The Police Department has hired three additional certified officers. Officer James Stacey Whitt comes from military service in Iraq, having formerly worked at the Hopewell Police Department. Officer Lino Covello is a recent graduate of a police academy in his home state of Pennsylvania. Officer Roger Santini comes to us from the private sector, having formerly served with the VCU Police Department. They are currently undergoing field training and are eager to serve
the citizens of Colonial Heights. Officer Dan Vilardo has been released from field training, with new Officer LaKeisha Givens soon to follow suit. The City has three additional applicants in the testing and background phases of the hiring process.

COLONIAL HEIGHTS, CITY OF
City of First Class.
Established in 1920.
Incorporated as a town in 1926.
City by court order in 1948.
Town charter, 1930, c. 186; repealed 1950, c. 144.
City charter, 1950, c. 144; repealed 1960, c. 213.
Charter, 1960, c. 213.

Click here for the full City Charter

Media Release Date: February 12, 2008

Mayor John T. Wood and Members of Colonial Heights City Council selected Eileen D. Drake, Recreation Specialist, in the Department of Recreation and Parks, as the 2007 Employee of the Year. Ms. Drake originally began her employment with the City in July of 1996 as a Therapeutic Recreation Supervisor in the Office on Youth. She transferred to the Senior Center in the Department of Recreation and Parks in January of 2006.

Mayor John T. Wood was quoted during the ceremony: “Eileen has been a great #OOPS#et to the City over her nearly 12 years of service. Eileen always has a very upbeat personality and a smile on her face. She has done an excellent job in developing fitness and wellness programs at the Senior Center. She has worked independently to create these programs from scratch to fit the needs of our senior citizens. Over the past two years, she has done her part to improve the lives of many City residents. That is what public service is all about – improving the lives of our citizens.”

The Mayor continued: “When Eileen was nominated to be an Employee of the Month in October, her Senior Center activities were certainly the cornerstone of the nomination. Last Summer, Eileen also worked with Staff in the Office on Youth developing a Summer Program for teens. The program was called High Octane Teens (HOT) and the activities included exercise, trips, fishing and painting classes.”

“Eileen also worked very hard with the Colonial Heights Sheriff’s Office and the Police Department to bring TRIAD to the senior citizens of the City. This year’s TRIAD topics included Identity Theft/Fraud & Scams and a Public Safety Fair held at the Colonial Heights Community Building. Ms. Drake makes a difference every day in the lives of our senior citizens and continues to show her dedication to the Recreation & Parks Department, the City staff organization and to everyone she comes in contact with.”

“Most importantly, Eileen Drake was chosen as Employee of the Year because she “re-invented” herself as a public servant. Her efforts with our youth were certainly notable during her service with the Office on Youth. However, she transferred to the opposite end of the age spectrum, re-inventing her approach and re-energizing her enthusiasm for helping people. She has been very successful in her job with all of her customers.”

“On behalf of City Council, the City Manager and all of the City Employees, I congratulate Eileen D. Drake on her accomplishments and on the honor of being the 2007 Employee of the Year.” The Employee of the Year banquet was held on Monday, February 11, 2008 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Colonial Heights. Ms. Drake can be contacted daily at the Colonial Heights Senior Center at 157 Roanoke Avenue, telephone: 520-9220.

The City of Colonial Heights has issued the following press release about a change in trash collection schedule:

The trash collection schedule in Colonial Heights, Hopewell and Petersburg will be changing the
week of February 4, 2008.
Residents of Colonial Heights will be collected on Wednesdays. Hopewell citizens will be
collected on Mondays or Tuesdays. Petersburg residents will be collected on Thursdays or
Fridays.
All residents should look for stickers featuring collection day information to be affixed to the
tops of their trash containers beginning Monday, January 21st. Although not every resident’s
day is changing, the stickers are being applied to all carts to ensure that there is no confusion
about collection days.
This change is being made to improve trash collection service in the Tri-Cities. Trash collection
for Colonial Heights, Hopewell and Petersburg is provided by Allied Waste, Inc through a
contract coordinated by the Central Virginia Waste Management Authority (CVWMA).
CVWMA is a public service authority formed to #OOPS#ist 13 local governments in central Virginia
with waste management and recycling programs.
Residents may call CVWMA’s Trash Collection Hotline (425-0500) for more information about
the schedule change.
Citizens of Colonial Heights should note that the change in trash collection does not affect
curbside recycling collection. Recycling will continue to be collected every Friday in Colonial
Heights. Residents may call CVWMA’s Recycling Collection Hotline (340-0900) for
information about recycling.

COMMUNITY EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM (CERT) TRAINING

Media Release Date: January 17, 2008

Each year a number of communities fall victim to hurricane, nor'easter, tornado, ice/snow storm, flood or technological hazard. The damage caused by disasters such as these affects all elements of society and government. This can severely restrict and overwhelm emergency response, resources, communications, utilities, and transportation systems leaving many individuals and neighborhoods cut off from outside support. What do you do when it happens to you or to your neighborhood? Community Emergency Response Training (CERT) helps communities mitigate disasters during the first 72 hours. The purpose of CERT training is to provide private citizens with the basic skills that they will need to handle virtually all of their own needs and then to respond to their communities needs in the aftermath of a disaster. CERT program is designed to be practical, interesting, and fun. While the program is interactive, there are no special physical requirements to participate in the program. Everyone is welcome to participate. CERT is sponsored by the City of Colonial Heights Fire, EMS, and Emergency Management. Currently a new class is forming and is scheduled to start in early March 2008. For more information or to sign up, please contact Deputy Fire Chief Ed Snyder at 804-520-9361 or at snydere@colonial-heights.com.

Deputy Fire Chief J. Ed Snyder
Colonial Heights Fire and EMS
P. O. Box 3401
100-B Highland Ave
Colonial Heights, VA 23834
(O) 804-520-9361 (F) 804-520-9302 (C) 804-479-7355
snydere@colonial-heights.com