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here's the agenda for tonight's charlottesville city council meeting, starting momentarily
https://charlottesvilleva.civicclerk.com/web/UserControls/DocPreview.aspx?p=1&aoid=727
https://charlottesvilleva.civicclerk.com/web/UserControls/DocPreview.aspx?p=1&aoid=727
lot going on at that closed session - the city has a lawsuit headed to the state supreme court, the city manager just quit, and easily a dozen boards have vacancies. could've been about any or all of that!
heather hill reads an announcement from the city encouraging people to celebrate halloween safely, amplifying recommendations from the health department
https://www.charlottesville.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=414
https://www.charlottesville.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=414
charlottesville is *NO LONGER* collecting bagged leaves! every neighborhood will get 3 visits this leaf season from the leaf vacuum truck. you can sign up to get text alerts when your leaf collection day is coming
https://www.charlottesville.gov/395/Leaf-Collection
https://www.charlottesville.gov/395/Leaf-Collection
mayor walker says council is exploring ways to shorten council meetings by having staff reports presented EARLIER, starting at 4pm. the regular meeting (any public hearing, etc) will still start at 6:30. this shortens the meeting & gets staff home earlier.
after previously stating that no new members would be appointed to the human rights commission until MONTHS down the road after several empty staff positions were filled, council has just voted to add 3 members to the HRC. https://twitter.com/socialistdogmom/status/1313616136899112963?s=20
this comes after the resignation of one member of the human rights commission after it came to light that he was using a pseudonymous social media account to post content that made it clear he was not exactly aligned with the mission of the human rights commission.
no takers for public comment on any item on the consent agenda, no discussion from council. the consent agenda is passed unanimously.
interim city manager john blair addressing matters brought up by the public at the last meeting - much more thoroughly than recently departed city manager richardson ever did, i might add
to this question, he checked with the commonwealth's attorney and this is indeed a cumulative figure https://twitter.com/socialistdogmom/status/1313281381867413509?s=20
to multiple comments about the climate action plan, he says that is on the agenda tonight.
to source of funds discrimination allegations, todd at the office of human rights says if anyone is facing any form of housing discrimination, they should speak to his office.
to source of funds discrimination allegations, todd at the office of human rights says if anyone is facing any form of housing discrimination, they should speak to his office.
now on to matters by the public - chris meyer says he hopes council will explore any possible way to eliminate severance from the next city manager's contract. we are currently paying the full salary of THREE city managers (jones & richardson, who are gone, and blair)
sorry, i think JONES' contract is out. it's mike murphy (interim between jones & richardson) who we are still paying. that contract ends next month. then we'll only be paying TWO city managers while we try to find a new one!
chris meyer continues: UVA published sustainability goals today, one of which is to be carbon neutral by 2030. UVA is a significant customer of the city's gas... the city is about to replace all the gas lines on W Main St.
andres clarens says the city is in the business of selling fossil fuels "and we need to make a plan to get out of that business."
also, staff need to be empowered to work more closely with UVA & the county, he says.
also, staff need to be empowered to work more closely with UVA & the county, he says.
"it's not theoretical that clean air and clean water are vital for our survival," says michele mattioli
she asks council to have a climate action plan by march 31, 2021; conduct a greenhouse gas inventory every 2 years; prioritize climate in the comprehensive plan
she asks council to have a climate action plan by march 31, 2021; conduct a greenhouse gas inventory every 2 years; prioritize climate in the comprehensive plan
jonathan blank & his daughters are next. he says he isn't using his children as political props - they asked him to be here with them, his daughters want to protect their futures.
he doesn't want his kids to ask "why did my parents not make a plan? why did they not dream big?"
he doesn't want his kids to ask "why did my parents not make a plan? why did they not dream big?"
jonathan's daughters read a poem called 'i saw the glaciers weep'
"please make a plan, thank you," says one of the girls.
"please make a plan, thank you," says one of the girls.
roy's back saying the dining industry is a "sparkplug" for the retail industry, that if the restaurants die, all the stores die, too. https://twitter.com/socialistdogmom/status/1313270904307286016?s=20
"if the environment were as toxic as believed, we would have an extremely high amount of restaurant staff testing positive and we don't," roy says, arguing against the idea that eating in a restaurant during a pandemic is a bad idea
"start with survival and then recovery," van doorn says about restaurants (not people - clearly it's ok if people die)
next is brandon collins, an organizer with the public housing association of residents. he urges council to remove the requirement for the housing authority to produce the sustainability study before funds are released for redevelopment.
they don't object to producing the sustainability study, the concern from PHAR is that building that timeline into the ordinance and tying funding to that could jeopardize millions in funding & tax credits.
tanesha hudson has called in to say "the new city manager should not be friends of friends," "we will shut it down," "there's too much bullyin' going on."
"all of this work should really be about the people and not your personal feelings but clearly your personal feelings are getting in the way," tanesha continues, transitioning to talking about her request to host tutoring programs inside city facilities
tanesha is upset to see that despite having "publicly neglected" her request for space to tutor children, council is entertaining a request from a nonprofit for $20k (revised down from $50k) to tutor ten children https://twitter.com/socialistdogmom/status/1313298958324764679?s=20
(i believe this request for funding would be purely virtual mentoring, not getting kids together in one place. tanesha's request was discussed as being a liability - putting a bunch of kids & volunteers together in the rec center is just as dangerous as having them in school)
nancy carpenter gives a shout out to the members of the original police civilian review board. the state legislature just passed some legislation that will empower CRBs.
"good evening, i hope everybody is doing well. unfortunately a lot of people are not doing well," says robin hoffman.
she advocates better air filters for public spaces, recommends telehealth for depression, and says she's watching a netflix documentary about COVID
she advocates better air filters for public spaces, recommends telehealth for depression, and says she's watching a netflix documentary about COVID
next is don gathers. he says he has some concerns about negative comments the police chief made about black lives matter, but will reserve judgment until he knows more about what was said https://www.nbc29.com/2020/10/19/charlottesvilles-chief-police-discusses-white-supremacy-black-lives-matter-movement-forum/
gloria beard tried several times to call in but couldn't get her audio to work. there are no other takers for public comment, so we're moving on (quite ahead of schedule!)
first item on the agenda would halve the fee for renting patio dining space for restaurants
first item on the agenda would halve the fee for renting patio dining space for restaurants
this reduction of fees for restaurants renting public space for outdoor dining passed unanimously. we're a bit ahead of schedule, but taking our 10 minute recess now because the next chunk of the agenda all goes together.
charlottesville's first public housing units are from 1965 says brenda kelley, the redevelopment manager at the housing authority.
south first street & crescent halls will be redeveloped in the coming years.
south first street & crescent halls will be redeveloped in the coming years.
the renovation of crescent halls will cost an estimated $15.4mil. all units will rent for at or below 60% AMI
the first phase of the south first street redevelopment is the construction of 3 new buildings (important so there is no displacement during redevelopment)
the ordinances before council tonight lay out the terms & conditions of the public funding for public housing redevelopment
john sales from CRHA says they currently pay $85,000 annually in property taxes for all of their public housing properties. they are concerned about having to pay full property taxes for the new properties.
"it's important for us to understand what we're setting future councilors up for," says mayor walker - this project will stretch across many budget seasons and several elections.
uh oh i read too many acronyms and i had to reboot my brain
rose colored heather
"i feel like we have to have something by the time we get to that third payment," heather says about the sustainability study.
john sales from CRHA says the first 2 projects have cleared multiple feasibility & sustainability hurdles with banks.
john sales from CRHA says the first 2 projects have cleared multiple feasibility & sustainability hurdles with banks.
"we agree that we need one, we support the idea," sales says about the sustainability study, "but we don't want to tie it to these first two projects or we're not going to be able to close." they're happy to produce the study for phase two, which is well over a year out.
michael payne says an assurance that these units will be able to be maintained longterm means more people will be housed longterm. "we're just trying to ensure that as many people are able to be housed, are able to have high quality housing longterm."
payne continues that council does not intend for this to jeopardize any project funding. if sales & kelley are confident about the project and are willing to produce the study for phase 2, he's comfortable moving forward.
vice mayor sena magill says she understands sales (who is new on the job) inherited this, but the sustainability study was asked for over a year ago. she's willing to give flexibility, but it'll be a firm line the next time - the study has to be produced for phase 2.
lloyd snook says it never made any sense to tie the study to the third payment on a project - as though all work would be stopped pending the production of the document?
he's comfortable tying the study to closing on phase 2.
he's comfortable tying the study to closing on phase 2.
jeff meyer says there is an agreement going back to the 70s that CRHA does not pay property taxes on their public housing properties, they pay some established flat fee per property. these new projects, if they had to pay full taxes, would cost over $80k/yr
the problem appears to be that council can make an agreement to keep them from having to pay that full tax burden, but there's no way to ensure future councils don't change that agreement. it's a significant enough sum annually that it affects the feasibility of the project.
acting city attorney lisa robertson says the state constitution prohibits the government from entering into the kind of agreement that would be necessary here.
it is possible to place money into an escrow account with terms & conditions? sounds complicated.
it is possible to place money into an escrow account with terms & conditions? sounds complicated.
so if the city wanted to use an escrow account to effectively waive the public housing project's property taxes, they would have to put 15 years worth of that money into an account NOW, out of THIS year's budget & wouldn't be able to touch it for 15 years.
i don't understand enough about how money works to know what is going on here so don't ask me any questions about why we can't just do whatever it is that is currently being done with CRHA properties?
both crescent halls and the phase one redevelopment of south first street will be valued at approximately $6mil, for a total of $12mil - making the annual property tax bill about $95,000 (CRHA currently pays just $85,000 for ALL of their properties citywide)
what’s the financial equivalent of ‘too many cooks in the kitchen’ https://twitter.com/rorystolzenberg/status/1318351722381791233
