh the city council is approved.

This is not in the Indian River uh high school district.

Actually, the Oscar Smith district kind of swoops down.

Uh and I did check the CIP uh this morning, and the schools reported in their CIP that given the limited amount of residential development in the attendance zone, Oscar Smith High School enrollment has been has been relatively stable over the last five years and is not projected to experience uh substantial increases.

Uh so we we don't believe this is a 43-lot development.

I think about 20 students total uh are projected uh to come out of uh this development.

And I know I know there's some some concerns with roads.

I do want to highlight Mr.

Tate is here who can talk about this.

There's gonna be major improvements to the intersection of Centerville and Elbow Road.

I've got a client that uh is that is proffered to make substantial improvements for the southbound uh traffic.

Uh I'm sure the city will address other aspects of the intersection, but there's major improvements coming uh for uh that intersection.

There's also major improvements uh for phase two of Elbow Road, which is the first section as you know as you drive out there has been widened.

Uh the city is going to take on phase two, which pushes that widening past this east east past this property, and so there will be major changes uh uh right around this property for uh traffic uh going east and west.

And so we think the timing is right for rezoning.

Now, just because you're rezone next month or whenever if this gets approved, I mean it's still a year, year and a half before we pull the first building permit.

So uh I uh I estimate uh that it will take at least three to four years uh from approval of this rezoning for this project to be built out.

And so for 43 homes to be fully built out, it'll it'll take three to four years provided there's no you know recession in there.

And so uh you know that's kind of the timing, how in my mind this the timing works with all the planned improvements uh to Elbow Road.

Um with that, I do ask for your approval tonight.

The staff recommends approval.

Uh this is in completely in line uh with all your policies and your comprehensive plans.

Uh and not only your current comprehensive plan, but your the one that you're about to adopt, hopefully.

And so I think this is a good little project.

It will help the housing uh supply, and that is absolutely critical.

Housing supply is the most important issue to getting people uh the homes that they need.

And so with that, I do ask for your approval and I'll stand by for questions.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Palmer.

Next speaker.

Next speaker.

Next speaker speaking in support of agenda item number one, Melissa Venable, who stated they're available for questions.

Next speaker speaking in support of agenda item number one, Vic Nichols.

Could you turn your mic on?

Thank you.

I I make the disclaimer, um, I'm not under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or money or anything else before I say this, but yes, I'm actually in favor of this.

Um the the biggest thing I like.

We keep getting all of these mixed use, mixed use, mixed use.

We haven't seen anything that is old Chesapeake.

Single family homes.

You know, a nice place with a yard.

That was Chesapeake's ideal.

That's what people think of when they think Chesapeake bedroom community.

And this brings us that without going berserk.

This this is really nice for that.

And so, you know, like I said, this that is what really did it for me.

They I only have two small things.

HOAs.

They're a problem.

You got Karen's, the neighborhood Nazis, their problem.

That's that is my my one issue.

The other is whenever the city sits there and dumps road improvements or anything like that on the developers.

Guess who ends up paying for it?

The people that buy the homes.

So I think we really need to take a look at how much we sit there and ask developers to have to get people that have to learn how to build roads and traffic lights and everything else when they're developing for homes.

And I think the city needs to take a good look at that.

Again, not on them.

I I appreciate what they're they're trying to do and for bringing us a nice product.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Nichols.

Next speaker.

That concludes our speakers.

Thank you.

Commissioners, floor is yours.

Any discussion?

Questions.

Mr.

Gilman.

I have some questions, probably for Mr.

Tate on levels of service.

Hi.

So I was reviewing the levels of service.

The approved and pending applications within the two miles that that were there.

When you add all those up, there's about a little over 3,700 units in that two mile radius that are currently underway.

And what's included in the LOS numbers, if I did my math right, it could be a little off, but is 2,700-ish units.

And so my question, I guess, around LOS, if we're looking at there's 3,700 units in the pipeline.

Probably at least everybody is going to have one vehicle.

Let's say half of them have two vehicles, that's going to put an extra 5,600 vehicles on those roadways, which we know are already a lot of traffic there.

We've got it measured at peak AM, a level C and peak afternoon, a level D.

Does that include weekend traffic?

Or is that just weekday traffic?

Okay, so a couple of questions in there.

We'll start with the last one.

We look at the peak hour, and usually the peak hour on most developments is weekday AM and weekday P.M.

because that's when just about everyone is going to work and everyone's coming home from work.

So if you're looking at the table, the top one should be A.M., what is the peak, and the bottom one should be P.M., and that's for the weekday traffic.

We don't do the weekend.

On occasion, we've done it like for instance, there was a church on Battlefield Boulevard, and down by the water treatment plant, the biggest volume that was competing with the left turns was on a weekend for outer banks traffic.

So we look for what is the peak hour, and then that's what we analyze.

So that's what was done here.

So that's how you do it.

You don't even do it for 24 hours.

A lot of people will say, well, the road is great for you know 23 of the hours, but we look at the peak hour, and that's specified as part of the level of service policy.

So the next thing that's in the level of service policy, and this is just a little touch controversial of who do we officially count in the level of service policy.

So officially by the policy, we include every development that has an approved preliminary plan or approved construction plan.

And that does not by policy require you to count rezonings that have been approved, but they have not been approved for a preliminary or construction plan.

So as a result of that, you could say, well, aren't every rezoning going to eventually generate traffic?

And shouldn't we count all 3,700 of those vehicles?

So what we try to do, and we have not been perfect at this, but what we try to do is we follow the policy for the first three columns, and then when we think it's necessary, we will try to provide a fourth column that says exceeding the policy requirements, here's what the additional traffic and impact will be for rezonings that are approved, but not yet technically required to be considered as part of the policy.

So then that takes you to your difference between 2700 and 3700.

You know, you would logically say, well, Jay, where is the fourth column?

You know, you're leaving out a thousand vehicles a day.

And what I would say for that, um we didn't do it on this project, and part of the reason is we've been shorthanded in traffic engineering, and so we've judiciously used our resources.

So what we looked at in this particular case is we looked at which projects were included in that list of developments, and like you indicated, 2700 out of 3700 vehicle um units were counted.

But if you look at the location of the of the developments that were not counted, you will see that the majority of those units are to the north of the elbow road centerville intersection.

So one of the most discretionary parts of a traffic impact analysis is you look at like a lake thrasher retreat project, and it has a connection to Kemptsville Road and a connection to Centerville Turnpike.

I don't know.

Gil, is my time up?

Because I can't.

Oh, it's not up.

Okay.

So you look at a Lake Thrasher retreat, and there's a connection to Kempsville and there's a connection to Centerville.

So we have to distribute the traffic from those 3,700 units.

And depending on what type they are, it's six vehicles per day or 10 vehicles per day.

So it's a lot of vehicles.

But when we distribute the traffic, we look at Lake Thrasher Retreat and we say, well, the majority of them are probably going to go out to Kemptsville Road because all the work destinations, we're talking about peak hours, are to the north, and you get there or to the east or west, but you still get there by going north.

And you probably have a smaller traffic volume going out Centerville.

So when we do that, we looked at it and we said the thousand units that we didn't count probably don't provide as significant impact to Centerville elbow.

But in a perfect world, unlimited capacity, we would have had a fourth column for all of it.

So I don't know if I confused you.

You have a follow-up question or I do have additional questions, but I'm good on that one.

Good.

Okay.

In addition to that, there were several enhancements coming to the roadways there that were listed there.

One of them was the Centerville elbow intersection improvement.

And it said design is slated for 2027.

So can you can you explain like what is that general timeline from design to end?

If design doesn't start to 2027, when could that project potentially be completed?

Um, the closer you are to construction, the the more accurate the project schedule is.

So of all the projects, and I think we might have listed about four projects.

So there's a bridge project, it's been bid, they slated it, said it's going to start in construction of 2025.

And it is, I think they're just about to close the roadway to start construction of the bridge.

That's very accurate.

Projects that are out in the distance, um, there's a lot of things that can go wrong.

It's been very rare that something's gone so right that the scrub the project schedule has been accelerated.

So of all those projects, that's the least one, you know, that will happen soon.

And I think that might have some odd money, some federal or um monies that are not as um available, liquid in the right word, but like elbow road phase for the bridge and phase two, that's um city money, so there's a lot of control with that.

So those project schedules are probably very good.

So the bridge will start construction like any day, and it'll take about a year.

Phase two, I think they've estimated that it'll start construction in August of I mean in summer of 26, and then that project's probably going to be 12 to 18 months, and then the intersection project, I think, like you said, design of 27, it could easily be three more years before you would see those improvements.

Okay.

Everybody go okay with that one.

Um my next question around that, and this may not be your wheelhouse, but was under the the levels of service was around the schools, and currently um the information provided that the high school is at 110 percent capacity.

Um not all the homes were included in the LOS.

So my my question is how do we measure road beyond that 110 percent when the city budget doesn't have another high school or middle school slated for that area for another 11 years.

Okay, you were right.

Different wheelhouse.

When we talk about school LOS, you it's very similar to the road LOS where you count the approved preliminary and final site plans, and you do have those what I call ghost units that are out there.

Um the school board certainly has provided their recommendation, you know, or not recommendation, but their their findings uh within their memo in the staff report, which lists a several several different uh ways of of dealing with with student capacity, uh, some of those being portables uh sometimes you talk about uh redistricting, sometimes you talk about additions, um but that's typically how they would handle those types of situations.

Um but that's typically how they would handle those types of situations.

Thank you.

Commissioner Malone?

I have one question for staff, or it might be for uh Mr.

Palmer.

Um the sixth proffer.

Talks about uh a turn lane improvement.

But the uh you agree to install a turn lane improvement.

That's not built by others.

What exactly does that mean?

Correct.

So the with the phase two elbow road widening, that what is was expected is that project is going to install that left turn lane.

But as a stop gap, we proffered that if the city, for whatever reason, if it decides to do something else with the money that we would put the turn lane in.

Okay, so others is the city.

This is correct.

Okay.

Thank you.

I sir, I'm if I may.

I have a question.

Um you mentioned his historical and archaeological.

What is it that you are concerned that you might find?

So the the uh uh the parks and recreation tourism reviews the um every application that comes through.

And I think that they were they they were aware of a cultural resource that was off-site.

I think it's within 500 feet of the property.

And so this is a layer of protection to ensure that any artifacts that may have somehow gotten onto the property, which I think is unlikely, but it in the event any artifacts were to make it onto the property that those artifacts are found and preserved.

And what was that cultural did we do we know?

Yeah.

Um it so it is on page uh is it a cemetery?

No, it's not a cemetery.

I I think it was maybe a I think it was it was a like perhaps a Native American.

I think the resource that's registered is like a Native American historic resource that's not on the property, but it's close enough that everybody wants to be careful that this land disturbance doesn't destroy any artifacts.

So that's why the phase one is proffered.

Thank you.

Other commissioners.

I'll just make a comment for the the board.

One of the things that was um stated in the staff findings was around the balance rate of of the vehicular traffic with bikes with pedestrians, where I struggle with this and all of the applications we've seen recently in this area, is there isn't a way to get anywhere but within the neighborhood.

There isn't a safe way to commute any other way but by vehicle.

And the roadways just don't support the growth that has happened there.

I love the design, the preservation of the uh the land there.

I just don't feel like the roads properly support, or the schools for this matter, the growth.

Any other commissioners?

All right, if not, a motion is an order.

Mr.

Chair, I would make a motion that uh PLN dash uh REZ-2024-014 um be approved along as stated in the agenda with the proppers as stated in the agenda.

Second.

All right.

We have a properly made motion by Commissioner Heckworth and a second by Commissioner Malone.

Commissioners, please prefer to vote.

Please vote.

Mr.

Bostrick, please record the vote.

By a vote of eight to one, the motion carries.

All right, thank you, everyone.

Um Mr.

Magnamara, any items to bring up at this time?

No, sir.

Thank you very much.

Cancellation of the September 24th, 2025 meeting is now being considered due to there being no business.

Do the commissioners have any objections to canceling the meeting?

Hearing no objections, the September 24th, 2025 meeting is canceled by unanimous consent.

And if there is no other business to consider tonight, I don't see any.

Meeting stands adjourned at 734.

Real Virginia is proudly produced by the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation.

Since 1926, Farm Bureau has been working to preserve Virginia Farms and our rural heritage.

Visit our website at VAFB dot com.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Real Virginia, a show about Virginia agriculture and the people who produce the wonderful local products we enjoy.

Brought to you by the Virginia Farm Bureau.

From time to time, farm animals need special medical care.

This week we'll ride along with a large animal veterinarian.

Chef Tammy Brawley has another delicious grilled beef recipe for us.

Across the nation and here in Virginia, a shortage of large animal vets continues.

Those involved treat the job as a calling as much as their profession.

Like Dr.

Melinda McCall, who provides animal care for farmers here in Central Virginia.

Taking care of large honorary animals is all in a day's work for Dr.

Melinda McCall, a veterinarian specializing in providing care to farm animals.

And her assistant, Becca Richie.

This cow is being vaccinated for pink eye, a common condition for cows thanks to the flies that like to congregate around their faces.

Driving home naked and other misadventures of a country veterinarian gets its name after a cow's wound became dislodged out of her body.

The procedure was very messy by the time McCall was done.

The only thing I need to do was just to strip.

And um, even at that, it was kind of gross sitting on the seat.

Um, but I pretty much came home in a pair of rubber boots.

Um that was that was it.

And uh unfortunately I got thirsty.

I was so thirsty I was about to die, but I knew I couldn't go in a store, so I drove through a drive-thru, and I'll just leave it at that so you can read the book and figure out what happens.

Our next stop is an alpaca farm in Fluvanna County.

The next time you're getting a hard time from your dentist about flossing, just know it could be worse.

Some of the teeth on these alpacas are getting too long to the point where they can hurt themselves or others.

After fixing up the alpacas, it's on to a group of sheep in another part of Fluvanna County.

All right.

It's all part of a busy day for a large animal vet.

Certainly, people don't do this job for the money.

Um, because we work for people who are making a living.

So our prices, you know, we're working in a supply and demand market.

We can't just increase our prices if we know people will pay if pay for it, you know.

So our prices uh have to remain uh in essence with the market for the the calf prices and the fleece prices and the wool prices and all those things.

So um, yes, I could have made a lot more money doing most anything else.

Um but this is this is what I like to do.

It did take me a long time to pay my student loans.

I just finished paying the student loans at age 42.

Wow.

Um, and that that's a long time.

Um so you have to you have to love it.

The farmers she visits also find ways to show their appreciation.

The farmers they take care of me.

I mean, they give us eggs quite a bit, they give us hamburger.

I mean, they're definitely not gonna let us starve, so that's always really good.

And they knit us hats and gloves, and so we're not gonna get cold or starved.

There haven't been enough large animal veterinarians in Virginia and the nation to meet the needs of farmers for decades.

Providing medical care for household pets is much easier and more profitable.

So traveling veterinarians like McCall are hard to find.

The last stop of the day was at a farm in Albemarle County to remove a cancerous lesion from a cow's eyelid.

Is this one right here?

See that little growth that's on his eye?

Oh, yeah, it's a little red.

Yeah, so hopefully that's on the little flap that's part of his third eyelid, and I can just numb it and take the scissors and go up under there and take it without taking his whole eyeball.

Hopefully.

Let's just say it worked.

The cow kept its eye.

But our broadcast partners would probably flag us if we showed Dr.

McCall performing that procedure.

It's all in a day's work for a veteran veterinarian.

In Fluvanna County, I'm Burke Muller reporting.

A 2021 review by the U.S.

Department of Agriculture found that more than 500 counties haven't had a farm animal vet for at least five years.

Only three to four percent of new veterinary school graduates have entered food animal related practices over the past 20 years.

Since large animal vets are on the front line of preventing livestock disease outbreaks and conducting food safety inspections, the shortage affects all Americans.

More financial aid for veterinary students who choose a large animal practice is one possible solution.

I'm Mark Viet.

Coming up on In the Garden, I'm gonna talk about making more of your favorite plants that are in your garden.

Stay with us.

Farming is a rewarding way of life, but it can also be full of challenges.

If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text the agress helpline at 833-897-247.

It offers 24-7 access to professionals who can support someone in need to help find mental health services in your community.

Please make the call.

Because healthy farms depend on healthy farm families.

That's 833-897-2474.

New trees and shrubs can be expensive to buy.

And this root right here at the end of this tool is coming from the mother crate myrtle.

Now, the question was can I transplant it?

Well, probably not initially, because this crate myrtle is relying on the main root from the mother crepe myrtle.

And you want this crate myrtle to produce its own roots or a better root system.

So first of all, what I'm gonna do is come in and do a little bit of pruning.

Cut it back.

And then what you really need to do is sever the main root on this crepe myrtle.

So what I'm gonna do is just lightly dig right around here so I can see what I'm gonna sever.

And I've exposed the root.

Now there's a couple ways to sever it.

You can use a hand saw for a larger root, but this root is not that big.

And I'm gonna come in with the shovel and cut this root right here.

And I'll probably come in with the loppers.

So I'm gonna come right in here, cut that, and maybe cut this little one here, this little one here.

And next year, I can dig and transplant and have another great crate myrtle called Sue and add it to my garden.

I want to propagate more of these boxwood.

These boxwood were huge.

They came all the way out to where I'm standing, and they were half again as tall.

So I pruned them back.

But didn't really realize that at the time, is that some of these long branches layered or tip layered on their own.

They were laying on the ground, little soil got on top of them, and they started producing roots.

And you'll see some of these boxwoods right in front of me here.

Quite a few.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.

So I can propagate some of my own boxwood right in front.

Now, these boxwoods are still attached to the mother plant.

And I just pruned this just a couple minutes ago.

And as you see, they don't have a lot of roots.

This one here has one root.

So I need to get these to produce a few more roots.

Couple things you can do.

You can take a shovel, and right at the base here, this stem is attached to the mother plant.

I'm just gonna come in and root prune it.

Next year, I can now dig these up and transplant them anywhere else in my garden.

I'm Mark Viet.

Join me next time in the garden.

For more garden tips, go to in the gardenradio.com.

Hi, I'm Chef Tammy Bradley from the Green Kitchen.

Coming up on Heart of the Home, Grilled Ribeau with a Shiitake Burblanc.

We hope you'll stay with us.

Our cow, she walks into the barn and she gets milked.

Milk's taken from her and put it through a chiller.

And that milk's taken from body temperature of a cow, which is about 102 and a half and dropped to 35 degrees and put straight onto a tractor trailer.

And it goes straight to the plant the next day.

So most of the milk that's sitting on your store shelves is probably less than 48 hours old.

And that's that's a pretty good testament to how efficient we are.

Tired of the same old burgers and steak on the grill.

Chef Tammy Brawley shares a delicious grilled beef recipe featuring Virginia mushrooms.

In the heart of the home.

Hi, I'm Chef Tammy Brawley with the Green Kitchen.

Welcome to Heart of the Home.

Today I'm going to show you guys we're going to do a delicious grilled steak with a shiitake Burblanc.

Burblanc is basically a French term for uh butter and cream, we'll say.

Um we've got a pan here that we're gonna melt some butter.

You can certainly use oil if you want to.

We're doing the shiitakes first.

You can use oil, you can use a combination of the two if you wish.

It's really up to you.

If you do use oil and butter, the oil is there to actually keep the butter from burning.

But I love the way the butter reacts with the mushrooms.

So I'm just gonna use butter today.

We're gonna melt the butter, we're gonna saute the mushrooms.

We are using shiitake caps.

Um if you have other mushroom preferences, then feel free to use them.

I love shiitakis, I think they're nice and rich.

What we're gonna do is we're gonna add the shiitake caps.

We're gonna let those get just a little bit soft.

You might notice that we're not breaking them up, we're not chopping them up.

You can if you want to.

I think it makes a delicious presentation with the cream sauce at the end.

So I'm gonna go ahead and dump in a little garlic for this.

More garlic the better, as far as I'm concerned.

For about um half a pound of mushrooms, maybe a half a tablespoon or so of garlic.

They're gonna take just a couple of minutes to kind of break down.

They will release water as all mushrooms do, but that will evaporate.

As they do start to soften, you want to go ahead and hit it with a little bit of salt and pepper.

Now you might be um you might think that you need to add more liquid at this point to the mushrooms.

You really don't.

They're going to release on their own.

They're going to become soft, and we don't really want them mushy for when they go with the cream and the butter sauce, the burblanc.

All right, our mushrooms have become soft and they smell very garlicky, which is what we want.

We're gonna leave those over to the side, and now we're gonna create our Bur Blanc sauce.

This is a sauce that you need a little bit of patience for because you want to incorporate butter and wine and shallots and lemon juice all together, and you wouldn't want it to quote unquote break.

So we're hoping it doesn't break today.

We've got our burner on here, and we're going to add a little bit of oil.

We're going to add shallots.

I've just slivered them little slices.

You can chop them if you wish.

I personally don't want to do all that work.

And now we're going to add about a half a cup of wine or so.

We're going to let that come to a boil.

And we're also going to go ahead and add some heavy cream.

And we're going to add some lemon juice.

Probably about a tablespoon or so.

Checking to make sure I don't squeeze any seeds out there.

And now we're going to whisk it and bring it up to a nice temperature.

When you start to see the bubbles around the side, it's pretty much ready.

You don't have to let it come to a full boil.

And now you want to start adding a um a lot of butter, I have to say.

And when we say break, you would be able to tell because it would have bubbles and it would not look like it was a cohesive sauce.

Now, while that's coming up to temperature and melting my butter, I'm gonna go ahead and start my grill pan.

And we're gonna grill a steak.

I happen to have a nice fat ribeye today.

We've already salted it and peppered it.

Um, anytime you grill a beef, you always want to let it sit at room temperature for about an hour or so before you add it to a grill.

You wouldn't want to add a cold meat to a hot pan because it will stick.

So we're gonna go ahead and add our um steak to this burner.

All right, it is start the steak is starting to sizzle.

Now, something this thick is going to take a little bit to cook, and it depends on how you like your steak.

This is probably about three quarters of an inch.

I like to do about five minutes on each side for an inch steak.

I like mine rare.

You might like yours a little bit more done.

If you do, then just leave it on the grill longer.

What you don't want to do though when it comes to grilling is you don't want to become flip happy as we call it, and that's put something on the grill and then immediately start flipping it.

You want to let it release on its own.

More of the cooking time takes place on the first side than it does on the second.

The sauce is actually coming together quite nicely.

You want to make sure you do reduce that heat.

You don't want to maintain it at a boil.

I'm going to continue to add the remaining parts of my butter.

This is a very rich sauce.

This is not something I would do on a Monday night at home.

This is a specialty dinner or a birthday dinner, a celebration dinner, if you would.

Steak is coming along nicely.

It's going to almost be ready to turn.

Oh yeah.

You can see it's got nice caramelization marks on it.

And I'm going to come back to the sauce.

I know it needs a little salt and pepper.

I'm going to do a little coarse salt, a little coarse ground pepper there.

We're going to stir this up.

I'm going to go ahead and turn this off.

And now what I'm going to do while the steak is finishing, I'm going to come back and add our sauteed mushrooms.

All right, the sauce is actually off, so I know it's going to stay warm and be just fine.

Our steak is not done yet, depending on again how you like yours.

Um, I do like mine rare, but I know that this is not quite there yet.

You can feel a steak either with tongs or a spatula.

All right.

I do just want to check the other side, but I know it's not done yet.

Just about.

You don't have to eat the fat, but um you want to cook it with the fat because it does certainly give it a lot of flavor.

So we've got that.

I'm gonna turn it over just for a hair.

I want to see what the other side looks like.

And we are just about done.

So I'm actually gonna put this onto a plate.

We're gonna top it with that beautiful shiitake Burblanc.

All right, we have a nice rare ribeye that's been grilled with just um salt and pepper.

We have a shiitake Burblanc that we're gonna top that with.

Wow, what a great lunch.

And there you have it, grilled ribeye with a shiitake Bur Blanc sauce.

I'm Chef Tammy Brawley from the Green Kitchen.

Join us next time on Heart of the Home.

Recipes from the Heart of the Home can be found on the Virginia Farm Bureau website at VAFB.com slash recipes, as well as on Chef Tammy Brawley's website at Greenkitchen Richmond.com.

Despite a slowly shrinking herd size, beef cattle continue to be one of Virginia's top farm commodities.

In 2022, there were 1.39 million head of cattle and calves in the old Dominion.

Five years earlier, there were 1.48 million cattle and calves in the state.

Rockingham County is the largest cattle community with 100,000 head, followed by Augusta County with 97,000 head.

By contrast, there are only 100 head of cattle in Virginia Beach.

In 2021, Virginia cattle farmers earn more than 381 million dollars from the sale of their beef animals.

Few fruits suit the summertime better than a chilled watermelon.

Norm Hyde reports that if you're patient, you may be able to bring home a local treat for your next picnic.

The first thing you need to learn about raising watermelons is they need a lot of room.

Each watermelon's gonna take it up about 24 to 26 square feet.

You know, some of your smaller ones you can get on maybe 18 square feet.

But when you're talking about a garden, that that's you know, that's a pretty big amount of space.

Luke Holman raises only melons and watermelons for his customers, which include local stores and farmers markets.

He enjoys the challenge of being a farmer, but says he has a very important partner.

The honeybee.

Sometimes it's 16 to about 20, 22 visits to get enough pollen for that female plant to set that fruit and to get a normal fruit set.

Chris Drake in Southampton County started raising watermelons decades ago to have a different crop than those of surrounding corn, cotton, and peanut farmers.

Good sandy soil and hot sunny weather are key components to a successful watermelon harvest.

Unfortunately, the spring of 2023 was cool and damp in Virginia.

As with any crop, we don't want a hundred degree days.

That's not good for anything, but we we want sun and we want high 80s, low 90s.

We want typical summertime temperatures.

So most of your watermelons are grown in areas where it's it's a southern climate, basically.

A watermelon flower will open at sunrise.

And they typically close up by noon.

I mean, if it's a really hot day, typically once you start getting over 90 degrees, those flowers are going to close up.

So they're only receptive to pollination for you know four hours, five hours in the morning.

So if you have a foggy morning, if you have a cold morning, a wet morning, a misty morning, a cloudy morning, a windy morning, any of these factors that prevents bees from flying or native pollinators from from flying the fields, you're not going to get pollination.

Virginia farmers raise watermelons on 338 farms, covering 773 acres.

That means it's not a major crop in the old Dominion.

Thanks to many challenges, it can be tough to make a profit with watermelons.

Once the vines get going and once they get to growing, they're actually a little easier to manage, but they're still there's a lot of diseases and a lot of pests that can they can damage watermelons.

Then when you get to the harvest time of it, um that's a whole other issue.

You can also have you know fruit fruit scarring and fruit blistering in the sun can get to them.

So there's a lot of there's a lot of challenges that can that can arise during the growing season and a lot of things that can happen to make your product not marketable, so it's uh it's a long process.

It's about a 90 90 to 100 day process to go from from seed to harvest.

Our soils also tend to produce a sweeter watermelon because they tend to get a little dry stressed at some periods of time and dry stress as watermelons get mature will actually lead to a higher sugar content.

Like many Virginia growers, Drake and Holman have developed their own network of buyers to increase their slim profit margins instead of selling to big grocery store chains.

Harvesting watermelons can be heavy labor, so that's another challenge and expense.

Every year, consumers have their own challenge: how to pick a ripe watermelon at the market or store.

Both growers agree your best tip is the color of the rind.

If you look under the belly of a watermelon once it starts turning a kind of a pale yellow color versus a white color, um white underneath it typically it's gonna not, it's not going to be ripe.

If it starts turning yellow or a more prominent yellow, it's it's going to be generally riper.

And watermelons that have stripes also typically when the stripes start to break and there's a clear definition between the stripe and the non-stripe that usually will indicate maturity, but every variety's different.

People need to know that when you go to the grocery store, watermelons per pound are the cheapest fruit you can buy.

So it's the biggest bag for your buck.

It's super healthy for you, packed with lycopene, and 90% of watermelon is water.

So it's totally refreshing.

I mean, it's a perfect summertime treat, and it's the cheapest treat you can buy.

A nice cold watermelon versus nice cold drink.

I'll take a watermelon every day.

Each year, the July 4th weekend is the biggest sale date for watermelon growers.

Thanks to weather delays, it looks like this year, most Virginians will have to settle for a picnic treat grown farther south.

But there's nothing like a locally grown melon for a summertime treat.

And Virginia watermelons will be here very soon.

Reporting from Richmond, Virginia, I'm Norm Hyde.

We're so glad you could join us this week to celebrate all the bounty Virginia has to offer.

From your kitchen to your home and garden to our beautiful wide open spaces, we're proud to say that this is real Virginia.

For everyone at the Virginia Farm Bureau, thanks for watching.

Make it a great week.

This is why I joined the guard.

I couldn't believe it.

I just saved a life.

Somebody from my hometown will be there for your community at now.com.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Real Virginia, a show about Virginia agriculture and the people who produce the wonderful local products we enjoy.

Brought to you by the Virginia Farm Bureau.

Coming up on this week's show.

Virginia cattle producers have a friend in the Great White North.

Expert advice on how to keep your houseplants thriving in the winter.

And meet Virginians who turn their love of flowers into a blooming business.

Welcome back to Real Virginia, everyone.

This week we're coming to you from the Great Big Greenhouse and Nursery in Chesterfield County, Virginia.

We'll have more on house plants and Virginia's green industry in a few minutes.

But first we'll explain how some Virginia cattle farmers rely on foreign trade for a big part of their annual income.

The rolling pastures of Virginia are well suited for cattle production.

Virginia farmers raise more than half a million feeder calves each year.

Since 2017, a growing number of them are being exported to Canada through a flourishing trade relationship that relies on the free flow of goods between countries.

Ontario has an excellent promotion program called the Ontario Corn Fed Beef Program to verify that the farmers are feeding excellent quality feeds, and they have exported meat to the world.

We feel very fortunate that our beef is winding up around the world due to their marketing program.

Carpenter sits on the board of the Virginia Cattlemen's Association, an industry marketing and promotion group.

He remembers the beginning of the Canadian Cattle Connection.

About 2016, I was having conversations with a veterinarian in Ontario, and he told us that Ontario actually feeds more cattle than Quebec.

So we looked into it.

We went to the Ontario Cattle Feeders Association meeting in 2017.

And uh they were not aware of the number of feeder cattle we have to sell from here in Virginia.

So from there it was off to the races.

Carpenter estimates more than 10% of Virginia's feeder cattle are exported to Canada each year.

Jim Clark with the Ontario Cattle Feeders Association says their burgeoning relationship with Virginia cattle producers is essential to long-term success.

We're short a lot of feeder cattle.

And the opportunity is Virginia has a lot of feeder cattle that fit well into to what we do.

And that was one of the key parts there was just to develop that relationship, and that relationship is flourished and continues to grow as we speak.

The 500 cattle feeders Clark represents produce beef for a consumer favorite, the Ontario Cornfed Beef Program.

All those cattle are on a balanced nutritional diet, and we believe that uh having a high energy ration helps facilitate the marbling of cattle and the producing of top quality beef.

And corn has lots of sugars in it.

And one of our successes been with the brand is the taste factor and the sweetness of the beef.

The branded beef is sold throughout Canada and parts of the U.S.

with some cuts being exported to foreign markets like Saudi Arabia and Japan.

The motivation for Canadian producers to buy from Virginia is proximity.

So a big thing a lot of people don't realize is we're only 10 to 15 hours away from these feeders.

Our location actually gives us a tremendous advantage.

A lot of the cow calf operations in Canada are out west, so they actually have a 30 hour drive to truck the cattle from western Canada to eastern Canada.

Whereas us with the shorter travel, it actually creates an extreme advantage where they have less money in trucking, and then it's less stress on the cattle as well.

Blake Hopkins says that his family farm in Louisa County, Virginia, is benefiting from having more buyers for their cattle.

Traditionally, we've sent a lot of cattle to Pennsylvania to Mennonite and Amish feeders, and the Canadian market has opened up for us to where we get additional bidders and buyers in.

So it's been a tremendous help.

So we're planning on trying to market the cattle directly to the Canadian feeders.

The calves that Hopkins sells to Canada will eat a corn based diet for several months before they're processed.

With his customers across an international border, Hopkins says mutual respect is the foundation of their trade.

They're putting a lot of trust in Virginia cattlemans to buy cattle and export them to another country.

A lot of that starts with the relationships built on our annual trip to the Cattle Feeders Association meeting up there.

Going up there and just meeting the people, getting on their farms and building relationships with them is key for this market's work.

They need to be able to trust us, and we need to be able to trust them as well.

Relationships that have turned foreign farmers into friends.

We're located so close to each other, and the relationship we develop with Virginia.

Everybody who's come from Virginia, when we've been received in back in Virginia, it's just like we're next door neighbors, you know.

Um, and now I see we're looking out for each other.

This partnership provides Virginia cattle producers with access to markets around the world.

Both parties acknowledge it hinges on free trade and could be lost if new barriers are introduced.

But when it works, it's a win for farmers on both sides of the border and for consumers with a hankering for tasty beef.

It's all about taste.

And people love the taste of corn fed beef.

For real Virginia, I'm Elijah Gries.

Cattle production is Virginia's third most valuable farm sector.

While the mountain pastures of Western Virginia are prime cattle country, you'll find cattle and calves in almost every county in the old dominion.

In 2023, the National Agricultural Statistics Service estimated Virginia cattlemen earned more than 524 million dollars from cattle sales.

There were more than 1.3 million head of cattle in Virginia in 2024, and farmers in Rockingham and Augusta counties had the most animals.

610,000 calves were born in Virginia in 2024, keeping the cattle production cycle moving along.

Coming up next on From the Ground Up, we're going to be talking about winter flowering houseplants.

Stay with us.

Every year, 500 people in the United States die in an all-term vehicle related accident.

And another thousand people are seriously injured.

Sadly, many of those victims are children.

Number one tip for riding an ATV is definitely wearing a helmet.

Think about the opportunity to overturn an ATV.

Imagine your head the same density as a watermelon.

And how easy it would be to crack.

One of the biggest things that we always push for for anybody we train is always make sure that you have a good quality helmet for your ride.

This message brought to you by the Virginia Farm Bureau of Safety Advisory Committee.

Indoor house plants need careful attention to thrive, especially when they first come home.

Ed Olsen with Virginia Cooperative Extension shares some expert tips from the ground up.

I'm Ed Olson, and today we're at Strange's Greenhouse and Forest here in Henrika County.

And we're with Will Haas, the head grower here at Stranges, and we're talking about winter flowering houseplants.

Will, can you tell us why we typically see these types of plants during the winter and what we're looking at?

Certainly, thanks for being here today.

So in front of us, we have cycling, calancho, and African violets.

And the reason these are flowering during the winter time is they're what I refer to as short day plants.

They flower under short day length conditions.

So that's why you see them more commonly during the winter time.

Does uh temperature uh affect how they're grown?

Uh so you're actually looking at a couple different segments of plants here.

The African violet and the Kalancho are both tropical plants.

They're originally from uh Central Africa, Madagascar region.

The cyclone is from the Mediterranean, so it's not exclusively temperature.

Uh the calancho and the African violet, when you take them home are going to enjoy warmer temperatures, something in between 65 to 75 degrees.

Whereas the cycling can take it a little bit cooler, uh, somewhere in between 50 to 65 degrees.

So when I get these at uh greenhouse or a local floor shop, um, what can I expect to have to do to condition them to go into my house?

Uh well, it's important to acclimate them properly when you bring them home.

Uh, and part of that is keeping them away from any drafts where they might be exposed to cold temperatures or warm temperatures coming from a heater.

Not only can that dry them out quickly, but you can also see crispiness along the leaves or some foliage drop because of that.

Um, the other really important thing when you're taking them home is to make sure they're watered properly.

Okay.

And uh I always tell people you can always put more water into the pot, but it's really tough to take it back out.

Um, most winter flowering plants, you're gonna want to keep them on the slightly dry side.

Um, watering them roughly once a week.

Roughly once a week.

How do you um what's the best way to water some of these?

I know I've heard for African violets that you don't want to put water on the leaves.

Is there a best way to water these plants?

That is accurate.

So the African violet, it's really finicky when it comes to watering.

The best way to water them is from the bottom in a saucer.

Leave them in the water for 15 to 20 minutes, let them absorb it into the pot, and then take them out.

Uh, if you use water overhead or splash it on the leaves, it can cause serious spotting.

Uh, the other thing with African violets is they really like room temperature water.

They don't want hot water or cold water when you water them.

Okay, so room temperature water.

Put a jug, uh fill it jug up with water and put it under the sink then.

You prefer for later waterings.

The uh cyclone here, uh can these be watered from the top also?

They also benefit from a saucer underneath.

Uh they don't really like getting wet foliage.

Uh the calancho you can water just by the side of the pot uh if you lift the foliage up.

Um, but it likes to be kept on the slightly drier side.

It's not going to need as much water as either the African violet or the cyclone.

Now, I've called these winter flowering house plants.

Will these flower outside of the time after I get them home?

So the kalancho is a little more limited to the winter time.

Uh it will rebloom, but it requires periods of darkness to keep blooming.

The cyclon will keep blooming uh throughout the winter months on through spring.

Um, but as it begins to warm up, uh it'll slowly fade.

What you need to do to keep them blooming is as these blooms begin to darken and uh and become spent, you need to remove them at the base of the bloom stock and that will stimulate more flowering.

Okay.

Any other great tips you have for us for taking care of these uh plants?

Yeah, so when you get them home, the humidity in your house is usually a lot lower than it is here in the greenhouse.

Um so a good way to raise the local humidity around the plant is to put them in a pebble tray uh filled with water.

Just make sure the pot's suspended above the water level so it's not absorbing it.

Okay, but that water will evaporate around your plant and create a little microclimate for it.

Thank you so much for your tips today, Will.

For more information about houseplants, contact your local Master Gardener unit.

For From the Ground Up, I'm Ed Olson.

See you next time.

From the ground up is presented with the generous advice and assistance of Virginia Cooperative Extension.

Visit their website at ext.vt.edu.

Hi, I'm Chef Tammy Brawley from the Green Kitchen.

Coming up on Heart of the Home, Sweet Potato Latkas.

We hope you'll stay with us.

Farming is a rewarding way of life, but it can also be full of challenges.

If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text the agri stress helpline at 833-897-247.

It offers 24-7 access to professionals who can support someone in need.

Please make the call because healthy farms depend on healthy farm families.

Because healthy farms depend on healthy farm families.

That's 833 8972474.

Virginia sweet potatoes store well over winter months and are still available in stores and from local farms.

Chef Tammy Brawley shares her recipe for sweet potato latkes from the heart of the home.

Hi, I'm Chef Tammy Brawley from the Green Kitchen.

Welcome to Heart of the Home.

Today I'm going to show you guys how to make potato latkas.

These things are fantastic.

And the the kicker today is that we're actually going to use sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes.

Sweet potatoes are certainly in season this month, and you can pick them up at the farmers markets, and there you see them everywhere.

Love doing it with the sweet potatoes versus the white, a little bit more personality to it.

And what we've got is about a pound of shredded sweet potato here in our bowl, and we're going to add two eggs.

And we're going to come back in with a third cup of flour and some salt and pepper.

Same thing.

And then to my right here, I've got some oil warming up in the pan.

You want to make sure that your oil, your chosen fat, it could be vegetable oil as I'm using, or it could be olive oil.

You could even use butter.

So we're going to get in here and mix the eggs and all the ingredients up with the sweet potatoes.

Sweet potatoes are somewhat drier.

And so that's is a good benefit to using these because you don't want a lot of moisture in these when you fry them up.

Now I can actually smell the oil getting hot, and I'm going to come over and turn the burner down quite a bit.

You want it on about a medium or so.

This is probably going to splatter a little bit when I put these in.

Alright, I'm going to take my glove off.

It just makes for nice consistent sizes.

You can certainly do it by hand if you'd like, or you can use a regular tablespoon.

Come into your oil.

I usually try to start in the middle.

You can kind of push it down just a little bit.

You want to get it a little flat.

Alright.

You do want to somewhat compress them.

That second one I dropped in tended to be a little bit loose.

So you do want to somewhat compress it to get it to stay together.

There we go.

Push it down a little.

And we're probably going to frop about six or so of these.

The first one I'll put in in just a moment.

And we're going to put one more in the pan.

If you had a bigger pan, you could certainly fry more at one time.

That's up to you.

Alright, so you want to make sure that they're nice and crispy before you flip them.

I've just checked the one in the middle.

It looks pretty good.

You should be able to easily work a spatula underneath them.

These are looking really, really good.

Some will be more brown than others, depending on where your heat is centered.

You can certainly leave them a little longer if you'd like, or you can also take them out a little sooner.

All right, this one in the middle, particularly is done.

You want to let them drain a little bit on some paper towels or a cooling rack if you'd like.

A little bit more salt and pepper.

I know I put some salt in the mixture.

But seasoning once they come fresh out of the oil is very important.

All right, these look done.

And now we'll move them over to a pretty platter and turn the heat off of the oil.

And definitely hit them with a little bit of salt.

And as a little garnish, let's add a few more scallions there.

Make them nice and pretty.

And there you have it.

Sweet potato ladkas.

I'm Chef Tammy Brawley from the Green Kitchen.

Join us next time on Heart of the Home.

Recipes from the Heart of the Home can be found on the Virginia Farm Bureau website at VAFB.com slash recipes.

As well as on Chef Tammy Brawley's website at Green Kitchen Richmond.com.

Sweet potatoes have been raised in Virginia as early as the middle of the 17th century.

In 2022, they were raised on 184 farms covering 204 acres.

Virtually all Virginia sweet potatoes are sold directly to consumers or stores instead of being processed.

Sweet potatoes require warm soil temperatures, so they shouldn't be planted before May or June.

The vines need plenty of space and should not be planted near squash, sunflowers, and tomatoes to prevent disease problems.

Most growers plant slips, vine cuttings from sprouted sweet potatoes.

They require loose, well-drained soil and a minimum of three months to mature.

We may still be feeling winter's chill, but spring will be here before you know it.

Norm Hyde reports that Virginia flowers are a big way to celebrate the season.

Even when there's still snow on the ground, workers at Harmony Harvest Farm in Augusta County are preparing for the upcoming spring flower season.

Mother's Day is what we like to call the Super Bowl in the flower industry.

It's when we have some of our most amazing fresh flowers directly off the farm available, and we get to highlight them at one of the biggest floral holidays of the year.

Hall says peonies are her favorite floral crop.

They grow about 1,500 plants that are market ready in time for Mother's Day, and they always sell out in a matter of weeks.

Harmony Harvest also grows renunculus flowers.

These were planted last fall, but in late March, the first blooms will show.

And then in April, they'll really ramp up.

Besides raising ranunculus and peonies, Haw has a special interest in another flower.

One of the things that m most matters to me and that I'm super passionate about is preserving the legacy of one of my favorite crops.

And that happens to be the Heritage Chrysanthemums.

These are true perennial chrysanthemums, not like the ones we tend to find nowadays at the box stores, but the long-lost varieties that look like the football mums that used to adorn us at our proms and homecoming games.

Of course, Valentine's Day is a big flower holiday as well.

But despite the fact that the rose is the national flower, Hall says there aren't any large-scale rose production farms located in the United States.

That's due to the high cost of heating and labor, and because countries near the equator have a better climate to grow them.

Most roses are imported from Columbia, followed closely by Ecuador.

Hall says a vocational horticulture class inspired her to grow flowers on her own.

Horticulture classes are also at the root of Ashley Keuler's flower growing experience.

I've always been more of a creative, but having to uh really get down and dirty with flowers is something that I don't think people think of a lot.

It's a lot of physical labor, especially during the summer.

You know, booming flower season is in July and August, and that's when we're all complaining about how hot it is here in Virginia.

Um so that was kind of a rude awakening when I had to think about how much land we had available, how many seeds that I could plant.

On top of the floriculture business, Cueller and her husband maintain a backyard flock of chickens, and she co-hosts the Virginia Young Farmers Podcast.

Many of the flowers she raised last year grew faster than expected.

Most of our flowers, once we cut them, it grew more and more and more.

So we had a lot more flowers than we expected, and just had to get a little more creative on keeping them around and finding ways to use them too.

When you think about buying a bouquet at the store, there's usually those bigger flowers that are a statement piece, but then there's always the little flowers in between, and of course, greenery.

So when we create our flower growing schedule, we need to consider are we growing all three of those things?

Greenery, filler, and focal flowers.

The 2022 Census of Agriculture reports cut flower sales generated more than 7.3 million dollars for Virginia growers on 320 operations.

Reporting at Richmond for real Virginia, I'm Norm Hyde.

We're so glad you could join us this week to celebrate all the bounty Virginia has to offer.

From the kitchen to your home and garden to our beautiful wide open spaces, we're proud to say that this is real Virginia.

For everyone at the Virginia Farm Bureau, thanks for watching.

Make it a great week.

Sometimes these collisions can be dangerous or even fatal.

Glenn Keller of Shenandoah County says when a car traveling 55 miles an hour suddenly meets much slower moving farm equipment.

But if the people don't pay attention to that, you have to be prepared to react pretty quick.

We'll get to a blind hill and someone will follow you for a mile or so, and they finally get enough of it and want to go around and they're usually upset and pick the wrong place.

Farm equipment operators are required to display a slow moving vehicle emblem when they're on a public road.

When you see that or any farm vehicle, slow down.

Give them plenty of space to do their job so you both can go home safely.

This message brought to you by the Virginia Farm Bureau of Federation Safety Advisory Committee.

Our country was a simpler place.

Times have changed.

And agriculture is changed, offering new opportunities and careers in fields like business, education, production, and research.

That means FFA has changed too.

FFA makes a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth, and career success through agricultural education.

We're strengthening American agriculture and providing our members with the skills needed to build healthy local communities, a strong nation, and a sustainable world.

Today, less than 2% of Americans are engaged in production agriculture.

But our membership is at an all-time high.

Without it, I'm just one person.

Just one voice.

Like feeding the world, stewarding our natural resources, and finding solutions for agricultural sustainability.

And we're doing it together.

With the help of our families, our teachers and supporters, we are learning to do, doing to learn, earning to live, and living to serve through our local chapters and state associations, and at our conventions and conferences.

We are the next generation of agriculture.

Committed, passionate, and proud to be among those who feed the world.

Powered by our spirit, guided by our mission.

Symbolized by a simple blue corduroy jacket.

We are the next generation of agriculture.

It's our turn now.

Let's show the world what we can achieve together.

We are FFK.

If you need to do something to feel okay to drive, you're not okay to drive.

Don't drive buzzed.

I don't think that many kids in my son's school even do it.

Get your head out of the cloud.

Talk to your kid about vaping.

Visit TalkAboutleaving.org.

You're watching Chesapeake Television.

I have an emergency.

What is our location?

September 16th, 2012, in the city of Chesapeake.

Uh Brandon Peller's body was dropped off at a Chesapeake General Hospital.

He was 24 years old at the time.

And uh the last time the victim was seen alive was that morning.

Prior to being dropped up at the hospital, I believe he was with some friends in the Kemptsville area of Virginia Beach.

So through tracking his phone, we're able to put him in that location of Centerville and Kemptsville.

Several phone calls were made in and out of his telephone, and the last one connected to the network right about the city line between Virginia Beach and Chesapeake.

Through the investigation, we talked to several people who knew Mr.

Peller, two brothers and an acquaintance.

We believe what happened somewhere around the time frame prior to going to the hospital that one of the brothers was doing some side work and called Brandon Peller on the phone to ask him to help with the side work.

The brother got the acquaintance to drive him to pick up Mr.

Peller.

On the way to pick up Mr.

Peller, they were flagged down by an unknown vehicle, their own words, with an unknown person in it.

And this unknown person advised them that Mr.

Peller had been shot.

The men picked up Mr.

Peller and put him in their vehicle and drove him to the hospital.

Once at the hospital, the one brother stayed with Mr.

Peller while the acquaintance drove away.

And he was in a black four-door Nissan at the time.

That vehicle was found in the city of Virginia Beach and processed.

The victim owned a silver Mercedes.

That vehicle was also located within the city of Chesapeake down off Saddlehorn Drive and processed.

Um which is what we would like somebody to call us.

Somebody knows what was going on.

I think he was at a house with a couple people, and they could let us know what transpired.

That would be great.

He was very charismatic.

He was a true leader.

He would give the shirt off his back.

He cared about other people.

He would take care of them before he would take care of himself.

I mean, I've heard stories about him taking his money, his paycheck, and helping friends who get their kids school clothes because they didn't have anything, or buying Christmas for his friend's kids because they didn't have any money.

Then he had his own child, and he really changed the way he thought and the way he acted, and he was very important to him.

He loved his son.

Um I like to tell the person that may be involved or may have killed my son that um we forgive you.

We're not upset any longer.

We're past that.

We just want to have someone come forward, give us the information or the police, just so we can have closure and put an end to this so that we can move on with our lives and stop focusing on the what happened.

I know there are people out there who know what happened to Brandon Peller.

We were just looking for that phone call to just let us know where he was, who was with him, and what transpired.

What's gonna solve this case is somebody coming forward to say that they were either there when the incident happened to Brandon Peller, or they have firsthand knowledge told by somebody what happened to Brandon Peller, and we could cooperate that information and move forward with this investigation and to help the family to get some answers to what questions that they have.

We are a national organization.

Our motto is we ride, we educate, and we serve.

Um we're a long-distance motorcycle club that uh has men and women who have the same passion of riding our iron horses.

We try to educate the community on the rich history of the 9th and 10th cavalry of the Buffalo Soldiers, and we serve our community, and we're connected to the Cuffy Town because there are 13 Buffalo soldiers buried in this area.

And because we represent the Buffalo Soldiers, we've connected ourselves with Cuffy Town, and every year on Veterans Day, we come out and we spend time with the local community.

We have a small service, and we have a reef laying and a flag raising at the cemetery.

Buffalo Soldiers are a uh first African American, all unit in the in the U.S.

Army.

A vast majority of our members are veterans, retired police officers, uh veterans from various branches of the service.

Our founder, Kenneth Dreammaker Thomas in Chicago, founded the Buffalo Soldiers in 1993.

And he wanted to start an all African American motorcycle club at that time that would have a positive impact on the community and the country.

Anyone that would like to become a member or even just participate, even if they don't want to become a member, they can we can be reached at Hampton Roads Buffalo Soldiers.com, hi my name is Marvin with the City of Chesapeake Waste Management Division.

If we miss your container on collection day, please leave it at the curb and we'll send somebody back as soon as possible to pick it up.

You can call us at 382 City, or you can visit us at City of Chesapeake.net slash trash, and we'll send some out by as soon as possible.

Always remember to have your can out by 7 a.m.

the morning of so that we may be able to get it.

Thank you.

Hi, I'm Officer DuPrey Foster with the Chesapeake Police Court, and today we're gonna learn about the SWAT team.

I'm here with Sergeant Sparrow.

Good afternoon.

Hey there.

Thanks for coming out and hanging out with us.

Yes, sir.

So tell me a little bit about the SWAT team and what it's all about.

What do y'all do?

So the SWAT team is a collateral unit within the department.

Uh currently we have 26 operators, and then we have one uh commanding officer, which is a lieutenant.

Uh the SWAT team is basically stood up to respond to high-risk situations, whether they'd be high-risk warrant services or barricaded subjects, hostage rescue.

Uh, we also do high-risk tracking in the woods.

It's some type of sometimes we do dignitary protection if we have uh you know VIPs coming in the area like Vice President Pence came not too long ago.

So wow, so you ought to do a lot of cool things.

Yes.

So what does it take to like become a SWAT team officer?

A lot of people ask that.

You have to go through the application process.

Basically, you have to have exceptional e-val, it exceeds e-val, uh no use of force issues or anything within your uh your file.

You also have to be able to uh have good marksmanship skills, so 90% or above in uh pistol qualifications.

And once you qualify for that and go through the background investigation and pass a physical fitness test, there's a five-week course.

Uh we call it the basic SWAT operator course, and it encompasses pretty much everything we do.

Uh, since we're a collateral team, people that come out of the basic SWAT school are are operational at that point.

They have all the skills they needed to be an operator, um, and that includes building clearing, water operations, um, firearms, um, and all everything pretty much that we need to do our job effectively.

So, that training do you all send an officer somewhere else for specialized training?

No, we do that in-house.

Uh, we have, I would say collectively, you know, it's probably over a hundred years of experience put together between our senior operators as well as our new operators, and they come from all backgrounds, some come from the military before they were here.

Uh, we often uh cross-train with some military, so we pick up a lot of stuff that we can put together uh in-house and do our SWAT school.

Nice.

And so some of the things that the equipment that you use.

Can you talk a little bit about that equipment?

Anything special?

I guess you have a lot of special.

Oh, yeah, so we have we have all kinds of equipment.

Obviously, we have our basic our entry gun, sir, which is uh 11.5 inch barrel.

It's a what we call AR-15 uh rifle.

We use suppressors on those.

Uh the snipers have a 308.

Um, it's a JP precision rifle, and that's that's for long-range uh engagements.

Uh we also have the breaching unit, they have all their various tools which uh range from manual breaching tools to explosive breaching.

Um, they also use high dialogue breachers.

Uh, we have a maritime unit which has zodiac uh little inflatable boats with motors.

In case we have water out, we can get there, you know, by water.

We also have a tech unit, which is probably our up-and-coming unit where we're starting to utilize more tech in the SWAT team.

So we have you know miniature robots, we have large robots, we have pole cams that are on a long pole.

We also have drones now, so we have drones.

We've incorporated that in the SWAT team.

Now with the drones, we have a separate drone team in the department.

Correct.

Are they joint with you all or how's that work?

No.

So the UAS team within the department, um, their responsibility is more or less for a major instance, they're gonna give you the bird's eye view in the sky.

Um, they can also do uh for accident reconstruction and whatnot, they can give aerial for that.

Um, not so much on the tactical side.

So if we need a drone to go indoors, uh, that would be more us.

If we have you know a lot of obstacles to where they would be worried about uh damaging their drones are much more expensive.

So I think one of theirs probably is about $30,000 just for one.

Wow.

So they're not really too keen on getting that close to obstacles, is where ours are a little bit less expensive, and you know, we can we can do a little bit more with them and risking them damage and get them closer to the event.

So how long have you served on the SWAT team?

I've been on uh this is my fifth year total.

Uh so some guys on the team, and we have one guy that's been on for 20 years, so a few that's been on a little bit less than that.

So we have a lot of experience, and we also have a lot of new guys, which is good.

So we're bringing up a lot of new people.

Okay.

And so, what would you say for someone who say they're interested in law enforcement, they want to be a SWAT officer.

See all these TV shows nowadays with SWAT and all these things.

What could you tell them to prepare themselves to become a police officer, maybe even a SWAT officer one day?

So being physically fit obviously is number one.

Uh we carry a lot of gear.

Uh not you know, we just have we have a rifle, pistol, and all that stuff, but also our our entry gear, which includes um soft armor and entry plates, and also a ballistic helmet.

So you can be looking to carry anywhere from 30 to 40 if you're a breacher, maybe even 50 or 60 more pounds on your person getting from point A to point B to wherever the problem is.

And sometimes depending on where we're at on the call out, you know, you could be 50, 100 yards, you gotta get to the staying physically fit, uh keeping up with the marksmanship skills.

You know, once they're an officer and they come to the department, even if they're not starting out with good marksmanship skills, they can come down to the academy and the instructors are more than willing on working with them and bringing that up to the level it needs to be.

Um, and just conducting themselves in a professional manner once they get here, staying out of trouble.

Obviously, for one, uh, useful force is a big thing, making sure there's no problems with use of force complaints or decision making.

Um, and and pretty much that's it.

You know, being a good officer all around in their primary duty, having a good eval is what we're looking for.

Good deal.

Hey, well, thank you so much for hanging out with us, Sergeant Sparrow.

Sir, take care.

Thank you so much for watching.

That's all we have for today.

If you want to learn more about the Chesapeake Police Department, visit us online at Chesapeake Police.com.

Life doesn't always give you time to change the outcome.

Pre-diabetes does.

With early diagnosis, pre-diabetes can be reversed.

Take the one-minute pre-diabetes risk test today.

Go to do I have prediabetes.org.

Make sure you have the lid nearby that you can smother the fire.

Turn off the burner.

Do not move the pan or the lid until everything has cooled.

Then douse everything in cold water before throwing it away.

Inspect your stove top to make sure there's no permanent damage.

And if a fire starts in your oven, turn off the heat, keep the door closed until it's cool.

Then have it checked or serviced before using it again.

Stay safe in the kitchen.

Hi, I'm Sherry with Waste Management Division of Publix Works.

Please place your uh yard waste and clear plastic bags at the curb.

And if we don't get to you immediately, please leave it there and we'll get to you ASAP.

For more information, please visit City of Chesapeake.net slash trash.

Thank you very much.

Today I'm going to talk to you about physics.

Come on in, girls.

Let's go.

This is the first rocket to get humans to Mars.

Really tall.

I'm a rocket structural engineer designing and building parts of the rocket.

You are the generation that will be stepping foot on Mars.

So I have a group of astronauts on my hands.

Yes.

You can become a rocket scientist or whatever else you want to be a living shoreline is using wetlands to protect the shore from erosion.

And then we usually do like a marsh sill or marsh toe, which is a little either a coconut core log, which we have over here that you'll see, or oyster castles in this case.

So the oyster castles will protect the wetlands and the wetlands are going to protect the shore from eroding.

So see you can build them up high and interlock them.

So it helps it it's stable.

It's a very stable port platform to protect the shoreline from erosion.

We have 777 oyster castles that we're gonna put in on this north facing point.

It's gonna be about 130 linear feet of oyster castles, and the entire project is going to be 670 linear feet.

The rest of it will be with the coconut core logs.

And then behind this, we're gonna backfill with sand and we're gonna plant them with the native wetland grass called Spartina Ultra Neflora.

In order for something of this magnitude to occur, you really have to have a lot of community support and community backing for the project.

They need to understand why it's important and why it's gonna benefit the health of the river.

And so we'll need help with if you don't want to carry a log, we need help carrying this down, these down.

We you know we have a lot of materials to get down there.

It's a combination of creating a new shoreline or at least extending out your shoreline to a place at which it previously was established.

The baby oysters oyster spat will be floating around in the water, and they are looking for a place to hatch themselves onto.

So these oyster castle structures, they provide that perfect place for the new baby spat to find its home.

They really over time just begin to look like a beautiful oyster reef.

And then as you have more oysters there, you also see higher levels of fish biodiversity, um, crustacean biodiversity, and then the other just marine life that exists within our waterways here.

And we're really focusing on Indian River because it in the latest state of the river report, it failed as far as bacteria.

So we're trying to implement living shorelines and rain gardens, and we're about to launch a pet waste campaign.

Our partner HRSD just found out that it was not from humans, so it's probably from dogs.

You know, people think that pet waste is fertilizer, it's not, it's very harmful, has a lot of harmful bacteria.

So um keep your soft shorelines, your living shorelines and wetlands are really important.

It's really important to pick up your dog waste.

So as of last Wednesday, we brought in 30 cubic yards of sand.

We think the whole project might take about 120, so we'll be about a quarter of the way just through the sand.

And then the sand is necessary because we need to make the proper elevation for the wetlands to thrive and grow so then they can protect the shoreline from erosion.

And so what you have over here is the crawl logs, and behind me is the oyster castle that we've uh put in.

And eventually this will both act as habitat for oysters.

And we're gonna put like uh 80 bushels of oyster shell on here, and it'll also help protect the uh shaw line here from the roads, and if you can see how cliffs happening over there.

The Indian River, which we're standing in right now, has indefinite water quality issues because of bacteria and fertilizer that washes in from lawns, and oysters are a great filter.

They filter like 40 gallons of water an hour.

And so we wanted more oysters.

That's what kind of started us.

Um it's surprising to see how many volunteers are out here.

People really care about uh their local environment, and they obviously really care about the watershed around here.

It's exciting to see that.

We have a commitment to doing both a service activity and an environmental outreach.

So this was planned into our work schedule, so technically we're out of the office, but it's our way of giving back from the company.

And I've learned that it's a lot messier out here than I ever thought it could be, and I think that this kind of outreach program would be really great to clean up the shoreline because it needs it.

Wanted to do some good.

Yeah, it is.

I love coming out and doing uh hard work, and uh, I have learned that oysters are really important for the river and they can filter out a lot of uh the contamination that's in there.

Yeah, and it's really hard to build an oyster reef.

Oysters like to settle on hard boxes like this.

They prefer oyster shell, but they'll settle on concrete also.

Over time, they'll be covered with oysters, we hope.

So this is a long-term project.

It's a marathon, not a sprint, as we've been saying.

Um, but it's exciting because now you get to look at it, and it really you can tell we're building a wetland and a living shoreline.

Welcome to the Chesapeake Public Library.

We want to learn about family history.

Do you have anything that could help?

You can check Ancestry.com here at the library or heritage quest.

And it's free.

That's also free.

I need to send some documents to my school.

We offer scanning and faxing, or you can always scan your document and attach it to your email.

Free!

Do you have any movies?

We've got all kinds of movies.

Free and free.

So come check us out.

During the fall season, the leaves will, of course, clutter the lawn and make it chore.

But please remember not to rake them or grass clippings into storm drains or ditches.

They clog up the flow of storm water and can lead to flooding.

Leaves and grass clippings can also wreak havoc on local waterways as they decompose.

Ideally, just mulch them right into the lawn using your mower.

This contributes water and nutrients to the lawn and can minimize your need for fertilizer.

If you have too many leaves or grass clippings to mulch and need to get rid of them, place them in clear plastic bags or compostable paper bags, pile them by the curb, and public works will pick them up on your scheduled garbage day.

There's no need to call for bulk pickup for this collection.

Each residence is limited to 30 bags of leaves or grass clippings each week.

The number goes up to 50 bags in the months of November and December.

But remember, mulching in place with your lawnmower works great too.

For more information, call 382 City or go to City of Chesapeake.

Parents make mistakes.

Sometimes they forget.

And that lapse can lead to disastrous results.

Every 10 days in the U.S., a child dies from heat stroke after being left alone in a hot car.

The inside of a car heats up faster than you think.

Never leave a child alone in a motor vehicle.

Look before you lock and visit Where's Baby.org for more life-saving tips.

Every year, cyclists are either injured or killed by motor vehicles.

So let's do our best to prevent accidents by keeping the following rules in mind.

Cyclists have a right to use the roads, but drivers should be cautious and give cyclists at least three feet of passing distance and only pass when it's safe to do so.

Cyclists should wear helmets, be highly visible, use bike lights and mirrors, and wear reflective gear after dark.

And don't forget to always ride in the same direction as traffic.

Whether you're in a car or on a bike, the same road rules and traffic signals apply to everyone.

So let's look out for each other and keep our Chesapeake Roads safe for all.

Go, go, go, go.

And I have never seen the turnout at a volunteer project so intensely on a weekday.

So we've been doing this now for about three weeks.

We've had people from the city of Chesapeake come out, which we we've really appreciated.

The city participating.

We've got residents at Chesapeake, Norfolk, and Portsmouth coming out.

College students from all the major colleges here in Tidewater come out.

And just people who are interested in helping the river.

I will barreled a bunch of uh sand, so that's really what I mainly did today.

And I planted the fences too.

So that was cool.

I've never done anything hands-on like this, so it was a really good experience, and I hope to come back one day and see everything, you know, grow and that you know, to see that I actually helped and did something.

We've been fighting some high tides, but we're really moving along, and as of last week, we finished placing sand and we planted another 3,000 plants.

Hopefully, we'll be done by the end of this week.

It's going really well.

Yep, we've been really, really pleased.

Hands down.

There's no way that we would have been able to accomplish this much in this little amount of time without the like outstanding volunteers that we've had.

So huge kudos to them.

Really, hats off.

Stewardship of the environment, stewardship of our river.

It is so impressive.

Got a huge age range of people out here.

And to a person, they're positive, they're encouraging one another, they're loving what they're doing.

It's kind of on the level of prison labor, but no one's complaining about it.

And uh young and old men and women, families.

It's really fantastic and encouraging.

And because of that, we were able to install uh 45 core logs, uh, over 800 oyster castles.

We put in 115 tons of sand, and then we planted the area with over 5,000 marsh grasses.

And because of that, this project now will serve as a buffer between what occurs upland and then what eventually goes into our waterway here at Indian River.

Uh, we will, as a result, see the reduction of 20 pounds of nitrogen that goes into the river annually, uh, 10 pounds of phosphorus that goes into the river annually, and nine tons of sediment that goes into the river annually.

And then also as a result, we'll just see a natural boom and the oyster population and fish and crustacean species that will come here to visit this beautiful wetland and the oyster castle sill.

Over 120 people came to volunteer in this project, both from inside the Indian River community and from the uh larger Hampton Roads area.

We have information about this out on the Friends of Indian River Facebook page, and and so we're trying to get word out, and there's been a lot of positive feedback on everything that we've done here.

We expanded the wetlands by some 3,000 square feet, and we put in nearly 800 oyster castles, which should help build the oyster population.

So it was very important to us.

The work we're doing will hopefully improve the water quality and the wildlife habitat and make the river a healthier and better place for everybody.

I realized at that moment these people really needed us.

And I was going to make a difference right here in my community.

Be there for your community at National Guard.

Life doesn't always give you time to change the outcome.

Pre-diabetes does.

With early diagnosis, pre-diabetes can be reversed.

Take the one-minute pre-diabetes risk test today.

Go to do I have prediabetes.org.

You're watching Chessapink Television.

So this is our second uh tag a cat event.

Uh we found over the past couple months, several years that vehicle catalytic converters are a very high theft item.

The reason for that is catalytic converters, which is a which is part of your vehicle's exhaust system.

They have a lot of precious metals, a lot of high value metals inside these.

And what happens is uh when these devices, these converters are stolen, there's almost like a black market for them where uh the thieves take them and they they sell them for the materials in them.

Uh a lot of times it's it's hard to prosecute these because if you find uh a suspicious individual or vehicle with a bunch of cellid converters in it, it's hard to find where they came from.

So what we decided to do is we were able to uh get some grant money and we purchased an etching machine.

So what we're doing here today is we uh basically it's an event where citizens bring their car here.

We use the etching machine to etch the vehicle's VIN number on the catalytic converter, and then we're using um high heat fluorescent orange spray paint to just spray paint CPD on the cartilage converter.

And our hope is that if uh a thief goes under your vehicle and sees this fluorescent orange paint with CPD, hopefully it'll be a little bit of a deterrent for them.

They'll realize that it's marked, you know, it's it's not worth the the risk is not worth the reward in their case.

Royce's record service, uh, you know, huge thank you to them.

They're volunteer volunteering their time.

We're on Tilden Avenue in in Chesapeake.

Uh and uh this is the second one.

We're planning another one in June.

We we don't have the exact logistics worked out on that yet.

But if you follow us on our department social media, our Facebook page, Chesapeake Police Department, um, as soon as we find out and get that more concrete, we'll be posting it there on our on our social media.

A couple things you can do to to kind of make yourself the the the hardest victim to be.

Um park under welded areas, you know, try to park around other cars, um, things like that.

And unfortunately, some of these uh thieves they're they're very skilled and with the right tools.

They can get up underneath the vehicle and within 30 seconds to a minute, they can have that catalytic converter off and and load it in there.

Uh the the suspect vehicle and and they're they're down the road.

And and it could be a fairly expensive um it's it's a very expensive repair, also, as we're talking in into the thousands of dollars to repair these.

Hey pets, does your human have an emergency kit ready for you?

Mine does.

It has enough food and water to last me at least three days, plus my medications, copies of my medical records, and a first aid kit.

There's also this cute picture of me and him together just in case he has to prove ownership.

I guess if you have one of those cat pets, you should have kitty litter and stuff like that for them too.

But why would you have a cat when you could have a dog?

Just bark it out loud.

Make sure your human is prepared for emergencies.

Learn how at ready.gov slash pets.

Alright.

Ready?

Seek up.

Seek up.

Seek seek seek seek up.

Sick up.

Seek seek seek.

Yes?

Yes?

Show me.

Show me.

Show me.

Go boy.

Show me.

Quincy is an electronic storage detection canine.

And he can detect a chemical that's sprayed on all memory chips and any device from something as small as a micro SD card to a very large computer.

He is mainly used for uh child exploitation, human trafficking, um, and that type of crime, but we've recently found that he can alert to card skimmers, card readers, um guys, other dogs that are trained just like he is, have located uh phones from homicides and um different crimes.

He's alerted to items that have been buried to the ground.

Um he also alerts to items buried in the water.

Um he is also cross-trained to comfort live victims if we come across them on scene when we're doing warrants, and he will also help comfort them while they're testifying in court.

Well, my biggest concern was that I have another dog at home and how she was gonna react to him, but they've uh taken to each other very well, and um my boys adore him, so they like uh like him just like they like our dog, and he's very good with them too.

I mean, he is cross-trained to do victim comfort if we come across the live victim.

Show me.

So he's very loving, as you can see.

He just does this.

He would do this all day.

Whoof woof.

Hey pets, does your human include you in their emergency planning?

Because they should.

My human has made sure that I will have somewhere safe to go if he ever has to evacuate.

He's also created a buddy system with our neighbors.

So if an emergency happens while he's not home, they will come to make sure I'm okay.

No matter what happens, he will never leave me home alone if there's a disaster in our area.

Learn more about how you can prepare your humans for emergencies by visiting ready.gov slash pets.

Woof up.

The community emergency response team, cert, is a partnership between emergency services and the citizens of Chesapeake.

By training volunteers in basic emergency skills, our community is much more prepared for a disastrous event that could overwhelm or delay the city's fire and EMS services.

Teams are located throughout the city, meet monthly, and train quarterly.

For more information about CERT and how you can help, go to City of Chesapeake.net and join your local team today.

Prior to me getting um promoted to sergeant, I was a handler for just shy of four uh 15 years.

Hey.

This is uh Echo.

Here.

I I really wanted a dog.

Yeah, come on.

We uh identified um Echo as a uh candidate, and thanks to Chief Seleschi who approving it, giving us the opportunity to uh work her.

Now I uh I'm back in the game, so to say.

And uh she's she comes home uh with me.

Uh she loves the family, the family loves her, they're able to get a uh get around her and play with her.

So she came um to the shelter initially as a stray, and we did hold her for her stray period.

We were able to locate her owners.

Uh however, her owners weren't able to provide the care that she needed.

They recognized that, and they wanted Echo to have a better life.

We recognized her potential as far as being a good working dog.

Like a little cat.

We recognize this potential all the time.

You know, and these animals aren't just wonderful companions.

She works for for play and and uh affection, love.

But they do make great working dogs, especially specific breeds that need a job to do.

Yeah, she doesn't work for food.

Good, good.

Get up in the camera.

Finding her in animal services uh saved us a lot of money because usually we uh spend uh the prices are going up, so we're spending up to 10,000 dollars for a dog.

Um, so that saved us money there, and then putting our own school on saved us additional money.

And uh, she's just a big lover.

She likes to jump and hug and give kisses.

Honey, what I think you need is a socket wrench.

I played JV basketball.

I'm sorry, I don't think it looks right.

This is good, and it's all good, baby.

Is it really all good?

If you love me enough to routinely test your handyman scales, not to mention the strength of your marriage, then of course you'll visit nhtsa.gov slash the right seat to make sure I'm in the right car seat.

I'm gonna call my dad.

It's a great accomplishment.

It's one of the hardest schools that you can go through.

Um especially being the first female in Chesapeake to have passed this school.

Um it's very rewarding, it's very uh exhilarating to say the least.

Uh thank Sheriff Jim O'Sullivan for giving me the opportunity to be able to go through this school and and to obtain this certificate in my portfolio.

Yeah.

Well, Sheriff's Office is extremely proud of McKenzie, Deputy Powers, uh, for her accomplishment.

Um, she's the first female in the city of Chesapeake to be able to graduate such a school.

I happen to know her from when she was in high school, uh volleyball player, uh competitive volleyball, and then Oscar Schmidt volleyball.

She's always been tenacious and an athlete and real competitive.

So then when she joined over here, uh she always stood out as things we would want her to do.

She graduated through the police academy for extra certification.

Uh she did a great job with that.

And then she has a bit of a passion with uh monster trucks and things like that.

She can probably put one together, take it apart.

So this is ideal for her.

It's in her wheelhouse.

So one of the main things that they teach you in training is slow courses.

You're at about five miles per hour controlling this 850-pound bike inside of small cone areas, and when you first start, you think there's there's no way I'm gonna put this in this little area, and as they build you up and you build the confidence within the bike, you realize that you can, but getting past that mental uh uh block is the hardest part.

We use them for not only parades, um, any escort that we have to do funerals to presidential.

We can also do traffic control with them, um, traffic citations, anything along those lines, these are these are built for.

I see all the the guys that are out doing it, and there's only two other females in the Hampton Roads region, and uh really only one of them rides, from what I understand, and being able to be that female presence out there to show other women in the department or that want to join or from other areas that they can do it and that you know it's it's obtainable.

It's super important to our mission and the sheriff's mission.

Uh Jim O'Sullivan, as we expand the program, as we extend the expand the unit that we're able to encompass everybody, males and females to do the job, and you know, with her being the first, it can open the doors to maybe sometime down in the future having a second female.

Oh, absolutely.

I can't wait until I'm out there serving the city of Chesapeake on my new rod.

Yeah.

Okay.

Oh.

You got it, you got it, keep going.

Oh sorry.

I got you instead.

There we go.

There we go.

What are all the invasive species you're talking about?

Well, there's a whole mess of them.

Right now, though, we are focusing mainly on different species of Lugustrum, which is commonly called privet, um, and English ivy specifically.

As you can see, the privet crowds out stuff on the floor.

The ivy acts as a ground cover cover that then creeps up trees and then as it gets verticality, it puts out its seeds and spreads to these natural areas.

So that sounds invasive to me.

It is.

No, and it's important to have folks, wonderful people out here volunteering, like the people over at Dollar Tree and the uh folks here at Chesapeake to make sure that we can kind of combat these invasive species together.

I think we got a lot done.

We were super energetic, uh, had great teamwork, got a lot, a lot done, had a couple huge massive piles around.

So I think we did great.

If you look here, this native pawpaw tramp plant was um crowded out by the Ivy, it had no chance of growing.

Um and now we might be able to see fruit from it.

Um we clear it from the trees over here so it doesn't take over the tops.

If you look back there behind you, you might see a whole bunch more.

Um it's a lot of work, but it's really rewarding, and it's it's good to find something that I'm able to do to help the community.

Is that the ticket to do the job?

Yeah, some of them um the privet when it's too big to pull up.

We cut it and treat it with the chemical so that it doesn't take off roots and it had been cut before, so a lot of it's hard to get up now.

So if I have a big vine, I'll be vine, I cut and spray.

If I have a big privet, cut and spray.

Um, but uh a number of groups, um, some small, some very large, some businesses, some just individuals.

Um, working with our staff just to clean up our parks and to get it rid of a lot of these evasive plants.

All right, now I go from that side.

Yeah.

There we go.

It's so important that uh we have so much uh extra help out here uh as well as some of our other parks, uh, just because there's so many things that our staff, especially when we get in the middle of uh mowing season and edging season and all, just trying to keep uh uh other facilities nice and and beautiful.

But this is just the other extra things that just really um just are priceless in helping us so that will just be uh help us with long-term maintenance and also preserve the park and the trees and um and a lot of the vegetation for many many years to come.

We got a lot more people willing to do community service around here than I would have expected, and I like that.

It's a really good thing.

Everybody has a dream.

And with a little help.

Our next adventure takes us to yet another park on the water.

Elizabeth River Park is nestled right beneath the Jordan Bridge with ADA accessible pathways, amenities, and more.

On this brisk yet beautiful morning, we perused the grounds under the bridge and ran into one of our park technicians that is usually on site or in the snack shack.

It's convenient, it's a beautiful park, breezes, shade.

It has a comedy fit.

There's nothing like a waterfront park with a nice breeze because you take your walk with your pets.

We have signs posted throughout the park.

Your dog always, always has to be on a leash.

You're required to pick up after you pit.

Again, we have the mutt hit stations.

We have access to the Jordan Bridge, which is a mile across and a mile back.

A lot of people actually walk or run or jog their dogs across the bridge.

I don't think that's for Penny, but Elizabeth River Park has it all.

Great grills, a view, gazebo, outdoor exercise equipment, playgrounds for people, and a dog park too.

So one for the large dogs, one for the smaller dogs.

You have to have your dog ridge and have a dog membership with the city of Chesapeake.

One of the unique things about the Elizabeth Rural Car is that we actually have a fishing pier.

No fishing license required.

And dogs are allowed on the pier.

Dogs are allowed on the pier.

Woo-hoo!

Thanks, Mr.

Lightfoot.

We'll save the grabbing lessons for later and visit the dog park too.

Happy trails and happy tales, everybody.

We'll see you next time with Penny in our parks.

You know, it's it's just so wonderful to see our seniors out here interacting with each other with us with all the vendors to find out new and interesting information that can help them.

And you know, as Sheriff Newhardt's vision many, many years ago to provide that service to the seniors, and I'm just so proud to be able to carry that tradition on today.

Yes.

We're having lots of fun.

The vendors and the stuff that we get and the information about uh Medicare and stuff, you know, information that I didn't really know about.

All right, let's get into the grandma.

It's such an honor to give back and celebrate the individuals who've given so much to our society.

Uh I like to say they are the giants whose shoulders we stand on, and anytime we can recognize their awesomeness, I'm here for it.

As I mentioned, look, walking around and getting the sage wisdom that only comes from experiencing life.

Am I the only one in here that's nice to sit?

I think so.

Are you having fun?

You having fun?

Yo, yeah.

Last of the fun.

What's your favorite part?

What do I like best?

Oh, I like music.

The band that's a good feeling for me.

See those seeing citizens doing the thing that they want to do.

Yeah, I'm having fun.

What's your favorite part?

Just eating.

The cheesecake.

I think it's an entertainment, and also the food is always good.

We have a packed house here today, and it's uh it's the hardest ticket in town.

I the best part of this is just seeing their smiling faces.

They're true heroes.

They paved the way for me and my children, and it's just an honor to be in the same room with them.

And present to others.

Our speaker for this occasion.

A man who loves sharing his ideas and thoughts and feelings with children.

A man who believes in the power of having a voice and exercising that voice.

A man who believes that you can take a reluctant reader and teach them the power of hands on the page.

And a man who can rap his water believes that you can change the world.

Please join me in bringing back home to the OEM, our very old how we can.

So we're gonna talk about that tonight.

When I was in high school at Great Bridge, I graduated in 1986.

Not only would you have not, not only did we not see any black authors in our school or in the city.

I don't ever recall seeing a black author outside of my house.

And I lived with two of them.

It says a lot.

It says a lot about who you are.

It says a lot about where we are.

And I just want to take this moment and make sure that you acknowledge that.

Because it says a lot about who you are and where you're headed.

Do y'all understand what I'm saying?

I had an opportunity to speak to some students from Great Bridge High School on the yearbook committee and journalism club.

And they asked some really important questions that I think are gonna guide my talk today.

One of the questions, if I recall, was there a moment in your life where you thought that you were gonna be a writer, you were gonna be a writer who wrote something that mattered to young people.

Was there like a moment where you knew your words were gonna have that type of impact?

The other question was were there some teachers who impacted you and helped you become who you are today.

My favorite book as a three-year-old, which I used to run around the house screaming, was Fox Sox Knox Box, Fox and socks, socks in box.

I loved me some Dr.

Seuss.

And so as a three-year-old growing up in New York City, I memorized this book and read it and recited it every day.

Well, one particular day I was at school.

I went to a school called Riverside.

It was inside of a church called Riverside Church, built by John D.

Rockefeller.

And so at the end of the day of school, I built a house out of these wooden blocks.

I wanted to show my mom and surprise her.

This was a castle, you know, in my mind.

And so she arrived to pick me up, and before she came in to get me, this kid came over and he kicked the blocks over and knocked my house down.

And of course, I went up to him with my weapons.

The only weapons I had.

And I said, those were my blocks that you flipped.

Lest you want a quick pay back, better fix my quick block stack.

Right?

And he started crying.

And when my mother came in, the teachers were like, Mrs.

Alexander, when you talk to you, your son Kwame is arrogant.

He intimidates all the other kids with his words.

And my mother said, Thank you.

We teach him to use his words.

I couldn't articulate it then, but this was the moment where I knew that words were gonna play a profound role in my life, where I knew the power of words.

My mother was the first teacher.

She was that first person who made me.

And my fondest memory of high school was the crushes I had and playing tennis.

And I started out being a pretty average tennis player and ended up by my senior year being the number one player on the team.

So I learned a lot about resilience and perseverance at Great Bridge High School and in Chesapeake.

About Althea Gibson.

But certainly it impacted my writing because everything I do is about helping young people understand that they have a voice, that they matter, that they, you know, one of my favorite quotes is I am the greatest, not because I am better than anyone, but because no one is better than me.

And that's something I learned here in Chesapeake.

So what we have here is we have a residential structure uh that's set for demolition in a couple weeks, and I've went through and I've made sure that the structure's safe for firefighters to train in.

It's uh low visibility conditions, and they have to go through and make a search and try to find victims inside.

As a fire department, we don't they don't come across very often that we have a structure that we can fill full of furniture, fill full of smoke, and get inside and train real life scenario.

A lot of times we're using concrete burn buildings, and we already know the layout when we go inside.

But uh, in this situation, the firefighters have no idea of the layout, they have no idea where the victims are.

Like when they get that call at two o'clock in the morning and there's a report of victims inside.

This is the same setup here.

That's a problem.