Charlottesville City Council to get public housing update; Appomattox Supervisors to learn more on High Bridge Trail expansion
Plus: Previews of meetings in Halifax and Louisa
Another week begins and this experimental newsletter hopes to achieve what it can to preview meetings that are coming up at meetings of local government across the Fifth District. This time around we’ll get right into the information!
Halifax County Supervisors holding budget public hearing
The eight member Board of Supervisors in Halifax County will meet at 6 p.m. for a public hearing on the budget, tax rates, and the school budget. They meet in the county administration building at 1050 Mary Bethune Street in Halifax. (agenda)
The proposed budget for Halifax County is $244,674,092 and is based on a real property tax rate of $0.50 per $100 of assessed value. The personal property rate is $3.85 per $100 of assessed value.
For more information, take a look at a March 9 story from Victoria Thompson in the South Boston News & Record. Take a look at the official documents, too.
Appomattox County Supervisors to be briefed on High Bridge Trail expansion
The five member Board of Supervisors in Appomattox County will meet at 6 p.m. in the Board Meeting Room at 171 Price Lane in Appomattox. (agenda packet)
The meeting begins with three appearances.
The director of the Small Business Development Center will appear to update Supervisors and to discuss the entity’s FY2024 request.
An official with the High Bridge Trail State Park will discuss the future expansion of the trail to the Town of Pamplin in Appomattox. The Town of Pamplin will also be on hand to discuss a parking lot expansion.
The coordinator for the county’s Children’s Service Act compliance will provide an update on services.
There will also be two public hearings.
The first will be on changes to the building code to reflect changes in state code and the International Building Code.
The second will be on a change to the polling place for the Spout Spring polling place which is getting a new address.
In action items:
Supervisors will authorize a close-out payment of $72,362.99 related to the high school renovation project.
The Appomattox Volunteer Fire Department seeks waiver of a building fee permit for a temporary power source.
There’s a request for a refund of a building permit fee for a property owner who has opted to not build a house at this time.
There is a request for a special use permit for a Chippy Hippie Vintage Market to be held on April 29, 2023.
Supervisors will be asked to support the Virginia America 250 Commission (staff report)
Charlottesville City Council to hear church appeal of solar panel denial; Public housing to brief elected officials
The Charlottesville City Council will begin their day at 4 p.m. with a work session on two big topics, followed by a regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. (meeting info) (agenda)
The work session begins with a kickoff of the city’s decarbonization study which is designed to review the municipal provision of natural gas.
“The Department of Utilities has solicited the expertise of an outside consulting firm in order to responsibly and accurately determine how the gas utility can be a part of the solution in achieving and aligning itself with the community’s greenhouse gas reduction goals,” reads the staff report
“The Study will determine the legality, under federal, state and local laws, of potentially discontinuing the natural gas system, and/or discontinuing future residential, commercial, industrial connections to the gas system,” the report continues.
Next there will be a “Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority update on sustainability and status with the Department of Housing and Urban Development.”
That description is the only advanced material available in the packet so neither Council not the public have a chance to review any of it in advance. This is consistent with the CRHA’s practice since February 2021 of not publicly posting meeting agendas or minutes. Take a look for yourself. There is a list of key documents which has been updated since.
One of those documents is the annual plan for FY23-24. From this we learn that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development no longer considers CRHA to be a troubled agency. It’s now considered “standard” with 331 public housing units and 635 housing choice vouchers. There’s a lot in this plan to report and I hope to write this one up.
In the regular meeting, First United Methodist Church is appealing the Board of Architectural Review’s denial of a certificate of appropriateness to place solar panels on the roof. (staff report)
In February, Planning Commissioner Carl Schwarz explained why the Board of Architectural Review voted not to approve a plan for United Methodist Church on East Jefferson Street to put a solar panel on their roof.
“To put the panels on the roof would have required removing a 100 year old, very good quality slate roof and replace it with asphalt shingles,” Schwarz said. “That was kind of part of the rub. Our guidelines are very vague and our ordinance says to look to the [Virginia] Secretary of the Interior’s standards and their advice in such a situation.”
Schwarz said the guidance was to deny but he also acknowledged anyone who passed by wouldn’t notice either the slate roof or the solar panels.
“It was complicated, it was difficult, and some guidance from Council would be very useful,” Schwarz said.
After the appeal, there will be a public hearing on the real estate tax rate for FY24. State law requires the publication of an equalized tax rate which would generate the same amount of revenue.
“For purposes of the budget, the equalized rate of $0.8589/$100 is the calculated rate that will keep the City’s revenue from real estate taxes equal with last year,” reads the staff report. “For FY 24, real estate tax revenue is budgeted to generate $9,915,424 in new revenue over FY 23 based on the advertised tax rate of $0.96/$100 and the 2022 assessed values.”
Next there is a public hearing of the lease for the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society in the city-owned building at 200 Second Street NE. The city has been modernizing its leases with nonprofit groups, such a recent approval of a new lease with the McGuffey Arts Center. (staff report)
Finally, there will be a resolution to appropriate $175,000 from the Virginia Land Conservation Fund to acquire a portion of land in Albemarle County across Moores Creek from Azalea Park. I wrote about the award last November.
There is a written report from the Land Use and Environmental Planning Committee. That used to be a public body until the City Council and the Albemarle Board of Supervisors opted to make it private. Has that made things less transparent? Certainly gives me a lot to write about, including a segment in the March 18, 2023 installment of this newsletter. Take a look.
Louisa County Supervisors to enter into water supply agreement related to new wells
The seven-member Board of Supervisors in Louisa County will begin their day with a budget work session at 4 p.m. followed by a closed session at 5 p.m. and a regular session at 6 p.m. (agenda)
There are no advance materials for the budget work session meeting.
Under information items, there will be an update from FireFly Fiber Broadband on their internet expansion efforts, a legislative update from the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission, an update from the Virginia Department of Transportation, and the Louisa County Water Authority.
Under new business, there will be a resolution to accept donations received for equipment purchases for the New Bridge Fire and Rescue Station. There will also be an adoption of the Regional Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan, and a resolution to approve an agreement with Louisa County related to water supply.
“Louisa County Board of Supervisors and Fluvanna County are involved through the James River Water Authority (JRWA) in a project to construct a pipeline from the James River to connect with the Authority so the wells in the Green Springs District will eventually not be the only source of water for the Authority to provide in the Zion Crossroads area of Louisa County,” reads the resolution for four directives.
The Authority will sell no more than 75 percent of the capacity of the system of wells in the Green Springs District to customers
The Authority will not sell connections to the system of wells in the Green Springs District to customers if it reaches 75 percent capacity
The Authority will report to the Board of Supervisors at least four times every year on the total capacity of the system of wells and the total connections already sold as a percentage of the total capacity
This agreement shall terminate on June 30 of the year in which the JRWA begins
providing water to the Authority unless further action is taken by this Board
There are four public hearings:
There is a real property tax increase for fiscal year 2024 due to a 13.9 percent increase in assessments. The lowered tax rate would be $0.632 per $100 of assessed value. The budget proposes maintaining the same rate of $0.72 per $100 of assessed value.
There is an amendment to the rules that make it a penalty to let dogs run off leash.
There is an amendment regarding the responsibilities of the Management Oversight Group.
There is an amendment to the land development regulations regarding minimum lot area sizes.
Reading material:
Lynchburg city manager presents $547.7M budget to City Council, Bryson Gordon, Lynchburg News & Advance, March 14, 2023
'Next big thing': Lynchburg City Council OKs revitalization of old Jones Memorial Library site, Bryson Gordon, Lynchburg News & Advance, March 15, 2023
Appomattox school board discusses potential future move of maintenance department, Charles Conrad, Appomattox Times-Virginian, March 16, 2023
Peake announces campaign for newly drawn Senate District 8, Bryson Gordon, Lynchburg News & Advance, March 16, 2023
Lynchburg City Council debates tax rate, services after budget proposal, Bryson Gordon, Lynchburg News & Advance, March 16, 2023
City manager adds another community engagement session on budget, Bryson Gordon, Lynchburg News & Advance, March 16, 2023
Bedford school board talks budget highlights, top capital projects, Shannon Kelly, Lynchburg News & Advance, March 17, 2023