City Council Meeting   7/18/2022

So I will call this meeting of the July 18th, 2022 Charlottesville City Council hybrid meeting back to order.

First, we need to have a motion to get us out of closed session.

Who's got that motion?

I do.

We're not physically visible.

There we go.

Now we are.

Is there a second?

Second.

Okay.

This is a roll call vote.

Councillor McGill yes Councillor Payne yes Councillor Pinkston yes Mayor Snook yes I will note that Vice Mayor Wade is on a church mission trip out in Ethiopia at the moment and I suspect that he's not joining us by Zoom tonight he is not all right so the

First, I guess, is there a motion to approve or amend the agenda?

We have to amend the agenda in one particular in that we are going to be taking off of the consent agenda the item for reconstituting the Charlottesville Planning Commission to achieve staggered terms.

And as a consequence, we're also going to take up the appointments to the Planning Commission at the same time as we take up that resolution.

Is that the understanding of everybody?

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion passes.

So from this point, we have three parts.

then we'll have a closed meeting that will be at roughly 530 then the city council business meeting which will begin roughly 630 at that point there will be seating available here in council chambers for up to 23 pre-registered attendees and media and any others able to join electronically by zoom so first item on our four o'clock agenda is a presentation of the American Rescue Plan recommendations

City Manager and his staff to present.

Mr. Rogers, are you with us?

I'll join you at your 630 meeting.

I am.

All right.

All right.

So we received, as we've discussed in the past, two appropriations from the U.S.

Treasury for the American Recovery Act program.

Our first was in May of 2021 for $9.8 million.

And we received in June this year

the second half of that, which was $9.8 million again, for a total of $19.6 million, which is a big help.

It's been a big help for local governments in terms of recovery from the impact of the pandemic.

$1.9 million for various programs.

And the second appropriation was in November, was $1.1 million.

And then a third appropriation and a fourth appropriation, the balance was $4 million, $4.8 million in terms of previous funds.

that left us with the balance and with this year's appropriation we have an unallocated balance so far of 14 million dollars you can see that for the past appropriations you did public health negative impact 500

$51,000, $2.2 million in negative economic impact and public health was 2.2.

All those helped in stabilizing the community.

That left us with a balance to spend now between the two appropriations from the treasury of 14

$1,799,565.

So we are coming to you tonight with proposed appropriations that will come back to you on August 1st with action for appropriation after discussion.

You can see it laid out here in how it all plays.

I would say that from the prior FY23 budget discussions, we had set aside $2.2 million or 15% of our balance to take care of those things we said we would do for the 23 budget.

and then we leave an unallocated balance of 17% of the total remaining of $2.5 million for further consideration by council.

We have in terms of our recommendations,

for economic development of the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau of $750,000.

This really is to help the Convention and Visitors Bureau recover from the economic impact from the downturn in the economy during the height of the pandemic.

they received their funds from a percentage of the meals tax and when the meals tax went down that was a tremendous economic impact on them and it was by agreement that the county and the city would both put in $750,000 to mitigate the impact that they had from loss of tax revenue

Then we've been talking about the downtown mall improvements.

As you know, as I cited in my city manager's report, we've established an internal committee to look at a number of issues on the downtown mall.

We've been in conversations with the friends of Seville about activity on the mall and improvements that could be made

This $300,000 is really to help get us started, get the committee started, perhaps some consulting funds, perhaps some other low-hanging fruit on the mall to begin with to make improvements.

I also should say that in a couple years we'll be facing a 50-year anniversary of the downtown mall.

and we'll be coming back with you later, perhaps have the further discussion with a proposal to create a task force, citizens task force to provide input on what to do in the future with them all and how we sustain it for the next 50 years.

We also put in $100,000 for way finding of some of the signs, need updating, et cetera.

This was recommended by Chris Engel in economic development.

Also in economic development, it was recommended that we create a strategic investment fund.

As we did recently with the parking lot, there was an opportunity to acquire some land that we needed.

And we're parking this money here to be able to take advantage of future opportunities.

And of course, Meadow Creek Trail, we've talked about that before.

and we've allocated $500,000 for that.

We thought it would be more, but we think that we will receive some funds from VDOT for that.

And so our balance would be $500,000.

So that's about economic development and that would be about 17.9% of our balance for economic development.

The additional allocations are for internal infrastructure $829,000 plus $200,000 left over from the 23 budgets as part of the items there for equipment replacement and facility repair.

We put in $270,000 for human resources for several staff positions, including a deputy director of human resources.

And we upgraded the position of the labor relations specialist to make it a labor relations manager, which I think we're going to need as we develop this labor relations program for the city for the first time.

and of course we don't have a recruiter and so we're including a full-time recruiter in this budget for that that will help in expanding our outreach opportunities to identify candidates for the positions we have and that would hopefully reduce the amount of time we have to thank you so much no problem

And also, we talked about, Council, updating the strategic plan.

So we put in $200,000 so that we would be able to fund that process in the coming weeks.

Now, in public safety, we put in $1.4 million for

The COVID contingency, we note that we've been going up and down, up and down in terms of our status.

We don't know how that's going to end, but we think it's prudent to put in some reserve funds just in case we need to take further action to support the community or to make some changes in our own operation as a result of COVID.

we have put in proposing 1.1 million dollars for the Charlottesville fire department accreditation support one of the key items that was reported by the accreditation committee was the need for three battalion chiefs and one for each shift

creating incident command for opportunity for all shifts and that would be for a two-year cycle.

Our funds are for two years.

We have to spend them by FY26.

We are also recognizing that we've made some changes in the police department salary

schedule to address the hemorrhaging we were experiencing there with the loss of personnel.

We have the same kind of issue in the fire department and the sheriff's department.

We are adding these funds, $450,000 for the fire department and $50,000 for the sheriff's department as retention bonuses for these staff.

And then, of course, there's been a lot of discussion on the Safe Routes to School Fund.

We've added 500,000, though higher amounts were suggested.

In talking with staff, we believe we have other funds in the budget that can actually exceed the amount that has been suggested in the past.

by some of the communications from people, but this is a high priority area and we are offering that for your consideration.

And then for human services support, we've put in $700,000 for emergency assistance for pathways.

This would be emergency rent subsidy.

We put in $1.6 million for affordable housing and homeless services and we did an agency investment fund.

The two would be $2.6 million and this would be done by a competitive process and separate from the vibrant communities

because of the treasury requirements for documentation are different than vibrant communities and and so it would be a different competitive process that we're proposing but that was for affordable housing homeless services and agency investment would be 2.6 million dollars for community health initiative that would be and I'll have Ashley speak to that

$500,000.

Yes, sir.

The city manager really looked at the opportunity potentially to bring in support for our honest work in public health.

Right.

Absolutely.

Yes, sir.

So in the previous revision of the Human Rights Ordinance, Council asked the Human Rights Commission if they would consider

and look into the opportunity of becoming a theft, a fair housing support through HUD.

They have looked at that and will present information including required edits to the ordinance should council wish to move in that direction.

And if they do, HUD would require them to have an investigator and also an administrative assistant would be needed for that work.

So the city manager

Thank you, Ashley.

And lastly, we put in $40,000 for a city shelter emergency generator system.

If we had a catastrophe in this city, we do not have a city-owned place where people could gather to be safe.

And we are proposing that we acquire this generator and work out the situation with the superintendent and the school board for Charlottesville High School, the gymnasium being that place.

this would allow us to FEMA to back up an emergency trailer if needed to provide the electricity and other amenities in the case of an emergency.

So in this allocation we have considered a number of actions both internal that for our internal infrastructure to allow us to work better and also

addressing the needs of the community.

Thank you, Mr. Rogers.

Yeah, I have a few.

This is really great news.

Thank you for all the hard work on this.

I don't know if Mr. Sanders is online.

I don't recall

with Meadow Creek Trail, how much money was in the CIP?

I guess we were going to, the notion was to use the money from ARP to supplement that or to replace it.

I don't remember that conversation.

Can anyone speak to that?

So we received a grant of $375,000 from VDOT for first section.

This 500,000 is supposed to complete the second section.

And then we were already previously had the conversation that at surplus, there might be an additional 700,000.

So at this point, you're talking about

Additional updates as we move forward.

That's very fantastic news.

Thank you so much for that.

And then if we could go back to the piece with I know that in terms of one-off funding and not hiring people with

For the human resources positions, we are anticipating incorporating those into the budget.

In fact, there are existing positions in human resources that I think one is vacant and

We'll be able to handle that.

Chrissy, you recall that discussion with Marianne?

There is one vacant position and then the labor relations specialist was included in the budget for 23.

So this just provides a little bit more funding to upgrade both of those positions and then the new position as well.

One new position in addition to those two.

for the recruiter or the deputy city manager.

Yes, we plan to come back to you on August 1st for your action.

I can go.

OK.

Ashley, you want to take the health initiative

Sure.

So the reason why there's funding set aside for community health, and I am not exactly calling it a CCT, sir, is because at this point in time, we are very thankful to have our new deputy fire chief, Mr. Thomas, on.

And so I know that our social services director, Ms.

Sue Moffett, is working to meet with Mr. Thomas to make sure that whatever we propose to engage the community

is a sound process and that will fit into the work of both our social services, human services, and fire departments community outreach.

So that funding, you may have seen that number before,

was the cost allocation for a two-year pilot of a CCT.

But I do apologize that I'm not calling it a CCT only because that meeting has not yet occurred.

And with respect to the community arts investment, suggested a set aside of funds.

in order to allow the city manager's office the ability to support events or festivals in our community that bring together our citizens for remembrances and celebrations and educational opportunities.

While there will be a process created to access these funds, I believe that this earmark to ensure we can support those who engage our community or that the city as an organization can engage

ourselves is an important one, not only for potential economic development and visitors, but mainly to assure our own community feels a distinct sense of belonging and engagement through community gatherings.

So this gives us some flexibility.

We've discussed over, from time to time, groups have come and sought funds from us to do various things.

Okay.

Just a few more.

The agency investment fund, this is outside of the Vibrant Communities Fund, as I indicated, and this would be for other organizations that have come forth at various times, not to name any right now.

And council has expressed interest in supporting these organizations, but it's been off cycle and we haven't been able to do it.

Okay.

And the final questions about the economic development section.

I know you touched on it briefly, but is there any more detail to provide about what the strategic investment fund within the economic development section could?

Is that land acquisition?

I think it could be land acquisition, but it does require further discussion.

And before we come back to you, we will have that further defined, but it's not any land acquisition that we have in mind today.

It's something that gives us the flexibility should something come up to pursue.

I think that we can define it to meet the needs of the community.

And for the $750,000 to the CACVB, you mentioned some sort of agreement with the county and the city and the CACVB.

Is Chris Engel on?

Yes.

Yes, sir, I'm here.

I can speak to that.

The Visitors Bureau, as you all are aware, is jointly funded by the city and county.

And when the pandemic started and the CARES Act and the ARP funding was becoming available, there was a, it's not exactly a written agreement, but the city and county jointly looked at each other and said,

We should use a portion of this funding to backfill the lost funding that the Bureau is experiencing because it's directly tied to the transient occupancy tax.

There was a calculation done at the time, $1.5 million was roughly the lost revenue over the two years that the Bureau budgeted during the pandemic, and the

City and County agreed to jointly fund that gap.

And so there's been a placeholder going back to the original CARES Act funding, I think, to hold roughly that amount of money.

There's a two-year lag in the funding cycle.

So the money is now, wasn't needed two years ago, it's needed now because that cycle is playing through.

And I remember reading in the General Assembly's budget this year, they allocated money to tourism boards, I believe for that purpose to help them backfill lost revenues caused by the economic impacts of the pandemic.

Yes, the VTC, the Virginia Tourism Corporation, was allocated some funds that passed through from the federal government to them for a destination marketing organization such as the CACBB.

Some of those funds have actually passed through already.

Those are for new marketing initiatives, not for revenue replacement, staff support, et cetera.

So you received a presentation on part of that a month ago from Courtney Cacation, the executive director of the Visitors Bureau.

And at least half of those funds that the city was allocated in support of DMOs has passed through.

Thank you.

I don't have any more questions.

Just thoughts would be given that state support, I'm a little skeptical about how much is really needed for the CACVB as well as what specific measurable deliverables we will get for that investment.

A lot of details to work out, so I'm not saying we're not on this path, but, you know, just my biggest concern is that we're leveraging these funds as effectively as possible to make investments that will make longer-term structural impacts or stand up something new rather than merely one-off investments.

Yes, and tonight's presentation, this is the initial discussion.

Yes, ma'am, it could be.

There seemed to be a lot of community support around the CCT when it first came up as a potential idea.

But yes, ma'am, absolutely.

Okay.

Oh, okay.

Not okay.

I've wanted to change the name, but that's what everyone is most familiar with at this point.

So I've left it.

just wanted to kind of I just want to make sure that we've got potentially funding for both issues.

And I want to point out, Council, that there still remains a $2.5 million unallocated balance as well for your further consideration.

And so I did have one more.

There was $10 million for revenue replacement.

Good afternoon, Mr. Mayor, members of council.

So revenue replacement is one of the options available under ARP to local governments.

This is one of the big differences between ARP and CARES.

And so

Under the revenue replacement, the U.S.

Treasury offered two options to local governments.

One is a standard $10 million deduction, or they also have a formula by which you could calculate sort of a counterfactual revenue.

It's actually a pretty detailed formula.

that I did put the city's numbers through.

Quite honestly, the numbers that came out the other side didn't really make a lot of sense.

And they were in excess of the $10 million standard deduction.

And so I think that's the recommended course going forward is to take the $10 million for revenue replacement.

So that satisfies

The other piece of that, though, is you can't just take the $10 million and put it in your reserves or invest it or whatever.

You have to use it for, I believe the term is, for government services.

And the way that's interpreted is you spend it on things that you normally would spend it on.

And so in this presentation, many of these specific items that you see under economic development, public safety, human services investments, we're using the revenue replacement as the ARP

eligibility piece.

And then these government services to sort of satisfy that second prong of that test.

And so that's really what we tried to depict on that page.

And the way you would see it reported, we have to file a report with the U.S.

Treasury every quarter.

That's how you would actually see it in our report is as revenue replacement.

But then we would have this backup information in terms of how we actually spent that money.

And as Mr. Rogers pointed out,

The spending requirements in terms of the timeline for ARP is the funds have to be obligated by the end of calendar year 2024.

In our world, that means has to be on a contract or a purchase order or something more than just, you know, saying we're going to do this.

There has to be some sort of a formal acknowledgement that we're going to spend that money.

And then we actually have to have all the money spent by the end of calendar year 2026.

And so obviously as we proceed with all the appropriations, we do have those timeframes in mind and remind any other agencies who may be receiving these funds of the treasurer requirements in terms of how the money's being used, but also these timelines as well.

Mr. Mayor, may I ask Sam Sanders to kind of spend a little more time on the school safety project.

We are proposing $500,000, as I indicated, others have proposed more.

That'd be great.

Right, so what I'll do is I won't tell you everything since we're going to be going into council meeting and the public needs to be able to hear all of it as well, but I'll give you the clip notes.

What we're doing is working directly with schools, trying our best to make sure that their priorities are what we prioritize and what we do to help them through this process because we're seeing this as everyone's issue.

We've gotten a number of different suggestions, ideas,

is, demands, whatever you call it, on being able to figure out ways to make it possible for all kids to get to school safely.

There'll be 750 additional children walking to school this year.

What we're doing at this point is I've assembled a team and this is a cross-departmental team of making sure that we have every individual that could possibly pull into this conversation to look at what can we do.

We're prioritizing what

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

to get everything that we're identifying as a big priority and then to go beyond that and basically rebooting our Safe Routes to School program.

That's what this is really kind of synergizing at this time by allowing all this focus on what we've been doing and what we've been talking about doing.

But there is an idea for us to be able to not only complement what the schools are doing in their own deployment of additional resources for crossing guards and faculty members

School is a walk-in school bus scenario.

They're going to deploy more of those this year.

There may be opportunities for us to do similar ideas with staff as well as working with some of our neighborhood groups to more or less receive and approve what they're suggesting in the way of a proposal.

Working with them to confirm that their implementation is exactly what we can improve knowing that it will work and knowing that it meets the guidelines of what we're responsible for maintaining transportation wise and then to also be able to go and inspect when they're finished to make sure there's nothing that's in conflict with those rules so that then we would be able to test and evaluate how those different deployments work through this process.

This is definitely going to be a challenging time but I'll also go back and add

We continue to focus on the cat driver issue, looking for ways that we can make some improvements there, including having recent meetings with the county schools to look for some efficiencies in how they're managing their routes, as well as ours, overlaps, and then special needs transportation needs that may occur as well.

So we're looking at this comprehensively.

Thank you.

I've got a couple of other questions.

First question I think you probably touched on this but I was taking notes and wasn't listening carefully.

You've got $1.6 million allocated for affordable housing and homeless services.

One of the concerns, I'm sorry, were you done?

Yes, go ahead.

One of my concerns has been that we have a number of nonprofits who apply for funding from us who may well be excellent groups but they don't get their paperwork straightened out, they don't have a tax return or an audit or whatever the various financial requirements are.

Are we doing anything

or would we be able to do anything or is there a way that something could happen to help some of these groups sort of step up their game a little bit?

So obviously we want them to show all the signs of financial responsibility with us.

in many cases these organizations that I know are in fact financially responsible.

They're just not very good about doing the paperwork.

Excellent suggestion.

Ashley,

You had talked about developing some template applications that would help facilitate, make it easier for these groups at least to meet the ARP guidelines.

Sir, the guidelines that ARP requires through Treasury will be provided in the process of applications.

So each nonprofit that would wish to throw their hat in the proverbial ring will know what is required of them from Treasury.

So also please keep this in mind.

This is Treasury, not myself or Mr. Cullinan.

but it is required for us to be able to report back accurately.

As far as nonprofits and perhaps some of their needs and capacity building or organizational stability, I would certainly encourage those nonprofits to look up the center

for Nonprofit Excellence.

It is right here in Charlottesville.

And from my experience of formerly running nonprofits, a lot of us have tried to figure out how to weasel our way into these classes that sometimes are limited to individuals who are only here in central Virginia.

In addition for organizations who apply in the vibrant communities process there is always an orientation that is given and there is always an olive branch extended for technical assistance and many nonprofits do take our Department of Human Services experts up on that technical assistance opportunity and I would simply encourage

about this art process and whether we could provide some assistance to a group of nonprofits that may need additional assistance, the kind that we give to nonprofits in vibrant communities.

It absolutely can be, but I really hope that all those nonprofits also apply in Vibrant so that they have an opportunity to get that technical assistance under their belts, get that application process, a feel of it under their belts, and then moving forward, I would be happy to provide that technical assistance to individuals.

I would also say that you are a finite resource.

And I would hope that the people who might benefit from your assistance could also benefit from the assistance of other people who might provide similar assistance.

And so that's one of the reasons I mentioned the Center for Nonprofit Excellence.

And there are some other resources as well.

Perhaps we can talk about what some of those might be.

But it seems to me that there may be some opportunities to partner with some other organizations that are capable of providing the support for us.

And we need to look at that.

Well, and one of the things that I think we ought to think about is that if we're going to spend $1.6 million out of this pot of money, I doubt that that $1.6 million is going to be there the next fiscal year, the next time that some of these agencies might be looking for funding.

and part of what has to happen I think is that a lot of these agencies need to think about where other than the city government they might get their next round of funding and whether that's from separate

fundraising efforts of their own in the private philanthropy market, whether that is other grants, I don't know, but this leads to my next concern, both of which have the common theme of sustainability.

The other piece of it is we're talking about a number of employees that we're talking about having the city hire.

For the Fire Department, for the three battalion chiefs, that's about $550,000 a year that we would have to add in.

We covered it for two years with these art funds.

And with the Human Resources Department, that's another, we've estimated $270,000, so that's about

$750,000, $800,000 that we've got to find.

170, yeah.

And so, you know, it comes up to be a little over a million, additional a million dollars that we have to absorb.

Is that about right, Chris?

Yes, sir.

Are we, I mean, I'm going to bring this up again because I bring it up whenever we talk about future budgets, about covering the fire department grant that will be expiring.

It's about $2 million.

And we did talk about that in the budget process.

And those will come on the last three months of 23.

So in this year, they'll come on in March and then we'll carry the full freight in 24.

And as part of our discussions, we talked about setting aside

So the last sort of substantive question I've got is that one of the requests that has been made fairly recently out of the normal budget cycle kind of way has been for some funds relating to violence prevention efforts.

Yes, that would be an opportunity through that competitive process to address that.

Right, right.

Anybody have other questions?

We've included that in our thought process.

That's precisely the kind of

Again, I wanted to thank you all for this presentation.

It's very helpful.

I guess this is a great problem to have.

Pardon me.

It's a great problem to have to have money we need to spend well.

I guess just sort of a general sort of atmospheric reaction is that this is a lot of money to try to spend well in the time that we have given our capacity as an organization.

At least that's my impression.

I know you all have been doing a lot of work around

organizational capacity capability and you know I look forward as we have further conversations with a little more detail on what some of these things mean the buckets are

are still pretty large in terms of what's in the buckets, and I'm assuming you all will have some sort of standing committee meetings or team that is reviewing the progress of this over the next couple of years.

I know there's going to be a lot of effort involved in operationalizing this, but this is a great start, and I'm very grateful for you all doing this.

Do we have other questions, comments from Council?

Well, we look forward to our dialogue on this.

This is meant to be a first start to set us on a direction and to address some things that we really need to address in the coming months and thought that these funds would be a good way to do it.

It's not the end all, so we look forward to your suggestions and coming together on it.

That's the current plan.

And is that, I mean, the one thing that is particularly urgent is dealing with the safe routes to schools.

We talked about that.

Sam, you want to highlight that conversation?

We do have funds available.

As I mentioned, one of our drawbacks is that we've had some funds earmarked for these types of projects that have been stalled for various reasons.

We can activate those funds as you're considering ARP and finalizing your plans in regards to those funds.

But we most definitely can deploy the things that we have, resources as well as expenditures.

Okay.

Thank you.

Anybody else?

Well, that's the only thing we've got on our agenda for the 4 o'clock meeting, and we've got some other things to be dealing with in closed session.

Sure.

for consideration of future appointments by council to the city's planning commission and other boards and commissions and legal consultation regarding compliance with requirements of Virginia code 15.2 dash 2212 and city council ordinances and resolutions and consultation in briefing by legal counsel regarding litigation

Thank you.

Okay, this we can do just by voice vote.

All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

Okay, the motion passes.

Separate link, okay.

Separate link for the 630 meeting and we'll see you all if there's anybody still out there at 630.

All right, folks.

It's now 6.30 and we're all assembled, so let's reassemble.

First of all, call the meeting back to order.

Yes, I have that.

Ms.

Thomas, take the vote.

Yes, I have one announcement.

Mr. Alex Zahn presents the 14th Annual Summer Think Shop with this year's theme, Ride-In with Yogo.

The purpose of this event is to provide a fun, educational, and positive experience for area children.

The event will be at Burley Middle School, 901 Rose Hill Drive, Charlottesville, Virginia, Thursday, July 21st, 2022 at 10.30 a.m.

to noon.

The main highlight will be Enzo Mason, an eight-year-old entrepreneur whose company is Blue by Enzo.

You all come.

Okay, thank you.

We have one proclamation.

This is in July, officially Parks and Recreation Month 2022.

whereas parks and recreation programs are an integral part of communities throughout this country including the city of Charlottesville and whereas our parks and recreation experiences are vitally important to establishing and maintaining the quality of life in our communities ensuring the healthy lifestyle for all residents for all citizens and contributing to the economic and environmental well-being of community and region

and whereas parks and recreation programs build healthy active communities that aid in the prevention of chronic disease, provide therapeutic recreation services for those who are mentally or physically disabled and improve the mental and emotional health of all citizens.

And whereas parks and recreation programs increase a community's economic prosperity through increased property values, expansion of the local tax base, increased tourism, the attraction and retention of businesses, families and retirees.

and whereas Parks and Recreation is a leading provider of healthy meals, nutrition services and education and whereas Parks and Recreation areas are fundamental to the environmental well-being of our community, our parks and natural recreation areas ensure the ecological beauty of our community and provide new learning opportunities

and memorable experiences for children and adults by connecting with nature and the outdoors.

And whereas the U.S.

House of Representatives has designated July as Parks and Recreation Month, and whereas the city of Charlottesville recognizes the benefits derived from parks and recreation resources, offering over 300 programs such as swim lessons, dance, gymnastics, day camps, nature programs, and athletics leagues with over 5,000 registered participants for the summer of 2022.

and whereas special events in July include Sunday Sundowns on July 17th at Washington Park Shelter and Pool from 4 to 7 with free swim, free meals while they last and music for the whole family and Sounds of Summer on July 30th at Tonsler Park features the original Moonlighters Band and a free meal off the grill from 6 to 8 p.m.

Now therefore be it resolved by the Council of the City of Charlottesville that July is recognized as Parks and Recreation Month

in the city of Charlottesville and residents and visitors are encouraged to participate in the range of activities that help to make Charlottesville a vibrant community.

Signed and sealed this 18th day of July 2022, Lloyd Snook Mayor.

Ah, there he is appearing by video.

Here you go.

Good evening, Mayor Snook.

Can you hear me, sir?

Okay, now we're good.

Well, we had this problem with one other person calling in a couple of weeks ago.

And I'm not quite sure what the answer is.

But clearly, there's some sort of feedback loop that's being created.

Hi, OK.

Mayor Snook and Council, thank you very much.

This means an awful lot to Parks and Recreation.

We offer essential services, essential parks and facilities, and I can't thank you enough for all of your support.

If you see someone in the park or our pools or our facilities with our brand, please thank them.

Well, I appreciate all the work you've been doing and I hope you've been able to get back to having the pools fully staffed.

Not entirely, sir.

Well, I appreciate the effort.

I know in the current marketplace, it is really tough.

I appreciate that effort.

Okay.

Next item on the agenda, is there a motion to approve appointments to boards and commissions?

And we're not going to talk about the Planning Commission at this point.

So who's got that list?

The list of the, I guess we only have one other.

Is there a second to that nomination?

Second.

Any discussion?

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

All opposed?

Okay, Mr. Key is now appointed.

We will come back to the Planning Commission later on.

Ms.

Just a moment.

Tell you, while you're doing that, let me put in a plug.

We need more people applying for boards and commissions.

We've got a couple of boards and commissions that are down a couple of people.

Region 10 Community Services Board is one.

The Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority is another.

We have the Historic Resources Committee.

the Jefferson Area Community Criminal Justice Board, Jaunt, CACVB needs a representative from the tourism industry.

If there's something there that is of interest to you, please apply.

We have some spots that we really need to fill and we haven't had enough volunteers.

Consent agenda, two minutes, April 18th council meeting, May 2nd council meeting, May 16th council meeting, May 24th special meeting, June 6th council meeting.

Three, resolution establishing a pool of funds in the amount of $50,000 to be used for payment of refunds to licensed city businesses engaged in the same business activity as that considered by the Virginia Supreme Court on June 9, 2022 in record number 210414.

Second reading.

Four, resolution

authorizing a refund of $8,132.19 to a taxpaying entity or business for business license tax paid in error for 2022, one of two readings.

Five, resolution approving settlement of disputed real estate assessment, Omni Hotel, one of two readings.

Six, resolution COVID homelessness emergency response program community development block grant amendment.

$250,816, one of two readings.

Seven, Resolution Appropriating Funds for the Virginia Department of Education Special Nutrition Program, Summer Food Service Program, $250,000, one of two readings.

Eight, Resolution State Criminal Alien Assistance Program, SCAP,

Grant for 15 PBJA-20-RR-00381-SCAA for $4,748, one of two readings.

Right.

Thank you.

Okay.

We will now take public comment regarding items on the consent agenda that were just read by the Deputy Clerk, or by the Clerk,

Each speaker will have up to three minutes.

In the Zoom webinar you may 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 can press star nine.

will alternate in person and virtual speakers.

If you were someone who signed up in advance, your time will come in a few minutes.

It's not quite here yet.

That's at the community matters section.

This is simply if you want to speak on any of the items that were just read from the consent agenda.

Is there anybody in the room here who wishes to speak on any of those matters?

All right.

So we'll close this public hearing as to that and our public comment period.

Is there a motion to adopt the consent agenda?

So moved.

Any further questions or comments?

Ms.

Councillor McGill?

Yes.

Yes.

So it passes 4-0 to adopt the consent agenda.

Mr. Rogers, would you like to present the report from the City Manager's Office?

Mayor of Council, you have a written version of the report in your packet.

Before I get into that, let me make an announcement.

Several meetings back, there was a lot of commentary about the proposed move of the bus stop at

I just lost it.

Crescent Hall, that's right.

Crescent Hall.

Right.

And we've studied that situation, worked with Cat and Director Garland and Sam Sanders, and a decision has been made.

The bus stop will not be moved.

The bus stop at Crescent Hall will not be moved.

It will stay right there.

So we're very pleased to make that announcement.

In the city manager's report, we

I make note that I attended the airport authority meeting.

I'm on that board representing the city.

And I'm very pleased with my participation there.

They run a good shop.

And the last meeting, we approved their annual budget.

We are going to propose that we bring the airport authority to council for a 4 o'clock presentation at our August 1st meeting so that you can learn even more about the operation.

I'd like to report as well that with respect to collective bargaining, we'll be coming to Council on August 15th with a proposed ordinance for your review.

We will do that in a work session at 4 o'clock on August 15th.

We selected the firm Venable LLP out of Washington, D.C.

to represent us and work with us as our labor relations consultant.

And so we're anxious to bring that forward as we promised we would.

Also, I'd like to point out that we've completed the selection of a consultant for our police chief search.

We selected a company called Polyhire.

out of Washington, DC.

They will work with us on developing a very aggressive community outreach program.

This company has had a number of searches across the country, including placement of police chiefs in Fairfax County.

and Arlington, Virginia, as well as the Chief of Police in Prince George's County, Maryland, and a number of others.

So we are very confident in their capability.

A press release went out today, making that known.

And we look forward to hearing from the community with respect to what kind of chief do they want?

The first part of the process is to do a survey of the community to inquire about the characteristics they're looking for in the chief, the issues they expect the chief to address, and also any ideas for questions that they want the candidates to answer.

So we look forward to getting that feedback.

with respect to other items.

I would like to congratulate Mr. Steve Hawks for becoming the Director of Information Technology after the completion of a competitive process.

Mr. Hawks has served as our Interim Director and we're delighted to have him join us in leadership permanently.

I also would like to announce the hiring of Ms.

Caroline Rice as our Public Engagement Coordinator and Mr. Kyle Irving as our Public Safety Information Officer in our Office of Communications and extend a warm welcome to them both.

For the Office of Equity and Inclusion, we're proud to host, along with the Office of Human Rights, a second virtual groundwater session led by the Racial Equity Institute on August 25th.

And we're very thankful to already have 93 of 100 seats taken, including by members of the Human Rights Commission and the Police Civilian Oversight Board.

At our last groundwater session, 85 individuals attended who are members of city staff, city council, CRHA, the community policy and management team, as well as United Way.

Important for this current weather is to remind our community that the Department of Social Services is accepting applications for cooling assistance Those who have already been pre-approved do not need to reapply but interested members of our community can reach out to DSS directly at 434-970-3400 for more information

And finally both our social services team as well as our home to hope program and downtown job center are participating in the weekly community one stop events to support formerly incarcerated community members who are returning to the community thanks to the Virginia new earned sentence credit law.

The shops are held weekly on Wednesday and any of those three programs can provide more information.

and outside of, of course, what is written and has been presented to council as well as the community.

Thank you very much.

Good evening, council and community members.

Just wanted to go over a couple of things.

First, for me, I also have some position announcements.

We welcome Deputy Chief Michael Thomas, who joined the Charlottesville Fire Department in June.

He's now responsible for the community risk reduction section of the fire department.

Jonathan Dean has been named public service manager, having previously served as management analyst in the department.

and Tim Morris was recently promoted to Deputy Director of the Utilities Department.

That is a step towards designating a succession plan for each department for going forward.

So we congratulate them and welcome them in their new capacities.

David, I have a PowerPoint to share, so I hope I have the ability to do so at this time.

I'm going to move right into providing a general overview of a hot topic that's been on everyone's mind and that is safe routes to schools.

want to give you a perspective from the city government in support of what the Charlottesville city schools have been up to at this moment trying to prepare for the new school year.

To make sure I'm sharing the screen.

All right, so I trust that you all see the screen.

Ultimately, I just wanted to walk you through a few things.

First and foremost, just to share with the public that we hear your concerns, and we have definitely been working hard to try to make sure that we are working in collaboration with Charlottesville City Schools to solve the various issues that may result from 750 additional kids having to walk to school this year.

We are remaining focused on CAT.

The driver shortage has definitely made things very complicated for us.

We've engaged our HR director and team to look at compensation schedules and management is evaluating protocols for efficiency improvements as well.

We also recently met with Albemarle County Public Schools to identify some opportunities for efficiencies looking at special needs transports as well as looking at crossing routes that may produce some opportunities as well.

and then I've reached out to John asking for any driver sharing possibilities looking that we won't be able to use their equipment because of the federal nature of the funds that they receive but when drivers are not working for John they might be able to drive for us so we're looking to see if we can figure out a way to make that possible in addition to our ongoing efforts to build up a more robust transportation planning and project execution within the city.

But I wanted to really spend a little more time and just kind of share with the public what it is that we're doing.

Looking at this from a four-pronged approach, priority.

Priority is that we see this as not just the Charlottesville City Schools problem.

This belongs to all of us.

We're working on planning at this moment.

We're collaborating amongst departments.

And the goal is to try to figure out what kinds of recommendations are quick and easy to implement, cost-effective, and definitely long-term effective.

We're looking to capture proposals from neighborhood-led groups

hoping that we'll be able to deploy those groups and doing some of the work as well since they have offered to do so and to make sure that our goal of making sure that it's safe routes provided to kids to be able to get back and forth to school is definitely our number one priority.

We're looking at this from a portfolio approach.

Charlottesville City Schools have been

identifying a priority list.

We will put that list in motion as soon as we receive the final evidence of what it is that they think is most important for what we're working with.

In addition to that, staff has been working collaboratively to try to identify out-of-the-box ideas as well as the more basic things that we know that we can do.

And then from there, we'll go into looking at what Livable Seville and the BIPED Advisor Committee has come up with.

A very robust list of things that we can definitely prioritize over time.

And again, we're wanting to make sure that whatever the schools have identified as their priority needs, we can deploy those items ASAP

This is pretty much what I just said there and what we're doing.

We're also looking to get additional funds.

Mr. Rogers provided as a part of his presentation on our request for $500,000 to add to existing funds that we already have in place that have been a little more of a struggle to spend.

But the goal will be for us to get more hands involved in getting that money out on the street in the way of putting these projects into play.

In addition that we have

seats available additional budgeted seats in the FY23 budget that we think will come online very soon and that will help us with long-term planning this is what the plan will ultimately look like we're looking at all the various things that we have heard that we know are possible for us to be able to do more crosswalks sidewalk repairs looking at weeding and cutting along various routes that have now been added to the route to school

Installing flex posts, additional signs and radar signs.

Those are things that we know that most people have been aware of from our prior planning efforts and how we can get additional resources available for the various kids and or parents that might be helping them cross the streets.

Bump outs, flashing signs, and speed limit changes are items that will be able to quickly work with neighborhood groups as well as lead some of these projects ourselves and then additional items that we'll bring to council for approval to be able to implement even in a pilot stage in the school zones that might be one approach but our goal will be to quickly get some of these things out and basically available to make this process a little bit easier

The last line you see there on the screen says inspect, evaluate, and convert to perm.

Those are just our signals of what it is that we'll be doing.

We're going out and inspecting sidewalks, crosswalks, and are we cutting areas right now?

We're evaluating where we can put flex posts and additional signs and where a radar sign might make sense or something to be able to bring back to council.

and then we'll be converting of course any ideas of bump outs or flashing signs into more permanent with speed limit changes being something that we'll also have to explore from the study perspective so just wanted to be able to stop and provide this opportunity for the council and the public to understand that we recognize our role in getting this work done and we will be continuing to work on this and make sure that we can get as much of this implemented as quickly as possible I met with members of the team earlier today we're looking to begin our work

Thank you.

That's it.

Any questions for the city manager?

Thank you.

Hearing no questions, let's turn to community matters.

We have six preregistered speakers leaving ten slots for additional speakers on community matters.

Each speaker will have up to three minutes to speak.

We will now open the floor to the pre-registered 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 9.

In-person attendees may raise your hands to be recognized and will alternate with virtual speakers.

Mayor Snook, Melinda Anderson, I believe is the name.

Are they present in the room?

She withdrew her name from the list.

Okay.

That's what I thought.

The first one on my list is Kirk Bowers.

Yes, Mayor Snook.

Kirk, you are on with council.

Good evening and thank you for your time this evening, our council members.

My name is Kirk Bowers.

I live in Albemarle County outside of the city limits in the Pentops area where we have lived for 34 years.

My role today is to reintroduce myself to the city council as the conservation chair for

Piedmont Group of the Sierra Club.

and I come before you this evening to talk about democracy.

We are planning an event in September in conjunction with the International Day of Democracy, which is sponsored by the United Nations and was originated by the United Nations in 2007.

So this is 15 years that this event has been going on worldwide and what I am here to ask you all is for approval

to proclaim September 15th as Democracy Day in Charlottesville.

And I'll also be asking the same from the county on Wednesday at their meeting as well.

I represent not only the Sierra Club, but several other large groups and organizations in the local community, along with a collaborative effort

from local institutions.

And so I will be submitting a proclamation for you all to review in a couple of weeks.

And what we're asking you to do is proclaim September 15th International or Democracy Day for Charlottesville, Virginia.

in conjunction with the United Nations International Day of Democracy.

We're doing this to celebrate

honored democracy in America and to talk about democracy in America and some of the current issues that we are facing today.

So that's it.

I do have a question or two, if I may.

Who do I submit the proclamation to for review and how long would it take to

I think if you wanted to send it simply to council at charlottesville.gov, we would get it.

Okay, well, that would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you, Mr. Bowers.

Don't we go through our list first?

Okay.

That's fine.

There's room.

Okay.

Next speaker online.

Matthew Ray is next in the list.

I do not see him in Zoom.

Is he in the room by chance?

Ah, okay.

Mr. Ray.

Hello, my name is Matthew Ray and I am currently a eight year operator for CAT.

I'm here today to comment on the need for a strong collective bargaining agreement that will guarantee a seat at the table for employees of the city today as well as in the future.

As an example for the need for strong ordinance we have a long we have long had a pay compaction at CAT the city has raised the starting pay several times over the years but hasn't adjusted the pay for our veteran operators many of whom have worked for 10 20 and 30 years until here recently we have had only two

operators make over $20 an hour and none close to the top which is 27 and some change recently we've lost several operators due to retirement after 20 to 30 years of service the city of 20 years of service to the city and at or below $20 an hour which greatly affects them in retirement we currently have returning retirees that that come back

come back to work at starting wage, meaning they're coming back at $18 now.

Many aren't returning because of that.

Mary Pettis right here is one.

And it's quite a disrespectful wage to ask someone who's been here 20 years to return to work and do something into their retirement.

that is at that wage, basically trainer's wage.

We've got trainers making that.

Another example of the need for a strong ordinance is our grievance policy.

Many times we've had supervisors not know policy.

I've been part of that.

I've experienced this directly, so I'm telling you my personal information.

They don't know policy.

They don't know

sloppy investigations on the incidences that occur at CAP.

They have been shown many times to be wrong or incorrect.

That adds to morale when you don't have leadership that knows what they're doing.

So those are basically two examples of the need for a strong ordinance here.

I'll also say that lastly is we need the use of the cap facility up at transit.

We currently work six days a week.

Many of us are working overtime.

Many of us have other jobs.

The cap facility is convenient.

It's where everybody knows how to get to.

Parking is ample.

That that's definitely a need that we definitely need to have access to the building.

We recently had access to the city space, which I don't see a difference between city space and our Avon Street offices.

But you know, so I don't see the difference there.

And I know that there's no rule or law that prohibits this.

I mean, the city can say we can use this.

Thank you, Mr. Ray.

So Ms.

I have retired after 36 years and no I will not be coming back.

I do feel that we need collective bargaining because I worked almost 37 years for the city and what I retired at I can't live off of so I'm gonna have to work somewhere else and the time that I was there I had two additional jobs so and I'm here because the union

and having bargaining rights is not going to help me.

But I know it will help these drivers that are coming in and it will help us keep drivers and even school bus drivers because I did that too for 13 years.

And they need 40 hours and they need it year round because people don't just live during the winter.

so collective bargaining or union would be able to address all of that and speak for us and help us get the things that are needed and I know when it don't affect you you don't think about it but since it affected me I think about it a lot so I want the people coming after me I like Kat I enjoyed working there and I want the people that are coming in to have that experience that I had

and come to work.

Don't not come because of something that's bothering you at work.

So if they had a strong union they could address those things.

No workplace is perfect but you can make it better and sometimes you need somebody that you can go to that is going to be on your side that is going to speak for your needs.

I know y'all have y'all's agenda and y'all's needs

and you address those, but we need someone that's going to address ours to support us to understand.

Thank you, Ms.

Bettis.

Next is Daniel Summers.

Okay.

All right.

Yes.

Hi.

My name is Daniel Summers.

I've been with the city of Charlottesville for over 10 years.

It's a great place.

I like what I do.

I like my coworkers as well.

But once again, like Matt stated, we do have problems and different issues with different management there.

And as well, I feel that with the union, it will help us as a whole, as far as myself and other drivers there.

and it will be very useful for the future for other CAT drivers that they do hire there.

Thank you, Mr. Summers.

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

Okay.

Next speaker is Carol Thorpe.

Ms.

Mayor Snook, I don't see Carol Thorpe on Zoom.

Okay.

So let's assume that is not her.

If she does in fact raise a hand or something, we can come back to her.

Good evening council.

This is Matthew Gillican.

I live in Fifeville and I'm speaking on behalf of Liveable Seville.

I was coming to ask for some things regarding safe routes to school, but instead I'm going to thank you all and thank city staff for the excellent work they're doing in collaboration

with the city schools to try and identify as many solutions as quickly as possible to help make sure that our students and their families are able to access our schools as safely as possible this fall.

So for that I'm very grateful.

I appreciate that the city is moving towards quick builds to make things happen as fast as possible and outsource some of that to community members who are eager to help with that.

and additionally to provide funding for some of these projects which will be more permanent in nature.

So that gives me a little more time to talk about some things that came up in the ARP funding discussion.

We think that more money needs to be allocated towards housing and homelessness prevention from the ARP funds.

and where should this money come from?

Well, it could come from a variety of places, but it appeared that the current plan is to set aside a million dollars for something that we do not need any more of, which is parking downtown, city owned parking that is.

So we would ask that you would shift more money towards affordable housing and homelessness prevention and the ARP funds and less money in the economic development slash fund as the city

acts in a way that will actually support its goals of reducing environmental impact of cars and other carbon polluters and provide better housing opportunities and ability for people to stay in Charlottesville.

Thank you for your time.

Carol Thorpe has raised her hand, Mayor Snook.

Okay, well, let's bring Carol on then.

Ah, thank you.

I'm still learning technology, I guess.

Good evening, Council.

My name is Carol Court.

I'm calling from Albemarle County, just outside of city limits.

I'm

Calling because the fifth anniversary of the violence visited upon Charlottesville on August 12, 2017 is less than one month from today.

To date, I have not heard of any security measures planned by city government in case someone chooses to violently mark the occasion.

History has shown that dangerous groups and individuals hold a peculiar penchant for milestone anniversaries.

While the Confederate war monuments of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson have been removed from city parks, it would be foolish to rely upon their absence as a lack of motivation for would-be assailants to target Charlottesville.

On the contrary, it may motivate retaliation.

As the elected heads of city government, you have a primary duty to ensure the safety of its citizens.

In my opinion, a competent and responsible government would already have safety plans in place, but it appears that yours does not.

I am disappointed that a community discussion on this topic was not added to your agenda tonight, as per my request last week.

My heart goes out to the countless number of city residents who remain traumatized to this day by their experience five years ago.

I have been concerned that their anxiety about what could happen this year is intensifying and that silence from City Council Dias will only heighten their insecurities and fear about what might come.

In an email that I received early this morning from Mayor Snook, and thank you, Mayor, for that, he stated that intelligence comes mainly through state police, that he had not received any information from our police department or the city manager, but that he would inquire.

To me, this indicates that city council itself has not been proactive about security.

In the same letter, Mayor Snook admitted, while speaking as to why in part the city was not supporting the Unity Days event this year,

And, quote, we know that with our police force under strength, we would not be able to handle security for anything major, unquote.

I realize the Charlottesville Police Department is understaffed, but this is a stunning admission.

If this is true, I would have expected city council to have already reached out to state law enforcement to discuss security deficiencies and proactive possibilities well in advance of the August 12th anniversary.

In conclusion, I urge you to make whatever plans you can in the next three weeks so you will not be caught completely off guard if, God forbid, something violent should occur.

While I certainly don't expect you to share detailed information with the public, you ought to all of us to show security is on your radar and of the highest priority.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Thorpe.

So that goes through our reserved community matters.

I know you all missed me not talking last week, and I've got it for you today.

Hello, my name is Shelby Marie Edwards, I use she, her, and hers, and I'm the Executive Director of the Charlottesville Public Housing Association of Residents.

Also known as FAR, I'm a product of the Charlottesville Public City School System and a Charlottesville native.

Many of you know this, but I'm an actor by trade, and the best theater always has call and response.

So as I'm calling to you, I really hope that you respond to me at some point, ideally verbally during the meeting.

Oh, our mission at F.R.

is to educate and empower the low income residents of Charlottesville area.

And today I have three topics to bring to your attention.

I would be surprised if I fit them all in.

So you will likely hear from me during the other comment section.

First of all, I would like to start with something upbeat on August 6 from about 9 a.m.

to 4 30 p.m.

We will be hosting the 25th annual West Haven Community Day.

Activities at this time include COVID-19 vaccinations, sports, physicals, a three-on-three basketball tournament, food trucks, bingo, etc.

A majority of the programming will be held outside and we encourage everyone to attend.

City Council, if you are free, I would definitely encourage y'all to sign up to volunteer yourselves.

There will be plenty of work to be done and it would also be a great opportunity to engage with some of the most important stakeholders of Charlottesville.

I know you serve so many people.

I would also like to express my public thanks to the City Council as well as the City Manager's Office for the consideration placed in making sure that the the bus stops stayed in front of Crescent Halls.

We very very much appreciate that.

If you remember a few weeks a few months ago public housing residents including for our board members

came to council to advocate in regards to the bus stop.

We are pleased to hear that not only will the bus stop stay, but that the city is going to look into the efficacy of John.

This is a huge win to improve the quality of life for low-income housing residents of Charlottesville, particularly the ones in Crescent Hall.

So thank you so, so much.

Thanks are just as important as the things that we ask for, which leads me to my next comment.

I would like to address the concerns of Midway Manor residents

For months, Midway Manor residents have been trying to get their voices heard, and they've recently begun working with FAR.

The Franklin Johnson Group, who has been largely unresponsive, was in front of council.

They were here, and they promised to have resident engagement.

I was sitting over there, and I was looking at Michael Payne.

And so the portfolio manager has met with FAR only once, and during the meeting, she largely said, oh, we don't need your help.

We weren't asking whether they needed our help.

The residents need our help because we were approached.

So if there's any way y'all can help us connect with people that are above the portfolio manager, we would greatly appreciate it.

We know that the city could be helpful in providing this for us and FAR is going to move forward with helping residents to organize and we would just really appreciate

support.

I spoke to residents as early as today, and they said that they felt like there were worms, you know, coming from above them, and it's just a really not great situation.

Anyway, you're going to hear from me before the end of the night again.

Thank you so much for the gift of your time.

Thank you, Ms.

Edwards.

Is there anyone else here?

I'd like to speak.

Good evening.

My name is John Ertle.

I'm a Charlottesville resident.

I would like to add my name to the list of people in favor of a strong collective bargaining ordinance.

I am a representative of the Amalgamated Transit Union.

We've heard for months about the dire shortage of school bus operators.

This is a problem that's only getting worse, and I believe we could solve these problems

if we had a strong collective bargaining ordinance.

Our union wants to partner with the city to help improve public services in our city.

And I think collective bargaining will facilitate collective problem solving, which will help with all of our problems.

We also remain eager to help in the process of reaching a good collective bargaining ordinance.

We urge the city to approve a strong ordinance that doesn't water down the rights of employees to unionize and bargain with the city.

Charlottesville's workers deserve what

the workers in other Virginia localities have with their collective bargaining ordinances.

Additionally, I just wanted to echo what Brother Ray said earlier, we would really like the ability to be able to use the CAT facility on Avon Street for a union meeting.

We respectfully request your consideration for this

and I'll conclude by saying that city transportation employees are essential workers and therefore we urge you to honor their commitment to the city with a strong ordinance and also give them the ability to hold a union meeting at the job.

Thank you, Mr. Ertl.

Mayor Snook, Katrina Turner is our next raised hand.

All right.

I want to speak to Mr. Rogers.

You know, I spoke to last City Council, not just myself, but another gentleman spoke about the employee who attended the insurrection.

We took a picture with Alex Jones.

Why wasn't there any mention of you all investigating

If this happened, this man was accused of brandishing a firearm at a warrant.

Was any of this investigated?

I also spoke about me hearing that there were 21 officers in January of 2021 who went on leave or whatever from the 5th to the 7th of January.

I'd like to know if you did any investigation into that.

And if so, even if you haven't, why did you not even mention that you're investigating it or are you investigating?

This really makes no sense that we hear that there's someone on the payroll who attended the insurrection

But you are not giving us any answers as to if this man is still employed or are you even going to do anything about it?

And also, Unity Day.

Understand you said that you don't have enough police to handle anything major.

But if it is true that 21 police officers were

let on leave at one time in January, then how come you don't have enough to leave to support this community?

In one of the worst events that we have witnessed, you all took unity days away from us.

I understand you weren't there and you didn't witness what went on.

I understand you say you can feel what we feel, but you all need to start thinking about this community because you have money to do things, Willie, whatever you want to do and allow these people to come in and build hotels and do whatever they want to do, but you don't have anything to support this community.

I'd just like to know why it was ignored about what I spoke about and what the other gentlemen spoke about.

Thank you, Ms.

Turner.

Is there anyone else here in the room who would like to speak?

All right.

Hi, Mr. Mayor, members of council.

I wasn't going to say anything, but I did not get a notice to Keena in time to have you all make an announcement about the chat program.

The Charlottesville homeowner assistance program is up and running.

We sent the mailers out a couple of weeks ago.

We've had a little bit of trouble with the online form and our laser feature repository.

and so we've been fighting with that now for a couple of weeks but we're working to get that up.

There is a PDF fillable form online if folks want to do it and then they can always do it the old-fashioned way by mailing in the form that we sent them in the mail.

I just wanted to get a shout out and let folks hear that during Council that the chat program is up and running.

If you have any questions give us a shout 970-3160.

I hope, I don't know if this was the appropriate time to say that.

970-3160, that's our main line for Commissioner Revenue.

Is there a deadline?

I'm sorry?

Is there a deadline?

September 1st.

Okay.

And again, you know, I apologize to folks.

I appreciate their patience on the online form.

Thank you, Mr. Divers.

Thank you all.

Mayor Snook, we have Tanisha Hudson next.

All right.

Lloyd, you gave me a totally different response than you gave Carol Thorpe.

Very unprofessional.

Very unprofessional.

And then on top of that, for you ought to keep screaming you don't have enough police staff, unacceptable because you've been hiring police out of the area, out of the district to come and work the weekend.

So we've had Henrico Police, Richmond Police, the Virginia State Police.

That's unacceptable.

Y'all making up any excuse at this point to just simply not have unity days.

And then you said, Lloyd, and I quote, you said in the DTM that you

champion other city officials and that they weren't down with it.

Well, Michael, I spoke to you downtown on the mall, sitting right outside of my house, and you say you supported something happening for Unity Days and that you all were going to meet and talk about it.

So does Lloyd speak for everybody?

Sena, your husband was literally out there.

Your husband was out there the entire weekend or whatever.

At least he went on a Twitter rant about it for a very long time about August the 12th.

How dare y'all do this to Charlottesville?

How dare you?

And Ashley Marshall, if your job is about equity, you should focus on why raises aren't being distributed equitably in the city.

between the city employees.

Why did police get a raise, fire didn't get a raise, whether it was a step increase raise or whatever type of raise that they got.

You gave the police a raise, fire didn't get it, nobody else got it, cat didn't get it.

Here you have your bus driver screaming they need more money and you're only giving one department a step increase.

You should focus on equity within the city, Ashley, instead of helping and assisting with wrongful terminations.

The same goes for you, Mr. Sanders.

Also, Ashley, what was you telling Todd Niemeyer to be cautious with what you write down for?

Why was you telling him that?

What exactly are you trying to hide and cover up?

Was it perhaps Brackney's termination?

Because she was wrongfully terminated.

City Manager Rogers, I don't know if you're under a gag order along with everybody else, but the fact that y'all take your time to respond to emails is absolutely unprofessional.

So, Mr. Rogers, I suggest that you get on your assistant city managers and let them know that they should respond to my emails when they're copied because they have not been responding.

if you're under a gag order because of Lisa Robertson, then say that.

Say that's why you all are not responding to me.

I mean, this is just crazy that you all died for people to be pushed off a council and be, you know, new officials to be elected in, but you ought to completely remove transparency from this city government.

It's crazy.

Thank you, Ms.

Thank you, Ms.

It's been three minutes.

It's respectful.

Good evening, councilors and city staff.

First, I'd like to recognize that, I don't know if it was the first one, but I did see the city manager posted a written report online.

It was about seven pages long, had reports from a bunch of different departments.

I found it very informative and interesting, and I hope that continues in the future, but that was well received.

When I was reading that, interestingly, I found out that the Utilities Department is working on the decarbonization study for its gas utility, which is something I've been very interested in.

And I'm very happy to see that that study is now out for an RFP.

and congratulations I did read that study and I'll just observe a couple things one decarbonization I think means taking carbon out of the system and a couple things in the scope of work would continue to have carbon in the system such as certified natural gas or biogas so I do hope that

When we're talking about an actual decarbonization study, it means decarbonization and actually taking the carbon out of the system so that the city can meet its climate goals.

So while a very good first step there, and thank you for following up on that.

And I do want to recognize that I think

Charlesville Gas has very competent management team there.

I still think it needs a little bit more guidance on the scope of work to further narrow that down that was in that RFP to actually decarbonize it, not just put through a different type of gas that's still going to be burning carbon and contributing to our climate change problem.

And then next, I just wanted as a parent of two elementary school students that walk to school, I'm glad to hear that there is a plan and there's many steps that would be taken in funding.

I think, unfortunately, in a lot of neighborhoods, as you've seen and learned, I think yourselves, there's a lot of infrastructure needs to increase the safety of pedestrians, especially for young children.

I send my children to Jackson Valley Elementary School and I can tell you on Harris Road there there's a lot of transit from the southern part of the county going up to UVA once the Wegmans cut through got put in and unfortunately there's a lot of cars that don't really I think respect the school zone there so you know in addition to a lot of different things I hope some kind of enforcement action is also being taken place to ensure again a lot of those

commuters are taking seriously the safety precautions in the school zones.

Thank you, Mr. Meyer.

Mayor Snook, Lakeisha Washington is next.

All right.

All right.

Good evening, City Councilors.

I am Lakeisha Washington, and I live in the Fry Spring area.

I'm coming to you tonight from lived experience, but also as a staff member at Habitat for Humanity.

I recently, about a year now, have been in my home thanks to Habitat for Humanity.

Now that I work on this side and I get to work with families who are working towards home ownership, I think it's important to just keep in mind that the open positions in the city are impacting them the most.

These are families who've worked extremely hard to resolve debt, increase their credit scores.

They have spent many hours doing sweat equity work, whether on the sites

or in the stores or through advocacy work.

And it's really hard to see these families who work so hard get so close and not have a lot where they can make a selection because we don't have the staffing in the city to pass permits or have people in the city that are able to come and do inspections.

And so although I know that there are a lot of staff shortages around the city, it is very important to

Keep these families in mind.

These are families who are living in conditions that are not the best conditions.

I myself lived in an apartment.

where there was a lot of mold and I suffered a lot of health issues because of that.

And so these are families who are trying to give their children a life that they might not have thought was possible.

And this is an organization that turns that hope into reality.

And so it's really hard to see families get so close and us not being able to offer that.

And I've heard several people say tonight

that you have to live in that experience in order for you to understand a need for change.

And so I do add that in conversations or things that are going on in the community,

that city council members and those that are in position to making new hires possible will do the same.

You will go out there and connect with community members and have a deeper understanding of what that means and then maybe have a stronger push for getting people in those spaces.

Thank you, Ms.

Washington.

All right, Ms.

Good evening.

My name is Joy Johnson.

I'm a public housing resident.

I reside in 802A Hardy Drive for now.

I do want to say that it's a little disappointing to know that unit today

is something that the city would not continue to support, but it doesn't surprise me.

The other thing is I work with, in my position at CRHA, I work as a resident services coordinator.

So I work with people in public housing and non-public housing residents.

And I encounter a young man who had a brain injury

who was just standing in the sun coming from physical therapy.

I gave him a ride and found out that he was in need of getting an application into CAT to start the process so he could either ride the bus or to get joint.

because he was having difficulty getting around.

I emailed it and scanned it to CAT only to get a response that we have to bring it in.

They don't accept the application online.

So my question is, I'm going to take it to CAT for the person.

We will get it there.

But I think it's unfortunate that that's how you treat disability people or people who are seeking transportation to get where they have to go through CAT.

In order to get to joint, you have to fill out an application through CAT and to email me back and say, oh, I can't accept it.

To me, it's something needs to change on that.

My number next thing is that I keep saying you all need to define affordable.

because affordable for whom?

There is a class of people that you all continue, continue to let these developers leave out.

I will say it again.

And then my pet peeve with all of you, all of you is that we come on

this we come on here to voice our opinion and we don't get a response that is so disrespectful so I struggle to come on here and say what I have to say but when I found out that cat was an issue on here I wanted to also show you how they treat people disability people or people in general you have to make it easy for people to be able to get the services that is

that the city is trying to provide to them again you need to define affordability you cannot continue and I can't share it because I know my time is running now but I'll come back and share University Heights I'm trying to help someone find an apartment

they have all of these things that disqualify you but when you're not disqualified if the rent is $1,000 they want you to make three times the amount of what the rent is you all need to look into what is going on these landlords as John

just run rapid in the city of Charlottesville and people who need, who are struggling to find a place, can't find a place to live.

Anyway, again, Define Affordable, respond to us.

We don't come on here because we want to be in the theater.

We come on here because we have issues that you all need to solve.

Thank you.

And you will hear from me on the other, you know what I'm saying.

Thank you, Ms.

Johnson.

Our next speaker is Nancy Carpenter.

Thank you for this evening and the ability to address you.

I hope that my mic works well.

I'm having a little internet issue.

Earlier tonight, there was a presentation and had a slide that said, we hear you.

And I'm listening to everybody's comment, and I'm wondering if that

really is a value that city government is vested in.

You know, I certainly support what Ms.

Johnson said, what Ms.

Washington said, what Ms.

Edwards said, what Mr. Gilligan said in reference to some of the needs and aspects of housing.

I also read some of what you deliberated on at your earlier meeting about this ARP money and I know that a few weeks ago I came on and said what are your priorities and as long as income stagnate in this society and as long as

corporate greed increases.

You know, we're going to have people on the edge and one of the things that we talked about is the looking into creating some seed money or some ideas about a low barrier shelter for folks that

do not come into any type of shelter and stay outside because they are grappling with a lot of issues when it comes to substance use.

We also have a lot of families that are feeling the stresses and strains because one of the things I see as long as this pandemic is going along

and it doesn't become endemic which I never wanted to see that families and individuals are going to be stressed about income and also the questions about what developers do and what is affordable you know you have some art money there quite a bit it could make such an impact when it comes to creating housing for people

getting these building permits and things addressed and assessed so that these families can get into their housing.

There's a lot of things that I think you can do that have been mentioned tonight, but the question is, do you hear us?

Thank you, Ms.

Anyone else?

Mayor Snook, our 16th and final speaker will be John Sayles.

Thank you all so much for letting me speak tonight.

I wasn't going to speak, but then Joy got on here and I was like, God, I got to speak now.

So I watched the Planning Commission meeting and I think 1000 Monticello Avenue was on there for us, SUP.

And so I started digging into it a little bit more.

I really think you all should listen to the Office of Community Solutions. 125%

125% fair market rent is not affordable.

You can't use a voucher there.

You can use your current CISRAP voucher, but that's not a voucher and it's not permanent funding.

And so for the developer to commit 10 years of affordability for these units,

doesn't mean it's going to be affordable because 125% fair market rent is not affordable and the five units that they are providing yes it's affordable for 10 years

The city needs a lot more.

10 years is not a long time.

And if you do it in 10 years, those are 10 units that you're going to lose.

I mean, those are five units that you're going to lose in 10 years.

And the city needs to be prepared to have something in place to either continue those units being affordable, putting an incentive there for the landowner, or having something in the pipeline that's going to replace those units.

And I also want to point out that the income limits just changed again.

The average income for a four member household now is $112,000 almost for the city of Charlottesville.

And so when you really start talking about building units only at 80% affordable, nine times out of 10, a majority of the staff that work for the city can't afford those units still.

So when we're looking at developers building units at 80% AMI,

Your own staff can't afford to stay there.

The staff at the city schools can't afford to stay there.

My staff can't afford to stay there.

UVA staff can't afford to stay there.

So we really need to be incentivizing the units at 60, 50, 40, 30, 20, because those are the individuals that are, we're missing those families.

And so there was just a study completed that showed the largest gap of units not being built is from the 50 and under.

That's across the entire country.

They looked at Charlottesville and also the same case in Charlottesville.

And this study was just completed.

It was just released, I believe on Friday.

And so I'll make sure I'll send that around.

But the city really needs to take a look at what units are being constructed, not only through the SUP process, but what units you all are incentivizing when you all fund projects as well.

Thank you, Mr. Sayles.

So that we have final speaker of 16.

There will be another opportunity for public comment at the end of the meeting.

Mr. Rogers, any comment you wish to make in response to any what was said?

Actually not.

Okay.

The only response I want to make since it was specifically referenced deals with comments that were attributed to me about why we were not having any Unity Days celebration.

And I did in fact make a comment to Ms.

Thorpe in a message this morning.

I also made a more detailed comment to Ms.

Hudson a week or two ago and I did not give all of the reasons

to Ms.

Thorpe that I had given to Ms.

Hudson simply because Ms.

Thorpe asked me about one narrow, specific question.

What I had said to a number of people was the reason why we were not having a Unity Days celebration

at this point was if you remember the last time we had unity days in 2019 Charlene Greene and Brian Wheeler basically worked for most of a year to get that put together.

Neither of them is still with us in the city.

There was nobody in the city who was putting that together.

Frankly, one reason was because we still fight on a week-by-week basis to know what COVID will allow us to do and what is responsible for us to do.

For COVID-related reasons, in part, we did not do any of the planning six months or eight months ago that would have been necessary to have put something on for Unity Days.

Beyond that was the concern, as I expressed to Ms.

Thorpe, that if we were going to have some sort of an event, you may recall in 2018, we had

a year's anniversary, and we wound up having the downtown mall on lockdown because there was a rumor through the intelligence networks that police officers and police forces have, there was a rumor that there was going to be a rooftop shooter.

As we know from more recent events, that is a fear that really has to be taken very seriously.

We have to understand that even now, five years after the fact, even in Virginia, even in Charlottesville, that there are significant risks like that.

So I did say to Ms.

Thorpe, as I had also said to Ms.

Hudson, that one of the concerns that the city staff had was that if there was going to be some major

effort, an enterprise that would involve a lot of security concerns, a lot of people being gathered, a lot of people having to be protected, that one of the concerns was that with our police force down by significant numbers at this point because of attrition,

We would not be able to protect fully in the case of a large-scale event without having to call the state police or some other outside entity for help.

Historically, we have tended not to like it when we've had to call the state police for outside help in these events.

So we had no staff working on it.

We had no money budgeted for it this year.

We had had money budgeted for it three years ago when it was last done.

We had no staff working on it.

We had no money budgeted for it.

We were down staff in any event.

We were having concerns about COVID.

and we had security issues.

So there are a whole lot of reasons why we decided that we did not, and I say we didn't collectively get together, but as I canvassed everybody, there was nobody who had a plan for doing anything more.

There was at one point some expression of some interest of doing something more.

Wade may do something on his own, he tells me, but nothing that would be collective.

It was a reflection of the fact that no staff, no money, no time, no security and COVID running rampant.

It did not seem like a wise idea to try to plan unity days.

That's the full complete answer, which I wound up giving at one point to Ms.

Hudson in a thread on Facebook thread that I wound up deleting because I didn't really want to be having that discussion on my personal Facebook page.

along with the pictures of my grandchildren.

So that's the full story.

Anybody else have anything else they want to say at this point?

Hearing nothing else?

Let's move on to the action items.

Public hearing, plastic bag tax.

There will be a public hearing when this comes up for the second reading is how I'm reading this and I'll tell you one of the reasons is because it's still a work in process at this point and we're not ready for a final version of it but if and we've heard some comments

for certainly received many emails and comments over the weeks, months about the plastic bag tax, and there will be an opportunity for that public hearing later on.

I am.

I am ready now.

I will share my screen and walk you through a few slides to discuss this item.

There we go.

All right.

So we're going to talk about the plastic bag tax ordinance.

This is an item that has been a hot topic for a little while.

just want to take you through where we are at this point laying out for you the proposed ordinance for the consideration at this time the program is to be determined as has been the case with multiple municipalities across the state most of the effort has been focused on bag distribution and very little else until there's a

presentation of how much funding is going to be generated by the tax being collected and then we'll talk a little bit about what implementation could look like and then leave room for questions and as was stated we'll have a public hearing the first meeting in August to get additional comments so the statute was passed by the General Assembly and it allows municipalities to levy a plastic bag tax that was done in 2020

There are four eligible uses for the tax funds that are received that are displayed here.

We can provide reusable bags to SNAP and WIC recipients.

We can produce education to reduce environmental waste, work on mitigation

The tax is $0.05 per disposable bag, and that would be whether it was provided free or purchased in the store.

Of course, the way to avoid the tax would be to have a bag, to not require a bag in store.

There are certain types of bags that are exempted.

Those are listed there.

Durable bags with handles for multiple usage.

They're identifying four mils thick as the qualifier.

If it's a little bit thicker than that, would be one that would be able to be used over and over.

Plastic bags used to wrap certain things that are more sensitive in nature, like meat, ice cream, produce, dry cleaning, and other container type bags would not be a part of the ordinance.

The retailer does the work of collecting the tax.

They are permitted to retain one cent of every five cents collected to offset their collection and remittance expenses.

It's very much a similar process to how they collect retail sales and used collections.

They will send those into the Virginia Department of Taxation each month.

The state collects audits and then disburses back to the municipalities on a monthly basis.

The retailers that would be affected by this tax would be grocery stores, convenience stores, and pharmacies.

In doing this work of evaluating how we are moving forward with this particular item, at the request of council, city manager met with the county executive in Albemarle who they were able to get their tax included in their budget.

So their program launches January 1, 2023.

it was important for us to take a look at whether or not we could get ours in line to fall similarly because in our marketplace a lot of people don't necessarily know when they're in the county when they're in the city so there's some synergy to be achieved there and being able to roll out the city program at the same time in doing some of this work to begin this process I looked at city examples Alexandria Falls Church Fredericksburg and Roanoke are the first four that were able to get theirs up and running along with the counties of Arlington Fairfax and Loudon

All of the programs so far have been focused on bag distribution.

The goal there, of course, to mitigate impact to lower income households.

So one of the things that we would need to be looking at as each of these communities has done is to identify what type of bag, how much, how many bags we're going to distribute, get those bags into the hands of those individuals where that additional five cents each visit for all the items that they would be acquiring adds up over time.

So we want to make sure that we're making an equity investment in the

The rollout of this particular tax.

There is some speculation that there won't be a lot of money produced by this in the long run because some stores have started to shift away from the types of bags where the tax would be eligible.

And if that is the case, then of course, that would mean that the receipts would go down.

But at the same time, that's a part of climate mitigation.

The elimination of plastic bags is also positive for the environment.

So it is somewhat of a trade-off.

Implementation for us would look at currently working to continue to define the program details for the bag distribution, also to integrate this into our climate action plan works.

The climate team will continue to do additional work on this and bring forward more information.

We are looking to host a public hearing at the August 2nd meeting.

with the second reading either on the second or the 15th.

I guess it depends on what comments you all received in the public hearing.

Thus far, the comments have been positive and that this is a positive item for us to be looking at.

But we, of course, will wait for the public hearing to see if there are additional comments to be made.

We would then submit the adopted ordinance to the tax commissioner.

We're required to have that in the hands of the commissioner at least 30 days before the start of collections.

And then we will receive a notification back that says that we are okay, that we have been set up in the system and we can proceed.

That would be the time period between approval and that notification is when we would be making sure that more communication from the city is going out across the city to help people understand what's happening.

So in defining that program rollout, some of the key things that we need to look at would be how will we develop a bag distribution plan.

The initial thoughts, of course, would be to utilize our staff within Human Services, DSS, CAT, and Parks and Rec to look at ways to be able to get those bags into the hands of the households that would definitely

benefit from having the ability to not incur the tax.

To work on a business community campaign with the Office of Economic Development and the Chamber and the CACDB even to get word out to help individual businesses understand their responsibilities and the rollout of this tax.

a communications plan with our communications office in coordination with the county so that we're all saying the same things about what ultimately is going to happen especially if our items appear to be exactly the same and then future program expansion there'll be some additional opportunities for us to do more than just simply bag distribution as is identified in the statute we can do additional things but we have to at least be able to recognize what kinds of resources are going to be generated by the tax

And then last, I have questions.

I decided to ask some for you.

So in anticipation of what you might be asking or thinking about asking and keep thinking about that, I'll go ahead and answer these five that I prepared for you.

What kind of bags are we purchasing?

That's a very good question.

There's a variety of bags, as I have quickly learned.

Ultimately, we will look to get the biggest bang for the buck and

get as many bags as we possibly get.

But of course, we want to be able to hear within the public hearing.

I'm sure we'll hear some perspective on the difference between a linen bag and the right types of reusable, less concerning plastic or even other versions of bags.

So that'll be one of the program details that we'll be definitely looking for additional feedback.

Can we get some wheels for easier transport?

asked that question already.

That is something that we don't know that it is easily spelled out in the statute that that is permissible, but if it's a bag, I think it might be able to check the box.

So we will submit that question.

I did find with the help of Ashley, there are some wheeled bag types out there that might be available.

Something that we might do is then even target those to disabled and elderly individuals because the easier transport is really what we would want to prioritize for them.

How many bags can a household or person receive?

That is to be determined.

I think that's part of our process for determining how many resources, how much of the former resources we're going to put out front and then let the tax generate enough resources to then be able to replenish that over time.

How often can someone receive bags?

That too would be a question.

They're not going to last forever.

Being reusable, they have a life.

And if we overstuff them, they're only going to have so much of a life.

So those are parts of the process of thinking about what the various needs could be like in the future.

And how will people learn about bag distribution?

We are going to blanket the community with as much information as we possibly can on a regular basis.

The goal would be to make sure that when we do this rollout, we would do it in advance of January 1st so that people would be equipped with the bags that they would need for the beginning of the year and then be able to identify a schedule as to when we would be able to do bag distribution events and activities along the way.

I would just also recommend for the wheeled bags that maybe looking to partner with somebody like WIC, focusing on small children because having to juggle a small child and groceries and everything, a wheeled bag or a child that's, you know, five, four or five could easily also be helpful in pulling that along.

Just one question.

We are on track for that to be possible.

I think if you all are satisfied with the comments of the public hearing, being able to capture or falling in line with what the basic ordinance is that we are preparing, we should be able to meet the deadline to get our tax in place for January 1 implementation.

And right now it's very similar in that it's just the levying of the tax.

Okay.

So this was a very good presentation.

What is the process from this point?

Yeah, we'll come back with the public hearing.

Part of what I wanted to do is to just kind of hear what your feedback was in introducing this this evening.

We could actually have the public hearing and the second reading at the same time, I assume.

But I didn't know for sure if you all wanted to be able to hear all of those comments and then I could come back on the 15th for the second reading.

I mean, I think that's really up to you all.

So presumably if people have feedback they'd like to give us between now and then they could email us or or y'all.

Sure.

To me, this seems pretty non controversial.

My initial reaction is that there are probably going to turn out to be logistical difficulties that we're not yet seeing.

So I think it's a good idea and it's an effort we should be undertaking.

And if we approve it earlier rather than later, it will give us more opportunity to deal with whatever gremlins may appear.

I do think we really ought to be trying to make sure that we're basically in lockstep with the county on this, number one, because it would allow for public service announcements and so on to go out and not get worried about are we talking about a city grocery store or a county grocery store or anything like that.

I think it vastly increases the likelihood that the message will get out and will get out clearly if we can do it

at the same time as they are.

Second, okay.

Well, and if there comes up in public comment on the second,

Sure.

I'm sorry, I did the first.

And the second reading.

If it goes okay and no glitches.

All right.

See you in two weeks.

All right.

I want to say publicly to thank Councilman Pinkston.

We were planning to bring this back in December, and he hit me up and said, doesn't it make sense to follow the county?

And I talked with Jeff Richardson, and we both agreed that we could work on this together.

So I appreciate that suggestion.

And so we have

agreement at this point.

This is the first of our two readings.

We'll pass it on to August 1st for the second reading, public hearing, and presumably a vote if we're comfortable with it.

Okay?

One thing I will say about this is it's interesting sometimes the feedback

The things we get feedback on and how much and the plastic bag tax since I've been on council has to be one of the things it's been the most emailed about and I'm excited to see how it all works out.

There you go.

Okay, second action item is a request for vacation of unaccepted right-of-way for Oak Street at 321 6th Street.

Ms.

Good evening.

This is a matter that was originally scheduled to come before you at your last meeting and we realized that we had incorrectly described the nature of a utility line that is located within

the area that is proposed to be vacated.

There is an existing service line, utility service line to one of the homes that adjoins the right-of-way and the city would not itself need an easement for that line

but it is staff's recommendation that if city council is interested in vacating the portion of the alley that is the subject of this application

that the vacation should be subject to an easement in favor of the owner of 313 6th Street Southwest so that in the future after the planted right-of-way were to be closed the two property owners would not be at odds with each other

in the event that any portion of that existing line should extend over the midpoint of the area being closed.

So as some of you may be aware, when city council takes action to vacate this type of right of way, title reverts or is restored to the owners of the adjoining property to the center line of the area that's vacated.

So in a nutshell, the owners of 321 6th Street Southwest have asked the city to close this 20-foot platted right-of-way

City Council back in 2010 previously closed a different section of the platted street.

So in essence, the area that is proposed by this application to be closed is sort of a dead end platted right of way and no longer extends to connect to anything.

and I think the agenda memo is pretty self-explanatory and the ordinance that is in the packet sets out the revised terms of the vacation should you decide that it's your majority will to close the area.

That's correct.

That is correct.

Sure.

So having been a homeowner who has easements, who looked to try to get easements closed around 2010, I was told it couldn't be done.

And then I was told at one point that it was going to cost a significant amount of money and they had to get everyone on the property lines.

I am not going to be voting yes on any of these until we have a very, very clear, easy way that we've decided that all property owners across the city can equally and fairly access the potential of the easements beside their property.

because this is just something that I have seen be all over the place year to year or depending on different things in the past.

And

I just I want us to and I understand we've had so many bigger things going on but for me this is this is definitely a bit of a pet peeve because I tried for years to get the easement closed and divvied up with my neighbors and we couldn't do it.

as far as charging folks for the right-of-way the land being given to them as a result of vacating a right-of-way honestly it has varied over the years depending on the will of city council clearly when there is a street that has previously been improved and accepted into the city street system for maintenance almost always

compensation is sought for that type of property so but not always so an example of that type of street is Brandon Avenue which was closed a few years ago but the city council at the time decided

against asking for payment for that right of way.

But that is allowed.

There are also many areas which have never been accepted by the city.

So if they were platted in the 1800s or the early 1900s, just because they are platted and of record with the circuit court doesn't mean that the city

owns the area so it can sometimes be more difficult to say we're going to charge you money for something that the city doesn't own the city's interest is more in the nature of an easement across the property so you you still might be able to charge for it but determining what the value is

that you want to receive is not as straightforward as for the properties in which you own it.

And then there, a few years ago, a previous city council determined that you should use a scoring rubric to determine whether or not to close certain platted alleys

and so Councillor McGill is correct.

There have been a variety of approaches over the years and staff in the Office of Community Solutions is looking at this to try and pull all of the different factors that are currently in either a procedure or a policy together

On the one hand, this is property that is not likely ever to be of value to us.

On the other hand, it is property that is probably of some value to the occupants.

to the two neighbors who will be getting half of this either way.

But I shared Councilor McGill's concern that whatever our policy is going to be, it ought not to be what side of the bed we got up on that particular day.

This is one that I thought was going to be really easy as I was preparing for the meeting tonight.

So this is looking on the map.

And so this is currently a paper street for what would have been Oak Street.

That's correct.

It was a it was plowded a long time ago.

It was originally part of Albemarle County and then the city annexed.

Well, I mean, I think I share Councilor McGill's thoughts about, you know, the need for a more clear formal process.

But for me, that's not holding me up from voting on this tonight.

But I do understand the perspective of wanting

Before voting on anything, having a clear approach so everything is formalized and maybe putting a little bit more pressure on us as a council to make sure we are communicating what we want that to be.

What is the downside if we waited, push this off two weeks?

At least one concern for right now is that I don't know whether we would be 3-1 or 2-2, but if Vice Mayor Wade were here, he would presumably be able to break a tie.

My understanding is that it is a list of things that they would like to have happen, but I am not aware of any particular driver.

Is this the first time, this might not be a fair question to ask, but is this the first time a topic like this or an issue, this specific kind of issue has come up with this current council?

Do you remember?

Are you able to recall, Ms.

I'm just wondering if this is the first time something like this has come up with this currently constituted council.

Maybe this is the opportunity for us to sort of say this is our approach, our philosophy about it.

I don't have really strong feelings about it.

I appreciate what you're saying.

I don't think there's much money at all involved.

I do think that we should be consistent.

So I guess that's partially so from a from a homeowner's perspective who has from my perspective, my perspective as a homeowner who has two of my four sides are easements.

I repeatedly tried to figure out how to close them, how to go to India, how to how to possibly purchase them, how to do any of this.

and it was always confusing and sometimes when I would bring this up in particular I was told it couldn't happen and so what I am pushing back on is a fairness piece that there are people like that across the city who have tried throughout the years and the process has been confusing

it has been unclear and I want to make sure that if we do start allowing especially giving land away to somebody who asks for it that we are doing it fairly across the entire city and letting everyone know that they can apply to do that so because I know people in the past have tried to do this have tried to buy it and have been denied so if we're going to

That's certainly a motion that is always in order.

And also we can be fully present.

Let Vice Mayor Wade be here.

This is sort of a policy thing.

Second.

Any discussion?

I will just note, doing a quick little bit of calculation, if we take the per square foot

assessed value of the land right there and multiply it by the size of the easement being given.

My only question is what information specifically are we looking to have in August that we don't have now that will

Okay.

Okay.

Councillor McGill?

Yes.

Yes.

So we'll defer it to August 15th and figure out what we want to do.

Now let's see, next item on the agenda is 1000 Monticello Road, special use permit for additional residential density.

Mr. Mayor, members of council, as the mayor stated, this is a special use permit request for 1000 Monticello Road.

This has previously come before city council as a similar request last year.

The Planning Commission reviewed this at their June meeting and recommended that the application be approved.

There are four conditions attached to that.

One of those is the one that was referenced earlier in the meeting regarding the amount of affordable housing.

I will just point out that this project does not have an affordable housing requirement because it is below the threshold that triggers it under section 3412 of our city ordinance.

Yeah, I may have missed it.

The resolution you have in your packet should list four items.

Although I could be, I could be mixing up my, my elements here.

Yeah, there's the, I know there's the, the original condition.

The first condition is that up to 42 dwelling units per acre or 34 dwelling units, residential units are permitted on the subject property.

Condition two is the entire

affordable housing condition that includes actually there's more I guess there's more than there's I think five conditions actually because the the affordable housing condition takes up conditions two three and four and I think five is related to the design of the project which has come up in the past

There's been several planning commissioners who are at least one planning commissioner who's mentioned concerns with the way the building is designed.

Staff would note that the site is not subject to design control in any way and is the height of the building is below the maximum height permitted in the zone.

So one question that I have, and I will now indicate my ignorance or lack of understanding of some distinctions, not to exceed 125% of the fair market rent, how does that compare to the 80% AMI figure that appears in the following paragraph?

I may need to defer to the applicant on that.

I see both representatives, Kelsey Schlein is from Shrimp Engineering is the applicant and then Kevin Schaefer is also assisting on that.

I know that they've tried to craft, I believe they said that they've tried to craft a

condition that relates to rental.

A lot of our guidance around affordability is based on, you know, it kind of presumes home ownership, but this is a rental product.

And so they've kind of tried to draft something that addresses a rental issue versus, you know, the 80% AMI.

Sure thing, Mayor Smith, thanks for the opportunity to respond.

So the reason that we, I guess, committed to a threshold, the HUD FMR, and then also the 125% of the HUD FMR for certain units,

is to set the rent.

And then the 60% and 80% respectively is specifically in regards to the income limit to ensure that individuals who actually need to rent or be given the opportunity to live in a unit that offers this rent are the individuals who are able to occupy.

And so just for example, I guess where we kind of pulled the 60% and 80% from respectively is that so the 2022 HUD FMRs for a one bedroom is $1,063 and the HUD, the Charlottesville MSA

median family income is $111,200.

So kind of deducing that into like a per person household or something, we can get $6,000

for a two-person household, kind of deducing back from that $111,200 number, we get the affordable rent at 60% AMI at $1,258.

That is correct for two of the units, so five of the units are committed to at HUD FMRs, so 45% of the project is committed to at HUD FMR rates, and then two percent, sorry, five of the units, not five percent, five of the units are committed to at HUD FMR rates, and then two of the units are committed to at 125% of HUD FMRs.

Let me back up.

You say FMR for one bedroom is 1,063.

We didn't specify the breakdown specifically of the unit type in the application.

The proposed units are a mixture of efficiency one and two bedrooms, but the specific breakdown of

where the units are in the building and the exact unit type wasn't specified in the special materials.

But as referenced in, I will say, the draft covenants that were presented that will kind of govern in much more detail how these units are tracked, monitored, how

You know, incomes of individuals are tracked.

Okay.

So just be clear, I think I was garbling something earlier.

You would have five units that would be at FMR and two units that would be at 125% of FMR.

Is that right?

That is correct.

Okay.

I was garbling something.

Okay.

So...

Yes.

An FMR for two bedrooms is 1264 for 2022.

And so 125 of that would be roughly 1500.

And 949 for studio efficiency.

Okay.

Those are the questions I had.

Anybody else have other questions?

No, I think it was a good conversation in the Planning Commission.

So most of my questions were addressed then.

I mean, I don't see how this project has significantly altered from when it came before us.

Yes, and we don't, you know,

We discussed at the Planning Commission meeting.

Just note for the historical record at this site that the lease terminations and evictions happen, and there will be a net loss of affordable housing, even if this is approved or not.

Yeah.

I take no seconds coming there.

I will second it.

I supported the project before.

I'll support it again.

I suspect we're going to come down to a 2-2

I would.

Right.

Can I withdraw my motion?

So that's fine.

Yeah, well, I don't know the procedure when there's been a request for a deferral.

I've seen what happens in the Planning Commission stage.

Mr. Hluska, you would be more familiar with our protocols here.

I'm happy to agree that we should defer it until Vice Mayor Wade comes back.

I kick that to Ms.

I mean, otherwise it's going to probably be a 2-2 as it is.