October 5, 2024: UVA group formed to improve community relations to hold event Sunday celebrating five years

Plus: Charlottesville Area Transit to make service modifications including possible elimination of trip along Prospect Avenue in Fifeville

Elton John once sang that Saturday is alright for fighting but what if this first full day of the American weekend could instead be put toward research and education? The role of Charlottesville Community Engagement is not to endorse conflict but instead to present what’s happening in a way that hopefully leads to solutions. But what sort of song might that be? I’m Sean Tubbs, and I don’t write the songs that make the whole world sing. 

In this edition:

• Charlottesville Police are investigating whether a 19-year-old Louisa County man will be charged for killing a woman while she was crossing Elliott Avenue Thursday night

• Charlottesville Area Transit is poised to make three route changes on October 26 possibly including elimination of service along Prospect Avenue in the Fifeville neighborhood 

• Area residents continue to coordinate relief efforts for those affected by Hurricane Helene 

• An advisory panel created by UVA President Jim Ryan to help strengthen community relations turns 5 Sunday with a celebration at Washington Park 

First shout-out: JMRL Friends of the Library Book Sale happening through October 13

Lovers of used books rejoice! The Friends of the Jefferson Madison Regional Library have returned to Albemarle Square Shopping Center for the Fall Book Sale! Now through October 13, there are thousands and thousands of adult, young adult and children's books. There are also LPs, DVDs, CDs, games and puzzles! 

Items will be stocked throughout the sale. There are also half-price days on October 12 and October 13. If you have any questions visit jmrlfriends.org for more information or check out the event page on Facebook. 

Woman dies after being hit by car on Elliot Avenue

A 64-year-old woman died Thursday night after being struck by a vehicle on Elliot Avenue in Charlottesville. The driver of the vehicle stopped and reported the incident at around 7:25 p.m. 

Charlottesville Police have identified the victim as Mamawa Simai.

“Preliminary information gathered during this investigation indicated that Simai was walking to work, when she was crossing the crosswalk at South First Street and Elliot Avenue where the crash occurred,” reads a press release sent out Friday afternoon. 

Simai died soon after being transported to the University of Virginia Hospital.

The driver is 19-year-old Matthew Christian Kozub, a Louisa County resident who was arrested for an unrelated assault warrant from that locality.  

Officers in the Charlottesville Police Department’s traffic unit continue to investigate the incident and the case will be presented to the Commonwealth’s Attorney to determine if charges will be filed. 

Kozub is scheduled to appear in Louisa County General District Court on the assault and battery charges on October 8. 

Area groups working to get relief supplies 

A week has passed since Hurricane Helene caused a wide path of devastation across the southeastern United States and various groups are offering ways for people to offer assistance. At least 200 people died as a result of flash floods and other storm-related disasters. 

A Charlottesville-based moving company is collecting supplies through Sunday at 5 p.m. at their headquarters at 1994 Snow Point Lane in Charlottesville. They’re seeking food, clothing, cleaning supplies, hygiene products, and more. 

Abby Bartee with Moving Forward Charlottesville will leave Monday morning.

“I’ve been talking to a couple of distribution sites in southern Virginia, but Asheville Dream Outreach in Western North Carolina has been my main focus and where most items will go,” Bartee said in an email.

 

There are other opportunities to help as well.

Beer Run and Kardinal Hall will donate $1 for each pint of Oktoberfest sold to a food bank in Asheville, North Carolina.

“Proceeds will be provided to Asheville’s MANNA Food Bank; a member of Feeding America,” reads their Facebook post. 

If you want to skip the beer, you can also donate straight to the organization. 

“Donations by check can still be mailed to: 627 Swannanoa River Road, Ashville, NC 28805,” reads their website. “Or you can make an online donation at donate.mannafoodbank.org.”

Today, Governor Glenn Youngkin is scheduled to donate blood at an American Red Cross location in Richmond “to highlight the need for blood donors to maintain the blood supply amidst canceled blood drives due to Hurricane Helene.” 

Charlottesville Area Transit modifications appear to temporarily eliminate service on Prospect Avenue 

Charlottesville Area Transit is finally proceeding with some of the route changes that have been known to the public since the spring of 2021, though at least one of them appears to be out of sync with a strategic plan sent to the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation in June. 

On Thursday, the transit agency announced that frequency will be doubled on a route that travels between downtown Charlottesville and the Willoughby Shopping Center. 

“Route 4 currently has the second-lowest on-time performance in CAT's system, and this frequency adjustment will help address those issues by making buses run more regularly,” reads the announcement.

A “transit strategic plan” approved by City Council earlier this year stated this modification would be made as part of a third phase of system changes. Another change slated for the third phase would alter Route 6 so that it no longer traveled between the Willoughby Shopping Center and the University of Virginia Medical Center. (view the plan)

“Eliminate the segment of Route 6 that goes to UVA Hospital, as that service was replaced with Route 8 service changes,” reads page 12 of the plan which has a full list of phase 3 changes.

However, the plan states those Route 8 changes would happen in the second phase. That would mean that in the short-term there would be no public transportation on Prospect Avenue in Fifeville. The transit strategic plan describes the new Route 8 as traveling between Willoughby Shopping Center and Stonefield and implementation is described as happening on a “mid-term” horizon. 

No map was provided as part of the announcement, but the bottom of a webpage announcing the changes includes a document called “Fixed Route Schedule Book October Service Changes.” This continues to show Route 6 service on Prospect Avenue from Willoughby to Pinn Hall at the UVA Medical Center. (go see for yourself)

On Monday, Williams told Council that the press release had been incorrect.

“We put out a press release about some improvements that we're going to be making to the Route 4 and the Route 6,” Williams said. “The Route 6 has a line in it that says we were going to improve it, basically going to 30 minutes service, which we are. It's an hour service now, but it had a line in the press release that says we were moving service to the hospital. That is not correct. So we're going to make sure everybody is aware of that. We are not removing service on the route six to the hospital.”

The above paragraph was added at 11:42 a.m. on Tuesday, October 8, 2024.

The new Route 6 which was to have been created in multiple phases allowing for other services to be installed to serve Prospect Avenue. (Credit: Charlottesville Area Transit)

Another change scheduled for October 26 is a modification of Route 11 to serve the Center at Belvedere. 

There are several changes listed in the transit strategic plan as happening in the first phase that are not addressed at this time. They include a restoration of Sunday service on the Downtown trolley-style bus, a route that goes to Fashion Square Mall, and one that travels to 5th Street Station. 

CAT’s new service will also create a new schedule for almost every route and new timepoints will be installed for more routes. Drivers will now get a ten-minute break every eight hour shift per the contract with the Amalgamated Transit Union. 

A page in the Transit Strategic Plan depicting two of the implementation phases (Credit: Charlottesville Area Transit)

Second shout-out: Five Things ReLeaf Cville Has Done This Year 

In today’s second subscriber-supported shout-out:  ReLeaf Cville seeks to help restore the amount of the city that’s covered by trees. This summer they accomplished five things they want people to know about:

• Worked in partnership with the Rivanna Conservation Alliance on the third cycle of the Green Team, which teaches young people about the value of trees and the importance of their role in area water quality 

• Clean Virginia awarded the group $15,000 to enhance education programs to expand the Green Team 

• The Virginia Department of Forestry awarded the group $21,410 through the Virginia Trees for Clean Water Program to plant trees in the Woolen Mills neighborhood

• The group was featured on VPM in late June to discuss their work to date (read the report)

• ReLeaf collected $180.75 in lemonade sales from a stand in Peacock Hill 

President Ryan’s community advisory panel turns 5 with a Community Day

No entity has as large an impact on Albemarle County and the City of Charlottesville as the University of Virginia. Soon after Jim Ryan became UVA’s ninth president in 2018, he created a working group to review ways relationships could be improved. 

The group was tasked with coming up with recommendations for what UVA could do to improve how it interacts with people who live in Charlottesville. Members included Mark Lorenzoni of the Ragged Mountain Running Shop, Juandiego Wade when he was on the city school board, and Barbara Brown Wilson of the UVA School of Architecture. 

“The University of Virginia and the community can forge a stronger relationship over the next five years with strategic, cooperative, and results-oriented action,” reads a summary of the working group’s report from February 25, 2019. 

The top four priorities in descending order were jobs and wages, affordable and workforce housing, public and equitable healthcare, and youth and education.  There were three broad recommendations:

1. Ensure significant University investments to support collaborative action in partnership with affected communities that reduces inequities in jobs and wages, housing, healthcare, and youth education 

2. Establish a new Vice President of Community Partnership (VPCP), overseeing a newly established Office of Community Partnerships and Social Impact (OCPSI) 

3. Found the Equity Institute to infuse principles of accountability and responsible community partnership throughout the University

The working group was made permanent as the President’s Council on UVA-Community Partnerships. Working groups have since been established in six areas ranging from affordable housing to public health. 

This Sunday, the Council will celebrate its fifth anniversary with a Community Day from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Booker T. Washington Park. 

“It’s a wonderful chance to meet local leaders, connect with fellow neighbors, and explore the partnerships that are creating lasting change in our region,” reads the invitation for the event on the Equity Center’s website. 

The Council’s website provides a monthly update on the six working group areas that may be worth reviewing before you go. (review the monthly updates) 

One of the initiatives that have come from the working groups is a proposal for UVA to contribute some of its land for housing that would be restricted to households below certain incomes. The goal is to provide between 1,000 and 1,500 

• Piedmont Housing Alliance is leading the redevelopment of a site off of Fontaine Avenue

• Preservation of Affordable Housing, an outside group, is developing a project at the corner of 10th and Wertland. The Board of Architectural Review took a look at a preliminary design in May. (read my story)

• A third project will be built at the North Fork Discovery Park in northern Albemarle. Albemarle Supervisors recently rezoned a portion of the property to allow for residential use. 

There is no working group on public infrastructure or public transportation. The University Transit Service only covers the UVA campus and portions of the Jefferson Park Avenue, Lewis Mountain, and Venable neighborhoods. Aside from the trolley-style bus, there is no overlap between UTS routes and Charlottesville Area Transit routes. 

Reading material for #740

• Hikers warned to stay off Appalachian Trail as damage from Hurricane Helene is assessed, Lindsay Hull, Cardinal News, October 3, 2024

• Why was Helene’s impact so bad for us?, Kevin Myatt, Cardinal News, October 3, 2024

• Greene County pitches in to aid those afflicted by Hurricane Helene, Kate Nuechterlein, WVIR 29NBC, October 3, 2024

• Heavy rain lifts Central Virginia out of drought, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall), October 3, 2024

• Greene County supervisor tries, fails to limit planning commision power, Heather Price Ives, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall), October 3, 2024

Notes for the end of #740

I’m not a fan of Saturday editions, but I traveled on Friday and there was information I wanted to get out to whoever might be reading this edition. The stories will be updated and sent to the archive site, and then tomorrow there will be a Week Ahead. I’m also traveling on Sunday, another trip related to my parents’ now living in a different state. 

If it were up to me, I would be working seven days a week, 12 hours a day. I wish I could explain how this work connects me to the world and how it often doesn’t seem like work at all. This is just what I do, trying to make sense of a world that doesn’t often make sense and an era in which lying has become commonplace. 

Maybe it’s always been that way? All I know is that I try to be accurate, thorough, and to correct myself when I make mistakes. This isn’t some moral high ground. It’s a business decision. I want as many people to trust the work I put my name to, so I work hard to research what I can. 

In full disclosure, I will be affected by the changes to Route 6. At times when my car is not operable, I rely on that bus to get to a grocery store and downtown. I’ll now have to walk much further to get to Route 4 and it’s likely public transportation will not be an option. This will be the second time a bus stop by my house has been eliminated since I bought it in 2008. 

Continuing the disclosure, the first shout-out today for JMRL comes from a double-subscriber who is on Substack and Patreon. The second for Re-Leaf is for a $200 a year Substack subscriber. This may not make sense, but hopefully one day it will.

That $200 year subscription through Substack brought in a $200 match through Ting. That’s part of a generous sponsorship that’s been in place now since April 2021. This is incredibly generous, and if you sign up for service and you are within Ting’s service area, enter the promo code COMMUNITY you’re going to get:

• Free installation

• A second month for free

• A $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall