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2021 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 609
Commending Dennis K. Morris.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, January 25, 2021
Agreed to by the Senate, January 28, 2021

 

WHEREAS, Dennis K. Morris, longtime executive director of the Crater Planning District Commission and a forceful advocate for communities and businesses in Central Virginia for the past half-century, will retire in 2021; and

WHEREAS, affectionately known by family and friends as “Denny,” Dennis Morris graduated from Ohio University with a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1966; upon graduation, he enlisted with the United States Army, serving his country with courage and valor in Korea and California; and

WHEREAS, Dennis Morris was hired by the Crater Planning District Commission in 1971, a year after the regional planning agency was founded, to coordinate public policy and development strategies between its nine member localities, including the Cities of Colonial Heights, Emporia, Hopewell, and Petersburg and the Counties of Dinwiddie, Greensville, Prince George, Surry, and Sussex; since this time, the Counties of Chesterfield and Charles City have joined the agency; and

WHEREAS, Dennis Morris earned a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Tennessee in 1973 and was promoted to executive director of the Crater Planning District Commission in 1982, leading the agency for the past 38 years; and

WHEREAS, during Dennis Morris’s tenure as executive director of the Crater Planning District Commission, the agency has fostered regional collaboration and provided essential technical support to its member localities, making significant strides in the areas of economic and small business development, transportation, and the environment; and

WHEREAS, under Dennis Morris’s leadership, the Crater Planning District Commission has provided unwavering support for the region’s military installations, advising and advocating on behalf of stakeholders through several Base Realignment and Closure procedures; and

WHEREAS, Dennis Morris and the Crater Planning District Commission have bolstered small businesses in the region by coordinating loan programs with the federal government and supporting educational initiatives, such as the Longwood College Small Business Development Center and the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Logistics Systems; and

WHEREAS, Dennis Morris guided the Crater Planning District Commission while it ensured the health and well-being of the region’s environment through its involvement in various organizations and programs, including the Central Virginia Waste Management Authority, the Appomattox River Corridor Study, and the Chesapeake Bay Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend Dennis K. Morris, esteemed executive director of the Crater Planning District Commission, on the occasion of his retirement; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Dennis K. Morris as an expression of the General Assembly’s profound admiration for his innumerable contributions to the Commonwealth and best wishes for a long and fulfilling retirement.