Cville Tomorrow News

Council defers RWSA easement vote, MCP opponents don't back down

9.29.09 * C-Ville Weekly [full story]

While the vote on the relocation of a sewer pipeline into McIntire Park to make room for the Meadowcreek Parkway (MCP) was deferred last week until the next City Council meeting, opponents of the MCP are holding out hope that members of Council will deny the ordinance to grant the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority (RWSA) the right to tear down trees and any additional “obstruction.”

RWSA owns a sewer collection line that runs for approximately 7,000'. RWSA’s Schenk’s Branch sewer line is currently a 21" terracotta pipe, considered “undersized” for current use. According to staff reports, the line will need to be increased to 30" and sunk deeper in the ground, about 15'. In addition to replacing and relocating about 640’ of the line, 1,075' will be relocated by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to make way for the construction of McIntire Road Extended, an aspect of the MCP.

The replacement of the line will cost the City $815,730, with about $455,000 going toward excavation.

County road extension draws rebuke

9.30.09 * Daily Progress [full story]

A proposal to extend Leonard Sandridge Road in Albemarle County as a way to serve local drivers came under heavy fire at a public meeting on Tuesday.

“I’m really quite skeptical that you’re going to impact traffic on [U.S. 29],” said Paul Adler, an Albemarle resident who lives near one of the road’s proposed alignments.

The extension is being proposed as a way to develop a parallel road network and alleviate U.S. 29’s often-crippling traffic, especially around Hydraulic Road and the U.S. 250 Bypass, by using rights of way already purchased for the U.S. 29 Western Bypass.

Keep on asking

9.23.09 * Daily Progress Editorial [full story]

Community members are wise to keep up the pressure for better sidewalks and bikeways in the Pantops area.

The Pantops Community Advisory Council is the group charged with overseeing implementation of the area’s master plan.

Recently, the group alerted the Board of Supervisors to several areas of concern: traffic congestion, the continued development that could create more congestion and the sidewalks and bike paths that could help relieve it.

Parkway foes join hands in McIntire demonstration

9.28.09 * Daily Progress [full story]

Charlottesville resident Anthony Blow spent part of Sunday throwing a flying disc with his son, Evan, in McIntire Park. He was far from alone, as dozens surrounded him, holding hands along the Meadowcreek Parkway’s route to protest the road.

“We’re concerned that this will give the green light to future growth,” said Blow, who lives in the Greenbrier neighborhood and later joined the protestors to map out, physically, part of the road’s route in the city’s largest park.

More than 100 people lined up during Hands Across McIntire, many holding “Save McIntire Park” signs or their dogs on leashes, showing the section of the parkway that will stretch from McIntire Road to the end of two golf holes in the park’s course.

City hopeful Szakos aims to get residents involved

9.27.09 * Daily Progress [full story]

Kristin Szakos has plenty of wishes for Charlottesville should she be elected to the City Council, but she has one that is a bit unconventional for an election campaign.

“I hope people will call me if they think I’m messing up,” she said.

Szakos, 50, helped get Barack Obama elected to the presidency, first as the local co-coordinator for his campaign in the Virginia primary and then as regional volunteer coordinator for last year’s election. Szakos said she and others were committed to bringing ordinary people into the “process of change.”

McGuffey School, Boyd Tavern selected for landmarks register

9.26.09 * Daily Progress [full story]

Charlottesville’s McGuffey School and Albemarle County’s Boyd Tavern and Lewis Mountain have been approved for listing in the Virginia Landmarks Register.

The McGuffey School, built in 1915 and 1916, was Charlottesville’s first primary school constructed for the purpose. Named for the author of the first standard U.S. reader series, the school remained in operation until 1973. It was the first area school to have a female principal and today is home to the McGuffey Art Center.

Albemarle’s Lewis Mountain refers both to the mountain west of the University of Virginia and to a stately manor that sits atop it. Designed by Charlottesville architect Eugene Bradbury, the massive granite house pays tribute to the classical style introduced to the area by Thomas Jefferson.

VDOT to host series of meetings on U.S. 29

9.25.09 * Daily Progress [full story]

The Virginia Department of Transportation is hosting a series of meetings up and down U.S. 29 in Virginia in September and October for the public to review recommendations for the Route 29 Corridor Blueprint.

The final blueprint would identify short-, intermediate- and long-range goals for improving safety and enhancing mobility along the U.S. 29 corridor, according to VDOT. The blueprint would also recommend policies aimed at ensuring the viability of U.S. 29 as a major transportation corridor.

The Charlottesville-area meeting will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Virginia Department of Forestry at 900 Natural Resources Drive.

Norris: No status quo

9/25/09 * Daily Progress [full story]

Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris said the past few months have felt like a performance evaluation — one that is likely to continue over the next six weeks as the lone incumbent continues his City Council re-election campaign.

“You can’t let incumbency become an excuse to simply maintain the status quo,” Norris said. “We have to constantly ask ourselves, how can we do better?”

There was little uncertainty that Norris, 39, would seek another term to the five-member body. But out of the four official candidates running for the City Council this year, Norris has the unique challenge of defending his record of the past few years to show voters that he deserves another four years in office.

Sprayground breaking: Forest Hills Park project underway

9/24/09 * The Hook [full story]

After years of discussions and planning, major improvements to Forest Hills Park, located off Cherry Avenue, are finally becoming a reality. The $1.2 million project was put on hold by City Council last fall, due to budget concerns, but according to Parks & Rec director Brian Daly they were able to piece together funding earlier this year to update the 7.35-acre neighborhood park, the first such improvements in over half a century.

Indeed, Daly says the park’s existing wading pool, which will be replaced with a fancy new “sprayground,” is over 50 years old. The last major renovation of a city park was McGuffey Park, the little 1.1-acre park and playground next door to the McGuffey Art Center on Second Street NW. That park improvement cost the city $400,000 (the total cost of the project, thanks to $300,000 in private donations, was a whopping $700,000), a price tag some felt was too high for such a small park serving a select downtown demographic.

At the time, former Parks & Rec director Mike Svetz repeatedly defended the focus on the tiny McGuffey project by mentioning the plans for Forest Hills.

Hard path: Waterworks to approve new firm, new spending

9/24/09 * The Hook [full story]

Despite the plea of Albemarle County’s own water resources expert to follow a so-called “softer” path, the unelected Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority board appears poised to approve a contract to a new firm to design the controversial reservoir that would supply the bulk of the future water supply, a project whose now over-$200 million bloat hasn’t dimmed the board’s enthusiasm for it.

Documents released in advance of the Tuesday, September 22 meeting show that Authority Director Tom Frederick hoped to gain his board’s approval to ink a contract with Schnabel Engineering for a fixed cost of $1.6 million plus up to $544,765 for geotechnical field testing and some public outreach.

Instead, he won approval for just $1.42 million to the Virginia-based firm.