At the beginning of each regular City Council meeting, members of the public have the opportunity to speak for three minutes per person on anything they want. In the past, when the speaker was finished, the councilors just nodded their heads, the mayor might have said, “Thank you,” and the speaker would shuffle away. But City Council recently decided to abandon the silent treatment and formally responded to public comment at their September 18 meeting.
The people brought opinions on issues both local and global. Kay Slaughter, an attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, attacked proposals for the Meadowcreek Parkway interchange, which is planned to connect McIntire Road to the Meadowcreek Parkway when it is built. Also addressing that interchange was activist and former UVA professor Rich Collins, speaking on behalf of Sensitive Transportation Alternatives to the Meadowcreek Parkway, who asked Council to “take the aggressive and necessary step of telling these consultants that we are going to design this if it’s going to be built at all.”
Four members of Cville Peak Oil came before the board to warn them that when international oil supplies climax, the world is in for a whole lot of pain. “Our lovely, cushy lifestyle won’t last much longer,” said Nancy Hurrelbrinck.
Ida Lewis spoke on behalf of the Jefferson Alumni Association, pledging that they will do their part to raise funds for Jefferson School renovations and asked Council to prioritize that project. John Pfaltz took on traffic that will be generated by Biscuit Run, a County development just south of Charlottesville. And Peter Kleeman asked Council to look at the “state of the pedestrian way.”
Councilors generally selected one topic for response. David Brown and Kendra Hamilton took up the Meadowcreek Parkway theme, while Dave Norris and Julian Taliaferro addressed Biscuit Run, a County project. “I think it’s time for the County to step up to the plate and build some connector roads,” said Taliaferro. Kevin Lynch hoped that Peak Oil would turn out much like the Y2K problem, when he thought preparation ensured that apocalyptic worst-case scenarios weren’t realized.
But the Council didn’t confine their remarks to the end. As Pfaltz finished speaking, he told Council that he will be back. Brown took the opportunity to quip, “I hope you’ll come back and offer some solutions next time.”