Podcast for September 28, 2024: Albemarle’s SPEAR, Charlottesville seeks traffic management system and a trash study, and the CRHA buys three properties

For the last seven years, the Commonwealth of Virginia has recognized the fourth Saturday of September as Public Lands Day. That’s as good as any to consider taking a trip to one of Virginia’s 43 State Parks. That’s six more than in 2017 when the General Assembly passed legislation marking September 28 as a day to celebrate places that are owned by everyone. At one point, the future Biscuit Run Park in Albemarle was to have been a state park but that did not happen. Learn some of the story on cvillepedia. I’m Sean Tubbs, and it’s as good a time as any to have a podcast version of Charlottesville Community Engagement. 

In this installment:

• Albemarle County is keeping track of their strategic plan with SPEAR (learn more)

• Charlottesville seeks an Advanced Traffic Management System and other procurement updates (learn more)

• Charlottesville also seeks review of solid waste services in advance of FY26 budget (learn more)

• Charlottesville Parks and Recreation wins environmental award for invasives removal (learn more)

• CRHA takes action on several real estate resolutions including purchase of three properties (learn more)

• A quick look at four recent land use applications in Charlottesville  

  • Living Earth School

  • Carter Machinery

  • Arden Place II

  • Beaver Hill Mobile Home Community

• Albemarle EDA endorses CvilleBioHub’s grant application for workforce study (learn more)

• Albemarle’s new economic development director has a few updates including one on Rivanna Futures (learn more)

Today’s first shout-out:  Town Crier Productions

I am in the process of rethinking the shout-outs, and this being a podcast version and a Saturday, I’m taking a bit of time to talk about Town Crier Productions. That’s the name of the entity I created in 2020 that now operates Charlottesville Community Engagement as well as Information Charlottesville. The goal is to let people know about what’s happening at meetings of local government with an intent to get more people acquainted with the nuts and bolts. Even four years in, all of this work remains an experiment as I try to figure out how to grow. 

If you have questions about any of it, please drop me a line. And if you’d like to get your information in front of about 3,000 people each edition, perhaps we can work something out. 

This is most of this week’s stories posted at this newsletter as well as Information C

Second shout-out: Celebrating the community’s other information organizations!

In today’s second shout-out in the form of a house ad, I want to make sure everyone knows that every edition of the regular newsletter (not the podcast ones) ends with a section called Reading Material. Charlottesville Community Engagement is just one offering in a landscape that includes the Charlottesville Daily Progress, C-Ville Weekly, Charlottesville Tomorrow, and Cville Right Now,  I curate links from these sources because I believe a truly informed community needs multiple perspectives.

There’s also the Cavalier Daily, Vinegar Hill Magazine, the Fluvanna Review, the Crozet Gazette, NBC29, CBS19, and other sources. But if you look every day, you’ll find links to articles in national publications, all linked to give you more perspectives on some of the issues of our times.

Charlottesville’s map for solid waste pick-up. This wasn’t used in the newsletter this week, and I want an image to go with this one that isn’t the spreadsheet above. These are the little glimpses behind the scenery.