Evelyn Powers for City Council
Urban Heat Island & Tree Equity - The 2040 Comprehensive Plan Harmony With Nature states that we need to bring our tree canopy to 60% with 40% coverage needing to be met per city block.
What specific measures will be implemented to maintain our current tree canopy, as well as guarantee tree equity throughout the whole city?
ANSWER
Each year as City departments prepare and submit their budgets the Parks and Recreation Department ask for funds to keep up with the planting of trees in the City. I would agree to support this line item budget to make sure that we are following the 2040 Comprehensive Plan so we do not get behind and have to play catch-up to stay on schedule.
Flood Resilience
Downtown Roanoke was built on top of wetlands and tributaries to the Roanoke River. The topography of the region makes downtown Roanoke vulnerable to the stormwater runoff from bordering localities. There are state and federal funding incentives to encourage localities to be flood resilient.
What is your plan to protect Roanoke from another catastrophic flood like the Flood of 1985?
ANSWER
As you know the City now has a Stormwater Management Department and the City residents pay a stormwater fee as part of the Real Estate tax statement every year. The funds that are collected go directly into the Stormwater Fund. I would like to see the Stormwater Department give the Councilmembers a quarterly report as to how these funds are being used and to demonstrate how the work they are doing protects Roanoke from floods in our City.
Roanoke River & Tributaries - The Roanoke River and 11 of the 13 tributaries are currently impaired and are on the 303(d) list for exceeding safe levels of either bacteria (E. coli), sediment, temperature, and PCBs or a combination of these pollutants since 2006. Over the next year DEQ will be conducting another Benthic Clean Up Study of the Roanoke River, Tinker Creek and Wolf Creek.
Regarding the restoration of the cleanliness of our waterways and mitigation of stormwater runoff, please outline the specific initiatives that you intend to implement
ANSWER
Last year the City received $1.2 million dollars as part of a class action lawsuit for the clean-up of PCP along the Roanoke River. These funds were put into the Stormwater department budget. Engineering was also involved in the Roanoke River Flood Reduction project to work along the bank of the Roanoke River to help mitigate the flooding. It is my understanding that this project has been completed. Also, I would continue to support the Stormwater Management Department in the purchasing of property that is in the flood zones to continue to use these properties to mitigate the flood areas. Also, I would ask that these issues be communicated frequently to the City Councilmembers to keep the communication open to the citizens of Roanoke.
Airport Pollution & Runway Extension
The Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport “Master” Plan is to extend one of the runways for safety reasons. The plan is focused on creating more growth opportunities based on the increase of air travel. Small jets typical of the ones that land at our airport usually are older and use lead gasoline. Levels of airborne lead in the United States have declined 99% since 1980, but emissions from aircraft that operate on leaded fuel may still pose risks to nearby communities. Airport air pollution can also disproportionately impact sensitive subpopulations. Henry et al. (2019) studied impacts of several California airports on surrounding schools and found that over 65,000 students spend 1 to 6 hours a day during the academic year being exposed to airport pollution, and the percentage of impacted students was higher for those who were economically disadvantaged. The airport is near William Fleming High School, Round Hill Elementary, and Roanoke Area Math and Science Elementary as well as being surrounded by predominantly Black communities that have already been harmed by urban renewal.
How will you protect Roanoke citizens, especially marginalized communities, from more noise and air pollution that could be created by an increase of more air traffic to our area? Will you support an investigation of how the current pollution created by the airport is impacting public health, especially the children?
ANSWER
I have studied the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport Master Plan. What I have learned is the following: * Environmental studies will remain an integral component of future planning efforts related to the Roanoke-Blacksburg Regional Airport Master Plan. * Along with online feedback mechanisms, ROA hosted multiple Master Plan open houses in 2023 where the public was invited to give their thoughts on the future of the Airport and the proposed Master Plan alternatives, including the airfield, terminal, parking, general aviation, and cargo. As a Councilmember, I would seek communication from the Airport officials, ask to see studies, and ask the Airport to continue public involvement from the citizens.
Community Engagement - Which initiatives will you lead and implement to ensure that our marginalized communities, inclusive of public housing residents, are effectively engaged with?
ANSWER
I would like to see more communication between the City and our neighborhoods. Open communication is the key to finding solutions to make things better. I would like to work closely with the areas of our City that have boarded up properties to see how we can get these properties back in good repair. To have these properties where they become houses that people can live in. This will help our neighborhoods to feel safe and to have property that does not bring down the neighborhood and become health hazards. If people are going to own properties, then they need to keep the property in good repair. It is not fair to the citizens who take care of their property and pay their taxes.
Parks & Recreation
Parks & Recreation is an important necessity for the City and aides in mitigating stormwater runoff with tree equity, flood resilience, climate change and community participation and engagement. There needs to be equity to ensure that the public, including marginalized communities, have access to natural areas to improve their health and well being.
What measures will be implemented to ensure that the Parks and Recreation Department has the necessary financial resources to fulfill its duties and operations?
ANSWER
I wholeheartedly support our City Parks. The Parks are an essential part of our community where our citizens and children enjoy using. As mentioned above I support the planting of trees, the stormwater programs to mitigate against flooding, climate change, and community engagement. The measures that I would like to see is: * Communication from City Officials to show how the Parks and Recreation funds will be used specifically. * I would ask questions of the City Manager to have open community involvement so that the citizens would have the ability to ask questions, give feedback, and have open dialogue. When going through the budget studies I think it is important to understand the needs and how the departments are going to spend the tax dollars they are asking for. I would support our Parks and Recreation to make sure we are continuing to have quality Parks and Recreation to offer our citizens and the people who visit our City.
