February 12, 2025: Charlottesville property owners have until 6 a.m. Thursday to shovel snow from sidewalks
Fluvanna County has reported an outage at its Emergency Communications Center with 911 service not reliable
The audience of Charlottesville Community Engagement is thoughtful. The people who read this newsletter are kind. Every individual consuming this information has their own story and it is a story worth hearing. These are some of the ways that the opening words of this February 12, 2025 reflect the Wednesday of National Courtesy Week, an officially recognized observance of the Virginia General Assembly. I’m Sean Tubbs, and I believe every word until I don’t.
In today’s installment:
Charlottesville City Manager Sam Sanders declares that the winter storm ended at 6 a.m. giving property owners 24 hours to clear public sidewalks
Albemarle County will keep their offices closed today, postponing the Board of Supervisors for another week
Fluvanna County is reporting an outage of 911 and non-emergency phone lines
First-shout: Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards
Today our yards are covered in snow, but soon it will be time to think about what you might plant this spring. One resource available to me comes through the Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards, an organization devoted to promoting and protecting native species which can also be choked and blocked by species that don’t originate in North America and thus may not have creatures that like to eat them.
On Tuesday, March 11, Tree Steward Tim Maywalt will hold a Tree Basics on Zoom Class with the title “Select, Plant, and Care for Trees.” Tim will discuss best practices for planting and show you how to care for your newly planted tree and your other landscape trees for the long term.
Learn how to select a tree for your property that will have the best chance to survive and flourish in the place that you choose for it.
The sessions are free but donations are always welcome! Register here!
Charlottesville City Manager gives property owners until 6 a.m. Wednesday to clear snow
The winter storm in Charlottesville officially ended at 6 a.m. which puts property owners on the clock to remove snow on public right-of-way.
“Snow must be removed from sidewalks by 6:00 AM on Thursday, February 13, 2025,” reads an information release sent out at 8:31 a.m. this morning. “This allows for temperatures to rise and reduce safety risks due to ice and will ensure City teams are able to move through not only primary but secondary streets as well.”
The requirement is to help people stay safe by giving an alternative to walking in the roadway.
“Please clear the entire width of the sidewalk rather than a shovel width to allow strollers and wheelchairs a clear pathway,” the announcement continues. “Additionally, please clear all of the sidewalks that touch your property in each direction, all the way to the street in applicable directions.”
There is also a request that people put down salt or sand.
Violators will be warned according to the code either in writing or delivered to the property owner.
“If after such warning and the passage of twenty-four (24) hours, the owner or occupant of the property affected by the provisions of this section shall fail to abate or obviate the condition, the director of neighborhood development services may do so and charge and collect the cost thereof from the owner or occupant of the property affected in any manner provided by law for the collection of Commonwealth or local taxes,” reads the code.
I’ve asked to see how many warnings and citations were given out by the city in the last storm and will provide an update accordingly.
Charlottesville City Hall remains closed today as are all city-run facilities and buildings.
Charlottesville Area Transit stopped operations at 3 p.m. on Tuesday due to the storm. Buses resumed operating this morning at 8 a.m. but service was slightly limited. For instance, there is only one vehicle running on Route 6. The CAT website will have any updates.
Charlottesville City Schools are operating on a two-hour delay on Thursday, February 13.
Albemarle County cancels Supervisors meeting until next week due to hazardous road conditions
Albemarle County is keeping their offices closed today due to the winter storm.
“Since 1 pm yesterday, there have been 46 motor vehicle crashes and 11 disabled vehicles in the Albemarle, Charlottesville, and UVA area,” reads an information announcement sent out at 8:59 a.m. “With freezing rain and low temperatures expected today, please remain off the roads as much as possible.”
County employees are working from home and online services are available.
The closure of the building means the Board of Supervisors meeting scheduled for this afternoon has been canceled. They had been expected to provide direction on the Comprehensive Plan process known as AC44, but that item will be carried over until their next regular meeting on February 19.
The Planning Commission had been expected last night to review the Parks, Recreation, and Open Space section of the Comprehensive Plan but that meeting was also canceled. All items from that meeting will now be heard on February 25.
The Crozet Community Advisory Committee is usually scheduled to meet on the second Wednesday of the month, but that meeting had already been canceled due to a potential lack of quorum.
So far the Places29-North Community Advisory Committee meeting scheduled for tomorrow night is still on. The main item on the agenda is a community meeting for an amendment to the rezoning for Brookhill development to allow more residential than currently allowed. I wrote about this back in October 2024 for C-Ville Weekly and I’ll do a recap in tomorrow’s edition of the newsletter.
911 is out in Fluvanna County after Brightspeed service outage
Fluvanna County is reporting that some residents may have trouble calling 911 and other non-emergency phone lines. A FAN Mail was sent out through email at 10:12 a.m.
“Citizens may have no or limited ability to make outgoing calls using traditional landline phones and that 911 calls from traditional landlines may not be reaching the Communications Center,” reads the message.
Residents were instead asked to call the numbers for the Sheriff’s Office directly. These are 434-589-8211 or 434-589-8212. That agency put out a notice at 9:24 a.m. this morning.
“The Fluvanna County Sheriff’s Office is asking that this information be shared across the community so that our citizens are fully informed of how to summon emergency and non-emergency assistance during this time,” reads that information release authorized by Major Aaron Hurd. “Law Enforcement, Fire and Emergency Services resources are available and are responding normally to all calls received.”
Additionally, Fluvanna’s ECC activated two additional numbers at 434-962-1761 and 434- 962-2894.
The Board of Supervisors budget work session scheduled for tonight has been canceled.
Last night’s meeting of the Fluvanna Planning Commission was canceled and will be rescheduled for February 18. That means you have extra time to learn about the four public hearings. Take a look at this story on Information Charlottesville.
Greene County Supervisors meeting rescheduled to Thursday
The winter storm that fell on February 11 canceled that day’s scheduled meeting of the Greene County Board of Supervisors meeting scheduled for this afternoon. They will now hold that joint work session with the Planning Commission on February 13 at 4:30 p.m. at the County Meeting Room at 40 Celt Road in Stanardsville.
Public hearings that had been scheduled for February 11 will instead be held on February 25, 2025.
Reading material:
Amish wedding means more buggies on the roads, CBS19 News, February 6, 2025
In Virginia, Democratic Lawmakers Clash With Youngkin Over RGGI Membership, Flood Relief, Charlie Paullin, Inside Climate News, February 10, 2025
Infrastructure, climate projects across Virginia in jeopardy as Trump targets federal funding, Katherine Hafner, WHRO Public Media, February 11, 2025
USAID shutdown would halt research grants to state universities, Shalina Chatlani, February 12, 2025
Climate advocate: Closure of EPA branch harms VA environment, Zamone Perez, Public News Service, February 12, 2025
The end of #811
This is the shortest edition of the newsletter in a while. I took off yesterday from this newsletter to write a story for C-Ville Weekly. I enjoy working with them and have taken on more cover stories than I used to. It’s a very different experience to be assigned a story, and I enjoy the challenge
I also love the editing process. As I told a class at the University of Virginia today, I don’t like not having an editorial team and I am hopeful in the future I’ll manage to work in an extra set of eyes for everything I produce. For expediency I skip that step.
I also slip the step of a lengthy diatribe because I want to get this one out and then reset tomorrow morning. All of the stories in this edition have already been posted to Information Charlottesville and I’ve made a few updates.
Tomorrow I’ll get back to work going through meetings and other stories. Right now my brain is thinking about long distance trails and how I likely should go out for a walk while there’s snow on the ground.
And now, a song: