Today is the penultimate day before the third birthday of this newsletter and podcast. This is now the 555th’ edition of a program created to inform readers and listeners about a great number of items. Assuming the average length of each program is 1,850 words long, there have now been over a million words associated with Charlottesville Community Engagement. I’m one of many Sean Tubbs, but the only one fool enough to launch an information outlet.
On today’s program:
Charlottesville City Council selects Sam Sanders as the new City Manager
Plans have been filed for three more new buildings on Preston Avenue at Dairy Market
The Albemarle Economic Development Authority finds out what CvilleBioHub is doing
The latest figures for the Consumer Price Index indicate a decline in inflation rates
Charlottesville officials take questions at a recent meeting of neighborhood leaders
First shout-out: Piedmont Master Gardeners
In today’s first subscriber-supported public service administration: Have you grown something, made something, brewed something, or otherwise created something that’s worthy of a contest? The Piedmont Master Gardeners want you to consider showing off at the upcoming Albemarle County Fair! They’re calling on home gardeners, brewers, bakers, beekeepers, artists, crafters and viticulturalists to submit an entry.
The Fair is to be held July 27 through July 29 at James Monroe’s Highland and entries will be accepted on Wednesday, July 26. Ribbon winners will be selected the next day, and entries will be displayed through 8 p.m. Saturday, July 29.
The Fair will showcase the best of horticulture and homegrown vegetables and fruits from the Albemarle-Charlottesville area and highlight local skills in baking, food preservation, fine arts, photography and much more. The Master Gardeners will set up educational exhibits and children’s activities and will be available during the Fair to answer gardening questions at a mobile Help Desk.
Sanders selected as Charlottesville’s next City Manager
One of Charlottesville’s two deputy city managers is City Council’s choice to be Charlottesville’s next top official.
“It’s a big job and I’m ready to give it my all,” said Sam Sanders who has been Deputy City Manager for Operations since July 2021.
Sanders had been hired by then-City Manager Chip Boyles. He came to Charlottesville after serving for 18 years as the executive director of the Mid City Redevelopment Alliance in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
“I believe I bring a unique perspective having been in the trenches here for the past two years, learning and trying to understand what makes this place tick,” Sanders said. “I have been able to settle in and I’ve remained here because I really see way in which I can contribute.”
Sanders was one of more than 20 applicants for the position and one of four people who were interviewed. Mayor Charlottesville Lloyd Snook went through some of the commonalities between the candidates.
“They all had experience at top levels of municipal leadership,” Snook said. “They all had success. They all had done their homework to understand the challenges that this job brings. They all saw in the Charlottesville job an opportunity to help a city that had been through some tough times recently.”
The position of city manager has been held since January 2022 by Michael C. Rogers, who took himself out of consideration last week. Snook took the opportunity to thank him for his service.
“He brought stability at a time when we badly needed it in the City Manager’s office,” Snook said. “In the last 18 months, Mr. Rogers has reminded us that good things happen in government when you’re patient, when you have a breadth of experience, and when you cultivate relationships.”
Sanders said he acknowledges that Charlottesville has a “rich and complicated history.” He said he will continue to work toward a future where all residents have access and opportunity.
“Our little city is on the world map and I am encouraged that it is not simply because of the events of 2017,” Sanders said. “What I want to see is us achieving an evolution from that series of events to reclaim our narrative and one that will inspire us and other communities.”
Sanders said Charlottesville is not a city that runs away from its problems and is working to address systemic issues that plague other communities.
“We absolutely do have two life experiences here in Charlottesville and we can do what we need to do to bridge that divide,” Sanders said. “We must intervene with long and enduring efforts to reduce gun violence. We have to produce and preserve affordable housing. We have to work effectively to address the many challenges facing our unhoused population and we have to ensure this government remains strong, functional, financially sound, and disciplined.”
Council will hold a formal vote to elevate Sanders to the position on Monday night. City Councilor Leah Puryear said it has been an honor to work with Sanders since she was appointed to fill a vacancy earlier this year after serving four terms on the Charlottesville School Board.
“The thing that I respect most about you, Sam, is that you say things that I often said to my students,” Puryear said. “If you have a problem or you want something changed, come see me, but when you come, you have to bring a solution and we will work it out together. You’ve been that for me, and I look forward to the remainder of my term for you continuing to be that for me.”
Sanders said he is looking forward to work with anyone who is ready to help bring solutions to city government. He also thanked his fellow Deputy City Manager Ashley Marshall for her continued service. Sanders also lauded Rogers’ service for the past year and a half.
“A year and a half with this guy who has been a steadfast contributor to the idea of ‘let’s get some stuff done and let’s bring back boring government,” Sanders said. “It is my charge to keep it here.”
For more on Sander’s work to date, go back and read through some articles of his tenure to date.
Deputy City Manager Sanders reviews recent audit of Charlottesville’s housing fund, April 6, 2022
Sanders provides updates on school walk zones, July 20, 2022
Charlottesville infrastructure updates: Sanders seeks more time to help city build back capacity, December 6, 2022
Third phase in the works for Dairy Market
The redevelopment of Preston Avenue will take another step forward now that Stony Point Development Group is moving forward with a plan to build a third phase at Dairy Market.
The area to be developed covers 4.41 acres. As of this moment, Stony Point Development Group owns only one of the three parcels. The others are held by Rennick Properties.
A community meeting will be held for the project on July 25 at Old Trinity Church from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
There are two conceptual drawings included in the announcement. Both feature two new buildings along Preston Avenue that would be seven stories tall tapering to five stories on West Street.
Several businesses currently exist at the site including Twice is Nice, Fifth Season, and Preston Suds.
CvilleBioHub Director pitches sector to Albemarle EDA
One of the top target industries that economic development officials in Albemarle County seek to grow is “Bioscience and Medical Devices.” The head of an organization designed to promote that sector addressed the Economic Development Authority at their meeting in June.
“We serve over 2,500 employees and we’ve seen tremendous growth,” said Nikki Hastings, the executive director of CvilleBioHub. “Five hundred new employees since the early pandemic days that we’ve tracked. Over 800,000 square feet of space is occupied both in the city and the county by this sector.”
Hastings said companies in the sector are finding larger and larger amounts of funding. A startup founded by UVA students called Agrospheres raised over $20 million last year in venture capital. Charlottesville-based Rivus Pharmaceuticals raised $132 million.
“We’re starting to see attention and attraction to this region for the biotech sector which is really exciting,” Hastings said.
Hastings said the new Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology is another opportunity for the industry to grow. It will be constructed at the Fontaine Research Park. However, she said the community is missing a key ingredient and CvilleBioHub exists to advocate for its inclusion.
“What we lack in Charlottesville and Albemarle is acceleration space,” Hastings said. “Our mission is to engage, resource these companies, accelerate them, provide them with education and knowledge of how do you spin from your concept that you might be developing at the University or even in the community, and so we’re agnostic but support all growth in the biotech sector. This is everything from new drugs being developed, medical devices, software technology supporting health health care initiatives.’
Hastings said a goal is to build that accelerator space that would allow start-ups to grow. They have the support of J.T. Newberry, the interim director of Albemarle’s Office of Economic Development.
“CvilleBioHub has come back to EDA with more and more impressive results every single year,” Newberry said. “I feel like the organization has continued to make just significant contributions to the community.”
For more on CvilleBioHub, visit their website. For more on how all of these pieces fit together, continue reading Charlottesville Community Engagement.
Inflation pressures may be slowing
The federal agency that measures the costs of goods and services in the United States of America has reported a 0.2 percent increase in June. The Consumer Price Index compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics has increased by 3 percent over the past 12 months.
“This was the smallest 12-month increase since the period ending March 2021,” reads the press release sent out this morning.
Over the past 12 months, the index for energy costs has decreased 16.7 percent while the index for food increased 5.7 percent. New vehicles are 4.1 percent higher while used cars and trucks have dropped 5.2 percent. The cost of shelter has increased 7.8 percent over the past year.
Second shout-out: WTJU staging the Cville Puzzle Hunt on August 26
In today’s second Patreon-fueled shout-out: By now, readers and listeners know WTJU’s position on algorithms. But do you know that the radio station celebrates puzzles? In fact, on Saturday, August 26, WTJU is organizing the second annual Cville Puzzle Hunt, a huge, cerebral puzzle that will spool out across downtown Charlottesville.
The Cville Puzzle Hunt will take you and a team of friends on a wild afternoon running around trying to untangle five diabolical, large-scale puzzles inserted into the urban landscape. The opening clue will be read at 3 p.m. at the Ix Art Park. Find out more about this WTJU-organized event at cvillepuzzlehunt.com.
Neighborhood leaders ask questions about Fifeville transit, Stribling Avenue
Once every three months, leaders of neighborhood associations in Charlottesville have an audience with the City Manager. The latest meeting was on June 15 though outgoing interim City Manager Michael C. Rogers was not on the Zoom call.
Instead the meeting was facilitated by Alex Ikefuna, the director of the Office of Community Solutions. He has some updates.
“We’ve hired a new housing program manager, Antoine Williams,” Ikefuna said.
Williams fills a position that has been vacant for nearly three years.
“He’s going to be responsible for overseeing our housing program, federal housing funds, implementation of the Affordable Housing Plan along with related activities,” Ikefuna said.
Several community members have approached the city with requests to have their particular community added, such as the Little High Neighborhood Association. Ikefuna had an update.
“This map when it was created, it was for planning purposes only and there is no plan to change the map,” Ikefuna said. “However, we are proposing to create another map and may perhaps modify this map for neighborhood leaders.”
Ikefuna said any association that wanted to form would have to have a resolution approving new boundaries, and that would have to be approved by the association they would be leaving.
“It’s going to be a complex process,” Ikefuna said. “I think it’s going to be protracted as well and that was the original reason why we didn’t to change the boundaries of the planning map.”
To make things even more confusing, there are also neighborhood assessment maps as well. But for the purposes of the neighborhood map, Ikefuna requested official requests from leaders.
The president of the Fifeville Neighborhood Association had one question about transit.
“I was just wondering if there was going to be any route changes in Fifeville coming anytime soon?” asked Carmelita Wood.
Her question was fielded by Stacey Smalls, the public works director. But he didn’t have an answer.
“All changes to the transit system is transit, so we can take your question and then get that to the transit department,” Smalls said.
“Ms. Wood, let me ask you,” Ikefuna chimed in. “Have you guys, your neighborhood association, have you made a formal request in the past?”
“We’ve talked maybe a few years ago about maybe going back to every half hour,” Woods said.
Fifeville is currently served by Route 4 and Route 6. On January 3 of this year, Council appropriated $1 million in surplus funds from FY22 to purchase two additional buses specifically for Charlottesville Area Transit Route 6.
I have a question in to the city about the status of this initiative. CAT is currently taking public input on a transit strategic plan, two years after rolling out route changes that were never implemented with the official answer being a lack of drivers.
Read my latest story for more on that plan.
Next was a question about the status of improving Stribling Avenue with a sidewalk and appropriate drainage to prepare it for additional pedestrian, bike, and vehicular traffic expected to come with the development of 169 apartment units approved by Council last April. The upgraded road was a condition of the rezoning and the budget has increased to $5.4 million.
City engineer Jack Dawson had an update. Here’s a reminder that the city is still trying to add capacity to deal with transportation projects.
“We are working right now with our limited project management staff to try and possibly submit that for a grant,” Dawson said. “I don’t know if we’re going to be able to do that for revenue-sharing. That process closes soon. But after that we are trying to on-board some project managers and that is the first one in the queue.”
Smalls said he just approved the budget for two new project managers for transportation.
The next meeting of this group will be on September 21.
Take a look at the whole video on YouTube.
Reading material:
A committee recommends police partner with mental health experts, Gretchen Stenger, CBS19, July 9, 2023
Greene County to be featured on Real Virginia program, Morning Ag Clips, July 10, 2023
While The Meadows is one of Charlottesville’s newer neighborhoods, it’s population has declined in the last decade, Erin O’Hare and Evan Mitchell, Charlottesville Tomorrow, July 10, 2023
Closing time for 555:
Three years is a long time to pay attention to what’s happening in local and regional government and I’m so pleased to be able to do this work. This is the kind of work that newspapers used to do with a series of reporters on beats making sure that nothing got past them. For now, it’s just me doing this at about one quarter of my capacity but I’m trying as best i can to keep you informed.
You can help that effort by becoming a paid subscriber. I’m grateful there are over 500 of you who have done so. I’m convinced that number will go up as the numbers of published editions push past 555 toward 666, 777, 888, and beyond. Round and round we go hoping to never stop.
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July 12, 2023: Sanders gets nod to be Charlottesville’s permanent City Manager; Third phase planned for Dairy Market