This brief look and listen at our region is sponsored today by the Charlottesville Podcasting Network, bringing you public affairs programming since 2005, cvillepodcast.com offers hours of audio from the community’s recent past. That’s cvillepodcast.com.
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The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors and the Charlottesville City Council have both voted to limit occupancy in indoor restaurants and to require facial coverings in indoor spaces. The two resolutions were also endorsed by University of Virginia President Jim Ryan, even though the new rules are not binding on Grounds.
Deputy County Attorney Andy Herrick told Supervisors Monday that Albemarle’s ordinance change has three main components.
“The first is a limit on indoor occupants at food establishments, wineries, breweries and distilleries,” Herrick said. “It would provide for a limit of 50 percent of occupancy. The second provision is a limitation on gatherings. While phase 3 statewide limits gatherings to 250 people, the proposed ordinance would limit gatherings to 50 people with certain exceptions.”
Herrick said those exceptions are for outdoor food establishments, farm wineries, farm breweries, religious exercises, weddings, and for public demonstrations.
“Finally section 6 of the proposed ordinance would have a face covering requirement which would require face coverings at indoor public places and outdoor public places at which six foot physical distancing is not possible,” Herrick said.
Exceptions include residences, gyms, schools, religious institutions, and the county courthouse building. The ordinance had been modified since the Board last took it up last week with input from Albemarle’s Commonwealth’s Attorney Jim Hingeley.
Supervisor Donna Price of the Scottsville District likened the ordinance before the Board as a high-wire act.
“I believe as Supervisors that we have a responsibility for health and welfare as well as looking at the economic impact and that we are walking a bit of tight-rope here in trying to ensure that we take enough action without taking too much action,” Price said. “If we won’t take too enough action then we run the risk of our residents being infected and having spikes here that the rest of the country has seen. If we go too far then we have the potential of too much economic adverse impact.”
Supervisor Ned Gallaway of the Rio District urged anyone opposed to the ordinance to read it carefully before it goes into effect at midnight on August 1.
“And I won’t want folks to either think we’re being overly restrictive or not restrictive, Gallaway said. “Whether you’re for this ordinance or against this ordinance, I hope everybody will be mindful to read exactly what it is and isn’t doing.”
Supervisors voted unanimously to support the ordinance, which goes into effect at midnight on August 1 it will last for a period of sixty days. Herrick said the county is still looking into a policy to allow for restaurants to open more temporary outdoor seating.
The ordinance does not affect the school system, who held the third in a series of town hall meetings to discuss potential options for the upcoming school year. The School Board will hold a meeting on July 30 to make a final decision, as will their counterparts in Charlottesville.
University of Virginia President Jim Ryan sent an email to the Board and Council stating support for the ordinances.
“Now more than ever, we see ourselves as partners with all of you and with our neighbors in Charlottesville and the surrounding counties,” Ryan wrote. “It has become a cliché to say that we are in this together, but in our case, the actions of a few people on Grounds or in the community really can affect everyone else. That’s why we continue to monitor the situation on a daily basis, and why we are working to make the best possible decisions under ever-shifting conditions—as I know all of you are.”
Less than an hour later after the Albemarle meeting, four of the five City Councilors met to discuss a similar ordinance. City attorney John Blair described their draft as having stricter guidelines than those put forward by Governor Ralph Northam in Phase 3, which Virginia entered on July 1. Like Albemarle’s ordinance, the city’s will also limit in-person gatherings to fifty or less.
“What this local ordinance would do would be to capture all indoor public spaces and it’s important to note that the ordinance itself,” Blair said.
The city’s ordinance has language that covers Councilor’s desire to make sure that not wearing a mask would not be an offense that would result in incarceration.
Blair said Albemarle’s ordinance states that a violation would be a Class 1 misdemeanor, which could lead up to a year of jail time. Instead it would be a Class 3 misdemeanor.
Councilor Lloyd Snook said he had been contacted by restaurant owners about the ordinance, which he supported because physical distancing rules also limit capacity by reducing available space.
“My suspicion is that it’s not going to hurt them, and number two, it’s going to hurt them, if they’re truly trying to enforce what the law would require it,” Snook said.
Charlottesville Mayor Nikuyah Walker was absent. The city’s ordinance also goes into effect on August 1. For more on the two meetings, listen to the latest episode of the Charlottesville Quarantine Report.
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The University of Virginia will reopen its Aquatics and Fitness Center (AFC) and other athletic facilities on August 3, according to a report on the Cavalier Daily. Members of the AFC will need to reserve a space and space will be limited. Other areas that will reopen are the Snyder Tennis Courts and the Artificial Turf Fields at the Park. (UVA rec website)
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Governor Northam will speak at 2 p.m. today at a press conference to give updates on Virginia’s response to COVID-19. He last held such an event on July 14. Northam was in Hampton yesterday to unveil a $70 million grant package for small business that comes from the federal CARES Act. The Rebuild VA program will help up to 7,000 applicants to cover costs associated with the pandemic.
“This grant program will provide up to $10,000 for small businesses and nonprofits to help them meet existing or unpaid expenses such as back due rent or utility payments,” Northam said. ”The funding can also be used to prepare for and respond to this this new environment, whether that means purchasing PPE or hand sanitizers for employees or pivoting to a new business model to better serve their customers.”
To be eligible, businesses must not have received federal loans from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) or other such initiatives. (press release)
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The Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority will meet today at 2:15 p.m. for a virtual meeting. In a report to the Board of Directors, executive director Bill Mawyer said two groups at the University of Virginia are planning to study wastewater before and after students come back to trace "the prevalence of SARS COV 2 in wastewater as an indicator of community health and infection rate." (agenda)
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In Greene County, the Board of Supervisors there will meet and get an update on their water supply plan. Last week, the Rapidan Service Authority voted 4 to 2 to stop the collection of monthly facilities fees that were intended to help cover the capital costs of a new reservoir. They meet in an open session beginning at 7:30 p.m. They’ll also get an update on COVID-19 from Greene’s emergency management director. (agenda)
July 28, 2020: Albemarle and Charlottesville vote to require masks, limit gathering sizes