Bibb files for South District seat on Nelson County BOS; Charlottesville to consider new precinct boundaries; Amherst County reviewing priorities for new and one-time funding
The first of several installments this week of a periodical about local and regional government in Virginia's Fifth District
There’s a holiday tomorrow to commemorate the life and times of Martin Luther King Jr. That means there are no meetings tomorrow, but for me an extra day to write about what’s coming up. This installment has information about three of the ones happening Tuesday and another will be posted tomorrow about the rest.
If you’re new to this newsletter, my goal is to spend the next eight years or so writing about the localities in the new Fifth District. There are 24 localities, and 22 of them are (almost) wholly contained within the relatively new boundaries. I’m fascinated by figuring out what might bind these various places together and I’m glad for as many people to come along for the ride as possible.
Most of the content of these newsletters looks ahead to what’s coming up at the meetings of elected bodies. My main focus is on growth and development, and how communities are planning for the future.
A second focus that is emerging is a look at who is running for offices in the 24 localities. I’ve spent a lot of time covering elections in Albemarle and Charlottesville, and now I’m branching out to cover communities that are connected by highways, waterways, trains, and a Congressional District.
So far, this newsletter does not have a paid function, but that could change. I’m reluctant to put anything behind a paywall. For now, you can support the work through a Patreon account I have for Town Crier Productions. For $25 a month, you can be among the first to get shout-outs displayed right here!
Latest candidates running in the Fifth District: New candidate emerges in Nelson County
Before we begin running through meetings of the week, here is a quick update on various candidates who want to be on the ballot for races in localities in the Fifth District.
Delegate John McGuire has formally submitted statements of organization for a campaign for District 10 in the Virginia Senate. He currently faces three other challengers for the Republican nomination, including Louisa County Supervisors Chair Duane Adams. The other candidates are Sandy Brindley and Jack Dyer.
James Clinton Bibb of Arrington has filed to run for the Republican nomination for the South District seat in Nelson County. Democrat Robert Barton won the seat in 2019 against Republican incumbent Larry Dale Saunders. Barton was next in line to be chair of the Nelson Board this year but declined the position. The West District seat is also up for election in the fall.
Republican Paul Hill has filed paperwork to run for District 3 on the Amelia County Board of Supervisors. The seat is currently held by Shaun Blair Weyant who was first elected in 2019 with no opposition. Weyant is currently the Vice There are also races in District 1 and District 4.
Lunenburg County Clerk of Court Gordon F. Erby has filed paperwork to run for another eight-year term. He’s held the position since 1997. Lunenburg County is within Virginia’s 10th Judicial Circuit. Erby was unopposed in both 2007 and 2015.
The term is also up for Justin Midkiff as Buckingham County Clerk or Court. He has filed paperwork to run again this year. Midkiff has been in the position since 2018.
Albemarle County Chan Bryant has also submitted a statement of organization to run for another term. She won election in November 2019 after winning the Democratic primary on a two to one margin.
Budget prioritization is subject of Amherst BOS meeting; details on Gateway sewer project
The five-member Amherst County County Board of Supervisors meets at 5.p.m. for a discussion of supplemental prioritization. They gather in the public meeting room of the administration building at 153 Washington Street. Let’s let the staff report explain at least some of this meeting’s purpose: (work session packet)
“External requests for funding are received from agencies that provide services to the County. Some of these requests are mandatory as they are based on agreements between the agency and the County. Others are requests from non-profit organizations that provide services to County residents in some capacity. The Board needs to review these and decide who will receive funding this year.”
Some of the mandatory requests are $1,800,000 for the Blue Ridge Regional Jail, $239,493 for the Health Department, and $164,410 for Horizon Behavioral Health. Discretionary requests include $81,690 for Greater Lynchburg Transit Company, though Interim County Administrator Dean C. Rodgers only recommends $77,800.
There is also a list of one-time requests for funding and the priorities assigned by the Board of Supervisors. An upgrade to Microsoft Office 2021 would cost $33,500 but has a priority score of 1. New seating for the waiting area for the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court would cost $26,000 and has a priority score of 10.
“The seating has been there for over 20 years,” reads the request. “We have to have them repaired frequently as they are falling apart. They are also made with fabric, which means they get dirty quickly.”
There is also a list of recurring costs also with priorities ranked by Supervisors. The top priority is to pay for two additional public safety dispatchers at an annual cost of $107,200. This has a a score of 12.4.
“Currently dispatch is staffed with a total of 12 positions,” reads the request. “We operate 4 shifts with 3 dispatchers on each shift. Dispatch positions have not been increased since approx. 2007. From Oct. 1, 2021 to Sept. 30, 2022 Dispatch answered a total of 82,259 calls and processed 34,768 CAD inputs.”
All of the details are listed in the packet. This meeting follows up on the budget workshop held on January 3. Also at the meeting, Tom Martin was elected as Chair of the Board of Supervisors and L.J. Ayers III as Vice Chair.
The regular meeting begins at 7 p.m. (regular meeting packet)
There are two public hearings related to special exceptions, the first of which is related to a request to use a single-family dwelling on Christians Springs Road as a short-term rental. The building is within 500 feet of a nearby home, triggering the need for the public hearing.
The second public hearing is for a similar situation for a home on Pera Road.
“It is hoped that the use as a rural vacation house will foster a greater appreciation for Virginia’s rural mountain communities and the recreational opportunities they provide,” reads the applicant’s request.
One item on the consent agenda is a resolution to allow Rodgers to sign a site plan on behalf of Albemarle Amherst County for an expansion at Riveredge Park that would include a new building and a new boat ramp. (page 67 for presentation)
There will also be a special presentation on the Gateway Sanitary Sewer Project which is being prepared by Davenport and Company.
“The project will replace existing wastewater infrastructure that is twenty years old and wearing out,” reads the staff report (page 80). “The plan is to install sanitary sewer between Thomas Road and Kings Road, with a pump station midway between the two roads and a force main to the ACSA sanitary sewer east of Route 163. The project is also to install a trunk line to serve a proposed development in Madison Heights.”
The Amherst County Planning Commission will meet on Thursday. They’ll have a public hearing on another short-term rental special exception as well as one on changes to the public sewer line ordinance. There will also be a discussion of potential changes to the Mixed-Use / Traditional Neighborhood Development District. (agenda packet)
“The proposed code changes include but is not limited to the following: reduction in lot size, reduction in required infrastructure (lighting), and inclusion of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs),” reads the staff report. (page 72)
New Chamber director to say hello to Appomattox Supervisors
The five-member Appomattox County Board of Supervisors meets at 6 p.m. at 171 Price Lane in Appomattox. (meeting page)
After the call to order, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the setting of the agenda, the new director of the Appomattox Chamber of Commerce will appear before the Board for the first time. Steve Boyer also has a piece published in the January 5, 2023 edition of the Times-Virginian. He’s spent his career in the U.S. Navy as well as the Lynchburg City Assessor’s office.
There is one public hearing at 7 p.m. on an amendment to the county’s Taxation and Fees Ordinance. The change is to make clear that vehicles used for agricultural purposes are not subject to county personal property taxes. (staff report)
Next is an action item to schedule a public hearing for February 21 for changes to the county’s transient occupancy tax. (staff report)
You can always watch these meetings on the Appomattox County YouTube channel. The organizational meeting from January 3, 2023 is not included.
Charlottesville to consider smaller-budget project at Preston & Grady
The four remaining members of the Charlottesville City Council will meet at 4 p.m. on Tuesday for a work session followed by a regular session at 6:30 p.m. Sena Magill resigned effective January 11 and applications are being taken for someone to be appointed in February. (meeting info)
The 4 p.m. work session features two items. The first is a presentation on the work that the Central Virginia Housing Partnership has been doing since its creation. The partnership is a creation of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission and there is a housing summit at the Omni on March 24.
From their presentation, we learn that the number of single-family detached homes sold in the Charlottesville declined from 439 in 2021 to 397 in 2022, but the median sales price increased from $425,000 to $475,000. Single-family attached units such as those in townhouses declined from 68 in 2021 to 82 in 2022 with the median price increasing from $293,000 in 2021 to $328,000 in 2022.
What’s the partnership doing about any of it? That’s not in the presentation, but here are three stories I wrote last year.
Regional group briefed on middle missing housing, January 21, 2022
Regional Housing Partnership endorses Piedmont Housing Alliance’s application to build affordable housing at two UVA sites, July 7, 2022
Delegate Sally Hudson meets with Regional Housing Partnership, December 22, 2022
The second item at the work session is on the financing plan for the renovations at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail. The Nelson County Board of Supervisors got their update last week and I’m aiming to have an article on that out before Council meets.
Incoming Police Chief Michael Kochis will be sworn in before Council goes into closed session. To learn more about Kochis, take a look at (or listen to) the story from his press conference in December.
When Council returns from the break, they will appoint members of the new Charlottesville Housing Advisory Committee as well as the new Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund Committee. The new governance structure was called for in the Affordable Housing Plan adopted in March 2021 and approved by Council on April 4, 2022.
The new HAC will consist of:
John Sales, executive director of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority (term expires December 31, 2025)
Two representatives non-profit entities that construct or rent affordable housing units (one term expires December 31, 2023, one expires December 31, 2024)
Three real estate professionals (respective terms end in 2023, 2024, and 2025)
Two at-large community members (one term expires December 31, 2023, one expires December 31, 2024)
Three beneficiaries of affordable housing subsidies (respective terms end in 2023, 2024, and 2025)
The new CAHF Committee will consist of three at-large community members, three housing beneficiaries, and three members of City Staff. The city has not yet hired a housing coordinator to oversee the tens of millions of dollars that are to be spent over the next several years to implement the city’s housing goals.
On the consent agenda:
There’s a set of minutes from the December 19, 2022 meeting. There are three paragraphs describing the reprecincting discussion at that work session. I’ll be writing up a narrative from that meeting in the next edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement. This was also the last meeting for former City Attorney Lisa Robertson. (minutes)
The second reading for the re-adoption of the Comprehensive Plan will be held. (staff report) (my story)
The second for the lease renewal for the McGuffey Arts Center. (staff report) (my story with audio)
The second reading for the appropriation of $192,453.98 in bonds from the developer of the Woodland Drive subdivision in Fry’s Spring. I had hoped to write about this when it was discussed the first time but I have not gotten around to it yet. There’s so much to write about in a community where there’s a lot of calls to build more houses. (staff report)
After the consent agenda there will be a report from Interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers. This time around it is the financial report for the second quarter of the current fiscal year.
“Current revised projections continue to indicate strong performance, and we are currently anticipating a modest revenue surplus of 2.39% or $5 million,” reads the staff report.
Keep in mind that property assessments will be mailed out at the end of January. After that, the projections will be adjusted to reflect the changes. Albemarle County’s assessments increased 13.46 percent this year. Will Charlottesville follow-suit? If the CAAR data used in the Regional Housing Partnership’s presentation is any indication, another large increase is likely.
Next, re-precincting. As I said, I don’t have a story for this written yet but the staff report comes in handy. Virginia code requires Council to be notified if any of the voting precincts exceeds 4,000 voters.
“During the 2020 presidential election, one precinct (Johnson) had over 4,500 voters,” the staff report reads. “The General Registrar is required to bring a plan to Council to address the large number of voters at that precinct.
A reprecincting committee has recommended a plan where Tonsler Hall and Alumni Hall would no longer be a polling place. Instead, more voters will be shifted to the existing precinct that votes at Buford Middle School. New polling places would be created at Jackson Via Elementary School and Charlottesville High School. I hope to have a story with more details out by Tuesday morning.
There will also be the first of two readings on a resolution to appropriate $500,106 in grant funds for improvements at 10th Street NW and Grady Avenue. Last year, Council canceled a Smart Scale project that had been funded there and the Commonwealth Transportation Board consented.
That information is not included in the staff report for this project, which is separate and comes from Virginia’s Highway Safety Improvement Program and Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Program. The application was approved by a previous City Council in September 2016.
“New pedestrian curb ramps, sidewalk(s), median refuges, and revised pedestrian crossings will reduce pedestrian crossings widths, increase visibility of pedestrians, reduce pedestrian time within the roadway, and minimize out of distance pedestrian travel,” reads the staff report. “VDOT has granted the city $500,106 to start these improvements.”
The Smart Scale project is not ancient history. One of the sitting Councilors voted to go forward with the successful application to secure $6.1 million in funding. However, Councilor Michael Payne voted against the project unlike Councilor Michael Payne. Travel back in time to July 2020 when I wrote one of the very first long-form stories for Charlottesville Community Engagement about this topic. (read the story)
The decision to omit mention of the canceled project from the staff report may be one to establish more clarity. After all, July 2020 was several City Managers ago. Council canceled the Preston / Grady project as well as the West Main Street project last June. (read the story)
Finally, Council will get an in-person presentation from the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority. (report)
I made a few minor revisions just now to the copy and made at least one correction you can see in strike-out mode. I do so hope I can hire a copy-editor soon!