Tuesday, December 20, 2022: Pittsylvania County to get update on zoning rewrite, discuss arming public school teachers; Danville to use surplus funding for Riverfront Park
The second of three newsletters for the penultimate week of 2022
There’s just a few more days before the holidays, which some may include the Winter Solstice as among their number. There’s something appealing and invigorating to me about the sun beginning to spend a little less time above the horizon each day.
I will have one more newsletter out tomorrow covering Amelia County and Fluvanna County. Both Amherst County and Campbell County skipped this week. That means there will be one more edition of this newsletter this week, as this one covers meetings happening today and it’s getting late in the day.
Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think!
Danville Council finishes 2023 with $2.5 million investment in Riverfront Park
The nine-member Danville City Council will meet for a regular work session at 7 p.m. but will forgo the usual work session. (agenda)
The meeting begins with a review of the financial statements for Danville’s books through the first five months of the current fiscal year. Revenues are up from all sources.
“After completing the first five months of fiscal year 2023, revenues are ahead of the previous year,” reads the memo from Michael L. Adkins, Danville’s Chief Financial Officer. “As of November 30, General Fund revenues were $44,760,575. This represents 37% of our FY 2023 budget.”
Next there is a public hearing for a request to vacate 0.15 acres of city right of way on Lynch Street. The adjacent property doesn’t object.
There’s also a public hearing on a one-year action plan on the city’s allocation of HOME and Community Development Block Grant funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“All funded activities must address one or more national objectives: benefit low- to moderate-income persons, aid in the prevention or elimination of slums or blight, or meet an urgent community need for which no other funds are available,” reads the staff report.
Danville expected $1.236 million in total for the current fiscal year.
“The City of Danville will attempt to acquire blighted properties to build new affordable housing,” reads a portion of the one year plan. “We anticipate that we will rehabilitate 10 units of housing this cycle; two of these units were already completed.”
Other items:
The Danville City Council will also be asked to create a local committee to prepare for the celebration of the 250th anniversary of July 4, 1776. (more info)
Council will also be asked to amend the city’s Conflict of Interest ordinance to eliminate a local requirement that department heads and the city attorney fill one out. (more info)
Council will consider amend the FY23 budget to add a state grant of $88,398 to hire two School Resource Officers. One would work in George Washington High School and one at Westwood Middle School. (more info)
Danville has also received $68,057 toward a project to seal one of the airport’s runways. (more info)
There’s also a first reading to appropriate the above $1.236 million in HUD funding for HOME and CDBG. (learn more)
Council will also have first reading of a proposal to use $2.5 million in expected revenue surpluses for construction of Riverfront Park. (learn more)
Council will also be asked to support a request from the Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors to rename a portion of Route 311 / Berry Hill Road to the Southern Virginia Megasite project as “Harville-Saunders Highway.” (learn more)
Pittsylvania County Supervisors to discuss arming teachers, provide response to School Board’s Gun Free Zone resolutions
The seven-member Pittsylvania County Board of Supervisors will meet in three separate sections today. All are in the Board Meeting Room at 39 Bank Street in Chatham.
The first is a work session with the Board of Zoning Appeals and the Planning Commission beginning at 3 p.m. They will get an update on the ongoing zoning code rewrite being conducted by the Berkley Group. There’s a 95-page packet for a work session that covers General and Administrative Provisions, Permits and Applications, Content Development, and Nonconformities. (agenda)
The revisions so far give more power to the zoning administrator, transitions most penalties to civil ones rather than criminal, and removes the requirement that a site development plan be submitted at the rezoning stage.
Supervisors have a work session of their own scheduled for 4 p.m. with six presentations: (agenda packet)
There is a resolution related to guns and the School Board’s recent adoption of a Gun Free Zone resolution. Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Haskins and Sheriff Mike Taylor will give their reactions and discuss implications.
There will be a presentation on the 2022 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report prepared by Robinson, Farmer, Cox Associates.
There will be a review of mid-year budget amendments. These include $1.262 million from a grant from the Tobacco Commission for grading of the Southern Virginia Multimodal Park.
There will be a discussion on the personal property tax rate and making it line with surrounding jurisdictions.
Then Supervisors will have a discussion about arming public school teachers as suggested by Supervisor Ronald Searce.
Then a discussion about closure of solid waste convenience centers over the Christmas weekend.
Supervisors will end their closed session with a discussion of next steps for the search for a new county administrator. A majority of supervisors fired David Smitherman at the beginning of 2022 and they are currently on their second interim. The Berkley Group is assisting Pittsylvania County in this work. Interviews were held on November 29.
In closed session, they will also discuss two economic development projects code-named Polo and Tank.
The regular business meeting begins at 7 p.m.
There are three public hearings for land use matters.
A couple seeks a rezoning from R-1 to A-1 for 1.69 acres so it can be added to an adjacent parcel.
Another couple seeks a rezoning from M-1 to R-1 on 0.339 acres so it can be added to an adjacent parcel.
An individual seeks a rezoning from R-1 to A-1 on 7.56 acres to allow for the operation of a summer camp.
Then there will be a public hearing on the mid-year budget amendments discussed at the work session as well as a public hearing on the sales tax ordinance enabled by county voters on a 52 to 48 percent margin on November 8, 2022.
Then a piece of new business: What shall the new jail be called?
