AUDIO -- McIntire botanical garden proposal gets support from City Council

By Ian Lamb
Charlottesville Tomorrow
Tuesday, July 17, 2012

For close to a year the Charlottesville Department of Parks and Recreation has been working to create a plan for what the eastern side of McIntire Park will look like following the completion of the Meadow Creek Parkway.

The plan Charlottesville City Council viewed July 16 featured an improved Dogwood Vietnam Memorial and a relocated skate park. In addition, it moved the wading pool from its current location and added a soccer field.

Listen using player above or download the podcast: Download 20120716-CC-McIntirePark

However, many of the comments shared during the meeting centered on the park’s inexpensive golf course and the proposed botanical gardens.

“Golf benefits just a few hundred people a year, while passive parks and educational uses of a botanical garden might use this space a thousand times,” said city resident Elly Tucker.

The renovation of the park calls for the golf course to be removed from the park by 2020, but makes no explicit plans for relocation. To many, losing the public course would be detrimental to the community.

“I encourage you to find a place for inexpensive golf and youth golf before you force it out of McIntire,” said Susie Hoffman, a city resident whose son plays at McIntire through The First Tee program. “This would be a great loss to the community.”

Organizations such as The First Tee of Charlottesville use the course to teach skills and values to community youths through golf. In response, some at the meeting recommended that Meadowcreek Golf Course at Pen Park be made more available for student programs and affordable golf.

“The Parks Department and maybe some community members should get together and talk about using Meadowcreek Golf Course in a different way,” suggested city resident and former mayor Virginia Daugherty. “There could be a day or two … when the rates are lower. We pay for other things for our low-income community and we can do that too.”

Soundboard 7-13-2012 - Charlottesville's news straight from the source

Soundboard: Charlottesville's news straight from the source. 

A collaborative local news radio program by WTJU 91.1 FM, Charlottesville Tomorrow, and C-Ville Weekly.

Each Friday from 4-5 PM, tune in to hear area journalists and guests discuss local news, culture, and community issues in the Charlottesville area. Whether we're talking about city politics, scientific innovations, or the local music scene, you'll get to hear in-depth discussion about stories that matter.

Soundboard is co-hosted by WTJU's Lewis Reining and Charlottesville Tomorrow's Jennifer Marley.

Podcasts may be downloaded from this website, via RSS, and via Charlottesville Tomorrow on iTunes.

Listen using player above or download the podcast: Download 20120713-Soundboard

The July 13 show features contributors Giles Morris, Laura Ingles, Ryan McCrimmon & Graelyn Brashear (from C-Ville Weekly) and Sean Tubbs & Ian Lamb (Charlottesville Tomorrow) discussing: 

• stormwater violations in the Stonefield development
• the Moores Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant upgrades
• city council's (new) health benefits
• conditions of the county's nature trails
• the Charlottesville Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau's marketing plan
• guest University of Virginia physicist Brad Cox to discuss the Higgs Boson and the Large Hadron Collider

Soundboard is produced by Robert Packard and Nathan Moore. We hope you enjoy it, and we look forward to your feedback!

Soundboard 7-6-2012 - Charlottesville's news straight from the source

Soundboard: Charlottesville's news straight from the source. 

A collaborative local news radio program by WTJU 91.1 FM, Charlottesville Tomorrow, and C-Ville Weekly.

Each Friday from 4-5 PM, tune in to hear area journalists and guests discuss local news, culture, and community issues in the Charlottesville area. Whether we're talking about city politics, scientific innovations, or the local music scene, you'll get to hear in-depth discussion about stories that matter.

Soundboard is co-hosted by WTJU's Lewis Reining and Charlottesville Tomorrow's Jennifer Marley.

Podcasts may be downloaded from this website, via RSS, and via Charlottesville Tomorrow on iTunes.

Listen using player above or download the podcast: Download 20120706-Soundboard

The July 6 show features contributors Giles Morris, Ryan McCrimmon & Laura Ingles (from C-Ville Weekly) and  Brian Wheeler & Ian Lamb (Charlottesville Tomorrow) discussing: 

• UVA Medical Center's civil suit regarding digital records
• forest fire in Shenandoah National Park
• biosolids in Albemarle County
• the City of Promise project for low-income children and their families
• opening of the Common Grounds alternative health community in the renovated Jefferson School building
• the Vinegar Hill Women's Canning Cooperative's small business and the memory of the Vinegar Hill Community

Soundboard is produced by Robert Packard and Nathan Moore. We hope you enjoy it, and we look forward to your feedback!

Soundboard 6-22-2012 - Charlottesville's news straight from the source

Soundboard: Charlottesville's news straight from the source. 

A collaborative local news radio program by WTJU 91.1 FM, Charlottesville Tomorrow, and C-Ville Weekly.

Each Friday from 4-5 PM, tune in to hear area journalists and guests discuss local news, culture, and community issues in the Charlottesville area. Whether we're talking about city politics, scientific innovations, or the local music scene, you'll get to hear in-depth discussion about stories that matter.

Soundboard is co-hosted by WTJU's Lewis Reining and Charlottesville Tomorrow's Jennifer Marley.

Podcasts may be downloaded from this website, via RSS, and via Charlottesville Tomorrow on iTunes.

Listen using player above or download the podcast: Download 20120622-Soundboard

The June 22 show features contributors Giles Morris, Graelyn Brashear & Laura Ingles (from C-Ville Weekly) and Sean Tubbs & Brian Wheeler (Charlottesville Tomorrow) discussing: 

• latest on the ouster of University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan
• new designs released for the Western Bypass
• Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority addresses concerns over chloramines
• guest University of Virginia music professor Bonnie Gordon discusses the pilot year of her arts program for area school children

Soundboard is produced by Robert Packard and Nathan Moore. We hope you enjoy it, and we look forward to your feedback!

More than a hundred residents come to chloramines panel

By Brian Wheeler
Charlottesville Tomorrow
Thursday, June 21, 2012

The Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority held a symposium Thursday in an effort to address public concerns raised about the safety of chloramines that are proposed for use in the Charlottesville-Albemarle urban water system beginning in 2014.

Jerry Higgins, manager, Blacksburg Christiansburg VPI Water Authority -- More information on panel

An audience of over 100 came to the Albemarle County Office Building to listen to and ask questions of a panel of water treatment experts recruited by the RWSA and local water activists.

Listen using player above or download the podcast:
Download 20120621-RWSA-chloramines-panel

Chloramines are in wide use in Virginia, approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and recommended by the World Health Organization for water treatment systems.

Mike Gaffney, the RWSA’s chair, began the evening by telling the audience that 70 percent of Virginians are drinking chloraminated water.

“Seventeen primary waterworks in Virginia today provide chloraminated water that directly serves 2.9 million people,” Gaffney said. “In addition…there are wholesale supplies to 64 additional water systems … Overall 5.7 million people in Virginia now use and drink chloraminated water.”

Lorrie Delehanty, a city resident and medical researcher who opposes chloramines, had lobbied to get two national experts who share her concerns on the panel.

“I’m glad they got our participants on there,” Delehanty said in an interview. “I am very happy that Bob Bowcock and Susan Pickford are on the panel. We had to push for that.”

Activists warn of health risks and environmental danger from chloramines

By Brian Wheeler
Charlottesville Tomorrow
Monday, June 18, 2012

Local activists opposed to the use of chloramines in the Charlottesville-Albemarle County urban water supply held a “teach-in” Monday to share their concerns about risks to public health and safety. Organizers said they wanted to give the public a comprehensive look at the $5 million water treatment method being recommended by the Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority.

“This is the first opportunity for concerned citizens to learn about the upsides and the risks the addition of chloramines would pose to the regional water supply,” said city resident and medical researcher Lorrie Delehanty.

Lorrie Delehanty, speaking at chloramines information forum hosted by Transition Charlottesville-Albemarle

Download recent chloramine documentation shared with the RWSA Board of Directors     March 9, 2012 memo summarizing basis for chloramines project July 2011 Executive Summary from consultant Hazen and Sawyer EPA background information on chloramines   RWSA's drinking water Frequently Asked Questions website

Monday’s forum was sponsored by Transition Charlottesville-Albemarle, a grassroots group affiliated with the global Transition Initiative, which seeks to work “toward sustainable local systems of food, goods, energy, communication and culture.” About 25 people came to the meeting at the Jefferson Madison Regional Library on Market Street.

Listen using player above or download the podcast: Download 20120618-Chloramines-TeachIn

Delehanty was invited to share her research and a presentation from the Chloramines Information Center. She told the audience that the health risks of chloramines are significant.

“Short-term health effects include persistent skin rashes from shower water,” Delehanty said. “There can also be asthma-like symptoms as the chloramine heats up in a hot shower.”

Delehanty was asked what would happen if a home fish pond was filled from a hose.

“All your fish will die,” Delehanty responded. “If a [water] line breaks, it ends up killing everything downstream.”

Meanwhile, the RWSA insists chloramines are a safe and cost-effective way to meet new standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA is requiring further limits on the level of disinfectant byproducts in drinking water which can react with organic material found naturally in water and pose health risks.

Chloramines are created by combining chlorine and ammonia, as a secondary disinfectant after first using chlorine, and are intended to prevent pathogens from growing within the water distribution system.

Although chloramines are in wide use in Virginia, approved by the EPA and recommended by the World Health Organization, activists Monday called for more scientific study.  

Dr. Julia Whiting, a city resident and emergency medicine physician on the panel, said this community needs to learn from Washington D.C.’s mistakes with lead poisoning caused by chloramines.

“Chloramines cause pipe corrosion and that led to the lead in the water,” Whiting said. “Whether you have old plumbing or new, it’s going to be a problem.”

Soundboard 6-15-2012 - Charlottesville's news straight from the source

Soundboard: Charlottesville's news straight from the source. 

A collaborative local news radio program by WTJU 91.1 FM, Charlottesville Tomorrow, and C-Ville Weekly.

Each Friday from 4-5 PM, tune in to hear area journalists and guests discuss local news, culture, and community issues in the Charlottesville area. Whether we're talking about city politics, scientific innovations, or the local music scene, you'll get to hear in-depth discussion about stories that matter.

Soundboard is co-hosted by WTJU's Lewis Reining and Charlottesville Tomorrow's Jennifer Marley.

Podcasts may be downloaded from this website, via RSS, and via Charlottesville Tomorrow on iTunes.

Listen using player above or download the podcast: Download 20120615-Soundboard

The June 15 show features contributors Giles Morris, Graelyn Brashear & Laura Ingles (from C-Ville Weekly) and Sean Tubbs (Charlottesville Tomorrow) discussing: 

• Teresa Sullivan's resignation and its impact on the community
• disappearance of four visiting Afghani women
• guest Geoff Skelley from the UVA Center for Politics to discuss the Virginia GOP primaries
• funding discrepancies for the low-income housing complex on Fourth Street
• development of the Lochlyn Hill neighborhood has stalled
• recycling in Charlottesville...and beyond
• Guest John Casteen, lead photography and writing instructor at the iConnect Workshop, to discuss summer program for school children to meet local photographers and writers

Soundboard is produced by Robert Packard and Nathan Moore. We hope you enjoy it, and we look forward to your feedback!

Soundboard 6-8-2012 - Charlottesville's news straight from the source

Soundboard: Charlottesville's news straight from the source. 

A collaborative local news radio program by WTJU 91.1 FM, Charlottesville Tomorrow, and C-Ville Weekly.

Each Friday from 4-5 PM, tune in to hear area journalists and guests discuss local news, culture, and community issues in the Charlottesville area. Whether we're talking about city politics, scientific innovations, or the local music scene, you'll get to hear in-depth discussion about stories that matter.

Soundboard is co-hosted by WTJU's Lewis Reining and Charlottesville Tomorrow's Jennifer Marley.

Podcasts may be downloaded from this website, via RSS, and via Charlottesville Tomorrow on iTunes.

Listen using player above or download the podcast: Download 20120608-Soundboard

The June 8 show features contributors Graelyn Brashear & Laura Ingles (from C-Ville Weekly) and Sean Tubbs (Charlottesville Tomorrow) discussing: 

• Wintergreen buyer Jim Justice
• Thursday's state supreme court hearing on a proposed YMCA
• updates on the Meadowcreek Parkway and the Western Bypass
• Albemarle County's new leash laws
• guest Zoe Ward to talk about teaching yoga after studying in India

Soundboard is produced by Robert Packard and Nathan Moore. We hope you enjoy it, and we look forward to your feedback!

Soundboard 5-25-2012 - Charlottesville's news straight from the source

Soundboard: Charlottesville's news straight from the source. 

A collaborative local news radio program by WTJU 91.1 FM, Charlottesville Tomorrow, and C-Ville Weekly.

Each Friday from 4-5 PM, tune in to hear area journalists and guests discuss local news, culture, and community issues in the Charlottesville area. Whether we're talking about city politics, scientific innovations, or the local music scene, you'll get to hear in-depth discussion about stories that matter.

Soundboard is co-hosted by WTJU's Lewis Reining and Charlottesville Tomorrow's Jennifer Marley.

Podcasts may be downloaded from this website, via RSS, and via Charlottesville Tomorrow on iTunes.

Listen using player above or download the podcast: Download 20120525-Soundboard 

The May 25 show features contributors Graelyn Brashear & Laura Ingles (from C-Ville Weekly) and Sean Tubbs (Charlottesville Tomorrow) discussing: 

• update on the sale of Media General’s newspapers, which includes The Daily Progress
• a free natural history museum opens in Nelson County
• a new study will look at ways to change the Charlottesville transit service
• the owner of ACAC is suing over a planned YMCA facility in McIntire Park
• local web-based company Silverchair Holdings sells off one of their subsidaries
• guest Erica Lloyd, the coordinator for I Have a Dream Charlottesville
• guest Brevy Cannon from the Market District Alliance to talk about the City Market’s search for a permanent home
• guest UVA music professor Judith Shatin drops by to discuss her film, “Rotunda, A Living Portrait”

Soundboard is produced by Robert Packard and Nathan Moore. We hope you enjoy it, and we look forward to your feedback!

Success, challenges of neighborhood model debated

By Sean Tubbs
Charlottesville Tomorrow
Tuesday, May 29, 2012

The ongoing update of Albemarle’s Comprehensive Plan is giving county officials an opportunity to review a key planning strategy meant to encourage density within the designated growth areas.

 

“The Comprehensive Plan talks about the neighborhood model as being the preferred model of development,” said Elaine Echols, principal planner for the county.

 

An abbreviated list of the 12 principles in Albemarle County's Neighborhood Model

The neighborhood model, which was adopted in 2001, has 12 principles ranging from orienting buildings to be more pedestrian friendly to providing clear boundaries between urban and rural areas.

 

“Since that time we’ve had many developments which are achieving the [goal] of the neighborhood model,” Echols said at a recent county Planning Commission work session.

 

Other principles include encouraging a mixture of commercial and residential uses, and relegated parking.

 

Each new neighborhood that makes its way through the community development department is measured against these principles.

 

“It puts [applicants’] eyes on the individual aspects that they need to address, or if they can’t address them it becomes clear why they can’t,” Echols said.