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Dec. 6 Newsletter: Taking out the trash contract

Weather: Still cold. High of 39.

On this date in 1904, the Manchester City Council adopts an “early closing ordinance,” requiring all bars to close at midnight each night. (Manchester is annexed by the city of Richmond six years later.)

Solid waste company sues after city revisits approval of trash center contract

At City Council's Oct. 15 meeting, bids were compared to manage Richmond's two trash centers.

The first was from the incumbent, Waste Management, offering to charge the city roughly $3.7 million a year for five years for its services. The second was from Meridian Waste Virginia, which offered its services for $4.4 million.

A DPW officer recommended that Council award the bid “to the best and highest offer as outlined in state code," which he misidentified as Meridian's. Their bid was approved unanimously by Council.

Now, Council is attempting to revisit the vote, potentially on the grounds the contract wasn't signed, and as Sarah Vogelsong reports, Meridian is suing, claiming an agreement is in place.

  • The issue will be discussed at Monday's City Council meeting.

Read more on the lawsuit, and what's next, here.

School officials begin dissolving ill-fated ‘Project Ace’ linked to Altria warehouse donation

Richmond's schools and the city have reached an agreement that will essentially negate $723,000 in unpaid taxes connected to a project that was started in 2017 but never completed.

"Project Ace" was going to convert a donated former Altria warehouse into a technical school.

Read more about the project's history, and what's next, here.

Richmond’s top election official resigns after critical IG report

The resignation of Richmond Registrar Keith Balmer capped a saga that began with a scathing report detailing 25 alleged misuses of his office.

Balmer said that he would have liked to remain in the job, but wanted to avoid a potentially long and costly court fight that might have led to the same outcome. 

“I just don't need that sort of energy, especially not around the holidays,” he said.

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He said he felt many of the issues arose from inadequate training. “Don't just allow a new person to come in and figure stuff out on their own," he said. "Because ultimately, this is where we’re at, and this is why this happened.”

Read more from Balmer, who said he'll be heard from again, here.

In other news...

The editor's desk

Stanley's, in The Fan.

We did another round of Donor Q&A this week, where our donors ask us questions about whatever's on their mind related to Richmond.

This included a question about Richmond's cheesesteak scene, as printed, and answered, below:

"Where can I get the best cheesesteak sandwich?" 

If Philly is known for the cheesesteak, Richmond is equally famous for complaining about how things used to be better.

Combining those two pastimes, the answer to your question is Mojo's, which unfortunately closed during the pandemic — so if you didn't make it then, it's too late now.

Luckily, there are a number of places doing great work now. For my money, it's Stanley's in the Fan, though the hours can be erratic. They use the Cooper Sharp White cheese that has become the Philly standard (only Pat and Geno are sticking with the Wiz).

Well, it appears we touched a nerve. The Richmonder team will be on assignment for the next few weeks testing your suggestions on which sandwiches we snubbed.

Let's take a moment to shout out Coppola's, Midlo Sub Central and Bad As Philly. I can't personally vouch for those places, but our readers can, and I can personally vouch that our readers are awesome.

And if you want to join the fun, there's never a bad time to become a monthly donor to The Richmonder.

Michael Phillips, founding editor
mphillips@richmonder.org

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