Lynchburg City Council to hold public hearing for Leesville Road rezoning for 119 units; Campbell Supervisors and School Board seek input on financing Brookville High renovations
Also: Broadband update in Bedford County; Cannery update in Prince Edward County
The week begins and this format continues to adjust as I seek to get out as much information as I can when I can. Producing items for Charlottesville Community Engagement takes precedence than publishing these newsletters for now. But, it’s important to get through all of it because that’s what someone running a business called Town Crier Productions does.
If you’re interested in helping this keep going, consider a Patreon subscription. I’m going to hold off on paid subscriptions here for now, but I think it is time to start up shout-outs here!
Dalton and Dudley to lead Pittsylvania County Supervisors
Last week, the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors held their organizational meeting and elected Darrell Dalton of the Callands-Gretna District to serve as chair after one year in office as a Supervisor.
“It is an honor and big responsibility to serve as the chairman," Dalton said in a January 4 press release. "I am committed to working together with my colleagues and moving forward for the betterment of the residents and businesses of Pittsylvania County, not just in my district or any one area. I look forward to serving the entire County as Chairman."
Tim Dudley of the Staunton River District will be vice chair.
“We have a lot of critical challenges and opportunities facing us this year, and I’m excited to face them head on as a unified Board," said Vice-Chairman Dudley. "It’s about the County as a whole, not any one supervisor or any one district.”
No county administrators were fired during the course of this meeting. You can watch the whole thing on the county’s Facebook Watch page.
Monday, January 10, 2023
Bedford County Board of Supervisors to get update from Zitel on broadband expansion
The seven member Bedford County Board of Supervisors meets at 5 p.m. today for a work session with the Bedford Broadband Authority followed by a regular session. The work session is an update on Zitel’s work to expand broadband in a portion of the county. (meeting page)
The regular meeting begins with an organizational meeting to select new officers and adopt rules of procedure. After public comments, the consent agenda will be considered. Two items are a request from Georgia Pacific for navigational buoys on the James River as well as approval of a “virtual training simulator system” for the Sheriff’s office.
There are no public meetings for this first meeting of the year. After the report from County Administrator Robert Hiss, the Board will go into closed session to discuss expansion of an existing business.
Light agenda for the Charlotte County Board of Supervisors
The seven member Charlotte County Board of Supervisors will meet for a regular meeting at 1:30 p.m. having dispensed with the organizational meeting last week. Gary Walker was elected as chair again, but not without at least some brief opposition. (agenda)
This is a relatively light agenda with no public hearings.
From the minutes from the December 12, 2022 meeting, we learn that the plan in Charlotte County is to create a new Fire and EMS department and to hire a public safety director and an assistant director to run the operations. The goal would be to consistently staff the three rescue squads and work toward creating a fourth unit. Chris Russell was to have begun work as director on January 1.
Charlotte County continues to receive applications for new utility-scale solar facilities despite a moratorium on accepting new ones until 2024. The idea is to update the Comprehensive Plan first and the Berkley Group has been hired to conduct that work.
Tuesday, January 10, 2023
Lynchburg City Council to be briefed on efforts to use ARPA funds for new affordable rental housing
The seven-member Lynchburg City Council will meet for the second time in 2023 having met the first week of the year to select a new Mayor and Vice Mayor. Mayor Stephanie Reed will gavel in a work session at 4 p.m. in City Council Chambers in City Hall at 900 Church Street. It’s much more difficult to link to individual items than it was a few months ago. (meeting page)
The work session begins with a review of the HOME Investment Partnership’s use of American Rescue Plan Act funding to reduce homelessness and increase housing stability.
“The City procured the consulting services from the firm of Mullin and Lonergan (M&L) Associates, who has conducted extensive analysis of community needs and existing resources,” reads the staff report. “The firm consulted with partners from across the City to inform priority needs and opportunities for the HOME-ARP funds to have the greatest possible impact.”
A representative from M&L will make a presentation for how the nearly $1.5 million could be best utilized. The proposal is to spend most of that on development of affordable rental housing.
“The city plans to partner with a local nonprofit organization or housing provider to develop affordable rental units,” reads the presentation. “Old Forest Village and the new Florida Terrace would be models for this new project.”
A public hearing will be held on January 24.
There will also be a discussion of the formula for school funding that was established a few years ago.
Under the business item briefings, there will be a discussion of the issuance of general obligation bonds for public improvements in FY2023. This will include a new police headquarters.
This item will also go to public hearing on January 24.
There will also be a discussion of the addition of 5.23 lane miles of city mileage to be factored into maintenance payments from the Virginia Department of Transportation.
The work session will end with a closed session on two topics. One is the acquisition of property for public safety purposes and the other is to discuss “potential resolution of a pending City law-enforcement lawsuit.”
The evening session begins at 7:30 p.m. On the consent agenda would amend the FY23 budget to appropriate a $25 million ARPA grant for the combined sewer overflow projects.
There are three public hearings:
One is on the Community Development Brock Grant and HOME Program goals for FY2024 in the Annual Action Plan.
There will be consideration of a change in the Future Land Use Map for a major townhouse development in the 600 block of Leesville Road as well a rezoning from R-1 for up 119 units.
There will be consideration of the addition of the Parks and Recreation Master Plan to the city’s Comprehensive Plan.
The location map for Eastwood Park Townhouse Community
Nelson County Board of Supervisors to hear Jaunt’s pitch for additional funding
The five-member Nelson County Board of Supervisors will meet at 2 p.m. in the General District Courtroom at the Courthouse in Lovingston. The first item on their agenda is the organizational meeting for 2023. (agenda packet)
There will be a presentation from the Virginia Department of Transportation, as well as a report on the financing for the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail Renovation. Then Jaunt will present their transit development plan. Currently they run a circulation bus that travels around Nelson, a route to Charlottesville, as well as the Lovingston Connect bus. Jaunt is seeking more money from Nelson in FY2024 with a $103,823 request, up from $67,176 in FY2023. (page 84)
Under new and unfinished business, there will be a presentation on the development of a master plan for the 300-acre Larkin property near the Nelson County High and Middle School complex. The county is hiring Architectural Partners to do the work. (page 100)
Then a request from judges for parking changes at the courthouse.
There will be no evening session. Instead, the Board of Supervisors will hold a joint meeting with the Planning Commission on January 18.
Campbell County Supervisors to hold public hearing with School Board to discuss Brookville High financing
Fresh off their organizational meeting from last week, the seven-member Board of Supervisors will meet with the School Board for a work session beginning at 6:30 p.m. (meeting agenda)
The main item is a public hearing on the borrowing and bond issue for the construction of renovations at Brookville High School. They’re applying for a loan through the Literary Fund of Virginia.
There will also be a review of local revenue projections for FY24 from administrator Frank Rogers as well as an overview of the school budget request from Superintendent Bobby Johnson.
Prince Edward County Supervisors to learn of AFID grant for cannery, receive FY22 audit
The seven-member Board of Supervisors will hold a work session at 5 p.m. for a Freedom of Information Act training. There are two new members and one recently appointed Supervisor who won election to a full term. (packet)
After items in the organizational meeting such as election of chair and vice chair, there will be a series of items. Prince Edward County rotates these positions on a predetermined basis.
The first regular one is presentation of the Fiscal Year 2022 audit from Robinson, Farmer, Cox and Associates.
There will be an update on the Crossroads Community Service Board from Executive Director Melba Moore.
There’s an event application for the Virginia State Coonhound Championship for March 17 and March 18 at the Five County Fairgrounds.
There will be a presentation on the recent award of $50,000 in state funding for the county cannery from the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Infrastructure Development grant program.
There will be an update on emergency management.
There will be a discussion on the consultant services agreement for the Sandy River Reservoir. This is for $33,000 for Pennoni Associates to review of the 593-page document for the project. The public-private partnership known as Prince Edward Community Infrastructure will reimburse the county for this cost.
Next up:
The next installment will have segments from Albemarle County, Fluvanna County, Goochland County, Hanover County, Lunenburg County, and Nottoway County. Thanks for being along for the journey. Please send on to others you think might be interested.
Thank you for doing this. Living in Louisa and newly drawn into the 5th district this gives me a clue about who is in this district and what their concerns are and that is very valuable