December 19, 2024: Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville wins $29.1 million federal grant for Southwood
Plus: A newly-elected member of the Albemarle School Board has died
The incredibly fancy software used to determine the positional relevance of each edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement has calculated this is the 784th edition of the newsletter about local and regional government. If you’re inclined to Roman numerals, this would put us at DCCLXXXIV.
If you’re inclined to military history, in the year 784, King Charlemagne was embroiled in the Saxon Wars, and the Japanese were at war with the Ainu. Closer to the now, if you want to call someone in the Grenadines or on Saint Vincent, you’re going to punch in 784 as an area code first. I’m Sean Tubbs, while none of this is strictly germane to what’s about to follow, I now know things I did not know before.
In today’s installment:
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville has landed a $29.1 million grant from the federal government to help cover the costs of redeveloping the Southwood Mobile Home Community
A newly elected member of the Albemarle School Board has died
A new pediatric health clinic opens tomorrow in northern Albemarle as part of a partnership between UVA Health Children’s and Sentara Martha Hospital
Charlottesville City Council makes appointments to Boards and Commissions
A new stretch of sidewalk is expected to open up tomorrow in Charlottesville’s Belmont neighborhood
City Manager Sanders addresses concerns about a potential low-barrier shelter on Cherry Avenue
First-shout: WTJU’s Offbeat Roadhouse features Duo Boheme this Friday
Every Friday night at 8 p.m, Offbeat Roadhouse on WTJU invites a different musical group into your home for an hour long concert live from WTJU’s performance space. Each week there will be Blues, Folk, Jazz, and Roots acts from around the globe.
This Friday, Duo Boheme will pull into the Offbeat Roadhouse for a live concert. This violin guitar duo offer an elegant throwback to the 1920’s and 30’s, providing an array of Django Reinhardt – inspired French “gypsy” jazz tunes.
This is a free event, open to all. You can also listen to Offbeat Roadhouse on the radio (91.1 FM) or on-line, and even video stream it at WTJU’s Facebook page or YouTube channel. But concerts always sound better with you as part of the studio audience. WTJU is located at 2244 Ivy Rd in Charlottesville, right next door to Vivace.
Curious? Check out some of the music first!
HUD awards $29.1 million to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville’s initiative to redevelop the Southwood Mobile Home Park as a mixed-income community has received a major boost from the federal government.
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development announced today that Habitat is among 17 organizations across the country that will receive an award from the Preservation and Reinvestment Initiative for Community Enhancement (PRICE) program.
“PRICE provides historic first-time federal grants to support communities in their efforts to maintain, protect, replace, and stabilize manufactured housing and manufactured housing communities,” reads a fact sheet for the announcement of $225 million in grants.
Other recipients include the city of Boise, Idaho, which will use $6.7 million to build manufactured housing and the Commonwealth of Kentucky which will use $28.2 million to provide repairs to older manufactured units. For the full list, take a look at the fact sheet.
“Recognizing the repair and development needs in the Southwood Mobile Home Park and affordable housing pressures in the greater area, Greater Charlottesville Habitat for Humanity Inc will use its $29.1 million in PRICE grant funding to redevelop part of the existing MHC into a mixed-income, mixed-use development and preserve half of the existing MHC and invest in critical infrastructure and community needs,” reads the narrative in the fact sheet.
A request for additional information from Habitat was not received at press time but this story will be updated when it is posted to Information Charlottesville.
Habitat purchased the Southwood Mobile Home Park in 2007 and spent many years developing a plan to redevelop the site. There have been two separate rezonings for the project with the first approved in August 2019 for 450 units and 50,000 square feet of non-residential space on undeveloped land outside the main community.
The second phase was for the actual redevelopment of the area where trailers currently stand and allows for a range between 527 and 1,000 units, with 227 of them required to be designated as affordable. Learn more from a November 2022 story posted to Information Charlottesville.
Pace dies shortly after being re-elected to Albemarle School Board
A man recently re-elected to represent the Rio District on the Albemarle School Board has died, according to an information release from an education advocacy group.
“It is with heavy hearts that we acknowledge the recent, sudden passing of Albemarle County School Board member Chuck Pace,” reads the message from Forward Albemarle.
Pace was appointed to the School Board in late 2023 shortly after the election of Katrina Callsen to the 54th House District of the Virginia General Assembly. He won election to a four-year term on November 5 with 52.35 percent of the vote in a contested race.
Forward Albemarle said Pace has a legacy of influence in the county’s school system.
“He spent nearly 30 years as a science educator in ACPS, 11 years as the K-12 Science Instructional Coordinator for the division,” the release continues. “He was a coach, a mentor, and a friend to so many.”
Fellow School Board member Allison Spillman also shared condolences on her Facebook page.
“Chuck spent his career teaching and coaching and his passion for students and teachers was evident in his work on the school board,” Spillman wrote in a post this morning.
Officials with Albemarle County Public Schools did not respond to a request for comment. This is a developing story and more will be posted to Information Charlottesville.
UVA Health Children’s and Sentara Martha Jefferson to open new clinic tomorrow
Two large medical providers in the area cut the ribbon this week on a new clinic intended to increase capacity for helping young people in need.
“I could not be prouder and more excited that UVA Health and Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital have partnered to open a new outpatient pediatric, neurodevelopmental and behavioral health clinic here in Albemarle County to meet the growing needs for care in central Virginia,” said Karin Skeen, the administrator of UVA Health Children’s.
The clinic will open for patients tomorrow at 2325 Seminole Lane in Albemarle County just to the south of the South Fork of the Rivanna River. The venture aims to provide mental health service for childrens and teens at a time when 20 percent are believed to have some sort of a condition.
“Our pediatricians in the Virginia chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics were surveyed after COVID 19 finished,” said Dr. Craig Kent, chief executive officer at UVA Health. “And the amount of anxiety amongst our children has increased 55 percent and the amount of depression has increased almost 50 percent. So I think the sum of it is there's a need.”
One of the goals of the new center is to reduce wait times for services by bringing practitioners from many different fields under one roof according to another UVA Health executive.
“It's going to have specialized parent child interactive therapy and what this means is it's going to be the only clinic in our region where psychologists are going to provide real time coaching to parents supporting young children with behavioral and emotional challenges,” said Wendy Horton, CEO of UVA Health University Medical Center. “
Horton said the clinic will accept all insurance types and no child will be turned away due to financial circumstances.
The project is two years in the making according to Sentara Martha Jefferson President Paul Gaden. He said he knows from personal experience how important mental health resources are for today’s youth.
“I've had to access these types of services and resources for someone in my family throughout their childhood and including today through their early adulthood,” Gaden said. “It's an exhausting journey, even in communities where these resources exist. An even greater challenge to those who live in communities where they do not.”
Gaden said Sentara Martha Jefferson and UVA Health are different types of organizations, but he is hopeful more partnerships such as this one can take place in the future.
Senator Creigh Deeds (D-11) was also on hand for the ribbon-cutting and said the clinic will serve a growing need.
“We've seen coming out of the pandemic, a crisis, crisis in children's mental health,” Deeds said. “We need to keep children, we need to keep people out of crisis. And the way you do that is through prevention, through preventative care. And this facility, I think, is going to help make that happen throughout Central Virginia.”
The project is financed in part through a $3 million capital campaign.
Charlottesville City Council appoints UVA official to Airport Commission
A top economic development at the University of Virginia has been named to one of two governance bodies that oversee the Charlottesville Regional Airport.
City Council on Monday appointed Pace Lochte to the Charlottesville-Albemarle Airport Commission. Lochte is the assistant vice president for economic development at UVA and is also the chair of the three-person Airport Authority Board.
The other members of the Airport Authority Board are Albemarle County Executive Jeffrey Richardson and Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders. You can learn more about the governance on the airport’s website.
In other appointments, four people were renamed to the Housing Advisory Committee. They are Pepe Linden, Sunshine Mathon, Mike Parisi, and Nicole Scro. Mathon is the executive director of the Piedmont Housing Alliance.
Mike Gaffney will once again serve as the citizen representative to the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority and the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority. He’s now held that position since February 2003.
Melissa Carter was named to the Piedmont Family YMCA Board of Directors.
Shortly before announcing the appointments, City Councilor Michael Payne said applications are being taken through February 1, 2025 for many vacancies.
“There are openings on the following commissions,” Payne said. “Charlottesville Affordable Housing Fund (CAHF) Committee, Board of Architectural Review, Economic Development Authority, Citizens Transportation Advisory Committee, Community Development Block Grant Task Force, Human Rights Commission, Local Board of Building Code Appeals, Minority Business Commission, Police Civilian Oversight Board, Sister Cities Commission, Towing Advisory Board, Tree Commission, Vendor Appeals Board, and the Youth Council.”
The Police Civilian Oversight Board applications are due on January 3. Visit the city’s website to apply.
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New sidewalk opens tomorrow and other highlights from city manager report
As Charlottesville works to implement a backlog of transportation infrastructure projects, City Manager Sam Sanders had news on one pathway expected to open in the Belmont neighborhood this week.
“The sidewalk that’s being constructed on Monticello [Avenue] that leads around the curve down to Quarry Road will be open this Friday,” Sanders said. “We did that project internally trying to turn over a new leaf internally and show that we can do projects ourselves and help people appreciate that that can be done.”
Other sections of sidewalk completed in the last year or so include a stretch of East High Street, a connection further to the west on Monticello Avenue to the Ridge Street intersection, and a ten foot asphalt path on 9th Street SW in the Fifeville neighborhood.
Sanders also said the city is considering seeking grant funding for two additional battery-electric school buses to add for a total of four. A decision is due before a deadline in January.
In his written report, Sanders said the city has posted job announcements for the position of city attorney as well as the director of human resources. The company Raftelis is handling the search for both jobs.
According to the job posting, the city attorney’s position pays between $195,000 and $225,000 annually. The position has been vacant since Jacob Stroman retired in September within a day of being reinstated after being placed on administrative leave in April. The city continues to pay a law firm to serve in the position.
The human resources position has a pay range between $135,000 and $180,000 according to that posting.
The city is also taking donations from people who would like to help cover utility costs for people who are struggling. The Charlottesville Gas Assistance Program (GAP) “is designed to help those individuals heating with natural gas who, although in financial need, do not qualify for State Fuel Assistance or whose State Assistance allocation has been exhausted” according to the report.
Checks should be payable to “City of Charlottesville” with GAP in the memo section. Payment can be made to:
Utility Billing
P.O. Box 591
Charlottesville, VA 22902
Sanders addresses low-barrier shelter before Council approves $3 million for other Salvation Army project
In an era of shifting norms, Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders took a moment before City Council’s public comment period on December 16 to address a previously floated idea to use city funding to help launch a low-barrier shelter on Cherry Avenue.
Sanders was unable to attend a December 12 meeting of the Fifeville Neighborhood Association at which three members of City Council were present to hear concerns from some in the community.
“I have committed to come to the Fifeville Neighborhood Association meeting in January and I recognize that a number of people are planning to speak this evening on this subject,” Sanders said.
Before people spoke, Sanders called on speakers to not villainize people who are homeless in the community and he had seen people who were doing just that.
“I think it’s also important for us to appreciate that no decision has been made and while it may feel like a decision has been made, no decision has been made,” Sanders said. “It is a concept that we are looking at, seriously looking at, because it is a viable opportunity to bring a year-round low-barrier shelter to this community.”
Sanders said the city went through a volatile situation when there was an encampment at Market Street Park in the fall of 2023 and since then he has been working to identify ways to increase capacity.
“I have been working on this issue since then,” Sanders said. “It is not a new issue. There have been some folks who have been surprised by the idea that there’s a discussion about a low-barrier shelter in this community. I’ve been talking about it for a year.”
Sanders outlines work plan, homeless intervention strategy, October 9, 2023
City Manager Sanders provides update on Charlottesville’s efforts to assist the unhoused, September 12, 2024
Charlottesville City Manager Sanders announces upcoming “community interventions” including $5 million for the Salvation Army, October 23, 2024
Sanders said he wants to help as many people as he can live inside and not outside and he is not looking to harm neighborhoods and he understands no one will want to volunteer to welcome the shelter into their community. He said the conversation is happening through discussions with the Salvation Army about the possibility of converting their thrift store.
Ben Eppard, a resident of 7 ½ Street SW, took issue with a media account that appeared to state that the entire neighborhood was opposed to the idea. He was present at the December 12 FNA meeting.
“There were a few people who voiced that complaint,” Eppard said. “The thing that kept being said over and over again was ‘not beside the playground’ which is understandable especially as we heard from the Salvation Army that the whole goal of the low-barrier shelter is to serve people that may be on… sex offender lists, etc.”
Eppard suggested that the Salvation Army consider expanding their family shelters on Cherry Avenue and putting the low-barrier shelter on Ridge Street, away from Tonsler Park. He said this was the first time many in the Fifeville neighborhood had heard the idea.
Sander’s written report for the December 16 meeting including information regarding how the Charlottesville Fire Department and the Charlottesville Area Rescue Squad has begun to track incidents involving the unhoused.
“Our records show that over the last six months, CFD and CARS have responded to 38 unhoused patients monthly on average,” reads the report. “The top three findings of attendants in charge on these incidents were non-traumatic pain (17.6 percent of calls), alcohol abuse (16.4 percent of calls), and bodily injuries (11.7 percent of calls).
Later in the meeting, Council agreed with Sanders’ recommendations to spend $3 million of the city’s unspent American Rescue Plan Act funds on the Salvation Army’s Center of Hope project.
“This is a part of capital campaign, part of the kickoff, I believe,” said Chris Cullinan, the city’s finance director. “The total project is something like $22 million in total. So this is sort of a upfront investment to hopefully leverage additional dollars to get that project going.”
If it proceeds, one way the costs of the Cherry Avenue project might be covered is through the annual surplus that is expected. Council also got a briefing on the annual audit but did not get specifics about how money is available.
“I am comfortable in saying that we did end FY24 with a surplus, but again, we need to let the audit process play out and get that final number,” Cullinan said.
Council will vote on the year-end appropriation sometime in January.
Third shout-out: Sing Karaoke with the Tip Top Twins on Friday night
One more quick shout-out for anyone interested in something fun to do tomorrow night. Live Arts is hosting a Holly-Jolly Friday Night Live Arts Karaoke night with local legends The TipTop Twins.
The event will be held Friday, December 20, 6:30-9:30pm, in the Gibson Theater. Bring your karaoke hit and belt your heart out on the Gibson stage, grab a drink and some confections, and celebrate the holidays with Live Arts!
Admission is free. Pay-What-You-Can to perform!
Reading material for #784
These two men will lead transportation policy in the Trump administration, Dan Zukowski, Smart Cities Dive, December 18, 2024
Youngkin unveils ambitious budget proposal for his final year as governor, Markus Schmidt, Charlie Paullin and Charlotte Rene Woods, Virginia Mercury, December 18, 2024
Venice on the Rivanna? Business owner has vision for future of Charlottesville riverfront, Hawes Spencer, Charlottesville Daily Progress (paywall), December 18, 2024The Supreme Court decisions that gutted environmental protections in 2024, Natalia Mesa, High Country News, December 19, 2024
Planning Commission recommends “parent tract” to limit land subdivisions, Heather Michon, Fluvanna Review, December 19, 2024
No other edition will be this #784
A rhythm has settled in. When you do something long enough, that happens. When I was an intern at WVTF Public Radio back in the winter of 1995, I learned skills that come in handy now such as how to think like a news director. I had been an editor at a college newspaper and have spent the decades since learning how to write, how to organize, and how to publish.
This year has been a leap forward in terms of pulling it all together, both on the business end as well as the production end. I’m not currently exercising the way I should be, but I learned a long time ago that the information game is a marathon, not a sprint.
I’m still not sure how the next two weeks will go. There’s so much I want to cover and I don’t plan to take any time off. That may seem odd, and it’s certainly not a brag. I’d like to be able to relax, but the time I spent reporting for a non-profit organization did not result in advancement at that place. So, I’m still very hungry to prove myself and to prove that there’s a need for the kind of journalism I do.
And over seven hundred of you are paying now. If you want to know why I work so hard, it is because every single payment matters to me. You’re helping me answer my call to service.
If you are not a paid subscriber yet, you have 12 days left to double your initial subscription. Since April 2021, Ting has matched the preliminary payment for hundreds of you, and that ends on December 31.
If you sign up for service and you are within Ting’s service area, enter the promo code COMMUNITY you’re going to get:
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A second month for free
A $75 gift card to the Downtown Mall
