Some highlights this week:

• The Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority will have a public hearing on their five-year capital plan and will adopt a leave policy for CRHA employees
• Albemarle Supervisors canceled their budget work session for Wednesday but the county will have budget town hall meetings on Monday and Thursday
• Charlottesville City Council
• Greene County Supervisors will discuss next steps for the expansion of their water supply
• Albemarle’s Planning Commission will hold a work session on another chapter of the updated Comprehensive Plan
• There are no meetings in Louisa County and only one in Fluvanna County this week.

Monday, March 24, 2025

Public hearing before Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority for five-year capital plan

The Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority was created in 1954 and has a long history in the community. CRHA was the entity charged with urban renewal in the 1960’s which led to the razing of much of the Vinegar Hill as well as Garrett Street. They also coordinated the plans for the Omni Hotel on what had been homes and businesses.

A master plan for redevelopment was adopted in the summer of 2010 but not much happened to implement plans to rehabilitate old units and build new ones. That changed after August 2017 when the Unite the Right protest resulted in a lot more attention to the CRHA’s future.

In 2019, CRHA entered into a partnership agreement with Riverbend Development that so far has led to the renovation of Crescent Halls and the creation of the first new CRHA units in a generation at South First Street. A lot more is planned, and the City of Charlottesville is contributing millions toward the efforts.

Decisions are made by a seven-member Board of Commissioners who are appointed by the City Council. One of them is a City Councilor, and that person is currently Michael Payne. They meet the fourth Monday of the month in City Council chambers.

This newsletter is put together by reviewing government calendars. There are two in Charlottesville. One of them is in the city’s website and I call this one Calendar #1. This tells us that the meeting will take place as you can see at this link.

There is no link to the agenda.

In Charlottesville there is also Calendar #2. This CRHA meeting is not listed on that schedule.

Technically, I suppose, there is a Calendar #3 which lists upcoming meetings that will be live streamed. We can confirm that this will happen here.

But where’s the agenda? The CRHA website has a list of meetings, but it’s on a Google calendar.

The thing is, this happens every month. I’m on the email list for the CRHA meetings and I get all of the attachments and upload them to cvillepedia so I can share them. This is not a best practice for government communication, but I don’t work for the government. Yet, these are all public documents. (view the agenda)

New readers should know I believe acronyms should always be explained on first reference. Here are some definitions from the agenda:

• PHAR is the Public Housing Association of Residents
• SOP is Standard Operating Procedures
• CFP is the Five Year Plan Capital Fund Program

After comments from PHAR and updates from Commissioners, there will be approval of the minutes of the last meeting. Also uploaded to cvillepedia if you want to take a look.

The first item on the agenda is a review of what I believe is a new document of all the Standard Operating Procedures for CRHA. This is a 122-page document that is not included on a list of “key documents” on the CRHA website. The idea is to document the process for how residents find housing from application to end of lease.

Next up is a public hearing and a vote to adopt the five year capital fund program. This document is on the CRHA website so if you download it here, that’s where it’s coming from. This plan tells the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development how money for capital projects will come in. This really needs a deep dive of a story, but this meeting preview is not it.

Then there’s a discussion of a policy for paid leave for CRHA employees.

“CRHA expects each employee to determine for himself or herself, consistent with the employee’s responsibilities, how much time to take off from work,” reads the draft policy. “Time away from work is beneficial, and all employees are encouraged to take it.”

This applies to all employees after a 90 day probationary period. They’ll get two weeks in the first year, three weeks in the second and third year, and four weeks in years four through six. After seven years, a CRHA employee could get six weeks of paid leave. Leave has to be approved in advance.

Other relevant documents for this meeting:

• CRHA Resident Services Department Report for March 24, 2025, Board of Commissioners Meeting
• Housing Choice Voucher statistics
• March 2025 Redevelopment Report
• Property Management Report including an account of unpaid rent

Two budget town hall meetings this week in Albemarle County

The way I do my work is weird. I insist on reviewing every part of the development of Albemarle County’s budget process. There’s a time price to be paid for that thoroughness and I’m only up to the March 12 work session as I try to write as many stories as I can. To review all of the stories I’ve written in reverse chronological order, go take a look at this tab on Information Charlottesville.

There have been two town hall meetings already and the third one will be held at the Sentara Outpatient Center in the Kessler Conference Room at 595 Martha Jefferson Drive. All of the events have the same format.

“At 5:30 pm we will begin with an open house, where you will meet department staff and learn about the variety of services we provide and projects we engage in,” reads the Engage Albemarle website. “At 6 pm, our County Executive will present the Fiscal Year 2026 budget, focusing on the revenue outlook and priority projects.

The remaining town halls will be on March 27 at the Yancey Community Center and April 9 at Western High School. I hope to be caught up soon!

In other meetings:

• The only meeting in Fluvanna County this week is the Social Services Board, but there’s no agenda. If you want to know more, drop me a line.
• The Albemarle County Historic Preservation Committee will meet at 4:30 p.m. in Room C the county’s office building at 1600 Fifth Street Extended. They’ll discuss two local historic markers. One on Browns Gap Turnpike in the section that leads up the Shenandoah National Park, and another for Yancey Elementary and Esmont High School. There’s also another review of pending demolitions including the building that formerly housed the Red Carpet Inn.

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

Greene Board of Supervisors to further discuss water supply

There are a lot of moving pieces to factor in as Albemarle’s economic development engine continues its focus on implementing the Rivanna Futures project and the University of Virginia Foundation continues to build out the North Fork Discovery Park.

All of that will affect Greene County and preparations for growth are ultimately up to the five member Board of Supervisors. This meeting begins at 4:30 p.m. for a closed session followed by the regular meeting at 6:30 p.m.

We’re in an era where there is much uncertainty about the future of federal grants and entire federal agencies. Nevertheless, the consent agenda has three applications for funding.

• One is a resolution for a Federal Emergency Management Agreement hazard mitigation grant for a generator for the wastewater pump station. (learn more)
• The second is an application for the FY2026 Congressional Community Project Funds that have been solicited by Senator Mark Warner and Senator Tim Kaine. This application is for bi-directional amplifiers for the new emergency radio system. (learn more)
• The third is for an application for the FY2026 Congressional Community Project Funds for the cost of water infrastructure to serve the Stanardsville area. (learn more)

There are two items for discussion. One is on “ban anticipation note refinance” and there’s no further information in the packet. The second is a discussion of the water supply. This is perhaps the week I’ll finally get caught up on a story I’ve been meaning to update. For now, here’s a link to something from October 2023.

Albemarle PC to review AC44’s infrastructure chapter

I had big plans to do very thorough coverage of the development of Albemarle County’s next Comprehensive Plan. I’m not ready to declare I’m scaling them back, but I’ve not written an account of the review of each new chapter.

If you’re new to this newsletter, each locality in Virginia is required to adopt a Comprehensive Plan that describes what steps are being taken to prepare for the future. State code puts it like this.

“The local planning commission shall prepare and recommend a comprehensive plan for the physical development of the territory within its jurisdiction and every governing body shall adopt a comprehensive plan for the territory under its jurisdiction,” reads a section of § 15.2-2223.

If a locality were a television show, the Comprehensive Plan could perhaps be described as its bible. That’s a term used in show-running to describe the universe in which a fictional program is made.

Albemarle County’s Comprehensive Plan is the reason why so much of its landscape is undeveloped. For decades, a premium has been put on preservation of the rural area with a corresponding emphasis on concentrating growth in the development area. Albemarle last adopted a plan in the summer of 2015 and has been doing an update called AC44 ever since.

If you want to learn more, you have two sources. The first place to start is the Engage Albemarle page that the county communications and public engagement staff maintain.

And then there’s my coverage. In a world where there’s a story everywhere you look, I don’t blame other information outlets from for not prioritizing this. The review is slow and the percentage of the population that speaks planning is small. There is a learning curve.

My coverage stalled out sometime in the past four months and is currently restricted to preview pieces like this one. I would like to change that, and the way I’ll change that is to find new talent interested in communicating complex topics to people.

The next review of AC44 at a public meeting will come at 4 p.m. when the Albemarle Planning Commission has a work session in Lane Auditorium of the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. (meeting info)

The AC44 process is in the third of four phases. There are ten chapters and five have been reviewed to date. At this work session, the Planning Commission will review the Community Facilities Chapter. (staff report)

“The chapter covers facilities such as public schools, libraries, and public safety stations, and infrastructure such as public water, sewer, and solid waste services,” reads the staff report.

You can take a look at the draft chapter here. There are eleven objectives and the text provides a good background into each area. Commissions will be asked to review the various actions under each one.

After the work session there are two public hearings that will begin after 6 p.m.

The first is an amendment to a previous rezoning for the Albemarle Business Campus, a development at the intersection of Old Lynchburg Road and 5th Street Extended. The developer is seeking an increase in the number of residential units allowed there, as I wrote in January 2024. As this edition is a little lengthy, I believe I will provide a more thorough preview in tomorrow’s newsletter. Staff is recommending denial. (staff report)

The second is for an amendment for a special use permit to concert 349 acres into six residential lots on land. Staff is recommending denial as well and this is another one I believe I’ll dig into tomorrow. (staff report)

Both Rivanna authorities to get introductions to FY26 budget

Neither Albemarle nor Charlottesville provide their own water and wastewater services. At least, not directly. The city has a utilities department that bills customers and Albemarle has the Albemarle County Service Authority.

The job of treating raw for drinking water supply and treating sewage is performed by the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority (RWSA). That entity and the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority (RSWA) are essentially the same organization and both are governed by a seven member Board of Directors that includes a City Councilor and an Albemarle Supervisor.

The RSWA meets first at 2 p.m. in the 2nd floor conference room in the Rivanna Administration building at 2:15 p.m. The main item on their agenda is the introduction of the budget for FY2026. There’s a lot in here for anyone interested in the perennial issue of dealing with the things we throw out. (agenda)

The RWSA meeting takes place at the conclusion of the RSWA meeting. There’s a history in the packet of the various agreements that have been adopted since creation of the RWSA. More than half of the proposed RWSA budget of $64 million budget is spent on debt service.

In other meetings:

• The Nelson County Board of Supervisors will continue going through their budget at a meeting that begins at 10 a.m. Where and when? Likely the Nelson County Courthouse, but the calendar item doesn’t tell us. I’m unfortunately not going to be able to cover budget development in Nelson as closely as I would like.
• The Charlottesville Community Development Block Grant Task Force will meet at 6 p.m. for another review session. They gather in the S&P Annex in the 2nd Floor Conference Room at 700 East Jefferson Street. There’s no agenda in advance. There are four vacancies for this body whose members are appointed by Council. (learn more)

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

This is an odd day with not much on it, so we resort to bulleted points!

In other meetings:

• The Charlottesville Retirement Commission will meet in CitySpace at 8:30 a.m. for their regular meeting. This body is appointed by Council. (learn more)
• The Albemarle Fire EMS Board will meet in Room 235 of the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. The agenda is not available at publication time. (learn more)
• The Greene County Planning Commission will meet at 7 p.m. There’s also no information about this meeting, either. I’ll ask for the packet and put a preview in Monday or Tuesday’s newsletter. (learn more)

Thursday, March 27, 2025

Charlottesville City Council to hold budget work session on Capital Improvement Program

As with Albemarle County, I am determined to cover the development of the Charlottesville budget as thoroughly as possible. I’m a bit behind. I was able to write a story about the introduction of the budget on March 4. City Manager Sam Sanders proposed no new tax rate increases this year, but state law requires the publication of a “lowered tax rate” which you can read more about here.

The public hearing on the tax rate was postponed because of an advertising error in the Charlottesville Daily Progress. State code requires publication of the rates in a newspaper of record and states clearly this ad must be in a section outside of the classifieds. That didn’t happen initially so they had to delay.

I have two budget work sessions and a community budget forum to go through public hearing. Albemarle is the priority, but thorough coverage of budget development is a crucial ingredient for knowledgeable stories going forward. For all of the budget stories, visit this section of Information Charlottesville.

In other meetings:

• The Albemarle County Board of Equalization will meet in Lane Auditorim of the county’s office building at 401 McIntire Road. The agenda is not available at publication time. (learn more)
• The Regional Transit Partnership meets at 4 p.m. at 407 East Water Street. Materials aren’t available in advance but when they are they’ll be here.
• The fourth Albemarle County Budget Town Hall will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the Yancey Community Center at 7625 Porters Road in Esmont. (learn more)

Thanks for reading! Back tomorrow with a regular edition. Please ask questions if you have any! At 3,000 words, this edition is a little lighter than usual.

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This post was contributed by Sean Tubbs. Sean is a journalist working to build a new information and news outlet centered around Charlottesville and Virginia. In 2020, he launched a daily newscast and newsletter and also created a semi-regular podcast on the pandemic.

Support for Sean’s “Week Ahead” update comes from The Piedmont Environmental Council.