Podcasts about virginia foundation

WHEY JENNINGS On his third EP, Just Before The Dawn, Whey shares stories about his struggles with addiction, finding sobriety, and redemption through faith, family and friends. Whey Jennings was born into one of country music's most iconic family Whey's grandfather, Waylon, was a legendary singer, songwriter, and country musician. He was pivotal to the growth in popularity that the outlaw country movement saw throughout the '70s, and even had songs featured on the first platinum country album, “Wanted! The Outlaws” which featured Willie Nelson and Whey's grandmother Jessi Colter.MARTHA SPENCER is a genuine folk Troubadour, she grew up on the slopes and hollows of southwest Virginia's rugged Whitetop Mountain, where a rich tradition of old-time Mountain music has endured through many decades of changes. She began playing music and dancing from a very young age with The Spencer Family, and studied old-time fiddle under her father through the Virginia Foundation of the Humanities Folklife Apprenticeship Program.WOODSONGS KID: Madeline Caudil is an 11 year old singer from Berea, Kentucky.

Jayme Swaim, President & CEO of VPM (Virginia Public Media) and the Virginia Foundation for Public Media, recently visited Randy in the studio to discuss the opening of the new VPM studio in the Monroe District of Richmond, VA. Jayme and Randy had a great conversation about the history and future of VPM. You can listen to the interview with Jayme and stay tuned to the Randy Wilson Podcast for more interviews.

As part of the statewide "Rev Your Bev Week," students from 13 school divisions in Virginia, including Henrico, are participating in various events and lessons to promote healthy hydration in schools as a measure to prevent obesity. The statewide week of action is sponsored by the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth's Rev your Bev campaign and part of a statewide effort to promote healthy habits and choices that can improve overall health and well-being. The Rev Your Bev campaign's goal is to make healthy hydration a part of students' everyday lives by engaging schools and students in fun and interactive...Article LinkSupport the Show.

Jim Minick is the author or editor of eight books, including Without Warning: The Tornado of Udall, Kansas (nonfiction), Fire Is Your Water (novel), and The Blueberry Years: A Memoir of Farm and Family. His work has appeared in many publications, including The New York Times, Poets & Writers, Oxford American, Artemis Journal, Orion, Shenandoah, Appalachian Journal, Wind, and The Sun. He serves as co-editor of Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel. Minick's honors include the Jean Ritchie Fellowship in Appalachian Writing and the Fred Chappell Fellowship at UNC-Greensboro. Minick has also won awards from the Southern Independent Booksellers Association, Southern Environmental Law Center, The Virginia College Bookstore Association, Appalachian Writers Association, Radford University, and elsewhere. His poem “I Dream a Bean” was picked by Claudia Emerson for permanent display at the Tysons Corner/Metrorail Station. He's garnered grants from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, Augusta University, the Georgia Humanities Council, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.His newest book, The Intimacy of Spoons explores the many metaphors of the spoon: from love and marriage to the spoon of a grave that holds our bodies; from the darkness of loss and night, where “the Big Dipper is nothing but / the oldest spoon pointing us home”; to the darkness of lungs transformed into art. The poems cover a wide variety of topics—cultural, political, familial, and natural—and always, underlying these poems is the song of birds—with broken wings or clear voices, avian muses filling our forests now or long gone. There are nods to Basho and Thoreau, to Eliot and Frost, Dickinson and Milton, this last, a long poem that retells the story of Adam and Eve from the point of view of Mal, the apple. Likewise, The Intimacy of Spoons shares a variety of forms, from sonnet, sestina, and villanelle to syllabics, lyrics, and a ballad. At the center of the book is the long poem, “Elegy for My Body,” which uses wordplay and contrasting voices to explore mortality, because “You can't really do time; / it simply does us, / or undoes us, / us beings in the time being being beings / on Times Squared / waiting for the big ball to fall.” The poems of The Intimacy of Spoons return us to everyday stories and objects, common yet profound.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin recently announced additional key administration and board appointments: Richmond Eye and Ear Hospital Authority – Kevin Laing of Henrico, executive vice president of TowneBank, Dr. Wayne Shaia of Henrico, president and owner of Balance and Ear Center, and Walter Spence of Henrico, director of infrastructure at St. Joseph's Villa; State Historical Records Advisory Board – The Honorable Heidi Barshinger of Henrico, Circuit Court clerk of Henrico County; Advisory Council on Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders and Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome – David Jaffe, MD, FAAP, MBA of Henrico, associate professor at VCU School of Medicine; Virginia Foundation for...Article LinkSupport the Show.

The Virginia Library of Virginia is hosting a series of genealogy workshops to help people of all genealogical skill levels discover their family's history. The 2024 Genealogy Workshop Series will begin on March 1 with a beginner's workshop on family history. The series then will move on to more advanced topics such as early Virginia genealogy, little-known resources, and researching the history of homes and neighborhoods. In addition to the in-person workshops, there will also be a virtual workshop on cemetery records. The workshops are apiece for in-person attendance or for virtual attendance, but Library of Virginia Foundation...Article LinkSupport the show

Click to listen to episode (9:16). Sections below are the following:Transcript of AudioAudio Notes and AcknowledgmentsImageSourcesRelated Water Radio EpisodesFor Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.)Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 2-1-24. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the weeks of February 5 and February 12, 2024. MUSIC – ~35 sec – lyrics: “We are on a ship, a great big ship.  It takes all of us to take of it.  And we can use the stars to navigate our trip.  We are riding on a ship.” That's the closing of “On a Ship,” by Blacksburg, Va., singer-songwriter Kat Mills.  Since January 2010, Virginia Water Radio has been bringing you sounds, music, and information about the watery nature of the good ship Earth, particularly the waters of the Commonwealth of Virginia.  With the recent passage of Water Radio's 14th anniversary, this will be the show's last regularly scheduled episode.  Water Radio may return from time to time with special-project episodes; if so, I hope you'll be able to have a listen. To mark the transition away from regular episodes, I've invited several guests to call out the range of topics that Water Radio has aimed to explore.  Have a listen for about 45 seconds to their voices, interspersed with some favorite sounds, of birds, the spokesman for traditional fishing boat singers, children, a rolling river, and rumbling thunder. VOICES AND SOUNDS - ~41 sec VOICE 1 - Water in the biology of humans, birds, frogs, plants, and other living things.  SOUND 1 - Little Blue Heron fishing, plus sounds of Red-winged Blackbirds.       VOICE 2 - Water-related history and cultural expression.  SOUND 2 – Spokesman for Northern Neck Chantey Singers saying, “We are the Northern Neck Chantey Singers.” VOICE 3 - Water laws and policies, management and uses, and people.  SOUND 3 – Group of children and adults calling out “Take a kid to a park!” VOICE - Groundwater, surface water, and watersheds.  SOUND 4 – South Fork Roanoke River in Montgomery County, Va.     VOICE - Water science, water research, and weather.  SOUND 5 – Thunderstorm. Along with its focus on water-related sounds, much of Water Radio's vitality has come from music about water, with either the music or the musicians having a Virginia connection.  Several groups and individuals have graciously allowed frequent use of their songs.  Those include Kat Mills, whose song “On a Ship” you heard earlier; Ben Cosgrove and Stewart Scales, whose versions of “Shenandoah” and “Cripple Creek,” respectively, open and close alternating episodes; and the following artists, whom you'll hear in an upcoming medley: the late Madeline MacNeil, with “New Spring Waltz”;Timothy Seaman, with “Bass Fisherman's Reel”;Torrin Hallett, with “Tropical Tantrum”;Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand, with “Samuel Mason.”Chamomile and Whiskey, with “Dirty Sea”;The Steel Wheels, with “Valley”;No Strings Attached, with “Kartune”; andBob Gramann, with “Rappahannock Running Free.” Have a listen for a little over three minutes. MUSIC - ~3 min./15 sec. “New Spring Waltz.” - ~ 23 sec – instrumental. “Bass Fisherman's Reel - ~20 sec – instrumental. “Tropical Tantrum” - ~27 sec – instrumental. “Samuel Mason” - ~24 sec – lyrics: “Samuel Mason, that is my name.  I left Fort Henry seeking fortune and fame.  I came from Virginia a long time ago, but now I am a pirate along the Ohio.” “Dirty Sea” - ~18 sec – instrumental. “Valley” - ~41 sec – lyrics: “These mountains have been here for centuries.  There's stories in the water, something if you're listening; what kind of stories do you wanna see?  ‘Cause I wanna go where the wind don't blow; take me down to the valley.  I wanna go where the wind don't blow; take me out tonight.” “Kartune” - ~19 sec – instrumental. “Rappahannock Running Free” - ~23 sec – lyrics: “I love the Rappahannock, and its water running free; in the rapids of this river, that's where I want to be.   I love the Rappahannock, and its waters running free; in the rapids of this river, that's where I'll always be.” Thanks to all the musicians, sounds sources, and collaborators who contributed to this episode and to the previous 673 episodes.  Thanks also to radio stations WEHC at Emory and Henry College, and WVRU at Radford University, for carrying the show on air each week. We close Water Radio's regular-episode era with one more musical selection.  Here's about 1 minute/20 seconds of John McCutcheon's “Water from Another Time,” a song rich in water imagery, fine music, and valuable words.  Here's to that. MUSIC - ~77 sec – lyrics: “New-born cry in the morning air, the past and the future are wedded there; in this wellspring of my sons and daughters, the bone and blood of living water.  And of Grandpa's hands have gone to dust, like Grandma's pump reduced to rust.  Their stories quench my soul and mind, like water from another time.  You don't take much but you gotta have some; the old ways help, the new ways come; just leave a little extra for the next in line, they're gonna need a little water from another time.  You don't take much but you gotta have some; the old ways help, the new ways come; just leave a little extra for the next in line, they're gonna need a little water from another time.  Gonna need a little water, need a little water, need a little water, gonna need a little water from another time.” SHIP'S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Stewart Scales for his banjo version of “Cripple Creek” to open and close this episode.  In Blacksburg, I'm Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks to Patrick Fay for helping create Virginia Water Radio in 2010. The guest voices in this episode were recorded by Virginia Water Radio in Blacksburg, Va., during the last week of January 2024.  Thanks to the those five people for lending their voices to this episode. The sounds heard in this episode were as follows. Sound 1: Little Blue Heron fishing, plus Red-winged Blackbirds.  These sounds were from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Digital Library, online at http://digitalmedia.fws.gov/cdm/; this recording specifically is online at https://digitalmedia.fws.gov/digital/collection/audio/id/55/rec/56.  These sounds were used previously in Episode 478, 6-24-19, on the Little Blue Heron. Sound 2: Spokesman introducing the Northern Neck Chantey Singers.  This audio was taken from from a video of the group's September 11, 2011, performance at the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Showcase in Charlottesville, Va.; used with permission of Virginia Humanities (formerly the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities), located in Charlottesville and online at https://virginiahumanities.org/.  The full performance video is available online at https://www.virginiafolklife.org/sights-sounds/northern-neck-chantey-singers-and-lewis-r-blackwell-jr/.  Additional information from Virginia Humanities about the Northern Neck Chantey Singers and the Northern Neck of Virginia is available in the January 2024 article, “From Generation to Generation: Reedville Fishermen's Museum.”  These sounds were used previously in Episode 635, 8-29-22, on Virginia Menhaden fishing. Sound 3: Group of children and adults calling out “Take a kid to a park!”  This was recorded by Virginia Water Radio in Blacksburg, Va., on May 12, 2013.  This sound was used previously in Episode 655, 5-15-23, on Virginia state parks. Sound 4: South Fork Roanoke River near Elliston, Va. (Montgomery County).  This was recorded by Virginia Water Radio on August 23, 2012.  This sound was used previously in Episode 363, 4-10-17, on stream insects. Sound 5: Thunderstorm.  This was recorded by Virginia Water Radio in Blacksburg, Va., on April 20, 2015, 9 p.m.  This sound was used previously in Episode 568, 3-15-21, on Virginia's annual springtime tornado drill. The musicians and music heard in this episode were as follows (in the order heard); all music used with permission.  For each song, the most recent previous Virginia Water Radio episode using the music are listed; many of the songs have been used previously several times, and other music be each of the artists has been featured in many Water Radio episodes. Kat Mills, “On a Ship,” from the 2015 album “Silver.”  More information about Kat Mills is available online at http://www.katmills.com/.  This music was used previously in Episode 651, 3-20-23. Madeline MacNeil, “New Spring Waltz, ” from the 2002 album “Songs of Earth & Sea.”  More information about the late Madeline MacNeil is available from Janita Baker's “Blue Lion Dulcimers & Guitars” Web site, online at https://www.bluelioninstruments.com/Maddie.html.  This music was used previously in Episode 627, 5-9-22, on spring songbirds nesting near water. Timothy Seaman, “Bass Fisherman's Reel,” from the 2004 album “Virginia Wildlife.”  More information about Timothy Seaman is available online at https://timothyseaman.com/en/.  This music was used previously in Episode 590, 8-16-21, on the rescue of an osprey caught in fishing line. Torrin Hallett, “Tropical Tantrum,” composed in 2017.  More information about Torrin Hallett is available online at https://www.facebook.com/torrin.hallett.  Thanks very much to Torrin for composing the piece especially for Virginia Water Radio.  This music was used previously in Episode 656, 5-29-23, a preview of the 2023 Atlantic tropical cyclone season. Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand, “Samuel Mason,” from the 2010 album “All the Good Summers.”  More information about Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand is available online at https://andrewandnoah.bandcamp.com/.  This music was used previously in Episode 491, 9-23-19, on Samuel Mason and on piracy historically and in modern times. Chamomile and Whiskey, “Dirty Sea,” from the 2013 album “Wandering Boots.”  More information about Chamomile and Whiskey is available online at http://www.chamomileandwhiskey.com/.  This music was used previously in Episode 584, 7-5-21, on Operation Dry Water. The Steel Wheels, “Valley,” from the 2010 album “Red Wing.”  More information about The Steel Wheels is available online at http://www.thesteelwheels.com/.  This music was used previously in Episode 355, 2-13-17, on Abraham Lincoln's family roots in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. No Strings Attached, “Kartune,” from the 1992 album “Blue Roses.”  More information about No Strings Attached—a long-time Blacksburg- and Roanoke-based band which is no longer performing—is available online at http://www.enessay.com/index.html.  This music was used previously in Episode 555, 12-14-20, on water-related jokes. Bob Gramann, “Rappahannock Running Free,” from the 2008 album, “Mostly Live.”  More information about Bob Gramann is available online at http://www.bobgramann.com/.  This music was used previously in Episode 589, 8-9-21. John McCutcheon, “Water from Another Time,” from the 1987 album “Gonna Rise Again.”  More information on John McCutcheon is available online at http://www.folkmusic.com/.  This music was used previously in Episode 142, 12-31-12. Click here if you'd like to hear the full version (1 min./11 sec.) of the “Cripple Creek” arrangement/performance by Stewart Scales that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Scales and the group New Standard, with which Mr. Scales plays, is available online at http://newstandardbluegrass.com. IMAGE Diagram of the water cycle (also called the hydrologic cycle), from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), “Water Science School/Water Cycle Diagrams,” online at https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/water-cycle-diagrams, 2-7-24. SOURCES Please see the show notes for individual episodes of Virginia Water Radio for sources of information on many water-related topics. RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html). Links are provided above in the Acknowledgments section to previous episodes using the sounds or music heard in this current episode. Following are links to some milestone episodes.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin recently announced additional appointments to key state positions: Virginia Commission on Higher Education Board Appointments – The Honorable Lisa M. Hicks-Thomas of Henrico, deputy general counsel at Dominion Energy; Child Support Guidelines Review Panel – H. Van Smith of Henrico, attorney and counselor at law at Smith Strong, PLC; Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth, Board of Trustees – Riley Shaia of Henrico, group exercise instructor at Tuckahoe Family YMCA; Virginia Lottery Board – Sherry L. Williams of Henrico, chief risk officer at Atlantic Union Bank; Board for Professional Soil Scientists, Wetland Professionals, and Geologists – Steven Yob...Article LinkSupport the show

Henrico Recreation and Parks recently committed to making its parklands and facilities 100 percent tobacco-free and vapor-free, by partnering with Share The Air to adopt a voluntary tobacco-free outdoor policy. The policy change was initiated by Y Street, a program of the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth and Virginia's largest youth-led movement.  On Oct. 4, Y Street members from J.R. Tucker H.S. and Highland Springs H.S. met with Henrico's Recreation & Parks Commission to present ways in which the county can enhance its parks and recreational areas and provide an outdoor experience that everyone could enjoy.   Y Street member...Article LinkSupport the show

Be bald, and be free! That's the slogan for one of the supposed holidays for October 14, and I hesitate to even mention it at all except to say I represent. I've always thought of pawns as bald, and this is National Chess Day as well. Supposedly it's also National I Love You Day, but rest assured that Charlottesville Community Engagement has that sentiment every day with a sunrise and a sunset. I'm Sean Tubbs. In this edition:* A Charlottesville man was killed by gunfire early this morning in the 200 block of East Market Street* Charlottesville has announced that the opening of an overnight shelter on October 21 will coincide with a restoration of closing times in Market St. Park * A public hearing date has been set for University of Virginia Foundation's request to rezone part of the North Fork Discovery Park to include up to 1,400 residential units* Snippets from two candidate forums for the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors 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 Henrico Too Smart 2 Start Coalition, a non-profit organization that aims to reduce youth substance abuse, has extended the deadline for its social media contest, called Influence the Influencers, until May 18. The contest is supported by a grant from the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth and seeks to encourage Henrico youngster to create videos that promote substance-use prevention. Participants are eligible to win up to [post_excerpt],000 in an educational/vocational scholarship or 0 in a technology purchase. The videos with the most likes on HTS2S's Instagram page will be selected as the first, second, and third place winners, while...Article LinkSupport the show

Another rare Saturday edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement is upon us, as there were too many distractions to complete the work on Friday. It is the hope to one day have each and every episode come out at a consistent time. Each installment of the program is a test of the orbital mechanics that would be required to attain that goal. I'm Sean Tubbs and I know again there is much in the universe to observe and I'm hoping to always expand the capacity to do so. On today's edition: * A former member of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors has died* Charlottesville awards a contract to replace the Dairy Road Bridge * The 2023 session of the General Assembly is almost over and dozens of bills are heading to Governor Youngkin for signatures including legislation on green jobs, cloud computing, and innovative power* The University of Virginia Foundation plans to renovate the Birdwood Mansion and add space for outdoor events* Albemarle County Supervisors are presented with a $551.5 million budget for FY24Paid subscribers help cover the cost for free subscribers. One in four pay. I want both kinds to sign up so more get the information. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

We've reached the fourth Monday of the month and are now in the final lap with the finish line coming at the end of All Hallow's Eve. Shall we celebrate All Hallow's Day? Between now and then there's a lot to get through in as many installments of Charlottesville Community Engagement that I can put together between now and the time of disguise. I? Sean Tubbs. On today's version of this publication:* One person has died following an early morning shooting Sunday on the Downtown Mall * Charlottesville preparing to remove nine trees from the Downtown Mall* Two Charlottesville playgrounds remain closed while repairs continue* Time is running out to submit a poem to JMRL's latest contest* Albemarle County Supervisors finalize legislative priorities * The Center for Politics at UVA takes a look at concerns about the upcoming election Charlottesville Community Engagement is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.First shout-out: Rivanna Conservation Alliance Round-Up wrap-upIn today's first Patreon-fueled shout-out: The Rivanna Conservation Alliance would like to thank everyone who participated in the recent Rivanna River Round-Up! In all, 243 helped remove 173 tires, filled up 148 bags of trash and attended to 27 miles of river and trail. To help cover the costs, the Rivanna Conservation Alliance is selling t-shirts. Want to get involved with ongoing clean-up efforts? On Saturday, October 22, the RCA will hold a stream buffer maintenance day at Crozet Elementary School to check in on how trees planted three years ago are holding up. Visit rivannariver.org to learn more. One killed in early morning shooting SundayOne person has died following a shooting early Sunday morning on the Charlottesville Downtown Mall in which three people were hit with bullets. According to a release, the Charlottesville Police Department responded to the 200 block of West Main Street on the Downtown Mall. “The victims were then transported to UVA medical center for treatment; two of which are currently in stable condition. The third victim succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced deceased later in the morning.”The release goes on to state that the incident does not pose an “immediate threat” and an investigation. A request for a follow-up this morning yielded no results. For more information, some other media coverage:* Charlottesville Mall shooting leaves one dead and two injured, Daily Progress* Police investigate fatal shooting on Downtown Mall, CBS19* CPD: 1 dead, 2 injured in connection with W. Main St. shooting, NBC29Photojournalist Eze Amos was on the Mall at the time. City crews preparing to remove some Downtown Mall treesLater this week, the city's Parks and Recreation Department will hold an information meeting on removing some of the trees on Charlottesville's Downtown Mall. Riann Anthony is the deputy director of the department. “We are very lucky that the Downtown Mall trees have been in existence for this long,” Anthony said. “Some of them are healthy and others are not healthy but per our urban forester is that all of the trees are stressed from a number of factors.”Anthony addresses the city's Parks and Recreation Advisory Board last Thursday. He said the number one factor are the tree grates that he said are squeezing trees that have outgrown them. He also said heaters for outdoor restaurants also cause stress.“There's a lot of café spaces that also have little lights that they use, nails, to put the lights on and stuff like that nature,” Anthony said. The city has been studying this issue for many year but action has not yet been taken. Anthony said the city is looking to remove hazards that might be in danger of falling. The ones most at risk will be removed over the next few months.“These are trees that are in the worst shape and we are looking out for the best interest of our community and of the folks that work on the mall,” Anthony said. “We do not want to ever see a tree just fall.” Nine trees in all will be removed. The first education session will be on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. via Zoom. Two in-person meetings will be held next week. (meeting info)Anthony said the city is also seeking a consultant to help come up with a replacement policy for trees on the Downtown Mall. Charlottesville playground installation taking longer than expected The closure of city playgrounds at both Belmont Park and Meade Park will be a little longer than expected. The Parks and Recreation Department is installing new equipment at both locations and work had been expected to be completed this week. However, installation of individual pieces is taking more time. “We are extending the reopening date to tentatively, November 4th, but may open sooner if complete,” reads a press release that went out Friday morning. A Keaton Forest suite of playground structures is being installed at Belmont Park whereas Meade Park will have the first Modern City installation in Virginia. One more day to submit a poem for JMRL contestThe Jefferson Madison Regional Library and WriterHouse have teamed up for a poetry contest that ends tomorrow. If you're over 18 and have one original, unpublished poem you'd like to submit, there's an online form that's taking submissions through tomorrow at 5 p.m.  The theme is transformative change. “For hundreds of years, poets have altered the course of history by speaking out about issues that concern their communities, and this year's theme of transformation echoes that critical legacy of the power of the pen to affect positive change for all of us,” said WriterHouse executive director Sibley Johns. This contest is now in its sixth year. There are prizes for winners. For more information, visit jmrl.org/poetrycontest. Albemarle Supervisors set legislative priorities for 2023 General Assembly There are 79 days until the General Assembly convenes for the 2023 session for the second year with Glenn Youngkin in the Governor's Mansion. Last week, Albemarle Supervisors finalized their list of legislative priorities that they hope to convince legislators to turn into a bill. (2023 Legislative Priorities) (2023 Legislative Positions and Policy Statements)Supervisors last discussed the list in September and extensively discussed a request to expand the number of virtual meetings an appointed body can have. Another of the priorities is to request the ability for counties to decide for themselves if they want to hold a referendum on additional sales tax to generate revenue for school construction projects.“There are currently nine counties and one city in the Commonwealth which enjoy this authority to levy an additional one-percent sales tax which is used exclusively to fund school division capital projects,” said county attorney Steven Rosenberg. Legislation failed to make it out of a House of Delegates subcommittee last year. Another priority is to request a change of the eligibility rules for sites to participate in the Virginia Business Ready Sites program. Currently land in most economic development regions must be of a certain size to quality, and Albemarle wants that to be reduced.“There are not that many properties in the county that satisfy that 100 acre contiguous developable standard,” Rosenberg said.Albemarle wants to cut that in half to 50 acres and Rosenberg said two Go Virginia regions already have that lower threshold. “The economic development office (EDO) has identified sites that would otherwise fulfill the requirement but for their acreage,” Rosenberg said. “I will finally add on this item that there is one site in the county that does satisfy the requirement and it's in North Fork and the EDO is currently working with the University of Virginia Foundation in seeking funds for that site.” There will be one more discussion of the priorities in November if needed. See also: * House subcommittee kills school sales tax bills, February 25, 2022* Albemarle Supervisors to support legislation to allow advisory body meetings to go virtual, September 13, 2021)Second Shout-out is for the Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards In today's second subscriber-supported shout-out, an area nonprofit wants you to know about what they offer to help you learn how to preserve, protect, and appreciate! The Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards holds several events throughout the year including a walk in western Albemarle County on the morning of November 12 through a well preserved and highly diverse woodland to see naturally occurring winterberry, spicebush, and dogwood laden with red berries. In abundance will be nuts from forest oaks, hickories, walnuts as well as orchard grown Chinese chestnuts, walnuts, pecans, and American hazelnuts. Registration is limited. There's also still time for an online Zoom tree identification class tomorrow night. Visit charlottesvilleareatreestewards.org for more information. Center for Politics forum explores election security in advance of Election Day Tensions are running high across the country as Election Day approaches and many members of one of the two American political parties continue to insist that the 2020 Presidential election was stolen. The University of Virginia's Center for Politics held a forum last week to discuss the upcoming elections moderated by Christopher Krebs, who served as the United States Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. He said much of the threat dates back to Russian efforts to hack the 2016 elections. (wikipedia article)“It had three different components,” Krebs said. “The first was attempts to get into voter registration databases and other systems administering elections. The second was targeting and hacking into political campaigns, the [Democratic National Committee], the Hilary Clinton and the third is this more pernicious, drawn out disinformation campaign that's really rooted in the entirety of Russian information doctrine going back really a century or more.” Krebs said the Russian campaign was intended to destabilize democracy, and not much was done to shore up security systems.“And there were domestic actors that saw the playbook run in 2016 and adapted it to their own measures,” Krebs said.Krebs said he is concerned about continued efforts to falsely claim that President Joe Biden was not elected, as well as continued attacks on election workers. He said death threats are common. “It's part of unfortunately doing business as election workers right now and that is leading to a retreat and exodus from the work force which in turn kind of turns out to be a former of almost voter suppression,” Krebs said.That's because fewer election workers means fewer precincts and longer lines. Krebs said there's also a strategy to radicalize election workers. Barbara Comstock served two terms in the U.S. House of Representatives in Virginia's former 10th District. The Republican politician is now involved in Issue One and the National Council for Elections Security.  “I am for the first time in my life a single issue voter,” Comstock said. “I've never been a single issue voter. I was a conservative Republican but now my issue is democracy before any other issue. And if you aren't going to respect elections and who wins and who loses, you can't have any other issues before that.” Comstock said she is concerned about candidates who have already declared they will not accept the elections results unless they win. “Those kind of situations are going to repeat themselves around the country,” Comstock said. “We're a 50/50 country. I won my first election by 422 votes.” Comstock said on that night, she knew where the votes were coming in because she was familiar with the polls. She said many with conspiracy theories have never worked an election before. “And these are people who just didn't understand anything about  retail politics,” Comstock said. “They were just people who were preaching to the choir, hung out with everyone who thought the way they did, and had never knocked on a door.”Renée DiResta, research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, has been studying rumors that circulate online about perceived election fraud.“When somebody believes that their ballot has been invalidated because they were given a sharpie marker at the polls and they remember being a kid in school and being told you can't use a sharpie marker on a scantron and they believe that there's a false plot to steal the election from them because that's kind of where the political climate of the country is at this point,” DiResta said. “Those claims tend to go viral and one of the things we look at at Stanford is how those claims go viral and where and in what communities on the internet.”DiResta said the sharpie argument has come back again in Arizona during the 2022 race. She said she's part of something called the Election Integrity Partnership which is a non-partisan coalition to help groups that want to fight disinformation by crowd-sourcing responses by helping to find the right messenger to convey correct information. “That person who is a trusted counter messenger counter speaks to the people in their communities,” DiResta said. “They don't want to hear Stanford Internet Observatory thinks that your sharpie markers is wrong because who the hell are we? We're ivory tower academics. We have no trust and we have no resonance in that community but the local elections theoretically do because they are members of the community.” Siva Vaidhyanathan, the Robertson Professor of Media Studies and director of the Center for Media and Citizenship at the University of Virginia, said democracies have been under attack from across the world in the past decade. He said a lot of this builds off the stoking of fears of other Americans. “We're now in a situation in this country of all countries where we don't have a romance of  democracy,” Vaidhyanathan said. “We don't have something that moves us to believe deeply in the power of each other, in the shared future that we all have whether we admit or not.”Election Day is now 15 days away. This Wednesday, the two candidates in the Fifth District will meet at Hampden-Sydney College for the first and only campaign forum of the race. Some information here, and more in the next newsletter.You can watch the whole Center for Politics event on YouTube. Other articles for your review:As much as I try, I can't get it all. Here are some recent stories you may be interested in reviewing. * Charlottesville's first climate action plan, Anahita Jafary, NBC29, October 20, 2022* Richmond Fed: Va. gained 8,000 jobs in September, Virginia Business, October 21, 2022* Charlottesville man's lawsuit against University Village tests state condo law, Daily Progress, October 21, 2022* Bob Good visits Albemarle County, CBS19, October 22, 2022 * Public comment period ends Wednesday for proposed transgender policy, WWBT, October 24Concluding notes for the end of #447 Monday will end and Tuesday will begin and I am hopeful that there will be another installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement. There is so much to get through, and I'm grateful for paid subscribers who are helping me attempt to keep the stables clean. Do consider a paid subscription through Substack at either $5 a month, $50 a year or $200 a year.And if you do that, Ting will match your initial payment, making it very likely I'll get to keep doing this for a while. That's my goal, at least. This work is how I exercise my love of democracy, by pointing out the decision points close at hand. I will try to resist saying what I think, because mostly what I think is how I can get this up to a seven-day-a-week publication. There's enough to go round. If you do sign up, Ting will match your initial subscription. And even if you don't sign up for a paid subscription to this newsletter, Ting wants your custom too, and if you sign up through a link in the newsletter you will get free installation, a $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall, and a second month for free. Just enter the promo code COMMUNITY.Did you know this newsletter is also the working script for a podcast? Do sign up in your podcast player, because it's a great way to hear people's voices. There is the occasional music bit from either the Fundamental Grang or Wraki, a chameleon-like blender of sonic stylings. Check them out on Bandcamp.  This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

CLICK HERE to listen to episode audio (5:14).Sections below are the following: Transcript of Audio Audio Notes and Acknowledgments Images Sources Related Water Radio Episodes For Virginia Teachers (Relevant SOLs, etc.). Unless otherwise noted, all Web addresses mentioned were functional as of 8-26-22. TRANSCRIPT OF AUDIO From the Cumberland Gap to the Atlantic Ocean, this is Virginia Water Radio for the weeks of August 29 and September 5, 2022.  This episode is a revised repeat of an episode from September 2012. MUSIC – ~15 sec – Lyrics: “Won't you help me to raise ‘em boys; hey, hey, honey.” In this episode, we honor Labor Day by featuring a musical tradition that helped hard-working African American watermen harvest Menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay.  Have a listen for about 90 seconds. VOICE AND MUSIC - ~92 sec – Introduction: “Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.  I want to thank you for that wonderful introduction.  We are the Northern Neck Chantey Singers, and we are extremely happy to be back here once again to perform for you.  We call ourselves the Northern Neck Chantey Singers because all of us come from the Northern Neck counties of the Northern Neck, which is that body that's on the eastern part of Virginia, bordered by the Potomac River in the north, the majestic Chesapeake Bay in the east, and the Rappahannock River in the south.  The first song that we're gonna perform for you is sort of like our theme song.  It's called “Help us to raise ‘em, boys,” and it goes by showing how we pull in the nets that's teeming with fish.” Song Lyrics: “Won't you help me to raise ‘em boys?  Hey, hey, honey. C'mon now, let's go get ‘em; get ‘em now!Won't you help me to raise ‘em boys?  Hey, hey, honey.  C'mon boys let's go get ‘em, all right!Won't you help me to raise ‘em out?  See you when the sun goes down.” You've been listening to the Northern Neck Chantey Singers, performing at the 2011 Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Festival in Charlottesville.  In 1991, several former Virginia watermen formed the Northern Neck Chantey Singers to keep alive and spread awareness of the tradition of menhaden chanteys.  Menhaden chanteys are an example of African American work songs, used in this case to coordinate crews of watermen in the grueling labor of hauling up nets full of fish.  Atlantic menhaden are relatively small, oily fish that feed on microscopic plants and animals and in turn are prey for larger fish, such as Striped Bass and Bluefish.  Menhaden have been harvested from Atlantic Coast waters since the 1800s for a variety of industrial uses of their oils, and in southern states.  African Americans typically made up the crews doing the hard work of pulling up nets containing thousands of fish.  The chanteys, sung in a call-and-response style, helped the watermen coordinate the extra efforts needed for hauling in heavily loaded nets.  Today, hydraulic equipment does the net-hauling work formerly performed by watermen; the Northern Neck town of Reedville, in Northumberland County, is home to the Chesapeake Bay's only remaining industrial Menhaden operation, run by the Omega Protein company; and Bay Menhaden harvest quotas are at times a controversial issue.  Performances by the Northern Neck Chantey Singers remind us that those modern-day menhaden circumstances have a long, challenging, and culturally rich history of Virginians working on the water. Thanks to Virginia Humanities, formerly the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, for permission to use the excerpt of the Northern Neck Chantey Singers' performance, and we let those singers have the last word. MUSIC – ~13 sec – Lyrics: “Won't you help me to raise ‘em out?  See you when the sun goes down.” SHIP'S BELL Virginia Water Radio is produced by the Virginia Water Resources Research Center, part of Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources and Environment.  For more Virginia water sounds, music, or information, visit us online at virginiawaterradio.org, or call the Water Center at (540) 231-5624.  Thanks to Ben Cosgrove for his version of “Shenandoah” to open and close this episode.  In Blacksburg, I'm Alan Raflo, thanking you for listening, and wishing you health, wisdom, and good water. AUDIO NOTES AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This Virginia Water Radio episode revises and replaced Episode 128, 9-17-12. Audio of the Northern Neck Chantey Singers was from a video of their September 11, 2011, performance at the Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Showcase in Charlottesville, used with permission of Virginia Humanities (formerly the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities), located in Charlottesville and online at https://virginiahumanities.org/.  The full performance video is available online at https://www.virginiafolklife.org/sights-sounds/northern-neck-chantey-singers-and-lewis-r-blackwell-jr/. Click here if you'd like to hear the full version (2 min./22 sec.) of the “Shenandoah” arrangement/performance by Ben Cosgrove that opens and closes this episode.  More information about Mr. Cosgrove is available online at http://www.bencosgrove.com. IMAGES Atlantic menhaden (Brevoortia tyrannus).  Drawing from he Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, “Atlantic Menhaden,” online at http://www.asmfc.org/species/atlantic-menhaden. Atlantic menhaden landings for bait and in the reduction industry (using the fish oils for various products) from 1940 to 2020.  Graph from the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, “Atlantic Menhaden,” online at http://www.asmfc.org/species/atlantic-menhaden. SOURCES Used for Audio Harold Anderson, “Menhaden Chanteys: An African American Legacy,” and “A History of Menhaden Fishing,” both in Maryland Marine Notes, Jan.-Feb. 2000, from the Maryland Sea Grant Program, available online at https://www.mdsg.umd.edu/maryland-marine-notes-archive. Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, “Atlantic Menhaden,” online at http://www.asmfc.org/species/atlantic-menhaden. Steve Bittenbender, “Omega Protein completes move of headquarters to Virginia,” Seafood Source, March 2, 2020. Chesapeake Bay Program, “Menhaden” (undated), online at http://www.chesapeakebay.net/issues/issue/menhaden#inline. The Mariners' Museum and Park (formerly The Mariners' Museum; Newport News, Va.), “Watermen Harvesting the Bounty: Menhaden Fishing” (2002), online at http://www.marinersmuseum.org/sites/micro/cbhf/waterman/wat011.html. Omega Protein Corporation, “Who We Are,” online at https://omegaprotein.com/who-we-are/. Virginia Humanities (formerly the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities), “Virginia Folklife Program: Northern Neck Chantey Singers and Lewis R. Blackwell, Jr.,” 2011, online at https://www.virginiafolklife.org/sights-sounds/northern-neck-chantey-singers-and-lewis-r-blackwell-jr/. For More Information about Menhaden or Menhaden Chanteys North Carolina Arts Council, “Menhaden Chanteymen/Beaufort, N.C.,” online at https://www.ncarts.org/menhaden-chanteymen. State Library of North Carolina et al., “NCPedia/Menhaden Chanteymen,” online at https://www.ncpedia.org/menhaden-chanteymen. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (formerly Department of Game and Inland Fisheries), “Fish and Wildlife Information Service/Species Information,” online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/?Title=VaFWIS+Species+Information.  The Altantic menhaden entry is online at https://services.dwr.virginia.gov/fwis/booklet.html?&bova=010043&Menu=_.Taxonomy&version=19233. Virginia Institute of Marine Science, “Atlantic Menhaden,” online at https://www.vims.edu/research/departments/fisheries/programs/mrg_oldwebsite/species_data/atlantic_menhaden/index.php. Virginia Marine Resources Commission/Menhaden Management Advisory Committee, online at https://mrc.virginia.gov/MMAC/mmac.shtm. RELATED VIRGINIA WATER RADIO EPISODES All Water Radio episodes are listed by category at the Index link above (http://www.virginiawaterradio.org/p/index.html).  See particularly the following subject categories: “Fish”; “History”; “Rivers, Streams, and Other Surface Water.” Following are links to some other episodes on the Chesapeake Bay. Bay condition reports – Episode 305, 2-29-16; Episode 632, 7-18-22.Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), Phase II Watershed Implementation Plan – Episode 115, 6-18-12.Bay TMDL, Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan – Episode 475, 6-3-19.Chesapeake Bay Commission – Episode 496, 10-28-19.Estuaries introduction – Episode 326, 7-25-16.Oysters and nitrogen (Part 1) – Episode 279, 8-24-15.Oysters and nitrogen (Part 2) – Episode 280, 9-7-15.“Smart” buoys – Episode 538, 8-17-20.Submerged aquatic vegetation (“Bay grasses”) – Episode 325, 7-18-16.Winter birds of the Chesapeake Bay area – EP565 – 2/22/21. FOR VIRGINIA TEACHERS – RELATED STANDARDS OF LEARNING (SOLs) AND OTHER INFORMATION Following are some Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) that may be supported by this episode's audio/transcript, sources, or other information included in this post. 2020 Music SOLs SOLs at various grade levels that call for “examining the relationship of music to the other fine arts and other fields of knowledge.” 2018 Science SOLs Grades K-4: Living Systems and Processes 1.5 – Animals, including humans, have basic life needs that allow them to survive. 2.5 – Living things are part of a system. 3.5 – Aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems support a diversity of organisms. 4.3 – Organisms, including humans, interact with one another and with the nonliving components in the ecosystem. Grades K-5: Earth and Space Systems 4.7 – The ocean environment. Grades K-5: Earth Resources 1.8 – Natural resources can be used responsibly, including that most natural resources are limited. 3.8 – Natural events and humans influence ecosystems. 4.8 – Virginia has important natural resources. Grade 6 6.6 – Water has unique physical properties and has a role in the natural and human-made environment. 6.8 – Land and water have roles in watershed systems. 6.9 – Humans impact the environment and individuals can influence public policy decisions related to energy and the environment. Life Science LS.6 – Populations in a biological community interact and are interdependent. LS.8 – Change occurs in ecosystems, communities, populations, and organisms over time. LS.9 – Relationships exist between ecosystem dynamics and human activity. Earth Science ES.6 – Resource use is complex.  ES.10 – Oceans are complex, dynamic systems subject to long- and short-term variations. Biology BIO.7 – Populations change through time. BIO.8 – Dynamic equilibria exist within populations, communities, and ecosystems.2015 Social Studies SOLs Grades K-3 Economics Theme 2.8 – Natural, human, and capital resources. 3.8 – Understanding of cultures and of how natural, human, and capital resources are used for goods and services. Virginia Studies Course VS.1 – Impact of geographic features on people, places, and events in Virginia history. VS.10 – Knowledge of government, geography, and economics in present-day Virginia. United States History: 1865-to-Present Course USII.6 – Social, economic, and technological changes from the 1890s to 1945. Civics and Economics Course CE.7 – Government at the state level. CE.10 – Public policy at local, state, and national levels. World Geography

There are many made-up holidays that somehow have found their way into being mentioned on this particular channel of programming as part the introduction. For some reason, today is Clean Your Floors Day, though it’s unclear who makes the money off of those greetings cards. But how clean are your floors? Are you a rebel without a broom, or are you a vacuum warrior? It’s a very good thing that none of the rest of this installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement has anything to do with this particular topic. But I will have you know, I mopped mine yesterday in anticipation of this very important day. On today’s show:So far there are no debates scheduled in the contested Fifth Congressional District race but Democrat Josh Throneburg wants to change thatArea home sales volumes have decreased, though the cost to buy a place to live continues to increaseGreene County hires a water and sewer director to prepare to expand supplySeveral area organizations receive funding from Virginia Humanities, including a project to tell stories of PVCC students who have been or are in prisonAlbemarle County continues to review its Comprehensive Plan and the seven-member Planning Commission got their chance to review growth management options late last month 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!  Challenger Throneburg challenges Good to an in-person debateThe Democratic candidate in the Fifth District Congressional race has asked his opponent to agree to meet in person for a debate or other kind of candidate forum before the November 8 election. Josh Throneburg of Charlottesville became the candidate earlier this year before the primary when he was the only one to qualify for the ballot. “There’s one question I get asked more than any other and that is, when will the two of you debate?” Throneburg asked in a campaign video sent out this morning. Throneburg addressed his comments directly to Good and said there were at least three organizations that would hold a campaign event, and that he’s accepted all of them.“But you have either rejected or ignored those invitations and so I want to make things crystal clear. I, Josh Throneburg, challenge you, Representative Bob Good to an in-person debate sometime between now and November 8.”Good is seeking his second term in the U.S. House of Representatives having defeated Cameron Webb in the 2020 election. Candidate Good did participate in a September 9, 2020 virtual campaign forum put on by the Senior Statesmen of Virginia. You can take a listen to that whole event at the Charlottesville Podcasting Network. A request for comment or a response is out to the Bob Good for Congress campaign. CAAR: Charlottesville real estate market continues to cool as prices continue to increaseThe number of sales in the Charlottesville housing market continues to drop as the median sales price continues to climb. That’s according to the latest report from the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors. (view the report) “There were 1,380 homes sold in the CAAR area in the second quarter,” reads one of the bullet points in the CAAR Home Sales Report for the second quarter. “This is an eleven percent drop from the second quarter a year ago, which is 165 fewer sales.” CAAR’s jurisdictional area is the same as the Thomas Jefferson Planning District with the city of Charlottesville as well as the counties of Albemarle, Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa, and Nelson. The median sales price increased to $417,850, an eleven percent increase over the second quarter of 2021. Additionally, supply has increased with 741 active listings in the area, a 28 percent increase over the same period in 2021. To put the increase in perspective, consider that the median sales price for the second quarter of 2018 was $301,000. The report also covers recent economic trends such as steady job growth and low unemployment. “Several job sectors have fully recovered and have actually expanded since the start of the pandemic, including the Professional and Technical Services sector, and the Federal Government sector. The homeownership rate within these two job sectors tends to be relatively high, so growth in these sectors provides fuel for the housing market in Virginia.”However, the leisure and hospitality sector continues to show signs of recovery. Mortgage rates are higher than last year, but have shown a slight decline from the end of June when the average rate on a 30-year fixed was 5.7 percent. However, the report acknowledges the cooling effect of rates that have increased two percentage points so far this year. Sales volumes were down in all localities except Greene County where there was a 33 percent increase in sales. There were 122 homes sold in that jurisdiction between April and June of this year compared to 92 in the same period the year before. The median sales price increased in all of the jurisdictions, but Nelson County saw the biggest jump in values from $285,000 in second quarter of 2021 to $425,000 in the second quarter of 2022. Visit caar.com to download the report. What do you think? If you’re a property owner, how does this change your views on what you may do with your own place? What about if you want to own? Say something in the comments. New water and sewer director in GreeneGreene County is preparing for anticipated population growth by expanding its urban water supply. Now the locality has hired its first ever water and sewer director. “Mr. Greg Lunsford… will oversee the development of a team to operate Greene County Water and Sewer Department as Greene transitions out of the Rapidan Service Authority,” reads an announcement posted to the county’s Facebook page. Greene County recently left the RSA in order to build a reservoir that’s already received permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The idea is to impound White Run to create storage. (learn more on the Greene website)Lunsford recently served as the town manager of Elkton in Rockingham County where the release states he helped advance a water system upgrade. In Greene, he will lead the work to create a water and sewer ordinance to govern the new supply. Virginia Humanities awards grants to area nonprofitsThe state agency that serves as the official humanities council for Virginia has made its latest round of grants to nonprofit organizations that seek to tell new stories about the people who have lived in the Commonwealth. “We want Virginians to connect with their history and culture and, in doing that, we hope we’ll all get to know each other a little better,” reads the About section of the website for Virginia Humanities. In all, Virginia Humanities awarded $153,200 to eighteen organizations including several in this general area. The Catticus Corporation of Berkeley, California will get $10,000 for a project to build a website intended to tell the story of Barbara Johns and the 1951 student walk out in Prince Edward County to a larger audience across Virginia and the nation. James Madison University will get $5,400 toward a project called A Miserable Revenge: Recovering 19th-Century Black Literature from the Shenandoah Valley. This will transcribe a handwritten novel by George Newman around 1880. Newman was an African American educator from the Winchester area. The Louisa County Historical Society will get $7,000 for a project called Representing our Residents: African American History at the Louisa County Historical Society. This will be a series of oral history interviews and public outreach activities.The National D-Day Memorial in Bedford will get $8,000 for a project called Someone Talked! A Podcast of the National D-Day Memorial. This will include conversations between the prolific WWII historian John McManus and other scholars and is intended and designed to reach and engage new audiences now that the generation that lived through WWII has passed. A project to add two Louisa County churches to the National Register of Historic Places received $3,000.Piedmont Virginia Community College will receive $10,000 for the PVCC Prison Creative Arts Project. The idea is to collect original writing from incarcerated PVCC students and then create a theatrical production based on the stories. The Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Museum will get $8,250 to make three videos to introduce the Monacan Nation as “custodians of the lands and waters in and around Charlottesville” to serve as land acknowledgments The Virginia Tech Foundation will receive $20,000 for a podcast to be called Tribal Truths on the histories and cultures of state and federally recognized Tribes in Virginia. To see the rest, visit the release at Virginia Humanities. 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. Albemarle Planning Commission reviews seven options for growth management Is this the summer of 2022, or is it the Summer of AC44? AC44 is the name Albemarle County has given for the review of its Comprehensive Plan. That’s a document Virginia requires all localities to adopt and review every five years. Albemarle last updated its plan in 2015 and work got underway earlier this year. “We’re currently in phase one, plan for growth, where we are reviewing and evaluating the current growth management policy, using lenses of equity, climate action, and capacity projects,” said Tori Kannellopollous, a senior planner with Albemarle County.At the end of this phase, staff and hired consultants will have developed a draft vision for “growth and resilience” on which new policy objectives will be written.  The work so far has led to the development of seven growth management policies for the public to review. “We are planning having in-person and virtual roundtables and online opportunities in step three,” Kannellopollous saidThe Commission will then review the work in September followed by a review by the Board of Supervisors. Discussions about what changes might come in the rural area will come during phase two of the Comprehensive Plan Review. Several Commissioners wanted to know if survey responses have done enough to capture a diversity of opinion. “I did a deep dive on the last one that came out and when I look at the demographics, the demographics really trend white, upper class, middle-upper class, and extremely well-educated,” said Commission Julian Bivins. “What I’m nervous about is that those responses become the drivers for lots of decisions.” Charles Rapp, the deputy director of the Community Development Department, said he expected participation to increase when the plan review gets into specifics.“People are excited to get into the specific topics [and] into the details of this plan,” Rapp said. “At this point we’re still at such a high level trying to figure out which of those avenues we’re going to go down and which ideas we want to explore and what are those topics that we want to dive into.” The Commission also got an update on the buildout analysis of the county’s existing capacity for new homes and businesses. The firm Kimley Horn has been hired to conduct that work. Kannellopollous had several preliminary observations.“In mixed-use developments, the residential component tends to fill out first and the non-residential component may not build out until years later,” Kannellopollous said. “When factoring in site readiness and site-selection criteria, there appears to be sufficient capacity for commercial and retail uses but much less currently available for office and industrial uses.” Another finding is that new developments are not being approved at the maximum possible, and that by-right developments also do not use all of the potential building space recommended in the existing Comprehensive Plan.Seven growth management optionsThe firm EPR has been hired to help develop the growth management options. “These were developed by the consultants and the staff after the first round of public input,”  said Vlad Gavrilovic with EPR. “They’re not intended as picking one as the winner or the loser. They’re intended to initiate discussion.” Let’s go through them. Here’s option one:“Applying more density and more in-fill development within the existing development areas and retaining and enhancing green infrastructure,” Gavrilovic said. “Next option was looking in the development areas to adjust the densities and reduce the maximum densities to more closely align with what people have actually been building as.” The third option would be to develop criteria for which the growth area might be adjusted. “Looking at new criteria to identify when, where, and how growth areas should be expanded,” Gavrilovic said.  “The next option was opportunities for non-residential development around the interchanges on I-64 to support job growth and economic development.” Option five would explore the possibility of rural villages. “Rural villages where you would promote small scale commercial and service uses to nearby rural area residents,” Gavrilovic said. “Number six was looking at current service provisions and seeing if adjustments are needed to ensure equitable distribution of services, particularly health and safety services.” The final option is to “explore opportunities to promote forest retention and regenerative land uses in the Rural area that support climate action goals.” So those are the seven scenarios. A second round of community engagement went out with these results. “We heard that the three options that best support climate action were regenerative uses in the rural area, rural villages, and distribution of service provision,” Kannellopollous said. “The three options that best support equity were service provision, rural villages, and providing more density and infill in the development areas with green infrastructure.” For the “accommodating growth” lens, the top three options were rural villages, non-residential development at Interstate interchanges, and service provision. Commissioner feedbackCommissioner Karen Firehock said she saw the provision of infrastructure to support development areas as an equity issue.“People should be able to walk to a park or a trail or a healthy environment near to where they live and not have to get in the car and drive a really long way to find something green,” Firehock said. Firehock said the county is expanding some services into the rural area, such as the Southern Convenience Center in Keene. She said that will make it easier for people to meet other environmental goals. Commissioner Lonnie Murray lives in the rural area, and hopes the growth management strategy does not undo work to date. “I think it’s important to have a concept of ‘do no harm’ in the rural area,” Murray said.As an example, he said he wants the county to stop paving gravel roads in the rural area. Bivins urged the Commission to look ahead to the next redistricting after the 2030 Census, when he said the urban areas will continue to have more of the county’s expected population. “If we do not increase the development area, Samuel Miller [District] will end up in the near future as the largest land mass district in Albemarle County.” Bivins said “From an equity standpoint, one has to say ‘is that where we want to go as a county?’” The Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service currently projects Albemarle’s population as increasing to 124,016 by 2030, up from 112,395 in the U.S. Census of 2020. Commissioner Fred Missel said he wanted to know more information about how capital infrastructure works together to support development.“How does the capital plan for infrastructure, how does that inform development and how are they linked together?” Missel asked. “Not to throw the [Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority] into the mix it’s just one that comes to mind. What is their capital plan and how does that support strategic density? How does it support sustainability?” Missel’s day job is as director of design and development at the University of Virginia Foundation. The Foundation is pursuing a rezoning at its North Fork Discovery Park for a potential mixed-use residential complex. If you’d like to learn more about capital projects in Albemarle County, click here.If you’d like to learn more about the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority’s Capital Improvement Program, download it here.Luis Carrazana’s day job is at the University of Virginia’s Office of the Architect. He said he wanted better metrics. “And a lot of times we focus on the big picture but we lose that option to say ‘we know we’re going in the right direction if we’re achieving A, B, C, and D,” Carrazana said. “So I would encourage everyone to think about that as well.” Planning Commissioner Corey Clayborne said density in the right place can help the county achieve certain goals, but he also acknowledged a tension with those who have pushed back. “That’s something we kind of have to wrestle to the ground and I’m not sure if that would be part of the final deliverable here as much as, is there an education sense in this process with the community as we step through this?” Clayborne asked. “Does that mean there are graphics or visuals? I’m not sure what that answer is yet but addressing it… if we can get our arms around and embrace strategic density, I think if you start talking about design importance, that could be a major key to affordable housing.” Commissioner Dan Bailey said one piece of data is experience that comes from what’s been approved and what’s actually been built. “I live in Belvedere and it has a concept that’s been there for nearly ten years of having centers in the community, but it’s been vacant for ten years,” Bailey said. “And we’ve done a lot of approving these novel neighborhood model density and other things where they should have this retail or office building. I would really love to know how many of them have actually been developed.” The next step will be a series of public engagement on the themes as well as the growth management options. Stay tuned. If you’re interested in this topic, invest an hour in the conversation to inform how you might participate. Housekeeping notes for 415 (Clean Floor edition)That’s the end of another installment of the program. Thank you so much for being here! I hope to have another one out tomorrow, followed by another on Friday. Then the Week Ahead and the Government Glance. The latter is the first publication of the new Fifth District Community Engagement.  That’s another service of Town Crier Productions, a company formed to keep you in the know. Contributions and payments to Town Crier Productions cover the cost of reporting. That includes a bill with the United States for the Public Access to Court Electronic Records. I use that service to stay up to date on federal lawsuits such the one former City Manager Tarron Richardson had filed against the city, or the two court cases that sought a House of Delegates race this year.  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. All of the funding goes to ensure I can keep doing the work, which two years ago included bringing the audio from a campaign forum to the public via the Charlottesville Podcasting Network. That’s also part of Town Crier Productions. There’s a lot, and your support will help me pull all of the pieces together into whatever it becomes. 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 go clean some floors. 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

Going up? Going down? Or, staying in the same place? Those are the only options to ponder now that it is National Talk In An Elevator Day. The idea is to spark up a quick conversation with a stranger while you level up - or down. So, polish up your pitch and perhaps you will find your way somewhere new? That’s one thought to have on July 29, 2022 and this installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement hopes to get to the bottom of a few things. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs. Sign up for free to be informed about a great deal of things! Pay for a subscription and you’ll help the information keep flowing!On today’s show:The deadline will soon close to tell the University of Virginia that your company wants to build affordable units as part of a housing initiativeAlbemarle Supervisors approve funding to further advance affordable housing projects at SouthwoodThere’s another algae bloom at Chris Greene Lake And Albemarle Supervisors deny a request from a landowner next to the lake to import clean fill to help restore the land to raise livestock First shout-out: Piedmont Master Gardeners want to help you rethink your lawnIn today’s first subscriber supported public service announcement: Want to change up your lawn to something more sustainable for pollinators and other creatures? The Piedmont Master Gardeners wants you to know about a program called Healthy Virginia Lawns which can assist you in your transition. The program is a joint venture of Virginia Cooperative Extension and the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. If interested, the first step will be for a Piedmont Master Gardener to come for a visit for an assessment and soil tests. Healthy Virginia Lawns will give you a customized, science-based roadmap to a greener landscape that protects water quality, wildlife and other resources along the way. Visit piedmontmastergardeners.org to learn more!And if you want to learn more about how to use water more efficiently while gardening, Piedmont Master Gardeners are hosting a program at the Center at Belvedere this Tuesday, August 2, at 6:30 p.m. Learn more at thecentercville.org.Deadline looming for responses to UVA housing initiativeFirms and entities that seek to be part of the University of Virginia’s initiative to build up to 1,500 subsidized housing units have until Tuesday to answer a request for qualifications (RFQ). The University of Virginia Foundation has announced three sites on which mixed-use developments will be built, and the RFQ is for a 24 acre site on Fontaine Avenue known as Piedmont as well as a two acre site on Wertland Street near the intersection with 10th Street NW. Two weeks ago, the Foundation put out a list of answers to questions raised at a June 10 pre-proposal conference. (view the answers)“We expect submissions to provide clear examples of the approach to planning and development on other similar projects managed by the respondent,” reads the response to the first question. The document states that there have been no discussions with either Albemarle or Charlottesville about potential rezonings that might be necessary for the projects. The Piedmont site is located within Albemarle county and offers about 12 developable acres. The 10th and Wertland site is within Charlottesville close to three apartment buildings that have been constructed in the last ten years on West Main Street. There will be no homeownership options at either site and the Foundation’s involvement will be limited to leasing the ground to the development team. Existing tenants at the two locations are on year-to-year leases and have been informed of the potential redevelopment. Some but not all of the new tenants in the new buildings will be required to have specific low incomes. “Our team’s analysis demonstrates a need for units at [30 percent to 60 percent of area median income], but it will be up to the development team to determine the best approach to maximize affordability while producing a financially feasible project,” reads the response to question 10. The Foundation is also not stating a unit count at either location.“The count should be identified by the selected development team’s development program and financial plan,” reads the response to question 14. “It is assumed that teams will seek to maximize the number of affordable units while working to offer a variety of affordability levels across the development.”The response also clarifies that the units are not being targeted for UVA employees but for community members at the 30 percent to 60 percent level. The UVA Foundation has previously offered land at the North Fork Discovery Park, but an RFQ for that project will not be issued until after a rezoning is completed. See also:UVA announces three sites for affordable housing projects, December 14, 2021Places29-North committee gets first look at North Fork rezoning to add residential, March 3, 2022University of Virginia issues first request for qualifications for affordable housing developers, June 10, 2022Regional housing partnership endorses Piedmont Housing Alliance’s application to build affordable housing at two sites, July 7, 2022Albemarle Supervisors approve nearly $3.3 million in additional funding for projects at Southwood There’s a lot of demand for funding for housing projects across the community, and Albemarle County set aside some of its share of the American Rescue Plan Act to provide support to nonprofit agencies. The county asked those entities to apply for funding for affordable housing projects last gal “During the [Agency Budget Review Team] and [American Rescue Plan Act] processes we received requests for more than $20 million in funding support,” said Stacy Pethia, Albemarle’s Housing Policy Manager.On April 20, the Albemarle Board of Supervisors approved $1.29 million from the FY22 budget for three projects. “That money went to the Albemarle Housing Improvement Program to preserve 41 affordable units,” Pethia said. “$625,000 went to the Piedmont Community Land Trust to create 12 permanently affordable new housing units. And $250,000 was awarded to expand the county’s current energy improvement program and that would extend that program for an additional 25 existing units.” Another $2.7 million from Albemarle’s share of ARPA was set aside for housing, and Pethia said much of that went to the Premier Circle project being developed by Piedmont Housing Alliance, Virginia Supportive Housing, and the Thomas Jefferson Area Coalition for the Homeless. On July 20, Supervisors were asked to approve funding for two additional projects. “The staff is requesting the Board approve $3.3 million in funding [and] $3 million of that will be given to Piedmont Housing Alliance to support their Southwood Housing project and $306,000 will go to Habitat for Humanity to provide temporary rental assistance for 40 Southwood families that need to be relocated during the redevelopment process,” Pethia said. That relocation will take place for two years as the second phase of Habitat’s Southwood redevelopment gets underway. The total project cost is $2 million, making the county’s cost about 15 percent of that total. Pethia said the relocation will be in a building being constructed as part of phase one. Pethia said Piedmont Housing Alliance’s Southwood Apartments will have 121 units in the first phase of the Southwood redevelopment. “Those units will serve households with incomes between 30 percent and 60 percent of the area  median income,” Pethia said. “The total project cost is $24.9 million.”Pethia said Albemarle’s total contribution for that project will end up around 12 percent of the total cost, or about $25,000 per unit. The main bulk of the funding comes from the sale of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits but other sources include the National Housing Trust Fund and the Virginia Housing Trust Fund. Albemarle’s Office of Housing will also dedicate eight vouchers to the project. “That equals approximately $500,” Pethia said. “That will provide rental assistance to dedicated units for 15 years.”Supervisor Ann Mallek asked what would happen after that 15 years. Pethia responded they would have to remain affordable for 30 years because that is the requirement under the Low Income Housing Tax Credits mechanism. Supervisor Ned Gallaway said Supervisors have to have a discussion about the future of the county’s affordable housing trust.“We’re on the 20th day of the Fiscal Year and our affordable housing fund, which we’ve taken probably four years to get up to $5 million is now down to under $500,000 again,” Gallaway said. “That’s not bad because we’re using it but there’s still so much out there that we need to do.” Gallaway said the county needs to do more than rely on surpluses and one-time money. Second shout-out: Join me for a Cvillepedia training session - Brand styleIn today’s house-fueled public service announcement, the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society wants you to know about an upcoming exhibit at the Center at Belvedere featuring portraits of several historical figures active in the Charlottesville area in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Frances Brand was a folk artist who painted nearly 150 portraits of what she considered “firsts” including first Black Charlottesville Mayor Charles Barbour and Nancy O’Brien, the first woman to be Charlottesville Mayor. Brand’s work will be on display from July 5 to August 31 in the first public exhibit since 2004. And, if you’d like to help conduct community research into who some of the portraits are, cvillepedia is looking for volunteers! I will be leading a Cvillepedia 101 training session at the Center August 1 at 2 p.m. Sign up at the Center’s website.Another algae bloom at Chris Greene LakeAlbemarle County has closed the beach to people and animals at Chris Greene Lake due to another harmful algae bloom. “People and dogs are prohibited from swimming in the lake until further notice,” reads a press release that went out on Wednesday. “Hiking trails and the dog park remain open, and boating is still permitted.:This is the second such event in less than a year. Another harmful algae bloom shut down the water last October and Chris Greene Lake was reopened after tests showed reduced levels of the bacteria that cause the blooms to occur. Another bloom in June 2018 prompted the county to hire the firm SOLitude Lake Management to conduct a study of the lake’s chemistry to understand the source. Their work found that organic material has accumulated at the bottom of the lake since it was created in the 1970’s. Lower oxygen in warmer months releases phosphorus into the lake upon which the algae feeds.“Algae are naturally-occurring microscopic organisms that are found in fresh and salt waters of Virginia and around the world,” reads the Virginia Department of Health’s website on harmful algae blooms. “Most algal blooms are not harmful but some do affect fish and humans, as well as other animals like birds and marine mammals.” Western portions of Lake Anna are also experiencing harmful algae blooms and an advisory was issued on July 15. The next report on that situation is expected on August 10. Albemarle Supervisors deny landowners request to be exempt from new rules on clean fillThe Albemarle County Board of Supervisors has taken action on the first test of an ordinance adopted in the fall of 2020 to regulate the practice of importing dirt from construction sites and other excavations to agriculturally zoned land. “The fill regulations were developed to protect public health, safety, welfare, and those regulations were designed to limit the scale and impact on roads, the adjacent areas, noise, runoff,” said Bart Svoboda, the county’s zoning administrator. The owner of two properties just to the west of Chris Greene Lake wants an exemption from all of those rules because he says they restrict a contract he has with the federal government to further develop forested land that was clear cut in 2009 that he now wants to become suitable for livestock pasture. “I am currently working on a multiyear, federally-funded environmental quality incentive program  to improve the overall agricultural production of a 254 acre farm that has been in my family since the 1730’s,” said Tim Kindrick. The request is the first to come in since Supervisors adopted updated rules for what’s called clean fill on September 16, 2020. The new rules only allow imported fill on two acres per property. About 90 acres of the property were clear cut in 2009 and the stumps were left to decompose in place in order to prevent erosion. To move the land into productive use as pasture, Kindrick entered into a contract with the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Resources Conservation Service. One of the items in the meeting packet is a letter from Kory Kirkland with the NRCS. (read Kindrick’s application)“I have been working with Tim Kindrick on a multiyear project to conserve, improve, and protect the natural resources on his farm. This project promotes improved pasture condition and use, permanent/ perennial vegetation, and some use exclusion on areas that are most vulnerable. Part of the project area includes the area that Mr. Kindrick has proposed to use clean fill dirt as a land treatment to improve existing [conditions] for continued/ improved agricultural use.” Clean fill means solid matter brought from other sites that could include soil and other inert materials that change the topography of the landscape. Kindrick told the Board of Supervisors the project is agricultural in nature and that the new rules should not apply due to the Virginia Right to Farm Act. He said he has been held hostage by the new ordinance. Zoning administrator Bart Svoboda said staff does not see it that way. (county fill-dirt rules)“Under our ordinance, the zoning ordinance, the activity is not agricultural,” Svoboda said. “Fill activity is specifically excluded as an agricultural activity under state code and local code.”Svoboda acknowledged that the Virginia Right to Farm Act does restrict localities from regulating many agricultural uses, but clean fill brought in from external sites is not one of them.  “That activity of bringing fill from offsite is not an agricultural use,” Svoboda said. “It supports agriculture but under those definitions it is not agricultural use.” Svoboda said staff recommended denial in part because there was no plan for how environmental effects would be mitigated under the plan. Supervisor Jim Andrews questioned the request for exemption from all of the rules. “My sense is that this is really an attempt to say that this regulation shouldn’t apply at all and asking us to make that determination which seems highly inappropriate,” Andrews said. “Without conditions I can’t understand what I’m really looking at.” Before we get to the end of the story, we have to go back. Earlier in the meeting, Brian McCay spoke on behalf of the Earlysville Forest Homeowners Association and said Supervisors should not grant the exemption. “Earlysville Forest has a right of way easement with the Kindrick family that was signed when the neighborhood was first developed,” McCay said. The neighborhood dates back to the 1980’s and McCay said the terms give the association an 15-foot easement intended for a driveway that links to Carriage Hill Drive. “However that driveway is now being used as access for the fill dirt operation requiring repeated trips by heavy dump trucks and is not adequate for that purpose,” McCay said. When asked by Supervisor Ned Gallaway to further explain the neighborhood’s opposition, McCay spoke a second time saying he was not opposed to the use of the property. “Our opposition is directly to the use of this access by heavy equipment and we want to stop that basically,” McCay said. Supervisor Donna Price said she toured the property with Kindrick and saw the installation of mechanisms to keep additional organic material from being washed into the watershed of Chris Greene Lake. “I did have a tour of part of the property and I did see where livestock exclusion fencing has been constructed to protect the waterways,” Price said. “My concern here is that our ordinance may have someone created what I’d call the law of unintended consequences by limiting the soil to have to come from the farm itself.” Price said the farm was in existence many years before the homes were built on Carriage Hill Road and that Kindrick had a legal right to use it. “It is a farm,” Price said. ”A farm naturally engages in some sort of industrial use.” Price asked for a legal perspective on whether the county’s ordinance was against state rules.“As Mr. Svoboda said at the beginning, there’s a difference between agricultural use on the one hand and fill use on the other and as Mr. Svoboda also pointed out, there was a recent amendment to state law that specifically amended agricultural activity so as not to include imported fill,” said Deputy County Attorney Andy Herrick. Supervisor Ann Mallek said the county’s new rules on clean fill were the subject of much public discussion over several years.“I cannot support someone saying ‘I don’t want this law to apply to me,’ and I think we have to make a decision based on the information we have now and if there’s a future application that comes in with something different, that would be fair to the neighbors and to the process.” Supervisor Ned Gallaway said he was sympathetic to the landowner, but the county put its ordinance into place for a reason. “I think even then we knew that this would likely frustrate good actors coming forward but the regulations and the ordinance were put in place to stop the bad actors and the activity that we were concerned about,” Gallaway said. There are six ways you can get a waiver but Kindrick wanted a blanket exemption from all of the rules. Gallaway suggested a new application that sought to justify the waiver. Price said she also could not support a blanket exemption. “But I really want county staff to do what I believe county staff does which is help this community member achieve within the law what he wants to do which is to improve the quality of his farm,” Price said. The motion to deny the application for a special exemption was approved unanimously. Housekeeping notes for episode 413:And that’s it for another edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement, and you may have noticed a focus on Albemarle County. I’d been wanting to get some of these items out there and it took a bit. There’s so much going on and I hope to have another edition out Monday at noon. Between now and then, there’s the Week Ahead coming out on Sunday. There will also be another look at what’s happening at government meetings in the Fifth District in the new Government Glance. In a few days, the above stories will be on the Information Charlottesville website. Want to read articles on land use at the University of Virginia? Click here!What about information on local waterways? Click here!How about economic development? Elections in Virginia? The archive grows each week!All of this is supported by readers and listeners under the Town Crier Productions company I formed two years ago and am still learning how to operate. I’m breaking even, but I’d very much like to find a way to grow. There are ways to do that!For one, if you sign up for a paid subscription through Substack, Ting will match your initial payment! And, if you sign up for their services through this link you’ll get a free standard install, your 2nd month free, and a $75 downtown mall gift card! Enter the promo code COMMUNITY for full effect. Music on the podcast version of the show comes from the D.C. sensation Wraki, and you can support their work by paying whatever you want for the album on BandCamp. My sincere hope today, though, is that someone will ponder the concept of elevators. And what would happen if they could predict the future? Ting will match your initial contribution if you sign up for a paid subscription! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Numerological hijinks ensue today on 7/7/22. This is the 188th day of this particular orbital period, and there are 177 left until the next one. What does it all mean? What you make of it! If you’re one who misses celebrating an independent nation, July 7 also marks when the Solomon Islands observes Independence Day. No fireworks, please! I’m your host, Sean Tubbs, puzzling over what all of it might mean. You will need to click through to the website to see the whole thing. Also, please let me know if you have any trouble with links. There appears to be an issue. On today’s program:The Virginia State Police releases crime data for 2021, and violent crimes increased statewide The Regional Housing Partnership endorses a coalition led by the Piedmont Housing Alliance to build affordable housing at two sites to be donated by the University of Virginia Foundation through a ground leaseThe Albemarle County Electoral Board names a new registrar tIt’s been two months since the Board of Equalization affirmed nine out of eleven requests to lower real estate property tax assessments Charlottesville will purchase land on East Jefferson Street for additional municipal parking spaceFirst shout-out: WTJU staging the Cville Puzzle Hunt on August 27In today’s first Patreon-fueled shout-out: By now, readers and listeners know WTJU’s position on algorithms. But do you know that the radio station celebrates puzzles? In fact, on Saturday, August 27, WTJU is organizing the Cville Puzzle Hunt, a huge, cerebral puzzle that will spool out across downtown Charlottesville. The Cville Puzzle Hunt will take you and a team of friends on a wild afternoon running around trying to untangle five diabolical, large-scale puzzles inserted into the urban landscape. The opening clue will be read at 1 p.m. at the Ix Art Park. Find out more about this WTJU-organized event at cvillepuzzlehunt.com. Regional Housing Partnership endorses Piedmont Housing Alliance’s application to build affordable housing at two UVA sitesThe Central Virginia Regional Housing Partnership is a function of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission and consists of elected officials, representatives from nonprofits, and developers. Last year they developed the Planning for Affordability report intended to suggest strategies for each of the six localities to create more below-market housing opportunities. (read that plan)On Wednesday, the group convened for one purpose. For background, the University of Virginia and its real estate foundation are offering land through a ground lease at three sites in the community for a partner to construct affordable housing. They issued a request for qualifications in June to develop sites on Fontaine Avenue and Wertland Street. (agenda packet)There was a pre-proposal presentation on June 22 led by Fred Missel, the director of development for the UVA Foundation. In a separate capacity, Missel is also a member of the Albemarle Planning Commission. Wednesday’s partnership meeting was to vote on an endorsement of the Piedmont Housing Alliance’s desire to lead a large group of partners to develop the two sites.“We have pulled together a largely local team of nonprofits and one for profit organization to come together to ideally provide a holistic housing ladder with a holistic set of viewpoints to make sure we are being responsive to the needs not just within those two sites,” said Sunshine Mathon, the executive director of the Piedmont Housing Alliance. That for profit developer would be Riverbend Development, which has assisted the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority with its recent redevelopment efforts. Another partner would be the Virginia Community Development Corporation and another would be 7 and M Development. A letter in the RHP agenda packet includes more details. “The development team is partnering to design, build, and operate affordable housing on both sites, with a focus on a broad array of housing opportunities, focused on rental housing for people earning 30 to 60 percent of area median income, but also including more deeply affordable rental housing, affordable homeownership opportunities, market rate housing, community amenities, and commercial space,” reads the letter.However, many of the partnership members had to recuse themselves from the vote out of conflicts of interest. That included:Dan Rosensweig of the Habitat for Humanity of Greater CharlottesvilleSunshine Mathon of the Piedmont Housing AllianceKeith Smith of the Piedmont Community Land Trust (now part of Piedmont Housing Alliance)Shelby Edwards of the Public Housing Association of Residents Anthony Haro of the Thomas Jefferson Coalition for the HomelessColette Sheehy is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the University of Virginia. She also abstained from the vote but is not part of the development. “That was an impressive list of local organizations involved in this space and I was just curious if you anticipate anybody else out there locally that might propose anything?” Sheehy asked. Mathon said he thought there may be another group.“I think there are probably still one or two organizations which may find their way into a different team but I’m not 100 percent sure,” Mathon said. Those who were able to vote to support the letter were Antwon Brinson of the Piedmont Workforce Network, Greg Powe of Powe Studio Architects, Ned Gallaway of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors, Peter Holman of the University of Virginia Credit Union, Rachel Jones of the Louisa Board of Supervisors, Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook, and Kim Hyland of the Fluvanna-Louisa Housing Foundation.“Seven yes, zero noes, and six abstentions,” said Ian Baxter, a planner with the TJPDC. One of those abstentions was Keith Smith, a realtor and chair of the Piedmont Community Land Trust.“This is what this body was designed to do and this is great stuff,” Smith said. The application is due on August 2. Will there be any other applications? Albemarle hires new registrar from within The Albemarle County Electoral Board has promoted the deputy registrar to serve as the new Director of Elections. Lauren Eddy has worked for the Voter Registration and Elections Office for 17 years, and will succeed Richard “Jake” Washburne, who will be retiring at the end of the month.“I can’t think of anyone more qualified than Lauren to take on this role,” Washburne is quoted in a release.Eddy has been deputy registrar for the past 15 years. She’s a native of Albemarle and is a Virginia Registered Election Official as well as a National Certified Elections/Registration Administrator.Charlottesville Board of Equalization declined all but one assessment appealsIt has now been seven weeks and two day since the Charlottesville Board of Equalization met on May 17 to hear appeals from property owners of their 2022 real estate tax assessments. Eleven were scheduled but one withdrew. The Board affirmed the property assessments in all ten of the cases that were heard. (read the minutes)The owner of an apartment in the Belmont Lofts wanted the BOE to lower the assessment to $265,000 down from the $400,900 for 2022. The Board agreed to lower the amount to $365,000. GIS for this property currently says $364,000. The owner of 409 Park Street in North Downtown sought reduction to $750,000, but the BOE affirmed the $914,800 assessment. The owner of 1010 Peartree Lane in the Locust Grove wanted to have the assessment dropped to $265,650 but the Board affirmed the $323,700 as the fair market value. The owner bought the 0.21 acre property in 1976 for $34,000. HPTMI Corporation owns the Residence Inn on Millmont Street. They argued the fair market value should be $11,547,400 rather than the $14,762,600 for 2022. The BOE disagreed and affirmed the assessment. When the motel was built in 1997, it was assessed at $3,845,500 and steadily increased each year until this year, when the assessment dropped around $1.5 million. The owners of the Omni Hotel withdrew their appeal of the property’s $35.8 million 2022 assessment. Like the Residence Inn, the assessment has been dropped since 2020 due to the pandemic. There’s still an active lawsuit regarding the 2021 assessment. Last year, the Omni sued Charlottesville over what they perceived as an overpayment of taxes. Read an April 2021 story by Tyler Hammel in the Charlottesville Daily Progress. Ludwig Kuttner sought an unspecified reduction for an industrial building at 1155 5th Street NW next to the Willoughby Shopping Center and claimed “appraiser failed to take into consideration the tremendous impact that ‘Covid’ had on all businesses and property owners.” The Board affirmed the assessment of $2,888,500 and said Kuttner presented no new evidence.Kuttner also sought an assessment reduction for the 10,75 acres of the Ix property, a request he has made in the past. This time, he cited the same reason. The property was assessed at nearly $14.4 million and it will stay that way. Read about the 2017 appeal on Charlottesville Tomorrow. The section of the Ix property that is operated as the Ix Park and is rented to Three Notch’d Brewery was assessed at $5.62 million. The BOE affirmed. Kuttner also sought relief for the Terraces at 100-106 West Main Street. The city assessors valued it at $12,690,400 and the Board of Equalization affirmed that amount.The same story can be said about 201 E. Main Street, otherwise known as Central Place. Kuttner made the same argument but the BOE affirmed the $2.83 million assessment for 2022. Kuttner also represented the owners of 301 E. High Street and made the same basic argument about COVID. The Board also affirmed this property.  Virginia State Police release 2021 crime report for the Commonwealth The rate of violent crime in Virginia increased in 2021 according to new data from the Virginia State Police. Last week, the agency’s Criminal Justice Information Service’s Data Analysis and Reporting Team (DART) published a report for last year showed an overall increase in murders, forcible sex offenses including rape, robbery, and aggravated assault. “There were 16,823 violent crime offenses reported in 2021 compared to 15,713 violent crime offenses reported in 2020, representing a 7.1 percent increase,” reads a press release on the report. Some of what’s in the report: There were 562 homicides in Virginia in 2021, a 6.4 percent increase. Of that amount, 38.6 percent were men between the ages of 18 and 34. Over $131 million worth of vehicles were stolen in 2021, a 3.8 percent increase. Firearms were used in 82.1 percent of homicides and 48.6 percent of robberies. There were 123 hate crime offenses involving 106 victims in 2021. That’s down 35.3 percent from 2020. These involve either aggravated assault, vandalism, or destruction of property. Fraud offenses were up 8.4 percent in 2021.Not all of the numbers are increasing. The number of burglaries continued to decline with an 8.3 percent drop in 2020. That’s part of a long-time trend. “In 2021, there were 10,464 burglaries and attempted burglaries whereas in 2011 there were 27,872, representing a decreased burglary rate in the last decade from 344.24 to 120.89 per 100,000 population,” reads the summary. Drug arrests were down 46.7 percent, with one major driver being the decriminalization of possession of less than an ounce of marijuana. The DART report also breaks down offenses by locality. The Albemarle County Police Department reported 4,191 total offenses and 1,527 arrests. There were no murders or negligent manslaughter, but there were 12 kidnapping incidents, 76 aggravated assaults, 99 burglaries, and 107 stolen vehicles.(page 92 of the .PDF)Charlottesville also reported no murders, but there there were 3,052 offenses tracked. There were 11 kidnappings, 162 aggravated assaults, 127 burglaries, and 155 stolen vehicles.  (page 130)There were no murders reported in any of the other localities in the Thomas Jefferson Planning District. The Fluvanna Sheriff’s Office reported four kidnappings, 29 aggravated assaults, 13 burglaries, and 12 stolen vehicles. (page 170)In Greene, there were five kidnappings, 21 aggravated assaults, 12 burglaries and 15 stolen vehicles. (page 186)There were nine kidnappings reported by the Louisa County Sheriff's Office in 2021. There were 21 aggravated assaults, 11 burglaries, and 32 stolen vehicles. (page 223)The Nelson County Sheriff’s Office reported five abductions, 26 aggravated assaults, 49 burglaries, and 18 stolen vehicles (page 241). Today’s second-shout: LEAP’s Thermalize Virginia program In today’s second Patreon-fueled shout-out: Have you been thinking of converting your fossil-fuel appliances and furnaces into something that will help the community reduce its greenhouse gas emissions? Your local energy nonprofit, LEAP,  has launched a new program to guide you through the steps toward electrifying your home. Thermalize Virginia will help you understand electrification and connect you with vetted contractors to get the work done and help you find any rebates or discounts. Visit thermalizeva.org to learn more and to sign up!  City to purchase downtown land for surface parking Sometimes it takes a while to get everything I’d like to write about in the show. For instance, so far, I’ve written several segments from the June 21, 2022 meeting of the Charlottesville City Council. Charlottesville’s FY22 surplus likely to increase, June 24, 2022Council makes appointments, but not yet to Planning Commission, June 24, 2022RWSA to vote today on Central Water Line project, June 28, 2022Charlottesville briefed on city-owned property, June 30, 2022Is there room for one more to memorialize, and is it worth it, two and a half weeks later? Yes. Charlottesville City Council has authorized the city’s economic development director to purchase 921 E. Jefferson Street for $1.6 million. Here’s Chris Engel. (read the staff report)“This parcel is four tenths of an acre and is currently used as a 39-space surface parking lot,” Engel said. “Staff recommends purchase as it puts the city in control of an asset that will help with current and future parking capacity issues.” Engel said one reason is to help satisfy the terms of an agreement between Albemarle and Charlottesville related to parking for the joint General District Court that will be built downtown. “Most of that agreement spoke to the creation of a new parking structure that the city was to undertake as part of its agreement with the county,” Engel said. “That project was ultimately canceled as you know last year about this time.” Engel said the agreement allows the city options to provide spaces at either the existing 7th Street surface lot or at Market Street Parking Garage, both owned by city government. He said either would displace existing parkers and this lot would be a replacement.Engel said volume in the Market Street Parking Garage is not at pre-pandemic levels but the city is currently on a waiting list for new monthly pass holders at that structure. If the county chooses 100 spaces at the Market Street garage, Engel said that would crowd out the ability of people to park there on a transient basis. “So you’d in some way be jeopardizing the health of the surrounding business community that relies on those spaces for activity,” Engel said. Engel said this purchase would also make up for the loss of 50 spaces that used to be underneath the Belmont Bridge but won’t be coming back when that project is complete. He said the city will also eventually lose a parking lot with 61 spaces for employees at a site on Levy Avenue owned by the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. “If we were to add 39 spots we would still have a net loss of parking spaces in and around the downtown area,” Engel said. The current owner of the property is Gewinn Investors III, a firm that bought the land in 1985 for $175,000. The land is currently assessed at $953,000 and the sales price would be over 73 percent above the assessment. In January 2017, the city paid $2.85 million to purchase the corner lot at Market Street and 9th Street for a new parking garage. That transaction was 40.55 percent above assessment at the time. Councilor Michael Payne said the city was wrong to have entered into the agreement with the county, but he said they should be given the 100 spaces in Market Street Garage. “Quite frankly depending on how that’s implemented I don’t think that’s the end of the world but my understanding is that a majority of Council does not agree with that sentiment,” Payne said. However, he said he could support the purchase of this space if it meant keeping the two structures the city owns at the corner lot. “If purchasing this resolves the courts agreement in place of building a 10-million plus and tearing down Lucky 7 and Guadalajara to build a surface lot, it potentially makes sense to me,” Payne said. Engel said he could make no guarantees, but purchasing this lot would delay that outcome. Councilor Brian Pinkston said during his time in office to date, parking has proven to be controversial. “If you talk with folks at the Downtown Mall, they’re like ‘we absolutely need more parking’ and if you talk with other constituencies, they’re like ‘no, you’ve got plenty of parking,’” Pinkston said. Pinkston said he relies on staff to provide recommendations about occupancy and utilization rates. “Grabbing these 39 spaces for lack of a better term and taking advantage of this opportunity to acquire these 39 spaces basically is insurance against future possibilities,” Pinkston said. . Charlottesville Mayor Lloyd Snook said the property would be ready to go for the city’s parking needs for now. That would allow more time to watch trends and collect data on actual usage of the new courts. “Five years from now we decide we don’t in fact need those parking places, I think we will probably have profited from the wait,” Snook said. The vote was 4-1 with Payne  against.There is no overall parking plan for the City of Charlottesville, or for Albemarle County. The University of Virginia has a Parking and Transportation Master Plan from 2019 which seeks to manage parking demand. In June, the University of Virginia’s Building and Grounds Committee approved a plan to move forward with a 1,000 space parking garage with a $54 million budget but with no location determined. (UVA committee briefed on new capital projects, June 4, 2022)The current rewrite of the zoning code also provides another opportunity related to parking. The Zoning Diagnostics and Approach Report calls for the reduction of parking requirements in addition to allowing greater residential density throughout the city. Visit the Cville Plans Together website to learn more. See also:Toward a TDM plan for Charlottesville, June 9, 2021A quick plug for Michael ClemFinally today, local singer songwriter Michael Clem is looking for subscribers to his YouTube channel. Take a look at his trailer! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Today we have a 404, as in the 404th edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Hopefully this online-only information content is what you’re expecting, whether it’s your first time reading or listening or if you’re a regular by now. I’m your host Sean Tubbs, always scouring the internet to bring you more on what’s happening. Thanks for reading or listening!There are nearly 1,450 email subscribers to this newsletter, and I’ve for you to be the next one. It’s free, but Ting will match your initial payment to help the newsletters flow On today’s show:In six days, you’ll have a choice of when to take a daily train to Roanoke or the District of Columbia The University of Virginia to establish a “sustainable lab” at Morven Farm Governor Youngkin appoints four to the UVA Board of VisitorsThe Board of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority gets an update on finances And the New Hill Development Corporation gets a state grant to help launch a commercial kitchen to incubate new businesses First shout–out: JMRL to kick off the Summer Reading ChallengeIn today’s first subscriber-supported public service announcement, the Summer Reading Challenge put forth by Jefferson Madison Regional Library continues! You and members of your family can earn points for prizes in a variety of ways, such as reading for 30 minutes a day, reading with a friend, creating something yourself, or visiting the library! You can also get two points just by telling someone about the Summer Reading Challenge, so I guess I just added two more! Visit JMRL.org to learn more about this all ages opportunity to dive into oceans of possibilities! Second daily train between Roanoke and DC to start July 11A deal between the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority and Norfolk Southern closed on June 30, which means additional passenger rail service will begin next Monday. According to a release, the state entity will now own 28 miles of track between Christiansburg and Salem that will allow for the expansion of passenger rail to the New River Valley in a few years.“We have reached an agreement that expands access for passengers and preserves an important link in the supply chain for businesses that rely on freight rail to ship base materials and finished products,” said Norfolk Southern Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer Mike McClellan. “The partnership of our government leaders was critical to making this plan a reality and we appreciate their commitment to the people and economy of Virginia’s Blue Ridge.”The first daily service on the Northeast Regional began in 2009 and ridership was triple what had been forecast. This train was extended to Roanoke in 2017 and this year has seen a return to pre-pandemic boarding levels.The second train will begin on July 11, according to the release. It will stop in Alexandria, Manassas, Culpeper, Charlottesville, Lynchburg, and Roanoke.“Amtrak will now offer morning and afternoon options in both directions between Roanoke, Washington, D.C., and to the Northeast,” said Amtrak spokeswoman Kimberly Woods. To learn more and to book tickets, check out Amtrak’s press release. A study is underway to determine if Bedford would be a viable stop. UVA estate at Morven to become Sustainability LabA nearly 3,000 acre farm gifted to the University of Virginia in 2001 will now officially be used by the institution as a “Sustainability Lab.” UVA Today reported last week that the Morven Farm property now owned by the University of Virginia Foundation will be used as a place to study environmental resilience and sustainability. Morven is currently used for meeting space and is the home of the Morven Kitchen Garden, which has been run by a student group for several years. According to the article, that use will continue and space can still be rented out by educational groups and for nonprofit events. At a bureaucratic level, authority over Morven will remain within the Provost’s office, but will now be transitioned to the Academic Outreach division from Global Affairs. Acting director of programs Rebecca Deeds will become the full time director. “Morven’s remarkable cultural landscape will contribute to a rich program that will address social, economic and environmental sustainability challenges facing society,” Deeds is quoted in the story. “We are excited to activate it as a living laboratory while we pursue new practices and programs that support and elevate UVA sustainability goals, and engage students, faculty and community members.” Morven is located on the other side of Carter’s Mountain in between Trump Winery and Highland. .Four new members appointed to UVA’s Board of VisitorsGovernor Glenn Youngkin has made his first appointments to the University of Virginia with terms that took effect this past Friday. They are:Bert Ellis of Hilton Head South Carolina is CEO and Chairman of Ellis Capital, Chairman and CEO of Ellis Communication, and president of Titan Broadcast ManagementStephen Long of Richmond is president of Commonwealth Spine and Pain SpecialistsAmanda Pillion is an audiologist with Abingdon Hearing Care and Abingdon ENT Associates, and a member of the Town Council in Abingdon, VirginiaDoug Wetmore of Glen Allen is senior vice president of Centauri Health SolutionsThe Board of Visitors next meets at a retreat on August 21 and August 22, followed by a regular meeting on September 15 and September 16. Both events are in Charlottesville. Previous meetings can be viewed on YouTube. I’m hoping to dig back into the June meeting for a future segment here on Charlottesville Community Engagement. Intrigued? Drop me a line via email and I’ll give you a preview. Today’s second shout-out: Frances Brand and Cvillepedia 101In today’s house-fueled public service announcement, the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society wants you to know about an upcoming exhibit at the Center at Belvedere featuring portraits of several historical figures active in the Charlottesville area in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Frances Brand was a folk artist who painted nearly 150 portraits of what she considered “firsts” including first Black Charlottesville Mayor Charles Barbour and Nancy O’Brien, the first woman to be Charlottesville Mayor. Brand’s work will be on display from July 5 to August 31 in the first public exhibit since 2004. And, if you’d like to help conduct community research into who some of the portraits are, cvillepedia is looking for volunteers! I will be leading four Cvillepedia 101 training sessions at the Center every Monday beginning July 11 at 2 p.m. Sign up at the Center’s website.Charlottesville public housing board gets update on financesWe’re still just days into Virginia’s fiscal year, but the fiscal year of the city’s public housing agency is now entering its second quarter. The finance director of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority “Overall against budget we are on target,” said Mary Lou Hoffman, CRHA’s finance director. At the end of the fiscal year, one issue was a backlog of unpaid rent by tenants. CRHA staff continue to find sources of revenue to cover arrears though state rent relief programs and reaching out to local resources. . “Around March, we were at $229,000 but we’re currently at $126,000,” said John Sales, CHRA’s executive director. “And so they’re constantly talking about the tenant accounts which is a big focus that we have to have. It was one of the areas that the [U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] dinged us on years ago for our accounts being so high compared to the amount we are collecting.” Sales said one issue has been getting into contact with residents to get them set up with rent relief payment arrangements. HUD classifies CRHA as a “troubled” agency due to a pattern of issues over the years. Sales said getting the finances correct alone will not change that status. “The only issue that we have so far in our audits is the physical conditions and so we’re working to address those issues,” Sales said. “We had our physical audit in March and all of the emergency work orders were addressed.”Another issue is tenant damage, which can also affect the HUD status in the audits. Sales said a maintenance plan will address this category. Redevelopment is underway and two sites have been transferred to a new ownership structure in which the CRHA owns the ground and a Limited Liability Company has been set up to own the buildings for a certain period of time. An entity controlled by CRHA known as the Community Development Corporation Commission controls the LLCs. This allows the projects to be financed through Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) as well as other sources.“Technically, they are still our responsibility,” Sales said “We own the land. We own the management agreement. We have several loans attached to each development that will eventually either get paid back or get forgiven when we get the property back, get ownership of the property back in 16 years.” HUD oversight of the public housing projects will continue, but it will be different because there are different kinds of subsidized units. “We’ll have public housing units so one office will be inspecting them, and then another office will get inspections from LIHTC and gert inspections from HUD,” Sales said. The LIHTC units would be inspected by Virginia Housing, which issues the credits in the Commonwealth. Late this month, Virginia Housing’s Board of Commissioners approved low income housing tax credits for this year. Staff recommendations had been not to recommend credits for the first phase of redevelopment for Phase 1 of Sixth Street SE and additional credits for a second phase at South First Street. There are three vacancies on the CRHA Board of Commissioners and Charlottesville is taking applications through August 5. The terms of Commissioners Maddy Green and Laura Goldblatt expired at the end of June, and Green is not seeking reappointment after filling an unexpired term. Council will make the final appointments. New Hill Development Corporation gets $189K state grant for commercial kitchen incubatorA Charlottesville nonprofit created to increase wealth building opportunities for Black community members has been awarded a state grant to develop a place for culinary entrepreneurs to grow businesses. “The New Hill Development Corporation will stabilize and grow food and beverage manufacturing activity in the region by opening an 11,500-square-foot shared commercial kitchen incubator in order to provide food entrepreneurs with a cost-effective space to produce, package, store and distribute tradable manufactured products,” reads a press release for the latest Growing Opportunities grants from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. The BEACON’s Kitchen project is the only recipient in this area. According to the release, the project will create 90 new jobs, 28 new businesses, and at least 30 new tradeable food products. New Hill is offering a Food Business Boot Camp on August 3 and August 4. (learn more)The New Hill Development Corporation was created in 2018 and received $500,000 from City Council late that year to create a small area plan for the Starr Hill neighborhood, the site of the razed Vinegar Hill neighborhood. The plan envisioned what a redeveloped City Yard might look like, but was converted into a “vision plan” by the city’s Neighborhood Development Services Department. Other GO Virginia grant recipients in June include:Accelerating Advanced Manufacturing Workforce - $530,000 for Laurel Ridge Community College “to build a strong workforce pipeline for Region 8 manufacturers by offering an advanced manufacturing sector-focused career pathway training program.”Technology Academies for Fauquier and Rappahannock Counties - $402,075 for school systems in those two localities to “develop college-level courses in robotics and drones to high school students and adult learners through a workforce development program.” Talent Supply Connector - $391,528 for Virginia Career Works Piedmont Region to create “a Career Pathway Guide for employers and developing a region-wide database of relevant training offerings” in an area that includes Greene, Louisa, and Nelson counties.Workforce and Entrepreneurship Initiatives in a Regional Makerspace - $324,000 for a company called Vector Space to “facilitate the implementation of expanded programming and equipment centered around workforce development and entrepreneurship for underserved populations” in Bedford and Campbell counties as well as the city of Lynchburg. Read the press release for more.Like the newsletter? Consider support! This is episode 404 of this program and it took me about six hours to produce. That’s because there are fewer segments in this one. I am hoping to get this on a regular schedule, but that’s going to take more personnel. For now, I hope to get each one out as soon as I can. All of this is supported by readers and listeners through either a paid subscription to this newsletter or through Patreon support for Town Crier Productions. Around a third of the audience has opted to contribute something financially. It’s similar to older times when you would subscribe to a newspaper. I subscribe to several, myself!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.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 honor of graduation season, we highlight an amazing college graduate ... and the nonprofit that helped her and thousands of other former Virginia foster care children achieve their college dreams. In today's show, BUZZ creator Michael Hemphill interviews: Dr. Jennifer Gentry, executive director of the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education.Dr. Rachel Strawn, Great Expectations Program Director for the Virginia Community College System.And Andrea Laney, a 20-year-old Tazewell County former foster child who graduated Southwest Virginia Community College thanks to Great Expectations.Are you a nonprofit with an event that we could help promote? Or a marketing problem we could help fix? Contact us and we'll share on an upcoming episode.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - FOLLOW US:F A C E B O O K ➜ http://facebook.com/buzz4good​​I N S T A G R A M ➜ http://instagram.com/buzz4good​​L I N K E D I N ➜ https://www.linkedin.com/company/buzz...T W I T T E R ➜ http://twitter.com/buzz4good​​W E B S I T E ➜ http://buzz4good.com​​- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The United States has more than 1.5 million nonprofits — from homeless shelters, food banks and rescue squads to children's choirs, science museums and animal refuges — that employ one out of every 10 Americans. Like any company, nonprofits have salaries and bills to pay, a budget to balance. They require money. And if enough people don't know about them, don't believe in them, don't support them — in short, if they lack BUZZ — they suffer and die.

Join the party as Jamie and Sarah feature their FIRST guest speaker, Dr. Phyllis Whitehead, President of the NACNS, as they discuss unstoppable advocacy (among other things, as per usual....).Dr. Phyllis Whitehead Bio:Dr. Phyllis Whitehead is a clinical ethicist and clinical nurse specialist with the Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital (CRMH) Palliative Care Service and Associate Professor at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. She initiated the Palliative Medicine and Moral Distress Consult Services at CRMH. She is certified in pain management and as an advanced practice hospice and palliative care nurse. Dr. Whitehead has done numerous presentations on pain and symptom management, opioid induced sedation, moral distress, and patients' end of life preferences locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. Her research interests include moral distress and improving communication with seriously ill patients and has been funded for numerous grants for her research. She was a Board of Director member of the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialist and is now President-Elect of the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists and President of the Virginia Foundation of Nurses. She was a member of the ANA Moral Resilience Advisory Committee. She is a founding member and Board of Director member of the Virginia Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists. She was selected for Governor Ralph Northam's Policy Council on Opioid and Substance Abuse this year. In 2020 she was elected as a Distinguished Practitioner Fellow in the National Academy of Practice in Nursing. She is a graduate of Radford University where she earned her BSN and MSN and earned her doctorate degree at Virginia Tech.NACNS.org

The final day of the month, and the final day of 2022’s first quarter. A lot has happened so far, and there’s still a lot more to go. Mathematically we are 24.66 percent of the way through the year, and for those who want to take the long view, we are 21.25 percent of the way through the 21st Century. It all adds up in this installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement and I’m your host, Sean Tubbs. Sign-up for free for as much material as I can manage to write! Payment is optional but very much supports continued production!On today’s program:People are warned to not come into contact with water in an urban stream in Charlottesville due to high levels of E. coli bacteriaThe director of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority is hopeful Crescent Halls can be reopened this year Charlottesville City Council will meet three days in a row beginning with tonight’s budget work sessionThe Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority gets an update on capacity in Albemarle’s northern growth areaFirst Patreon-fueled shout-out goes to the Charlottesville Area Tree StewardsIn today’s first Patreon-fueled Public Service Announcement, the Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards are preparing to hold their first in-person tree sale since 2019. On April 9 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards will open up their tree nursery at the Fontaine Research Park and will sell saplings of native trees, some of which are hard to find from commercial sources for between $5 and $15. There will be large trees from Birch to Sycamore, smaller trees from Blackgum to Witch Hazel, and shrubbery! Visit charlottesvilletreestewards.org to learn more!High bacteria levels in urban streamCharlottesville is warning the public to stay out of Pollocks Branch between Elliott Avenue and Rockland Avenue due to elevated levels of E. coli. Pollocks Branch is a waterway that travels south from downtown Charlottesville and is one of many locations monitored by the Rivanna Conservation Alliance.“E. coli is a type of fecal coliform bacteria and when it is found in water, it is a strong indicator of sewage or animal waste contamination which can cause disease or illness,” reads an announcement from the city. City officials are investigating the situation and advise that no one touches the water. Pollocks Branch runs underground from the Downtown Mall and underneath the Ix Art Park before daylighting at Elliott Avenue where it flows into Moores Creek. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality certifies the Rivanna Conservation Alliance’s monitoring efforts as a Level III which means the data can be used for official scientific purposes. The RCA has been monitoring bacteria since July 2012. Charlottesville City Council to hold retreat this weekendThe Charlottesville City Council will meet in-person for the first time in over two years tomorrow when they convene at CitySpace for a retreat. A limited amount of public spaces are available, but the event can be viewed via Zoom.The two-day retreat will be facilitated by the Virginia Institute of Government, a branch of the Weldon Cooper Center at the University of Virginia. On the agenda is a facilitated discussion of City Council goals and strategies, as well as an item called “Identify and Build Consensus for Priorities and Actions Items.” The retreat begins tomorrow at 4 p.m. and on Saturday at 10 a.m. (Friday meeting info) (Saturday meeting info)Tonight Council will meet at 6 p.m. for a budget work session. Read previous coverage courtesy of this Tweet thread. CHRA Director wants Crescent Halls reopened by AugustOn Monday, the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s Board of Directors voted to approve a $12 million budget for the fiscal year that begins tomorrow. They also learned that at least one revenue source for the current fiscal year is coming in much lower than had been anticipated. The CRHA had expected there would be some residents at Crescent Halls while it was renovated, but a flood last summer changed the plan.“There was some knowledge as to what was going to happen but obviously with the flood it created a different wrinkle and deficit,” said Mary Lou Hoffman, CRHA’s finance director. The CRHA had budgeted $291,049 in yearly rent from Crescent Halls but only received $122,745. The building is currently unoccupied as crews work to renovate all apartments. CRHA Executive Director John Sales said the original plan had been to do to the renovation in stages and the budget had expected 70 units would be occupied at all times. “After that we emptied half the building and put them in hotels,” Sales said. However, Sales said insurance would not cover that expense long-term because the units that had been damaged were going to be renovated anyway. “Then we started having the conversation with the residents that were living in the building about the conditions of the building with half of the building being empty, the work that was going on on the other side with the walls being town down, applianced ripped out, and just the morale and how depressing it was living in a building with only four floors occupied and only half of those units occupied,” Sales said. Sales said some residents were moved to other public housing sites and others were given housing vouchers. The CRHA lost revenue not only from rent but from subsidies from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Sales said the project needs to be completed on time. “So I’ve been pushing the contractor that we’re not changing that August date,” Sales said. “We have to make that date work.”Sales said the first phase of South Street also needs to come online on time in order to meet the revenues that HUD officials are expecting. The federal agency considers CRHA to be a troubled agency. When Crescent Halls does come back online, not all of the units will be considered public housing units by HUD. Sales said the units will remain affordable. “At Crescent Halls you’re going to have your traditional public housing units, but then you’re also going to have the project-based voucher units where they will be higher rents but they’ll be subsidized with the voucher,” Sales said. Sales said under the vouchers, tenants would only have to pay thirty percent of their income toward rent.“So we can charge $1,000 for a one-bedroom unit while not impacting what the resident that is living in that unit can actually afford because the voucher is going to subsidize their rent above their 30 percent,” Sales said. “So if they make $1,000, their rent is going to be $300. The voucher would cover the $700.”For the public housing units, the CRHA can only charge what the tenant is able to pay. CRHA Board members also asked City Councilor Michael Payne to ask Council to waive the payment in lieu of tax that CRHA pays to the city each year. Payne said he would bring up the matter at tonight’s budget work session. See also: Public Housing projects move forward after Council talks on CRHA financial sustainability, CCDC property tax liability, October 4, 2022Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority turns 50 this JuneThe government entity responsible for providing drinking water and collecting and treating sewage will officially have to ask the state of Virginia for permission to continue existing. “Authorities are authorized for 50 years and then they have to be reauthorized,” said Bill Mawyer, the executive director of the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority.The Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority received its original authorization in June 1972, marking the 50th anniversary of the decision to create an authority to provide basic essentials for a growing urban community. “So a part of our celebration will be submitting resolutions to the Albemarle Board of Supervisors and City Council to reauthorize the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority,” Mawyer said.The RWSA owns and operates facilities that serve the urban ring around Charlottesville as well as Scottsville and Crozet. Mawyer said the Beaver Creek Reservoir has recently been treated to bring down levels of algae. “It is the earliest we’ve seen that we’ve had an algae bloom at any of our reservoirs since our current staff have been around,” Mawyer said. “In the long term, we plan to have a hypolimnetic oxygenation system which is a pipe that goes along the bottom of the reservoir that bubbles air into the water and helps to oxygenate it to minimize the conditions that are conducive to algae blooms.”That pipe will be installed as part of the upgrade of the Beaver Creek Dam scheduled to take place next year. Another major capital project is a proposed waterline to connect drinking water from the Observatory Water Treatment Plant to other portions of the urban water system in Albemarle’s growth areas. Some have expressed concern about the route preferred by staff. RWSA officials have been meeting with neighborhood groups to explain its purpose and to discuss its path through the Fry’s Spring neighborhood along Cherry Avenue, 6th Street NE, and East High Street before connecting to a waterline that serves Pantops. “So the plan is that we’re going to collect all the information and feedback from the neighborhoods, assess it, get any feedback that Council may provide us or the Board of Supervisors and assimilate all that data and come back to the RWSA Board at the June meeting for the final location of the waterline,” Mawyer said. The project has an estimated cost of $31 million and may be further informed by the completion of a master plan for water infrastructure. Second shout-out goes to the JMRL Friends of the Library In today's second Patreon-fueled shout-out! Lovers of used books rejoice! The Friends of the Jefferson Madison Regional Library is back again with their annual Spring Book Sale opening this Saturday through Sunday, April 10! The Friends of the Library sale will once again take place at Albemarle Square Shopping Center from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day. There’s a special preview for members tomorrow from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and there’s still time to volunteer! Visit jmrlfriends.org to learn more! See you there! Planning for additional homes and businesses in northern Albemarle The RWSA Board of Directors were also briefed on whether there is enough capacity in Albemarle’s northern growth area to support additional homes such as at the University of Virginia’s North Fork Discovery park. There are also hundreds of homes coming online at Brookhill, RST Residences, North Fork, and other developments under construction. “What we’re looking at now is that these significant utility demands that are being proposed may force one of two options,” said Jennifer Whitaker, the RWSA’s chief engineer. “One is to accelerate the utility plan or require some phasing so that we don’t have an unmet need in the future.” According to a demand study from July 2020, current demand for the whole system is at 10.4 million gallons a day (MGD) and capacity can provide a safe yield of 12.8 MGD. “Every ten years we try to take a very strong look at what we know as a community about growth and development and use within our community and then we also take a look at what’s going on in our reservoirs,” Whitaker said. “We try to look at how the raw water supply and the finished supply match up.”Whitaker said there is enough water through 2060 as long as several parts of the Community Water Supply Plan are built by 2035. They are construction of a pipeline to connect the South Fork Rivanna and Ragged Mountain Reservoir and the raising of the pool at the Ragged Mountain Reservoir. Northern Albemarle is served by the North Fork Rivanna Water Treatment Plant which Whitaker said can effectively treat one million gallons a day. There’s a demand of about a half million gallons a day. The RWSA is planning to decommission the plant but has to first connect that area to water from the South Fork Rivanna Water Treatment Plant.  “Some of the growth demand at the North Fork Research Park and another northern Albemarle areas, the need has picked up and we’re now looking at that plan and trying to figure out how to sequence it to meet that need,” Whitaker said. Wastewater flows via gravity to the Moores Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant and Whitaker said improvements to what’s known as the Powell Creek Interceptor are currently slated for some time between 2045 and 2065. “As we evaluate future growth in this area we’re looking at potentially having to accelerate that as well,” Whitaker said.Whitaker said the RWSA is working with the University of Virginia Foundation and the county as a rezoning for the North Fork park makes its way through the approvals process. They’ve asked for a maximum potential of 1,400 homes there. UVA has announced that some of these units will count toward UVA President Jim Ryan’s goal to build up to 1,500 affordable housing units. “Ultimately we will be able to serve all of it but the question is how quickly will we allow them to bring that online,” Whitaker said. The other two locations for affordable housing are on Fontaine Avenue at the Piedmont housing site as well as Wertland Street. There was no action at the meeting, but certainly a lot to pay attention to into the future.Support Town Crier Productions!Special announcement of a continuing promo with Ting! Are you interested in fast internet? Visit this site and enter your address to see if you can get service through Ting. If you decide to proceed to make the switch, you’ll get:Free installationSecond month of Ting service for freeA $75 gift card to the Downtown MallAdditionally, Ting will match your Substack subscription to support Town Crier Productions, the company that produces this newsletter and other community offerings. So, your $5 a month subscription yields $5 for TCP. Your $50 a year subscription yields $50 for TCP! The same goes for a $200 a year subscription! All goes to cover the costs of getting this newsletter out as often as possible. Learn more here! This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of Black Power Moves, part of the Ebony Covering Black America Podcast Network, we're speaking to Shonda Buchanan, Award-Winning Poet, Fiction & Nonfiction Writer, and Educator. Pushcart Prize nominee, a USC Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities Fellow, and a Department of Cultural Affairs City of Los Angeles (COLA) Master Artist Fellow, Shonda Buchanan is the author of five books, including the award-winning memoir, Black Indian. An award-winning poet, fiction, nonfiction writer, and educator, Shonda is the recipient of the Brody Arts Fellowship from the California Community Foundation, a Big Read grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, several Virginia Foundation for the Humanities grants, the Denise L. Scott and Frank Sullivan Awards, and an Eloise Klein-Healy Scholarship. Shonda is also a Sundance Institute Writing Arts fellow, a PEN Center Emerging Voices fellow, and a Jentel Artist Residency fellow.  Finalist for the 2021 Mississippi Review poetry contest, Shonda's memoir, Black Indian, won the 2020 Indie New Generation Book Award and was chosen by PBS NewsHour as a "Top 20 books to read" to learn about institutional racism. About to enter the 3rd printing, Black Indian begins the saga of her family's migration stories of Free People of Color communities exploring identity, ethnicity, landscape, and loss. Her first collection of poetry, Who's Afraid of Black Indians? was nominated for the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and the Library of Virginia Book Awards. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

February 24, 2022 Everything Co-op closes out its recognition of Black History Month, with a webinar, focused on this year's theme of "Black Health and Wealth." The featured guest for the inaugural webinar were Thomas and Anita Roberson, owners of Botanical Bites and Provisions, LLC. Vernon and the Robersons discuss the role their plants, vegetables, and farm products play in the "Health and Wealth" of their patrons. Thomas and Anita Roberson are passionate fourth generation farmers who operate Botanical Bites and Provisions, LLC, a veteran-owned and operated farm established in 2013. On their farm they grow a diverse assortment of fresh farm-grown produce. Their commitment to agriculture arises from their passion for healthy living by growing with no pesticides, preservatives or herbicides. which has earned them the distinction as being a Certified Naturally Grown (CNG) enterprise. On their 10-acre farm all products are mostly hand-raised or handcrafted and naturally grown in three high tunnels, several rotating fields, or generated from their small apiary. In addition to fresh produce, Botanical Bites and Provisions offers spectacular cut flowers, honey, and value-added cosmetics from their farm, and honey and propolis from their hives. Their on-farm market accepts SNAP, and they are always welcoming new customers and friends. The Robersons are members of the Virginia Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Coalition, Virginia Farm Bureau, the Minority and Veteran Farmers of the Piedmont, and the Federation of Southern Cooperatives. Anita also serves on Virginia State University's (VSU) Small Farm Outreach Program Advisory Committee, and the Board of Directors for the Virginia Foundation for Agriculture Innovation and Rural Sustainability (VAFAIRS). They both serve as mentors for new and beginning farmers for the VSU Small Farm Outreach Program

For those who like the rhythm of numbers, 3/3 is the sixty-second day of 2022. For those who do not, disreputable sources tell me that this is I Want You to Be Happy Day, If Pets Had Thumbs Day, and Talk in Third Person Day. With that, Sean Tubbs truly wants you to know that this installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement has nothing to do with any of those things besides this introductory paragraph. Sean Tubbs would be happy if you signed up for the free newsletter, but cannot imagine a pet with a thumb? On today’s program:Albemarle County holds the first public hearing on staff’s recommended $565M budget for fiscal year 23 and it appears a turf battle is brewing A land use advisory group gets a first look at the rezoning to add homes at the North Fork Research Park The University of Virginia’s Buildings and Grounds committee will rename a building after the late Senator John Warner Governor Youngkin signs eight relatively non-controversial billsFirst shout-out goes to Camp AlbemarleToday’s first subscriber-supported public service announcement goes out to Camp Albemarle, which has for sixty years been a “wholesome rural, rustic and restful site for youth activities, church groups, civic events and occasional private programs.”Located on 14 acres on the banks of the Moorman’s River near Free Union, Camp Albemarle continues as a legacy of being a Civilian Conservation Corps project that sought to promote the importance of rural activities. Camp Albemarle seeks support for a plan to winterize the Hamner Lodge, a structure built in 1941 by the CCC and used by every 4th and 5th grade student in Charlottesville and Albemarle for the study of ecology for over 20 years. If this campaign is successful, Camp Albemarle could operate year-round. Consider your support by visiting http://campalbemarleva.org/donate.Albemarle holds first public hearing for $565M budgetThe first of several opportunities for the public and elected officials to mark up Albemarle’s next budget got underway with a handful of people taking advantage of the first public hearing. The total budget is $565.1 million, and that’s made up of several different components including the general fund, the school fund, the school special revenue fund, the special revenue fund, the capital improvement fund, and the debt service fund. “These funds can be highly variable year to year,” Richardson said. “As an example, the FY23 recommended budget includes the influx of $12 million in remaining one-time funding through the American Rescue Plan Act. Additionally the nature of capital projects and their related borrowing will vary year to year based on the timing of projects beginning.” This next year’s budget includes funding for High School Center 2 as well as the final phases of the construction of a new General District Court in downtown Charlottesville that would serve both communities. Richardson said for those wanting to make a year-to-year comparison of budgets, the general fund is where to look. “It’s where all tax revenue is received and its the primary ongoing funding source for the school fund, the capital fund, the debt program,” Richardson said. “It also doesn’t involve pass-through grants that may vary from year to year.” The general fund is built on maintaining the same property tax rate of 85.4 cents per $100 of assessed, but an increase in the rate for the food and beverage tax and the transient occupancy tax. There is funding from the new cigarette tax and proposed revenues from a plastic bag tax. There is also a proposed 86 cent drop in the personal property tax rate due to a spike in used car values in the past year. See also: Richardson presents $565M “Transform Albemarle” budget to SupervisorsThe public hearing was the first chance for professional groups and community members alike to influence the budget. A representative from an environmental group supported additional funds for Biscuit Run and for the transportation-leverage program, but lamented that the capital budget anticipates no new funds for a program where Albemarle funds the acquisition of conservation easements. “As you all know, our land and water resources are vital for the future of our region and are a critical component of what makes Albemarle County a special place to live,” said Rex Linville of the Piedmont Environmental Council. “In fact, the Albemarle County Comprehensive Plan acknowledges this and specifically calls for the county to ‘strengthen the Acquisition of Conservation Easements ACE Program by providing a stable, dedicated funding source and staff resources for administering the program.” Later in the meeting, Supervisor Ned Gallaway said that the program is under review at this time and that is not being zeroed out. “We’ll do a proper evaluation and Mr. Richardson, I presume if we wanted to put funds into the ACE program, even though its zeroed out now because of the pause, that we would have plenty of reserve options to go if we had projects to fund,” Gallaway said. Several people want the county to restore $2.9 million in funds to install lights and artificial turf for athletic fields at Darden-Towe Park, which is owned by both Albemarle County and Charlottesville. That was anticipated in the FY2020 budget but has not proceeded.“Quite frankly, I am very disappointed that this extremely important community project has been pushed to the wayside,” said Robyn Mattern.The project was paused in the FY21 budget due to the pandemic and was not recommended to be resumed. Charlottesville would also need to provide a portion of funding in their capital fund. Mike Ginsberg also spoke to the issue and he argued for more athletic facilities for youth sports at Darden Towe Park. “In my time coaching child soccer in Charlottesville for the past 20 years, I have seen hundreds of multisport turf complexes across America and Europe,” Ginsberg said. “Every sports complex mirrors one another in that they all have numerous turf fields lined for various sports like soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, football.” . The FY23 budget anticipates $3 million in spending at Biscuit Run Park in FY23 and $5.3 million in FY24, and that will include new athletic fields. The executive director of Live Arts appeared before Supervisors to thank them for the recommendation of $5,000 in funding next year. “I just wanted to let you know the focus of this grant is rebuilding our 1,200 person volunteer corps after it was decimated during the pandemic,” said Anne Hunter. Hunter was the last speaker at the public hearing. After that, Supervisors had the chance to provide direction in advance of next Wednesday’s budget work session. At one of those events, there will be a discussion about the future of athletic fields in Albemarle and whether Supervisors want to unpause the project. “We are planning to present to the board at the March 23 work session,” said Assistant County Executive Trevor Henry. “It’s not just a turf field discussion. It’s also going to be a discussion led by Parks and Recreation on overall field needs. We will talk a little about the history of the Darden Towe turf project and the current CIP request for four natural grass fields at Biscuit Run Park. Darden Towe Park is within the Rivanna Magisterial District represented by Supervisor Bea LaPisto-Kirtley. She said she looked forward to the work session.“Because I do feel that we need to have a really good sports venue here in Albemarle County,” LaPisto-Kirtley said. “Biscuit Run, I think, is the optimum place to have that. I’m just going to put that out there already.”Supervisor Chair Donna Price said she also wanted a sports plex within Albemarle and looked forward to the discussion.“I also continue to have questions as do many of our community members based upon various opinions that have been shared with us about the advisability of artificial turf versus natural grass because there are advantages and disadvantages of each,” Price said. The first work session begins at 3 p.m. on March 9. (meeting info)UVA building to be renamed for late SenatorThe University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors this week, including the committee that reviews land use items. Tomorrow the Buildings and Grounds Committee will consider a proposal to rename Maury Hall after the late Senator John Warner. The university’s Naming and Memorials Committee reviewed the name and found that Matthew Fontaine Maury has no connections to UVA except for an 1855 speech when he gave a lecture supporting slavery.“During the 1850’s, Maury was an outspoken advocate for the policy that slave-holding states should establish a commercial slave network with Brazil and other parts of South America,” reads the staff report. Maury Hall was built by the U.S. Navy in 1942 as an ROTC facility and continues to house that program even though the military branch no longer owns the building. The naming committee has recommended renaming the building after the late Senator Warner who died in May 2021. Warner temporarily left his studies at the UVA School of Law at the start of the Korean War in 1950 and returned at its conclusion. After some years in private practice, he was Under Secretary of the Navy and served as Secretary of the Navy in the mid 1970’s. If approved by the Board of Visitors, Maury Hall would become John W. Warner Hall. The Buildings Committee will also see a schematic design for the new UVA Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital at Fontaine Research Park. The existing structure will be upgraded to a 60-bed hospital with all private rooms.The Buildings and Grounds Committee will also review revisions to the Major Capital Plan, which was last revised in June 2021. There is a proposal to begin design for a Center for the Arts, the School of Architecture Center for Design, and an engineering academic building. Four major capital projects are also being proposed to be added. They are the Institute for Biotechnology, Ivy Corridor Landscape and Infrastructure Phase IIA, Memorial Gym Infrastructure and Accessibility Renewal, and Monroe Hall Addition HVAC Renewal. Shout-out to the Piedmont Master GardenersThe second 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 all four Thursdays in March, you can buy a virtual ticket for these informative events. On March 3, acclaimed garden designer and photographer C. Colston Burrell will discuss Beauty, Integrity and Resilience: Can A Garden Have Everything? On March 10, Renée Gokey and Christine Price-Abelow of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian will discuss  “The Three Sisters: Indigenous Origins and Best Growing Practices.” For the rest of the sessions, visit piedmontmastergardens.org/events.Places29-North Committee gets first look at North Fork rezoning to add residentialThe University of Virginia is working to locate up to 1,500 units of affordable housing at three locations, one of which is the North Fork Discovery Park on U.S. 29 near the Charlottesville Regional Airport. The Places29-North Community Advisory Committee got a look at a rezoning that UVA’s real estate foundation needs in order to place some of those units. (watch the February 10, 2022 meeting)“We’re at the very early stages of this [and] there are a lot of much more detailed things that will be coming out at a later date,” said Bill Fritz, Albemarle’s lead reviewer for the project. Albemarle community advisory committees play the role of information clearing house more than an advisory body, as any resolutions adopted by the group are non-binding. They often host community meetings for land use applications. This land is currently all zoned Planned Development Industrial Park and the University of Virginia Foundation seeks to change a portion of it to the Neighborhood Model District. “That district has the widest variety of uses of all of the districts that we have and in that particular portion of the property… they are proposing to be allowed to do residential development and some commercial development,” Fritz said.The land is within the Places29 Master Plan, which was adopted in February 2011. “Even though North Fork does not currently permit residential, which is why we’re here, it was clearly contemplated back with the Places29 Master Plan when that was adopted ten years ago,” said Valerie Long, an attorney with the law firm Williams Mullen.Since then, the UVA Foundation has covered the costs of extending Lewis and Clark Drive to Airport Road, providing more connectivity to the area. They’ve also been slowly adding more businesses to support companies that have offices in the research park. For instance, Foods of All Nations runs a café and there is also a large outdoor area enabled with wi-fi. “However to support those amenities you actually need people who live near or who will spend money on those service-oriented companies,” said Deborah Van Eersel, chief administrative officer at the UVA Foundation. “We think that bringing housing in makes it more vibrant. We’ve talked about multifamily, townhomes, and single-detached housing to create active, diverse communities. We’ve talked about affordable housing.”In the application, the UVA Foundation is asking for a minimum of 200 and a maximum of 1,400 units. “That’s quite a range,” said Supervisor Bea Lapisto-Kirtley (Rivanna). “We acknowledge that most certainly,” Long said. “We wanted to provide flexibility to accommodate the market demand and interest but also it’s a new thing for North Fork so we think there will be a lot of interest.” Part of that range may depend on water supply. Learn more about that aspect of this development in Allison Wrabel’s February 20 story in the Daily Progress.UVa Foundation wants to add up to 1,400 homes at North Fork, February 20, 2022There is no date yet for when the project will go to the Planning Commission for a public hearing. Fritz said the county is expecting a resubmittal based on input from staff and the public so far.  Read the latest round of comments back to the UVA Foundation in this February 9, 2022 letter. Youngkin signs eight more billsAs the 2022 Virginia General Assembly continues to reach its end point, legislation continues to either be passed, passed by indefinitely, continued until next year, or some other fate. The ultimate fate that any legislator wants is for a bill to make its way to the Governor’s mansion for consideration. Governor Glenn Youngkin signed eight more bills yesterday and it is worth documenting upon these. HB518 changes the way that transient occupancy taxes are collected and alters the steps “accomodations intermediaries” must take when submitting revenue to the Department of Taxation. HB3 will allow a sales tax exemption on gold, silver, and platinum bullion to remain in place until June 30, 2025. This would have expired at the end of this June.The sunset of Major Business Facility Job tax credits will now be June 30, 2025 rather than this June 30. (HB269)Another sales tax exemption is also being extended for three years, this time for components used in building or renovating aircraft components. (HB462)HB148 allows a locality to certify pollution control equipment themselves rather than have that done by the state government. James Madison University and Virginia Tech will both be able to float up to $101 million in bonds for “revenue-producing capital projects” now that HB165 has been signed into law. Some changes to the Shipping and Logistics Headquarters Grant program have now been made. (HB324)Some definitions of contributions to the Virginia Retirement System will also happen with the passage of HB473. 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 is not the day that repeats and to my knowledge there are no important prognostications or forecasts that I am aware of. But this is the first day of the second month of the current year, and there may be sayings that I am not saying, except to say hello and welcome to the February 1 edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement, a newsletter and podcast that does repeat in the sense that it comes out as often as possible. I’m Sean Tubbs, here are the things I have to say: On today’s program:The University of Virginia is in the early stages of creating a new master plan for the future of its land use A bill to extend oyster season is one of several bills that has passed the Virginia Senate, and I have a small rundownThe housing market in the Charlottesville area shows signs of cooling downCamp Albemarle shout-out!Today’s first subscriber-supported public service announcement goes out to Camp Albemarle, which has for sixty years been a “wholesome rural, rustic and restful site for youth activities, church groups, civic events and occasional private programs.”Located on 14 acres on the banks of the Moorman’s River near Free Union, Camp Albemarle continues as a legacy of being a Civilian Conservation Corps project that sought to promote the importance of rural activities. Camp Albemarle seeks support for a plan to winterize the Hamner Lodge, a structure built in 1941 by the CCC and used by every 4th and 5th grade student in Charlottesville and Albemarle for the study of ecology for over 20 years. If this campaign is successful, Camp Albemarle could operate year-round. Consider your support by visiting http://campalbemarleva.org/donate. Pandemic updateCOVID’s omicron surge continues to recede, though numbers are still higher than at most points of the pandemic. Today the Virginia Department of Health reports another 6,055 new cases and the seven-day percent positivity dropped to 24.5 percent. The Blue Ridge Health District reports another 130 new cases today and the percent positivity in the district is at 22.4 percent. Yesterday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration fully approved the Moderna version of the COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine has been authorized for emergency use since December 18, 2020 and will now be marketed as Spikevax. (release)Black History Month begins todayFebruary 1 marks the beginning of Black History Month, and Governor Glenn Youngkin has issued a proclamation to mark the occasion that cites leadership provided by Black Virginians including former Governor Doug Wilder as well as Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, the first woman of color to be elected to statewide office. The proclamation also recognizes the roles played by Dr. Robert Russa Moton, Maggie Lena Walker, and Dorothy Height. Each of those links goes to Encyclopedia Virginia, where you can learn more. (read the proclamation)CAAR: Residential sales in region beginning to cool The housing market in the Charlottesville area continued to increase in price with constrained inventory, though there are signs of cooling. Sales were down five percent but sales prices were up six percent according to an analysis published this morning by the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors. “There were 436 active listings across the CAAR footprint at the end of the fourth quarter, which is 33 percent fewer listings than this time last year,” reads the report. The report suggests more homes are on the way. Housing construction was up 34 percent in the first eleven months of 2021 compared to the previous year. “Between 2020 and 2021, the number of permits for new single-family homes increased by 15 percent, while the number of permits for multifamily units more than doubled,” the report continues. The report also breaks matters down by jurisdiction. Sales were up 14 percent in Charlottesville in the fourth quarter of 2021 and up 15 percent in Greene County. However, sales were down 14 percent in Fluvanna and 38 percent in Nelson County. The median price in Charlottesville was down was one percent, but was 26 percent higher in Nelson. Check out the report for more information on consumer confidence, mortgage interest rates, employment, and many other economic indicators.General Assembly update: Split Senate votes on law enforcement notification, funding for kidney disease Let’s continue with another quick update on the status of some legislation in the Virginia General Assembly beginning with a bill that has passed the House of Delegates.The House passed a bill 99 to 0 to require companies that charge for services on a continuing basis to notify the consumer at the end of a seven-day trial period. (HB78)The Senate passed a bill 40 to 0 to direct the Department of Education to develop policies to inform coaches, parents, and guardians about the risks of heat-related illness. (SB161)The Senate also passed a bill to direct the State Registrar of Vital Records to update the Department of Elections once a week with names of people who have died. The vote was 32-8. (SB211)The two parties split 21 to 19 on a bill to create the Renal Disease Council and a fund to support people with kidney disease. (SB241)Another party line vote was held on a bill that would require law enforcement officers to tell a motorist why they have been pulled over before identification must be presented. (SB246)A bill that would clarify the definition of composting also passed the Senate on a unanimous vote. (SB248)Food manufacturers that operate in historic buildings would be exempt from certain laws and regulations if SB305 also passed the House of Delegates. The Senate passed this bill from Senator Creigh Deeds (D-25)The Senate passed a bill 39 to 1 to create the Historic Triangle Recreational Facilities Authority to be made up of Williamsburg and the counties of James City and York. (SB438)A bill to extend oyster season to March 31 passed the Senate on a 39 to 0 vote. (SB629)Second shout-out goes to Code for CharlottesvilleCode 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 such as an expungement project with the Legal Aid Justice Center, a map of Charlottesville streetlights, and the Charlottesville Housing Hub. Visit codeforcville.org to learn about those projects.MPO Policy Board briefed on the UVA Master PlanReaders and listeners should know by now that planning is a constant theme of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Tonight the Albemarle Planning Commission will get an update on the county’s Comprehensive Plan process. Visit the new engage.albemarle.org to learn more about AC44 (which is also a regular Air Canada flight between Vancouver and New Dehli). Staff and consultants are at work on the third phase of Charlottesville’s Cville Plans Together initiative, which will see the rewriting of the city’s zoning code.But how does the University of Virginia plan for its future? Something called the Grounds Framework Plan. Julia Monteith is the Associate University Planner and she briefed the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization on January 26. “The last one of these that we did was completed in 2008 and we roughly due them on a ten-year cycle,” Monteith said. (read the 2008 plan)Creation of the next plan was to have begun in 2020, but as with many things, the pandemic got in the way. “The world had other plans for us so the project went on hold,” Monteith said. Last spring, UVA hired a consultant called Urban Strategies to do some of the background work. The Toronto-based firm recently completed a master plan for Princeton University.“This plan will take about a year and they’re planning to wrap it up in fall of next year and so to date what they’ve been doing is really coming up to speed, doing a background review, data assembly, interviews, and quite a bit of analysis and understanding of who we are and what we’ve done to date,” Monteith said. Monteith said the plan will help to physically implement the Great and Good University Plan, which was adopted in August 2019 as UVA’s strategic plan. One of the strategic goals in that document is to “be a strong partner with and good neighbor to the Charlottesville region.” A key initiative is the “Good Neighbor Program.” The next Grounds Framework will update the 2008 plan which Monteith said called for compact growth and redevelopment of existing sites where possible. “We’ll be considering the Grounds and for those who may not be familiar, we delineate the Grounds into three precincts—Central Grounds, West Ground, and North Grounds with the Academical Village at the center of Central Grounds,” Monteith said.All of those properties are owned by the state of Virginia through the Rector of the Board of Visitors. The University of Virginia Foundation also owns property throughout the community and some of that will also be addressed in the plan update. “We’re also going to be considering the context of some of the Foundation properties,” Monteith said. “Westover, Boar’s Head, Birdwood, Foxhaven and the [Blue Ridge Sanitorium].”In the context of the plan, these properties are not intended for new facilities any time soon but instead are intended to be “spheres of influence” for development into the future. Monteith said there is a lot of capacity for redevelopment within the Central Grounds area. Urban Strategies will also take into account a Strategic Framework for Academic Space from 2018 and a Landscape Framework Plan from 2019. There’s also a key transportation study as well. “In 2019, we completed our third parking and transportation plan,” Montieth said. “This plan really takes a hybrid approach towards transportation that really looks at transportation demand management balanced with more traditional transportation planning.” Among other things, this plan seeks to limit the number of parking spaces that UVA will need to build by offering alternatives to driving alone in a single occupancy vehicle. In all there are eighteen strategies, ranging from “reorganize commuter and student parking to reduce event impact and enhance commuter service” to “evaluate need to build new parking facilities in the long term.” Back to the idea of redevelopment. Monteith said a master plan is completed for each one before construction begins. That includes Brandon Avenue, Emmet-Ivy, Ivy Mountain, Fontaine, and more. There’s also Ivy Gardens, which is owned currently by the UVA Foundation. The Grounds Plan update is intended to bring it all together. (See also: UVA making plan for Ivy Garden redevelopment, June 9, 2021)“A framework plan of this type is going to be looking at place and character, land use and facilities, and transportation, but equally important to us are equity and inclusivity, community well-being, and sustainability,” Monteith said. One theme is to continue to move more medical programs and outpatient services from the West Complex to the Fontaine Research Park.UVA has set a goal to be carbon neutral by 2030 and fossil-free by 2050 and the Grounds Plan will take this into account, and how UVA will work with Albemarle and Charlottesville to achieve those mutual goals, as well as others. “Of course I think you are all aware that UVA is committed to facilitating the development of 1,000 to 1,500 affordable housing units, so that’s part of our discussion also,” Monteith said. Those are at the UVA North Fork Discovery Park, the Piedmont site on Fontaine Avenue, and Wertland Street. Monteith said the plan also will provide opportunities to think how the University Transit Service can work better with Charlottesville Area Transit and Jaunt to improve the regional transportation system. Supervisor Ann Mallek said she wants the University to make an investment to connect Old Ivy Road to points south. At the eastern end, there’s currently a narrow railroad tunnel with no sidewalk or other concessions for pedestrians and Mallek said that needs to change. “I do hope that the University will take on its responsibility for dealing with that trestle either with a walk over the top or something for pedestrians because it really is dangerous every day for the people who live there now,” Mallek said. Monteith said Old Ivy Road is the responsibility of the Virginia Department of Transportation, and she said the University is working with VDOT on potential solutions for both ends of the roadway. In addition to the Ivy Residences, Greystar Development is seeking to build over 400 units at the western end of the roadway. “We’re waiting to hear back from what the thinking is to approach that and long-term it has been discussed that it’s a priority for [Albemarle] County should funding appear but it’s quite a challenge to figure out how to realign the road to better move through that railroad trestle,” Monteith said. More information on the development of this plan, and all of the other plans, will come in future installments of Charlottesville Community Engagement. 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

A journalist, author, and a fellow of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities at the University of Virginia, Earl Swift's seven books have punctuated a diverse writing career through hundreds of newspaper features and magazines. Today's conversation revolves around the book, Across the Airless Wilds.   

There have been a dozen days to the year so far, and after today there are 29.4 dozen 24-hour periods left until we all sing Auld Lang Syne once again. Until then, let’s not forget any of our acquaintances for now, and let’s stock up on cups of kindness. This is Charlottesville Community Engagement for this particular period of time, and I’m Sean Tubbs, here everyday “to take a right goodwill draught for auld lang syne.” Sign up for free for regular installments of information. Payment is encouraged, but not mandatory. On today’s show:New data shows that inflation is occurring at the highest rate since 1982Charlottesville City Council holds interviews for interim city manager but don’t yet make a decisionRegional planners get a first look at a rezoning at UVA’s North Fork Discovery Park The Charlottesville Democratic Committee selects two new co-chairsCharlottesville’s NDS director gives a preview of the rewrite of the zoning ordinanceTwo options are alive for a pedestrian bridge over the Rivanna River Today’s first subscriber supported shout-outMonday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society invites you to hear from their newest board member at a meeting beginning at 7 p.m. Gayle Jessup White is the first Public Relations and Community Engagement Officer for Monticello and the first descendant of Thomas Jefferson and the enslaved community to work for the Thomas Jefferson Foundation. Gayle Jessup White will talk about her book Reclamation: Sally Hemmings, Thomas Jefferson, and a Descendant’s Search for her Family’s Lasting Legacy. That’s 7 p.m on Monday and you can register for the Zoom call or watch on Facebook Live. Sign up now at albemarlehistory.org. More “investigation” needed before interim city manager pickCharlottesville City Council met in closed session for over three hours yesterday to meet with candidates for interim city manager. The five elected officials met with Robert Bobb of the Robert Bobb Group as well, but had nothing much to report at the end of the meeting. Here’s Mayor Lloyd Snook. “We have interviewed some very impressive candidates,” Snook said. “We have some further investigation yet to be done. We are not yet prepared to make a decision but expect to make a decision probably on Tuesday, January 18.” Council’s regular meeting will be that day due to the commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Zoning rewrite updateIn November, the City Council adopted a new Comprehensive Plan as the second leg of the Cville Plans Together initiative. The first was adoption of a new affordable housing plan in March. The next step is the rewriting of the city’s zoning code. James Freas, the director of Neighborhood Development Services, told the Charlottesville Planning Commission that the public process for the three phases of the zoning rewrite will kick off at the end of the month.“What we are looking at is a complete rewrite,” Freas said. “This isn’t going to take your existing ordinance and redline it and make changes. This is going to be a complete rewrite.” Freas said some portions of the existing code would be copied over into the new version with new formatting and wording. “There are some aspects of the new ordinance we anticipate bringing over wholesale but it will be a new document,” Freas said. The first phase will be a diagnostic comparing the existing zoning code to the Comprehensive Plan to eliminate barriers to implementation. A report will come before the Planning Commission and City Council for approval before the drafting process begins.“That first phase will probably take us up to the end of May, hopefully not, but maybe the beginning of June but I’m anticipating that first phase will take us to the end of May,” Freas said.In the fall, drafts will begin to be shared with the Planning Commission and Council. The adoption process will be the third phase and that section has not yet been determined. “But we’re anticipating that adoption process taking us into 2023 and culminating in a vote by Council sometime in the spring of 2023,” Freas said. There will be a community engagement process, but of course, there will also be Charlottesville Community Engagement. Details to come as they’re known. During the process, there will be at least two new Planning Commissioners. The terms of Commissioners Jody Lahendro and Taneia Dowell will expire at the end of August and neither can reapply. Commissioner Karim Habbab is filling out an unexpired term that ends in August, but he can reapply. Hosea Mitchell and Rory Stolzenberg’s terms expire at the end of August, too, and both can reapply. Comprehensive Plan lawsuitLast week, a group of citizens filed a lawsuit in Charlottesville Circuit Court against the validity of the Comprehensive Plan. The argument cites four specific failures and asks that Council’s vote be held null and void. The seven plaintiffs are Charlottesville residents seeking to withhold their identity. They argue the Future Land Use Map “radically increases density within the city” in a way that violates state code. (read the argument)“Unlike the Comprehensive Plans that are contemplated by the General Assembly…the Plan at issue is very specific, and assigns new zoning designations to each specific parcel in the City,” reads paragraph 15 of the argument. “As a result of this approach, the City’s actions are already  having a direct impact on property owners.” The argument singles out one home on 10th Street NW that is now listed on the market for $485,000 but has a 2021 assessment of $315,600. According to the real estate listing, there are currently three one-bedroom apartments there, but states “Charlottesville City's new proposed plan shows this property as mixed urban use.”The suit also argues the plan does not sufficiently plan for transportation improvements within the city to support additional growth, and that the public notice for the adoption on November 15 was not sufficient. The city has not yet been served with the lawsuit, according to city attorney Lisa Robertson. (image) The lawsuit was filed on December 15, 2021 but has not yet been served to the parties, which would trigger a response from the defendants. Read the argument here. Charlottesville Democrats pick new chairsThere’s new leadership in the Charlottesville Democratic Committee. At a reorganizational meeting on Monday, about a hundred participants selected John McLaren and Dashad Cooper to serve as the co-chairs of the committee. McLaren is a resident of the Martha Jefferson neighborhood and Cooper is a student at Piedmont Virginia Community College who worked on the City Council campaigns of Brian Pinkston and Juandiego Wade. The vice chair is Nancy Damon, a Fry’s Spring resident and former member of the Charlottesville Planning Commission. The secretary will continue to be Mary Ann Harris. Jason Vandever is the party’s treasurer.  Vandever was elected as the city’s treasurer in a special election in 2013 and has held the position ever since. The Republican Party of Charlottesville has not fielded a City Council candidate since 2015 when Anson Parker was their candidate. The chair of the party in Charlottesville is Dan Moy and the treasurer is Buddy Weber. Weber ran for Council in 2013 along with former Planning Commissioner Mike Farruggio. Second subscriber supported shout-outAlgorithms 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. Consider a donation at wtju.net/donate.Regional planners get preview of North Fork rezoningAn official group of planning officials from around the Charlottesville area got a preview last month on a major rezoning on land at the University of Virginia Foundation’s North Fork research park. The Land Use Environmental and Planning Committee was created in 2019 when elected officials agreed to cease meeting in public as a body known as the Planning and Coordination Council.  One of its members is Hosea Mitchell of the Charlottesville Planning Commission.“They are actually asking for a rezoning and the rezoning is to allow for residential to be included in the industrial developments that they’re doing there,” Mitchell said. The presentation at the December meeting was made by Fred Missel, the UVA Foundation’s director of design and development. He has since been named to serve on the Albemarle Planning Commission as a voting member after spending several years on the Albemarle Architectural Review Board. The LUEPC meetings are not open to the public, but Missel presented the rezoning in detail. The Foundation seeks a rezoning for portions of the North Fork park to the Neighborhood Model District. The Code of Development calls for a multiblock approach with a minimum of 200 residential units and a maximum of 1,400 units. The University of Virginia has announced this location as one of three sites where the Foundation will partner with a developer to build affordable units. At North Fork, buildings would be up to six stories. Albemarle County’s first round of comments back to the foundation are due at the end of this month, according to the presentation. A community meeting will also need to be held for the rezoning.  Back to the Land Use, Environmental and Planning Committee. This year, the city of Charlottesville takes on administrative responsibility for the group. According to Mitchell, utilities director Lauren Hildebrand will be the chair this year. The University of Virginia Master Planning Council meets next week. Those meetings are not open to the public but there are representatives from Albemarle and Charlottesville. Rivanna bridge options narrowed to onePlans are being made to build a pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the Rivanna River and the Charlottesville Planning Commission got an update last night. The Thomas Jefferson Planning District Committee is leading the efforts and a stakeholders group has been meeting to review options. One of its members is Planning Commission Karim Habbab. “The two options that we’re looking at are a connection near Riverview Park on Chesapeake and the other would be at the Wool Factory,” Habbab said. “One would span between city and county and the other would be basically on county land.”The Woolen Mills is located on a small peninsula of Albemarle County that is landlocked within Charlottesville. The stakeholder group will take a tour of the two sites on Friday. Prices continues to riseThe cost of goods in the United States has increased seven percent over the last 12 months according to data released this morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s the largest yearly increase since 1982. The consumer price index rose half a percentage point in December.“Increases in the indexes for shelter and for used cars and trucks were the largest contributors to the seasonally adjusted all items increase,” reads the press release. “The energy index declined in December, ending a long series of increases.”Overall, energy prices increased 29.3 percent from December 2020 to December 2021. Pre-filing period for General Assembly completedBy the time you hear or see this, the Virginia General Assembly will have convened for the 2022 session. Republicans now have 52 seats in the House of Delegates and the Speaker is now Todd Gilbert, a Republican from the 15th District. Democrat Eileen Filler-Corn will be the minority leader with 48 seats. Yesterday, Democrats retained the 89th District in Norfolk when Democrat Jackie Hope Glass defeated the Republican candidate with 75 percent of the vote. (election results) For the past couple of weeks I’ve been writing up some of the bills, and now we’ll see how many make their way through the legislative process. General Assembly sessions move fast. Here’s some more of the legislation to give you a sense of this aspect of our democracy: Delegate M. Keith Hodges (R-98) has a bill that would assign chief executive powers to the Mayor of the Town of Urbanna in Middlesex County. (HB190)Hodges has another bill that would create the position of Special Advisor to the Governor for Health Workforce Development. (HB191)Another bill from Hodges would add more chemicals to Virginia’s list of Schedule 1 drugs, including 4-chloro-alpha-methylaminobutiophenone. Also known as 4-chloro Buphedrone. (HB193)Delegate Chris Runion (R-25) filed legislation that would allow electric cooperatives to petition the State Corporation Commission for permission to raise rates to recover the cost of providing broadband. (HB194)Delegate Michael Webert (R-18) has a bill that would allow school board to use an alternative system to measure the progress of elementary and middle school students in reading and mathematics. Specifically, the NWEA MAP Growth system. (HB197)Webert also filed legislation that would require localities that do not provide in-person instruction to pay parents who remove their children from school “a prorated share of the applicable Standards of Quality per-pupil state funds appropriated for public school purposes.” (HB201)Another bill from Webert would prohibit localities from removing property from land use taxation programs if a hardship related to an emergency declaration made by a governor. (HB199)Webert also has legislation that would lower the threshold for streamlined permitting processes for solar facilities from 150 megawatts to 20 megawatts (HB202)Delegate Keith Hodges (R-98) has filed a bill that would allow certain pharmacies to sell cannabis products at the retail level without a prescription to people over the age of 21. (HB211)Delegate Karen Greenhalgh has submitted a bill to require physicians and nurses to follow certain procedures related to getting a woman’s informed written consent when a woman seeks an abortion. (HB212)Senator Mark Peake (R-22) filed a bill directing the Virginia Department of Health to develop a plan to mitigate algae blooms. (SB171)Peake has another bill that would allow nurses to pronounce a person dead (SB169)Peake would also end the state’s further minimum wage increase, capping it at $11 an hour. (SB173)Babysitters, home health aides, and personal care aides would no longer be considered “domestic workers” under another bill from Peake (SB179)A bill from Senator Montgomery Mason would allow people with advanced degrees in public health to serve as health directors, something that’s currently reserved for people with medical degrees. (SB192)Senator Joe Morrissey (D-16) wants Petersburg to be added to the list of cities that can hold a local referendum to allow for opening of a casino. (SB203)Senator Chap Petersen (D-34) has a bill to require the Virginia Department of Health to expedite the process to issue certificates of need for certain medical facilities, such as increased psychiatric beds. (SB205)Senator Jeremy McPike (D-29) would require all candidates for office to file electronically with the Department of Elections. (SB222)More tomorrow. t This is a public episode. 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Welcome to January 11, and on this day in history, a lot of things have happened. What are they? That’s not the subject of this podcast and newsletter, which is called Charlottesville Community Engagement. What is the subject of this podcast and newsletter? The Magic 8-ball says “ask again later.” Until then, I’m your host, Sean Tubbs, with another documentation of a few things that have happened and a look ahead to others. Charlottesville Community Engagement is free to receive! Sign up today and decide later if you want to pay to keep this service in service!On today’s show:The Blue Ridge Health District holds a town hall on the pandemic surge amid record hospitalizations in Virginia Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin names his medical advisory team The Sheriff of Fauquier County is Governor-elect Youngkin’s choice to serve as Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland SecurityMore bills are pre-filed before tomorrow’s start of the General Assembly including a halt to Virginia’s minimum wage increase And the Albemarle Planning Commission will take up a rezoning for a hotel on Pantops First Patreon-fueled shout-out! The Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign  is an initiative that wants you to grow native plants in yards, farms, public spaces and gardens in the northern Piedmont. Winter is here, but spring isn’t too far away. This is a great time to begin planning for the spring. Native plants provide habitat, food sources for wildlife, ecosystem resiliency in the face of climate change, and clean water.  Start at the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Facebook page or the Piedmont Natives Plant Database! Think spring! Pandemic surge expected to continue as omicron spread continues The January 2022 COVID-19 surge continues with another 16,681 new cases reported this morning by the Virginia Department of Health and the seven-day average for new cases is 17,037. Virginia set another new one-day record on Saturday with 26,175 new cases. The seven-day percent positivity has increased to 36 percent. Today, the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association reports another new record of COVID hospitalizations today with 3,845 with 589 of those patients in intensive care units and 328 on ventilators. That’s a record for ICU patients, but today’s ventilator count matches exactly one year ago today. Today in the Blue Ridge Health District, there are 352 new cases and the percent positivity has increased to 29.1 percent. Ryan McKay is the director of policy, planning, and operations for the BRHD and he and others spoke at a Town Hall last night. (view the slides)“We are currently experiencing the highest transmission of COVID since the pandemic started and it’s a pretty drastic increase in what we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks,” McKay said. “And really what we anticipate is that it will continue to increase.” McKay also said these numbers are likely all an undercount as some testing is happening at home and those numbers are not reported to the Virginia Department of Health. Last week’s winter weather also delayed testing events. “These numbers seem a little bit cold but there’s a very human element to all of this in terms of individuals getting sick,” McKay said. “There’s the risk of long COVID which has been proven over the last two years of the pandemic. And then there are broader societal, economic, and infrastructure related impacts that we’re beginning to see.” McKay said the key is getting people vaccinated and boosted. Dr. Michael Williams is the director of the Center for Health Policy at the University of Virginia. He said the surge is causing a strain on staff and resources. As of yesterday, there were 89 COVID patients at UVA Health.“The ripple effects work outward from the units in which we take care of these patients which has become more than just out specialized units,” Williams said. “The ripple effects work their way back into the operating room where I spend a lot of my time as a surgeon where patients are having a difficult time to start there are elective and we’ve had to prioritize patients who have cases like cancer and heart disease that are unstable to make sure those that delayed.”Williams said this extends to emergency rooms and urgent care facilities, which are also feeling the strain during this surge. People are asked not to go to the hospital to get a COVID test. “Honestly if you come to our [emergency department] at UVA Health for a COVID test and that’s the only reason you’re there, you will wait and and you will wait and you will wait because there are people who are sick with any number of things.” Williams said people who need a PCR test should visit their primary care physician or visit a testing center.Dr. Taison Bell spends a lot of time in the intensive care units at UVA and never expected that he would be seeing a record number of COVID patients.“When a patient does have COVID we do have to manage them differently regardless of what their underlying problem is,” Bell said. “We have to put them in isolation so they don’t transmit to other people. Sometimes when they need to be discharged, the rehab facility may not clear them for transfer until they have a negative COVID test so patients stay in the hospital longer. They demand more resources. That makes it overall harder to take care of these patients and it puts a strain on the system.” Dr. Bell said the omicron variant has led to infections in people who are vaccinated and boosted and he explained why. “The vaccines were specifically designed to prevent serious illness and they continue to do that consistently,” Bell said. “We were spoiled early on because they were so effective when it came to preventing infection but omicron has proved to be a very challenging variant. It has shown an ability to try to get over those initial hurdles but that backstop of preventing you from getting seriously ill is still holding firm.” Dr. Bell said most of his patients are still unvaccinated, and he encourages everyone to get their shots, get their booster, and continue to wear masks. “We can expect more people to get infected but if we’re vaccinated and boosted, we can keep people out of the hospital and keep the strain off of the health care system,” Dr. Bell said. Just as this post was about to be published, Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin named the members of an advisory team related to the pandemic. “I recognize the severity of the virus and the significant loss that it has caused. Virginians should rest assured that we are monitoring this variant and doing everything we can to be smart about this. I will enter office ready to reopen Virginia, support our healthcare heroes, and protect the lives and livelihoods of Virginians,” Youngkin said in a release. They are: Chair: Dr. Marty Makary, M.D., M.P.H., Johns Hopkins MedicineNancy Howell Agee, President and CEO, Carilion ClinicKathy Gorman, M.S.N., R.N., F.A.A.N, Executive Vice President and COO, Children’s NationalAlan Levine, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Ballad HealthBogdan Neughebauer, M.D., PhD, MBA, CPE, FACP, FIDSA, Sentara HealthcareAnand Shah, M.D., M.P.H., former Deputy Commissioner for Medical and Scientific Affairs at FDAEx-Officio:Secretary of Health and Human Resources John LittelSenator Siobhan DunnavantSenator Todd PillionAlbemarle Planning Commission to hold public hearings on Pantops hotelThe first meeting of the Albemarle Planning Commission begins tonight at 6 p.m. and two of the items on the agenda are public hearings to clear the way for a hotel on Pantops on U.S. 250 just to the west of the Rivanna Ridge Shopping Center. The matter went before the Pantops Community Advisory Committee for an update at their meeting in November. Andy Reitelbach is a senior planner with Albemarle County. “The applicant has submitted this application to request to amend the application and proffers associated with two previous rezonings,” Reitelbach said. The amendments are needed to allow the use of a hotel, which was not anticipated in the rezoning that created the Rivanna Ridge Shopping Center. “The project is in the Rivanna Magisterial District and the parcel is a little over 2.6 acres in size,” Reitelbach said. The plan had not changed since it was before the CAC at a community meeting in January. One aspect of the plan is that left turns onto U.S. 250 will not be permitted. Justin Shimp is the civil engineer for the project. “As some of you are all aware VDOT is getting ready to put up a median up Route 250 all the way from the Wawa up to the top of the mountain and that will restrict our ability to make a full l left turn out of our site,” Shimp said. The Albemarle County Planning Commission meets virtually at 6 p.m. and has two new voting members in Fred Missel and Luis Carrazana. Missel is director of design and development at the University of Virginia Foundation and Carrazana is the associate architect of the University of Virginia. (meeting info)For more information, read Pantops CAC gets a look at the Overlook Hotel from last January on Information Charlottesville. Council meeting in closed session todayAt publication time, City Council is in closed session to interview prospective candidates for the interim city manager position. Late last year the city hired the Robert Bobb Group to provide internal staff to perform the duties of city manager. During the closed session, they are meeting with Bobb directly. Stay tuned until tomorrow’s edition for any potential news. Listen to the podcast to hear the closed session motion, the first such event by this new City Council. Today’s second Patreon-fueled shout-out:With winter weather here, now is the time to think about keeping your family warm through the cold Virginia months. 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!Fauquier County’s Sheriff to head public safety in VirginiaGovernor-elect Glenn Youngkin has selected the Sheriff of Fauquier County to serve as the next Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security. That person oversees the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, the Virginia Department of Corrections, the Department of Criminal Justice Services, the Department of Emergency Management, and the Department of Fire Programs. Robert Mosier was elected in November 2015 to serve Fauquier County and according to the press release he embraced “new technologies for the enforcement of criminal, illegal drug and gang activities, modern traffic safety concepts, enhancement of school safety and better partnerships with the community.” Mosier has been in law enforcement since he was 19 and Youngkin said he will lead efforts to increase pay and to fully fund police departments across Virginia. “Together, we will protect qualified immunity, and on Day One fire the Parole Board,” Youngkin is quoted in the release. Learn more about Mosier on the Fauquier County website. Inauguration Day is in four days. General Assembly bills continue to be filed, including one to stop the minimum wage increaseThe General Assembly session begins tomorrow and the trickle of pre-filed bills and turned into more of a torrent. Here are some highlights from recent days. Delegate Marie March (R-7) has a bill requiring localities to post copies of their elected body’s minutes on a website seven days after they are officially approved. (HB150)March also wants the state to create one single central database for all public records. (HB154)March has filed another bill limiting a governor’s emergency declaration to a 45-day period and limiting their power. (HB151) This is a common desire by Republican legislators, as Delegate Kathy Byron (R-22) has a similar bill (HB157) and another that would require the General Assembly to take any action on any emergency rule after a 45-day period. (HB158) Delegate Daniel Marshall (R-14) submitted (HB183)March also wants people injured on the job to be required to take a drug test. (HB153)Delegate Candy Mundon King (D-2) wants to amend the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act to require fingerprinting of all employees of companies that have more than four rental units. (HB160)The last General Assembly adopted a law requiring all municipal elections to be held in November, but a bill from Delegate David Suetterlein (R-19) would apply that only to municipalities over 200,000 people. (SB147)Delegate Chris Runion (R-25) has a bill to replace the charter for the Town of Grottoes in Rockingham County. (HB161)Delegate Margaret Ransone (R-99) has legislation that would take the ability of the town council of Colonial Beach to fire the police chief and give it to the town manager. (HB164)Ransone has another bill that would repeal provisions that are set to seal criminal records in some instances. (HB181)Delegate Barry Knight (R-81) has a bill that would authorize the issuance of $101 million in bonds to fund projects at James Madison University and Virginia Tech. (HB165)Delegate Daniel Marshall (R-14) would repeal the state’s minimum wage increase to $11 an hour. (HB171)Marshall has another bill that would allow localities to require screening of solar facilities from secondary roads. (HB172)Delegate Robert Bloxom (R-100) has a bill that would place limits on campaign contributions. (HB174)Another common thread this year is Republican desire to place restrictions on absentee ballots, and Bloxom is advancing several in HB175, HB177, and HB178. Delegate Ranson has a bill to repeal a provision that would allow voter registration up to election day. (HB185)Bloxom would also create the Forest Sustainability Fund. (HB180)Finally today, Delegate Jeffrey Campbell (R-6) has a bill that would create the Nitrile Glove Manufacturing Training Grant Program which would “support the recruitment and training needs of nitrile glove manufacturing companies located in the Mount Rogers Planning District.” (HB186)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

A year ago, a crowd of people stormed the U.S. Capitol in a bid to seek a change in the 2020 presidential election. They were unsuccessful. Two months ago, there was a change in political control of Virginia’s government in another election. There are many statements that democracy is under siege and under threat, and that may be true. But this and every episode of Charlottesville Community Engagement seeks to document the arguments had and decisions made in a complex human civilization that each of us exists within. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs, eager to get on with an update about democracy at the community level around where I live.Sign up for free to learn something new every day about what’s happening: On today’s show:There’s new leadership on both the Charlottesville City Council and the Albemarle Board of SupervisorsGovernor-elect Youngkin nominated one of former President Trump’s EPA administrators to lead natural resources and environmental policy in VirginiaAnother state of emergency is declared in advance of second winter storm to start the new yearNew legislation continues to be filed in the General Assembly, including guarantee life imprisonment for class 1 felonies and campaign finance capsToday’s first Patreon-fueled shout-out:With winter weather here, now is the time to think about keeping your family warm through the cold Virginia months. 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!Clean-up continues while another weather storm approachesAlbemarle County and other localities are setting up emergency warming centers as thousands in the area remain without electricity three days after a winter storm that caught many by surprise and overwhelmed tree limbs that hadn’t yet experienced wet, heavy snow. Many now never will. “Albemarle County was one of the most severely hit areas across the Commonwealth,” said county executive Jeffrey Richardson. “The storm has been very challenging to recover from for several reasons. One is the rate of snowfall from Monday morning around 6 a.m. to around noon. We measured up to nine or nine and a half inches of snow across Albemarle County so it was a very wide-ranging storm.”Richardson said Dominion Energy activated its mutual aid plan and crews from eight states have been on the scene. He said resources would continue to be rerouted here. “Some of the mutual aid crews that were requested arrived here later than expected and that was due to Interstate blockages,” Richardson said. As of this morning at 10:15 a.m. there were just under a thousand homes in Charlottesville without power. In Albemarle, there are still 17,296 customers who have not yet had service restored. Half of Dominion’s 4,466 customers in Louisa remain unconnected and about a third of Fluvanna County’s 3,556 customers are without power. Continue to consult Dominion Energy’s outage map for the latest information.If you need a center, visit the website communityemergency.org. This is a service of the Regional Office of Emergency Management and has a list of resources, including the centers. Two mobile units will be set up from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today for people to get water and to charge mobile devices. These are at the Food Lion in the Town of Louisa and the Giant on Pantops. In Albemarle, the centers will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. today:Baker-Butler Elementary School at 2740 Proffit Road with showers, WiFi, and electricity available.Greenwood Community Center at 865 Greenwood Rd in Crozet from 9 am to 6 pm. WiFi and electricity available. Scottsville Community Center at 250 Page Street in Scottsville from 9 am to 6 pm. WiFi and electricity available. In Charlottesville, trash pickup and curbside recycling resumed today with the regular Thursday service, but the city warns service may be suspended on Friday if the storm is severe enough to shut down roads. Normal residential service will resume on Monday. Governor Ralph Northam has issued a state of emergency in advance of a second storm storm which is forecast for this evening. The declaration frees up more resources for public safety officials to implement parts of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Emergency Operations Plan. It also prevents price gouging and allows department heads to waive certain procurement requirements. (read the declaration)Pandemic updateThere’s no longer a state of emergency in place for COVID-19 in Virginia, but the highest surge to date is still underway with another 15,840 cases reported today by the Virginia Department of Health. The percent positivity continues to creep up and is now at 33.6 percent statewide. The percent positivity in the Blue Ridge Health District has also increased to 25.2 percent. There are another 366 cases reported in the district today, and the town hall scheduled for tonight has been rescheduled to January 10. Youngkin selects former EPA administrator for Natural Resources SecretaryGovernor-elect Glenn Youngkin has named a former Trump administration official to oversee the portion of the state’s executive branch that implements policy related to the environment. Andrew Wheeler has been selected as the Secretary of Natural and Historic Resources. Wheeler was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2019 and began his career in the first Bush administration in EPA’s Pollution Prevention and Toxics office. Youngkin selected Michael Rolband to serve as the director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. He’s the founder of a firm called Wetland Studies and Solutions Inc that helps developers in the environmental review process. “He founded WSSI to assist economic developers in navigating the Clean Water Act, Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act, and local environmental regulations,” reads the press release. In a release, Youngkin stated that the pair “share my vision in finding new ways to innovate and use our natural resources to provide Virginia with a stable, dependable, and growing power supply that will meet Virginia’s power demands without passing the costs on to the consumer.” The nominations will have to go through the General Assembly. To learn more about these nominations, here are some additional resources:Youngkin confirms his pick for Secretary of Natural Resources and Democrats respond, January 5, 2022Trump EPA head, coal lobbyist tapped as Virginia’s environmental chief, January 5, 2022Andrew Wheeler, Former EPA Boss, Charts a New Course, Bloomberg Law, May 6, 2021More General Assembly billsWe’re now six days away from the 2022 General Assembly and there are more pieces of legislation to review. The closer we come, the more narrow this list will be. For the full list, visit the General Assembly’s Legislative Information System. (view by the day)A bill from Delegate Terry Kilgore (R-1) would terminate the Town of St. Charles and incorporate its assets and debts into Lee County. (HB83)Kilgore also has a bill that would allow out-of-state audiologists to practice in underserved parts of the Commonwealth if doing so as part of a nonprofit organization’s service efforts. (HB84)Incoming Delegate Tim Anderson (R-83) would implement campaign finance limits (see image below) (HB85)Anderson also has a bill requiring the Department of Elections to create a searchable campaign database. The current database is here and there’s also the Virginia Public Access Project. (HB86)Senator Thomas Norment (R-3) filed a bill that would allow localities to apply for funds to maintain historic African American cemeteries. There is similar legislation in the House of Delegates. (SB76)Norment has another bill that would require people in all localities in Virginia to go through an additional 90 minutes of driver education to be spent with parents or guardians. (SB78)Senator Bill Stanley (R-20) filed a bill requiring anyone convicted of a Class 1 felony to be sentenced to life in prison. (SB79)Stanley has another bill that would prohibit elections officials from receiving gifts and funding for voter education programs and other outreach programs. (SB80)Stanley has another bill that would limit the power of the Air Pollution Control Board to consider facts and circumstances when considering reasonability to approving variances, not making regulations. (SB81)If a city reverts to a town, police officers will have the right to buy their motorcycles (SB82)Stanley also has a bill that would require Martinsville voters to approve reversion to becoming a town in Henry County, and they’d have to do so by July 1, 2026. (SB85)The mandatory age for judges to retire would be increased from 73 to 75 under another bill from Senator Stanley. (SB83)Another bill from Stanley would allow the New College Initiative to provide workforce training, a service that must currently be provided by the community college system. (SB84)Primitive campgrounds would be exempted from sanitary requirements under another bill from Stanley, though the Virginia Department of Health could require one toilet for every 75 campers. (SB86)Stanley has three other bills related to animal breeders. SB88 would require entities that breed dogs or cats to document each animal for two years after a sale or transfer. SB89 would prohibit the sale of unneutered or unspayed animals. SB90 would require breeders to offer animals for adoption before euthanization, a requirement that currently only applies to animal testing facilities. Second Patreon-fueled shout-out! The Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign  an initiative that wants you to grow native plants in yards, farms, public spaces and gardens in the northern Piedmont. Winter is here, but spring isn’t too far away. This is a great time to begin planning for the spring. Native plants provide habitat, food sources for wildlife, ecosystem resiliency in the face of climate change, and clean water.  Start at the Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Facebook page and tell them Lonnie Murray sent you!A divided council selects Snook as Mayor, but unanimously elects Wade as Vice MayorIn their first vote of 2022, Charlottesville City Council chose Lloyd Snook to serve as mayor for the next two years. The first meeting with newcomers Brian Pinkston and Juandiego Wade was opened by Deputy City Manager Ashley Marshall. “The person elected to serve as Mayor will preside over City Council meetings and may call special meetings, make some appointments to advisory boards, and serves as the head of government for ceremonial purposes and official functions,” Marshall said. “The vice mayor substitutes whenever the mayor is not available.” Wade nominated Snook for the position of Mayor. “I think that he has the knowledge of governance to handle this position,” Wade said. “I think he understands the great importance of the position, and that the eyes of not only the city but a much broader audience will be looking upon him and I think that he understands the importance and knows what it takes to hear everyone’s voice.”Snook said the city needs a vision as well as a management team to implement that vision. “Our Comprehensive Plan sets out a compelling vision for the city that I think all five of us endorse,” Snook said. “A city of equity and opportunity where all people can thrive, a city with a rich and diverse culture where all people are welcomed and valued and respected, a well-planned city of neighborhoods with a variety of affordable housing choices, a city that demonstrates environmental and climate leadership, a government where all of our employees are respected and decisions are made with an eye on equity.”Snook said as mayor he wants to lead the recruitment efforts for a new city manager who will serve a long term. In the meantime he said the Comprehensive Plan has 308 different strategies but there’s no clear sense of how to turn that into an action plan for the government. He said he wants to set up new advisory committees that can provide a jumpstart on the rebuilding process. “In addition to the criminal justice and Marcus Alert task forces, and the Housing Advisory Committee, a climate change advisory committee, a group to work on transit and transportation policy, a group to develop a plan for historic Charlottesville,” Snook said. Councilor Sena Magill had a different nominee in mind. “I would like to nominate Michael Payne for Mayor,” Magill said. “Councilor Payne is very good at bringing people together across many different places. I have seen him put into words clearly thoughts and ideas that are often complex and make them reachable and is someone I know would do a very good job as well.” Payne accepted the nomination.“We are a divided community and divided along race, class, ideology, education level, and this has been a time of unprecedented crisis in a lot of ways,” Payne said.Payne the pandemic has frayed the social fabric but said there has been a demonstrated ability to advance public policy on Council.“Specific issues like implementing our affordable housing strategy, creating a land bank, creating our climate strategy and implementing it, as well as small things we see every day like recent calls from the community to take actions about Fifth Street,” Payne said.Payne said the city needs a well-functioning government, and added that the city has been implementing some of its vision, such as adopting the Future Land Use Map and investing in the redevelopment of the city’s public housing units. He said his leadership would continue that work. Snook got the nod on a 3 to 2 vote. There was only one candidate for vice mayor when Councilor Pinkston nominated Wade.“Juandiego Wade has been a fixture in this community for decades,” Pinkston said. “He served at all levels. He has so much to contribute. He has a courageousness but also a humility that is instructive for me. I’m grateful for his leadership in the city and I think he will make a fantastic vice mayor and I hope others will vote the same.”They did. Wade said he would accept the challenge. “I have kind of fancied myself as the type of person who works behind the scenes to help get things done and look at the fruition of the efforts of myself and others,” Wade said, That vote was unanimous. More on the City Council meeting in future editions of Charlottesville Community Engagement. Price to chair Albemarle Board of SupervisorsThe six-member Albemarle Board of Supervisors has selected Donna Price to serve as the chair for the next year. Price is in the third year of her first term and she was the only nominee. There was no discussion and the vote went quickly. “What sets Albemarle County apart from other local municipalities has been the steady, stable, and long-term leadership of the Office of County Executive and the County Attorney,” Price said. “The foresight of our County Executive, Jeff Richardson, the astuteneess of our county attorney Greg Kamptner and the dedication of innumerable citizens and public servants in an era of anger and while a deadly pandemic that has killed over 825,000 Americans… Albemarle County has not only survived. We have thrived.” Rivanna District Supervisor Bea LaPisto-Kirtley will be the vice chair. The public also heard from new Supervisor Jim Andrews, the new representative from the Samuel Miller District. He said he wants to hear from the public. “I don’t think I have all of the information and the Board doesn’t have all the information or ideas and the public can help,” Andrews said. “Right now I’m wishing for a wealth of great ideas from people.” Supervisors also made appointments to Boards and Commissions. Former Supervisor Liz Palmer has been reappointed to the Albemarle County Service Authority, where she served before being elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2013. Charles Tolbert and Nathan Moore were reappointed. Two UVA officials join Albemarle Planning CommissionThe new at-large member of the Planning Commission is Luis Carrazana, who is employed by the University of Virginia Office of the Architect as the Associate University Architect. Fred Missel, development director at the University of Virginia Foundation, will represent the Scottsville District, replacing Rick Randolph who retired. Julian Bivins, Daniel Bailey, and Karen Firehock were reappointed to their terms representing Jack Jouett, Rio, and Samuel Miller Districts. Charlottesville, Albemarle, and the University of Virginia entered into a Three Party Agreement in 1986 that allowed for UVA officials to serve as non-voting members of the city and county Planning Commissions. Later this year, the Planning Commission will take up a rezoning request at the North Fork Research Park for a rezoning of land to the Neighborhood Model Development district. UVA has selected this as one of three sites where they will work with a developer to built up to 1,500 affordable housing units. The rezoning application submitted in December would see up to 1,400 units at the site as well as a maximum of 3.7 million square feet of non-residential use. The development would span between Airport Road Drive and Lewis and Clark Drive, and would utilize a completed extension of that roadway that the UVA Foundation funded. The Discovery Park is owned by the foundation. Supervisors also delegated some of their members to Boards and Commissions. Jim Andrews will serve on the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority Andrews and Supervisor Price will serve on the Solid Waste Alternatives Advisory CommitteeAnn Mallek will serve on the Rivanna Water and Sewer AuthorityAndrews will serve on the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission and Gallaway will continueNed Gallaway will serve on the Central Virginia Regional Housing Partnership with Diantha McKeel as an alternative Gallaway and Price will serve on the Capital Improvement Program Advisory CommitteeBea LaPisto-Kirtley will replace Mallek on the Historic Preservation CommitteeMcKeel will remain on the Economic Development AuthorityLaPisto-Kirtley and McKeel will remain on the Regional Transit Partnership And this morning, Clerk of Council Kyna Thomas sent over this list of what Councilors are serving on what regional boards. Sena Magill will serve on the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail Authority Board Juandiego Wade will serve on the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau Lloyd Snook and Brian Pinkston will serve on the Darden Towe Park Board, along with Albemarle Supervisors LaPisto Kirtley and Gallaway. Pinkston and Snook will serve on the Metropolitan Planning Organization Policy Board. Both will also serve on the Regional Transportation Partnership providing consistent representation on both bodies. Pinkston will serve on the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority and the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority (PINKSTON)Payne will continue on the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission 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

The 2021 farewell tour continues with the final Monday installment of the year for the newsletter and podcast you’re about to read or listen to. This is likely also the last one that will be posted before the winter solstice. Will you be able to feel the shift, or are maneuvers of solar systems mechanics something that only shows up as a trick of the light? That’s not the concern of this edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement, but it certainly is something to note.On today’s program: The Ivy Square Shopping Center is purchased by an entity associated with the University of Virginia FoundationPiedmont Housing Alliance sets a date for the groundbreaking for the redevelopment of Friendship Court Charlottesville is considering a historic district to honor the architectural legacy of prominent builder C.H. Brown Transportation updates from the Metropolitan Planning Organization Governor-elect Youngkin names a data policy specialist to serve as Secretary of EducationIn today’s first Patreon-fueled shout-out: The Plant Northern Piedmont Natives Campaign  an initiative that wants you to grow native plants in yards, farms, public spaces and gardens in the northern Piedmont. Winter is here, but spring isn’t too far away. This is a great time to begin planning for the spring. Native plants provide habitat, food sources for wildlife, ecosystem resiliency in the face of climate change, and clean water.  Start at the Plant Northern Piedm+ont Natives Facebook page and tell them Lonnie Murray sent you!Covid updateAs the week begins, the Virginia Department of Health reports another 2,991 new cases of COVID-19, and the seven-day average for positivity PCR tests has increased to 9.3 percent. The seven-day average for new cases has risen to 3,286 a day. The Blue Ridge Health District reports another 67 new cases today and the percent positivity is at 6.7 percent.UVA Foundation purchases Ivy Square Shopping CenterA company associated with the University of Virginia Foundation has paid $20 million for the 2.77 acre shopping center where Food of All Nations is located. Ivy Square of Charlottesville LLC paid nearly 126 percent over the assessment for the two properties and three buildings. A second shopping center to the west is broken up among several owners. The UVA Foundation has been steadily purchasing properties along Ivy Road for many years. The UVA Office of the Architect began planning a master plan for the area east of Copeley Road in the fall of 2016. Work is underway for a precinct that will include the School of Data Science, the Karsh Institute for Democracy, a hotel and convention center, as well as other uses that have yet to be announced. This summer, the Office of the Architect presented a plan for the redevelopment of Ivy Gardens off of Old Ivy Road to the UVA Buildings and Grounds Committee. The Foundation purchased that property in Albemarle back in the summer of 2016 according to Albemarle County property records. (UVA making plans for Ivy Garden redevelopment, June 9, 2021)Date announced for Friendship Court groundbreakingThe Piedmont Housing Alliance has set a date for the groundbreaking for the first phase of redevelopment of Friendship Court. The nonprofit has spent several years planning to upgrade the 150-unit complex and a ceremony will be held on January 15 to mark the beginning of construction. “The last five years of dedication and hard work by the residents of the Friendship Court Advisory Committee are finally about to blossom,” said PHA executive director Sunshine Mathon in an email to Charlottesville Community Engagement this morning. “The beginning of Phase 1 of redevelopment marks the beginning of a transformed neighborhood as envisioned by the residents themselves.  I am deeply honored by the opportunity to bring their vision to creation.”According to the PHA website, the existing buildings were constructed in 1978 on what had been a neighborhood that was razed in the name of urban renewal. Piedmont Housing Alliance and the National Housing Trust acquired the property in 2002 and PHA began managing it in 2019. “We are committed to zero displacement,” reads the website. “The first phase of housing will be built on existing open land.”The city of Charlottesville has committed to a multimillion dollar investment across four phases of development. The adopted capital budget for the current fiscal year sets aside $2 million in cash for infrastructure improvements, nearly $400,000 for the first phase, and $750,000 for the second phase. Future years carry on that investment. (Council approves agreement for Friendship Court funding, October 30, 2020) New historic district?The city of Charlottesville will study whether to create a new historic district to commemorate a man who built many structures for Black families and businesses in the mid 20th century. Planning Commissioner Jody Lahendro is also a member of the Board of Architectural Review and he briefed his PC colleagues last week (staff report)“This is actually a tremendous story that I wish more of us knew about,” Lahendro said. “This designation would honor and recognize the importance of the Reverend Charles H. Brown. From his experience in the building trades in the early 30’s and 40’,s Reverend Brown personally managed, financed, and participated in the construction of about 70 houses from the 1940’s to the 1980’s.”Lahendro said Brown built in Black neighborhoods and used materials that allowed for houses to be affordable. “He often provided the co-sign and promissory notes and provided financing to get people into these houses,” Lahendro said. Lahendro said the district will cover the Holy Temple of God In Christ as well as five other homes in the Venable neighborhood built by Brown. The matter will go through the usual rezoning process including public hearings with the Planning Commission and the City Council. You’re reading to Charlottesville. Community Engagement. Let’s continue today with two more 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!Youngkin chooses Education SecretaryGovernor-Elect Glenn Youngkin has selected the founder of a national education nonprofit to serve as his Secretary of Education. Aimee Rogstad Guidera formerly created the Data Quality Campaign in 2005 to advocate for the usage of metrics to guide education policy. In a statement released this morning, Youngkin said Guidera will help him implement his vision for public education. “Aimee is deeply respected for her distinguished career advocating for innovation and choice, data-driven reform, and high standards, and will apply these principles in order to implement the Day One Game Plan,” he wrote. “Most importantly, she understands that parents matter, and the best interests of students must come first.” Guidera stepped down from the Data Quality Campaign in 2017 and now runs her own consulting firm called Guidera Strategy. Her time at the campaign provides some insight into her philosophy on education. Here are a few examples. Time to Ditch the Data Boogeyman, June 6, 2016Data Quality Campaign Releases Statement on Trump’s Education Priorities, November 14, 2016Statement on the Recommendations from the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, September 7, 2017Transportation updatesTo conclude today, let’s go back to the December 7, 2021 meeting of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Policy Board to get some updates. The Virginia Department of Transportation is working on a new way of planning for the state’s future connectivity needs. Project Pipeline builds off of the Smart Scale funding process which seeks to pay for projects that will accomplish specific goals. Several preliminary corridor studies are underway across Virginia, including two in Albemarle. Chuck Proctor is a transportation planner in VDOT’s Culpeper District.“One of them is for Pantops and it goes from Hansen Road to the interchange at I-64, and the other is the Shadwell intersection at Route 22 and Route 250 and also North Milton Road and 250,” Proctor said. Community engagement for both studies is expected to take place around this time with a public meeting sometime in January. Both are areas identified to have a Potential for Safety Improvement. The website for the Pantop study notes a lack of pedestrian connectivity in the area, and the website for the Shadwell study notes a prevalence for rear end collisions due to long back-ups. Those studies would yield projects for a future beyond the current looming deadline for the fifth round of Smart Scale funding. Albemarle and Charlottesville will have the chance to submit four projects. The MPO Policy Board will select four, and the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission will select another four. One potential application for the MPO is a pedestrian and cyclist bridge over the Rivanna River to connect Charlottesville and the Pantops section of Albemarle County. A stakeholder group has met twice in the past month to discuss that application. Sandy Shackleford is the director of transportation and planning at the TJPDC. “We’ll plan to again in the spring or maybe February or March plan to do a full meeting where we go through all of the projects for the MPO area as well as the PDC,” Shackleford said. The other three applications for the MPO under consideration are bike and pedestrian improvements on Avon Street Extended, multimodal improvements 5th Street, and a roundabout at the intersection of District Avenue and Hydraulic Road at Stonefield. Supervisor Ann Mallek said there may be support for the latter project.“I just learned this week that UVA has moved a lot of their IT department out to Hydraulic Road and they were very interested in safe crossings to Stonefield at lunch,” Mallek said. Staunton-Cville bus ridershipThe Afton Express commuter route between Staunton and Charlottesville is now in its third month of operations, according to Sara Pennington, the TJPDC program manager for Rideshare. “In those three months there have been more than 1,500 passenger trips taken and that is across the four morning and the four evening runs and the service does run Monday through Friday,” Pennington said, adding that ridership has grown steadily since launching with November outperforming September despite the Thanksgiving holiday. That’s still about 40 rides a day, and the goal from the planning study is to get to 80 riders a day. Speaking of Smart Scale, a new park-and-ride lot in Waynesboro funded through the process has just been completed.  (VDOT information)“But they also put in a shelter for the Afton Express so those kinds of things went hand in hand,” Pennington said. Pennington said Afton Express will soon launch a new text-alert system for its service that would let riders know about potential delays and other service changes. Charlottesville Area Transit is working on a pilot project to improve bus stops. Garland Williams is the agency’s director. “We’re going to use Belmont Park as kind of that test,” Williams said. “There is a shelter there but it isn’t [Americans with Disabilities Act] compliant.  It basically sits on the street. We’re going to remove that and put in a shelter so that everyone can see when we’re starting to do capital projects along transit, what it looks like and what we have to do to make it compliant.” Sean Nelson, the district engineer for VDOT’s Culpeper District, updated the MPO on the status of a project awarded Smart Scale funds in Round 4. “The only thing I can give an update on is the U.S. 29 and Hydraulic design-build package that we’re putting together,” Nelson said. “That is slated for a public hearing in March or April of 2022 with a [request for proposal] to be released at the end July 2022, anticipated award in December 2022, with a project completion in the winter of 2024.” This project will include a pedestrian bridge over U.S. 29 as well as a roundabout at the intersection of Hydraulic Road and Hillsdale Drive Extended. Learn more in the Smart Scale application. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Welcome to the antepenultimate Tuesday of 2021, also doing business as the 348th day of the year. This is the 294th installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement. There are many more to come in the future due to the certainty that where will be items to write about far into the future. I’m your host, Sean Tubbs.Charlottesville Community Engagement needs fuel in the form of new subscriptions, paid or unpaid. Sign up today to keep this going! On today’s show:The Regional Transit Partnership ponders a potential future as a regional transit authorityThe University of Virginia picks two sites in Albemarle and one site in Charlottesville on which to build affordable housing The Rivanna Conservation Alliance publishes its 2021 water quality reportRegional broadband expansion projects nets $79M in state fundingIn today’s first Patreon-fueled shout-out:Winter is here, and now is the time to think about keeping your family warm through the cold Virginia months. 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!UVA Housing initiativeThe University of Virginia has announced three sites upon which it will work with a developer to build affordable housing units, two of which are in Albemarle County. They are:The low-density Piedmont housing site on Fontaine AvenueThe corner of Wertland and 10th StreetProperties at the North Fork Research Park President Jim Ryan made the announcement this morning in a written statement.“Economic growth over many decades has had a profound effect on housing in the Charlottesville-Albemarle community, and we are committed to working with community partners to create more housing intended for local workforce and community members who have been priced out of the local housing market,” Ryan said. “We believe these sites may be suitable for affordable housing, to potentially include mixed-use development.”J.J. Wagner, UVA’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, said these sites were selected in part because they were not in any other strategic plan. There’s a website where people can submit feedback. (website) According to a press release on UVA Today, Piedmont would likely be completely redeveloped except for an existing structure. The Piedmont property is on the north side of Fontaine Avenue and is within Albemarle County. UVA owns this site outright. The University of Virginia Foundation purchased 1010 Wertland Street from developer Keith Woodard in February 2017 for $4 million, which was well over the $1.85 million assessment for that year.  That 0.4 acre property is currently occupied by an apartment complex.  The foundation also owns two other properties at this corner, one of which is currently vacant. The North Fork Research Park currently does not have any residential units. This past March, the foundation issued a request for proposals for a firm to help rezone portions of the property to Neighborhood Model District zoning. “Coordination with the UVA Affordable Housing Task Force will be required,” reads the RFP. Existing leases at both Piedmont and 1010 Wertland Street will be honored for their duration. UVA or its foundation will donate the land though a ground lease and will not contribute any funding to the projects. The next step is for the UVA Foundation to issue a request for qualifications for potential builders. Initial work for the project was conducted by the firm Northern Urban Real Estate Ventures. That company is now working with the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority on a master plan for sustainability. These three sites are the only ones under consideration at this time. UVA spokesman Brian Coy said they will work with the selected firm to meet the goal of building between 1,000 and 1,500 units. Broadband expansion The Thomas Jefferson Planning District has been awarded a $79 million grant from the Virginia Telecommunications Initiative for a project to expand broadband to nearly every home across a 13-county area. Governor Ralph Northam made that announcement yesterday as part of a $722 million funding package for similar Internet expansion meetings across the Commonwealth. The TJPDC was the lead applicant for the RISE project, which stands for Regional Internet Service Expansion. Several localities including Albemarle are contributing a total of $33.5 million as a match for the public-private partnership involving Firefly Fiber Broadband, the Rappahannock Electric Cooperative, and Dominion Energy. Over the next three years, more than 5,000 miles of fiber will be installed across an area that spans from portions of Campbell County to the south to Goochland County to the east to Greene County to the north. In all, an additional 36,283 homes will be connected. They will then ne able then purchase Internet from Firefly Fiber. TJPDC’s award is the third largest in the state. (read the grant application) (Governor’s press release) Avon Street DevelopmentTonight, the Albemarle Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on a rezoning for a planned residential district in the 1800 block of Avon Street Extended. Andy Reitelbach is a senior planner with the county.“It involves a request to rezone two parcels of land on Avon Street right south of Avinity,” Reitelbach said. “The two parcels together total about 3.6 acres and the applicant is requesting a maximum of 85 two-family and multifamily resident units.” Reitelbach made his comments at the 5th and Avon Community Advisory Committee from November 18. So did Kelsey Schlein with Shimp Engineering, the firm taking the project through the review process. “It’s designated urban density residential in the Comprehensive Plan so at 24 dwelling unit per acre with a maximum density on the property, we’re within the recommended density range for urban density residential,” Schlein said. Schlein said there will be a mix of housing types with triplexes, quadplexes, townhomes, and multifamily units. None of the buildings will exceed three stories. She noted that the county has adopted a corridor study to make the area more hospitable to people on bikes or on foot. (read the study)“Since there is an existing sidewalk in front of Avinity that kind of extends in front of the elementary school, we’re proposing to continue that network,” Schlein said. “However, we’ve provided enough right of way for a multi use path improvement so if there’s ever a comprehensive reimagining of the pedestrian network on the [east] side of Avon Street, this application will have provided the right of way for that.” Some members of the 5th and Avon CAC expressed concerns about traffic, the lack of a playground, and the possibility the application did not include open space. The Planning Commission meets virtually at 6 p.m. tonight. (meeting info)New look for tourism websiteThe quasi-government entity charged with marketing the region to tourists has updated their website. The Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau launched an refreshed version last week of visitcharlottesville.org. The designer is a firm called Tempest as we learn in a press release.“In addition to better serving visitors and industry partners, the new website will also reduce costs for the CACVB, in anticipation of a significant budget decrease projected for Fiscal Year 2023,” reads the release. “The reduction in budget for the upcoming fiscal year is a direct result of decreased transient occupancy tax collection from local lodging properties, due to the impacts of COVID-19.” The Bureau is governed by a Board of Directors that currently includes two members of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors and two City Councilors. In October, the CACVB Board discussed reducing that to one elected official from each locality in favor of more representatives from the hospitality industry. For more, read Allison Wrabel’s October 25 story in the Daily Progress. For more on the hospitality industry, read a story from me from October 30 on the archive site Information Charlottesville.  The CACVB Board next meets on December 20. *General Assembly 2022With Republicans in control of the House of Delegates next year, that means Delegate Rob Bell (R-Albemarle) will chair a major committee. Yesterday, incoming House Speaker Todd Gilbert (R-Woodstock) assigned Bell to chair the Courts of Justice Committee and made five other appointments. (release)Delegate Lee Ware (R-Powhatan) will chair Agriculture, Chesapeake, and Natural ResourcesDelegate Jay Leftwich (R-Chesapeake) will head General LawsDelegate Bobby Orrock (R-Caroline) will chair Health, Welfare, and InstitutionsDelegate Kathy Byron (R-Bedford) will head Labor and CommerceDelegate Terry Austin (R-Botetourt) will chair Transportation. RCA reportThe Rivanna Conservation Alliance has issued its annual stream health report based on water quality monitoring from 2018 through 2021. Based on their data, the number of impaired streams increased. (read the report)“The percentage of our sampled streams that failed to meet water quality standards for aquatic life grew from 68 percent in last year’s report to 82 percent in this one,” reads the report. However, the document acknowledges difficulty in collecting data in 2018 and 2019 due to heavy rain events that scoured stream beds and banks, as well as difficulty collecting data during the pandemic. “Most notably, seven of the nine sites that moved from an assessment of very good or good down to fair were affected by unusually large hatches of black fly larvae that reduced biodiversity in our samples,” the report continues. Another item of note in 2020 is the completion of a 15-year study on the long-term effects of large-scale water quality improvements such as stream restoration, planting of buffers along streams, or upgrades to wastewater treatments plants. That’s based on looking at all 50 monitoring sites and finding that those that improved were close to some form of improvement. More shout-outsYou’re listening to Charlottesville. Community Engagement. Let’s continue today with two more 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!Regional transit authority?It has been some time since I’ve had an update on transit issues and now is the time to do so. Earlier this month, the members of the Regional Transit Partnership got an informal recommendation from a consultant that it may be time to move from an advisory body into a decision-making body that can raise its own funds. Before we get into all of that, though, there is still time to take two surveys to get your input on the Regional Transit Vision for the Charlottesville Area. That’s a project being led by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District to “evaluate transit service” in the region in order to “establish a clear long-term vision for efficient, equitable, and effective transit service.” One survey is on transition visioning and the other is an interactive map that asks the question: “What are the long-term transit needs for the Charlottesville region?” “You’re able to kind of sort of pinpoint on a map some issues or wants or desires regarding transit,” said Tim Brulle, a project manager for the vision who works for the firm AECOM. “We are using the public survey as part of our main avenue for that public feedback right now.” The project is being funded by the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation with additional funds from the city of Charlottesville and Albemarle County. Albemarle County is conducting its own separate study, and Charlottesville Area Transit has pending route changes that have not yet been implemented. On December 2, 2021, the Jefferson Area Regional Transit Partnership got a status update on the studies, beginning with the Regional Transit Vision. As of that date, only about a hundred and thirty people had responded. (watch this meeting)Also as part of the meeting, Scudder Wagg of the firm JWA briefed the partnership members on the fact that many other transit systems in Virginia are regional. In this community, there are three major transit systems in Jaunt, Charlottesville Area Transit and the University Transit Service. Wagg suggested a reorganization across multiple communities that could yield more funding for expansion. “If you are to think about a regional funding source and a regional funding agency, then you would start to need to think about this on more of a regional scale,” Wagg said. “That’s where we want to help you consider how you might address that.”Wagg said the combined operating budgets of CAT and Jaunt are around $16 million, with about half of that funding coming from local sources. He suggested the total amount could increase if the community took steps to create an authority which can issue bonds. Wagg said three other regions in Virginia have managed to create authorities to expand transit and fund other transportation improvements. “Northern Virginia is using a combination of a sales tax, a grantor’s tax, and bond proceeds,” Wagg said. Legislation passed the General Assembly in 2009 to allow creation of a Regional Transit Authority, but a bill to allow a local referendum on a one-cent tax increase did not pass that year. According to the legislation, the authority could expand to include Fluvanna, Greene, Louisa and Nelson counties. (take a look)In the next General Assembly, Charlottesville is seeking a referendum for a one-cent sales tax for the purposes of funding the reconfiguration of the city’s schools. The director of Charlottesville Area Transit would encourage elected officials to pursue additional sources for funding through an authority. “This is an avenue we do need to explore and consider seriously to make sure that this  happens  eventually in the next three to five years,” Williams said. Albemarle Supervisor Diantha McKeel said the point of the Regional Transit Partnership was to prepare for an eventual next step.“When this Regional Transit Partnership, the intent was for it to be the first step in working towards an authority,” McKeel said.Becca White, director of Parking and Transportation at UVA, said the University Transit Service serves a very small footprint as a “last mile” service to relieve congestion and to shuttle people from parking lots. However, she said there are some portions of the city covered, including Fontaine Avenue and Ivy Road. The members of the Partnership informally directed Wagg to base the next set of potential scenarios for expanded service based on a theoretical $30 million budget.“We’ll have two scenarios,” Wagg said. “We’ll have maps showing where would routes go, how frequently, all of that sort of stuff. And then what would the outcomes of some of those things be in terms of how many more jobs could people in Greene County reach in an hour by transit or how many more people would have access to different kinds of transit services in different places?”A second round of public engagement for the Regional Transit Vision will begin early next year and the study is to be completed by the summer of 2022. Want to help influence it? Fill out those surveys! Resources for Regional Transit Vision Plan: A stakeholder meeting was held on October 7 and around 30 people attended (watch the video)A public meeting was held on November 18 and 20 members of the public participated (watch the video) (view the presentation)A land use assessment was produced by the consultantsA transit propensity technical memo was also produced by the consultantsSpecial thanks to Jenn Finazzo for recording some of the voice work today. Very much appreciated! This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

How to balance mental health, motherhood, and building your dream career. In this episode, we will explain the this topic through a casual conversation and toddler interruptions. More about our Guest: Daughter of Mixed bloods, a USC Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities Fellow and a Department of Cultural Affairs City of Los Angeles (COLA) Master Artist Fellow, Shonda Buchanan is the author of five books, including the award-winning memoir, Black Indian. An award-winning poet, fiction, nonfiction writer and educator, Shonda is the recipient of the Brody Arts Fellowship from the California Community Foundation, a Big Read grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, several Virginia Foundation for the Humanities grants, the Denise L. Scott and Frank Sullivan Awards, and an Eloise Klein-Healy Scholarship. Shonda is also a Sundance Institute Writing Arts fellow, a PEN Center Emerging Voices fellow and a Jentel Artist Residency fellow. Finalist for the 2021 Mississippi Review poetry contest, Shonda's memoir, Black Indian, won the 2020 Indie New Generation Book Award and was chosen by PBS NewsHour as a "top 20 books to read" to learn about institutional racism. About to enter a 3rd printing, Black Indian begins the saga of her family's migration stories of Free People of Color communities exploring identity, ethnicity, landscape and loss. Her first collection of poetry, Who's Afraid of Black Indians? was nominated for the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and the Library of Virginia Book Awards. See her full bio and how to connect with Shonda here: ShondaBuchanan.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/nava-simkah-morgan/message

Let’s begin with a Patreon-fueled shout-out!Fall is here, and with it, more moderate temperatures. While your HVAC takes a break, now is the perfect time to prepare for the cooler months. Your local energy nonprofit, LEAP, wants you and yours to keep comfortable all year round! LEAP offers FREE home weatherization to income- and age-qualifying residents, so, if you’re age 60 or older, or have an annual household income of less than $74,950, you may qualify for a free energy assessment and home energy improvements such as insulation and air sealing. Sign up today to lower your energy bills, increase comfort, and reduce energy waste at home!On today’s program:A review of economic development efforts in Albemarle County Jaunt owes the state of Virginia nearly a million for false ridership numbersCharlottesville’s Home to Hope program gains national recognition A closed-door group of planners gets several interesting presentations related to climate adaptation Let’s begin with a quick look at COVID cases in Virginia coming out of the weekend. The seven-day average of new cases has dropped to 1,545 as of this morning, with 943 reported by the Virginia Department of Health. The percent positivity has fallen to 6.3 percent. That figure was 8.8 percent on October 1. The Blue Ridge Health District reports another 50 cases and the percent positivity is 5.7 percent. The district will hold a town hall meeting Wednesday on COVID vaccinations for children between the age of 5 and 11. Approvals are pending. (Facebook link)Employees at the University of Virginia will be required to be vaccinated by December 8. That’s according to a Cavalier Daily article. Provost Liz Magill and Chief Operating Officer J.J. Davis set an email to staff Thursday notifying the requirement is necessary to comply with federal regulations. The article states UVa’s vaccination rate was 95 percent as of Thursday. Home to Hope honoredAn international group that promotes excellence in local government has honored a new Charlottesville program created to help formerly incarcerated people return to society. The International City/County Management Association honored the Home to Hope Program, which was proposed by Mayor Nikuyah Walker in 2018 to provide support to a vulnerable demographic.Four full-time employees serve as peer navigators to help people find employment, housing, and reliable transportation. According to a write-up in the ICMA’s latest newsletter, the program has served 389 individuals.“Of the 389 enrollees, only seven have returned to custody, and only three of those were actively involved in the program,” reads the article on page 34 of the newsletter. “That represents a recidivism rate of 1.8 percent, well below the 38 percent across the region.” The honor is part of ICMA’s Program Excellence awards under the Community Sustainability section. (read more)LUEPC meetingA routine closed-door meeting of key planning officials in Albemarle, Charlottesville, and University of Virginia was held last week on October 15. The Land Use and Environmental Planning Committee (LUEPC) had four presentations on items related to climate adaptation.Paul Zmick, Director of Energy and Utilities at UVA, gave a presentation on the school’s efforts to develop a strategy for thermal energy use. That’s one way UVA hopes to become fossil-free by the year 2050. A recent study evaluated dozens of potential ways to reduce reliance on old technology. Some strategies are recommended to be dropped from further analysis such as solar thermal, biomass, and deep geothermal. (presentation)Lance Stewart, the county’s director of facilities and environmental services, gave a presentation on the recent publication of the 2018 Greenhouse Gas Inventory. That tool will be the primary way Albemarle measures its programs toward emissions reduction goals. The next milestone is to reach 45 percent of 2008 levels by 2030. (presentation)“Emissions estimated to have decreased by nearly 10% between 2008 and 2018,” reads one slide in the presentation. “To achieve the County’s 2030 target, we need to reduce emissions by 39 percent from 2018.”The presentation also states that the effectiveness of the Albemarle’s Climate Action Plan won’t be known until after the 2022 inventory is published in 2024. Bill Mawyer of the Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority briefed LUEPC on a program to recover methane gas that is a byproduct of the wastewater treatment process. The Moores Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant generates 32 million cubic feet of methane each year that is captured as biogas and used internally in plant operations to produce biosolids which are shipped to Waverly, Virginia for eventual use as fertilizers. (presentation)Albemarle County’s Bill Fritz gave a presentation on “Large Scale Solar opportunities being studied and deployed for Albemarle County.” That is the only of the fourth that was not posted to the LUEPC website.  Jaunt audit The transit agency Jaunt owes the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation nearly a million dollars due to alleged misreporting of ridership figures by former CEO Brad Sheffield. Sheffield resigned last November after the Jaunt Board requested his departure. The Daily Progress first reported from an October 6 letter from DRPT officials regarding a review of Jaunt’s financial report for fiscal year 2020.“The findings of this review are troubling and indicate a pattern of misinformation and inaccurate reporting by JAUNT leadership that resulted in the over-allocation of state and federal resources to Jaunt from FY19 to FY22,” reads the letter from DRPT director Jennifer Mitchell.In 2019, DRPT moved to a system where funding was based on performance. The audit compared reported numbers to Jaunt’s scheduling software and found that overall ridership was overstated by 19 percent in FY19. The total amount overpaid to Jaunt was $968,640 and allocations for the current fiscal year will be reduced. The DRPT has also canceled the capital purchase of 23 vehicles. The DRPT will also require Jaunt to provide a new transit development plan. Read Allison Wrabel’s story in the Daily Progress for more context. *In today’s second subscriber supported Public Service Announcement, one person wants you to know about another community litter cleanup event in Albemarle, this time on October 30 in the southern part of the county. The latest Love Albemarle event will take place between 8:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. at sites in Esmont, Keene, Scottsville, and North Garden. Around fifty people showed up for a similar event in Esmont this past spring, and organizers want to double that amount. Organizer Ed Brooks is seeking to get children involved, so if you’re a parent or guardian and want to spend the morning cleaning up road-side litter, register today! *For the rest of the show today, we take a look back at highlights from the Albemarle Board of Supervisors from the last week. Let’s start with an update on Project Enable, the county’s strategic plan for economic development. The Albemarle Economic Development Authority administers grant and bond programs that seek to encourage businesses to expand in Albemarle or to locate their operations there. On October 19, 2021, the seven-member EDA Board of Directors formally authorized their role in a performance agreement for the firm Bonumose to open a demonstration facility in the former State Farm Building. That came at a joint meeting with the six elected members of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors. Doug Walker is the Deputy County Executive. “These two bodies work in collaboration with each other,” Walker said. “They are considering the same projects, the same agreements, and they do them in concert with each other.” Many of these discussions are held in closed session, as a provision in Virginia’s open meeting rules allows for the public to be excluded from conversations where “Discussion concerning a prospective business or industry or the expansion of an existing business or industry where no previous announcement has been made of the business' or industry's interest in locating or expanding its facilities in the community.” (Virginia code)These packages are often given code names and Walker said the following represent exceed $136 million in private investment which then enters the local economy. “Turtle. Daffodil. Macintosh. Proton. Patriot. Bronco. 49ers,” Walker said. “Those projects are actually Woolen Mills, WillowTree, Potter’s Craft Cider. Afton Scientific. Barnes’ Lumber. Castle Hill Gaming. Albemarle Business Campus.”Walker said those projects have resulted in nearly 600 new jobs in Albemarle. Another key performance agreement is one with Habitat for Humanity for the provision of affordable housing units at Southwood, as well as one with Pinnacle Construction for the Brookdale apartment complex off of Old Lynchburg Road. “And then there are other active pending projects that we can’t talk about by name but we can talk about by code,” Walker said. “Project Gadget, Project Puma, Project Baja, just illustrating that the work continues.” The EDA also works to help build infrastructure to help industrial sites more accessible and attractive. The University of Virginia Foundation’s North Fork Research Park is considered a Tier 4 site by the Virginia Economic Development Partnership. Recently the Foundation paid to extend Lewis and Clark Drive to Airport Road in order to provide an additional entrance. (go look!) “It’s the county’s only tier 4 site so the Foundation provided more than $6 million toward that infrastructure improvement,” said J.T. Newberry in the Economic Development Office. Newberry said the economic development office is working with the Foundation to elevate the North Fork park to a Tier 5 site. He also said the firm Kimley-Horn will provide a long-awaited study for the county as part of the Comprehensive Plan update. “A long desired piece of information for us is an inventory of our commercial and industrial properties,” Newberry said. Watch the rest of the video to see the whole presentation on the Board of Supervisors’ website. (watch)Supervisors also met on Wednesday, October 20, for a full meeting. At the very beginning, Chair Ned Gallaway said he recently attended a meeting earlier this month welcoming more than 250 families from Afghanistan to the area. The International Rescue Committee is seeking assistance from the community. “Things like if you’re a landlord or somebody that has housing or space available, to contact the IRC, the International Rescue Committee to help,” Gallaway said. “Employers in the area, helping these folks find employment. And then obviously just assisting with the transition, just navigating simple things like how to get around the community can be daunting coming out of a very stressful and traumatic experience for these folks.” Visit the Welcoming Greater Charlottesville page to learn more about how you can help.  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. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

Today’s Patreon-fueled shout-out wants you to consider a new adventure this Sunday. The Rivanna Conservation Alliance resumes the tradition of the Rivanna River Race! Contestants will travel 6.8 miles downriver via kayak or canoe from the Rio Mills Bridge to the Rivanna River Company. Registration costs $40 a person or $50 for tandem, and proceeds go to the Rivanna Conservation Alliance. Don’t have a boat? Rent one from the Rivanna River Company! Visit the sign-up page in the newsletter to learn more and register. It’s all part of the Rivanna Riverfest which runs from May 1 to May 9. In this installment:Tourism industry officials want reform of the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors’ BureauUpdates on transit planningThere are no qualifying bids yet for the reconstruction of the Belmont BridgeVirginia DEQ creates an environmental justice officeVDOT wants you to drive slow in work zones - this and every other week!The long-awaited construction of the Belmont Bridge in Charlottesville will not begin this spring, and City Council might be briefed on Monday about how to move the long-planned project forward. Several firms submitted bids in time for the March 16, 2021 but the city has not released any further information at this time. “The submitted bid proposals for the Belmont Bridge replacement are being evaluated by the City staff and its consultant in accordance with the planned project scope,” reads an email from Brian Wheeler, the city’s director of communications. “This evaluation also includes consideration of the project’s planned budget.”The current bridge was built in 1962, and city staff recommended in April 2009 that it should be replaced rather than repaired. The firm MMM Design was hired to conduct the design process for what was then a project with a $9 million cost estimate. But there was a fierce public debate about whether the bridge should even be replaced, or if a tunnel underneath the railroad tracks should proceed. MMM Design went out of business soon after Council selected to go with a bridge in July 2014. Soon after that, the firm Kimley Horn was selected and began a new review in April 2017. Last August, Council voted to authorize $15.26 million in federal and state funding for the project, which by then had a $31 million cost estimate. At least $7.5 million of that amount are city capital improvement funds. The project was advertised for construction bids earlier this year, but the process is now stalled pending new direction from Council. “A recommendation for moving forward is being developed, as are possible options,” Wheeler wrote. Check tomorrow to see if the item is on the City Council’s agenda for the May 3 meeting. This is the way the finances for the project pencil out in Virginia’s Draft Six-Year Improvement Program for FY22. Take a look!Want to show support for those people who work on road and transportation projects in Virginia? Tomorrow, April 28, is the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Go Orange Day, where people are asked to wear orange to mark National Work Zone Awareness Week. If you do, take a selfie and send it to VDOT in one of two ways:Email to William.Merritt@vdot.virginia.gov and Lou.Hatter@vdot.virginia.gov Please include names, where the photo was taken and the company's name.Text 540-717-8376 (be sure to include your name)Take a look at their gallery to see examples. A road crew poses to ask for you to slow down in work zones (Credit: Virginia Department of Transportation)Preparations continue for a study of how transit could work better in Albemarle County. Some fixed-route service is provided by Charlottesville Area Transit, which is owned by the City of Charlottesville. Jaunt provides fixed-route service between Crozet and Charlottesville as well as paratransit service throughout the region. The Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission is shepherding a Regional Transit Vision as well as a study of additional service to serve Albemarle’s urban areas. A kick-off meeting for the study will take place in early June. Jessica Hersh-Ballering is a planner with the TJPDC. She spoke at the April 22 meeting of the Regional Transit Partnership. “This is a project to determine the best way to expand transit service to three priority locations in Albemarle, and those priority locations are Pantops, north 29, and Monticello,” Hersh-Ballering said. “The goal is to apply for funding to implement that service in fiscal year 2023.” To do that, the study will need to be completed, including public review, in order to apply for a demonstration grant by next February. Albemarle Supervisor Diantha McKeel is the chair of the Regional Transit Partnership.“I just have a comment, Jessica,” McKeel said. “I looked at that February date in February and thought, wow, that is a tight timeline but I’m sure you all have figured it out.” The University Transit System is a member of the Regional Transit Partnership and they updated community officials on the results of a recent passenger survey. The pandemic skewed ridership last year, with almost 90 percent of people taking shuttle routes to the Health Complex, a figure that was 57.25 percent in 2019. Academic routes usually make up just over forty percent ridership, but that dropped to ten percent last year. An image from the recent UTS ridership survey (download)The University Transit System is completely separate from Charlottesville Area Transit, but does offer some service on some streets in the City of Charlottesville. “We are the public provider on 14th Street, Grady, Rugby, Arlington, Massey,” said Becca White, the director of Parking and Transportation at UVA. “People who have been around long enough know that CAT used to serve some of those corridors and were able to concentrate elsewhere while UTS agreed to be the public provider on those corridors.”However, Charlottesville Area Transit said they are in talks with UTS about whether that will continue. CAT Senior Project Steve MacNally told the Regional Transit Partnership about upcoming capital projects, including the potential for a transit hub and park and ride lot on U.S. 29.  They’re looking for a suitable two acre lot. “I’ve been busy looking at some vacant or unoccupied properties, looking at right of way issues, the access to those, and a number of other criteria,” MacNally said. CAT is about to begin work on two studies of its own. One will look at the need for future facilities and a more dedicated look at the park and ride possibility with the firm Kimley Horn. In response to a question from White, CAT director Garland Williams said he has not been in touch with anyone from the University of Virginia Foundation, which owns many properties in the 29 North corridor, including the North Fork Research Park.“This is our kickoff to bring all those elements together, so the study is really going to look at whether the corridor itself is ripe for transit,” Williams said. “We do believe that it is.”   Williams added this could help CAT increase ridership which would in turn bring in more funding. “Initially we have looked at potentially the airport to [the University of Virginia] as the initial corridor of looking at, kind of the route, but that’s up for discussion as we’re working with our consultant,” Williams said. The work by Kimley Horn is separate from the work being done by the TJPDC on behalf of Albemarle County. Williams said the work is complementary and will function together. A third transit-related land use study in the same geographical area is a potential relocation of Albemarle school bus fleet to land somewhere in the U.S. 29 corridor.Christine Jacobs, the interim director of the TJPDC, said the conversation was a sign of the role the Regional Transit Partnership can play. “I think this is really exciting because there’s a lot of synergy and coordination that is occurring between some of these corridors and I just want to make sure I remind you that the PDC we will also be doing through the MPO in their North 29 study corridor from Airport Road all the way up into Greene,” Jacobs said. The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has opened a new Office of Environmental Justice. Renee Hoyos will serve as the first director of the office, which will oversee the implementation of an environmental justice program at DEQ. The office stems from an executive order from Governor Ralph Northam from 2018. A report from Skeo Solutions and the Metropolitan Group completed in the fall of 2020 further outlined how the office might work. Hoyos most recently served as the executive director of the Tennessee Clean Water Network. Hoyos will work with Jerome Brooks as the Environmental Justice Coordinator. Brooks has been at DEQ for a decade and a half as the manager of the office of water compliance and director of the office of air compliance coordination. Even before the creation of the office, Brooks has been serving as DEQ's environmental justice coordinator for the past 13 years. You’re reading Charlottesville Community Engagement and time for another subscriber-supported public service announcement. It’s becoming more and more safe to go out and check out live music. If you’re interested in going out and hearing people who have been waiting to get out and play, check out the Charlottesville Jazz Society and their running list of events! The Charlottesville Jazz Society is dedicated to the promotion, preservation and perpetuation of all jazz, and that the best thing you can do now is to go check out some music.Check them out in the link in the newsletter.  To close out the show today, a long look at the April 26, 2021 meeting of the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau, a public body that since 2018 made up of appointed and elected officials from Albemarle and Charlottesville. The CACVB was originally formed in 1979 and exists today to serve as a clearinghouse for information on tourism, as well as to discuss strategies for how to market the area. Different entities in the community want to bring in more visitors for different reasons. At the beginning of the April 26 meeting, Susan Krischel is with the Ix Art Park, a centrally-located and flexible destination space. The organization has put together a new campaign called Charlottesville Excursions with $20,000 in funding from the Virginia Tourism Office to attract people in neighboring states to come to the area to experience the many arts in the community. “We are such a strong and vital arts destination that we wanted to position Charlottesville as a city to come and really immerse yourself in arts,” Krischel said. “We thought that that not only could help spur economic activity here in Charlottesville. It could also encourage tourists to come back to Charlottesville.” The Ix Art Park partnered with the CACVB, the Downtown Business Association of Charlottesville, the Bridge Performing Arts Initiative and the Quirk Hotel Charlottesville on the project. The latter would offer a discount during the duration of the campaign. “This campaign is going to run every weekend in September and October of this year and this would be an example of what we might suggest to someone who comes in for a four-day weekend,” Krischel said. For most of its history, elected officials did not serve on the CACVB’s governing body. Until 2004, there was a Tourism Council that advised the tourism agency’s executive director but that was abandoned at the time in favor of a larger Board of Directors. In 2017, city and county officials both to add more oversight and altered the make-up of the Board to allow two elected officials from both Albemarle and Charlottesville. Albemarle Supervisor Diantha McKeel said the program is exciting, but noted that much of the presentation was centered on Charlottesville. “I understand the city-centric nature of the proposal,” McKeel said. “What was your outreach to Woolen Mills or Stonefield, some of the areas that are really close by but not in the city?”  Krischel responded that the Ix Art Park is small, and personnel limitations forced them to focus on their immediate environment. “Some of it quite frankly came down to what we were just physically able to manage,” Krichel said. “We’re a small organization so we really felt we needed to keep it as close to the downtown center as possible just because we thought that was what we were able to manage.”  Krischel said the program could grow if it is successful. She said arts organizations have not been showcased to potential tourists.“So this is sort of stepping our toe in the water to a more comprehensive arts campaign but I truly hope this will be a first step toward something that will be more permanent and long-term,” Krischel said.Supervisor Ann Mallek said she wanted the Ix Art Park’s program to highlight fall festivals and to put a spotlight on excursions into Albemarle.  “And certainly everyone of those wineries and breweries that people mention, many of them have art galleries and have resident studio people there,” Mallek said.Krischel said she would be happy to consider adding that information, but they’ve used up all of the $20,000 in funding so far.“If you think that there are arts organizations that would  like to be involved in this and would like to be willing to do a little bit of the footwork to get them involved and to help us tie them in, we’d be more than happy to speak to them,” Krischel said. “I think it’s just a lack of knowledge as to who everyone is and what’s going on.” In February, the CACVB Board talked about the exploring ways to change the working dynamics of the Board to reflect best practices used by similar entities across the country which seek to market themselves as destinations. An informal work group has looked at the issue since, including City Council Heather Hill. They looked at four other groups in Virginia and concluded the make-up of the CACVB skews heavily to government representation. Of the 15 members of the Board, eight are elected or appointed officials from Albemarle and Charlottesville. “”We see ourselves as pretty unique in this position of being quasi-governmental with board oversight,” Hill said. The work group on the working of the CACVB Board presented this slide as part of the discussion The working group met with industry representatives to find out what people thought about the CACVB and its ability to promote tourism.“There’s just a sense that there’s not enough dialogue among the sectors and just being able to have more of those seats at the table so they can kind of be a conduit for that sector dialog that can happen across the region,” Hill said.Hill said some representatives said there were power dynamics on the Board that intimidated people from approaching the agency for help and assistance. Chris Eure, executive director of the Paramount, is another member of the working group. She said she wanted the Board to operate in a way that would lead to more connections, and referenced the presentation from the Ix Art Park.“I would love to know how the arts could help better,” Eure said. “What nights do they need to be filled? What weeks, what months? And then have all these different sectors perhaps come up with plans for what activities to stage!” Eure suggested adjusting the agendas for the meeting to invite more organizations to the table to get feedback from Board members. The working group also suggested changing the composition of the Board itself. “Overarching, I think a lot of the themes that we were hearing was just that there feels like a disconnect between the work of the Board and representatives in the industry,” Hill said.Eure said the current make-up of the CACVB came at a time when there was suspicion from government officials about how their tax money was being spent. “That’s by and large while we are here because there wasn’t the confidence from the elected officials that their funds that were their tax revenues were being used according to how they thought it should strategically be done,” Eure said. McKeel said that was part of the discussion, but not the whole reason why she supported the board realignment in 2018. She said she wanted to expand the kinds of work the CACVB did and it wasn’t just about the money. “Every time we asked about vineyards, every time we asked about the work that we are doing in this community around African-American history and some of the trails, every time we asked about something besides one group which was at that time was ‘heads and beds.’ We were told ‘we don’t do that, we can’t do that, we’re not interested in all of that other stuff,’” McKeel said. There appeared to be support for reform of the board, but there was a warning about how much the members could do to reform itself. Roger Johnson is the chair of the CACVB Board and Albemarle Economic Development Director. “I don’t think we can entertain any Board changes whatsoever,” Johnson said. “That’s part of the operating agreement and outside the scope of what this Board has the authority to do.”However, Johnson will meet with his counterpart in Charlottesville as well as CACVB Executive director Courtney Cacatian to discuss next steps. The meeting then moved on a presentation on Virginia’s tourism industry. The final speaker was Travis Wilburn of Stay Charlottesville. Wilburn went back to the discussion of the Board’s make-up. He said he has spoken with many people who feel the presence of elected officials on the CACVB Board was intimidating. “As I speak representing these folks, I personally and honestly fear political retribution for the businesses that I’m involved in, which is exactly how many of your board members feel and fear on a regular basis,” Wilburn said. “We’ve created a toxic environment and we call on you to try and right this ship.” Wilburn said data from the Virginia Tourism Office showed that tourism had a $683 million economic impact on the Charlottesville community in 2019.“That was roughly 6,100 jobs and those are jobs we’d desperately like to bring back,” Wilburn said. “We very much need the help of this bureau.” Wilburn cited a letter that Senator Creigh Deeds wrote to Susan Payne last Friday in which he appears to critique the make-up of the CACVB Board. Payne is the president of the Blue Ridge Group and chair of the Virginia Tourism Corporation. Let’s hear Wilburn read Deeds’ words. “Several years ago I supported legislation to allow an elected official from both the county and the city to serve on the CACVB,” Deeds wrote to Payne. “I did so to encourage cooperation and work between the public and private sectors.  I understand that membership has grown beyond what was intended, and it seems to me that you have to have more industry representation, so that the people who know the work can guide its growth.” In response, Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker said her priority as an elected official is addressing race and labor issues. “No matter how you spend it, we have an economy that has been built on a university and tourism that leaves the majority of the individuals who happen to be people of color, Black people and other people of color, to service those industries who can never make it out of poverty wages job even though we’re talking about a [nearly] $700 [million] industry,” Walker said. “That should be unacceptable to all of us.” Walker said she would not be silent about her views. “Besides the guests on this call, two of the four, I am the only Black person or person of color represented on this screen, so part of Heather and Chris [Eure]’s conversation about how to change that is a very important conversation.”The conversations will continue at the CACVB’s next meeting. Phew. This was a long one. Thanks for reading if you made it this far. Never a dull moment. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

It was an honor to have Charlie Luck on the podcast as our guest. His stories of going from a rock-based business to a values-based business are inspiring! The creation of InnerWill Leadership Institute is such a gift to those who choose to engage. The work Charlie and his team are doing to improve the lives of his colleagues and clients really resonated with our idea of being the best version of yourself SO THAT you may inspire others to do the same! Special shout out to Camille Cherry and Betsey Fortlouis for connecting us to Charlie! Charlie Luck, Founder & Chairman of InnerWill Leadership Institute As President and CEO of Luck Companies, Charlie Luck is the third-generation family member to lead the 97-year-old, privately held organization. He is focused on developing the company's vision, and leads the Strategic Leadership Team, guiding Luck Companies towards fulfilling its mission to "ignite human potential through Values Based Leadership and positively impact the lives of others around the world." The mission of Luck Companies to ignite human potential is activated through the associates in each of the organization's three business units: Luck Stone, Luck Ecosystems and Luck Real Estate Ventures. Under Charlie's leadership, Luck Companies has grown to become the largest family-owned and operated aggregates company in the country. The company has also been recognized on a local, state and national level for their innovative practices and progressive culture. Charlie began his career with the company in 1980 as a summer trainee while enrolled at Virginia Military Institute. He graduated in 1983 with a civil engineering degree. Charlie competed on the NASCAR circuit for four years before returning to Luck Companies. After working in many facets of the business, as well as attending several executive education programs at Darden School of Business (UVA), he rose to President and CEO in 1999. An Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award recipient and Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame inductee, Charlie has served on numerous boards to include: National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA), Virginia Transportation Construction Alliance, Luck Foundation, Saint Christopher's School, YMCA, Virginia Military Institute's Jackson-Hope Fund, Virginia Foundation of Independent Colleges, as well as the Robins School of Business Executive Advisory Council. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For more information about Values Based Leadership, visit https://innerwill.org or https://www.linkedin.com/company/innerwill. To explore Luck Stone, Luck Ecosystems, and Luck Real Estate Ventures, visit: https://www.luckcompanies.com. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/beyondsmalltalk/message

For this week’s episode of the Church Planting Podcast we are joined by Eddie Urbine to talk about money in church planting.Eddie worked in the business world prior to being called to the ministry in 2004. Since then he has served as the Minister of Music and on the Missions Team at Old Powhatan Baptist Church. Eddie presently serves as Chief Financial Officer for SBC of Virginia and Vice-President of the SBC of Virginia Foundation.

In today’s Substack-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 the Code for Charlottesville website to learn more, including details on three projects that are underway. In today’s show:Charlottesville City Council talks pools, next steps on a controversial West Main statue, and agree to no property tax rate this year while acknowledging one for next year is possibleAlbemarle Architectural Review Board takes a look at the Fontaine Avenue and the Ivy Road corridorAt any given City Council meeting, a lot happens. This is a set of highlights from March 15, 2021. Let’s start with an update on one lingering issue. In February, the city sent out a request for information for entities who might be interested in taking over ownership of the Lewis, Clark and Sacajawea statue. Here’s City Manager Chip Boyles. “And we do have nine informational responses that we received,” Boyles said. “Staff will take these informational responses, do a review, and come back to Council with a recommendation with how to move forward with the removal of that statue.” The statue is within the boundary of the first phase of the West Main Streetscape project. Council voted to remove the statue in November 2019 and directed staff last October to pursue that outcome separately from the transportation project. (previous story)Ridge Street traffic projectsOne item on the consent agenda were the recommendations of a task force for how a small pool of federal funding should be spent in the Ridge Street Neighborhood. The group is suggesting that $25,000 in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) money be spent on traffic calming and another $220,000 be spent on three sidewalk projects. As part of the traffic calming, speed limit signs would be installed on the old section of Ridge Street. Council gave their approval as part of the consent agenda vote. Before the vote, Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker asked a question.“How was it determined that there was excessive speeding?” she asked. City traffic engineer Brennen Duncan responded. “There have been a few traffic studies, speed studies, that were done on that section over the last five to ten years and all of them showed that there is a speeding issue on old Ridge Street,” Duncan said. The recommendations from the Ridge Street CDBG Task ForceThe Reopening of City Pools Last week, the Charlottesville Parks and Recreation Advisory Board sent a letter requesting a plan to safely reopen facilities and pools. City Manager Chip Boyles gave an update.“Parks and Recreation has a schedule and a plan for beginning to open up facilities and activities for the summer,” Boyles said. “Baseball fields are already receiving some league play and with two weekends of activity we are reporting 100 percent compliance review for the safety measures by both among the participants, the players and spectators.” Other facilities will open on a staggered schedule to accommodate the need to hire staff to run them. These include outdoor pools.“Washington Park is the first to be scheduled with a proposed opening date of May 29,” Boyles said. ”What we can’t begin to open until the state regulations change are the aquatic center at Onesty and the water spray grounds at our parks. Those are because of the phase that we’re in with the state.” That could change if there is further loosening of the state restrictions. Mayor Walker said that anyone hired to staff facilities must receive a vaccine and get health benefits given the risks involved. “And so that should be a top priority just as we are phasing in the operations part of it, the people who are running those operations, we need to make sure that they are safe,” Walker said. Boyles said he heard that message loud and clear. At the public comment period, several speakers asked for the pools to open faster. Beth Carta has swum laps in city indoor pools for decades.“And as a nurse, I’m well-versed in the importance of COVID precautions and airborne precautions,” Carta said. “I also know we need a balance. At this point of the pandemic, it’s very important to have accessible and affordable community health options. People need access to exercise to stay healthy and improve immunity.” Carta said Governor Ralph Northam has loosened restrictions for indoor pools to open, and those run by the YMCA and ACAC are already in operation. However, those facilities are more expensive than those run by the city parks and rec department. Walker, who formerly worked at the Smith Aquatic Center, said the pandemic is not over and there are concerns about increased community spread through the UK and South African variants. “What I’m hearing every speaker fail to understand...is that it takes bodies to run these programs so people in jobs and those people have been fired from their jobs and I don’t think it will be an issue rehiring people because they need their jobs but we need to make sure that safety is a first priority especially for staff,” Walker said. I took the opportunity to relay the question to officials at the UVA Health System at their briefing on Friday, March 19. Dr. Costi Sifri is the director of hospital epidemiology for the system. He said planning for a gradual opening is okay, as long as the most vulnerable are being vaccinated and as long as mitigation measures like masking are still in place. He said the variants are a wild card. “Really what we’ll need to do is just monitor and see what’s happening with case rates and what proportion of those cases are due to the variants,” Dr. Sifri said. “That remains a bit unknown right now. Those efforts to understand that are ramping up. I think we’ll learn more in the upcoming weeks.” I’ll have more from that briefing in the next installment of Charlottesville Community Engagement. No property tax rate increase this year, likely one next yearCouncil also held its first public hearing on City Manager Chip Boyles’ recommended $190.7 million budget for Fiscal Year 22. Before that, Boyles said revenue projections for next year are up slightly.“This amount is being recommended to increase by $1,260,307 to a total of $191,950,146, still less than a one percent change,” Boyles said. As of Monday, Boyles did not have a final amount for how much funding the city will receive through the American Rescue Plan, but that the city expected over $10 million and did not yet know what restrictions would be on those. When this information is known, staff will present an amended recommended budget. There were actually two opportunities for the public to comment on the budget, but first, a public hearing on the tax rate, which is recommended to remain at 95 cents per $100 of assessed value. Only one person spoke. Jeff Fogel called for a steep increase in the tax rate and increases in tax relief programs for those who can’t afford the higher payments. “We need this money to provide the services to make this a real, decent community which it isn’t for so much of the population, and you know that!” Fogel said. “I’m not talking about two percent, five percent, ten percent. We’re talking about some substantial amount. You have more people moving down here from the northeast who are paying extraordinary taxes who see this as a gift to them when they’re only paying 95 cents on a dollar.” Based on current economics, every penny increase on the tax rate would bring in an additional $845,000 in revenue for the city and the current formula allocated 40 percent of new revenues to the school system. That amount also does not include whatever would need to be paid out through the Charlottesville Housing Affordability Program in the form of rebate checks. The proposed budget for FY22 includes $965,000 for that purpose, as well as various tax relief programs. Details on page 124 of the budget PDF, or H-19In his comments, Boyles said there would likely be a need for a tax increase next year. Vice Mayor Sena Magill understood. “I am expecting that taxes will need to be raised next year and it’s good that we’re already bringing this up now so that it doesn’t take people by surprise next year,” Magill said.Councilor Michael Payne also addressed the issue.  “Over the next budget cycle as we look at our commitments, there’s no way around the need for revenue increases,” Payne said. Mayor Walker said before the city increases taxes, Council must determine whether money is being spent efficiently. “It’s also key for people to trust the process when we say the only alternative is increases,” Walker said. The public hearing for the final budget will be held on April 5. At this one, for the first public hearing, go and review the video from the Council meeting. After this was recorded, there was a community budget forum on Wednesday. Council will have a budget work session on March 25 at which time the capital budget will be discussed.   That’s when we might learn more about the West Main Streetscape.     In today’s public service announcement, we get help from Vice Mayor Sena Magill who at Monday’s Council meeting, told us all about a new essay contest from Alex-Zan.“The 7th area student contest, ‘focus on helping others!”, Magill said. Students in kindergarten to 12th grade are asked to enter the “My Help List” contest by writing in 150 words or less why it’s important to help people, and to write down five things they’ve done to assist someone, or could do.“The contest is an extension of Mr. Alex Zan’s Yes You Matter Initiative,” Magill said. Winners could get up a $100 cash prize and have their names announced on NBC29. Visit the website of Alex-Zan to learn more. The next time you walk, bike, or drive along Fontaine Avenue in Albemarle County, think about possible futures. Much of the land is owned by the University of Virginia or its real estate foundation. The road itself is one of Albemarle’s Entrance Corridors, and as such is under design guidelines of the Architectural Review Board. “The majority of the land is either owned or controlled by the University,” said Fred Missel, director of design and development at the University of Virginia Foundation. “Some land, primarily Foxhaven Farm, Morey Creek, Observatory Hill, are all being held for long-term needs of the University. The Albemarle Architectural Review Board reviewed the corridor at its meeting on March 15. (watch this meeting on YouTube)Fontaine Avenue is sign-posted as U.S. 29 Business and runs through the county for a brief stretch before hitting the city line. Physical context of the Fontaine Research Park in relation to the rest of the UVA Health System. Source: UVA Architect, Fontaine Master Plan, Page 5The University of Virginia adopted a master plan for the Fontaine Avenue Research Park in September 2018 as a “flexible road map for future development.” This plan ultimately envisions up to 1.4 million gross square feet of building space. “We developed that over the span of about 25 years,” Missel said. “We started in the mid-90’s and we sold the Fontaine Research Park to the University back in I think it was 2018 so that is now considered Grounds, University Grounds.”Other undeveloped properties include a 12 acre site to the west of Buckingham Circle which the UVA Foundation purchased from the UVA Physicians Group in 2016. The latter secured a rezoning for the Morey Creek property in July 2011 but never built the proposed office building. Missel described this as a “long-term hold for the University.” Proffers associated with both the Fontaine Research Park and the Morey Creek involve making the area more pedestrian friendly. The Fontaine property serves as gameday parking for UVA football. Another property that could have future buildings scrutinized is the 69-acre “Granger tract” which is undeveloped and currently zoned R-1. The land is currently owned by Stribling Holdings LLC. “Access is a real bear because you do have to go under the railroad tracks, but that would not, I don’t believe any of the Fontaine viewsheds but probably would I-64 and potentially U.S. 29.Another UVA-owned property in the area is the Piedmont Apartments complex run by University Housing for faculty. “There has been discussion about whether or not what’s at Piedmont is still the highest and best of the property or if there is some other alternative use that might could be considered longer term and I can tell you that that’s been a question that has been around as long as I’ve been at the Foundation and that’s been 20 years.” At the city line begins a Smart Scale funded streetscape project for which a public hearing is expected in “early 2021” according to the initiative’s website.  Page 29 of a presentation on the Fontaine Avenue Streetscape given to Council in January 2020Coordination of land use planning in this area used to the purview of a public body called the Planning and Coordination Council. PACC consisted of officials from Albemarle, Charlottesville and the University of Virginia and meetings were open to the public. However, that ended in late 2019 when both the city and the county agreed to convert the body to one not subject to open meetings rules. “PACC was formed out of the Three Party Agreement that was established by the UVA, the city and the county back in the 80’s and PACC was dissolved about a year and a half ago,” Missel said.In its place is the Land Use, Environmental and Planning Committee, which is not open to the public. However, the meeting notes are posted on a public website. Missel is a member of LUEPC in his capacity at the UVA Foundation. And this newsletter is intended to shine as much light as I can on what’s happening. In tomorrow’s newsletter, a look at the Ivy Road corridor also from the March 15, 2021 ARB meeting. This is a public episode. Get access to private episodes at communityengagement.substack.com/subscribe

This week, Don Frericks brings us the wisdom of another extraordinary leader, interviewing Matt Shank.  Matt is the President of the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges. He and Don discuss foundational leadership development traits, and what emerging and seasoned leaders need to do to stay relevant throughout their careers.  Matt has a career that is focused in the academic arena.  Hear how he shares his insights about staying relevant in a rapidly changing environment.  (4:13) Matt shares his experiences that have shaped his leadership journey, such as:  His three-pronged approach to leading well. (11:10) Tips on how to build a community with trust, faith, and commitment. (11:35) The three critical skills that every leader needs to consider before starting a development program. (13:25)  What is “servant leadership” really? (19:26) He says, “If you treat people with dignity irrespective of what they can do for you, ultimately they’re going to do great things for either you or your organization.”  (11:10) Don and Matt provide great tips on how to help others level up in practical ways.  (21:54)  Listen NOW to learn what tactical skills you should be focusing on and which to sideline.  Don and Matt close their insightful conversation discussing the one thing everyone should do to be a better leader and why. (35:30) Have a question related to this episode?  Click here to ask or leave a comment.  Check out Don’s new book, Best Boss Ever: The 5 steps to rapidly develop yourself into the leader everyone wants to follow #leadwell #talentmagnet #leadership #servantleadership #bestbossever

This podcast is provided by Ben Glass and Steve Emmert   www.BenGlassReferrals.com - www.Virginia-Appeals.com Granted Appeal Summary Case CHARLES M. HUNTER, JR. v. ELEANOR A. HUNTER, IN HER CAPACITY AS TRUSTEE OF THE THIRD AMENDED AND RESTATED THERESA E. HUNTER RECOVABLE LIVING TRUST AGREEMENT, ET AL. (Record Number 190260) From The Circuit Court of the City of Williamsburg and James City County; M. McGinty, Judge. Counsel William W. Sleeth, III and Brett C. Herbert (Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP) for appellant. Daniel R. Quarles (Otey Smith & Quarles) for appellee. Assignments of Error The Trial Court erred by misreading the Complaint and Chip’s request for relief, in that he first sought a declaratory judgment that his Complaint would not trigger the No Contest Clause. The Trial Court erred by not holding that the Complaint fell within the safe harbor set forth in Virginia Foundation of Independent Colleges v. Goodrich. The Trial Court erred by finding that Chip’s conduct fell within the scope of the No Contest Clause in the Theresa Trust. The Trial Court erred by applying the No Contest Clause in the Theresa Trust to Chip, despite Eleanor owing Chip non-waivable duties to account under Virginia common law, specifically via this Court’s holding in Fletcher v. Fletcher. The Trial Court erred by applying the No Contest Clause in the Theresa Trust to Chip, despite the various obligations under the Virginia Uniform Trust Code that the Theresa Trust did not purport to waive (or could not legally waive). The Trial Court erred by applying the No Contest Clause in the Theresa Trust to Chip, despite Virginia public policy requiring Eleanor to provide an accounting and/or information to Chip, and prohibiting the application of the No Contest Clause in this case. The Trial Court erred by not holding that Virginia law recognizes a good faith exception to in terrorem clauses in trusts, and by not holding that Chip’s conduct was protected by such good faith exception [note: request for extension of Virginia case law on this issue, from Womble v. Gunter, 198 Va. 522, 528, 95 S.E.2d 213, 218 (1956)]. Source Document: http://www.courts.state.va.us/courts/scv/appeals/190260.pdf

On this episode, I speak with poet, educator and author, Shonda Buchanan about her new memoir Black Indian. Shonda's memoir is an inspiring story that explores her family's legacy of being African Americans with American Indian roots and how they dealt with not just society's ostracization but the consequences of this dual inheritance.In our conversation Shonda and I talk about the lineage of fierce women in her family; why she wrote the book; how intersectionality of race and identity influenced the writing of her memoir; the impact of her multi-ethnic and multi-racial identity on her as a woman of color; the importance of telling our stories; and how learning about her family's past impacted her. It's a great conversation!Shonda Buchanan Biography:Award-winning poet and educator Shonda Buchanan (1968) was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, a daughter of Mixed Bloods, tri-racial and tri-ethnic African American, American Indian and European-descendant families who migrated from North Carolina and Virginia in the mid-1700 to 1800s to Southwestern Michigan. Black Indian, her memoir, begins the saga of these migration stories of Free People of Color communities exploring identity, ethnicity, landscape and loss.For the last 18 years, Shonda has taught Creative Writing, Composition and Critical Theory at Loyola Marymount University, Hampton University and William & Mary College. An Eloise Klein-Healy Scholarship recipient, a Sundance Institute Writing Arts fellow, a Jentel Artist Residency fellow and a PEN Center Emerging Voice fellow, Shonda has received grants from the California Community Foundation, Arts Midwest/National Endowment for the Arts Big Read Program and several grants from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.Her first book of poetry, Who's Afraid of Black Indians?, was nominated for the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and the Library of Virginia Book Awards. Literary Editor of Harriet Tubman Press, her second collection of poetry, Equipoise: Poems from Goddess Country was published by San Francisco Bay Press. Shonda's poetry and essays have been featured in numerous anthologies. Freelance writer for the LA Weekly since 1991, and Indian Country Today, the Los Angeles Times and the Writer's Chronicle, Shonda is completing a novel and a collection of poetry about the iconic singer, concert pianist and Civil Rights activist, Nina Simone. For more information visit, https://www.wsupress.wayne.edu/books/detail/black-indian and www.shondabuchanan.com.Follow Shonda @shondabuchanan.

On this episode, I speak with poet, educator and author, Shonda Buchanan about her new memoir Black Indian. Shonda's memoir is an inspiring story that explores her family's legacy of being African Americans with American Indian roots and how they dealt with not just society's ostracization but the consequences of this dual inheritance. In our conversation Shonda and I talk about the lineage of fierce women in her family; why she wrote the book; how intersectionality of race and identity influenced the writing of her memoir; the impact of her multi-ethnic and multi-racial identity on her as a woman of color; the importance of telling our stories; and how learning about her family's past impacted her. It's a great conversation! Shonda Buchanan Biography: Award-winning poet and educator Shonda Buchanan (1968) was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan, a daughter of Mixed Bloods, tri-racial and tri-ethnic African American, American Indian and European-descendant families who migrated from North Carolina and Virginia in the mid-1700 to 1800s to Southwestern Michigan. Black Indian, her memoir, begins the saga of these migration stories of Free People of Color communities exploring identity, ethnicity, landscape and loss. For the last 18 years, Shonda has taught Creative Writing, Composition and Critical Theory at Loyola Marymount University, Hampton University and William & Mary College. An Eloise Klein-Healy Scholarship recipient, a Sundance Institute Writing Arts fellow, a Jentel Artist Residency fellow and a PEN Center Emerging Voice fellow, Shonda has received grants from the California Community Foundation, Arts Midwest/National Endowment for the Arts Big Read Program and several grants from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. Her first book of poetry, Who's Afraid of Black Indians?, was nominated for the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and the Library of Virginia Book Awards. Literary Editor of Harriet Tubman Press, her second collection of poetry, Equipoise: Poems from Goddess Country was published by San Francisco Bay Press. Shonda's poetry and essays have been featured in numerous anthologies. Freelance writer for the LA Weekly since 1991, and Indian Country Today, the Los Angeles Times and the Writer's Chronicle, Shonda is completing a novel and a collection of poetry about the iconic singer, concert pianist and Civil Rights activist, Nina Simone. For more information visit, https://www.wsupress.wayne.edu/books/detail/black-indian and www.shondabuchanan.com. Follow Shonda @shondabuchanan.

Colleges and universities have cracked the code to propel cities forward toward the future of education: focus on the campus experience, expand pathways to new careers, and partner with surrounding communities and cities to drive growth. In Arlington, Va., Marymount University has done just that. In today’s podcast, Duncan Lyons, Design Director at Gensler, is speaking with Matthew Shank, President Emeritus at Marymount University and President of the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges, and Samantha Baker, Director of Operations at the Ballston Business Improvement District and graduate student at Marymount University, to talk about what makes Marymount a model for the future of higher education in mixed use, urban environments. SHOW NOTES: bit.ly/genslerpod

50 years ago it was the most popular place African Americans on the Eastern Shore could go to hear good music, eat good food and fellowship without fear or violence. It's called Gidden's Do Drop Inn and today is one of the oldest continually owned and operated African American businesses on the Eastern Shore. On the next Another View we broadcast LIVE from the Barrier Island Center and meet the folks behind the Do Drop Inn who keep it going today, including Jane Cabarrus, Owner; Janice Langley, former bartender and now a volunteer; Joan Wilson, whose family provided the juke box which still works today; and singer Black Elvis who has his own corner in this historic hall. Funding provided by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.

50 years ago it was the most popular place African Americans on the Eastern Shore could go to hear good music, eat good food and fellowship without fear or violence. It's called Gidden's Do Drop Inn and today is one of the oldest continually owned and operated African American businesses on the Eastern Shore. On the next Another View we broadcast LIVE from the Barrier Island Center and meet the folks behind the Do Drop Inn who keep it going today, including Jane Cabarrus, Owner; Janice Langley, former bartender and now a volunteer; Joan Wilson, whose family provided the juke box which still works today; and singer Black Elvis who has his own corner in this historic hall. Funding provided by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.

On this episode, we’re rebroadcasting an interview Matt Tullis did with Earl Swift in November 2014. At the time, Swift’s book “Auto Biography: A Classic Car, An Outlaw Motorhead, and 57 Years of the American Dream” had just been published. Swift has a new book out now. “Chesapeake Requiem: A Year With the Watermen of Vanishing Tangier Island” was published by Harper Collins, and is getting rave reviews. Auto Biography is also a fantastic book. It tells the life story of a 1957 Chevy that, at the beginning of the book, is falling apart. He also delves deep into the life of the current owner, Tommy Arney. Arney had a brutal childhood. He dropped out of school in the fifth-grade, and lived a life of crime. But had also become a somewhat successful and controversial businessman. The story of this car started as a five-part series for the Virginian-Pilot, where Swift had been a reporter for many years. In this interview, he talked about the differences between reporting for newspaper work and reporting for a book project. Swift is a former Fulbright fellow in New Zealand, and is currently a residential fellow of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: MARGOT LEE SHETTERLY is a writer who grew up in Hampton, Virginia, where she knew many of the women in Hidden Figures. She is an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow and the recipient of a Virginia Foundation of the Humanities grant for her research into the history of women in computing. She lives in Charlottesville, VA.

Lauren Haldeman is the author of Instead of Dying (winner of the 2017 Colorado Prize for Poetry, Center for Literary Publishing, 2017), Calenday (Rescue Press, 2014), and the artist book The Eccentricity is Zero (Digraph Press, 2014). Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Tin House, Colorado Review, Fence, The Iowa Review, and The Rumpus. A comic-book artist and poet, she has taught in the U.S. as well as internationally. She has been a recipient of the 2015 Sustainable Arts Foundation Award, the Colorado Prize for Poetry, and fellowships from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. You can find her online at http://laurenhaldeman.com.Kiki Petrosino is the author of three books of poetry: Witch Wife (2017), Hymn for the Black Terrific (2013), and Fort Red Border (2009), all from Sarabande Books. She holds graduate degrees from the University of Chicago and the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. Her poems and essays have appeared in Poetry, The Best American Poetry, The Nation, The New York Times, Fence, Gulf Coast, Jubilat, Tin House, and online at Ploughshares. She is founder and co-editor of Transom, an independent online poetry journal. She is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Louisville, where she directs the Creative Writing Program. She also teaches part-time in the brief-residency MFA program at Spalding University. Her awards include a residency at the Hermitage Artist Retreat and research fellowships from the University of Louisville's Commonwealth Center for the Humanities and Society and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.Read "Nome, a Sonnet," by Lauren Haldeman.Read "A Guide to the Louisa County Free Negro & Slave Records, 1770–1865," by Kiki Petrosino.Recorded On: Wednesday, May 2, 2018

Lauren Haldeman is the author of Instead of Dying (winner of the 2017 Colorado Prize for Poetry, Center for Literary Publishing, 2017), Calenday (Rescue Press, 2014), and the artist book The Eccentricity is Zero (Digraph Press, 2014). Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Tin House, Colorado Review, Fence, The Iowa Review, and The Rumpus. A comic-book artist and poet, she has taught in the U.S. as well as internationally. She has been a recipient of the 2015 Sustainable Arts Foundation Award, the Colorado Prize for Poetry, and fellowships from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. You can find her online at http://laurenhaldeman.com.Kiki Petrosino is the author of three books of poetry: Witch Wife (2017), Hymn for the Black Terrific (2013), and Fort Red Border (2009), all from Sarabande Books. She holds graduate degrees from the University of Chicago and the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. Her poems and essays have appeared in Poetry, The Best American Poetry, The Nation, The New York Times, Fence, Gulf Coast, Jubilat, Tin House, and online at Ploughshares. She is founder and co-editor of Transom, an independent online poetry journal. She is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Louisville, where she directs the Creative Writing Program. She also teaches part-time in the brief-residency MFA program at Spalding University. Her awards include a residency at the Hermitage Artist Retreat and research fellowships from the University of Louisville's Commonwealth Center for the Humanities and Society and the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.Read "Nome, a Sonnet," by Lauren Haldeman.Read "A Guide to the Louisa County Free Negro & Slave Records, 1770–1865," by Kiki Petrosino.

On February 22, 2018, Lynn Rainville delivered a Banner Lecture entitled “Doing Their Bit: The Surprising Role of Virginians in the Great War.” In this illustrated lecture, Lynn Rainville revealed the crucial roles that Virginians played in the Great War. These individuals ranged from drafted soldiers to politicians (including Staunton native, Woodrow Wilson) and from locally born horses to their ferriers. These patriots also included female stenographers, African American doctors, domestic gardeners, National Guard troops, and army chaplains. Of these hundreds of thousands of volunteers, more than 3,600 lost their lives as a direct result of the war, impacting families throughout the state. And yet many of their sacrifices have been forgotten. Rainville concluded her talk with a study of statues erected in Virginia after the war to reveal a more complete story of service and sacrifice during the Great War. Dr. Lynn Rainville is a research professor in the humanities at Sweet Briar College and a fellow at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. She is the author of "Hidden History: African American Cemeteries in Central Virginia" and "Virginia and the Great War: Mobilization, Supply and Combat, 1914–1919."