City Council Meeting 6:30PM   3/7/2022

I wonder, it looks like you and I only counsel people on.

I was like, are we on the right link here?

Because, you know, we usually like to start on.

There he is.

I'm just having a ball.

Are we ready to go?

I think we have a quorum.

Well, let's give it a minute or so for Sena and Michael.

We've rarely needed more than a minute or two, so.

Lloyd, can you hear me okay?

Yes, I can.

Not that we want to, but we see your mother there.

Yeah.

I was, it was, I was, I was butting an African move.

I was following the leader, man.

She was, it was like a, it was like a gym class I'd take some time.

So I was prepared for it somewhat, but not a front page prepared.

Well, I was just thinking back on the press conference a few years ago when Ralph Northam, somebody was asking him basically prove that you can do the moonwalk.

Good.

Have you heard anything from Sena?

No.

For the main item on our agenda at this point is the report from the jail.

I note that both Mr. Coomer and Mr. Bell are with us.

Did Councillor McGill get a tour of the place, Martin or Tony?

Hey, Mayor.

She did not.

Okay.

So it's more important, I think, that she hear the full thing, frankly, than those of us who already heard it.

So I'll give her another minute or two.

Sure.

Actually, we could go ahead and

and get started, I think, with sort of the preliminaries.

There's Councilor McGill.

Okay, so March 7th, 2022, Charlottesville City Council meeting will come to order.

Ms.

Councilor McGill?

Yes, I'm finally here.

Here.

Vice Mayor Wade?

That's good.

Is there a motion to approve or to amend the agenda?

Okay.

Motion to approve.

Has anybody want to second?

Second.

Okay.

All in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

All opposed?

Okay.

Motion passes.

The meeting will be divided into three sections.

First, a work session to hear and discuss the staff presentation in this case from the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail.

followed by a closed meeting and then the regular city council business meeting which will begin at around 6.30.

So if there is anybody here who is waiting to join the business meeting to talk about any of the things on the public hearing agenda and so on, that time will be 6.30.

reports Albemarle, Charlottesville Regional Jail Renovation Project.

Mr. Coomer, Mr. Bell, and Mr. Roman are the three who are listed here.

Who's going to lead off for us?

Mayor Snook, I will.

Good afternoon.

Thank you all for having us today.

As Mayor Snook mentioned, the jail is looking to do a renovation in the next few years.

If we want to take this moment to offer you a preliminary discussion,

about those plans.

I have a slide deck here for you to go through.

There we go.

So I encourage you, if you have any questions, at the end of the slide deck, I'd be more than happy to answer the questions you have.

And we have Tony Bell here from Mosey Architects.

And he, too, can answer any questions you might have.

So no objections, I'll start the slide deck.

I'll give you a brief history of the jail.

The current facility opened in 1975, which became the jail for both Albemarle County, the city of Charlottesville, and eventually Nelson County.

The facility's rated capacity increased to 209 after two additions in the 1990s.

Nelson County became the third member in 1997.

The final expansion was completed in 2000, bringing capacity 329.

Final expansion being what you see from the interstate that's all building.

The average daily population,

has been as high as 600 in 2008 and as low as 265 in January of this year.

The January 2022 average daily population was the lowest it's been in 20 years.

Current authorized staffing level is 161 employees.

The renovation and expansion area is approximately 56,000 square feet and will be contained within the current facilities 152,900 square feet.

How did we get here?

It's important to remember, we didn't just all of a sudden decide this time last year to expand the jail or renovate portion of it.

A few years ago, on September 2019, I submitted to the board two significant renovation projects.

One, to replace the heating ventilation and AC systems throughout the entire facility, specifically within the inmate housing areas, and a flooring project.

The total of those two projects came to 1.25 million.

At that time, the board said, if we're going to start doing

Projects piecemeal, but it's actually look at a full facility condition assessment and determine what needs to be done and in which order it needs to be done.

So facility condition assessment was comprised.

Once that was brought before the board, the board then hired Moseley Architects to conduct a community-based corrections plan.

Community-based corrections plan had several public engagements with stakeholders, both the Commonwealth Attorneys, Fenway Restoration, Probation Crawl, Citizens,

Staff at that time, Loser Architect then presented the CVCP results to the board at the December 2021 meeting.

The board indicated it would seek reimbursement from the state for 25% of all eligible renovation costs.

The board then adopted a resolution directed mostly to submit the community-based corrections plan to the Department of Corrections.

The community-based corrections plan was indeed submitted on December 31st, 2021.

For facility condition assessment, the facility requires significant upgrades and replacement to its HVAC, electrical systems, and other major mechanical systems over the next 10 years, in addition to interior fixtures, lighting, and security devices, etc.

The facility condition assessment does not determine staff, inmate, or public needs.

It is just structural.

The community-based corrections plan needs study findings.

That deals with how many beds we're going to need in the future.

There are no indications in historical data that suggests the inmate population will increase substantially in the future.

After reviewing various alternative forecast models, no models indicated an increasing inmate population.

Therefore, the rate of capacity will not be increased with the renovation.

The second part of the community-based corrections plan planning study determines the needs of the facility.

Necessary improvements to the physical structure to meet the current Board of Corrections jail standards.

I'm sorry, I have a quick question.

In 2008, when we're at the highest number, I think you said 600 and some, was that...

Were we overcapacited in?

Yes, sir.

That's correct.

Yes, sir.

Our rated capacity is 329.

We also plan to replace major mechanical systems serving the original facility to improve climate control and air

for professional visitors, and additional security measures for staff and inmates.

Renovation and expansion meets identified goals and objectives.

Create a space conducive to inmate rehabilitation that reduces recidivism.

Use trauma-informed design, salivating materials, stress-reducing colors, natural sunlight throughout the renovation and expansion.

Add classrooms and programming space.

Integrate technology into the classrooms and housing areas.

Heating, ventilation, air conditioning, replace existing HVAC units within effective and efficient units, install an air filtration system effective against virus and bacteria, increase fresh air ventilation, conservation of resources, use energy efficient water conserving toilets, showers and faucets, use natural daylight,

and renovation improves quality and experience for all consumers.

For inmates, increase square footage per inmate in housing areas, apply trauma-informed design in housing areas, renovate inmate housing areas to create more privacy and security, create an additional outdoor recreation area, improve quality of social interaction with family, technology-based and in-person visitation.

For stakeholders and a community, new customer service area for family and professional visitors to improve service quality.

professional visitation area with integrated technology for our employees to incorporate improved safety and security measures, provide efficient workflow, apply trauma-informed design to staff work areas as well, and create a work environment for staff morale, mental, and physical well-being.

Good afternoon, Mayor and members of City Council.

So I'm Tony Bell with Mosley Architects

with me this evening is Chris Roman.

He's the gentleman who's behind the Tony Bell label there on the other screen.

So what we have here is a slide basically summarizing where we've been and where we're going with regard to the approval process of the community-based corrections plan needs assessment and planning study.

So as the superintendent mentioned, the needs assessment and planning study was submitted to the Department of Corrections at the end of 2021.

And they are currently reviewing these documents

and later within the March and April timeframe, the jail authority will submit a resolution seeking the 25% that is one of the requirements of the community-based corrections plan and the Board of Local and Regional Jails.

Before they will issue approval, they must have a resolution basically asking for said reimbursement.

And during that same March and April timeframe, we will be presenting to all amendments

Albemarle County last week, and obviously we'll be presenting to you this evening.

We have an upcoming meeting with Nelson County.

Once the Board of Local and Regional Jails receives that resolution, they will in turn improve the CBCP needs assessment.

And as the superintendent stated, there is no anticipated increase and no anticipated need to increase the rate of capacity of the regional jail at this time.

An application will then be made to the Treasury Board for the bonds for reimbursement and the Board of Local and Regional Jails will grant their approval of the planning study sometime in that June to August window later this year.

On a parallel track, the authority will also be seeking those resolutions from the member jurisdictions.

Now these resolutions will be

to move the project forward once the approvals from the different member jurisdictions have been received and the approval of the Board of Local and Regional Jails have been received and the General Assembly has granted its approval and funded the project in its budget.

And you see those timelines in the September, December 2022 and then receiving the legislative approval

in the June 2023 window.

So once we have all of those different approvals in place, we'll then move to the next slide.

And this is basically the summary, a very brief summary of the design and construction process.

So once you have all those legislative approvals in place, the board authority can then advertise for RFP to select an architect and engineer.

and move the project forward as far as an award of a design contract.

As part of the design process, the Department of Corrections requires a value engineering step be done.

So during the course of the development of the design, the authority, the AE selected firm, and the Department of Corrections will sit down and examine the documents that have been prepared for the construction procedures.

At the end of the completion of the construction document process, we'll seek the authority's approval on the design documents and then advertise those documents for construction of bids.

I said we, I meant the AE firm that has been selected.

That decision has not been made yet.

Once the bids have been received, the authority will then negotiate a contract with that selected low bidder.

We estimate at this time that the construction period will last approximately 14 months

Obviously, that's going to be contingent upon the phasing, the construction phasing of the project, and the superintendent can talk a little bit more about this moving forward, but right now makes a great time for this construction and renovation project because your population is so low.

Managing the population, as Councilmember Wade alluded to a little bit earlier, managing that population when the population is above the rated capacity is extremely difficult.

But when you have a population that is below the rate of capacity, it makes that process a little bit easier.

Obviously, it's not without obstacle, without discussion, but it becomes infinitely easier because you can vacate day rooms, you can renovate those day rooms when they're vacated, and then you can move the detainees back into those day rooms upon the completion of the renovation.

And all things

being equal, we anticipate that that final completion of the construction process would occur on or about November of 2025.

So moving to the next slide, this slide talks about the anticipated cost.

Now this is the cost based on the Department of Corrections modeling.

They require a certain breakout of the cost.

We've represented that with the demolition and renovation cost being representative of about $21 million.

The new construction costs represent about $17.1 million.

Other costs, that would be survey costs, site work costs, furniture costs, those represent about $7.1 million for a total project cost of $49 million.

Again, this is based on the Department of Corrections model that they request based in the jail standards that have already been adopted.

This also includes escalation.

So we anticipate a certain amount of escalation based on today's dollars versus the midpoint of construction.

That's what the contractor would be using as he's submitting his bid on the construction documents.

And approximately 25% of all these eligible costs will be reimbursable from the Commonwealth of Virginia.

So the total estimated cost to localities would be the difference between that $49 million to 25% reimbursement

So the next slide we have, and these are a little bit out of order, out of order because they were still in the original order that we presented them to Albemarle County.

But this is the share of the debt for Albemarle County.

We'll advance now to the share of the debt for the city of Charlottesville, which is what you're most interested in.

The fees are the costs that you see at the bottom, the budgets there.

They're based on the assumptions above.

So the project here is scheduled presented by Mosley Architects.

The total cost project is exceed $49 million.

The state reimburse is 25%.

Debt service is allocated based on locality's share of inmate days.

That's exactly how we do the money for operations.

Debt is based on a 20-year bond, and the local share of inmate population remains the same.

So those are a lot of assumptions.

But just to kind of zero you in on some estimated cost here, FY23, that is just your operational budget.

So you see there's no debt service at that time.

FY24, we start incurring some debt with some work being done at that point, not a lot, but that is your share of what that would cost.

FY25, we start seeing some more costs associated with the pre-construction phase.

Again, that $5,329,000 includes

cost will be split among the three jurisdictions.

Can I stop you here a second and ask, comparing the prior slide 11 for Albemarle County to this one,

I note that Albemarle's operational expenses are essentially level roughly 4.3 to 4.5 million, whereas Charlottesville's rise from 3.9 to 5.3 million.

Mayor Snook, that has got to be, my apologies, that's got to be a typo.

And I apologize for that to the council.

So are they, are their numbers right or are our numbers right?

Their numbers are correct.

Your numbers are wrong.

That's a good point.

So your numbers are wrong.

So if we can go back to the Charlottesville slide, the 3,000,004 and then the 4,44853, those would be incorrect.

There's only a 1% escalation

and the operational that's used for this scenario.

So it looks like he was getting a 10% increase every year after the first year.

The difference between 24 and 25 is about 10%.

Same for 26 and 27, 28.

Somehow a 10% looks like got added.

There should be a 1% increase from FY25.

That was correct.

Okay.

So my apologies for that.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

I'm sorry.

Yeah, I mean, so instead of 6.5, we're talking roughly 4.3.

Operational FY28 would be approximately, based on 1% escalation from FY23, would be approximately 4.2 million in FY28 operational with your debt service at 1.2.

You might check the numbers for Nelson also because in

We'll make those changes.

I'll send out a corrected slide to the council.

Thanks.

Not necessarily.

For this example, we assumed that the

shares of each locality of inmate days will remain the same, just to give you an idea of what the cost would be, but they're most likely to fluctuate.

By how much, we don't know.

So it will most likely change.

Right.

And these bonds have nothing to do with the city's bonding capacity.

Is that right?

The debt would be issued in the authority's name, the Elmore Charlottesville Jailport Authority.

What interest rate are you figuring on?

I am not sure what they use.

Just curious.

Doesn't change the decision.

I'm just curious.

Martin, I have a quick question.

If our bed days go down, because we've been Charlottesville's been

really trying to take advantage of HEI.

That's a good question.

In this scenario, it's assuming that each jurisdiction will pay based on a share of their inmate days.

So if your inmate days go down, your debt service will go down, and so your operational budget.

If your share of you may days go up, the share of your debt and share of operation will go up.

So if I can give an example, let's assume that today, Charlottesville, or last year, Charlottesville had zero people on home electronic incarceration and you had 50,000 inmate days.

Next year, you have 100 people out on home electronic incarceration.

You would still have no other changes in population.

You still have 50,000 inmate days.

So it doesn't matter how many people you have out on home electronic incarceration.

It doesn't change your inmate days.

It's a good question.

It doesn't change your calculation inmate days.

Correct.

However, the more people who are out on home electronic incarceration does indeed lower the overall operating cost.

And therefore you pay less in that regard.

Is there more?

This is it.

I had an additional question.

That is an excellent question.

We have a whole presentation.

on what trauma-informed design is.

I won't levy that all on you this evening.

But trauma-informed design, it's not a concrete definition that you can wrap your hands around.

Obviously, a lot of it has to do with how the facility is operationally run.

As the superintendent mentioned earlier in the presentation, there were a few things listed.

the different colors, the different materials, the use of natural daylight versus no natural daylight in facility.

For those of you who have toured the existing facility, you will have seen a lot of bar grate that was in the 1975 portion of the facility.

That's original to the facility.

That is 50 years old.

There are no bar grates installed in modern day jail

or prison construction.

So bar grade definitely is not trauma-informed design.

Bar grade with it has very reactionary.

It generates definite meanings for the individuals who are within the facility.

Make no mistake, if you're in a room that has bar grade in it,

You're in a correctional facility.

You're in a jail or detention facility.

So it is construction such as that.

Some of the measures that will be taken to induce a more trauma-informed design facility is removal of all of the bar grain.

It is opening up windows.

Now, when I say opening up windows, I don't mean compromising any of the security of the facility.

But right now, the windows that open on to the majority of the day rooms are approximately 10 feet physical distance, horizontal distance, from the actual detainees.

If I'm a detainee, I can't walk up next to the window which serves the day room.

By removal of that bar grate, it would allow me to go up next to and receive some direct sunlight

from those windows.

That's trauma-informed design.

It's giving the detainees access to the daylight.

One of the aspects of the improvements to the facility that's planned is an additional exterior recreation yard, such that if I'm a detainee, I can walk out into that rec yard and look up and see the sky.

Many of the

areas within the existing jail do not provide that opportunity.

So again, we're not going to compromise the security.

There will not be an opportunity to throw things in or throw things out of the existing jail.

But I will be able to look out and see the sky to get fresh air and to interact with the exterior environment.

Again, that is trauma-informed design.

You obviously are permitted with the

effect that paint color has on occupants of the space.

You know, the reds and the other what we refer to as hot colors have an effect on occupants of the space to increase the tension within the space.

We'll be using more cooler colors, the blues and the greens and the grays.

use of these colors decreases the intensity of the room and makes it a more accommodate a cooler space, not temperature wise I'm talking about, I'm talking about tension wise within the space.

So all of these factors will greatly impact the way the facility is run.

And I'll mention one of the operational aspects

None of the existing jail was constructed in a manner to run it as what's referred to as direct supervision.

There were no opportunities for direct supervision in the existing Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail.

I'm correct when I say that, correct?

With the exception of the expansion.

Of the expansion.

So the 1975 portion has no direct supervision gate rooms.

No.

Okay.

So brief description.

And this resonates in a great manner with the Department of Corrections and the Board of the Local and Regional Jail.

So indirect supervision is the method of

in which the jail staff are outside of the primary living environment of the detainees.

That is, there is a wall, whether it be glass filled, bar grate or solid wall between the detainees and the jail staff.

So there is no direct contact between the jail staff and the detainees.

That is not the preferred model based in trauma informed design, not the ideal supervision model

or running a jail facility.

The direct supervision model puts the jail staff directly in the space which the detainees are in.

And it's a workstation environment in which I, as jail staff person, can interact with the detainees.

And I can have a better pulse of what's occurring within that day room, within that classroom.

As such, there is a much better relationship between the jail staff and the detainees and a much higher level of awareness of what's going on in the jail environment.

As such, there is a decreased amount of conflict between staff and detainee and a decreased level of incidence between detainee and detainee and detainee and staff.

because issues are worked out before they come elevated issues.

If inmate B has a conflict with inmate A, it's more readily identified in the direct supervision model.

So the new day rooms which will be constructed as part of this jail renovation will all be direct supervision models.

such that there'll be a staff member within those day rooms to interact with the detainees and head issues off.

That'll be in the three new day rooms which will be constructed.

There will also be two day rooms which will be special purpose housing.

And what is special purpose housing?

As the superintendent was mentioned a little bit earlier, that's the mental health.

That's the segregation units.

and there's not gonna be a sound on the door that says mental health unit or segregation unit.

They'll be constructed in a very general sense, but they are not part of the general population.

The jail standards require that 10% of your rate of capacity be constructed

as special purpose housing.

So when you have 329 beds of rated capacity, you're required by the current jail standards to have 33 beds of special purpose housing.

Again, these are not counted as general purpose beds because the premise is that if I as an inmate have a mental health issue, okay, it's anticipated that that mental health issue can be solved

by my being placed in the special purpose housing, I better myself, I receive the treatment I need, and then I can move back to the general purpose, excuse me, the general population housing.

That that mental health pod would not be a long-term solution for me

that I would go to the mental health pod and then move back into the general purpose housing.

And that's the DOC model.

That's the reason that we have special purpose beds so that these detainees can get the treatment they need in the special purpose housing and then move back into general populations.

So does that, I know that's a long answer to a very short question of what is common form design.

It has a lot to do with both the physical facility and has a lot to do with the operational facility and those two work hand in hand with one another.

What's going to happen is that the physical facility becomes an obstacle for the jail staff to deliver the services to the inmates and try to decrease

recidivism, decrease conflict, and assist them in getting back out on the street.

Yeah, I just find it ironic that on a night we're going to be talking about education that many of the improvements you're talking about, such as daylight and things like that, we want to bring to our schools.

So it's just ironic.

It's nothing necessarily for you to comment to, but we'll be getting into this later.

you had mentioned a term that I wasn't familiar with and you repeated a few times that you said that jails are not billed now with what is that?

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, I'd just like to say that I appreciated the tour that I got the other day.

It was very informative.

If others have not had a chance to go take a tour, it's really worth seeing.

As I understand what you're proposing, A, we're wanting to address real needs with the facility itself.

and also to try to whatever we do renovate in a more humane fashion for those who are in the jail.

The other thing that was mentioned when I was on the tour was the impact the current facility has on the staff.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And if I could just ask a question, perhaps the city manager or someone else knows this, has this information, basically what you're doing, what we'll be doing is we'll be taking an expense of what is for the jail board a

There you are.

Yeah, it's an operating expense.

Yeah.

Okay.

Thank you.

Okay.

That's your, I believe, your anticipated operational expense for FY23.

We just finished our budget meeting last week.

Regardless of whether we do, whether this project goes forward, we're putting up $3.9 million according to this budget.

Correct.

For operational, yes, sir.

That's your annual

operational fee.

Okay, so the amount that we are adding is entirely, basically just the debt service number is what we're adding by this project going forward.

Yes, that is correct.

Okay.

And that would begin a little bit in FY24, but it would hit hard in FY25.

That is correct.

Now, one of the other questions I had, this proposal that you've got involves the same number of beds, basically, but massively reworking a lot of spaces, I take it, to make room for classes, for, I guess,

however you're going to service HEI folks going forward, that kind of activity, is that fair to say?

A new visitation area, classrooms, the biggest, perhaps one of the biggest single changes is the dedicated mental health addition or wing to treat our mentally ill.

We currently do not have a conducive space for that purpose.

The rest of it will be increasing the size of day rooms, square footage for inmates.

As you know, some of the areas where they had a single toilet with a half brick wall for, you know, 14 people.

Well, and I know, you know, I know we've, we talk about how these days the jails and the prisons are effectively the mental health facilities

That's correct, man.

Yeah.

And so for this project to move forward,

I want to make sure that people understand what we are actually proposing for this, what it means for this project to move forward, that all of the things that critics of the penal system would say are the worst aspects of the penal system, this would give us the ability to work, basically to take things away from the purely punitive model

towards more nearly towards a rehabilitation model, towards a community-based model in a way that you do not now have the ability to do.

That's a great summary, Mayor.

I agree.

And one of the things that I try to tell folks who say, gee, we should be cutting the police budget, we should be cutting the jail budget and so on.

If you basically don't think that doing it right is cheaper than doing it wrong.

It costs money to do it right.

It costs money to get the right people hired to be able to keep them on staff.

It costs money to improve the facilities.

While in the long run, if you want to look at societal costs over 20 years or something, it's cheaper to have done it right.

I would add to that that I know there's calls in the community to get rid of jails in general.

They hope at some point there won't be a need for a jail.

Investments like this are the only way that's even

remotely feasible.

If we invest in recidivism reduction strategies now and invest in a facility that is conducive to just that, reducing crime, reducing further victimization, we may not need in the future.

I hope someday we don't need as many police officers.

I hope I work myself out of a job.

That will be a success.

But this is the type of investment that has to happen.

It's not going to happen magically.

Jails just aren't going to disappear.

Crimes aren't just going to stop on their own.

That is correct.

Most of our current classrooms were at one point or another either a closet

So those are my, not really questions or more comments or arguments.

I just wanted to bring up that we had our budget.

So our FY20 budget, we had budgeted

4,879,000 for the jails.

As you can see, we went down because some large bills had been paid off.

So basically we had a couple of years where we had not as large of a bill because, and so this is almost bringing us back to where we were a couple of years ago.

Mr. Mayor, what are the next steps that have to happen in terms of this actually being, I guess, approved by us?

This is the report today, I guess.

Well, as I'm looking at timeline, the resolution from us would be in August or September.

Mayor, that's the way we understand it.

Okay.

And the plan is for me to come back before this council as many times as this board deems necessary to present as much information as this board deems necessary so you can make an informed decision.

So this today is just a preliminary introduction to this process to what we're expecting and to hopefully generate some questions that you can then convey to me and I can come back and make sure I answer all your questions.

So when the time comes,

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

And again, I really appreciated the tour the other day, and I was just impressed with your staff.

I thought that, you know, particularly in the older parts of the jail, it's, you know, to use a technical term, crummy, and they, you know, they're

I just was impressed with their attitudes, with their professionalism, and I think whatever we can do, to the mayor's point, I think recasting this from a punitive perspective to one of rehabilitation, and that this is

I think in terms of decision points for us, there will be

the resolution from member jurisdictions in August or September.

And then the next time that there will actually have to be any significant budgetary issue raised is going to be probably around this time, two years from now, as we're doing the FY 2425 budget, when all of a sudden we're going from we're adding $855,000 a year in debt service.

But I think the other important point that all of us need to embrace is that, and correct me if I'm wrong on this, Colonel Coomer, but once we've given the resolution to go ahead, and once that process has begun to work its way through to approvals for the rest of everything else, there isn't really another time for us to come back and say, whoa, we've changed our minds.

So when we make this decision in August or September of this year, we are making a decision that barring something truly extraordinary, we should not be thinking is still a temporary kind of decision.

That that's a decision that even though it doesn't have dollars attached to it right then and there, it's going to be a commitment

to the jail authority and to our neighboring jurisdictions and everybody else to go ahead and follow through.

Okay.

Yeah, and I would say also to the Department of Corrections, right?

True.

We would be committing telling that entity that we're committed to doing this project.

So the disease that Charlottesville governance has that no decision ever seems to be final and everything gets reconsidered and agonized over, please let us commit ourselves to not doing that once we get past that authorization this summer.

Any other questions that relate to bonds and construction and

and the rest of this stuff?

Counselors?

Mr. Coomer, one unrelated question, but I know we get questions about it during council meetings.

What's the current status with COVID over there?

I'd be happy to.

Our COVID numbers are significantly improved.

And if anyone wants to go to our website, acrj.org, the first thing you will see is our current

data on our COVID numbers and you'll see that they have down to almost zero.

Okay.

Yeah, Councilor McGill, you're on that board, right?

Okay.

And I guess this recommendation has the weight of the board behind it.

Everything I can see is that, yes, it does appear.

Albemarle County is very much behind it.

I know Nelson has got some possible qualms.

I don't know how that's going to affect things going forward.

Hopefully, once they see the presentation, that won't be

Who is our main questions were about the bonding capacity and if there if that affects our bonding capacity, which it doesn't.

Um, I am kind of interested in talking about

especially if we can encourage as many localities as possible who utilize our jail facility to embrace HEI and what that means then.

Any other questions for the jail folks?

Going once, going twice.

Thank you, Mr. Coomer, Mr. Bell, Mr. Roman.

Thank you all very much.

And unless counselors have some other thought, I would suggest we adjourn this part of the meeting and go to our closed session.

and do so now so that we can get that over with so that we might have perhaps a longer break before we start back up again at 630.

Or a break at all, yeah.

The only issue that I know, let's see, do we have the link for the closed meeting?

Okay.

I know it's, I saw it someplace, so I'm sure we've got, yeah, there we go.

Oh, that's right.

Go for it.

Pursuant to section 2.2-3712 of the Virginia Code, I hereby move that the city council close this open meeting and convene within a closed meeting as authorized by Virginia Code section 2.2-3711A

Okay.

I think this appears to be one we can just do all in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Okay, that motion passes.

We will now go into closed session.

We will return to a separate link for the 6.30 p.m.

open meeting.

And so I will see everybody, at least those who need to be in the closed meeting.

I'll see you all there.

Could someone please send me the link again?

All right.

Okay.

Will do.

Thank you

Thank you

Thank you

Thank you

Music Music Music

Thank you

Music Music

Thank you

Thank you

Thank you

Juand, can you hear me?

I can hear you, Brian.

Am I off-tackling?

Check your Zoom settings, the volume

So we're still waiting for Michael and for Mr. Rogers, I guess.

Mr. Rogers had to take a call.

He'd be right back.

Okay, there we go.

So next item of business is to read us out of closed session.

Ms.

I do.

Move that the city council members certified by recorded vote.

That's the best of each member's knowledge.

Second.

Second.

Second.

Moved and seconded.

Ms.

You're muted, or for every reason not coming through.

How about now?

Yes.

Councillor McGill?

Yes.

I could see it.

Vice Mayor Wade?

Vice Mayor Wade?

Yes, yes, yes.

Okay, there we go.

I just wanted to make just a brief statement about the crisis that's going on in Ukraine.

I've had many constituents to reach out to me to see what we could do or just a statement or something.

And I think that what we can do now, if you're the type to pray, please pray and we can

I think that we're doing as a nation what we can do at this point.

I know there's an ongoing crisis and that it's really sad that a country is being invaded by another one during this time.

So I just ask that we continue to hold the Ukrainians in our prayers and our thoughts.

And I know that we as a nation will continue to keep our

attention to what's going on over there.

Thank you, Vice Mayor.

Thank you.

And I would add, it is likely that sometime fairly soon in the next month or so, we're going to be beginning to see refugees.

Charlottesville is a place where a lot of refugees come.

We've got the International Rescue Committee, a lot of other folks who know that Charlottesville is hospitable to refugees and to immigrants.

And when the opportunity presents itself

I know that Charlottesville and Charlottesvillians will be generous and welcoming.

We'll now hear from Dr. Denise Bonds, Health Director for the Blue Ridge Health District.

Good evening.

Thank you for having me.

Happy to be here tonight to give you another update on where we are with COVID.

So hopefully you can all see my screen.

Yep.

Good.

Okay.

So where we are tonight is too far here.

Here we go.

So we had 24 new cases reported today.

You can see by the graph that we are on a strong downswing from our peak in early January.

late December from the Omicron.

So overall downward trend, we still are seeing spikes occasionally.

And I will say that Mondays tend to be a really low case count day because of the weekend.

So we'll probably see a little bit of a bump up tomorrow.

That's been the pattern so far.

I know that many of you watch very carefully and hear on the news about the CDC.

The CDC has recently changed its community levels and I want to spend a few minutes talking about this and where these levels come from because I think people may be worried a little bit because Albemarle and the city of Charlottesville show as a very high indicator

So you can see the map here, CDC has now lowered it down to three levels, low, medium, and high.

You can see in Virginia right now, most of northern Virginia and the Tidewater Eastern Shore area has actually moved into the low area with most of the southwest tail in the high area.

Here in Charlottesville, and when you look, it's called Charlottesville City County,

We are listed in the high, so the recommendations are to wear a mask indoors, make sure you're up to date with your COVID vaccines, and remember that might include, well, it does include a booster, and to get tested if you have symptoms.

Let me explain how they come up with these numbers because I think it's a little disheartening.

We have such high vaccination levels for us to be at such a high, to be listed as a high community level.

and so what I've done here is pull the data that went behind here.

So there are three components that go into making the new CDC COVID-19 community levels.

The first thing that they look at is the number of cases per 100,000.

100,000 is used, they normalize that value because all

counties and communities across the nation have vastly different population levels.

And so this is a way for them to be able to come up with one metric for all areas.

And I just pulled here all of the localities for the Blue Ridge Health District.

And you can see Charlottesville cities down here at the bottom.

Right now there are 224 cases per 100,000 individuals.

And this is a seven-day average that they look at.

So this was last updated on last Thursday, March the 3rd.

So once you have that data, and it is available on the CDC website, although I confess you have to dig a little bit to get it, you either put yourself in the fewer than 200 or the more than 200 per

Cases per 100,000.

And the rationale behind this is that cases per 100,000 is a leading indicator.

That is if you have a high caseload, that's an indication that you might have a high burden to your hospitals.

And that's what the other two metrics that go into this really look at is burden on the hospital.

And they're looking at two indicators.

They're looking at the COVID inpatient bed utilization, and they're looking at COVID hospital admissions per 100,000 population.

Now you'll notice it says here health services area and they all say Albemarle and that's because they're getting this information that you look bad utilization and the hospital admissions per 100,000 and they're using that for the entire service area.

They do not break that out for individual localities.

The reason behind that is that a hospital is what is called a regional asset.

That means, if you think about it, UVA admits individuals from all over the area, not just Charlottesville, and the same for Sentara Martha Jefferson.

So all of our localities are in the same health services area, but there are also a lot of other localities that are part of the Albemarle area health service area.

So Culpeper is also considered part of that area, Madison, Rappahannock, Buckingham County, a whole slew go into that that are not necessarily, certainly not in Charlottesville and not necessarily part of the Blue Ridge Health District.

Now, if you look down at the community levels, there are two different numbers depending on if you're in the 200 or more or fewer than 200.

So here, if you have fewer than 200, this 6.8 actually puts you down here in the low, sorry, in the percent of inpatient beds and the percent hospitalized and the 15.1 puts you in the median and the

CDC will assign whatever is the higher category.

So for all of the other localities in our health district except Albemarle and Charlottesville, where they have cases that are below 200 per 100,000, they would use this.

And if you look at the map, they are all in the medium risk category.

But because both Albemarle and Charlottesville are slightly higher than the 200 or more,

that changes the numbers that we use or the cutoffs for medium and high.

So now that 6.8% is in the median range.

Here it was in the low.

And the 15.1 puts Charlottesville and Albemarle up here in the high range.

And again, the CDC is going to assign whatever is the highest risk value to the community based on that.

So at this point in time, VDH is examining and trying to really understand the implications of this and how it might affect our community.

It's certainly one more piece of data.

It is certainly a very convenient way to

help individuals decide what they should do on a day-to-day basis.

But you can see just small numbers, particularly in communities that have small populations, where each individual case of COVID counts for a lot more when you are rounding up or adjusting to per 100K.

can have pretty dramatic changes.

So should we proceed with that?

I can foresee that at least for the next few weeks, both Charlottesville and Albemarle might bounce between medium and high.

And that's a little confusing for individuals.

And so, as I said, VDH is still examining this.

to try and parse out what it's going to mean for the community.

So I wanted you all to understand, because when you look at that, it looks very distressing to see both Charlottesville and Albemarle in the high area.

I do wanna just take a look at the hospitalization numbers.

This is Sentara polled this morning.

They are reporting five individuals with COVID in their hospital beds right now.

And you can see they've had a gradual trend since early January downward.

And here we have UVAs, and they have also begun to show a gradual trend.

Still a pretty high number of people hospitalized.

47 yesterday were reported with three admissions yesterday.

And you can see that even though they've had this gradual trend, these lines here represent days when they've had really high admissions.

So still pretty concerning, but definitely heading in the right direction with regards to our hospital utilization.

I showed you this graph last time, showing you it again.

We're pretty much all Omicron variant at this point in time.

The Delta variant has really dramatically fallen off here and really been taken over by Omicron.

We're not reporting here any of the subtle Omicron, the B2A, but we have had one or two cases in the region, but so far doesn't seem to be making a big impact on us.

So again, vaccination is really the most important thing to do to keep yourself safe.

We continue to have a very slow but steady increase in the number of individuals that are getting vaccinated.

So you can see there's been about 300 additional people since the last time I talked.

who have started on their vaccination, gotten at least one dose.

So that's great to see.

And we're happy to provide that vaccine for free for anyone who wants it.

Pretty good percentage of the population and really an excellent percentage of the population for adults who have at least one dose.

And we're seeing increases in the number of people who are fully vaccinated.

That is, they not only started to get that vaccine, but are getting their second and their booster shot.

So 69% of the population is fully vaccinated.

For adults, it's 73.

That difference is, remember, this is first dose and this is getting all of your doses.

And we've had about 50% of adults that have gone ahead and gotten their booster dose.

And I really am highly encouraging everyone, if you have not gotten your booster, to please do that.

It's really important to have that additional shot to have full immunity.

Just a reminder that vaccinations save lives.

Where we see higher vaccination rates, we see lower death rates.

And that's that decreasing line here

Here's the percentage of people who are vaccinated.

Here's the desk for 1,000.

And you can see in our community and for the greater state, it really is a very sharp decline as vaccinations increase.

So when you're out and about, keep yourself safe, get vaccinated, upgrade your mask.

And I am strongly encouraging people to continue to wear a mask indoors.

Even though we are on the bubble there of the CDC guidelines, we are still seeing a pretty significant number of cases in our community.

Remember about distance and outdoors, and of course, wash your hands.

So we are no longer calling every case of COVID, nor are we doing contact tracing.

So I think it's important to remind people what to do if they come down, if they get self-tested or if they go to their physician and get tested and they get diagnosed with COVID.

So if you are infected, the important thing to do is isolate for at least five days, continue that isolation longer if your symptoms are more than mild or if you have a continued fever.

On day six through 10, individuals can leave isolation if they're improving, but they need to wear a mask because there's a chance that they may still be infectious.

We've actually done some really interesting research even here locally that has shown that people do convert well beyond five days.

It's a small percentage, but we do see people converting and becoming positive.

So people are infectious after that five days.

If you have an opportunity to do a self-test, an antigen test, that can be helpful, and if it's positive, of course, stay in isolation.

If you find out that you're exposed, either through an online app or because someone tells you, then you need to quarantine.

If you're fully vaccinated and you've had your booster, then the recommendations are that you just wear a well-fitting mask while you're around others for 10 days.

If you've had COVID within the last 90 days, you have very strong immunity.

And again, you don't need to quarantine if you're exposed again after you've recovered.

But if you're not vaccinated or if you haven't had your booster, then you need to quarantine for five days, wear a well-fitting mask.

And then finally, we really recommend that if you do know that you're exposed to get tested five days after exposure or when symptoms develop.

Testing locations.

I'm not going to read through all of these.

These are really the same as they've been, except that our community testing center at the Pantop Shopping Center will be closing on March 15.

That's really going to be the last day at that point in time.

Remember, they're at Pantop Shopping Center.

They're open from 9 to 530.

There will still be other opportunities to get testing.

We do have rapid tests that we can either provide at the health department or they're available at pharmacies and grocery stores everywhere.

So still lots of testing available, but the community testing location will be closing on March the 15th.

And then in regards to vaccination, again, we're vaccinating at every health department in the afternoon, and you can see where we're at here.

We still do Moby on the Mall on Mondays.

We were there today and actually had a lot of people stop by to get their booster or their first vaccine, so that's great to see.

Our community vaccination center at Seminole Square will be closing on March the 12th.

That is its last day.

So if you have not gotten your booster, now's a really great time to go over there.

They can do walk-ins.

They're very fast, very efficient, really encouraging people to use that resource while it's available, but they will be closing their doors on March the 12th.

So if you've been putting it off, now's the day to do it.

and I'll just leave with our hotline number and, of course, vaccines.gov.

There are other places besides Blue Ridge Health District to get your vaccines.

They're available at pharmacies and physician offices everywhere.

Councilors, have any questions for Dr. Bonds?

Well, I've got one.

Dr. Bonds, you had sent an email to Ashley Marshall back on February 14th, which got copied to us through another cycle, another circle just today, commenting on the kinds of factors that you recommend we consider when deciding whether to go back to in-person meetings.

That's basically the last thing on our agenda.

And to do you the favor of letting you opine early rather than asking you that you hang around and tell us what you think when the topic comes up.

Yeah, so, you know, that's a really great question.

I think right now all of the trends are very favorable.

Our case count is still a little high, but it is trending downward.

Our hospital capacity is strong at this point in time and the number of people being admitted with COVID is low.

I think things to consider are will the meeting only be in person or will you do a hybrid form because it is still quite risky.

for some individuals who have immune compromise, who can't get vaccinated for whatever reason or have been vaccinated and are just not mounting a strong immune response.

It's really critical that those individuals still have the opportunity that they've had over the last few years with Zoom meetings to participate.

So that would be one consideration.

I think another consideration would be whether or not you would require masks during the meeting.

City Council Chambers in the past has been quite crowded and a lot of people want to show up and voice their opinion about particular matters.

We know that a well-fitting mask really reduces the risk.

Certainly if it were possible to hold council meetings in a larger or more open space that would allow that distancing that we know helps reduce the risk of infection.

So metrics that I might look at, I would look, I probably wouldn't use a daily case count for a couple of reasons.

One, it tends to fluctuate a lot.

I think instead I would look at weekly case counts over time and I would want to see those trending down.

I would want to see that our hospital capacity is very strong, that they have minimal number of COVID cases hospitalized so that

Would an outbreak happen that that would not risk a strain on our hospital systems?

I think those are the factors.

I probably wouldn't look at percent positivity.

There are so many people who are using rapid tests and home tests now that you really just don't know what that means anymore.

So I don't think that that's a great metric to use at this point in time.

I actually think the CDC metrics are very reasonable metrics.

I'm just worried that the focus, the division of case count between 200 greater or less, when you're bouncing around that 200 mark, that can

results in a lot of oscillations between medium and high or low and medium, which could be very confusing.

But that's, I think, certainly as long as you understand those limitations and can look at the data behind those recommendations to see what's going on, I think that might be a very reasonable and easy metric to look at.

You know, it's a challenge to make that determination.

And I'm not sure that there's one specific thing.

I am always happy to come in and talk about anything to city council, but I'm happy to give you an update on that.

And certainly, you know, at VDH, we're having lots of meetings about these new CBC metrics.

And there are going to be some changes.

If you've looked at the VDH website, there's a lot of headers that say that the data will be changing how it's presented and the type of data.

And I'll certainly keep you apprised as those

changes happen.

I think you want to give lots of notice and advance warning as you go back to in person so that people can plan accordingly.

Anybody have other questions for Dr. Bonds?

All right.

Thank you, Dr. Bonds.

Appreciate your stopping by, even virtually.

Next item on our agenda is recognitions and proclamations.

Let's see, what do we got here?

So we actually have four on the agenda, we're going to talk about a fifth one as well.

Yes, thank you for this opportunity, Mr. Mayor.

This is a proclamation that I read last week at UVA where they had a program at the mail and it's a proclamation that

this city council did approximately five years ago to recognize the day of liberation.

I'm just going to kind of highlight some of the points that it made.

And it was some past recognized that March 3rd is Liberation Day in Charlottesville, where more than half of the population of Charlottesville in the counties of Albemarle during the time of the Civil War was enslaved.

and that this fact was little known until the work of the Charlottesville Blue Ribbon Commission on Memorials and Public Spaces, which promote promoted the this knowledge to the public.

and that 14,000 members of the community have struggled for generations and bondage began to be freed on March 3rd, 1865 on the arrival of Union forces under the command of Generals Custer and Sheridan who enforced the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation.

and so this is a holiday for the city of Charlottesville and it was signed February the 6th, 2017 by Vice Mayor Wes Bellamy.

And it's still a holiday in Charlottesville.

Yes.

Next resolution.

a resolution concerning the Festival of the Book, 2022 Virginia Festival of the Book, whereas the city of Charlottesville believes that literacy is critical to active and engaged citizenship and is committed to promoting reading, writing, and storytelling for all, both within and outside its borders, and whereas reading stimulates the creative and intellectual growth of individuals while also building community through shared experiences, discourse, and understanding,

and whereas the 2021 Virginia Festival of the Book as a hybrid event with events presented locally and through online platforms, this is actually we should have made this a 2022 Virginia Festival of the Book.

We'll be drawing attendees and attention to Charlottesville from around the globe while providing all programs free of charge to attendees and offering great accessibility through closed captions, recap videos and transcripts.

whereas Virginia Humanities, the Virginia Center for the Book, University of Virginia, local businesses and schools and cultural and civic organizations collaborate with the Virginia Festival of the Book to explore the world through reading to foster empathy for the stories of others and to promote literacy for all.

Now, therefore, we proclaim Wednesday, March 16th through Sunday, March 20th, 2022 to be the 28th annual Virginia Festival of the Book and encourage community members to participate fully

in the wide range of available programs and activities signed and sealed the seventh day of March, 2022.

Yes, hello, the director.

Hello and thank you all.

We are thrilled to be able to present our first ever hybrid 2022 Virginia Festival of the Book and our 28th annual festival.

We greatly appreciate the support of the city of Charlottesville and we invite everyone to participate this march.

Just to follow on the report you just received, in order to provide safe access for all, we've listed COVID policies according to each in-person venue.

So we encourage everyone to check the precautions listed for each event at vabook.org.

Meeting People Where They Are, the 2022 Festival presents 75 events, 74 of which are free in all genres for all ages.

Each of these events allows you to hear directly from the author, however you or they choose to participate.

But we are also thrilled to once again welcome attendees from all over the country to visit our community.

So we appreciate your support.

We thank you for this proclamation.

And if you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them.

And counselors have any questions for Ms.

And let me just say that every year I've involved myself in the activities of the Virginia Festival of the Book.

It's just a wonderful addition to our community.

And of course, we're still a little adjusting to the notion of bringing people to Charlottesville for the occasion.

Thank you all.

The next proclamation, Women's History Month.

Thank you, Mayor.

Women's History Month 2022.

Whereas women of every race, class, and ethnic background have made historic contributions to the growth and strength of Charlottesville in countless recorded and unrecorded ways,

and whereas women play a critical economic, cultural, and social role in every sphere of life in Charlottesville and whereas particularly important in the establishment of early charitable philanthropic and cultural institutions in our city women have served as early leaders in the forefront of every major progressive social change movement

and whereas women have been leaders not only in securing their own rights of suffrage and equal opportunity but also in the abolitionists, emancipation, industrial labor, civil rights, environmental and peace movements which have created a more fair and just society for all and whereas despite these contributions the role of women has consistently been overlooked and undervalued and the literature, leadership, teaching and study of American history

And it is therefore fitting that we recognize their numerous accomplishments.

And whereas the 2022 theme of the National Women's History Month is women providing healing, promoting hope.

women providing healing, promoting hope, a recognition of the ceaseless work of caregivers and frontline workers during this ongoing pandemic, and a recognition of the thousands of ways that women of all cultures have provided both healing and hope throughout history.

And whereas the city of Charlottesville reaffirms this commitment to uplifting and safeguarding women's rights, women's rightful place in our history and in our society.

Thank you.

Any comments?

Any other counselors wish to make a comment on Women's History Month proclamation?

the proclamation for the March for Meals month.

This is sort of an interesting one.

Whereas on March 22, 1972, President Richard Nixon signed into law an amendment to the Older Americans Act of 1965,

that established a national nutrition program for seniors 60 years and older, and whereas Meals on Wheels America established the March for Meals campaign in March 2002 to recognize the importance of the Older Americans Act nutrition programs, both congregate and home delivered, and to raise awareness about the escalating problem of senior hunger in America.

And whereas the 2022 observance of March for Meals provides an opportunity to support Meals on Wheels programs that deliver vital and critical services by donating, volunteering and raising awareness about senior hunger and isolation.

Whereas the Meals on Wheels program has served the Charlottesville Albemarle community admirably for 44 years, serving 322 homebound citizens and delivering 66,720 home delivered meals in 2021.

Whereas Meals on Wheels volunteers are the backbone of the program, not only delivering nutritious meals to seniors and individuals with disabilities who are at significant risk of hunger and isolation,

but also bringing caring concern and attention to their welfare.

And whereas Meals on Wheels of Charlottesville Albemarle provides nutritious meals to seniors that help them maintain their health and independence, preventing unnecessary falls, hospitalizations, and or premature institutionalizations.

Whereas Meals on Wheels of Charlottesville Albemarle provides a powerful opportunity for social connection for millions of seniors

Well, I'm not sure that Charlottesville Albemarle is for millions of seniors, let's say thousands of seniors, hundreds of seniors, to help combat the negative health effects and economic consequences of loneliness and isolation.

And whereas Meals on Wheels of Charlottesville Albemarle deserves recognition for the heroic contributions and essential services they have provided amid the COVID-19 pandemic and will continue to provide to local communities, our state and our nation long after it is over.

Now, therefore, we do hereby proclaim March 2022 as the first annual March for Meals Month in Charlottesville and urge every citizen to take this month to honor our Meals on Wheels programs, the seniors they serve, and the volunteers who care for them.

Our recognition of and involvement in the national 2022 March for Meals can enrich our entire community and help combat senior hunger and isolation in America, signed and sealed the seventh day of March 2022.

Robin Goldstein, I see you're there.

Sure.

I just want to say thank you very much for reading the proclamation.

That was really long.

I really appreciate that.

I would also like to say that this is a month where we're just getting the word out so that people understand more about our seniors in need, folks who can't get to the food banks and other places.

and basically we wanted to put the word out to anyone who's interested in volunteering.

We would love to see more community members join us in helping get the food out to our seniors who need it.

Thank you.

And finally, colorectal.

Okay.

Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.

Thank you, sir.

Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, March 2022, whereas colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States among men and women combined.

And whereas colorectal cancer is one of the few cancers that can be prevented with timely screening, but one in three eligible Americans are not up to date on screening.

Whereas colorectal cancer is expected to become the number one cancer killer for those ages

20 to 49 by 2030.

Whereas in Charlottesville, colorectal cancer disproportionately impacts people of color, with African American people being 1.4 times more likely than white people to be diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

Whereas in Charlottesville, African American people are 2.3 times more likely to die from colorectal cancer than white people.

Whereas the National Cancer Institute estimates that there could be as many as 4,500 additional colorectal cancer deaths because of the drop in screening due to COVID-19.

Whereas the national goal established by the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable is to strive to increase timely colorectal cancer screening rates to 80% in every community for all Americans eligible for screening.

Whereas observing a colorectal cancer awareness month during the month of March would provide a special opportunity to increase awareness and offer education on the importance of early detection and screening of colorectal cancer.

Now, therefore, I.J.

Thank you.

Yes, my name is Tom Lachran.

I'm the director of the Cancer Center.

And I'd like to thank Mayor Snook and council members for claiming the month of March colorectal cancer awareness month.

So we recently became the 52nd designated comprehensive cancer center in the entire country in the history of 50 years of NCI's war against cancer.

So as being a NCI designated comprehensive cancer center

Our main goal is prevent cancer disparities.

You've already heard the statistics about the disproportionate effect of colorectal cancer in people of color just here in Charlottesville.

And I'd like to emphasize the proclamation's point about prevention and screening because the best way of preventing or fighting cancer is to prevent it from ever occurring.

Unfortunately, colorectal cancer is often diagnosed late.

and is therefore less curable.

It's a very curable disease caught early.

Best way of doing that is by screening.

Screening has been lowered to age 45 from age 50 for a number of reasons.

We're committed at the Cancer Center to work with the community to increase colorectal cancer screening rates and then hopefully conquer the problem of colorectal cancer for the future.

Thank you, Dr. Walkren.

Okay.

Ms.

Consent agenda, number two, minutes, January 26th, council retreat, February 2nd, joint budget work session with schools.

Three, resolution, appropriating funding of $625,000 to a new collective bargaining project account within the city's capital projects fund.

Second reading.

for ordinance amending and reordaining chapter nine elections section nine dash 31 central absentee voter district to change the location of the central absentee voter precinct from city hall to city space.

First of two readings and the second reading will be in May 2022.

I was told that there are some other things that will need to happen in between now and then.

Thank you.

We will now take public comment regarding items on the consent agenda just read by the clerk.

This is not the time if you signed up in advance to talk about other things on the agenda.

This is not your time.

This is only to talk about those four items we just had read to us.

Each speaker will have up to three minutes.

In the Zoom webinar, you can select the raise hand option to be placed in the speaker queue.

If you have joined by phone and wish to speak on the consent agenda, you may press star nine.

Looks like Bill Golding has his hand raised.

Hi, guys.

I actually wrote it out so that I wouldn't be pedantic and I'll be quick for you.

My name is Bill Goldeen for those who are listening and I am both the Charlottesville resident and a proud school bus driver for the city schools.

I'm a supporter of a union for the school bus drivers or CAT employees as a whole because I actually work under CAT.

I wanna thank you guys, the council for your recent actions that you have taken to finally move forward

on collective bargaining eligibility for all city employees.

And I'm encouraged to hear that a plan will be put forward in the near future.

I'm asking you to vote yes for the funding allocated for getting the collective bargaining system off the ground.

I would also like to make sure that the council provides funding in the upcoming budget for all necessary positions to carry out the new system for collective bargaining.

This will ensure timely implementation which will benefit everyone.

Transit drivers and other essential city employees deserve to have the right to join a union and have collective bargaining and I again applaud the City Council for doing the right thing and moving forward on this critical issue.

The next raised hand is David Koenig.

You have three minutes.

David Koenig Thank you.

Good evening.

My name is David Koenig.

I'm a Charlottesville City resident, a teacher in our city's public schools, and a co-chair of the organizing committee for our educators union.

I'm here tonight in solidarity with the workers of the Amalgamated Transit Union, IAFF, and other public employees of the city of Charlottesville.

I first want to thank the members of this council for allocating funds to begin the process of enacting a collective bargaining ordinance for our city's public employees.

I also urge you to engage with these public servants throughout the process of writing and enacting an ordinance that is fair to all parties.

Do not do this in a unilateral manner.

The principle of collective bargaining, which is a fundamental right of all workers according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, means that employees have a seat at the table and meet with their employer as equals to negotiate the terms of their employment.

You should respect that right and that principle throughout this process, beginning with the first step of negotiating the terms of the ordinance itself.

The second point I would like to make this evening has to do with the broader rights of our city's people and how those relate to the priorities of this council.

I've heard a great deal of rhetoric recently that as a city we need to choose from among the school reconfiguration project and affordable housing program and collective bargaining for our public employees.

But these are not options from which we can pick and choose.

They are all fundamental human rights.

The people of Charlottesville have a right to affordable housing.

Our public school students have a right to quality facilities throughout their academic career.

And our workers have a right to join together and bargain collectively with their employers.

When it comes to collective bargaining, it is not even clear that there will be any appreciable monetary cost to the city.

It literally costs you nothing to acknowledge our public servants' rights and sit down at the negotiating table with them as equals.

Regardless of the potential cost of any of these programs, though, actualizing the rights of all members of our community should be central to this council's work.

We can have a community that is livable for all, where the human rights of residents and workers are respected.

Your job is to make that happen, not to pit these essential priorities against each other.

Our next speaker is David Broder.

Great.

Thank you very much.

Good evening, members of Charlottesville City Council.

My name is David Broder, and I'm proud to serve as the president of SEIU Virginia 512, a union of frontline public service workers throughout Northern Virginia and in Richmond, and home care workers throughout the Commonwealth, including here in Charlottesville.

I'm here standing in solidarity tonight with my ATU union siblings and IAFF union siblings,

to testify in support of funding a meaningful collective bargaining process for city workers.

By giving workers a seat at the table, meaningful collective bargaining benefits everyone in the community.

It raises wages.

It improves benefits for all workers while closing racial and gender pay gaps.

It improves recruitment, retention, and morale, and thus enhances the quality of services for local residents.

It protects worker health and safety, which has never been more important.

A recent study found that during the pandemic, nursing homes where workers unionized and bargained a contract had 30% fewer deaths among residents and employees than in nursing homes without unions and collective bargaining.

That is an extraordinary statistic that we cannot ignore.

For all of these reasons and more, it's no surprise that in a Watson Center poll out of Christopher Newport University, fully 68% of Virginians support the right

of public employees to form a union and collectively bargain.

I can only imagine that number is even higher in Charlottesville.

To ensure that Charlottesville city workers have meaningful collective bargaining and to ensure that the community benefits fully from the advantages of collective bargaining, the final ordinance should include bargaining over the full scope of pay, benefits, and working conditions, the freedom for workers to talk about and organize their union,

and binding arbitration to ensure a contract is negotiated and reached in good faith.

All right.

Okay.

We have a motion from, is that a second, Mr. Payne?

Somebody seconded, I hope.

Second.

Great.

Any further questions or comments from Council?

Ms.

Councilor McGill?

Yes.

Yes.

City manager report.

Yes, Mr. Mayor.

I wanted to share with the council that we are beginning the process of conducting a employee satisfaction survey.

The city had done these surveys in the past.

The last one was done in 2017.

I think that it's time that we get a sense of how employees are feeling about their work here and use that feedback.

to construct a program that will move us forward so that we can address the issues that we identify.

Secondly, we are beginning, we had a kickoff meeting for our compensation study and it looks like it's gonna take about nine months for that detailed work

to occur, but those are two projects, in addition to, of course, the collective bargaining that we're working on.

Yes, sir.

I just wanted to provide the council with a little information about the scope of the class and comprehensive study as well as the timeline.

The scope of the study will look at a comprehensive evaluation of every job within the city to determine its relative worth within the organization for internal equity and for the establishment of pay ranges and step progressions within those ranges.

The team will review current job classifications, confirm and recommend changes to hierarchical order of jobs.

They will establish appropriate benchmarking standards and conduct salary surveys as needed for similar positions, identify potential pay compression issues and provide potential solutions, as well as analyze and recommend changes to the present compensation structure.

A work group of staff, including our human resources team and our interim director of communications,

as well as one of our deputy city attorneys along with myself will be spearheading this work.

Yes sir, I did have one additional item to report out to the community and the council.

We are also looking at some key jobs that are being built currently.

The city is making great progress on some key hires.

Interviews are underway for our director of communications and public engagement.

And yes, that title does sound a little different because we are going to emphasize public engagements within our communications professional team.

Resumes are being reviewed for the Director of Human Services and Director of Information Technology roles and resumes are being reviewed as well as being still collected for the Director of Human Resources role as that advertisement is continuous.

We expect to move forward to interview phases on all three of those last director positions shortly.

The city has received a high number of very qualified candidates for all the roles mentioned, but I would like to take a quick moment to sincerely thank the team members who stepped up to lead these departments in the interim.

David Dillon Hunt as our interim deputy director of communications and public engagement, Misty Graves as our interim director of human services,

and Steve Hawks is our Interim Director for Information Technology.

Their willingness to serve has ensured the stability of service provision through their leadership for all of those departments.

Thank you very much.

Yes, sir.

Good evening, Council.

and to the public.

Just have a few things.

A couple of things that I wanted to start with are announcements from the Parks and Rec Department.

Parks and Rec will be hosting a Bennett's Village event at Penn Park on the 15th of March.

There will be two online meetings on the first at 1 p.m.

and 6 p.m.

But park staff will actually be present in the park on the 14th from 9 until 5 with an explanation of the proposal and to gather some public input.

So there's an opportunity to take a look at what the Bennett's Village project is going to look like as an inclusive playground.

In addition, they're also announcing a public session for Benjamin Tonsler Park, two online public meetings to also gather and collect input on the construction of a field house and the parking lot expansion has been proposed for Tonsler.

Park staff will be in the park from 10 a.m.

to 2 p.m.

on Monday, March 21st, also to gather input from the public.

And then there's those sessions from 1 o'clock and 6 p.m.

on March 22nd.

Beyond that, I wanted to take a moment just to give an update on three community priorities that have been hot issues and have been the genesis of a variety of emails as you all have been reading from the public.

So I just want to kind of give the public an update as to where we stand on Fifth Street as the first.

The internal working group continues to work.

We met with the consultant group today.

We are integrating two public meetings into this short five-month study process to take a look at alternative solutions for Fifth Street.

And at the same time that we're doing that, we're going to continue to be working with TJPDC and VDOT on aligning this project that we're proposing with what they are doing from Harris Street out into the county.

I did give staff authorization to pursue a SmartScale application because it is time for us to consider if we should go after another round of funding.

We decided to go after a SmartScale grant from VDOT to focus it on Fifth Street, adding to what we've already been able to secure.

and that will give us the ability to look at a more longer term solution that may be one of the more costly versions.

But the idea, as I indicated in prior conversations with the public and with you all, is that our goal is to look for short term as well as long term options, inexpensive as well as expensive, non-controversial as well as controversial.

Our goal is to make sure that we put everything on the table as it relates to what we can do on the Fifth Street Corridor.

The second area is affordable housing, just to give you an update as to where we stand.

This is more of a preview to a four o'clock work session that has been scheduled for April 4th.

The thought there is that we have a lot of different things happening right now in the affordable housing space from an internal perspective, and the goal would be to update council and the public as to where we are.

The CAF round, the current CAF round just concluded.

The committee has just recently met and they're in the process of making selections on what recommendations they want to make to council for the $750,000 that is available.

Those recommendations will come to you on the 21st.

We also have opened the part two to the CDBG round, which is open until March 15th, and that will be to reallocate the $240,000 balance of funds that were resulting from the defunding of the Franklin Street project.

So that is a new amount of funding that's available for proposals to come in, and we anticipate projects to start July 1st after we get through that review process.

We also have a five-year action plan kickoff later this month with TJPDC.

That'll be the HUD five-year action plan where we'll be identifying what the various priorities are in the affordable housing space and make sure that it's a comprehensive proposal.

So there'll be opportunities for the public to engage and there'll be more updates to come.

And then we're going to continue to work on the implementation priorities.

Just to give you a highlight of that, we're looking at how to track better, how to look at tracking long-term

the long-term inventory assessments that we've been making, making sure that we're getting return on those investments.

We want to take a look at how the HACC meetings are scheduled so that there might be additional opportunities to focus on breaking down into smaller groups and take a look at some specific issues and then to really focus on the structural elements of the plan.

And then the last and this is more of just one of those tougher type moments where we have to admit that we can do better.

There's been a lot of conversation in regards to the stuck nature of our climate action plan and just want to be upfront with everyone and acknowledge that we know there's work to be done there.

And really to focus on that, we have decided to have a work session on the 18th of April.

The goal will be for staff who've been working diligently in this space to actually come before you and present to you an update as to what it is that they've been working on, seek some guidance on things that may have been stuck as we have, acknowledging the fact that there have been

significant impacts from COVID pandemic and organizational staffing changes that have prevented them from even moving as they would have originally planned.

Our goal would be to try to get back on track.

So this will be a moment to just kind of reboot that effort.

And the point of that would be just to make sure that everyone is in agreement in the right approach that we're taking.

And then we can take a look at some of the comments that have come in from the recent letter that we received from our friends in the climate space.

We want to make sure that we acknowledge that we hear them.

We understand that they would like to be a part.

of the work that gets done and we will reboot our efforts to ensure that we integrate them into that conversation.

Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you, Mr. City Manager.

And let me say, I'm really delighted that we're moving forward on a number of things that have been sort of stuck for a while.

And the things such as the employment satisfaction, employee satisfaction survey, the comp study, things that relate to our workforce.

We know that one of the challenges that we've had in the last year or two has been that we've had people, very good people leaving for other jobs that

either they felt that there were more advancement opportunities elsewhere or better pay elsewhere.

And one of the constraints that we've had has been, frankly, that we have not been able to keep a lot of our really, you know, the people that we trained up, the people we got to where they were good in their jobs, and then they get good in their jobs and go someplace else.

So

These are improvements.

I'm really glad that this is moving forward.

The comp study is something that we actually had authorized back in 2020, but then with COVID, it wound up getting pushed to the side.

It's time to get that rolling and progress on a bunch of other things as well.

Yeah, and I don't think we can overlook the role that the city managers Marshall and Saunders played in, you know, just keeping us afloat for, you know, several months there when, you know, without a city manager and, you know, staff vacancies, just we're really thankful for

just the leadership and support and dedication we've received from lots of staff, so you'll appreciate it.

Okay, time now for Community Matters.

There are eight pre-registered speakers, leaving eight slots for additional speakers on Community Matters.

If one of the first eight speakers is unavailable, someone on the waitlist can be moved into that spot.

Each speaker will have up to three minutes to speak.

There will be an additional public comment section at the end of the meeting.

And we will now open the floor to preregistered speakers.

Others wishing to speak may select the raise hand option in the Zoom webinar to be placed in the speaker queue.

If you have joined by phone and wish to speak during community matters, you may press star nine.

Is our first speaker available?

I've got Chris Meyer as the first one on the list.

Good evening, councilors and city staff.

I'd like to add my thanks to the staffers who have stepped up in their interim positions as a director, and it is important

to have those directors positions filled.

I'm also happy to hear that they're getting some interviews and also they're going to be hiring soon.

My main push though today is we are in budget season.

You've heard me talk a lot about reconfiguration funding and affordable housing funding.

My request is that you fully fund those budgets that were presented today.

I did see the $75 million for reconfiguration was in the budget that was presented today.

And again, I want to see that funded.

Starting it with, though, I'd like to remind the counselors of these three of you were part of the council discussions last October with the school board and the design firm that unanimously approved an indicative budget amount of $75 million to move forward with the reconfiguration, including the remodel of Buford will not be a luxury, but rather will ensure our middle schoolers aren't trying to learn in a cave like classrooms and teachers won't have to leave the classroom to open the bathroom door.

because there is no bathroom in their wing on campus.

These were all issues brought up in an excellent series of articles.

I'm sure you read this in the last couple of days in the Daily Progress.

I want to thank city staff and also the counselors who went and toured Beaufort.

I think Dr. Gurley, the superintendent, said it best that reconfiguration is less about funding a luxury building, more about funding an equitable building.

I would also, sorry I lost my place here, regarding affordable housing, I couldn't add up all the amounts, but it seems like you're closing in on the $10 million affordable housing budget that goal that was part of the affordable housing plan and that council unanimously endorsed last year.

Affordable housing is also a necessity for communities residents, please make sure this happens.

Finally, I would suggest Council strongly consider a raise in the real estate tax despite the increase in assessments.

Ten cents is probably not necessarily because of the assessments went up so much, but borrowing less now for some of the capital improvements will make the future projects more affordable.

I was happy to see the proposal in the new budget also to raise the maximum amount of income to qualify for real estate tax relief from $55,000 to $60,000.

Next up is Emily Dreyfus.

Thank you.

My name is Emily Dreyfus and I'm here on behalf of the Charlottesville Low Income Housing Coalition.

We urge you to improve housing opportunities.

We all benefit from good schools, especially improvements in academic and support services, but deeply affordable housing must be an ongoing priority.

Charlottesville needs at least $10 million per year to remedy the injustice of our local affordable housing crisis.

We need enough funding that the city will have flexibility to respond to both opportunities and urgent needs.

Local funding opens up millions of dollars of federal and state funding.

It's a smart investment and one that is urgently needed.

For the past 15 years, the city's real estate tax rate has been lower than it was between 1995 to 2006.

It is currently lower than the national average.

We need additional resources to make meaningful progress on housing, a key racial equity need.

Perhaps the city's pathways fund could provide assistance to homeowners who don't qualify for local relief programs, but who are hit harder than they can afford with the real estate tax increase.

CLIC's top two recommendations are to fully fund the affordable housing plan and to pay a robust tax increases with maximum tax and rent relief for very low income people.

Now I would like to share a comment from a CLIC member.

My name is Valerie and I was born and raised in Charlottesville.

I lived here until moving to the Valley last year.

I am for affordable housing and school reconfiguration.

I support CLIC's recommendations.

First, families should not have to choose between affordable housing and adequate school facilities for their children.

I'm confused as to how some people are looking

at not supporting funding for housing, especially when the amount needed to fulfill the affordable housing plan is drastically less than the request for school improvements.

We need funding for both.

The effects of childhood trauma created from unstable households manifest in classrooms every day.

Creating affordable housing opportunities will allow for children who have suffered from housing insecurity to come to school as their full selves.

But what is the point of a child attending school as their full self if the facilities are inadequate to support all students?

To not fund school reconfiguration tells the children who attend Charlottesville City Schools that they are not worth the investment.

The students who benefit the most from the affordable housing investment will also benefit the most from school reconfiguration.

It is not fair to pit these two concerns against each other when the same population stands to lose and gain the most from these decisions.

I was still in Charlottesville City Schools when they began this conversation, and now I have a child of my own approaching middle school age.

It blows my mind that the schools have still not been updated.

I believe there is a creative solution for this dilemma, and I hope that the counselors who were voted in to think creatively and in the best interest of the community can figure out how to fund both initiatives.

Thank you, Ms.

Our next speaker is Leah Puryear.

I am here this evening to request a $200,000 annual appropriation for the Jefferson School African American Heritage Center.

A precedent has already been set for this type of request.

Currently, council has a $500,000 lease value for McGuffey and a $144,000 lease value for the Discovery Museum.

This annual appropriation recognizes the significance of the Heritage Center to the community and beyond.

It further allows us to meet the mission of promoting a greater appreciation for understanding of the contributions African Americans and people of the African diaspora locally, nationally, and globally.

and it will allow us to accomplish programs that are reflective of the vision of our center and not having to raise funds.

Secondly, I would like to say council needs to also fund the reconfiguration request.

In 2011, the cost was 32 million.

In 2018, it was 55 million.

And now today, in 2022, it's 75 million.

This is an average rate of inflation at 4%.

How much longer can we kick this can down the road?

In 1988, the decision was made to have an upper elementary and middle school in hopes of creating equity and diversity.

It has done the exact opposite.

We must not kick this can any further.

It's time to act.

Research shows the negative impact of crumbling buildings on education.

Each of you has seen Beaufort and no, we're not building a luxury school at the expense of academics.

We're upgrading a school to improve academics.

Thank you, Ms.

Garrett Trent is the next name on the list, but I do not see Garrett in the list of attendees.

So Garrett, if you can hear me now, feel free to hop on and we will bring you into the meeting.

Elizabeth Breeden will be our next speaker.

This is a request to include in the budget the least value of Jefferson School African American Heritage Center.

We are asking for the City Council to commit to supporting the Heritage Center as an essentially important organization of our city, equally as valuable as McGuffey Art Center, the Virginia Discovery Museum, and the Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society, who are supported in the budget each year.

We are requesting that the city cover the lease of $200,000 a year in order to assure with government support that the Heritage Center can continue to exist.

After August 12, 2017, the first place we gathered was the Heritage Center to talk about what happened, why it happened in our town, and to decide what we are going to do about it.

We cannot know what to do unless we know who we are and we include everyone in the conversation.

especially those most influenced by our actions.

We are after all a town which was 52% black in 1865 and is now 13% black.

Where did everyone go?

You might think that it's an easy answer, but it is not just about black folks leaving for better opportunities.

It is also about white flight into our town.

The Heritage Center is not just a voice informing us of our history, although it does that.

Where else would we hear about the amazing words of Isabella Gibbons, the first black teacher hired to teach at the Jefferson School?

How would we know that John West, her son was the largest landowner in Charlottesville in the 1870s?

Where else would we see Jordy Yeager's research on redlining, deeds, covenants and zoning to see how our council assured that there were segregated neighborhoods and that the services provided in those neighborhoods like sewer, water and street paving

were substandard.

Don't we need to know this to discuss modern zoning and affordable housing?

And we need to learn more about the Piedmont Industrial Land Company, the reason there are so many Black-owned homes along 9th Street, along Ridge, and in Rose Hill.

Thank you, Ms.

David Koenig is the next name on the list and he spoke earlier on collective bargaining.

I don't see him in the list of attendees either.

So I will move now to Susan Cruz.

You are next to speak.

Hello, good evening.

This is Susan Cruz, the Executive Director of the Community Climate Collaborative, and I'm here tonight because the impacts of climate change are mounting, and we're not moving quickly enough to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was released early last week.

I encourage council to review it.

To quote the co-chair of the working group,

Any further delay in concerted global action will miss a brief and rapidly closing window to secure a livable future.

Though the report is global in scope, it emphasizes the critical role that cities play in mitigating climate change.

So how are we doing here?

There is certainly progress to celebrate.

Albemarle County set ambitious climate goals, released a reassessed countywide greenhouse gas emissions, passed phase one of its climate action plan, and is now actively working on its implementation.

including increasing funding for energy efficiency programs, advancing solar on schools and adding micro transit services.

The broader community has also answered the call.

16 locally headquartered businesses in C3's Green Business Alliance have committed to reducing their collective emissions by 45 percent by 2025.

20 non-profit and for-profit organizations are working together to advocate for accessible clean transportation

a critical component of reaching carbon neutrality and hundreds of households have taken action to increase energy efficiency, electrified transportation and add solar energy.

So what about Charlottesville?

Well, first out of the gate to set a strong greenhouse gas reduction goal, the city of Charlottesville has fallen far behind.

This July will mark three years since Charlottesville set its sights on climate leadership.

Three years and we still have no climate action plan.

The city hasn't assessed its actual greenhouse gas emissions in four years and the window to reduce emissions to prevent catastrophic impacts is rapidly closing.

To its credit, Charlottesville continues to fund energy efficiency programs and is researching the community's vulnerability.

But unfortunately, efforts to develop the component of its climate action plan that is centered on reducing emissions seem to be stuck in perpetual stall with no clear timeline for commencements or completion.

Rapidly reducing emissions should be our number one climate priority.

Every year of inaction contributes to the acceleration of global warming, ignores science, abdicates our responsibility to vulnerable populations worldwide and undermines global security.

I was glad to learn tonight that the community will get an update in April about the status of the climate action plan.

We need a deadline for completion.

If current resources are not enough to complete the plan,

It's time for council to bring in some outside help.

Thank you, Ms.

Next up is Mariah Wilkins.

Thank you.

Hi, I'm Mariah Wilkins.

I am a housing attorney at the Legal Aid Justice Center.

and part of my role is that I assist the Rent Relief Program and our Rent Relief Assisters as well as advocate and represent subsidized housing residents and public housing residents.

In assisting the Rent Relief Program, I see the incredible need of residents in Charlottesville as we have been able to secure over a million dollars in rent relief in Charlottesville within our small team alone and continue to get hundreds of calls and messages from the community.

It indicates the ongoing need in the community due to the increasing rental costs compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This trend is indicative of the continued need, especially as the Rent Relief Program phases out into the summer and fall.

Additionally, when it comes to voucher holders and those that are in subsidized housing, I've only been a housing attorney in Charlottesville since September.

And I frequently have clients and residents and individuals and families that have vouchers that are facing displacement due to being unable to attach their voucher and due to limited options that coincide with the subsidy provided with their vouchers and also property owners hiking up rents, which also threatens displacement.

So with that said, I urge all of you to find creative ways to fund the affordable housing plan fully so that we can kind of hedge the issues that might come along with continued market rate rises as well as the aftereffects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thank you, Ms.

Our next speaker is Elizabeth Stark.

Next up, we have Whitney Richardson.

Thank you.

Good evening.

I'm Whitney Richardson from Dark Skies Bright Kids, a primarily volunteer-run program

seeking to enhance science education in Virginia elementary schools, primarily in underserved areas.

We operate out of the University of Virginia Department of Astronomy, and the program seeks to foster the natural curiosity of children in surrounding community by helping them explore the university setting with fun hands-on activities.

We are hoping to create an interactive planet walk on the downtown mall by engraving bricks with each of the planets in the solar system.

The placement of the bricks will be scaled as if the sun was only five inches in diameter and this will reach the full length of them all.

We also plan to put a QR code on the bricks for more information about the planets and the solar system.

We will work with the UVA A-School lasers to design and create the bricks needed.

Okay, thank you, Ms.

Richardson.

Are you done?

I guess so.

It's an interesting project.

All right, we still have one more name that we could use from the original eight that did not speak of those who have still not signed on, though.

So we'll move to, I guess, the next that have raised their hands.

We have Robin Hoffman now.

Hi, everybody.

Good evening, city councilors and mayor.

I'm pleased to announce that the city county botanical gardens of the Piedmont

Team of Volunteers are meeting every first week, first of the week Wednesdays, and then the third of the week Wednesday, 10 to 12.

We met, and this is my first time out without a mask.

There were kids there.

We made a circle.

We're making a teepee.

We were very industrious, and I want to say that kids were homeschooled, so that was kind of their program.

Their people are volunteers.

They're wonderful retirees from the UVA.

They're engineers.

They're all kinds of people there, and they're working really hard to make a beautiful

place for everybody to get the heck out of their homes and just enjoy themselves.

You can go there now.

You don't have to wait till we actually start programs or whatever they're going to do.

But what I want to say is like the last five or six years, we've been through a lot of changes and a lot of people don't know their neighbors anymore.

I kind of wanted just to say that this is like the best thing that's happened to me in, you know, for a long time.

So I'm just saying that everybody try to get out there, try to find your park, try to see if you can volunteer some hours, and maybe make little gardens or something like that.

Because when you work working with the community, you get to know your neighbors, you don't feel so threatened.

You know, we've got like all these threatening people in Russia and this and that.

I think, you know, I think that was like the best therapy for me.

I think that a lot of people are very glad that Dr. Bond and, you know, David Dillahunt and all these people are here trying to help us communicate and get the word out.

But I think the community needs to step up.

and especially with climate actions and finding out how to compost maybe on your block, which I just found out is like one of the biggest problems of global warming is the methane gas from, you know, not putting your produce in landfills.

So, you know, we have a lot of things we can do in our neighborhoods and hopefully our associations will start stepping up too

and wear a mask and protect yourselves and get some mental health by going out and doing something.

Thank you, Ms.

Our next speaker is Andy Orban.

Good evening, council and mayor.

I'm Andy Orban.

I'm a resident of Charlottesville and a parent of three city school students.

I'm calling.

I fully support the Beaufort reconfiguration and encourage council to follow through on their promise to fully fund the project, even if it means that taxes have to be raised.

Kids are required to be in school.

They don't have a choice about where they spend their time and they're spending their, you know, six and some hours a day in this outdated building.

They, you know, they are receiving a great education thanks to our wonderful teachers and staff

but it's despite the environment in Buford and Walker.

Middle school is already a difficult time for many kids but it's made worse when the kids are reluctant to use the bathrooms, they're regularly locked out of different buildings because of the outdated campus configuration and what classes, a lot of the classrooms lack exterior windows and they can just see the deterioration around them.

What do we tell our kids when we keep putting off this renovation year after year?

Please listen to the parents, the school board, and most of all, the kids who are attending our public schools, and please fully fund this critical project.

We have one hand currently raised and we have six slots that are still open right now.

So if you are listening and would wish to speak in just a moment, you can press the raise hand icon or if you're joining by phone, it's star nine.

Joy Johnson Good evening.

My name is Joy Johnson.

I am a public housing resident and I'm also a housing advocate.

Just because I live in public housing and I fight for public housing, I am also an advocate for affordable housing.

Please fund the housing fund and find a way to fund the schools.

I don't want housing to be pitted against school and I don't want the school to be pitted against housing.

The other day, or it might have been yesterday, I saw on the news where the Blue Ridge Housing Association is now saying or crying that rent has been hiked.

We've been saying this now for about 20 years.

that affordable housing is something that is necessary in the city of Charlottesville on vouchers.

Just because someone have vouchers doesn't mean that they're gonna find something affordable.

Most of our folks who get a voucher cannot find housing

according to the payment standard.

Housing Authority, CRHA, raised their payment standard and not going to call the names of the properties, but there are some properties right now who has gone up on their rent.

So even though the payment standard is up, now folks who are living there might have to move because they can no longer afford the rent.

This is a problem.

It's not just public housing.

is a section eight vouchers.

So I strongly urge you to fund, continue to fund the housing fund.

And yes, I do support education, but I don't want it to be pitted against school housing and school be pitted against each other.

I think that's all I have to say.

CRHA, one more thing, CRHA has been doing something very unique in

trying to put funds together to make the housing affordable.

Tax credit is not going to do it.

Tax credit means that a certain population of folks would not be able to rent tax credit property.

So if we can't find funding to make it deeply affordable, you're going to still have a bigger crisis of affordable housing.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

All right, there will be an opportunity at the end of the meeting for folks who have not spoken at the beginning to speak at the end as well.

So that's our final speaker for Community Matters.

Council, anybody need a quick break or should we soldier on?

Okay, first item, invite Superintendent Gurley to begin the presentation.

Yes, good evening.

Thank you all, City Council, Mayor.

We will have a presentation of our budget this evening by our Board Chair, Ms.

Good evening, Mayor Snook, Councilor, City Manager Rogers, and staff.

Dr. Gurley, Superintendent for Charlottesville City Schools, Ms.

Powell, our Chief Operations Officer, and I are here this evening to present our fiscal year 2023 budget for Charlottesville City Schools.

Am I... Well, I've selected screen sharing.

David, is it not appearing?

Let me try again.

Hold on just a minute.

Are you seeing the presentation now?

And go ahead to the next one, I guess.

All right.

Thank you.

Okay, we ready?

So our three strategic plan focus areas for our budget are listed here, and they are fully aligned with the school board budget priorities that drove our development process for this budget.

The budget priorities are reconfiguration, focus on student programs, and staff compensation and benefits to attract and retain quality and diverse staff.

Thank you.

You're ahead of me.

You're faster than I am.

Charlottesville is fortunate to have many wonderful staff teaching and leading programs for our students.

Here are a few examples of state and national recognition of our Charlottesville educators.

To the left here you see pictured Miss Cicely Shelton Barnes who received the JMU Literacy Alumni Award.

Miss Barnes is currently our media specialist at Venable.

In the middle, you see Ms.

Laura Mulligan Thomas, the director of our Charlottesville High School Orchestra, who received the 2022 Elizabeth A. H. Green School Educator Award.

And to the right, you see Ms.

Pamela Price-Brown, who wears many hats for us here in Charlottesville City Schools, and she received the Ford Freedom Unsung winner award.

This slide here speaks to the landscape of some of the challenges.

We need city council's help to successfully navigate forward.

Supporting mental health.

In the past two years, Charlottesville City Schools has added 11 and a half school mental health professional positions.

Needs in this area were increasing before the pandemic and COVID has exacerbated these needs.

The next would be embracing our English language learners.

Charlottesville City Schools is consistently among the most diverse systems in the nation.

New English language learners embraced by the IRC here in Charlottesville continue to be enrolled within Charlottesville City Schools and we continuously work to support these new learners.

Charlottesville City Schools currently host students who speak 51 languages.

The next area would be acceleration of learning.

So we know that COVID impacted learning for all students and widened the achievement gap for disadvantaged students.

The next area would be our national teacher shortage.

Charlottesville is not immune to this challenge and must compete in this arena where demands exceed supply.

The number of unfilled teaching positions across Virginia has spiked by nearly 62%.

We will be talking, or I guess the next one would be inflation.

And as recently as February of this year, the inflation rate is stated at 7.5%.

And the last two areas are reconfiguration and alignment of non-recurring federal funds with non-recurring expenditures.

And we'll be talking more specifically about reconfiguration and the funds as we go through this presentation.

This thermometer graphic is what we've been using to help all stakeholders understand the current situation where nonrecurring federal relief funds had to be used to address the needs and challenges for the fiscal year 2021-2022 budget.

As you can see, the current fiscal year 2022 adopted budget is current.

with recurring expenditures funded using those non-recurring or one-time revenue sources.

So there are two ways to cool or decrease the dependency on those non-recurring revenues.

We can increase revenue from recurring sources and then also we can look to decrease expenses.

Ms.

Powell will show you how we've been very intentional about beginning the process of eliminating our dependency on these non-recurring funds

and we need to keep in mind that these non-recurring funds expire in September 2024.

So what this means is that we have one more year and one more budget cycle to figure this out.

The budget we develop for fiscal year 2024 will need to effectively empty this thermometer.

At this point, I'm going to turn it over to Ms.

Powell and she will speak to you all about our budget in a little bit more depth.

Thank you, Ms.

Torres.

Good evening, Mayor Snook and members of council and city officials.

This slide just provides an overview of the actions that are embedded into the budget that the school board has adopted for fiscal year 2023.

These highlights include a 5% average salary action for staff

This is in line with the current state budget proposal.

Our health insurance did have an increase of about 10%, but it's important to bear in mind that last year we basically held it level and we just addressed it from within health insurance fund balance.

Medical inflation has been running around 5% per year leading up to 2022, so really this is just a catch-up year in that regard.

We're always looking for ways to control our health care costs, and so we're very proactive in that area.

We had over $224,000 in reductions that staff put forward to offset $81,267 in increases for recurring and non-discretionary contracts.

So all department heads and school leaders really combed through their budgets to try to find reductions to more than offset increases in non-discretionary areas and contracts.

The one exception to that was the city contracts for transportation facilities and maintenance and stormwater

taxes that we pay to the city.

So those increases were a little over $878,000.

Our other reductions total over $980,000.

So almost a million dollars in other reductions were put forward in this adopted budget.

And that included the reduction of 17 positions.

Minimal new funding or added expenses were included in the budget.

As far as operations, the total was a little over $5,000.

The school board adopted budget is based on the governor's budget proposal, Governor Northam's budget proposal, which provides for an additional $1.7 million plus in state funding for next year.

We're happy to report that the Senate and House versions of the budget so far don't deviate from this too much.

It could be around $125,000.

Either proposal looks like we may lose a little bit of money, but

in the scheme of things, it's not a drastic variance with what we're seeing so far out of the House and Senate.

And then this budget proposal that the school board has adopted with the actions that I've reviewed for you there assumes that we will only need 2.1 million in our non-recurring federal relief funds in order to sustain operations next year.

So you'll see in the next slide how significantly that reduces the thermometer.

But all of that to say when all the work is done,

The request for the city this year was based on the formula allocation increase of a little over $3.3 million.

And then the increases in, we asked for funding to support the increases in the city contracts.

So this money that we received from the city and then send back to the city.

And that totals the estimated or the city request.

It's not estimated at this point.

It was $4,216,341.

And I apologize, I'm not in slideshow view because when I was in slideshow view earlier, I don't think you all could see it.

So I hope these slides are large enough because I'm just leaving it in this view.

So here you see where the thermometer goes after the school board's adopted budget proposal.

We do manage to drain it down to $2.1 million in non-recurring funds still in use for operations next year.

As Ms.

Torres mentioned, we've got one more budget cycle to figure this out and drain the thermometer.

The table in the upper right shows that

are the use of our grant funds, our relief funds from the federal government.

You can see that our total of all of our major awards was a little over 15.7 million.

We spent over $336,000 last year in the first year that the money started coming in.

This year's adopted budget projects use of about 4.5, 4.6 million.

And the proposed budget for next year calls for use of 2.1 million.

which would leave about 8.7 million still in federal relief funds.

Again, all of these monies have to be used by September of 2024.

So this is a chart showing our overall budget and a couple things just to point out.

You see that the increase in the city appropriation based on the school board adopted budget would be 7.18%.

And the other thing that

kind of jumps out at you is the large increase in fund balance and federal dollars.

These are both related to the big influx of relief funds that came in starting last year.

And the unbudgeted and significant inflow of federal relief dollars that started in fiscal year 2021 resulted in higher than normal excess of revenues over expenses with all that money coming in.

So that overage did go into the gain sharing agreement we have with the city, which added to

the CCS fund balance, but also resulted in revenues returned to the city.

This chart shows the history of city appropriations for schools.

With few exceptions, the city has increased funding above the formula baseline amount and in line with the $2 to $4 million annual funding gap that was projected in the city's 2014 Blue Ridge Commission report, sustainable school funding report.

The Blue Ridge Commission report also highlights the need for additional revenue streams like the sales tax that so many people around Charlottesville and the state have been working to enable through legislation in the current General Assembly session.

I'd like to take a moment to thank council and specifically Mayor Snook and Vice Mayor Wade for your advocacy efforts in support of this legislation.

Please know the school board and staff are doing all we can behind the scenes as well to support passage of this legislation.

to enable this revenue generating tool for this community, for our community.

This chart just shows, it breaks down all those CARES awards and how the money came into Charlottesville City Schools.

So you see here the total, again, 15.7 million.

And it shows you the spend down dates.

And again, the last final deadline is spend down by September 30th of 2024.

This next chart, I know it has a lot of words on it, but basically the purpose is just to mainly convey to the public that if you visit charlottesvillschools.org forward slash COVID hyphen communications, that is our webpage where we provide always our up-to-date COVID mitigation health plan information, but also our planned use of the ARPA ESSER funds.

That information is also available and constantly updated on that website.

and the public can provide comment on either the health safety plan or the uses of ARPA funds.

The public can provide comment through this webpage at any time.

Of course, comments always welcome at the school board meetings as well.

So as we work together to move non-recurring funds out of our operations budget and align

those funds with non-recurring expenses, the logical place to look to do that and best serve the community is non-recurring capital expenses.

It's really the only, when you have significant non-recurring dollars to spend, as Ms.

Torres mentioned in our challenges earlier, you really got to find meaningful non-recurring expenses to put that money towards.

And that is, um,

that's construction type projects, it's capital projects, and the use of these funds, which was on that earlier slide that had lots of words on it, it was all about, you know, safe return to in-person learning, health mitigation, recovery from academic learning loss, and social emotional supports, mental wellness, that's what the money's intended for, but understanding this need

to align non-recurring funds with non-recurring expenditures.

There is a approval process we can go through with the state to get approval to use our non-recurring funds for capital projects.

And we've already had initial conversations with the Department of Education to make sure we understand that process because we hope to exercise that process.

And the table on the left is just a scenario that shows again that total of our

relief funds, what we actually spent last year, what the estimate is for this year, what's proposed for FY 2023, and then you see a $1.8 million allowance to address some technology, infrastructure, and potential carryover of need for FY24.

And in that particular scenario, which is, I don't have a crystal ball, it's just a scenario, but it's easily around 7 million that would be available to support capital projects.

And so how can the school board

support reconfiguration.

How can we work together to support reconfiguration in a financial way?

Of course, the school board can't tax.

We don't have any way to generate money, but we can be wise about these federal relief dollars.

And so what this chart shows, it's a list of all of the current projects in the CIP for the schools, excluding reconfiguration.

Reconfiguration is in the current CIP, but it's not included in this list because it can't be completed within the period of performance for these monies, which ends again September 2024.

We won't be done with that construction project in that timeframe.

But shifting these projects from local to federal dollars helps reconfiguration by relieving pressure on the CIP and freeing up those dollars or that debt capacity to address other needs.

Please know that our team has already reached out to city facilities to do two things.

One, look at the projects already completed.

to see if we can obtain the necessary documentation to certify that these projects were executed in compliance with all the federal requirements so that they'll be eligible for reimbursement.

So these are those first three projects that are already in the rear view mirror because they weren't bid under federal regulations.

We just have to go back and see, can we get the Davis-Bacon wage certifications and things like that so that we could request reimbursement on these three projects.

The second thing is making sure that all the upcoming projects are bid with the federal compliance provisions included and the city procurement staff certainly has experience with this as recently as the all the HVAC work that was done with federal relief funds that all has to meet those same regulations.

So

This is the last slide we have on this topic, but we do want to make you aware that we've already got in the bank, so to speak, over $800,000.

It's $808,685 in grant money that was available.

This is outside of that $15.7 million.

This was money that was provided by the state.

to help with HVAC projects.

And so we applied for that money and we got the maximum award that Charlottesville was eligible to receive.

So all the projects you see listed here are in the current CIP or were in our recent CIP.

Some of them, again, have been completed, but all of these are eligible for reimbursement.

And these did not have to be bid with all the same federal regulatory language in there.

So this has all been approved.

by the state already, and this is money that will come in to relieve the CIP.

So in summary, if you take everything that is HVAC related in the current CIP for schools, and then you take every other project in the CIP, the current CIP except reconfiguration, it's possible that all of that could be funded from federal relief funds, but

There is a process involved.

It takes time.

We do have to get approval, but we do want to raise everyone's awareness to this and just let everyone know that we are working diligently to try to be in a position to maximize these dollars for these purposes.

And I believe that's the last slide in the deck that I'll speak to.

I'll turn it back over to Ms.

Thank you Ms.

Powell and again please note the efforts that Charlottesville City Schools has made to lower the thermometer and also to identify other possibilities for funding sources and options to release current Charlottesville City School projects in that CIP budget projection.

Up till now we've spent a lot of time talking about the many whys for reconfiguration during

our joint February work session.

The key points that we discussed are summarized here.

Some of those being addressing the aging facility issues, reducing student transitions during critical middle school years, providing modern state of the art facilities to support best practices and to improve safety and to reduce our carbon footprint.

The school board also wants to take this opportunity to again go on the record

that we unanimously and passionately support maintaining the $75 million allocation currently in the CIP for the middle school project.

It is the single biggest and most impactful step needed for this long overdue correction

of a well-intentioned but unfortunate decision in the late 1980s to resolve a segregation issue by adding significant transition and disruption during the developmental middle school years for our students.

There's good reason that you will struggle greatly to find comparable models to what we currently have for fifth to eighth grade in Charlottesville.

If this were not enough, the buildings in question also need significant renovations for multiple reasons, including safety and the buildings are not current by any standard.

and reconfiguring Buford is the single most significant project the city has to reduce its carbon footprint.

We are grateful to each of you for your interest and commitment to this important topic for our community.

And it's a topic that must be kept central with affordable housing because decisions made about housing have significant impacts on the schools.

They cannot and should not be mutually exclusive conversations.

Next slide, please.

Moving forward, we know continued collaboration is essential.

We appreciate how city and school staff leadership work together in this budget development process this year so we could all arrive at this point with no surprises.

As I just mentioned, we understand that all of us as elected officials need to take a holistic view of the challenges ahead and think systematically to solve problems together in the most efficient way possible.

We pledge that our school leaders in this board will continuously use data and the best available information to make decisions for the students we serve.

And we will be transparent in our work both in developing our operating budgets and in the reconfiguration work that has been a very public and visible process since it began with the $3 million allocation that enabled the design process to start.

and now we are at the point of needing to decide more specifically about the cost and scope we are designing for.

Please let us know when you would like to meet to continue this discussion and collaboration to keep us moving forward in this important process for current Charlottesville City School students and for many generations to come.

Thank you again for your time and if you have any questions Dr. Gurley and Ms.

No, not per se, but I do want to just say again that I appreciate the thoughtfulness that you all have done in terms of trying to find money, so to speak, to sort of help with the reconfiguration project.

We'll see how all of that shakes out, but I appreciate that.

creativity.

Yeah, I'd just like to chime in to say that, you know, I know a lot of work was put into this budget.

I know what is involved in pulling it together.

And I also like the fact that there's no surprises that Dr. Gurley and staff has been meeting with Mr. Rogers and Ms.

Hamill to

address some of the issues that we have.

Of course not, you know, we're going to have to make the decision on the reconfiguration over the next month or so as we have our work sessions and, you know, try to address this really critical issues of the reconfiguration.

But the budget is very straightforward.

We're, you know,

We had to use a lot of the ARPA money to, but we're winning our way off of that.

And I think we did it very strategically working with city council and with staff to, you know, but also getting some very critical things done over the last couple of years.

So very happy with the budget.

You know, we now as a council will have to decide on the larger issue.

Let me just say we've had the city manager's budget for, I don't know, maybe six hours now.

It's 227 pages long.

Pardon me for not having yet mastered it, but we'll have to take a look and figure out.

I haven't even had a chance to look at the capital piece of it.

So a lot of discussions to have.

And unfortunately, I for one, I'm not prepared to have much in the way of a substantive discussion tonight, but there'll be plenty of other opportunities in the next four to six weeks.

Well, I do know that I have been trying and will continue to keep trying looking through as the Build Back Better bill gets released various grants that we might be able to and I'm actually planning on bringing this up on Hill Day next week, especially regarding how localities are being kind of strangled at the state level.

One comment I would like to make, I did appreciate in particular two things.