Week Ahead for February 23, 2026: Fluvanna Planning Commission to resume consideration of Tenaska applications for power plant
Plus: Greene County Supervisors might appoint a recent vacancy
The final week of February has arrived with no objective way to measure the passage of time except to continuously write out what is happening in local, state, and regional government around Charlottesville, Virginia. Subjectively, the river of time is raging.
A purpose of journalism is to simply write out what opportunities community members have to get involved and to know what is happening. This is the main objective of Town Crier Productions, an entity I created in 2020 to continue a career I began in the early 90’s simply because I wanted to know how things work. Go to the bottom of this edition to learn about a new step in this journey.
In my work, I do not want to tell anyone what to think and I am more inclined to just tell people to keep an open mind while sorting through documents. Others do want to influence your opinions but my mission each week is to hopefully launch conversations. There are many reasons people do this kind of work.
I just want people to have access to information as well as a non-government version of what’s going on. My work is not public relations but is in the same basic field. I want you to think for yourself.
As I write this, a blizzard is about to hit where I am currently outside Philadelphia. As I finish publication, I’m sitting at a brewery called Aristaeus Craft Brewing, a place I hope I can send at least one reader here if you’re ever in Middletown Township. It reminds me of Champion Brewery before Icarus flew too close to the sun.
Some highlights this week:
The Fluvanna Planning Commission will resume consideration Tuesday of two land use applications for Tenaska’s request for a second natural gas-powered power station
Greene County Supervisors on Tuesday might appoint a new colleague but will hold a public hearing on further restrictions of events at farm wineries, breweries, and distilleries.
The Albemarle Planning Commission will take up a rezoning for 153 units on 3 acres off of Rio Road West
Albemarle County residents will get the first look at a budget for FY2027 on Wednesday when County Executive Jeffrey Richardson presents it to the Board of Supervisors
The area’s transportation planning body will meet on Wednesday with a lot of jargon-laden updates
This weekly look at what’s coming up is sponsored every week by the Piedmont Environmental Council.
Monday, February 23, 2026
Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority to meet
If you click on the City of Charlottesville’s calendar of government meetings for the 6 p.m. meeting of the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority, you will get this message.
“No published Meeting Files”
The CRHA is a government entity separate from the City of Charlottesville, but they do not consistently post information about their meetings on their website. The city does televise CRHA meetings which are available for review.
But this newsletter is perhaps the only way anyone would know what to expect at meetings of an organization in the midst of expanding 20th century public housing into new units for the 21st century intended to be affordable for generations.
The CRHA also doesn’t post their minutes online despite a requirement in Virginia law that all public bodies do so. That makes it hard for journalists and others to keep track of what is happening.
Each month, I post the materials sent out to a distribution list to a public website where anyone can look at them. For instance, here’s the agenda.
One of the items this time around is an update of the policy that governs CRHA’s purchase of goods and services. This was last amended in 2020.
A second item on the agenda is an update of the parking policy.
The agenda packet also includes many reports.
The CRHA Property Management Report provides a snapshot of the waiting list, an accounting of units that have not paid their rent (116 in February), and outstanding balances ($209,584). This document also provides a list of steps taken to prevent evictions.
There is also an accounting of how many housing choice vouchers are in play as of February 2026.
There is also an update on redevelopment efforts at South First Street, Sixth Street, and the “scattered” sites. This document also tracks homeownership efforts.
The report from Deputy Director Kathleen Glenn-Matthews has more information about eviction diversion and self-sufficiency.
In other meetings:
The Board of Commissioners for the Charlottesville-Albemarle Convention & Visitors Bureau will meet at 1 p.m. the CACVB Administrative Office, 3510 Remson Court, Suite 102. They’ll be presented with the FY2027 budget. (meeting info)
The Board of Trustees of the Jefferson Madison Regional Library will meet at the Louisa County Library in Mineral at 3 p.m. On the agenda is a budget update for FY2027. (agenda)
The Fluvanna County Social Services Board will meet at 3 p.m. in the 1st Floor Conference Room at 8880 James Madison Highway. (meeting info)
The Albemarle County Historic Preservation Committee meets at 4:30 p.m. in the county’s office building at 1600 Fifth Street Extended. The January meeting was not held so if there is a quorum, they will select officers and go over the most recent demolitions in the county. (meeting info)
The Charlottesville Police Civilian Oversight Board will have a special work session to go over the Freedom of Information Act and to prepare for a meeting with the Charlottesville City Council on May 18. They will meet in their office at 106 5th Street NE. (meeting packet)
Tuesday, February 24, 2026
Greene Supervisors to hold public hearing on agricultural event restrictions
The four remaining members of the Greene County Board of Supervisors will meet at 5:30 p.m for a closed session. Will they appoint a replacement or will that wait until after the results of a lawsuit filed by former Supervisor Francis McGuigan? (agenda)
Either way, the agenda does not specifically list that a new member will be appointed. The Piedmont Journal Recorder reported on Friday that a total of ten people applied and were interviewed.
After a public comment period there will be a public hearing on potential changes to county code to place further restrictions on events that are allowed by state code at farm wineries, farm breweries, and distilleries. One of the changes would cap attendees of events at 150 with a special use permit needed for more.
There will also be a monthly update on the water supply expansion and an update from the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Supervisors will also provide direction on what grant opportunities to pursue through something called “Congressionally Directed Spending.”
“The Community Project Funding process was created to ensure that Members of Congress, in concert with the communities they represent, may submit direct applications for Federal funding to support locally planned projects as part of the annual appropriations process,” reads a presentation.
In recent years, Greene County has received $750,000 for park safety improvements, $60,000 for the Sheriff’s Department, and over a million for water main improvements in Stanardsville and western Albemarle.
Fluvanna Planning Commission to resume consideration of second Tenaska power plant
The Fluvanna Planning Commission will resume consideration of two land use applications that power company Tenaska is seeking to build a second natural gas generation plant. This will take place at the Carysbrook Performing Arts Center at 8880 James Madison Highway in Fork Union. (agenda)
They are a zoning text amendment to change height regulations for power production plants as well as a special use permit.
Here are the various materials:
2026-02-17 Trinity Consultants Memo re Supplementary Environmental Information
2025-08-01 Mangum Economics Economic and Fiscal Contribution Analysis
2025-08-07 Tenaska Open House materials, outreach emails, 12 page FAQ
2025-08-14 Tenaska Presentation - Proposed Expedition Generating Station
This matter also goes to the Board of Supervisors on Wednesday. .
Rezoning for 153 units at 600 Rio Road West to go before Albemarle Planning Commission
Albemarle County launched a tool a few years ago to allow the public to track new development projects in the designated growth areas.
“The Development Dashboard tracks both residential (‘dwelling units’) and non-residential (retail, office, industrial, hotel, mixed-use) developments as they move through the pipeline process,” reads the website for this service.
This system has been down since a cybersecurity attack on Albemarle last June and has not been updated since April. There is no timeline for when it will be restored according to Abbey Stumpf, the county’s director of communications and public engagement.
That makes it more difficult to provide context when writing about rezonings such as one that will go before the Albemarle Planning Commission on February 24.
Piedmont Realty Holdings seeks to rezone four properties totalling 3.2 acres in the 600 block of Rio Road West from Commercial Office to Neighborhood Model District.
“The applicant intends to construct several new multi-family and two family buildings, and preserve the existing five townhomes on the property while enabling the possibility for those units to be redeveloped at some point in the future, for a maximum of 153 units on the property,” reads the narrative for the rezoning written by Shimp Engineering.
This would be at a residential density of 48 units per acre. This project is within the form-based code overlay for the Rio / 29 area but the developers do not intend to use it.
“There are several key [hindrances] within the Form Based Code that make this property difficult to develop under those regulations including the streetscape requirements, dedication of amenity space requirements, and road improvement requirements,” the narrative continues.
This property is within Neighborhood 1 and this application is in the outdated dashboard.
The Albemarle Planning Commission meets at 6 p.m. in Lane Auditorium in the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. (meeting info)
Wednesday, February 25, 2026
Albemarle County Executive to present recommended FY27 budget to Supervisors
Budget season in the area’s largest locality will begin this Wednesday when Albemarle County Executive Jeffrey Richardson will unveil his recommendations at a special Board of Supervisors meeting in Room 241 of the office building at 401 McIntire Road. (meeting info)
In years past, there were enough members of the media to warrant a press conference a day before so we could ask questions. Those days are gone and this event no longer happens.
This newsletter seeks to cover the budget just as much as I have done in the past 20 years. Here are four recent stories to get a sense of what will be discussed.
Albemarle Supervisors presented with five-year financial plan, November 28, 2025
Albemarle Schools seek funding for fourth high while Supervisors want more data on need, December 9, 2025
Albemarle Supervisors briefed on audit of FY2025 accounts, December 28, 2025
Albemarle assessments have increased by 6.17 percent in 2026, January 25, 2026
MPO Policy Board to meet
One reason I became a reporter over 30 years ago was because I wanted to know how decisions were made about transportation and land use. Sometime in the 1980’s, a family friend outside Winston-Salem, North Carolina, led the opposition to a road project. I was interested in hearing more.
Somehow that’s translated into a career where I’ve been able to tell people what’s happening with transportation policies, all in the hopes of demystifying a system filled with jargon that operates on a timeline well outside the news cycle.
With that in mind, this newsletter provides regular updates into the operations of the Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization, a federally-mandated body that makes decisions about funding and priorities. This is made up of two members of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors and two members of Charlottesville City Council, plus the administrator of the Virginia Department of Transportation’s Culpeper District.
The group meets at 4 p.m. in CitySpace, a departure from usual due to ongoing renovation of the offices of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission.
Much of what is discussed at these meetings is highly technical. Under new business, the group will be presented with information on the latest model used to project transportation usage into the future. They will also review “performance safety targets” related to efforts to fund projects to mitigate areas where crashes occur.
They’ll also discuss the future of an MPO subcommittee called the Citizens Transportation Advisory Committee, a body that may go through some changes in the near future.
There will also be a discussion of a work plan for MPO/TJPDC staff for FY2027.
There will be a briefing on the current status of applications for the next round of VDOT funding. While direction might be provided, there will be no decisions. There will be a special meeting on March 20 to do a deeper dive into future Smart Scale projects.
In other meetings:
The Charlottesville Retirement Commission will meet at 8:30 a.m. in CitySpace. There will be presentations from CapTrust, MissionSquare, and on cybersecurity. (agenda packet)
The Nelson County Board of Supervisors will have a continued meeting at 4 p.m. at the Courthouse in Lovingston. The agenda is not available at publication time. (meeting info)
The five members of the Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors will meet for a budget work session beginning at 5:30 p.m. There is no specific agenda on the calendar but the FY2027 budget materials are all available for review here. Earlier this month, Heather Michon reported in the Fluvanna Review that County Administrator Eric Dahl has proposed a nearly $161 million budget based on a one-cent increase in the real property tax rate.
The Albemarle Fire-EMS Board will meet at 6 p.m. in Room 235 of the county office building at 401 McIntire Road. Under unfinished business there will be a discussion of the ridealong policy and under new business there will be a discussion of firearms policy.
The Nelson County Planning Commission will have a meeting at 7 p.m. in the Courthouse in Lovingston. The agenda is not available at publication time. (meeting info).
Thursday, February 26, 2026
Places29-Rio group to meet
There is not much on the agenda of the Places29-Rio Community Advisory Committee when they meet at 6 p.m. in Room 235 of the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. They’ll review policies and discuss possible ideas. (meeting info)
Will anyone ask for an update of the Development Dashboard?
WAN#353 is over
Here’s the thing. As a one-person information outlet, it’s just me. If I have to suddenly go on a trip for family business, there is no one else to turn things over to. How long can I sustain this?
I don’t know. But I do know this is the work I want to do, and I believe over the best five and a half years I’ve been able to prove myself. And there might be some of you who would like to make a charitable gift as opposed to a subscription.
If you would like to make a gift, I now have a way to do that. I do not have a staff of people including people who get paid to bring in money. What I do have is a mission that I have laid out there time and again by writing as often as I can, with no back-up, no cushion, but a heck of a lot of drive to bring you information.
In any case, back soon with more information about stuff and things.