Government Glance for October 3 and October 4, 2022: Charlottesville City Council to review climate action plan; Amherst Supervisors to consider new equipment for aging landfill
Another look at what's coming up at local government meetings in Virginia's Fifth Congressional District
This week the newsletter is split into two editions. This one covers today and tomorrow, and the next one will cover the rest of the week. Much of this material also appeared in the Week Ahead on Charlottesville Community Engagement. Please let me know if you have any questions and please share with others
Monday, October 3, 2022
Charlottesville City Council to get briefing on climate action plan, second reading of collective bargaining ordinance
The five member Charlottesville City Council will meet at 4 p.m. for a work session followed by a regular meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m. (meeting info)
There are two items at the work session. First, the new president of Piedmont Virginia Community College will appear before Council for an introduction. Jean Runyon is PVCC’s sixth leader since it was created in 1972. There are four members from Charlottesville on the PVCC Board. Runyon has been making the rounds to the other jurisdictions within the PVCC area to give the annual report. (view the presentation)
Next, Council will review the city’s Climate Action Plan. (you can too!)
“This Plan is a strategic framework for how Charlottesville can reach its goal of carbon neutrality by the year 2050,” reads the preface.
“In recent decades, climate change has accelerated, primarily due to greenhouse gas emissions from human activity. Human impact on the environment is evident in the increasingly destructive and unpredictable weather patterns that negatively affect our community.”
The plan points toward many resources, including the page where you can keep track of efforts to reduce emissions locally. Just under a third of the emissions come from transportation, and two-thirds come from “stationary” use. That means the energy it takes to power homes and businesses. The rest comes from solid waste as measured by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District.
The plan lays out steps to reduce emissions in all sectors and to make sure the journey is “effective, affordable, equitable and inclusive.”
On the consent agenda:
The Office of Economic Development will get $100,000 for workforce development training programs through the Virginia Department of Social Services. (staff report)
The Blue Ridge Coalition for the Homeless will receive $15,381.60 to help cover the cost of the Homeless Information Line. (staff report)
Charlottesville Area Transit will get an appropriation of $656,000 from the first federal COVID-19 transfer of funds to localities (CARES Act) for a variety of uses. This includes $300,000 to hire a consultant to complete the Transit Strategic Plan, $25,000 to hire the firm Williams Mullen to complete an audit of the payroll, $250,000 to hire AECOM to conduct project management, and $55,000 to pay Kimley-Horn and Associates to assist with the launch of a micro-transit service CAT will provide to Albemarle County. (staff report)
The Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission will get $30,000 for the city’s share for a governance study to implement the Regional Transit Vision Plan. (staff report)
The Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority will get $335,000 from the city’s housing voucher fund to purchase 818 Montrose Avenue. (staff report)
The Charlottesville Fire Department will get $186,776 from insurance companies from the “Fire Programs Fund. (staff report)
The utility billing office will get $29,524.18 from the American Rescue Plan Act to cover the cost of unpaid bills. (staff report)
Before community matters, there will be a report from interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers. Here are some of the highlights:
Hezedean Smith is now the chief of the fire department in Polk County, Florida. Smith served less than two years as chief of the Charlottesville Fire Department. An acting fire chief will be selected before a search for a permanent one begins.
Interviews for the new Charlottesville Police Chief are expected to begin later this month with a recommendation for a hire in early November. The Police Department is down 30 officers according to Assistant Chief Major LaTroy Durette.
The city is also hiring its first Emergency Management Coordinator. Albemarle County named a deputy chief to that position earlier this year.
Also this month: the city will issue a Notice of Availability of Funds for the Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund.
The Office of Human Rights has received more requests for assistance in 2022 than it did in all of 2021. The Commission has updated the city’s human rights ordinance with many revisions to sections on federal Fair Housing law.
Public Works continues to move toward starting work on the Emmet and Fontaine streetscapes, including coordinating with the University of Virginia on project alignment.
City Hall is expected to be open on Monday, October 3.
The Department of Utilities has applied for a grant from the Virginia Department of Health to take an inventory of materials used in the city’s water lines.
In regular business, the city will have second reading on conveyance of air rights for a pedestrian bridge over Emmet Street at the University of Virginia. This is for a replacement of a nearby bridge that is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Learn more in a story from the first reading. (staff report)
Next, there will be a third reading of a request from a couple on Oak Street for the vacation of city-owned right of way. This item was deferred from the August 15, 2022 meeting. I mentioned this issue in a long article from June 30 about city-owned property. For years, the city of Charlottesville had no central place that tracked rental and management of the land owned by the municipal government. (staff report)
After that, there will be a second reading of a collective bargaining ordinance. There have been 26 revisions to the draft ordinance made since the first reading. These include extending the right to unionize to more city employees rather than just transit, police, and fire.
Finally, what has the Land Use and Environmental Planning Committee been up to? The closed door group replaced an open public body in late 2019 to implement the Three-Party Agreement signed in 1986 between Albemarle County. Charlottesville, and the University of Virginia. Take a look at the report for the first half of the year, with links to all of the various presentations.
Louisa County Supervisors to adopt legislative agenda; includes undergrounding utilities
The seven member Louisa County Board of Supervisors will meet for a budget work session at 4 p.m. followed by a regular meeting that goes into open session at 6 p.m. (work session info) (meeting info)
There are four presentations, two discussions, two action items, and four public hearings scheduled on the agenda. And three reports.
Discussions begin with a presentation from J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College President Paula Pando followed by one from the Louisa 4-H Club. After all, it is National 4-H Week. There’s an update from the Louisa Arts Center as well as a presentation on something called BrightSuite.
Then there’s a discussion on the conditions of the Hamilton Road Bridge followed by one about an application fee for buoys on Lake Anna.
The first resolution is for the county’s 2023 Legislative Platform. Priorities include a request to support the undergrounding of aerial utility lines in order to speed up recovery time after storms, funding to combat harmful algae blooms such as the ones that have plagued Lake Anna this summer, and an expression of support for research into small, modular nuclear reactors.
The second is to approve a memorandum of understanding between Louisa County and the Blue Ridge Shores Property Owner’s Association. This relates to the $4.4 million replacement of a spillway, bridge, and dam maintained by the BRSPOA. The county is being asked to co-sponsor a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant to help cover some of the cost, but is not being asked to contribute any local government money.
The first public hearing is for a budget amendment related to the American Rescue Plan Act and receipt of funding through the Local Fiscal Recovery program. The $3.65 million will be used for building renovations.
The second and third public hearings are for addition to one Agricultural and Forestal District and renewal of another.
The fourth is related to an amendment for a conditional use permit for a utility-scale solar facility to extend the deadline for when it needs to be under construction.
In another meeting:
The eight-member Halifax County Board of Supervisors meets on Monday. I’ll post the agenda when I have a copy of it.
Tuesday, October 4, 2022
Danville City Council to authorize general obligation bonds, consider ban on camping on public land
The nine-member Danville City Council will meet for a regular meeting at 7 p.m. followed by a work session. (meeting agenda) (work session agenda)
The main item on the regular agenda is an ordinance to issue several million in general obligations. (staff report)
On the consent agenda is a budget amendment for a grant from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources to conduct a city-wide preservation plan. The grant is for $26,950 and a local match of $11,550.
“The City of Danville does not have a preservation plan,” reads the staff report. “The development of this plan is occurring at a time of updates for the City’s Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Code.”
The main item in the work session is a discussion of an ordinance to ban camping on city property.
“The Cities of Roanoke and Bristol passed ordinances to prohibit camping on public property in unpermitted locations earlier this year,” reads the staff report. “Passing a similar ordinance in Danville would give the Police and other City staff tools to prevent potential issues related to unpermitted camping, including street and sidewalk obstructions as well as damage to City property, and dangerous conditions faced by unpermitted campers.”
Timberlake group to ask Campbell County Board of Supervisors for help on erosion issues
The seven-member Campbell County Board of Supervisors will meet at 6 p.m. in the Haberer Building Boardroom in Rustburg for a regular meeting. (meeting info)
There are two appearances. In the first, trustees of the Timberlake Water Improvement District will address the board about erosion controls on the lake. They’re concerned that too much sediment is flowing into the watershed from a U.S. 460 interchange built in the 1990’s. The trustees want to know if there is new technology to help slow the flow of stormwater.
The second appearance relates to a Virginia Association of Counties Achievement Award.
Next, Provident Midstream USA seeks a refund of some of its business equipment tax for overpayment. The company is a gas distribution facility.
“[Commissioner of Revenue Calvin Massie] has reviewed the County’s assessments and agrees with the taxpayer that the statutory assessments used for the years 2019, 2020, and 2021 are excessive, and should be adjusted based on the company’s cost of business equipment on record,” reads the staff report.
There will be an update on the budget calendar for FY24 and Supervisors will accept a bid for the construction of a storage building for the Sheriff’s department.
There are four public hearings.
A landowner on Bear Creek Road near Rustburg seeks a special use permit to operate a single-family home as a rooming house. The goal is to rent out a portion of the house on AirBnB. The Planning Commission recommended approval on a 7 to 0 vote.
The owners of a sawmill seek a special use permit for expansion. The Planning Commission recommended approval on a 7 to 0 vote.
The owner of land on Gladys Road near Altavista seeks a special use permit for a towing and automobile recovery business. The Planning Commission recommended approval on a 7 to 0 vote.
Property owners of a lot in the Sleepy Hollow Estates subdivision seek to connect to public water provided by the Campbell County Utilities and Service Authority. To do so, they need the lateral to connect across land owned by the county. The property owners need an easement to do so, hence this public hearing.
Amherst Supervisors to consider $1.6M appropriation for new equipment at extended-life landfill
The five-member Amherst County Board of Supervisors will meet at 3 p.m. This is the first meeting since County Administrator Dean Rodgers resigned last month. Read more about that in the Amherst New-Era Progress. (meeting info)
On the agenda are four items of new business.
In one, the Library Board of Trustees seeks a revision to their by-laws related to meeting times.
In the second, there’s a resolution to allow the county administrator to enter in mutual aid agreements with other localities.
In the third, Supervisors are asked to consider a memorandum of understanding with Nelson County with regards to the repair of a bridge across the Tye River that is part of the Virginia Blue Ridge Parkway Trail.
“In the spirit of collaboration and saving both counties money, Amherst County Public Works has offered to perform the repairs and purchase the necessary lumber, fasteners, and other supplies, as well as bush hogging Nelson's sides of the trails one time in the calendar years 2022 and 2023, for a total of $30,000,” reads the staff report. “Nelson has agreed, in principle, to the terms and monetary amount of the proposed MOU.”
In the fourth action item, the Amherst County landfill was supposed to be heading out of business by now, but a recent discovery has found more capacity. That means equipment that should have been retired now needs to be replaced.
“There are two pieces of landfill equipment with high hours of use that must be replaced at once to continue landfilling Cell One: The compactor and the loader, “ reads that staff report. “Together, the equipment costs approximately $1.6 million dollars.”
At the end of the meeting, there will be a closed session related to the hiring of the next county administrator as well as the appointment of an interim administrator.
On the consent agenda:
Amherst County Schools have requested $165,000 in appropriations. (staff report)
The Amherst Sheriff’s Office is requesting several appropriations collected from various fines worth $134,069.87. The specific request is for $33,359.80. (staff report)
The Sheriff’s Office also wants $4,302.92 from leftover courthouse renovation funds for the installation of security cameras. (staff report)
Goochland Supervisors to elect vice chair after Sharpe’s death
The five-member Goochland Board of Supervisors will meet at 2 p.m. (meeting info)
One of the first items under new business will be to appoint a vice chair. Fourth District Supervisor Donald Sharpe died on September 17.
There will also be a presentation on zoning changes staff would like the Planning Commission to review. These relate to allowing energy storage facilities as a conditional use permit in several zoning districts.
In the evening there are several public hearings:
A couple on Snead Road on land zoned A-2 seek a conditional use permit to build another home on the property.
A couple on Three Chopt Road zoned A-2 seek a conditional use permit to have unhosted short-term renals on the two acre property.
A couple on Pembroke Lane seek a rezoning of 1 acre from R-1 to A-2.
Next door, the Benedictine Schools of Richmond seek a rezoning of 15.8 acres from R-1 to A-2.
In a related public hearing, they want a conditional use permit for athletic fields.
More tomorrow!