Tag: diantha mckeel

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Riding green: JAUNT’s all-electric van gives a peek into the future of regional transit

JAUNT CEO Brad Sheffield presented the all-electric bus to the public February 22. PC: John Robinson

Braving the frigid weather, nearly two dozen people gathered in front of Regal Stonefield & IMAX last Wednesday to see the newest addition to JAUNT’s fleet: an all-electric transit vehicle.

The first of its kind in the region (and the first in operation in Virginia), the Ford Transit 350HD passenger van, which will be used for JAUNT’s on-demand service, is fully accessible and can accommodate 10 passengers, along with two wheelchairs. On a single charge, it can travel up to 120 miles.

“For about a decade, transit has been investing in electric vehicles, [but] it’s been mostly big buses,” JAUNT CEO Brad Sheffield said at the press conference. “It’s only been within the last year that we’ve seen that the technology has reached the cost-point that buses like the ones JAUNT operates…[can be] made into electric vehicles.”

“This is a spark, hopefully, to get more of that investment for additional vehicles to be converted,” he added. 

JAUNT paid $185,000 for the van, approximately $140,000 more than its gasoline-powered equivalent. However, it will cost only .08 cents per mile to operate the van, compared to the .15 cents per mile it costs to run it on gasoline. And, of course, it will produce fewer emissions, a significant factor as the city works to become carbon neutral by 2050. 

If it receives enough funding from state and local governments, JAUNT plans to convert six more of its 78 on-demand transit vehicles within the next year. And by 2030, Sheffield hopes that a majority of JAUNT’s fleet will run on electricity. 

However, JAUNT is not alone in its efforts to advance the region’s public transit. Lucas Ames, who serves on JAUNT’s board of directors and on the Jefferson Area Regional Transit Partnership, says the group has been discussing ways to connect Charlottesville Area Transit, University Transit Service (UVA’s bus system), and JAUNT’s services, so that they feel like “one public transit entity.”

“Right now, there’s a lot of struggle [for] people who want to switch between services. The technology doesn’t match up. There’s different payments,” says Ames. “From the user perspective, [they] really do feel like three separate systems.”

Through the partnership, it’s possible to create a pass riders could use for both CAT and JAUNT (UTS rides are free), as well as develop an app that includes all three transit systems.

But before the region can move forward with such initiatives, “we need to invest in data analysts within our transit agencies,” says Ames. “The technology and data that each system uses…needs to be put forth and shared so that as a community we can see what’s happening in transit from a data perspective.”

Diantha McKeel, a member of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors who also serves on the partnership, agrees that the transit services must share their data in order to make any real progress.

“The county has a desire to expand services…[but] we’re really trying to get better data,” she says. “At this point in time, I still can’t tell you where my Albemarle County riders are getting on and getting off of the buses.”

CAT has listened to the partnership’s concerns, and has already begun sharing its data on a monthly basis with the city and county, says CAT director and RTP member Garland Williams.

According to Ames, another priority on the RTP’s agenda is reducing single-occupancy vehicle trips, especially for those who travel into Charlottesville for work.

It has already started working on one potential solution to this issue: commuter lines. Last month, it recommended that the city, county, and UVA allocate funding for Afton Express, which would connect Charlottesville to Staunton, make four trips a day, and have just a $3 fare price. If the funding is approved, commuters could begin using the route as early as 2021.

The partnership, however, plans to get community input on commuting, among other issues, through an in-depth study on the region’s transit vision. If the city and county agree to fund the study, it will be conducted by the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission. 

In order to meet every resident’s needs, McKeel ultimately sees the region expanding both its fixed routes and on-demand service in the future, pointing to towns like Danville, which have successfully done that.

“We don’t have to reinvent the wheel. We should be able to learn from other communities what they’re doing right and how they’ve been improving their ridership,” she says.

But as the different transit services grow, they must work to hire and retain more bus drivers (and pay them a fair salary), an issue RTP has already begun discussing, McKeel says. And, as JAUNT is already doing, they must continue to find ways to make their transit vehicles more green.

According to RTP member and UTS director Becca White, UVA is already exploring ways to use alternative fuel vehicles, such as electric buses, in order to meet its goal of being carbon neutral by 2030. 

While the RTP has also created a subcommittee on electric vehicles, it’s unlikely CAT will be getting electric buses anytime soon, says Williams, as it’s currently focused on addressing its issues with decreased ridership.

“As the technology [behind electric vehicles] gets better, CAT is open…to introducing technology that is proven,” he says. 

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Pump the brakes: New cameras target motorists illegally passing stopped buses

Due to new legislation and cameras, you could be sent a $250 ticket if you illegally pass a stopped school bus. Photo by Martyn Kyle

Approximately 6,000 drivers whiz past stopped school buses in Albemarle County each year, putting students getting on and off the bus in jeopardy. New legislation that allows the installation of stop-arm cameras aims to put an end to this dangerous trend.

County school officials say they’ve been advocating for the technology for at least six years, and dozens of aggravated bus drivers signed a petition calling for cameras in March 2018. In the most recent General Assembly session, Delegate Rob Bell, an Albemarle resident, carried and helped pass a bill to allow the cameras.

The politician says putting kids on the bus under current conditions can be scary.

“It’s a leap of faith,” he says. “You put your little one on the bus and hope that it works.”

Bell’s daughter usually catches a ride to Baker-Butler Elementary with bus driver Chris Conti, whose route goes up U.S. 29 North and through the Briarwood neighborhood.

“On a regular, weekly basis, I have cars that run my lights,” says Conti.

From the time Conti turns on his amber lights—the ones that signal drivers to slow down before he applies the red lights, which mean stop—he adds, “You can almost see people hit the accelerator instead of the brake. They go shooting by me on the left, and the students are getting off on the right. It’s a scary situation.”

Recently, in Earlysville, a motorist plowed right through a bus’ stop arm, which Albemarle County Supervisor Diantha McKeel calls “shocking.”

“We’ve been lucky in this community that we haven’t had a tragedy,” she says.

The Board of Supervisors will need to pass an ordinance that matches the new state code to allow the cameras to be installed, and McKeel says it intends to do it before the next school year begins.

Though Albemarle County Public Schools have about 160 buses, somewhere between 20 and 40 vehicles in the most problematic and high-volume traffic areas will be the first to see the new technology, according to Jim Foley, the division’s director of transportation.

He suspects folks often speed past the buses “out of ignorance of knowing the law,” but a $250 fine will likely help educate them. The motion-sensing cameras will photograph the license plate of the offending driver, and then county police will mail a ticket to the car’s owner.

The cameras are proven to be an effective deterrent: Foley says only about 1 percent of offenders get caught more than once.

Says bus driver Conti, “Word will get out and hopefully behaviors will change.”

The news of stop-arm camera installations also pleases Forest Lakes parent Josh Cason, who has been drawing attention on social media to cars passing stopped buses at a bus stop in the southern part of his neighborhood since last school year.

After calling, emailing, and sending videos to the Albemarle County Police Department for months, he was disappointed when he only noticed cops stationed at the stop a handful of times, though the department assured him on Twitter that officers focus on school zones and bus routes.

Says Cason, “I think it’s about time it’s being taken seriously.”

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Overflow meeting: ICE calls continue

Michael Del Rosso, chairman of the Charlottesville Republican Committee, was the first person to speak to the jail board during the public comment session. He said, "illegal aliens...have no reason to be here, anyway." Photo by Eze Amos

After months of thousands of community members urging the authority board at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail to stop voluntarily reporting the release dates of undocumented immigrants to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the board held a special meeting September 13 to take a revote on that policy.

At the local jail, and every jail in the state, staff is required by state law to tell ICE when an undocumented immigrant is taken into custody—but they also voluntarily call the federal immigration agents when that inmate is about to be released, and oftentimes, they’ll be there waiting for a newly released immigrant as he walks out the door.

At a July board meeting, jail Superintendent Martin Kumer said ICE picked up 25 undocumented immigrants from the ACRJ between July 2017 and June 2018, who were charged with crimes such as malicious wounding, domestic assault, abduction, drunk driving, driving without a license, public swearing or intoxication, failure to appear in court, and possessing drugs.

A vote didn’t happen at the September 13 meeting, but further discussion on the practice did, and Kumer introduced new information that could eventually lead to ending those ICE notifications.

VINE, a tool on the jail’s website, could be the game changer. Kumer said anyone—including ICE agents—can sign up to receive notifications on any inmate’s custody status or release date. The system updates every 15 minutes.

While the program currently has some kinks—as noted by Albemarle County Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Tracci, who uses it often—Kumer said he’s already working to update the system, and would support encouraging ICE to track undocumented immigrants’ status through VINE instead of having staff call the federal immigration agents upon an inmate’s release.

But the absence of a vote didn’t sit well with community members who have long been calling for the jail board to end the process, and who prompted the special September meeting.

“They’re kicking the can down the road, obviously,” said Margot Morshuis-Coleman, a representative with the Charlottesville-Area Immigrant Resource & Advocacy Coalition, outside the jail. She noted that the “heart of the conflict is criminalizing immigration,” because ICE is currently notified of all undocumented immigrants’ release dates, not depending on the seriousness of their crimes.

“The jail should not do ICE’s work,” she said.

During a public comment session, only three of approximately 20 speakers held the same opinion. Most of them asked the jail to continue notifying ICE of the inmates’ release dates, which puzzled another CIRAC member, Priscilla Mendenhall.

“We question the fact that the majority of the public comment was by folks who were for maintaining notifications,” said Mendenhall, who was waiting in line outside the jail by 11:30am for the 12:30 meeting. Only about six of the people in line in front of her could have been in favor of continuing notifications, she reports, and when she signed up to speak, only about six or eight names were in front of hers.

Kumer said speaking time was given on a “first come, first serve” basis, and he allowed folks to enter the meeting room early because it was raining outside. He also noted that in all of the other related meetings, those against ICE notifications have dominated the public comment portion. More than 30 people signed up for public comment at the most recent meeting, and for those who didn’t get their turn, written comments were accepted and added to the meeting minutes.

Michael Del Rosso, chairman of the Charlottesville Republican Committee, was the first to speak.

“They are illegal aliens. They have no reason to be here anyway,” he said, and encouraged the jail board to continue its practice to help “get them off the streets.”

Many claimed notifying ICE of their release from jail makes the community safer, but opponents say it does quite the opposite.

In a September 12 letter to Charlottesville Sheriff James Brown—who abstained from voting on the matter in January—more than two dozen community groups and individuals encouraged him to vote to end the policy.

“While Tracci and ICE have repeatedly attempted to paint everyone who is taken into ICE custody from the ACRJ as rapists, murderers, and members of organized crime, the reality is that they are our neighbors, coworkers, classmates, parents—beloved members of the community you represent,” the letter said. “The portrayal of these inmates as violent criminals is untrue and a danger to the community in and of itself, as it stigmatizes, isolates, and persecutes an already marginalized population.”

Albemarle Sheriff Chip Harding, who encouraged the board to learn more about the VINE system before voting, was prepared to vote against ending the notifications.

“It bothers me greatly that the current ICE practice is to place detainers on almost everyone coming into our jail that is here illegally,” Harding wrote in a September 2 letter to the board.

He noted that ICE only takes a percentage of undocumented immigrants into custody after they leave the jail, and after review, some are released back into the community.

“Reportedly/understandably, the time this practice requires has a detrimental impact on the family,” he wrote, but he cites his oath of office, and said he feels compelled to comply with ICE, which has been charged by Congress to enforce 400 federal statutes.

Tracci shares Harding’s opinion of compliance, and in a letter that Tracci addressed to the Albemarle Board of Supervisors September 12, he said the ACRJ becoming the first Virginia jail to discontinue ICE notifications for inmates subject to federal detainers would have “safety and legal consequences,” partially because they’d all be released back into Albemarle where the jail is located, rather than the jurisdictions where they committed their offenses. The ACRJ houses inmates who were charged in Albemarle and Nelson counties, and Charlottesville.

But the man who holds Tracci’s job in the city, Joe Platania, wrote an August 10 letter of stark contrast.

The jail board’s position of voluntarily reporting and the media coverage surrounding it has left many community members “legitimately feeling angry, scared, and isolated,” according to the city’s commonwealth’s attorney.

“In some cases, primary caretakers or breadwinners are removed and are no longer able to care for their children, who are oftentimes citizens,” wrote Platania. “I am also concerned about witnesses and victims looking at voluntary notification as a reason to be uncooperative with local law enforcement and not report crimes or participate with prosecutions because they fear the deportation of charged individuals.”

He noted the “significant concern” of two of the immigrants deported between July 2017 and June 2018—one charged with DUI and the other with assault and battery—whom a judge had released on bond prior to their trials.

“They are currently considered fugitives from justice,” Platania said. “One problem presented by this scenario is that individuals who may not be guilty of the crime they have been charged with have no ability to assert their innocence and stand trial.”

And, he added, if they were tried and convicted before their deportation, they would have been held accountable for their actions, and Platania’s office could use those convictions as evidence in the event of a second offense. Each prosecutor is also able to reach out to ICE and request assistance in cases where they believe removal is the best option, he said.

When undocumented immigrants are charged with a crime and held without bond, Platania said his office determines whether they present a flight risk, are a danger to themselves, or a danger to the community. If prosecutors can’t establish any of those factors, they recommend release back into the community with terms and conditions, and if they do establish one or more of those factors, they ask that the immigrants be held until their trial.

Platania also said he “concurs wholeheartedly” with a July 1 letter from the jail board—signed by Kumer and board chair Diantha McKeel—in which they said undocumented immigrants don’t pose an inherent danger based solely on their citizenship status.

“If the board agrees with the letter it wrote, it may be useful to have ICE articulate with specificity how the voluntary notification policy furthers legitimate local public safety needs,” Platania said. And after examining available data on city cases, “I am unable to see the positive impact the current policy has on family stability or public safety.”

Echoing the local activists’ position, he said, “If community safety is one of our guiding principles, and it must be, it seems unwise to have a policy that perhaps unintentionally (albeit foreseeably) undermines it.”

At the meeting, City Councilor and jail board member Wes Bellamy suggested that if the ICE notifications must continue, the board should be open to compromise. He suggested leniency for undocumented immigrants charged with nonviolent crimes such as public intoxication, loitering, or civil matters related to paying child support.

The board will meet again in November to further discuss their policy and hear an update on any VINE system upgrades that have been initiated.

“The decisions that we make, they have consequences on people’s lives,” Bellamy said. “This is something we have to get right.”

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‘Crime against humanity:’ Jail urged to stop voluntary ICE reporting

Nearly 50 activists went to the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail’s July 12 board meeting to protest its policy to voluntarily report undocumented inmate release dates to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Staff photo

When incarcerated undocumented immigrants are released from the local jail, they exit through the sally port, where they often have an unfortunate encounter. It’s not unusual that a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent will be there waiting for them.

In a July 12 Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail authority board meeting, jail superintendent Martin Kumer said 25 undocumented immigrants were taken from the ACRJ by ICE between July 2017 and June 2018—because staff voluntarily reports those inmates’ release dates to the federal immigration agents.

Nearly 50 community activists showed up at the meeting to protest the board’s decision to continue reporting release dates to ICE, which passed in a 7-3 vote in January.

Local activist Matthew Christensen, the first person to speak during the public comment session at the meeting, called the jail’s voluntary reporting a “crime against humanity,” and others noted how “extremely cruel” it is to report someone who “came to make a better life for themselves and their families.”

These community members had demanded that the board take another vote at its July meeting, which did not happen. Approximately 2,900 people have signed a petition asking the board to stop its voluntary reporting.

“Because this matter was considered and acted on in January and no new substantive information directly relevant to this policy has been presented, there has been no compelling reason to place this matter on the agenda for another vote,” says a July 1 letter signed by Kumer and jail board chair Diantha McKeel, who also sits on the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors.

When undocumented people are taken into the jail and fingerprinted, staff is required by the state to notify ICE. Along with requesting their release dates, ICE has also asked for ACRJ staff to hold undocumented people beyond their release time, which the jail’s authority board voted against in 2017. ICE agents must be present at the time of a person’s release to take them into custody.

When authority board member and City Councilor Wes Bellamy motioned in January to comply with notifying ICE during the fingerprinting process, but nix the voluntary release date reporting, it wasn’t received well. He amended the motion to only voluntarily report release dates for undocumented immigrants with felony or DUI charges, and still lost the vote.

“We are sure members of the community would agree there are individuals who have committed specific crimes that should not be released back into our community,” says the letter from Kumer and McKeel. “It would not be reasonable or realistic to form a community consensus on specifically what crimes those would be.”

A list provided by the jail of the 25 undocumented people from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala hauled off by ICE between July 2017 and last month shows that some were charged with nonviolent crimes, including driving without a license, public swearing or intoxication, failure to appear in court or possessing drugs.

Some were convicted of more serious crimes such as drunk driving, domestic assault, abduction, malicious wounding or carnal knowledge of a child between the ages of 13 and 15, and the record shows that ICE picked up six undocumented people before they were convicted.

Showing up for Racial Justice organizer Mark Heisey used his public comment period to read from a letter signed by 17 community groups.

“If a judge has decided to release someone on bond, or if someone has already served their sentence, that indicates that a judge has decided that the person is no longer a danger to the community,” the letter says. “By calling ICE to incarcerate someone for civil immigration infractions, ACRJ is subjecting undocumented community members to additional incarceration based solely on their legal status and not on the crime they have been accused of committing.”

The board members have also said they don’t know enough about each undocumented inmate’s history to determine whether he is a danger to the community, should he be released.

“While you may not know everything about undocumented inmates at the ACRJ, we do know a lot about ICE,” says the letter given to the board. “We know they imprison people in the most inhumane for-profit prisons in the country. We know they separate families and lose children. We know people have died in their custody. We know they are construction internment camps on U.S. military bases. We know they sexually assault people in their custody.”

Several members of the board weren’t present, including McKeel and Bellamy, who are both on the civil rights pilgrimage to the Equal Justice Initiative’s National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama.

Outside the jail, Heisey said, “I’m confident that Wes would have pushed back against a lot of the narrative.”

But he said he’s glad that board members are considering holding a work session to re-evaluate their policies before their next meeting, which is in September.

And the irony of McKeel missing the meeting wasn’t lost on Heisey.

“She’s too busy celebrating civil rights victories of the past to be on the right side of civil rights struggles of the present.”

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Supervisors say… Break on business licenses, Hedgerow not for horses

The Board of Supervisors are requesting a new entrance to the proposed Hedgerow Park.

Miss out on a week of Albemarle County happenings? On August 2 the Board of Supervisors voted to only require a business license for those making at least $25,000 a year, instead of the previous $5,000 threshold. They’ve requested a new entrance for the proposed Hedgerow Park, and will soon ask for public input on moving the county’s courts and offices into its own jurisdiction.

Small businesses rejoice—kind of

Jim Foley, Albemarle County’s director of transportation by day, has been an ice hockey official in his spare time for the past 15 years. He was surprised to receive a $100 bill from the county last year for business taxes dating back three years.

“I would’ve paid it every one of those previous years if I had gotten a bill,” he said at the August 2 supes meeting when the BOS raised the minimum gross receipts threshold from $5,000 to $25,000. Foley, who makes about $10,000 on the side every year, will no longer need a business license.

But Foley’s friend, Dave Canoles, an aviation consultant who has done expert witness work for plane crashes for a decade, was taxed six years back by the county.

“Requiring residents to pay retroactively for the past six years was a slap in the face to all of us who try to abide by the rules,” Canoles said at the meeting. He was charged about $1,000 in back fees, $350 of which was penalties and interest.

And in 2012, he says he was charged more than $350 for a $50 license because the county determined that he grossed more than $100,000 that year, though the Internal Revenue Service and state showed his adjusted income was $80,000.

“The department of finance seems to make up its own rules as they go along,” he said.

The county code says the director of finance can go back six years to collect business, professional and occupational licensing taxes if she determines a person has fraudulently failed or refused to obtain a proper license for any one or more of the past six license years.

Canoles says he didn’t obtain a business license because he doesn’t conduct any of his work in Albemarle County and didn’t know he needed one. “This whole experience caused me and others I know to lose respect for our county.”

Hedgerow Park entrance debated

The original proposed entryway to Hedgerow Park, the 340-acre property just south and west of the Interstate 64 and U.S. 29 interchange, sits to the south of the property on a private nine-foot road that leads to a private residence. The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends a road at least 24 feet wide for trucks pulling equestrian trailers, according to Blake Abplanalp, county chief of project management.

Supervisor Ann Mallek advocated against moving the entrance to accommodate trailers, which could cost an additional $1 million. Herself an equestrian enthusiast, she says “not every park needs to be for every use,” and that Preddy Creek Trail Park and Patricia Ann Byrom Forest Preserve Park are great for riding horses.

“Anything you offer at this point, we’re going to be relieved,” said BOS Chair Diantha McKeel to county staff, which will continue researching other entrance options for the park. Hedgerow is scheduled for completion in May 2019.

Supervisors are asking county staff to find a new entrance to Hedgerow Park because the proposed one isn’t fit for trucks with trailers and is located in a floodplain.

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Insurance denied: City footing Lee statue, parking garage legal bills

Water Street Parking Garage

Since 2016, Charlottesville has faced a larger-than-usual number of high-profile lawsuits, and in at least two cases, its insurance carrier won’t be picking up the tab. And while the carrier hasn’t seen the most recent suit, filed by Albemarle County over the Ragged Mountain Natural Area April 20, that litigation could join the Lee statue coverage denial as a “willful violation” of state law.

The city’s insurer, the Virginia Municipal League, covered Joe Draego’s federal lawsuit after he was dragged out of City Council for calling Muslims “monstrous maniacs,” and a judge ruled the city’s public comment policy banning group defamation was unconstitutional.

But VML is not covering the lawsuit filed against the city for its 3-2 vote to remove the statue of General Robert E. Lee, nor is it covering Mark Brown’s Charlottesville Parking Center litigation against the city, which heads to mediation May 31.

In that case, the city is paying Richmond LeClairRyan attorney Tom Wolf $425 an hour. At press time, City Attorney Craig Brown was unable to come up with costs of that suit, but a year ago, as of April 30, 2016, before the city had gone to court on Brown’s emergency receivership petition, it had spent $11,593.

Craig Brown says the suits on the statue, parking garage and the dispute with Albemarle have “all generated a large amount of public interest, whereas someone tripping on a sidewalk doesn’t.”

“It’s unusual to be involved in as much high-profile litigation as it is now,” agrees former mayor and CPC general manager Dave Norris.

“There’s only a certain amount of appetite taxpayers have to paying high-priced lawyers,” he says.

The litigation with Albemarle stems from the city’s December 19 vote to allow biking at Ragged Mountain, which is located in the county, despite county regulations that prohibit biking at the reservoir. Before the vote, Liz Palmer, then chair of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors, sent a December 15 letter to City Council asking it to defer action and citing state code that prohibits a landowner locality from adopting regulations in conflict with the jurisdiction where the property is located.

And while the city held a year’s worth of public meetings about uses at Ragged Mountain, conspicuously absent from that process was the county. “We were not involved in that,” says Board of Supervisors chair Diantha McKeel. “It’s unfortunate it got as far as it did without recognizing that.”

McKeel stresses that the city and county are not at odds on most issues, but says, “Both of our localities have agreed this is a legal question that has to be settled in the courts.”

After the City Council voted April 3 to adopt a new trails plan that would allow biking, the city offered binding arbitration, “precisely because we wanted to resolve the underlying legal issues without having to go to court,” says Mayor Mike Signer.

That was an offer the county declined. “The question goes back to state code,” says McKeel. “We can’t mediate our way out of that.”

Attorney Buddy Weber, a plaintiff in the Lee statue suit, sees a pattern with the city’s decision to proceed at Ragged Mountain over the county’s objections—and state statutes. “What you really have to ask is where they’re getting their legal advice,” he says. “Are they doing this to invite litigation?”

An injunction hearing is scheduled for May 2 to halt the city from moving the statue—or selling it, as council voted to do April 17. “We thought it was reckless for them to do what they did to remove the statue,” says Weber.  “Selling it falls in line with that. That’s why we need an injunction.”

But when Councilor Bob Fenwick changed his vote to remove the statue February 6, he said it was an issue that would have to be decided by the courts.

For activist Walt Heinecke, that fight embodies the city’s values on the Civil War statue, and he also applauds council’s funding of $10,000 to Legal Aid Justice Center to support immigrants. “I do think it’s important,” he says.

Other legal battles, like the city’s defense of its 2011 panhandling ordinance or the Draego lawsuit, “seem like a complete waste of money,” he says. Heinecke hasn’t followed the Ragged Mountain debate, but says, “It certainly seems there would be better ways to work this through rather than bull-dogging it.”

Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy, who had his own day in court recently to fend off a petition to remove him from office, says when he was campaigning, he frequently heard comments that prior councils were “paralyzed” and that citizens wanted City Council to make decisions.

“This council is committed to making a difference and to making bold choices,” he says. “We’re not going to be paralyzed.”

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Biking battle continues: Supes give the okay on studying Hedgerow

Albemarle County has an ordinance that prohibits bike riding at Ragged Mountain, but the natural area is located in Charlottesville where City Councilors have voted to allow it. Staff photo

Albemarle Board of Supervisors Chair Diantha McKeel said in February that an accelerated opening of Hedgerow Park could be an alternative to allowing biking at Ragged Mountain Natural Area, a controversial city-owned and county-located property on which both governing bodies are at odds about whether cycling should be permitted.

In an April 12 work session, the supervisors discussed the feasibility of opening the new park and all agreed to authorize an immediate conceptual engineering study for the space, which consists of 340 acres just south and west of the Interstate 64 and Route 29 interchange. It abuts Ragged Mountain Natural Area. If all goes well, the park’s construction would take place next year between May and November.

“To get to this park, you’re going to have to drive,” said Trevor Henry, the county director of facilities and environmental services. This has been a negative for cyclists looking for a location they can bike to.

Gauging the use at Preddy Creek Trail Park, which is the most similar county space to the proposed park, Henry estimates that 40 parking spaces will be necessary at Hedgerow. He also wants to allow space for about six horse trailers.

“The terrain here is incredibly steep in many places,” said Supervisor Ann Mallek, and it’s not ideal for horseback riding. “Not everything has to be available at every place.”

Each county park allows its own recreational activities, granting the estimated 800,000 people who visited them last year the opportunity to choose their destinations based on the activities they plan to do, Mallek said. And prohibiting horseback riding at Hedgerow would allow for a smaller parking lot.

But Supervisor Liz Palmer noted that when the late Jane Heyward gave the land to the county, she was adamant it be used for different kinds of recreation, including horseback riding. As for parking, on a recent Sunday afternoon at Crozet’s Sugar Hollow and Mint Springs Valley Park, she said she counted more than 50 cars in each lot.

“It’s interesting to me that it seemed a lot safer with people getting out [of their cars] with picnic bags and dogs and kids and everything to have a little bit bigger parking lot,” Palmer said.

Henry told supervisors the existing entrance into Hedgerow would first need widening, and potentially paving. He listed a number of possible issues that have design and cost implications, including the current parking lot’s location in a 100-year floodplain and proximity to a stream buffer, which could result in stream mitigation work.

The price? Henry estimates it at an initial $1.5 million; adding a pavilion and running electricity to it would cost an extra $450,000.

“I see lots of Eagle Scout projects,” said Mallek. Supervisor Rick Randolph said they’d be happy to accept any donations.

At Ragged Mountain, Charlottesville and Albemarle County officials are still at odds over who should have ultimate authority over the property.

Virginia code says localities may make rules for parks they operate in other jurisdictions, but “no ordinances in conflict with an ordinance of the jurisdiction wherein the property is located shall be enacted.”

When the Ivy Creek Foundation handed Ragged Mountain Natural Area over to the city in 2014, former foundation director and city councilor Dede Smith—not involved with either group at the time—says she doubts the city knew about the county’s ordinance that disallows biking.

“They certainly did not know about the history of the reservoir as the only clean raw water we have in the community,” Smith says. “I very much regret that the Ivy Creek Foundation gave up management, but I wasn’t there anymore at that point, so I am not privy to the decision. ICF protected the land back in the 1990s for a reason, but that was lost in the transfer.”

Adds Smith, “An important point to make in the disagreement about governmental rights of the use of the land is that the Ivy Creek Foundation had to get the approval of the county to establish the natural area. For the city to say [the county has] no rights now is simply wrong.”

A price to pay

The accelerated opening of Hedgerow Park won’t be cheap. Here’s how Trevor Henry, the county’s director of facilities and environmental services, breaks it down.

Base scope:

$1,486,000

Additive for pavilion and its utilities: $450,000

Total: $1,936,000

Annual operating cost:

Staff: $65,534

Operating: $15,810

Total: $81,344

Startup/one-time cost:

Equipment (vehicle and trailer): $66,708

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In Brief: Members only, additional candidates emerge and more

Charlottesville School Board member Amy Laufer announced a run for City Council February 27. Staff photo

More candidates emerge

Charlottesville School Board member Amy Laufer announced a run for City Council February 27, and former Albemarle School Board chair Ned Gallaway wants the Democratic nomination for Albemarle’s Rio seat. BOS Chair Diantha McKeel seeks a second term representing the Jack Jouett District. And Angela Lynn again will challenge Weyers Cave Delegate Steve Landes for the 25th District seat.

Kitchen tragedy

Local chef Allie Redshaw was involved in a tragic accident the morning of March 1 when her right hand was caught in a meat grinder at Lampo Neapolitan Pizzeria. She was rushed to the UVA Medical Center, where her hand was amputated at the wrist. At press time, more than $100,000 had been raised for her and her family via a GoFundMe campaign.

“America isn’t a democracy.”

—U.S. Representative Tom Garrett on Twitter responding to complaints about his March 31 town hall lottery.

With prejudice

A charge against James Justin Taylor for allegedly assaulting white heritage defender Jason Kessler was dismissed March 3 at the prosecution’s request because video footage did not support Kessler’s complaint. Kessler, who has filed a petition to remove Vice-Mayor Wes Bellamy from City Council, faces an assault charge April 6.

Membership has its privileges

The Derek Sieg/Josh Rogers/Ben Pfinsgraff private social club targeting the creative community nearly collapsed—literally—when the former Mentor Lodge roof caved in a year ago. Common House is back on track and  plans to open this spring. For a $600 initiation fee and $150/month dues (couples get a price break), members have their own brass keys for a home away from home that includes coffee, cocktails and Chickapig.

The current size of the Main Street Arena is 20,211 square feet. The size of the tech incubator to be built in its place will be 100,000 square feet.
The current size of the Main Street Arena is 20,211 square feet. The size of the tech incubator to be built in its place will be 100,000 square feet. Staff photo

An icy farewell

The sale of Mark Brown’s Main Street Arena to Jaffray Woodriff’s Taliaferro Junction LLC, which plans to build a technology incubator with retail in its place, means big changes for the Downtown Mall—and to all the people who like to strap on ice skates. Skating will continue at the ice park through the fall, and then something will need to freeze fast or local hockey teams and figure skaters will be left on thin ice (the new owner says it’ll donate equipment to a business venture that wants to open an ice rink in a new location). Construction on the incubator is planned for spring 2018.

PROPERTY HISTORY

Built: 1996
Brown paid $3 million in 2010
Woodriff paid $5.7 million in 2017

What does 100K square feet look like?

SquareFootImages_SS-MikeIngalisforTheSabrecom_WH-DanielSchwen_KC-PublicDomain

As a comparison to the size of the incoming tech incubator, a football field is 57,600 square feet, the White House is 67,000 square feet, and the Kennedy Center is 180,000 square feet.

But wait, there’s more

Last week we wrote about 10 groups that have sprung up since the election, only to learn we omitted Progressive Democrats of America—Central Virginia Chapter.

Inspired by: The 2004 election results, with a mission to transform the Democratic Party. Local chapter formed after 2016 election.

Issues: Health care, climate change, SuperPACs, voter access and election integrity, social and economic justice

Strategy: Grassroots PAC operating inside the Democratic Party and outside in movements for peace and justice. Participates in letter drops to legislators, rallies and supporting democratic progressive candidates.

Event: Sponsored documentary GerryRIGGED, airing at 6:30pm March 22 on WCVE

Supporters: 36 at the group’s first public meeting January 4; 90 on e-mail list

Info: facebook.com/groups/198937913888031/

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News

In brief: 5-star dreams, bathroom fears and more

Owner John Dewberry plans to turn the Landmark into a 5-star hotel. Photo Matteus Frankovich/Skyclad AP

Unlike NC…

Governor Terry McAuliffe signs an executive order at UVA January 5 that prohibits state contractors from discriminating against gay and transgender people, and notes that the Tar Heel State has lost hundreds of millions of dollars because of its bathroom bill. Delegate Bob Marshall immediately filed a bill prohibiting such nondiscrimination.

Lieutenant guv race gets icky

Bryce Reeves
Bryce Reeves Publicity photo

An anonymous e-mail claiming state Senator Bryce Reeves is having an affair with a campaign aide, which he denies, is tied to the cell phone and IP address of opponent and fellow senator Jill Vogel’s husband, the Washington Post reports. The Vogels, both ethics lawyers, deny sending the hurtful missive and claim they were hacked.

Diantha McKeel
Diantha McKeel. Publicity photo

New BOS chair/vice-chair

The Albemarle Board of Supervisors elected Diantha McKeel chair and Norman Dill vice chair as its first order of business January 4.

Mourning community activist

Holly Edwards was known for bringing different voices in the community together. Photo Kelly Kollar
Holly Edwards was known for bringing different voices in the community together. Photo Kelly Kollar

Charlottesville’s former vice mayor and beloved advocate Holly Edwards died January 7 at age 56. Read more at c-ville.com.

Local layoffs

Relay Foods’ January 2 notice that it was changing its name to Door to Door Organics did not mention that 48 workers in Charlottesville would lose their jobs, as would an undetermined number in Richmond, according to the Daily Progress. Service to Lynchburg and North Carolina ends January 15.

curnish
Richard V. Curnish. Charlottesville police

Alleged wanker arrested

Police respond to a report of a man masturbating outside the 1800 block of JPA at 12:55am January 4 and charge Richard V. Curnish, 55, with indecent exposure, masturbation in public and peeping. Charlottesville police say Curnish is a suspect in a December 30 peeping reported at the same location.

Snow casualty

Ryan S. Spencer, 40, of Rochelle, was on Preddy Creek Road January 7 when he lost control of his 2010 Cadillac SRX on a sharp curve and struck a parked vehicle belonging to a driver who stopped to assist with an earlier accident in the same spot. Spencer ran off the road and overturned into the creek. He died at UVA Medical Center.

Dewberry dreaming

landmark.JPG
The city hopes to make a deal with developer John Dewberry in the next few weeks, which means site plans for developing the Landmark Hotel skeleton could be available by spring. Matteus Frankovich/Skyclad AP

“The devil’s in the details and we’re working to get those details right,” says Mayor Mike Signer about plans for the Downtown Mall hotel that could soon transform the Landmark Hotel skeleton, an unfinished structure since its former developer, Halsey Minor, halted construction eight years ago.

Purchased by Atlanta-based John Dewberry in June 2012, the new owner promised to turn his focus to Charlottesville after he finished converting a former office building into his first hotel in Charleston, South Carolina, which didn’t happen until last summer. Signer says the city hopes to make an agreement with Dewberry in the next few weeks, leading to site plans that should be available by spring.

The hotel could bring 150 jobs with it, according to Signer, and would be a wedding and conference venue in the heart of the Downtown Mall. Hotel plans could also include spaces for additional businesses including a restaurant, a spa and retail.

Dewberry, who says he’s “just trying to build a brand named after [his] beloved father” is proud of the distinctions his Charleston hotel has already raked in, including a spot in a New York Times article titled, “For Fall, Seven Notable New Hotels.”

Without a firm timeline, he confirms he’s working with the city to bring the same five-star experience to Charlottesville. “That’s the hardest type of real estate in the world,” he says.

Henrietta's_02_jwb
It’s possible that a new Downtown Mall hotel will include a restaurant similar to Henrietta’s, located in The Dewberry Charleston. Photo Jonathan Boncek

Quote of the week

“Do not waste my time. I will veto it so stop in your tracks right now.”
—Governor Terry McAuliffe reiterates his pledge at UVA January 5 to veto “socially divisive” legislation such as a ban on abortions at 20 weeks and bathroom bills like North Carolina’s HB2.

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Can county officials remain unbiased for referendum vote?

The biggest chunk of the bond referendum—$15.2 million—will pay for a second-story addition and modernization of Woodbrook Elementary School. Staff photo

The Albemarle County Board of Supervisors voted 4-2 July 6 to hold a $35 million bond referendum for school improvements in November, and some locals think county officials will not be able to educate the public about the new ballot item without advocating for it.

Virginia Code allows local governments to clarify a referendum, but insists they must remain neutral in their explanation. Former school board member Gary Grant says county officials may have already slipped up.

“A couple supervisors, in my opinion, have been advocating,” Grant says. “When, in my opinion, they shouldn’t be.”

He notes that Diantha McKeel, the supe who doubles as vice-chair of the board, said at the June 1 BOS meeting that it’s going to fall onto “the school system and the school board to get out to the community and really fight for [the referendum] and explain these projects.” She added, “What I’m hearing is the details can still be explained very clearly at the polling sites.”

Details McKeel referred to would denote specifically what the $35 million bond referendum will go toward—if it passes.

The biggest chunk—$15.2 million—will pay for a two-story addition and modernization of Woodbrook Elementary School, with $10.9 million proposed for learning space modernization across all schools, $6 million slated for a Western Albemarle High School addition and $2.9 million for school security improvements.

At the June 1 meeting, BOS chair Liz Palmer wanted to hang “great big things that you can read from a distance”—posters—inside the polling places to break down the $35 million for voters.

According to Grant, a former reporter at WINA and The Observer who talked with local Virginia Electoral Board member Clara Belle Wheeler, the Electoral Board will publish the wording of the referendum exactly as it appears on the ballot on posters and explanatory materials distributed inside the voting precinct. In her e-mail to Grant, Wheeler says, “No further explanation of any referendum is permitted.” Wheeler did not respond to an interview request.

Jake Washburne, with the county’s registrar of voters, says the code does allow additional explanatory information, however.

“They can’t say, ‘Rah rah rah, vote for this,’” Washburne says, but the governing body may provide
a neutral explanation of each referendum question in 500 words or less.

In his blog, Whatever Albemarle, Grant questions if, to be fair, supervisors will instruct staff to also hang “equally large ‘educational’ charts showing what the tax increase will be if a $35 million referendum passes” inside polling places. Not that he’s against the capital improvement projects, he says, as long as Virginia law is adhered to.

County attorney Greg Kamptner, who will write the question that appears on the ballot, did not respond to an interview request. He has, however, provided to county officials written legal guidance, which says the BOS may pass a resolution in support of or opposition to the referendum. Advocacy prohibitions also do not apply to county officials acting in their individual capacities, he says, or when they’re “off the clock,” Lee Catlin, assistant county executive for community relations, told Charlottesville Tomorrow.

Says Grant, “It’s going to be hard to police that.”

Corrected July 14 at 10:23 to reflect that the proposed addition onto Woodbrook Elementary School will be two stories.