Today’s installment comes with support from the Charlottesville Podcasting Network. Celebrating 15 years of audio from the community and planning for another 15 and beyond.
There are another 872 cases of COVID-19 reported by the Virginia Department of Health, just below the seven-day average of 928 new cases per day. The seven-day average for positive test results has declined to 5.5 percent from 5.7 percent yesterday. The Thomas Jefferson Health District reports another 15 cases, lower than the seven-day average of 53. There is another COVID-19 related death, this time of someone in Louisa County.
The University of Virginia updated their COVID-19 tracker Monday afternoon, three days after last giving new official numbers for the ongoing outbreak. They reported 50 new cases on Friday, 15 cases on Saturday, and seven on Sunday. That’s a total of 562 cases since August 17, with 508 of them students.
However, a more useful number tracks active cases which are defined as “new cases with a positive test during the past ten days who require isolation on or off Grounds.” More than a quarter of the quarantine rooms are occupied, and seven percent of isolation rooms are occupied. Quarantine is defined as “for those who may have been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19” and isolation is “for those who have tested positive for COVID-19.”
As many as four residence halls have been identified for testing, with residents of Leferve being told Sunday they would need to go through tests after early detection measures raised the alarm.
“The University will continue to conduct wastewater and prevalence testing throughout the UVA community in order to detect cases as early as possible and take action to limit the spread of the virus,” reads a message posted to UVA Facebook page on Sunday.
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Total enrollment is down this year in Albemarle County School by five percent according to figures presented yesterday to the Places-29 Hydraulic Community Advisory Committee. However, School Board Chairwoman Kate Acuff said the decline is higher when you include only elementary school pupils. There were 6,483 students in the county’s 15 elementary schools on September 30, 2019. That number on September 9 was 5,856, a 9.7 percent decline. (presentation)
“Two thirds of the drop in enrollment are elementary school kids,” Acuff said. “[They] are the ones who probably have the most difficulty navigating in virtual education and of the elementary kids, half of them are kindergarteners, or would have been kindergarteners.”
Albemarle County Schools are currently in stage two, which means mostly all students are receiving virtual instruction. A move to stage three would be a hybrid model for pre-K through 3rd grade students and officials are currently studying whether conditions merit that change.
“Under this protocol, Dr. Haas, the superintendent, is obligated to make a recommendation halfway through a term about whether we should move to another stage or stay where we are,” Acuff said.
The Places29-Hydraulic CAC was also presented with plans from Jaunt for their on-demand transit project. CEO Brad Sheffield has been visiting many elected and appointed bodies to get feedback on the idea.
“This is really not a big jump for us,” Sheffield said. “It’s more of a slight evolution of where we are headed with the types of services that we want to provide and how we want to be able to provide those quickly.”
Sheffield said Jaunt and other transit agencies are currently experiencing lower ridership and reduced revenues due to being fare-free. But he added that the goal is to make transit work better for people in the future, especially those who may qualify for subsidies.
“We want to make sure that the customers just don’t have to worry about where or how to get to their locations or even about what to pay,” Sheffield said. “If there are different programs or different types of services that they are eligible for, and that helps cover the cost, that’s what this type of platform would answer for them almost immediately.”
Sheffield said data collected through pilot projects will help improve the overall transit system.
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The Wintergreen resort in Nelson County will open the winter ski season on December 11.
“In addition to following all CDC and local regulations, Wintergreen will require face coverings, will make the necessary changes to allow for physical distancing, and will closely monitor employee health including requiring employees to stay home if they are sick,” reads a September 14 letter from Rod Kessler, Wintergreen’s General Manager. If there is a need for enforcement limits on a given day, priority will be given to season pass holders. The resort is also giving anyone who has already purchased a pass the opportunity to defer it to next year.
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More than 70 miles of railway between Charlottesville and Clifton Forge will get an upgrade thanks to $13.7 million in federal grants announced yesterday. Funding for the Buckingham Branch Railroad North Mountain Subdivision will cover the cost of upgrades to 14 at-grade rail crossings, improve bridges and new drain systems in the tunnel that runs through the mountains at Afton. Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner announced the funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Grant. Last year, the state of Virginia and CSX reached an agreement to purchase the railway, which will continue to be operated by Buckingham Branch.
“The benefit of the suite of projects reduces maintenance costs on [Buckingham Branch Railroad],” said Haley Glynn with the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation.
Part of the work also includes eliminating some clearance restrictions.
“While removal of the clearance restrictions benefits freight services, maintaining class track safety standards and installing continuous welded rail allows passenger speeds up to 60mph, improves signal reliability, and results in a noticeably improved ride quality for passenger trains, including the Amtrak Cardinal Service which operates over this segment 3 days per week,” Glynn said.
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Yesterday, the Albemarle Architectural Review Board took a look at several projects including a new Sheetz in the northwest corner of the intersection of U.S. 29 and Airport Road. That project had to undergo several changes including a smaller fuel canopy.
“I think that the prominence of this site, it’s elevation above U.S. 29 maybe does make it more of a concern here that it is across the street or in some other locations where we have looked at larger canopies where grade effectively mitigates the appearance,” said ARB member Dade Van Der Werf.
They have also been asked to reduce the number of fuel dispensers from eight to six. Lee May is engineering and permit manager for Sheetz and he said that might be an issue.
“Operating 600 of these locations, we’ve learned over time what works and what doesn’t work and whenever we drop to six its really important they be spread out to serve the same volume of customers,” May said.
The ARB asked May to reduce the width of drive aisles in order to help move the building closer to the street, a key design guideline in Albemarle County.
The ARB also reviewed an application for a redesign of the southern portion of Albemarle Square to make way for a new Aldi store, which would feature a corner tower with the trademark logo. The building was formerly a Fresh Market, and before that a Circuit City building. Frank Hancock is another ARB member who favored the design.
“It works surprisingly well with the existing architecture and I think it’s more successful than the Fresh Market in its response and connection to the Rio Road corridor,” Hancock said.
The ARB will hold another work session on the Aldi after a more refined design is submitted.
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Today in meetings, the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority meets at 2:15 p.m. items include an agreement between the RWSA and the University of Virginia to study ways to boost wastewater capacity on campus, and a presentation on how the water and wastewater systems operated by the RWSA work. (meeting info)
The Greene County Board of Supervisors meets at 7:30 p.m. One item is a public hearing on through truck restrictions on Fredericksburg Road (Route 609) between U.S. 29 and U.S. 33. There is also a presentation on a new Post Office facility near Dyke, an update on CARES Act funding, and a progress report on the Business Disruption Grant Program. There’s also first reading on a resolution to begin review of the county’s Comprehensive Plan. (agenda)
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September 22, 2020: Albemarle school enrollment down; 70 miles of railway improvements