Podcasts about Hammill

CCE-850ALast week I asked listeners of the podcast to let me know if they were tuning in, and sure enough, several of you did reach out! So, perhaps this Friday edition of the newsletter going out as a podcast will continue. Today's edition doesn't have any new information but instead is an audio summary of some of what has been going on with voices from some of the decision-makers.I'm Sean Tubbs, and this one's a bit of a puzzle to put together. In the print edition below you'll see new versions of a couple of the stories as I had to develop a new script. I have not included the images, but these podcasts will now have normal shout-outs. No more house ads!Two stories in this edition, both about Charlottesville's budget for FY2026:* City Council makes last minute decisions at final work session before tonight's vote on $265M budget* Council adopts $265.2 million budget after another conversation about transit fundingFirst shout-out: Plant Virginia NativesSpring is here and there's still time to plan for upgrades to your outdoors. You can take some time to get ready for spring! Check out Plant Virginia Natives!Plant Virginia Natives is part of a partnership with ten regional campaigns for ten different ecosystems across Virginia, from the Northern Piedmont to the Eastern Shore. Take a look at the full map below for the campaign for native species where you are in the Commonwealth. For the Charlottesville area, download a free copy of the handbook: Piedmont Native Plants: A Guide for Landscapes and Gardens.Plant Northern Piedmont Natives is for anyone who works with native plants, whether you are a property owner, private consultant, landscape designer, nursery operator, conservation group, or local government.(image)A summary of the April 10, 2025 Charlottesville City Council budget work sessionOne of the challenges of doing a podcast version at the end of a week is that I may have to rearrange two previous stories in order for the audio edition to make sense. That's the case this week with Charlottesville City Council's adoption of a $265.2 million budget for fiscal year 2026. That happened on April 14 at a special meeting.But before we get to that, we have to go back to the work session held on April 10.In Charlottesville, the budget process never really stops. In fact, it keeps on going up to the last minute of adoption. New items were added at the work session that had not previously come up.At the beginning of the April 10 work session, they learned about additional spending that can happen because new funding has been found since the beginning of the budget process in March.“We do have supplemental revenue over and above the proposed budget of $774,263,” said Krisy Hammill, the city's budget director.The driver of that change was an additional $700,000 increase in Business and Professional Licenses that had not been factored in.There were many numbers thrown around during the final work session. Before Council signed off on how to spend that money, City Manager Sam Sanders went through how $915,620 in “Council Discretionary Funds” would be spent to leave a balance of $440,406 to spend.“Kind of thinking that with all the volatility that we have in DC, there could very easily be a series of moments that come up and that this would give you the flexibility to make some decisions and how we could support gaps in what could happen based on decisions and how it actually lands in the community,” Sanders said.Staff codified a list of what Council had already decided to spend over the course of four budget work sessions.* $250,000 to the Blue Ridge Coalition for the Homeless to cover the costs of a federal grant not obtained because there was an error related to a recent leadership transition.* $162,000 to the Piedmont Housing Alliance to pay for the cost of staff who work on eviction prevention.* $50,000 in cash to the Piedmont Housing Alliance related to eviction prevention.* An additional $43,150 to the Boys and Girls Club for a total of $116,000 in the FY26 budget.* An additional $28,800 to Lighthouse Studios to fund two programs for a total funding of $40,000 in the FY26 budget.* An additional $6,000 to Loaves and Fishes to bring their total funding to $50,000 for FY26.* An additional $1,200 to Piedmont CASA for a total of $10,000.* An additional $6,600 to Live Arts for a total of $16,000.* An additional $7,100 to Legal Aid Justice Center for a total of $40,000* An additional $1,500 to SARA for a total of $25,000.* A total of $104,261 in capital improvement program funds will be redirected to the Dogwood Vietnam Memorial. Read this story for more information.At the meeting, Hammill handed out a spreadsheet that provided more details about other programs that were added to the list such as an annual payment to the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center. This was initially left out of the budget because the organization did not fill out an application through a portal called Zoom Grants.The payment to the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center was $228,993 in FY2024 and $246,993 in FY2025. The organization is considered fundamental which means it no longer has to compete for funding through the Vibrant Community Fund process . The payment for FY2026 will be $228,200.“By not submitting through Zoom Grants, they didn't appear on the list, but they didn't know that they had to still submit through Zoom Grants,” Sanders said. “So we have some course corrections that we need to do there and making sure that everyone understands what they have to do still, even though they're in a non competitive round.”Sanders said there was a similar error with the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. That government body is considered “fundamental” but also sought additional funding.“We have to have a conversation with them about their pursuits of funding going forward to your point they could be here and in the competitive rounds,” Sanders said. “I don't particularly care for that. I think that makes it double dipping.”Sanders said Deputy City Manager James Freas and the Office of Community Solutions are currently performing an audit of CRHA as a way of building a better working relationship.City Councilor Michael Payne, a member of the CRHA Board, called for a joint work session to plan for the likelihood of reduced federal funding for public housing units.At one point in the conversation, Council initially signaled a willingness to add an additional $16,000 to the United Way for their Prosper program. Deputy City Manager Ashley Marshall made a pitch for the program at the April 10 meeting. The program had previously been called the Financial Resiliency Task Force.Another last minute item is $30,000 for the Tonsler League headed by former City Councilor and current CRHA Chair Wes Bellamy. The organization had expected that the City of Charlottesville would have received an additional $250,000 from the state government for operations, but Governor Glenn Youngkin recently vetoed that from the budget.“He received a $250,000 grant for this current year that ends in June,” Sanders said. “I am planning to check with him to see if. If he will expend all of that and avoid the risk of having to send anything back.”Council supported giving the Tonsler League $30,000.At half an hour into the final budget work session held three days after the final public hearing, Sanders asked Council if there was any other item they might want to fund and gave them the current balance.“The question that we are really posing at this point is, is there anything else that you all have been pondering?” Sanders asked. “Because we try to remind you that this is the end of the road and we are truly down to $394,000 that today, right now at this moment, is your Council Strategic Initiatives Fund.”That prompted Councilor Lloyd Snook to express a concern.“So we haven't even gotten to the fiscal year and we've already cut it down?” Snook asked.“That's correct,” Sanders said.Snook said he felt the process was not appropriate.“I find myself trying to figure out what possible process we're advancing here,” Snook said. “And the answer is it's still back to whatever anybody throws up against the wall at Council at the last minute. I just think that's a terrible way to do business.”Sanders said he understood Snook's concern.“I understand and appreciate the last minute nature of it and I'm not a fan of always doing that and I think in these, this, these two moments specifically, we can identify a way to bring you critical information so that you can have that presented to you and then you can make that determination on if you believe the item is ready to go forward,” Sanders said, adding that both Marshall and Bellamy could appear before Council to formally make a pitch.There were at least three Councilors who supported funding for Tonsler, but not yet for the Prosper Program.There was also a long discussion about increasing the number of transit drivers to 82 in order to restore service to pre-pandemic levels. This comment from Sanders finishes off that discussion and sets up a conversation for the future.“I think what I heard was that you are not going to attempt to unpack the budget at this late stage and find a way to make 82 drivers a reality,” Sanders said. “But what you are indicating is that you support the desire for added drivers and that you're looking to have us revisit that with you at some point in the future later in 2025 for the possible consideration of the use of one time funds for the bridge that would be required to get us to the next budget where we will realize the true cost.”Sanders also said he still wants to hold on to the $22.4 million surplus from FY2024 in case federal programs are cut.“The conversations that are being had in regards to SNAP and Medicaid are real in that they're big,” Sanders said. “And if those cuts were to occur, we will see a number of our constituency impacted directly by that.”Sanders said that while the city is blessed to have a large surplus, it will go very quickly if the local government picks up what had been a federal program.Tonight's meeting to adopt is not the end of the process. Because of a second advertising error, Council still has to hold a public hearing on the tax rates and that will take place at the next regular meeting on April 21. By law, Council cannot adopt those tax rates at that meeting and must wait at least three days. A second special meeting will be held on April 24.I had hoped to tell you more about the next three items by going back to the audio, but I've got to get to the next set of stories:* Sanders had an update on a potential low-barrier shelter. The General Assembly's version of the budget had $1.5 million going to the City of Charlottesville for this purpose, and Youngkin cut this in half. The budget has not yet been finalized and Sanders said Senator Creigh Deeds is still trying to make the case to restore the funding.* Sanders said he believes the city would need to provide operating funds to any grocery that sets up at 501 Cherry Avenue.* There is still a possibility that the city might provide funding for UVA's affordable housing project at 10th and Wertland. They will be asked to submit a request as part of the next funding cycle this fall.Second shout-out: Piedmont Master Gardeners seek items for Green Elephant SaleIf you are cleaning out your garage or basement this winter and have garden implements or yard ornaments you no longer need, the Piedmont Master Gardeners will take them off your handsThe Piedmont Master Gardeners are seeking donations of new and used garden tools, hoses, decorative items, outdoor furniture, and virtually anything else that can be used to maintain or enjoy a home landscape. From February 1 through April 30, these "Green Elephant" donations may be dropped off at 402 Albemarle Square between 10 a.m. and noon on Wednesdays or Saturdays. The Master Gardeners are not able to accept plastic pots or opened chemicals.The Green Elephants will be offered for sale to the public during PMG's Spring Plant Sale, scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 3, at Albemarle Square Shopping Center. Proceeds will support the many free and low-cost horticulture education programs the Piedmont Master Gardeners offer to the community.To arrange a pickup of large items or for more information, contact the Piedmont Master Gardeners at greenelephant@piedmontmastergardeners.org.(image)Council adopts $265.2 million budget after another conversation about transit fundingCharlottesville City Council adopted a $265.2 million budget for the fiscal year that begins on July 1 at a special meeting on April 14 but not before another review and summary from City Manager Sam Sanders. He had introduced a $264,474,183 budget on March 4.“Things have changed a little bit, as it always does, from the proposed date to your adoption date,” Sander saidThere have been five budget work sessions and two public hearings on the document itself, but yet to come is a public hearing on the tax rates for 2025.“What I'll point out to you just in basic highlights, is that the revenue expenditure at this time has now risen to $265,248,446,” Sanders said.The tax rates have not changed for 2025, but another year of growth in assessments has resulted in more revenue. The assessor's office reported an average of a 7.74 percent increase in late January.One spending change in the budget is an additional $600,000 for Charlottesville Area Transit which partially came out of a push for local advocates.“We added a transit mechanic to help with operations,” Sanders said. “We are also maintaining fare free service across the system and absorbing the absence of the flexible federal funds because those funds are now not available to us as they have been.”Other highlights:* There's $5.4 million over the next five years for sidewalk repair and construction* There's $12.7 million in spending on affordable housing initiatives in FY26* The FY26 budget is the first to apply to a fourth collective bargaining unitCity Councilor Michael Payne asked about the status of a $22.4 million surplus from FY2024. Sanders made the decision to keep the amount in reserve and Council has so far agreed. The idea is to keep the money available while a new era for the federal government continues to settle in. He also said he has been meeting with nonprofit groups who have been making presentations on funding they have lost from the federal government.“So they are first trying to recoup what they've spent and hope that they might actually get some continuation,” Sanders said. “So that is beginning to build. We're beginning to see that finally the city organization itself has not incurred a loss. But we still continue to monitor just believing that it's just a matter of time. It's not a matter of if, it is actually a matter of when.”A generally-held practice in municipal budgeting is to not use one-time money such as surpluses to hire staffing.“Something like staffing is not ideal because we can't guarantee that funding to occur year to year,” said City Councilor Natalie Oschrin.The conversation went back to transit. The City of Charlottesville owns Charlottesville Area Transit and has full control of its operations. Albemarle County and Charlottesville have entered into an entity called the Charlottesville Albemarle Regional Transit Authority but so far that is entirely about planning for transit operations.Albemarle Supervisors vote to join Regional Transit Authority, December 15, 2024Charlottesville joins regional transit authority; Council holds first reading on federal transit allocations, December 28, 2024Charlottesville Area Transit has no independent board of directors which makes Council the sole authority over its operations. There had once been an advisory body made up of citizens but that was eliminated sometime during the pandemic.An advocacy group called IMPACT made up of various churches has been pressuring Albemarle and Charlottesville to increase the amount they spent on transit to hire additional drivers. Their specific number has been 82, a number believed to enable Charlottesville Area Transit to increase service.“The solution to long wait times is very straightforward: we need more bus drivers,” reads their website. “Right now, Charlottesville Area Transit (CAT) has budgeted 67 drivers. Getting to wait times of half an hour will require at least 80.”In Virginia, cities and counties are completely independent of each other. There are regional services such as that provided by the Rivanna Water and Service Authority, but localities have to adopt budgets independently.IMPACT's public event was held on April 8, over a month into the budget process for Charlottesville and about six weeks after Albemarle County Executive Jeffrey Richardson introduced that locality's budget.At their work session on April 10, City Council indicated they wanted to support IMPACT's request but the timing is not right for the existing budget. They agreed to hold conversations about how to get there shortly after the budget is adopted.Vice Mayor Brian Pinkston and Charlottesville City Council were the two members of Council who went to hear from IMPACT at what they call the Nehemiah Action.“The commitment that the two of us made was to try to get something for this coming the fiscal year that we're working on now, which means some sort of amendment or whatever,” said City Councilor Brian Pinkston.Several members of the group were in attendance at the meeting and Pinkston addressed them directly from the dais and encouraged them to get involved earlier in the budget process.“I want people to know that this is not the end,” Pinkston said. “We heard you last week, we're working on it. And what you're hearing now is the sort of public outworking of the conversations that need to happen.”For over four years of reporting on transit issues, take a look at this tab on Information Charlottesville.Council adopted the budget after a final explanation of last minute changes such as $30,000 for the Tonsler League to help keep it going after Governor Youngkin vetoed an anticipated $250,000 from Virginia's budget.Council will hold a public hearing on the tax rate for 2025 on April 21 and then will hold a special meeting on April 24.Postscript for #850AToday's edition was intended to have additional audio but I ran out of time. Also the podcast edition can be less than half an hour long. The version that airs on WTJU has to be at least 29 minutes long. There was no radio version last week so I'm going to put another story or two in that version from #846-A. Behind the scenes I have quite a bit of organization that allows me to seemingly produce more content than entities with budgets that are much larger than mine. One day there will be more of 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

Ryan Hammill of the Ancient Language Institute joins Thomas for a practical discussion about how to learn Latin, as well as the central place of the classical languages (Latin and Greek) in classical Christian education, and the various schools of thought in today's classical Christian education movement. Links Thomas's article about learning Latin https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/dreamt-learning-latin-heres-how-youll-finally-do-it/ Ancient Language Institute https://ancientlanguage.com/ New Humanists Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/new-humanists/id1570296135 Jonathan Roberts, “Classical Schools Are Not Really Classical” https://ancientlanguage.com/classical-schools-not-classical/ Micah Meadowcroft, “Classical Education's Aristocracy of Anyone” https://nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/classical-educations-aristocracy-of-anyone DONATE to make this show possible! http://catholicculture.org/donate/audio  SIGN UP for Catholic Culture's newsletter: https://www.catholicculture.org/newsletters

Welcome to The Football Historian Podcast, hosted by Peter Kenny Jones. Barnsley legend Adam Hammill joined us for a chat about his career in the game. Starting at Liverpool, working under father-figure Mark Robins and three stints Oakwell, all around many other stories and clubs. Still playing today for Maghull, we finished up with some classic football history and debate questions. Thanks so much for the feedback and don't forget to keep sending questions to thefootballhistorianpodcast@gmail.com Hope this instalment of your soon to be favourite football podcast continues to impress! CHAPTERING 00:00:26 Part One - Liverpool, Dunfermline & Southampton 00:27:01 Part Two - Becoming a Barnsley Legend 01:44:29 Part Three - Football History 01:59:01 Part Four - The Debate  Want more from The Football Historian Podcast? Listen or watch the exclusive FIFTH section of this interview via our Patreon. It's just £1 per month for the first 100 patrons! You also get a monthly special and access to our entire back catalogue! https://www.patreon.com/TheFootballHistorianPodcast Keep up to date with all our latest clips on our socials: Instagram: https://instagram.com/thefootballhistorianpod/ TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@thefootballhistorianpod X: https://twitter.com/TheFHPod

The best bits from Mark and Caroline for breakfast on 92.7 MIX FM5 to 9am weekdays LISTEN LIVE: https://www.mixfm.com.au/More Mark and Caroline Podcasts here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2038628

“Carpentry was the name of the game. And that's what I wanted to do. So that's what I did. I took it full time and and it's been a blast ever since.” -Kyle Hammill Welcome to a brand-new episode of the Woodpreneur Podcast. Today, your host Steve Larosiliere is joined by Kyle Hammill from Trails End Custom Construction. Kyle's story is a testament to the power of hard work, creativity, and a willingness to seize opportunities. His early years were spent on farms, gaining practical skills and learning to navigate challenges. While in college and working in a bar kitchen, Kyle realized that his knack for handywork could be more lucrative than his current job. This realization led him down a path of various odd jobs, from painting doors to fixing railings, ultimately steering him toward carpentry - a field he deeply enjoyed. The turning point came with the decision to form an LLC with his brother. What started as a part-time endeavor soon became a full-time commitment after college. Unlike many of his peers, Kyle stepped into the real world not in search of a job, but as the owner of a burgeoning company. Listen now and get the whole story! “ The biggest thing is, you know, our CNC machine being able to get out of cut cabinets with computers and not not backbreaking.” -Kyle Hammill Growth, Challenges, and Evolution Fast forward to five and a half years later, Kyle's business has grown significantly. Initially a trim carpenter, he worked on numerous homes, learning the importance of efficiency and quality. However, dissatisfaction with the standard of materials led Kyle to innovate. He began focusing on custom cabinetry, which now forms half of his business, while his brother manages the new home construction side. Their journey wasn't without challenges. The team soon realized the importance of outsourcing to manage workload efficiently. This strategy allowed them to focus on unique, high-quality projects while maintaining control over the design and installation. The Importance of Process and Teamwork One of the key factors in Kyle's success has been his emphasis on process and teamwork. Every project follows a meticulously planned sequence of steps, ensuring efficiency and quality. This approach has not only streamlined operations but has also helped manage the growth sustainably. The team at Trails In Custom Construction operates on an idea meritocracy, where everyone's input is valued and considered. Regular meetings and feedback sessions help refine processes and ensure that everyone feels heard and valued. Reflections on Leadership and Business Philosophy Kyle attributes much of his business acumen to his upbringing and the influence of his family. His father, a physician with a knack for leadership, instilled in him the importance of making everyone feel included and necessary. This lesson has translated into his business, where he emphasizes the importance of having the right people in the right roles and focusing on product, process, and people. The Future of Trails In Custom Construction As the business continues to grow, Kyle remains focused on finding ways to reach his ideal clients, those involved in high-end residential projects. He understands that this requires a mix of strong relationships, effective marketing strategies, and a presence in the right circles. Conclusion: A Story of Grit and Innovation Kyle Hamill's journey from a college student doing odd jobs to the owner of a thriving custom construction business is a powerful story of grit, innovation, and unwavering commitment to quality and process. His approach to business, emphasizing teamwork, process management, and continuous learning, serves as an inspiration to aspiring entrepreneurs and business owners alike. Want to get in touch with Kyle Hammill? Contact him through: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trails.end.construction/ Website: https://www.trailsendconstruction.com/

Agradece a este podcast tantas horas de entretenimiento y disfruta de episodios exclusivos como éste. ¡Apóyale en iVoox! El último Rarities de 2023 viene cargado de sorpresas y regalos en forma de extraordinarias rarezas, por un lado, más material de Frank Zappa, por otro los dos últimos discos de Galleon y, finalmente, material raro e inaccesible de Peter Hammill. Despide al año en compañía de los tipos más raros del planeta Prog, Carles Pinós, David Pintos y Carlos Romeo, no te arrepentirás. Edición: David Pintos. www.subterranea.eu Libros de Subterranea Libros Magazine para España y América en: www.davidpintos.com Escucha este episodio completo y accede a todo el contenido exclusivo de Subterranea Podcast. Descubre antes que nadie los nuevos episodios, y participa en la comunidad exclusiva de oyentes en https://go.ivoox.com/sq/17710

Jim Polzin goes one-on-one with Badgers setter MJ Hammill  to find out the significance of wearing number 6 and her future plans, before previewing what to watch for on BadgerExtra (10:45) and answering mailbag questions starting with a question about if the football team would be better with Chryst or Leonhard at the helm (11:22) and whether fans can expect to see Connor Essegian next season (14:29). For the full episode subscribe at https://go.badgerextra.com/Subscribe.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ghislaine Comeau is a PhD student in the English department at Concordia University. Her SSHRC funded doctoral project, inspired by the recent Global Middle Ages movement, focuses on re-examining texts from the early medieval period to further investigate direct references and allusions to “Saracens.” In addition to her more “traditional” approaches to scholarly work, she has recently discovered that she has a great appreciation for and desire to consume and produce research-creation projects that can serve a wider audience – popular or pedagogical.Works Cited / Featured Audio Creed, Robert Payson. “The Ruin (Modern English).” YouTube, uploaded by YouTube and provided by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 30 May 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CSWnfuyzyM .Cronan, Dennis. “Cædmon's Audience.” Studies in Philology, vol. 109, no. 4, 2012, p 336. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sip.2012.0028.The Fyrdsman. “Anglo-Saxon Poetry: The Ruin (Reading).” YouTube, uploaded by thefyrdsman9590, 9 Nov. 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FRRny7oyLg&t=318s .Hammill, Peter. “Imperial Walls (2006 Digital Remaster).” YouTube, uploaded by YouTube and provided by Universal Music Group, 24 Aug. 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0KW9CMFC_E .Magennis, Hugh. “Chapter 1 Approaching Anglo-Saxon Literature.” The Cambridge Introduction to Anglo-Saxon Literature, Cambridge UP, 2011, pp. 1-35.Raffel, Burton. “The Ruin (Old English).” YouTube, uploaded by YouTube and provided by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 30 May 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-dtP_73WTs&t=110s .Smith, Mark M. “Echo.” Keywords in Sound, edited by David Novak and Matt Sakakeeny, Duke UP, 2015, pp. 55-64.Silence is Leaden. “The Ruin: An Anglo-Saxon Poem.” YouTube, uploaded by silenceisleaden188, 20 Jan. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D68n9F8Yozc&t=25s .Staniforth, Daniel (aka Luna Trick). “The Ruin.” YouTube, uploaded by lunatrick7098, 28 Jun. 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IIoZfOR5MQ .

About our GuestsThe Ancient Language Institute exists to transform the way ancient languages are taught and to recover the humanistic tradition for the modern world.Jonathan Roberts is the President and Co-Founder of the Ancient Language Institute. Jonathan graduated from The King's College in New York City with a degree in Politics, Philosophy, & Economics, and was awarded a Master of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Missouri in 2017. He co-hosts the New Humanists podcast with Ryan.Ryan Hammill is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Ancient Language Institute. Ryan received an A.B. in History from Occidental College in 2015, where he also studied French and Russian. He has experience in journalism and digital marketing, and co-hosts the podcast New Humanists with Jonathan.Adrienne encourages her listeners to subscribe to their podcast, New Humanists. You can also follow them on Facebook Direct Links for Course Information with Ancient Language Institute: Learn Latin: https://ancientlanguage.com/learn-latin/Learn Attic Greek:https://ancientlanguage.com/attic-greek/Learn Latin Koine Greek: https://ancientlanguage.com/koine-greek/Learn Biblical Hebrew: https://ancientlanguage.com/biblical-hebrew/Learn Old English: https://ancientlanguage.com/old-english/Show NotesA major goal of this podcast is to point parents and educators back to the tradition and give them a rightly ordered way of understanding classical education. Considering some common reasons why a Renaissance is occurring in Classical Education, Adrienne and her guests from Ancient Language Institute discuss:  The essay written by Jonathan called, Classical Schools Aren't Really Classical  Some misconceptions of the Trivium, and why the Trivium has a large impact on how ancient languages are taught today. ( Adrienne also encourages her listeners to listen to their episode called The Trivium According to Dorothy Sayers)  Some Questions that are covered include: Traditionally, what is the main goal of learning Latin and/or Greek?  How do these goals impact the manner in which these languages are taught?  How can our listeners find you and if they are new to ancient languages, where should they start? Resources and Books & Mentioned In This Episode Classical Schools Aren't Really Classical by Jonathan Roberts, President ALI The Didascalicon of Hugh of Saint Victor: A Guide to the Arts by Hugh of Saint Victor Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis The Great Tradition: Classic Readings on What It Means to be an Educated Human Being by Richard Gamble The Aeneid by Virgil Pro Archia Poeta by Cicero Charles DeGaulle Biography  The New Testament  Ancient Greek authors Ancient Latin authors This podcast is produced by Beautiful Teaching, LLC.Support this podcast: ★ Support this podcast ★ https://www.classicaleducationpodcast.com/supportOUR MISSIONWe exist for the benefit of both parents and teachers. Teaching is an art and teachers need opportunities to cultivate their craft. Parents need to feel confident that their children are receiving the best education possible. Therefore, our goals are to help parents make well-informed decisions about the education of their children, and to help teachers experience true joy in their vocation. We desire to bridge a large gap that currently exists between most classical schools and the parents who send their students to these schools. Immersing both parents and teachers into the beauty of good teaching is paramount to our goals! Our formative sessions are designed to be LIVE so that you can experience classical education through participating and doing. This is what is expected in classical education. In order to mentor you well, we invite you to participate for a full classical experience. Our online sessions assume modeling, imitation, and meaningful conversation as the basis of experiencing good teaching. OUR SERVICESIf you like our podcast, you will love our online sessions! We offer immersion sessions so you can experience classical pedagogy. A complete listing of our courses is at  https://beautifulteaching.coursestorm.com/_________________________________________________________Credits:Sound Engineer: Andrew HelselLogo Art: Anastasiya CFMusic: Vivaldi's Concerto for 2 Violins in B flat major, RV529 : Lana Trotovsek, violin Sreten Krstic, violin with Chamber Orchestra of Slovenian Philharmonic © 2023 Beautiful Teaching LLC. All Rights Reserved

There are 731 days, or two years, until the next inauguration of the president of the United States of America. This is not a fact that has any relevance except that this is January 20, 2023, and it's either this or National Cheese Lover's Day to signify this small blurb at the top of another edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. I'm your host, Sean Tubbs, and it's also my mother's birthday. On today's program:* Former Charlottesville Dave Norris is the fourth person to enter the race for an open seat in the House of Delegates* A driver charged in connection with January 12 death of pedestrian on Ivy Road* Charlottesville to hire two legal firms while search for permanent City Attorney continues* The city is on track to have a $5 million surplus for the current fiscal year* Council appoints members to two affordable housing committees with familiar faces getting the seats First shout-out:  UVA Health offering free sports physicals on SaturdayToday's first subscriber supported shout-out goes to the UVA Health Office of Diversity and Community Engagement! They want you to know about an event this week where free sports physicals will be offered! Health professionals will be on hand Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Charlottesville High School for young people who need a quick check-up before beginning to play for an athletic team. This is a project being conducted in partnership with the UVA Latino Health Initiative, UVA Family Medicine, and the UVA Virginia Wellness Initiative. For more information, call 434-243-8352 or in Spanish at 434-272-5910. Norris enters race for House District 54 seatSo far, there are no candidates who have filed to run for Charlottesville City Council this year, but two former members are now in the race for House District 54. Dave Norris served on Council from July 2006 until the end of 2013 and has filed a statement of organization with the Virginia Department of Elections. “I am pleased to have served the Charlottesville-Albemarle community in a variety of ways over the past 30 years, and I look forward to building upon my track record of proven progressive leadership if elected to the Virginia General Assembly,” Norris wrote on his campaign website. Norris also served as Mayor from 2008 to 2011. He joins former Charlottesville Mayor David E. Brown, Albemarle School Board Member Katrina Callsen, and Fifeville resident Dashad Cooper. Norris currently works as a program manager for the Piedmont Housing Alliance in their Financial Opportunity Center. He has also worked as the general manager of the Charlottesville Parking Center, the executive director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Blue Ridge, executive director of PACEM, and other positions. When on Council, he served for a time as chair of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. The Democratic Primary is on June 20. Will we see more candidates for this seat? A small bit of history. The seat being vacated by Delegate Sally Hudson used to be occupied by David Toscano, who served on Council from 1990 to 2002. Toscano succeeded former Delegate Mitch Van Yahres who served two terms on Council from 1968 to 1976. He was first elected to the House of Delegates in a special election in 1980. Driver charged in connection with death of pedestrian on Ivy RoadA 54-year-old Charlottesville man has been charged with reckless driving in a crash last week that struck and killed a 52-year-old man from Albemarle County. Isidro Casandro Martinez was walking his bike across Ivy Road at Alderman Road last Thursday night when Charlottesville Police say he was hit by a car driven by Corey Abdella. Martinez was initially thought to have been riding a bicycle at 10:55 p.m., but Charlottesville Police now say that he was walking it across the street. An update was sent out this morning. A search of the city's data on recent arrests confirms Abdella arrest yesterday morning. City to hire one firm to legal counsel for general operation, another for land use issues The rest of today's newsletter is going to focus mostly on this week's City Council meeting. Perhaps some of you are interested in applying to be the appointed Councilor. Perhaps you may run for the office. Either way, I'm going to try to cover as much of this meeting as I can in this newsletter.First, the city is still seeking a replacement for former City Attorney Lisa Robertson with the position posted for applicants. Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers had previously announced that Senior Deputy City Attorney Allyson Davies would serve as the interim attorney, but that has turned out to not be the case.“We will fulfill the role of City Attorney with the law firm of Sands Anderson,” Rogers said. “We made that determination because we are down an attorney in the office and we think the nature of the support we need is with a law firm and not just one individual.” Rogers said there will be two project managers working to support the deputy attorneys on general business. However, the city is hiring a different firm to handle land use issues. “On land use matters we engaged Sharon Pandek's firm who will work with planning on issues of the zoning ordinance over the next couple of weeks,” Rogers said. That firm is Pandak & Taves, according to a flier from the Virginia Association of Counties. The Charlottesville Planning Commission will hold a work session on the zoning code rewrite next Tuesday at 5 p.m.  (meeting info)Council briefed on revenue projections; $5M surplus projected for current fiscal yearThe end of the fiscal year is 161 days away, and it'll be about ten months or so until accountants will know if the City of Charlottesville will have a shortfall or a surplus. Council gets a quarterly briefing on revenue collections and spending and got a projection for another surplus from city staff.“We're looking at a total of about $5 million,” said budget director Krisy Hammill. “Most of those are driven by the tax revenue sources that we continue to talk about. The real estate tax… reassessment notices for calendar year 2023 will be going out at the end of this month.” Hammill said the new figures will likely increase the surplus. Albemarle County's assessments were up an average of 13.46 percent for 2023. (read that story)Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers said he was cautious and pointed out there are still remaining unknowns about potential expenses the city may incur to raise salaries. “The compensation study that we've talked about, we don't know what the price tag on that is going to be and the choices we will have to make when that is presented, as well as a collective bargaining,” Rogers said. However, Rogers said he felt the picture was pretty solid but that money is not unlimited. Hammill said if there is a downturn, the surplus could go the other way. “If there were to be a recession, it's very possible that some of these gains that we're reporting to you for right now for meals, sales, lodging could be not there,” Hammill said. For those interested in the development of the budget, Rogers and the budget staff are having a forum on January 31. 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.Councilors pick up committee assignments from vacant seat The resignation of City Councilor Sena Magill earlier this month also means that the remaining Councilors had to fill the vacancies she also left on other committees. In addition to attending Council meetings, each elected official serves on several boards and commissions as the official representative from Council. “We're not filling every position that she had had but these are ones that have something going on right now for which its important to have the members right now,” said Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook. Councilor Brian Pinkston will now serve on the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail Board. In a future installment of this newsletter, I'll write about the financing agreement for the renovations that are being planned. Charlottesville partners with Albemarle County and Nelson County to maintain the facility. The next meeting of the ACRJ Board is on February 9. (meeting info)Vice Mayor Juandiego Wade will serve now on the Workforce Development Board for the Piedmont Region. Their information is all on their website but I did not see a listing for an upcoming meeting. New city housing committees get members but enough to form quorum Charlottesville City Council has appointed members to two new committees formed as part of a call to restructure the way funding for affordable housing projects is governed.“A major portion of the discussion during the Affordable Housing Plan that was developed a year plus ago was talking about the need to separate out the different functions, the different advisory functions into a funding committee and just the general Housing Advisory Committee [HAC],” said Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook. Council first took up the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund (CAHF) Committee. Unfortunately, they could not fully staff that group. “We have six people to appoint but we did not get six applicants,” Snook said.However, they did make two appointments to the new CAHF Committee. * Philip d'Oronzio, (also on Charlottesville Planning Commission)* S. Lisa Herndon, President of the Charlottesville Area Association of ResidentsNext they took up the Charlottesville Housing Advisory Committee (HAC) Committee. They appointed the following:* John Sales, Executive Director of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority (three year term)* Sunshine Mathon, Executive Director of the Piedmont Housing Alliance (non-profit two-year term)* Corey Demchak, Director of Programs at Albemarle Home Improvement Program (non-profit one-year)* Philip d'Oronzio (real estate representative, three year term)* Dan Rosensweig (real estate representative, two year term)* Abigail Palko (at-large, three year term)* Josh Hughes (at-large, two year term)* Joy Johnson (affordable housing beneficiary, three year term) * Elise Noyes (affordable housing beneficiary, one year term) A one year term for the real estate term is still open.  Rosensweig is also the president of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville. Johnson is the Section 3 coordinator for the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. d'Oronzio is the Chief Executive Officer of Pilot Mortgage. Reading material: * Republicans again attempt to roll back Democratic carbon reduction laws, Charlie Paullin, Virginia Mercury, January 16, 2023* Future of an Albemarle County post office remains in limbo, Keagan Hughes, NBC29 January 17, 2023* Va. Senate Democrats kill effort to repeal electric car rule, Sarah Rankin, Associated Press, January 17, 2023* First United Methodist Church denied request to install solar panels, Hawes Spencer, Charlottesville Daily Progress, January 19, 2023* Salvation Army on Ridge Street OK'd for demolition, Hawes Spencer, Charlottesville Daily Progress, January 19, 2023Keeping the end of #487 cluttered with information:It's the end of the week, but when will the next installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement emerge? This is a good question. Likely on Monday, for there is work to be done on the next Week Ahead as well as Fifth District Community Engagement. I have not gotten to a whole bunch of stories. One day, though, this will be a daily publication, seven days a week, committed to getting as much information to the public about what happens in local and regional governments. Sometimes that means links to articles like the ones above, but my hope is original coverage as you've come to expect in the two and a half years since this newsletter and podcast launched.And of course, all of this is funded by the quarter of the audience that's opted to pay for a paid subscription, either through Substack or through Patreon. Thank you! I will never beg or please of introduce scarcity as a way to get you to contribute. I trust that if you find there's a value to this work, you'll opt to help me cover the cost.Ting is helping me cover the cost. They sponsor this newsletter by providing a match for each initial payment through Substack. It's a tremendous help and I will say once more: Hooray for Ting!And, if you want to upgrade your Internet provider, check out Ting! If you sign up 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 MallThanks to Wraki for the music. There is going to be a new closing tune beginning with #500 and hopefully other audio cues here and there, too. Do give the podcast a chance if you've not heard it to this point.  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

BFTBB on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/business-from-the-bass-boat/id1498266771?i=1000593087285BFTBB on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bcNUjUIrzHhDdhYbf0Y8F?si=3BkTCMaBT9u6J7zBzOmRSgTodd Hammill CEO of Wired2Fish comes on to BFTBB with Deakin to discuss his lengthly career thus far in the fishing industry, his thoughts on growing a successful team, and his outlook of the 2023 fishing industry. Thanks for watching! Comment, Like and SUBSCRIBE!Join this channel to get access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3_09tweHsaCfRP7GD1drfw/joinWant to rock some Serious Angler, Business from the Bass Boat or Serious Dangler merch? Click the link to shop: https://seriousanglernetwork.com/----------DISCOUNT CODES/SHOW PARTNERS: • Check out the lineup of X2Power AGM and Lithium batteries at https://x2powerbattery.com/! • Looking to shop the best fishing electronics on the market the supplies to best rig your boat/kayak? Need expert service to rig your boat for you? Check out Bass Fishin Electronics at https://www.bassfishinelectronics.com/• Do you have a bait you like that just isn't perfect? Become a tackle tinkerer with the help of our friends at Do-It Molds! Click this link to get set up: https://store.do-itmolds.com/?AffId=26• Omnia Fishing: Use code "SERIOUSFIRST" for 15% off your FIRST order on Omnia and then for anything future orders use code "SERIOUS10" for 10% off your entire order at (www.omniafishing.com)• Hobie Eyewear (20% Off): Use This Link: https://shrsl.com/2w5mb & use code “SERIOUS20” ----------Listen and follow the other shows on the Serious Angler Podcast Network:• Lure Lab YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9v-l3kxscyEo1VaR496YuA• Lure Lab Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lurelabpodcast/• Lure Lab Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lure-lab-fishing-tackle-podcast/id1647356424• Lure Lab Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/492TVeCHB214CzMUg1NHwX?si=d598629bef024663----------Follow Along On Serious Angler Social Media:• Instagram: www.instagram.com/seriousangler/• Facebook: www.facebook.com/SeriousAngler• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SeriousAnglerBassFishing• Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@seriousangler• Twitter: https://twitter.com/SeriousAngler• Have a question? Email us at theseriousangler@gmail.com----------Follow Our Personal Social Media:• Adam's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adam_deakin_/• Andy's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fullfishingguideservice/• Andy's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkuwh_ttyk2uI6CKFHKNtAA• Andy's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FullFishingGuide• Bailey's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOpM5fxOcUciqLsIB8dK7Ag• Bailey's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bailey_eigbrett/• Bailey's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BaileyEigbrettFishing----------Want to get on some BIG Lake Erie Smallmouth Bass? Get in touch with Andrew and book a trip! • Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Fullfishingguideservice• Andrew's Email: fullfishingguideservice@gmail.com----------#Businessfromthebassboat #BFTBB #seriousangler

Todd Hammill CEO of Wired2Fish comes on to BFTBB with Deakin to discuss his lengthly career thus far in the fishing industry, his thoughts on growing a successful team, and his outlook of the 2023 fishing industry. Thanks for watching! Comment, Like and SUBSCRIBE!Join this channel to get access to perks:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3_09tweHsaCfRP7GD1drfw/joinWant to rock some Serious Angler, Business from the Bass Boat or Serious Dangler merch? Click the link to shop: https://seriousanglernetwork.com/----------DISCOUNT CODES/SHOW PARTNERS: • Check out the lineup of X2Power AGM and Lithium batteries at https://x2powerbattery.com/! • Looking to shop the best fishing electronics on the market the supplies to best rig your boat/kayak? Need expert service to rig your boat for you? Check out Bass Fishin Electronics at https://www.bassfishinelectronics.com/• Do you have a bait you like that just isn't perfect? Become a tackle tinkerer with the help of our friends at Do-It Molds! Click this link to get set up: https://store.do-itmolds.com/?AffId=26• Omnia Fishing: Use code "SERIOUSFIRST" for 15% off your FIRST order on Omnia and then for anything future orders use code "SERIOUS10" for 10% off your entire order at (www.omniafishing.com)• Hobie Eyewear (20% Off): Use This Link: https://shrsl.com/2w5mb & use code “SERIOUS20” ----------Listen and follow the other shows on the Serious Angler Podcast Network:• Lure Lab YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9v-l3kxscyEo1VaR496YuA• Lure Lab Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lurelabpodcast/• Lure Lab Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-lure-lab-fishing-tackle-podcast/id1647356424• Lure Lab Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/492TVeCHB214CzMUg1NHwX?si=d598629bef024663----------Follow Along On Serious Angler Social Media:• Instagram: www.instagram.com/seriousangler/• Facebook: www.facebook.com/SeriousAngler• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SeriousAnglerBassFishing• Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@seriousangler• Twitter: https://twitter.com/SeriousAngler• Have a question? Email us at theseriousangler@gmail.com----------Follow Our Personal Social Media:• Adam's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adam_deakin_/• Andy's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fullfishingguideservice/• Andy's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkuwh_ttyk2uI6CKFHKNtAA• Andy's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FullFishingGuide• Bailey's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOpM5fxOcUciqLsIB8dK7Ag• Bailey's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bailey_eigbrett/• Bailey's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BaileyEigbrettFishing----------Want to get on some BIG Lake Erie Smallmouth Bass? Get in touch with Andrew and book a trip! • Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Fullfishingguideservice• Andrew's Email: fullfishingguideservice@gmail.com----------#Businessfromthebassboat #BFTBB #seriousanglerDeakin's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adam_deakin_/

In this extremely engaging episode Marques sits down with Co-Owner of Ace Realty Group, Leigh Hammill.  In this conversation, Leigh shares with our audience the importance of treating every client like gold (As 95% of their business is referral based), along with other keys to succeed as an entrepreneur.  To check out other episodes of our show, click the link http://www.marquesogden.com

On Wednesday night, just before 11 p.m., Nancy Pelosi's longtime spokesperson Drew Hammill announced on Twitter that today, the speaker will finally announce her plans for the future — putting an end to mounting speculation about whether she'll retire (a possibility Hammill has batted away), stay on as the top House Democrat or step down from leadership but continue to serve in Congress. “@SpeakerPelosi has been overwhelmed by calls from colleagues, friends and supporters,” Hammill wrote. “This evening, the Speaker monitored returns in the three remaining critical states. The Speaker plans to address her future plans tomorrow to her colleagues. Stay tuned.” The tweet came just a few hours after the House was called in favor of Republicans — sending the rumor mill already churning over Pelosi's future into warp drive.  Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook newsletter Raghu Manavalan is the Host and Senior Editor of POLITICO's Playbook Daily Briefing. Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.

Minnesota native, Zach Hammill sits down with us on this episode of Cinematic Heartland: A Filmmaking Podcast to discuss his experience at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, his screenwriting process, how he got into film editing, and other services he offers. He tells us about embarking upon his first feature film project which will be filmed in Minnesota. Zach was also a recipient of an IFP McKnight Artist Fellowship for screenwriting in 2006.

Support the SHOW https://www.buymeacoffee.com/derekosheashowSUPPORT THE SHOW : https://streamelements.com/theoneminutenews/tipWANT A MUG WITH MY FACE ON IT?https://store.streamelements.com/theoneminutenewsSources:https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/1586034684525412352BREAKING: Suspect in attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband was searching for the House speaker, sources say.@mitchellreports: "The intruder confronted Mr. Pelosi in their home, shouting 'where is Nancy' ... That's what the intruders going through hallways on Jan. 6 were shouting."https://twitter.com/FuckYouImmaCat/status/1586082959920013312?s=20&t=U8RBkbwksRvG-5BmCN_m-APaul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was hospitalized early Friday morning after an assailant broke into their San Francisco home and beat the 82-year-old businessman with a hammer while looking for the lawmaker, reports said.The House speaker was not at the couple's $6 million townhouse when her husband was “violently assaulted,” according to a statement from her spokesman, Drew Hammill.“The assailant is in custody and the motivation for the attack is under investigation,” Hammill said. “Mr. Pelosi was taken to the hospital, where he is receiving excellent medical care and is expected to make a full recovery. The Speaker was not in San Francisco at the time.”CNN reported that the assailant tried to tie Paul Pelosi up and repeatedly asked, “Where's Nancy?” When the police arrived at the residence, the attacker said he was “waiting for Nancy,” the report said.The 42-year-old suspect is in custody, law enforcement officials told CNN. Two sources told the outlet that the assailant entered through the back of the house sometime before 2:30 a.m. Hammill added that the Pelosis “are grateful to the first responders and medical professionals involved, and request privacy at this time.” - Daily Wirehttps://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-nancy-pelosis-husband-violently-assaulted-hospitalized-after-break-in-at-california-homePolitically Homeless Daily Comedy News ShowEmail: derekosheashow@gmail.comLocals:  https://locals.com/member/DerekOsheaShowYoutube: Rumble  : https://rumble.com/c/c-624233Podcast Audio Webpage: https://derekosheashow.buzzsprout.comApple Podcast : https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/derek-oshea-show-comedy-news-show/id1508917484Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/show/3BNCK8HjbDOtyOlHMOVGTXOdysee: https://odysee.com/@DerekOsheaShowWebsite : https://theoneminutenews.wixsite.com/derekosheashowTwitter: https://twitter.com/DerekOsheaShowInstagram : https://www.instagram.com/derekosheashow/Bitchute: https://www.bitchute.com/channel/LgKyzhcXmm52/Gab: https://gab.com/TheOneMinuteNewsFacebook : https://www.facebook.com/DerekOsheaShowTikTok : https://www.tiktok.com/@derekosheashow?Twitch : https://www.twitch.tv/derekosheaBreaking News Live,Breaking News Today,Current Events,nancy pelosi,paul pelosi,current events 2022,breaking news today live,paul pelosi attack live,paul pelosi attacked,pelosi attacked,jan 6,trump,trump news,pelosi attacked in sf,paul pelosi attacked in sf,paul pelosi attack is a wake up call,donald trump,jan 6 hearing,us politics,current events,politics,newsSupport the show

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

In the second of a three-part series, historian Gil Valentine focuses his analysis on the main characters in his book, Ostriches and Canaries: Coping with Change in Adventism, 1966-1979, (Oak & Acorn), 2022. For this conversation, Valentine explores the motivations and methods of Richard Hammill, President of Andrews University. We explore the difficulties he tried to navigate church administrator concerns about the scholarly work and beliefs of faculty.

Do you like the idea of adding additional services to your rental offer or perhaps you want to provide some activities for your guests but aren't sure what you can deliver? Then this episode is for you. I spoke with Di Hammill, one of the Direct Booking Success Summit returning speakers from last year and she has a great presentation to share at this year's summit so stay tuned to find out more. Di is not only a glamping site owner and activity provider but a qualified teacher, a Permaculture designer, a natural beekeeper, an archery GB instructor, a blackbelt in TaeKwonDo, a survival medic, a NNAS navigation tutor plus a natural navigation tutor, and a Member of the Association of Foragers. Di is seen as one of the country's leading experts in simple, natural lifestyle and self-reliance and is often asked to comment in the media or speak at national shows about various aspects of her work. Topics discussed: The amount of last year's bookings in comparison to this year Advice for those thinking about starting their own glamping site Don't be frightened to delegate Getting strategies and systems in place How to add an experience to your holiday/vacation rental Becoming more than just accommodation in this current competitive market Keeping the personal touch with your guests Empowering accommodation owners to look at their customer journey – from initial contact to glowing review! CONNECT WITH Jenn Boyles: Website: https://directbookingsuccess.com/ (https://directbookingsuccess.com/) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/directbookingsuccess (https://www.facebook.com/directbookingsuccess) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/directbookingsuccess/ (https://www.instagram.com/directbookingsuccess/) LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennboyles/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennboyles/) CONNECT WITH Di Hammill: Website: https://www.wildharvest.org (https://www.wildharvest.org) Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thetipifolk (https://www.facebook.com/thetipifolk) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wildharvest_tipis_and_courses/ (https://www.instagram.com/wildharvest_tipis_and_courses/) Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wildharvestschool/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/wildharvestschool/) Join us at the virtual Direct Booking Success Summit (27-29 September 2022), head to https://directbookingsuccesssummit.com/ (https://directbookingsuccesssummit.com/) to get on the waitlist.

What recourse do we have except to simply pursue this August 5 in the best manner possible? On this Blogger Day, I celebrate with another installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement, a newsletter and podcast intended to shed light on various happenings in and around the area. I’m the writer and host, Sean Tubbs. What are you writing these days? Sign-up for free, but paid subscriptions come with benefits and the satisfaction you’re helping pay for the PACER bills! Ting will match. See below! On today’s program: The former Commissioner of Revenue in Greene County has been sentenced to three months in federal prison for attempted witness tamperingUnemployment drops to pre-pandemic levelsCharlottesville seeks input on what kind of person should be the next police chiefAlbemarle Supervisors endorse a pan for improvements on Rio Road but one member says that doesn’t mean final decisions have been madeCharlottesville City Council is briefed on the preparation for the next fiscal year First shout-out goes to the Charlottesville Jazz Society In today’s first subscriber supported public service announcement, are you looking for something new to listen to in the form of live music? The Charlottesville Jazz Society has you covered with an ongoing list of dozens of events coming up at venues across the area. That ranges from rumba guitar duo Berta & Vincent at Glass House Winery this Saturday afternoon to the Charles Owen Trio at Potter’s Craft Cider on Saturday, August 28. The Charlottesville Jazz Society is your source to plot out your musical journey and you can get started at cvillejazz.org. Thanks to a subscriber for being on both Patreon and Substack to qualify for this shout-out.Greene’s former Commissioner of Revenue sentenced in witness tampering caseThe former Commissioner of Revenue in Greene County has been sentenced to three months in federal prison for intervening in an investigation of his son’s drug distribution charges. Larry Snow, 73, pleaded guilty in May to one count of attempted witness tampering for trying to dissuade a confidential informant. “According to court documents, Larry Snow used his access as the former Commissioner of Revenue to a Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) database as part of an effort to retaliate against and tamper with the confidential informant, Person A, after Person A aided law enforcement in controlled purchases of methamphetamine and heroin from Bryant Snow,” according to a release from the United State Attorney for Western District of Virginia. Specifically, the elder Snow sought to print out material identifying the informant for his son to use to intimidate and to discredit that person while incarcerated at Central Virginia Regional Jail. Snow resigned in May 2022 as Commissioner of the Revenue in Greene, having been elected in 2019 while under indictment. National employment returns to pre-pandemic levelsThere were 528,000 nonfarm jobs added across the United States of America in July, according to the latest employment figures released this morning by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate is at 3.5 percent. “Both total nonfarm employment and the unemployment rate have returned to their February 2020 pre-pandemic levels,” reads a release that was sent out this morning. The report also notes that the number of permanent job losers is now lower than February 2020. The long-term unemployed is defined as those jobless for more than 27 weeks, and that figure is also below pre-pandemic levels. Other statistics in the release are worth noting. In July, 7.1 percent of the workforce continued to telecommute due to the pandemic. The labor force participation rate is defined as “the percentage of the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years and older that is working or actively looking for work.” That figure was at 62.1 percent in July, lower than the February 2020 figure of 63.4 percent. The next employment numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics will be out September 2. Charlottesville seeking input on police chief searchHow much experience should the next Charlottesville Police Chief have? What leadership qualities would you like to see? What should the police department leader’s top priority be?Those are some of the questions in a survey that the firm POLIHIRE is conducting as part of their contract to conduct a search for the next chief. The survey is open through August 15 and is available in English and Spanish. (fill out the survey)The person hired will replace Acting Chief of Police LaTroy A. Durrette who has been in the position since former City Manager Chip Boyles fired RaShall Brackney after three years on the job. Brackney sued the city and several individuals for race, color, and gender discrimination, as well as interference with contract, unlawful retaliation, violation of the state’s whistleblower statute, and more. According to a series of waivers filed in the case, all defendants have until sixty days after July 1 to respond to the case. Albemarle Supervisors endorse Rio Road Corridor PlanThe Albemarle Board of Supervisors has officially endorsed a plan that offers guidance for how future intersection improvements on Rio Road may look in the future. “This is a planning level document that establishes a vision for improvements along the corridor with sufficient analysis of the conceptual design to understand whether the proposed concepts can address future and existing conditions and can meet [Virginia Department of Transportation] and other relevant engineering standards,” said David Benish, development process manager for Albemarle County. The county hired the civil engineering firm Line + Grade to develop the plans. Supervisors were last briefed on the work last October and the Planning Commission saw the draft in May. The work was split into two sections to reflect two different roadway characters. “Phase one is very much an arterial roadway [with] five lanes with a continuous left-hand turn lane in the middle,”  said Dan Hyer with Line + Grade. “Whereas phase two still resembles in many locations the local collector that it is. It’s very much a local road.” Hyer said the work involved analyzing crash data such as at the intersection of Hillsdale Drive and Rio Road. Eighty-nine percent of crashes at the location are left-hand turns. As such, recommended changes are to eliminate that movement at Hillsdale, Old Brook and Northfield. “The solution that we have recommended basically absolves all left-hand turn movements by replacing the two intersections with a singular dog-bone or bean-shaped roundabout,” Hyer said.  Belvedere Drive and Rio Road would be turned into a “Continuous Green-T” intersection and Albemarle has applied for funding. A roundabout is funded at John Warner Parkway and Rio Road and that will soon get under design. The second phase of the project is broken into three segments, with the northern one including two planned developments. The Board of Supervisors approved the 328 Rio Point apartment complex last December, and an application has been filed for 43 town homes just to the south in a project called Rio Commons. “And we think that if those developments can work with this plan that the corridor can transform in a positive way and that some of the risks that we’ve identified can be mitigated through the build-out of these developments,” Hyer said. Supervisor Ned Gallaway of the Rio District was the lone vote against the Rio Point development last December. He said he was concerned about more people in the area.“As we approve the sidewalks and the access down to the Parkway, we’re only creating more pedestrian activity and that’s going to introduce a vehicular piece which is going to be really dangerous so I think we need to get our heads around that sooner rather than later,” Gallaway said.Gallaway said his endorsement of the plan did not mean that he supported the specific recommendations involved. He said there is a competing plan to reroute Hillsdale Drive that would take away the need for the bean-shaped roundabout. “We know that that intersection is completely problematic and needs a solution but it just may not be the solution that’s in the study so if we vote to approve the study, it doesn’t mean we’re necessarily voting to approve that project,” Gallaway said. As for phase two, Gallaway said he would like to see more traffic calming to slow down the speed of traffic, similar to the bump-outs on Park Street in the City of Charlottesville between the U.S. 250 bypass and downtown. Gallaway said he was grateful staff was able to work to get the corridor study done. The vote to endorse the plan was unanimous and it will now be considered as part of the update of the Albemarle County Comprehensive Plan, otherwise known as AC44.Second shout-out: Save the date for Rivanna Conservation Alliance’s Community Watershed clean-upIn today’s second Patreon-fueled shout-out: Mark your calendar for RCA’s third annual Rivanna River Round-Up community watershed cleanup coming up on Saturday, September 24. The RCA organized the first round-up in September 2020 as a safe way for the community to give back to the river during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the last two years, a total of 245 volunteers have cleaned up 67 miles of streams, nearby trails and the Rivanna River, removing 192 tires and 213 large bags of trash from the waterways. Details will soon be made available and you can get those by signing up for the Rivanna Conservation Alliance newsletter at rivannariver.org. You can get your own shout-out for a $25 a month Patreon contribution! For more information, visit Information Charlottesville.Charlottesville City Council briefed on planning for next year’s budget Fiscal Year 2023 is just over a month old, but the budget process in Virginia never really stops as local governments seek to provide services. In April, Council adopted a $212.9 million general fund budget that was 10.76 percent higher than the one for the year before. That’s built on increased assessments for both real estate and personal property as well as a one-cent increase in the real estate tax rate. That was the first such increase in several decades. There are about 30 weeks until whoever is City Manager in March 2023 presents a recommended budget and 36 weeks until Council is expected to adopt their amended document. Council got a briefing this past Monday and learned about some of the factors coming up and some suggested the schedule be moved up. (view the presentation)Will the budget continue to grow at a double-digit level, or will it be more modest? How much will it cost to implement pay and benefit increases that may come through a collective bargaining ordinance? What about the cost of inflation? While the answers aren’t yet known, the foundation is being laid for whatever will end up happening. At the end of August, city departments will be sent packets to request funds for capital projects and these will be due by the early October. There’s at least one change to that process.“We’re going to include a Planning Commission member on the review team,” said Krissy Hammill, the city’s director of budget and performance analysis.Requests from nonprofits and outside agencies are due sometime in mid-October and recommendations from the Vibrant Community team will be completed in mid-January. Also around that time will be another change to the budget process.“It’s called the city manager budget forum,” Hammill said. “The date for this will be January 10 and it will be held at Carver Recreation Center. This will be an opportunity for the city manager to make a presentation and to engage in public discussion.”Hammill said the growth in the budget for next year is expected to be more modest than the 10.76 percent increase from FY22 to FY23. She’s also keeping an eye on inflation.“We already know that there are cost increases that we’re seeing both just in general things as well as capital projects due to supply chain issues and inflation,” Hammill said. “We’re not sure of what exactly what the revenue impact would be for a potential recession if there to be one.” There will likely be higher compensation costs for city employees due to collective bargaining as well as a need to carry on the ongoing costs of positions funded using one-time money. Between now and the budget adoption, Council may have an updated strategic plan paid for through the city’s use of American Rescue Plan Act funding. “The time is right,” said interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers. “In doing the strategic plan right, we’ll get a consultant to engage you individually and collectively over the next few months and by the time we get to April, we ought to have a new direction or at least some themes.”City Councilor Michael Payne said he wanted to make sure there is funding to address a human resources phenomenon known as compression, funding for climate, and for city investment in nonprofits to build subsidized housing. “How can we get our adopted Affordable Housing Plan and that $10 million a year into a more stable place in terms of how we’ll fund it at $10 million a year which is what the plan calls for,” Payne said. Payne also wants to make sure there is funding to invest in public transportation. Rogers said a compensation study is expected to be completed by the end of the year. “That will tell us where we are compared to other jurisdictions in the region in terms of our salaries,” Rogers said. “It will define a competitiveness gap.”The Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors were briefed on their compensation study on Wednesday. Rogers said the August 15 Council work session will feature a presentation of the collective bargaining ordinance followed by a first reading on September 6 with adoption currently anticipated on September 19. “And we expect that there will be a push to begin to recognize collective bargaining units after that,” Rogers said. Another direction to budget staff is to reexamine a policy where 40 percent of new revenues created by additional real estate taxes goes to Charlottesville City Schools. Some on the current Council have called for that agreement to be revisited, and Rogers said budget staff would look into it and begin preliminary discussions with the school system.“And at some point the Council probably should have that meeting with schools to discuss an issue like this,” Rogers said.As for increased spending on public transit, Rogers said current planning by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District is relevant. A governance study for how to implement a proposed Regional Transit Vision is about to get underway.“The long term play is probably the discussion about a regional transit agency, and what are the dynamics that need to be in place for us to move that forward,” Rogers said. “It’s been talked about a long time.” The current calendar calls for the second public hearing on the budget to be held on April 3, 2023 and for adoption at a special meeting on April 11. City Councilor Sena Magill said she wanted to adjust the schedule so that the final public hearing does not happen during the week City Schools are on spring break. “And it’s just one more way that it makes it harder for some people to serve on Council,” Magill said. Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook said he would like to see the budget process moved up further so that Council could have more influence. The budget is introduced to the public the first week of every March. “There are places, particularly in Northern Virginia, where Council is involved in budget discussions by mid-December,” Snook said. “They’re not waiting until February or March and the practical effect of what we do is that our opportunity for actually commenting on things is compressed into about four weeks.” Snook said he would like to see the budget introduced in early February. Rogers said he would look into seeing if that could be accomplished, but it would leave for no break at all for budget staff. Hammill suggested holding budget development work sessions when needed. One such work session that comes to mind is the one last September when Council signaled its willingness to transfer a financial commitment for the West Main Streetscape toward school reconfiguration. That gave staff direction as they built the FY23 budget.Payne pointed out that Albemarle County has adopted their budget in May for the past two years. Rogers and Hammill said they would return with more options. For all of my stories on the budget process in Charlottesville, visit Information Charlottesville.Housekeeping notes for edition #416When will the next installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement? Good question. I can tell you there will be a Week Ahead out on Sunday as well as the Government Glance which is a look at what’s coming up in all of the localities across the Fifth Congressional District of Virginia. Reporting for today’s installment included a look-up on the Public Access to Court Electronic Records to learn a little more about the lawsuit filed by the former Police Chief. Today’s search only cost $2, but this is the kind of cost it takes to produce informational content that intends to keep you up to date. So, if you’re like to support this program which includes expenses like court reporting, consider a paid subscription through Substack. If 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 comes from the D.C. entity that currently goes by the name Wraki, selected randomly from a bin of basement-recorded cassette tapes. You can support that work by purchasing the album Regret Everything for whatever you would like to pay. Now, off to prepare for a trip to a different location in which I will continue to produce a couple editions of Charlottesville Community Engagement. It’s my pleasure to do so and I do hope you will help support me to keep this going for a long time come. 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

This week on the Wing It Podcast the team is joined by Alison Hammill of Orion Travel Insurance to explore their journey implementing marketing automation. Learn how insurance companies can leverage marketing automation to streamline marketing communication.

Chris Hammill went from having his dream job, losing that and some personal relationships and then bouncing back to living a life that is better than ever! Listen as Chris, a former Sound Producer for Busted Open Radio and Sirius XM, details his incredible story of not allowing others to dictate his story. Chris pulls no punches calling out some of the folks responsible for he being fired from Busted Open/Sirius XM, explains how other personal relationships fell apart around the same time and then how being in the right place at the right time has set him on a path of 180degree success. Chris has an at times funny, frustrating, tears inducing and inspiring life story that you won't want to miss! *Check out this episode and more by visiting the Duke Loves Rasslin podcast page on iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio App, Youtube and other leading podcast apps!*Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/dukelovesrasslin. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

It’s the final Friday of June, unless something can be done to add another day to the month. I am unaware of any campaign to do so, but perhaps there need to be changes. So, welcome to this 24th day of the fifth interval of what we’ve come to call the two thousand and twenty-second year. This is Charlottesville Community Engagement, a newsletter and podcast about the built environment that celebrates 400 editions with this installment that arrives 711 days later. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs. Sign up for a free subscription, but if you opt to pay, Ting will match your initial payment! On today’s edition of the program:Charlottesville’s budget surplus is increasing with revenues higher than originally budgetedCharlottesville City Council will make appointments to the Planning Commission in July You can count on one hand the number of Albemarle residents who voted in the Republican Primary for the 7th Congressional District Changes to Charlottesville Area Transit routes could soon occur as soon as more drivers can be hired First 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 but today let’s talk about National Pollinator Week, which runs through June 26! There will be many events designed to draw your attention to the crucial role that bees and other creatures play in making sure plants reproduce. On Saturday at 10 a.m., Scottsville’s Center for the Arts and Natural Environment will host Allison Wickham from Siller Pollinator Company will lead an introduction to bees and beekeeping. If you're thinking about starting a backyard beehive or are just curious about what's involved with keeping bees, then this is a great introductory class for you. There will even be a honey competition judged by Allison Wickham! For the tuition rate and to register, visit svilleartsandnature.org for a list of all of the upcoming classes. Charlottesville’s FY22 surplus likely to increaseThere’s less than a week until the fiscal new year for Virginia and its local governments. On Tuesday, Charlottesville City Council got an update from interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers on what can be expected in terms of “one-time money” in the form of a financial report. (read the report)“And we see that there’s a projected $14 million surplus for revenue,” Rogers said. That’s higher than the $13 million projected in April. However, Rogers said that number could change as the city’s expenditures have also been down due to various reasons including COVID. “We have a lot of vacancies in our budget, the market has had an impact on our ability to hire as rapidly as we need to,” Rogers said. “While 92 percent of the budget year has passed, we’ve only spent about 85 percent of our budget expenditures. That’s going to release in a surplus.”However, Rogers said the actual surplus will not be known until later in the year after the city’s books are closed and reconciled. One of the reasons why there will be a surplus is due to tax rates increases and assessment rises for personal property and real estate. Earlier this year, Council voted to increase the real estate tax rate to $0.96 per $100 of assessed value. That penny increase applied to the entire calendar year of 2022. Council also opted to keep the personal property rate at $4.20 per $100 of assessed value, also contributing to the surplus. That was over the recommendation of Commissioner of Revenue Todd Divers who suggested reducing it due to a sharp increase in the value of used vehicles. The city also will not bring in as much revenue from Parks and Recreation as originally believed. “During the budget process we budgeted for the idea that we thought we would be fully operational but as you know we’re not and so therefore we are not going to make those marks,” said Krisy Hammill, the city’s senior budget performance analyst. The city has also closed on its latest sale of municipal bonds which are used to finance capital projects. The cost of doing so will increase as interest rates go up. “We closed with about $28 million at a rate at about 3.07 percent, which is about double of what we got last year but it is indicative of the market and still a very good rate,” Hammill said. Council makes appointments, but not yet to Planning CommissionOn Tuesday, City Council appointed Laura Knott and Sally Duncan to the city’s Historic Resources Committee and Dashad Cooper to the Police Civilian Oversight Board. Other appointments included members of the Sister Cities Commission, the Region 10 Board, and the Retirement Commission. However, they did not fill all the open positions.“Appointments to the Planning Commission have been postponed until the July 18 Council meeting,” said Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook. “There were a few people we needed to interview and didn’t have time to do it today and at least one person was not available.”Council will not meet the first week of July. The window to apply for the Planning Commission has closed. There were at least 28 applications for the five seats, including those of sitting Commissioners Karim Habbab, Hosea Mitchell, and Rory Stolzenberg. There will be at least two newcomers because Commissioners Taneia Dowell and Jody Lahendro are not eligible for another term.  There are three at-large vacancies on the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. Applications for those positions are due on August 5, 2022. That entity’s next public meeting is June 27, 2022 and there’s no information yet available on their website. In fact, there’s not been a meeting listed on the CRHA website since January 2021. (apply here)City still seeking to fill key vacancies crucial to approval of new buildings Earlier this month, interim Charlottesville City Manager Michael C. Rogers told Council of a shortage of building inspectors. On Tuesday, he said positions are being readvertised and other solutions are being explored. “I have executed an agreement with the University of Virginia’s building official to provide staff capacity to assist us in the permitting and inspections process and they began last week,” Rogers said.Rogers said the agreement will carry into the fall. Albemarle Republicans choose Anderson in 7th Congressional District Voters in Albemarle’s “Small Sliver” within Virginia’s new 7th Congressional District went to the polls Tuesday in the Republican primary. Eight people in all voted in the six way race and half selected Derrick Anderson, the candidate who came in second-place overall. There were two votes for State Senator Bryce Reeves who came in third and two votes for the winner. Yesli Vega received 10,878 votes and will face incumbent Democrat Abigail Spanberger in November. Albemarle County is otherwise entirely within the new Fifth District. I’ve begun reporting on the Fifth District with a new newsletter if you want to join my journey in learning more about the localities within. In today’s two other shout-outs: Code for Charlottesville and local media!You’re listening to Charlottesville. Community Engagement and it’s time for two quick 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, the Crozet Gazette, 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!Next steps for Charlottesville Area Transit route changes outlined at partnership meeting Before the pandemic, Charlottesville Area Transit hired the firm Nelson Nygaard to take a look at its routes to suggest changes to optimize service. The study was done but nothing has been implemented so far. The Jefferson Area Regional Transit Partnership got an update at their meeting yesterday.“CAT planned on implementing that system optimization plan last year but they’ve been dealing with driver shortages like every other transit agency in the country so that’s been postponed,” said Jim Baker of Nelson Nygaard. CAT director Garland Williams directed Nelson Nygaard to revisit the route changes to identify how it might be phased into service over time rather than be done all at once. This would include restoring service to pre-COVID levels, expanding service areas in both Charlottesville and Albemarle, and expanding Saturday and Sunday service. Since the pandemic, CAT has run no service on Sundays. “We felt like that’s a pressing need to get some level of Sunday service back on the streets,” Baker said. “So we’re proposing to get the trolley back online, the Route 12 which ran pre-pandemic up the U.S. 29 corridor, and to get service down into Avon Street past the CAT garage for Sunday service. Baker said three routes would see changes as part of the first phase.The Center at Belvedere would finally be served by the northbound journey of Route 11. To make up for the time, there will no longer be service on a loop that runs through the Locust Grove neighborhood.  Route 2 would be split into two services with 2A serving Fifth Street Station and the Willoughby Shopping Center and 2B serving Mill Creek in Albemarle County for the first time on its way to Piedmont Virginia Community College. This would also serve Monticello High School. 2A would run for some of Sunday A second bus would be added to the current Route 6 to improve frequency to 30 minutesThe second phase would make changes to services along the U.S. 29 corridor.Route 7 would be expanded to the Wal-Mart and would travel bi-directionally along Hillsdale Drive and through Seminole Square Shopping Center. Baker said the goal here is to link downtown Charlottesville with Wal-Mart, which is a major shopping destination. Route 5 would no longer travel to the Wal-Mart but would instead have a northern terminus at Fashion Square Mall. Its new southern terminus would be the UVA Hospital. The Sunday-only Route 12 would be eliminated in favor of Route 7 going seven days a week The third phase will implement the rest of the changes. Here are some of them:Saturday service would be introduced to Route 1 Route 3 would be broken into two routes with one traveling solely between downtown and Willoughby Shopping Center A new route, tentatively known as Route 3E, would travel around Belmont and downtownRoute 6 would no longer serve the University of Virginia Hospital via Prospect Avenue. It would also be routed along South First Street as it travels between downtown and the Willoughby Shopping Center. This would add additional service to Crescent Hall.Route 8 serves Stonefield and would be altered to travel south to the University of Virginia Hospital and down to Willoughby Shopping Center via Prospect Avenue. This service would no longer travel downtown. Route 9 would also no longer serve the UVA Hospital and would instead travel to Fashion Square Mall Route 10 would be altered to no longer travel on Stony Point Road and instead would travel bidirectionally through the Pantops Shopping Center on its way between Downtown Charlottesville and Sentara Martha JeffersonWhen will the phases be implemented? According to the presentation, that’s all going to depend on drivers. Six more drivers are needed for phase one, a total of 12 are needed for phase two, and a total of 27 are needed for phase 3. There’s an additional “phase three plus” that’s perhaps not worth detailing because it would need a total of 46 additional drivers. That’s a much higher number than six. “Assuming we can get the pay scale to be comparable to Jaunt and [University Transit System], and we can get six more drivers, that should not be [beyond the reach] and then we can begin phase 1,” Williams said. “The jump, though, is getting authorization from the city and the county to fund us to make the additional resources.” The Regional Transit Partnership meeting was held a couple of hours before a public meeting on the Regional Transit Vision Plan. which is $350,000 in the making. The following illustrates confusion that can come from having planning processes not tied to actual logistics. City Councilor Brian Pinkston asked what the proposed CAT changes had to do with that study.“Is this sort of like a first step towards that larger vision?”Williams said these changes have nothing to do with the Regional Transit Vision Plan. “They didn’t even copy these routes,” Williams said. “They took a whole new approach and said the slate was clean.” I’ll have more from the Regional Transit Partnership and more on the Regional Transit Vision plan in future installments of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Support the program!There’s a lot of information in this installment of this program, which is the 397th edition of the program. About a quarter of you are paying something to help keep Town Crier Productions in business. I have never been a very good salesperson, and won’t overly pitch.But, if you are benefiting from this newsletter and the information in it, please consider some form of support. I am not a nonprofit organization and most of my time is spent in putting the newsletter together, which includes producing the podcast.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. 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

In this episode we are joined by Katie Hammill, Certified Nutrtitional Practioner. We discuss all things nutrition covering prenatal nutrition and feeding little ones, popular diets, myths and misconceptions, trends, supplementation, and tips on sustainability. You can find out more about Katie and how to hire her on her website katiehammillnutrition.com and make sure to follow her on Instagram @katiehammillnutrition Links: * Shred Society Web Page/Sign Up Page https://bit.ly/31q37Ie Follow Us: * Podcast IG @thesilvascoop * The Shred Society IG @theshredsociety @peach.club.official * Personal IG's @Savanna__rose @s1lvamusic * Tiktok: @savannarosesilva @alexsilvashred

Dr. Adrienne Hammill is Research Director of the Hemangioma & Vascular Malformation Program and Director of the HHT Center of Excellence at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. Her path to becoming a physician started when she was eight years old when she read an article about retinoblastoma, which is cancer with a genetic cause. She decided then that she wanted to cure cancer. She joins Matthew Zachary to discuss a rare condition known as Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT) and the differences in pediatric and adult care with specific regard to screenings and early detection. NORDpod is the official podcast of The National Organization for Rare Disorders. For more information, contact nordpod@rarediseases.org.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Another week begins in a relatively new month and no matter what side of the Atlantic you are on, it is 4/4/22. This is also the 94th day of the year and we are now officially part a quarter of the way through. This is the relevant edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement, and I’m the usual host, Sean Tubbs. You do not have to pay to read or listen! Even signing up for free helps this newsletter and podcast for free! On today’s show:A fish kill is reported off Barracks Road in CharlottesvilleCommunity engagement for Albemarle Comprehensive Plan review moves forwaard with new newsletterThe Pantops Community Advisory Committee is briefed on transportation projectsCharlottesville City Council briefed on capital projects and are presented with a potential scenario where a real estate tax will not need to be increased this yearFirst shout-out: JMRL Friends of the Library sale continues through Sunday In today's first 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. Visit jmrlfriends.org to learn more! See you there!Fishkill reported in Meadow Creek The City of Charlottesville has reported the deaths in late March of hundreds of fish and other aquatic life in a section of Meadow Creek. Scientists with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality evaluated the location near Cedars Court and found 842 dead fish, 130 dead salamanders, and 40 dead worms. “Despite further exploration of potential sources by City staff, no source or responsible party has been identified,” reads the announcement that was sent out Friday afternoon. “It is likely that this is a case of illegal dumping of a chemical or toxic product.”According to the report from the DEQ, there is no known source of pollution and the city will continue to monitor the area. The city worked with the Rivanna Conservation Alliance on the day the incident was reported by a community member, and found live creatures both upstream and downstream from the area, which is just to the north of the east wing of the Barracks Road Shopping Center. Over a hundred people apply to be on AC44 working groupAlbemarle County has begun the community engagement process for the Comprehensive Plan review, which is currently in the first of four phases. “Behind the scenes, our project team has continued to gather data on existing conditions and recent trends in the county,” reads the first newsletter for what’s being called AC44. “This data is focused on the ways community members live, work, and travel in Albemarle County and how and where we may have room to grow within our existing Development Areas.”The first phase is called Plan for Growth and is intended to review Albemarle’s Growth Management Policy, which are available for review on the AC44 website. A public survey on this will go live on April 29. Over a hundred people have applied to be part of the working group that will oversee the work and staff are reviewing the applications. Sign up for the newsletter on the Albemarle County website to get more information.Pantops group briefed on transportation projectsIn March, Albemarle’s growth area advisory committees learned about the county’s transportation process, and got updates on area projects. Albemarle keeps a list of projects that have been identified to address congestion issues, improve public safety, increase economic development, and achieve other goals.“The last it was updated was in 2019, but we are embarking on another update and a reprioritization over the next year or two combined with the Comprehensive Plan update,” said Jessica Hersh-Ballering is a principal transportation planner for Albemarle County. A project to make changes at the intersection of U.S. 250 and Virginia Route 20 was funded via Smart Scale in the third round. A sidewalk will be added in front of the McDonalds in the northwest quadrant of the intersection. (read the application)“It would add a two-stage pedestrian crossing of U.S. 250 on the east leg,” Hersh-Ballering said. “Additionally this project will add a right turn lane for westbound vehicles on U.S. 250 that are trying to turn right or north onto Route 20.”Changes to the signalizations and the geometry will be made as well to increase the number of vehicles that can make each signal cycle. However, this project won’t begin until winter of 2025 with a public hearing scheduled in the summer of 2023. “But, still great because the project is fully funded and it will be happening,” Hersh-Ballering said. A second Smart Scale project will see corridor improvements made to the east of that intersection up to Hansen Mountain Road. This access management project will be built around the same time.“VDOT is fast-tracking this project so that it can be on the same schedule as the previous project and also so that both projects can use the same construction contractor and what that will do is allow overall cost efficiencies for bother projects,” Hersh-Ballering said. The center turn lane will be replaced with a concrete median with specific openings for turns. Several projects are currently seeking funding, such as sidewalk improvements on U.S. 250 and a pedestrian crossing at Rolkin Road. Another would make changes at the intersection with Peter Jefferson Parkway that could involve a park and ride lot. Hersh-Ballering also gave an update on the proposed pedestrian bridge across the Rivanna River. Last month, the Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Board has selected an alignment that will connect the former State Farm Headquarters with the Woolen Mills at the Wool Factory. The county will also launch a microtransit service in the Pantops area that would be more like a ride-sharing service than fixed-transit. “While it works like Uber, and  you can request a ride, it still functions as a public utility,” Hersh-Ballering said. “The vehicles that pick you up are not going to be anyone’s personal private vehicle. It is a transit vehicle and it will always be ADA accessible.”There will also be no surge pricing. For more details view the video on YouTube. So far it’s had one view. Let’s get that number up seven through the CCE bump! Second shout-out to the ACHS’s Race and Sports Event tomorrow night Today’s second subscriber-fueled shout-out is for an upcoming panel discussion on local history on Tuesday, April 5. The Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society continues its Race and Sports project with a discussion with former star athletes and high school and college coaches. Dr. Shelley Murphy will moderate a panel with Wade Tremblay, Garwin DeBerry, and George Foussekis. They’ll share their stories and experiences during the desegregation of local public schools in the 1950s and 60s. The virtual event is available through Zoom registration and on Facebook Live. Eight days until Charlottesville City Council adopts a budgetThere are eight days left until Charlottesville City Council will adopt a budget for the next fiscal year, and many remaining decisions have yet to be made on tax rates.Will there be an increase in the city’s real estate tax increase? Council can increase to as high as $1.05 per $100 of assessed value.Will the city lower the personal property tax rate on vehicles to provide relief in the face of climbing values? The Commissioner of Revenue has recommended doing so, but leaving it at $4.20 per $100 of assessed value would bring in $2 million in additional revenue. Will Council agree to a half percentage point in the meals tax? There’s a public hearing on this tonight.  Charlottesville City Council meets twice this week, and once again on April 12 to formally adopt the budget, which is larger than presented in March due to higher revenue projections. Council met three times last week, including a work session on he capital improvement program on March 31 at which city staff indicated there may be more money available to support Council initiatives. “That’s roughly about $3.7 million that we can add to the FY23 budget,” said Krisy Hammill, the city’s Senior Budget Management Analyst.More on those details in a moment. This is a long one. Capital Improvement Program recapThe March 31 work session was a chance for Hammill to go through the nearly $157.4 million five year plan in detail. (read the presentation)The draft five-year CIP recommends $75 million for school reconfiguration, and the budget recommended by staff anticipates $2.5 million of that being allocated in FY23 and the rest in FY24. It should be noted that Council can only make final decisions about the next fiscal year, and it will be up to their future counterparts to make the next set of choices. Over time, economic conditions will change. The capital improvement plan does have projects that were approved by previous Councils and that budget staff have factored into the overall plan but for which bonds have not yet been sold. Any Council can end those projects and transfer the paper money to another, such as last year when Council directed staff to take $18.6 million from the West Main Streetscape project and put it toward school reconfiguration. The current schedule anticipates the issuance of nearly $16.9 million in bond sales in calendar year 2023. Reviewing Planning Commission recommendationsCouncil was also briefed on recommendations from the Charlottesville Planning Commission on the CIP, including one that sought to overturn a decision made by Council five years ago to purchase property on East Market Street for a future parking structure.  See also: Charlottesville PC recommends adjustments to FY22 Capital Budget, including defunding parking garage, February 10, 2021)Charlottesville PC recommends more funding for affordable housing, new sidewalks, December 16, 2021)“They recommended that existing and requested parking structure funding be reduced to a minimum so we basically removed all of the funding that was originally proposed in 23,” Hammill said. “It was remaining at $1.3 million. We took all of that out so if you look at this current draft there is no additional money for the parking structure.”The city paid $2.85 million for the property and the idea had been to tear down two commercial structures and consolidate the lot with one next door to build a garage to support an expanded courts complex to serve both Albemarle and Charlottesville. Under the terms of an agreement signed in December 2018, the city must provide a certain amount of spaces to Albemarle. “My understanding is that we’re still in discussions with the county on the path forward there, but there are no new dollars,” Hammill said. The city has a balance of $2.8 million for the parking garage, according to economic development director Chris Engel. Again, this funding represents bonds previously authorized by Council but not yet sold. Hammill said staff were able to accomplish some of the Planning Commission’s other requests such as fully funding the city’s efforts to treat and remove Ash Trees at a level of $105,000 a year as well as increasing funding for new sidewalks to $100,000. They also recommended decreasing funds for other categories, such as economic development strategic initiatives, small area plans, and implementation of the Strategic Investment Area. New pathway forward for Stribling sidewalksOther projects that have been discussed since the budget was introduced in early March include $4.9 million to cover the city’s cost to build a sidewalk on Stribling Avenue as well as new section of the Meadowcreek Trail. See also: City Manager Rogers to negotiate with Southern Development on Stribling sidewalk agreement, March 25, 2022Hammill suggested taking the $1.3 million from the parking garage and assigning that to the Stribling Project plus an agreement with Southern Development to pay a $2.9 million loan to city to build the project in order to support a rezoning for 170 units.“And that would actually get you to a point where you could add that project and given the timing from the developer and otherwise, that is more suited for an FY25 add than a FY23,” Hammill said.It must be noted that Fiscal Year 2025 begins on July 1, 2024. Budgets are confusing. The city is still in negotiations with Southern Development with the details and the rezoning will return to Council at a later date. “We are definitely facing well over a year of planning on this sidewalk project,” Sanders said. “It is that complicated.”There are nearly $5 million in requests from the Piedmont Housing Alliance to help subsidize the cost of new units on Park Street. Tax rate scenarios could lead to new real estate tax rate increase this yearToward the end of her presentation, Hammill showed multiple scenarios for school reconfiguration, some of which are built on Council agreeing to a total of $68.8 million for that purpose. This anticipates the use of $7.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds received by the school system as well as the use of $6.7 million from the city’s surplus from Fiscal Year 2021. While Hammill showed two scenarios that include at least a five cent increase in the real estate tax rate, she also suggested the city may have more money than originally suggested. Hammill also discussed increases in revenues for FY23, including an additional $900,000 for sales tax, $500,000 for the lodging tax, and $25,000 for the meals tax.“We’ve bumped those up some based on our current collection rate,” Hammill said. “We continue to see growth in those and we continue to see recovery at a faster rate than we had originally anticipated.” Council could also choose to not lower the personal property tax rate, as Commissioner of Revenue Todd Divers has suggested. All told, the city’s anticipated revenues are higher than presented in early March. “That’s roughly about $3.7 million that we can add to the FY23 budget,” Hammill said. Those higher than anticipated revenues are also affecting the current year  and Hammill said there is currently a projected surplus of $12.4 million in revenues. “If you were to decide to do a tax increase that would also be an impact on FY22 and that number would go up,” Hammill said. That’s because the tax rate applies to the calendar year, not the fiscal year.In addition, the city also has a CIP contingency account that has a balance of around $11.4 million.  Some of this funding could be applied to some of the priorities and Council faces several choices for how to proceed, such as using some of the contingency to cover the Piedmont Housing Alliance requests?“I like the opportunity to have options,” said Vice Mayor Juandiego Wade.Councilor Brian Pinkston sought clarification if Hammill was suggesting that the city could use those funds to avoid an increase in the real estate tax this year. “That is one option,” Hammill said. “The risk here is that something could happen and these two years, this surplus maybe does not materialize.” Surplus funds cannot be used and allocated until they have been independently audited which usually happens in December. Mayor Lloyd Snook said the surplus could be used to cover the costs of future debt services in the future. “What that does is, A, it buys us a year before we have to decide whether to raise the tax rate, which also buys us some time to see if the General Assembly folks can pull some magic out of a hat for a sales tax increase,” Snook said. Snook said he would prefer not to raise the real estate tax rate in a year when assessments are up over ten percent. Councilor Sena Magill repeated her desire for a real estate tax increase this year. “I would feel more comfortable if we had one cent at least that we are putting toward the school fund,” Magill said.Councilor Michael Payne also supported a tax increase this year to ensure the city can increase spending on affordable housing, transit, and collective bargaining. “I would think that a real estate would be less regressive than the meals or the personal property tax and that we should be looking at that,” Payne said. Tonight’s public hearing is on the meals tax and there will be a budget work session on Thursday. “I would hope that meeting would be the meeting where we would finally hash out the details and we would come at the end of the meeting with an agreement,” Snook said. 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

The final Friday of March has arrived and it’s also the twelfth such day of the year. One question is how many more are left in 2022? Is it worth the research it would take to bring you that piece of information? Or would it be better to proceed with another installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement? One fact I can say with some confidence is that I’m Sean Tubbs, your stenographic host.Know someone who might want to read or listen to detailed accounts of how decisions are made in local government? Share Charlottesville Community Engagement! On today’s program:Council holds first reading on a rezoning for 170 units in Fry’s Spring but approval will hinge on finding funding for sidewalk improvements Charlottesville City Council weighs in further on tax rates and the budget Today’s first shout-out goes to WTJUAlgorithms know how to put songs and artists together based on genre or beats per minute. But only people can make connections that engage your mind and warm your heart. The music on WTJU 91.1 FM is chosen by dozens and dozens of volunteer hosts -- music lovers like you who live right here in the Charlottesville area. Listener donations keep WTJU alive and thriving. In this era of algorithm-driven everything, go against the grain. Support freeform community radio on WTJU and get ready for the station’s 85th anniversary on April 1! Consider a donation at wtju.net/donate.City Manager Rogers to negotiate with Southern Development on Stribling sidewalk agreement As Charlottesville contemplates a more dense future with more people, how can today’s elected officials ensure the infrastructure is in place before new homes are built? The fate of Southern Development’s request to rezone undeveloped land in the Fry’s Spring neighborhood depends on if Charlottesville Council is satisfied sidewalks will be built on Stribling Avenue. “At 12 acres, this is one of the largest undeveloped properties within the city,” said City Planner Matt Aflele. Southern Development’s plan is to build 170 residential units in a mix of single-family attached, townhomes, and multifamily buildings at a density of 15 dwelling units per acre. The Planning Commission has voted unanimously to recommend a rezoning and a critical slopes waiver, but only if funds were placed in the capital improvement program for a sidewalk on Stribling Avenue. Southern Development had agreed to loan the city $2.9 million to cover the cost. This would be paid back in the form of real estate tax rebates until the amount is paid off. At Council’s first reading of the matter on Monday, Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers said he did not recommend proceeding with the sidewalk for many reasons. For one, the city would need to issue additional bonds and it’s already at capacity. For another, Rogers said if the city is going to enter into public-private partnerships for infrastructure, there need to be rules first. “The city does not have in place a policy infrastructure for these kinds of arrangements,” Rogers said. “So that it’s clear to everyone up front and that’s something that we will work on. But at this time there are too many unknown variables.” However, staff does recommend the rezoning. “After a lot of considerations we do think that 170 new housing units in that location would be a benefit to the city, and the fact that 26 affordable housing units would be added would be beneficial to our affordable housing program as well.” Rogers said the city would have to find a way to pay for the sidewalk if the development was to move forward. “So we would have to go back to the CIP, include this project, find the money for it, and make it happen,” Rogers said. Jason Halbert is co-president of the Fry's Spring Neighborhood Association. They’ve been working on this issue since the idea of the rezoning emerged. "We as a board never said no, NIMBY, we didn't take that position," Halbert said. "We took a position to try to advance what we have always been trying to advance, which is improved safety on Stribling Avenue and the intersection of Stribling and Jefferson Park Avenue.” Halbert said the development should not occur without infrastructure. He thanked interim Michael C. Rogers for his announcement earlier in the meeting that the process for the capital improvement program would be overhauled. "If we want to work with developers to get more density in the city and really do this new  zoning ordinance in a proper way, the city's CIP and the infrastructure has to keep pace," Halbert said. "If it can't keep pace you're going to create serious problems on city streets, city intersections, and you're going to have more and more consternation from neighborhoods."City resident Ben Heller asked for the city to ask for $2.9 million in cash from Southern Development rather than the loan. He pointed out the company paid $2 million for the 11 acres of undeveloped land in June 2021. "With 170 houses there that's only $12,000 per development entitlement," Heller said. "In general you are talking about $120,000 per development entitlement in that neighborhood. You could ask the developer for $3 million and they would still be getting a bargain in terms of the price per development entitlement." Council discussionVice Mayor Juandiego Wade worked for many years as a transportation planner for Albemarle County and is familiar with the road because this area is within in the jurisdictions of a joint planning study known as Southern Area B. “We had some projects on the county end of this and it was a real gnarly, gnarly road there and i think it prevented some of the county projects from getting done in that area,” Wade said. Wade said the city has to find a way to build the sidewalk.Councilor Brian Pinkston said he could not vote for the rezoning until there was a plan in place to guarantee the sidewalks would be built. “I see why the notion of trying to fund this with a loan was a great idea, kind of a hail mary sort of thing, but I can see why it’s very difficult and problematic on the policy side and the debt management side and not having the policies and procedures in place to govern that,” Pinkston said. Another issue is lack of funding to upgrade the intersection of Stribling and Jefferson Park Avenue Extended to handle left-hand turns. That concerned Mayor Lloyd Snook as much if not more than the sidewalk. “That kind of improvement is never going to be made unless we’ve got a project like this,” Snook said. “Now to me the question therefore is how do we end up not having to hold the bag?” Snook said he was skeptical the city would be able to find the money in the capital improvement program. He said it would be his first preference for Rogers to continue to work on the loan to resolve outstanding questions. Charlie Armstrong of Southern Development said his company has looked at many options over the past few years, including developing the property by-right. “And that is 46 or so large single family lots, some of them approaching an acre in size,” Armstrong said. “They would be beautiful but affordable for very view.” A rezoning to R-2 would yield 64 units. Armstrong said the agreement was not so much of a loan but a tax increment financing structure. “It’s another odd version of a loan where we provide the funds and then we provide the funds again to pay ourselves back,” Armstrong said “Those tax revenues from the project don’t exist right now. The project would create them.” Armstrong said he would be willing to work with the city to move forward on the agreement, but needs to know if there is Council support for the rezoning. Rogers said he would set up a conversation with Armstrong but suggested Council hold first reading on the matter. They did so, and the matter will come back to Council at their next meeting on April 4. 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 http://campalbemarleva.org/donate.Council weighs in on budget, real estate tax rateCharlottesville City Council held a community forum last night on the recommended budget for FY23. They had held a public hearing on Monday, but their own conversation at that time was somewhat limited. Staff asked Councilors to offer their perspective. (watch the budget forum)Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers has recommended a two cent increase on the real estate tax rate with the approximately $1.84 million in revenue going to a fund dedicated to paying for renovation of Buford Middle School. Staff also presented Council with three other scenarios for higher tax rates for how to cover the costs of the $75 million the School Board wants for the project. “It seems our decision points are raising taxes by eight to ten cents, real estate taxes,” said City Councilor Michael Payne. “Going quickly in with $75 million for the reconfiguration plan. And I think if we do that we need to acknowledge that the trade-offs that all of those things not in our budget that are not going to get funded unless we have an extremely large unexpected surplus or we raise taxes above even ten cents.”Some of the things not in the budget include a contribution to Piedmont Housing Alliance for their project to build 50 units on the grounds of the Park Street Christian Church. Another is funding for the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center to cover their rent. Another is an additional $3 million for Charlottesville Area Transit to increase the system to 30-minute headways. City Councilor Brian Pinkston said he was not sure he could support a steep increase in the real estate tax rate because he thought it may push more people to leave the city. “I get these phone calls from folks whose housing has appreciated by ten, eleven, twelve, fifteen percent, their housing assessments,” Pinkston said. “And it is hard to put on top of that a real estate tax on top of that.” However, Pinkston said he could support a two cent increase in FY23 while an attempt is made to reduce the cost of the Buford renovation. Pinkston said all increases in the real estate tax should go to debt service for school reconfiguration. Krisy Hammill, senior budget analyst for the city of Charlottesville, offered this clarification. “There’s $2.5 million in the CIP in FY23 that is my understanding would complete the design and require no tax increase,” Hammill said. Vice Mayor Juandiego Wade served sixteen years on the School Board, where reconfiguration has been sought for many years. The School Board voted in October 2010 on a plan to build a single middle school to serve 6th through 8th grades, with fifth graders returning to elementary schools. The project has not yet advanced as a capital project. “Each time we have been putting it off so I will definitely be in the camp that we need to start on this now because one of the big issues is the inflation costs,” Wade said. “So I think that we were looking at some of the options and alternatives that we looked at on Monday, we’re in a rock’s throw of working this out and I think that we will as a community and a Council.”Wade said Council will have to make some tough decisions. ‘Many of the emails we receive say they want us to do it all, but we can’t!” Wade said. “We’re going to have to make some difficult decisions and that’s why they place us here.” Councilor Sena Magill said design of Buford would still continue during the next year and that the draft budget doesn’t show floating the bonds for Buford until Fiscal Year 2024. But she understood why some might be skeptical of the fate of dedicated funds in the Capital Improvement Program. “As we found with West Main Street, even if it’s in the CIP doesn’t mean it’s going to stay,”  Magill said. “West Main had been allocated out and we as a new Council took it out.” In all, previous Councils accumulated $18 million in capital funds for West Main that only existed on paper. The bonds are authorized but not yet sold, and the last Council agreed to transfer them to the Buford project. Magill said she would support a higher tax rate than two cents as presented to Council on Monday. Councilor Brian Pinkston said he wanted to consider a drop in the personal property tax to reduce the burden to those who will be hit with higher than expected bills.“My original inclination with that is that this is a windfall for us but [Commissioner of Revenue Todd] Divers has made some good points is that it will be an affordability issue for many people,” Pinkston said. Divers has suggested that continuing to charge $4.20 per $100 of assessed value would yield an additional $2 million and that a rate of $3.22 per $100 would be an equalized rate that would bring in the current year’s revenue. Pinkston suggested somewhere in the $3.75 range. That would yield approximately $1 million. Councilor Snook said that $1 million coupled with $1.2 million from a half-percentage increase in the meals tax would yield additional revenue that could be used to pay for other initiatives.“I think at some point we need to agree on what purposes we’d like to try to fund and then we can try to fit the taxes to meet those expenditures,” Snook said. Wade said he wanted the city to do what it can to keep the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center in place.“Whether it’s a combination of working with them for fundraising and the city assisting because I know when I was on the School Board the programs that they provided was invaluable and what they can do no one else can do, the way they bring the community together to have those courageous conversations,” Wade said. “They’re there to do that.” Councilors appeared to be willing to support a request to fully fund the Public Housing Association of Residents’ request of $41,000. The draft budget only recommended $21,035. Rogers said the conversation at the community budget forum was useful. “We will work the budget staff and the departments heads in the city to address what you have identified as priorities of sincere interest,” Rogers said.  However, Rogers reminded the Council to be mindful of what the city could afford. He suggested they review the three scenarios presented by Hammill on Monday. “And there are some hard choices,” Rogers said. “Whether to raise taxes or not, and if so, do it all at once, or have a phased approach?” The next step in the budget process is a work session on the Capital Improvement Program on March 31 beginning at 6 p.m. (meeting info)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

One website I frequently pursue claims that March 23 is National Puppy Day, Melba Toast Day, Near Miss Day, World Maths Day, and World Meteorological Day. Whether or not these are bona fide or bananas, there certainly are a lot of interesting things to pay attention on this ever-changing planet of ours. Charlottesville Community Engagement seeks to document as much as possible in this corner of the world, and I’m your host, Sean Tubbs. This newsletter and podcast are free, but your financial support ensures regular updates! On today’s program:Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers recommends a two-cent increase in Charlottesville’s property tax rate to begin saving up money for school reconfigurationMembers of the public weigh in on the FY23 budget and that tax rateA new schedule has been set for a federal lawsuit seeking to force a House of Delegates race in 2022 Charlottesville seeks input on a traffic safety study on Fifth Street ExtendedFirst shout-out goes to the Piedmont Master GardenersThe first subscriber-supported shout-out today goes to the Piedmont Master Gardeners to announce their 2022 Spring Lecture Series featuring leading experts on sustainable landscaping, indigenous gardening wisdom and small fruit production at home. For two more Thursdays in March, you can buy a virtual ticket for these informative events. On March 24 at 7 p.m., Jayesh Samtani will discuss “Home Garden Berries—Selection, Cultivation, and Growing Alongside Ornamental Plants.” On March 31 at 7 p.m., Barbara Ryan will discuss “The New Sustainable Garden - Designing with Native Plants.”To purchase a ticket or to learn more, visit piedmontmastergardeners.org/events.2022 House suit proceedsNow that a federal lawsuit seeking to force a House of Delegates race in 2022 has been sent back to the Eastern District of Virginia, Judge David Novak has provided a path forward for how the suit will proceed. Plaintiff Paul Goldman has until Friday to file arguments for why he feels he has the legal standing to bring forward a case against the Board of Elections that challenges the constitutionality of allowing Delegates elected in 2021 to continue to serve until the end of 2023. The Virginia Attorney General’s office has until April 1 to file a motion as to why Goldman lacks jurisdiction and to express an opinion on whether Novak or a three-judge panel on the Fourth Circuit should rule on the question of standing. Goldman would then have until April 15 to respond. “Because the Fourth Circuit remanded this case to the District Court to address only the issue of standing, the parties shall not file any motions or other pleadings beside those listed above,” Novak wrote in his ruling. (read the March 21 order)For more information, read Graham Moomaw’s report on Monday’s hearing in the Virginia Mercury. City seeking input on Fifth Street safetyCharlottesville is pursuing Smart Scale funding for improvements to Fifth Street Extended as part of an overall effort to prevent future fatalities on the roadway. The city is looking at the area between Old Ridge Street and Harris Road. “This study focuses on improvement concepts that target known needs, reduce community impacts, and address all modes in a cost-effective manner,” reads the introduction. “Projects and solutions may be considered for future funding through local, regional, state and/or federal transportation programs — but not without first getting YOUR INPUT!”According to an information sheet on the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission’s Smart Scale page, there is no scope or cost estimate for the project. “Charlottesville identified the need for a project between Cherry/Elliott and Harris Roads in the 5th Ridge McIntire Multimodal Corridor Study, in Streets That Work, and in the Bike and Pedestrian Master Plan,” reads that page. “Considerations for the application include redesigning the intersection, enhancing multimodal facilities along the corridor, improving access, and enhancing transit access, lighting, and landscape of the area.The city has already been awarded Smart Scale funds to address the intersection of Elliott Avenue, Ridge Street, Cherry Avenue, and Fifth Street Extended. (read the application)The Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Policy Board will discuss the Smart Scale projects at their virtual meeting on 2 p.m. Thursday. (meeting info)Rogers recommends two cent property tax increase for CY22Charlottesville City Council held a public hearing Monday on the real estate tax rate and personal property tax rate for the fiscal year that begins on July 1. Before then and before the general public comment period, Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers presented Council with several ways forward on raising funds in the next five years for paying up to $75 million for the renovation of Buford Middle School. (review the presentation)“Several of you asked that we dig a little deeper and come back with several scenarios as we try to get to some resolution on how to deal with this issue,” Rogers said. The presentation featured another lesson from Senior Budget Management Analyst Krisy Hammill about the city’s looming debt crisis. “We have approximately $85 million that’s currently outstanding,” Hammill said. Hamill said the city currently pays about $11 million each year for debt service and that amount would drop if no further debt was issued. “Of this outstanding debt, about 28 percent of that is for school-related projects that have already been completed,” Hammill said. Hammill presented multiple scenarios, all which assume an annual growth rate of 1.5 percent over the next from the real estate property tax as well as two percent in revenues from meals tax rate. Hammill said it is the size of the project that is presenting an accounting problem. Without it, the city would expect to have a total five-year CIP of $82.4 million, requiring the sale of $46.9 million in bonds. “With the other projects that are on the Capital Improvement Plan list, they are of such amounts that we can manage our CIP within our affordability,” Hammill said. But adding a $75 million project will increase the total CIP to $157.4 million, requiring the sale of $121.9 million. VMDO, the architectural firm hired by the school system for reconfiguration, has suggested splitting those bonds sales over the period with $2.5 million this year, $20 million in FY24, $32.5 million in FY25, and $20 million in FY26. “Our annual debt service payment is moving from the $11.4 million that we’ve been talking about up to about $22 million in 2032,” Hammill said. “This is roughly equivalent to about a two cent tax increase over the next four years if we were going to that incrementally.” Other scenarios include a seven cent tax increase in FY23 in order to build up a larger reserve to pay off debt service. Another would be to reduce the city’s cost for reconfiguration to $50 million. Kevin Rotty, a financial consultant who advises the city on long-term debt, said other options would be to reduce city spending as well as to continue exploring state funding in advance of a special session to resolve the state budget that has not yet been called. “There’s a couple bills in the General Assembly right now which are talking about school construction,” Rotty said. “Certainly the city is not unique in having some school needs here.”The exact funding scenario depends on multiple variables, but the main lever Council gets to control is the tax rate. Rogers weighs in with his recommendationRogers reminded Council that the city will have to pick up the tab for paying 15 firefighters after a federal SAFER grant runs out. Collective bargaining will also have a cost as well. “There are some big opportunities in transit and opportunities to make progress on our climate plan but we’ve got to add money to match the funds that are available from the [federal government and the state,” Rogers said. Rogers had this recommendation for Council.“The proposed school reconfiguration has not been integrated into the city’s capital improvements program in a manner that will allow City Council to make a coordinated funding plan,” Rogers said. Nevertheless, he said there was a need to ensure that the city could cover its obligations for past needs as well as future ones. “For the FY23 budget I recommend that Council should enact a two cent real estate tax and set the money aside within the capital projects fund earmarked as the beginning of an annual funding program to generate funds for school reconfiguration,” Rogers said. Rogers recommended delaying a bond issue for reconfiguration for the school in FY23 until after a long-term plan could be developed. He also suggested a rehaul of the entire capital improvement program to be ready for next year’s budget. “Let’s move forward but not too fast,” Rogers said. “Let’s take a pause and start putting away some money for this project.”Rogers said that would give more time to see how the statewide conversation on school construction funding plays out. Similar stories:Council’s emphasis on housing issues reflected in proposed capital budget, December 16, 2018Council wants more info before giving direction on capital spending, November 18, 2020Charlottesville's Draft Capital Budget includes $50 million for Middle School reconfiguration, January 28, 2021Charlottesville Budget staff continues to warn Council of approaching debt limit, April 1, 2021Council discusses tax increases to help cover $60 million Buford upgrades, August 2, 2021Charlottesville Planning Commission gets first look at FY23-FY27 Capital Budget, November 29, 2021Prepping for Charlottesville's FY23 Capital Improvement Program, January 29, 2022Second shout-out goes to Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society Today’s first subscriber-fueled shout-out is for an upcoming panel discussion on local history. The Centennial anniversary of the Jefferson Madison Regional Library is coming to an end, and staff at the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society will talk Thursday at 7 p.m. about an upcoming article on “JMRL at 100” in the Magazine of Albemarle Charlottesville History. ACHS Program Coordinator Sterling Howell will speak with JMRL’s Historical Collection Librarian Miranda Burnett and UVA Law Library Coordinator Addison Patrick. It’s another Unregulated Historical Meandering on the Last Word on the Library Centennial. Register on Zoom or join the program on Facebook Live.  Public weighs in on real estate tax rate, personal property tax rate, and the FY23 budgetEarlier this year, Council met its legal obligations to advertise in a newspaper of record a potential tax rate for the current calendar year.“You authorized us to go up to ten cents which would present $9.2 million in revenue,” Rogers said. Rogers’ recommended budget did not anticipate spending any of that funding, but left it unallocated pending Council’s discussion about whether they want to entertain a property tax rate. Rogers is recommending a two cent increase this year for the school project. Council also advertised keeping the personal property tax rate at $4.20 per $100 of assessed value, though Commissioner of Revenue Todd Divers said a sharp increase in the value of used vehicles will increase bills. He told Council what the equalized rate would be. “You’re looking at a rate of probably around $3.22,” Divers said. “If don’t do anything, you’re probably going to see an additional $2 million.” Elizabeth Stark, the co-chair of the Charlottesville Democratic Socialists of America, called for the full increase of ten cents to support collective bargaining, $10 million a year for affordable housing, and other priorities. “I ask that the city use all levers in their power to generate income,” Stark said. “Though all tax options are regressive, an increase to the property tax coupled with tax relief for low-wealth neighbors and an increase to the lodging tax seems to be the solution to me.”However, Jamie Fitzgerald said a full increase of ten cents will hurt his ability to remain as a renter in Charlottesville.“I rent from an owner that does not live in Charlottesville,” Fitzgerald said. “The owner performs zero maintenance on this house and the house is rapidly deteriorating.”Fitzgerald predicted his rent would be increased to cover the cost, which would force him to vacate. “I’m sure I’m not the only renter in Charlottesville facing this issue,” Fitzgerald said. Chris Meyer encouraged Council to raise the property tax rate because he said Charlottesville is undertaxed. “We need to get moving,” Meyer said. “I appreciate the city manager’s suggestion on at least a two cent raise,” Meyer said. “I would look at potentially more.” After the tax rate public hearing, the public comment period was opened on the budget. No one spoke directly about what to do with the personal property tax rate. Brad Slocum no longer lives in Charlottesville and now commutes in from Staunton. He urged Council to increase funding for Charlottesville Area Transit in order to help the city meet its climate goals.“One of the best ways to do this is to ensure director of transit, Garland Williams, has the budget he and his staff need to expand the city’s bus fleet to achieve 15-minute fixed route service,” Williams said. Brian Campbell of the Charlottesville Democratic Socialists of America called on Council to make further cuts to the police budget and to require transparency.“Charlottesville spends $19 million annually on police,” Campbell said. “Lynchburg, a city nearly twice as big and with more officers also spends $19 million on police. On a per capita basis, Charlottesville spends more on police than Albemarle, Waynesboro, Staunton, Roanoke, Harrisonburg, Blacksburg, and Lynchburg as previously noted. Why do Charlottesville police spend so much more than their peers? No one knows.” Katie Yared, a fourth year student at the University of Virginia, called on Council to enact a plastic bag tax for FY23. “As I’m sure you know, the Albemarle County budget proposes that they will implement a tax on plastic bags by January 1, 2023, with a projected revenue of $20,000,” Yared  said. “Following the lead of Albemarle County, the city of Charlottesville has an opportunity to significantly reduce plastic waste and to incentivize the use of reusable bags.” Members of the Tree Commission sought additional funding in two areas.“First, we proposed planting 200 trees per year so that we can plant more trees than are being removed,” said Mark Rylander. That would take an allocation of $100,000 but the City Manager’s budget only includes $75,000. Rylander said the Tree Commission would like another $105,000 a year to address the destruction of ash trees by the Emerald Ash Borer. Several speakers asked for additional funding for the Public Housing Association of Residents including its executive director, Shelby Edwards. The current level of funding for FY22 is $41,000 but the Vibrant Community process for determining funding for outside agencies only recommended $21,035 for FY23. “Please fund PHAR especially our PHAR internship problem, and also our development-led redevelopment efforts,” Edwards said. The capital budget anticipates spending $3 million in bond-raised funds on public  housing redevelopment for each of the next four years. There’s a Community Budget Forum scheduled for tonight night at 6 p.m. The meals tax rate will be on the agenda for Council’s next regularly scheduled meeting on April 4. 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

Is today the day where we drive out the snakes, or is the the one where one can be pinched for a lack of verdant clothing? Perhaps neither is true, and it’s simply March 17, St. Patrick’s Day, and good wishes for whatever that means for you. It is true this is Charlottesville Community Engagement and I’m fairly certain I’m Sean Tubbs, the producer and host of this and all of the other editions of the show. On today’s program:UVA President Jim Ryan speaks to business leaders in the final segment of our look at the Chamber of Commerce’s State of the Community Forum Charlottesville City Council holds its first budget work session and agrees to advertise a half-percentage point increase in the meals tax rateAlbemarle County gets a new planning director who will come here from another Virginia locality A federal appeals court sends a lawsuit seeking a 2022 House of Delegates election back to a lower court First shout-out goes to the Rivanna Conservation AllianceIn today’s first Patreon-fueled shout-out, the Rivanna Conservation Alliance wants wildlife and nature photographers to enter their first-ever photography contest! They want high-resolution photos related to the Rivanna watershed and the winning entries will be displayed at the 2022 Riverfest Celebration on May 1. The two categories are 16 and under, and those over the age of 17. You can send in two entries, and the work may be used to supplement Rivanna Conservation Alliance publications. For more information, visit rivannariver.org.Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals sends 2022 House election case back to lower courtA federal appeals court has sent a Richmond attorney’s lawsuit seeking a House of Delegates race in 2022 back to a lower court so that the question of his legal ability to bring the suit can be answered. “Upon careful consideration of the submissions of the parties and the oral argument conducted on March 8, 2022, we are satisfied to remand this case back to the district court for it to determine – in the first instance – whether [Paul] Goldman possesses Article III standing to sue,” reads the unpublished opinion issued by the Fourth Circuit Court on Tuesday. Goldman told ABC8 News that he believes there will still be time for the issue to be sorted in time for a legislative race to be held this year. See also:Fourth Circuit hears arguments in case challenging Virginia House of Delegates election, March 8, 2022, Courthouse NewsFederal appeals court hears oral arguments in suit to force 2022 election, March 9, 2022, Information Charlottesville Federal appeals court sends Virginia election calendar lawsuit back to lower court, ABC8 News, March 15, 2022New Albemarle Planning Director starts work in AprilA planning official from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia will be the next planning director in Albemarle County. Candace Perkins has recently served as assistant director of planning and development in Frederick County to the northwest of Albemarle. “The Director of Planning is a key leadership role within the Community Development Department, serving as the liaison to the Planning Commission and providing management and leadership for our Planning Division, which manages Albemarle County's Comprehensive Planning program and coordinates the development review process in cooperation with the Zoning and Engineering divisions,” reads a press release for the announcement. The previous occupant of the position has moved up to be Deputy Director of the Community Development Department. Charles Rapp has only been with Albemarle County since March 9. 2020. His boss, Jodie Filardo, has only been in Albemarle since September 9, 2019. Previous occupants of all three jobs had been with the county for decades before retirement. According to the release, Perkins has over twenty years in local government. She’ll begin work as the department continues its work on the first phase of the Comprehensive Plan review. Perkins’ first day is April 11, 2022. UVA President Ryan addresses Chamber of Commerce at State of the CommunityIt has now been a month since the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce held its first ever State of the Community to allow officials from Albemarle County and Charlottesville to present themselves to members of the business community. Ryan attended UVA’s School of Law and served on its faculty in 1998. He returned to Charlottesville as UVA President in 2018 after serving as Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. “Since he returned to returned to UVA in 2018 to serve as President, Jim has continued to emphasize the important of educational opportunity, especially for underrepresented students and first generation college students,” said Collette Sheehy, the senior vice president for operations and state government relations. Sheehy said one of Ryan’s central goals is to strengthen the relationship between the University, Albemarle and Charlottesville. He appeared at the Irving Theater in the CODE building via Zoom. “The relationship between UVA, Charlottesville, and Albemarle County is incredibly important, and although strong I thought there areas for improvement,” Ryan said. “And part of this is about being a University that is Great and Good and I think part of being a great university is taking seriously the obligations of an anchor institution in our community.”Let’s take stock of some population numbers. In the fall of 1991, the University of Virginia had an on-Grounds student enrollment of around 18,000, a figure that includes both graduate and undergraduate students. Thirty years later, the total on-Grounds enrollment increased to over 26,000. (UVA enrollment statistics)In 1990, the U.S. Census Bureau counted 68,040 people in Albemarle and 40,341 in Charlottesville. Albemarle’s population has increased to 112,935 as measured in the 2020 Census, and Charlottesville’s official count increased to 46,553 that year. The Weldon Cooper Center at UVA believes that last figure is higher due to an undercount of college towns. Their 2021 estimate puts Charlottesville at 51,079. So that’s the total size of the community. When he got here, Ryan put together a working group of community leaders, staff, faculty, and students. He asked them to report back on what the biggest issues are facing the community. “One, jobs and wages,” Ryan said. “The second is affordable housing. Third is access to public health. And fourth, youth education.”Since then, UVA raised its minimum wage to $15 an hour, including a requirement for contractors to do so. That working group became the President’s Council on UVA Community Partnerships. The pandemic put much of the process on hold but the working groups are back. There’s a recent report from the Pipelines and Pathways group which is intended to make jobs at UVA more accessible to people in the community. There’s a Local Economy group seeking ways to improve connections with area businesses. “Some of it is just about making that local businesses know about the opportunities to engage in business with UVA so that’s looking at everything from how we select vendors to how we advertise what we’re looking for and what requirements we have,” Ryan said. “But some of it is just making sure that local businesses understand the process and understand that we are very much interested in working with them.”UVA has also pledged to build between a thousand and 1,500 affordable housing units over the next decade on properties owned by the University or the University of Virginia Foundation. Three sites have been selected and they are the North Fork Discovery Park in Albemarle County, property on Wertland Street in Charlottesville, and the Piedmont housing site off of Fontaine Avenue. “We have an obligation to contribute but it’s also in the interest of UVA just as its in the interest of Charlottesville and Albemarle County,” Ryan said. “If you want to attract and retain a talented workforce, you need to make sure that there are places where people can live affordably.”Under this arrangement, UVA will supply the plan and a private developer will build the housing. Ryan said he would also like to see second-year students living on Grounds and there are plans to proceed, but it will take more construction.“Right now we have housing for upper-class students but we don’t have enough housing to house all of the second years,” Ryan said. UVA’s economic impactIn 2016, University hired a firm to review its economic impact on Virgina and found that there had been $5.9 billion generated by activities across the Commonwealth and 51,653 jobs. President Ryan said it had been some time since that report but the numbers are believed to be holding up. (read the report)“Visitors coming to UVA and students spend nearly $200 million annually and that in turn supports roughly 2,000 jobs locally,” Ryan said. “It’s not an insignificant contribution to the local economy. It’s obviously not the only thing and we’re not the only game in town but we are a pretty big economic actor in town.” The answer to this next question is worth hearing in full. City Councilor Michael Payne has argued that the University of Virginia should directly pay the city of Charlottesville a form of taxes. Here he is at a budget work session in early February before Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers introduced his budget. “It’s longer term but it seems like a discussion we should engage the University on,” Payne said. “I know that’s something that the University of Michigan, Yale, Harvard, and many other institutions have done.”Here’s the question:“Will UVA consider payment in lieu of taxes to the city or the county?” Sheehy asked. “We’ll consider it,” Ryan said. “This came up just the other day. I think there are likely restrictions on our ability to do this because we are a state agency. So there are all sorts of restrictions on what we can with state funds. Because we are a state agency, when we receive money from Richmond it’s money that they are delegating to us and whether we can turn around and delegate that or allocate that to a locality seems unlikely to me.” Another change made during the Ryan administration has been the elimination of a public body known as the Planning and Coordination Council in favor of a closed-door body called the Land Use and Environmental Planning Committee. That group next meets on Friday. (agenda)Watch the entire State of the Community event on the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce’s website. Second shout-out goes to an event happening at MorvenIn today’s second subscriber supported shout-out, the Morven Summer Institute at Morven Farm wants you to know about a seminar coming up on March 29. How are UVA students, faculty, and community partners collaborating to tell the stories of Morven? Researcher Scot French has spent over ten years studying Morven’s history and will provide glimpses into a course he’ll be teaching this summer on Recovering the Stories of Morven’s Enslaved and Descendant Communities.  The March 29 event is a chance for the public to get a preview of the four week course. The presentation will be available for viewing online, but there are some in-person positions! If you’re interested, visit morven.virginia.edu to fill out an interest form. Council holds first work session on FY23 budgetThere are a lot of numbers involved in this next story so grab a pencil or open up a spreadsheet to follow along.  There’s less than a month left before the Charlottesville City Council will adopt a budget for FY2023 and four days away before the first public hearing. The five elected officials began their detailed review of the budget. “We’re presenting a balanced  budget of $216,171,432,” said interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers. “This represents a 12.46 percent increase over 2022.”Resources for this story:Presentation from the March 10, 2022 Council work sessionInterim City Manager Rogers’ proposed FY23 budgetTechnically, Rogers’ budget does include the ten cent increase in the property tax rate that Council agreed to advertise, but does not indicate how it should be spent. “In this budget we have presented unallocated those revenues so there is flexibility for you to decide how much of an increase will be required based upon your programmatic decisions,” Rogers said. That means the expenditures in the budget as introduced by Rogers are built on the current rate of 95 cents per $100 of assessed value. But Council’s review was built on the assumption that the rate will be increased to $1.05 per $100. Budget staff estimate that would bring in $97,770,160, an increase of $17,492,718 over the revised budget for the current fiscal year. That would be due to both the proposed tax increase as well as an increase of over ten percent in property assessments. Krisy Hamilll, the senior budget management analyst, told Council that staff already believes tax collections in the current year will be $3 million over what was expected. The surplus for FY22 would be as much as $5 million higher because the tax increase is for the calendar year, not the fiscal year. And that’s not the only potential for revenues to come in higher than budgeted. “We continue to see increases and improvements in sales taxes and meals and lodging along those same lines,” Hammill said. “And it’s very likely as we continue through the month of March, we will have another month of those projects and we probably will be coming back to you with some amendments for the FY23 budget as well.”Hammill said the additional money that would come from the tax increase have been left unallocated because there are still many scenarios for funding the construction costs to renovate Buford Middle School as part of an overall school reconfiguration. “There is still question about the construction and the funding options for that project,” Hammill said. “Additionally we know that the construction dollars themselves are not needed until [fiscal year] 2024.”As you heard in the last segment, Councilor Michael Payne has called on the city to require the University of Virginia to pay a Payment in Lieu of Taxes, or PILOT. Currently Charlottesville utilities pay such a charge, budgeted at $6.27 million in FY23. These are included in city utility bills.“It’s a payment as if the utilities were a private utility provider within the city,” said finance director Chris Cullinan. “It emulates the tax burden that they if they were a private corporation what they would owe the city. It’s an expense of the utilities, included in the utility rates, and it’s remitted to the city each year from the water, sewer, and natural gas utilities.” Now, onto expenditures. There is an across the board eight percent increase in salaries for city employees, building off of a two percent cost of living increase that went into effect on July 1, 2021 as well as an additional six percent increase granted to Council in late December that was paid for the surplus from fiscal year 2021. There’s another 3 percent cost of living adjustment scheduled for July 1, 2022. That’s a total of $5.2 million for salary increases for city employees. There are also seven new proposed employees, including a Freedom of Information Act coordinator for the city attorney’s officer, a new transportation planner, and a new building inspector.  The budget also reflects changes to tax relief programs. “We’ve added nearly a million dollars in new funding for the tax, rent, and grant relief,” Hammill said. “We will be merging all the tax relief programs into one program. We will also be increasing the income threshold from $55,000 to $60,000.”If the tax rate increase goes forward at the full rate of ten cents, Hammill said there will need to be an additional $500,000 spend on the program to cover the costs. How to pay for a $75 million renovation of Buford Middle School? The biggest question about that tax increase relates to the funding of $75 million for school reconfiguration. The current draft budget recommends $2.5 million toward the project in FY23 and $72.5 million in FY24. Hammill said there are funding sources the School Board are suggesting.“They also have additional [American Rescue Plan Act] federal dollars that they have offered up as a potential use to buy down some of the school-related projects in the [Capital Improvement Program] and that totals to about $7.5 million.”That would leave Council needing to identify $65 million in revenue. A bill to allow Charlottesville to hold a referendum on a school-related one percent increase in the sales failed to make it out of a divided General Assembly. See also: House Subcommittee kills schools sales-tax bills, Information Charlottesville, February 25, 2022“We’re sort of at a crossroads about next steps,” Hammill said. “I know that we started with a $50 million project, we got up to a $75 million project. I know there have been multiple construction options that have been presented with varying dollar amounts and additional questions. And so we need to figure out what next steps are so we can get to a decision factor for that amount.”Charlottesville currently pays about $11.6 million in debt service on existing bonds for existing projects, according to Rogers. “We’ve looked at including the $75 million and bonding that, and that would have the effect of increasing debt service to $22 million [annually] over the course of the project,” Rogers said. The Council last year agreed to reallocate $18.25 million that had been allocated to the first two phases of West Main Street to the school reconfiguration project as well as $5 million from the parking garage. “And those were already built into our projections so that’s how we got from $50 million to $75 million,” Hammill said. “We still have the issue of how we’re going to pay for $50 million.” Councilors weigh in Councilor Brian Pinkston said he would like to see scenarios based on rate increases lower than ten cents. “My initial sort of assessment of the city as I have been getting to know it is that it still feels like its underfunded operationally and in terms of capital projects, based off what people in the community have made clear what they want,” Pinkston said. “Now, obviously it’s one thing to say we need these things and it’s another to fund it.”Pinkston said a reduced scope for the reconfiguration could be found, such as delaying construction of an auditorium at Buford. He thought the project should be reduced to at least $65 million, including the school system’s ARPA money. In his day job, Pinkston is a project manager for facilities at the University of Virginia. Vice Mayor Juandiego Wage said he wanted the City Council to be able to pay as much toward the project as possible, and that the School Board’s option should be the one that moves forward. Wade spent 16 years on the School Board before becoming a Councilor.“Brian has a unique insight because its his day job but I think we leave it to the School Board to determine which alternative to use,” Wade said. City Councilor Sena Magill said she was personally lobbying for more funds at the federal level to avoid bonding the project which would mean local taxpayers would pay for most of the tab. “I’ve actually got appointments with people in D.C. next week to talk about how to try to get Build Back Better money for this project,” Magill said. “I am using every single connection I can build, find, or not burn to find money for this project.”The Build Back Better Act is an infrastructure spending bill that passed the U.S House of Representatives on a 220 to 213 vote, but is not likely to pass the Senate. Councilor Michael Payne said he was struggling with the numbers and the message from city budget staff that the debt service for the school would mean no new capital projects for several years. “Our draft budget, where it is, if you’re talking about a ten cent real estate tax increase and freezing our budget for several years, taking all politics aside, is that good public policy?” Payne asked. “To me it seems like it is just not.” Payne said the city needs to be able to have the flexibility to further increase wages, fund firefighter positions that are currently covered by a federal grant, funding for further subsidized housing to be built by the Piedmont Housing Alliance project, and more. Payne also suggested continuing to pursue a PILOT with the University of Virginia, implementing a plastic bag tax, and lobbying the General Assembly again for the sales tax referendum  Mayor Lloyd Snook suggested for this year leaving some tax rates the same. “Why don’t we simply leave personal property tax rates where they are,” Snook said. “Let’s leave real estate estate taxes where they are, leave personal property tax rates where they are. I as a general proposition am not a fan of trying to change the tax rate based on whether the underlying values have gone up or down by a commensurate amount.” Snook also suggested increasing the meals tax by an additional half of a percentage point. “Those two sources would give us $3 million,  roughly,” Snook said. Pinkston agreed with leaving the personal property tax rate the same, as well as the half-percent increase on the meals tax. This paragraph was amended on March 19, 2022 to clarify Wade’s position on the meals taxPayne said he would be open to both. Wade said he would support keeping the personal property tax rate the same, but was flexible on changing the meals tax. Commissioner of Revenue Todd Divers said leaving the rate at $4.20 of assessed value would likely yield $2 million this year in additional revenue due to the sharp increase in the value of used vehicles. “I can tell you some of these bills are going to curl people’s hair and so you need to be ready for that,” Divers said. Council directed staff to advertise the half-percent increase in the meals tax. Snook said he wants to hear from the public about how to proceed. “Get that advertisement in and get the public hearing on it held and let’s hear from the public and let them weigh in,” Snook said. “If they’ve got thoughts that they would rather see their personal property tax go up rather than real estate taxes. Obviously some of these are issues that they’ve elected to deal with.” Councilor Magill made clear she wants property owners to pay more this year in order to build up the capacity to pay for debt service.  “I am interested in raising our [real estate] property tax one or two cents this year,” Magill said. Pinkston was in agreement. “My sort of sense is two cents this year, two cents next and sort of spread it out,” Pinkston said. The next work session is tonight and will be on funding for outside agencies. There will be another work session on the Capital Improvement Program on March 31. There is a public hearing on the real property tax rate on March 21 followed by one on April 4 on the meals tax increase and the budget. What do you think? Do you know someone or a group that needs to know this information? Please send it on! 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

As the third decade of the 21st century approaches, we all find ourselves living in a world we didn’t create and we do not understand. There are too many current challenges to list here, but I suspect many readers and listeners feel a lot of tension about the future. The goal of Charlottesville Community Engagement is to provide a bit of relief in the form of information and context, all with an aim of helping as many people as possible at least try to understand. I’m Sean Tubbs, and that hope is what’s fueled my entire career. Don’t miss an installment or podcast! Sign up! On today’s program:Charlottesville’s Fire Chief gives an update on his efforts to move the Fire Department into the 21st century by playing a major EMS role Dr. Denise Bonds of the Blue Ridge Health District updates City Council on COVID and vaccinations And City Council tells staff to advertise a tax rate increase of ten cents as they build the budget year for fiscal year 2023The first shout-out goes 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!Charlottesville Pandemic updateAll of today’s program focuses on Council and let’s start with the second thing first, followed by the last thing second, and the first thing last. The director of the Blue Ridge Health District appeared before Charlottesville City Council last night for another update on the pandemic. Dr. Denise Bonds reminded Council there’s been a surge of COVID cases since December that is only just now beginning to recede.“This of course represents omicron, the highly contagious variant that causes thousands and thousands of cases across the United States and really the world,” Dr. Bonds said. Today the Virginia Department of Health reports another 4,689 new cases and the percent positivity has further declined to 19.1 percent. Dr. Bonds said there is still a high transmission risk in the community that’s much higher than at most parts of the pandemic. She recommends people continue to be vigilant. “Even though generally omicron is much milder and we have a large percentage of our population that are vaccinated and thus either weren’t infected or didn’t suffer illness that was as serious, there’s a high number of unvaccinated individuals in our community who are still driving very high hospital numbers,” Dr. Bonds said. Dr. Bonds said this surge also saw increases in cases with children under the age of 11, particularly with vaccines still not being authorized for those under 5 but that may happen in the near future. “However the numbers are really still being driven by adults at this point in time,” Dr. Bonds said. So far, Dr. Bonds said the Omicron subvariant has yet to be found in Virginia. She urges people to continue to get vaccinated.“There have continued to be individuals that get their first vaccination and we’re up by almost a thousand individuals since the last time I spoke with you about a month ago so that’s great!” Dr. Bonds said. Dr. Bonds also said it is crucial that people who have not had their booster dose yet to get it as soon as possible. She also encourages people to upgrade their mask from cloth to at least a surgical or medical mask. Yesterday, the Virginia Supreme Court declined to hear a lawsuit filed by parents in Chesterfield County against Governor Glenn Youngkin’s revocation of a mask mandate in public schools. Councilor Sena Magill asked Dr. Bonds her opinion.“The CDC definitely recommends that mask use is an important mitigation strategy for both adults and children in school,” Dr. Bonds said. “I no longer have school age children but if I did have school age children I would have them wear masks in school.” Dr. Bonds said the long-term ramifications of a COVID infection are not yet known because even after nearly two years of a pandemic, the virus is still novel. For a list of places where you can get a vaccine, visit the Blue Ridge Health District website. Council directs staff on tax rate So far this year, Council has had two discussions of the budget for the next fiscal year but they gave their first significant direction Monday night. At their work session last Thursday, Council were told they needed to decide whether they wanted to advertise an increase in the tax rate above 95 cents per $100 of assessed value. For all of that discussion, go back to Saturday’s installment of this newsletter. Senior Budget Analyst Krisy Hammill said that a five-cent increase in the tax rate would not be enough to cover the additional debt service for a capital improvement plan that includes $75 million for renovations to Buford Middle School. Council also wants to honor the goal of putting $10 million toward affordable housing initiative for at least ten years. “In actuality, the five-cent tax increase does not afford the $75 million addition,” Hammill said. Hammill showed a variety of different scenarios, but said five-cents are all that is needed to be dedicated to capital. “Ten cents we don’t need,” Hammill said. “Seven isn’t quite there but seven and a half is a little more than we need so I think we’re somewhere seven and eight cents to comfortably cover $75 million.” The update to Council was not on the agenda for the meeting but was delivered during the report from the Interim City Manager. (February 7 presentation)Deputy City Manager Ashley Marshall said comparing tax rates doesn’t tell the whole picture. For instance, Roanoke has a tax rate of $1.22 per assessed value, but there’s a reason. “The average median house cost is $225,000 so when you think of that and a $1.22 tax rate, it’s going to hit a little different than in Loudoun County, where the average median home value is $625,000,” Marshall said. This year, residential assessments went up 11.7 percent and 67 households lost the ability to apply for tax relief because they now exceed the $375,000 cap. The city would have to ask the General Assembly for a charter amendment to increase that amount. Hammill showed a slide that depicted how much of a tax increase would occur. For instance, a hypothetical property assessed at $300,000 paid $3,487 in 2021. That would increase to $3,895 in 2022 without a tax increase. That would increase to $4,305 in 2022 with a ten cent tax increase. Deputy City Manager Sam Sanders said a ten cent tax increase would also allow more funding for the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund to meet the affordable housing fund, a local match to extend a federal grant for firefighters (see below) and more. That had the support of Vice Mayor Juandiego Wade.“I think that at least even though we may not do the whole ten cents to give the staff direction tonight at least to go with that so we know we can’t go higher but we can certainly go lower,” Wade said. Councilor Michael Payne said he would support that rate. “We’re not even having a serious conversation until you begin with a ten cent real estate tax increase because otherwise it is not affordable,” Payne said. “I’m comfortable with advertising that at the rate to start out conversation but I still don’t think that gets us to a point where we are having a realistic conversation about the state of our budget.”Mayor Lloyd Snook said he was concerned about raising the property tax rate this year because of the assessment increase, but called Charlottesville undertaxed. He said he wanted to increase a half-percent raise in the meals tax. That would yield just over $1.25 million according to staff projections. “At meals tax, we are at the moment I believe just a little on the low side and that may give us a little more than a million plus a year,” Snook said. Councilor Brian Pinkston said he supported the advertisement of ten cents.“I’m not personally convinced yet that we need to raise it by a dime,” Pinkston said. “Maybe we do. Maybe it’s seven and a half cents. I’m not sure. Maybe it’s just a nickel but for me it is just for the purposes of this conversation tonight is the advertisement piece.” Councilor Sena Magill took ownership.“I support advertising it,” Magill said. “It was my idea.” With that, the recommendation was officially made and check the classified section of the Daily Progress this weekend. The unscheduled conversation took an hour. At this point in mind, do remember that advertising a tax rate is not the same as adopting one. There are a lot more variables that may come into play between now and April. Some other budget items that were brought up include the potential of using $3 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to pay back the general fund for the use of FY21 surplus money to pay COVID-related bonuses to employees. The school system is also hoping to use up to $8 million in ARPA funding toward school infrastructure above and beyond school reconfiguration. “That’s still a number which is not in any of the scenarios that I presented to you,” Hammill said. Hammill said the budget staff is anticipating a surplus in FY22 as well as in previous years. “A lot of our big revenues, they are performing better than we had originally projected as we continue to recover from COVID,” Hammill said. Shout out to the Sisters Project Peru:In today’s second subscriber-supported public service announcement, this Friday an art auction will be held at the Fry’s Spring Beach Club to help raise funds for a sustainable medical clinic in rural Peru. The Sisters Project Peru was created to increase access to to healthcare in order to improve quality of life and empower women in Huacahuasi, a rural village in the Sacred Valley of Peru. The art auction will be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. with light refreshment and live music. Covid protocol is in effect and masks are required. Learn more at SistersProjectPeru.com. Registration in advance is required. Fire Chief Smith presents 21st century vision for the Charlottesville Fire DepartmentIn the early part of the City Council meeting, Fire Chief Hezedean Smith has a long conversation with the five-elected officials. Smith has been in the position since December 2020 and he wanted to reflect on the time so far. “There’s been a lot of tragedy within our community and fortunately our firefighters, they remain committed in terms of serving the community to their fullest, in spite of COVID and in spite of all the other challenges that they face,” Smith said. Last year, a structure fire on Cherry Avenue killed two people, the first fatalities from a fire since 2010. Smith said another challenge was the fire on January 13 at the Charlottesville Towers apartment complex in North Downtown. No one was killed, but many residents were displaced and returned to smoke-damaged units. “We’re committed and we’re embracing the forces that are impacting the 21st century fire and emergency services in our community, certainly in alignment with what’s going on across the United States, “ Smith said. “Charlottesville is no stranger to multiple all-hazards type of incidents that we have to be prepared to respond to.” During his time, the Fire Department has adopted a strategic plan which is “employee-driven.” Chief Smith said the goal is to become a “21st century fire service” as defined by a white paper issued by the Center for Public Safety Excellence. (read the white paper) (EMS Agenda 2050)“And alongside that, there’s an EMS agenda for the future which kind of looks at how you should prepare yourselves now as we move forward into the future and what are the elements related to an EMS system?”  Smith asked. “Fortunately for us we are a fire-based EMS system service model which is a little bit different than it was years ago when we were just focused only on fire. We are an all-hazards department.”Before Smith arrived, the Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded Charlottesville a nearly $3.5 million grant under the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response program. That allowed the fire department to hire 15 additional personnel. Last year the dispatch system was changed in order to speed up response times. “About eight minutes, ideally,” Smith said. “That’s the framework that we have established and ultimately we have demonstrated through a GIS analysis to confirm that we should be able to arrive at an incident within that period of time.” That dispatch system also matches the system used by Albemarle County in order to help regional cooperation and mutual aid. “And we are just basically trying to align our protocols and our response model to meet the needs of our community so at any one time we know where all of our units are located in the city,” Smith said. Smith said that later this month the Fire Department will release an app called PulsePoint to alert people to others who are having cardiac arrests nearby in the hopes of getting cardio-pulmonary resuscitation happening as early as possible. “We provide CPR training, we identify neighborhoods that are at risk, and education them on proper living and things of that sort,” Smith said. “It’s not just about running with lights and sirens to medical calls and car accidents and things of that nature. It’s actually becoming more engaged in our community and educating our community and hopefully they can recognize early signs and symptoms of strokes, heart attacks, and things of that sort.”Smith said data shows that the 10th and Page neighborhood in particular is first in cardiac arrests and third in diabetic emergencies.  Last year, representatives from the Charlottesville-Albemarle Rescue Squad (CARS) complained to Council that the new dispatch system shuts them out of service calls. Smith said he has since met with their chief and other top officials and said they will play a role in the future. “One of their goals, goal 3, looks at mobile integrated health, exploring roles of the providers with mental health,” Smith said. “CARS’ community involvement, CPR training, stop-the-bleed training, all of those things are of essence for us,” Smith said. Smith’s appearance before Council came at the same time the budget for FY23 is being put together, including the five-year capital plan. The draft budget shows an additional spending of $1.2 million for a replacement for the bypass fire station, for a total of $4.2 million in authorization for bonds that have not yet been issued. Smith hopes Council will continue to support this expenditure and consider others in the future. “It’s dilapidated, it’s sad,” Chief Smith said. “I don’t know if you’ve been in there but it’s unfortunate that our firefighters have to live there. Ultimately the Ridge Street fire station also has to be on the roadmap as well because that is just as old if not older with cracks in the wall that we’ve been monitoring for a number of years.”The Ridge Street station was built in 1959. The bypass station was built in 1950, according to the city’s property records. Senior Budget Analyst Krisy Hammill said that additional money should fully fund the project. Chief Smith also said firefighters also have to be paid more and said they are not making as much as those in Albemarle. “I am pleading with you to support our firefighters because it ties in with retention, it ties in with recruitment, it ties in with their families,” Smith said. “I can probably count on one hand how many of them live in the city of Charlottesville. They travel for hours sometime to come and serve this community.” 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

We’re well into the year now, with new people in different political roles, even though most of us are stuck in the same lives we’ve always been in. It’s February 5 and we’re now over a tenth of the way through 2022. There’s still a lot to go, so this is a good day to imagine how that other ninety percent may look. This is Charlottesville Community Engagement, and I’m your host, Sean Tubbs.On today’s show:It’s the first meeting for new interim City Manager Michael C. RogersCharlottesville City Council gets another close look for budget at the next fiscal yearProperty assessments have brought in new revenue but a tax increase will be needed to cover the growing capital budget At least three Councilors appear ready to raise the property tax by ten cents this year Shout-out to Pen Park burial researchIn today’s subscriber-fueled shout-out, work continues to identify people whose remains are buried just outside a cemetery in Charlottesville’s Pen Park. The Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society and the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library will give an update in a webinar on Wednesday, February 9 on the Forgotten History of Pen Park: Unmarked Graves of Enslaved Persons. The panel will discuss the research thus far to identify the unmarked graves of enslaved individuals outside the Gilmer, Craven, and Hotopp family cemeteries and the connections that are being made to living descendants. Speakers include Charlottesville’s historic preservation planner, researchers and descendants. Visit the library’s website at jmrl.org to register. Also go watch the first installment from past June on the Historical Society’s YouTube page. Council appears ready to increase property tax rate Charlottesville City Council met for over three hours on Thursday for a work session on the city’s next budget. In an era with lots of turnover on both staff and Council, the budget remains one of the best ways to gauge the health of the city organization, at least from a financial and fiscal perspective. Now it’s up to a new City Council to make the decisions that will lead the community forward. There are two new Councilors who have not yet been through the process of a new budget. There are three who have mostly only served during the virtual era brought on by the pandemic, a time that’s felt a little disconnected for many of us. Still, the city has moved on, continuing a trajectory towards increased spending on capital projects. In FY13, the five-year capital improvement plan was $65 million. In FY2018 that had increased to $106 million. In FY22 that figure is now $159 million with previous Councils agreeing to make major investments in affordable housing as well as school reconfiguration.But the question remains? How exactly will City Council decide how this will be paid for? The process got officially underway on February 3 at a budget work session in which the new Council stated their values and indicated their willingness to increase the property tax rate. One of the first things was to hear from Michael C. Rogers, the new interim city manager. (watch the presentation)“Our discussion is the first discussion about the FY23 budget,” Rogers said. Some decisions have already been made well in advance of the official kick-off. In September, three members of this Council told budget staff to take over $18 million in the capital improvement plan that had been intended for the West Main Streetscape and put it toward a $75 million investment in city schools.  They also adopted an affordable housing plan in March which calls for $10 million a year on affordable housing projects such as the redevelopment of Friendship Court and Charlottesville public housing sites. As the budget cycle officially begins, the central question is how to pay for these decisions made by a previous Council. Now it’s up to this one to decide whether to proceed and at what cost. A majority on Council appears willing to raise the property tax rates, even in a year with near record increases in property assessments. (Read previous stories on budget development on Information Charlottesville) Assessments up more than normalAt the beginning of the February 3 work session, Rogers helped inform the answer with new information that had not yet been revealed.  (view the presentation for the February 3, 2022 meeting)“There has been a tremendous boost in terms of the assessed value of property,” Rogers said. Assessments were up an average of 10.77 percent this year, according to city assessor Jeffrey Davis. “The reassessments saw a larger than normal increase this year and that was due mainly to the overall strength of the residential market,” Davis said. In 2022 residential property increased 11.7 percent. That figure was 4.2 percent in 2021 and 3.8 percent in 2020. Commercial property values rebounded this year. All of the property assets added together make up what’s called the tax base. Davis said the rise in assessments from 2021 to 2022 have yielded an additional $860.8 million to the base. In comparison, the increase from 2020 to 2021 added $250.3 million to the base. These numbers will remain in flux as property owners pursue appeals. (learn more on the assessor’s website)“We are right now in the process of handling appeals and we will be doing that,” Davis said. “The appeal period ends at the end of February and at that time we will look to prepare for the Board of Equalization which will hear appeals in May.” A budget is built by staff who make forecasts about how much revenue the city will bring in. Sources include local taxes, licenses and permits, charges for services, and revenue from state and federal sources. There’s also a line item for revenue sharing from Albemarle County. But the biggest source of revenue is from property taxes. In the current fiscal year which runs through this June 30, budget staff projected $80.3 million in revenues from property taxes, or 41.8 percent of total revenues. The increase in assessments will bring in additional revenues for the current fiscal year, and will also yield additional revenue on which to build the FY23 budget. “We are looking at a revenue increase of $14.8 million for the FY23 budget,” said Krisy Hammill, the city’s senior budget analyst. Of that figure, real estate makes up $8.3 million of that increase, and the rest is made up through projected increases in revenues from the sales tax, meals tax, and the lodging tax. Hammill said that means the city can build a budget of $207 million for FY23, up from the adopted budget of $192.2 million.All of this is based on an assumption the property tax rate will remain at 95 cents per $100 of assessed value. It’s been at that rate since calendar year 2008. (cvillepedia)“As staff, we have not made any assumptions about any kind of tax increase at this point,” Hammill said. Additional expenditures for FY23 will take up much of that $14 millionBefore we get to the capital portion of the budget, another driver is further salary increases for city employees. Council agreed earlier this year to allocate the budget surplus from FY21 to cover the cost of a bonus as well as a six percent across the board increase. That means FY23’s operating budget must carry on that charge at a cost of $3.2 million and further merit pay increases are also being considered to help retain staff in an era of fierce competition. “We have priced out here a potential three percent merit increase,” Hammill said. “That would be at a cost of $1.7 million.”  There is no budget yet but we do know that there have been $10.655 million in requests from city departments, with just under half of this in the form of new positions. Another $3 million is for compensation requests, and just under $2.5 million are for operational additions. Specific decisions about individual line items will be made as Council goes through the budget in March. The key takeaway for Hammill’s presentation was one of revenue.“Numberwise, it’s a good story to tell,” Hammill said. “We have $14 million in new revenue. The challenging part is that we always have more needs than we have resources and so how do we best prioritize and parse through and figure out the trade-offs?”And that’s the task ahead for staff and Council. The budget won’t officially be presented until March 7 but until then there will continue to be lots of discussion about the capital improvement plan. “As we move on, we know that this plan is not affordable as currently laid out without significant revenue enhancements,” Hammill said. “We have to figure out a way to pay for it.” The debt service payment would double if all of the bonds for all of the projects were floated next year. Hammill said Council needs to review the capital budget carefully.“If ever there was a time when priorities take a very high look, this is the opportunity to do that,” Hammill said. Towards an inevitable tax rate increase?The discussion of whether to move forward with a tax rate was led by Interim City Manager Rogers. He said Council does not have ready access to that $14 million made available through the assessment. “There are some decisions that have already been made that impact how that new revenue can be used,” Rogers said. “Some of the decisions have already been made. Some of it is that we are recommending based on prior discussion that certain investments continue to be made in employees and retirees.”The school system gets a percentage of that new revenue based on a formula, and that would yield $3.3 million. However, the school system has asked for more and staff is recommending an additional $900,000. There’s another $1 million slated for enhancements for tax relief programs, $1.8 million in equipment repair and replacement related to COVID, and other recommended uses of the money.“At the end of the day when we look at all of the availability of revenue and all of the things that we have listed that are up for funding, there’s not a lot of money that’s left if it goes that way,” Rogers said.Hammill said there’s about a half million left from that $14 million. Rogers said that means that if Council wants to support that capital budget, there will need to be an increase in the tax rate. Council discussionCouncilor Sena Magill said she is prepared to raise the rate even on top of the assessments because she said Charlottesville has one of the lowest municipal tax rates of its peer cities. “There are some things coming up that we have to make sure that we’re, we know we have to do something about schools,” Magill said. “I know we’re also still trying to figure out reconfiguration from renovation from all of these parts and pieces. But I know we do know to sink a lot of money into our schools to bring them up to a place where the buildings are environments that are conducive to learning and good mental health.” Vice Mayor Juandiego Wade, who served for 16 years on the School Board, said he supported additional funding for the schools. “The cost of the schools are not going to get any cheaper,” Wade said. “If we had made some of these decisions in the past instead of $75 million maybe it would have been $60 million or $65 million. It would have been cheaper.” Planning for reconfiguration took place during Wade’s tenure on the school board. To learn more about those decisions, visit cvillepedia. City Councilor Michael Payne said he wanted to continue to honor the $10 million a year agreed to in the Affordable Housing Plan adopted by Council last March. “Even if we’re not able to immediately get there this budget cycle, to have a clear plan for how we will very shortly maintain that commitment over ten years,” Payne said. On February 22, Council will receive the final report on an audit of the Charlottesville Affordable Housing fund. (See also: Council briefed on affordable housing funds, December 31, 2021)Payne also wants additional local funding for public transportation as one way to implement a future climate action plan. He also wants money set aside for higher salaries when the city implements a collective bargaining system for city employees. Councilor Brian Pinkston said he supports funding for the school.  “Local governments build schools,” Pinkston said. “That’s like a core competency of what we should be doing to advance. It’s more than just building shiny new buildings. There’s an investment in physical capital that reflects human capital as well.”Pinkston asked the public to accept the potential to reduce the cost of reconfiguration through value engineering discussed at Council’s joint meeting with the School Board on Wednesday. He also said he supported continued spending on affordable housing. Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook agreed that it is the role of the city to invest in schools, and that Councilors in recent years have seen providing affordable housing as a core city function. “That not withstanding, this Council and prior Councils have decided that it is something that is a priority of ours and it gets hard after a while to figure out what it means to be one of those core things that cities have to do if we keep adding more things to that list,” Snook said. Snook said collective bargaining will also lead to the need for more employees to handle the negotiations, and that will be another added moving forward. Charlottesville has also taken additional EMS positions paid for through a federal grant that will eventually run out. “Part of the issue there of course is the ongoing concern that has not really been addressed at all between the Rescue Squad and the Fire Department and that’s an issue that we need to be working on whether that has an actual budget impact on the next fiscal year , I don’t know,” Snook said. “It seems to me that it may well.” The draft capital improvement program shown to the Planning Commission in November anticipated issuing bonds for the school reconfiguration project in FY2024, which means a tax increase this year to pay for the debt service would not be strictly necessary. But Hammill said saving up the money now could help the success of the project. “I do think that if we had an opportunity to decide where we are definitively, then there is a lot of opportunity for staff to come back and give you more definitive options to weigh against,” Hammill said. Councilor Payne said he wanted to see scenarios for various situations ranging from cutting the budget to adding more revenue. “And I think within those scenarios has to be not just what we choose to find in the CIP but also the other variable of is a majority of Council in support of a ten cent real estate tax increase?” Payne asked. “Fifteen? Twenty? Five?”Payne suggests other revenue sourcesPayne is also holding out hope that the General Assembly will grant permission to localities including Charlottesville to enact a one-percent sales tax increase for education. Legislation in the House of Delegates filed by Delegate Sally Hudson (D-57) did not make it out of committee (HB531) (HB545) but a bill carried by Senator Creigh Deeds (D-25) did pass out of the Senate on a 28 to 12 vote (SB298). Bills need to be approved by both Houses in order to go before Governor Glenn Youngkin for action. “And the state’s commission on school funding was very explicit in saying that the only solution was state level,” Payne said. Payne referred to the Virginia Commission on School Construction and Modernization, which offered several recommendations in December. (read them here)Payne also suggesting finding a way to get the University of Virginia to contribute to the city through something called a Payment in Lieu of Taxes which you can look up in the state code.“It’s longer term but it seems like a discussion we should engage the University on,” Payne said. “I know that’s something that the University of Michigan, Yale, Harvard, and many other institutions have done.”UVA is exempt from paying property taxes and none of the examples he gave are in Virginia. Rogers took all of the information in.“It’s a lot to think about and we appreciate that and this part of the program was precisely what we had hoped for,” Rogers said. Deadline looms for tax rate advertisementA tax rate has to be advertised to the public thirty days before the public hearing and Hammill said that means a decision on a tax rate to publish needs to be made by Council by February 14. “February 14 is the day I really need to be calling up the Daily Progress so we’re short on time in that respect,” Hammill said. Mayor Snook said that Council will make a final decision on the tax rate to advertise at its meeting this upcoming Monday.  After a public comment period, they further discussed the matter. Councilor Payne suggested one scenario.“If our baseline scenario is funding everything currently in the CIP, I would think that at a minimum we would need to discuss ten cents,” Payne said. “If we’re talking about five cents or lower, again, I think we just need to be very honest with ourselves and the public that that means not funding the affordable housing plan for a decade.” Payne also said without a higher tax increase, there would be no funding to expand transit, address climate change, begin collecting bargaining, and continued support for Friendship Court’s redevelopment. “And I don’t think that’s what the community wants to see our decision to be,” Payne said. Another issue is whether Council should provide city funding two additional Piedmont Housing Alliance projects that they approved earlier this year. (See also: Council approves MACAA rezoning for Piedmont Housing Alliance and Habitat for Humanity)Magill was very clear.“I am very much for raising taxes,” Magill said. “I think we have to do it for a lot of reasons.”Pinkston said he needed more time to decide on a tax rate but appeared supportive of one. “I don’t know all the reasons why our tax rates are relatively low,” Pinkston said. “You know, I’m open to a ten cent increase because I think that’s what it’s going to take to get where we need to go.” Pinkston suggested five cents this year, and the other five cents next year. Interim City Manager Michael Rogers closed up the meeting. “We can take this and go back and Krisy and the revenue team and we can really dig in with the deputy city managers and try to come city manager is going to come back with something that will meet your needs,” Rogers said. What do you think? 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

Poetry is a way that might guide our future decisions, and Robert Frost is not alone in writing works about decisions that were not made. Later this year, I may celebrate my 20th anniversary in Charlottesville. Today, I present another snapshot into items happening in the community where most readers and listeners call home. This shortened edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement is due to a sudden decision I’ve made to travel to revisit roads I’ve already driven down at 3 a.m. On today’s program:UVA sets a record for applications A new Charlottesville City Council takes their first steps towards adopting a new budget for the next fiscal yearIn today’s shout-out, a shout-out to the shouters-of out! I want to thank all of the individuals and entities that have supported this newsletter and podcast through a $25 a month Patreon contribution or through some other combination of support. Thanks to the Charlottesville Jazz Society, Code for Charlottesville, LEAP, the Rivanna Conservation Alliance, Lonnie Murray and his penchant for native plants, WTJU, the Albemarle-Charlottesville Historical Society, the Jefferson Madison Regional Library, the Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards, Cville 350, Piedmont Master Gardeners, and of course, the Valley Research Center. More in 2022. 50K apply for UVA undergraduateThe Cavalier Daily is reporting that the University of Virginia has set a new record of undergraduate applications with 50,813 people seeking to be part of the Class of 2026. For more information, read Eileen Powell’s article from January 25 to learn more about the demographic make-up of applicants. Twenty-eight percent of applicants are from within the state of Virginia.In the fall of 2021, there were 18,066 undergraduates on Grounds and 9,049 graduates for a total of 27,115 in Charlottesville. According to the admissions office, two-thirds are from Virginia. Learn more on their website. Council retreat: The financial portion The first Charlottesville City Council retreat held during the virtual era era took place yesterday, and the morning session served a last-minute tune-up before the budget season for FY23 begins in February (view the presentation). Let’s hear from Krisy Hammil, the city’s senior budget analyst about where we are in the process.“In January and in February, we’re continuing to work on developing the budget, balancing it, and trying to figure out what our revenue forecast will look like,” Hammill said. “And then in February, we have to advertise our tax rate.” The tax rate has been set at 95 cents per $100 of assessed property value since 2008. In the past year, the previous City Council indicated theoretical support for an increase to support the reconfiguration of city schools. A bill to allow Charlottesville to hold a referendum on a one percent sales tax for education has passed the Senate, but a companion bill in the House of Delegates remains in a House Finance subcommittee. “In March, the City Manager will present his proposed budget to Council and then throughout the month of March, Council will meet with the public, review the proposed budget, make its own suggestions, add its own touch to the budget, and then in April you will formally make it your own budget by adopting it and that will become the budget for the following year,” Hammill said. If there is to be a property tax increase, this will need to be advertised to the public 30 days in advance of the public hearing for the budget. Another key piece of information that will be factored in will be the 2022 assessments, which are expected to be mailed out on Friday. “February 14 is essentially the magic date by which we will have the budget balanced and what I mean by that is we will know the maximum amount that we are willing to increase our budget,” Hammill said. Mayor Lloyd Snook said he did not want to weigh in without the assessment data in hand.“It would be premature for us today to start talking about the assumptions that are going to be in as a result of that,” Snook said. Snook said a budget work session on February 3 might be a good time to have that discussion. Councilor Sena Magill said she is expecting the rate will increase.“I kind of assumed that we were having to raise this taxes year beyond school reconfiguration issues just between the need to make up some grants that are ending, the need to look at collective bargaining and what that’s going to cost us,” Magill said. One of the issues is whether any action Council takes with the budget will allow it to retain a AAA bond rating, which allows debt to be floated with a very low interest rate. Kevin Rotty is a financial advisor who helps city staff with capital financing and he said policies will drive whether the ratings agencies will maintain that status. “Your policies and procedures, your strategic planning, stuff like this is very important,” Rotty said. “Council being in line with staff, obviously we’ve had some change in turnover at the City Manager level and we’ll get questions on that, but Council being on the same page and doing planning exercises like this and then your core staff having the history in budget and economic development and finance is very important to the management score there.”The way that will play out in Charlottesville is with the increasing trend for the capital improvement program over the last few years, with Council agreeing to large projects.But that portion of Charlottesville Community Engagement will need to wait for another day. Listen to the end of the podcast for an explanation why. There’s a lot more of this story to go. And if you can’t wait to hear the rest, please go watch the whole thing yourself. I will get to it in future editions, but I hope that you can see in this shortened edition that there’s always new information waiting to come down to inform how decisions will be made. Council will have a budget work session with the School Board on February 2. The public hearing for the tax rate will be on March 21. 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

Start Artist Album Time Album Year Guranfoe Night's First Light 8:51 Sum Of Erda 2019 0:10:51 The Guess Who Three More Days 8:47 `70 Share The Land 1970 0:19:38 The Guess Who Undun 3:25 Canned Wheat 1969 0:23:03 The Guess Who No Time 3:41 American Woman 1970 0:27:50 Guilt Machine Perfection? 10:40 On This Perfect […]

When the cold and snow settle in the Midwest, it's time to heat things up in the Windy City Irish Radio studios and there's no better way than to lay down some new tasty tracks from Irish artists spanning the globe -- some old faces and some new faces but lots of new music this week from Billow Wood, Lunasa, Eleanor McEvoy, Planxty, Socks In the Frying Pan, Damien McGeehan, Dervish with Steve Earl, House of Hammill, Colm Gavin, The Byrne Brothers, Lee Hayes, and the Fitzgeralds.  So put some turf on the fire, pull your favorite pint and listen to Chicago's most popular Irish Radio show, Windy City Irish Radio.  Listen live locally at 750 WNDZ Chicago, live streamed on Global Irish Radio at www.globalirishradio.com, or on our website at www.windycityirishradio.com.  Stay warm out there!!

We’re now less than a week away from the solstice, which takes place at precisely 10:59 a.m. on December 21 on the eastern coast of the United States. Until then we’ve got a few more days of lengthening night before the pendulum shifts back to light and the march to 2022 continues with new energy. Between now and then there will be a few installments of Charlottesville Community Engagement and this is the one for December 16, 2021. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs.Charlottesville Community Engagement is a great way to find out about what’s happening and how you can get involved It’s free to sign-up, but there are many opportunities to support the work!On today’s show:Brian Pinkston and Juandiego Wade are officially sworn in as City Councilors, as well as members of the Charlottesville School BoardVirginia Tech and a Richmond consortium have both been awarded half-million grants for economic development A pair of transit updates, including the fact that Charlottesville Area Transit will remain fare-free for four years The Charlottesville Planning Commission provides direction on Charlottesville’s next capital budget In today’s first 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. COVID UpdateThe number of new COVID cases in Virginia continues to climb, but the percent positivity has dipped slightly. This morning the Virginia Department of Health reported another 3,688 new cases and 102 of those are in the Blue Ridge Health District. Statewide the seven-day percent positivity is 8.5 percent and in the BRHD it’s at 7.2 percent. New elected officials sworn-inThere are still 15 days left in 2021, and City Councilors Heather Hill and Nikuyah Walker have one more meeting on Monday. The near future became a little closer on Wednesday as two incoming City Councilors and three members of the Charlottesville School Board took the oath of office on the steps of Charlottesville Circuit Court. The School Board went first with newcomers Emily Dooley and Dom Morse sworn in individually with family members at their side. Second-termer Lisa Larson-Torres went next. Then it was time for City Councilor-elect Brian Pinkston followed by Juandiego Wade. I asked both if they are ready to take on the task. “You know, I think I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” Pinkston said. “I joke that it’s a little like getting married or having a kid. You think what you’re getting into but it’s not what you expected. There’s good part and bad parts to that and so the short answer is yes. I’m ready. I’m excited about it. I’m going to roll up my sleeves and try to make a difference.” “I’m ready, I am prepared,” Wade said. “I feel like I’ve been preparing for this for the last years being connected and involved in the community. I feel like now is an opportunity for me to take my service and my commitment to the city to a different level.” In a separate ceremony that also took place yesterday morning, the members of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors were also sworn in, including newcomer Jim Andrews, who will represent the Samuel Miller District. Andrews joined third-term Supervisor Diantha McKeel (Jack Jouett) and two-term Supervisor Ned Gallaway (Rio). Transit updatesIn yesterday’s newsletter, there’s a lot of information about planning for a Regional Transit Vision that may include formation of an authority that could raise funds for expanded service. There’s also a second study underway to determine the feasibility of additional routes to serve urbanized portions of Albemarle County as well as Monticello. The results are in from a survey conducted on two potential scenarios according to Lucinda Shannon, a transportation planner with the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. (project website)“They found that most of the services that people selected in that public outreach was scenario 2 for all three of the areas which is a lot of microtransit connecting with some fixed routes,” Shannon said. The study also found that 98 percent of people who travel to Monticello do so in a car that they either own or rent. That’s based on 51 respondents. The U.S. 29 North survey got 104 responses and the Pantops survey got 54 respondents. The consultants hired for this project are Michael Baker International and Foursquare ITP. The next step is a Board of Supervisors meeting on January 19, according to Shannon. Charlottesville Area Transit will remain fare-free for the next four years. The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation awarded a $1.07 million grant through the Transit Ridership Incentive Program. CAT had already put some of the American Rescue Plan Act funding for this purpose, and the new grant covers fares for an additional year. CAT Director Garland Williams said he anticipates planned route changes will soon be implemented. The adjustments have been through the public process. Williams briefed the Regional Transit Partnership at their meeting on December 2. “We’re still moving forward and hoping to be able to implement in January unless something changes,” Williams said. Learn more about those route changes on the Charlottesville Area Transit website at catchthecat.org. In other news, Jaunt’s new chief executive officer has named Karen Davis the transit agency’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer. Davis served as interim CEO for exactly a year after the Board asked former CEO Brad Sheffield to resign. Ted Rieck started work as CEO earlier this month after heading a similar transit agency in Tulsa, Oklahoma. *Infrastructure grantsTwo entities in Virginia have been awarded $500,000 planning grants from the federal government to increase infrastructure necessary to increase commerce and trade. The U.S. Economic Development Authority awarded Build Back Better Regional Challenge awards to Virginia Tech and the Virginia Biotechnology Research Partnership Authority for initiatives that seek to create “regional industry clusters.” Virginia Tech’s application is called The Future of Transportation Logistics and covers a wide section of southwest and southern Virginia. The idea is to accelerate the adoption of electric and automated vehicles. “Projections by the World Economic Forum expect freight demand to triple by 2050,” reads their application. “This growing demand poses challenges from environmental degradation to a strained transportation workforce.”The New River Valley region includes three truck manufacturers, including the national headquarters for Volvo. The work will involve building a coalition to share information as well as demonstration projects such as upgrading a section of Interstate 81 between Salem to Dublin to accommodate automated vehicles. The Virginia Biotechnology Research Partnership Authority covers the Richmond and Petersburg area and is intended to create an Advanced Pharmaceutical and Research and Development cluster. “A staggering 73% of Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-registered active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) manufacturing facilities are located outside the United States,” reads that application. ”Overseas pharmaceutical manufacturing not only poses a security risk but also takes essential jobs away from the U.S.”Both entities will now be eligible to apply for additional funding from the U.S. Economic Development Authority to implement the projects. Thanks to Route 50 for the information on this grant program. (read their article)In today’s second subscriber-supported public service announcement: The Charlottesville Jazz Society at cvillejazz.org is dedicated to the promotion, preservation, and perpetuation of all that  jazz, and there’s no time like now to find a time to get out and watch people love to play. The Charlottesville Jazz Society keeps a running list of what’s coming up at cvillejazz.org. Sign up for their newsletter today. Tree canopy declineAt their meeting on Tuesday, the Charlottesville Planning Commission held three public hearings on three big topics. But first, they got updates from various committees. Commissioner Jody Lahendro and he relayed news from the Tree Commission about the forthcoming tree canopy study. A preliminary report states that the percentage of the city covered by trees has shrunk by at least four percent since 2015. “Because of COVID, the flyover for this tree canopy study was done in 2018 so it’s dated now,” Lahendro said. “The news is not great as you might imagine.” Lahendro said the city had a tree canopy of 50 percent in 2004 and that declined to 47 percent in 2009. “In 2014 it went down to 45 percent and in 2018, this latest, it’s to 40 percent,” Lahendro said. When you break the city down by neighborhood, nine out of 19 recognized areas are below 40 percent. Lahendro said that is the point where both health and economic development is affected.“And then two of our districts — Starr Hill and 10th and Page — are below twenty percent,” Lahendro said. “Those are where significant detrimental effects are happening.” Lahendro said the city is projected to lose 360 ash trees to emerald ash borers over the next five years. The city can only afford to treat 30 trees. Charlottesville’s FY23-27 CIP discussionThe Charlottesville City Planning Commission has made its recommendations for how to amend the draft capital budget for the next five years. That came at the end of a public hearing Tuesday that featured a discussion with City Council. Elected officials will make the final decision next spring as they adopt a budget that will be prepared under the supervision of a yet-to-be-named interim city manager. (draft FY23-FY27 CIP presentation to Planning Commission) (adopted FY22 budget)The Commission got a look at the information at a work session on November 23, and heard it a second time from Senior Budget Analyst Krissy Hammill in advance of the public hearing. To recap, the capital budget is close to capacity due to the increase of spending in recent years, including a $75 million placeholder for the reconfiguration of middle schools. Council has also authorized a reorientation of priorities to find more money for the schools project. (previous story)“There were some large projects that were previously authorized to use bonds for that we unfunded essentially to be able to move them to get us to a place where we could increase the $25 million for the school project,” Hammill said. “That was the West Main Street project which was originally in the CIP at $18.25 million and the 7th Street Parking Garage which we unfunded about $5 million of that project.”Hammill said to pay for the projects, the city will need additional revenue and will not be able to add any more capital projects for many years unless they are paid for in cash. The city has had a AAA bond rating from Standards and Poor since 1964 and from Moody’s since 1973. “Essentially the AAA bond rating gives the city the opportunity to borrow money at the lowest cost available so that means that more dollars are going to the projects and less dollars are going towards interest,” Hammill said. Hammill said the city is in good financial shape, but funding future investments will be a struggle. At the work session, Hammill invited ideas for further reallocations from other projects. She also said that the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will likely not be a salvation for the city. “Many of us in finance have sort of been waiting in the wings to find out what would be available and it’s actually not a one size fits all and it doesn’t deliver on a lot of what we already have in our CIP,” Hammill said. “So it not going to help us address our financing problems largely.”Another issue is that many of the funding sources will require local matches. She pointed out one opportunity for Charlottesville Area Transit to raise up to $37 million, but the city would have to provide a $2 million match.“That’s not in our curent CIP,” Hammill said. Revisising the Strategic Investment AreaThe two bodies discussed many aspects of the capital budget, including whether or not several general interest line items should be given additional funds in the next year’s budget. Councilor Lloyd Snook questioned one of them related to a 2013 small area plan known as the Strategic Investment Area. “One example would be that we’re suggesting another $200,000 for this coming year and three years beyond that for the [Strategic Investment Area] immediate area implementation,” Snook said. “And that balance in that account is over a million and has been as far as I can tell over a million dollars for quite a while.”Alex Ikefuna, the interim director of the Office of Community Solutions and former director of Neighborhood Development Services, said that balance has been used to pay for a $228,000 study of a form-based code for the area. Nolan Stout reported in the February 4, 2020 Daily Progress on the current Council’s decision to put that plan on hold indefinitely. Ikefuna pointed to one example of how the funding in the account will be used.“We have a Pollocks Branch pedestrian bridge which is currently being finalized for construction,” Ikefuna said. “There are several other project within the SIA that consume that balance.”One of them is a project to upgrade the streetscape on Elliot Avenue in an area where dozens of new homes have been built in the Burnet Commons area. The public housing site at South First Street is also expanding in residential density. Ikefuna also said the SIA fund could also be used for additional costs that may be incurred at Piedmont Housing Alliance’s redevelopment of Friendship Court. “Part of the Friendship Court project includes infrastructure improvement because they have to break up that neighborhood and then integrate that into the city’s grid,” Ikefuna said. “And they may have a cost overrun.”Council approved $5.5 million for the project in October 2020. (read my story)The current year’s capital budget allocated $2 million in cash for the line item of “Friendship Court Infrastructure Improvements” as well as $394,841 for Phase 1 and $750,000 for Phase 2. The draft five-year capital plan anticipates spending $2.5 million on Phase 2 in FY23, and a total of $3.25 million for phase 3 and $4.5 million for Phase 4. Ikefuna also said there’s a project called the Elliott Avenue Streetscape for which a design is almost complete. Snook said Council is not given information about what any of these plans are. “I assume somebody has a plan but it’s not been revealed to us,” Snook said. “I look at the next item. Small area plans. We’re putting in another $100,000 in and the balance of the project is $496,000.” Outgoing City Councilor Heather Hill had one suggestion for where that funding could go. In July 2020, Council chose to proceed with a Smart Scale project over the opposition of some nearby residents and businesses. (July 22, 2020 story on Information Charlottesville)“The Grady / Preston / 10th intersection area related to one of the VDOT projects for Smart Scale funding was identified at that time as something we would want to have more planning around because there was a lot of resistance that there wasn’t a lot of community engagement when that proposed plan was coming to fruition,” Hill said. According to the application for that project, the preliminary engineering phase will not begin until December 2025. There is no design for the Smart Scale project, which was funded on a set of parameters. “Preston Avenue will be realigned to create a consolidated intersection at Preston Avenue / Grady Avenue / 10th Street,” reads the application. “New sidewalks will be constructed throughout the project limits.”Hoping for a sales tax referendumSeveral commissioners expressed concern about the enormity of the school reconfiguration project. The draft plan shows $2.5 million in FY23 and $72.5 million in FY24. Hammill has previously said the money needs to be in place when a contractor is hired for new construction and renovation of Buford Middle School. The school project has not yet come directly before the Planning Commission. “The amount of that project is the entirety of the five-year [capital] FY2017 budget,” Stolzenberg said. “It’s this elephant in the room but it does seem like Council and the School Board have approved the project.” The idea of a dedicated one-cent sales tax increase has been floated to be dedicated funding for the project, but the General Assembly will have to approve a bill allowing Charlottesville voters decide on whether to impose it.“I really, really hope that if we go through with it that the sales tax comes through and frees us from this burden,” Stolzenberg said. Later in the meeting, Commissioners discussed several potential recommendations. One was whether to recommend increasing the amount for affordable housing. Here’s what’s in the proposed CIP. $3 million for the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority in FY23, and $9 million in the out yearsA base of $925,000 a year into the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund $900,000 a year to the CRHA to administer additional housing vouchers $2.5 million for the second phase of Friendship Court In March, Council adopted an affordable housing plan that set an ambitious spending target for each year, as noted by Stolzenberg. “It’s recommendations are pretty clear,” Stolzenberg said. “Ten million a year. $2 million are tax relief. A million to administration. So it’s really $7 million in direct subsidy and that’s all on page 49 of the plan for reference.” Here’s what the PC’s recommendations are:Reduce funding for the 7th Street parking structure funding to the minimum amount necessary to satisfy Charlottesville’s commitment to provide parking for Albemarle County per a 2018 agreement related to the joint General District Court that will be under construction.Find more more funds for the line items of tree planting, new sidewalks, and bicycle infrastructure, and hazardous tree removal. Reduce funds going to the line item for economic development strategic initiatives, small area plans, and Strategic Investment Area implementationFully fund the Stribling Avenue sidewalk project that Southern Development has agreed to pay upfront for as part of a rezoning that Council will consider in early 2022.Explore ways to add enhancements to the Drewary Brown Bridge to honor the Bridge Builders, potentially using a portion of funds for the West Main Streetscape. Increase budget for Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund and find ways to fund housing requests that were requested but not included in the draft budget, possibly directing any budget surpluses for this purpose. On Monday, City Council will hold first of two readings on a proposal to reallocate the $5.5 million surplus from FY21 to employee compensation and bonuses. They’ll also consider the transfer of $6.7 million in cash from a COVID reserve fund into the Capital Improvement Plan Contingency Fund. (staff report) This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Audrey Greenberg of Center for Breakthrough Medicine and the Discovery Labs talks with Mike Dever of Brandywine Asset Management about … Read More! The post Money Matters TV 21-49 Hammill appeared first on Money Matters TV.

Esta semana, en una nueva sesión de Rebelión Sónica, destacamos “In Disequilibrium”, el nuevo y segundo disco que unió al legendario cantante, compositor e instrumentista británico Peter Hammill (Van der Graaf Generator) con la banda de rock de cámara sueca, Isildurs Bane. Editado el 24 de septiembre con el sello Atraxia Records, el suceso de “In Amazonia” de 2019, “consta de dos suites contrastantes: ‘In Desequilibrium Parts 1-3’ y ‘Gently (Step By Step) Parts 1-4’. De acuerdo a la disquera, se trata de dos piezas “contrastantes repletas de intrincados arreglos para guitarra, instrumentos de percusión melódica, vientos de madera, suntuosos detalles orquestales, texturas orgánicas y contrapuntos rítmicos vigorizantes”. “Estas fueron las primeras letras que escribí mientras el mundo estaba en las garras de la pandemia de Covid y esto sin duda tuvo alguna influencia en la forma en que resultaron”, señaló Hammill. “In Disequilibrium” tardó 14 meses en registrarse y es “un triunfo de la cooperación creativa internacional. Con músicos contribuyendo con sus respectivas partes desde Bélgica, Dinamarca, Italia, Suecia, Reino Unido y , desde Estados Unidos, en calidad de invitado especial, el baterista de King Crimson, Pat Mastelotto”. “Una vez que Peter dijo que estaría interesado en volver a trabajar con nosotros, supimos que su voz, melodías y fuerte expresividad serían perfectas para el álbum”, dijo por su parte el compositor y tecladista principal de Iisildurs Bane, Mats Johansson. “Estoy sorprendido por la forma única que tiene Peter de encontrar nuevas formas de tejer melodías en las pistas que le iba enviando”. “Tuve que aprender a tocar partes en piano y guitarra junto con las pistas para averiguar dónde y cómo encajaba mi voz en la música”, respondió Hammill. “Por primera vez en términos de mi trabajo grabado con IB, una de estas partes de guitarra ha sobrevivido hasta la mezcla final. Qué placer ha sido volver a entrar en el complejo mundo musical de IB”. En la parte final del programa, viajamos 50 años al pasado en la trayectoria de Hammill, para escucharlo en Van der Graaf Generator, con material del tercer disco de la clásica banda inglesa: “H to He, Who Am the Only One” (1970).

The final day of November is upon us, but will soon give way to December. Eleven named for nine becomes twelve named for ten. Path dependence shows up in mysterious ways. In any case, this is the edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement with a time stamp of November 30. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs.Charlottesville Community Engagement is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.On today’s show:Scottsville prepares to use its Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area license for A Holiday HappeningMore on the preparation of Albemarle County’s capital improvement program Charlottesville City Council will again look for an interim city managerThe first bills of the 2022 Virginia General Assembly have been filedIn today’s first 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. Emergency meetingCharlottesville City Council no longer has an interim city manager on the way. Marc E. Woolley had been expected to begin work tomorrow. Council went into closed session at 12:30 p.m. today for an emergency meeting to discuss a personnel matter. Councilor Heather Hill read the motion.“Pursuant to § 2.2-3712 of the Virginia Code, I hereby move that City Council close this open meeting and convene within a closed meeting as authorized by Virginia Code… for the purpose of discussing of the withdrawal of the appointed city manager and the discussion, consideration, or interviews of perspective candidates for appointment or employment by City Council,” Hill said. Woolley had been expected to fill the vacancy left when former City Manager Chip Boyles resigned in late October. Boyles had been hired in January to replace former City Manager Tarron Richardson, who resigned at the end of September 2020 after about a year and a half. Earlier this month, Richardson sued the city for breach of contract related to a non-disparagement clause in his severance agreement. Richardson had replaced Maurice Jones, whose contract was not renewed in 2018 after nearly eight years in the job. Along the way, two other people have served as interim city manager.After publication of this newsletter, Daily Progress reporter Ginny Bixby reported that Woolley sent a letter to Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker last week.“I am writing to inform you and your fellow Council members that after careful consideration and in consultation with my family, I am withdrawing my application to become the Interim City Manager of the City of Charlottesville,” Woolley wrote. “This was not an easy decision for me and I want to thank the Charlottesville City Council for the opportunity and wish the residents of Charlottesville all the best.”Last week, the Planning Commission held a work session on the capital improvement program for fiscal year 2023. Charlottesville has a AAA bond rating that reflects a well-run and stable city. Commissioner Hosea Mitchell asked if that would continue based on the string of leadership vacancies and he’s answered by Krissy Hammill, a senior budget and management analyst. “Will the high turnover of city level management impact our bond rating?” Mitchell asked.“They do look at management as part of that analysis,” Hammill said. “To date that has not really been at the forefront of a lot of those conversations keeping in mind that the single-most goal of a bond rating is to assess out ability to pay our debt.”The city is currently being managed by Deputy City Managers Ashley Marshall and Sam Sanders. Council next meets on December 6. See also: January 14, 2021: Charlottesville hires Chip Boyles as City ManagerOctober 14, 2021: Boyles resigns as Charlottesville City Manager; Friendship Court agreement reauthorized by EDACouncil selects Marc Woolley as the latest interim City ManagerUnite the Right organizers owe millions in damages; Former City Manager Richardson sues the city over disparagement clauseFirst 2022 bills filedThe General Assembly doesn’t begin for another six weeks, but the first bills have been pre-filed. Two of three bills filed in the House of Delegates are charter requests for two towns to amend their charter to move municipal elections from May to November, and a third would remove the sunset date for a sales exemption on the sale of gold, silver, and platinum bullion. In the Senate, there are five bills so far. One would require the Virginia Employment Commission to establish a family and medical leave program, one would require school principals to report incidents to law enforcement, and another would require absentee ballots to be sorted by precinct. Another would limit the time a Governor’s executive orders could last under an Emergency Declaration, and another would require votes of the Parole Board to be individually recorded under the Freedom of Information act. The General Assembly convenes on January 12. (view pre-filed bills)Scottsville Holiday HappeningEarlier this year, the General Assembly adopted legislation allowing localities to create Designated Outdoor Refreshment Areas (DORA) where ABC licenses can be granted in the public realm. That means people can move from establishment to establishment while carrying alcoholic beverages in a designated cup. Several localities across Virginia have passed local ordinances allowing such events. This Saturday, the Town of Scottsville will offer this ability during A Holiday Happening. According to Town Administrator Matt Lawless, this is the third time the DORA has been used. “I was interested to kind of follow the progress of this setting up in state law,” Lawless said. “It originated with a neat mix of communities around the state from far Southwest to Richmond looking at how they could promote tourism and support their Main Street businesses.”Lawless said Scottsville has so far held an event to promote an art opening in September. “We had a Virginia of the Arts grant for installations in vacant storefronts,” Lawless said. “Folks can take out the food and drink and stroll around outside.” A second event held at Halloween for a puppy parade on Valley Street and Main Street. Lawless said these are not tailgate parties, and people can’t bring their own beer. The permit just allows people to consume beverages off premises. “So maybe what you’ve seen in the past on these events is like an outdoor event with a strict perimeter defined like with a snow fence,” Lawless said. “We don’t have to do that anymore. The drinks are labeled where they came from in a disposable container. So if we were checking on what is that and where did you get it, you could point to the licensed restaurant where you got it.”Lawless said sandwich boards suffice to mark the boundaries of the DORA. This Saturday’s event runs from 10 a.m to 8 p.m. with the ABC permit in effect from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m“If you’re ever visited a European Christmas Market, it might be kind of like that where we’ve got have the special farmer’s market with special arts and craft sales, musicians playing on sidelots, and then hot cider and mulled wine for sale at our restaurants that you can take up and down the street,” Lawless said. Lawless said a safety plan is created for each event and reviewed by ABC to make sure there are enough people on staff to help with public safety. In the summer, Charlottesville City Council was briefed on the idea but it was met with a lukewarm response with some Councilors concerned with unequal treatment. This story came about due to a story in the Cardinal by Megan Schnabel that takes a look at how Danville, Roanoke, and the town of Tazewell have used this ability for events. (read the story here)Let’s have a second Patreon-fueled shout-out. Colder temperatures are creeping in, and now is the perfect time to think about keeping your family warm through the holidays. Make sure you are getting the most out of your home with help from your local energy nonprofit, LEAP. LEAP wants you and yours to keep comfortable all year round, and 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 $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!Albemarle capital planningAlbemarle County’s budget process for Fiscal Year 2023 continues on Friday with another meeting of the Capital Improvement Program Advisory Committee. The group consists of two Supervisors, two School Board members, a Planning Commissioner, and a member of the public who happens to be a former Planning Commissioner.  (view the presentation)“I suspect that each of us have items on the not-included plan that we’d like to see moved up but it is a balance,” said Supervisor Donna Price of the Scottsville District. “We cannot do everything.” Perhaps when you think of capital projects, big items like schools and sidewalks come to mind. The next CIP in Albemarle will likely have an item called Core Systems Modernization which will seek to speed up how the county does business. Andy Bowman is the chief of budget in the Finance and Budget Office. “The technology systems that we use across the county government are disjointed, they’re antiquated, and they don’t allow the community to interact with our government in a way that we expect,’ Bowman said. “Over the next few years, we’re going to be embarking on new financial systems, new human resources systems, and new community development systems related to systems that are connected and enhance our customer and our employee experience.”The job of the CIP Advisory Committee is to help staff develop the five-year program. There’s a target of about $131 million in funding that may be available through FY2027. “For funding in Fiscal Year 2023 to 2027, there is a total of $457 million in projects that was requested,” Bowman said.The budget chief also gave a status report on projects under way. “There is $151 million in projects that are currently appropriated and underway from prior years that extend into Fiscal Year 2023 and beyond.”Those projects include sidewalk installation, the Southern Convenience Center in Keene, and upgrades of the county’s General District and Circuit court in downtown Charlottesville. Future projects that are waiting to be funded include further phases of Biscuit Run Park, future school capacity expansion, and a convenience center in the northern section of Albemarle. Supervisor Bea Lapisto-Kirtley suggested one item she wanted more information on.  “As far a project, I would like to make sure that at Darden-Towe our soccer fields are taken care of, upgraded, and when I say upgraded, regarding natural grass and putting in what needs to be done there to make sure that that’s a good playing field,” Lapisto-Kirtley said. Assistant County Executive Trevor Henry said a previous project had anticipated replacing the natural grass fields with artificial turf and adding lighting. Darden-Towe is jointly owned by Charlottesville and Albemarle.“Eventually that request was discussed in the calendar of 2018 and that was approved and bundled as part of the Parks’ quality of life projects,” Henry said. Henry said $2.5 million was approved for the project, with $2 million of that going for the installation of turf and the rest for the lighting. “That CIP request assumed use of cooperative contracts, meaning existing contracts in the state for both the turf project and the lighting project,” Henry said. “On a December 4 meeting of 2019,  a concern was raised by a Board member about the procurement methodology and several series of questions around the efficacy of turf, environmental concerns.”Henry said staff returned with more information later that winter, but the pandemic put a hold on further consideration of the effort. “The majority of capital projects were paused or deferred,” Henry said. When some of the projects were unpaused, the Darden-Towe project was not one of them. “And it’s back in the queue of all the other unfunded projects that have been requested or formally requested through this process,” Henry said. Since then, the Parks Department request has placed further funding of Biscuit Run as a higher priority. The Parks Department has asked for $8.5 million for the next four years to move into further phases of that future park’s development. After being told by Henry that the natural fields are well-maintained, LaPisto-Kirtley said she would support continuing that practice. School Board Chair Kate Acuff made the pitch for funding to modernize the existing high schools, something that she did not see within the draft CIP presented to the committee. The county in recent years has invested in two high school “centers” rather than a fourth stand-alone facility.“Because a new high school would be $150 million and we were able to craft this plan that including upgrading all of our schools  — Albemarle High School is 70 years old  — as well as the Centers for a fraction of that cost,” Acuff said. “It’s disappointed to me to see that has dropped out.” Acuff also said that over a hundred classrooms are in trailers. She said the county needs at least three more elementary schools.“We’re over capacity at Baker-Butler [Elementary] which is a northern feeder pattern [school] and construction of Brookhill [Elementary] would address that,” Acuff said. There are also overcrowding issues at Mountain View Elementary. A 27,000 square feet addition is underway at Crozet Elementary but Acuff said a third school in the western part of the county will be necessary soon. Of that $131 million, the schools will have access to $77.2 million according to Chief Financial Officer Nelsie Birch. The next meeting of the group will take place on Friday beginning at 1 p.m. 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

As of the typing of these words, there are 22 days until the solstice when our portion of the world will slowly begin illuminating a little more each day. This is the 333rd day of this year. What significance might there be in the number 4,444? Stick around for enough editions of Charlottesville Community Engagement, and that figure may one day show up. I’m your host Sean Tubbs, tracking the trivial and monitoring the memorable. On today’s show:Charlottesville’s Planning Commission gets a look at the preliminary capital budget for fiscal year 23University Transit Service buses return to full capacity More news about the transition team of Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin Let’s begin today with two Patreon-fueled shout-outs. The first comes a long-time supporter who wants you to know:"Today is a great day to spread good cheer: reach out to an old friend, compliment a stranger, or pause for a moment of gratitude to savor a delight."The second comes from a more recent 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!As the week begins, the Virginia Department of Health reports a seven-day average of 1,377 new cases and the seven-day percent positivity is at 6.1 percent. On Friday, the VDH reported the first fatality of a child from Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome. In the Blue Ridge Health District, there are another 55 new cases today and a seven-day percent positivity of 5.8 percent. There have been two more fatalities reported since Wednesday. Last week, the Jefferson Madison Regional Library entered into a partnership with the Virginia Department of Health to distribute at-home COVID-19 testing kits. The pilot program offers rapid antigen tests that are guided by a virtual assistant. “The test kits must be used away from the library, via an internet-connected device with a camera (including smart phones) with digital test results available within 15 minutes,” reads a press release. “Library staff cannot assist with administering tests, and tests cannot be taken inside any JMRL location.”Today marks the first day in a year and a half that passengers on University Transit Service buses will board from the front door. UTS has ended rules that required riders to board from the middle door. Capacity restrictions have also been dropped, meaning buses will be able to fill to standing. However, masks and facial coverings are still mandatory. The University Transit Service will also restore service to stops at Garrett Hall and Monroe Hall whenever UTS is serving McCormick Road. Those stops had been dropped to help UTS manage the capacity restrictions. Visit the UTS website to learn more about specific details.To learn more about transit, consider attending the Regional Transit Partnership’s meeting on Thursday at 4 p.m. On the agenda is a look at the Regional Transit Vision plan that is in development by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District. (agenda)Jaunt buses returned to 100 percent capacity earlier this year. There are a few local names on what Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin is calling his transition landing teams. The “landing teams that will coordinate with the cabinet secretaries from the current administration and conduct due diligence across all agencies so that the Youngkin administration will hit the ground running and begin delivering on its promises on Day One,” reads a press release from Wednesday.Senator Emmet Hanger (R-24) will serve on the Agriculture and Forestry team and Delegate Rob Bell (R-58) is on the Education team. Bell will also serve on the Public Safety and Homeland Security team. Senator Bryce Reeves (R-17) will be on the Veterans and Defense Affairs team. For the full list, take a look at the full press release. In today’s second subscriber-supported public service announcement: The Charlottesville Jazz Society at cvillejazz.org is dedicated to the promotion, preservation, and perpetuation of all that  jazz, and there’s no time like now to find a time to get out and watch people love to play. The Charlottesville Jazz Society keeps a running list of what’s coming up at cvillejazz.org. Sign up for their newsletter today. The Charlottesville Planning Commission got a look last week at a preliminary budget for the capital improvement program for the fiscal years 2023 through 2027. Council will vote next spring to approve the first year of spending, but decisions for future years would be for future versions of Council. (November 23 presentation) (watch the meeting)But first, what is a capital improvement program? Krissy Hammill is a Senior Budget and Management Analyst for the City of Charlottesville. “It’s basically a five-year financing plan that contains infrastructure type projects that usually cost more than $50,000,” Hammill said. “They’re generally non-recurring and non-operational and they generally have a useful life of five years or more.” Major items are usually funded by debt the city takes on in the form of bond sales. Investors front the money in exchange for a steady and guaranteed return. Like Albemarle County, Charlottesville has a AAA bond rating that is both attractive to investors and has a low interest rate. The latter results in a lower debt-service payment for the city. “We are actually part of a very small group of localities that have that rating,” Hammill said. “It is the premiere marker of a locality’s financial stability in strength.” In recent years, Council has increased the amount of spending on affordable housing initiatives, directly funding redevelopment of public housing and Friendship Court. In the past budget cycle, Council expressed a willingness to fund the configuration of City Schools. “We had a placeholder for that project at $50 million and based on Council’s direction from a meeting in October, that has now been increased from $50 million to $75 million,” Hammill said. “The funding has been moved up from FY25 to FY24. We also know that in doing this there will need to be additional revenue enhancements to pay for the additional debt service that will be required.”Revenue enhancements can be translated as “tax increase” and Hammill has previously told Council and the public that the equivalent of a 15 cent increase on the property tax rate may be required to cover the cost. There’s the possibility of the next General Assembly allowing Charlottesville voters to decide on a sales-tax increase with proceeds going toward schools. Even with that possibility, the city may not be able to make any new investments for some time. “We know that our debt capacity will be exhausted for some period of time,” Hammill said. In the current fiscal year, debt service is just under five percent of the $192.2 million General Fund Budget. That amount does not include the amount of general fund cash used for capital projects. That number will increase. “The plan put before you has debt service basically doubling from just over ten million to just over $20 million within a very short period of time, about four years,” Hammill said. A draft of the next Capital Improvement Program won’t be officially presented to Council until late February or early March. Hammill documented several other revisions to the preliminary budget. At Council’s direction, $18.25 million in city funds for the West Main Streetscape were transferred to the school reconfiguration project as well as $5 million from a parking garage on 7th and Market Street. In December 2018, a previous City Council  signed an agreement with Albemarle County to provide parking as part of a multimillion project to locate a joint General District Court downtown. Subsequent Councils have opted to not build a new parking garage to honor the terms of that agreement. (read the agreement)“We don’t have any specifics right now,” said Chris Engel, the city’s economic development director. “We’re in the midst of conversation with the county about the fact that we’re not going to build a structure and what the agreement leaves them with regard to their options and trying to figure out what’s best for both parties.” Pre-construction of the courts facility is underway. Another adjustment in the city’s preliminary capital improvement program is additional funding for a comprehensive plan for the Parks and Recreation Department. “This would be to look at Parks and Rec programs,” Hammill said. “This is not the normal master plan for the parks per se master planning process, but more of a programmatic master plan.” There are also programs for drainage issues at Oakwood Cemetery and McIntire Park as well as funding to assist the removal of dead Ash trees in the city. Council has also approved a housing plan that asks for $10 million a year on affordable housing initiatives. Hammill said not all of the funding for that initiative would come from the capital improvement program budget. City Council will review the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund at its meeting on December 6. Another item not in the capital budget is private funding for a sidewalk on Stribling Avenue. Southern Development has offered to loan the city $2.9 million to cover the cost of the project as part of a rezoning in Fry’s Spring area. The Charlottesville Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the preliminary CIP on December 14. Finally today, the second shout-out for today specifically asked you to check out a local news story. Here’s one to begin with. Last week, Carly Haynes of CBS19 reported on the intersection of Preston Avenue and Grady Avenue in Charlottesville. Charlottesville was awarded $7.743 million in a Smart Scale project to alter the intersection. Learn more in this report from November 23rd.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

During this episode our co-hosts are joined by Leigh Anne Hammill. Among other topics, Leigh talks about her background and current work with Ace Realty.

During this episode our co-hosts are joined by Leigh Anne Hammill. Among other topics, Leigh talks about her background and current work with Ace Realty.

During this episode our co-hosts are joined by Leigh Anne Hammill. Among other topics, Leigh talks about her background and current work with Ace Realty.

During this episode our co-hosts are joined by Leigh Anne Hammill. Among other topics, Leigh talks about her background and current work with Ace Realty.

The first of two Patreon-fueled shout-outs!WTJU 91.1 FM is a different sort of radio station. It's dedicated to sharing the transcendent experience of music while raising funds from listeners across the world. From October 4th through 10th, WTJU airs its annual Jazz Marathon. Tune in for a deep dive into everything from bebop to blues. WTJU's Volunteer DJs will play the spectrum jazz – from Billie Holiday to Canonball Adderly to Pharoah Sanders. Plus live, local jazz performances throughout the week.  Visit wtju.org to learn more. On today’s show:Charlottesville City Council discusses the costs of reconfiguring Buford Middle School and make a decision on West Main StreetEarly voting in Virginia begins tomorrow, and a look at voting as it stands in Albemarle and Charlottesville in 2021 Rio Hill Shopping Center has asked Charlottesville Area Transit to stop stopping thereAnd a new job for Charlottesville most recent planning director Another day, another large number of new COVID cases. That number is 4,181 and the percent positivity is 10.6. There are another 145 new cases in the Blue Ridge Health District and one more fatality reported. That person lived in Greene County. The COVID-19 model created by the University of Virginia Biocomplexity Institute currently projects that the Charlottesville area will reach a peak of 2,245 new cases a week in mid-October. “Models can help us understand the potential course of COVID-19, but they are not crystal balls,” reads a statement on the website for the model. “Most models struggle to project policy changes, changes in human behavior, or new and rare events.”With the pandemic raging, many indoor venues are now requiring proof of vaccination before admittance. To make showing that proof more convenient, the Virginia Department of Health announced today they are offering QR codes.“As more and more employers and businesses respond to calls by President Biden and Governor Northam to require that employees and customers be vaccinated,” reads a press release. “QR codes will help improve the consistency and security of vaccination information while protecting individual privacy.”Visit vaccinate.virginia.gov to obtain a QR code. Virginia is the fifth state to adopt protocols developed for SMART Health Cards. *Early voting in Virginia begins tomorrow as acting Charlottesville Registrar Taylor Yowell explains.“Under Virginia election law, voters can vote up to 45 days early in-person or absentee,” Yowell said.  “So with that 45 days in advance of an election, that is 33 actual days that you can come into our office and vote.”Yowell made her comments this past week at a Sunday seminar held by the League of Women Voters of the Charlottesville Area.  Yowell said mail-in ballots will be distributed beginning this week. (listen to the whole event)“In order to receive a mail ballot, you must fill out a mail ballot application and that can be submitted online, in-person to our office, mailed in to us,” Yowell said. “We do have a lot of voters and say ‘hey, I don’t have availability to get online and fill one out’ so we will send them the application with a return envelope so they can be added to the list.” Once registrars across Virginia receive ballots, there is a process known as curing that validates the vote. According to the instructions on voting absentee in Virginia, there’s an A envelope, and a B envelope.   “Whether this is by mail, whether you drop to our dropbox, whether you drop into our office, we take it inside and it will be automatically opened up and we check to make sure every component on your B envelope… this is where your name, your address, your signature, your witness signature, the day you filled out the ballot… this is where we make sure everything is correct. And we have three days after we receive a ballot to notify you if there’s something that needs to be cured, so that way your ballot can be accepted and processed in our office,” Yowell said. In 2020, the state of emergency related to the pandemic temporarily waived the requirement for a witness signature. That will be required again this year. Yowell said voting early in-person is just like voting on Election Day. “No results are pulled until 7 p.m. on Election Day, just like at the precincts, because no one will know and no one can prior to 7 p.m.,” Yowell said.Now, what if someone requested a ballot via mail, and then shows up in person anyway? Yowell said in that case, the person is asked to sign an oath.“It’s just a gold piece of paper saying ‘I have lost or not received my ballot’ and it’s pretty much an affirmation signing that you will not attempt to vote twice,” Yowell said. “If you do, it will be turned over to the Commonwealth’s Attorney.” The last day for in-person voting before Election Day will be October 30. Charlottesville Area Transit Route 5 will no longer serve the Rio Hill Shopping center, according to a release from the bus agency. The release states the property owner has requested the change, and that means two stops within the shopping center will become dormant. The 31 acre property is owned by SCT Rio Hill LLC, a firm associated with the retirement system for employees of the state of Connecticut. The manager of the Rio Hill Shopping Center said in June 7 letter to the city that planned renovation implements a vision that does not involve public transit.“Not only are the buses a safety hazard for the customers crossing the main drive lanes to get to the stores, but the weight of the buses is also causing significant damage to the asphalt resulting in wear and cracking,” wrote Jim Paulus, the center’s manager. The planned route changes that have not yet been fully approved had already taken the request into account. In addition, Route 5 will no longer terminate at the Wal-Mart but instead will stop at Fashion Square Mall. Route 7 will instead travel to Wal-Mart and the plans show the alignment as missing Rio Hill Shopping Center. There is no date for when the transit changes will be made. H   The Regional Transit Partnership meets next Thursday. Previous coverage:February 6, 2021: Catching up with Albemarle's Comprehensive Plan, Entrance Corridors, Rio Hill Shopping Center renovationJuly 4, 2021: Preparing for Charlottesville area's transit future; Water authority gets update on cybersecurity, capital projectsNow that Charlottesville has a new director of Neighborhood Development Services, the person who last held the position now has a city post in a newly created city department. Alex Ikefuna is the interim director of the Office of Community Solutions. “The Office of Community Solutions will reside in CitySpace and the team will concentrate on our housing priorities, commercial redevelopment interests, federal entitlements/investments coordination and management, and neighborhood constituent services,” said city communications director Brian Wheeler in an email. Ikefuna will oversee the Office of Housing, which will report to Deputy City Manager Sam Sanders. “The vision for this office is to expand and deepen the City’s approach to a variety of community-based efforts, especially related to addressing our affordable housing crisis,” Wheeler continued. In today’s second Substack-supported public service announcement: The Charlottesville Jazz Society at cvillejazz.org is dedicated to the promotion, preservation, and perpetuation of all that  jazz, and there’s no time like now to find a time to get out and watch people love to play. The Charlottesville Jazz Society keeps a running list of what’s coming up at cvillejazz.org. Last night, the Charlottesville City Council got the latest details on the plans for reconfiguration of the city’s middle schools. Go back and read/listen to the September 14, 2021 edition of the show for the details. Since that was posted, a Community Design Team that has been shepherding the work of architectural firm VMDO has made their final recommendation. Here’s Wyck Knox of VMDO with the latest information. (presentation from September 14, 2021 CDT meeting)“The unanimous choice by the CDT was Option 3 that builds in the bowl and gives a new look to the school and the most square footage and the most variety of outdoor spaces to the new building,” Knox said. This is also the most expensive option at an estimate of $73 million. The five-year capital improvement program budget has a $50 million placeholder for reconfiguration. If Council agrees to proceed with the project, they’ll need to approve a budget with actual numbers in order to calculate how many millions of dollars in bonds need to be sold to pay for the capital costs. (FY22 adopted CIP)For the Council meeting, the city’s budget office presented funding scenarios all of which include an increase in the property tax rate to cover the cost of the additional debt service to pay the bond proceeds back. These hinge on whether the city proceeds with a long-planned and multi-phased project to upgrade West Main Street that grew out of a $350,000 planning study requested in 2012 by the PLACE Design Task Force. While the currently adopted CIP does not include any additional funding for the $49 million project, Council has previously allocated $20.54 million in local money to match state funding for the first two phases.  That’s according to a slide presented to Council back in February. Council could opt to transfer that to the school project. The tax increases were initially to have been phased in gradually at two cents a year to cover the five-year plan as adopted by Council in April. For the purposes of these scenarios, the tax increases are shown happening next year all at once, and include an additional five cents to cover the additional cost to finance the reconfigured schools.“If you want to start construction in FY23, which is next year, then we have to have the money to sign a contract, so that means all the money all at once,” said Krissy Hamill, the city’s budget performance analyst. Option 1 would cover just the cost of that $50 million placeholder and would include the West Main project. This would result in a 15 cent tax increase next  year to a rate of $1.10 per $100 of assessed value. “Option 2 would decrease the amount of tax increase that would be required if West Main Street were removed,” said City Manager Chip Boyles.That would be a 13 cent tax rate to $1.08 per $100 of assessed value. The next two options raise the reconfiguration cost to $75 million. Option 3 keeps West Main Street with a 18 cent tax rate increase. Option 4 drops West Main and is also a 15 cent tax increase. Those actual rates could be different depending on the results of the 2022 assessment. That’s why you see the phrase “tax rate equivalent” in the options. There will be no room for any additional capital projects for at least two years under these scenarios. “There are a lot of variables in this,” said Boyles. “This is making the assumption that there is no sales referendum and no sales tax increase.” Boyles estimates the one percent increase in the tax would bring in an additional $12 million a year. The current sales tax is 5.3 percent, but Charlottesville only gets one percent of that amount. The budget for the current fiscal year anticipates the city will collect $12 million a year. In Fiscal Year 2020, the city collected $11.4 million according to data compiled by the Auditor of Public Accounts for the Commonwealth of Virginia. That’s up from $9.3 million in 2010. The capital budget for FY22 includes $1 million for a parking structure at Market Street and East High. Earlier this year, Council opted to wait a year on that project and wait until next year to spend the remaining $7 million. So far, the options presented to Council did not factor in what happens if the project is dropped but that project cannot get totally zeroed out. (FY22 adopted CIP)“What we have been looking at is reserving at least a couple of million if we had to create surface parking on the properties that we own,” Boyles said. “I would say definitely $5 million could be transferred if needed.”However, Hammill said that would not affect the projected tax rates because the capital budget already assumes bonds will be sold to cover the cost of paying projects. The housing plan adopted by City Council calls for $10 million a year to be dedicated to affordable projects. The current five-year capital improvement program anticipates $13.5 million on public housing, $925,000 a year on the city’s affordable housing plan, $900,000 a year for housing vouchers, and $11.4 million in city funds for the redevelopment of Friendship Court.  (FY22 adopted CIP)There was no specific decision point on the agenda last night but Knox said he wanted to know what Council is thinking. There will be an information item presented to Council on October 4. A decision on West Main?Mayor Nikuyah Walker wanted to know where Councilors stood on the West Main Street project. The results were pretty clear. “The only way I can see West Main Street surviving is if we get this one [percent] sales tax for the school reconfiguration,” said vice mayor Sena Magill. “That’s it.”“I would definitely fully support reallocating the West Main project to schools,” said Councilor Michael Payne. “I can see West Main continuing as just as Hail Mary of if Congress passes the stimulus bill and there’s no local city money required.”“I would prioritize this ahead of West Main,” said City Councilor Heather Hill. “Projects like West Main had a lot of revenue come in from other sources and I’ve said before that it’s a hard one to swallow but I think we’re at a point where there’s not another option.”“As probably maybe the last defender of the West Main project, I also agree that whatever option we end up taking is going to have to be an option that does not include the West Main project,” said City Councilor Lloyd Snook. Much of the Virginia Department of Transportation funding for West Main Street comes in the form of Smart Scale, which requires projects to be completed within six years. In the current round, the city was awarded $10.4 million for the third phase. None of that funding requires a local match. The University of Virginia committed $5 million to the West Main project as well. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Go VR with Harry Potter and Mark Hammill joins Bert Kreischer for The Machine! Hear about it all in today's #MikeJonesMinuteCon.

Claire Hammill is the type of woman you feel like you have known for years, even if you just connected with her on social media! She believes her mission is to help women step into the version of themselves that is needed to level up in their life and business! With her kind but direct way which forces you to see the real you, she does just that with each of her clients. In this episode, you will learn: What Claire believes about the phrase “Self Love” How diet culture was created to make women not trust themselves Why it's important to love all facets of yourself Book Recommendations: Anti-Diet Christie Harrison The Body is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor Where can you find Claire? Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thecurvycollective/ Instagram: @ClaireHammill

This week on The Married Gamers Presents, Chris interviews creator of Ready Up Live Dan "Greenskull" Hammill. You can find us at: The Married Gamers Twitch.tv Facebook Twitter Google+ Pinterest Youtube If you have a comment, send it to us at marriedgamers@outlook.com.

The RV industry is booming, no doubt about it. But it's also changing and facing new challenges and opportunities. In this week's interview, we sit down with Jim Hammill, the CEO of the Erwin Hymer Group of North America, the corporate owners of Roadtrek Motorhomes. Jim is a straight talking, shoot from the hip guy who tells it like it is and coming up in the interview segment of the podcast, you'll learn how the trends shaping the RV industry will impact your RV Lifestyle. Plus lots of reader questions, some great tips, traveling with technology and a fun off the beaten path report. Click the player below to Listen Now or scroll down through the show note details. When you see a time code hyperlink, you can click it to jump directly to that segment of the podcast. [spp-player] Show Notes for Episode #138 May 3, 2017 of Roadtreking - The RV Podcast: Mike and Jennifer share their whereabouts:[spp-timestamp time="3:00"] A recent visit to Arizona and an RV show devoted to nothing but small motorhomes Jennifer's mishap that left her with a broken hand Their current trip to the Gulf Coast and where they stay overnight while on long drive days JENNIFER'S TIP OF THE WEEK Jennifer One of the fun things about visiting RV shows like the Super B small RV show that Mike and I attended this past weekend in Glendale, AZ is visiting with other RVers and sharing tips and suggestions. [spp-timestamp time="8:11"] So it was with one of our listeners named Jim, who came out to meet us and offered a tip about using mobile RV repair services when local RV service centers can't squeeze you in for an appointment. And be sure to send me your tips and suggestions for the RV lifestyle. You can use the “Leave Voicemail” link at Roadtreking.com. Just click it and then use the built-in microphone on your computer or mobile devise to record a message to me. You can do it over as many times as you want, until you are satisfied. And then you just click a button and it comes right to my email inbox. I love hearing from you! Jennifer's tip of the week is brought to you by RadPower Bikes (www.RadPowerBikes.com_… an electric bike manufacturer offering direct to consumer pricing on powerful premium electric bikes. Now with free shipping! LISTENER QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK: Sharon has a question about using a crock pot with a small inverter of the type that can charge a laptop. She was specifically wondering if the Energizer Cup Inverter being offered by Verizon would work. A crock potis a slow-cooking vessel which uses a heating element. It has two settings, Low (223 watts) and High (312 watts). The Energizer inverter is only capable of a continuous power output of 180n watts, not nearly enough for a power hungry crock pot. Here's a guide to choosing the best one for you. [spp-timestamp time="12:34"] Ron and Jan share their excitement about being new RVers [spp-timestamp time="16:25"] Sponsoring this part of the podcast is Van City RV in St. Louis, and their Partner Dealerships Creston RV in Kalispell, Montana, and Wagon Trail RV in Las Vegas. Bringing You the largest Inventory of class B's from three locations. PET TIP OF THE WEEK Mike and I are big fans of off-leash dog parks. It keeps Bo happy, healthy and out of trouble. Not all dogs are good candidates for off leash parks. Before you take your pet to one, make sure it has been socialized well and gets along with other dogs, If so, visits to your local dog park can greatly enrich her life: [spp-timestamp time="20:45"] Bo and his K9 pals Sushi and Princess at an off-leash dog park in Fort Walton Beach, FL Here are three reasons why Pet MD says off leash parks are a wise choice for pet owners Physical and mental exercise for dogs- Your dog can zoom around off-leash to her heart's content, investigate new smells, wrestle with her dog buddies and fetch toys until she happily collapses. Many dogs are so mentally and physically exhausted by a trip to the dog park that they snooze for...

The major RV News of the week is the acquisition of Roadtrek Motorhomes by Europe's gigantic Erwin Hymer Group, the largest motorhome manufacturer in the world. I was on hand in Kitchener, Ontario and Roadtrek headquarters this week when the deal was announced and have in depth interviews with the principals. Bottom line is that while Roadtrek is now owned by the newly formed Erwin Hammer Group of North America, it's top management team is the same as its been and the company wll continue to aggressively buoid its award winning and best selling Class B motorhomes…. BUT it is now part of the newly formed Erwin Hymer Group of North America which will soon be introducing some amazingly innvatiive new products, like ultra light weight towables and even larger Class C and Class A motorhomes. You'll get all the details, in depth, in the news of the week segment of the podcast. But there's even more in this episode! [spp-player] Shownotes for episode 76 of Roadtreking: The RV Lifestyle Podcast. Clock the time link to jump directly to that part of the podcast. MIKE AND JEN'S UPDATE Mike and Jennifer update listeners on their progress in training their new puppy, Bo [spp-timestamp time="3:30"], and some big RV shows to take note of - one in Phoenix, AZ where LeMesa RV will hold a huge small motorhome show in the University of Phoenix Dstadium and one in Perry, GA where the Family Motorhome Association will have it's annual reunion in Perry, GA. Both will be March 17-20 [spp-timestamp time="5:00"] JENNIFER'S TIP OF THE WEEK - Water filters for RVers I'm a fanatic about clean water. Clean drinking water. Filtered drinking water. It amazes me how many RVs I see that hook up directly to campground water spigots without using a filter. [spp-timestamp time="7:00"] They say one filter lasts an entre season. We use the Camco TastePURE Water Filter. You can pick them up at most RV dealers, Walmart or Amazon for about $15. You do want a fresh one each year. These filters reduce bad taste, ordors, chlorine and sediment in drinking water. They have a carbon filter and come with a short flexible hose connection. Here's a hint, when you first hook it up r to your water source, allow the water to run free for a few minutes to flush the initial loose carbon out of the filter. When the water runs clear, the filter is ready for use. But please… use a filter when you connect water to your RV. And by the way, these filters aren't restricted to RV use. Use it in the garden for reduced-chlorine watering when watering your plants and when washing your car to reduce mineral deposit spots. LISTENER QUESTIONS Anew RVer asks our recommendations about mail forwarding while on extended trips. We refer him to Episode 58, where we talk with people from DakotaPost, a mail forwarding company based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, that works with the Family Motorcoach Association in handling mail forwarding and offering virtual mailboxes. [spp-timestamp time="8:24"] We talk about food storage and safety in bear country and also receive a listener tip about health care while on the RV and traveling when you're not feeling well. RV NEWS OF THE WEEK: Roadtrek's new owners This week we interview in depth: [spp-timestamp time="20:55"] Jim Hammill, President and CEO of Roadtrek and the newly formed Erwin Hymer Group North America, Inc., which will continue producing Roadtrek motorhomes and introduce some new Hymer models over the next three years Martin Brandt, the CEO of the Erwin Hymer Group, who discusses the product line up, plans for Roadtrek and the drive for innovation and consumer-oriented RV products. Jim Hammil (left), new President and CEO of the new Erwin Hymer Group of North America, and Martin Brandt, CEO and Chairman of the Erwin Hymer Group Brandt said the Hymer Group has wanted to get deeply involved in North America since 2013 and has been unable to find the right partner – until they met Roadtrek and started talking to Hammill and his team...

They discuss Klingon subtitles on Netflix, and Japanese cinema available on Hulu.com Taped at The Wheels Brewing Co Studio, Minneapolis, MN on August 6, 2013. Check out photos and this week’s bonus tracks by clicking here. Click here to listen: Episode 95 – 08/06/13 feat. Kia Hammill & Matt Walstead