So if you curb, I mean a bicycle helmet. I call the Charlottesville Smith City Council meeting um back to order. We um had a a short break um and Lloyd is joining us um from India and I think we
just discovered the time frame. It's like 3:30 in the morning there. So, thank you. >> Something like that. >> 9 and a half hours difference. >> Yes. Yes. Thank you. >> Um, let's see. >> True devotion to the cause. >> Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
>> We're glad you were able to make it safely. >> Um, so we are back into session. So, before we begin, if we um can have a moment of silence. Thank you very much. Um, we have a board
appointment um to make. >> I would move to appoint Joy Johnson to the housing advisory committee. >> Second. >> Further discussion? If not, all in favor, please say yes. >> Yes. >> Yes.
>> Okay. And are there any announcements? >> I have an announcement um that with the hectic weather that we were anticipating this evening, it reminded me that we've had a pretty cold winter and um those
colder temperatures for um some users may have seen a spike in their um utility bills and particularly gas prices. And just a reminder um for folks that um thanks to our um leadership that
reminded me this that we have the utilities billing office has um a lot of accommodations and um en energy efficient programs to offer um for reducing energy costs and supporting folks who are feeling the pinch of those
um either higher utility prices from this winter and beyond. So, you can head to the um utilities site and utility building at charlesville.gov and search for utility building and you can find bill utility billing and you can find
more there um to assist with utility bills this winter. >> Thank you. Any other announcements? Um just a brief acknowledgement of the passing of Bob McAdams um who was a longtime organizer and with
Charlottesville Center for Peace and Justice Impact um did radio program of Progressive Talk Radio um any you know cause you could think of for decades. He was an organizer in Charlottesville. Um, and he he passed away a few weeks ago
and just want to acknowledge um his passing and impact on the community. >> Thank you. I I think I did hear about that. Thank you for sharing. Just people like that that make Charlottesville special and unique. So um prayers and
thoughts um to the family. Um we have a proclamation for social work month. I don't see um um Mr. Henry here, but um we will make sure that he um gets it. Did you want to read? >> Sure.
>> Thank you, Jen. >> Proclamation for social work month 2026. Uplift, defend, transform. Whereas social workers positively impact the lives of millions of Americans daily in hospitals, schools, child welfare agencies, community centers, and within
the federal, state, and local governments nationwide. Whereas for more than a century, social workers have worked to improve human well-being, to advocate for justice, and to support everyone's basic needs, selecting this profession out of a deep commitment to help uplift, defend, and transform the
lives of others, their families, and communities. Whereas the 2026 theme, social workers uplift, defend, transform, shines a light on the resolute spirit of social workers who transform lives while bringing hope, healing, and justice to the communities
they serve, especially in times of profound change and challenges. They follow a code of ethics that calls on them to stand for equity, uphold human dignity, and fight injustice. Whereas social workers stand on the front lines supporting vulnerable populations
including individuals experiencing poverty, discrimination, trauma, mental health challenges, and sub substance use disorders while strengthening the social safety net that supports our community. Whereas social workers assist individuals and families as they navigate grief, systemic barriers,
public health crisis, and other life challenges, helping them recover and thrive. And now therefore, in recognition of the numerous contributions made by social workers, the Charlottesville City Council proclaims the month of March 2026 as social work month and call upon
community members to join in celebration and support of the social work profession and this year's theme of uplift, defend, transform. Signed and sealed the 16th day of March, 2026, Ju Diego Wade, Mayor. >> Thank you. We'll hold that on for um
Leon. He he'll he'll be back maybe later this this week. We'll make sure that he gets that. Thank you so much, Jen. >> Um thank you. Um the next item on the agenda is the community matters. We have opportunity for 16 people to speak. We
have um three that have signed up and the first one is CM. >> Oh, either one. We got choices here. Hello, my name is Christopher Miles Turner. I'm here today with uh Kristen Chiakia. We
are representing Second Street Gallery located at 115 Second Street Southeast in downtown Charlottesville. Uh I've emailed information relevant to this address to the council earlier today. Uh on behalf of Second Street Gallery and by extension the broader arts and culture community of Charlottesville, I
am urging the council to reconsider the amount of funding recommended for arts and culture organizations from the vibrant community fund for fiscal year 2027. While arts and culture is clearly stated as a priority area of funding through the VCF, our calculations based on a review of the current vibrant community
fund report reveal that arts and culture programs were only recommended to receive approximately 6.24% 24% of the stated $2.6 million available through the Vibrant Community Fund. Of the funds recommended to support arts and culture organizations, only $10,530
was recommended for organizations focusing on the visual arts, representing just 0.4% of the total funds available via the VCF. These figures signal that while arts and culture programs were cited as a priority area for VCF funding, they were either not duly considered as such
by this year's application review panel or that there was a fundamental issue with the evaluation process that resulted in lower scores across the board for arts and culture organizations. For fiscal year 2026, the VCF application process included distinct considerations for arts and culture organizations, acknowledging
that our industry operates much differently than other nonprofits who are buying for funding through the city. Um so, uh this year those considerations were not in place and we believe that disadvantaged applicants from the arts and culture sector. These assertions are
supported by the fact that not a single arts and culture application was scored at above 90% or higher through the evaluation process this year. The visual arts sector in Charlottesville is already experiencing significant upheaval with three exhibition spaces having recently closed which drastically
reduces the opportunities for local artists to share their work and for public audiences to engage with visual art in the downtown core. Due to the extremely competitive fundraising atmosphere within the region and the lack of funding available from state and federal agencies, we believe it is
necessary for the city council to lead by example and show that an investment in arts and culture programming is indeed a priority in action and not just in name. As such, we respectfully request that the city council move to revise the BCF recommendations for arts and culture funding, beginning by
approving uh funding for Second Street Gallery at the level of $20,000, a comparable figure to the amount awarded to the gallery from the fiscal year 2026 Vibrant Community Fund. Should the council be unable to find funding uh for SSG through the Vibrant Community Fund, we respectfully request that the city
manager use his discretionary quality of life fund to support the events and programming profered by the gallery as was afforded to nine other arts and culture organizations during this year's application process. I sincerely thank you for your time and consideration of these requests. >> Thank you, Sam. Uh the next speaker is
Emily Smith. Good evening, counselors. Um, I'm Emily Smith. I'm a housing attorney with the Legal Aid Justice Center. Um, and I'm here today to urge uh council to consider the recommendations of the Charlottesville Low-Income Housing Coalition and Public Housing Association
of Residents um to revisit the zoning of areas adjacent to our core neighborhoods. uh core neighborhoods are at risk of being physically loomed over um subject to faster gentrification and displacement without further action. Uh the core neighborhood corridor overlay
is both insufficiently rigorous and insufficiently applied. Uh we'd ask council to reanalyze these areas abudding core neighborhoods and consider downzoning those areas and enacting a stronger corridor overlay. I'm aware that the council um is concerned about
the potential legal impact of this kind of action and so I've done some legal research on the issue of takings. Um, takings can cases require a fact-specific analysis with one important feature being the character of the government action and a taking is
more likely to be found when there is a physical intrusion by the city than when interference arises from some public program adjusting the benefits and burdens of economic life to promote the common good. And that comes from a US Supreme Court case um
pen central transport company versus the city of New York which was in turn cited by um a board of supervisors of co pepper versus greenale. Uh here of course the city would be not proposing any physical intrusion into anyone's property. Um the changes would
promote the common good by seeking to avoid displacement, literal overshadowing and the gentrification of low-income neighborhoods. uh West Morland County faced a zoning challenge and their court held that the very essence of a zoning ordinance is to
regulate the use of land applied reasonably. Such regulations do not constitute a taking of land requiring compensation. Zotoning ordinance strike a delicate balance between the government's right to exercise its police power to ensure and protect the public health, safety and welfare and
the rights of individuals affected without having their property taken without just compensation. uh reasonable zoning ordinances are well within the authority of the city and enacting these changes will help realize the stated intention of the city in the
comprehensive plan and zoning process that was to protect core neighborhoods and protect low-income residents from displacement. So, thank you for your consideration. >> Thank you, Miss Smith. Thank you for your time. Um the next speaker is Sabrina Johnson.
Sabrina Johnson. Um so I don't see that. So we have opportunity for uh 14 more speakers. So who would like to speak? Nicks. >> Good evening, council members. Uh Cyo Flynn, uh climate justice policy manager
with the community climate collaborative. Um C3 is very excited to see this evening that the high performance building standards are up for presentation. Um we've reviewed the document um and sent some recommendations uh from what was
attached to today's agenda. Um among our recommendations that we emailed to you earlier uh are especially to reduce subjective discretionary language that weakens enforcability. Uh integrating equity embodied carbon and ideally also
social cost of carbon more consistently throughout. Codifying practices where the city's intent is already clear. clarifying decision- making authority and accountability throughout. And additionally, a clarification of scope is needed. The standards should explicitly state whether they're applied
to all city- owned or funded buildings, as is the case for Richmond, including affordable housing, park facilities, city parks, and whether school facilities are fully covered. Um, taken as they are though, this is a very strong work. Uh it clarifies and
codifies best practices for city properties to reducing their body carbon, their overall uh climate performance. Um it provides a best practice blueprint for both private developers that want to align with the city's objectives uh in in climate change and climate mitigation. Uh it
also sets a great example for other municipalities that may want to follow Shardsville's lead, whether using these for their own development um or just actually working on their own. So we very much commend this office of sustainability for this work with the consultant. It produced a very extensive
and forwardlooking set of standards for city buildings. Um additionally I'm very excited to see that the uh public art presentation is going to be on the agenda as well today. Um during a fully funded program that councelor Flecher
and I worked on uh from the uh Virginia Walkability Action Institute, we encountered the obstructions that made us have to completely change a funded program that was going to bring in artistic elements to walkability, bikeability, pedestrian access in the
city. So it's really good to see that this is actually going to be something that will be put into a coherent practice that we will be able to do more work to uh promote walking walking and excitement and engaging with our surroundings. So thank you. >> Yes.
>> Um who else would like to speak? Mr. Hall. >> I'm Johnny Hall from Fry Spring. The manager of solid waste is a fellow by the name of David Rhodess. I have his cell phone number here. The manager for recycling is a fellow by the
name of Jerry. I I don't know his last name yet, but I had his cell phone number. I spent all day out uh McIntyre recycling center today. And a lot of what I had envisioned doing
for recycling plastics and all has pretty much been done pretty well out there at the recycling center. They're really on the ball and things have evolved. Now, you got to take plastics and things
such as that to North Carolina to pelletize it and get it in a form that you can remold it, >> you know, injection mold it again >> or blow mold it. >> But, uh, the thing that really struck me
is the thing that I really want to tell the council about. Uh, they have one container. It's for Pete polyethylene terafalate. Now, these are the soda soda drinking bottles and the two liter bottles and
all that. And they had this rolloff container and they just fill them up to the top with just those. And that's, you know, pretty common stock of what people bring in. Another thing that I was really struck by, uh,
the fact that people really enjoy going out there to the recycling center with their cardboard and, uh, different recyclables and participating. People are just a common stream. So, it's really happening a lot. Now, I'm running out of time, so
I'm going to speed up a little bit. Triangles two through seven. Those are six triangles of plastics. Two is HDPE, high density polyethylene. Three is PVC, polyvinyl chloride, such as what you
have in plumbing. Uh LDP is uh low density polyethylene. That's uh number four. Number five is polyropylene, like bubble wrap, stuff like that. Polystyrene is six. Like you're drinking cups, you know, the the styrene.
>> Other plastics is seven. Okay. What do we do with all these plastics? They're not doing anything with them except throwing them away in one container. And uh that's where I've got an itch.
I want to have people that are poor. our energy, our homeless people recycling. I want to get them out there, give them $25 just to show up just to get started. And uh that's all my time. >> Thank you. Thank you.
>> I hope that you might refer me to Sam Sanders so I can talk to him. May Oh, could I say could I just say that my TV show Save Our Nation, you can click on it and see 28 minutes of it. >> Thank you, sir. the next speaker.
And who else would like to speak? don't want to start speaking until I'm ready because the clock starts. Uh, council, uh, Mr. Mayor, uh, city manager, uh, first thing I want to say is my hats off to you all. Uh, yours is
not an easy job. probably catch a lot of flack, but you're in the right place if you want to do public service at a very high level for a place that really needs it. And it's really trying to, as you all know, trying to solve very difficult
problems that maybe have not yet been solved very well anywhere. And so, I really appreciate you. I appreciate all the hard work you're doing. And I appreciate everybody that comes here and tries to uh make things happen. My understanding too is that it's very hard for you to even have meetings with more
than just one other council member or >> two of us can meet. >> Two of you can meet but if it were three suddenly that that requires a public announcement >> uh and FOYA can request what happened at that meeting of three people and so it's very hard to solve a very difficult
problem if the only time you can discuss it officially is at your meetings etc etc. So, I appreciate all of those aspects of your job. Um, and just all that you do. I appreciate it. Um,
I was I'm here to speak about uh zoning. There was ideally there would have been a rally today to uh to emphasize the need to initiate uh zoning amendment, but the the very frightful weather made us call it off. That'll be held again
some other time, I'm sure. Um, but I was just looking up zoning and uh on the city's website just a couple hours ago and I just want to read you this quotation on right on the zoning page of of your own website. The city of Charlottesville zoning map
consists of residential, mixeduse, and industrial zone districts, each with specific regulations tailored to the needs and character of the community. Now, in so far as there would be a need for a zoning amendment, I'd like to say
I like what's said there. I don't think that needs to be amended at all. And the real question to you all, I think, is do you all want to amend what's being said right there? Because that says uh specific regul regulations are tailored
to the needs and character of that community. Um so I don't know in FIL for example where a large building has been proposed to be built uh if it's ever said oh yeah Filill community is known for its vibrant undergrad uh population
there at numbers in a certain area half of the population uh with these new big tall buildings. It doesn't that's not what FIF is like and I hope that you agree what's happening now. I'm just running out of time. So, I'm going to
bring up the analogy of what Dominion does. You know what always happens if you want to build a big compressor station is it goes into a poor community somewhere and then the Dominion will offer things for that community. What do you want? We know you got kind of a toxic thing here with risking explosions
and stuff, but what can we give you? Well, that's what's happening now with FIL. The developer is wanting to >> Thank you. put something in a toxic in a neighborhood that doesn't want it and that's going to try to buy it. >> Thank you, sir. Any other speakers?
>> Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of council. My name is Jim Snyder. I have a house at 206B Fifth Street Southwest. Just wanted to bring to your all's attention that your current zoning patterns on the
Amtrak site and on the seventh street site with no setbacks, seven stories on one, 11 stories on the other, are going to really box in the ability to upgrade the Charlottesville station. This is the critical link in what's called the Commonwealth Corridor that's
going to link Western Virginia to Richmond and beyond. That station needs new platforms. They want to create a new passenger rail line that will go from Charlottesville to Dwell meant letting you get there in an hour instead of 5
and a half to seven hours because you have to go up to Alexandria and back. Now, this is a critical piece. They have not caught up with the planning for that yet. I've been in contact with V VP. That's the group that uh is that owns
the tracks now, Virginia Passenger Rail. All kinds of great stuff from the north all the way from DC coming this way and from the west coming this way. Charlottesville is the lynch pin. The whole idea is to connect all of Virginia and every major college on this line.
You won't have room to get another passenger line in and the extra tracks in and the platforms on the other side. If you let these projects happen, these projects are very dense. They have no setbacks. I know that uh for example 2
o'clock in the morning, 4:00 in the morning, you can have a 200 car train going along from Fifth through 7th Street and there's no way if that ever derailed in the middle of the night to get to that building which is going to be built on the property line, a wood building 100 ft tall. Pardon me. We need
to think about having some setbacks so that you, for example, could get the fire department from where it is on Bridge Road with at least some kind of a passenger or an emergency system to get from there down to seventh street.
There's no way to get to that train. Um, so these are things that need to be thought about. I really I've been in touch and I've monitored board meetings of VP brought it asked them from a foyer where they were contacted or notified about these buildings. They weren't.
This is coordination that has to happen at a high level. This station needs to be there for the next hundred years and reduce the traffic. It wouldn't it be great to get to Richmond an hour on a train instead of 5 and a half hours? This is a serious issue that really
needs to be looked at. That coordination has not happened. It needs to happen. I've watched that train station. I've bid on it myself. You all have, too. So, think about that. I really am concerned that you're going to miss the boat here while you allow these very big
multi-billion dollar companies to build these student housing projects on vacant land and and box in the ability to make that station happen. Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you. We're we're the fourth um busiest
Amtrak in the station in the state. So we're um and um so thank you for that, Jim. Appreciate that your insight. Anyone else like to speak? There'll be another
opportunity at at the end. If not, madam clerk, will you please read the consent agenda? Consent agenda number three, minutes, January 20th, regular meeting, March 5th and March 12th budget work sessions.
Number four, resolution to grant $125,000 for a small business energy efficiency incentive program. Second reading. >> Okay. >> Is there a motion to adopt the consent agenda? So moved >> second. >> Second and been moved and improperly
second. Um all in so are we voting? Everyone up electronically. Okay. All in favor please say yes. >> Yes. >> All oppose please say no. Okay. Consent agenda passes. The next item on the agenda is the city manager report. and
we have the um uh the Charlottesville album visitors bureau report. So, >> yes, as Courtney comes, uh we had the uh 50th anniversary for the downtown mall
presentation. Uh, and it got past me that I didn't invite Courtney to come and give the Virginia 250 update as well because we're trying to package those to kind of leverage both of these events. So, thank you for making yourself available to come and deliver this
report to conclude that part of the process of what's going to happen the summer. >> Of course. Um, and thanks for the opportunity. Uh, please advance the slide >> or if there's a clicker. Oh, thank good. Thank you. Thank you. Um, sorry about that. Uh, I'm going to skip this one.
I'm going to try and be brief, but please um feel free to ask any questions that you have. Um, for the the public's knowledge, the Virginia 250th is the the celebration of the United States turning 250 years um
old this July. Um, Virginia played a major role in our country's establishment and a statewide organization was established in 2020, although I'm aware of talks going back at least to 2017. Um, and we have been a
leader in the conversation, although we currently no longer have a commissioner at the state level who is advancing this. Um, we have a number of different folks who are involved locally. Uh, and I will keep going from there. We got
involved because uh the city and uh the board of supervisors in Elmoral County and the city uh the town of Scotsville uh appointed the CACVB and myself in particular in charge of the VA2 250 committee locally. And so we have been
working on that committee since that time in um 2023. So, the state has a a website that's dedicated to the 250th. On that website, you'll find listings of different kinds of activities in which visitors and
residents can participate, a calendar of events that we uh populate with alongside our local partners. Um, news about the exhibits that I'll talk about a little bit later on, marketing and public relations, funding opportunities,
and general support and collaboration. The commission's priorities have been the tagline, America made in Virginia. Um, and really talking about Virginia's history and how it belongs to everyone and encouraging civic engagement, which I know is something that council cares a
lot about, otherwise you wouldn't be here. Um, we've been amplifying that brand via social media and getting um, as many different kinds of partners involved. So, you would think uh about historic sites definitely being part of that conversation, but we have wineries,
breweries, um different kinds of businesses who are all part of this commemoration. So, it's been really neat to see our mobile museum. I'll talk more about that in a minute. Um and then some collaborative programming. Um and there will be some calls to action that will happen around Independence Day weekend
uh coming up in July. What our local committee has accomplished so far is we've been regularly convening local meetings and providing guidance to anybody who wanted to be a part of this commemoration. Uh we have attended statewide meetings um and office hours specifically Carla
Mullen on our team. Um we have we were awarded a Virginia tourism 250 marketing leverage grant. So, the CACVB put $10,000 towards um doing some of the work that I'll talk about in a minute and got that matched by Virginia Tourism Corporation. It's important to note that
um the committee did not receive any funding from um Almor County, Scotsville or Charlottesville City. So, this was the only funding that was put forward was by the CACVB for a match by the state. Um and then I'll talk more about the other two here as I move forward.
Um, the local committee has really been a a place to foster ideas for programming and encourage partnerships. We realized that a lot of people were interested but not necessarily aware of everybody else's activities. If you were on the mall this past weekend, you realized that everything happened this
past weekend. It was a very, very busy weekend. Um, but we were trying to coordinate um, activities so that our partners could support each other throughout the committee community. We have had more than 100 people participate in this committee. It's been open to anybody who's expressed interest
from more than 25 organizations. Um, and you'll see that we have a lot of different places featured on the 250th website everywhere from the Jefferson School African-American Heritage Center um to different kinds of programming um such as the two exhibits on the right
hand side. Uh the mobile museum um came to James Monrose Highland back in August at uh at the Almor County State Fair. It was the first time it was on our community. We got some nice local coverage and and
some folks showed up and Mayor Wade, thank you for showing up. Um we will we have two sites secured for for this year. Um, Monachello has a founders day programming in April and reached out to partner with the downtown mall and um, we will be bringing that mobile museum
downtown as opposed to having it out at Montichello uh, because it benefits u downtown and that partnership and also because uh, Montichello is not well suited to host museum itself. So, it's a it's a really great partnership that we've been able to foster and then we
expect it to come back to Highland again this year. There is also a traveling exhibition that's a lot smaller that will be at JM JMRL North Side and at Highland. It's available for other programming if there are folks within the city who would like to host that.
We also u funded with that grant that I mentioned a few minutes ago a podcast series. Um it's an interview style series with uh the each episode running 20 to 30 minutes long. uh and aired uh the latter half of 2025.
You can access it on this URL. I highly encourage listens. It's a really engaging series. We also have 10 itineraries that are connected to each one of these interviews uh and a really great way for people to experience um history as it's being lived right now.
We recorded those in the areas where um it made the most sense. So you can hear the background, the ambient noise of being at um on the downtown mall and and other places throughout the community. Um and we've been promoting that through social media, but not through any
advertising on our part. Um here are a couple of examples of what our social media coverage of this has looked like and how many different partners we feature in each one of these itineraries. uh won't go into great detail about who
was involved here, but um we had a lot of support from WTJU um and Benjamin Bernard was the person who was doing all of our historian um coverage and he was our executive producer. I've already mentioned the funding, so
I'm not going to go back over that. But the key takeaways were that um we learned a lot about podcasting, but it it's also been a really great way to engage the community and do something our partners felt was meaningful and something that they wouldn't have time and the ability to do themselves.
Um and we've had more than a thousand listens to date, which has been really exciting. Uh, and we have been able to feature just 10 people interviewed, but 170 different partners featured throughout our different itineraries,
and we've had um 2500 people view those different itineraries. Um, the average time spent on an itinerary on our website is almost 5 minutes long. That's like unheard of, but it's it's really amazing. Um, and it just shows how much of an appetite there has been for this
um, and how engaging this content has been. um we've really been able to deepen relationships with in the community but also with Amtrak. They helped support um this this uh grant as along with um the
historical society. Um I'm going to keep going from here. And other things that are going to be happening in the rest of 2026 and beyond, Montichello has launched new tours. They will be doing a citywide feast of reason during civic season. So
from Junth through um July 4th that will take place on a Saturday night at many of um the different city restaurants. I I'm hoping to also include a couple of county restaurants, but I think eight city restaurants have signed up so far. So rather than that being a feast of
reason at Montichello, they are um bridging that gap with the city to bring um those feasts of reason to the city on one night uh in June, which will be exciting. They also um will be doing updates to their uh exhibit galleries.
Highland has a new exhibit and will be celebrating its 50th anniversary in its current form. Both of them are participating in the Virginia 250th PA passport program. Um, the major historic sites throughout the Commonwealth are where you can pick up a passport and
then you can use that for a discounted rate throughout many of our historic sites throughout the Commonwealth. It's a great way to explore um the Virginia history during this period of time. There's a lot of special merchandise. So, you have, you know, beer that is
wrapped with a two label. Um, different kinds of chachki is probably not the best word, but different kinds of things that it memorabilia. >> Memorabilia. Thank you. Um merchandise is probably the best word, which is why it's on the slide. Um so that there are
um a bunch of different local businesses who have been able to participate in um in the the gift shops there and they're both uh again part of the Virginia history road trip. Um and the university also has programming especially through
the KH Institute. Um, we are also celebrating other um, momentous occasions this year. I know the Jefferson School African-American Heritage Center celebrated their centennial um, just last month. We had
the Charlottesville Ballet um, performance at the Paramount on Saturday. The Puzzle Hunt was this past Saturday. That was something we were able to fund through the grant funding as well because they had a 250th theme um, and were tied to a really fun engagement with history. And so that was
a really fun thing to be able to support. Um, and then we have a couple of um, upcoming events that are really leaning into the 250th as being the theme for what they're doing. Courage with TomTom Festival and Revolutions
with the Festival of the Book. Um, we will be continuing to honor milestones and anniversaries throughout. I know that there's a huge push till July 4th this year. I that is not going to be the end of the the the
semiquincentennial celebration. I had to practice that. Um, so we'll I know that that's the the major push, but we do plan on having commemorations go continue throughout this time and and encourage people to engage with history and um uh civil engagement moving
forward and also to help our our um partners leverage any grant opportunities as they come forward. And then for anybody who wants to help um we are always happy to share stories and projects. Um, so you know, send us a
note um, and stay informed, join our local committee, follow the state newsletter. Um, but really we'd love for you to listen to our Founding Footprints podcast and engage with those itineraries. I think that's it.
>> Thank you, Courtney. Any questions? It's a busy year. It's a lot of good things going on. You have any questions? >> Yeah, I have a couple. Um well, first um thanks for for highlighting um the Amtrak partnership. I know you and I
talked recently about trains. Big fan. >> Um and cool that the Feast of Reason will now be impacting Charlottesville businesses. That's great to hear. Um my question though is how are we tracking impact of all of these activities?
>> We are not able to fully track impact of all these activities. Um we are tracking the events that happen. Um since this is not ex this is something that we kind of take on as an extra thing. Uh it's not as easy as tracking
tourism because it's a little bit outside of tourism. So we're not sure necessarily how many residents are getting involved but we are working with our event programs who sell tickets um or distribute tickets to understand how many people are participating in that way. Uh but if you have a major event
and you're inviting people in, we'll just have to rely on on those folks for giving us estimates. Um we are, as you could tell, tracking the founding footprints, podcast listens, and engaging with folks on our website. That's something that we can ask our
major partners um who are who are also pushing that content out to to give us feedback on. And then I assume when we enough time has passed and we can track our tourism dollars or whatever, however we do it every year anyway, we'll can
measure that against previous years and see if it had a a significant impact. >> Yeah, I mean this is the one activity that we do that is not solely related to tourism. So as I said before like the we also want residents engaged in this program. So, uh, you know, if there are
school groups that come out to see the mobile museum, that's something that we'd want to track as a as a success metric. U, but yes, we can definitely track it through the tourism metrics that we already track. >> Okay, great. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Lloyd, do you have any questions or
comments? >> Uh, no questions. The only comment that I would make is I I noticed, Courtney, I'm sure it was absolute discrimination on your part that you did not mention the Ortorio Society. It was on your slide. But I I I am uh I just want to
thank the folks at the Ortorio Society and also the Virginia Consort for running uh two Virginia 250 themed concerts. Uh and I think there may be a Virginia Glee Club concert coming on later on in the spring along the same
idea. Uh we were trying to get them to agree to do these kinds of themed concerts in part to to to bring along the the theme of a Virginia 250 and to to provide some other kind of things on the calendar that perhaps might not
otherwise get attention. So it it was an interesting synergy there and I hope that it worked well for them. Unfortunately, since I'm out of town, I couldn't be at the concert that I was uh trying to get them to do. But anyway, I just want to comment that that the arts institutes institutions in
Charlottesville have been stepping up as well. Um, Michael, >> so there's the podcast kind of what's the split between things that you're um other people are organizing and put together that you're
collecting into one place people can go to see where they are versus things you know CACBB is directly organizing that wouldn't otherwise exist. So we did the podcast. Um so that is ours as long along with the itinerary and we had
partners in doing that but that was a CACVB generating activity. Um the Seville puzzle hunt was the other part of that grant um which would have happened anyway but wouldn't have happened at the level and um with the amount of marketing dollars behind it
without our assistance um and the committee as a whole because these decisions were being made by a committee and not by CACVB staff. We were bringing people together to make those decisions. Um and then most of the rest of the programming is happening through our
partners and then we're just augmenting it. So, we'll make sure that it's um coming on our website and then Carla on our team puts all of the events that are 250 related that come onto our website onto the FEA to the state's website. Um so, that's something that we took in
house to be able to do and then we have done a lot of public relations around calling attention to what's happening around the 250th as well as um some advertising behind it. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Any you have any questions?
>> All set. Thanks. Thank you, Courtney. Appreciate you. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> The next item we >> Oh, sorry. Have a couple more. Thank you, Courtney. A couple more announcements. Uh uh Assistant City Manager Roman has an item
and then I have one as well. >> Yes. Good evening, counselors and members of the uh community. Just really wanted to share that Department of Human Services on this Friday um from 12 to 2:30 12:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. we'll be
conducting a teen empowerment expo. >> Um they will >> excuse me John. Thank you. >> They have invited entrepreneurial speakers to come in as well as focus on health, safety, uh wellness and
finances. So all those uh all all teens are welcome and uh they will also be doing free lunch there that day for the first 100 people. Thank you. >> Can you give that date, time, and location again because you mentioned the lunch? >> Sorry, I failed to mention the location.
It is Friday, March the 20th, uh from 12:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Carver Rec Center, which is 233 4th Street Northwest. And then I um wanted to share just as an update to the public. We put out some
press. Uh we shared with council just the latest on um some outreach and cleanup efforts along the river trail. We've heard from a lot of people who've had a lot of comments and different um suggestions. Um just pointing out that the city is coordinating a cleanup effort. This effort is focused on public
safety. Uh just the fact that there are a number of people who have congregated in the area has led to some safety risks. uh some cleaning, some water quality concerns. We're trying to make sure that we interrupt those without agitating the people. That is the goal. So, I say that again. The intent is not
to mess with uh the people, but to try to work on some of the situations that have risen in the area. Uh we're going to be out there. Staff has been working uh Steve King on my team has been coordinating with our local providers uh who serve the unhoused to try to get
them integrated into the effort of what we're doing. Uh we know that there's some concerns about um fires and various things that people have been using in the area. So the fire department has been engaged in some outreach efforts as well. This cleanup is going to occur on the 24th and 25th. We have some fact
sheets and information that we're sharing with individuals that we come into contact with and we are coordinating again with the unhoused providers to have a part of this effort. goal is to try to clean up the area, check on the river status, the water water quality status of course is one of
the bigger priority areas and then to come up with the cleaning schedule that because people are there then the goal will be to do something to clean up the area as well. So just putting that out there as people are going to form their opinions as to what we are doing and what we're not doing. I'm just making it
clear what it is that we're doing by telling you what we're doing. So that's it. >> Okay. Thank you. Um the next item is now we're at the action item and the first item is a public hearing on the Charlottesville um
um real property tax. And Miss Chrissy, good evening, mayor, city council. Uh the Virginia state code requires uh that for each budget season season we hold a public hearing um and provide the uh public with an opportunity to speak on
any proposed tax rates in the budget. Um tonight serves as one opportunity. Uh we will be having our official noticed public hearing on April 6th, but tonight serves as an additional opportunity for the public to speak to you since there
is an uh increased tax rate uh proposed in the proposed budget. Um as you know, we've been speaking um about the budget that there is a 2% increase proposed for the real estate tax rate. That money would generate just under $2.5 million
in new revenue for the budget in 27. And um that would increase our rate from uh 98 cents per hund every $100 of value to a dollar uh for every $100 worth of value. And with that um I'll open or
leave it for public hearing. >> Thank you. Before I open up the public hearing there questions >> and just to clarify for the the public um advertising today and in the next hearing is different than enacting it.
And for example, we could advertise a 35 cent increase but then later implement only a twocent one. But if we advertised a twocent one, we couldn't then add a 5-cent one later. >> That's correct. >> So the advertising is one part. The figuring out the final budget is a
separate part. >> That's correct. And currently we have advertised only the two cents. >> And so that's the maximum. >> So once we get down to the final vote, that is the maximum would be we would be allowed to increase. Correct. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Lloyd, do you have any questions
before we open up the hearing? >> No, I don't. Thank you. >> Okay. Michael, did you Okay. Um, I will now open up the public hearing for the um real um property tax. Would anyone like to speak?
If not, I will close the public hearing. There'll be plenty of opportunities for the public to chime in on that. Um, we'll now go to the ordinance change. I think there's one person. >> Oh, I'm sorry. >> Thank you. >> I just want to ask a question that maybe
could be addressed. I don't know if it could be, but um what's the relationship of um fundraising from any number of kinds of sources to uh our you know our tax revenue that that we use for things. So, we use taxes
for things that we want to accomplish. Um, how might and how does um fundraising of different kinds uh relate and fit in with our budget? >> Well, um I I'll just chime in. We we had
like a work session on the expenditures and and um >> revenues >> revenues um um a couple of weeks ago, but we're going to be talking about that some more this Thursday as well. We get a lot of grants and and things in, but
primarily we have those four four levers that we can get revenue from. And as far as fundraising, if you have any ideas, you know, we'll take it maybe. But >> our our total budget is composed of
state funding, federal funding, and local funding that's then broken out and spent various ways. And some of those funding sources have specific um strings attached like money we get from the feds for our bus system has to
get spent on the bus system and there's certain local matches for various projects and grants we apply for throughout the year as well. So the budget that is presented to us and you all at the same time does include all of those already. It's not a a separate
like, oh, let's decide local and now let's see what we need to raise. That's all incorporated in the same presentation. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Does that help? >> Yep. We'll now go to the code changes, Mr. Maddox. >> Good evening, council. John Maddox, city
attorney, here with another installment in my continuing series of fund changes to the Charlottesville city code. >> Um, in tonight's installment, we are first going to start with sections 247 248 of the city code, which is you may recall what establishes the city's
finance committee. Now, um, these were adopted at a time when municipal governing bodies commonly relied on standing committees and council members to review and report on specific areas of city operations. under these provisions, you know, mayor is required to appoint a three member uh finance
committee, which I don't know what y'all call it, but I call it a quorum of the city council. Uh the way we handle things today, and that that group is tasked with investigating, reporting on matters relating to the city's finances, debts, revenues, uh and assets. Um it's also responsible for approving uh shity
bonds, which uh giving you a preview of next uh meeting's episode. Um we're going to be doing away with the requirement of uh every city employee getting uh shy bonds which is still in our code from 1976 um because we have insurance that covers these things now. That's the more modern
practice. Um under our current council uh manager form of government financial administration of the city is carried out by the city manager finance department with with Chrissy who as she will tell you has been here since Thomas Jefferson. Um and you know oversight of the city's finances occurs through the
annual budget process which we are hearing so so very much about um through the regular uh financial reporting to the city council and then of course our independent auditing requirements. So as a result the standing finance committee uh contemplated by the code is no longer
utilized and after discussions with the city management um and with all in various meetings uh the decision has been to remove those provisions and in favor of our more modern practices. So that I will step away and say and this does this completely repeals those two
provisions that establishes the uh finance committee and uh discusses its operations. So with that I'll be quiet and let y'all uh see if you have any questions. >> Any question from council on that? >> I think Lloyd
>> I have no questions. >> Okay. If not, >> so sorry to clarify. Um, this is a this is repealing the finance committee section. Um,
>> but are we trying to add a finance committee or other committees back? Is that going to be later? >> Not by ordinance. We would not be creating any new comm. >> Not by ordinance. Correct. Got it. That doesn't mean we couldn't have one. It just wouldn't be required. >> It just wouldn't be be an one that's established by a city ordinance. If uh
city manager wanted to convene a group of folks to speak or if the mayor wanted to convene groups of folks, y'all still have that that authority. Although we have to be as we talked about careful of FOYA uh considerations because wherever uh three are assembled, we we have a we have a meeting. >> Great. Thank you.
>> Is there a motion? Would council prefer a second reading? >> Are we doing all of them individually or >> probably easiest to do them each uh one at a time? It's okay. >> Okay. I move to adopt the ordinance repealing city code 2-47 and 2-48
relating to the city council finance committee. >> Second. >> Is that >> by 34 vote waving second reading it? >> Certainly by three4s vote waving second read >> by four fifths vote. We're waving second reading. Would you like me to start over?
>> Okay. >> Um is everyone signed in? Are we voting voice >> voice? Just >> Okay. All in favor, please say yes. >> Yes. >> All please say no. >> Thank you. The next item is um the
appeal of the provision appointing the school board. Surprised that was >> this is my favorite thing I found in the code lately. Um yes, as reflected in >> take that. No, I'm just >> as reflected in the staff report. The uh city code still provide has a provision
that had you know election of our or appointment of our school board and the members of the various council wards were to u do the appointments. Of course we don't have wards anymore and the school board has not been appointed since I believe 2006 time frame. In
2020, our charter was uh changed and it actually says that the school board is uh is elected and that's correct. But the corresponding code provision was never removed. So that is what we are doing. Now there are three different provisions of the this particular
article within chapter 2 of the code that talked about the school board. The third one we're keeping and recottifying it actually so it gets to the right place within the code, but it's the one that requires the school board to um provide y'all with information about what its budget is looking like and actually gives youall the authority to
ask for more frequent updates if you like. Just something to keep in mind. Um and but I think that's something that we all have an interest in keeping. So that that provision is remaining in there. But the other ones about where being um appointed by the council is coming out. Okay. Any questions on this?
>> I have a question. I don't know if it's this part, but it this reminded me of it. If a school board member steps down, what is there fill the spot? >> It I believe it might be specific in the charter. I would have to look that up and tell you. I I can't just off the top
of my head pull it out. >> Yeah. Well, I mean, we did it several times when I was on the school board. We >> just We do. >> Okay. I wasn't sure if it came from us or it came from school board. Okay. Thank you. >> If there's no question, um, is there a motion or would you prefer a second
reading? >> Uh, I move to adopt the ordinance repealing city code 2-341 and 2-342 and recodifying 2-343 as 2-341 to remove outdated provisions relating to the appointment of school board members and to ensure the city code
reflects the city's current governance structure. Uh, I further move that city council wave the requirement for a second reading of this ordinance um by four fifths vote and that it take effect immediately upon adoption. >> Second. >> Second. >> Second.
>> All in favor, please say yes. >> Yes. >> All quotes, please say no. Thank you. >> Thank you. Motion passes 50. The next item is an ordinance of the code to update the city manager's representation on a retirement um plan
retirement plan commission. Yes, this was uh one that was specifically requested by the city manager's office. Currently, the city manager sits as a member of the uh retirement plan commission. We're envisioning a a time when we we're going to be bringing additional uh code
changes to this body. Um that would change a little bit of the retirement plan commission and actually create a a further appeal procedure to the city manager. So the city manager is the person who is going to be appealed to. It's makes sense that he should not be sitting on the retirement plan commission. So to expedite that, we've
gone ahead and brought this uh provision forward that would go ahead and change the city manager seat to a deputy city manager or the uh or other appropriate designated by the city manager in that spot um in anticipation of bringing further updates to the retirement plan
commission in the future. So this is a fairly simple one. >> Yep. Any questions on this from council? If not, is there a motion to approve or would you prefer a second reading? >> I move that city council adopt the
ordinance amending section 19-57 of the code of the city of Charlottesville to revise the composition of the retirement plan commission to allow the city manager to appoint a deputy city manager or other designate to serve on the commission. I further move that city council wave the requirement for a
second reading of this ordinance by four fifths vote and that it take effect immediately upon adoption. Second. >> Second. Um, all in favor, please say yes. >> Yes. >> All post, please say no. Thank you. Motion passes five to zero. Thank you,
sir. >> Thank you. >> The next item on the agenda is a public art proposal. Mr. Freeze. >> Good evening, Mayor Wade, members of council. My name is James Fest, deputy city manager. We have before you this evening a
proposal to create by ordinance a new Charlottesville Public Art Commission and a resolution to provide initial seed funding to kick off that effort. Uh the primary purpose of that uh of the public art commission would be to manage
the city's public art collections. So, as you all know, Charlottesville is a community that highly values um and invests in public art. Our comprehensive plan, city's uh council's previous strategic uh plans, and other uh
comments and uh documents have referenced the high value that the city of Charlottville places on the arts in general and public art in particular. In addition, uh over time, the city has pursued public art in a lot of different ways, including installations throughout
the city that have serve to enliven and contribute to the city's overall quality and sense of place. Um the city's public art collection features a range of different art installations, most of these in the form of sculptures. Um and previously this
public art collection has been overseen um by nonprofit organizations um that have been in partnership with the city for the purposes of both choosing uh and adding to the public art collection as well as maintaining those pieces to at
this point in time those organizations are no longer um no longer in existence and the city outright owns these uh public art installations. Today staff is proposing that city that the city create a public art commission
that would manage the city's public art collection. This would include uh de accent de I can't even say the word de ascensioning I got it removal uh or restoration if that's approp appropriate replacement in some cases or the
commissioning of new art objects. I think we're all familiar with this is the Monday morning blues or it was um this one is gets a lot of public comment and is it's ripe for removal. Um also included in the uh work of the
public art commission would be uh the management of or the creation of new memorials within the city or consideration thereof. The role of the public art commission would be advisory to make recommendations to city council. So, city council would still have final
decision making as to adding to or subtracting from the city's public art uh um collection. Um but a public art commission would advise on the donation of public art. This is
something we actually get, not frequent, but it's not uncommon for folks to reach out to the city because they have a piece they'd like to donate or they are a mural artist who would like to donate their work and their time to the city. Um so this body would advise on those donations and it would also lead the
process of considering um uh considering the type of material or considering memorials and then um of course as we noted removing um uh public art pieces. We've proposed at this time uh funding
of about a $100,000 to support an approximately one year of engagement of a consultant to kind of get this program up and running. From that point forward, we anticipate that the the staffing needs, the cost would would come would would reduce significantly. We
anticipate this can be served by as few as a as a half-time position. But to initiate, we'd like to bring on a consultant that would serve for one year and do a number of things. Most importantly, develop the procedures and the criteria that this public art
commission would use in order to make the decisions that they are uh tasked with making um or the advice that they are tasked with advising city council on. Um the consultant would advise on the organizational structure in particular what department would staff this commission. Uh what the nature of
that staffing would need to look like. Um provide the consultant would provide assistance with recruiting our initial set of members for the committee for the commission. Um and provide that initial staffing support over that period of time. Um, we'd also ask the consultant
to look into the initial planning for the expansion of the collection and uh to make a recommendation with regard to reestablishing a possible 1% for the arts uh funding program within the city. For those who don't know, back in the 90s and into the
early 2000s, we did have a 1% of the arts program, but it was it was ended. Uh the proposal would be uh what we're proposing and what we've shown in the resolution is that these funds would be drawn from council strategic investment fund um and that that funding would
become available in the FY27 uh would become available in FY27. So not drawing out of the FY26 budget but instead seeking uh FY27 funds. Um I will note right up front our estimate.
It is purely an estimate and uh based on the length of time that we are looking to engage a consultant on and the number of uh tasks that we are anticipating giving to that consultant. If a lower number would be preferable for the city council, we can certainly adjust the scope um to accommodate what is deemed
feasible. With that, I'm happy to answer any questions. >> Thank you. So, um, this is something we've been that's been talked about for since I got on council five years ago. So, um, Lloyd, do you
have any questions or comments on this? >> Yeah, I'm I'm curious about uh whether this group would have jurisdiction over the things like art in place, which I believe is a separate entity that the city doesn't own. What's the deal there?
Well, my understanding from what we've what we've what we've seen is that Art and Place uh no longer exists and that ownership of all those pieces that were associated with Art and Place is transferred to the city. So, those are pieces that are now owned by the city. >> Okay. And then I also note that you've
got uh on your uh the beginning of your PowerPoint a picture of the uh the Landmark Hotel building. Yeah. >> Would it be subject would that be subject to this committee? >> It would not but it would not be. Uh in
fact I I noted as I was reviewing the uh the images that were shown in the presentation that a number of the initial images shown would actually not be subject to this. The purpose of this commission is strictly to uh manage the city's public art collection. They might
in the future advise on things that happen on private property, but private property is not is not the focus of this effort. Thanks. >> Yeah. >> Okay, Michael. Um, so there's the
community effort about coordinating public arts within Charlottesville that the city participates in. How does that intersect with this? >> So, I think what you're referring to is an effort that is happening to form a regional arts council. That's not
strictly public art. That's across all forms of art. And that is an effort to build a stronger uh network of coordination amongst um amongst artists, amongst arts organizations. Um
uh to improve the ability to to advocate to improve the ability to um uh I think support the overall art ecosystem within the city. I would anticipate there'd be a close relationship between these two entities, but their but their um their
scopes of work would not directly overlap. >> Okay. And the city is participating in that. >> We are the city the city and the county both are participating in that effort. >> Okay. Um, so it sounds like for this
it will be at least a year until any structure within the city exists that would begin being able to do like a demonstration project or >> I I don't know that I'd say it's an entire year. I think our effort is to uh get some get somebody on board. Um,
again, we're looking at funding that would become available July 1. So get somebody on board and then um uh begin the process of recruiting and defining the role of this and then that that consultant while we would like to hold
them for an entire year their um their initial work would be to actually staff and get it up and running. So we want to kind of get get the commission up and running with the training wheel still on before we before we let it go entirely. So the short answer I don't have a date
as to when it would be up and operational and considering gifts and and considering you know decisions and making recommendations to council but it would be I would anticipate less than a year. >> Okay. And then the other question I had which it sounds like the answer is likely just we don't know at this point
is what would it look like as just like a theoretical example if the city was like we prioritize having a mural on the Belmont bridge kind of what that would look like from introduction of idea to execution and I guess that's just not known or defined yet. I think not and
not precisely known but what I would what I would suggest it would look like it was one of the first things a we're asking this consultant to do is define the process and procedures that this commission would work under but what I would anticipate is something along the lines of a work plan that they would probably bring before council on an
annual base and say here are the projects we're looking to pursue in the upcoming year um and then they would they would go through a process in that case of of you know releasing something akin to a RFP or something along those lines to solicit proposals and make a
selection which ultimately would result in a recommendation to council to fund one of those, you know, one option or the the option that they're recommending. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, >> Nat. >> Um, thank you. So, just to clarify, this
is not like a signage enforcement body. >> This is not a signage enforcement body. We have a signage enforcement body. >> Great. Um, and then you mentioned monuments and memorials. I imagine that would be coordinating with the Historic Resources Commission, with other groups.
>> Yeah, this is an entity that's going to have to coordinate with a number of different organizations both within and outside of the city. Um in that particular case, yeah, we would expect that they would they would coordinate with the um HRC, um the Historic Resources Commission, but also, you
know, a core element is going to be coordinating with, you know, parks and wreck, for example, in ensuring that we're installing objects that can stand the weather, stand the test of time, as the one example we've shown did not.
>> Right. And is that the the role of the halftimeish person would be to help coordinate amongst those departments. So there would be staff leazison. >> The idea right now is that we're aiming for just providing administrative support for this body. And so it would be coordinating and and you know
ensuring that there's people at the meetings who can speak to the issue to the to the commissioners. >> Okay. Great. Thanks. Um, and then um I know there's some concerns with
uh we've we've talked about this before. Um like murals in the streets, crosswalks, bumpouts, that sort of thing. >> Yeah. >> Would that be under this purview as well? >> Yeah, we would we'd anticipate that that uh that's that's art on public property.
um they would coordinate with our public works and our planning offices NDS to uh to to put a program like that back into place. We've had we had a program like that in place in the past. The issue that arose was the First Amendment
concerns around the content of what was being painted into street murals. That's that's one of the issues we're trying to get past with the with the formation of this commission. Can you talk a little more about that? >> Yeah, I mean the the the notion is and
and John, you can step in at any point if I'm if I'm messing up, but the notion is that by having clear set of process and procedures and criteria, we um we are we are creating a fair um uh platform and not creating a a a venue
for free speech. We we are we are >> I'll let you >> the term we use is is creating an open forum. So there are traditional places where speech happens and and there are places where it doesn't happen but the government can open up forums and if we open up an area or a program for
expression we are not allowed to we're allowed to limit in as far as the time place and manner of that expression takes place but not the content because that gets into first amendment concerns. So by creating criteria around these things, we're actually creating a
limited public form. It's a limited as far as the the safest way to do it is actually for us to adopt the speech. And it's a government speech. The speech that the city of Charlottesville wants to have out there and our public art uh commission can be the vehicle to which we decide how we want uh the
government's voice to be expressed through art. And that is the uh that's the quickest primer I can do on first amendment law right off the top of my head. >> Sure. So instead of it being like here's a corner people put whatever you want it's here's a corner here's an RFP for what the city would like to be in that corner
>> for example >> look you can you can have a our program that allows anybody we have a free speech wallet here allows anybody to put anything they want up in place but you lose control of what can be written there you have to take the good with the bad uh and often times in our modern environment there are people looking to
exploit these kinds of things to uh uh for well I'll just use an internet term to troll the local government or to troll the purpose of the uh of the um speech. So, um it's it's not a bad idea to put up some guard rails to make sure that that sort of thing doesn't happen. >> So, similar in a in a prior community, I
did a a uh street bumpout program where we installed public uh murals within the and then those bumpout areas >> and we we did it through an RFP. We actually paid the artists who succeeded in in um who responded that RFP and and
succeeded in being selected. But we had a selection committee that picked which which installations to make. But it was clear that this was this was a these were city or town in that case sponsored murals. They weren't >> facilitating access to this canvas,
>> right? We weren't we weren't we weren't it wasn't a come and paint whatever you'd like here. >> Okay. Um, and then for the uh consultant, you said the $100,000 was approximate. Um, I assume that means we
haven't really scoped that and chatted with folks yet. >> No, we have not scoped it in detail. >> So then I would be interested in wondering if that yearlong timeline is also kind of a guess and maybe we, you know, we start scoping it and talk to people, oh, we only need six months or something.
>> Yeah. I mean that and and frankly if if the desire is that we we come back with a lower number we would we would probably one of the first places we'd look is to reduce the time frame. But the notion was that we wanted to try and set this up as I said with kind of a period of time where there were training wheels on um the commission because it's
a new um area for the city and we want to make sure we we get it kind of going correctly. >> Yeah. Yeah. No, I >> particularly in that first flush of activity. >> Yeah. I appreciate the the desire to do it right. I'm also >> we have a strong sense of pent-up demand.
>> Yes. I think it would surprise no one up here that I also want to move quickly. Um okay, thank you very much, >> Jin. >> Um yeah, thank you for getting gathering this all together. Um the I think after
our budget conversation um it's good to revisit that 1% for art you know for paying for it reestablishing that um fund for the arts. I had seen that Richmond does 1 and a.5% actually 1% for
the art and half% for the maintenance which I thought was fascinating and they do it for on any CIP projects over $250,000. So there's there were a couple of examples I saw for the sustainability of the >> um >> and the cities was also tied to C CIP
projects. I don't recall what the threshold was in terms of the of the dollar figure, but it was also for CIP >> for that threshold. >> Yeah. Okay. So, that's interesting. And I think what I'm also um so this advisory would advise for proactive
requests for art as well as uh dealing with uh you know requests from the reactive requests from public gifts. Sorry, gifts. Okay, great. Um, yeah, I think that will be defining what art is will be very much a part of the there's
a lot of nomenclature I'm sure the consultant will need to tackle in making these definitions, but deassessioning uh removing art. >> Yeah. >> Um, are there opportunities for that to
also explore how we can use that to generate revenue for selling off decommissioned pieces etc? Is that allowed? >> You know, uh I don't know the answer to that. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be allowed where where there's value remaining in the piece that we
choose to remove. Um uh so I I think that's certainly possible. I mean, it's the idea is that the city has a public art collection and we're intending to proactively manage that collection over time. And that may
include the decision that this is a piece that no longer speaks to us for whatever reason. So maybe >> Yeah. Or I mean, you know, Darden gets the new decommissioned garden of sculpture. Yeah. There's I
guess we'd have to really consider where and what we do with all of those pieces that rotate out because I was thinking about the cows from Chicago from ages ago and I guess it's in North Carolina but they did end up selling those to businesses to keep, right? >> So, you know, that was a revenue stream
>> and a a number of organizations use things similar to those cows and stuff as a fundraising. So actually recently we had a proposal come to the city for >> uh service dog organization seeking to put uh uh statues of dogs painted in the
similar way for a fundraising event and that's something that we would have taken through this commission had it existed. Instead we kind of had to handle it on a more ad hoc nature and that has to come to council for a decision. >> Got it. Fantastic. Thank you for clarifying that. That's all I had.
>> Oh, thank you. So, um, is council in agreement to move this ordinance, um, and resolution to the April 6 consent agenda? >> All right. Thank you, sir. >> Absolutely. >> So, it's not um, Jim, it's not a public hearing.
>> It's possible to comment. >> There's a second public comment at the end. >> Yeah. The next item on the agenda is a resolution in support of high performance building standards. Crystal Good evening, mayor.
>> Good evening, mayor and members of city council. I'm Crystal Ritterval, director of the office of sustainability. Um, and I'm here this evening with a high performance buildings resolution for your consideration. This resolution would replace the city's 2008 green
building policy and it accomplishes Sorry, have to remember I have to move this forward. One second. Okay. Um, this resolution accomplishes alignment with state requirements and also establishes high performance building standards for the
design, construction, operation, maintenance, and renovation of all municipal buildings. And so, these standards are the outcome of a recently completed project that I will share more about in just a moment. Um just for a little background first,
as we're well aware, the city adopted its current greenhouse gas emission reduction goals in 2019 and shortly thereafter an internal standard operating procedure related to energy and water management was issued. This was an initial attempt um at setting new
operational, technological and behavioral expectations for all city buildings and employees around energy and water efficiency. In 2023, the community climate action plan was adopted. The plan covers both the role of and the opportunities within the
community and the municipal sector. Within the municipal sector, which contributes to 5% of the overall emissions, buildings account for over half of those emissions, largely linked to their energy use. The climate action plan identifies various building related
strategies aimed at reducing energy demand and around clean energy sourcing. And then our comprehensive plan also contains statements and strategies that support buildings that are high high performing, sustainable and efficient.
Um, the development of the high performance building standards and the adoption of this resolution are aligned with the city's environmental regulations and policy review project, a phased multi- project multi-year project, which you received a presentation on back in January this
year. Specifically, this project falls under the project topic of energy efficiency. And what we're bringing to you today is a related deliverable. In addition to our local Charlottesville policies and commitments, there's a relatively recent state requirement that
lo localities meet the the standards of the state's high performance buildings act. This requirement went into effect in July of 2021 for localities with populations over 100,000 and then on July 2023 for all others.
The Virginia code now requires that new buildings and major renovations are designed, constructed, and operated to comply with high performance building certification programs such as the US Green Building Council's LEA program, which is leadership in energy and
environmental design. It also requires that localities um ensure that these buildings have sufficient zero emission vehicle charging and fueling infrastructure, have features that permit the locality to measure the building's utility consumption and
associated carbon emissions, and incorporates appropriate resilience features and distributed energy features. This last part involving resilience features is about anticipating climatedriven environmental conditions in our region and their
impacts on the built environment and their occupants which we are doing through our ongoing climate adaptation and resilience planning project. Um this this is not new to this locality. Charlottesville has long been committed to designing, constructing,
and operating high performance or green buildings to optimize occupant health and comfort, maximize building longevity, reduce annual operating costs, and minimize environmental impacts. Since the completion of the downtown transit station in 2008, all
major building construction and renovation projects have achieved lead certification at the gold or higher level in line with the green building policy that was adopted at that time. So all that said, these building strategies and practices were not
available in a centralized, accessible and standardized system. So therefore with the consensus and the support of our facilities colleagues we embarked on a project to develop high performance building standards for our mun municipal program. The goals of the project were
to develop a tool to guide municipal building projects and operations by codifying and consolidating an already robust set of practices and standard operating procedures. Again, I just want to reiterate this was not starting from scratch to establish a central
repository for best practices as recognized by those involved and engaged in delivering and managing buildings and building systems. So, the project moves the city forward on its climate and sustainability goals while also serving as a model model to the community.
Outcomes of the project include defining expectations for new and existing buildings, aligning with city commitments on climate and sustainability, capturing the Commonwealth of Virginia mandates, providing actionable guidelines, and supporting the delivery
of quality and consistency across the organization. So, here you have a quick overview of our project timeline. It was included as an item in the um FY24 climate action work plan with most of the work happening over an 18month period. After
reviewing similar efforts from some peer communities, we hired a consultant team made up of Thrive and CMTA, both of who have extensive green building experience and knowledge of our city building portfolio. Starting in fall of 2024 and then into
2025, we held a series of extensive technical work sessions with an interdep departmental team. These were project managers, sustainability professionals, and building professionals who brought both insight and experience with buildings, including and importantly those who are responsible for
maintenance. And so I do want to take a moment to express really sincere appreciation for the folks and the time that they gave to this process. Um it was essential in discussing and coming to consensus on what should be presented in the standards as our current
practices. Those things that we are doing or that we agree we should be doing going forward. There was a comprehensive process of reviewing drafts issuing um resolving issues reconciling differences and then finally um not a moment too late on December
31st uh version 1.0 0 of the first high performance building standards was published. We've been socializing the standards in a couple of ways, including a recent briefing to city leadership team and an internal openhouse where folks could meet the project team and learn more. And then additional
resources and training are in the works. And today we're here with a proposed high performance building resolution to establish the policy with the standards identified as the key implementation mechanism. The high performance building standards
outline the procedures that apply broadly to the planning, design and construction of high performance buildings. The introduction um the introductory section has a matrix to assist project managers and designers in assessing which requirements within the
standards apply to specific projects. And then there are many chapters of technical uh technical guidance sections that cover an array of topics organized by traditional building categories. building envelope, building materials, mechanical, electrical, plumbing
systems, commissioning, site design, and such. A key characteristic that establishes which requirements are applicable to a project building to a building project, including pursuing thirdparty certification, our size and value. And so, without going too far in the weeds,
although I'm happy to go through the tables with whoever wants, um, I just want to show you a snapshot of how that breaks out. So you see we have new construction, renovations and then some other categories and then within those there's a size differentiator and then within those there's some of the
complexity of the of the buildings such as conditioned or unconditioned and then these value um uh thresholds. So this is both a best pra a best practice approach and it's also consistent with the applicability criteria that are found in the state requirements.
The standards are organized in a tiered manner in a way that should make sense to folks who are used to looking at sets of project specifications. And so while the document is lengthy in its entirety here we have it has no pictures.
It's conceived to be concise, readily accessible, and userfriendly. It goes without saying that building code, state building code laws and regulations are the floor. They're the basis. Nothing in these standards dilutes that. We are building upon that with the standard establishing current
practices as our internal requirements and these are intended to standardize building meth methods across all departments and all project types. The standards then also pres present strategies and technologies that may be appropriate for some projects. These are
in the standards. These are referred to as opportunities and then also point to developing technologies for staff to monitor or to consider piling piloting and these are considered stretch goals. It's recognized that there are
situations where compliance with the standards can't be won't be a cannot be accomplished and so um there is a waiver process contemplated in the standards but I will point out that relief from practices required by the code of Virginia would need to come to council
for a resolution. It's also contemplated that the standards will undergo routine review and I anticipate that that will happen in less than a year from now as we take the training wheels off and and work them and get feedback on them as was mentioned in one of the public comments
earlier. But the review will ensure that they provide appropriate current practices, that they are supportive of project delivery, that we ensure compliance with state requirements, and that they remain aligned with our local goals and commitments. We would expect that as time goes on, items that are
currently presented as opportunities may move into the current practices category and likewise things which are stretch goals may become opportunities or current practices. In addition, um we have updated the original internal energy and water
management SOP that I mentioned to bring it in alignment with these standards and have also developed a new internal SOP specific to the high performance building standards. So finally we have a number of supporting resources that are being put in place. Um we have a checklist that
goes along with this book and the checklist basically distills just the current practices so that a project manager has an easy guide to go through and see what will be relevant to a project scope that they're tackling. Uh we have uh launched an intranet site where the document and a number of
supporting resources are available to all staff. That'll be a dynamic space where we can keep adding things. Um, we also did actually just update the public facing web page so the public has access to this document and we're working on developing some additional public facing materials.
So with that um I appreciate the time this evening to present this climate action project and for your consideration of the proposed resolution which as I mentioned accomplishes alignment with the state requirements and establishes our own high performance standard as the implementation
mechanism. Happy to answer any questions you have. >> Was that just me or was a little >> No, it happened. Okay. All right. >> I'm glad it wasn't just me. >> Okay. I just want to make sure it's been a long day. Uh I'll start with Lloyd first. Do you have any questions or comments? Lloyd?
>> Uh yeah. First question I had is following up on a question that we were asked in the public matters earlier on. Will this apply to school buildings as well? >> Well, the way it's written, it applies to municipal facilities. And so from our perspective that is definitely schools
and given that the capital projects and project and building management is done by the city it's all looked at on the same plate. >> I I would think so. I would agree with that actually. I mean and and and very often
very often um a lot of the design decisions that have been um that were selected in our recent middle middle school project ended up setting a very good like current um example of practices that we wanted to codify.
>> Okay. I it sounds like a great idea to me. I'm all in favor. >> Nothing further. Michael, uh, similar line and maybe I'm just not interested. So, does it apply to
city funded buildings if the city is not owning and operating it but was a funer for it? >> I think that's a policy decision that still needs to be discussed. At this point it doesn't it it doesn't specify that it's that broad but I think that's a policy decision to
>> I I would think the matter would have to be reconciled with whatever agreement that we have in place with the party occupying the space uh because not all city-owned buildings are occupied by city um staff even. So that would be one of those things that we would look at um
with the city attorney's office as it relates to their lease agreements and things like that. Mhm. But it's not yet. It's not currently in the document. >> It's not currently. >> No. So currently it is cityowned operated but not necessarily if there's
a funding connection. >> So not included would be city funds it or the city owns the building but there's say a separate nonprofit in it rather than the city itself. Um or parks included like park facilities. Okay. Um
and um sorry again I was I'll admit to getting distracted by the lights going out. Okay. >> What was the what was the answer on school facilities? >> Yes. In >> okay um and stepping back just so I can try to understand where we're at. So we
had an existing policy about for our buildings striving for gold or platinum lead certification or >> uh we didn't actually specify the level. It basically said that we would use lead as the as the guide and we essentially have made the decision as an organization to pursue lead
certification for all those buildings that you saw on that slide. I think there were a total of seven and not because we were chasing points but because of design decisions and um operate you know building and construction decisions along the way each one of those reached gold and so in
lead you get certified silver gold and platinum and all and our set of buildings are either gold or platinum. >> Okay. Um so what kind of what strength does this have above that existing policy of pursuing
de facto I guess gold and platinum lead certification? Um I think one of the biggest benefits is that um the city touches a lot of buildings that aren't new construction or major renovation that would go down that route of certification and yet there are still building components that are relevant to
establish a consistent standard around whether that's you know a a water sense toilet or an energy star certified appliance. You might go in and do a unit replacement and want to establish a performance requirement for that piece of mechanics even if the building's not
going to go for full certification or um we have put in there that um there are um characteristics around paint selection, right? Low low or no VOCC paint. Well, that's what we do already. it's just not written down anywhere and that room that got painted isn't going
for lead certification, but we still want to apply that type of building practice to that type of a project. >> So, I guess we kind of permanently institutionalize best practices. >> We will try to, you know, expedite the
response so we can get them all. >> Okay. >> Okay. a hum and uh and expand the number of buildings that could be coming. >> Right. So, it's it's both building all new construction, major renovations, but
then essentially all maintenance projects as well. if we have to replace a toilet, if we have to fix a light bulb, if we have to So, it's it's basically the gamut from a small widget replacement to a full comprehensive building design construction. >> And sorry, final just final question for
the areas where there's language around like if deemed, >> who is determining that? Um, I think that's maybe an example of this subjective language that still needs to
be cleaned up as we work through this. But our office is going to largely be, I guess, the owners of the program, the build, the guide, the document, and will lead the updates and renovations thereof. Um there I think if there's a question of
whether a standard can be achieved, it will be considered through this waiver process and there's a committee that consists of a representative from public works from parks and wreck and from our office who will work together to arrive at that and make a recommendation.
>> Well, I'll just say I don't if we're passing this this the desire to pass this tonight or is this just a discussion? Um it's it's this is a first reading. I think it's up to you, but it can it can go to the consent agenda next time. >> Well, I I would be interested in further
discussion around the clarifying the scope of how many buildings apply as well as clarifying some of the subjective language um which just from feedback we received today and um you know from this initial discussion seems like areas where it could be strengthened.
>> Yeah. And I think um I think that the resolution can be passed and that those improvements can still be made to the to the standards. So again, I'll take your lead. >> That's where I'm at. Okay. >> Take your lead.
>> Take your lead. Um sorry, >> council. Um just real quick, I want to claim this is a single reading item. If you want it to be a single reading item, it's a resolution that's not appropriating money. So you're free to pass this in a single reading. And would could we say something like pass contingent on updating the language in
the official document >> um >> as discussed or something? >> Typically don't like that kind of contingent uh passing of a of a legislative act. It's not not typically good practice. >> Yeah. You may as well identify what
you'd like us to do and let us do that and bring it back >> and then bring it back. Okay. Um I because in addition to the the who has the final say, I think that is a is a good point about clarifying that and then also since um at least two people
wondered if it was schools as well, maybe clarifying that. So that's noted in there too. Um my questions were about the the waiverss and just making sure I understand the levels that are being applied here. So yes, there's already building code and then if we pass high
performance building standards, if there's an instance where it's infeasible, a waiver may be requested >> to to this committee to this internal committee. >> Got it. Okay. But then the second bullet
point for that section said relief from HPBS practices required by the code of Virginia requires a resolution by city council. that is something that what what's the scenario of where that >> so if if um if for example we were to build a new building and decide we didn't want to pursue lead certification
council would have to pass a resolution >> establishing authorizing that. >> Okay. But not if it's like someone wants to buy a regular toilet and not a special toilet. >> Well, right. So the toilet example there are buildings where because they're older because of how the plumbing is that water efficient toilet may not be
the right fit. That would be a scenario where it's technically infeasible and that committee would have the information to give that grant that waiver. >> Okay. So what is the difference between the committee waivers and the required by the code of Virginia waivers?
>> Right. So the committee are some are essentially small technical waiverss from standards. Um there's the slide that had the description of those various elements. Um zero emission um vehicle charging um monitoring utilities
having resilience and and um those state >> those kinds of things if we decided if the project decided that or was requesting relief from those requirements that would have to come to council. >> Okay. And my last question is do we see any I is you know since we've already
been building to this standard that assuages some concerns for for hurdles. Um but do we foresee any since we're already aware of the cost of building getting higher and higher and
even state code getting more and more um risk averse? you know, the installation now needs to be R, you know, 45 or whatever in the ceiling. Um, adding cost, are there any major future costs we are signing ourselves up for with
this that we're not thinking about right off the top of our heads? >> No, I I don't foresee anything that's significant. I think in many cases there's either cost parity with some of the strategies. In other cases, if you make a comparison to the buildings we've
been building, it's not like these new buildings under this new standard are going to be significantly different. >> Okay. Thank you, >> J. >> Um, thank you. The um I think you
answered my question about the ongoing review cycle of this. So, that's going to live with you. And then if it had to bump into one of those other areas, we don't have to vote on that. You could make that recommendation. Okay. So, >> we would get final approval from the
city manager. >> Okay. Fantastic. That's I mean, let's everything required. Sounds great. Um, so kind of along Natalie's and I don't know if you had time to look this, but do we have any sense of the expected cost savings over the life of a high
performance building? Well, um, so I know this question came in earlier today and I I was typing up the answer and the answer is it depends. Oh, okay. >> Right. But it depends on the building type. It depends on what the systems are that you're talking about. It depends on whether there's renewable energy included. It depends on how the building
is operated. But there's a lot of sort of industry evidence and experience that um high performance buildings are durable. They're longerlasting. They tend to operate with less energy. They tend to use fewer natural resources. They require less maintenance. And so
there's a whole bunch of ways in which that first cost can be offset. And really one of the reasons local governments are often the perfect candidates for doing high performance building is because we are longtime owners of our buildings. And so that upfront investment is something that we
tend to realize in operational savings. >> Got it. So all of those things listed are really how we're moving towards that 30% energy water intensity reduction. It's we we don't know exactly how fast it's getting us towards that goal, but
it's certainly ticking away. It's on track to do those things. Okay. >> Um and then the resilience piece that you just mentioned that that's kind of baked into the projects. How do we how could we determine that a project would
make a good site for a resilience hub and that or a or you know a um renovation might make how how is that decided? >> Yeah. So um I I think when the state put that requirement in there they were really trying to be um in preparedness
mode about thinking about communities that have facilities or building facilities in areas that are at increased risk of flooding or wind damage or things like that. and and and requiring local governments to like take that into consideration when you build these buildings. Um the separate
question of whether um resilience hubs are contemplated, I think we really have to look again at what type of building it is. Right? If it's going to be an office building, it's unlikely to be a resilience hub. But if it's a new school or school addition, then there are probably elements there that will that
make a lot of sense to think about. and the state requirements pretty broad in terms of like the appropriate resilience features are to be determined by the locality. So I think we're going to do an A+ job.
>> Thank you. Yeah. >> So, I think that you have um some comments and that we've had particularly um from Michael and Natly and I think that you were um shadowing some of what
Natie was saying and um it sounds like that there's a preference to bring it back or it may be still on the consent. >> Yeah, I think just small revisions. I'd like to confirm what I heard just for your benefit so that you can deliver. Um
what about city buildings um not occupied by city staff? We want to have clarity on that. What's the number of buildings that are eligible? Do we have a list of the buildings that are covered by this or is that what we're asking for? >> I mean I think all our buildings would be included. Um, I think the question I
was hearing is if a project is has city funding but it's delivered by another entity, do these standards extend to that project like an affordable housing project or a jointly funded. Is that what I'm hearing?
>> Uh, correct. Together with the city building but non city tenant recognizing that there's a waiver process as well if there is an undue burden for a project. >> Right. But funding a project is very very different than leasing a building that
we own. Are we saying funding a project, we want these conditions to go with our funding? That is much much harder to enforce. >> What about a CRA property, >> right? >> I mean, that's naturally what I would imagine. >> I think the question is not let's do
that, but let's clarify whether or not we're doing that in the if we're not right now, then I think that's I can say that I can clarify that currently those types of projects and funding arrangements are not affected by these standards and this resolution.
>> So I think it's just explicitly stating that >> if that's what we're saying or are we asking to pursue that? I thought I heard otherwise. >> I'd be interested in investigating it. I mean I haven't had time to look deeply into it but from feedback we got today it sounds like Richmond um is more in that direction than this. I don't know
how they set it up. >> Um but that's where I met. The other question, who determines where something is not definitive as a decision? I think we need to explore that. You and James can talk about that one. And um making sure that school buildings are clearly identified.
>> Yes. >> Yeah. So, so in the resolution, it doesn't use the term city buildings. It uses the term municipal buildings to be intentional about covering government and school buildings. So that was actually like a word selection,
but I don't know that we necessarily need to go into the resolution and say which means schools. >> We may not. We may know now, but 20 years from now, >> probably council may not. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> Just >> just a clarification.
>> And not every time municipal comes up, maybe just the first time. >> Okay. So, but you want that change in the resolution or because this is a this is a document that you know we can I like I suspect
version 2.0 or 1.1 is probably going to come in less than 12 months because I think we're going to find little error grammatical errors opportunities to make improvements. So really the question is is the is the change at a policy level in the resolution or is the change in
the implementation tool clarifying it there because um I believe when C3 did their review they did the review of the standards and I think there's a lot of ways in which we can be clearer in this document about those subjective things
or the responsibility things I don't know how much that has to be modified ified in the resolution or how much the resolution has to be modified to address that. >> I I think I heard the just some simple
language change in the resolution. Would that be >> correct? I I think so. Yeah, >> you and I can work on that. I think we can I think we can figure that out. >> Yeah, it's it's like really good. There's just some things that if we're passing it today, let's make sure we're 100% and not at 99.8.
>> No, we want to bring you 100% something next time. I'm not sure I heard us say it in the sum, but there was also questions around the who deemed just making sure some clarity in some of the language. >> I think we got that. Yeah, >> we got that. Okay. Thank you. >> Could I revisit a question I asked a
minute ago? What about CRA properties? And I'm particularly interested in whether they would apply or how they would apply if CRA ends up uh taking title to properties that are already built already affordable housing. Do are
we going to be required to bring them up to some standards and if so at what cost? And what's that going to do to our affordable housing budget? So as this is contemplated today, these standards would not be requirements for those
projects. I think that the standards can serve as really good model just like they would for anybody any other developer in the community or any other building owner. Um, I I would leave it to council as a policy decision
how much further you want this resolution and these type of standards to apply. >> So, it may not have to be included in the resolution or with this, but I think Michael said that seemed like Richmond was doing something if someone could just check with them to see what
language they use or what, >> you know, what angle they took at it. >> And that might end up being a larger thing because of the potential financial impact. So that could be a special addendum for later and we do what we talked about so far next meeting and then keep that in mind for a larger project.
>> I'm thinking about it in the context of there being a waiver process as well. >> Okay. Thank thank you all so much. The next item on the agenda is a resolution to refund $159,94755
to a taxpaying entity or or business. >> Happy Monday, Mr. Mayor and members of council. >> Thank you, sir. >> I wish I was here under more auspicious circumstances. We've got to do a big refund. Um, this is a big contracting firm from out of state. They've been
here for a number of years uh working on projects around UVA. Um some of them, believe it or not, we're not giving it all back. Some of the uh gross receipts they've derived are in the city. Um but we've determined that
the gross receipts associated with this refund were in Almar County and we're supposed to give them back and state code and city code says anything over a $10,000 threshold I have to bring to your attention. Um, I've prepared a memo for the city attorney's office. They've
approved it. They've agreed that that's the right decision. That's it. Yeah, that happens. Okay. Um, any questions on this? >> Yeah. Is this the same as we've seen in
the past where they just Charlottesville is a general? >> Yeah, I mean, it's a it's a large out of town contracting firm. uh their accounting is done somewhere else. They think they're doing their project in the
city of Charlottesville because everything says Charlottesville. So, they file with us. We try to catch these things. Um I got two people who check thousands of tangible property returns and business license returns. Um so, we
missed one. >> There is what it is. I'm happy to know the resolution. >> Yep. Lloyd, you you you have anything? >> No. >> Okay. Is there a motion to >> Oh, you may second.
>> Um, all in favor, please say yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> That wasn't as strong as some other ones. >> I was like, is it applicable? Okay. >> No. All oppose, please say no. Uh,
>> great. >> Thank you, sir. >> All righty. Thank you'all. >> Um, we're now um for the >> I have just few questions on the written report. Okay. >> For the staff that serve on this committee. So, this is the main committee to coordinate planning between
Charlottesville and UVA. Correct. >> Yes. >> And uh no elected officials sit on this committee. Correct. >> Correct. Uh and this committee is not open to the public or elected officials. Correct.
Um at these meetings, so this is the main body for coordination between Charlottesville and UVA. Was there any discussion of student housing or UVA's um development plans over the next few years? >> I could not speak to that specifically. Um we can find out, but I don't know
that off the top of my head. I know interestingly in their report there are no presentations given by UVA. They were all Habitat city or county in VOTE which is interesting but that's it. I always like to bring that up. Um a fascinating situation for the main body to
supposedly coordinate planning between our largest employer and land owner. >> Yeah. Um this is a second opportunity for public input. Who would like to speak? Yes. Mr. Mayor and members of council, I'd
like to first uh speak in support of the public art effort. Um I had the pleasure a few years ago when I was down here in my capacity as planning and economic developer development director in Falls Church to talk with Mr. Freeze. We were
at a student career uh program uh in City of Falls Church. We wandered around trying to figure out public art for a number of years and we were able fortunate to uh engage the uh stu masters of planning program at UVA who
came up and did a beautiful job talking to everybody, talking to our arts people, doing an inventory of all the properties in the city. They developed a really lovely uh award-winning U report uh that our council later adopted,
created a comprehensive plan overlay with guidelines about public and private art. Public art is really important. It helps make a city. I've enjoyed being able to look at and use a QR code to learn about the history. It may be on a telephone pole on West Main Street, but
it it tells you about what's going on. that program has really paid off for the city and they're doing a lot with it. Uh I would also suggest that u uh they have landscape architects and planners and others who could help. Can't we have a new way of thinking about the new open
spaces that we've created that no longer have old artwork in them? I mean, these are public parks that could be places where families come and they're designed for for family activities. They're all over the city and they're
sitting there with either pedestals or nothing happening. There's a lot of creativity up there. They're working on projects all over the world. It would be great if they worked on some in Charlottesville. So, I I just have had personal experience with this. I can share with you the copies of the plans. You can talk to our mayor and others,
but it was a very good experience. And that was that was a few hundred that was 100 plus miles away. But I can't say enough about the talent that's there. They also usually have to do it in a semester so you don't have to wait forever. And I'm sure they I don't know if they do a consulting thing but they
can use the money as well. So I just want to say that to you as an opportunity. My own experience with student plans and student planning has been we get better plans for cheaper. It also won a a VAPA uh award at their from the planning program uh their annual
program. So again I want to support the public art effort. Uh commend Mr. Freeze and the manager for bringing this up and just offer those ideas to you. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else like to speak? Mr. Hall? >> Yeah. I'd just like to say that uh as
far as new buildings that are constructed. >> Yes. >> There's a new technology that has come about. It's uh called uh solar panels with net metering. And what that means is uh once you have solar panels and you afford to build that as part of the
building, let's say, that makes it an asset uh as far as the power consumption because net metering means you're factoring power back into the grid and you're getting uh compensated for it.
>> So therefore becomes city asset for for you. So any new building should certainly have solar panels. And I just wanted to mention that uh as far as my TV show is concerned, you know, I was trying to cover a lot of things about
plastics. And there's a current uh show that you can click on just by going to the site. It's CPA TV 13. Uh, I'm on Tuesday nights at uh 6:30 and Thursday
nights at 8:30 on that channel. And uh we are going to be talking about uh the Iran conflict too on the show. So >> you might want to tune in on the 24th.
>> Thank you, sir. Anyone else like to speak? Yes, sir. Thank you. Uh I didn't say my name before. I'm Frank Victor. I live in FIville. Um I just want to continue with what I had said before. Continuing with this analogy. Um let me just speak in simple terms at the end of the meeting
here because it's time to go home probably. Um there's a kind of on the one hand on the other hand uh analogy I'd like to give you and it's a there's a sort of a let's make a deal approach and it should be opposed to or should be
compared to uh consistency approach. So on the one hand in Fville, you guys have done marvelous things in supporting uh grocery store development of 501 Cherry. You guys have cons for years done wonderful things in uh
coordination with the FFL neighborhood association and in uh and other groups have too with for a small area uh community area plan. Um, so on the one hand that's all good and we could say, well, yeah, you know,
let's make a deal. On the other hand, well, we're just going to chop off your other hand. You're not going to have that hand anymore, but you've done all we've done all these good things for your other hand. So, the alternative to that way of thinking, let's make a deal, is consistency.
And that's what people in Fville probably think. I know I do, like, wow, you guys have been so wonderful with us. The city has been so wonderful. other groups have too. It seems as if we all agree that it's a good thing to build up Fville in certain kinds of ways. It's
surprising to find that the zoning has created a situation perhaps unexpected even by council that a very very large building would want to be there. Now, I brought up the Dominion example before where it's it's well known that not
wealthy communities, but usually poorer communities, often black communities have to bear the burden of having a big compress compressor station for Dominion power. I'm no expert on that. I don't I think those are the right words. Um, so
Dominion knows or we or gets taught by everyone. No one in their right mind really wants this compression station there. It has certain risks association associated with it. Noise, gas has to be converted into electricity. But hey, we'll do something for you. We got a lot
of and we notice you don't have money. We do. Let's give you a community center or something like that. Well, that's what we have as a situation in Fville. Now, FIL is a historically disenfranchised community,
underrepresentative community, and it doesn't have a lot of people who can lawyer up real quick and know all the language to to be able to have even known that the zoning that was proposed. Um, would be some danger to it, especially with that with that uh
website that says, "Oh, we're taking care. It's in character with the district that it's in." So, I'm encouraging you, of course, to be consistent and to not need to go with the let's make a deal approach. >> Thanks so much.
>> Anyone else like to speak? >> If not, can I get a motion to adjourn? >> So, moved. >> Can I get a second, please? >> Second. >> All in favor, please say yes. >> Yes. >> Or the post, please. No. Thank you. >> Lord, you can go. You can go to sleep,
man. >> Night breakfast. What's up? It's uh let's see. It's about 6 a.m. here. So, yeah. >> Yeah. >> Safe travel. >> Byebye.