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The I Love CVille Show headlines: CVille Econ Dev. Office Eyeing On Downtown Mall Econ Office Wants To Reimagine Downtown Mall What Does A Reimagined Downtown Look Like? Moose's By The Creek To Close Down On 12/31 Phil Dulaney Estate Owns Moose's Real Estate Dulaney Estate Under Contract To Sell Toddsbury Most Impactful Business Closings Of 2024 UVA Basketball Stumbles Into Christmas Break Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air The I Love CVille Show airs live Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible, Rumble and iLoveCVille.com.
The I Love CVille Show headlines: 3.5 Million Visitors To Downtown Mall In 2017 2.5 Million Visitors To Downtown Mall In 2023 Friends Of CVille Campaigns For Downtown Thoughts On The 1st Day Of Restaurant Week Local Non-Profits Buy Carlton Trailer Park? Tom Stargell Comments, Retired AlbCo Teacher Judah Witkower Responds To Tom Stargell The I Love CVille Show Is Off Thursday/Friday Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air The I Love CVille Show airs live Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible, Rumble and iLoveCVille.com.
The opening sentences of every single edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement are intended to be a script that opens up a podcast that contains several stories about items happening in order to engage the community of Charlottesville. In recent months, the podcast and the written newsletter are out of production sync but efforts are being made to restore this functionality. I'm Sean Tubbs, and hoping that those who read this and have not yet listened will hit play today. In this edition: * The primary results are in and the 5th District Republican nomination is too close to call, while Gloria Tinsley Witt wins handily over two fellow Democrats (read the story)* Albemarle Supervisors commemorated Juneteenth earlier this month with a proclamation (read the story)* The UVA Buildings and Grounds panel approves the Major Capital Plan, including planning studies for Fifeville properties and another look at a study to get off of coal (read the story)* The Albemarle Fire Department recommends switching out mulch landscaping for rocks to prevent fire risk (read the story)* Albemarle Supervisors think the Broadway area should remain available for industrial use (read the story)* That elected body also endorses eight Smart Scale applications (read the story)Charlottesville Community Engagement is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.First shout-out: Charlottesville Community Bikes' Tour de Gluten on June 23On Sunday, June 23, Charlottesville Community Bikes invites you to come along at noon with dozens of riders for the Tour de Gluten, a no-drop, social bike ride featuring stops at our talented bakery neighbors in Rose Hill/Preston/Downtown!They have two ticket options:* Ticket with Baked Goods: Covers highlighted items (baker's choice!) from each participating bakery. Registration closes one week before the ride so we can place pre-orders for the whole group, which we will pick up when we bike to each bakery.* Ride-Only Registration: For those who want to join the bike ride but don't plan to purchase baked goods.Bakery stops include:* Althea Bread* Baker No Bakery (at Grit Coffee downtown)* Cumbre Coffee & Bakery* Cou Cou Rachou* Marie Bette Cafe & Bakery (on Rose Hill Dr.)Second shout-out: Charlottesville Jazz SocietyIn today's second subscriber supported public service announcement, the Charlottesville Jazz Society wants you to know that once a month they hold the Local Jazz Spotlight Series at Miller's on the Downtown Mall. Coming up on Sunday, June 30, the spotlight will shine on the Jamal Milner Trio featuring Daniel Richardson. This takes place from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and the event is free. Maybe I'll see you there as I've been wanting to go see one of these for months! If you can't wait until then but need to go see some live music, the Charles Owens Quarter will play their 2022 album Golden Moments at the Vault on Thursday, June 20. The event is co-sponsored by the Charlottesville Jazz Society. Tickets But that's just one of many great events coming up that you can learn about on the event calendar at cvillejazz.com. Notes for #692AI wanted to be a public radio journalist and worked hard at a station for many years but there was never a job for me. Over those years, there was also less room in the schedule for me to sell stories as a freelancer. I created the Charlottesville Podcasting Network in 2005 out of frustration that local public radio at the time refused to put content out online. The experience of going independent back then was exhilarating, but I did not have the reporting chops to do much. When I went to work at Charlottesville Tomorrow, management had no interest in audio except as a way to bring long meetings to people. Yet, every story I produced in my eleven years was written as if it was a public radio story as my primary reporting technique is to harvest audio. I'm not sure if I'll get back to every single edition being a podcast, as there are many items that simply don't sound good. For a while, I would run my voice through a sound filter to read sound-bites, but I've stopped doing that as much since stories now also run on WTJU at 6 a.m. on Saturdays.I'd like to grow the audience for the audio version, and I'll continue to explore this. All I know is that I want to keep going with this work for a very long time, constantly refining the way I do things and never resting on my laurels. I'm allergic to them, anyway. As I already did a pitch for paid subscriptions today, as well as the Ting advertisement, I'll just leave it there with a thank you. And an image of the current snapshot of the spreadsheet that does all the real work of organization. I'm setting up to do this for a very long as there are subscribers willing to pay me to do the work. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
The I Love CVille Show headlines: Q1, 2024 Retail Numbers Up in Central Virginia How Do We Fund Downtown Mall Improvement? Jewish Student Files Suit Against UVA, Pres. Ryan Gov. Youngkin Vetoes Skill Games & Other Bills Teacher Appreciation: Mr Gillespie & Mrs Chiesa Is Your Bodo's Bagels Order Legit Or Cringe? What Are Top Sandwiches Around Central VA? Grad Balloons Brighten UVA Children's Hospital Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air The I Love CVille Show airs live Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible, Rumble and iLoveCVille.com.
Virginians should eat more blue catfish, GRTC's LINK expands, Charlottesville's Downtown Mall named to National Register of Historic Places; and other stories
The I Love CVille Show headlines: Downtown Mall: National Register Of Historic Places National Recognition vs Real Life For The Mall UVA Spends $20M On 235 DEI Employees Same DEI Employees Making $500K+ Per Year City Manager: We Need To Raise Taxes In CVille Real Estate, Lodging & Sales Tax Increases… Bill To Lower Food-To-Liquor Sales Ratio Fails CVille Fortune Telling With The Great JerrDini Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air The I Love CVille Show airs live Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible and iLoveCVille.com.
Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of Not Your Average Bucket List. We're tackling the world of speakeasies today, starting with one of Charlottesville, Virginia's hidden gems: The Alley Light. Our OnlyInYour State article titled, A Secret Door Will Take You To An Underground Speakeasy-Like Restaurant In Virginia was extremely popular amongst our readers, so we've decided to take a more in-depth look into The Alley Light, as well as Charlottesville, Virginia, as a getaway destination.Nestled in the picturesque foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Charlottesville, Virginia, is a blend of quaint charm and vibrant energy. Stroll along the brick-lined streets of the Downtown Mall, where indie boutiques and farm-to-table eateries beckon. Feel the intellectual buzz at the University of Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson himself. With its rich history, stunning scenery, and lively atmosphere, Charlottesville is a true gem of the South!Things we'll cover in this episode: Why are speakeasies so popular? What is the history behind Charlottesville, Virginia? What are some fun things to do in Charlottesville, Virginia? Why is The Alley Light in Charlottesville, Virginia, so beloved?Podcast Timestamps:[00:03:38] What is it about speakeasies that makes them so popular?[00:11:05] Let's Walkabout Charlottesville, Virginia.[00:18:50] The Alley Light in Charlottesville, VA.Ready to shop better hydration? Use our special link Stay Hydrated! to save 20% off anything you order.https://zen.ai/notyouraveragebucketlist3Get In Touch!If you have personal experiences with any of the attractions mentioned above, call or text 805-298-1420! We'd love to hear your thoughts on these places and maybe even share your clip on the show! You can also reach out to us via email at podcast@onlyinyourstate.com.
The final day of January 2024 is upon us, and please turn in your rankings on the quality of the month based on a variety of considerations. Have you accomplished what you wanted to do? Did you learn something new? How many editions of Charlottesville Community Engagement did you read or listen to? I'm Sean Tubbs, and for the next 3,000 words or so, none of those questions are relevant. On today's show:* The average property in Charlottesville has increased in value by five percent in 2024 according to the city assessor's office * The Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority will spend $2.65 million for a building on the Downtown Mall and Council has taken the first step toward buying a key CRHA property for $4 million * No one speaks at a public hearing on how to use the city's most recent year-end surplus* The MPO Policy Board endorses a federal grant application to further engineer a bridge across the Rivanna River * A quick look at zoning clearance applications in Albemarle hints at plans for a restaurant to become a bank and a new storage facility on Rio Road This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
The I Love CVille Show headlines: CRHA To Purchase Downtown Mall Building Why Is CRHA Spending $2.65 Million On Mall? Is This A Good Fit For The Downtown Mall? CRHA Selling Two Buildings To City For $4M Fashion Square Mall: New Businesses Opening Feasibility Of Success In Fashion Square Mall Desayuna Con Gomez Restaurant Review UVA Hoops Riding 4-Game Winning Streak Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air The I Love CVille Show airs live Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible and iLoveCVille.com.
A reader informed me today that I am saying too much about my personal life in these opening segments of Charlottesville Community Engagement. That may or may not be the case and perhaps it's time to turn all of this over to artificial intelligence and I'll go back to waiting tables and cooking people food. However, that sounds like more work than simply proceeding with the January 29, 2024 edition of the newsletter and podcast. I'm Sean Tubbs, beep beep, boop boop. On today's show:* A boil water advisory in Albemarle County was lifted Sunday after tests showed no bacteria infiltrated the distribution network for treated drinking water* New population estimates are out from the Weldon Cooper Center of Public Service at the University of Virginia* City Council gets a briefing on the initial stages of a plan to create a management plan for Downtown Mall trees* And an area publication has a new owner and will remain locally owned This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
Leah Sullivan and Hallie Hawkins, the new business owners of The Post Office Saloon, join Viva Downtown on the Downtown Discussion. The Post Office Saloon opened in 1976, in the Burton Building of the Downtown Mall. Over the years you may have experienced the Post Office through their staple menu nights like the Wednesday night spaghetti dinner, Thursday night prime rib dinner, or the incredibly fun Saturday Brunch with all you can eat breakfast and bottomless mimosas.While the business itself has experienced significant Downtown developments surrounding the location the Post Office saloon still remains charming timeless look since it first opened.Leah and Hallie, with years of dedication to the service industry, have since taken on The Post Office. Learn about the interior improvements to the restaurant, why they invest in Downtown Redding, and how they are preserving the Post Office brand and interior while updating the service. The Post Office Saloon1636 Market Street(530) 605-1271Hours: Monday: 11AM-3PMTuesday: 11AM–8PMWednesday: 11AM–8PMThursday: 11AM–8 PMFriday: 11AM–9PMSaturday: 9AM–9PM ***Sunday: 10AM-5PM*** Saturdays: All you can eat brunch and all you can drink mimosas - $40 per person ***https://www.postofficesaloon.com/The Downtown Discussion Podcast is where we highlight the people who enchance Downtown Redding through social, cultural and economic development.
It's the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month of the Twenty-Third Year of the Twenty-First Century. That's 105 years since the Armistice that ended World War One. That's a good reason to put out a special edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement to honor Veterans Day and to mention a few other things. This is also the 600th edition of the newsletter and podcast, and it's good to day to reach a milestone. I'm Sean Tubbs. On today's program:* The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors honors Veterans Day * A delegation from Guatemala is coming to visit Charlottesville* There will soon be another round of maintenance of trees on Charlottesville's Downtown Mall First shout-out: Virginia Veterans Services FoundationIn today's holiday-focused public service announcement, there are 700,000 veterans living in Virginia after serving in the armed forces in conflicts ranging from World War Two to the present day. Many need assistance from time to time, and the Virginia Veterans Services Foundation exists to provide that help. They seek contributions to support:* Virginia Veteran and Family Support* Veterans Care Centers* Virginia Values Veterans Program* Virginia Veterans Cemeteries* Veterans Benefits ProgramVisit the Virginia Veterans Services Foundation website to learn more.Albemarle County Supervisors marks Veterans Day Today is the 85th anniversary of Veterans Day and earlier this month, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors marked the occasion. “Throughout our nation's history, the United States of America has called on its citizens in uniform to serve and to protect our national security,” said Donna Price, the chair of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors and herself a veteran and is a retired U.S. Navy Captain in the Judge Advocate Generals. Price read from a proclamation recognizing the continued celebration of the national holiday.“On this day and every day, we remember the millions of patriots who have served and sacrificed for the betterment of our nation,” Price said. There are many veterans serving in Albemarle County government and in Albemarle County Public Schools and the proclamation is intended to salute their contributions now and in the past. “We, the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, do hereby recognize November 11, 2023 as Veterans Day and celebrate all who have served our country around the world,” Price said. Deputy County Executive Trevor Henry is also a retired Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy. “In local government and in schools we believe we have well over 200 employees that in a prior life raised their right hand to support and defend our Constitution,” Henry said. “And when there period of service ended via either retirement or an obligation, they also found their way to our organization.”Three of those employees appeared before the Board to tell a bit of their stories and what they do now. Sergeant Dale Shoop served in the U.S. Army from 1983 to 1986 with some of that time in the demilitarized zone in Korea. He now works in Community Development as an inspector.“Heartfelt acknowledgment to my great grandfather, my grandfather, and my uncle for serving in the Royal Air Force, the Royal Army, and Royal Navy in Great Brain and England,” Shoop said. “Thank you to my father who served in the United States Army and my son who served in the United States Army and continues to serve in the intelligence sector.” Sergeant Roger Snodgrass served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 2002 to 2007 before joining the U.S. Army where he served under active duty through 2014. “Sergeant Snodgrass joined Albemarle County as a police officer in 2014 and currently holds the rank of sergeant on evening shift patrol,” Henry said. Snodgrass thanked the county for being an organization that's friendly to veterans. “As an individual who has multiple friends and family members in other local government, I do have the opportunity to say that this is a high performance organization,” Snodgrass said. “With our Board of Supervisors, our county executive's office, and our command staff with Albemarle County police department, they allow us to be able to provide outstanding customer services, day in, day out.”Reynaldo Avali served in the U.S. Army Reserve as a bridge crew member with the 299th Engineering Division beginning in 1995 with multiple deployments to Iraq. “During the first deployment to Iraq, they placed two bridges over the Euphrates River for combat operations,” Henry said. “The second time his unit was responsible for maintaining the bridges, training Iraqi engineers, and responsible for removing six bridges for retrograde operations.” During that time, Avali has also worked in building services for Albemarle County Public Schools where he continues to serve. Supervisor Bea LaPisto Kirtley thanked all of the veterans assembled in Lane Auditorium for their service. “It is something that you all do for us to keep our democracy safe, to keep all of us safe,” LaPisto Kirley said. “It is a solemn oath that you take to protect all of us and please be aware that all of us appreciate it. I think all of America really appreciates your service.”Supervisor Ned Gallaway expressed his appreciation as well and said he recently went back to his hometown to clear out his parents' home.“And we found my dad's formal dress uniform which I had never seen in my life,” Gallaway said. “My brother-in-law who also served was navigating me around the different patches and such telling me, informing me what those were. And then we also found in a trunk a bunch of letters that my grandfather sent my grandmother during the war, but we found the official communication that he was [missing in action]. He was a prisoner of war and he thankfully was able to return at the end of World War II and he became a police officer.” Supervisor Diantha McKeel took the opportunity to share some resources that are available through Region 10 to veterans. Take a look here if you would like more information. “Region 10 currently has a partnership with Virginia Lock and Talk with resources available for all individuals including veterans to receive medical lock boxes and bags as well as trigger locks for firearms to assist individuals and families in locking up lethal means,” McKeel said. “Virginia Veterans Service Foundation also has a homeless veterans' fund and has been able to provide one-time assistance to homeless veterans to support rent, utility, and rental deposits.” McKeel said Region 10 has also recently hired a peer support specialist to specifically assist veterans. Supervisor Ann Mallek used her time to mention the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2044 in Earlysville and American Legion Post 74 in Shadwell.“These organizations take care of their own,” Mallek said. “They raised funds most recently to buy a new medical transport van to help their fellows get to remote medical services.”Those services are currently a one-way 90-mile drive to south of Richmond. Mallek called for a veterans clinic to be located closer to home, particularly with the potential for expansion at Rivanna Station. Mallek also put in a plug for an organization called Living Free Together which also provides support to veterans and military families. Price thanked Mallek for bringing up the role that families play and said that she was grateful for support from hers during her career. “Military service is frequently a family affair,” Price said. “From the Civil War through World War One, World War Two, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, to today…My father, a 97-year-old World War II Navy Combat vet. My son, a major in the Marine Corps. Myself with my own service. You'll find that people who work with or serve the county often have other family members who similarly provide public service.” Albemarle County also held a ceremony at 11 a.m. to mark Veterans Day. Guatemalan Sister City delegation visiting next week Technically, Huehuetenango is not one of Charlottesville's Sister Cities. Instead, the western Guatemalan community is a Friendship City which is one step away. Either way, a delegation from that community will be visiting next week. “The goal of the delegation's visit is to forge initial ties between the government and citizens of Charlottesville and Huehuetenango,” reads a press release announcing the trip that will take place Monday through Wednesday. This is the first time more than one person from Huehuetenango has visited the area since the relationship was formalized in 2021. There are two public events happening:* Coffee Open House, Tuesday, November 14, 9:00 – 11:00, Omni Hotel (212 Ridge McIntire Rd, Charlottesville, VA): This is a chance to learn more about Charlottesville's Sister and Friendship Cities and an opportunity to meet the delegation and drink free Guatemalan coffee brought from Huehuetenango. * Public Reception and Program, Wednesday, November 15, 6:00 PM – 7:30 pm, City Space (100 Fifth St NE, Charlottesville, VA): Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook and Huehuetenango Mayor Gustavo Cano will signing of the Friendship declaration between the two communities. “The event will feature Marimba Music, a short program featuring words of friendship and welcome between the two cities and a choral arrangement from CHS ensemble.” The way toward this relationship dates back to the work of The Ixtatán Foundation, a group formed in 2001 to help build a high school in a small town in the greater Huehuetenango province. Charlottesville prepping for more work on Downtown Mall treesA dozen and a half people gathered on a recent Monday evening on the Downtown Mall outside the Charlottesville Parks and Recreation Department's offices to learn more about impending tree work to address safety. Urban Forester Steve Gaines held a laser pointer and directed it towards a dead branch he said presents a hazard. “If you think about like mid summer or in the weeks that we have the holidays coming up,” Gaines said. “How many people are going to be walking on the Mall? Thousands a day.” Gaines said his job as an arborist is to protect people and the trees themselves by trying to understand how they may react. “What is the probability of that branch failing? And if it does fail, does it land on another branch on its way down? Is it going to hit a building? Is it going to hit a person? What's the probability? When might it happen? Would it take a major wind event? A major snow event, something like that?” The bosques of Willow Oaks planted in the mid-70's are a very important component of the historic Lawrence Halprin design for the pedestrian mall. Many are also approaching their 60th year and their health has not always been closely watched. In December 2015, a report was published that called for a management plan. (read the report)“Despite the good initial outward appearances of the tree planting, the stand of oak trees is in a fragile, declining state,” reads the executive summary of that report. “The overly tight spacing of the trees and the insistence on paving right up to the base of the trunks of the trees has set in motion a series of biological factors that is beginning to push many of the trees to the point of failure.” In the summer of 2017, there was momentum toward putting a management plan in place with another tree walk similar to the one from late October. (Could Downtown Mall trees be on the chopping block?, Kayli Wren, Charlottesville Tomorrow, July 26, 2017)Downtown Mall tree management faded as a priority as other events took place in the summer of 2017. Earlier this year, the city moved forward with a plan to remove several damaged or dead trees. Urban forester Steve Gaines held another walk on October 30 to prepare for another round of maintenance. “The purpose here was mostly to inform folks about tree work that is very likely coming this winter once the trees go completely dormant,” said Steve Gaines, the urban forester for the City of Charlottesville. “We will be going through to do some pruning. We call it crown cleaning as in we are removing some of the obvious hazards. Two inch deadwood and above.” Gaines said the event also had provided an opportunity to explain more about a forthcoming plan to manage the trees on the Downtown Mall going forward. The firm Wolf Josey Landscape Architects won the contract from the City of Charlottesville for the management plan.The work that Gaines talked about on October 30 was more pressing and continued work done in January of this year.“Every year I do an assessment and I take pictures and hit trees with the mallet and figure out what we're doing with decay,” Gaines said. Gaines held the event and will do more like it in the future because he understands how important the trees are to Charlottesville. “This is the Downtown Mall's tree, so it's a very sensitive, very historic topic and people feel very strongly about these trees and we just want to make sure that everybody is well-informed about what is going on with the trees and make people realize that they are going through an inflection point right now and to some degree there is some hazard,” Gaines said.“Most of those bigger limbs are very dead,” he said to the group while looking at one cluster of trees in front of the parking garage. During the tour, Gaines also explained more about how the trees interact with fungus, with bugs, other chemicals, and how they're affected by a changing climate. Stay tuned for more information about trees on the Downtown Mall and across the entire area. Reading material:* Charlottesville moves forward with apartment-quashing land buy, Hawes Spencer, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall) November 8, 2023* Charlottesville High School principal resigns, Jason Armesto, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall) November 9, 2023* Bigger at last: Text for historic marker recognizing Charlottesville slave trade revealed, Hawes Spencer, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall) November 10, 2023Concluding notes for #600Saturday editions feel good to produce, especially after taking a couple of days off in which I tried to not even think about this work. This week's time change took its toll on me, which I always hope won't happen but does all the same. Rest is not my ideal state of being, but it's good to be ready for the rest of the year. There's still so much to get through, and I'm grateful you're here to read or listen. As there is no regular schedule as of yet, you can find out if I'm publishing on a given day by looking at my page on Substack Notes. I also talk a little from time to time about the fact that is a business and there's plenty of room to grow. If you'd like to support this work and help it grow, do consider a Substack subscription or become a Patreon supporter. As with Election Day, today is not the day for the hard sell. I just want you to read or listen and to help me grow the audience! Ting supports a lot of great work and great spaces here, and if you're in the market for high-speed Internet, give them a try! Maybe you're in the market for a new high speed internet provider? If so, check out Ting! If you sign up for Ting at this link and enter the promo code COMMUNITY, you'll get:* Free installation* A second month for free* A $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
Do I have to do another edition of the newsletter and podcast today? Couldn't I just do nothing at all in the hopes that somehow everything gets accomplished anyway? The answers are yes and then no. September 6 is is Fight Procrastination Day and a lifetime has taught me it's important to tackle tasks as swiftly as possible before they transform into unslayable gargantuans. So this edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement can be seen as the completion of at least a sidequest. On today's program:* A framework is now in place for the creation and implementation of Charlottesville's next strategic plan * A public-private partnership is awarded $60,000 to help revitalize businesses in Stanardsville* Want to make a television show? An open house is coming up on info on how to do so for Charlottesville public access* The Center at Belvedere honors an outgoing director with an endowment* The city of Charlottesville has hired a communications and public engagement director* And City Manager Sam Sanders addresses efforts to sway the outcome of a study on alternative fuels for public transportation If you are a person who does procrastinate, every edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement features facts to keep you distracted from whatever matter is at hand!First shout-out: Friends of Downtown Cville In today's first Patreon-fueled shout-out: The temperature gauge and humidity still say summer, but schools have been open a week now so fall is approaching. Friends of Downtown Cville are thinking ahead to activities on the Downtown Mall as the nights grow longer. Here is some of what to expect:* This Friday from 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. is the Coca Cola Block Party to celebrate the new ghost mural. * There's a membership drive coming up on September 22 for those who want to get involved with all of the happenings on the Mall this fall* Doggie Howl-o-Ween and Downtown Safe Halloweeen are only two months from now * And it's not too early to think about the holidays and Magic on the Mall coming up Thanksgiving through Christmas This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
Daisy and Jaqulyn have a chat and work through some issues. Daisy gets an urgent call to the Mall and a familiar face comes back. Theme Music: DJ PJ Background Music: Alexander Nakarada
News you Need for Friday, July 28, 2023. Today will be the hottest day of the year so far, proposed land bridge to connect the Downtown Mall to Lake Erie, former President Donald Trump has additional charges added to indictment, Bronny James has returned home. More on the Ethan Slater/ Ariana Grande relationship, Jonas Brothers have extended their tour.
News you Need for Friday, July 28, 2023. Today will be the hottest day of the year so far, proposed land bridge to connect the Downtown Mall to Lake Erie, former President Donald Trump has additional charges added to indictment, Bronny James has returned home. More on the Ethan Slater/ Ariana Grande relationship, Jonas Brothers have extended their tour.
The I Love CVille Show headlines: Shootout In Belmont, 1 Person Dead, 1 Injured What's Next? Reaction To Belmont Gunfight The Pie Chest On The Mall Is Closing Down What's The Downtown Mall's Brand Right Now? 6 Year Old Shoots Teacher In Newport News Teacher From Ruckersville & Went To JMU Brennan Armstrong Transfers To NC State WillowTree Deal: New Jobs Coming To CVille Bakery Coming To Crozet (Patterson's Flower) Jerry Miller was live on The I Love CVille Show! The I Love CVille Show airs live before a worldwide audience Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The I Love CVille Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain and iLoveCVille.com.
For those individuals or entities who are time-shifted, why not celebrate today as Thanksgiving? The actual date for that holiday is one week from today, but there are those north of a certain parallel who have already celebrated. All I know is that it is November 17, 2022, and this is currently the latest installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement, a newsletter and podcast wrestling with the news, or at least calling informational missives by that name. Now, pass the imaginary gravy. On today's program:* The University of Virginia will not hold a home football game this weekend as the football team and the rest of the community continue to grieve* A longtime Charlottesville City Manager has died * A quick look at some land use projects in Albemarle County * And the Charlottesville Human Rights Commission wants to change their ordinance to be able to investigate fair housing claims and more Sign up to get all of the information as often as its published. Signing up is free, but paid subscriptions get a few benefits. First shout-out: Rivanna Conservation Alliance Round-Up wrap-upIn today's first Patreon-fueled shout-out: The Rivanna Conservation Alliance is inviting members of the public to a meeting Thursday, November 17 to get input on a proposed riverbank restoration project at Riverview Park in the City of Charlottesville.Riverview Park is the only public access to the Rivanna in Charlottesville and a heavily used and much-loved part of the community. Unfortunately, Riverview suffers from high rates of riverbank erosion and other environmental challenges that damage the Rivanna River and threaten the integrity of the Park and the community's use and enjoyment of it. RCA and Ecosystem Services will provide updates on the project and to get your feedback. Visit rivannariver.org to learn more about the project. Register on Eventbrite for the event which will be held at the Woolen Mills Chapel Thursday at 7 p.m. UVA requests external review of previous handling of shooting suspect; cancels final home football game of the seasonIt has now been nearly four days since someone fired a gun to on several University of Virginia students who had just returned from a field trip to Washington D.C., killing three of them and injuring two others. Yesterday, suspect Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. had his first appearance in Albemarle County court. One of the injured has been through two surgeries and another has been released from the hospital. Classes resumed yesterday at the University of Virginia, but there will be no home football game this Saturday as the match against Coastal Carolina has been canceled. There's no word yet on the final home game with Virginia Tech. “Instead there will be a memorial service at 3:30 p.m. in [John Paul Jones Arena] to honor the lives of Devin Chandler, Lavel Davis Jr., and D'Sean Perry, as well as the two students injured in the shooting, Mike Hollins and Marlee Morgan,” said President Jim Ryan in a video message sent yesterday. Ryan thanked students for organizing a silent vigil Monday night. “You've been through an extraordinarily difficult experience including the loss of three students and the injuries to two others,” Ryan said. “But also a 12-hour ordeal of sheltering in place and the fear and uncertainty that attended each one of those hours, whether you are a student, faculty, staff, or a parent.”The suspect had been flagged as a potential threat and Ryan said that there are more questions to be asked.“The criminal investigation is underway and we have also inviting an external review with respect to the University's interaction with the suspect and whether we did all we could to prevent or avoid this tragedy,” Ryan said.President Ryan said that may take some time to complete. Several media accounts are reporting that the Virginia State Police will conduct that investigation. For more details on all of these stories, I recommend reading some other articles written by colleagues in journalism: * Virginia Athletics community grieves fatal shooting of three football players, Joe von Storch, Jude Nanaw, Eva Surovell, and Ava MacBlane, Cavalier Daily, November 16, 2022* Suspect Christopher Darnell Jones Jr. faces charges at Albemarle General District Court, Ava MacBlane, Cavalier Daily, November 16, 2022* UVA President calls for external review, Alice Berry, Daily Progress, November 16, 2022* UVa shooting victim Mike Hollins' mother provides updates on son's condition, Alice Berry, Daily Progress, November 16, 2022* No bond for UVa murder suspect in first court appearance since shooting, Sydney Shuler, Daily Progress, Novemebr 16, 2022* Tragedy at UVA, Kristin O'Donoghue, C-Ville Weekly November 15, 2022Longtime Charlottesville City Manager dies A man who spent 25 years as the City Manager of Charlottesville has died. Cole Hendrix served from 1971 to 1996 and presided over the conversion of Main Street into the Downtown Mall“During his tenure he provided stable, professional management and leadership, and mentored many young public administrators,” reads a message sent out Wednesday by the City of Charlottesville. “He and his wife Janet continued to be part of our community after his retirement.”I spoke with Janet Hendrix in September at the studios of I Love Cville on Market Street. “He came from Kansas City, Missouri,” Janet Hendrix said. “He went to school at [Kansas University] and got his master's in public administration.” Janet Hendrix said that Cole Hendrix worked a series of jobs in cities and towns across the United States before becoming assistant city manager in Kansas City. That's when he was offered the job in Charlottesville. “He was just 36 when he came,” Janet Hendrix said. “Just a pup.” The area was a lot different fifty years ago.“The old K-Mart was a dairy farm, or behind there was a dairy farm,” Hendrix said. Janet met Cole during his tenure as City Manager and said the workload for the position was a lot even back then.“Cole would come home every night and he would sit in his chair and he would work every night, but he was home for dinner,” Janet Hendrix said. “Council meetings, sometimes he wasn't home until 1 in the morning, and that's just how it was.”After retirement, Cole Hendrix went to work for the University of Virginia as an associate vice president.“The last thing he did while he was at the University was he was the acting director of finance while they were doing a search for a new finance director,” Janet Hendrix said.Cole Hendrix would also play a frequent role as fill-in manager for towns and counties across Virginia when they were looking for a permanent occupant. “He actually was hired to stay for a while in one in which they were getting a new sewer treatment place together and they really needed his expertise and background in doing that,” Janet Hendrix said. “He helped them with that. It's been a great life.” Watch Janet Hendrix appear on the Jerry Miller Show with Delegate David Toscano:Albemarle County land use: Riverside Village developer seeks reduction of required commerical spaceThere's a lot happening in Albemarle County, and not everything rises to the level of a full news story. So, here's a quick update on three things happening in land use in Albemarle:* The Trading Post gas station and convenience store at 3017 Monacan Trail has applied for a certificate of appropriateness for a new fuel canopy as well as new signage. Currently the store is now branded by a major company but the new sign will mark this as a BP station. (ARB202200097) * A property owner in the White Hall District is seeking a special use permit to bring an existing 73-unit manufactured home park on a nearly 15 acre parcel, and to add another 14 units. (SP202200029)* The developer of Riverside Village on Stony Point Road seeks to amend an application plan and code of development for a prior rezoning to reduce the minimum amount of commercial required from 8,000 square feet. That space is currently vacant and the developer wants to convert the space to residential. (ZMA202200010) More on those land use applications in the future. Follow the Week Ahead on Sundays as well as this newsletter for more if there's a story to be told. Second shout-out: JMRL to hold Food for Fines driveIn this second subscriber-supported shout-out: Be a hunger hero! Bring an item to the Front Desk of any JMRL location during business hours between now and November 19 and receive $1 off overdue fines and late renewal fines for each donated item. Some of the most needed items are:* Canned soups, stews and chili - low sodium* Canned veggies - low sodium* Cereal - low sugar, whole grain* Peanut or almond butter - low sugar* Spaghetti sauce - low sugarDonations from most branches will go to the Blue Ridge Food Bank, though those in Louisa County will go to the Louisa County Resource Council. City Council to vote on expansion of powers for Charlottesville Human Rights CommissionThe Charlottesville Human Rights Commission meets tonight ten days after City Council held the first reading of a proposed change to the ordinance that would expand their ability to investigate discrimination claims. “It will just give us a little more teeth to investigate and make judgments against Fair Housing law violations in the city,” said City Councilor Michael Payne said. Charlottesville City Council voted 3-1 on May 20, 2013 to create the Human Rights Commission, with Mayor Satyendra Huja abstaining at the time. The Commission was an outcome of a city initiative called the Dialogue on Race. Since then, the Human Rights Office has been through two directors and is currently led by Todd Niemeier. Council was briefed on potential changes to the Human Rights ordinance that could expand the powers of the Human Rights Commission. City Councilors had already had the opportunity to ask Niemeier questions through what city staff refer to as “2-2-1” meetings where elected officials get briefings without forming a quorum required that would trigger Virginia's public meeting laws. “During our 2-2-1's, I heard some basic questions about what the ordinance was, what is the function of the Commission and the Office of Human Rights, especially maybe just reiterating that for the public as well,” Neimeier said. The Commission is seeking many changes to the ordinance to give them more power to investigate claims of discrimination. “The contents of the ordinance are based on state and federal human and civil rights law,” Neimeier said. “And what the ordinance does is that it provides processes for us to address unlawful discrimination within the city.”The Human Rights Office is within the City Manager's office and has three main tasks. One is to receive phone calls, emails, text messages, and walk-in visitors from community members who have claims. Another is to do outreach to make sure people know the office can do.“In addition we do education and awareness around issues of discrimination,” Neimeier said. The third role is to support the Human Rights Commission, which is set up to hear appeals if staff has determined a complaint is not valid. The Commission's powers are fairly limited.“They can either recommend that they go back to mediation or they can recommend to the city attorney that a civil action be filed on behalf of the aggrieved party,” Neimeier said. “But they can only recommend that. They can't grant any relief. They can't grant monetary relief, injunctive relief. None of that. That's not within the power of the Commission.” Now the Commission wants to change the ordinance in part to expand their investigative reach. “We added language to make the ordinance substantially equivalent to federal Fair Housing law,” Neimeier said.That would allow the Office of Human Rights to be able to enter into a Fair Housing Assistance Program workshare with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. That will bring complaints into the Charlottesville office that may have originated elsewhere. “So that's an additional responsibility but the federal Fair Housing Office will support us by providing training and guidance, funds for capacity building when we first start out in that work share agreement, and we also get reimbursement for handling complaints of discrimination and those reimbursement rates vary depending on how the complaint is resolved,” Neimeier said. That will also allow the Office of Human Rights to enter into conciliation discussions as a third party directly involved with cases. The bar to making a finding also will change. “The standard changes from probable cause and above to reasonable cause because that's how federal law refers to the determinations in a case,” Neimeier said.Under this proposed change, if staff believed there is no reasonable cause for an alleged violation, the Commission could hear the appeal and they could make a determination. Under the proposed change, the office can issue a charge against a violator. “Once a charge is issued, it's basically a description of the violation and it's a statement that a civil action will be filed by, in this case, the City Attorney's office on behalf of the aggrieved person,” Neimeier said. Neimeier repeated that he has had conversations with Councilors about these in private meetings. Once the ordinance is adopted, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will review the city's application. City Councilor Michael Payne said the last City Council had directed the Human Rights Commission to make these changes. He supports them.“It will just give us a little more teeth to investigate and make judgments against Fair Housing law violations in the city,” Payne said.Payne also wanted to know what the budgetary needs would be to add positions to deal with an expanded workload. The city has already committed one-time money from the American Rescue Plan Act for one new position.“That will allow us to hire an intake counselor as well as an investigator,” Neimeier said. “Right now we are a two-person office.” That will also increase the ongoing budget heading into the future when the federal funding runs out. Niemier said he is working now to get a job description for the intake position. He said the federal workshare program will increase the workload. Mayor Lloyd Snook said the ordinance needed to clearly outline the responsibilities for landlords or others who would be potentially under investigation. “The part that most needs to be written as a fourth or fifth grade level is the part that says what you can't do,” Snook said. Snook said he was able to ask around 20 questions during his 2-2-1 with Neimeier. He also urged caution in proceeding too quickly without doing due diligence. “Most of the time when we have made hasty decisions, when we have done something that we didn't fully vet, fully think through, fully edit, we've been dissatisfied with the results,” Snook said. After more discussion, Snook suggested no vote be taken at the meeting. “Having said all of that, anybody else have anything else they want to say or should we basically table this until the 21st and take it back up then with whatever new drafts or anything else we may come up with,” Snook said. Yet, the item is listed on the agenda for Council's meeting for a second reading, and on the consent agenda. I have a question out to the city about that. In the meantime, the City Human Rights Commission meets tonight at 6:30 p.m. The packet includes recent minutes as well as a report for November. From this we learn that the Human Rights Office has received six complaint this year for housing discrimination in Charlottesville and two in Albemarle. (download the meeting packet)Reading material you may find of interest:* Pittsylvania County uranium deposit to be sold to Canadian firm, Dave Ress, Richmond Times-Dispatch (via Danville Register & Bee), November 15, 2022* Danville City Council tables vote on collective bargaining, Charles Wilborn, Danville Register & Bee, November 15, 2022* Virginia solar developers say stormwater rules could wash away their margins* Former Charlottesville city manager Hendrix, who championed Downtown Mall, dies, Henry Lin-David, Daily Progress, November 17, 2022* Missing context, political bias: Some of critics' objections to Virginia's new history standards, Nathaniel Cline, Virginia Mercury, November 17, 2022* Virginia joins brief supporting challenge of vehicle emissions rule, Charlie Paullin, Departing comments for episode #460We are a week away from Thanksgiving, and for the next week and a half I will be producing fewer newsletters. I don't know my exact schedule at the moment, but I am going to take advantage of the downtime. There's a lot to rest up for in the future. In the meantime, thank you to all of the subscribers, paid and unpaid. I'm really glad to be able to write and produce this newsletter and podcast as often as I can, and I'm grateful to all who are following along. Extra thanks to the roughly one in four who have stepped up to support the work, either through a paid Substack subscription or by becoming a Patreon supporter. If you do support through Substack, Ting will match your initial payment. This is an extra level of support that really comes in handy as I contemplate what the future may look like. I believe this work is important to do, and one in four of you are supporting me directly. And even if you don't sign up for a paid subscription to this newsletter, Ting wants your business, and if you sign up through a link in the newsletter you will get free installation, a $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall, and a second month for free. Just enter the promo code COMMUNITY.Now, onto the next one! Please share with people you think they might be interested. Whether you're one of the one of the four, or one of three in four, you are all important to me. Thanks for reading! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
It's the eleventh day of the eleventh month, marking the time 104 years ago when Armistice ended the First World War One. Today we mark it as Veterans' Day and local government is closed. This is the first edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement after a brief break to get ready for all that is yet to come. Today, though, is a good day to look back and all of those who have done so much to get us to this point. On today's show:* A round-up of election results from the area * Albemarle County recognized veterans Day* Charlottesville City Council gets a report from Interim City Manager and discusses recent violence downtown and possible solutions Sign up to get all of the free newsletters and podcasts and considering paying to help support the work!First shout-out: Free jazz concerts coming up week of November 15In the first subscriber-supported shout-out, the Charlottesville Jazz Society wants you to know about an upcoming series of free concerts by Professor Bill Cole and the Untempered Ensemble. The Untempered Ensemble are artists in residence at the University of Virginia Department of Art and will give three free concerts the week of November 15th. The group includes members of Indigenous American (Wabanaki and Nipissing), Asian-American, and African-American descent. The musicians play a wide variety of wind, string and percussion instruments from six different continents offering audiences the opportunity to form a world view of sound.The shows:* Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 5:00 pm | Memorial to Enslaved Laborers, UVA Grounds | FREE* Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 7:30 pm | The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center | FREE* Thursday, Nov. 17 at 7:30 pm | The Dome Room of the Rotunda, UVA Grounds | FREEFor more information about Professor Bill Cole and the Untempered Ensemble, visit arts.virginia.edu. Election results across the planning districtThe results are now more or less in for Election 2022 in Virginia but let's go through some of the details. Republican Bob Good defeated Democrat Joshua Throneburg to win a second term representing Virginia's Fifth Congressional District. With 354 precincts of 378 reporting, the Virginia Department of Elections lists Good with 57.86 percent of the vote. He carried 21 of the 24 localities in the Fifth District. Throneburg only won in Albemarle County, Charlottesville, and Danville. Nearly 87 percent of voters in Charlottesville cast a ballot for Throneburg, compared with 66.1 percent in Albemarle, and 53.2 percent in Danville. Just under a dozen Albemarle residents voted in the 7th District due to the small sliver. Fourteen people voted for Republican Yesli Vega and seven people voted for Democrat Abigail Spanberger. Overall, Spanberg was re-elected to a third term with around 52 percent of the vote. The only other election on the ballot in both Albemarle and Fluvanna was for Scottsville Town Council. Two candidates were on the ballot, and several people made a write-in bid. Final votes won't be counted on Monday but incumbents Meredith Hynes, Dan Gritsko, and Bill Hyson were all re-elected. Turning to Greene County, Vega won the county with 60.8 percent of the vote. Kimberly Breeden Tate won an uncontested race to be Commissioner of Revenue. Rebecca Roach won an uncontested race to be on the School Board representing the Stanardsville District. Michael A. Payne won an uncontested race to be Mayor of Stanardsville. Three people were on the ballot for four seats on the Stanardsville Town Council and all three made it as did a write-in. There was a contested School Board race in Louisa County, where Lloyd Runnett defeated David Harold Rogers in the Mineral District with 67.8 percent of the vote. R. Garland Nuckols remains the Mayor of the Town of Louisa in an uncontested race. In the Town of Mineral , Ed Jarvis leads Pamela Harlowe with 98 votes to 70 votes with slightly more votes to be counted. For information on Town Council races in Louisa County, visit the Virginia Department of Elections webpage. Albemarle Supervisors mark Veterans' DayToday is Veterans Day and nine days ago, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors passed a resolution honoring the occasion. Donna Price, Chair of the Board of Supervisors, read from a proclamation. “WHEREAS, the United States of America, founded on the principles of liberty and justice for all, has called on her men and women in uniform to protect our national security,” Price said.* The preservation of our national interests, our rights and our freedom, has been ensured by the service of these individuals* On Veterans Day we remember and pay tribute to the millions of patriots whose courage and sacrifice have secured our freedom and defended our values both at home and abroad* Over one hundred veterans continue to serve their country in public schools and government as teachers and other professionals providing services to the students and citizens of Albemarle County* These veterans employed by Albemarle County Public Schools and Local Government deserve recognition for their continued service.“NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors hereby recognizes all veterans and the men and women that are currently serving in our armed forces around the world; an BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors hereby appreciates and honors the continued contributions and sacrifices of the Armed Forces veterans employed by local government and public schools,” Price read. Price herself is a retired U.S. Navy Captain in the Judge Advocate General's Corps. Albemarle Police Lieutenant Elizabeth Gomez accepted the proclamation. She enlisted in the Army National Guard in September 1991 and served as a combat medic and ambulance driver, becoming a police officer in 2000. “We do what we do now based on our choices earlier on in life to serve and protect our community,” Gomez said.While local and state government may be closed today, information about resources is available on the internet. A good place to start is the Virginia Department of Veterans Services and the Central Region. Second shout-out: UVA Helps Ensure Climate Resilient Buildings, Landscapes, & CommunitiesIn today's second subscriber supported shout-out, UVA Lifetime Learning, Office of Engagement, has an event this Saturday morning for readers following climate action and resilience planning. At the UVA School of Architecture, faculty, staff, and students are leading innovative research on climate resilient buildings, landscapes, and communities — from the coastal landscapes of Virginia's Eastern Shore and the Chesapeake Bay region to community development in the Arctic; from renewable biomaterials for building construction to new planning methods for restorative urbanism. Join Dean Malo André Hutson this Saturday morning at 10 a.m. for an opportunity to learn more about this exciting work, the diverse methods of community-centered design research it employs, and the actionable ways it addresses the future health of our built environment. This takes place at Alumni Hall as part of the More than the Score program or watch online! Register on Eventbrite for Designing for Climate ResilienceCharlottesville Council discusses gun violence; many governance details in written report The Charlottesville City Council had a full meeting on Monday, and one I'm finally able to get to after taking a couple of days off from a deadline. We start the coverage with the consent agenda, which included an extension of the contract for the Robert Bobb Group for the services of Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers. According to a staff report, that will give enough time for a new police chief to be hired as well as for Council to adopt a strategic plan. Then there's also the matter of the budget. No one spoke during the opportunity to comment about the contract extension. Next, there was a review of the written city manager report followed by comments about recent shootings in the area. Let's go through the report first: (read the report) * Rogers said a new executive director for the Police Civilian Oversight Board will be hired as soon as possible. The Board's operating procedures will be reviewed by Council at their meeting on December 5. * New procurement rules adopted by Council in October will make it possible to use private dollars to help pay for energy savings projects in large capital projects. (story on InfoCville)* New employee Ben Chambers is now the transportation planner for the Department of Neighborhood Development Services. The position is intended to help address a backlog of stalled projects. Council was briefed on a “reboot” for transportation planning this past May. (story on InfoCville)* More people are seeking out the services of the Office of Human Rights with 2022 volumes higher than all of 2021. We'll hear more about a proposal to hire two more staff for the office in a future installment of the program. * The average review time for a building permit is now below is now down below 40 days according to a chart provided in the report. That's because the city sought help from the University of Virginia with a backlog and hiring two people to serve as both a new building code official and a support services manager. The new goal is to bring reviews down to 14 days, which the report states will take hiring more personnel. In City Manager Rogers addressed the recent shootings on the Downtown Mall. “A week or so ago there was a violent incident on the mall at one of our establishments that resulted in the death of someone and two bystanders being hit by stray bullets,” Rogers said. Rogers convened a meeting with Friends of Downtown Cville to discuss the incident and steps to improve security. “When there is violence in the community in a concentrated period, naturally people are going to be upset and people are going to fear being in the location where those things are occurring,” Rogers said. “By and large when you consider the statistics in our community, it's still safe.” Interim Police Chief Latroy Durrette offered some statistics about responses to calls for services related to gunfire. (view the data)There were 185 such calls in 2017 and 181 calls in 2018. “A slight decrease in 2019 with 172,” Durrette said. “In 2020, we started to see an increase of 298 and a greater increase in 2021 with 322.As of October 23, there have been 211 calls for service for shots fired. Durrette said shots fired incidents are not common on the mall and he showed maps showing where they are focused. For this year, that's the Tenth and Page neighborhood as well as the Orangedale-Prospect area according to one of the images. He said he has increased patrols on the Downtown Mall. City Councilor Brian Pinkston said he was more concerned about reducing gun use in the parts where it is concentrated. “Whenever I talk to folks, people remind me that this is complicated, the causes and how we try to effect change is complicated too because there are unintended consequences,” Pinkston said. Vice Mayor Juandiego Wade was at that Friends of the Downtown Cville event which was attended by a wide variety of stakeholders.“People came together from all sides of the community to talk about a very serious issue and I think we had some really good discussions,” Wade said. “Some of those discussions included de-escalation. I think that there was some understanding that when police arrive at these scenes, a lot is going and they want to preserve the scene. Part of it is that we wanted to talk about de-escalation,”Rogers said the city has been speaking with law enforcement at the University of Virginia about sharing information and resources. “We'll be following up on that and I think that there's opportunity for the city, the county, and the University law enforcement to join forces and approach this as a truly regional issue,” Rogers said. During matters from the public, several people addressed the issue including Emily Morrison of the Front Porch, a music training entity with space on 3rd Street SE.“My staff would benefit from de-escalation trainings in the event of a conflict near our building so that we can know what to do in the event of an emergency,” Morrison said. More from this City Council meeting in future installments of the show. Articles you may have missed from other outlets:* Charlottesville and Albemarle County get bluer, Alice Berry, Daily Progress, November 9, 2022* Youngkin to propose new agency for workforce development, Markus Schmidt, Cardinal News, November 10, 2022* Maybe it's not just ‘the economy, stupid': winners and losers from the 2022 midterms, Bob Lewis, Virginia Mercury, November 11, 2022 (commentary)An inventory of end notes for #458We begin the end with a humbling confession. I got the beginning of the November 8 newsletter wrong by writing without actively engaging my brain. Election Day is the first Tuesday of the month unless it's the first day of the month, or something like that. I won't correct this error but will lead people to this blurb. These blurbs come at the end of a lot of writing. Is it possible I made this error just to bring new readers to this point? Possibly. The point of this section is to thank subscribers and point out that Charlottesville Community Engagement is a service of Town Crier Productions, a company formed to write as much as possible. Sometimes that does mean taking a quick break which I did Wednesday and Thursday. If you want to know when the next edition may come out, do consider joining the Chat function in Substack. It's still a work in progress, but I'm exploring non-Twitter alternatives. All of this work is paid for by many of you readers and listeners via Substack, in addition to the various individuals and entities who pay me through Patreon. More details on that later, as you don't need to read that every time. But, I do want you to know I appreciate the one in four who pays to keep my attention focused on a wide variety of things. You support my beat reporting which allows me to see patterns and incongruities. Ting match Substack subscriptions, though. I have to mention that! And even if you don't sign up for a paid subscription to this newsletter, Ting wants your business, and if you sign up through a link in the newsletter you will get free installation, a $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall, and a second month for free. Just enter the promo code COMMUNITY. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
We've reached the fourth Monday of the month and are now in the final lap with the finish line coming at the end of All Hallow's Eve. Shall we celebrate All Hallow's Day? Between now and then there's a lot to get through in as many installments of Charlottesville Community Engagement that I can put together between now and the time of disguise. I? Sean Tubbs. On today's version of this publication:* One person has died following an early morning shooting Sunday on the Downtown Mall * Charlottesville preparing to remove nine trees from the Downtown Mall* Two Charlottesville playgrounds remain closed while repairs continue* Time is running out to submit a poem to JMRL's latest contest* Albemarle County Supervisors finalize legislative priorities * The Center for Politics at UVA takes a look at concerns about the upcoming election Charlottesville Community Engagement is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.First shout-out: Rivanna Conservation Alliance Round-Up wrap-upIn today's first Patreon-fueled shout-out: The Rivanna Conservation Alliance would like to thank everyone who participated in the recent Rivanna River Round-Up! In all, 243 helped remove 173 tires, filled up 148 bags of trash and attended to 27 miles of river and trail. To help cover the costs, the Rivanna Conservation Alliance is selling t-shirts. Want to get involved with ongoing clean-up efforts? On Saturday, October 22, the RCA will hold a stream buffer maintenance day at Crozet Elementary School to check in on how trees planted three years ago are holding up. Visit rivannariver.org to learn more. One killed in early morning shooting SundayOne person has died following a shooting early Sunday morning on the Charlottesville Downtown Mall in which three people were hit with bullets. According to a release, the Charlottesville Police Department responded to the 200 block of West Main Street on the Downtown Mall. “The victims were then transported to UVA medical center for treatment; two of which are currently in stable condition. The third victim succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased later in the morning.”The release goes on to state that the incident does not pose an “immediate threat” and an investigation. A request for a follow-up this morning yielded no results. For more information, some other media coverage:* Charlottesville Mall shooting leaves one dead and two injured, Daily Progress* Police investigate fatal shooting on Downtown Mall, CBS19* CPD: 1 dead, 2 injured in connection with W. Main St. shooting, NBC29Photojournalist Eze Amos was on the Mall at the time. City crews preparing to remove some Downtown Mall treesLater this week, the city's Parks and Recreation Department will hold an information meeting on removing some of the trees on Charlottesville's Downtown Mall. Riann Anthony is the deputy director of the department. “We are very lucky that the Downtown Mall trees have been in existence for this long,” Anthony said. “Some of them are healthy and others are not healthy but per our urban forester is that all of the trees are stressed from a number of factors.”Anthony addresses the city's Parks and Recreation Advisory Board last Thursday. He said the number one factor are the tree grates that he said are squeezing trees that have outgrown them. He also said heaters for outdoor restaurants also cause stress.“There's a lot of café spaces that also have little lights that they use, nails, to put the lights on and stuff like that nature,” Anthony said. The city has been studying this issue for many year but action has not yet been taken. Anthony said the city is looking to remove hazards that might be in danger of falling. The ones most at risk will be removed over the next few months.“These are trees that are in the worst shape and we are looking out for the best interest of our community and of the folks that work on the mall,” Anthony said. “We do not want to ever see a tree just fall.” Nine trees in all will be removed. The first education session will be on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. via Zoom. Two in-person meetings will be held next week. (meeting info)Anthony said the city is also seeking a consultant to help come up with a replacement policy for trees on the Downtown Mall. Charlottesville playground installation taking longer than expected The closure of city playgrounds at both Belmont Park and Meade Park will be a little longer than expected. The Parks and Recreation Department is installing new equipment at both locations and work had been expected to be completed this week. However, installation of individual pieces is taking more time. “We are extending the reopening date to tentatively, November 4th, but may open sooner if complete,” reads a press release that went out Friday morning. A Keaton Forest suite of playground structures is being installed at Belmont Park whereas Meade Park will have the first Modern City installation in Virginia. One more day to submit a poem for JMRL contestThe Jefferson Madison Regional Library and WriterHouse have teamed up for a poetry contest that ends tomorrow. If you're over 18 and have one original, unpublished poem you'd like to submit, there's an online form that's taking submissions through tomorrow at 5 p.m. The theme is transformative change. “For hundreds of years, poets have altered the course of history by speaking out about issues that concern their communities, and this year's theme of transformation echoes that critical legacy of the power of the pen to affect positive change for all of us,” said WriterHouse executive director Sibley Johns. This contest is now in its sixth year. There are prizes for winners. For more information, visit jmrl.org/poetrycontest. Albemarle Supervisors set legislative priorities for 2023 General Assembly There are 79 days until the General Assembly convenes for the 2023 session for the second year with Glenn Youngkin in the Governor's Mansion. Last week, Albemarle Supervisors finalized their list of legislative priorities that they hope to convince legislators to turn into a bill. (2023 Legislative Priorities) (2023 Legislative Positions and Policy Statements)Supervisors last discussed the list in September and extensively discussed a request to expand the number of virtual meetings an appointed body can have. Another of the priorities is to request the ability for counties to decide for themselves if they want to hold a referendum on additional sales tax to generate revenue for school construction projects.“There are currently nine counties and one city in the Commonwealth which enjoy this authority to levy an additional one-percent sales tax which is used exclusively to fund school division capital projects,” said county attorney Steven Rosenberg. Legislation failed to make it out of a House of Delegates subcommittee last year. Another priority is to request a change of the eligibility rules for sites to participate in the Virginia Business Ready Sites program. Currently land in most economic development regions must be of a certain size to quality, and Albemarle wants that to be reduced.“There are not that many properties in the county that satisfy that 100 acre contiguous developable standard,” Rosenberg said.Albemarle wants to cut that in half to 50 acres and Rosenberg said two Go Virginia regions already have that lower threshold. “The economic development office (EDO) has identified sites that would otherwise fulfill the requirement but for their acreage,” Rosenberg said. “I will finally add on this item that there is one site in the county that does satisfy the requirement and it's in North Fork and the EDO is currently working with the University of Virginia Foundation in seeking funds for that site.” There will be one more discussion of the priorities in November if needed. See also: * House subcommittee kills school sales tax bills, February 25, 2022* Albemarle Supervisors to support legislation to allow advisory body meetings to go virtual, September 13, 2021)Second Shout-out is for the Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards In today's second subscriber-supported shout-out, an area nonprofit wants you to know about what they offer to help you learn how to preserve, protect, and appreciate! The Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards holds several events throughout the year including a walk in western Albemarle County on the morning of November 12 through a well preserved and highly diverse woodland to see naturally occurring winterberry, spicebush, and dogwood laden with red berries. In abundance will be nuts from forest oaks, hickories, walnuts as well as orchard grown Chinese chestnuts, walnuts, pecans, and American hazelnuts. Registration is limited. There's also still time for an online Zoom tree identification class tomorrow night. Visit charlottesvilleareatreestewards.org for more information. Center for Politics forum explores election security in advance of Election Day Tensions are running high across the country as Election Day approaches and many members of one of the two American political parties continue to insist that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen. The University of Virginia's Center for Politics held a forum last week to discuss the upcoming elections moderated by Christopher Krebs, who served as the United States Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. He said much of the threat dates back to Russian efforts to hack the 2016 elections. (wikipedia article)“It had three different components,” Krebs said. “The first was attempts to get into voter registration databases and other systems administering elections. The second was targeting and hacking into political campaigns, the [Democratic National Committee], the Hilary Clinton and the third is this more pernicious, drawn out disinformation campaign that's really rooted in the entirety of Russian information doctrine going back really a century or more.” Krebs said the Russian campaign was intended to destabilize democracy, and not much was done to shore up security systems.“And there were domestic actors that saw the playbook run in 2016 and adapted it to their own measures,” Krebs said.Krebs said he is concerned about continued efforts to falsely claim that President Joe Biden was not elected, as well as continued attacks on election workers. He said death threats are common. “It's part of unfortunately doing business as election workers right now and that is leading to a retreat and exodus from the work force which in turn kind of turns out to be a former of almost voter suppression,” Krebs said.That's because fewer election workers means fewer precincts and longer lines. Krebs said there's also a strategy to radicalize election workers. Barbara Comstock served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives in Virginia's former 10th District. The Republican politician is now involved in Issue One and the National Council for Elections Security. “I am for the first time in my life a single issue voter,” Comstock said. “I've never been a single issue voter. I was a conservative Republican but now my issue is democracy before any other issue. And if you aren't going to respect elections and who wins and who loses, you can't have any other issues before that.” Comstock said she is concerned about candidates who have already declared they will not accept the elections results unless they win. “Those kind of situations are going to repeat themselves around the country,” Comstock said. “We're a 50/50 country. I won my first election by 422 votes.” Comstock said on that night, she knew where the votes were coming in because she was familiar with the polls. She said many with conspiracy theories have never worked an election before. “And these are people who just didn't understand anything about retail politics,” Comstock said. “They were just people who were preaching to the choir, hung out with everyone who thought the way they did, and had never knocked on a door.”Renée DiResta, research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, has been studying rumors that circulate online about perceived election fraud.“When somebody believes that their ballot has been invalidated because they were given a sharpie marker at the polls and they remember being a kid in school and being told you can't use a sharpie marker on a scantron and they believe that there's a false plot to steal the election from them because that's kind of where the political climate of the country is at this point,” DiResta said. “Those claims tend to go viral and one of the things we look at at Stanford is how those claims go viral and where and in what communities on the internet.”DiResta said the sharpie argument has come back again in Arizona during the 2022 race. She said she's part of something called the Election Integrity Partnership which is a non-partisan coalition to help groups that want to fight disinformation by crowd-sourcing responses by helping to find the right messenger to convey correct information. “That person who is a trusted counter messenger counter speaks to the people in their communities,” DiResta said. “They don't want to hear Stanford Internet Observatory thinks that your sharpie markers is wrong because who the hell are we? We're ivory tower academics. We have no trust and we have no resonance in that community but the local elections theoretically do because they are members of the community.” Siva Vaidhyanathan, the Robertson Professor of Media Studies and director of the Center for Media and Citizenship at the University of Virginia, said democracies have been under attack from across the world in the past decade. He said a lot of this builds off the stoking of fears of other Americans. “We're now in a situation in this country of all countries where we don't have a romance of democracy,” Vaidhyanathan said. “We don't have something that moves us to believe deeply in the power of each other, in the shared future that we all have whether we admit or not.”Election Day is now 15 days away. This Wednesday, the two candidates in the Fifth District will meet at Hampden-Sydney College for the first and only campaign forum of the race. Some information here, and more in the next newsletter.You can watch the whole Center for Politics event on YouTube. Other articles for your review:As much as I try, I can't get it all. Here are some recent stories you may be interested in reviewing. * Charlottesville's first climate action plan, Anahita Jafary, NBC29, October 20, 2022* Richmond Fed: Va. gained 8,000 jobs in September, Virginia Business, October 21, 2022* Charlottesville man's lawsuit against University Village tests state condo law, Daily Progress, October 21, 2022* Bob Good visits Albemarle County, CBS19, October 22, 2022 * Public comment period ends Wednesday for proposed transgender policy, WWBT, October 24Concluding notes for the end of #447 Monday will end and Tuesday will begin and I am hopeful that there will be another installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement. There is so much to get through, and I'm grateful for paid subscribers who are helping me attempt to keep the stables clean. Do consider a paid subscription through Substack at either $5 a month, $50 a year or $200 a year.And if you do that, Ting will match your initial payment, making it very likely I'll get to keep doing this for a while. That's my goal, at least. This work is how I exercise my love of democracy, by pointing out the decision points close at hand. I will try to resist saying what I think, because mostly what I think is how I can get this up to a seven-day-a-week publication. There's enough to go round. If you do sign up, Ting will match your initial subscription. And even if you don't sign up for a paid subscription to this newsletter, Ting wants your custom too, and if you sign up through a link in the newsletter you will get free installation, a $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall, and a second month for free. Just enter the promo code COMMUNITY.Did you know this newsletter is also the working script for a podcast? Do sign up in your podcast player, because it's a great way to hear people's voices. There is the occasional music bit from either the Fundamental Grang or Wraki, a chameleon-like blender of sonic stylings. Check them out on Bandcamp. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
Ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, or more? A snippet from an old song would be played at this point of the podcast version of Charlottesville Community Engagement but that would cost resources that would be better spent bringing you information to help you engage with the communities around Charlottesville. It is October 20, or, 10/20 on one side of the Atlantic, or 20/10 on the other. Either way, the date gets rounded out by 2022. I'm Sean Tubbs, pointer outer of the obvious. On today's installment: * There's a new chief of public transportation for all of Virginia* Charlottesville City Council takes several actions including changes to the transient occupancy ordinance and a clarification on whether freelance writers provide a taxable service * Council holds first reading on $700K to replace underground storage tank* Council adopts guidelines for an alternative procurement process * Council also considers paying seven months worth of rent for a local nonprofit Every installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement is different, which is why you might benefit from reading them all. Sign up to make that easier. First shout-out: Charlottesville Jazz Society has a concert coming up In today's first subscriber-supported shout-out, the Charlottesville Jazz Society wants you to know about their last show of the year coming up on October 28. The Society will present French modern jazz group OZMA as they celebrate their 20th anniversary with the first ever tour of the United States. Borrowing largely from rock grammars, traditional music, and electronic landscapes, OZMA's music has been praised for its willingness to imagine John Coltrane jamming with Radiohead, or explosive drummer Billy Cobham playing with the best New Orleans brass bands.The show is Friday, October 28 at Unity of Charlottesville on Hydraulic Road. For tickets and more information visit cvillejazz.org. DRPT names new public transportation chiefA key ingredient in plans to both reduce traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions is public transportation. In Virginia, there's a brand new person heading up efforts to improve bus and train routes throughout the Commonwealth. The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation has named Zach Trogdon to be the new Chief of Public Transportation. “Trogdon will lead the evaluation, assistance, and execution of a $4.7 billion portfolio of public transportation, commuter assistance, and congestion management programs throughout the Commonwealth,” reads a press release from the DRPT. Trogdon has been the executive director of the Williamsburg Area Transit Authority and has worked in government for over 20 years. According to the release, he helped the Williamsburg Area Transit Authority establish a capital fund to buy, repair, and maintain the fleet. Trogdon's hiring comes at a time when a governance study is underway to prepare the potential creation of a regional transit authority for this area. Both Albemarle and Charlottesville have contributed funds to the $150,000 study which is being coordinated by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. A steering committee has been identified but the kick-off. A Regional Transit Partnership has been in place since 2017 to pick up the pieces after an earlier effort to form a Regional Transit Authority failed in the late 2000's. The Partnership next meets on October 27 and will see the final report of the Regional Transit Vision Plan. Council approves changes to lodging tax collection rules, defers vote on tax relief changesMonday's regular meeting of the Charlottesville City Council featured several smaller items and a few big ones that add up to a lot of business. The rest of this installment of newsletter goes through them one by one. Did I get to it all? Read on. First, Council took a vote to approve the relocation of a sewer line for the redevelopment of 209 Maury Avenue. That's a property right on the border with the University of Virginia. In May, Council approved a special use permit allowing for additional density and a parking reduction for a total of 64 units. “As part of the development process, the current developer is going to be constructing a new sewer line in a different location than the one that was established previously,” said City Attorney Lisa Robertson. That required a vote from Council to change the easement and to make a boundary line adjustment. They'll later have to come back and accept the new public right of way for the sewer. “By going ahead with the vacation, you'll allow the developer to proceed with various financing applications and to proceed with the development,” Robertson said. This was a public hearing, but the agenda for the meeting did not indicate that. No one spoke during the public hearing, either in person or virtually. Business license rules changes to list “writer” as taxable profession Next, Council changed the rules classifying whether freelance writers and authors are subject to the city's business license ordinance. The Virginia Supreme Court in City of Charlottesville v Regulus Books ruled earlier this year that Charlottesville's ordinance did not sufficiently specify that work from the profession was not a “service” that triggered tax collections. (read the ruling)“In my opinion, [the ruling] curiously found a deficiency in our business license ordinance and this so measure attempts to… it will address it,” said Todd Divers, the Commissioner of the Revenue. Divers said the new ordinance creates a specific category for writers under subclassification H. Those are businesses that must pay $0.36 for every $100 of gross receipts. The city has had to refund several thousand dollars in taxes to several people who had previously been taxed incorrectly. There was no discussion on Council and the motion passed 5 to 0. Council approves changes to transient lodging tax ordinanceCommissioner of Revenue Todd Divers was also on hand to brief Council on a requested change to the city's transient lodging tax ordinance.“The General Assembly for the last two years has made some significant changes to provision of sales tax and local transient occupancy tax to try to address various issues raised by online travel agencies and online travel platforms like AirBnB and others,” Divers said. Divers said Council made some changes last year, but the 2022 legislation forces the city to make new ones related to how the taxes are collected and reported. The new law allows the taxation on the total charge for a stay, such as cleaning fees. Divers said the ordinance needed to be adopted immediately because the new online intermediaries will begin collecting local lodging taxes this month. He added that he expects more legislative changes in three months in the next General Assembly. Several Councilors asked if there was anything in the update that would make it easier to police short-term rentals that are in violation of zoning. Divers said that was a separate issue related to staffing. “Right now, you've got one guy policing this, [Zoning Administrator Read Brodhead],” Divers said. “It's very difficult for one person to do it. He operates on complaints. There aren't many complaints for as many people who do complain about it.”The update also prepares for a new hotel within Charlottesville's borders. “In anticipation of the University of Virginia opening up a hotel in town, there was a curious little exemption in the local code that exempted stays in educational institutions,” Divers said. “Our position is the lodging tax, transient occupancy tax, will be applicable to stays in that hotel when it is built.”The new code specifies that dormitories are exempt. Ground was broken for a new 214-room hotel earlier this month with completion expected in the spring of 2025. A second reading of this ordinance was waived and the updates passed 5 to 0. Council also voted to note that collection of the city's cigarette taxes is now handled by the Blue Ridge Cigarette Tax Board operated by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. That passed 5 to 0 with little discussion. Second reading was also waived. Tax relief changes deferred until November 7There was also another vote to amend the city code related to tax relief for elderly and disabled persons. Divers said his intention had been to merge that program with the Charlottesville Housing Affordability Program (CHAP). “We obviously cannot merge those programs but this kind of closes the loop on this and brings the real estate tax relief program in close to inline with CHAP as we can,” Divers said. Changes include dropping the eligibility threshold for net worth for the non-CHAP tax relief program. There was a long discussion about the numbers being used in the various calculations and a lot of wordsmithing until Councilor Brian Pinkston raised a procedural question. “I'm wondering, do we feel like this whole ordinance might profit with two more weeks of conversation or do we feel like we're close to a resolution?” Pinkston asked. Robertson agreed it would be good to resolve the dispute, which related to the method to be used to calculate income and eligibility. This item will come back to Council at their next meeting on November 7. But we first have to get through items from the rest of the October 17 meeting first. Second shout-out: Charlottesville Community Bikes In this second subscriber supported shout-out, Charlottesville Community Bikes believes that bicycles can be a means to social change, addressing issues of equity, access, and inclusion. They provide free bikes to adults who need one, and have a special program that provides free bikes to children. Their mobile bike repair clinics continue October 24 with a stop at Blue Ridge Commons on Prospect Avenue. Want to learn more or support their work? Charlottesville Community Bikes currently is seeking matching funds for a grant from the Outride Fund. Visit charlottesvillecommunitybikes.org to learn more. Council considers funding for Avon fuel tank replacementFor the rest of the meeting, the Charlottesville City Council took action on items with financial impacts. The first was a request to spend an additional $700,000 from the Capital Improvement Program budget's contingency fund for cost overruns on a project to replace the underground fuel storage tanks at the city's fuel station on Avon Street. “That fuel station has been in place for quite a while and the below-ground fuel tank is at the end of its usable life and is becoming uninsurable at this point,” said Michael Goddard is a Senior Project Manager in the city's Public Works Department. Goddard said a recent crash involving a bus has damaged the fuel station and the city is currently using a fuel card system to purchase. He said the next storage tank will be above ground. “There are a lot of benefits of that sort of a tank, not the least of which is that it is easy to decommission should the time come that we don't need a fueling station anymore,” Goddard said. Goddard said the project needs an additional $700,000 to meet the lowest bid. Charlottesville City Councilor Brian Pinkston suggested finding another solution altogether, including maybe partnering with Albemarle County.“Is this like an essential thing that we have to have to function as a city, or is there another way to do it?” Pinkston asked. Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers said the city has many vehicles that need to be fueled and it is more cost-effective to have an in-house fuel depot. “What we are doing now, though we are supporting the local economy, is costing us more money and over time as the price of gas keep going up its going to cost us more,” Rogers said.Council's discussion was a first reading and the item will be on the consent agenda on November 7. Council extends loan to Woodard Properties for Dogwood Housing propertiesCharlottesville has many tools in the effort to ensure some residential units in the city that are below-market. Two of them date back to 2007. One is the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund, which has disbursed $46.7 million in funds since 2010 according to a report Council was briefed on this past April. (Deputy City Manager Sanders reviews recent audit of Charlottesville's housing fund, April 6, 2022)The other is a 2007 loan to the Piedmont Housing Alliance to assist Woodard Properties in acquiring Dogwood Housing. “In 2007, Council at that time extended a loan in the amount of $850,000 for the acquisition of 57 residential units to be maintained as rental properties,” said Sam Sanders, the Deputy City Manager. Sanders said Woodard Properties have come back to Council before to extend the loan and the latest period of forgiveness ends at the end of the month. They are requesting another five-year period. Council granted the extension with no discussion except to substitute some of the language in the resolution. Council agrees to adopt guidelines for procurement In the near future, Charlottesville could very well finalize plans to renovate Buford Middle School to accommodate sixth grade students, a first step toward a long-planned and long-awaited reconfiguration of the city's schools. The School Board got an update on construction estimates in September, and the final number will factor heavily into the city's budget discussions for the next fiscal year. (VMDO working against inflation as design for Buford expansion continues and estimates increase, September 2, 2022)On Monday, Council approved guidelines for the use of funds that could be raised through something called the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act, which goes by the acronym PPEA. “Under the act, the General Assembly conferred upon local entities such as the city of Charlottesville a process by which major construction projects and improvements to real estate could be conducted through a competitive process that is more flexible and less prescriptive,” said City Attorney Lisa Robertson. A key reason to do this is to potentially bring down the cost through efficiencies and through a more flexible schedule. Robertson gave examples in the staff report. * The City of Harrisonburg has constructed school buildings and at least one public park.* The City of Fredericksburg is currently using the PPEA process for the design and construction of improvements to upgrade and expand a wastewater treatment plant. * The Town of Christiansburg used PPEA procedures for a stream restoration and culvert replacement project. * Spotsylvania used PPEA procedures for construction of a new circuit court building.Robertson didn't specify the Buford project could be constructed through a PPEA nor did the staff report list any specific examples. Charlottesville City Councilor Brian Pinkston could think of a few.“One of the things we could do with this is work with local nonprofit partners on what I'll call hybrid projects where we're trying to accomplish something together and there would be private funds coming in through the nonprofit and we may be providing project management support or something like that on the city side,” Pinkston said. “This would give us flexibility in terms of how those procurements work.” Council approved the guidelines with one change making sure that the application fee for such a project would be $1,500. Council considers rent payment for Jefferson SchoolThe Jefferson School Center for African American Heritage has asked the city to help it cover the cost of the rent it pays to the Jefferson School Foundation. That's the entity that owns the former elementary school. The Center leases just over 11,000 square feet at a cost of $15,134.76 per month. Staff has recommended Council donate seven months of rent to cover the Center from December 1 through the end of next June for a total of $107,203.32. “The reason for taking this action at this moment is to provide Council the space that it needs to conduct its strategic planning sessions to determine how it will engage in investments for moments like this to invest in arrangements with non-profit organizations,” said Deputy City Manager Sam Sanders. Sanders said that conversation will also include a further discussion of how the city treats nonprofits to which it rents property. (City seeking to know more about what property it rents, May 20, 2022)At the same time, the city is seeking requests from firms to facilitate a new strategic plan. The funding will come from Council's Strategic Intiatives fund. Sanders said a previous $950,000 for this purpose went to an escrow account whereas this one will go directly to the Center. City Councilor Michael Payne said he would want to make a long-term commitment to the Center.“I would definitely want to prioritize finding a way for the Heritage Center to stay there longer-term,” Payne said. “I know there's a bigger discussion about non-profit leases and rentals but I think it would be very short-sighted for us to lose some of these community spaces for just another restaurant or whatever else.” Council held first reading of the item and agreed to hold the second as part of the consent agenda for the November 7, 2022 meeting. We're not done yet with the Council meeting from October 17, 2022. Future installments will go back through a budget work session as well as a vote on use of American Rescue Plan Act funds. This newsletter is already pushing 3,000 words so… time to publish! Housekeeping for show #446A constant refrain I have is that there's so much to get to, and I do hope to get to more in the next installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Thanks to the new paid subscribers who have signed up in the last few days, and thanks to the new Patreon contributor! All of this goes to Town Crier Productions, a company that so far only employs me. It's my hope that will change as more people fund this particular style of journalism.You may note that a lot of the links in this newsletter go to Information Charlottesville and you may wonder what that is. It's an archive site created by me to archive the various segments you see here. This newsletter and infocville.com are both intended to help keep a record of what happens at the local level, which to me never seems obscure or mundane. Thank you for being here for the journey.Ting will match the initial payment made by paid Substack subscribers, which certainly goes a long way to help planning for the future. Paid subscribers get to take a first look at content such as the September 2022 property transactions that went out Wednesday. Everyone else can see that on Monday on Information Charlottesville. If you do sign up, Ting will match your initial subscription. And even if you don't sign up for a paid subscription to this newsletter, Ting wants your custom too, and if you sign up through a link in the newsletter you will get free installation, a $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall, and a second month for free. Just enter the promo code COMMUNITY. What else today? What's missing? Drop me a line in the comments or respond to the email and let me know. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
Until today, no one at Charlottesville Community Engagement knew that October 19 is Hagfish Day. In fact, the only person who works on the program didn't even know that there was something called a hagfish, though it makes sense that the structure of the English language would come up with that word. I don't recommend looking up what the actual creature looks like, and the quicker we put this behind, the faster we can get on with the program. I am your host, the very skittish Sean Tubbs. On today's show: * There's a new interim fire chief and permanent emergency management coordinator in Charlottesville * A committee is being formed to plan for the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Downtown Mall* A brief financial update from the city of Charlottesville* Louisa County Planning Commission recommends rezoning for a hotel and apartment complex, but doesn't endorse plan to increase height to 80 feet Sign up for free to get all new editions. Pay for a subscription and you'll get the occasional “first look” at content such as today's release of the September 2022 property transactions in Charlottesville!First shout-out is for LEAP's new Thermalize Virginia program In today's first Patreon-fueled shout-out: Have you been thinking of converting your fossil-fuel appliances and furnaces into something that will help the community reduce its greenhouse gas emissions? Your local energy nonprofit, LEAP, has launched a new program to guide you through the steps toward electrifying your home. Thermalize Virginia will help you understand electrification and connect you with vetted contractors to get the work done and help you find any rebates or discounts. Visit thermalizeva.org to learn more and to sign up! Deputy Chief named as Charlottesville's Interim Fire ChiefA veteran firefighter with over thirty years experience but only five months in Charlottesville has been named as the interim chief of the city's department.Michael L. Thomas has been the Deputy Chief of Community Risk Reduction since June 2022 after retiring from the Lynchburg Fire Department. He will succeed Chief Hezedean Smith, who has left to become chief in Polk County, Florida. “Chief Thomas holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and an Associate Degree in Fire Science. He holds certifications as a Fire Inspector, Fire Investigator, Certified LEO, Incident Safety Officer, has attended the National Fire Academy, and is currently enrolled in ICMA's (International City/County Management Association) Professional Development Academy,” reads a press release with the announcement. A search for a permanent chief will soon begin. Last week was Fire Prevention Week and Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers marked the occasion at this week's City Council meeting. He urged everyone to have a fire escape plan and to have crucial monitoring equipment in place.“Working smoke alarms cut the risk of dying in reported home fires in half,” Rogers said. “If you need new smoke or carbon monoxide detectors, please call CFD at 434-970-3481 and schedule an installation.”Rogers also announced the hiring of the city's first emergency management coordinator. Jeremy Evans is a captain with the Charlottesville Fire Department. He will report to Rogers in his capacity as the city's public safety director. More Charlottesville updates from RogersRogers also announced the opening of the public bathroom at York Place on November 1, as first reported by Charlottesville Community Engagement last week. “The facilities will be open seven days a week during building hours which generally are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily,” Rogers said. Rogers said the city is also seeking to reopen the Downtown Transit Center by the end of the year. He also said a committee is being put together to oversee the 50th anniversary of the creation of the pedestrian mall on Main Street. First quarter report in for FY23 in Charlottesville Charlottesville City Council spent an hour and a half on Monday taking a look at the plans for the budget for the fiscal year that begins next July. I'll have more about that conversation in a future edition of the newsletterBut they also got a snapshot summary of the first quarter of the existing fiscal year at the beginning of their regular meeting from Krisy Hammill, the city's budget and performance director.“We are looking at a revenue surplus at the moment based on our performance in the first quarter,” Hammill said. “If everything were to hold true with that, we are looking at roughly $4 million revenue surplus for FY23.” That's a very tentative number. A more secure number is the surplus for FY22 which will be formally known as an audit comes closer together. The estimate at the moment about that is around $14 million.“I think it's going to be a little bit more than we talked about earlier but we'll just have to wait and see until we get the real numbers,” Rogers said. More on how that money might be spent when I'm able to do that deeper dive into the city budget work session. For now, take a look at the city's Budget Explorer, which now should contain data from July 1 to September 30 of this year. Second shout-out goes to Camp AlbemarleToday's second subscriber-supported public service announcement goes out to Camp Albemarle, which has for sixty years been a “wholesome rural, rustic and restful site for youth activities, church groups, civic events and occasional private programs.”Located on 14 acres on the banks of the Moorman's River near Free Union, Camp Albemarle continues as a legacy of being a Civilian Conservation Corps project that sought to promote the importance of rural activities. Camp Albemarle seeks support for a plan to winterize the Hamner Lodge, a structure built in 1941 by the CCC and used by every 4th and 5th grade student in Charlottesville and Albemarle for the study of ecology for over 20 years. If this campaign is successful, Camp Albemarle could operate year-round. Consider your support by visiting campalbemarleva.org/donate. Louisa County Planning Commission recommends rezoning for resort, but declines to do so on 80-foot buildingsPlans to build a hotel and residential complex on the shores of Lake Anna in Louisa are before that county's government and went before the nine-member Planning Commission on October 13. Before we get into the details about what happened, you can also choose to read an account of this meeting as a thread on Tammy Purcell's Twitter account. Purcell writes Engage Louisa.Don't tell me how it ended. I'm still going through the audio of the meeting, in which senior planner Thomas Egeland introduced the several requests before them from L.A. Resort LLC by laying out the land. “Together these two parcels make up 15.277 acres located near the Spottsylvania / Louisa County border adjacent to the New Bridge Road, Route 208,” Egeland said. The properties are zoned for commercial, and a previous owner of one of the properties sought an increase to Planned Unit Development to build a 60-unit condominium. The Board of Supervisors denied that request in 2016 and the current owner obtained site plan approval for a project that allowed a restaurant, 25,000 square feet of storage buildings, and three hotels. “Tonight, L.A. Resort LLC is requesting to start fresh,” Egeland said. That means a new Planned Unit Development request which Egeland details.“To Planned Unit Development, PUD, to construct a 96-unit condominium building, a 130 room hotel, a restaurant with retail space, marina services, and accessory structures,” Egeland said. There's also a conditional use permit request to allow for 80 foot residential buildings. The Comprehensive Plan calls for mixed-use and is within the Lake Anna growth area. Mike Grossman represented Lake Anna Resort LLC. “Every once in a while you find the perfect use for the perfect location and I think this is exactly what we have in this particular situation,” Grossman said. Grossman said the project would benefit Louisa County financially by providing new hotel rooms and dining opportunities. During the public hearing, several people disagreed and spoke out against the size of the development such as one person across the street. “When we purchased that property we recognized that it would be residential across from us, that's what we expected to see,” said Bill Unrue. “We did not expect to see an 80 foot Virginia Beach style type condo set-up there.” Several other nearby property owners also opposed the rezoning, including one person who drove down from Leesburg.“I'm the first one to say I'd love to have a hotel on this lake,” said Carolyn Lorenzin. “It would be great. I have lots of friends and family from out of town and it would be really great to have a place to put them up, but I think this is too much.” Others were concerned that the residential units would become hotel units by being rented out on a short-term basis. Others cited Lake Anna's recent bout of harmful algae blooms, as monitored by the Virginia Department of Health. “I believe it's irresponsible for the county to add to the problem by allowing this dense, high-density residential resort,” said Anna Clapp. “Discharging up to 60,000 gallons of wastewater a day. I know it's treated but that's what they've said, that they might that they might discharge up to that amount.” In his rebuttal, Grossman pointed out that the land has been zoned for commercial use since 1969. “So I think it should be no surprise to anyone that this land is going to get developed,” Grossman said. “It's extremely valuable land so a Putt Putt Golf or some kind of light density commercial development is just not going to happen.” Many speakers had questioned the timing of development and were concerned the residential would be built before the commercial. That would mean less revenue from meals and lodging taxes, which tend to be paid by people who don't live in the community and don't use services One Planning Commissioner wanted a guarantee.“I would be looking for something along the line that we would without certificate of occupancy for the residential until we have an approved site plan for the hotel and the restaurant,” said the Planning Commission Chair John Disoway of the Mineral District. Grossman said the project would need a hotel in order to proceed with financing, and the goal is to build all of it at once. However, other Planning Commissioners agreed with Disoway agreed that they wanted more certainty. “If a lending institution won't take on the risk if they don't have the commercial, then why should we?” said Commissioner George Goodwin of the Cuckoo District. There is currently no hotel on the Louisa County side of Lake Anna. The Commission had three votes. In the first, they recommended approval of the rezoning with two recommendations. One would be for the developer to post a performance bond and the other would be to tie the certificate of occupancy for the 96 residential units to a site plan being submitted for the hotel. That passed on a 4 to 2 vote.Next was a conditional use permit for the request to allow the residential buildings to be 80 feet tall. That failed on a 3 to 3 vote. A third motion on a request to allow a different kind of material passed. The item will go before the Board of Supervisors at a later date. Conclusionary notes for Episode #445Finally, another episode! If I had my druthers, there would be a new episode of Charlottesville Community Engagement each and every day. Then again, if I had my druthers, I would be a lot further along in knowing what a druther is and why I would want multiples. I do know I would love to have multiple new paid subscriptions to Charlottesville Community Engagement through Substack in order to help that possibility come to life. Behind the scenes I have a whole system in place just waiting to assign people stories and segments, but the business of Town Crier Productions needs a few more customers. Paid subscribers get to take a first look at content such as the September 2022 property transactions that went out this morning. Everyone else can see that on Monday on Information Charlottesville. If you do sign up, Ting will match your initial subscription. And even if you don't sign up for a paid subscription to this newsletter, Ting wants your custom too, and if you sign up through a link in the newsletter you will get free installation, a $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall, and a second month for free. Just enter the promo code COMMUNITY.All of this talk of sign-ups makes me want to also put a sign up for the Twitter account @cvilletowncrier to get schedule updates and links to other news stories. Please spread the word of all of the newsletters and podcasts, and maybe things will turn out okay. Music in the podcast comes from Wraki, a lifelong musical experience that manifests in multiple melodic forms. Do check out the bandcamp page and consider buying the album Regret Everything. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
On today's show:Updated COVID-19 boosters are available and almost everyone previous vaccinated is eligible The Chamber of Commerce has introduced the first cohort of its new Leader Lab of CharlottesvilleThe process has begun to determine if an Albemarle elementary school should continue to be named after Meriwether LewisAlbemarle County will participate after all in a transportation planning grant with other localities A private group has opened up a tourism kiosk in a storefront on the Downtown Mall Want to read or hear more about these types of things? Sign up for free! Pay for a subscription to provide fuel for future editions! Concluding notes for episode #429Another Monday program in the books. How many installments will there be this week? Stay tuned all week and let's see. I remain hopeful that one day one of these will be published before 9 a.m. but also remain realistic. I began work on this one at 5 a.m. this morning. I'll continue to work for the rest of the day, including an appearance at 5 p.m. on Charlottesville–Right Now With Courteney Stuart on WINA. I work so much because this is my business, literally. Town Crier Productions is the name of the company I formed in August 2020 to try to figure out how to pay for the thing I want to do above all - write about towns, cities, counties, or anything else that looks like it rhymes with bunicipal. The best way to keep the business going is through a paid subscription through Substack. The company Ting will match your initial payment, and I am grateful for them, for you, and for whatever teacher I once had who told me to stick to my dreams.With that in mind, I am now announcing the opportunity to give away 80 premium subscriptions to the newsletter. Someone has bought that number and I want to make sure the audience broadens. I'm still working out the basic criteria for how to hand those out, but at least one requirement will be that the recipient is under the age of 25. It's no good writing about the details of local meetings if the people who will most live the longest under the decisions made today do not know about what's happening at the tables of today. That's what this newsletter and podcast seeks to do, and will always seek do to. Thanks for being a reader or a listener. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
Welcome to the 214th day of the year, which means we are now 58.6 percent of the way through 2022. There’s still plenty of time to improve your averages, or lower them, depending on the rules of whatever game you may be playing in your head. On paper, today is August 2, and there’s five months left until Charlottesville Community Engagement will devote its attention to 2023, declared already by the United Nations as the International Year of the Millets. Are you ready? Sign up for a free or paid subscription to get articles about what’s happening in the area. See below for an offer from Ting that could help us both!On today’s program:Charlottesville is taking precautions in preparation of the five year anniversary of the Unite the Right rallyA federal judge has dismissed a second lawsuit seeking a House of Delegates race in 2022Area law enforcement agencies had a recent crackdown on speeding on U.S. 29 Charlottesville’s Fire Department is deploying more medical equipment The Albemarle Board of Supervisors authorizes a lease for the county to lease a portion of a former department store for public safety vehiclesFirst shout out: Soul of Cville to mark Fifth Anniversary of A12In today’s first shout-out: Three groups are preparing to hold the second annual Soul of Cville festival to celebrate Black excellence in Central Virginia. Chic & Classy Image Consulting, 101.3 JAMZ, and the Ix Art Park Foundation will host the event will be held on August 12, August 13, and August 14 and will feature: Live music and performancesA fashion showA Black artisan market featuring local vendors, Food from local Black-owned restaurantsA pop-up skate event with De La Roll, An art show called There Are Black People in the Future with The Bridge PAI. On Friday there will be a screening of the 1989 film Do the Right Thing, with an afterparty in the Looking Glass hosted by 9 Pillars Hip Hop. For details, visit www.ixartpark.org/soul-of-cville.City on alert for fifth anniversary of A12This week marks five years since the Unite the Right rally and violent conflicts in downtown Charlottesville. Yesterday the city sent out a press release stating that there is no “specific credible threat” but that precautions will be taken. “CPD is maintaining a status of heightened situational awareness and monitoring chatter from intelligence sources to be prepared to increase available coverage Downtown and in parks, which can be activated quickly in response to any pop-up emergencies that might occur,” reads that press release.The eastern vehicular crossing of the Downtown Mall at Heather Heyer Way will be closed from Thursday August 11 at 6 p.m. until Sunday morning August 14 at 6:30 a.m. There is a planned event at the Ting Pavilion for Fridays after Five on Friday. No House of Delegates race in 2022If you’re a candidate for the Virginia House of Delegates, it’s now pretty much certain you’ll be on the ballot in 462 days if you get the nomination or otherwise qualify. Judge David Novak of Virginia’s Eastern Federal District Court has dismissed a second lawsuit seeking an election this year. (read the ruling)“Like just about everything else in our society, the unprecedented COVID-19 global pandemic impacted the work of the United States Census Bureau, delaying the sending of the results of the 2020 Census to the states,” states the introduction to Novak’s order to dismiss the case. That delay meant Virginia did not have updated boundaries for the General Assembly or the House of Representatives until the end of 2021. At the time, Richmond attorney Paul Goldman had an active suit against the State Board of Elections arguing that the 2021 elections were unconstitutional because they were based on data from the 2010 Census. After several months of legal proceedings including an appearance before the Fourth Circuit of Appeals, Judge Novak and two other judges ruled that Goldman lacked legal standing to have brought the case. A few days later, Richmond author Jeffrey Thomas Jr. filed a second suit based on Goldman’s main arguments. Novak’s order recounts the long legal saga to this point, including the failure of the Virginia Redistricting Commission to reach consensus on new maps as well as the COVID-related delays.“Because Plaintiff’s attempts to lay blame on Defendants for the delays caused by the unprecedented pandemic fails, Plaintiffs are unable to trace their injuries to Defendants,” Novak writes. Judge Novak’s order is made without prejudice, which means a new suit could be brought, but there are 98 days until election day. Efforts made to crack down on distracted drivers on U.S. 29Vehicular crashes are up on Virginia roads this year and late last month area law enforcement agencies teamed up on to enforce speeding and distracted driving laws on U.S. 29. On July 21, Albemarle County Police, Charlottesville Police, and the University of Virginia police were out in force from the Greene County border to the Nelson County line. “We usually see at least 700,000 vehicles daily on that stretch of roadway,” said Albemarle Master Police Officer Kate Kane. “Consequently it adds up to a lot of crashes unfortunately.” During the one-day initiative on July 21, there were 197 traffic stops and 201 summons were given out. Just over half of those were for speeding. The chances of surviving are dramatically diminished the faster you go.“Logic would tell you that when speed goes up, survivability goes down,” Kane said. “We don’t realize how fragile we are. Even with the seat belts, even with the air bags, even with the best protection technology, we cannot avoid all crashes. If you’re traveling at 75 miles an hour or higher, your body just can’t take that kind of impact.”As of today, there have been 527 fatalities on Virginia roads in 2022 according to a dashboard on the Virginia Department of Transportation’s website. Charlottesville Fire Department to deploy more devices on medical callsSome vehicles used by the Charlottesville Fire Department on medical calls will soon carry additional devices intended to increase the chances of a patient surviving a cardiac arrest. The Department secured $64,000 from a Community Development Block Grant in the last fiscal year to purchase four chest compression devices to assist in the performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). They’ll be placed on two fire engines and two ambulances.“Based on Neighborhood Risk Assessment data, residents in all nineteen (19) neighborhoods are expected to benefit from deploying these devices, most notably Tenth and Page, where the data highlights the significant importance of timely interventions,” reads a press release sent out on Friday. The department will also begin to implement video laryngoscopes, which are devices that assist with the intubation of patients. “The [Airtraq] devices have been used in pre-hospital systems and in emergency departments to improve success in airway management,” the release continues. Yesterday was the first day that Scott Carpenter will serve as the Deputy Chief of Operations. According to a July 15 press release, Carpenter has been with the Charlottesville Fire Department for 22 years. Second shout-out: The Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign Since the very beginning of this newsletter, one long-time Patreon supporter has used his shout-out to draw your attention to the work of the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign. The campaign is a coalition of grassroots partners including motivated citizens and volunteers, partner organizations, and local governments who want to promote the use of native plants. Summer is in high gear and pollinators are active! Want to learn more? Visit plantvirginianatives.org to download Piedmont Native Plants: A Guide for Landscapes and Gardens. Albemarle Supervisors approves rent former J.C. Penney as public safety operations centerAlbemarle County will move forward with the lease of a former department store at Fashion Square Mall to serve as a new operations facility for fire and police. “It does have a central location, it’s got a very large warehouse, with a great loading dock,” said Lance Stewart, the county’s director of facilities and environmental services. “All together it's about 33,000 square feet which is almost a third of the J.C. Penney site. On July 20, Supervisors authorized a lease and signaled a willingness to pay over $3 million in capital costs to get it ready for public safety work. “This has been a known and growing need for many years including capital requests that were submitted for new construction in the past but not funded,” said Lance Stewart is the director of the Facilities and Environmental Services Department in Albemarle County. David Puckett, the Deputy Chief of Operations at Albemarle Fire Rescue, reminded Supervisors that they have hired several personnel in recent years to expand capacity. “While the vast majority of those positions are out in the field directly providing service there are a number of administrative positions added to make sure we could successfully on-board, train, and support those personnel long-term.” Puckett said. Puckett said space is full at the county’s offices on Fifth Street Extended. The Department also now has its own dedicated fleet manager as well as a mechanic to conduct in-house repairs. All that work also requires space, and the J.C. Penney used to have a tire shop. “The lack of a centralized facility has required us to store parts and equipment in fire station closets and storage rooms throughout the county,” Puckett said. “This has resulted in loss productivity. As an example, if a mechanic is out working on a truck only to determine that the part needed to complete the repair is halfway across the county, it requires more time and energy to go get the part before they complete it.”Puckett said stations themselves are not really set up for vehicle repair.Albemarle Police Chief Sean Reeves said more space has also been a capital need requested by law enforcement. “Some of the capital improvement projects from over ten years ago, from two chiefs of police ago, called for a site that we could use to expand stored evidence, store vehicles that are in evidence, and an evidence processing bay that we do not have,” Reeves said. Colonel Reeves said using the J.C. Penney site would cut down on the capital cost to build such a place. He also said the traffic unit would move to the new location, freeing up space at the County Office Building on Fifth Street Extended.“And that space that’s freed up at COB-Fifth, what that would do is go toward supporting the mental health unit, the officers that are going to be picked and selected as staff for the new mental health unit,” Reeves said. The J.C. Penney site is owned separately from the rest of Fashion Square Mall by a subsidiary of Seminole Trail Properties. Stewart said this use would not preclude redevelopment of the site in the future. The project is also outside of the jurisdiction of the Albemarle Architectural Review Board. The lease would be for ten years with options to extend that as well as to expand to more of the J.C. Penney site in the future. The rent of $558,000 a year is based on $12.50 per square foot, and the rent would increase by 3.5 percent each year. “And I can tell you that having looked at a number of industrial and commercial properties that we thought might be suitable options, that is well below typical for the market,” Stewart said. Final details will be worked out as the lease is negotiated. Supervisor Ned Gallaway lauded staff for negotiating a good price and said this was a good location for this use. “This is an area where the Rio Road Small Area Plan is,” Gallaway said. “When we think of the county investing in this location, we can be a vibrant anchor tenant to an area that needs redevelopment and needs activity.Housekeeping notes for edition #414If you’ve been wondering if there is going to be a summer break for Charlottesville Community Engagement, we’re sort of in it. I am hoping this week to write up as much as I can before cutting back to almost no newsletters and podcasts for next week. I’ve got a rare opportunity to go on a vacation, and I’m tempted to try to not pay attention. But that’s the difficult thing - I don’t want to stop paying attention to the items happening in the area in and around Charlottesville. In fact, I’ve set up Town Crier Productions to harness my curiosity about what’s happening and a passion for documenting what’s going on. We’re now in the third year of this experiment, and I’m grateful for everyone who has helped with a financial contribution to keep it going. The best way to make a financial contribution is by purchasing a subscription through Substack. if you do so, Ting will match your initial payment! And, if you sign up for their services through this link you’ll get a free standard install, your 2nd month free, and a $75 downtown mall gift card! Enter the promo code COMMUNITY for full effect. Music on the podcast version of the show comes from the D.C. sensation Wraki, and you can support their work by paying whatever you want for the album regret everything on BandCamp. Finally, if you’ve missed anything or want to do a deep dive on a topic, take a look at the Information Charlottesville archive. Want to read articles on land use in Albemarle? Click here!What about information on Virginia elections? Click here!What about uncategorized articles? And what category should they be in? Please send this on to someone else so we can continue to grow the audience. Thanks for reading and listening! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
You can tell a lot about a person by what they think about the noise that emanates from the bagpipe, a woodwind instrument perhaps best associated with Scotland but with origins that might date back to the Hittite people from three thousand years ago. Even if are not a fan of the combination of melody and drone, July 27 is the day to appreciate this unique musical instrument. Perhaps this is the day you buy one for the enjoyment of your friends, family, and co-workers? I’m Sean Tubbs, and not a cent or shilling is being paid to Charlottesville Community Engagement by Big Bagpipe. Sign up to make sure each email finds its way to your inbox. Payment isn’t necessary but does tend to help keep the electrons flowing to make the work possible. On this version of the show:Charlottesville continues to prepare for a school year in which more students will not be able to catch a yellow school busTwo new members will soon join the Charlottesville Planning CommissionA former member of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors has diedCharlottesville City Council hears from the interim City Manager on how $14.8 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding could be spent First shout-out is for LEAP’s new Thermalize Virginia program In today’s first Patreon-fueled shout-out: Have you been thinking of converting your fossil-fuel appliances and furnaces into something that will help the community reduce its greenhouse gas emissions? Your local energy nonprofit, LEAP, has launched a new program to guide you through the steps toward electrifying your home. Thermalize Virginia will help you understand electrification and connect you with vetted contractors to get the work done and help you find any rebates or discounts. Visit thermalizeva.org to learn more and to sign up! Preparations continue in Charlottesville for more to walk to school Classes begin for Charlottesville City Schools in four weeks and work continues to prepare for a year in which more students will not be eligible to get a ride on a school bus. A driver shortage has led the school system to expand walk zones that are still being finalized. “We are hoping to let families know this week about their current bus eligibility and whether they have a bus request on files,” reads an email update sent to parents interested parties on Monday. “This status update will tell families if their child is in a walk zone or eligible for the bus.”The notice also states that priority will be given to families living further away from schools. The actual bus assignments will be released in August. Last week, the city administration told City Council that staff is recommending using $500,000 from the city’s share of the American Rescue Plan Act to help pay for safety improvements. “We’ve added $500,000,” said interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers. “Higher amounts were suggested. In talking with staff we believe that we have other funds in the budget that can actually exceed the amount that has been suggested in the past by some of the communications from people but this is a high priority area and we are offering that up for your consideration.” More on ARPA later in the newsletter. In their update, city schools say they are in conversations with the city, parents, and community members about sidewalks and intersections that need to be improved. Last week, Deputy City Manager Sam Sanders said the city government will follow the school system’s lead.“What we’re doing is working directly with schools and trying our best to make sure that their priorities are what we prioritize and what we do to help them through this process because we’re seeing this as everyone’s issue,” Sanders said. Sanders said the work to address safety concerns will continue past the first day of school. “And then to go beyond that and basically reboot our Safe Routes to School program,” Sanders said. “That’s what this is really synergized at this time by allowing all this focus on what we’ve been doing and what we’ve been talking about doing.” Sanders said there are also conversations with Albemarle about how to collaborate on pupil transportation for special needs students. The school system is also encouraging people to report problem locations using the MyCville app or by phoning 434-970-3333, option #2. Two other ways people can become involved are: Take a walk along a school route and make your observations known in a Google Doc created by the school systemApply to be a regular or substitute crossing guard or walking school bus leader - paid positionsThe school system will hold a final “walk and talk” this Friday at Mount Zion First African Baptist Church from noon to 2 p.m. There will also be an online Q&A session on August 10 at 5 p.m. (register)Council make two new appointments to Planning CommissionWhen the Charlottesville Planning Commission meets on September 13, two veterans of other advisory bodies will take their place at the makeshift dais in CitySpace. Carl Schwarz served two terms on the Board of Architectural Review from 2014 to the end of last year. He’s an architect in private practice who lives in the 10th and Page neighborhood. Phil d’Oronzio has been the chair of the Housing Advisory Council Committee since August 2014. He’s the CEO of Pilot Mortgage who lives in the Belmont neighborhood. The pair join three Planning Commissioner who were reappointed by Council at their meeting on July 18.“By some accident of history we wound up with five different Planning Commissioners whose terms expire on August 31, 2022,” said Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook. By Virginia law, the seats have to be staggered so that terms don’t expire all at once. To make that work, they had to technically reconstitute the body and reappoint everyone, even those who terms were not yet.Commissioner Hosea Mitchell was appointed to Seat One for a term expiring on August 31, 2023. Mitchell served a partial term in the late 2000’s before rejoining the Commission in June 2018 to fill an unexpired term. He is retired from a career in the medical business. Commissioner Rory Stolzenberg was appointed to Seat Two also for a term expiring on August 31, 2023. Stolzenberg first joined the Commission in October 2018. He’s a software engineer with Lumin. Seat Three will continue the appointment of Lyle Solla-Yates whose term expires at the end of August 2024. Solla-Yates has been on the Commission since March 2018 and is the current chair. He works for the University of Virginia School of Architecture. Commissioner Liz Russell will continue in Seat 4 with a term that also expires at the end of 2024. Russell has been on the Commission since September 2020. She’s the director of planning, sustainability, and project management at the Thomas Jefferson Foundation. Seat 5 will continue to be occupied by Commissioner Karim Habbab until August 31, 2025. Habbab was appointed in June 2021 and is an architect with BRW Architects. The terms of Schwarz (Seat 6) and d’Oronzio (Seat 7) and Schwarz will expire on August 31, 2026. The reconstitution of the Planning Commission comes at a time when the city is rewriting the Charlottesville zoning code to increase density. That’s a major objective of both of the Affordable Housing Plan adopted in March 2021 and the Comprehensive Plan updated in November 2021. Former Albemarle Supervisor Cooke dies at 90 A woman who served two terms on the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors has died. Patricia Cooke was elected in 1981 to what used to be called the Charlottesville District and was re-elected in 1985. According to her obituary in the Daily Progress, Cooke graduated from Lane High School in 1950 and opened a laundry business with her husband in 1956. She also had a bridal and formal wear company. A funeral service will be held on Friday.The Charlottesville District became the Rio District at some point during the tenure of Cooke’s successor, David Bowerman. Bowerman served four terms until retiring the Board at the end of 2004. He passed away in March 2020 while he was a sitting member of the Albemarle County Board of Zoning Appeals. In today’s other two shout-outs Code for Charlottesville is seeking volunteers with tech, data, design, and research skills to work on community service projects. Founded in September 2019, Code for Charlottesville has worked on projects with the Legal Aid Justice Center, the Charlottesville Fire Department, and the Charlottesville Office of Human Rights. Visit codeforcville.org to learn about those projects. The final comes from another Patreon supporter who wants you to go out and read a local news story written by a local journalist. Whether it be the Daily Progress, Charlottesville Tomorrow, C-Ville Weekly, NBC29, CBS19, WINA, or some other place I’ve not mentioned - the community depends on a network of people writing about the community. Go learn about this place today!Council briefed on potential usage of ARPA funds Charlottesville has now received all of the $19.6 million in funding it will receive from the federal government as part of the American Rescue Plan Act fund. Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers gave Council an update at their meeting on July 18.“It’s been a big help for local government in terms of recovery from the impact of the pandemic,” Rogers said. Council has already appropriated $4.81 million of the funding and has an unallocated balance of $14.8 million. Money spent so far went to four different categories recognized by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Of that $14.8 million, $2.28 million was already designated for various uses during the development of the budget for the fiscal year that began on July 1. For the balance, Rogers suggested the following uses:For economic development:$750,000 to the Charlottesville-Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau to make up for revenue loss from decline in meals tax revenue. Albemarle County is also being asked to make the same contribution. $300,000 for improvements to the Downtown Mall coordinated with Friends of Downtown Cville. The Mall turns 50 in 2026 and Rogers said a task force may be formed to help mark that occasion and prepare for the next fifty years$100,000 for updates to wayfinding One million for a strategic investment fund for economic development$500,000 for the Meadow Creek Trail to close a gap for a VDOT-funded projectInternal uses:$829,000 for equipment replacement$200,000 for facilities repair$270,000 to augment the Human Resources including hiring a deputy director and a recruiter$200,000 to fund Council’s development of a new strategic planPublic safety: $1.4 million for additional COVID spending should future surges have a greater community health impact$1.1 million to help Charlottesville Fire Department with its accreditation, including hiring three more battalion chiefs for two years$450,000 to help retain personnel in the Charlottesville Fire Department$50,000 to help retain personnel for the Sheriff’s Office$500,000 for the “Safe Routes to School Fund” Human service support:$700,000 for the Emergency Assistance - Pathways program which would include additional rental assistance$1.63 million for affordable housing and homeless services$500,000 for the Community Health Initiative $1 million for the Agency Investment Fund $580,000 for Community Arts Investment$176,000 for the Office of Human Rights to hire an investigator to look into claims under the Fair Housing Act $40,000 for an emergency generator for a city shelter that would be used in major catastrophes The combined $2.63 million for affordable housing and the agency investment fund would be disbursed through a competitive process separate from the “Vibrant Community” process the city has used since 2019 to allocate funding for nonprofits. The Community Health Initiative would support public health projects.“Think of this funding as being available for a previously floated idea of the Community Care Team or something of that nature in order to do a really needed and wonderful pilot to see what would be the best support for our community,” said Deputy City Manager Ashley Marshall.Council was to have discussed a proposal for a Community Care Team at its meeting on February 7 but the item was pulled. The topic did come up as part of a Council work session on May 2. Councilor Brian Pinkston noted that additional on-going positions were being proposed to be created with the one-time ARPA money.“Hiring people with one-off type of funding is something we’re trying to be careful of,” Pinkston said. Rogers said those positions would be proposed to continue into the future and the city would have to find other funds to cover them. Councilor Michael Payne questioned the use of $750,000 to go to the CACVB. The city’s economic development director said the money would help the destination marketing organization with a current cash flow situation caused by the way it is funded. “There’s a two year lag in the funding cycles so the money wasn’t needed two years ago,” said Chris Engel. “It’s needed now because that cycle is playing through.”Council got a briefing on the CACVB in June and learned that the agency received $680,000 from ARPA that flowed through the Virginia Tourism Council. (read the story)“Given that state support I’m a little skeptical about how much is really needed for the CACVB as well as whatever specific measurable deliverables we will get for that investment,” Payne said. Council will be asked to take action on the appropriations at its August 1 meeting. There’s also an additional $2.52 million for which Rogers has not made any suggestions for how it should be spent. “We look forward to our dialogue on this,” Rogers said. “This is meant to be a first start to set us on a direction to address some things we really need to address in the coming months and thought that these funds would be a good way to do it.” Thoughts? Leave a comment below. Housekeeping items for episode #412That’s another program in the archives, and in a few days you’ll be able to read these stories on the Information Charlottesville website I created to help me keep track of what I’m reporting. Want to read articles on land use in Charlottesville? Click here!What about infrastructure updates? Click here!How about climate action? Elections in Virginia? The archive grows each week!All of this is supported by readers and listeners under the Town Crier Productions company I formed two years ago and am still learning how to operate. I’m breaking even, but I’d very much like to find a way to grow. There are ways to do that!For one, if you sign up for a paid subscription through Substack, Ting will match your initial payment! And, if you sign up for their services through this link you’ll get a free standard install, your 2nd month free, and a $75 downtown mall gift card! Enter the promo code COMMUNITY for full effect. Music on the podcast version of the show comes from the D.C. sensation Wraki, and you can support their work by paying whatever you want for the album regret everything on BandCamp.My sincere hope today, though, is that someone will go and buy a bagpipe. If you do, please let me know. If you have one already, record yourself and send me the audio! Or any exotic instrument, really. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
Fifty-three years today, human beings landed on Earth’s moon. As far as I know, they didn’t stay very long but I’ve not had the chance to check out the scene myself. But with enough subscriptions to Charlottesville Community Engagement, I will consider purchasing a rocket just to make sure. For now, it’s the July 20, 2022 edition of the program and I’m your lunatic host, Sean Tubbs. On today’s program:The city of Charlottesville opens up cooling centers as temperatures continue to climbInterim Charlottesville City Manager Michael C. Rogers and his staff provide updates on the Crescent Halls bus stop as well as efforts to make walking school routes saferChamber’s Minority Business Alliance seeking applications for 2022 Vanguard AwardA local brewery unveils the official lager of the University of Virginia Charlottesville wants more people to apply to various boards and commissionToday’s first shout-out: Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards to lead more walksIn today’s first subscriber supported public supported public service announcement: Want to know more about our majestic wooden neighbors that help purify the air and provide shade on these hot summer days? The Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards have two upcoming walks where you can learn more about trees in the area: This Saturday at 9 a.m., a group will be led through Darden Towe Park beginning at the Lewis and Clark Exploratory Center to see Ancient tOsage Orange trees, a historic Monticello Tulip Tree, elm tree devastation due to the emerald ash borer, and common deciduous and conifer trees. (register)On July 29 at 9 a.m, three stewards will lead a walk through Belmont with about twenty stops to explore urban (register)Become a member, and you’ll get access to even more Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards events!Charlottesville opens up cooling centersWith temperatures this week in the 90’s and possibly above, the city of Charlottesville has officially launched several places where people can go to stay out of the heat. Key Recreation Center, Tonsler Recreation Center, and the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library have been designated as cooling centers during the day until further notice. Key Recreation Center is located at 800 E. Market Street. The hours of operation are 5:30pm– 9pm Monday through Friday; 1pm– 6pm on Saturday and Sunday. Tonsler Recreation Center is located at 501 Cherry Avenue. The hours of operation are Noon – 9pm Monday through Friday; 1pm-6pm Saturday and closed on Sunday.Jefferson – Madison Regional Library (Central Branch) is located at 201 E. Market Street. The hours of operation are 9am-9pm Monday through Thursdays; 9am-5pm Friday and Saturday; closed Sunday.Planning for heat for near-term, long-termThe Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission is working on an update of the Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan, which is intended to help coordinate public response to natural disasters. There’s a section on extreme heat that may be useful to know at a time when heat records are being surpassed across Europe. “Extreme heat can be defined as temperatures that hover 10°F or more above the average high temperature for the region, last for prolonged periods of time, and are often accompanied by high humidity,” reads page H-25 of the plan. “Under normal conditions, the human body’s internal thermostat produces perspiration that evaporates and cools the body. However, in extreme heat and high humidity, evaporation is slowed, and the body must work much harder to maintain a normal temperature.”As with COVID-19, extreme heat effects take a toll more strongly on the elderly, people with respiratory difficulties, and those with other health vulnerabilities. The City of Charlottesville recently produced a summary of hazards associated with climate change. (read the report)“The climate models show that by 2050, Charlottesville may experience more than twice as many extreme heat events annually as there were in 2020,” reads page 3 of that report. “By 2100, there may be almost seven times as many.” One way to cool off is at an outdoor pool. Both Albemarle County and the city of Charlottesville have struggled to fill positions this summer. Charlottesville has offered signing bonuses for lifeguards and pool managers, but Deputy Parks and Recreation Director Vic Garber told City Council on Monday that the decision to only open one outdoor pool a day is still in effect.“We are probably 70 percent there so we’re still rotating Washington Park and Onesty but we’re working very hard,” Garber said. The issue also came up at today’s meeting of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors.“In the next ten days, we’re looking at temperatures each day going over 90 up to 100,” said Supervisor Chair Donna Price. “The last seven years have been the hottest in recorded history. Climate change is real and I would ask everyone to be careful, to do what you can to reduce the heat footprint that you are creating.”Price said that includes reducing driving, drawing shades, and raising the thermostat for air conditioning. What do you do when it gets hot out? Say something in the comments. City Manager Rogers provides updates on Crescent Hall bus stop, other mattersOnce a month, interim Charlottesville City Manager Michael C. Rogers publishes a written report that summarizes recent activities. In my fifteen years of covering and monitoring Charlottesville government, this is one of the most thorough and useful documents produced by the city. (read the report)On Monday, Rogers offered some verbal updates taken from the report. Earlier this year, Charlottesville Area Transit had proposed moving a bus stop at Crescent Halls, a temporarily vacant apartment complex owned and operated by the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. In April, the Public Housing Association of Residents pushed for CAT to reconsider and Rogers said the city has listened.“A decision has been made and the bus stop will not be moved,” Rogers said. “The bus stop will not be moved. It will stay right there so we are very pleased to make that announcement.”The stop is currently served by Route 6, which currently travels between the University of Virginia Health System, Downtown Mall, and Willoughby Shopping center. There are plans to change the route to eliminate the UVA connection, but implementation of those changes are delayed due to a lack of drivers. (Next steps for Charlottesville Area Transit route changes outlined at partnership meeting, June 24, 2022)Rogers said work continues on development of a collective bargaining ordinance and Council will have a work session at 4 p.m. on August 15. The company Venable LLP has been hired to assist with the work. A firm has also been hired to assist with a search for a new police chief.“We selected a company called Polihire out of Washington, D.C.,” Rogers said. “They will work with us on developing an aggressive community outreach program. We look forward to hearing from the community with respect to what kind of chief do they want.”The city has also hired Steve Hawkes as the director of information technology and Caroline Rice as the new Public Engagement Coordinator. Kyle Ervin will be the Public Information Officer for public safety. He was formerly the marketing coordinator for CAT. Sanders provides updates on school walk zonesDeputy City Manager Sam Sanders said the local government continues to work to address driver shortages for the school system. There are 35 days to the first day of school and there will not be as many bus routes. “We are working in collaboration with Charlottesville City Schools to solve the various issues that may result from having an additional 750 kids having to walk to school this year,” Sanders said. Last week, the Charlottesville Planning Commission told Council they wanted to see solutions in place before school begins. (read that story)Sanders said talks have been held with Albemarle County Public Schools about collaborating with one possibility being for special needs students to make sure they can get to school. Another collaboration could be with Jaunt to see if there is a possibility to share drivers.“We won’t be able to use their equipment because of the federal nature of the funds that they receive but when drivers are working for Jaunt they may be able to drive for us so we’re looking to see if we can figure out a way to make that possible,” Sanders said. Sanders said the planning affects multiple localities across the region and regional approaches are required. He said the city is also looking to find ways to work with groups who want to solve the identified problem. “We’re looking to capture proposals from neighborhood led groups hoping that we’ll be able to deploy those groups in doing some of the work as well since they have offered to do so,” Sanders said. That includes suggestions from Livable Cville and the city’s Bike and Pedestrian Advisory Committee. In a future edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement, we’ll hear more about the possible addition of $500,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding to cover the costs of some of the work. “Our goal will be to quickly get some of these things out and basically available to make this process a little bit easier,” Sanders said. If you have a student or students in Charlottesville Public Schools, what do you plan to do? Second shout-out: WTJU staging the Cville Puzzle Hunt on August 27In today’s second Patreon-fueled shout-out: By now, readers and listeners know WTJU’s position on algorithms. But do you know that the radio station celebrates puzzles? In fact, on Saturday, August 27, WTJU is organizing the Cville Puzzle Hunt, a huge, cerebral puzzle that will spool out across downtown Charlottesville. The Cville Puzzle Hunt will take you and a team of friends on a wild afternoon running around trying to untangle five diabolical, large-scale puzzles inserted into the urban landscape. The opening clue will be read at 1 p.m. at the Ix Art Park. Find out more about this WTJU-organized event at cvillepuzzlehunt.com. Chamber’s Minority Business Alliance seeking applications for 2022 Vanguard AwardDo you know someone who should be recognized for their efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion? Or a small business or group that seeks the same goals? The Minority Business Alliance of the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce is taking applications through August 5 for the John F. Bell Sr. Vanguard Award. “The MBA Vanguard Award is named in honor of John F. Bell Sr., a strong, determined and respected business leader and citizen who established successful businesses during a time when the larger society wasn’t welcoming to or supportive of the Black business community,” reads a press release for the award.This will be the tenth annual award. Previous recipients include Community Investment Collaborative, William Jones III, Hollie Lee, Eugene and Lorraine Williams, Forward Adelante Business Alliance, and Kaye Monroe.Nominations can be submitted here. Champion to make official lager for University of VirginiaThe Champion Brewing Company began operations ten years ago with a small brewery in downtown Charlottesville. Now they’ve expanded to multiple places across Virginia and are part of the larger Champion Hospitality Group with restaurants in Stonefield, Gordonsville, and across Charlottesville.In 45 days, the first University of Virginia home football game will be held at Scott Stadium. Yesterday, Champion announced that its Cavalier Lager will become the officially licensed beer for UVA sporting events.“As life-long UVA sports fans, it’s been a dream of the team to have a Cavalier beer offered at UVA games,” said Champion CEO Hunter Smith in a release. “It’s a hometown lager brewed with our college athletes and their fans top of mind.”The beer will also be available in area stores. This is the first year that the University of Virginia has licensed an official beer. Vacancies still remain on various board and commissions in CharlottesvilleThe next edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement will provide details of who got appointed to the Charlottesville Planning Commission. Council made those appointments at the end of the July 18 meeting, and I’m going through that one chronologically. Earlier in this meeting, Charlottesville Mayor Snook LLoyd pleaded with the public to consider getting involved.“We need more people applying for Boards and Commissions,” Snook said. “We’ve got a couple of Boards and Commission that are down a couple of people. The Region 10 Community Services Board is one. The Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority is another. Historic Resources Committee. The Jefferson Area Community Criminal Justice Board. Jaunt. [Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau] needs a representative from the tourism industry.” If you’d like to apply, visit the city’s website. Here’s a list of all the boards.Housekeeping items for the end of #410Thanks for reading today. Charlottesville Community Engagement is a service of Town Crier Productions, a limited liability company set up to produce information about the public policy and the built environment in Charlottesville and beyond. We are now in the third year of this publication, and this is installment 410. Please consider a paid subscription to ensure I make it to the fourth year. There’s a lot at stake as we continue to live our complex lives in a democratic civilization that always needs its community members to pay attention and to look at the documents up close. The podcast version contains music created by the entity currently known as Wraki and made available with permission. To support that band, consider buying the album regret everything, available on Bandcamp on a ‘pay as you can’ basis. Support for Charlottesville Community Engagement also comes from Patreon supporters of Town Crier Productions, who also help fund other projects such as Fifth District Community Engagement and the Information Charlottesville archives.If you sign up for a paid subscription through Substack, the company Ting will also match your initial payment. Their support for Charlottesville Community Engagement is a crucial element required for the sustained production of all of my work. I’m grateful, and hope to continue answering the calling I hear to help inform you of things that are happening. Charlottesville Community Engagement is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
If this were a Leap Year, July 18 would be the 200th day of 2022. However, this Monday is in fact the 199th day of the year and we are 532 days away from 2024. Are these numbers compelling or a distraction from the beginning of this 409th installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement? Let’s ask the Magic 8-ball! I’m your host, Sean Tubbs. Sign up for a paid subscription to ensure this work continues long into the future! Ting will match your first payment! See below for more. In today’s installment:An update on the COVID-19 pandemic as local experts anticipate a future surgeThe Virginia Department of Health is cautioning swimming in the western tributaries of Lake AnnaThe latest campaign finance numbers are in for Virginia’s Fifth District Storefront vacancies are up in the six commercial areas tracked by the city of CharlottesvilleAnd some updates on infrastructure projects in Albemarle CountyFirst shout-out: Piedmont Master Gardeners want to help you rethink your lawnIn today’s first subscriber supported public service announcement: Have you thought about changing up your lawn to something more sustainable for pollinators and other creatures? The Piedmont Master Gardeners wants you to know about a program called Healthy Virginia Lawns which can assist you in your transition. The program is a joint venture of Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. If interested, the first step will be for a Piedmont Master Gardener to come for a visit for an assessment and soil tests. Healthy Virginia Lawns will give you a customized, science-based roadmap to a greener landscape that protects water quality, wildlife and other resources along the way. Visit piedmontmastergardeners.org to learn more!Youngkin’s health department makes COVID quarantines optional in education and childcare settingOn Friday, Governor Glenn Youngkin announced that the Virginia Department of Health has updated its guidance for children, teachers and staff in educational and camp settings. “This revised guidance outlines that quarantine is no longer routinely recommended for asymptomatic individuals after exposure to COVID-19 infected individuals,” reads the updated guidance “In general masks are not routinely recommended in these settings, indoors or outdoors, except during isolation.”The guidance continues a shift away to individual decisions related to the pandemic rather than mandates. The federal Centers for Disease Control has a much more broad system of quarantine protocols, which can be reviewed here.Dr. Costi Sifri, director of hospital epidemiology at the UVA Health System, said schools and day care facilities should do what they can to improve spaces to reduce transmission, especially before the school year begins. “Those include things like just understanding whether there are more opportunities to improve ventilation and those other engineering type approaches to reducing risk of transmission within schools,” Dr. Sifri said. “We know the virus is not going to go away.” Today the Virginia Department of Health reports a seven-day average of 2,930 new cases a day and the seven-day percent positivity ratings for PCR tests is at 23 percent. This continues an upward trend that dates back to the spring as newer strains became more prevalent. Dr. Sifri said the Omicron subvariant BA.5 continues to spread and he expects an additional surge in cases at some point in the near future. “We’ve had new variants that have replaced previous variants and for most of 2022 what we’ve seen is that these variants are descendants or are related to the Omicron variant that was called BA.1,” Dr. Sifri said. Dr. Sifri said reinfection is becoming more likely due to the new strains. “That really helps us think about perhaps whom we should be trying to protect by revaccinating,” Dr. Sifri said. “The challenge is that the COVID vaccines are based on the original strain of COVID and the protection from that or from previous infection is unfortunately not as robust for general infection due to BA.5 or some of these newer variants.” Dr. Sifri said vaccination and previous infections do protect against serious outcomes, except for those who are immunocompromised. “So the CDC guidance and our recommendations are that if you are in a high-risk group, then you should make sure you are up to date with your COVID vaccine,” Dr. Sifri said. Dr. Sifri noted that nearly half of the country is currently considered by the CDC as an area of high transmission. He recommends people wear masks, but acknowledged the political reality of America in the third year of the pandemic. “We know that’s not being done in many places around the country,” Dr. Sifri said. “I just flew in from the west coast earlier this week and masking is really the exception to the rule on airplanes and in more airports right now. If you are in those situations and you’re not wearing a mask, you should anticipate that you could be exposed to COVID.”To find out if you are eligible for another vaccine dose or to get vaccinated for the first time, visit vaccinate.virginia.gov to learn more. Harmful algae bloom at Lake AnnaThe Virginia Department of Health is asking people to avoid swimming in or contact with waters on the western side of Lake Anna and its tributaries due to the presence of a harmful algae bloom. “Samples collected at six sites on the Upper and Middle Pamunkey Branch, including Terry’s Run, and the Upper and Middle North Anna Branches indicated a cyanobacteria bloom with cell concentrations at unsafe levels,” reads a VDH update posted on Friday.The next update from VDH will be given some time in the second week of August. Until then, VDH cautions people to not fish, swim, or let pets in bodies of water that smell bad, look discolored, or have visible foam or scum on the surface. For more on the topic across Virginia, visit www.swimhealthyva.com. Good leads Throneburg in fundraising for 5th District RaceThere are 113 days until election day and 59 days until the next time that candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives will have to file campaign finance reports. The most recent deadline was this past Friday for activity through June 30.In the Fifth District, Republican Incumbent Bob Good of Evington has raised $848,271 in his reelection campaign for a second term, including $149,017 in transfers. Of the $679,372 in contributions, nearly 75 percent comes from individuals or entities who contributed $200 or more. About eleven percent came from political action committees. Good has spent $570,585 and had an ending cash balance of $328,023 on June 30.Democratic challenger Joshua Throneburg of Charlottesville has raised $446,579 so far, including $50,000 in loans. Just under 77 percent of the $396,379 in contributions came from individuals or entities who gave $200 or more. So far, Throneburg has spent $320,531 and had $126,048 in cash on hand at the midway point of the year. For all of the details, read the quarterly reports on the Federal Elections Commission’s website. Here’s the one for Throneburg and here’s the one for Good. Second shout-out is for LEAP’s new Thermalize Virginia program In today’s second Patreon-fueled shout-out: Have you been thinking of converting your fossil-fuel appliances and furnaces into something that will help the community reduce its greenhouse gas emissions? Your local energy nonprofit, LEAP, has launched a new program to guide you through the steps toward electrifying your home. Thermalize Virginia will help you understand electrification and connect you with vetted contractors to get the work done and help you find any rebates or discounts. Visit thermalizeva.org to learn more and to sign up! Storefront vacancies up slightly in Charlottesville Storefront vacancies are up in the six commercial areas tracked by the City of Charlottesville. That’s according to the latest twice a year report put together by the Office of Economic Development (read the report).“This study examines only the ground-level retail storefronts at the six major shopping centers, so vacancies on the second floor and higher are not included,” reads the report. “Not all vacant buildings are included in the vacancy rate provided .”Those six commercial areas include Barracks Road, the Downtown Mall, McIntire Plaza, Preston Plaza, Seminole Square, and the Corner. There were 22 vacancies in January and that has risen to 33 in July. That does not include storefronts that are under renovation. When factored in percentage, the vacancy rate increased from 5.01 percent to 7.21 percent. The study also does not cover West Main Street, which has some buildings that have storefronts that have never been filled. The Flats at West Village used to have a restaurant that closed before the pandemic, and one retail space required to be built due to the zoning has never been occupied. The Lark has seen two breweries come and go but the second closed during the pandemic. A retail space on Roosevelt Brown Boulevard has never been occupied.The Standard has several retail spaces, and only one has been occupied. Another appears to be a storefront, but is actually an advertisement for a ghost kitchen. Urban sidewalks are among several infrastructure projects under construction in AlbemarleEvery quarter, Albemarle County’s Facilities and Environmental Services Department puts out an update of its activities. The latest is on the consent agenda for Wednesday’s meeting of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors. (read the report)Here are some of the highlights:Construction got underway in June on over 2,000 feet of sidewalk to connect Albemarle High School to Greer Elementary School. Funding comes from a one-time Neighborhood Improvements Funding Initiative as well as the Safe Routes to School program. Replacement of 376 exterior windows at the county’s office building on McIntire Road is also underway. The windows all date back to the late 70’s when Albemarle bought the former Lane High School from the city of Charlottesville. This will reduce energy costs and the report notes that electricity consumption in June was down 13 percent over the same month in 2021. The Federal Emergency Management Agency recently awarded Albemarle a $96,261 grant to study the potential for flooding in the 770-acre Branchlands watershed. This may take some years to complete. Design for an entrance road for the first phase of Biscuit Run is still ongoing with negotiations continuing between county staff and the Virginia Department of Transportation. The first phase will consist of that road, restrooms, and a parking area. According to the report, completion of the first phase is now expected in September 2023. Albemarle is considering using land proffered to the county as part of the Brookhill development for many uses, including a relocation of the vehicle maintenance facility used by Albemarle Public Schools. Other uses might include a solid waste convenience center, such as the one that will soon get under construction in Keene. A feasibility study for the Brookhill land should be ready in mid-August. The Southern Convenience Center is expected to be completed in December on a nearly $1.1 million budget. Completion of several sidewalk projects is expected in the coming weeks. Albemarle was successful in getting revenue-sharing funds from the Virginia Department of Transportation for sidewalks and improvements on Rio Road, Avon Street, and U.S. 250 West in Crozet.“The Rio Road Sidewalk Improvement project will connect the Stonehenge residential neighborhood to the John Warner Parkway and Rio Road sidewalk system. The Avon Street Walkway/Crosswalks Improvement project will provide sidewalks on the east side from Swan Lake Drive to Mill Creek Drive and then to Cale Elementary School [sic] and on the west side from Stoney Creek Drive to Arden Drive. The US 250 West-Crozet project will consist of the construction of sidewalk and crosswalks from Cory Farms to the Cloverlawn commercial area and Blue Ridge Shopping Center.”Cale Elementary was renamed Mountain View in 2020. Secure this work’s future with financial supportThis is episode 409 of this program and I’ll be getting to work on 410 and beyond. I really want to get to 818, 820, and so on. This is the work I want to do and I believe the community benefits when I’m able to spend my time as a reporter. Town Crier Productions is not a nonprofit organization, but around a third of the audience has opted to contribute something financially. It’s similar to the old days when you would subscribe to a newspaper. I subscribe to several, myself, and would greatly appreciate your subscription. Supporting the program through a Substack contribution or through Patreon makes it very easy for me to get paid and every single dollar that I get makes me want to work that much harder to serve the community. In just under two years, I’ve produced hundreds of stories that seek to give you information about how decisions are made in our community and in the Commonwealth of Virginia.For more information on all of this, please visit the archive site Information Charlottesville to learn more, including how you too can get a shout-out! Thank you for reading, and please share with those you think might want to learn a few thing or two about what’s happening.Also, Ting will match your initial payment! Visit them today to see if they can help you speed your Internet up. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
Numerological hijinks ensue today on 7/7/22. This is the 188th day of this particular orbital period, and there are 177 left until the next one. What does it all mean? What you make of it! If you’re one who misses celebrating an independent nation, July 7 also marks when the Solomon Islands observes Independence Day. No fireworks, please! I’m your host, Sean Tubbs, puzzling over what all of it might mean. You will need to click through to the website to see the whole thing. Also, please let me know if you have any trouble with links. There appears to be an issue. On today’s program:The Virginia State Police releases crime data for 2021, and violent crimes increased statewide The Regional Housing Partnership endorses a coalition led by the Piedmont Housing Alliance to build affordable housing at two sites to be donated by the University of Virginia Foundation through a ground leaseThe Albemarle County Electoral Board names a new registrar tIt’s been two months since the Board of Equalization affirmed nine out of eleven requests to lower real estate property tax assessments Charlottesville will purchase land on East Jefferson Street for additional municipal parking spaceFirst shout-out: WTJU staging the Cville Puzzle Hunt on August 27In today’s first Patreon-fueled shout-out: By now, readers and listeners know WTJU’s position on algorithms. But do you know that the radio station celebrates puzzles? In fact, on Saturday, August 27, WTJU is organizing the Cville Puzzle Hunt, a huge, cerebral puzzle that will spool out across downtown Charlottesville. The Cville Puzzle Hunt will take you and a team of friends on a wild afternoon running around trying to untangle five diabolical, large-scale puzzles inserted into the urban landscape. The opening clue will be read at 1 p.m. at the Ix Art Park. Find out more about this WTJU-organized event at cvillepuzzlehunt.com. Regional Housing Partnership endorses Piedmont Housing Alliance’s application to build affordable housing at two UVA sitesThe Central Virginia Regional Housing Partnership is a function of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission and consists of elected officials, representatives from nonprofits, and developers. Last year they developed the Planning for Affordability report intended to suggest strategies for each of the six localities to create more below-market housing opportunities. (read that plan)On Wednesday, the group convened for one purpose. For background, the University of Virginia and its real estate foundation are offering land through a ground lease at three sites in the community for a partner to construct affordable housing. They issued a request for qualifications in June to develop sites on Fontaine Avenue and Wertland Street. (agenda packet)There was a pre-proposal presentation on June 22 led by Fred Missel, the director of development for the UVA Foundation. In a separate capacity, Missel is also a member of the Albemarle Planning Commission. Wednesday’s partnership meeting was to vote on an endorsement of the Piedmont Housing Alliance’s desire to lead a large group of partners to develop the two sites.“We have pulled together a largely local team of nonprofits and one for profit organization to come together to ideally provide a holistic housing ladder with a holistic set of viewpoints to make sure we are being responsive to the needs not just within those two sites,” said Sunshine Mathon, the executive director of the Piedmont Housing Alliance. That for profit developer would be Riverbend Development, which has assisted the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority with its recent redevelopment efforts. Another partner would be the Virginia Community Development Corporation and another would be 7 and M Development. A letter in the RHP agenda packet includes more details. “The development team is partnering to design, build, and operate affordable housing on both sites, with a focus on a broad array of housing opportunities, focused on rental housing for people earning 30 to 60 percent of area median income, but also including more deeply affordable rental housing, affordable homeownership opportunities, market rate housing, community amenities, and commercial space,” reads the letter.However, many of the partnership members had to recuse themselves from the vote out of conflicts of interest. That included:Dan Rosensweig of the Habitat for Humanity of Greater CharlottesvilleSunshine Mathon of the Piedmont Housing AllianceKeith Smith of the Piedmont Community Land Trust (now part of Piedmont Housing Alliance)Shelby Edwards of the Public Housing Association of Residents Anthony Haro of the Thomas Jefferson Coalition for the HomelessColette Sheehy is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the University of Virginia. She also abstained from the vote but is not part of the development. “That was an impressive list of local organizations involved in this space and I was just curious if you anticipate anybody else out there locally that might propose anything?” Sheehy asked. Mathon said he thought there may be another group.“I think there are probably still one or two organizations which may find their way into a different team but I’m not 100 percent sure,” Mathon said. Those who were able to vote to support the letter were Antwon Brinson of the Piedmont Workforce Network, Greg Powe of Powe Studio Architects, Ned Gallaway of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors, Peter Holman of the University of Virginia Credit Union, Rachel Jones of the Louisa Board of Supervisors, Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook, and Kim Hyland of the Fluvanna-Louisa Housing Foundation.“Seven yes, zero noes, and six abstentions,” said Ian Baxter, a planner with the TJPDC. One of those abstentions was Keith Smith, a realtor and chair of the Piedmont Community Land Trust.“This is what this body was designed to do and this is great stuff,” Smith said. The application is due on August 2. Will there be any other applications? Albemarle hires new registrar from within The Albemarle County Electoral Board has promoted the deputy registrar to serve as the new Director of Elections. Lauren Eddy has worked for the Voter Registration and Elections Office for 17 years, and will succeed Richard “Jake” Washburne, who will be retiring at the end of the month.“I can’t think of anyone more qualified than Lauren to take on this role,” Washburne is quoted in a release.Eddy has been deputy registrar for the past 15 years. She’s a native of Albemarle and is a Virginia Registered Election Official as well as a National Certified Elections/Registration Administrator.Charlottesville Board of Equalization declined all but one assessment appealsIt has now been seven weeks and two day since the Charlottesville Board of Equalization met on May 17 to hear appeals from property owners of their 2022 real estate tax assessments. Eleven were scheduled but one withdrew. The Board affirmed the property assessments in all ten of the cases that were heard. (read the minutes)The owner of an apartment in the Belmont Lofts wanted the BOE to lower the assessment to $265,000 down from the $400,900 for 2022. The Board agreed to lower the amount to $365,000. GIS for this property currently says $364,000. The owner of 409 Park Street in North Downtown sought reduction to $750,000, but the BOE affirmed the $914,800 assessment. The owner of 1010 Peartree Lane in the Locust Grove wanted to have the assessment dropped to $265,650 but the Board affirmed the $323,700 as the fair market value. The owner bought the 0.21 acre property in 1976 for $34,000. HPTMI Corporation owns the Residence Inn on Millmont Street. They argued the fair market value should be $11,547,400 rather than the $14,762,600 for 2022. The BOE disagreed and affirmed the assessment. When the motel was built in 1997, it was assessed at $3,845,500 and steadily increased each year until this year, when the assessment dropped around $1.5 million. The owners of the Omni Hotel withdrew their appeal of the property’s $35.8 million 2022 assessment. Like the Residence Inn, the assessment has been dropped since 2020 due to the pandemic. There’s still an active lawsuit regarding the 2021 assessment. Last year, the Omni sued Charlottesville over what they perceived as an overpayment of taxes. Read an April 2021 story by Tyler Hammel in the Charlottesville Daily Progress. Ludwig Kuttner sought an unspecified reduction for an industrial building at 1155 5th Street NW next to the Willoughby Shopping Center and claimed “appraiser failed to take into consideration the tremendous impact that ‘Covid’ had on all businesses and property owners.” The Board affirmed the assessment of $2,888,500 and said Kuttner presented no new evidence.Kuttner also sought an assessment reduction for the 10,75 acres of the Ix property, a request he has made in the past. This time, he cited the same reason. The property was assessed at nearly $14.4 million and it will stay that way. Read about the 2017 appeal on Charlottesville Tomorrow. The section of the Ix property that is operated as the Ix Park and is rented to Three Notch’d Brewery was assessed at $5.62 million. The BOE affirmed. Kuttner also sought relief for the Terraces at 100-106 West Main Street. The city assessors valued it at $12,690,400 and the Board of Equalization affirmed that amount.The same story can be said about 201 E. Main Street, otherwise known as Central Place. Kuttner made the same argument but the BOE affirmed the $2.83 million assessment for 2022. Kuttner also represented the owners of 301 E. High Street and made the same basic argument about COVID. The Board also affirmed this property. Virginia State Police release 2021 crime report for the Commonwealth The rate of violent crime in Virginia increased in 2021 according to new data from the Virginia State Police. Last week, the agency’s Criminal Justice Information Service’s Data Analysis and Reporting Team (DART) published a report for last year showed an overall increase in murders, forcible sex offenses including rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. “There were 16,823 violent crime offenses reported in 2021 compared to 15,713 violent crime offenses reported in 2020, representing a 7.1 percent increase,” reads a press release on the report. Some of what’s in the report: There were 562 homicides in Virginia in 2021, a 6.4 percent increase. Of that amount, 38.6 percent were men between the ages of 18 and 34. Over $131 million worth of vehicles were stolen in 2021, a 3.8 percent increase. Firearms were used in 82.1 percent of homicides and 48.6 percent of robberies. There were 123 hate crime offenses involving 106 victims in 2021. That’s down 35.3 percent from 2020. These involve either aggravated assault, vandalism, or destruction of property. Fraud offenses were up 8.4 percent in 2021.Not all of the numbers are increasing. The number of burglaries continued to decline with an 8.3 percent drop in 2020. That’s part of a long-time trend. “In 2021, there were 10,464 burglaries and attempted burglaries whereas in 2011 there were 27,872, representing a decreased burglary rate in the last decade from 344.24 to 120.89 per 100,000 population,” reads the summary. Drug arrests were down 46.7 percent, with one major driver being the decriminalization of possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. The DART report also breaks down offenses by locality. The Albemarle County Police Department reported 4,191 total offenses and 1,527 arrests. There were no murders or negligent manslaughter, but there were 12 kidnapping incidents, 76 aggravated assaults, 99 burglaries, and 107 stolen vehicles.(page 92 of the .PDF)Charlottesville also reported no murders, but there there were 3,052 offenses tracked. There were 11 kidnappings, 162 aggravated assaults, 127 burglaries, and 155 stolen vehicles. (page 130)There were no murders reported in any of the other localities in the Thomas Jefferson Planning District. The Fluvanna Sheriff’s Office reported four kidnappings, 29 aggravated assaults, 13 burglaries, and 12 stolen vehicles. (page 170)In Greene, there were five kidnappings, 21 aggravated assaults, 12 burglaries and 15 stolen vehicles. (page 186)There were nine kidnappings reported by the Louisa County Sheriff's Office in 2021. There were 21 aggravated assaults, 11 burglaries, and 32 stolen vehicles. (page 223)The Nelson County Sheriff’s Office reported five abductions, 26 aggravated assaults, 49 burglaries, and 18 stolen vehicles (page 241). Today’s second-shout: LEAP’s Thermalize Virginia program In today’s second Patreon-fueled shout-out: Have you been thinking of converting your fossil-fuel appliances and furnaces into something that will help the community reduce its greenhouse gas emissions? Your local energy nonprofit, LEAP, has launched a new program to guide you through the steps toward electrifying your home. Thermalize Virginia will help you understand electrification and connect you with vetted contractors to get the work done and help you find any rebates or discounts. Visit thermalizeva.org to learn more and to sign up! City to purchase downtown land for surface parking Sometimes it takes a while to get everything I’d like to write about in the show. For instance, so far, I’ve written several segments from the June 21, 2022 meeting of the Charlottesville City Council. Charlottesville’s FY22 surplus likely to increase, June 24, 2022Council makes appointments, but not yet to Planning Commission, June 24, 2022RWSA to vote today on Central Water Line project, June 28, 2022Charlottesville briefed on city-owned property, June 30, 2022Is there room for one more to memorialize, and is it worth it, two and a half weeks later? Yes. Charlottesville City Council has authorized the city’s economic development director to purchase 921 E. Jefferson Street for $1.6 million. Here’s Chris Engel. (read the staff report)“This parcel is four tenths of an acre and is currently used as a 39-space surface parking lot,” Engel said. “Staff recommends purchase as it puts the city in control of an asset that will help with current and future parking capacity issues.” Engel said one reason is to help satisfy the terms of an agreement between Albemarle and Charlottesville related to parking for the joint General District Court that will be built downtown. “Most of that agreement spoke to the creation of a new parking structure that the city was to undertake as part of its agreement with the county,” Engel said. “That project was ultimately canceled as you know last year about this time.” Engel said the agreement allows the city options to provide spaces at either the existing 7th Street surface lot or at Market Street Parking Garage, both owned by city government. He said either would displace existing parkers and this lot would be a replacement.Engel said volume in the Market Street Parking Garage is not at pre-pandemic levels but the city is currently on a waiting list for new monthly pass holders at that structure. If the county chooses 100 spaces at the Market Street garage, Engel said that would crowd out the ability of people to park there on a transient basis. “So you’d in some way be jeopardizing the health of the surrounding business community that relies on those spaces for activity,” Engel said. Engel said this purchase would also make up for the loss of 50 spaces that used to be underneath the Belmont Bridge but won’t be coming back when that project is complete. He said the city will also eventually lose a parking lot with 61 spaces for employees at a site on Levy Avenue owned by the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. “If we were to add 39 spots we would still have a net loss of parking spaces in and around the downtown area,” Engel said. The current owner of the property is Gewinn Investors III, a firm that bought the land in 1985 for $175,000. The land is currently assessed at $953,000 and the sales price would be over 73 percent above the assessment. In January 2017, the city paid $2.85 million to purchase the corner lot at Market Street and 9th Street for a new parking garage. That transaction was 40.55 percent above assessment at the time. Councilor Michael Payne said the city was wrong to have entered into the agreement with the county, but he said they should be given the 100 spaces in Market Street Garage. “Quite frankly depending on how that’s implemented I don’t think that’s the end of the world but my understanding is that a majority of Council does not agree with that sentiment,” Payne said. However, he said he could support the purchase of this space if it meant keeping the two structures the city owns at the corner lot. “If purchasing this resolves the courts agreement in place of building a 10-million plus and tearing down Lucky 7 and Guadalajara to build a surface lot, it potentially makes sense to me,” Payne said. Engel said he could make no guarantees, but purchasing this lot would delay that outcome. Councilor Brian Pinkston said during his time in office to date, parking has proven to be controversial. “If you talk with folks at the Downtown Mall, they’re like ‘we absolutely need more parking’ and if you talk with other constituencies, they’re like ‘no, you’ve got plenty of parking,’” Pinkston said. Pinkston said he relies on staff to provide recommendations about occupancy and utilization rates. “Grabbing these 39 spaces for lack of a better term and taking advantage of this opportunity to acquire these 39 spaces basically is insurance against future possibilities,” Pinkston said. . Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook said the property would be ready to go for the city’s parking needs for now. That would allow more time to watch trends and collect data on actual usage of the new courts. “Five years from now we decide we don’t in fact need those parking places, I think we will probably have profited from the wait,” Snook said. The vote was 4-1 with Payne against.There is no overall parking plan for the City of Charlottesville, or for Albemarle County. The University of Virginia has a Parking and Transportation Master Plan from 2019 which seeks to manage parking demand. In June, the University of Virginia’s Building and Grounds Committee approved a plan to move forward with a 1,000 space parking garage with a $54 million budget but with no location determined. (UVA committee briefed on new capital projects, June 4, 2022)The current rewrite of the zoning code also provides another opportunity related to parking. The Zoning Diagnostics and Approach Report calls for the reduction of parking requirements in addition to allowing greater residential density throughout the city. Visit the Cville Plans Together website to learn more. See also:Toward a TDM plan for Charlottesville, June 9, 2021A quick plug for Michael ClemFinally today, local singer songwriter Michael Clem is looking for subscribers to his YouTube channel. Take a look at his trailer! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
Hi folks! Eli Ramos here--we're crossposting from Strong Branching Out so y'all can hear THE GREAT TIFFIN CAPER, a TTRPG session of Mall Kids we played with Strong Branch Productions' Alex Kingsley and Grace Griego! We liked playing this so much that Inigo Sherwani and I, the other players of this game, wrote a script for our upcoming summer event about these characters. Plus, if you heard this on Strong Branching Out, you get the bonus content of hearing our epilogues for our characters! We hope you like it! Check out Strong Branch Productions at @StrongBranchPro on Twitter! Join Minnie, Faisal, Wendell, and Tyler Tyler as the search for the culprit behind the mysterious shoplifting cases at the Downtown Mall. Featuring Inigo Sherwani as Minnie Snickers, Eli Ramos as Faisal Chaudhary, Grace Greigo as Wendell, and Alex Kingsley as Tyler Tyler.
Another Friday has arrived, and somehow this is the 14th such day of 2022. Is this year going faster than the others, and if so, is there a way this can be stopped? These are not questions within the scope of Charlottesville Community Engagement, a newsletter and podcast that seeks to put some of the pieces together. I’m your ever-puzzling host, Sean Tubbs. Sign up today to receive every newsletter in your email inbox - for free! On today’s program:Albemarle Supervisors return to in-person meetings and commemorate Fair Housing MonthBoth the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission and the City of Charlottesville award funding to housing projects in the areaCharlottesville may change the way to administers transportation projectsGovernor Youngkin rescinds an executive order that banned state agencies from using single-use plastic Bacteria levels in a Charlottesville waterway are back to normalAnd the city of Charlottesville will resume disconnecting utility customers for unpaid balances First subscriber-supported public service announcement - MLKCVILLECharlottesville’s Community Celebration of the life, times, and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. continues on April 10 with keynote speeches from the Rev. Brenda Brown-Grooms, the Rev. Alvin Edwards, and Rabbi Tom Gutherz. All three will appear the event at the Ting Pavilion on the east end of Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall beginning at 3 p.m. Rev. Brown-Grooms is co-pastor of New Beginnings Christian Community; Rev. Edwards serves Mt. Zion First African Baptist Church, and Rabbi Gutherz, Congregation Beth Israel.The Community Celebration is put on each year by the Mount Zion First African Baptist Church. Visit and bookmark the YouTube MLKCVille page to review part one of the celebration as well as previous events. Albemarle Supervisors return to in-person meetingsAfter 25 months, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors have held a meeting in Lane Auditorium, where they have met since the county acquired the former Lane High School for an administration building back in the late 70’s. Members of the public were there, too, and Rivanna Supervisor Bea LaPisto-Kirtley noted the occasion. “I just wanted to welcome everybody who came today and it’s wonderful to be back in person and to see so many people and all of us to be together,” LaPisto-Kirtley said. The sentiment was shared by Scottsville Supervisor and Chair Donna Price.“It is wonderful to be back live, in-person, in Lane Auditorium, and we expect that we will continue to see more people show up for our meetings,” Price said. “But the silver lining that’s come out of the pandemic in terms of our situation is that we now have this hybrid opportunity so those are not able to come to Lane Auditorium can still participate virtually.” Albemarle Supervisors then made a proclamation to recognize April as Fair Housing Month. Supervisor Ned Gallaway of the Rio District read from the proclamation, which marks the 54th anniversary of the passage of Title ViII of the Civil Rights Act. “This act provides for equal housing opportunities for all Americans, regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status, or disability, as well as to ensure fair practice in the sale, rental, or financing of property,” Gallaway said. The proclamation states it is the intention of Albemarle Supervisors to recognize the importance of housing rights. They heard from Stacy Pethia, the county’s housing coordinator. “I can’t say enough about how important it is to be able to provide housing choice to all of our residents because where we live really does matter,” Pethia said. “It determines the quality of education we will have, the quality and types of employment opportunities that we can access, what amenities we have available to us. Fair housing is really the basis of success throughout everyone’s lives.” Pethia said Albemarle is celebrating Fair Housing Month with an art contest. Visit the county’s website at engage.albemarle.org to learn more and to submit your work. TJPDC funds three affordable housing projects; Charlottesville funds fiveThe Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission has awarded $1.8 million in funds to regional housing nonprofits and entities. The funding comes from a $2 million grant to the TJPDC from the entity formerly known as the Virginia Housing Development Authority for the purpose of constructing or preserving affordable housing. “By virtue of us receiving $2 million, we are obligated to construct at least 20 new affordable housing units,” said Ian Baxter, a planner with the TJPDC. The TJPDC received five proposals totalling $6 million in requests. Baxter said these were measured by a series of metrics. “Cost per unit, location of development, type of development, affordability level, site control, funding sources, and the capacity to be completed by June 2024,” Baxter said. The funding will be split among three providers.$640,000 for three Habitat for Humanity chapters for 32 new units to be build throughout the TJPDC region$660,000 to the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority for 48 units at the second phase of the South First Street redevelopment$500,000 for Virginia Supportive Housing for 80 new permanent supportive housing as part of the Premier Circle project“This $1.8 million will fund developments in all of the six jurisdictions in the planning district,” Baxter said. “It will create a mix of rental, supportive housing, and new homeowner units, all affordable.”This is the first time the TJPDC has received funds from Virginia Housing for this purpose. Executive Director Christine Jacobs said she is hopeful that there will be another round in the future. Council makes CAHF awards, repurposes the HACOn Monday, the city of Charlottesville awarded $750,000 in funds from the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund. Alex Ikefuna is the interim director of the Office of Community Solutions, a relatively new division of city government set up to oversee housing issues.“Staff received seven applications totaling $4,6 million,” Ikefuna said.They are:$425,000 to the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority for South Street Phase 2$75,000 for down payment assistance for Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville’s Equity Homeownership Initiative $100,000 for Albemarle Housing Improvement Program’s Charlottesville Critical Repair Program $50,000 for the Local Energy Alliance Program’s Assisted Home Performance and Electrification Ready (AHP) targeted to owner occupied homes.$100,000 for LEAP’s AHP for renter occupied homesCouncil also agreed to amend the by-laws for the Housing Advisory Committee to reduce membership and to transfer review of city housing funds to a dedicated Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund Committee. Three Councilors indicated they wanted to make sure a representative from the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority is on the amended Housing Advisory Committee. “In my view, the bottom line is just to try to have a body that is more effective in giving City Council guidance about how to implement our affordable housing strategy and meet our affordable housing goals and these are just changes meant to have it be a more effective and efficient body in doing that for us,” said City Councilor Michael Payne, who is also on the CRHA’s Board of Commissioners. Charlottesville to resume utility disconnections for non-paymentIn another sign that the pandemic has receded, the city of Charlottesville has announced they will resume disconnecting water, sewer, and natural gas service for non-payment beginning next week. “Green door hangers will be distributed to addresses that owe balances, encouraging customers to set up payment arrangements,” reads the announcement sent out by the city yesterday. The city’s utility billing office stopped disconnecting service for unpaid bills in March 2020 soon after the state of emergency was declared, followed by a moratorium imposed by the State Corporation Commission. That was lifted in last September. According to the release, the utility billing office continued to tell customers with unpaid balances how much they owed. The city covered the cost of $557,000 through various federal assistance programs related to the pandemic. Governor Youngkin overturns previous administration’s order to ban single-use plastic In March 2021, former Governor Ralph Northam signed an executive order banning state agencies from buying, selling, or distributing single-use plastics. His successor, Governor Glenn Youngkin, has called that directive “burdensome” and yesterday replaced it with a new one that directs state agencies to recognize the value of recycling. "It is the policy of the Commonwealth, and all executive branch state agencies, including state institutions of higher education, and their concessioners (Agency or Agencies) to increase awareness of the importance of recycling and better capture recyclable material, as well as encourage the use of post-consumer recycled (PCR) products and biodegradable materials,” reads Executive Order 17.The order also takes an economic development approach and directs the Department of Environmental Quality to attract recycling-related businesses to Virginia.The University of Virginia formed a working group last April to begin to implement the Northam administration’s order. Last month, the UVA Sustainability Office accepted the 2022 Governor’s Environmental Excellence Gold Award for its efforts, according to an article on their website. “The University of Virginia is taking active measures to enhance sustainability and reduce waste, pursuant with the directives detailed in Governor Youngkin's Executive Order 17 and in former governor Ralph Northam's Executive Order 77,” said Deputy UVA Spokesperson Bethanie Glover in an email to Charlottesville Community Engagement this afternoon. Glover said sustainability leaders at UVA will be evaluating the new executive order to determine what additional steps need to be taken. Need trees? Charlottesville Area Tree Steward sale is this Saturday! In today’s first Patreon-fueled public service announcement, the Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards are preparing to hold their first in-person tree sale since 2019. On April 9 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards will open up their tree nursery at the Fontaine Research Park and will sell saplings of native trees, some of which are hard to find from commercial sources. The prices will be between $5 and $15. There will be large trees from Birch to Sycamore, smaller trees from Blackgum to Witch Hazel, and shrubbery! Visit charlottesvilletreestewards.org to learn more!Albemarle and Greene both receive regional support for Three Notch’d Trail planning grantThe members of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission have indicated support for two separate planning efforts for more pathways in the region. Both Albemarle County and Greene County are seeking federal funds to build new infrastructure. “The grant would fund a shared bike pedestrian path from the city of Charlottesville to Crozet likely along U.S. 250,” said Jessica Hersh-Ballering, a transportation planner with Albemarle County. “From there it would continue west all the way to the Blue Ridge Tunnel in Nelson County.” “In Greene, because we are a more rural community, there are no walking paths even in our growth area,” said Jim Frydl, the Greene County Planning Director. “If you live in the housing that’s in the growth area, there’s no safe way to walk to the shopping and the work centers.”A federal infrastructure bill passed by the U.S. Congress last year has increased funding for the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant program, which goes by the acronym RAISE. Albemarle is requesting between $1.5 million and $3 million for the planning effort. The idea would be to build something that works as both a functional transportation use as well as a recreational destination that could attract tourism as is the case with the Virginia Capital Trail. “This is a range that we are requesting because we are still working through our budget for this project with some local consultants,” Hersh-Ballering said. “We will have a number somewhere in this range finalized by the time we submit our application next week.” If funded, the project would first conduct a feasibility study, particularly to identify a route between Crozet and the Blue Ridge Tunnel. “It could go directly through Crozet, it could go a little south of Crozet and go near more schools, or it could follow potentially the CSX railroad line to have a very gentle grade for the entirety of that section,” Hersh-Ballering said. The funding would also include public outreach as well as “functional design” for the trail that would fall short of environmental review required for the project to go to construction. “So the idea is that it would be really expensive to construct the project all at once so what we’re probably going to do is identify those pieces that can stand-alone and then use some of our more common, smaller funding sources to fund construction separately,” Hersh-Ballering said. The entire route would span between 25 to 30 miles and would connect three localities. The TJPDC agreed to send a letter of support without comment. Greene County is seeking a $1.4 million RAISE grant to plan for a trail between the South River Falls in the northwest of the county to the town of Stanardsville, A second pathway would follow along U.S. 33 to connect to the unincorporated area of Ruckersville. “And then interconnectivity pathways in Ruckersville that connect the two nodes of the Ruckersville growth area,” Frydl said. Frydl said Greene’s project would also likely be built in phases. Charlottesville will be reviewing how it works with VDOTSince 2005, The City of Charlottesville has planned and administered construction of transportation projects within city limits as part of something called the First Cities program or the Urban Construction Initiative. This includes major projects such as the Belmont Bridge replacement currently underway, and extends to the many Smart Scale projects for which the city has received dozens of millions of dollars in funding.This week, Deputy City Manager Sam Sanders told City Council on Monday that this arrangement is under review.“Our leadership and project management teams are completing a review of our [Virginia Department of Transportation] program ahead of a deep dive with VDOT that’s scheduled fot later this month,” Sanders said. “We anticipate some changes that we’ll be bringing to Council in regards to how we manage those projects going forward.”Last year, City Council agreed to withdraw local money required to match state funds awarded to the West Main Streetscape and to put this local dollars toward to renovations of Buford Middle School. Sanders said the city has begun work with the firm EPR on a study of Fifth Street Extended to inform a new Smart Scale application for the next round. Community meetings may be held later this month but definitely by May. Council will get a presentation at their meeting on May 16. Dairy Road bridge There is no local match necessary for the pending replacement of a bridge that carries Dairy Road over the U.S. 250 bypass. VDOT has provided $7.2 million in funding to replace the bridge from a pot of money called State of Good Repair. Tony Edwards is the Development Services Manager in the Charlottesville Public Works Department. “It received a condition rating of 4 for the deck, and therefore qualifies for the SGR funding,” Edwards said. “In 2015 the sidewalk was replaced by a separate bike and pedestrian bridge next to the original structure which will provide public access during construction.” The design phase will now begin and a public hearing for that phase will be held at some point in the future. Pollocks Branch bacteria levels have returned to normalFinally today, the City of Charlottesville has reported that bacteria levels in a waterway south of the Downtown Mall have returned to normal. In late March, the Rivanna Conservation Alliance analyzed water samples from Pollocks Branch and found elevated levels of E.Coli. A second round of tests saw lower levels. “Given the steady decrease in E. coli levels and the lack of evidence of a source of the E. coli, the elevated levels were likely related to rainfall and associated runoff,” reads today’s announcement. The Rivanna Conservation Alliance will continue to monitor the situation. For more information, visit rivannariver.org.Support Town Crier Productions through Ting!Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
The final day of the month, and the final day of 2022’s first quarter. A lot has happened so far, and there’s still a lot more to go. Mathematically we are 24.66 percent of the way through the year, and for those who want to take the long view, we are 21.25 percent of the way through the 21st Century. It all adds up in this installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement and I’m your host, Sean Tubbs. Sign-up for free for as much material as I can manage to write! Payment is optional but very much supports continued production!On today’s program:People are warned to not come into contact with water in an urban stream in Charlottesville due to high levels of E. coli bacteriaThe director of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority is hopeful Crescent Halls can be reopened this year Charlottesville City Council will meet three days in a row beginning with tonight’s budget work sessionThe Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority gets an update on capacity in Albemarle’s northern growth areaFirst Patreon-fueled shout-out goes to the Charlottesville Area Tree StewardsIn today’s first Patreon-fueled Public Service Announcement, the Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards are preparing to hold their first in-person tree sale since 2019. On April 9 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards will open up their tree nursery at the Fontaine Research Park and will sell saplings of native trees, some of which are hard to find from commercial sources for between $5 and $15. There will be large trees from Birch to Sycamore, smaller trees from Blackgum to Witch Hazel, and shrubbery! Visit charlottesvilletreestewards.org to learn more!High bacteria levels in urban streamCharlottesville is warning the public to stay out of Pollocks Branch between Elliott Avenue and Rockland Avenue due to elevated levels of E. coli. Pollocks Branch is a waterway that travels south from downtown Charlottesville and is one of many locations monitored by the Rivanna Conservation Alliance.“E. coli is a type of fecal coliform bacteria and when it is found in water, it is a strong indicator of sewage or animal waste contamination which can cause disease or illness,” reads an announcement from the city. City officials are investigating the situation and advise that no one touches the water. Pollocks Branch runs underground from the Downtown Mall and underneath the Ix Art Park before daylighting at Elliott Avenue where it flows into Moores Creek. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality certifies the Rivanna Conservation Alliance’s monitoring efforts as a Level III which means the data can be used for official scientific purposes. The RCA has been monitoring bacteria since July 2012. Charlottesville City Council to hold retreat this weekendThe Charlottesville City Council will meet in-person for the first time in over two years tomorrow when they convene at CitySpace for a retreat. A limited amount of public spaces are available, but the event can be viewed via Zoom.The two-day retreat will be facilitated by the Virginia Institute of Government, a branch of the Weldon Cooper Center at the University of Virginia. On the agenda is a facilitated discussion of City Council goals and strategies, as well as an item called “Identify and Build Consensus for Priorities and Actions Items.” The retreat begins tomorrow at 4 p.m. and on Saturday at 10 a.m. (Friday meeting info) (Saturday meeting info)Tonight Council will meet at 6 p.m. for a budget work session. Read previous coverage courtesy of this Tweet thread. CHRA Director wants Crescent Halls reopened by AugustOn Monday, the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s Board of Directors voted to approve a $12 million budget for the fiscal year that begins tomorrow. They also learned that at least one revenue source for the current fiscal year is coming in much lower than had been anticipated. The CRHA had expected there would be some residents at Crescent Halls while it was renovated, but a flood last summer changed the plan.“There was some knowledge as to what was going to happen but obviously with the flood it created a different wrinkle and deficit,” said Mary Lou Hoffman, CRHA’s finance director. The CRHA had budgeted $291,049 in yearly rent from Crescent Halls but only received $122,745. The building is currently unoccupied as crews work to renovate all apartments. CRHA Executive Director John Sales said the original plan had been to do to the renovation in stages and the budget had expected 70 units would be occupied at all times. “After that we emptied half the building and put them in hotels,” Sales said. However, Sales said insurance would not cover that expense long-term because the units that had been damaged were going to be renovated anyway. “Then we started having the conversation with the residents that were living in the building about the conditions of the building with half of the building being empty, the work that was going on on the other side with the walls being town down, applianced ripped out, and just the morale and how depressing it was living in a building with only four floors occupied and only half of those units occupied,” Sales said. Sales said some residents were moved to other public housing sites and others were given housing vouchers. The CRHA lost revenue not only from rent but from subsidies from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Sales said the project needs to be completed on time. “So I’ve been pushing the contractor that we’re not changing that August date,” Sales said. “We have to make that date work.”Sales said the first phase of South Street also needs to come online on time in order to meet the revenues that HUD officials are expecting. The federal agency considers CRHA to be a troubled agency. When Crescent Halls does come back online, not all of the units will be considered public housing units by HUD. Sales said the units will remain affordable. “At Crescent Halls you’re going to have your traditional public housing units, but then you’re also going to have the project-based voucher units where they will be higher rents but they’ll be subsidized with the voucher,” Sales said. Sales said under the vouchers, tenants would only have to pay thirty percent of their income toward rent.“So we can charge $1,000 for a one-bedroom unit while not impacting what the resident that is living in that unit can actually afford because the voucher is going to subsidize their rent above their 30 percent,” Sales said. “So if they make $1,000, their rent is going to be $300. The voucher would cover the $700.”For the public housing units, the CRHA can only charge what the tenant is able to pay. CRHA Board members also asked City Councilor Michael Payne to ask Council to waive the payment in lieu of tax that CRHA pays to the city each year. Payne said he would bring up the matter at tonight’s budget work session. See also: Public Housing projects move forward after Council talks on CRHA financial sustainability, CCDC property tax liability, October 4, 2022Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority turns 50 this JuneThe government entity responsible for providing drinking water and collecting and treating sewage will officially have to ask the state of Virginia for permission to continue existing. “Authorities are authorized for 50 years and then they have to be reauthorized,” said Bill Mawyer, the executive director of the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority.The Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority received its original authorization in June 1972, marking the 50th anniversary of the decision to create an authority to provide basic essentials for a growing urban community. “So a part of our celebration will be submitting resolutions to the Albemarle Board of Supervisors and City Council to reauthorize the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority,” Mawyer said.The RWSA owns and operates facilities that serve the urban ring around Charlottesville as well as Scottsville and Crozet. Mawyer said the Beaver Creek Reservoir has recently been treated to bring down levels of algae. “It is the earliest we’ve seen that we’ve had an algae bloom at any of our reservoirs since our current staff have been around,” Mawyer said. “In the long term, we plan to have a hypolimnetic oxygenation system which is a pipe that goes along the bottom of the reservoir that bubbles air into the water and helps to oxygenate it to minimize the conditions that are conducive to algae blooms.”That pipe will be installed as part of the upgrade of the Beaver Creek Dam scheduled to take place next year. Another major capital project is a proposed waterline to connect drinking water from the Observatory Water Treatment Plant to other portions of the urban water system in Albemarle’s growth areas. Some have expressed concern about the route preferred by staff. RWSA officials have been meeting with neighborhood groups to explain its purpose and to discuss its path through the Fry’s Spring neighborhood along Cherry Avenue, 6th Street NE, and East High Street before connecting to a waterline that serves Pantops. “So the plan is that we’re going to collect all the information and feedback from the neighborhoods, assess it, get any feedback that Council may provide us or the Board of Supervisors and assimilate all that data and come back to the RWSA Board at the June meeting for the final location of the waterline,” Mawyer said. The project has an estimated cost of $31 million and may be further informed by the completion of a master plan for water infrastructure. Second shout-out goes to the JMRL Friends of the Library In today's second Patreon-fueled shout-out! Lovers of used books rejoice! The Friends of the Jefferson Madison Regional Library is back again with their annual Spring Book Sale opening this Saturday through Sunday, April 10! The Friends of the Library sale will once again take place at Albemarle Square Shopping Center from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day. There’s a special preview for members tomorrow from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and there’s still time to volunteer! Visit jmrlfriends.org to learn more! See you there! Planning for additional homes and businesses in northern Albemarle The RWSA Board of Directors were also briefed on whether there is enough capacity in Albemarle’s northern growth area to support additional homes such as at the University of Virginia’s North Fork Discovery park. There are also hundreds of homes coming online at Brookhill, RST Residences, North Fork, and other developments under construction. “What we’re looking at now is that these significant utility demands that are being proposed may force one of two options,” said Jennifer Whitaker, the RWSA’s chief engineer. “One is to accelerate the utility plan or require some phasing so that we don’t have an unmet need in the future.” According to a demand study from July 2020, current demand for the whole system is at 10.4 million gallons a day (MGD) and capacity can provide a safe yield of 12.8 MGD. “Every ten years we try to take a very strong look at what we know as a community about growth and development and use within our community and then we also take a look at what’s going on in our reservoirs,” Whitaker said. “We try to look at how the raw water supply and the finished supply match up.”Whitaker said there is enough water through 2060 as long as several parts of the Community Water Supply Plan are built by 2035. They are construction of a pipeline to connect the South Fork Rivanna and Ragged Mountain Reservoir and the raising of the pool at the Ragged Mountain Reservoir. Northern Albemarle is served by the North Fork Rivanna Water Treatment Plant which Whitaker said can effectively treat one million gallons a day. There’s a demand of about a half million gallons a day. The RWSA is planning to decommission the plant but has to first connect that area to water from the South Fork Rivanna Water Treatment Plant. “Some of the growth demand at the North Fork Research Park and another northern Albemarle areas, the need has picked up and we’re now looking at that plan and trying to figure out how to sequence it to meet that need,” Whitaker said. Wastewater flows via gravity to the Moores Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant and Whitaker said improvements to what’s known as the Powell Creek Interceptor are currently slated for some time between 2045 and 2065. “As we evaluate future growth in this area we’re looking at potentially having to accelerate that as well,” Whitaker said.Whitaker said the RWSA is working with the University of Virginia Foundation and the county as a rezoning for the North Fork park makes its way through the approvals process. They’ve asked for a maximum potential of 1,400 homes there. UVA has announced that some of these units will count toward UVA President Jim Ryan’s goal to build up to 1,500 affordable housing units. “Ultimately we will be able to serve all of it but the question is how quickly will we allow them to bring that online,” Whitaker said. The other two locations for affordable housing are on Fontaine Avenue at the Piedmont housing site as well as Wertland Street. There was no action at the meeting, but certainly a lot to pay attention to into the future.Support Town Crier Productions!Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
There are 298 days left in the year, but let’s pause for a moment to mark International Women’s Day and the spirit in which it was founded over a hundred years ago. This is Charlottesville Community Engagement, a newsletter and podcast created two years ago in the spirit of bringing information to as many people as possible. I’m your host Sean Tubbs, approaching my fourth decade as a reporter filled with a spirit of public service. On today’s program:Charlottesville’s new leadership is introduced to local business leaders at the Chamber of Commerce’s State of the Community eventThe city hires the Timmons Group to implement software to improve the development review processCharlottesville City Council get an update on the pandemic, and directs staff to create a safety plan to guide the transition to in-person and hybrid meetingsToday’s first shout-out goes to a Livable Cville eventIn today’s first subscriber supported shout-out, Livable Cville wants you to know about an online presentation coming up on Wednesday, March 16. "Can Zoning Create a More Affordable Charlottesville?" That’s the question to be explored by Dr. Jenny Schuetz of the Brookings Institute. She’s the author of Fixer-Upper: How to Repair America’s Broken Housing Systems. The event is free but you’ll have to register at EventBrite. Blue Ridge Health District director briefs Council on pandemicThe director of the Blue Ridge Health District told Council last night that the region is experiencing a “strong downswing” in the number of COVID cases. “So, overall a downward trend but we are still seeing spikes occasionally,” said Dr. Denise Bonds. (view her presentation)Today the seven-day average for new cases in Virginia is 1,177 and the percent positivity has declined to 5.9 percent. Since Dr. Bonds’ last appearance, the Centers for Disease Control have altered their guidance on the use of masks to slow the transmission of COVID. (CDC website)“The CDC has lowered it down to three levels, low, medium, and high, and you can see in Virginia right now, most of northern Virginia and the Tidewater / Eastern Shore area is actually moved into the low area, with most of the Southwest tail in the high area.”Charlottesville is also listed as high, so recommendations are to wear a mask indoors and stay updated on boosters, and to get tested if you have symptoms. “And I am really highly encouraging everyone If you have not gotten your booster to please do that,” Dr. Bonds said. “It’s really important to have that additional shot to have full immunity.” The community testing center at the Pantops Shopping Center will close on March 15, but Dr. Bonds said rapid tests can be picked up at the health department or at local pharmacies. The community vaccination center at Seminole Square Shopping Center will close on March 12. Visit the Blue Ridge Health District’s vaccine webpage to learn more about where you can get a shot or a booster. Council directs staff to plan for return to in-person and hybrid meetingsCouncil discussed a potential return to in-person meetings at the end of last night’s meeting. Dr. Bonds said she would like to see a hybrid-option for people to participate. (staff report)“Because it is still quite risky for some individuals who are immunocompromised, who can’t get vaccinated for whatever reason, or who have been vaccinated and are just not mounting a strong immune response, it’s really critical that those individuals still have they opportunity that they’ve had over the last two years with Zoom meetings to participate,” said Dr. Bonds. Dr. Bonds suggested that masks still be required for attendance, or to hold Council meetings in a larger space than the City Council Chambers. Council took about half an hour to discuss whether to extend a local ordinance to allow for the continuing operations of city government during the local declaration of emergency. That declaration expires on April 7 and Council will have to decide whether to renew. A continuity of government ordinance expires on March 18. “The reason it’s on your agenda tonight is because March 18 will happen before your second meeting in March,” said City Attorney Lisa Robertson. Robertson said staff wanted input on how to proceed with meetings. The continuity of government ordinance can still be in place even after the emergency declaration ends, allowing for electronic meetings to continue. One idea is for Council to convene and meet in person with people being able to view remotely. This would require creation of a safety plan and Robertson explained some of the questions that would need to be answered. “How that meeting would be managed in terms of COVID precautions, things like how many people would be in the room, would there be a mask requirement, how will compliance with the rules be monitored, what would the spacing be,” Robertson said. “All of those things that we haven’t really had the chance to nail down specifically.” Another issue is where boards and commissions would meet. Many of the meeting rooms in City Hall are too small to fit many people with spacing rules. That will also be factored into the safety plan. Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers said staff is examining what it will take to make City Council Chambers work under the safety plan. “And there are some estimates that we are waiting to get back so I would say that probably in the next two weeks we should have the information that we need with respect to that,” Rogers said. Rogers said CitySpace is being considered as another place for meetings to occur as are school auditoriums. Another item under consideration is how Councilors could participate remotely. Council adopted the motion unanimously to extend the continuity of government with the addition of the need for a safety plan. “I would like to see us open as much as we reasonably can with reasonable safety, and this is going to sound utterly lawyerly, but with also reasonable safeguards available to people who have different medical needs.”See also: Albemarle Supervisors briefed on eventual end of the local COVID emergency, March 4, 2022Councilors address Russia’s war against Ukraine The invasion of Ukraine continues this week and City Councilors touched upon the crisis at their meeting last night. “I’ve had many constituents reach out to me to see what we could do, a statement or something,” said Vice Mayor Juandiego Wade. “I think what we can do is if you are the type to pray, please pray. I think we’re doing as a nation what we can at this point I know it’s an ongoing crisis.”More than two million people have fled Ukraine to escape Russian bombardment according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Mayor Lloyd Snook said it is likely some of that number will come to this community in the near future.“Charlottesville is a place where a lot of refugees come,” Snook said. “We’ve got the International Rescue Committee and a lot of other folks who know that Charlottesville is hospitable to refugees and immigrants and when the opportunity presents itself I know that Charlottesville and Charlottesvilians will be generous and welcoming.”Visit the IRC website at rescue.org to learn more about how you can contribute. I’ll have more from this City Council meeting in a future Charlottesville Community Engagement. Second shout-out goes to Mulch Madness! In today’s second subscriber-supported shout-out, are you ready for Mulch Madness? The Rivanna Solid Waste Authority has a free mulch giveaway beginning tomorrow through April 16. In between all the big games, the RSWA wants you to get your yard ready for spring. If you have a way to transport mulch, head on over to the Ivy Material Utilization Center between 7:30am and 4:00pm, Monday through Saturday, where you can pick up up to two tons free. Rivanna staff are available to help load, but ask that you bring a covering. Mulch is double ground and derived from vegetative materials brought to Ivy for disposal. That’s Mulch Madness at the Ivy Material Utilization Center. Visit rivanna.org to learn more!Chamber of Commerce explores the State of the Community: Charlottesville edition On February 18, the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce held its first ever State of the Community event with speakers from Albemarle County, Charlottesville, and the University of Virginia. Elizabeth Cromwell is the president and chief executive officer of the Chamber. “These institutional anchors are responsible economic development decisions that affect all of us in our businesses,” Cromwell said. Cromwell said the Chamber’s mission is to strengthen the business community, and the purpose of the event was to move forward on that pathway.“Our goal is to engage our business stakeholders with the institutions that have crucial oversight and the ability to leverage opportunities for regional economic prosperity,” Cromwell said. The event was also the first ever held in the auditorium at the new CODE building on the Downtown Mall. “It’s hard to believe that this space used to be an ice park just a few years ago,” said Chris Engel, the city’s director of economic development. “As an economic developer, I think about the built environment and changes to it and watching cities evolve and change all of the time. Going back a little further, this space was a parking lot in 1995. And then it served as a community ice park for more than 20 years. And then it has obviously transitioned again.”Engel said the city has changed a lot over the years as well, including a string of city managers in the past four years. Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers represented city leadership at the event. “I have been in local government and the private sector over my career for more than 30 years,” Rogers said. “I have had the fortune of working for some very complex organization which means that I have been in the midst of dealing with some very complex and challenging problems in the public sector.” Rogers said he enjoys being part of the solutions of helping organizations in conflict through strategic planning as well analyzing the values to see if they are oriented toward success. “I look at things that are not doing well and try to figure out how we can do this better for the people that we’re supposed to do it for,” Rogers said. “And in the public sector, that’s the citizens of the community that you serve.” Rogers said there has been instability in the city’s bureaucracy because of the turnover at the top position, and one of his first goals is to help reverse the trend. He acknowledges that morale has been low.“The other priority is working with the staff to return to boring government,” Rogers said. “I think that no-drama government that’s focused on bottom-line problem solving is one that can deliver effective services to the citizens of this community.” There are currently two deputy city managers in Charlottesville, and Ashley Marshall has been the deputy for Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion since last May. She comes from a family whose members have served in local government. “Local government has the opportunity [and] it has the honor of making someone’s day better,” Marshall said. “We have the chance to dig in to our communities and to really focus on their needs, what we can help, what we can provide, who we can lift because all boats rise together.” Sam Sanders has been the Deputy City Manager for Operations since last July after working for a community revitalization nonprofit in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He called himself a disruptor. “I disrupt the status quo,” Sanders said. “It is not my friend and I have made it a mission to do my best to help people see that we don’t just have to do it that way if that way doesn’t get us to where we want to go.” Sanders said he believes it is possible to help Charlottesville overcome its problems and that can be done by making sure the basics of government are functioning. “We need to pick up the trash, we need to make sure the water flows, we need to make sure the buses are running, that we get snow off the ground, and that the basics of the community environment are adhered to and that the parks are clean, available, and accessible,” Sanders said. Sanders said the city also needs to ensure that it can respond when major projects are underway at the University of Virginia. That will take process reform in the Neighborhood Development Services Department. “And I want to make sure that we also are doing the same level of collaborative work for the everyday citizen that is trying to come in and make something happen,” Sanders said. I’ll have more from the State of the Community Event in a future installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Watch the event on the Chamber’s website at cvillechamber.org. Timmons Group hired to build software for city’s planning departmentThis segment was updated on March 16, 2022 with new information on the procurement contract The city of Charlottesville has hired a civil engineering firm to build a new software platform to help speed up the development process. The Timmons Group will be paid $902,337.50 over five years for the work, according to material obtained from the city’s procurement office. The city issued a request for proposals (RFP) in November 2020 seeking a firm to provide a GIS-Centric, cloud-based Enterprise Land Management software system. “The City realizes that part of the modernization effort of becoming a “Smart City” includes strategically aligning People, Process and Technology in order to manage work more efficiently and effectively,” reads the RFP. The software will be used by the Department of Neighborhood Development Services to replace programs from 2008 that track the permitting process. The RFP states that the older software lacks provisions for automated workflows, which creates “bottlenecks in the comprehensive Development Process” with a reliance on paper. “The lack of citizen self-service capabilities through the current system limits the local development community’s ability to engage remotely with the City by applying for permits electronically,” the RFP continues. “The City expects NDS to achieve substantial gains in productivity, accuracy, mobility, and capacity to make data-driven decisions through the implementation of the ELM software.” The hope is to have the software functional and live by May 2023. I know this might be “inside baseball” but I am very excited about the prospect of being able to view land use applications remotely, as we can already do with Albemarle County’s Community Development Department. So, I will be tracking this with great enthusiasm! Support the program!Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
It’s the final day of February, but 2022 still has a long way to go. In fact, after today there is 83.8 percent left before it’s time to change the yearly calendar once more. Tomorrow may be heralded by a lion, so be on the listen-out for a roar. But for now, it’s time for another Charlottesville Community Engagement, and I’m your host, Sean Tubbs.This newsletter and podcast is free to sign up for, but your paid subscription ensures this one-person operation will continue well into the future! On today’s program: A new group called Friends of Cville Downtown launches by wrapping the Dewberry structure with a muralCity Council upholds a decision made by the Board of Architectural Review One Charlottesville tax relief deadline is approaching, and the city is looking for more people to serve on advisory panelsA University of Virginia epidemiologist weighs in on what’s next with COVID First shout-out goes to a Livable Cville eventIn today’s first subscriber supported shout-out, Livable Cville wants you to know about an online presentation coming up on Wednesday, March 16 at 5:30 p.m. "Can Zoning Create a More Affordable Charlottesville?" That’s the question to be explored by Dr. Jenny Schuetz of the Brookings Institute. She’s the author of Fixer-Upper: How to Repair America’s Broken Housing Systems. The event is free but you’ll have to register at EventBrite. Pandemic update to begin the weekToday the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day percent positivity is now at 7.3 percent, another indicator the Omicron surge is continuing to wane. The seven-day average for new cases is now at 1,621 with 764 new cases reported today. However, the death count from the Omicron variant continues to grow with a cumulative total of 18,771. Ten days ago, that number stood at 18,016 but the VDH always stresses that it takes a while for COVID deaths to be officially recorded. The Blue Ridge Health District now has a total of 419 deaths from COVID, and that number was at 386 ten day ago. There are 26 new cases in the BRHD today. What’s next? Dr. Costi Sifri is director of hospital epidemiology at the University of Virginia Health System. He said a majority of people in the Charlottesville area are either fully vaccinated or have had COVID. “I think in the near term we can and are expecting that we will see a continued diminution of cases going forward and I think that’s likely to occur not only over the next couple of weeks but perhaps and hopefully the next couple of months,” Dr. Sifri said. However, Dr. Sifri said COVID can be unpredictable and there are many parts of the world have low vaccination rates, allowing further mutations to occur. He said the current question is how long immunity through vaccination or previous infections will last.“Will there be future differences with the virus?” Dr. Sifri asked. “Does it evolve or change to overcome some of these protective immune responses that we’ve developed? And how robust or how prolonged are those immune responses?”Tomorrow is also the day that a new law goes into effect allowing parents to opt out of school mask mandates. This morning the UVA Health System announced that the drop in case counts will result in additional visitation at the UVA Medical System. To see the details of what has changed, visit the UVA Health System.Tax relief deadline is tomorrow Tomorrow is the last day for elderly and disabled property owners in Charlottesville to apply for tax relief. “If you own and are living in your home in the city of Charlottesville, if you are over 65 years of age, or are permanently disabled, and if you have a yearly household income of $55,000 or less, and a net worth of $125,000 or less excluding the value of the home, you may qualify for tax relief under this program,” said City Councilor Sena Magill. Visit the Commissioner of Revenue’s website for more information and to find the application. Residential property is up 11.69 percent in 2022. In addition, Council has advertised an increase of ten cents on the property tax rate. City Council will be presented with the budget on March 7. Want to be on a Charlottesville board or commission?With spring here perhaps you’re looking for a fresh hobby. Why not consider being on a Charlottesville Board of Commission? There are several vacancies and Council is taking applications through March 12. Charlottesville Economic Development Authority - one openingCitizens Transportation Advisory Committee - two openingsCommunity Policy and Management Team - two openingsHistoric Resources Committee - four openingsHousing Advisory Committee - one vacancy (specifically for a member of a neighborhood association)Measurements and Solutions Group - eight openingsPersonnel Appeals Board - one opening (for a non-city employee) Region Ten Community Services Board - one openingSocial Services Advisory Board - two openingsTree Commission - four openingsVendor Appeals Board - one openingYouth Council You can apply here. Council will next make appointments on March 21. Council upholds BAR approval at 605 Preston Place The Board of Architectural Review approved what’s called a “certificate of appropriateness” to allow for an apartment complex to be built in the side yard of a 19th century structure. Council was asked to hear the appeal from neighbors who argue the city’s architectural design control (ADC) rules were not followed. At the beginning of the appeal, city historic preservation planner Jeff Werner described the project.“The project is a proposed three-story apartment building,” Werner said. “It’s located on a parcel at 605 Preston Place. The property is within the Rugby-Road-University Circle-Venable ADC district. Also on this property is Wyndhurst which is a home constructed in 1857 and it was formerly the manor house for a 102-acre farm.” The appellants sent in a 19-point letter to make their arguments. Point number two argued that the footprint and massing of the new building would not be not in harmony with the district. Werner disagreed.“To be clear, the design guidelines are intended to be flexible and flexible enough to both respect historic properties and to embrace future new design,” Werner said. Werner recommended the Council uphold the BAR’s determination. Larry Getty represented the appellants. “We actually feel the Board of Architectural Review did not really explain their decisions as to why the number of elements that Jeff Werner discussed actually do satisfy the guidelines,” Getty said. “It is totally out of place with the buildings that are on three sides of the site.” Breck Gastinger is the chair of the BAR and before he spoke he told Council a little about what the panel does. “We are made up of nine citizens of Charlottesville,” Gastinger said. “All of us are volunteers and we are appointed by City Council. We work on your behalf for the city. We’re made up of design professionals, business owners, residents of properties within historic districts.”Gastinger said BAR members must follow the guidelines as they make their determinations. He said the city’s architectural story is always changing. “Our guidelines for the BAR do not mandate particular styles of architecture or prevent new buildings from being added within historic districts,” Gastinger said. “As Charlottesville continues to grow and evolve as a city, we want to make sure it’s going to be done in a compatible way.”Gastinger said the BAR helped inform the project through multiple hearings and their approval was a unanimous 8-0 vote. Mayor Lloyd Snook said he sided with the BAR.“I was struck by the fact that some architects for whom I have a great deal respect were looking at it quite critically and praising what was being done and I would have to say that if those architects are saying good things about it, that’s a very strong recommendation for me,” Snook said. The vote to uphold the BAR was unanimous. Patreon-fueled shout-out to LEAPWhen you think of romance, you might not immediately think of energy efficiency - but the folks at LEAP think keeping your family comfortable at home is a great way to show you care during the month of love. Your local energy nonprofit wants to make sure you are getting the most out of your home all year round, and LEAP offers FREE home weatherization to income- and age-qualifying residents. If someone in your household is age 60 or older, or you have an annual household income of less than $74,950, you may qualify for a free energy assessment and home energy improvements such as insulation and air sealing. Sign up today to lower your energy bills, increase comfort, and reduce energy waste at home!Friends of Cville Downtown launches with unveiling of mural on Dewberry building It was a warm morning for this last day of February and several dozen people gathered in Central Place outside the Dewberry Hotel, an unfinished structure for which construction stopped over 13 years ago when the previous owner ran out of money. A group called Friends of Cville Downtown has raised funds to wrap the skeleton of the unfinished hotel with artwork. The official reveal was a chance to also launch the organization. Board member Michael Caplin called a “placemaking partnership” to increase economic development downtown in an inclusive manner. “Friends of Cville Downtown is raising private money to fund the costs of a campaign for Main, an array of projects that can invigorate the downtown environment with lights, art, paintings, seating, events, banners, sanitation, safety add-ons, and a rich array of events with something for everybody,” Caplin said. “We will accomplish this by working together with one another and with city government in the spirit of goodwill and common purpose.”The first project is the Music Box on Main, which is the name for the temporary installation by the artist Eric Waugh which covers all nine stories of the unfinished Dewberry. “Eric’s paintings, Jazzmaker 1 and Jazzmaker 2, were enlarged and printed on a 13-foot-wide vinyl mesh banner wrap,” Caplin said. “Ten giant rolls of wrap were carried to the roof.”Crews rappelled from the top affixed the wrap to the building, and the goal is to cover up the skeleton for at least the next year. Caplin said the work has been done in conjunction with the Dewberry Group, who even donated $10,000 to the project. “I hope you will say to yourself, ‘what wonderful thing shall we do next, and how shall we get it done together?’” Caplin said. Mayor Lloyd Snook said he welcomed the effort. “We lost sight of the fact that so many of the businesses on the Downtown Mall are operating on very thin margins and the last few years have been very tough for them,” Snook said. “To have people who have the ability to step up to make significant contributions to be able to do the kinds of things the Friends of Cville Downtown are talking about doing is really exciting. It’s exciting for the city government to know that there are going to be people out there who are able to help and willing to help.”Ludwig Kuttner is the vice chair of the Friends of Cville Downtown board. He said he wanted to take action to cover up visual blight and to restore what he described as “positive energy” to the mall.“I think people have complained about it now for over 12 yeers, and it’s ugly and there have been complaints and we just decided let’s do something about it,” Kuttner said. Caplin came up with the idea for the wrap, which includes a wrap on 2nd Street SE. He saw the black façade of the old Boxer Learning building as being like the black keys of a piano.“So I envisioned the windows white and then a swirly jazz thing at the top and I had a friend of mine photoshop it for me to see what it would like when it was done and we sent that image to the Dewberrys and said ‘would you give us permission to do this to your building?’ and Jaimie Dewberry called up and said ‘this is genius, go right ahead!’” As for the future of the Dewberry, Caplin said he was not privy to any information but that they had full permission to apply the temporary measure. “It’s now a positive element of our skyline instead of a ‘what’s happening’ element of our skyline,” Caplin said. Stay tuned for more information as it develops. What do you think? Leave a note in the comments. Support the program!Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
With each passing day, there’s a little more light at the beginning and end of the period in which the sun illuminates our portion of the world. There are 36 days until the time when light and dark is more or less equal. What will happen between now and then? Charlottesville Community Engagement aims to tell you as much as possible. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs. It’s free to sign up and get all of the content! On today’s program:Legislation to make mask mandates meaningless in schools is poised to pass the Virginia General AssemblyAlbemarle County is briefed on the potential threat of the Spotted LanternflyCharlottesville City Council is briefed on how floodplains are classified, and then votes to approve a rezoning on Nassau Street to allow more residential density And Charlottesville Economic Development continues tracking retail vacancies across the city Shout-out to Camp AlbemarleToday’s first subscriber-supported public service announcement goes out to Camp Albemarle, which has for sixty years been a “wholesome rural, rustic and restful site for youth activities, church groups, civic events and occasional private programs.”Located on 14 acres on the banks of the Moorman’s River near Free Union, Camp Albemarle continues as a legacy of being a Civilian Conservation Corps project that sought to promote the importance of rural activities. Camp Albemarle seeks support for a plan to winterize the Hamner Lodge, a structure built in 1941 by the CCC and used by every 4th and 5th grade student in Charlottesville and Albemarle for the study of ecology for over 20 years. If this campaign is successful, Camp Albemarle could operate year-round. Consider your support by visiting http://campalbemarleva.org/donate.Pandemic update As the weekend begins, the waning continues. Yesterday the Virginia Department of Health reported a percent positivity of 13.7 percent, down from 23.2 percent eight days earlier. On January 11, that figure was 36 percent. “We are now in a period of time where we are seeing the highest cases of COVID beginning to come down,” said Dr. Kyle Enfield of the University of Virginia Health System. “And these are the highest cases we’ve ever seen, including among our children. And unfortunately some of these children have had long term outcomes that have been related to COVID as well as deaths.” In Virginia, there have been eight deaths in people under the age of 10, and 10 deaths of people under the age of 20. There have been 131,327 reported COVID cases in people under the age of 10, and 204,234 under the age of 20. “And we do know that masking and vaccines have been our best defense at preventing more spread of COVID during all of the pandemic,” Dr. Enfield said. This week, the Virginia Senate passed a bill on a 21-17 vote that would prohibit localities from requiring students to wear a mask in school. The same bill (SB739) was reported out of the House Education Committee on Friday on a 12 to 10 vote. Here’s what it says:“The parent of any child enrolled in a public elementary or secondary school, or in any school-based early childhood care and education program, may elect for such child to not wear a mask while on school property,” reads the bill.Dr. Enfield said that may be premature from a public health perspective. “While I’m very hopeful for a future where we can stop wearing masks as part of our daily lives, I don’t think the time is there yet,” Dr. Enfield said.People who are not vaccinated contract COVID at a rate 4.6 percent more than those who have had their shots, according to the latest data from the Virginia Department of Health. Partially vaccinated people contract at a rate two times higher. Those trends show up close to home, too. “The most salient thing I think people should take away is that the people that we see in the [intensive care unit] right now, which is about a third of our cases, only one of them was vaccinated and boosted and that person is immunocompromised,” Dr. Enfield said. “I think that speaks to the importance of vaccinations ongoing in preventing serious illness.”Visit the Blue Ridge Health District’s website for information about getting vaccinated.Charlottesville vacancy studyThe city of Charlottesville has completed its latest analysis of commercial property and has found a vacancy rate of 5.23 percent. That’s up slightly from July when the last report from the Charlottesville Office of Economic Development was compiled. “The retail property in the City of Charlottesville is showing slight signs of rebounding from the negative impacts felt since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, “ reads the report. Barracks Road Shopping Center has a vacancy rate of 9.3 percent and the Downtown Mall has increased to 3.7 percent since July. The Corner is at 3.28 percent, Seminole Square is at 12.96 percent. Both Preston Plaza and McIntire Place are both full. The peak vacancy of 9 percent on the Downtown Mall was recorded in July 2009 and January 2010 at the height of the last recession. Notable vacancies include the spaces that formerly housed Bashir’s Taverna and Fellini’s. Since the last study last summer, new stores on the way include a new location for Bebedero in the former Downtown Grille space. A restaurant called Botanical Fare will occupy the former Java Java space. Read the report for more details. Nassau Street rezoning yields four additional unitsCharlottesville City Council has taken action on a rezoning on the eastern edge of Belmont, six weeks after asking for more information. The previous Council had held a public hearing for a request to increase the zoning from R2 to R3 on property that some claimed was unsafe for development. They wanted more information about the property’s relationship with the floodplain. (See also: Council seeks floodplain info before Nassau Street rezoning, December 22, 2021)On February 7, City Engineer Jack Dawson prepared a briefing for the five elected officials, including two members who just joined. “There was a fair bit of community members who expressed concern over the flood risk associated with the rezoning including some varying information about floodplain mapping and some other resources about water surface elevation for the one percent annual exceedance event,” Dawson said. One percent annual exceedance is another way of saying 100-year flood, a term that can be somewhat misleading because such heavy volumes do in fact happen more frequently. Properties that are prone to flooding can still receive insurance through a program monitored by the Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA] “The city agreed to partner with FEMA as floodplain managers when we signed on to the National Flood Insurance Program,” Dawson said. “City property owners get access to insurance through the NFIP exchange and in return we agreed to create a floodplain development ordinance with a series of minimum standards.” The property on Nassau Street is within the one percent exceedance zone, colored light blue on the city’s GIS viewer. That’s different from the floodway which is marked with red and blue stripes. FEMA officials determine where those boundaries lie and make periodic reviews, but property owners can appeal based on evidence. This is a process known as the Letter of Map Revision, or LOMR. “The city is the gatekeeper for determining LOMR validity,” Dawson said. “A LOMR should improve or correct the existing model or improved methods. It’s our job in engineering as the floodplain administrators to make sure it is technically sound.” An application for this property was made to FEMA in October 2014 and sent it on for the city for their comments. However, Dawson said in this case, the technical comments from engineering were not captured in the revision. “The 2017 LOMR. whether or not engineering agreed with it at the time, is the model that informs the flood plain,” Dawson said. He also said that engineering doesn’t usually get involved during a rezoning. “But when a site plan is submitted, we look to make sure it meets all codes and they can be in the flood plain as long as they’re built one foot above the flood elevation,” Dawson said. Dawson said there is a risk in building in the floodplain, and many have done so. There are 266 lots that have structures are in the floodplain. “It’s a high risk area,” Dawson said. “Living there, there’s some implicit risk with that and more people living in the flood plain means there’s more risk taken on as a city.” Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook said he had had concerns about the process after they were brought up. But, he said he arrived at a conclusion after many conversations. “The decision that we are being asked by some folks to make here is not a proper decision for us to make at the rezoning phase,” Snook said. “That does not mean that that if we grant the rezoning that it’s necessarily going to pass the site plan review.” Developer Nicole Scro said that by-right, they would build three duplexes on the property. The rezoning would allow more units to be built, which would bring down the cost of each to the people who will live there. “The composition of the units is smaller units and we’re doing that to save on construction costs so we can hit lower rents,” Scro said. “That’s the purpose of this rezoning.” Scro said she understood the concerns, but said she felt confident about the flood risk. The structures will be built at 327 feet above sea level. “And then we’re going to have three feet of crawl-space and another foot of subflooring so the finished floor elevation will be at 331 approximately,” Scro said. Council voted 5-0 to agree to the rezoning.This isn’t the end of the story with flood modeling. Charlottesville is beginning to develop a new flood model for the Moores Creek watershed to better understand hydrological processes. This is being paid for by the state government with proceeds from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. See also: Charlottesville awarded $153K for flood study from RGGI funds, October 6, 2021Shout-out for an upcoming talk on birdsIn today’s subscriber-fueled shout-out, if you’re interested in learning more about the birds around us, the National Sporting Library and Museum has a virtual event for you coming up on February 24. Jennifer Ackerman, the author of the Genius of Birds, will explore the brilliance of birds and delve into the mysteries of the avian brain. Ackerman as she shares her global adventures into the genius of birds. Learn how birds make and use tools, teach each other skills, count, navigate, create art, perform astonishing feats of memory, communicate, and even pass along cultural traditions. The author will be joined by two top officials from the Wildlife Center of Virginia, an organization that has helped nearly 90,000 wild animals from every corner of Virginia. Center President Ed Clark and Senior Vice President Amanda Nicholson will bring along Ambassador Animals. The program is free and available via Zoom or Facebook like. Drop a line to info@nationalsporting.org for a link, or visit the National Sporting Library and Museum on Facebook. Albemarle briefed on spotted lanternfly As program manager for Plant Industry Services at the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, David Gianino leads the state’s efforts to fight threats to native plants that could harm whole industries if left unchecked. “And we have many different pest programs where we work with invasive species to mitigate either their spread or their impact here in Virginia, and in 2021 unfortunately Spotted Lanternfly has made its way to Albemarle County,” Gianino said. That was in July 2021 when a plant inspector found multiple life-stages along the Rivanna River near a railroad. Gianino told the Albemarle Board of Supervisors on February 2 that the Spotted Lanternfly can severely damage apples and grapes. “It is a piercing, sucking, mouth-part insect and it sucks phloem and sap from the stems of these trees which can negatively impact yield and can impact the quality of a fruit that relies on lots of sugar content,” Gianino said. “They swarm and feed very intensely in the fall and that can also impact how nice the grapes are, how good a wine it makes.” The spread of Spotted Lanternfly is due to it being a hitchhiking bug that jumps onto modes of transportation. Originally from China, the bug arrived in Pennsylvania in 2014. “It doesn’t traditionally fly but it will glide and it jumps on to cars, trucks, gravel, buses, anything that moves it will jump onto and that’s the primary way it gets around,’ Gianino said. Gianino said the swarms can also affect other property owners because it is unpleasant to be around. He said if not addressed, this can affect agribusiness and especially agritourism. “The sheer number of insects that pest can create in an environment is astounding,” Gianino said. The spread of the spotted lanternfly is compounded by another invasive species known either as alanthus or Tree of Heaven. So far, populations in Albemarle County are not as high as they are in the Winchester area, where a quarantine was established in 2019 and expanded to Clark and Warren counties last summer.“The quarantine requires business owners to obtain a permit and inspect all materials that are stored outside as well as trucks, trailers and vehicles that travel outside of the quarantine area,” reads a site set up to provide information for Winchester area residents. “I believe we have opportunities here to prevent this from happening [in Albemarle] because we do now have better tools,” Gianino said. Gianino said the site in Albemarle was treated with pesticides. Trees were injected with substances to prevent further infestation. “We’ve placed traps, we’ve scraped egg masses, and we plan to do a thorough survey there next year and continue treatment to try and mitigate this population,” Gianino said. There are no natural predators here and Gianino said they do not taste very good to other species. Gianino said early detection is key to addressing any invasive species and people who make a sighting are asked to report it to local extension offices so the extent of the spread is known across the Commonwealth. They also want people to seek out resources:Best Management Practices for Spotted Lanternfly in Yards and Landscapes Homeowner Tips and Inspection Checksheet More on the Plant Industry Services page for more resourcesAlso, kill it. “We tell people to stomp, scrape, squish the spotted lanternfly and then report it,” Gianino said. More on this as we move toward spring. Support the program!Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
Let’s begin today with two Patreon-fueled shout-outs. One person wants you to know "We keep each other safe. Get vaccinated, wear a mask, wash your hands, and keep your distance."And in another one, one Patreon supporter wants you to go out and read a local news story written by a local journalist. Whether it be the Daily Progress, Charlottesville Tomorrow, C-Ville Weekly, NBC29, CBS19, WINA, or some other place I’ve not mentioned - the community depends on a network of people writing about the community. Go learn about this place today!On today’s show:COVID update from Dr. Denise Bonds of the Blue Ridge Health District Charlottesville Council indicates support for Charlottesville Food Equity Initiative, but funding decisions will come in the months to come A quick look at commercial office space in the Charlottesville areaCharlottesville’s public housing agency is owed $52,000 in unpaid rent Two million for affordable housing projectsThe Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission is seeking applications from private, public, and nonprofit developers for projects to increase affordable housing stock throughout the region. The TJPDC received $2 million from the entity formerly known as the Virginia Housing Development Authority for the purpose of building actual units. The first step is for applicants to submit a proof of concept. “This proof of concept will be issued to collect key details about the proposed project, including number of proposed units to be constructed, partner development experience, and location of development,” reads the release. “The requested proof of concept will serve as a precursor to a more detailed formal project application.”The funding is part of a $40 million statewide initiative. Proposals are due on November 29 at 5 p.m. Visit the TJPDC’s website to learn more about the application.Sixth Street site planTomorrow, the city of Charlottesville will hold a site plan conference for the next public housing project to be redeveloped by the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. Plans for 39-units at Sixth Street will be reviewed. The CRHA Board of Commissioners’ got an update on this topic at their meeting on October 25. Brandon Collins is now the redevelopment coordinator for CRHA. (read his report )“Resident-led planning continues and to update you all in case you don’t know, the plan is in the space along Monticello Avenue where the garden currently is we’re going to knock down six apartments on the end of the garden to get a little extra room and build an apartment building,” Collins said.Collins' redevelopment report for October states that a three-story building had been originally, but architects suggested a fourth story would make the project more competitive for Low Income Housing Tax Credits.“Residents seem to be generally in favor of that,” Collins said. “There’s a lot of process questions that we’re all going to work through to get a decision on that.”The site plan conference begins at 10 a.m. on Wednesday. (meeting info)Former Planning Commissioner Lisa Green resigned from the CRHA Board of Commissioners on October 5. No reason was given but Green had been on the Redevelopment Committee. Council is seeking applications to fill the vacancy as well as other open positions on boards and commissions. Take a look at the list on the Charlottesville City Hall website. At the CRHA meeting, Executive Director John Sales reported that some tenants owe tens of thousands in back rent. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development currently considers CRHA a “troubled” agency which requires additional scrutiny from the federal agency including increase inspections. “A big item that we should always discuss is the delinquency account for tenants,” Sales said. “We’re currently at $52,000. That is probably our biggest concern in terms of exiting out of troubled status. The $52,000 represents about a hundred tenants.”Sales said that represents about a third of public housing residents. He said there is a CRHA staff member working on rental assistance to help cover the back log and to find out what barriers are in place to paying the rent. Office space check-inThe Charlottesville office market had a vacancy rate of 4.9 percent in the second quarter of this year according to an analysis from Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer. That’s less than the same period in 2020, but below the forecasted amount. The report states that office space remains high in demand. “Absorbency in the market was down for the quarter but that is more a reflection of large new deliveries than lack of demand and remains net positive for the past 12 months,” reads the report. “In fact, 87 percent of the nearly 380,000 square feet of office space under construction is already pre-leased and since Q1 2020 there has been more space delivered than in prior decades.” The report states that rents continue to rise. The current average is $27.52 per square foot, a 55 percent increase over the 2015 average. Pinkston’s bountyElection results will come tomorrow. One final piece of information before the votes are tallied. Brian Pinkston’s campaign for one of two seats on City Council received a last-minute contribution of $3,000 on Monday from the Democratic Party of Charlottesville.COVID updateThe number of new COVID cases reported each day continues to decline. “If you look at the trend over the past couple of weeks here, a month or so, it’s really been on a downward trajectory indicating that we may be past the worst with regards to the Delta virus,” Bonds said.Today the Virginia Department of Health reports another 1,245 new cases today, and the Blue Ridge Health District reports 41 new cases. There have been 12 deaths reported in the district since October 25. Since Dr. Bonds last addressed Council, booster shots are now available for all of the three major vaccines. The Moderna booster is available for those over the age of 65 or those with some underlying condition or situation. “If you got [Johnson and Johnson] as your first one, it’s a little different,” Bonds said. “Anyone who got J&J as their first vaccine for COVID is eligible as long as you’re over the age of 18.”Bonds said anyone who got the J&J vaccine can also opt to switch to the Moderna or Pfizer as a booster. “Really the best person to talk to about this would be your physician,” Bonds said. “There are some reasons to think that mixing and matching may be beneficial. You get higher antibody levels with the rMNA boosters but there’s some evidence that if you get J&J it activates more of a different part of your system called T-cells.”Vaccines are available at the Community Vaccination Center at the former Big Lots in Seminole Square Shopping Center. Visit the Blue Ridge Health District website to learn more. Dr. Bonds said the district will have a limited quantity of Pfizer doses for children between 5 and 11 when they are available next week.“It’s going to one third of the amount that anyone 12 and over gets,” Dr. Bond said. Because there is a limited amount, the District is prioritizing shots for the most vulnerable children, working with school districts and pediatricians to identify those people and schedule shots. “There will be a small amount of vaccine that is available at our Community Vaccination Center,” Dr. Bonds said. “It is by appointment only and those vaccines.gov should be out and available by Friday of this week we believe.” In all, the District will get an initial distribution of 6,300 doses. You’re reading Charlottesville Community Engagement. In today’s second Patreon-fueled shout-out, Code for Charlottesville is seeking volunteers with tech, data, design, and research skills to work on community service projects. Founded in September 2019, Code for Charlottesville has worked on projects with the Legal Aid Justice Center, the Charlottesville Fire Department, and the Charlottesville Office of Human Rights. Visit codeforcville.org to learn about those projects. Dr. Denise Bonds spoke at the City Council meeting last night. The meeting was overseen by the two deputy city managers in the wake of the resignation of former City Manager Chip Boyles on October 12. That meant it was up to Sam Sanders to provide responses from previous comments for the public. Who maintains the mall side streets?“The first item was in regards to side street maintenance near the Downtown Mall and I did check in with staff in regards to who is responsible for maintaining those side streets and that is a function of Parks and Recreation,” Sanders said. “They have been short-staffed and struggling to keep up with everything that needs to be done is what I am hearing at this moment.”The second item dealt with a request to install a four-way stop on Rose Hill Drive at Burley Middle School, which is owned and operated by Albemarle County Public Schools.“There is a speed study underway and its in relation to the configuration that’s being proposed for Walker Upper Elementary, “ Sanders said. “Even though it is not the same impact area, they will be able to take a look at what is happening on Rose Hill Drive.”Sanders said the last study of the area around Burley dates back to 2004 and some traffic calming efforts were installed in the second half of the decade. He referred people interested in the topic to the city’s Traffic Calming Handbook as well as the petition to begin the process. Food Equity discussionThe main item last night was a report on Charlottesville’s Food Equity Initiative. The nonprofit group Cultivate Charlottesville has been the recipient of city funding for the past three years and seek additional money for years to come. They also want two percent of the meals tax to go a new Food Equity Fund.“We believe that food is a human right and we operate from that perspective that everyone, all Charlottesville residents, deserve access to fresh produce and high quality food,” said co-executive director Richard Morris.Morris said food equity is an outcome where all residents have access to food that meets nutritional and cultural needs. Earlier this year, Council was presented with a Food Equity Initiative Policy Platform which seeks to serve as a strategic plan to fund a variety of initiatives, and they’ve sought support for funding through an online petition. Much of this work is also finding its way into the draft Comprehensive Plan which Council will consider on November 15. One challenge is that the Urban Agricultural Collective has lost or soon will lose control of land it has used for community gardens. Land at the public housing site at Sixth Street SW is slated to be used for redevelopment. “The overall budget for the Food Justice Network has been about $400,000, $155,000 of what was the Food Equity Initiative contributed,” said co-director Jeanette Abi-Nader. “And you’ll note that the majority of the budget goes toward staffing.” The group is seeking a multiple year commitment, despite the fact that elected bodies in Virginia cannot appropriate money beyond the next fiscal year. The request comes outside of the budget cycle, as well as the Vibrant Communities process through which nonprofits apply for funding. That process used to be conducted jointly with Albemarle County. Mayor Nikuyah Walker praised the report submitted with the funding request, but had concerns. “If we are adding this as a three-year item, that the way other nonprofits have to compete for funding, I have some reservations there,” Walker said. Abi-Nader said Cultivate Charlottesville did not apply for Vibrant Community funds in the past two years because they had been funded by Council outside of that process. She explained how she thinks the current request is different. “We see the Vibrant Communities funds as really about programs that impact the community, like direct support programs and engagement, and this program is seen as a support for a function of city government,” Abi-Nader said. Walker noticed there have been several groups funded outside of the budget cycle and the Vibrant Community fund, such as the B.U.C.K. Squad and Peace and Streets.“I think our whole process needs to be reviewed and if there is a list of community partnerships that are doing the work the city thinks is essential that can’t be done without that partnership, then that needs to be a separate list from the Vibrant Communities but the way things are set up now, I don’t think it’s a fair process,” Walker said. Councilor Lloyd Snook appeared to agree that the resolution as presented was not appropriate. “Franky it appears to me to be an attempt to circumvent the budget process,” Snook said. Misty Graves, the interim director of the city’s Human Services Department, said the resolution came up because the initiative was a creature of City Council. “So I think that’s why it’s coming to back to City Council for whether or not it is a renewed commitment and if this is still a priority of City Council,” Graves said. Next year will be the fourth year of the initiative. The $155,000 will be built into the general fund budget that will be introduced by whoever will be City Manager early next March. The vote was 3 to 2 with Walker and Snook voting against and the resolution does not guarantee funding for FY23. The other request was for two percent of the meals tax proceeds to go to a Food Equity Fund. In Fiscal Year 2020, the city collected $12.6 million from the meals tax, which would have generated just over $250,000 for this purpose. (Charlottesville’s 2020 annual report) Abi-Nader said this fund would cover infrastructure to support food equity goals.“And by infrastructure, I mean that informally, not like literally always physical things, but infrastructure support for our city to move from a foodie city to a food equity city as an overall goal,” Abi-Nader said. “There are things that go beyond what an individual nonprofit can do.” One idea is a cooperative grocery store to be located near subsidized housing. Another is to build a new community garden in a section of Washington Park.“There’s space there to sight a quarter-acre park,” Morris said. “We’re talking about 10,000 square feet which from a growing perspective that’s a space that can grow a lot of food.”Councilors did not commit to the idea at this point in the budget cycle, but there was general support for the initiative. “For the record, I really support this group,” said Vice Mayor Sena Magill. “What they are doing is amazing work and it’s greatly needed work. I know I’ve been learning from them for the last three years now.” Another issue worth continuing to track into the future. Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP? The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
Time for a new Patreon-fueled shout-out:Charlottesville 350 is the local chapter of a national organization that seeks to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Charlottesville 350 uses online campaigns, grassroots organizing, and mass public actions to oppose new coal, oil and gas projects, and build 100% clean energy solutions that work for all. To learn more about their most active campaigns, including a petition drive to the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank, visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/cville350On today’s show:The Charlottesville City Council and the Planning Commission spend two hours asking questions about the Comprehensive Plan in advance of tonight’s public hearingAlbemarle’s Board of Supervisors gets an update on transportation projectsA new tenant signs on for a new office building in downtown CharlottesvilleThe summer and September COVID surge in Virginia continues to wane, but community spread continues. The seven-day percent positive rate has dropped to 7.8 percent and the seven-day average is 2,443. In the Blue Ridge Health District, there are 205 new cases reported and the percent positive rate is 5.8 percent. There have been eight more fatalities reported since October 4. The Blue Ridge Health District will have a town hall on October 13 and one of the topics will be vaccination in pregnant people. Register in advance. Today is the last day to register to vote in the November 2 election, which is three weeks from today. Local registrars will take in-person registrations through 5 p.m. Registrations submitted via mail must be postmarked with today’s date in order to be accepted. You can also register online up until 11:59 p.m. You will need an ID issued by the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles in order to register in that fashion. (Department of Elections online portal)The last day to request a mail-in ballot is October 22. The last day to vote early in-person is October 30. Charlottesville’s Office of Voter Registration will have additional hours on October 23 and October 30. There are several makeshift memorials to people who died in crashes on 5th Street Extended in Charlottesville. Yesterday, a city-sanctioned memorial to Quintus Brooks was unveiled with a family ceremony. Brooks died on October 1, 2020 and yesterday would have been his birthday. “A new application process is being launched for roadside memorials at the site of deaths resulting from automobile, bicycle or pedestrian accidents that occur on public streets within the City of Charlottesville,” said city Communications Director Brian Wheeler in an email announcing the event. Charlottesville has hired a Nevada firm to provide pest control services in two prominent locations. In September, the city sent out a request for proposals for a firm to provide pest suppression for the 135,000 square feet of the Downtown Mall and the 30,000 square feet of the Corner. “The Contractor will be responsible to provide a program to control rodents such as, but not limited to, rats, mice, squirrels, snakes, all insects (roaches, flies, bees, ants – including fire ants, cockroaches, moths, crickets, silverfish, all spiders, termites),” reads the proposal.Pestmaster Services has been awarded the contract. These areas include outdoor dining spaces, including locations where tables are set up near tree wells. Another tenant has been announced for the new 3-Twenty-3 building in downtown Charlottesville. General Atomics Commonwealth Computer Research will lease just under 50,000 square feet in the building.“With projects ranging from optimizing the world’s largest container port to predicting future asymmetric warfare events, CCRi has no shortage of experience in diverse client expectations,” reads a description of the company on their website. The 3-Twenty-3 building is being developed by Insite Properties and marketed by Cushman & Wakefield | Thalhimer. A press release describes the building as a five-story office building on top of a four-story, 200 space parking garage. There’s about 27,000 square feet left to be leased in the 120,000 square foot structure, according to leasing agent John Pritzlaff. McGuireWoods and Manchester Capital are already in their spaces, and Williams Mullen is starting building out now. Tonight, the seven-member Charlottesville Planning Commission and the five-member Charlottesville City Council will hold a public hearing on the Comprehensive Plan, the second task performed by Rhodeside & Harwell as part of the Cville Plans Together initiative. That includes a Future Land Use Map which increases residential density across most of the city. Yesterday, the elected body and the appointed body spent two hours asking questions about the plan. Councilor Lloyd Snook went first. “A common criticism which I personally believe to be based on ignorance… is that the Future Land Use Map and the suggestions of higher density have not taken into account either… the effect of the University of Virginia, the effect of the student population, and the distorting effect on the poverty data for the student population,” Snook said. Jennifer Koch with Rhodeside & Harwell said her team began their work based of a housing needs assessment conducted in 2018 by the Form-Based Code Institute and Partners for Economic Solutions. (download)“There was a fairly robust discussion in that document about how students may or may not play into various impacts on affordability in the city,” Koch said. “The other way we are looking to include considerations for students in this plan is in looking at potential intensity near UVA, for example Jefferson Park Avenue, Fontaine Avenue area. We’ve included additional intensity in those areas and we’ve included a discussion of potential intensity in those areas as we move through zoning.”The first step in the Cville Plans Together initiative was adoption of an affordable housing plan. The next step after adoption of the Comprehensive Plan will be a rewrite of the zoning code. The University of Virginia is working on an initiative to identify space on land it or its real estate foundation owns to build up to 1,500 below-market units. In September, a top official at UVA told the Central Virginia Regional Housing Partnership that the work is slightly behind schedule. (UVA housing initiative website)Other topics at the two-hour meeting included assumptions about population growth and the links between increased density and affordability requirements. Watch the whole thing in advance of tonight’s hearing, which begins at 6 p.m. (watch)And time for another Patreon-fueled shout-out:Fall is here, and with it, more moderate temperatures. While your HVAC takes a break, now is the perfect time to prepare for the cooler months. Your local energy nonprofit, LEAP, wants you and yours to keep comfortable all year round! LEAP offers FREE home weatherization to income- and age-qualifying residents, so, if you’re age 60 or older, or have an annual household income of less than $74,950, you may qualify for a free energy assessment and home energy improvements such as insulation and air sealing. Sign up today to lower your energy bills, increase comfort, and reduce energy waste at home!At their meeting Wednesday afternoon, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors will get an update on the Rio Corridor Study, an effort to reshape the public realm along Rio Road on stretches of the roadway in Albemarle’s Places29-Rio growth area. Opponents of recent rezoning applications in the area cited transportation concerns for why the Board of Supervisors should vote against more intense residential density. But last week, they got an update on other transportation projects from Kevin McDermott, a planning manager in Albemarle. Though the applications aren’t due until next summer, work is underway for the next round of Smart Scale projects. (Albemarle transportation report)Right now the top candidates that the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization might submit are: A roundabout at District Avenue and Hydraulic Road Avon Street Corridor Bicycle and Pedestrian Improvements between Druid Avenue and Avon Street park and ride5th Street Extended multimodal improvements between the future (and funded) 5th Street Trail Hub to Harris RoadRivanna River Bike and Pedestrian bridge from South Pantops Boulevard to the Woolen Mills area Right now the possible candidates Albemarle County might submit in the 5th Smart Scale round are: Avon Street Extended multimodal improvements from Mill Creek to Peregory Lane 5th Street Extended bicycle and pedestrian improvements between Albemarle Business Campus and the Southwood community U.S. 250 corridor improvements between Peter Jefferson Place and Hansen Road U.S. 250 / Route 22 / Milton Drive intersection improvements Belvedere Boulevard / Rio Road improvements Hillsdale Drive extension and realignment from Mall Drive to Rio Road U.S. 250 West interchange with U.S. 29 / 250 bypassU.S. 250 West and Crozet Avenue intersection improvements Albemarle has recently turned in an application for VDOT Revenue-Sharing Funds for Eastern Avenue South, a project that has been in Crozet Master Plan since it was adopted. “That goes from the Westhall area, across Lickinghole Creek, to Cory Farms, and connects to U.S. 250,” McDermott said. In most cases, it takes several years for transportation projects to go from project approval to construction. A project to upgrade the intersection of U.S. 250 and Virginia Route 20 at Pantops was funded in 2018. “They are currently in design for that and we will hopefully be seeing some construction out there in about two years or so,” McDermott said. Another VDOT revenue-sharing project is to extend Berkmar Drive to Lewis and Clark Drive, which would complete a north-south roadway parallel to U.S. 29 from Fashion Square Mall to the University of Virginia’ North Fork Research Park. “We’ve got a lot of economic development going on up there, a lot of new development also,” McDermott said. “This would also provide that parallel facility to U.S. 29 so it can take some of that traffic off of 29 and remove it from some of those intersections that are experiencing some delays like Airport Road and U.S. 250.”McDermott said construction of that project is expected for 2025. Supervisor Donna Price of the Scottsville District noted the length of the report as well as its detail.“I really appreciate the way you explain some of these so that it differentiates between a study and a proposal,” Price said. “We get a lot of communications from people in the community that are to the effect of ‘I can’t believe you’re even considering’ [a project],” Price said. “But when you’re looking at transportation, if you don’t look at the various options, then you’re really going in with a narrow-minded approach. We appreciate your wide approach of looking at all of the different possibilities before narrowing down what really appears to be the best course of action.”Special announcement! Today’s the first day of a new promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
In today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out: Help support black-owned business in the Charlottesville area. Check out the Charlottesville Black Business Directory at cvilleblackbiz.com and choose between a variety of goods and services, ranging from beauty supplies, professional services, and e-commerce. Visit cvilleblackbiz.com as soon as you can to get started. On today’s show:Details on the Belmont Bridge constructionJack Jouett Middle School gets a new name The COVID surge continues A conversation with Matt Lawless, the town administrator of ScottsvilleThe summer COVID surge continues with a seven-day average of new cases at 2,058 and a percent positivity of 8.2. A month ago those numbers were 336 and 2.7 respectively. There were 2,302 cases reported Saturday, 1,887 on Sunday, and 1,712 this morning. The percentage of fully vaccinated Virginians is now at 55.2 percent and the percentage of adult Virginians is at 66.3 percent. On Friday, a Centers for Disease Control panel recommended third doses of either the Pfizer or the Moderna vaccine for people who are immunocompromised. Later that day, the federal Food and Drug Administration amended the emergency authorization to allow that to eventually occur. Dr. Denise Bonds, the head of the Blue Ridge Health District, will be a featured guest at tonight’s meeting of the Places29-Hydraulic Community Advisory Committee to answer questions on the pandemic. A slide from Friday’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (download the whole thing)On Saturday, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville dedicated two homes in Charlottesville’s Venable neighborhood. The two new homeowners are graduates of Habitat’s Homeownership Program and the Pathways to Housing Program. Habitat purchased two lots on 12th Street Northwest from Dogwood Properties of Cville LLC in December 2019. Earlier this month, Habitat submitted a site plan for more blocks of the first phase of the redevelopment of the Southwood mobile home park. Specifically, Timmon Groups has filed a site development plan for the Village 2 on the land that’s already been zoned by the Albemarle Board of Supervisors. This section will contain eight market-rate single family homes and 21 market-rate townhomes with no income restrictions. Among the Habitat units in this section are three Habitat single family homes to be reserved for households below 80 percent of the area median income for an affordability period of 40 years. There are also ten Habitat townhomes, and three Habitat units in duplexes. The Albemarle Planning Commission got an update on the rest of the first phase of rezoning in July, and you can read a summary here. The housing mixture plan for Southwood taken from the site development plan for Village 2In 319 days, Jack Jouett Middle School in Albemarle County will be known as Journey Middle School. The Albemarle School Board voted to rename the school, which has been named for the historical figure since opening as a junior high school in 1966. For more on this story, I recommend Katherine Knott’s story in the Daily Progress. (presentation to Albemarle School Board)After several years of planning and study, there is an active construction site for the Belmont Bridge now that the project is fully approved and fully funded. The city held an information session on August 11 and Brian McPeters is with Kimley Horn, the firm that designed and engineered the bridge. The event was referred to as a Pardon Our Dust Meeting. (presentation) (watch the video)“The project is primarily replacing the existing Belmont Bridge,” McPeters said. “That’s the bridge that carries traffic northbound and southbound over the railroad, over Old Avon, and over Water Street. It does include a secondary pedestrian-style bridge.”That bridge connects to a new mezzanine to be built in the area leading to the Ting Pavilion, and will make the walkway from the bridge compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. “But it will also build a concrete and steel structure that will be a great gathering place and create a sense of place for folks interacting with the bridge and accessing the Belmont Bridge,” McPeters said. Construction of the bridge will take about 31 months from now to complete, according to McPeters, the manager of the city’s urban construction initiative. The informational meeting focused on how the traffic of all types on the roadway will be affected.“There will be inconvenience and we do ask for your patience and it will be our job to inform you of what that inconvenience will be so you can plan accordingly and possible take an alternate route or be prepared for slight delays,” McPeters said. Right now, construction activities have been limited to utility relocation and parking lot construction. When things really get underway, traffic will be moved around to different sections. “Generally speaking, during daytime hours, traffic will always have one lane northbound and one lane southbound, and then you’ll have turn lanes at the intersections similar to what you have today,” McPeters said. For the full details, take a look at the presentation. Some highlights from the project:Five-way intersection at Old Avon/9th/Garret/Levy will be simplified with removal of Old Avon movement, with a section of Old Avon become a pedestrian plaza space Expansion of the pedestrian passageway from the bridge to the Pavilion areaA pedestrian passageway will be built at the Graves Street intersection to replace existing at-grade crosswalk You’re reading Charlottesville Community Engagement and time now for another audience -supported public service announcement. The nonprofit group Resilient Virginia works to inform decision makers and officials about how to prepare for a changing world. They’re holding their annual event virtually this year, at a time when we’re all digesting the latest reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The Resilient Recovery Conference will take place the mornings of August 25, August 26, and August 27. Take a look at the details of the event as well as pricing at resilientvirginia.org. Albemarle County and Fluvanna County both have one town, and it’s Scottsville. The 1.54 square mile community has its own separate municipal government, with a police force, an administration building, a town Council, and a town administrator. That person is currently Matt Lawless, who has served in the position since March 2018. Before that, he served in the same position in the town of Boones Mill in Franklin County. Lawless lives in Scottsville, but recently traveled up to Charlottesville to sit with me one morning on the Downtown Mall. To have the full experience, take a listen to the fifteen minute interview. Here are some of the highlights for readers. “Scottsville is the oldest and only incorporated town in Albemarle County,” Lawless said. “We’re on the James River at the southern end of Albemarle and we can see Buckingham and Fluvanna from a high point in town.”Matt Lawless, Scottsville Town AdministratorAs town administrator, Lawless oversees planning, economic development, zoning, flood control, tourism marketing, and anything else that is required of him. At one point, Scottsville was the Albemarle county seat. “Before Charlottesville was settled and before the Three Notch’d Road was built, the trade up and down the James River was fastest and most efficient, so having a town on the river right upstream from Richmond was of primary importance,” Lawless said. Lawless said there are architectural styles from colonial to early modern in the buildings that have survived floods. A levy project in the 1980’s now protects the community from cyclical devastation. “The last big flood in town was in 1972,” Lawless said. “Hurricane Agnes. Water above the first floor and into the second floor of many of the downtown buildings. In the 1980’s, the town organized and got support for a levy and pump system which protects the town to a wonderful high level now. It still needs maintenance and staffing, and that’s very important. We rely on a volunteer corps to maintain that but it protects the town and supports future investment.”Is Scottsville in Albemarle’s growth area? What role might Scottsville play in providing homes for people to live? What are the constraints on its growth? What about the future of the tire plant? What about passenger rail? Why didn’t Columbia in Fluvanna County survive like Scottsville? For those questions, you’ll have to take a listen to the whole interview. After all, this is a podcast and newsletter. Thanks to all of my Substack and Patreon supporters for their investment. The interview was made with equipment purchased earlier this year. I’m grateful for the ability to dedicate my time and energy to this line of work. Special thanks as well to my friend Jeffry Cudlin for most of the music in the show. His involvement is made possible by a generous contribution this past January from the Valley Research Center, which may or may not actually exist. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
Hello and welcome to Charlottesville Community Engagement. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs, and before we get started, I wanted to remind some of you and tell some of your for the first time that this program is an offshoot of a podcast I created in March 2020 to get information out about COVID-19. Doing the Charlottesville Quarantine Report made me want to get back to journalism, and here I am a year and a half later with the 228th installment of this show and what is the 57th installment of the Charlottesville Quarantine Report. Let’s get right to it. On today’s program:Amid rising COVID cases, Governor Northam requires vaccines or weekly COVID tests for state employeesAn infectious disease expert at the University of Virginia is concerned about this flu seasonThe Blue Ridge Health District takes questions on where we are at the moment in the pandemicIn today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out: Help support black-owned business in the Charlottesville area. Check out the Charlottesville Black Business Directory at cvilleblackbiz.com and choose between a variety of goods and services, ranging from beauty supplies, professional services, and e-commerce. Visit cvilleblackbiz.com as soon as you can to get started!You know there’s something serious going on with the public health response to the surge in COVID cases when there are press conferences at the local, University of Virginia, and state level all held on the same day. We’ll get through all of those in this episode of the program dedicated solely to COVID. Let’s start with the numbers today.There are another 1,760 new cases of COVID-19 reported today by the Virginia Department of Health and the seven-day rate for positive test results is 6.8 percent. That’s up from 4.8 percent a week ago. In the Blue Ridge Health District there are another 30 cases today and the percent positivity is at 4.7 percent. Dr. Denise Bonds is the director of the Blue Ridge Health District.“We had a lovely couple of months where as vaccinations increased, our case counts went down, and unfortunately in this country we have had now had an increase of what’s called the Delta variant,” Dr. Bonds said. Dr. Bonds said the Delta variant is changing guidance from national health officials on wearing masks indoors. Locally, restrictions are beginning to go back in place. For instance, Albemarle County will require all visitors to administration buildings to wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status, beginning on Monday. Part of the reason is that even people who are fully vaccinated could potentially still carry the Delta variant as the virus load is believed to be higher. So official guidance has changed. “If you are vaccinated and know you have an exposure to someone who had a diagnosed case of COVID, the recommendations are that you get tested three to five days after that exposure and that you wear a mask when you are out in public for 14 days or until you have that negative test,” Dr. Bonds said. “That’s because we know with the Delta variant that you can become infected, have very mild or no symptoms if you’re vaccinated, but still be capable of shedding that virus to other individuals.”Dr. Bonds said she has resumed wearing a mask when she goes to the grocery store and when she goes to a weekly exercise class. The total for fully-vaccinated Virginians, including children, is 54.3 percent, up from 53.8 percent a week ago. The seven-day daily rate for vaccinations has increased to 13,031 a day, up from 11,840 a week ago. Dr. Bonds comments came at a town hall this afternoon by the Blue Ridge Health District to provide information about how to get a vaccine, how to get tested, and the latest status on vaccinations. Jason Elliott is a communications officer with the Blue Ridge Health District. (watch the Town Hall)“The math on this works out to about 61.8 percent of the Blue Ridge Health District having at least one dose and we’re sitting now at 56.5 percent of our Blue Ridge Health District being fully vaccinated,” Elliott said. The Blue Ridge Health District is offering vaccinations four days a week at a smaller location at Fashion Square Mall in daytime and evening hours. They’re also offering shots at their headquarters one day a week. Their mobile vaccination clinic is also in use from time to time for something they’re calling Shot on the Spot.“Coming up you’ll see us at Westhaven Health Day this weekend,” Elliott said. “We’ll also be at Lake Anna this weekend.”The “Mobi” van will be on the Downtown Mall this Monday. There is still an active homebound campaign underway between the health district, UVA Health, and the Charlottesville Fire Department to provide vaccinations to people who cannot leave their home. “The added bonus to this is that we take care of everything for your first and second dose, and you get that smoke detector set up or that battery replaced if you need that as well,” Elliott said. We’ll hear more from the Blue Ridge Health District later in the program. Just before the town hall, the University of Virginia Health System held their weekly press briefing. In the near future, booster shots for COVID may be on the horizon but are not currently recommended. Will that become an annual event? Dr. Patrick Jackson, an infectious disease expert, said it is too early to tell. “With a lot of humility, we’re only known about this virus for about 19 months,” Dr. Jackson said. “There’s a lot of things still to know. HIV was discovered the year before I was born and my day job is to work on HIV virology so there’s just a ton we don’t know yet.”Dr. Jackson said it is likely that COVID will likely remain present as a respiratory pathogen that continues to circulate similar to influenza.“I think vaccination will continue to be a major emphasis for COVID-19,” Dr. Jackson said. “In terms of how often that vaccination will need to be updated, I think that’s unknown right now. There are reasons to believe that COVID-19 will mutate more slowly than influenza does so it might not be a yearly vaccine but there might be periodic updates that are recommended.”Dr. Jackson said last year there was virtually no transmission of influenza because of social distancing and this may present a problem. “Every year when the flu season comes around, you kind of rely on people having been exposed the previous year and recovered to kind of tamp down on the amount of transmission that flu can run through in a population,” Dr. Jackson said. “So I do think that in this upcoming flu season that vaccination is going to be incredibly important and we’re going to have to ramp up our efforts to vaccinate people because I think having kind of missed the last flu season is that we are kind of set up for a worst season this time around.”Dr. Jackson was asked at the press conference what he wanted Governor Northam to do to take steps for public health. “We already have a lottery in Virginia,” Jackson said. “We might as well have a vaccination lottery. I think that there’s at least some data that that helps get some people off the fence. Things the Governor can do to encourage vaccination particularly among state and local governments would be very helpful, up to and including expanding some vaccination mandates for people who are in a public facing role I think would be positive.”Dr. Jackson said it is also important that people who are sick get time off from work. “Paid time off for staff who are not feeling well to go home, recover, get tested, is super important, and supporting students who are not feeling well to continue their education, whether that is remotely,” Jackson said. “In an ideal world, and this is outside of the hands school system probably is allowing parents to take time off from work to care for their kids when they are sick rather than sending them in.”You’re reading Charlottesville Community Engagement and it’s time now for another reader-supported announcement. The nonprofit group Resilient Virginia works to inform decision makers and officials about how to prepare for a changing world. They’re holding their annual event virtually this year, and registration prices go up at the end of this week. The Resilient Recovery Conference will take place the mornings of August 25, August 26, and August 27. Take a look at the details of the event as well as pricing at resilientvirginia.org. It has been a few months since Governor Northam held a press briefing specifically to address COVID-19. The pediatrician took to the dais today, wearing a mask, in order to give updates.“When we last spoke in early May, things were looking very good,” Northam said. “And they still are overall. This summer our case counts have dropped to the lowest we have seen since October of 2020. And we have been seeing drops in hospitalizations, deaths, and in our percent positivity.” However, the number of cases and the percent positivity have begun to increase as the number of vaccinations began to stall. That’s given the Delta variant room to spread. “The arrival of the Delta variant combined with the number of people who are not vaccinated is driving our case counts back up,” Northam said. “A large majority of the people getting infected now are unvaccinated. They haven’t gotten their shot.”Northam stressed that Virginia is still reporting lower numbers each day than at the height of the winter surge. “And I am confident we will not go back to that point,” Northam said. Northam said since January, 99 percent of COVID cases have been in people not fully vaccinated.“Even though Delta is more contagious, vaccinated people are still strongly protected against getting so sick that they have to go into the hospital,” Northam said. “Nearly every single person who has died from COVID has been unvaccinated.”Northam announced mandatory vaccinations for the 120,000 people who work for the Commonwealth of Virginia by September 1. “Anyone who chooses not to be vaccinated will have to get a COVID test every week and show proof of a negative result,” Northam said. “And I really encourage local governments and private companies to do the same thing.”Northam urged those who are hesitant to get the shot now. “The time for waiting is over,” Northam said. “Millions of people around the world have been vaccinated and we are fine. Three hundred and fifty million doses have been distributed in the United States including nearly ten million right here in Virginia.” Children under the age of 12 are still not eligible to get a vaccine, though Northam said he is hopeful approval from the Food and Drug Administration will come within the next month. Under Virginia law adopted by the General Assembly this past winter, schools are required to offer in-person instruction five days a week and they are to follow guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control. (read the bill)“The CDC guidance is that people in schools need to be wearing masks,” Northam said. Several districts have already taken votes stating mask-wearing will be optional. Northam urged these localities to consult with their legal counsel and to reconsider.“It’s the law of the land and we expect our school districts throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia to follow the law,” Northam said. Northam stopped well short of issuing a mandate for indoor masks. The state of emergency declared on March 12, 2020 has now expired. On August 5, 2021, Northam invoked some of the messaging used back in the early days of the pandemic. “One of the things I said when all this started is that we as Americans are fighting a biological war and our enemy is the COVID-19 virus and when I served in the United States Army, one of the things that was so reassuring to me as an American was that Americans were on board with our mission. They were behind everything that we were trying to do to win this war. I would just hope that Virginians and Americans would look at this as a war and want to win that war.”So for now, just like I was doing in March 2020, I’m remaining vigilant, watching the numbers, and changing my behavior again. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
Charlottesville Economic Development suggests that they can liven up the downtown mall if people could take their drinks with them.... See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out: As we head into summer and the weather heats up, your local energy nonprofit, LEAP, wants you and yours to keep cool. LEAP offers FREE home weatherization to income- and age-qualifying residents. If you’re age 60 or older, or have an annual household income of less than $75,100, you may qualify for a free energy assessment and home energy improvements such as insulation and air sealing. Sign up today to lower your energy bills, increase comfort, and reduce energy waste at home!On today’s show:Land use updates from the Charlottesville Planning CommissionCouncil appoints an architect to fill a vacancy on the Planning CommissionUpdates on transit and StonefieldWe begin today’s show with a piece of news from this afternoon before we begin into a time machine for some sonic travel throughout the month. Charlottesville City Council has made an appointment to fill a vacancy on the Charlottesville Planning Commission. The seven-member body is the lead advisory panel on items of land use and planning in the city. Here’s City Councilor Heather Hill making the motion.“I move that City Council appoint Karim Habbab to the Planning Commission,” Hill said. Habbab is an associate architect with BRW Architects, according to a bio on the firm’s website. He is a native of Jordan and the son of two architects. He moved to Charlottesville in 2011 to attend the University of Virginia. Now, let’s go back to the most recent meeting of the Charlottesville Planning Commission from June 9. At the beginning of each meeting, Commissioners give updates from the various committees they are on. William Palmer is a planner with the Office of the Architect at the University of Virginia. He sits on the Planning Commission in a non-voting capacity under the terms of a 1986 agreement. He noted that earlier this month, the Board of Visitors were told of a $50 million gift from Martha and Bruce Karsh to create the Karsh Institute of Democracy. (read the UVA Today story)“That’ll lead probably to another building at the Emmet Ivy corridor to kind of complement what’s already under planning there, the Data Science institute and the hotel and conference center,” Palmer said. According to UVA Today, the building for the Karsh Institute of Democracy will be ready in 2026. The University will match the $50 million gift. Next, Commissioner Jody Lahendro reported from the Tree Commission, which earlier this month signed off on the United States Department of Agriculture’s plan to introduce wasps at the Ragged Mountain Natural Area to fight off infestations of the Emerald Ash Borer. “It’s going to be a five-year study and will be completely funded by the USDA,” Lahendro said. “This is a study that’s actually been ongoing since 2007 and has now been started in over 29 states.”The Planning Commission is next scheduled to meet again on June 29 for a work session on the next steps for the Cville Plans Together initiative. Habbab joins the Planning Commission as one phase of the Comprehensive Plan ends and another moves forward. The comment period on the Future Land Use Map ended June 13.The consultants report that there were at least 1,137 emails, 37 voicemails from 26 individuals, and several signatures to various petition campaigns. Over 220 people left over 700 comments on an interactive version of the Future Land Use Map. Those are now all visible. The June 29 work session will see a timeline for how the rest of the process will play out. Here’s Alexander Ikefuna, the director of Neighborhood Development Services (NDS)“We have enabled staff and the consultant to prepare an informed timeline on how the final draft document makes its way to the Planning Commission and the City Council for joint public hearing and subsequently for the Council for final consideration,” Ikefuna said. A rewrite of the zoning code would begin in full earnest after the Comprehensive Plan is adopted. Planning Commission Chair Hosea Mitchell was clear that the process will take time. “This is a vision document, the Future Land Use Map is a vision document,” Mitchell said. “We are a ways away from rezoning. We are ways away from things like R-1 going away. Based on this vision document, R-1 is not going away.”This review of the Comprehensive Plan began in January 2017 and since then, there has been much turnover and only Commissioners Lahendro and Taneia Dowell are still on the body. Missy Creasy, the deputy director of NDS, offered some perspective on how the process has been intended to be proactive.“The commission really came at this from, ‘something is going to happen to our community, we know that we’re seeing growth and we want to consciously make decisions about how that happens and now allow something to happen to us,’” Creasy said. Stay tuned for June 29. (June 29 meeting info) There’s another meeting happening on June 29 about a topic that is perhaps just as important as a discussion of the Future Land Use Map. It’s definitely related. Charlottesville Area Transit has been working with the Connetics Transportation Group and Kimley-Horn on an update of the system. I’ve reported on the potential changes, as has Allison Wrabel in the Daily Progress in a story from March 1. This event is being held as a general overview of the changes, and two public engagement sessions will be held before Council makes a decision to approve the changes. (meeting info)One of the changes would see Route 8 transferred into a line that would run between the Willoughby Shopping Center on 5th Street extended in Charlottesville to Stonefield. More on transit later on in in this installment. For now, we have to keep moving.In the June 23 installment of this program, we heard a little from the Places29-Hydraulic Community Advisory Committee. I did not include an update from Stonefield mostly because I ran out of time. But before we move on with today’s show, and with the idea of a more direct transit route connecting Stonefield with Charlottesville, let’s hear from Stonefield’s manager Samantha Strong on some recent updates. “We were very excited just in the past few weeks,” Strong said. “We had Sunglass Hut open up their location with us. Splendora from the Downtown Mall has now opened up her location. So get excited. Come get some gelato.”The building that had been occupied by Pier 1 imports will be split into spaces for more than one business.“The first one that will be coming in is Torchy’s Tacos, so get excited for some tacos and margaritas out of Austin, Texas,” Strong said. “And just upcoming we have Ronnie Megginson with Kulture Vibez. We have Team Hair Studios that’s going to be opening up within the next month. And we also have Akira Ramen and Sushi. Those are all going to be opening on the north side.”Strong said the Regal movie theater is open again. She said merchants and business owners are seeing new vibrancy.“May of 2021 for some of them was actually the best month of sales they have had ever since they opened,” Strong said. The Friends of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library are having a Warehouse Sale at Albemarle Square Shopping Center (300 Albemarle Square) Friday, July 9 through Sunday, July 11 from 10 to 6 each day. There will be Fiction, Mysteries, SciFi and Fantasy, Cookbooks, Military, Biographies and YA and Children’s Books There will be a capacity limit of 80 shoppers. Proceeds benefit our regional public library system, JMRL, serving Charlottesville, Albemarle, Greene, Louisa and Nelson.Now on to more from the Charlottesville City Council meeting from Monday, June 21, 2021. City Manager Chip Boyles said notices has been given to nearby battlefields and museums notifying them of the city’s interest in getting rid of two Confederate statues that are currently in city parks. Three responses of interest had been received by Monday. “Two are in state, and one from out of state,” Boyles said. Boyles said City Hall is expecting to return to normal operations in September. “At which time, all public meetings, boards and commissions will begin to meet in person,” Boyles said. In the past fifteen months, government meetings have moved online. Vice Mayor Sena Magill wondered if staff could be allowed to appear at meetings remotely rather than be present in Council Chambers.“I want to take whatever positives we can from this pandemic and provide as much flexibility as technology allows,” Magill said. Boyles said that he thought that would be possible.“Our understanding right now is that in the case of City Council the elected officials will have to be physically present but staff could do either,” Boyles said.Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker said she wanted to limit the number of people in Chambers out of continued health concerns.“We’re talking about that time of year,” Walker said. “It’s going to be flu season picking up, regular colds in that fall and winter season so hopefully by then there will be some changes to how they are looking at this from a federal and state level.”Interviews for the Director of Neighborhood Development Services position began today. Later in the meeting, there was a public hearing on appropriations of $5.3 million in supplemental funds for Charlottesville Area Transit. Garland Williams is the director of CAT. “What we have is a combination of capital and operating dollars,” Williams said. “The capital is $4.32 million which will allow us to buy rolling stock which means buses, support vehicles.” About $630,000 transfers through to Jaunt for their services. Councilor Michael Payne asked if the eleven buses planned for purchase were to build capacity or replace an aging fleet. Four of them are new vehicles and the rest are replacements. They will all be diesel engines, but Williams said future purchases could use alternative fuels.“We are actually undertaking a study that will allow us to see whether we should be looking at doing whether it is [Compressed Natural Gas] or electric vehicles of a combination of the two,” Williams said. “The electric vehicle component for transit is coming and its coming quickly but its relatively new.”Williams estimated there would be enough testing and experience with electric transit fleets for the technology to become more widespread. One issue in this community is the topography and the need for a drivetrain that power up hills. No one spoke at the public hearing. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
Today's Patreon-fueled shout-out is for the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign, an initiative that wants you to grow native plants in yards, farms, public spaces and gardens in the northern Piedmont. Native plants provide habitat, food sources for wildlife, ecosystem resiliency in the face of climate change, and clean water. Start at the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Facebook page and tell them Lonnie Murray sent you! On today’s show:Charlottesville City Council gets an update on city finances and economic recoveryAlbemarle’s Places-29 Hydraulic panel gets an update on crime, climate, and StonefieldA new round of transportation projects will move forward across the regionWe begin today with Charlottesville City Council. As of today, there are only eight days left until the beginning of Fiscal Year 22. On Monday, June 21, the five elected officials got a glimpse of where things stand through the first eleven months of Fiscal Year 21. A shortfall related to the economic shutdown that began in Fiscal Year 20 is not as bad as initially reported. “Based upon the current conditions of what we’re seeing in terms of revenues, things are continuing to trend in a positive direction,” said Ryan Davidson, a senior budget management analyst for the city. In April, budget staff estimated there would be a $8.35 million gap, but revenues picked up and the current forecast is for a $7.42 million deficit for fiscal year 21. (staff report)“We’re continuing to see some volatility month to month in some of our larger economic driven revenues,” Davidson said. “Sales, meals, lodging. But we’ve been seeing more of a positive trend in these areas.”After the fiscal year, the accounts for FY21 will be audited which will take several months. The city will likely use a mixture of sources to make up the shortfall, including the American Recovery Plan Act (ARPA). Other options include the $7.3 million reserve set aside in previous federal funds and use of surpluses from previous years that have not been appropriated. “Should we need to use the ARPA funds to cover any of the remaining budget variance that’s not covered by other means, we’ll know those figures after the close of the fiscal year and have those final audited amounts in the November or December timeframe,” Davidson said. This table is available in the staff report for the discussion Let’s take a closer look at where the shortfalls are coming from. The adopted budget for FY21 estimated the city would bring in $14.3 million in meals taxes, $6.3 million from lodging taxes, and $1.34 million in income from parks and recreation. The current projections show the potential actual amounts as missing those targets by $3.5 million for meals, $2.6 million under for lodging, and $910,824 short for parks and recreation.To get those numbers up for the soon-to-be-current fiscal year, the Economic Development Office is implementing a Recovery Roadmap and Economic Development Director Chris Engel provided an update on how it is going. (staff report)“This process emanated out of a discussion the Council had at the beginning of the budget season late last year, November and December, where you indicated that helping businesses recover was one of your priorities,” Engel said. Engel said there are 15 specific initiatives in the roadmap clustered in four categories. They are financial assistance, training and resource access, infrastructure needs, and marketing and advertising. As of July 1, Virginia law pertaining to carrying alcohol outside of a licensed establishments will become more flexible to allow people to explore Designated Outdoor Refreshment Areas (DORA). Jason Ness is the Deputy Director of the Economic Development office.“The designated outdoor refreshment area concept has been on the books with [Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority] for quite some time and really the fundamental change that takes effect on July 1 is that it is now localities have more control over these types of events,” Ness said. “In the past it was a permitted system both at the state and the locality. The new legislation will allow for cities to create ordinances to control these.”Take a look at HB2266 if you want to see how what the legislation looks like and what it does. Ness said there would still be restrictions.“You couldn’t take a cup from one ABC license holder to another, so you could not go from restaurant to restaurant but you could go into retailers if they would allow that,” Ness said. Ness said the city is in talks with the Ix Park for a community block party for this fall. One idea would be to get the local DORA ordinance in place to allow that to be extended to the Downtown Mall. Mayor Nikuyah Walker expressed concern that inviting alcohol consumption across a wider geographic area could lead to behavioral issues as well as unequal treatment. “We’ve had a lot of concerns about drinking in public, drunk in public, those types of conversations,” Walker said. “I am hoping that we resolve those and that we’re not allowing some people just because they’ve purchased it in a restaurant when we know that other people are already drinking and there is different treatment.”Councilor Michael Payne said he was open to the idea and shared Walker’s concerns.“I couldn’t say that I’m 100 percent behind it at this point,” Payne said.There was enough support from Council to give Engel the go ahead to work on pursuing an ordinance. Ness said he heard the concerns of Payne and Walker.“Those are the important questions that we need to consider and flesh out all the answers on how things like that are going to be handled before we actually put that into place,” Ness said. Vice Mayor Sena Magill said if the city seeks to explore a DORA then it needs to be about more than just one place.“If we’re developing something like this, I don’t want it to be Mall-focused,” Magill said. “I want to make sure that if we’re developing it, that it can be developed for all areas of Charlottesville.” Under the legislation, localities could set up three DORAS to explore. Other ideas in the Recovery Roadmap include a twice-yearly clean-up day to address maintenance issues identified by businesses as well as a buy local effort. Engel said his office is making a request for $1 million in American Rescue Plan funding to help boost the tourism sector. Part of that money would be used to replace revenue losses that have led to a decrease in available funds for the Charlottesville-Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau “The Visitors’ Bureau revenue due to the transient occupancy tax in the city and [Albemarle] has been reduced by about $1.5 million and since the city and the county both fund that entity, the request that we’re both making through the ARP process if for half of that,” Engel said. Walker asked whether this use of the ARP funding was the highest priority.“If we do give those dollars, the $750,000, what are they used for and how do weigh the direct aid to businesses against the money to CACVB for their loss?” Walker asked.Engel said the budget for the Visitors Bureau is based on previous years, so they won’t feel the effects until the new fiscal year begins.“The funds are intended to replace the drop for next year and the year after,” Engel said. Councilor Payne also questioned whether the city should use its share of the ARP funding to make up the losses. He suggested the General Assembly could vote later this summer to appropriate state money for the purpose of tourism marketing. “If that money doesn’t come, or doesn’t cover the gap, I’m very curious to know what data and research exists about what is the actual return on investment to the tourism board and what return on investment do we actually expect and anticipate, recognizing that the ARP money is limited and its all about trade-offs and ensuring that we’re making an investment that’s having the most positive impact on our community,” Payne said. Engel said if the General Assembly did allocate funding to tourism, it would most likely be in the form of grant funding and not a direct replacement of lost funds. He said he would return to Council with information along the lines that Payne requested.I’ll have more from the rest of the Council meeting in a future newsletter. The Charlottesville-Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau next meets on June 28. The Commonwealth Transportation Board meets today and tomorrow virtually and in Richmond. The appointed body today coted to approve the Six-Year Improvement program for fiscal year 2022 through 2027, and that includes transportation projects in our area that come through the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Smart Scale process. In all, 21 projects submitted in the VDOT’s Culpeper District have been recommended for funding, including a pedestrian bridge across U.S. 29 that would connect Stonefield with the Seminole Square Shopping Center. That project included funding left over from the Route 29 Solutions suite of projects and the CTB will vote to allocate an additional $5.7 million to allow it to move forward to the design phase. Other projects include $5.3 million for a roundabout at Old Lynchburg Road and 5th Street Extended, $8.74 million to add safety improvements on Ridge Street, and $10.1 million for a roundabout at the John Warner Parkway and Rio Road East. Smart Scale applications from across the Commonwealth are ranked according to a series of metrics including addressing safety, relieving traffic congestion, and providing economic development. The initial scores were released in January as I reported back then. Table by Flourish teamYou’re reading Charlottesville Community Engagement, and it’s time for another subscriber-supported public service announcement. The Rivanna Conservation Alliance is looking for a few good volunteers to help out on Clean Stream Tuesdays, a mile and a half paddle and clean-up to remove trash and debris from popular stretches of the Rivanna River. Trash bags, trash pickers, gloves, and hand sanitizer/wipes will be provided, though volunteers will need to transport themselves to and from the end points. Kayaks for the purpose can be rented from the Rivanna River Company. Visit the Rivanna Conservation Alliance's volunteer page to learn more about upcoming dates.The Places29-Hydraulic Community Advisory Committee met on June 21 for a wide-ranging meeting that began with an update on crime statistics from a new county employee. “My name is Andrew Friedman and I am the new crime analyst here with the Albemarle County Police Department,” Friedman said. “I am new to the county as well and I actually live within the area that we’re going over today.” Friedman’s report was intended to cover the area within the jurisdiction of the CAC, but he gave some overall trends.“We see that property crime has been trending upwards since 2018 in the county at least whereas violent crime has been trending downwards,” Friedman said. “This matches the trend that we do see nationally.”In an area that is slightly bigger than the Places29-Hydraulic area, there have been 134 property crimes through June 14.“We’re talking about stuff like burglaries, we’re talking stuff like motor vehicle thefts, and largely led by larcenies,” Friedman said. Of those property crimes, 21 were thefts of catalytic converters. “Catalytic converter thefts are trending upwards,” Friedman said. “They’ve been increasing drastically in recent years throughout the nation and that’s because the material they’re made out of go for a lot on the black market. They would be pawned for a lot of money.”Friedman said police departments across the region are working together against this specific kind of larceny. Of the 14 violent crimes reported this year in the area, four were rapes and in all four cases the victims knew the offender. The 10 other crimes were aggravated assaults, and four of them were classified as domestic violence. There were 30 calls for service in the area for shots fired this year. Friedman said most of these calls are unsubstantiated, meaning no shell casings are found. In one of the substantiated cases, one individual was struck by a bullet. Friedman said patrols have been stepped up in these areas. (watch the Places29-Hydraulic video) (view the full report)Read the rest of the report hereThe next topic at the Places29-CAC meeting dealt with two topics on the minds of many, though not necessarily at the same time. Climate change and growth management. Cynthia Neff is the chair of the CAC.“Every now and then we need to refresh ourselves with what the growth management policy is,” Neff said. “The growth area is different [from] the rural area. The growth area is where the development is and the necessary housing is.”There’s an entire chapter - Chapter 3 - of the county’s Comprehensive Plan dedicated to growth management, a policy that dates back to a Comprehensive Plan update in the late 70’s. Last October, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors adopted the first phase of a Climate Action Plan. Michaela Accardi is a planner with the county. (current Comprehensive Plan)“The first objective in the county’s Comprehensive Plan is to consistently use the growth management policy as the basis on which to guide decisions on land-use, capital expenditures, and service provision,” Accardi said. Around 95 percent of the county’s 726 square miles are designated as rural, and the rest is for development. Chapter 7 of the plan offers strategies for conserving land in the rural area and chapter 8 offers strategies for maximizing the use of land in the growth area. Objective four of the later chapter is to “Use Development Area land efficiently to prevent premature expansion of the Development Areas.” In her presentation, Accardi also brought up some statistics included in Housing Albemarle, an update of the county’s housing policy that had a public hearing before the Board of Supervisors earlier this month. “The median rent for rental units in 2019 was $1,278 a month and the income that a household will need to afford that rent is $50,640 a year,” Accardi said. “Approximately 31 percent of households in Albemarle have incomes less than $50,000.”The Places29-Hydraulic CAC next heard from Gabe Dayley, the county’s new climate protection manager. In that role, he is the point person for Albemarle’s efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “Emissions from vehicles traveling around burning gasoline is our highest slice of the pie in terms of greenhouse gas emissions in the community,” Dayley said. If it’s expensive for people who work in Albemarle or Charlottesville to live there, meeting the goal of reducing carbon emissions by 45 percent by 2020 will be harder to accomplish. “When housing is sometimes less affordable in a community but folks are working in that community, they may have to live in further outlying areas,” Dayley said. “That’s something that can increase traffic which has a variety of effects. One of those is larger greenhouse gas emissions.”The Climate Action Plan has several chapters with strategies that seek to address specific areas of where emissions come from. One of these is on Transportation and Land Use which has the overarching goals of reducing vehicle miles traveled, shifting vehicles to those with lower or no emissions, reducing use of single-occupancy vehicles, and increasing transit, walking, and biking alternatives. “Greater density can support fewer transportation emissions and better energy efficiency but that really requires a holistic approach to land use,” Dayley said. “Density, as well as mixed-use, where there’s maybe some businesses on the first floor serving local communities. Complete streets is a term that folks might have come across that has to do with the idea of a street that not just is functional for pedestrians and cyclists and cars and buses but is also pleasant and attractive for everyone to make use of.” CAC member Vito Cetta said he was a supporter of the growth management policy.“We have 1,200 to 1,500 people who move here a year and the Comprehensive Plan is really taking control of how we develop our county,” Cetta said. However, Tom Olivier of the group Advocates for a Sustainable Albemarle Population said the county should limit the number of people who move to the community. Olivier lives outside of the Places29 area but made his comment at the end of the conversation. “The primary drivers of greenhouse gas emissions are growth in both people numbers and gross domestic product and whether we add people to the development areas or to the rural areas, we add greenhouse gases and we also do that when we sort of expand economic activity,” Olivier said. “This is a very difficult issue, and basically I just wanted to say really I think there’s little chance of Albemarle County becoming carbon neutral if it doesn’t contain growth and I think that’s something the comp plan will have to address as we go forward.”The Albemarle Board of Supervisors last updated the Comprehensive Plan in the summer of 2015 and a review and update is expected to begin in the not too distant future. Some of the strategies in the climate action plan’s Transportation and Land Use chapter This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
In today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out: Help support black-owned business in the Charlottesville area. Check out the Charlottesville Black Business Directory at cvilleblackbiz.com and choose between a variety of goods and services, ranging from beauty supplies, professional services, and e-commerce. Visit cvilleblackbiz.com as soon as you can to get started. On today’s show:The Crozet Community Advisory Committee weighs in on the master plan update The Downtown Crozet Initiative unveils its vision for a public plazaThe Community Climate Collaborative unveils the winners of its Better Business ChallengeToday’s show focuses on Crozet in western Albemarle County. Crozet is not a town, but it is a designated growth area under the county’s growth management policy. But it is a place with traditions. Here’s an announcement made at the June 9, 2021 meeting of the Crozet Community Advisory Committee about an event coming up on Saturday, July 3. “I’m Tim Tolson, president of the Crozet Community Association, and along with other civic groups in Crozet we’re hosting the annual Crozet Independence Day celebration parade at 5:00 p.m. as part of the Crozet Volunteer Fire Department that ends at the Crozet Park where the celebration will take part, take place. We’ll have fireworks around 9:30 or quarter to 10 when it gets dark.” The Crozet Community Association is seeking donations to cover the cost of the fireworks. Visit their website to learn more. The Albemarle Planning Commission will take up the Crozet Master Plan at a work session on Tuesday, June 22. At the June 9 CAC meeting, committee members and participating residents got a presentation on the implementation of projects intended to bolster Crozet’s urban character. They also had the chance to comment on the plan update to date. But first, the implementation projects. The master plan is a large overview of the entire area, and further studies are suggested. The draft implementation chapter shows a list of ten potential topics ranging from a Downtown Neighborhood Architectural and Cultural Study to a stream health study for Parrot Branch, a local waterway. Initial feedback has already been submitted and planner Tori Kanellopoulos gave the rundown for how planning projects scored.“The top ranked projects were the Crozet Avenue Shared-Use Path feasibility study, the Three Notch’d Trail feasibility study, and the Route 250 West design guidelines,” Kanellopoulos said. “And then the policy projects were also ranked and the top priority was updating residential zoning designations to allow for more preservation of natural resources.”Potential capital projects were also ranked. Kanellopoulos said the highest ranking projects are the completion of Eastern Avenue, downtown Crozet intersection improvements, and sidewalk connections. Let’s hear more about that Three Notch’d Trail.“Lately there’s been a lot more focus and attention on the potential Three Notch’d Trail which would ideally connect from the Blue Ridge Tunnel along Crozet and over to Charlottesville,” Kanellopoulos said. “A feasibility study would look at this alignment and there are opportunities to partner with [the Virginia Department of Transportation] and the Planning District Commission and trails groups to look at the feasibility study for the alignment.” Supervisor Ann Mallek said later in the meeting that VDOT planning may not have staff to conduct that feasibility study this year, but community work can be done now to prepare for that work possibly in 2022. “And the other blessing that goes along with that is 2022 is when [Virginia] is going to take over the rail access right of way from CSX and therefore that increases greatly the possibility that we will be able to have a trail beside the rail,” Mallek said. Another “catalyst” project now in the implementation chapter is Western Park, which has long been called for in the plan and for which the county received 36 acres in 2010 as part of the Old Trail rezoning. A master plan for that project was created in 2018 that identified three phases. The first is recommended for funding, a decision which would be made by the entire Board of Supervisors during the budget process.“This phase one would include the access road with parking, a playground, and additional support of infrastructure and utilities,” Kanellopoulos said.Committee member Sandy Hausman noted the rankings were based on responses from fewer than a hundred people. “I wonder if anybody feels like this there needs to be a bit more outreach, like a mass mailing to everyone who lives in Crozet,” Hausman said. “It just feels to me that this is a relatively small group of people who tend to be paying attention to this stuff and everybody else will be unpleasantly surprised in a year or two when things start happening.”Committee member Joe Fore said he wanted to see all three phases of Western Park listed as catalyst projects, meaning they would be prioritized first.“I think just given the fact that it’s been in the works for so long, that the phases of at least getting started, the land is already there,” Fore said. “I understand it's expensive but it’s not an Eastern Avenue or Lickinghole Creek bridge expensive.” Fore also said he would support the creation of a special taxation district to help pay for new infrastructure. The Albemarle Board of Supervisors has previously been briefed on how service districts or a “business improvement district” could be levied in certain areas to fund amenities. “I looked through currently, and this may be a comment for the full draft, there’s only one mention of service districts in the entire draft and that’s in reference to funding ongoing activities and services at the plaza and downtown,” Fore said. “But I would like to see maybe a little bit more and maybe a full suggestion saying maybe this is something we should explore in Crozet to fund some of these capital projects so we’re not constantly having these be projects are ten years out.” The Board of Supervisors last had a formal presentation on service districts at their meeting on December 7, 2016. (presentation) (story)Fore has looked up the section of Virginia code that allows for the creation of such districts.“It’s a pretty broad statute as I read it,” Fore said. “Things like sidewalks, roads, programming, cultural events, economic development, beautification and landscaping. It’s a very broad statute. It seems to me you could raise money for most of the kinds of projects that we’re looking at. When we look at the list of priorities and say, yikes! Where are we going to get all the money for this? Well, rather than say let’s raise taxes on everybody in the county, you might be able to say let’s raise funds specifically from Crozet that would stay in Crozet for some of these projects we want to see in Crozet.”CAC member David Mitchell is skeptical of the idea and said it would lead to Crozet receiving fewer direct funds from the county.“Over time we will start to be looked at by the other Supervisors as ‘they have their own money, they can do their own thing’ and you’re going to slowly over time lose your share of the general fund,” Mitchell said. Supervisor Mallek agreed.“I would really discourage our citizenry from burdening themselves because I think David is right,” Mallek said. “We need to go to toe to toe, to say, this is a need that’s been on the books.”Mallek singled out the Eastern Avenue connector road that will provide north-south travel. A major obstacle is the cost of a bridge required to cross Lickinghole Creek. “We have made all of these zoning changes prior to 2007 that were counting on that bridge and we absolutely have a moral obligation to build it,” Mallek said. Eastern Avenue is ranked #8 on the county’s transportation priority list and there was an update in May. There’s not yet a full cost estimate on what it will cost, but engineering work is underway. “This project is currently being evaluated through an alignment study and conceptual design which is funded through the Transportation Leveraging Fund in the [Capital Improvement Program],” reads the update. “The alignment report was presented to the Board in January and the preferred alignment was selected. This project is being considered for a Revenue Sharing Grant application.”Allie Pesch, the chair of the CAC, said she wanted Eastern Avenue to be the top implementation priority.“I like seeing Eastern Avenue at the top of that list,” Pesch said. “That is a priority for everyone in our area and just so overdue.”After this discussion of implementation, county planner Rachel Falkenstein turned the conversation to the working draft of the master plan. The draft that will be reviewed by the Planning Commission at their work session on Tuesday incorporates feedback from the June 9 CAC meeting. (download the draft) “We still have a couple of steps to go before we get to our public hearings and we’ll continue to accept feedback and make revisions to the chapters and to the content,” Falkenstein said. A work session with the Board of Supervisors will take place in August. (Watch the CAC meeting on YouTube)You’re reading Charlottesville Community Engagement. On June 22 at 7 p.m., the Jefferson Madison Regional Library and the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society gives a glimpse into the cemeteries at Pen Park in Charlottesville. Tucked behind the Meadowcreek clubhouse are three, enclosed, family cemeteries, with the oldest dating back to the Colonial era. Outside the enclosures of the family plots, the city has confirmed the presence of 40 or more unmarked graves, all likely those of people enslaved at Pen Park. Join us as a panel of three professionals discuss what led to the examination of this site, the process of the investigation, and the efforts to identify and commemorate those buried there. Register on the JMRL website. A few days after the CAC meeting, the Downtown Crozet Initiative held a public meeting to talk about a 30,000 square foot plaza intended to be located at the former Barnes Lumberyard. The plaza would anchor a mixed-use building and a hotel through a public-private partnership. The idea involves construction of a connector road using revenue-sharing funds from VDOT. That process requires a local match. Frank Stoner is a principal at Milestone Partners which seeks to redevelop the space. They’re putting up $2 million to serve as that match. “This project started in 2014,” Stoner said. “We developed this road plan in 2016, 2017. Most of the design elements of the road have been resolved. We felt strongly and I think the community felt strongly and the county felt strongly that the streets had to be appropriate for the small town that is Crozet and not be a highway through the middle of downtown which is kind of where VDOT wanted to go with it.” Albemarle County has contributed $1.6 million in cash to the project, and will provide another $1.6 million in rebates through a process known as tax increment financing. (read the June 2019 performance agreement)Stoner said the idea is to build an urban plaza, not a park. “And most importantly we wanted this plaza to be the heart not just of the neighborhood but the Crozet community,” Stoner said. Credit: Downtown Crozet InitiativeVDOT is contributing $2.5 million and the Downtown Crozet Initiative is seeking to raise over a million in private funds. “Which will be used to fund essentially the furniture, fixtures and equipment, sculpture, artwork, seating, all of that kind of stuff that goes in the plaza,” Stoner said. The designs aren’t close to final yet, but Stoner wanted to get feedback from the community. There are also no identified tenants for any of the spaces yet. “We haven’t really been in the position to take commitments because there have been so many unknowns because of the VDOT plans and then we had some stormwater issues we had to work through and so it has just been one obstacle after another,” Stoner said. Stoner said if all goes according to plan, construction could get underway next year. To Stoner, success means making sure it’s a place to expand what already makes Crozet Crozet.“If we can’t create a place that’s affordable for local businesses, then we’re not going to succeed,” Stoner said. In April 2020, the firm Downtown Strategies unveiled their report on a Downtown Strategic Vision for Crozet. Stoner suggested interested parties might take a look. (take a look)Nearby there is a separate VDOT project to rebuild the existing Square to add sidewalks and address ongoing stormwater issues. (watch the June 14 presentation)Finally today, last week the Community Climate Collaborative handed out the latest awards in its Better Business Challenge. Around 75 local businesses took part in an effort to reduce energy and water use. Two groups were Momentum Medalists for their work to investigate energy-use and to make changes to lighting. The Legal Aid Justice Center came up with a plan to replace their heating, ventilation and air conditioning system at their headquarters and a plan to replace internal lighting. Loaves and Fishes, a food pantry on Lambs Road, looked at increasing energy efficiency and began plans to install solar in the future. Jane Colony Mills accepted the award. “We also kind of did this last year because we were adding two additional walk-in refrigerators, and we knew that they were going to add to our energy burn, so we wanted to reduce what we were burning in the warehouse,” Colony Mills said. The Iron Pillar award was granted “for perseverance through uncertain times” and went to the upscale resale boutique Twice as Nice. Sara Guerre is the assistant manager. “The pandemic caused a lot of disruption but we took that opportunity to use the time to focus on as doing as many actions as we could no matter how small,” Guerre said. “And all of those little actions add up.” The Changemaker Award went to an entity for “the strategic pursuit of an action with long-term impact.” Steve Haske teaches Studio Art at the Renaissance School, and also handles Facilities and Information Technology. The student Earth Club wanted changes. “We put all new windows in this very old building here in downtown Charlottesville,” Haske said. “At the pushing of a lot of the students about being cleaner and more efficient, especially in winter time, getting the windows updated so they could open and close and actually seal.”The Schools Champion award went to the Blue Ridge School, a boarding school in Greene County. Cory Woods is the Director of Natural Resources and assistant director of outdoor education. “The Challenge provided us the opportunity to showcase some projects that were already underway like new LED lights and energy efficient windows in our dormitories and motivated us to explore some new opportunities,” Woods said. One of those ideas was a composting program to reduce material that ends up in a landfill. Six entities wound up as the Better Business Champions for scoring the most points in efforts to increase efficiency. In one of two Small Business awards, the Center at Belvedere was one of the winners. Scott Hilles is the director of finance and operations at the Center. “The Center at Belvedere has created a brand new building and it has allowed us to provide a beautiful setting that promotes healthy living in its programs,” Hilles said. For the new building, the Center entered into a purchase agreement with Sun Tribe Solar and have over 400 panels at the new location. “That agreement has allowed us to provide 50 percent of our energy needs through the panels,” Hilles said. “It also allows us to mitigate risk by planning our costs pertaining to energy.”For the other Small Business champion, Scivera transitioned entirely to a home-office based workplace during the pandemic, a move that will continue in 2021. “We normally set up our office in Vault Virginia on the Downtown Mall but because of the pandemic we all had to like so many people scatter to our own home offices and get things going and it ended up working really well,” said Joseph Rinkevich. Rinkevich said only a third of the company’s employees are based in Charlottesville, and going forward there could be less travel for regular internal meetings. One of the medium-sized business awards went to ReadyKids for their work to install low-flow toilets and to begin the process of planning for a solar installation. Ashley Branch is an administrative specialist.“We are very proud and have seen a tremendous saving from our action of doing work on the toilets and now we’re not wasting water, and it has shown profoundly in our water bill each month after we have made those changes,” Branch said. SunTribe Solar was the other medium-sized business champion created an internal sustainability team and had its employees participate with C3’s Home Energy Challenge. Here’s their marketing manager, Summer Rain Ursomarso. “First, we’re trying to help our team be empowered to be more sustainable so that means putting tools in place and providing enough resources to be more sustainable in their day to day actions,” Ursomarso said. “But it also means educating them to take that sustainability and those initiatives home so they can help their friends and family and community be more sustainable.”On to the large entity champion. One of these awards goes to the City of Charlottesville. Kirk Vizzier is the energy management coordinator in the Public Works Department. “Sustainability is something that the city has been very interested in coordinating what we do,” Vizzier said. “We have obviously a lot of municipal operations and services that we want and there are a lot of opportunities to improve those and embed sustainability in the way we do business.” The city created an engagement program for employees called WE to reduce water and energy use. They’re also working on setting up an energy saving performance contract to help speed up the implementation of energy-efficiency measures in city buildings. Finally, Sigora Solar received the other large business award for their plan to convert their fleet of vehicles to either electric or hybrid. Sarah Nerette is the company’s Director of Energy Efficiency and Sustainability. “We’re actually going to be transitioning some of the sedans in our fleet to hybrid and electric vehicles,” Nerette said. “This is going to help make our fleet overall more efficient and more green in general.”For more on the initiative, look up all the award winners at C3’s website.At the DCI meeting, no members of the CAC were on the call because it was not an official meeting. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
In today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out: Code for Charlottesville is looking for volunteers to help with the Summer Session of their Pro Bono Tech Consulting Shop! The Shop is a pro bono IT consulting and problem-solving service for nonprofit organizations in Charlottesville and Central Virginia. Code for Charlottesville assigns small teams of volunteers to work directly with someone at a nonprofit to solve a specific issue with tech, data, or web design. RSVP for the info session Monday, June 21 at 7pm at this link. In today’s edition:Albemarle Supervisors say goodbye to some key staff members and get an update on how the county will utilize America Recovery Plan fundingThe University of Virginia will soon close their community vaccination center at Seminole Square Shopping CenterA new connector road opens in Albemarle County Tomorrow is Juneteenth, marking the end of two and a half centuries of slavery in British colonies in North America as well as the young United States of America. The day parks the day in 1865 federal troops entered Galveston, Texas two months after the Civil War to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation. Here’s Vice President Kamala Harris at a bill signing yesterday.“Throughout history, Juneteenth has been known by many names,” Harris said. “Jubilee Day. Freedom Day. Liberation Day. Emancipation Day. And today? A national holiday.”Harris said there is much more work to be done to address racism in the United States, but the creation of a national holiday makes a statement. In this case, it’s to acknowledge history that many continued to be enslaved in Confederate states long after the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect on January 1, 1863. “For more than two years, the enslaved people of Texas were kept in servitude,” Harris said. “For more than two years, they were intentionally kept from their freedom. For more than two years!” The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center will celebrate from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 19, with food, music, and “a non-sewing sewing event” from Stitch Please. That’s the podcast hosted by Lisa Woolfork. The event is free, but donations are encouraged. (register) For more on what’s happening this weekend to mark Juneteenth, visit this article on C-Ville Weekly. Watch Vice President Harris’ remarks on the WTVR 6 YouTube pageJust under half of Virginians are fully vaccinated according to the Virginia Department of Health. Becker’s Hospital Review ranks the Commonwealth number 16 among the 50 states and D.C. for percent of the population vaccinated, with Vermont at number one and Mississippi last. What do those numbers look like locally? Dr. Costi Sifri is director of hospital epidemiology for the University of Virginia Health System.“Right now 79.9 percent, you know, 80 percent of all adults in Albemarle County have received at least one dose of vaccine,” Dr. Sifri said. “In Charlottesville that number is 68.1 percent.” Dr. Sifri said Nelson is also at 68.1 percent and Louisa is at 56.7 percent. Tonight, UVA Health will hold a vaccine clinic at the first Friday’s After Five event in over 21 months. Justin Vesser is a pharmacy supervisor for UVA Health who said the event is in partnership with Red Light Management. “We know we wanted to go to the Downtown Mall because that’s where people have gathered in Charlottesville from all different walks of life so they offered the perfect space at the Pavilion,” Vesser said. “We’ve had a fair number of vaccinations there but even more important I think we’ve had a great series of conversations with people especially about the topic of vaccine hesitancy. We’ve seen hesitancy head on down on the Downtown Mall.” UVA Health will close their community vaccine center at Seminole Square by the end of July and move it back to the hospital’s west complex at Jefferson Park Avenue and Lee Street. Justin Vesser is a pharmacy supervisor for UVA Health. “The Seminole Square vaccine site has been a huge boon to the community,” Vesser said. “We’ve been able to offer just a massive number of vaccines there with a really good experience for everyone who’s gone there. But the roster there has gone down and down and down. I think that shows signs of progress that we’re reaching most people who at this point want to get the vaccine.” A program to bring vaccines to people in their homes will continue.“Those patients are often the most vulnerable among us who would potentially have the worst outcome if they were to get sick with COVID,” Vesser said, “We will continue to work with the fire departments and with the Blue Ridge Health District to offer those homebound vaccines until there’s nobody left, until there’s no demand for that.”The seven-day average for new cases is 139 a day and the seven-day average for positive results is 1.5 percent. The state of emergency will lapse on June 30. Yesterday, the Commonwealth’s Attorney in both Albemarle and Charlottesville issued a joint statement that anyone who decides after that day to continue wearing a mask for COVID purposes will not be prosecuted. “A state law making it unlawful to wear a mask in public with the intent to conceal one’s identity will go back into full effect on that day,” reads the statement. “The same law permits the wearing of masks to protect the safety of the wearer and other persons.”Source: Virginia Department of HealthA new piece of roadway in Albemarle County has opened this week. The $2.9 million Rio Mills Connector runs for a quarter mile between Berkmar Drive Extension and Rio Mills Road and is now complete. This road allows for a gravel road that had lead to U.S. 29 to be closed to traffic, including trucks that access the Luckstone Quarry in the vicinity. This project is one of six designed and built by Curtis Consulting as part of a single contract. Two other recently completed projects are the new traffic light on U.S. 29 at Interstate 64, and improvements to the Fontaine Avenue interchange with U.S. 29. Coming up next is the diverging diamond at U.S. 250 and I-64 and roundabouts at U.S. 250 and Virginia Route 151 and Route 20 and Proffit Road. (VDOT’s design-build project page) Time now for another subscriber-supported PSA! The Rivanna Conservation Alliance is looking for a few good volunteers to help out on Clean Stream Tuesdays, a mile and a half paddle and clean-up to remove trash and debris from popular stretches of the Rivanna River. Trash bags, trash pickers, gloves, and hand sanitizer/wipes will be provided, though volunteers will need to transport themselves to and from the end points. Kayaks for the purpose can be rented from the Rivanna River Company. Visit the Rivanna Conservation Alliance's volunteer page to learn more about upcoming dates.The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors said goodbye Wednesday to three employees, two of whom are retiring and one who is moving on to the School of Data Sciences at the University of Virginia. Michael Frietas has been the Chief of Public Works for Albemarle for the past 15 years, and the resolution in his honor recognized his work to help the conversion of the former Yancey Elementary School into the Yancey School Community Center. Phyllis Savides was honored for 22 years in the county’s social services department as well as the director for the past several years. Here’s Deputy County Executive Doug Walker. “She is forever a champion of the underdog and that is a role that she relishes in all of our conversations by making sure that we don’t forget,” Walker said. The next person recognized hasn’t been with the county as long but has played a significant role in the past few years. Here’s County Executive Jeff Richardson. “I appreciate the Board’s formal resolution of recognition of Michael Freitas’ retirement and Phyllis Savides’ retirement,” Richardson said. “The third person this afternoon, Siri Russell, the situation is a little different. Siri will be leaving our organization at the end of the month and she will be taking a great opportunity to further her career.” Russell has been the director of Equity and Inclusion for Albemarle and will now be the Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the School of Data Science.“”The good news is that Siri Russell will still be part of our community,” Richardson said. “She will still be part of our organization as a key partner agency.”Richardson lauded Russell for her office’s recent annual report. For her part, Russell thanked the Board for taking the work seriously.“It’s been a resolve for equity, a commitment to inclusion, to a diverse community, to justice, to recognizing lesser told histories and stories and to really furthering the work,” Russell said. “To collaboration with our partners like the city, the University of Virginia, and others.” Russell and Supervisor Ann Mallek recently appeared together on a panel discussion run by the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society. Later in the meeting, Supervisors discussed possible ways of using their share of American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding. At the public comment period, Roy Van Doorn of Charlottesville spoke on behalf of the area chapter of the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging, and Travel Association and asked for direct funding for recovery funds. “The ARP stipulates that 25 percent of these local funds be devoted to hospitality but the legislative text is not specific on how local governments should meet that goal,” Van Doorn said.Van Doorn pointed to a decline in property assessments for hotel properties, as well as the shuttering of the wedding industry for 15 months, as signs of how the hospitality sector has been hurt. Courtney Cacatian, the executive director of the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau, said tourism provided 3,400 jobs and generated $14 million in tax revenues for Albemarle. In 2020, that changed. “COVID hit the tourism industry especially hard,” Cacatian said. “As our industry begins to climb back, it’s essential that we invest in promoting the county in order to have a strong recovery.”The CACVB is funded in through transient lodging taxes, which means the budget for marketing is down. Cacatian asked the Board to consider using the ARP funds to make up the difference as well as support for the lodging industry. “The lodging industry has not received local COVID relief to date and I humbly ask the Board of Supervisors to consider providing grants to the sector for recovery,” Cacatian said. Chief Financial Officer Nelsie Birch then briefed the Board on what’s happening with the ARP. In all, the county will receive $21.2 million from the legislation, and half has already been distributed to the county. Unlike with the previous federal CARES funding, the U.S. Treasury directly funded localities, bypassing state governments. Birch described the broad category for how $4 million of the first portion will be spent. “We wanted to continue the work that we had started with the CARES CRF funding that we did on human services, economic activity and business support,” Birch said. “The Board also supported the use of about $3 million for broadband, knowing that that’s probably not all that we may want to contribute, but there was significant funding for broadband.” The rest of the funding could go to help Albemarle government as an organization, but staff are still seeking to identify how the funding would comply with federal rules. The Treasury Department is still taking comments, and so Supervisors won’t be asked to take a final vote on how to use the money until July. Birch recommended a flexible approach to using the balance of the funding, given there are multiple sources of funding. “There is continued need right now because people are not out of the woods, businesses and households are not out of it,” Birch said. “The state is going to have a lot of funding available with respect to mortgage offset, rent relief, utility relief. We don’t yet know specifically how that is going to fund down to a local resident, but we know that there is something there.”The Albemarle Broadband Authority could take up how to use the $3 million at their meeting next Wednesday. The Board of Supervisors will appropriate the full amount of ARP funding at their meeting on July 7. Albemarle Chief Financial Officer Nelsie Birch presents to the Board of Supervisors This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
Today's Patreon-fueled shout-out is for the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign, an initiative that wants you to grow native plants in yards, farms, public spaces and gardens in the northern Piedmont. Native plants provide habitat, food sources for wildlife, ecosystem resiliency in the face of climate change, and clean water. Start at the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Facebook page and tell them Lonnie Murray sent you! In this edition:Charlottesville may try out open-carry containers in public spaces to boost economic recoveryAlbemarle’s Places29-North group talks traffic, apartments, and congestionPerrone Robotics continues to move its autonomous vehicles forward The University of Virginia has a new RectorA former member of the House of Delegates and a former Secretary of Transportation in Virginia has been named as the Rector of the University of Virginia Board of Visitors. Whittington Clement from southside Virginia will take over the position on July 1, succeeding James Murrary of Albemarle. Robert Hardie will become the vice rector. Read more on UVA Today.Perrone Robotics of Crozet has recently demonstrated the use of its autonomous vehicles in the city of Westminster, Maryland, according to a press release distributed by the company. Perrone participated in the Mid-Atlantic Gigabit Innovation Collaboratory Autonomous Corridor Project by using its AV Star, which purports to be the world’s first and only fully autonomous vehicle and uses the company’s TONY software. TONY stands for To Navigate You and its use was pioneered in Albemarle with a three month trial in Crozet when a six-sheet shuttle reached something called Level 5 Autonomy. In Westminster, the AV Star operated on a “complex operational design domain” route that required it to make left and right turns, a four-way stop, and to drive through a historic city neighborhood. According to the release, Perrone has now installed the autonomous software on over 30 different kinds of vehicles. The AV Star (Source: Perrone Robotics)The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation is seeking comments on a proposal from the Commonwealth Transportation Board to implement something called the Transit Ridership Incentive Program. Legislation passed the General Assembly in 2020 that seeks to improve transit service in urban areas of the Commonwealth with over 100,000. When TRIP goes live, transit agencies and localities will be able to apply for funding for regional projects. Like Smart Scale, candidate projects would be scored on how well they mitigate congestion and how they can provide connectivity to job centers. Review the resolution if you’re interested and send in a comment. The Charlottesville Economic Development office has been working on a recovery plan for the city, and the Charlottesville Economic Development Authority got a look at their meeting on June 8. Director Chris Engel said his department will seek American Rescue Plan funding from City Council to pay for projects within the initiative. “Essentially we met and did a series of outreach efforts including a series of phone calls that was led by Jason Ness on our team with previous recipients of our grants from last year to find out how they’re doing,” Engel said. “We found four basic buckets in which there was desire for additional assistance.Items in the roadmap include direct financial assistance through continued grant programs and additional training programs including a “specific hospitality focused training program.” Other ideas include updating maps for business corridors and creating a marketing leverage program. There are also ideas to create new infrastructure.“One of them is a unique opportunity that is now available to municipalities to seek out what are called designated outdoor refreshment areas,” Engel said. “These are areas where alcoholic beverages can be served in an outdoor environment without putting up the traditional hard barriers that people might be accustomed to for these types of things.”That would allow people to walk on parts of the Downtown Mall while carrying their drinks with them.“Some details to be worked out with that,” Engel said. “There’s a particular kind of cup that would have to be used and some things like that. Not quite Bourbon Street but a more toned-down version.”City Council will be presented with the plan on June 21. Screen shot of the draft Roadmap to Recovery for Charlottesville*You're reading to Charlottesville Community Engagement. Time now for another subscriber supported public service announcement. This June, the Jefferson Madison Regional Library is hosting two virtual programs to commemorate Juneteenth. On June 17th, JMRL is hosting a panel discussion on the lives of the enslaved populations on the Monticello, Montpelier, and Highland plantations. (register)On June 22, JMRL will hold a program about the recently discovered unmarked graves outside the enclosures of the cemetery at Pen Park. (register)Tonight, the Albemarle Planning Commission will once again consider a rezoning for about 19 acres near the Forest Lakes neighborhood for a multifamily complex. RST Development last went before the Planning Commission in March, and their proposal for 370 units was vehemently opposed in a coordinated effort from the Forest Lakes Community Association. Members of the Places29-North Community Advisory Committee were presented with a revised plan on June 10. But they also heard two other items and a common thread throughout all of them was the impact new uses and developments have had and will have on existing roads. The first item was a community meeting for an application from the Monticello United Soccer Club (MONU) to expand the number of fields from four to seven at their location on Polo Ground Roads, as well as the hours. The site is on the banks on the South Fork of Rivanna River and is directly south of the Brookhill community that’s currently under construction. Planner Scott Clark said that section of Polo Grounds Road has received capacity upgrades to handle the additional traffic for the development. “We’ve got signalization, turn lanes in both directions, the westbound straight lane across to Rio Mills Road was closed, and also Rio Mills itself can no longer send traffic directly across to Polo Grounds,” Clark said. Some residents to the east, however, are concerned that any increased use will bring new vehicles. Polo Grounds Road eventually gets to Proffit Road, but there’s a one-lane railroad underpass that prevents high levels of traffic. The amendment to the existing special use permit has already been to the Planning Commission, but Clark wanted to bring it back to the CAC. That gave one man who lives on Proffit Road the chance to ask this question.“Are you telling me that all the traffic is going to enter and exit from U.S. 29 and nobody’s coming under the railroad tunnel to get to Proffit Road?” said the man. Clark said he could not guarantee that none of the people would go that way. The man responded that the Brookhill development is just getting started and any additional uses would affect the overall area. Fred Gerke, a member of the Proffit Community Association, offered some perspective on how the community has changed over time. “You know, I’ve lived out here for 35 years and I’ve watched Proffit Road turn from a dirt track,” Gerke said. “Polo Grounds when I moved out here was a dirt road. I’ve watched it paved and VDOT said it couldn’t get paved. It got paved. Our concerns are just with traffic. MONU is a good organization, does good things. No complaints about that. The objections with the original permit which we commented on all those years ago, that’s why those limits were in there, about traffic concerns.” Gerke said the county’s plans have not kept up with increases in population and use in the area. “Brookhill is great, but what are you going to do?” Gerke said. “We put in these sidewalks and paths and bike lanes that go nowhere. You have no choice. You live in Brookhill, you’re going to have to get in your car to go anywhere, and it’s the same with MONU.” The Albemarle Board of Supervisors will hold their public hearing on MONU on August 4. Next, the Places29-North CAC held the community meeting for a rezoning for the proposed Maplewood Community to be built on a vacant parcel of land at the intersection of Proffit Road and Worth Crossing. The 3.41 acres of land are currently zoned commercial, but the application is for Planned Residential Development to build a maximum of 102 units. Ashley Davies is with Riverbend Development. “We’ve got some layouts now and it’s probably going to land somewhere closer to about 74 units total,” Davies said. “We think it’s a nice, complementary use to the other commercial uses in the area and we imagine sometime in the future the rest of this area will probably see some redevelopment.” The layout shown to the CAC features housing units called a “two over two.”“They’re a new unit type that is basically townhouse units but they have two units per townhouse, so it’s a four story unit,” Davies said. “You’ve got parking on the bottom and then one of the levels is one unit and then you have a two-level unit.”One CAC member noted that there have been several applications in this area that are approaching the upper limits of allowed residential densities. County planner Mariah Gleason had some explanation. “In terms of proposals coming in at higher level densities, yes, we have had several lately come in that are in this area,” Gleason said. “I think it’s a combination of where there’s availability and the desire to build from the development community.”The applicant requested an indefinite deferral yesterday to respond to comments from staff. One issue in the letter is that staff interpreted the application as requesting five-story buildings, which aren’t allowed under zoning at that location or in the Comprehensive Plan. Davies said that was not the case.“The buildings proposed are four stories so there’s no height issue,” Davies said. A basic layout for the Maplewood project The last item on the agenda was a discussion about the RST project. The applicant was not on the call, but members of the CAC talked about their official list of concerns for the revised project. “Most are driven by concern for the very high density of units on this small parcel of land,” reads the comments. “We feel the sheer number of units proposed will not sustain even a relatively high quality of life for either current residents, or the people who will move into this development.”The one and a half page list of comments points out three good things about the new proposal. They are the slightly reduced size, the provision of below-market units, and the “ethnic diversity” the project would bring. But the rest of the comments are in opposition. Citing one of them, CAC member Steve Cameron said he was against a special exception request for a fifth story in the main apartment building. “I don’t understand the reason for the five-story waiver or the necessity for that,” Cameron said. “Looking out the topography, this is a higher portion of ground. It’s going to be higher. Four stories. The density is still the same. And then when we look around, Brookhill certainly would have wanted to go to five stories if they could.” Tony Pagnucco went next.“I have three concerns about this development,” Pagnucco said. “First of all, the traffic. Second of all the transportation site so that if there’s ever public transportation, that there would be some place where people could get on and off of public transportation. And lastly the schools.”However, Pagnucco said he was not sure the CAC should send out the document and he did not support it. He did suggest that high density multifamily units could be built in the rural areas. “Where really the only people that would care about that are few and far between,” Pagnucco said. Back in March, there was concern that there were no provisions for transit. Supervisor Bea LaPisto Kirtley said the new proposal does include considerations for future bus routes.“There are three projected transit stops for the RST development,” LaPisto Kirtley said. “One on 29, one on Ashwood Boulevard, and one inside the actual development.” The Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission will soon begin the public comment period before expanding transit in Albemarle. Charlottesville Area Transit is conducting a similar study in the whole area. The CAC did not take a vote to officially endorse the comments. Planning Commissioner Corey Clayborne thanked the group for their discussion.“Thank you guys for that conversation,” Clayborne said. “It was very helpful to be able to those concerns and document those.Watch the whole meeting of the Places29-North Community Advisory Committee here. Screen shot of the comments discussed but not endorsed at the meeting. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
In today’s reader-supported public service announcement, the Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards is getting ready for a series of fall classes for new volunteers. The Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards increase public awareness of the value of trees in all environments, rural and urban. The Fall 2021 class will involve a combination of online training sessions and field activities with a maximum of 32 students to facilitate the best field training possible. The registration period opens on June 15 and slots will fill quickly! With a 15-week duration beginning August 7th and ending November 13th, the online classes will precede the field activities held on every other Saturday at various locations in the Charlottesville area. Learn more at charlottesvilleareatreestewards.org. On today’s installment:The Pantops Community Advisory Committee got a review last week on the update of Albemarle’s affordable housing planA quick tour of the CODE Building under construction in Downtown Charlottesville Charlottesville Parks and Recreation announces further easing of pandemic shutdownsCharlottesville Police are investigating four shooting incidents that took place over the weekend, including an incident in Westhaven at which the filming of a rap video on a playground was interrupted by gunfire. One person went to the hospital with a gunshot wound. That’s according to a press release from Charlottesville Police, which also detailed incidents on Longwood Drive, 12th Street NW and Swanson Drive. (press release)The Charlottesville Parks and Recreation Department has unveiled the further easing of restrictions, including the opening of the Charlottesville City Market to in-person attendance on May 15. That’s with COVID protocols in place, including wearing masks and temperature checks before admittance. Carver Recreation Center and Key Recreation Center will open on May 17 and the Tonsler Recreation Center will open May 24. The Spray Grounds at Belmont Park, Forest Hills Park, Greenleaf Park, and Tonsler Park will open on May 29. Crow Indoor Pool and Washington Park Pool will also reopen on May 29. Except for Tonsler, attendees must make reservations in advance at www.webtrac.charlottesville.gov or by telephoning the facility. The Smith Aquatic and Fitness Center will not open until August 1 given ongoing repairs to the internal ventilation system. There is no time set for the outdoor Onesty Family Aquatic Center, which will remain closed due to staff constraints. Visit the city’s website for more information. At production time today, a rock slide has closed U.S. 250 on Afton Mountain, and the Virginia Department of Transportation is advising people to use I-64 as an alternative through tomorrow. “Personnel from the Virginia Department of Transportation are on the scene assessing the extent of the slide and how to remove the material from the road and ensure the slope is stabilized,” reads a release. No one was injured in the rock slide. Credit: Nicole HenryOn Tuesday, May 4, the Albemarle Planning Commission will take up the Housing Albemarle plan, which is intended to update the county’s policies to encourage the production and sustaining of affordable places for people to live. Stacy Pethia, the county’s housing coordinator, has been making the rounds of the county’s Community Advisory Committees and spoke to the Pantops group on April 26.“Our current affordable housing policy was updated in 2004, and that became Chapter 9 of the Comprehensive Plan and the policy itself is an appendix to the current comp plan,” Pethia said. “In July 2019, the Albemarle Planning Commission passed a resolution of intent to update the current housing policy.” The Planning Commission had a work session in March and their public hearing will be held on Tuesday, May 4. Much of the work is built off of a regional housing needs assessment conducted in 2019 by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. The work is based on four conclusions from that study.“One is that our population is going to continue to grow,” Pethia said. “It’s currently projected to grow by about 27 percent over the next twenty years so we will need to find housing and make sure we have appropriate housing stock for that increased population.” Read the whole plan hereThe current policy expands the number of policy objectives from five to 12, and has 39 recommended strategies. These include ideas to increase the overall number of houses in Albemarle, preserving existing affordable options, expanding community engagement opportunities about housing, and more. “Really addressing fair housing and community equity throughout the county,” Pethia said. “Housing for the homeless and special populations, and then how we can fit all of this together to support sustainable communities.”The new plan also amends and expands the county’s definition of affordable housing to include sub-definitions such as workforce housing. Currently the definition of “affordable” is set at anything below 80 percent of the area median. Under that term, housing costs should make up no more than 30 percent of a family’s yearly income. “The new policy recommends redefining affordable housing so that when it is renter-occupied housing, that those units would be available to households with incomes of 60 percent or less,” Pethia said. But what about units for sale? “For owner-occupied housing those units would still be available to households at the 80 percent AMI category or less,” Pethia said. “And we would set the maximum for-sale price at 65 percent of the federal HOME program one-unit purchase price limit for existing housing, it’s a really long title. As of today that maximum sales price would be under $200,000.” The maximum is now much higher at $243,750, which is out of reach for many households. Pethia said the median sales price in the county is $405,000. “So this I think will open the door to home-ownership to a lot of different families that have not been able to react it,” Pethia said. In the new plan, Albemarle would adopt a new affordable dwelling unit ordinance to replace the current system where rezonings or special use permits trigger the developer to designate fifteen percent of the total number of units as below-market to households with incomes less than 80 percent of the AMI. “With an affordable dwelling unit ordinance, that would become mandatory so the developers would have to provide a percentage of affordable housing with rezonings and special use permits,” Pethis said. “The policy proposes increasing that percentage from 15 to 20 percent.” Developers would still have the ability to make a payment in lieu of providing the housing. Pethia also said that the county would have the right of first refusal to purchase those units when they are ready for sale. “We could purchase up to one-third of those right off the bat,” Pethia said.A current issue with the home-ownership system is that proffered for-sale units required to be below-market only have a 90-day eligibility window, after which they can be sold on the open market. “Right now we have a very difficult time getting proffered for-sale units purchased as affordable units,” Pethia said. “And finally an affordable dwelling unit ordinance would allow the county to set affordability periods and control the resale price.” Other planks in the plan include exploring county land that could be used to develop below-market housing for public employees, incentives and fee reductions for developers who limit their profit, and more. The Albemarle Planning Commission’s public hearing is the second scheduled on the agenda. Read the latest version of the plan before you watch. Or, watch the Pantops meeting on the county’s YouTube page. You’re listening to Charlottesville Community Engagement and time for another subscriber-supported public service announcement. It’s becoming more and more safe to go out and check out live music. If you’re interested in going out and hearing people who have been waiting to get out and play, check out the Charlottesville Jazz Society and their running list of events! The Charlottesville Jazz Society is dedicated to the promotion, preservation and perpetuation of all jazz, and that the best thing you can do now is to go check out some music. Check out the event listing on their website!The following segment is best heard as an audio piece. This is a podcast as well, after all! Finally today, last week, the developers of the new CODE Building on the eastern end of the Charlottesville Downtown Mall opened up for a preview for the press. The name of the structure at 240 West Main Street stands for Center of Developing Entrepreneurs. “So, we have not done an on-site tour for those of you that have come before, we’ve met at the Omni,” said Andrew Boninti of CSH Development, the firm overseeing the site’s development. “This time it’s so cool to get on the site. Hourigan Construction team is with us.” The site of the former Main Street Arena was purchased by a firm associated with Jaffray Woodriff in March 2017 for $5.7 million. That building was razed and construction on a triangular replacement is nearing completion. Rob Archer leads a media tour of the CODE Building on April 28, 2021One of the main features of the new building will be the CODEBASE co-working space, which will be managed by Rob Archer. He leads the group of hard-hat wearing media into the building. “So we’ve just walked into the main entrance right here,” Archer said. “We come through the vestibule area and we are here in what we like to call the hotel lobby.”The walls are made of concrete and nothing has been furnished yet. But Archer holds up a picture depicting neatly-arranged couches and coffee tables. This will be a public space which leads both to the small working spaces as well as the offices on the upper floors. Fred Wolf of the firm Wolf Ackerman explains the purpose of the lobby.“So the lobby is basically a big mixing bowl for all of the people in the building obviously, that’s why we have this bar that’s going to serve nitro coffee, wine, beer, get a newspaper,” Wolf said. “This could be event space if they have like a reception.”There will be room for two pop-up restaurants to come and go, as well as a retail space that will face the Downtown Mall. “The idea is that you can have to bring energy and people, you want to be able to feed them as well,” Archer said. While standing in the “hotel lobby,” Andrew Boninti shows off what it is soon intended to look likeThey’ll also need energy to climb the stairs, which were the only way to climb up the nine stories to the top of the part of the building that faces Water Street. The elevator wasn’t yet installed on the day we took the tour. On the way there, we passed through an 200-person auditorium that can be used for a variety of different purposes. Along the way, I asked Wolf a question.“Is this the biggest thing you’ve ever worked on?” I asked.“Yes,” Wolf said. Being an active construction site, it was far too noisy to conduct interviews, so we’ll get to that in a moment. There’s only one level of parking in the basement. I asked Wolf how many spaces.“I think we ended up with 74,” Wolf said. They didn’t have to build any spaces given the site’s location in a parking exempt zone. “The spirit of this building, which had a lot to do about the health of the work environment, the health of the tenants and occupants and the belief there is going to continue to be advances in driverless vehicles, Uber, electric bikes,” Wolf said. “All of these other things instead of parking spaces that parking could become in the next ten or fifteen years kind of an obsolete notion.” We climbed to the top of the building, passing through spaces that will one day be private offices for tenants. From the top of the Water Street side, you can see the three open rooftops connected to the offices on the Downtown Mall side. Back down on the ground, I asked Rob Archer to talk about what CODE Base will be like. “CODE Base Co-Working is really designed to serve business professionals and entrepreneurs do its specifically designed to aid in getting work done so what we always say is that Code Base Co-Working is a space to do your very best work,” Archer said. “Obviously, this this thing happened and you started building this thing at the beginning of the pandemic, and a lot of people have said, ‘Why should we ever have to go back to work?’ What would you say to that?” I asked.“So, a really interesting phenomenon has happened in terms of the timing of things,” Archer said. “With the real estate market changing, corporate entities have realized that the lagging asset in terms of change and flexibility is usually real estate. And so now bringing on a model that allows for flexibility, it really is a benefit to the corporate structure. It’s also a benefit to those who are tired of working at home, who need to join community.”In all there are 38 private offices and another 15,000 square feet of open space to be shared. The rest of the space will be leased to companies. From the top of the building you can see the Apex building under construction to the south, and the 3-Twenty-3 building to the east. You also can’t help but notice the skeleton of the Landmark two blocks away. Does Charlottesville have enough companies that want this much office space? Here’s Andrew Boninti again. “When we first started before the pandemic, I really felt pretty confident with interest that we had and letters of intent and things of that nature that we would have been 100 percent occupied when we open this September,” Boninti said. “But, everyone pressed paused for a moment and so we’ve been in the pause mode for about 12 months, but I think really with the roll-out with the vaccine we’ve really seen activity starting to pick up. We are in the process of signing several small tenant leases and I feel comfortable saying we’ll be 75 to 80 percent leased when we open. In this environment I feel very good about that.”“Now, you’ve got a couple of other buildings that are coming online,” I said. “3-Twenty-3, the Apex Building. There’s a lot coming on the market all at once. Does that change things?”“I think that it does,” Bointi said. “They’re both very good buildings and gives people good choices anyway. Obviously, if you’re a Monopoly player we consider ourselves to be Boardwalk and Park Place, but the other buildings are extremely nice. Apex, which is obviously predominantly taken by Apex, really did not have a lot of space that would be offered to the community and 3-Twenty-3 has been ahead of us so they’ve been signing up tenants at a little quicker pace. I think the real key for leasing here in Charlottesville is can we bring new businesses from out of town? I think what you see is a circulation of moving the same tenants around. We need to see new blood come into the community and that’s what we’re hoping to attract here at CODE but right now our tenants are existing tenants that are in the community already.” Stay tuned. The Apex building under construction to the south with Carter Mountain in the background This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
In today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out, supporter Lonnie Murray wants you to know about a series of seminars on spring and fall landscaping with native plants. Plant Virginia Natives has held four of these already, but the next one is coming up on April 20 with Beth Mizell of Blue Ridge Prism on how to identify and eradicate invasive plants in Virginia. On today’s show: A review of Charlottesville City Council’s meeting from this past Monday, including a first reading of the budget and a discussion of performance metrics Council also adds the Starr Hill Vision Plan to the 2013 Comprehensive Plan as part of the appendix The eastern entrance to the Blue Ridge Tunnel will close for repairs to the parking lot beginning this Monday The University of Virginia will live-stream the dedication of the Memorial to Enslaved Workers Saturday morningThe bulk of today’s show deals with the Charlottesville City Council meeting from Monday, April 5. But before we get to that, here’s a few quicker stories. The unemployment rate in the Charlottesville Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) dropped to 4.8 percent February, down from 5.1 percent in January. That’s according to data released Wednesday by the Virginia Employment Commission. Statewide the rate in February was 5.4 percent, down from 5.7 percent in January. The unemployment rate in February 2020 was 2.1 percent in the Charlottesville MSA and 2.5 percent statewide. Over in the Shenandoah Valley, the Staunton-Waynesboro MSA has an unemployment rate of 4.6 in February, down from 4.8 in 4.8 in January. In February 2020, those communities had an unemployment rate of 2.2 percent. Source: Virginia Employment CommissionTomorrow morning at 11 a.m., the University of Virginia will hold a ceremony to formally dedicate the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers, which was completed last year but the pandemic prevented a public dedication. There are at least 4,000 people who built and maintained the University of Virginia from 1819 until Liberation Day in 1865. The event will be live-streamed. (UVA Today article)Tonight at 6 p.m., a group called the Descendants of Enslaved Communities at the University of Virginia will have its public launch on a virtual event that begins at 6 p.m. Speakers will be Dr. Andrea Douglass of the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center, Dr. Jody Allen of The Lemon Project at William and Mary, and Dr. Michael Blakey of the Montpelier Descendant Committee. Registration is limited. (Descendant’s Day event)*The eastern parking lot of the Blue Ridge Tunnel in Nelson County will be closed for at least three weeks beginning Monday, April 12 so that it can be expanded. The director of the Nelson County Parks and Recreation department sent out an email stating that barriers will be placed on Afton Depot Lane and people will be stationed outside to direct people to the western trailhead which is in Waynesboro. Traffic congestion, over-parking, and litter have been issues on the eastern side since it opened last November. (more information) The view last November shortly after the tunnel opened for pedestrian passage (Credit: Victoria Dunham)The rest of this newsletter is dedicated to the Charlottesville City Council meeting from Monday, April 5. Let’s just go through it, more or less in order. As reported elsewhere, the Charlottesville School Board has entered into a $1.47 million contract with architectural firm VMDO to conduct design services for the reconfiguration of the city’s middle schools. VMDO has also been hired to put together growth and capacity scenarios for the entire school system. Source: December 19, 2018 Charlottesville School Board budget presentationThe capital budget before the City Council includes a placeholder of $50 million for the project, but more detailed analysis will yield a more accurate cost estimate. “The initial analysis of the existing buildings of the schools, the two buildings being Buford Middle School and Walker Upper Elementary School, have been completed including building envelope assessments, general building condition analysis, a building 3D digital modeling, and site survey,” Boyles said. A kick-off meeting will be held next week and community engagement will begin in early May. “An initial assessment of the findings are due back in June,” Boyles said. “While these will be preliminary and an initial assessment, it will begin to start giving feedback and data to the City Council and the Charlottesville School Board.” This week, several housing advocacy groups asked Council to help cover the legal costs of preventing evictions. The entire nation is currently under a moratorium imposed by the Centers for Disease Control that has now been extended to June 30, and groups are concerned that tenants will face renewed pressures once it is lifted. Boyles said Council has provided direction at work sessions this spring to provide resources. (CDC order)“We have engaged discussions with the Legal Aid Justice Center,” Boyles said. “They have presented some ideas of how this could move forward. At this point our recommendation is to utilize the American Recovery Plan funds that the city should be receiving.” Boyles said one possibility is for a two-year agreement between the Legal Aid Justice Center and the city. A community outreach person would be funded as part of this arrangement. “I do believe that the right direction to go is with contracting with someone like Legal Aid Justice Center and they have begun to work up what the cost estimates would be as soon as the American Recovery Funds are available, we can present that to Council for approval,” Boyles said. Virginia is also continuing to offer a rent relief program related to the pandemic. Councilor Lloyd Snook noted that many in Albemarle County had asked Council to increase funding for eviction prevention and to push for policies to protect tenants’ rights. “I would hope that there would be also be conversations with Albemarle County just as they are having with the city of Charlottesville,” Snook said. “I’ve been interested to note that roughly half of the letters that we have received in the last few days imploring the city to do something have been from county residents. And I’ve asked some of them if they’ve sent a comparable letter to the Board of Supervisors.” Boyles said he has already reached out to Albemarle to begin the conversations of working together. I put the question to Emily Kilroy, the county’s Director of Communications and Public Engagement. She said Albemarle does not have a specific eviction prevention program, but does fund Legal Aid Justice Center and Piedmont Housing Alliance to provide direct services.“Over the course of the pandemic, the Emergency Financial Assistance Program that the County is sponsoring through United Way has provided funds for rent, including referrals from the General District Court related to eviction petitions,” Kilroy said in an email. “The Housing Choice Voucher program has been able to increase subsidy payments to owners on behalf of our participants who may have lost their income during COVID and have done so, on several occasions.Later in the meeting, Council held a public hearing on the budget for FY22 which so far does not include any funding from the American Recovery Plan because staff wants to have a full sense of restrictions that may come with the money. However, Boyles said one of the first uses will be to fill the revenue shortfalls from FY21. Staff have been working to close a multimillion dollar budget gap. “While revenue projections are improving for FY21, we still estimate a $9.2 revenue loss for fiscal year 21,” Boyles said. Final budget adoption is scheduled for April 13. After that, Boyles is hoping to relaunch the city’s strategic planning process in order to inform future budgets. The current strategic plan was adopted in June 2017 and no one is left on Council from that time. “My vision is that as soon as we get through with this budget process, then we begin a strategic planning process that will start to lead us toward the FY23 budget,” Boyles said. A strategic plan is not to be confused with the Comprehensive Plan, which is a document intended to direct the development of land and public infrastructure. The strategic plan is intended to create policy objectives which then direct the work of the city’s employees as well as what the city chooses to fund. Mayor Nikuyah Walker said one of her main objectives is to ensure city funding for non-profits is tied to performance. “One of the major points that came out of the task force or working group meeting I convened or whatever we called it was to figure out how to get citizens input directly and not just have nonprofits be able to say that X people of number participated and thereby just by participating they get the dollars that there are allocated,” Walker said.For many years, Albemarle and Charlottesville participated in something called the Agency Budget Review Team in which a sixteen member team evaluated requests jointly.However, Council opted to go its own way beginning with the development of the FY21 budget in favor of something the Vibrant Community Fund. In her comments above, Walker was referring to the Measurement and Solutions Group which had been intended to meet to “identify appropriate measurements, benchmarks, solutions and metrics for the designated priority areas for use in The Vibrant Community Funding process.” Those priority areas are “Jobs/Wages, Affordable Housing, Public Health Care, and Education.” However, that process has been delayed by the pandemic. Boyles said the process would be improved for the next fiscal year.“For FY23 we want to come up with a means to be able to identify some of our nonprofit and community stakeholders and partners that will become more of a line item within the budget so that even though it is an annual basis, it be a little bit more definitive for them to know they’re going to get a funding of a certain amount every year,” Boyles said. A work session on the process going into the next fiscal year will be held in May.You’re listening to Charlottesville Community Engagement. What do you know about rock music? Want to put it to the test? Join WTJU virtually on April 16 for their first-ever Trivia Night at 8 p.m. Join a team in the virtual pub and put your screens together to answer rounds of questions with themes that relate to rock, radio, and local lore. There will be merriment! There will be prizes! Trivia Night is just three days before the beginning of the rock marathon, a seven-day extravaganza to help fund the station. Visit wtju.net to learn more!The entire plan can be downloaded from the New Hill Development Corporation's website (download) Council next took up the adoption of the Starr Hill Vision Plan to the City’s Comprehensive Plan. In November 2018, Council used $500,000 from its Equity Fund to pay the nonprofit New Hill Development Corporation to create a small area plan. Alex Ikefuna is the deputy director of the Neighborhood Development Services department.“Planning Commission and staff worked together,” Ikefuna said. “Originally it was a small area plan that because of the contents and the efficiencies in the land use it was agreed with the consultant that it would be submitted to the Planning Commission and subsequently to the City Council as a vision plan,” Ikefuna said. Yolunda Harrell is with New Hill Development Corporation, which was formed following conversations that began in July 2017 with former Councilors Wes Bellamy and Kathy Galvin. “This plan intentionally centers the Black community, not to the exclusion of others, but rather to the intentional inclusion of us,” Harrell said. “This plan specifically looks at opportunities to increase the street-level presence of sustainable, well-capitalized, existing and start-up Black-owned businesses.” Harrell said part of the work going forward will involved providing gap money to finance entrepreneurial efforts. From the land use perspective, the idea is to create multiple types of housing so as to cover different affordability ranges. “Whether you are a first-time homebuyer, a voucher-holder, or someone looking for the next phase of housing along their financial growth path, in this plan we have demonstrated how those opportunities can and will exist,” Harrell said. Harrell said the plan would build off of the work the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center has done to curate local Black history. The Jefferson School received $450,000 from the city’s Strategic Initiatives fund in FY2018 and another $500,000 in FY2019. “This plan also speaks to the need for gathering spaces where folks can connect or just simply be,” Harrell said. “Where they can be empowered to congregate and co-create, build and own, and innovate and learn.” Harrell said the 10.4 acre City Yard property offers the best chance to create new housing. Currently the city’s public works department is located in the space. City Council agreed to fund a $300,000 environmental remediation plan in FY20. Ikefuna said that money has not yet been spent. “While City Yard represents a genuine opportunity for new affordable housing as part of a mixed-use development, Starr Hill’s existing residential neighborhood must be sustained and strengthened,” Harrell said. Harrell said the plan offers suggestions on what could happen immediately. “Which is, creating housing on Brown Street, thus shoring up and strengthening the integrity of the existing residential neighborhood,” Harrell said. “This can be done while we explore other opportunities in the larger plan.”Looking west on Brown Street, April 8, 2021 (Credit: Sean Tubbs)Brown Street runs east-west between Cream Street and 5th Street NW and most of the parcels on the northern side are vacant. The city’s property records indicate there are 14 landowners on the street. In addition to the City Yard, the City of Charlottesville owns a 0.13 acre vacant lot at 609 Brown Street. Harrell suggested these properties could be be subdivided to create between 10 and 46 new residential units, including homeownership opportunities to first-time home buyers. As for the greater City Yard, Harrell said the vision could yield many more places to live.“If we just look for a moment at the proposed vision, our city could gain upwards of 250 additional housing units not to mention the additional office and retail space to support the presence of Main Street, Black-owned businesses which can significantly change the social fabric of our community,” Harrell said. Source: New Hill Development CorporationThe plan also calls for the identification of 50 parking spaces for First Baptist Church on West Main Street, which Harrell said will eventually lose 50 spaces when the Amtrak parking lot is eventually redeveloped. There are no plans for that now, but Harrell said the Starr Hill Vision Plan identified that need for the future. But the main idea is to reconnect the city after decades of fragmentation using new infrastructure.“There is an important opportunity to restore and strengthen the connections between Starr Hill to a broader network of neighborhoods from Westhaven, 10th and Page, and Rose Hill to the Downtown Mall,” Harrell said. Councilor Lloyd Snook said he was interested to come up with a future for the City Yard, but had some concerns about adding this specific vision to the Comprehensive Plan.“A Comprehensive Plan, it seems to me, needs to be more than just here’s a possibility,” Snook said. “It has to be ‘we’ve made a decision that this is the possibility not just a possibility.’”Snook said the visioning work was a start, but the city is in the middle of a Comprehensive Plan process through the Cville Plans Together initiative. “I’m not sure we’re there yet,” Snook said. “I think you’ve given us a great start for a lot of discussions that we need to be having.”Harrell said they have met with the Cville Plans Together consultants, Rhodeside & Harwell, and have updated them on the plan.“They are just waiting for this plan to be adopted so that they can then roll it up into consideration of the overall plan,” Harrell said. “We did make suggestions on what zoning should happen and what ways the land could be used.” Ikefuna said the Starr Hill Vision Plan did not have enough land use analysis and the level of detail required for a small area plan. “However, it has several contents such as housing, economic development, and placemaking part of which is the connectivity concept which Yolunda alluded to in her presentationFor City Yard to be developed, City Council would need to approve a plan to move Public Works elsewhere and there is no estimate for how much that would cost the city. But redevelopment would begin with remediation.“I don’t think you can reuse that site without remediation,” Ikefuna said. “Maybe the areas around Brown Street could be carved out and developed. It has a good potential for development for housing. But in terms of redevelopment of City Yard, there has to be remediation.” Harrell said the vision plan addresses remediation. The plan suggests the city consider enrolling in the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s Voluntary Remediation Program which can lead to grants to pay for clean-up efforts. The plan also lists previous efforts to document contamination at the site and noted that remediation may have a preliminary cost estimate of $3.4 million. Harrell said that the plan has taken previous studies into consideration and designates commercial uses in areas that might need remediation. Council voted unanimously to approve a motion to add the Starr Hill Vision Plan to the appendix of 2013 Comprehensive Plan, the same way that the Cherry Avenue Small Area Plan and the Hydraulic Area Plan were added. (see all approved city plans)That’s still not all from the Council meeting. I’ve clipped out audio for potential future segments on the 4-1 vote for an amendment of the special use permit for new apartments on Harris Street, action on changes to City Council rules related to expenditures of funds, and a presentation on the latest version of the Orange Dot Report from Piedmont Virginia Community College’s Division of Community Self-Sufficiency Programs. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
Ed Pierce, Owner of Meriwether Springs Vineyard & Brewery, and Alex Urpí, CEO of Emergent Financial Services, LLC, joined me live on The I Love CVille Show! The I Love CVille Show headlines (Tuesday, March 16) 1. When will Fridays After Five Return to the Downtown Mall? https://www.nbc29.com/2021/03/16/charlottesvilles-fridays-after-five-may-return-may/ 2. CarLotz opening a Charlottesville, Va location https://richmond.com/business/carlotz-to-open-store-in-the-charlottesville-area/article_49cd18d3-d30a-51e1-b21c-03f6c9f19314.html 3. How much does March Madness generate in revenue? https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/16/with-1-billion-on-the-line-march-madness-is-ready-for-its-comeback.html 4. Ryan Fitzpatrick is coming to Washington. https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/31073251/ryan-fitzpatrick-washington-football-team-agree-free-agent-deal-source-says The I Love CVille Show airs live before a worldwide audience Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. The I Love CVille Show is powered by four generation strong Intrastate Inc., trusted limo company Camryn Limousine, the talented Dr. Scott Wagner of Scott Wagner Chiropractic and Sports Medicine, custom home builder John Kerber of Dominion Custom Homes and entrepreneur Patricia Boden Zeller's Animal Connection – All Natural Store for Healthy Pets.
With the COVID pandemic still affecting our lives, today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out from an anonymous contributor is once again to state clearly: "We keep each other safe. Wear a mask, wash your hands, and keep your distance."If you’d like to help support this program and get a message out there, a $25 monthly contribution through Patreon gets you four such shout-outs. Some restrictions apply. Contact me if you have any questions or have interest. Now, on with the show! On today’s show:Another Democrat has entered the race for Charlottesville City Council A pedestrian is struck on West Main Street during a protestVirginia State Police explode a suspicious device this morning on the Downtown Mall An update on vaccines and the pandemicWe’ll begin today with a pandemic update. Statewide trends continue to head down with percent positivity statewide at 7.4 percent today. Numbers in the Blue Ridge Health District have also been declining a week after a sudden surge related to the return of University of Virginia students. Yesterday, UVA eased restrictions on in-person gatherings according to a news release sent out yesterday. Students are now allowed to leave their residences for non-academic or non-dining purposes, and people can meet in groups up to six. “Out of concern for spreading the virus into the surrounding Charlottesville community, the University will continue to limit community volunteering activity until further notice, with one exception,” the release continues. That exception is UVA students who volunteer on public safety crews who have also been vaccinated. The fatality count statewide continues to rise as death certificates continue to be entered into the system used by the Virginia Department of Health to track the disease. Nearly 1,200 deaths have been recorded this week for a statewide total now of 8,382. Most of these deaths actually occured in January. In the Blue Ridge Health District, there are now a total of 148 deaths including 57 in Albemarle and 43 in Charlottesville. Over 98 percent of these were people over the age of 50, with 81.1 percent over the age of 70. Source: Virginia Department of HealthIn an email update that went out last night, the Blue Ridge Health District announced it will receive the largest shipment of vaccine doses next week. That will allow them to expand vaccinations to people over the age of 65. “BRHD will receive 4,170 first dose vaccines (both Pfizer and Moderna). Nearly half of these will be distributed to UVA Health to assist with vaccinating Phase 1A and 1B individuals at the Seminole Square location and Community Sites. Additionally, 300 doses will go to the Blue Ridge Medical Center in Nelson and 300 doses will go to Walmart Pharmacies in Greene and Louisa for vaccinating individuals 65+.”Source: Virginia Department of HealthThis week, the University of Virginia passed a milestone of administering more than 50,000 doses since December 15. They’re also moving all of their vaccination operations to the temporary facility in the Seminole Square Shopping Center which has been informally dubbed by some as “Big Shots.” Dr. Costi Sifri is leading up the Health System’s community health efforts. “It is challenging to get here into the medical center,” Dr. Sifri said. “There are a lot of traffic and some challenges with that.” Yesterday, a U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel approved emergency authorization for a vaccine from Johnson and Johnson. The time will soon come when anyone who wants a dose can get one. There is some reluctance among many in the population about the safety of a new type of vaccine. Dr. Sifri said hesitancy among some may be waning. “The vaccine is showing really important efficacy results as were seen in the clinical trials,” Sifri said. “That’s been demonstrated really around the world where they have been rolled out. But in addition they are very well tolerated. People can have some of these side effects but for the most part they’re reasonable and it is too difficult to manage.”Dr. Sifri said there are some who are reluctant to receive a vaccine and public health professionals need to continue discussions with those who are hesitant in order to allay their fears.“Vaccination is going to be our best tool to get over this pandemic,” Dr. Sifri said. Dr. Sifri said UVA would follow the Blue Ridge Health District’s lead on how to continue to support the response to this community health crisis by providing vaccinations. Another source of information is a Q&A with Dr. Eric Houpt on vaccinations and how the world around us may be slowly changing. Stay informed. The University of Virginia Health System will begin to allow visitation at some in-patient units beginning on March 2. For a full list, read the update on their website. Finally in this segment, a friend of mine on social media yesterday posed the question of whether it was a good idea for people to post pictures of themselves getting a vaccine on social media. To hear that conversation, take a listen to the podcast version of this newsletter. Subscribe through Apple MusicSubscribe through SpotifyListen through AmazonA pedestrian was struck yesterday afternoon at rush hour in the intersection of West Main Street and Roosevelt Brown Boulevard. A press release issued by the city of Charlottesville Police Department later in the evening said the person suffered “minor injuries.”“As vehicles swerved to avoid confrontations, an uninvolved pedestrian was struck by another vehicle as she attempted to cross the street,” reads the release. Video footage of the incident released on Twitter by Arianna Coghill is more complicated. As the 45 second video begins, a crowd of people are standing within the intersection as part of a Black Lives Matters protest organized by the group BLM757 that had been moving within the city since 230 p.m. The traffic light controlling vehicles traveling on to Roosevelt Brown Boulevard is green but the group is standing directly in the line of traffic. At four seconds, the light turns yellow. A person holding a blue sign blocks vehicles seeking to northbound travel from Roosevelt Brown Boulevard onto 10th Street NW. At almost seven seconds, the light is still yellow. A person in a white jacket can be seen waiting to cross Roosevelt Brown heading west toward the University of Virginia. As soon as the light changes, this person begins crossing the road at a jogging pace. A dark gray pick-up truck crosses the perimeter of the intersection despite the traffic signal being red. This vehicle can be heard revving its engines to accelerate. At ten seconds, the vehicle strikes the person crossing the street and they fall to the ground. The crowd of people move to assist them. The driver stops and the videographer films the rest of the incident. The driver gets out of his vehicle, and others race to the person to help. The video ends. The first paragraph of the Police Department’s press release mentions the name of the protest organizer and the fourth states that the Commonwealth’s Attorney office will assist in the investigation. A question is out for more information about whether the driver will be charged. This morning, another press release from the Charlottesville Police Department announced a suspicious device was found this morning on 4th Street SE near the Downtown Mall Crossing. The Virginia State Police were called in and the device was detonated. “CPD’s forensic investigators are processing the scene and have collected relevant evidence, which will be sent to the Virginia Division of Forensic Science for analysis,” reads the release. (Note - I did not link to the tweet pending identification of the person who took it. I want to make sure they get credit and that I have permission to use it. I can provide the link upon email and will update this newsletter once I have permission)*There are now three Democrats seeking two nominations for two seats on the Charlottesville City Council. Charlottesville Tomorrow reports that Albemarle High School graduate Yasmine Washington is running and Charlotte Rene Woods has a profile on her published Friday. Washington joins school board member Juandiego Wade and 2019 candidate Brian Pinkston in the race. Keep track of campaign finance on the Virginia Public Access Project. There’s an open seat in a House of Delegates district in the Fredericksburg area. Delegate Mark Cole will not seek reelection to a seat he has held since 2002 according to the Virginia Public Access Project. On his website, Cole announced this would be his last term. For more on this story, read an article in the Fauquier Times. Thank you for reading. Please drop me a line if you have any questions. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
What is 10 times 15? What about 1,200 divided by eight? 75 plus 75? The answer is 150, which is also the correct response to how many times now has there been an episode of Charlottesville Community Engagement. It is February 22, 2021 and I’m your host, Sean Tubbs. Thank you for reading, and please let me know what you think. On today’s show:Events could return to the Charlottesville Pavilion this summer if the pandemic recedes Charlottesville City Council will wait to make final decisions on proposed capital improvement program projects, keeping West Main Streetscape project alive City Council hires local law firm to represent its interest in upcoming legal hearing on recreational uses at the Ragged Mountain Natural Area To begin today’s show, some news that came in as we got closer to production. Charlottesville’s Commonwealth Attorney has opted to not begin a criminal investigation into whether Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker’s use of a city-issued credit card to purchase gift cards for people who attended various meetings. In a letter to City Manager Chip Boyles, Joe Platania wrote that an investigation will not happen until after the city updates a policy that governs use of the cards. Read more about the story on NBC29, which first reported the letter. Council will discuss the policy at a future work session. (read the letter)---The prospect of the West Main Streetscape being implemented is still alive as City Council still wants more information about how the project could be salvaged. The project was split into four phases in order to secure funding from the Virginia Department of Transportation, but staff has recommended not fully funding the project. Council has not made several final decisions about the proposed $160 million Capital Improvement Program for the next fiscal year and the four years that come after it. That amount also includes $8 million for a 300-space parking deck as well as a $50 million placeholder for reconfiguration of the city’s middle schools. “There certainly is a lot of unknowns when we think about going into the future of the CIP especially when we think about schools and not knowing the scope of what they’re going to be [doing],” said City Councilor Heather Hill. “And also thinking about the parking deck situation and what options we may have.” Councilor Lloyd Snook said he felt the city was at a point where it should proceed with West Main Street in a fashion similar to Council voting to proceed with the pedestrianization of East Main Street in 1974. “The more I have thought about it, the more I have thought the future of the city is going to be along the axis between downtown and the University and we ought to be spending our time, our energy, and our resources on that area,” Snook said. Snook said he was less inclined to support the parking garage. Mayor Walker said budget staff have been clear that the city is running into its debt capacity and the city should proceed cautiously. “I just don’t know how we are rating West Main Street and still thinking that is a must and that it must continue at this time when we’re talking about things like housing and schools,” Walker said. Snook said he has been persuaded by arguments that at least $3 million in maintenance improvements are needed on West Main Street. Councilor Hill said believed the city has made an investment in West Main and should see the project through. “The biggest thing is just the other dollars coming from other sources that are not the city, and there’s not a lot of projects where we find those opportunities,” Hill said. Those external sources include $5 million from the University of Virginia and the potential $10.8 million in VDOT Smart Scale funds for Phase 3 of the West Main Streetscape. Phases 1 and 2 require a local match in order for the city to draw down Smart Scale Funds and revenue-sharing funds already approved.“I’m really struggling with just closing the door on this,” Hill said. The draft CIP contains a placeholder of $50 million in FY24 for the school reconfiguration.Walker said would prefer to keep some of the debt capacity available for future needs. “If we okay West Main at this point, we are limiting schools to an amount because we are boxing ourselves in,” Walker said. “And then everything else that comes up as a result of this pandemic and how long we’re in it, then we are also restricting ourselves there.” Councilor Michael Payne said he supported the vision of the West Main project, but could not support prioritizing that over schools or affordable housing. He said he would support the city paying for the bare minimum and losing some of the Smart Scale funding due to the debt capacity issue. “We’re in the same situation where we could eliminate our city funding of West Main Street, and the parking garage, and we still even then wouldn’t be that close to getting our CIP budget on a sustainable level,” Payne said. He also said he would like to continue conversations with the School Board about the reconfiguration project due the large amount of money required to pay for the capital costs. A firm is working with the school board to further refine the cost estimates for school reconfiguration. There was also interest in getting more information about various scenarios for West Main, including incorporating some of the results of a recent value engineering study. Councilor Snook had this idea.“One of my thoughts is that we have a brand new city manager, and let’s let him put his creative thoughts to work and see if he’s got some ideas for us,” Snook said. City Manager Chip Boyles said he would have a conversation with VDOT about when Phase 1 and Phase 2 need to get underway to stay within the six-year deadline required of Smart Scale. Jack Dawson, the city engineer, said the right of way phase is expected to begin this July to keep the project on VDOT’s schedule. “There is some urgency about what direction we think we may need to go in, sooner or later, for sure,” Dawson said. Vice Mayor Sena Magill said she would support reducing the scope of the project.“What can we do with just the revenue-sharing match?” Magill asked. “There’s a lot extra that is on top of what we need for our revenue-sharing match.”Council agreed to wait on a final decision on West Main until they have more information on options. David Brown is the city’s public works director.“We do have some time to where we can look and evaluate to make a determination,” Brown said. “For the project, we can evaluate and make an assessment, rescope the project that still meets the requirements of the funding sources so we still have that opportunity.” Boyles said he would prepare options for Council to consider. “We can get enough information to come back to you with some concepts and maybe even some recommendations and staff can continue to keep working forward,” Boyles said. “It won’t be that much wasted effort based on whatever your decision is in later March or April.”The FY22 operating and capital budget will be presented to Council on March 1. The first public hearing is scheduled for March 15. Budget adoption will be roughly a month later. *Council had also discussed the future of capital funding for a 300-space parking structure, but took no action on whether $8 million in funding should be included for the project. The topic also came up at a meeting earlier on February 16 of the Charlottesville Parking Advisory Panel that featured an update on the city's Parking Action Plan. Rick Siebert was hired as the city's first parking manager in the fall of 2016 to implement a plan. "This was originally a five-year plan that expired in 2020 and we've been talking about how we might change some of the objectives for the next five years," Siebert said.This plan was intended to "optimize existing resources," "enhance access alternatives", and "maintain and grow supply." The plan called for a pilot program for parking meters on streets close to the Downtown Mall, but the project did not last for the initial six-month testing period. There wasn’t a lot of back and forth at this meeting about the plan, or what a future plan might look like. Kirby Hutto, general manager of the Charlottesville Pavilion and parking panel member, said tourism is a major part of economic development for downtown. “I can tell you that the majority of our patrons are not residents of Charlottesville,” Hutto said. “They’re coming in from the outlying counties and sometimes coming in from a hundred miles away. They’re going to drive. I’m sorry. There is nothing that is going to put them on public transportation but if we want their revenue, if we want those tax dollars, we have to be able to accommodate them.” Siebert said parking levels are beginning to rebound and are at about fifty percent of pre-COVID levels. The majority are people with monthly passes, but about a fifth are hourly parkers. “Events were major drivers in our transient revenue and the lack of events has been felt,” Siebert said. The Charlottesville Pavilion canceled its entire season last year, and planning is underway to at least think about scheduling something in the near future as community health targets are met. The idea would be to open up gradually with a percentage of total capacity. “We’re starting to see glimmers of light,” Hutto said. “There’s a group of venue managers from around the state including a lot of the big boys like Kings Dominion, Richmond Raceway, and Hampton Coliseum, JPJ, that have put together what I think is a really well-thought out reopening plan that is tied to milestones that you can actually track and see. You know, vaccination percentage of the general public. New infections reported. Those two numbers. As the first one climbs and the second one declines, they’ve got a proposal and my understanding this in front of the Governor’s task force right now. Hutto said that might mean events at the Pavilion as early as June, but agents with nationally touring acts are not planning until returning to tours until the fall. “No one is asking for dates in June and July,” Hutto said. “Everyone is asking for dates in September and October.” In a conversation I had with Siebert today, he said a draft of the Parking Action Plan will be ready by the end of the week for future discussion by the panel and other stakeholders slated for after that time. Take a closer look at the Parking Action Plan here ---Also at their meeting on February 16, Council was briefed on a plan to remedy the city’s noncompliance with a mandate from the Department of Housing and Urban Development to spend previously funding on a timely basis. Erin Atak is the city’s grants coordinator. “City staff had identified an immediate program for funding to solve the city’s timeliness concerns by May 2,” Atak said. “The city has unexpended 2019 [Community Development Block Grant] entitlement funds totaling $244,950.82 from the delayed Belmont /Franklin sidewalk activity.”That project came about when Belmont was the city’s Priority Neighborhood but has not moved forward due to COVID as well as difficulty securing space for the project.“Right now we’re having a lot of issues achieving right of way,” Atak said. “We have reached out ot the Belmont-Carlton Neighborhood Association and the Belmont CDBG Task Force with help on this and they are pretty motivated to help.”Atak has recommended that the money instead be used for COVID-relief programs and the sidewalk project would be financed by the federal government again in the future. A previously approved rental relief program for public housing residents will now get the additional funds in the short-term. This item will be included on the consent agenda for the March 1 Council meeting. *Finally today, at the end of Council’s meeting on February 16, Councilor Heather Hill read from a motion to hire outside legal counsel to represent the city in an upcoming trial.“I move to authorize the acting city attorney to authorize the law firm of Zunka, Milnor, and Carter to represent the city in connection with the courts hearing of all the pending motions scheduled for March 1, 2021 in the litigation with Albemarle County over recreational uses at Ragged Mountain Reservoir,” Hill said. For background, after the expansion of the Ragged Mountain Reservoir, the city’s parks and recreation assumed management of the trails from the Ivy Creek Foundation and moved forward with a plan to allow to bike trails. Albemarle County officials objected and cited a provision in the county’s ordinance that allowed them to block that use. The matter resulted in a lawsuit that will go to trial after previous attempts at mediation failed.(2/28/2021) - Some follow up reporting discovered that there had been a hearing date scheduled for March 8, not March 1. That hearing has since been delayed. For more information on this lawsuit, visit this link on cvillepedia. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
On today’s show: Charlottesville City Council is poised make a go or no go decision on the West Main Streetscape projectCity agrees to transfer land at the Amtrak stationA quick COVID update In today’s Patreon fueled shout-out: The Local Energy Alliance Program, your local energy nonprofit, wants to help you lower your energy bills, make your home more comfortable, and save energy. Schedule your Home Energy Check-Up to get started - now only $45 for City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County residents. You’ll receive energy-saving products and expert advice customized to your needs. Sign up today!Many statewide metrics measuring COVID-19 in Virginia are trending downwards, but are still higher than at most points of 2020. Today the Virginia Department of Health reports 2,959 new cases and the seven-day average is 3,541. On January 3, the number reported had been 5,010. In this community, the University of Virginia resumed in-person instruction this week and the first day of the spring semester was held on Monday. One thing different this year is that fraternities and sororities are now able to gather in-person as long as they follow state and local guidelines to stop the spread of COVID. Sierra Martin has a story about this today in the Cavalier Daily. Yesterday, Maryann Xue reported that many people associated with the University of Virginia were able to sign up for vaccine appointments at UVA Health that they were not eligible to receive. The Virginia Department of Health reports today that 1.38 million vaccine doses have been administered in the Commonwealth. The average is now up to 39,658 a day. Compare that to a total of 513,339 cases of COVID since the pandemic began. This morning, the VDH also reported the transmission of another COVID variant in northwest Virginia. “The B.1.1.7 variant, which first emerged in the United Kingdom in late 2020, is associated with increased person-to-person transmission of COVID-19,” reads the press release. The release goes on to say this information stressed the need to keep wearing a mask and following social distancing guidelines, even if you have received the vaccine. Source: Virginia Department of HealthAt a budget work session later today, City Council is expected to take a final decision on the fate of the West Main Streetscape. This event begins at 3:30 p.m. Staff has recommended not putting additional dollars into the second phase, which would call into question the future of state funding awarded to that portion of the project, which has a multimillion dollar cost estimate for all four phases. On Monday, Council discussed a study intended to cut the costs of the project which has been under development since 2013. Unlike Albemarle County, city staff plans and manages the city’s road construction projects. Jeanette Janiczek is manager of the city’s Urban Construction Initiative. (read the study)“The idea is not to rescope the project,” Janiczek said. “The idea is with a value engineering process is to have an independent firm review the work that’s been done and see ways we can improve the project while still maintaining the benefits that we were envisioning.” Source: City of CharlottesvilleThe city has secured millions in funding from the Virginia Department of Transportation for the project, which was originally envisioned to add bike lanes, new sidewalks, and new street trees for a roadway that had been anticipated to have several hundred more residents as new construction was built. The project was broken into four phases in order to help secure funding. Two have received funding and both require a local match.Last month, VDOT staff recommended over $10 million for Phase Three of the project, which includes the area where hundreds of apartment units have been built at the Standard, the Flats at West Village, and the Lark on West Main. These have all been built and occupied since the West Main Study got underway in 2013. Janiczek said staff recommended approval of ten recommendations in the value engineering study from RK&K to reduce cost. One of them is not to move forward with planting trees in a proprietary product called a Silva Cell that would also retain stormwater. “We don’t have any Silva Cells anywhere in the city,” Janiczek said. “So this is a new product. It’s proprietary. It’s kind of expensive because it does so many wonderful things. It can complicate utility relocation because these are plastic tubes that are sorted on a plastic platform and are separating the sidewalk, or the pavers in this instance.”All of these intricacies are called for by the West Main Streetscape design put together by the firm Rhodeside & Harwell. As of last year, they’ve been paid $2.85 million by the city so far to create construction documents created as part of the process. A previous City Council approved the schematics in May 2017. No members of that Council are still in office. (May 2017 story)A slide from a previous presentation on the project that was before the Board of Architectural Review in April 2018. (full presentation)City Councilor Michael Payne said he appreciated how the Silva Cells could help the city achieve some of its climate action goals. He also said that the value engineering study did not really do enough to bring down costs of a project that has had an estimate as high as $49 million. That prompted a long conversation about whether the project should just be killed. “We’re really just going to need to be honest about, we’re not going to be able to fundamentally change the impact of this project with value engineering, and if we cut blanket amounts from the CIP for this project, we’re probably going to sacrifice the actual vision and intent that guided creating this, which was to create a very different kind of pedestrian-oriented corridor that’s almost an extension of the Downtown Mall,” Payne said. Payne said he thought housing and school reconfiguration were more important to spend capital improvement dollars on. Mayor Nikuyah Walker wanted clarity Monday about whether Council even wanted to move forward with West Main to avoid having that dominate the budget conversation later on today. “Is this something that we can place on the shelf and be okay with that?” Walker asked. Councilor Heather Hill said she still wanted to know what improvements need to happen on West Main just to keep it maintained. “I still believe that this corridor is vitally important and its not working for pedestrian and bicyclists, so just getting staff’s perspective on what an alternative would be,” Hill said. VDOT funding for Phase 1 and Phase 2 both require the city to match funds and the city’s portion would come from bonds that Council has theoretically authorized but that have not yet been sold. Councilor Lloyd Snook asked if the city could save money by never selling bonds for that purpose. “And so, in theory, we could reclaim $16 million minus the $3 million to do the bare minimum, we could reclaim say $13 million by saying ‘sorry, we’re not doing phase 1 or phase 2, we’re just going to do the bare minimum?’”“Correct,” Janiczek said. Snook said he wanted two more days to review before saying whether he would approve ending the project. One question I have out to the Virginia Department of Transportation on whether the $10 million recommended for Smart Scale funding for Phase 4 has to be spent on the Rhodeside & Harwell design, or if a new public process could be opened up to decide how to use that funding to address the same purpose and need. This round of funding requires no local match, but it is possible the project would not have scored as high under an alternate design. The city currently has several other streetscape projects in development that were funded by Smart Scale. None of them had a preconceived plan in place when they were awarded the funding. If the Commonwealth Transportation Board approves the funding in June, the actual money will not be distributed to the localities for several years. No funding has been designated for the project’s fourth phase, which spans between Jefferson Park Avenue and Roosevelt Brown Boulevard. Last November, the University of Virginia reaffirmed their commitment to spend $5 million on West Main Street. "The University remains committed to its funding pledge for the West Main Streetscape project,” wrote UVA spokesman Brian Coy. “Per discussions with the City, our intent is to focus on safety and security improvements towards the western end of Main Street, supporting both students and the broader community.”Regardless of whether the West Main Streetscape project moves forward, the city has been awarded funding for other projects nearby. Additionally, VDOT is recommending $5 million in funding for multimodal improvements to Ridge Street, which is immediately adjacent to Phase 1 of the project. In the third Smart Scale round, the city was awarded $6.1 million in funding for a project at the intersection of Ridge Street, Elliot Avenue and Cherry Avenue. The preparation for all of these Smart Scale projects have been overseen by Chip Boyles in his capacity as the executive director of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. He becomes City Manager on February 15. *Earlier in the meeting, Council agreed to convey city-owned property back to developer Allan Cadgene operating under his Union Station Partners LLC. Chris Engel is the city’s economic development director. (staff report)“This item in summary deals with a loose end from a development agreement that was entered into between Union Station Partners and the city of Charlottesville back in the late 1990’s,” Engel said.At that time, the Downtown Transit Station had not yet been built, and there was a possibility it might be located at the Amtrak station on West Main. The city entered into a development agreement to secure a federal grant which required a match from the city.“In lieu of providing cash, the parties agreed to transfer a parcel of land so that that could serve as a local match,” Engel said. The 0.8 acre property has continued to be used as a parking lot ever since. The grant did result in an upgrade of the train station but a second phase did not materialize. No one spoke at the public hearing required by city code. It should also be noted that the fourth round of Smart Scale also recommends $50 million in funds to increase passenger rail services through Charlottesville to expand frequency to Roanoke and points west. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
Jerry Miller was live on The I Love CVille Show! The I Love CVille Show headlines (Wednesday, December 2) 1. Virginia could get the vaccine in mid-December. https://dailyprogress.com/news/state-and-regional/virginia-could-get-covid-vaccine-as-early-as-mid-december/article_ee3a3d29-ed9f-53fc-83ba-6342af1c3871.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1 2. Campbell County passes resolution to oppose and ignore Governor Ralph Northam's latest covid restrictions. https://newsadvance.com/news/local/campbell-county-passes-resolution-opposing-gov-northams-recent-executive-order/article_4a117e8c-ae06-54cb-95e2-5ca00d1538f7.html#tracking-source=home-top-story 3. Is medical cannabis coming to Albemarle County, Fluvanna County and Nelson County? https://dailyprogress.com/business/local/medical-cannabis-facility-could-come-to-albemarle/article_0aac58c4-3438-11eb-b954-27fbd8c47e8e.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1 4. Richmond launches survey seeking input from residents on resort/casino within Richmond city limits. https://richmond.com/entertainment/richmond-casino-update-city-launches-survey-seeking-input-from-residents-on-resort-casino/article_41644b2a-ea3f-55bb-b5be-dc3c3b2b510a.html 5. The stores/tenants in the Staunton Mall just received an eviction notice. The new owners of the mall may demolish the structure soon. https://www.whsv.com/2020/12/01/stores-in-staunton-mall-receive-eviction-notice-under-new-owners-demolition-a-possibility/ 6. Real Estate Spotlight: 114 4th Street NE. Retail space on The Downtown Mall. https://charlottesville.craigslist.org/off/d/charlottesville-114-4th-st-ne-fabulous/7239976706.html 7. High school sports are being canceled across Virginia. https://roanoke.com/sports/local/rockbridge-county-calls-temporary-halt-to-high-school-sports-related-activity-henrico-county-cancels-winter/article_ab2bcb3a-3358-11eb-b7ce-4bd461552f71.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1 8. The UVA-Florida State football game will not be rescheduled. https://dailyprogress.com/sports/virginia-florida-state-football-game-will-not-be-made-up-this-season/article_67237718-3429-11eb-8a47-1bd43e5b6b96.html 9. The University of Richmond men's basketball team is ranked No. 19 in the AP Top 25 after a 76-64 win against Kentucky in Lexington. Unfortunately, the University of Richmond has paused all men's basketball activities after a covid outbreak amongst the team. https://richmond.com/sports/college/richmond/ur-ad-calls-national-ranking-rising-tide-that-raises-all-boats-in-our-athletics-regatta/article_5f6332c6-7f44-5546-9927-1b2cf1aa103d.html 10. UVA will face Villanova on December 19 at Madison Square Garden. https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/30428974/virginia-villanova-face-holiday-hoops-classic-msg-dec-19 The I Love CVille Show airs live before a worldwide audience Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. The I Love CVille Show is powered by four generation strong Intrastate Inc., trusted limo company Camryn Limousine, the talented Dr. Scott Wagner of Scott Wagner Chiropractic and Sports Medicine, custom home builder John Kerber of Dominion Custom Homes and entrepreneur Patricia Boden Zeller's Animal Connection – All Natural Store for Healthy Pets.
Restaurateur Dino Hoxhaj and Keith Smith of The YES Team Realtors joined me live on The I Love CVille Show! The I Love CVille Show headlines (Monday, November 30) 1. Jeff & Michelle Sanders sell Glass House Winery to Richmond entrepreneur. https://dailyprogress.com/business/local/glass-house-winery-bed-and-breakfast-change-hands/article_de74abd0-2e79-11eb-afb4-f7407b684ce9.html#tracking-source=home-trending 2. Checkout this outside dining tent at The Whiskey Jar on The Downtown Mall. Pics by CVille News and Waldo Jaquith. https://twitter.com/cvillenewscom/status/1333047256744939520?s=20 3. First Night CVille, the annual New Year's Eve celebration that champions the arts on The Downtown Mall, has been canceled due to covid 19. https://www.firstnightva.org/ 4. Medical cannabis dispensary opens in Richmond, Virginia. https://www.nbc29.com/2020/11/27/medical-cannabis-dispensary-opens-richmond/ 5. Virginia Governor Ralph Northam rolls out plan for marijuana legalization. https://richmond.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/northam-administration-work-group-outlines-path-toward-marijuana-legalization/article_6bee593c-649c-5311-9b1a-b84a84caa71e.html#tracking-source=home-top-story 6. 30% of Americans may get covid, Dr. Scott Gottlieb says. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/30/dr-scott-gottlieb-30percent-of-us-may-get-covid-19-by-year-end.html 7. UVA's matchup in Tallahassee against Florida State was canceled hours before Saturday's 8 pm kickoff due to an FSU covid outbreak. https://dailyprogress.com/sports/virginia-florida-state-football-game-postponed-due-to-covid-19-issues/article_619a8d74-3193-11eb-8ea6-6faa28aa8ff0.html 8. San Francisco shocks the world with an upset over No. 4 UVA men's basketball. https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/30402203/san-francisco-dons-stun-no-4-virginia-cavaliers-late-8-0-run 9. Covid has already canceled William Mary's trip to Charlottesville to face the Virginia men's basketball team on December 12. https://dailyprogress.com/sports/virginia-men-s-basketball-won-t-play-william-mary-on-dec-12-due-to-covid/article_fbbf19fe-3320-11eb-9679-d7e1ae7a4170.html 10. Virginia Tech men's basketball beat No. 3 Villanova in overtime just days after scheduling the game. https://richmond.com/sports/college/virginia-tech/virginia-tech-upsets-no-3-villanova-in-overtime-just-days-after-scheduling-game/article_052ee63e-b9f5-5742-9bcb-4b65f31fd785.html The I Love CVille Show airs live before a worldwide audience Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. The I Love CVille Show is powered by four generation strong Intrastate Inc., trusted limo company Camryn Limousine, the talented Dr. Scott Wagner of Scott Wagner Chiropractic and Sports Medicine, custom home builder John Kerber of Dominion Custom Homes and entrepreneur Patricia Boden Zeller's Animal Connection – All Natural Store for Healthy Pets.
Jerry Miller was live on The I Love CVille Show! The I Love CVille Show headlines (Tuesday, November 10) 1. Bellamy Brown is not running for Charlottesville City Council in 2021. 2. King Dominion will reopen in 2020 https://www.nbc29.com/2020/11/10/kings-dominion-reopen-taste-season-holiday-event/ 3. The Christmas tree on The Downtown Mall goes up today for the grand illumination. https://www.nbc29.com/2020/11/09/charlottesville-harvests-tree-grand-illumination-event/ 4. Richmond Public Schools will not play winter sports: boys basketball, girls basketball, gymnastics, indoor track, swimming & diving and wrestling. https://roanoke.com/sports/high-school/richmond-public-schools-wont-play-winter-sports-including-basketball-superintendent-says/article_d4b56294-5c6e-5f84-9e12-a745adea50f6.html 5. UVA men's basketball schedule has been released. https://dailyprogress.com/sports/2020-21-virginia-mens-basketball-schedule-revealed/article_b501e3d2-2364-11eb-97c8-1beac287c6b8.html#tracking-source=home-breaking 6. UVA men's basketball ranked No. 4 in the country in AP Preseason Top 25. This is the highest preseason rank since 1982-83 (Ralph Sampson era). https://newsadvance.com/sports/college/cavaliers/uvas-preseason-basketball-ranking-highest-since-ralph-sampson-era/article_430d0361-383e-5053-8119-caa26959606f.html 7. Here's a look at The AP Preseason Top 25 https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/rankings 8. No fans at Duke basketball games this year. https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/30291493/duke-fans-hoops-games-due-coronavirus The I Love CVille Show airs live before a worldwide audience Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. The I Love CVille Show is powered by four generation strong Intrastate Inc., trusted limo company Camryn Limousine, the talented Dr. Scott Wagner of Scott Wagner Chiropractic and Sports Medicine, custom home builder John Kerber of Dominion Custom Homes and entrepreneur Patricia Boden Zeller's Animal Connection – All Natural Store for Healthy Pets.
Today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out comes from The Local Energy Alliance Program. LEAP wants you to consider a Home Energy Check-Up as the first step toward lowering your energy bills. For a $45 consultation, Albemarle and Charlottesville residents can have their homes audited to see what can be done to reduce energy consumption. Sign up today!”*The Virginia Department of Health has reported another 1,018 cases of COVID-19 today, bringing the seven-day average for new daily cases to 1,023. The seven-day average for positive tests is at 4.9 percent today, up from 4.6 percent last Wednesday. There were another 30 deaths reported, for a total of 3,515 since the first death was recorded on March 16. In the Blue Ridge Health District, there are another 39 cases reported, bringing the seven-day average to 26 a day. Of today’s cases, there are 21 cases from Charlottesville, six from Albemarle, two from Greene, two from Louisa, two from Fluvanna and six from Nelson. That’s one of the biggest one-day increases for Nelson. The percent positivity for PCR tests for the entire district is at 2.4 percent today. UVA now reports 59 active cases, 40 of whom are students. Five percent of quarantine rooms are occupied, as are four percent of isolation rooms. UVA Today has an interview posted with Dr. William Petri about the global surge in COVID cases and what can be done. Dr. Petri is the vice chair for research in the Department of Medicine. “I am leading the UVA part of a multi-center phase 3 study of a cocktail of anti-spike glycoprotein monoclonal antibodies for the prevention of household transmission of COVID-19,” he told writer Fariss Samarrai. “If this is shown to be successful, and if the cocktail can be mass-produced in adequate amounts, it would offer an additional approach to prevention before a vaccine becomes available.”*The Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review has passed a resolution that makes it easier for businesses in design control districts to expand operations outside. The motion states “the BAR unanimously expresses that outdoor tents and any supporting equipment or conditions including sides of tents, locating that does not conform to the current permits, access to electrical facilities, and other measures to support outdoor economic activity in the City, be permitted for as long as the Governor’s state of emergency is in effect.” The resolution came a day after Council temporarily reduced the cafe rental fees for outdoor eating spaces. Susan Payne with the Downtown Business Association of Charlottesville welcomed the change. “As the weather turns colder the new change in the city ordinance to allow tents on the Downtown Mall will allow restaurants to extend the time that they can remain open for outdoor dining,” Payne said. “By remaining open, restaurants will continue to add tax revenue to the City and keep staff employed. *The Albemarle Economic Development Authority got an update yesterday on the status of efforts to increase internet access in the rural area, an issue that has gained sudden prominence in a time of virtual education. Mike Culp is the information technology director for Albemarle County. “The Albemarle Broadband Authority (ABBA) was formed in 2017 by the Board of Supervisors under the state’s wireless services authority act,” Culp said. “Under that act, that legislation does not allow the broadband authority to process payments or tax incentives.”However, the broadband authority can enter into partnerships, and they’re doing so with the Central Virginia Electric Cooperative.“They’re building fiber to their membership and we were fortunate to participate in a tax grant incentive agreement with them,” Culp said. Gary Wood is the president of CVEC which serves 3,600 accounts in Albemarle. “When we started the project, we were looking at a $110 million investment across parts of 14 counties over a five-year period,” Wood said. “Our original feasibility study indicated that our subsidiary, we’d have to create a subsidiary to provide internet service in Virginia because electric coops aren’t allowed to provide internet service by law.” So CVEC created an entity called Firefly Fiber Broadband which leases fiber lines that the co-op is installing. Firefly Fiber Broadband then sells to households and businesses. However, the arrangement wouldn’t make financial sense without public investment.“The original feasibility study indicated that our subsidiary would not reach break-even on an annual basis until the 7th year of operation and that it wouldn’t pay off those first seven years of losses and actually make the true dollar of profit until year 11,” Wood said.CVEC has asked counties for investments in return for increased tax payments that CVEC will eventually pay on the revenues. They’ve also assembled funding from other state grants.“Together with those various programs we have ended up with enough funding so that we will be in the black this year with Firefly which is really good news as this is our our second year of operation,” Wood said. In Albemarle, CVEC is currently working in the southern and eastern ends of the county and is building $11 million worth of fiber. Wood said they are surpassing expectations in the feasibility study.“What we’ve seen is, particularly in the Midway and Cash’s Corner area of Albemarle County, we’ve over 70 percent of the homes we’ve passed take service from us which is just an incredible take rate, well beyond our expectations,” Wood said. That’s double what they had estimated. CVEC will continue to build out Firefly fiber along its electric lines but plans to expand by working with other utility companies.*The pandemic has changed commuting habits across the country, and those working to lower greenhouse gas emissions argue this time can help communities achieve reduction goals. The Community Climate Collaborative explored the topic at a Lunch and Learn as part of the Better Business Challenge. Sara Pennington of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission runs the RideShare program, which helps to reduce single occupancy vehicle usage. “Rideshare is a local program that focuses on congestion mitigation and reducing greenhouse gases,” Pennington said. “One of the ways to do that is telework, and we are funded through the localities and the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.” Pennington said one concept is flex scheduling where people build their work day around their own schedule. Statistics on telework were different before the pandemic. “It’s interesting to know that pre-crisis or pre-pandemic, that eighty percent of workers surveyed through global workplace analytics showed an interest in teleworking, so even before COVID-19, people wanted to explore the potential to telework,” Pennington said. Pennington said research from Global Workplace Analytics has demonstrated that employers in the United States have been able to save billions a day by shifting their workers over to teleworking. “The pandemic, it was an emergency change where we all pivoted to figure out what we could do,” Pennington said. She added that working at home does present distractions as workers share space with family members. Pennington said she is hopeful more businesses will continue with teleworking even after the emergency is over. She said firms that offer teleworking could help with recruitment and retention, and offered tips on how to come up with policies. Madeleine Ray is corporate sustainability manager for Apex Clean Energy and she said that technology helped power their transition.“Something we have found that really helps with teleworking was Microsoft Teams, it’s been a great tool for communication within each team and then if you have a quick question for someone you can drop in on them with a chat or call,” Ray said. Ray said the company was using the software before the pandemic, but not even close to the full capacity that Apex uses now. The Better Business Challenge lunch and learn will be available soon on the Community Investment Collaborative’s YouTube channel. *Today in meetings, the Charlottesville Housing Advisory Committee meets at noon, and the Albemarle Board of Supervisors meets at one p.m. They’ll have a joint meeting with the county school board to begin preliminary discussions on the next budget. They will also have a work session on proposed guidelines for anti-displacement and a tenant relocation policy. The Board adopted a general policy on September 18 but will now see more specific proposals. (agenda)“The guidelines are designed to provide benefits for residential tenants who will be displaced by housing demolition, substantial rehabilitation, conversion to nonresidential use, or sale of a residential property under a sales contract that requires an empty building,” reads the staff report. Supervisors will hold public hearings. They are for a special use permit for an a veterinary clinic, a new telecommunications lease at the county’s property on Buck’s Elbow Mountain, and to take public comment on changes to county code to remove gendered language. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
HEADLINES: City Hall Hiring Search Firm For CM City Hall: Why Hire A Search Firm? The Downtown Mall & The Holidays Trick-or-Treat, Lighting Of The Tree Dairy Market & The Milkman's Bar The F&B Businesses At Dairy Market Are $1,200 Stimulus Checks Coming? Save $288 On Ting Fiber Internet Crystal Napier Interview New Weekly Segment W/ Crystal Aaron Watson Interview How Is Wedding Industry Doing? What Do Future Weddings Look Like? UVA WR Lavel Davis, Jr (6-foot-7) Titans/Steelers Matchup Delayed Save $288 On Ting Fiber Internet Viewer/Listener Comments The I Love CVille Daily Digest (5 pm) You can save $288 on Ting Charlottesville Fiber Internet (free installation + first month free) through this link for a limited time: iLoveCVille.Ting.com
Today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out is for Abundant Life Ministries, “working hard to create a better future for the Charlottesville community.”*As the week begins, the statewide seven-day average for positive COVID test results is 5.7 percent, down from 7.2 percent last Monday. Over the weekend, the Virginia Department of Health added 2,436 new cases with 953 on Saturday, 856 on Sunday and 627 this morning. There have been 3,021 deaths, with many of the ones reported last week actually having happened earlier in the pandemic and not reported until now. There were 137 cases of COVID-19 added over the weekend in the Thomas Jefferson Health District, with 64 on Saturday, 54 on Sunday and 19 reported today. Two more deaths have been reported since Friday for a total of 67. The University of Virginia’s COVID tracker has not been updated since Friday, despite reports in the Cavalier Daily that day that as many as four residence halls have had their populations tested due to positive tests and early detection in wastewater. *With the end of September approaching, Albemarle and Charlottesville are coming closer to the first nine-week period of the public school year. Last week, news came out that Charlottesville City Schools have put together a committee to help “plan a safe return to in-person learning.” Slides distributed after a meeting last week show that one option is to return pre-K through second grade as early as October 13 for four days a week. Older students would begin in-person instruction soon after. (reopening slides)“A survey will be sent to families next week regarding their intent to remain on a virtual schedule or plan for their children to return to school with the proposed plan,” reads one of the slides.Krissy Vick, the school’s community relations liaison, sent an email to parents that said the slides were a starting point for the committee’s discussion. “Returning to in-person instruction will take time, information, and multiple revisions to a plan,” Vick said “The School Board will vote on the final plan. Keep in mind that we will continue to offer families the choice for all-online learning -- and to the greatest degree possible, we will allow staff this choice, also.”The next scheduled School Board meeting is on October 1. *Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville has broken ground for the redevelopment of the Southwood Mobile Home Park off of Old Lynchburg Road in Albemarle County. Habitat purchased the site in 2007. Dan Rosensweig is president and CEO of Habitat. “See, thirteen years ago, this community was facing a deeply uncertain future,” Rosensweig said. “Like a lot of trailer parks in the nation, it’s underground infrastructure had basically passed its useful life.” Rosensweig said there was also development pressure on the property and residents asked the owner at the time to sell to Habitat. The organization was working on redevelopment of the Sunrise Trailer Court in Charlottesville. Now Habitat has been working with Albemarle County on a multiphase effort to redevelop the site without displacing residents. “We come up with a plan of development that within the next ten years or so is going to turn this wonderful community of people into a wonderful community of people who are here, new people who are joining the community, new homes, and a little downtown core,” Rosensweig said. Albemarle Supervisors voted on a rezoning last year that paves the way for the first phase, which will take place along Old Lynchburg Road and does not involve any of the existing trailer homes. Scottsville District Supervisor Donna Price was not on the board when the rezoning happened, but she is supportive of the funding Albemarle has committed to the project. “When I think of Southwood, I think of the core values of non-displacement and sustainability,” Price said. “When I think I see Southwood, I see a representation of an essential public-private partnership that will produce a neighborhood consistent with Albemarle County’s Comprehensive Plan.”*In a time of restaurant closings, one space on the Downtown Mall is set to reopen tomorrow. The Champion Hospitality Group will take over the Commonwealth Restaurant with a new space called Passiflora. The new restaurant will offer “a Baja-Mediterranean-inspired menu of small plates.” According to a release, the restaurant will open for dinner with limited indoor and outdoor seating, following CDC guidelines for safe social distancing. Last night, Bashir’s restaurant in the same block had a farewell dinner to mark its impending closure. *Today in meetings, the Albemarle Architectural Review Board meets at 1 p.m. (meeting info)Sheetz is building a convenience store in the northwest quadrant of the U.S. 29 and Airport Road intersection and needs design approval. The ARB did not grant an approval at its June 1 meeting. (materials for meeting)The ARB will hold a third review of a new auto dealership at 1300 Richmond Road on Pantops as part of a development that includes a Holiday Inn Express and a storage facility (materials for meeting)The ARB will review signage for the redevelopment of the former John Deere dealership at 2415 Ivy Road (materials for meeting) The ARB will take a look at the new Aldi that is planned for Albemarle Square in the former Fresh Market (and former Circuit City) space (materials for meeting)The Places29-Hydraulic Community Advisory Committee meets at 5-30 p.m. They will get an update from Albemarle County School Board Chairwoman Kate Acuff, an update on voting from Jim Heilman of the Albemarle County Electoral Board, as well as an update on the office buildings coming to the corner of Georgetown Road and Hydraulic Road. (meeting info) City Council meets at 630 p.m. For those details, take a look at yesterday’s Week Ahead Newsletter. This is a public episode. 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Bashir Khelafa, Owner of Bashir's Taverna, and Barbara Lundgren, Owner of Barb Wired, joined me live on The I Love CVille Show! The I Love CVille Show headlines (Wednesday, Sept 16) 1. Charlottesville/Albemarle Tourism ditches its brick-and-mortar locations for mobile tourism vehicles. https://dailyprogress.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/tourism-bureau-to-move-to-mobile-visitor-centers-in-2021/article_1dbd57a2-52e0-5667-a05d-b1ac3b6c93d1.html?utm_campaign=snd-autopilot&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook_The_Daily_Progress&fbclid=IwAR1IXqSefjp0IsSLHRrT8RISGxYulQU7VWPoRk-JQAWZhvEWGcftl_EcEwU 2. Slot machine updates from the Roanoke Times https://roanoke.com/news/local/electronic-gaming-machines-proliferated-in-virginia-ahead-of-july-placement-deadline/article_38650f68-473d-5cf9-b1f3-e73825db7079.html#tracking-source=home-top-story 3. Slot machine updates from the Daily Progress pertaining to Charlottesville and The Downtown Mall. https://dailyprogress.com/news/local/skill-machines-get-stay-of-execution-to-raise-funds-for-covid-19-relief/article_036b6da0-181e-5b1a-aa84-72403c54613c.html 4. The Daily Press is closing its Newport News, Virginia newsroom. Parent company also closed The Virginian Pilot newsroom. How will this influence/impact traditional media newsrooms in Charlottesville, Virginia? https://www.dailypress.com/business/dp-nw-daily-press-newsroom-closing-20200915-3ssgwfkobbawpbas4aqu6amrtu-story.html 5. Waynesboro City Council approved a rezoning request on a 4-1 vote Monday evening for nearly 70 acres of land behind the Lucy Lane Walmart that could allow for up to 600 housing units in that area. https://newsvirginian.com/news/local/waynesboro-city-council-approves-rezoning-to-allow-apartments-houses-behind-walmart/article_d19b2c8f-d03d-5712-9a11-349bec77173f.html?fbclid=IwAR0Sh8wM9M8QKCSlZ5l3mfP_Ho69gsJJvSgoH2Ruu-ak-ozLdRgeajNlHUc 6. Virginia Lottery approves sports betting regulations. Sports betting permit applications will be accepted Oct. 15 through midnight Oct. 31. Permit seekers can also begin to apply for licenses for their principals, vendors, suppliers and employees on Oct. 15. Virginia Lottery hopes by January operators will be up and running. State legislation calls for at least four and up to 12 sports betting permit holders. Is a sports betting/gambling parlor coming to The Charlottesville Downtown Mall? https://richmond.com/sports/professional/virginia-lottery-approves-sports-betting-regulations-permit-license-applications-to-begin-in-october/article_5c9be5f9-ee87-5fbf-a476-1c1ef2639347.html 7. The former GoCo gas station on Cherry Avenue has reopened. This spot has some of the best fried chicken in CVille. 8. There is a new fitness center coming to 4th Street in Downtown Charlottesville, Virginia. Show pictures on screen. 9. There is a new tattoo & massage parlor coming to 4th Street in Downtown Charlottesville, Virginia. Show pictures on screen. 10. Where are the Best Tacos in Charlottesville, Virginia. I answer this question. 11. Will & Erica Taylor are moving from Charlottesville and the Chick-fil-A in Fashion Square Mall to Portsmouth, Virginia where they will manage/own a Chick-fil-A. Show pictures on screen. 12. Big 10 Football will resume play the weekend of October 24. Each team will attempt to play eight games in eight weeks, leaving no wiggle room during the coronavirus pandemic before the Big Ten championship game on Dec. 19. That date will also feature an extra cross-division game for each school, with seeded teams in each division squaring off. The Big Ten would complete its season before the Dec. 20 Selection Day for the College Football Playoff. Fans are not expected at Big Ten games, which will be held on campus throughout the season. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/29897305/sources-big-ten-announce-october-return The I Love CVille Show airs live before a worldwide audience Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network.
Today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out is for Abundant Life Ministries, “working hard to create a better future for the Charlottesville community.”*The Virginia Department of Health reports another 882 cases of COVID-19 in the Commonwealth and another 11 deaths. Today’s statewide seven-day average for positive tests is at 7.6 percent today. In the Thomas Jefferson Health District there are another 27 cases reported today, with 22 of them coming from Charlottesville. Another death has been reported in Albemarle for a total in the district to date of 58. The University of Virginia’s COVID tracker now reports 231 total positive cases since August 17, with 190 of those students. Dr. Denise Bonds of the Thomas Jefferson Health District briefed City Council last night on where we are six months into the pandemic. She said Charlottesville is within the VDH’s Northwest Region, and she said the situation here is officially described as “fluctuating.”“Our case number has been rising for the region and we’re at 12 per 100,000 incident rates and that has been increasing,” Bonds said. “We see an upward arrow and it’s been increasing for 17 days.” However, Dr. Bonds said the seven-day average for testing rates has been below ten percent in the region. Another metric available in the non-public dashboard is the number of medical personnel who have been infected with COVID-19, and that number in the northwest region is at 3.5 percent. Dr. Bonds said that number is closer to 7 percent in the Charlottesville area. About eighty percent of hospital beds in the region are occupied, but that includes all patients. The last week has seen an increase in the daily number of cases in the Charlottesville area. “The case incident rate for the Charlottesville area as of yesterday was 32 per 100,000,” Bonds said. “We had a dramatic steep increase between August 24 and yesterday with a substantial number of cases if you look at the day rolling sums, we went from 29 to 92 to 108.”Bonds said that epidemiologists are watching case loads at UVA very closely. “What they’re really seeing is students infecting other students rather than students infecting people in the community and vice versa, so we tend to have community members that we can trace back to a known source in the community, someone at their work site, a family member, they attended some community event where we had an outbreak in, and we have students that we can typically trace their infection back to another student group.” *This Saturday, Albemarle County will remove Confederate markers from Court Square, and the Board of Supervisors voted yesterday to give them to a group known as the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation. The Foundation will get the statue, cannonball and cannon “as is” after it is dismantled. Supervisor Bea Lapisto-Kirtley represents the Rivanna District.“I like the fact that they will preserve it and rededicate it as the Virginia monument for all soldiers,” LaPisto-Kirtley said.Supervisor Diantha McKeel said she favored removing the statue and materials this weekend, but suggested they be placed in storage while Albemarle decides if any remnants of the materials would be used in efforts to tell the good and bad of county history.“Maybe a pause in storing it would allow us to discuss at a higher level how we want to contextualize our Albemarle County history and present ourselves for future generations,” McKeel said, a thought echoed by Supervisor Donna Price. However, Supervisor Ann Mallek said photos could be taken to preserve what is on the statue, and she wanted the materials to just go. “We in Albemarle have the chance to take this decisive step and really forward the feeling in our own community,” Mallek said. “We’ve been careful and we’ve been thoughtful and it’s not just the last couple of months. We’ve discussed for many years how to deal with this.”The removal of the statue will be televised on a video live stream to be provided by the county. * The pandemic has claimed another business. Breadworks is a bakery on Preston Avenue that has employed people with disabilities since 1967 but according to a Facebook post, the store will close on September 25. “All persons with disabilities who are employed at Breadworks will be referred to other WorkSource programs,” reads the page. “The majority will be seeking employment in the community, so we hope that area employers looking for dedicated and talented staff will offer persons with disabilities served by Breadworks opportunities for employment.” * Charlottesville City Council has approved a new nine-story building at 218 West Market Street off of the Downtown Mall. Developer Jeffrey Levien has proposed redeveloping a shopping center that currently is rented by stores such as the Artful Lodger. Levien has proposed building eight units that would be sold below market value, four of which would be at the standard rate of 80 percent of area median income with two units at 60 percent and two units at 40 percent. “This one project is not going to solve everything for the city but it is a start and we need every start that we can get,” Levien said. Levien said he may work with nonprofit groups to build the units offsite, and not within the new structure. He told Council that the cost to him and the benefit to the city would be about $825,000. That’s more than he would be required to pay into the city’s affordable housing fund, but restrictions that keep rents below market would only last for a limited time. Six units would be kept affordable for eight years and two would be restricted for sixteen years. Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker was the lone vote against the project in part because of the time limits. “It’s good that you’ve added the extra units but by the time the family got settled in to the unit that would be potentially expiring,” Walker said. Levien is also the developer of two luxury apartment buildings on West Main Street.*In meetings today, the Albemarle Supervisors hold a retreat from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. today with presentations on “Contemporary Trends in Local Government” and “Operating Guidelines for High-Quality Governance.” (agenda)The Crozet Community Advisory Committee meets at 7 p.m. with a discussion of next steps for the Crozet Master Plan. (CAC meeting info)The Charlottesville Planning Commission meets at 5:30 p.m. and has a new member now that City Council has appointed Liz Russell to an open seat. Commissioners will discuss a zoning change to allow more daycare facilities within city limits, and will also hold a work session on a proposed rezoning on Stribling Avenue for up to 181 units. That’s higher than an application Southern Development brought to the city in 2019. Charif Soubra is with Southern Development.“The feedback that we got directly from the Planning Commission was that… they were hoping to see a little more density and more of an innovative design,” Soubra said.At a community meeting last week, many nearby residents expressed concern about increased traffic volumes and the city’s perceived inability to build infrastructure to address the impacts of growth.- This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
Jesse Rutherford of The Nelson County Board of Supervisors joined me live on The I Love CVille Show! The I Love CVille Show headlines (Tuesday, Sept. 8) 1. https://dailyprogress.com/news/local/education/local-first-year-teachers-set-for-tuesdays-all-online-start-of-school/article_d25c62a8-4631-512e-8185-13c069807aaf.html#tracking-source=home-top-story 2. Show the photo from the Greenbrier Elementary School facebook page of kids learning outside. 3. https://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2020/09/a-quintessential-example-of-trying-to-operate-business-as-usual-ras-call-upon-the-university-to-address-urgent-safety-concerns-and-provide-necessary-resources-amid-pandemic 4. https://www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2020/09/monday-morning-collab-outage-leaves-students-unable-to-access-coursework-classes 5. https://www.cbs19news.com/story/42600874/charlottesville-business-sees-increase-with-uva-students-returning-to-grounds 6. Show photo from Rebecca Downey on The Downtown Mall. 7. https://dailyprogress.com/news/local/under-new-management-fashion-square-sees-stores-close-and-faces-possible-sale/article_3f10e26b-e4f8-5c17-a2fe-07e0d891cabc.html#tracking-source=home-trending 8. https://www.c-ville.com/Charlottesville_follows_Beverly_Hills_on_Forbes_millionaires_list/ 9. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Weschler 10. https://www.crozetgazette.com/2020/09/04/maupin-brothers-closes-after-92-years-in-free-union/ 11. https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-new-york-real-estate-11597939146?mod=e2fb 12. https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/09/04/metro/northeastern-dismisses-11-first-year-students-partying/?outputType=amp&__twitter_impression=true&s=04&fbclid=IwAR0xhm4vGqGqNpK9eTEJ012Z67VSRy4CxZkVjtbly1ZEZgx3A7IgeVy3QIQ 13. Close the show with the video of the kids laughing and drinking orange soda. The I Love CVille Show airs live before a worldwide audience Monday – Friday from 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm on The I Love CVille Network. The I Love CVille Show is powered by four generation strong Intrastate Inc., trusted limo company Camryn Limousine, the talented Dr. Scott Wagner of Scott Wagner Chiropractic and Sports Medicine, custom home builder John Kerber of Dominion Custom Homes and entrepreneur Patricia Boden Zeller's Animal Connection – All Natural Store for Healthy Pets.
Today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out comes from an anonymous supporter who wants to say - "We keep each other safe. Wear a mask, wash your hands, and keep your distance."* There are another 861 cases of COVID-19 in Virginia reported today by the Department of Health, and another 11 deaths for a total of 2,396 people dead since the pandemic began. The seven day average for positive tests dropped to 6.8 percent. There are another 19 new cases in the Thomas Jefferson Health District. The test rate here is at 6.4 percent, up from 6.1 percent on Monday. *The Virginia General Assembly convenes today for a special session expected to cover the impacts of COVID-19, criminal justice and police reform, and whatever else might come up. A joint meeting of the House Appropriations, House Finance and Senate Finance committees kicked off the session at 9:30 a.m. beginning with remarks and budget amendments from Governor Ralph Northam. “Virginia ended the 2020 fiscal year on June 30 with a $234 million shortfall in general revenue collection,” Northam said. “We now project that we will have $2.7 billion less than we expected in general revenue for the coming biennium. We feared worse. But this still requires serious and thoughtful budgeting and planning.”The full House of Delegates convenes at 1 p.m. at the Siegel Center in Richmond, and the full Senate will also convene at 1 p.m. (full schedule) (legislation list)*Charlottesville City Council held a public hearing last night on giving permission to the regional water authority for a pipeline to connect the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir with the Ragged Mountain Reservoir. The project has an $80 million cost estimate and is the second phase of the community’s long-term water supply plan. “This waterline will replace the existing Upper Sugar Hollow pipeline which is very old and increase raw water transfer to the urban water system,” said Lauren Hildebrand, the city’s utilities director. “The waterline is anticipated to be constructed between 2027 and 2040.” At the public hearing, former City Councilor Dede Smith continued her opposition to the plan, which she voted against in January 2012. She claimed there were cheaper alternatives. “This $80 million pipeline that may I add was not in the original plan and was added very late in the game doubles the cost of the community water plan and that is going straight into our water bill,” Smith said. The Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority submitted its application for the water supply plan in June 2006. “The project involves expansion of the existing Ragged Mountain Reservoir (RMR) and construction of a new raw water intake and pipeline from the South Fork Rivanna Reservoir (SFRR) to RMR,” reads the permit application to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The application goes on to say that timing of construction would be dependent on funding. The first phase of the plan was completed in 2014 when a new earthen dam was built at Ragged Mountain Reservoir, expanding capacity. The second phase is not yet programmed in the RWSA’s Capital Improvement Program, which lays out how ratepayer money is reinvested back into the water and wastewater system. One of the next steps is an analysis of current water usage rates which was presented to the RWSA in June. Capital projects such as the waterline are paid for through bonds floated by the RWSA and paid by ratepayers in the form of debt service. The cost share agreement adopted in January 2020 states that Albemarle ratepayers are responsible for 80 percent of the costs of the waterline. Council asked for a full briefing on what the impacts that other 15 percent might have on Charlottesville ratepayers in the future. Council also passed a resolution in support of three Smart Scale applications, one of which would include a pedestrian bridge to connect the city’s side of U.S. 29 with Stonefield. “We definitely need some way for people that aren’t in vehicles to get across that road because it is not an option right now at all,” said City Councilor Heather Hill.*New apartment units are coming to the Stonefield mixed-use development in Albemarle County, according to information told to the Places-29 Hydraulic Community Advisory Council Monday evening. Stonefield was originally rezoned by the Board of Supervisors in 2003, but the project did not break ground until the spring of 2011. “The original vision was for a very vertically mixed-use development and it remained unbuilt for a number of years and what we’ve all seen built out has been more single-use and shorter buildings due to economic factors,” said county planner Micheala Ac cardi. “For the past two years we’ve seen developers come in submitting some plans that are more consistent with that more vertical mixed-use development.” Accardi said these include 220 apartments planned for a new building on an empty parking lot between Hydraulic and the Hyatt Hotel, which will also include commercial space. Close by there are 49 town homes under construction as well as another 160 unit apartment building. Supervisor Diantha McKeel said these new projects will get the built environment closer to what had been planned. “If you think about the main street where all those stores are, those stores were planned to have residential living above them,” McKeel said. “When the economics and recession hit, those residential units were taken away. It would have been more like a, if you think about downtown Charlottesville where you have stores on the mall and then residences above, that’s what Stonefield was originally planned to look, we’re making up for that now.” Another common link between the downtown Mall and Stonefield is the presence of a movie theater, and those were all closed at the beginning of the pandemic. Victoria Tremaglio is the general manager of the Shops at Stonefield, which she said is holding its own despite the loss of a few tenants. She said the Regal Theater will reopen this Friday for limited service. “They’re going to have 50 people per theater to start, I think with $5 movies at Regal which should help with some foot traffic,” Tremaglio said. As for Stonefield, Tremaglio said more people are coming back. “People have been super respectful, super safe, lots of outdoor dining. You’ve probably seen Champion Grill is on the green and they’re going to be adding a tent. We’ve added other tables and chairs outside for people to sit.”The Violet Crown on the Downtown Mall remains closed. *Coming up in government meetings today, the Albemarle County Economic Development Authority and the Albemarle Planning Commission meet, but not at the same time. The EDA meets at 4 p.m. for the first time since three members resigned last month in protest of new conflict of interest forms they had to sign. (meeting info) The Planning Commission has a public hearing at 6 p.n. on a rezoning for the proposed Albemarle Business Campus on Old Lynchburg Road across from the county’s office building. (meeting info) The Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review will meet at 5:30 p.m. Items include lighting and interpretive signage of the historically protected Coal Tower on Water Street, an update on the Belmont Bridge project, and a letter of support to apply for the Burley School to be on the National Register of Historic Places. (agenda) (meeting registration)Correction: This article originally stated an incorrect figure for the cost share for the future waterline. It has since been corrected. I regret the error. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
Today’s installment has a shout-out for a fundraiser called C'ville STEM: Support Schools in COVID times. UVA doctors have teamed up with schools and want your financial support for school scientific supplies for up to 2,100 children in City Schools who might not otherwise have access. They are very close to meeting their goal. *Today is the third anniversary of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville which resulted in a vehicle being deliberately driven down 4th Street into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing Heather Heyer and severely injuring dozens of others. Charlottesville City Hall will be closed for a “time of reflection and remembrance.” So will the vehicular crossings of the Downtown Mall. A coalition of groups including the Charlottesville Democratic Socialists of America and Showing Up for Racial Justice Charlottesville plan to hold an event beginning at 1 p.m. at Market Street Park where the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands. However, city manager Tarron Richardson issued a statement warning that his pandemic-related decision to stop issuing permits for events city parks still stands. “We ask that the community continue to follow all aspects of the local COVID-19 ordinance, specifically the wearing of face coverings and adherence to the gathering limits,” Richardson wrote in a statement. “No special event permits have been approved for the use of downtown parks or other public property for August 11 or 12, 2020.”Dr. Richardson went on to state it was important that roads not be blocked in protests.“Unauthorized closures of City streets can delay responses for emergency vehicles and require rerouting to an emergency incident, the hospital, or other critical infrastructure when seconds matter,” Richardson wrote. “Additionally positioning one’s self in a lane of travel/traffic without proper protection is putting oneself potentially in grave danger.”On August 8, the city issued a statement that sought to remind the public that gatherings of fifty people or more were specifically prohibited by Council on July 27 when the city enacted restrictions that are greater than what is allowed under Phase 3 of Governor Ralph Northam’s Forward Virginia program. *There are another 776 cases of COVID-19 in Virginia reported by the state health department this morning, and another eight deaths for a total of 2,352 to date. The seven-day average for positive tests has dropped to 7.3 percent statewide. The Thomas Jefferson Health District has another 23 cases with eight from Albemarle, five from Louisa, four from Charlottesville, two from Greene, two from Fluvanna and two from Nelson. *The James River Water Authority (JRWA) will meet today to discuss delaying the application process for a pump station to bring water to the growth area at Zion Crossroads. In March, authority members from Louisa and Fluvanna counties voted to proceed with a plan to build the pump station at a Monacan site called Rassawek which was a major population center before colonization. That’s prompted over 10,000 signatures on a petition organized by the group Cultural Heritage Partners. “Although the James River Water Authority is confident that the revised application materials submitted to you in March took a hard look at a broad range of alternatives and identified the only practicable alternative, we have continued to engage in discussions with interested parties on this matter,” reads a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from D.D. Watson, chair of the JRWA. The letter goes on to state that the Louisa and Fluvanna needs an expanded water supply and that a short delay will allow for the study of alternatives to the site at Rassawek. Look to coverage on this from Allison Wrabel in a future edition of the Daily Progress and get more information from her preview story.*The pandemic has delayed the public dedication of the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers at the University of Virginia, but the monument has already become a central gathering point in the community as seen during the protests against the killing of George Floyd. There will be a virtual panel discussion about the architecture of the memorial at 4 p.m. held by Arch Daily. Participants include Alice Raucher and Mary Hughes of the UVA Office of the Architect), Mabel Wilson of Studio&) and J. Meejin Yoon of Höweler + Yoon Architects. *At 7 p.m., the University of Virginia’s Religion, Race and Democracy Lab will hold a zoom webinar that reflects on three years ago. The title is “Praying With Our Feet: Religious Activists Remember the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville.” Speakers include Jalane Schmidt, an activist who helped build community support for removal of Confederate statues, and Don Gathers, a founded of the city’s Black Lives Matter chapter and founding member of the Police Civilian Review Board. (info)*The Charlottesville Planning Commission said an official goodbye to one of its longest-serving members last night. Lisa Green has served on the seven-member body since October 2010 and her term ends at the end of this month. “I’ve enjoyed every minute of it,” Green said. “I know sometimes it doesn’t seem like it but I am passionate about this city and I see all the potential.”Green was recently appointed to serve on the Board of Commissioners for the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. She’s also a 19-year veteran of working for Albemarle County.“I think I am rooted into public service,” Green added. “I believe in public service. I believe in local government. I believe in all the things we can do better and I truly believe that there are systems we can change to make it more equitable for everyone in the city.” Charlottesville City Council has not yet appointed a replacement, so Green will continue to serve on the Planning Commission until they do so. Interviews with applicants for the position have not yet been conducted, according to Council Clerk Kyna Thomas. We’ll have an update on the Charlottesville Planning Commission’s discussion on the Comprehensive Plan and the New Hill Community Vision Plan on a later show. *The Crozet Community Advisory Committee meets at 7 p.m. and begins with a discussion about Old Dominion Village. Developer Katurah Roell is requesting a rezoning of 14.259 acres from rural area to Neighborhood Model District for the creation of a new neighborhood. However, the land is not within the jurisdiction of the Albemarle County Service Authority. Currently only the existing structure on the property is allowed to connect to public water. The applicant will request that connection as well as to public sewer. The Crozet CAC will also discuss the results of community feedback on bike and pedestrian connectivity. (agenda) This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
This burst of words and soundbites comes to you courtesy of Rapture, open outside only on the Downtown Mall for lunch, drinks and dinner, with brunch served Friday through Sunday. But only if you feel safe. Take-out options available. *The Virginia Department of Health is reporting another 1,127 cases of COVID-19 today, the highest such number in the past month. However, the seven-day positive rate declined to 7.5 percent, down from 7.7 percent yesterday. The number of deaths has increased by 13 to a total of 2,067. Of those, nearly 50 percent of the deceased were over the age of 80, a quarter were between 70 and 79, 15 percent between 60 and 69, 6.2 percent between 50 and 59 and 2.7 percent between 40 and 49. The numbers for the Thomas Jefferson Health District were not available at recording time. (VDH dashboard)There have now been over 4 million cases in the United States and at over 143,000 deaths. According to a report on CNN, Johns-Hopkins University reported its first case six months ago on January 21, and it took 99 days to reach a million cases. The nation reached two million cases on June 10, three million cases on July 8, and now…. Four million. How long until we reach five million as a nation? The Albemarle Board of Supervisors will hold a special meeting on Monday at 3:00 p.m. to take up an ordinance that would allow the county to return to Phase 2 of the Forward Virginia Plan. Supervisors discussed the matter at length on Wednesday and will provide a summary of that meeting by Monday morning. Subscribe to the Charlottesville Quarantine Report podcast for more. (agenda)*The Albemarle School Board held the first of three town hall meetings yesterday on the reopening plan for the upcoming academic year. At the beginning of the meeting, Dr. Denise Bonds of the Thomas Jefferson Health District said she was concerned about the future availability of COVID-19 testing.“Test resulting is delayed,” Bonds said. “It is now taking somewhere between five and 14 days to get rest results back from commercial labs because of the increased demand that’s being caused in the southern half of our nation and the large outbreaks that we’re seeing there.”On Wednesday, Bonds told the Albemarle Board of Supervisors that the University of Virginia Health System appeared to be backing out of a commitment to help cover the costs of community testing. However, she had this news on Thursday.“UVA continues to assist us,” Dr. Bonds said. “I think we’ve got a workaround. If you listened to the Board meeting yesterday there were some concern because the state will not pay for the test that UVA does so I think we’ve come up with a non-ideal but a functional work-around to move forward so that we can continue to use that valuable asset as we refer to it as having people from UVA out and testing in the community.” Sentara Martha Jefferson has confirmed they will “temporarily discontinue” testing events in the community. Yesterday they held such an event at Washington Park but no others are scheduled. In a release, the company stated that it is making the move to preserve resources. “The number of hospitalized and emergency room patients requiring testing is increasing and our laboratories daily capacity, due to restrictions on the supply of tests, are not able to meet the community testing needs at this time,” reads the July 23 release. The release goes on to state that Sentara Martha Jefferson has provided more than 650 tests to the community, with 35 positives. More tests are currently being processed by the hospital. The Thomas Jefferson Health District currently has three testing events scheduled for next week. On Monday morning they will be at Agnor-Hurt Elementary in Albemarle. On Wednesday morning, they will be at Louisa County High School, and on Thursday morning they will be at the Earlysville Fire Department. You’ll need to call 434-972-6261 to schedule an appointment. (VDH page on testing sites)As for Albemarle County schools, the second of three town halls will be held this afternoon at 2 p.m. and will be hosted by School Board members Katrina Callsen and Ellen Osborne. Monday’s meeting at 6 p.m. will be hosted by Judy Le and Katrina Callsen. (meeting information)*Across the Commonwealth, more school systems are considering a pathway of online only for at least the beginning of the school year. Loudoun County voted earlier this week to not hold classes in person. York County’s superintendent is recommending the division go with remote learning for the first nine weeks, according to the Daily Press. That county’s school board will vote on July 30. Dr. Bonds did not offer a recommendation on what Albemarle should do, but said that if classes are held in-person, facial covering must be normalized and contact between students must be limited. She gave this advice. “If school is to be held in season, to really work on cohorting kids in small groups and limit the use of shared spaces. So small groups of students that stay in their classroom, go out to the playground together, and try and bring resources to the students. Can meals be brought to the student classroom. With library time, is there a way to bring those books be brought to the student classroom? And then if you are in a situation where normally students would rotate to different classrooms, can you instead in the same classroom, rotate faculty between?” *Last night, the three Places29 Community Advisory Council met virtually and got an update on development in Albemarle County’urban area. For instance, County planner said there are currently 365 units in the site plan review process for North Pointe. North Pointe was originally rezoned in 2006 but has not been under construction until recently. Other topics included the status of a new Autozone slated for U.S. 29 north of Greenbrier Drive, what’s going on with an office complex at the corner of Georgetown Road and Hydraulic Road, and a full update on transportation projects in the area. One of them will eventually connect the UVA Research Park directly to Hollymead Town Center by extending Berkmar Drive northward. Transportation planner Kevin McDermott explains. “We have the Lewis and Clark Extension that brings you down to Airport Road but as those folks that go up there know, currently Berkmar doesn’t make it all the way up to Airport Road,” McDermott said. “What we’re trying to do with that project is continue that all the way up to Airport Road where it will be at an intersection with what has been known as Innovation Drive and construct a roundabout there.”This project is called for in the Places29 Master Plan and is the county’s fifth transportation priority. McDermott said the Virginia Department of Transportation will reveal soon whether the Berkmar project will be funded. (Albemarle County Transportation Priorities 2019 update) This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
Today is the 51st anniversary of the first people stepping foot on the moon. Today’s installment comes to you from Rapture, now serving lunch and dinner on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall weather permitting. Open from noon to nine Tuesday through Saturday, visit Rapture on Facebook to learn more. *There have now been nearly a million COVID-19 tests conducted in the Commonwealth, according to data from the Virginia Department of Health. On Saturday and Sunday the number of new cases increased by around a thousand each day, and the 7-day positive percentage rate for all testing encounters rose to 7.6 percent as of Sunday, up from 6.6 percent on July 12. The Thomas Jefferson Health District added another 41 cases and the positive percentage rate for all tests is at 7.1 percent as of Sunday. According to the latest COVID-19 model run by the University of Virginia Biocomplexity Institute, the Thomas Jefferson Health District is experiencing a “surge in cases.” That’s the same case with the Pittsylvania-Danville District and eight health districts in the Hampton Roads area. The reproduction rate for the novel coronavirus statewide is at 1.137. Numbers higher than 1 represent the possibility for community spread. The model, which was released Friday, estimates that 656,034 cases of COVID-19 have been avoided since May 15 due to physical distancing and facial covering protocols. (July 17 report)***The expansion of Greene County’s water supply appeared to be heading toward construction but an action taken Thursday by a regional body with jurisdiction over the matter calls that future into question. According to the Greene County Record, the Rapidan Service Authority voted 4-2 to “assume leadership” of the process to determine the future of the water supply plan mandated by Virginia law. They also effectively overturned a decision last week by the Greene County Board of Supervisors to increase facility fees to help pay for the White Run Reservoir project which has an estimated total cost of between $45 million and $60 million. The five-member Greene BOS will hold a special emergency meeting Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. to receive information about the project. (agenda) (Greene County record story)***A thirty-year old Albemarle County man is dead following a crash Saturday evening at the intersection of 5th Street Extended and Harris Road. Charlottesville police have identified Dustin Ryan Parr as the deceased. According to a press release, Albemarle Police were called to a crash at U.S. 250 and Hunter’s Way where a Toyota pickup truck had fled the scene. Several people called 911 to report the vehicle “driving erratically at numerous locations.” At ten to seven, the truck collided with a sedan at the 5th Street and Harris intersection and the driver of the truck died. *** Albemarle County will hand out free masks and facial coverings this week at several locations. If you or someone you know is interested, the procedure is to drive up, roll down the passenger side window, and a member of staff will place the item in the passenger seat. Today’s event is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m at the Greenwood Community Center. Tuesday’s will take place at the same time at the Free Union Country School, Wednesday’s at Barracks West, and Thursday’s at the Covenant School on Hickory Street. On Friday, staff will give out free masks at the Crossroad Country Store from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and at the Yancey School Community Center from 2 to 6. ***Ridership is down on transit vehicles, but the head of the one agency is preparing for a future in which it is easier for people to call buses to pick them up closer to their home. Last week, Jaunt CEO Brad Sheffield began an educational campaign for a new on-demand service he would like to see integrated among Jaunt, Charlottesville Area Transit and the University Transit System. Sheffield shopped the idea around to the Board of Supervisors last week. “I’m hearing some similar ideas popping up here and there and so as it is the case, we sometimes see duplicate efforts and there’s no cross-communication and that ends up wasting a lot of resources and time,” Sheffield said. Jaunt has applied for a federal grant to help pursue the idea and a pilot project is under way to help people get to the Loaves and Fishes food pantry on Lambs Road. “This on-demand initiative looks at shaping schedules around the actual requests that come through so over time we’re able to better response more immediately to those needs,” Sheffield said. Sheffield will make the same presentation with the Charlottesville City Council on August 3 and the Charlottesville Planning Commission on August 11. ***It’s a busy day for virtual government meetings today. There will be a community meeting tonight at 6:30 p.m. in Albemarle County for a proposed rezoning that would replace a mobile home court and motel on U.S. 29 near Forest Lakes with 370 new residents. RST of Virginia Beach purchased the land for about $6 million last October. (site plan) (register for meeting)City Council has a packed agenda with action on four transportation projects, a rezoning in Fry’s Spring, and allocation of $2.29 million in funding for nonprofit agencies. There are two requests to amend city code. One would ban the “possession, carrying, or transportation of firearms, ammunition, or components or combinations in certain public spaces.” The General Assembly passed enabling legislation to allow such prohibitions earlier this year. In the other, the city would make June 19 an official holiday to mark Juneteenth. Another item on the agenda would request legislation to give more subpoena powers to police civilian review boards. (resolution) This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe
Johnny Mitchel live at The Charlottesville Historic Downtown MallClick to play "Black River Blues"Johnny Mitchel live at The Charlottesville Historic Downtown MallClick to play "Black River Blues" a cover of The .357 String Band.
Johnny Mitchel live at The Charlottesville Historic Downtown MallClick to play "Black River Blues"Johnny Mitchel live at The Charlottesville Historic Downtown MallClick to play "Black River Blues" a cover of The .357 String Band.
Standing in front of the Downtown Mall's Jefferson Theater, Professor Nelson explores the ways in which the white citizens of Charlottesville looked back with great fondness on the way of life of the antebellum South—slavery included—through social gatherings, re-enactments, and minstrelsy shows.Support the show (http://studycenter.net/support-study-center)
The Drewary Brown Bridge, which crosses the train tracks above the Amtrak, is named for one of Charlottesville’s most important African-American Civil Rights leaders. On this stop of the tour, Professor Nelson introduces us to Charlottesville’s heroic “Bridge Builders” and their commitment to rising above the oppression of segregation to fight for the well-being of the entire city. Support the show (http://studycenter.net/support-study-center)
The "Race and Place in Charlottesville" tour leaves UVA Grounds to head toward the Downtown Mall. On the way there, stop at the base of the George R. Clark Monument, now standing at the intersection of West Main and Jefferson Park Ave. Discover the history of this statue, its unveiling, and the implications it continues to have for Charlottesville's African-American community. Support the show (http://studycenter.net/support-study-center)
Mal Vincent previews the 2018 Virginia Film Festival with screenings and events scheduled around Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall, the University of Virginia Grounds, and other locations. Mal will be at the festival, which kicks off Thursday, November 1st through Sunday, November 4th with plenty of great cinema in store, including both award-season favorites and hidden gems. He has a list of things to do at the festival, which include seeing tributes for Christoph Waltz, Orson Welles, and Buster Keaton. He also recommends viewing the most anticipated film of the festival, ROMA, along with THE FAVOURITE and THE FRONT RUNNER. A full schedule and ticket information is available at http://virginiafilmfestival.org/ and by phone at 434-924-3376.
Navigating Hospitality. With Dedicated Food Folks. Welcome to a special episode, the second in a segment I like to call the Edacious Round Table. Instead of learning one person's journey, area Food Folks discuss a topic. The first covered #MeToo. Today we're talking hospitality. How do we traverse these waters in the stormy Age of Outrage? Are there folks just not allowed in the restaurant because of their choices? My co-hosts are Chef Laura Fonner of Duner's in Crozet and Chef Harrison Keevil who with his wife Jennifer runs Keevil & Keevil Grocery and Kitchen while also taking the reins at Commonwealth Skybar on The Downtown Mall. It's a volatile topic with many recent ties to this region. In February, Chef Scott Crawford refused service to a restaurant critic at Crawford and Son in Raleigh. In May, Boylan Heights was taken to task for their "No drugs, no thugs," policy which has since been discontinued. Then in June Sara Huckabee Sanders tried to eat at The Red Hen and we all know what happened there. Lines are being drawn and tempers are high. Are restaurants still safe spaces? Places of refuge for food and intelligent, thoughtful discourse? The employees of a restaurant can be family in the right situation. A chosen family. This is the case at Duner's where some employees have worked there for 30 years. Family and hospitality go hand in hand. All of us agreed family dinners and celebrations were so important growing up, setting the tone for the rest of our lives. Why is hospitality important? It can change a person’s day. It’s a gift we give to folks. Restaurant hospitality is taking care of you, feeding you good food, and making sure you leave happy. Can the restaurant remain a judgment-free zone? A safe space where you leave politics at the door and your only goal to be fed and fed well? Maybe socialize a bit? That’s what we’re here to work out. Over food of course. We all agreed a customer causing an outright disruption is a pretty simple problem to solve. The customer needs to be quietly handled. And shown the door. Hopefully without too much disruption. But what about someone in the public eye with extreme political beliefs who just wants to eat? We discuss the pros and cons of the various decisions business owners made in the past, then work out what we would do. Which isn't always easy. Choice is a privilege. It’s easy to choose to serve someone if you own the business, not so much if you’re washing dishes or scraping plates in the back for an hourly wage and no benefits. Think about this for a minute. Simple hospitality. Even at the Red Wedding, Walder Frey served the Stark family a meal before the knives started flying. We’re so divided. Hate begets more hate. Can’t we do the same with a smile? Take the hard road and make the effort to be nice. Being mean, showing them the door, is easy, being hospitable takes way more effort. Charlottesville is a crazy quilt of folks, from old hippies and punkers to Lulemon Moms to Farmington Fridas to Belmont Bettys, students, folks of color who have lived here for decades, or recently arrived as immigrants from far shores. Plus every Dad, frat bro, techie startup preppie and freshman student in flip flops just navigating Bodo's for the first time. We’ve always served them. Why wouldn’t we now? Be kind. Serve all. “Life is about dealing with the hard stuff, working through it, and making yourself a better person.” ---Harrison Keevil How do you navigate self-care in this volatile age? We spend a great deal of time discussing this, sharing tips, including two chefs working hard to create a better culture in the kitchen so folks will stay for more than a year or two. What works? Exercise is good. As is sleep. Good food. Which is hard when you spend all your time making it for others while navigating hate. Like we have to do this weekend if Nazis show up August 12th. We talk about this too, our preparations, our hopes. We all agree that what Brian Ashworth did last year when scumbags starting throwing the heil around Ace Biscuit was the very right thing. He showed them the door. Disrupt my place? Don’t need to see your face. “Customers do expect us to be superhuman. Remember, we’re humans just like you are. We have bad days too. And then we have to deal with your bad day.” ---Laura Fonner What two famous opponents just dined opposite one another at Duner’s without incident? Who is the Duner Lunar? Who do we all agree has the most important job in the kitchen? Listen to find out. I’m so grateful to these talented folks for sharing their day off as well as their thoughtful responses. I’ll remember this conversation for a long time. Be safe out there Charlottesville. Big Love. One of the most thoughtful conversations I’ve ever been a part of. Makes me proud to live in this town. Stay edacious. “I’m going to be at Commonwealth (August 12th). I’m going to be there to serve anyone who wants to walk through those doors...I hope people come out. I’m not scared. I’m going to do my job. I’m going to open the kitchen.” ---Harrison Keevil SHOW NOTES – Links to resources talked about during the podcast: Subscribe to This Podcast. Stay Edacious! - Come on, after this episode? You know you want to. Subscribers get new episodes instantly, while non-subscribers have to wait a few hours or days depending on the iTunes gods. Never miss a chance to be edacious! Subscribe to the 3dacious newsletter! - The Top 3 listings for food writing, events, and food I forked delivered weekly to your inbox with minimal fuss in a nice and neat to-go package. Leave a review about Edacious! - Click the link, then "View in iTunes" then "Ratings and Reviews". Whether you think it's great, or not so great, I want to hear from you. I might just read your review on the air! Whoa! #famousforahotminute This episode is sponsored by Teej.fm and listeners like you who donated their support at Patreon, who wants every creator in the world to achieve a sustainable income. Thank you.
This month, Keith, Paul, Rana, and occasional guest Corey Parker talk about editing "The Will of the Magi," and Paul's attempt at his own supercharged National Novel Writing Month challenge. This month's episode is brought to you by the Charlottesville Book Festival Nov. 18 from 10-4 in CitySpace on the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville, VA (http://bit.ly/2iAghuY). We’re now on Patreon! Visit Patreon.com/aois21 to support this and other aois21 media endeavors as we aim to continue to put out quality content and to keep past content available for everyone. Remember to follow us on Twitter @PublishPodcast, check us out on Facebook, Facebook.com/PublishPodcast, email us at publishpodcast@aois21.com, or visit our home on the web, audio.aois21.com. Publish Me! is part of the aois21 podcast network, it is hosted by Podomatic and available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher Radio, Google Play, Tune In, and YouTube.
At the final City Council candidate forum for the 2017 general election, the six candidates for two open seats were asked for their views on whether Charlottesville is a place where everyone is able to be successful. “A strong community is one where all sectors are thriving,” said Andi Copeland-Whitsett, the moderator for the event held Wednesday at the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. Copeland-Whitsett asked the candidates what their plans are to support and build the African-American and Hispanic middle class in Charlottesville. Independent Kenneth Jackson said the question was loaded and said Councilors cannot take actions to address one racial demographic over others. “If you were to ask me what I would do for poor people, we would put programs like we had before into effect like the Wheels to Work program and job training,” Jackson said. “That helps pick the lower-income people up.” Democrat Heather Hill said the city should invest in child-care programs to help the youngest community members to have a place to go so their parents can work. Investing in education is also important. “I think every three and four-year old in our preschool system should have access to a free education starting at those ages and working up through our public education system,” Hill said. “For our minority communities we need to make sure we are supporting them with mentoring that can happen in the middle-schools and into high school.” Independent Nikuyah Walker said decisions need to be made by more diverse groups and existing policies need to be challenged. “There isn’t a system in Charlottesville that isn’t broken in terms of making sure the needs of black and Hispanic families are met,” Walker said. Walker said the city needs a citizen police advisory board with enforcement powers and there needs to be reform in the Commonwealth’s Attorney office to stop the targeting of African-Americans. Independent Paul Long called for more government programs to address poverty. “The black community needs special attention because it’s been systematically oppressed,” Long said. “But numerically nationwide there are more poor white people than there are black people so trying to uplift people out of poverty should be to lift up everybody.” Long said both the University of Virginia and Charlottesville businesses should be forced to pay employees more. He called upon people to picket outside of fast-food restaurants. Democrat Amy Laufer, a member of the city school board, said the number of pre-school seats has been increased to 260 seats and city tax dollars have gone to extend that to three-year olds. “This has been a very effective way of helping families to access great services,” Laufer said. “There are organizations like ReadyKids. There are things happening that we should strengthen such as City of Promise.” Laufer said she would like to expand the city’s Growing Opportunities workforce program which she said has trained bus drivers and electricians. Independent John Edward Hall sounded a similar note. “Job training is good no matter what the color of your skin,” Hall said. “Employers need to be considered in the answer. Money from city council subsidies could help employers provide good jobs with a living wage.” Copeland-Whitsett took aim at whether Charlottesville’s central core was truly a place for everyone. “For downtown and midtown to thrive, there must be accessibility to workers and consumers alike,” she said. “What is your plan to guarantee affordable access to all?” Hill said the city needs to do more in this area. “I think both our public transit system is falling short within the city and within the region, and I feel like we don’t have safe paths for people to take alternative forms of transportation whether they want to walk or bike,” Hill said. “I also feel like we have to create an environment that they want to be invited to. There is not diversity in our downtown area that reflects the broader community. We have to unlock and understand why.” Walker agreed there is a lack of diversity on the Downtown Mall and on West Main Street but there shouldn’t be. “You have a community like Friendship Court which is right downtown and within walking distance and you do not see representation of that community being that close to the Downtown Mall area,” Walker said. “It’s also about who is working in those spaces and who is able to create employment options.” Walker said she is concerned redevelopment of Friendship Court by adding market-rate units will change the diversity of the community. Later in the forum, she said she would try to halt development on West Main Street because it is not benefiting the entire community. Long said an improved public transit would bring more people downtown to shop but the current stores cater to the rich. “The stores in the Downtown Mall area are boutique stores and if you’re making over $200,000 a year some of those stores may be of interest to you,” Long said. “There needs to be a greater diversity in the types of businesses down there. We need businesses owned by African-Americans.” Laufer agreed that the Downtown Mall is mostly boutique stores but the CVS is always crowded. “I though a great addition was the Market Street Market because that actually has groceries that people need,” Laufer said. “A lot of what is offered [on the Mall] is geared for tourism. There should be a wider variety of businesses.” Hall said the city’s sidewalks and streetlights need to be repaired. Jackson said the city’s “master plan” needs to be updated. “The city’s master plan only has the boutiques and the little upscale shops where most of us don’t even eat and shop in,” Jackson said, adding things were better in the 1970’s before all of the department stores left for shopping centers. Jackson said Downtown establishments such as the Paramount are too expensive for people who live in Garrett Square, referring to the old name for Friendship Court. Closing statements While there will be campaign events up until Election Day, candidates had one last opportunity to make a closing statement. Laufer said campaigning has not been easy. “It really makes you introspective in ways that you had no idea,” Laufer said. “I campaigned six years ago for the school board and the city really has changed a lot. I knocked on a lot of the same doors and it is a lot different. We need to be aware of that and come up with policies and budgetary decisions that can help our community as it is changing to be the best it can be.” Long thanked and lauded his fellow candidates, and encouraged more participation from voters. “I’m not going to ask people to vote for me,” Long said. “I’m going to ask people to vote your conscience. I’ve been in this community long enough and you just don’t hear from me when elections come around. I’ve been in this community protesting and having demonstrations year-round.” Walker asked for people to show up on Election Day. “I posted on Facebook the other day ‘let’s have a rebellion at the polls’ and no matter who you vote for, make sure that you’re voting for the future where everyone can thrive in Charlottesville,” Walker said. “I have been doing this work for so long behind the scenes questioning, challenging and no matter who you elect, I’m going to continue to do the work I do.” Hill said transparency is a major part of her campaign. “That could not be more important now as we look at our local government and our national government,” Hill said. “More than ever we need strong leaders who are committed to taking responsibility and seeking the answers all of us are so desperately seeking.” Jackson said he is not a perfect candidate and is a person just like everyone else. “I don’t hold my color up because I know my color does not define me,” Jackson said. “It is who I am inside and the education I get… I am proud of who I am and I want everyone in Charlottesville to be proud of who they are. We are all role models, each and every one of us.” Hall said he has been excited to participate in the forums. “If elected to City Council on Nov. 7, I will help fellow Councilors as a freshman team player,” Hall said. “Because of the events stemming from the plan to remove the Lee and Jackson statues, the good work of the City Council has been delayed by public demonstrations.” TIMELINE FOR PODCAST: 01:00 – Introduction from moderator Andi Copeland-Whitsett 02:00 - Opening statement from Independent John Edward Hall 03:20 - Opening statement from Independent Kenneth Jackson 05:30 - Opening statement from Democrat Heather Hill 08:00 - Opening statement from Independent Nikuyah Walker 10:20 - Opening statement from Independent Paul Long 12:40 - Opening statement from Democrat Amy Laufer 15:30 - Question #1: There is a perception that a populist agenda has taken hold of Council. Can you address that? 28:00 - Question #2: What are your plans if you're elected to develop a strong middle-sector particularly among the African-American and Hispanic communities? 41:30 - Question #3: For downtown and midtown to thrive, there must be accessibility to workers and consumers alike. What is your plan to guarantee affordable access to all? 52:30: - Candidates were given another opportunity to address a previous question May 1:05:10 - Closing statement from Laufer 1:06:15 - Closing statement from Long 1:07:35 - Closing statement from Walker 1:10:00 - Closing statement from Hill 1:12:00 - Closing statement from Jackson 1:14:25 - Closing statement from Hall Download
Pie Work. It's challenging. Never-ending. When you make the product you sell the work never stops. Thankfully, for Rachel Pennington baking is a passion. As a result, not only has The Pie Chest on the Downtown Mall become a first-stop for lovers of all things pie, it has become a safe space. A welcoming place where folks from all different backgrounds can meet, talk, commiserate, and create an environment of good feeling and fellowship. The kind that used to exist before people were so bent over their smartphones. Here instead of capturing a moment with a photo friendships develop over the shared love of a dessert in pastry crust. Rachel came to baking entirely by accident. Bored with her current job, she answered an ad on Craig's List for a baker at The Whiskey Jar. The rest is history. When owner Wilson Richey approached her and suggested, "How about we open a pie shop?" Rachel went for it. With only an idea, a vision, and literally no business plan they spent months in development, getting the proper permits, all the rigamarole you have to go through to get something like this up and running. The result is The Pie Chest which opened on 3/14/15 at 9:26 am (3.1415926). Lines were out the door that day and they've never looked back. Her partner Tina acts as Business Manager and Wilson helped developed the interior design, but all the pies are Rachel's, who's become a master baker in only a few short years, developing her pies with a focus on flavor more than recipes. Although the Lemon Chess is Wilson's grandmother's, all of Rachel's concepts come through much trial and error. Working tirelessly, she creates pies full of flavors you can actually taste rather than total bombs of sugar. Her coconut cream is the best I've ever had, full of essence and never too sweet. In fact, it made my Best of List for 2016. And the chocolate? It's one of her most popular and one I order whole. One slice is never enough once you've tasted its blend of dark chocolate with a secret ingredient you'll just have to listen to the episode to discover. The vibe at The Pie Chest is classic Southern, the types of pies you'd eat with your grandmother. This comfortable atmosphere translates to the decor with homey antique signs and illustrations adorning pale yellow walls reminiscent of Grandma's kitchen. They have savory pies, the mushroom, leek, and gruyere being a personal favorite. There are even breakfast hand pies, or fried pies, Southern in origin and only now coming back into fashion. If you've never had one, you're missing out. Rachel's fit the bill with a delightfully flaky crust and unique flavors like goat cheese, sausage, honey and egg. Good for what ails you and a terrific way to start the day. Rachel uses a commercial kitchen for her baking because when you produce thousands of pies a month, a 700 square food space isn't enough. She needs that kitchen because The Pie Chest still provides all desserts and breads for The Whiskey Jar, Revolutionary Soup, cookies for Milli Coffee Roasters and even does pie weddings! How does Rachel deal with bad Yelp reviews which can often result in moments of Imposter Syndrome? It affects all of us, not just food folks and our discussion on this topic is wonderful because all human beings face this stumbling block. We both agree sites like Yelp do more harm than they help. If you have a problem, address it while you're there! At The Pie Chest, as in so many other establishments, they will bend over backwards to fix it. We also talk about the tight Cville community a theme popping up so much on this podcast. One person says, "Hey, I've got an idea," then 10 people step forward to offer their thoughts and suggestions. What are her tips for the perfect pie crust? In a small town bursting with new bakeries and restaurants how does Rachel find qualified employees? You'll just have to listen to find out. I was thrilled to finally talk with Rachel because her story is so inspiring and she was my earliest podcast supporter, letting me know she listened while baking late at night, offering up her suggestions and encouragement when I was suffering from my own version of Imposter Syndrome. We met in such a unique way. At an event that was a crossroads for the both of us - The Southern Foodways Alliance dinner at The Whiskey Jar in 2013. It was my first visit to a big-name industry conference, attending alone and knowing no one. For Rachel it was her first high-profile dinner where she was responsible for creating a memorable dessert to honor Edna Lewis, the high priestess and pioneer of Southern cuisine. How did she do? Splendidly. Her peach trifle made my "Best of" list that year which gave her the confidence to embark on a career as a baker. Connections. Community. It's the reason I started this podcast and hearing that story again in this episode brought tears to my eyes. Without exaggeration, the single greatest moment of my writing and podcasting career to this point. It tells me I'm on the right path. As is Rachel. One of the missions of The Pie Chest beyond great dessert is to provide a safe, welcoming space to the people of our community. Particularly in this uncertain environment, now more than ever Rachel and Tina want to make sure everyone is welcome. It's why they hung a safety pin in the window. We talk a lot about what hard choices businesses will need to make going forward. How they will adapt and react should volatile situations arise. It's a very real concern and something we can no longer ignore. Even in the bubble that is Charlottesville. This sort of reflection and commitment to creating wonderful moments while eating translates to the environment of the shop where many folks not only stop in for pie but to converse, play board games, and get to know the stranger sitting next to them. Goes without saying more of that kind of shop in this world would be a very good thing. As Rachel says during the interview, "There's always room." And she's not just talking about pie. The Pie Chest is a very special place. Good food, good vibes, good fellowship. The very essence of what a strong community can and should be. Not only is Rachel an exquisite baker, her writing is amazing. Thoughtful and profound, a result of her spiritual studies and background. One post in particular brought me to tears. Worth your time and attnetion. SHOW NOTES – Links to resources talked about during the podcast: Scotty Nichols GoFund Me Campaign: My best friend of 30 years, Scotty Nichols, is struggling with Stage 3B anal cancer. And the bills are piling up. One PET Scan costs $14K. He's had two. Can you please help? No amount is too small. He's an extraordinary individual and the light of my life. Click on the link to learn the story of our friendship. Then please help. Thank you. Polina's Recovery Fund: Local baker Polina was in a horrible car accident and has loss the use of one hand. Please donate to help expenses to help with her recovery. Charlottesville needs her. VA Festival of the Book: Arrives in Charlottesville March 22-26, 2017. Five major cookbook authors will be attendance. And I will be talking with *ALL* of them in future episodes. Click to learn more! Mark your calendars! Waitress: My favorite movie about pie. It's wonderful. Watch. Then watch it again. Andy Griffith's performance is worth a viewing all by itself! Charming and lovely. This episode is sponsored by MarieBette Café and Bakery and listeners like you who donated their support at Patreon, who wants every creator in the world to achieve sustainable income. Thank you.
Sustainable Work. How does a newly transplanted chef ingratiate himself in what can be a challenging and certainly competitive market? How do you promote a fairly new restaurant when folks are still missing the one that was there before? Meet Chef Jeff Deloff of Threepenny Café who finds himself in this position. Threepenny has been open two years. So why don't more people know about it? What are the special challenges Charlottesville restaurants encounter when they open and how do they stay open? Further, how do you compete with the behemoth The Downtown Mall has become? West Main has its own special charms, but the fact remains when people visit they go to The Mall. Never fear, Jeff loves a challenge and has the stamina, passion, and dedication to overcome these obstacles quickly becoming a resounding refrain in a region like Charlottesville with its ever-growing development and parking difficulties. Threepenny has free parking but what about the rest? One solution is to participate in community events which Threepenny does on a regular basis. The other is to have a strong mission, in this case local, fresh, organic, and sustainable food sourcing. Where other restaurants talk the talk but secretly pass items from big corporations through the back door, Jeff uses local producers and purveyors. But he's not a hard-line party activist either. There are some items you just can't get. When your mission is to serve the very best, simplest ingredients possible, you have to strike a balance. For your ideals and the restaurant's bottom line. That's the reality. We discuss this balance at length. And dig down the rabbit hole of what exactly makes a food sustainable. Threepenny was just awarded the highest honor from Foodwaze, an app rating restaurants based on their level of responsible product sourcing. Foodwaze modeled itself after Chef Nora Pouillon's restaurant, who I interviewed for this very podcast. How hard is that level of environmental consciousness to sustain while still making a profit? We talk about the realities particularly in the area of distribution. How do misconceptions about seasonal produce fit into it all? We discuss that as well. Threepenny sources its seafood using Seafood Watch and the Marine Stewardship Council, a rarity in the restaurant world where the bottom line is king. Did you know seafood is seasonal? Available in limited quantities? Animals are a renewable resource. You raise cattle and pigs. But you can't do that on a similar scale with seafood. Once they're gone, they're gone. Our seas are overfished and we're doing very little about it. Why are "trash fish" like mackerel, sardines, and wahoo underutilized? Pro tip: if you see mackerel on the menu, order it. It's a fragile fish that doesn't last. So if they've got it, it must be fresh. ThreePenny has it. In season of course. Jeff's food history is long. He grew up in Hannibal, New York where his uncle worked at Aunt Sarah's Pancake House. Watching him operate the flattop, often making 10 omelets at once, ignited a passion for cooking. He began at 16 as a dishwasher, arriving for his interview in a tie. The boss hired him on the spot and became a mentor. After earning a degree from the Culinary Institute of America you'd think he'd trot off to become a celebrity in New York. But Jeff's goals are more meaningful: creating the best food using the freshest ingredients, not overworking them so they sing beautiful solos all by themselves. After tasting his lemon goat cheese gnocchi at this year's Iron Chef competition? He does that and much more. "Salt enhances flavors, pepper changes it." Jeff and owner Merope Pavlides work well together, seeing eye to eye on their vision for the restaurant. She gives him freedom in the kitchen to design menus and together they make sure the bottom line is met. Another important factor and potential obstacle to a restaurant's success, one this pair has overcome. What is the hierarchy in the restaurant world? What can we do about the absurd amount of food waste occurring in restaurants all over the country? Does writing a blog for the restaurant provide as much satisfaction as cooking? How do his partnerships with local producers provide much more than ingredients? And how exactly did he prepare that delicious gnocchi in only 30 minutes? What was his game plan? We cover it all. My favorite episodes are those where I feel the earnestness and dedication coming off the guest in waves. Ones where I leave knowing more than when I sat down. This was one of those. It was also the last time I recorded at In a Flash Laser Engraving. Thank you Sara Gould for your continuous support. Need a gorgeous office space? Contact her before someone else grabs it! Then enjoy this thoughtful episode. Cheers. SHOW NOTES – Links to resources talked about during the podcast: The Unwanted Job - Chef Chris Hill talks about the importance of the dishwasher. The Mind of a Chef - Chef Gabrielle Hamilton discusses food waste in restaurants. Global Fishing Watch - An environmental group working tirelessly to eradicate overfishing in our oceans. Nothing in the House - Blogger Emily Hilliard profiles "Desperation Pies" and provides me with a winning pie recipe. Thanks Emily! This episode is sponsored by In a Flash Laser Engraving.
Food Business Support. Do you have a great idea for a food business? To succeed, you're going to need more than that. Over half of new restaurants in this country fail within the first year. That's not good news in a place like Charlottesville where you might be competing with over 400 other restaurants for customers. Luckily, we have such an encouraging community here for small business. I've never presented an idea to someone and been discouraged. But as in so many things, you can't succeed alone. It takes a village. Betty Hoge, Director of the Charlottesville Small Business Development Center (SBDC) is here to help. Their mission is simple. SBDC works to enhance our local economy by providing assistance to local and midsize businesses. For FREE or very little cost. There is no hidden agenda or bias to convince new owners to use a particular service. SBDC only works to enhance the local economy. Because a world full of nothing but big box stores would be a sad one indeed. Independently-owned small businesses provide a lot to the social atmosphere and culture of a community. It keeps money within the community and makes that community rich in culture and uniqueness. May 1st through 7th was National Small Business Week! I didn't know that when we spoke, but what better way to celebrate than to speak with her about all the ways SBDC can help new and existing small food business owners in our community. SBDC helped local restaurant Nude Fude get off the ground. If you listen to our talk in Episode 11, both Ken and Dani Notari speak at length about how SBDC helped them create a business plan, scout a location, and figure out the best way to ensure their restaurant would succeed. Because of confidentiality agreements SBDC cannot brag about the many restaurants they have helped. But believe me, it's a lot. SBDC offers FREE confidential consulting then customizes services based on the owner's needs. They offer business development training and numerous resources, most at no cost for businesses not yet large enough to hire professionals on their own. Last year they helped 150-200 businesses navigate things like accounting, licensing, and figuring out how to expand. Many times folks come to SBDC with a grand idea but very little capital. SBDC can help them see the truth, change to realistic goals, and help them grow slowly within their means so eventually a bank may give them a loan. How did this former foodie and restaurant owner of The Dog and Pickle Beanery, Pub, and Banquet Hall become the director of our local SBDC? It's a super interesting story, particularly since she first got experience in small business direction by volunteering at her local chapter! Yes, you can get your dream job by volunteering within the field people! How does SBDC help folks without 10 investors and huge budgets who can't afford a space on The Downtown Mall? How are food trucks a good stepping stone to a brick and mortar establishment? What free course is offered monthly at SBDC? What do pharmacists, artists, and food business owners have in common? Listen to find out. To further SBDC's mission, the 2nd Annual Business of Food Conference will be held at the Charlottesville Omni on Monday, June 20, 2016 from 8am-4pm. At the Tom Tom Food Business Summit last month local restaurateurs, chefs, and food producers got serious about the business of food, discussing their issues, triumphs, questions, and concerns. This conference will carry on that important conversation. The Business of Food Conference is a way for new and existing food business owners to get together, network, talk, and learn from one another. A shared conference with the SBDC in Harrisonburg, this conference celebrates our entire region because, thankfully, we are awash in food businesses. Topics will include local food trends, business trends, and practices that allow a food business to be successful. Attendees will learn accounting, understanding financial statements, marketing tips, insights on social media, and even menu design. What optimal wording gets people to order more? At this conference, you'll find out. There will also be breakout sessions on designing a kitchen. Where should things go? What essential equipment do you need? Maybe that sous vide machine isn't as important as you think. Lunch is provided and confirmed speakers include Crissanne Raymond of No Bull Burger (Episode 13), Katrina Didot from Harrisonburg's A Bowl of Good, Erin Ludwig of Jack Brown's, and Nathan West of Mad Hatter Hot Sauce. There will also be some craft cocktail activities on The Downtown Mall after the conference at participating restaurants so the conversations can continue. Ticktets are only $119 until June 14th, then go up to $139 for an entire day of networking, food, and valuable learning. Costs go toward expenses to put on the conference. Money which stays in the community to help the community. Betty Hoge and the SBDC are such valuable assets to our Charlottesville food community and I'm thrilled to have talked with her. I'll be helping promote the conference, including broadcasting a special extra episode of Edacious closer to conference time. If you have ideas for topics, speakers, or would like to be a corporate sponsor for this event, contact me here or Betty Hoge at 434-979-5610. Enjoy this important episode! SHOW NOTES - Links to resources talked about during the podcast: Berkshares - One local community creates its own money so funds spent locally, stay local. Charlottesville Small Business Development Center Webpage Charlottesville Small Business Development Center on Facebook Business of Food Conference Homepage This episode is sponsored by In A Flash Laser Engraving.
C&O Restaurant has been a landmark for almost 40 years. Such a landmark if you mention Charlottesville to anyone from someplace else, they will probably talk about it in the same breath as Monticello or the UVA Lawn. So what happens when a longtime owner passes the keys to a new steward? I talked to Chef Dean Maupin to find out. I've been in love with C&O's bar since first venturing down the stairs late one night many years ago. The vibe, the wood, you feel like you're someplace else. Someplace older. In Europe. The food is amazing, the service exemplary, and the atmosphere down to earth. Sometimes rare in fine dining. And something owner Dave Simpson wanted to preserve when he gave ownership to Chef Maupin years ago. What did that feel like? Why does Chef Maupin consider it a stewardship rather than ownership? How does the nurturing environment within C&O's walls help to foster new talent in the culinary industry? How did Chef Maupin get his start with an apprenticeship, something many young cooks bypass today in favor of culinary school? What was that like? We talk about it all including how the C&O helped foster development along The Downtown Mall and where The Mall is headed. Is Charlottesville a world-class tourist destination that could sustain a restaurant on par with Magnus Nilsson's Fäviken? Is there still room for tasting menus or is fast casual becoming the norm? I'm so glad I had the chance to talk with Dean and I know you'll love it. And folks, you have permission to stop into C&O in your jeans just for a few apps and a glass of wine so you don't break the bank. Chef Maupin has given you permission and I would guess a lot of other fine dining restaurants in the area would agree with him. So get out there! Don't save it for an anniversary or birthday. Make Tuesday night special. SHOW NOTES - Links to items discussed within the episode: Chef's Table - Magnus Nilsson's Fäviken - watch the trailer online! The Inn at Little Washington Chef Kevin Sousa - Pittsburgh's finest. Chef Grant Achatz of Alinea in Chicago Chef Ian Boden of The Shack in Staunton Chef Joe Beef - The Art of Living Chef Martin Picard - Au Pied du Cochon, The Album Chef Colin Perry of Montreal's Dinette Triple Crown This episode is sponsored by In A Flash Laser Engraving.
In Episode 9 of Edacious, we meet Hunter Smith of Champion Brewery. Hunter is a brewmaster extraordinaire dedicated to experimenting and creating new flavors of beer and providing a comfortable space with which to enjoy them. He collaborates often with local chefs and his favorite musicians to bring you the most inventive, tasty brews around. I found his passion infectious. Champion Brewery is a meeting place with huge amounts of space inside and out to hang out, talk, and of course, sip your favorites including his Missile IPA, Megalodon, Maibock, Stickin' in my Rye IPA, and my personal favorite the Black Me Stout. For years, I've wished for a Downtown Mall meeting place slash beer garden. Champion delivers. In this interview we talk about all the great food trucks that converge here (a different one every night!) and of course the best pairings. How is starting a brewery like buying a house? Where did he take food writer Josh Ozersky for a burger when he was in town (before his untimely passing last month). Can I ever learn to like sour beer? What is the pig for Hunter's yearly Champion barbecue raised on? This and other important questions answered in Episode 9! I found Hunter to be engaging, thoughtful and you can hear his enthusiasm and fervor for his craft. I hope you enjoy it. Cheers! This episode is sponsored by In A Flash Laser.
Welcome to Episode 4! Jenny Peterson is the lovely and vivacious owner of Paradox Pastry, just across the railroad tracks over from The Downtown Mall in Charlottesville, VA. Here's you'll find amazing hand pies, cookies, tarts, croissants, pies, almond pavé (a personal favorite), and six-layer cakes the size of your head! Jenny got her start at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris then as a personal trainer here in Charlottesville, where she tempted her clients with cake after their workout, hence the paradox. We had an amazing time laughing about beer and butter and The Guess Who, and after hearing about her time living in France, I want to move there. Today. In a city where "Buying Local" is encouraged, and not buying local sacrilege how do you operate a French pastry shop using only the best ingredients? When it comes to ingredients (and restaurants), is local always best? Listen to find out! This episode is sponsored by In A Flash Laser.
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