James River Exchange

Terri Long is on and excited about the Victory Hall Players production of “A Christmas Carol: The Live Radio Play.” Last show is this evening. Doors open at 7:00…show at 7:30. You can get tickets at the door or click here for tickets.

Thomas is swapping his many hats he has worn for the past three years for one! Well done, Thomas.

Saturday, December 4th was another great one for the Town of Scottsville. Lots of folks came out to celebrate, and Lori Madden brought musicians and dancers from the Blue Ridge Irish Music School (BRIMS). To learn more visit their website at: https://www.blueridgeirishmusic.org/.

It’s that time of the year! Time for lots of cheer! Scottsville and Buckingham are kicking off the Christmas Season with lots of activities. In Scottsville:

In Buckingham:

From the James Exchange on this Thanksgiving Day: All the best to everyone!

In this, The James Exchange’s maiden voyage of A Minute With the Mayor, you will hear about changes in the Scottsville Police Department and five zoning public hearings on the docket for December and January.

Following the initial minute or two or three with the Mayor, Matt Lawless reads the resolution of civil discourse…

I will be back on Thanksgiving Day with the “Sign Lady!”

This is Nancy Gill with the James Exchange. I am here with Donna Price and we're going to discuss the Southern Albemarle convenience center. On October the 19th, the Albemarle Planning Commission had the task of determining whether or not this convenience center was in compliance with the comprehensive plan. And, they found that it was. So, welcome, Donna. How are you doing today?

Great Nancy, and thank you so much for having me on your podcast. 

So, I know that you and Liz Palmer worked really hard on this initiative together. It was something that came up a few years ago and for whatever reasons, the Board of Supervisors did not move forward on it, but now it looks like they are. Could you just tell me what you and Liz did together to bring this back to the table?

Thank you, Nancy and happy to do so. And, it is very important to acknowledge that this was Supervisor Liz Palmer of the Samuel Miller district, as well as myself of the Scottsville district, working together, working hard to get this back on track. And, as many of your listeners know a few years ago, this has been proposed in two different locations at Mill Creek as well as at Keene.  Back then, unfortunately, the conversation sort of got hijacked into people, not understanding the difference between a convenience center and a transfer station, and it fell by the wayside. But, in early 2020, pre pandemic, Supervisor Palmer, and I were working very hard to try and get this back on track and we actually had a great start on it. We were working on the budget in February of 2020. The board had agreed to put money aside to look at this again, and then bam, the pandemic hit. And, when the pandemic hit because of the concerns over the economy, we just put almost everything on hold, cut back all our expenses, because we just didn't know where the economy was going to go. And so this initiative had to be put by the wayside, but now that the economy has recovered sufficiently and the county's finances are looking good, this has moved forward. It has received Board of Supervisors approval. The last real legislative step was the Planning Commission meeting, which you just talked about in your opening, where they did determine it was consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. It's in the design stage for bidding and that will go out. Bidders will come in and it will move forward. Hopefully, before too terribly long, we will actually see progress on this convenience center. So, we are excited about both it and its location, Nancy.

So, the way this is going to work is anybody can actually take their household trash and recycling to this area, whether they're from Buckingham, Fluvanna, or Southern Albemarle, because there is a $2 a bag fee. And, there is to be a sticker that will be put on each individual bag. Correct? So this was one of the issues that came before the commissioners. And basically it was determined that Buckingham already has so many areas for household trash and recycling that chances are people from Buckingham were not going to rush to Keene, to rid their homes of unwanted items.

And, you really bring up a good point, Nancy. And that is some of our surrounding counties have their own convenience centers and a big point to make sure people understand it's a convenience center, not a train. That means there will be no commercial waste brought there. Similarly, it is not for large items. It's what you can fit in a 32 gallon bag. That's the largest size that is to be accepted. And it's $2 tag, a bag. You buy these little orange tags, you stick them on your bag and you throw the bag in the big receptacle as well as recycling. But our typical recycling plastic paper, cardboard, newspaper, glass cans, that sort of thing. So it's a convenient center for household use no commercial, no industrial, no big trucks. And if you're, if you live in Scottsville and you're driving to work in Charlottesville, you just pull off the road, go through the convenience center, throw your trash away. So you don't have stinky garbage in your car all day and head on into work. And that's one of the other things we're working on is to have early hours. So it is convenient for people heading up into town.

For instance, and I believe you do as well as several households do in Southern Albemarle. We actually work with people who come around and pick up trash and this isn't going to go away. I don't believe because not everybody will want to do that drive. And so they will still keep their trash pick up people that they like. So it's not doing away with that.

No, and it really won't impact. We don't believe it will impact significantly on that. There are large commercial haulers. They're still going to be doing this. And then there are the smaller independents that will also collect trash, but you're admin. Not everyone wants to do this. And for some people, it may not be as convenient as others. And they would just assume continue with the practice that they have. But later today, after this recording is made, I will be one of those people who will put some of my household waste in my truck and I will drive the 45 minutes to Ivy, put my $2 tag bags in the trash, off my recycling and drive 45 minutes back home. When we get this Keene convenience center open, I, and most of the people who live within a seven and a half to 10 mile distance will be able to cut that down to about 20 minutes each way, maybe less. And it like say, if you live in Scottsville and you're driving to Charlottesville, it may be five minutes out of your way to swing through there, drop off your stuff. So it's an equity issue. It's a quality of life issue and it's definitely a convenience issue.

And on the recycling still that's you come that's free. It's just your tag, a bag, $2, buy your stickers at a retail location. That's my understanding,.

Rihanna Solid Waste will actually handle that part of it. But yes, there are, there are going to be mechanisms that will be convenient for people to buy their $2, um, tags to drop off their waste at the convenience center. Convenience is the big word here.

I think it's, um, been a long time coming because I believe this discussion started back in the seventies. That's the 1970s.

In terms of that purchase, you know, Scottsville is doing so much right now. I mean, it is a happening place. We've got the DMV Select down there. You can buy your fishing licenses there. It's the perfect place at, you know, city, Town Council spaces, to be able to have the tags for people to conveniently pick them up while they're there and perhaps other retail establishments in town as well. You know, one other thing Nancy, I do want to mention, and that is safety is an important consideration with regard to this. And, we all know that Highway 20 of late has not been the safest, not just at the Keene location, but throughout Highway 20 and particularly down near Scottsville. And, we've been working closely with the town, with the Albemarle County Police Department with VDOT, with County staff. And, I have pushed really hard to County staff and VDOT to look at things that need to be done at this intersection where Highway 20, Esmont Road, and Coles Rolling come together to improve safety and visibility there. And, that may be any number of things, you know, the larger stop signs on the side roads, the lit stop signs, caution signs and lights. Much like you have at Red Hill Road by the Middle School coming south on 20, which really reduced the incident of traffic accidents there. I also want to be sure to understand that we do care about the neighbors in closest proximity to this location, so appropriate screening and buffering. There will be no lights at night. It will all be manned whenever it's ope so we, we do take seriously our responsibility and obligation to all of the property owners and all of our community members, um, including those who are in closest proximity to this location.

Well, I want to close out because the next time I tal…

Good Monday Morning everyone in the Greater Scottsville area. This is the James Exchange, and I am your host, Nancy Gill.

As I have reported on numerous occasions through this podcast, change is afoot in Scottsville. Primarily through special use permits that have been recommended to Council by the Planning Commission. The applications for the Upper Bird and Blenheim Heights developments are now under the purview of Council. 

Items on the agenda for the meeting this evening are:

* Best practices in community engagement and public comment

* b) Call public hearings on planning commission reportage (for 12/20, 1/17, or a special meeting)

* Zoning text amendment, section 17, state model floodplain ordinance •

* Zoning text amendment, section 4.11, parking requirements on historic Main Street • 

* Zoning map amendment, Commercial, 153 James River Road • Special use permit, Village 

* Residential cluster, Blenheim Road • Special use permit Village Residential cluster, Bird Street 

* Memorandum of agreement with Albemarle County on Vehicle License Fees

At last weeks’ meeting Mayor Smith did not hold back on his feelings of the vacancies on Town Council, Planning Commission, and the Architectural Review Board.

Excerpt from Mayor Smith’s Report 11.8.2021:Now our Council member and Planning Commission chairman has resigned. There's sort of two parts to this story and the first part is more personal. So, I'm not even going to talk about that. The second part is public. And, this is what's really gotten me upset. With the talk about developing property in town and around town, the Planning Commission chairman has been approached numerous times on the street and in her front yard by some citizens of Scottsville who have made threats…intimidated.

And it's just not like the people of Scottsville…they don't go around harassing and intimidating a volunteer member of Council. It's just not, you know, it reminded me of some of these school board meetings you see on the news where somebody wants to get in a fist fight outside.

And then, directly they have, intimidated and threatened to get the Council members. All of you and me, I guess. Because they said things to her, like we know where you live. If this thing passes, you know, we'll take care of it. Just things that you wouldn't expect residents of Scottsville …and it came to a point where phone calls or texts late at night. So, the Lamberts have put their house on the market.

They're leaving, we're losing a good member of our community, two good members of our community. We're losing a very knowledgeable Planning Commission, chairman and Council member. And I just think that the people of Scottsville…It's like, you know, one bad apple just puts a whole blemish on the whole pile. And, you know, the 99.9% of the people in Scottsville are nice, decent, honest, care for your neighbor people, but there are three or four out there that have shown themselves to be real jerks.

So for that reason, we have a vacancy on council a vacancy on the planning commission. And no matter what your position is on any development, it's just a real shame that we have lost somebody as talented as Shari Lambert to the taunts. And, and I don't even know the right word to use, intimidation by people that can't see how the process works, that it, if we were to pass something for 20 houses, it would five years from now, there might be two or three built.

It's a long drawn out process. And, the public has every chance in the world to put their input. They don't have to do it on the street in a threatening manner to a member of our Planning Commission. And I just hope these people will come around to their senses…if they represent anything, it’s at most the minority of Scottsville. It's not the majority. So that's my report. And I just, thank Shari for all she's done for us in the brief time she's been here. And if anybody has any questions, we'll be glad to answer.

Vice Mayor Gritsko:Mr. Mayor. I was just going to say, I appreciate your words, as I've already mentioned to you, I'm going to speak on the subject the same subject a little bit later, and I thank you too, for the follow-up that you've given Ms. Lambert to, to try to be helpful. And I regret that this, this situation happened that didn't better understand it when it was happening. This is not the kind of thing I agree with you that we would want to have happen in our town.

The Council will take action on this issue through the best practices in community engagement and public comment which is on the agenda.

Our neighbors to the South, in Buckingham, have approved an application from Apex Clean Energy for a solar generating facility on Weyerhauser property on a vote of four to two. They have approved a public hearing on an additional special use permit for Impact Power Solutions for a second facility located in the County.

Meetings for the Town of Scottsville and Buckingham County can be viewed on their respective  YouTube channels.

There is much going on throughout the Greater Scottsville Area, and I will have more on Buckingham later.

Have a great week.

Today is November 11, 2021. It is Veterans Day.

Some of you know that I served the Town of Scottsville as Mayor from 2016 to 2020, and some of you don’t. One honor that comes with the office of Mayor, is giving speeches. I was honored to be asked to give the keynote speech for the rededication ceremony of the Veterans Memorial which is located behind the Farmers’ Market pavilion. I have not changed the contents of the speech even though, much has changed since I spoke my words on November 6, 2016.

Thank you for joining us as we recognize our veterans for their unwavering service to America by re-dedicating the Scottsville Veterans Memorial. It was ten short years ago, that another Mayor stood before you and dedicated this Memorial commemorating those who served in WWI, WWII, Korea, Viet Nam, The Falkins, Desert Storm, Afghanistan and Iraq.

On Friday, November 11th  Americans across our country and throughout the world, will honor our brave men and women who have defended our freedom by their duty, their honor and to those who have lost their lives. Today, we salute their sacrifices through our community’s commitment to care for our Veterans Memorial.

Ten years ago the Veterans of Foreign War , The American Legion and the Town of Scottsville installed the monument behind us. It resembles many monuments constructed in small towns and communities throughout our country that pay homage to members of the Army, Marine Corp, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard--Merchant Marines who have served our country.

You can walk through our local cemeteries and visit the graves of members of our community who fought for our country. 

On a larger scale, Virginia is the final resting place of fallen soldiers of all ages, walks of life and ethnicity. Two and half hours north of us is the Arlington Cemetery. And Virginia is the home of  The National D-Day memorial in Bedford which is only an hour and a half drive. Bedford lost over twenty of its young men during the D-Day offensive marking this loss as the highest to any town per capita in our country.

With today’s technology and the rapid growth of internet services such as Facebook, we see videos of soldiers returning home, surprising their spouses, children, parents and their dogs and cats. This reminds us, that mothers and fathers are being deployed. It brings uncertainty to children who deal on a daily basis of one of their parents not being there for them. Families live with the knowledge that their loved ones may not return home. When they do, it is heartwarming to see the love and pure joy of these reunions. And, when our returning soldiers do not experience the positive reinforcement, it is heartbreaking. Heartbreaking on many levels.

War and combat affects soldiers differently. I was talking with Heather Shetzer and she spoke of returning home from Operation Iraqi Freedom. Her transition back to what we think of as normal was difficult. The relentless, loud noises of rocket and mortar attacks she experienced caused any noise to affect her. Yet, she felt fortunate that she was able to get through the transition. And she comes away with how wonderful the United States is. To have been born and raised here. The freedoms you have when you come home and the simple pleasures of water and electricity. Today, she is co-owner of the Scottsville Supply Company, and she serves the town on the Public Safety committee.

And war affects all of us in ways that we may never know. As a child, rather curious...I looked through my Mother’s wallet. There was a photograph of a man in uniform who was not my father. A few years ago I asked her about it. Raymond Corey served in the Marines and died in Okinawa. This changed the course of my mother’s life.

I want to speak of a man that we see around town. Often times he is with his son, Eric. And, sometimes, he is alone sipping his coffee at Baine’s. He is a soldier who has fought and served our country through three wars. WWII, Korea and Viet Nam. I am sure he has stories that will break your heart and stories that will make you laugh. They are his stories. I consider Billy a hero. Not only because he fought in three wars, but because he lived through three wars and is positive. His smile is infectious and he is loved by our community.

There are other groups here today that we owe a debt of gratitude to. 

First the Auxiliaries of both organizations. These ladies are the life blood of  Veterans of Foreign War and The American Legion. We see them in our community everyday.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars was created in 1899 by veterans of the Spanish-American War. Their objectives are to speed rehabilitation and to assist with widows and orphans of needy or disabled veterans. They maintain their legislative service and the central office for their national rehabilitation program in Washington D.C. This program serves all disabled veterans of all wars.

The American Legion was charted by Congress in 1919. Today, there are over 2.4 million members in 14,000 posts worldwide. They are advocates for our veterans, their families and our communities. They provide numerous programs:  The Family Support Network, Legacy Scholarship Fund, Operation Comfort Warriors, Temporary Financial Assistance and the National Emergency Fund are just a few. 

I quote from their website:

"Veterans need each other, but, more importantly, our country needs our veterans. You cannot fight a war without veterans and while the utopian idea of a society without war is appealing, let us not forget that wars have liberated slaves, stopped genocide and toppled terrorists. Those who defend us from our enemies must be supported. Whether their service was in Baghdad or Beirut, we need to serve veterans as well as they serve us – even when the guns have temporarily stopped firing."

On November 11, 1919 President Wilson proclaimed the first Armistice Day which later was changed to Veterans Day by President Roosevelt:  I quote the words of President Wilson:

To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…

Today we gather to show the respect and honor our veterans have earned and to remind everyone that there is another monument in the Town of Scottsville that was built to commemorate the victory of WWI. Next Saturday at 7:00 pm, we open the doors of Victory Hall with a showing of “Jeremiah” an award winning documentary about Jeremiah Denton who was captured in Viet Nam. He was from Virginia Beach. Please join us. (You can watch this documentary on YouTube. Search for Jeremiah Denton Documentary.)

In closing I want to thank the American Legion Post 74, The Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8169 and the American Legion Post 2003 for organizing this event and staying active in serving all of us.

Thank you for the honor of speaking before you here today.

Good Monday morning to all! You are listening to the James Exchange: all things Scottsville and surrounds. I am Nancy Gill your host.

Scottsville Town Council has two meetings this week. Their regularly scheduled work session is this evening starting at 7:00 in Council Chambers with ZOOM viewing. Just a note, that this is the work session and Council usually does not entertain public comment at these meetings. This isn’t anything new, but I want to stress this since our elected and appointed officials have somehow been labeled as “segregating public opinion.” 

The second meeting is tomorrow evening, November 9, and is a joint meeting with the Albemarle Board of Supervisors. This is the second annual meeting of the two bodies. Last year’s meeting was, “the first such meeting since a summit on boundary adjustment, held at Lumpkin’s in 1993. In 2020, the bodies compared policies and projects, and agreed to meet again. In the past year, staff-level cooperation has improved and extended to most County departments, from parks to police.”

Tomorrow’s agenda includes:

Joint meeting with Board of Supervisors

The information on this has been reported on.

Council rules of procedure for public input

Town Clerk Thomas Unsworth will present some further detail on this topic. In short, there are two kinds of public engagement at Town meetings: legally required public hearings, and everything else. Public bodies have very wide latitude to set house rules as they see fit, either to promote or limit public comment. Constitutionally, the meeting is a “limited public forum” where the efficient function of government can indeed limit free speech. Restrictions on the number and duration of speakers are very common. On the other hand, tools like instant polls and live Tweeting can extend engagement into new spaces. 

Action: Guidance to staff in preparing a change to the Council rules of procedure, or keep existing. 

This references remarks made by Matthew Holt at last month’s public session regarding “segregation of public opinion.” (For more on this listen to my October 24 podcast: To Speak or not to Speak…To Hear or not to Hear.) I will have much more on this later.

Budget and compensation update

The Town’s current fiscal year is one third complete. Revenue to date is 42% of the projected total, and spending is 36% of the total, putting the Town in a positive position. The increased spending is due to rapid and early progress on capital projects, such as the office DMV renovation. The revenue boost comes mainly from federal ARPA funds received. The sales tax revenue is also ahead of projections as retail shopping is strong. Transient occupancy tax is a small line item but performing very well, as new rental properties have launched. Meals tax is the Town’s largest locally controlled revenue line and is ahead of projection for the year so far, looking stronger with two new restaurants opening soon. 

The personnel budget is of concern at the mid-point in the year. Several pay issues have become more urgent. Low pay and raises in recent years creates a burnout and turnover risk in several positions. Neighboring localities have used ARPA funds and strong local revenues to increase salaries, making up for stagnant pay in the 2010-2020 decade.  

Within the current budget, the Town can afford several mid-year changes: upgrade the maintenance position worker position to full-time, which would help with contract and project management in the office; continue paid internships; market corrective for the clerk and administrator of ten percent; hire the new police chief at a more competitive salary. 

Action: directive to staff on pay changes within the current budget. 

Overview of Planning Commission recommendations and context

•Special Use Permit for Cluster Density on Bird Street. Planning Commission recommended approval of this permit on a 2-1 vote, with seven conditions related to site plan, native plants, trails, parks, sidewalks, affordability, and reduced density. Council can keep or modify these conditions, or deny the project outright. The by-right option on the 12-acre site is eight houses. The application is for 48 homes, and the commission recommended 36.

•Special Use Permit for Cluster Density on Blenheim Road. Similarly, Planning Commission recommended approval of this permit on a 2-1 vote, with only four conditions related to site plan, native plants, trails, and reduced density. Council can keep or modify these conditions, or deny the project outright. The by-right option on the 12-acre site is six houses. The application is for 24 homes, and the commission recommended 18.

•Zoning Map Amendment for Commercial at James River Road. Town Council approved special use permits for Tiger Fuels Market in December of 2020. The project is now proceeding towards site plan review. The applicant has two requests related to their plan. First is to rezone their entire site as Commercial. A parcel boundary change creates split parcel zoning.The commission recommended approval 3-2.

•Zoning Text Amendment for Main Street Parking. This gives the same exemption to Main Street parking that is in place for Valley Street-in the Historic District overlay. The commission recommended approval 4-0.

•Zoning Text Amendment for Floodplain. This protects the town. For more information contact the Town office. Vote 4-0.

Other business includes:

2022 Legislative Program for Thomas Jefferson Planning District

Plastic bag tax

Agreement with Albemarle County on Vehicle License Fee administration

I want to thank Matt Lawless for his staff report which I have used in this podcast.

And now late breaking news…or perhaps not so late breaking since I hear the Scottsville rumor mill is in full swing.

Town Council now has two empty seats on the Architectural Review Board, one empty seat on Town Council, and one empty seat on the Planning Commission. Both Shari and Rob Lambert have resigned from their positions, and have listed their home for sale. You can read between the lines all you want, but I will again reference Matthew Holt’s words spoken at the last Town Council meeting. I will have much more on this later, and I encourage Scottsville residents and those who reside in the Greater Scottsville area to listen to my podcast from October 12…”Scottsville: Who Are We?”

That’s it for me until Veterans’ Day.