Kings Grant Parade and Picnic

KGCL

Please come for our neighborhood parade and picnic on Monday, July 4th.  Our parade will step out at 11am on Monday at Witt Park on Kings Grant Road and proceed around the lake.  We have prizes for children with the best decorated bicycles (and the judging for this is very difficult because there are so many fantastic decorations).  We have pizza, hot dogs and watermelon.  We have music, events and a few games.  One of our young neighborhood musicians will render our National Anthem on her trumpet.  You can add your signature to the Declaration of Independence.

There are free Kazoos for the first 100 children who arrive. We will start our assembly in Blue Ridge Ct at 10:30 am.  We have kayaking on the lake, a volunteer making balloon animals, a free photo booth to take a memorable picture, and more.  A police officer will be present to show the kids all the cool stuff in his cruiser.

Bring your chair and a drink.  If you have a salad or dessert you want to share with neighbors, please bring it.  We will have a few tables to place things on and tableware.

Most of all we want YOU for the parade … either in it or watching.  Walk, ride your bike, push your stroller, drive your vintage vehicle, ride your motorcycle, or pull your wagon.  Decorations and flags are a part of the celebration.   Tell your neighbors.

We thank in advance these neighborhood businesses who are supporting our event with their participation and donations:

  • Kings’ Grant 7-11
  • Marco’s Pizza
  • Valentines Photo Booth
  • Wild River Outfitters

Our schedule (but subject to some adjustment of the event sequence after the parade):
10:30-11:00 Assembly

11:00 Parade start

11:45 Parade finishes

11:55 National anthem and flag raising

12:00 Announcement of bike contest winners (prizes)

12:00-2:00 Food (pizza, hot dogs & watermelon), music, contests and events

12:30-12:45 Watermelon seed spitting contest (prize)

12:45-1:00 Bubble gum blowing contest (prize)

 

We’ll see you there.  If there is a threat of rain, please check back to the KGCL web site or our Facebook page.

Kings Grant Road sanitary pump station work reaches a milestone

KGCL, Public Works

IMG_4873Work to construct the below grade (underground) portion of the new sanitary pump station on Kings Grant Road near Sunnybrook Lane is complete. Neighbors may have noticed (and heard) the large steel cofferdam segments being pulled from the ground for the past several days and stacked at the site. These were the temporary walls for the deep hole (approximately 30’ below ground) where the heavily reinforced concrete wet well for sewage collection was built. The placement and removal of these steel segments was a noisy event heard for blocks. It won’t be long before the above ground work begins. The large crane that has been a fixture along the road for the past six months will soon be gone. Work is scheduled to complete near the end of November. Landscaping of the work site and restoration of the Triangle property will be done at that time.

July 4th Parade & Picnic

Events, KGCL, , ,

The King’s Grant Community League (KGCL) will host an Independence Day parade and picnic on Monday, July 4th.  Last year’s event was fantastic with several hundred neighborhood residents involved.

Based on comments from last year’s participants, we’ve extended the parade route this year.  The route will begin and end at Witt Park on Kings Grant Rd (the KGCL-owned property at the waters’ edge at the intersection of Kings Grant Rd and Blue Ridge Ct).  This year we will circle the lake.  We will gather our participants in the Blue Ridge Ct cul-de-sac, and proceed north to Watergate Ln.  We will turn right onto Watergate Ln and follow it to Smiths Ln.  From there, we go one block south and turn right onto Edinburgh Dr.  We will parade along Edinburgh Dr to Kings Grant Rd and return to Witt Park.  Start time is 11am.  Please be present by 10:45 so our volunteers can get everyone lined up.  If you are not walking or biking with us, please come out and cheer on the marchers.  We hope you will bring your flag.  After the parade, we will have contests, music and a picnic at the park.

This is an opportunity to involve adults and children in something fun that brings the community together and recognizes the significance of the date.  We welcome just about anything in the parade that walks or rolls… that means bikes, strollers, wagons, vintage vehicles, motorcycles, lawn mowers, scooters, etc.

We can use more volunteers to assist with the event and as traffic safety monitors along our route. We would particularly appreciate homeowners near road intersections being available to place the traffic barriers (that will be delivered in advance) in the road as the parade approaches and remove them after we pass.  Please email the KGCL Board if you will help (board@kgcl.org) with a small piece.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FLYER

Watch the KGCL webs site for more info.

May Farm Garden Club Pine Straw Sale

Grounds & Maintenance, KGCL, PSA

May Farm Garden Club has pine straw!

Each year the May Farm Garden Club of Kingston hosts an annual pine straw sale. Proceeds from this sale are used for beautification in several locations of our community. This year’s sale, on March 19th, landed on a cold, wet day that severely curtailed the neighborhood turnout. As a result, 221 bales of pine straw remain for sale. The Garden Club needs your support. Please give them a call. Your garden and the Garden Club will both appreciate it! The cost is $7.00 per bale, plus $10.00 delivery fee if you would like them to deliver.

Please call 486-7680 or 306-8597.

Traffic Detours This Weekend

KGCL, PSA, Public Works, Transportation

Detour signN. Lynnhaven Road will be closed at the Kings Grant Road intersection from Friday night through Sunday night (March 4-6) to complete the sewer pipe installation below the road. Northbound traffic on N. Lynnhaven and Kings Grant Roads must use alternate routes during this period. Southbound Kings Grant and N. Lynnhaven Roads will remain partially open with traffic directed to Virginia Beach Blvd. The intersection will be reopened when work completes.

Open Meeting Thursday

KGCL

There is general membership meeting this Thursday, February 18, 7:30 PM at King’s Grant Elementary School.

The King’s Grant Community League (KGCL) is pleased to host a presentation by Mr. Kyle Finerfrock, Environmental Scientist with Solitude Lake Management, at our general meeting on Thursday, February 18th at 7:30pm. High among the concerns of our neighborhood residents is the growing problem in some areas of our lakes with aquatic weeds that are spreading across the waters. Mr. Finerfrock will discuss the issues that promote this growth, the decisions that homeowners make that contribute to or mitigate the problem, and options available to manage water quality. He will also briefly discuss his experience with methods of deterring uninvited geese that may invade your lawn. At the conclusion of his presentation, he will answer questions.

About Mr. Finerfrock:

Kyle Finerfrock

Kyle Finerfrock is an Environmental Scientist at SOLitude Lake Management with over ten years of experience with aquatic-related projects, encompassing sustainable lake and pond maintenance, treating invasive wetland plants, performing GPS mapping, and supporting water quality and plant monitoring programs in some of the largest lakes in Virginia. Kyle has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental Science, with a concentration in Marine Biology from Christopher Newport University in Newport News, VA and is a certified aquatic applicator in eight states.

Update: King’s Grant Road Sanitary Pump Station

City of Virginia Beach, Public Works

As everyone who travels Kings Grant Road between Virginia Beach Blvd and Little Neck Road has seen,the construction work for replacement of the sanitary sewer pump station on Kings Grant Road is finally underway. So is the work to install a new sewer line beneath Kings Grant Road. There are two separate work crews involved, so the contractor changed the sequence of road work in order to avoid interferences between them in the early stages of the project. Road work began near Virginia Beach Blvd and will move north to the pump station. This is a reversal of the original plan which started at the pump station and worked south to Virginia Beach Blvd.

An assortment of issues delayed the start of the project (wet weather, interfering utility lines, and trees), so the contractor is behind schedule at the pump station site. Temporary pump equipment is housed in the large orange containers at the corner of Kings Grant Road and Sunnybrook Lane. These are now on-line and serve to bypass the pump station so that it may be demolished and rebuilt. The large crane will be used to demolish the pump house and the concrete wet well beneath it. The crane will then drive steel sheet piles to create a cofferdam so that a new wet well can be constructed. While the work at this site continues, the sewer line work beneath the road will continue to work its way north.

The portion of the road now being worked is closed to through traffic. Once construction reaches the intersection of Kings Grant Road and North Lynnhaven Road, the contractor will work around the clock during one weekend to get through that area at quickly as possible. You can expect this portion to be the most disruptive to neighborhood traffic flow. Once road work gets north of that intersection, then one lane will remain open on Kings Grant Road the rest of the way. No disruption of school bus routes is expected.

The updated plan for the major chunks of work are:

  • Pump Station Demolition: February ’16 – March ‘16
  • Below Grade Construction: March ’16 – August ‘16
  • Pump Station Construction: July ’16 – January ‘17
  • Sewer Line Installation: January ’16 – April ‘16

The city’s Public Utilities Engineering Division agreed to provide more details (projected dates for each phase of the work) on road closures. That info will be provided when received.

King's Grant Road Sanitary Pump Station Project    King's Grant Road Sanitary Pump Station Project

 

Update: Kingston Road Sanitary Pump Station

KGCL, Public Works

The Public Utilities Engineering Division of the City of Virginia Beach provided the KGCL with an update on the progress of construction at the Kingston Drive pump station. The wet weather has been a challenge to overcome, but construction is moving along very well. The contractor set up the temporary pumping equipment, demolished the old pump station building, and is preparing to remove the old sewage wet well. A large crane has been set up at the work site. This will be used to remove the below-grade concrete wet well and drive the sheet piles to create a cofferdam that will allow construction of the new wet well. Neighbors should expect noise when the steel sheet piles are driven into the ground to create the cofferdam. The project is still scheduled to complete in November.

Kingston Road Project Kingston Road Project Kingston Road Pump Station Project

 

PLEASE DON’T FEED THE BIRDS IN WITT PARK

Grounds & Maintenance, KGCL, ,

gran-torino-clint-eastwood

From time to time we need to send out a reminder that FEEDING WILDLIFE IN WITT PARK IS PROHIBITED.

We don’t mean to be grumps about it. It’s just not good for us or the animals.

Feeding waterfowl increases their permanent population without any checks or balances. Bird feces pollute the lake with excessive nitrates and pose a health risk to people.

You know what isn’t prohibited in Witt Park? FISHING!

PASS IT ON!