Snow

Since our wonderful weekend snowfall, it has been my intention to sit down and write an entry on snow. I grew up in New Orleans and snow is still a remarkable event for me. I wanted to be poetic and talk about snow from so many different angles.

Each time I sat down, I realized I had to go shovel a little more here, a little more there. I did this for three days!!!!!! And, when I came back in, cold, wet, tired, there was not a bit of poetry left in my body. I just sat!

So, at the end of this entry, I will simply paste the information I received from the town. All in all, our public works crew did a tremendous job clearing the snow from the roads. I received many compliments from citizens who came into contact with town workers. When questions were asked and requests made, our public works crews responded to our citizens in positive and helpful ways. So, if you see a public works employee, thank them for a job well done.

Before the New Year I hope to look back on 2009 with some thoughts. As we begin 2010, I will complete the promised entry on our new council members, a little about their background, and the unique talents each brings to council. And then I hope to look forward to 2010 and give a preview of some of the issues that I think will be discussed next year.

If you celebrate Christmas, a Merry Christmas to you. If not, I wish you a happy and safe holiday.

From a town report on the “Snow Event” :

December 18th-20th Snow Storm

During the weekend of December 18th the Town received approximately 13 inches of snow. This was one of the largest snow events in several years. On Wednesday, as the weather forecasts began to predict large amounts of snow during the storm, Town Departments began to make preparations. Departments began looking at staffing plans, preparing vehicles, and making arrangements for employees that would not be able to make it home during the storm

As the snow started to fall on Friday, crews from the Public Works Department began to plow and salt the streets. The staff was challenged because of the large number of vehicles on the roads due to commuters and visitors for Virginia Tech’s winter graduation ceremony. The department used twelve trucks to plow Town roads beginning Friday afternoon through Sunday. Approximately 1300 staff hours were committed to ensuring the roads and sidewalks were clear and accessible. The amount of material used is staggering: 275 tons of salt, 400 gallons of liquid calcium, and 273 tons of stone. Public Works staff worked 24 hours a day throughout the weekend to ensure roads and sidewalks remained clear. In addition, this week following the storm crews removed snow from in front of storm drain inlets to allow melting snow to drain into the drainage system to prevent ponding and possible black ice on the road. The Public Works Department is currently monitoring the forecast for the end of this week and the weekend.

Blacksburg Transit began to reduce service Friday afternoon as the snowfall intensified. To ensure all passengers received a return trip home BT staff worked until about 8:00pm. This is normal operating procedure because many passengers don’t have access to the website and/or listen to the radio or television for immediate changes in service. As the weather worsened buses returned to the garage from routes and operations staff remained on routes using SUV’s to make sure everyone was picked up and dropped off safely. BT also remained open until 8:00pm Friday because of the Virginia Tech graduation ceremony held on campus. Another example of why BT remained in operation on Friday night was an Access passenger who had to remain at Virginia Tech until after 7pm because of being designated an essential staff member. BT remained closed Saturday and Sunday due to the weather conditions. Staff was on call if needed for any type of emergency. Two staff members cleared snow at all of the major bus stops with shelters on Sunday. Beginning on Monday, break service was provided while additional staff continued to plow and clear bus stops to ensure the safety of passengers. Buses were rerouted in some areas because utility companies were blocking certain roads while making storm related repairs. Buses were also rerouted because of parked cars in the road next to snow.

The Blacksburg Police Department responded to 29 accidents and 33 disabled vehicles on Friday night and Saturday. In addition to patrol officers assisting motorists on Friday evening, several members of the command staff assisted with calls for service throughout the evening. Communications personnel fielded numerous calls/inquiries relative to road conditions while also answering calls for assistance and maintaining radio communications with police, fire and rescue personnel.

Many residents in the community were very complementary of how Town staff responded to the snow storm. This is one example of many that occur throughout the year of the commitment staff has to Blacksburg and the residents. I wish to extend my gratitude to everyone who assisted this past weekend.

December 15th Work Session Recap

I will try to recap the work sessions right after they happen. Please remember these are not official minutes, just my review of how I viewed the session and some of the issues we discussed.

Also, there was no week in review on Monday because, as we approach the holidays, there is less to review!

We had a presentation of the auditor’s report. Blacksburg again received a clean report, meaning there were no major problems encountered. We did spend some time talking about the Golf Course fund and how it continues to loose money and will probably be that way for a long time to come. The general consensus is that it should be put back into the general fund and simply be a recreational amenity as opposed to trying to make the golf course a self supporting activity.

Eric Bopp gave a very good overview of the New River Economic Development Alliance.

There were no additional items to discuss on the Capital Improvement Program.

We did discuss the Historic District at length with lots of different thoughts and suggestions. It was agreed that there would be another neighborhood meeting scheduled in January. All property owner’s in the district will be mailed a notification. Staff would bring back the results of those conversations to council in February for discussion. The earliest we would consider voting on a revised ordinance would be April.

Much of our conversation revolved around the misinformation that circulated right before the vote last week. It is important to clear up this false information so we can get a true read of citizen reaction to some of the suggestions. There are two different neighborhood groups within the historic district. Our hope is that they will become more involved with education and discussion. Everyone felt it is important to include those who live in the district in this discussion.

Al, Tom, and Mike!!!

Tuesday night’s meeting was the closing of an important chapter in Blacksburg history. It was the last meeting for three council members who decided not to run for reelection and find new ways to make their community better.

Al Leighton has been on Town Council almost 36 years. He was elected during a time of controversy and strife in our town. There were fourteen people running for council when Al was elected and Blacksburg was at a crossroads. Al worked to restore trust and integrity to town government. He championed neighborhood preservation but did not turn his back on the future. Much of what we see good around us, we owe to Al’s hard work and vision.

Al was a great mentor to me as I started on the Planning Commission in 1993 and gave me insight into the history of Blacksburg and how certain traditions have evolved. Al is also a great friend.

Tom Sherman and I started working on town issues about twenty years ago as representatives to the Blacksburg Federation of Neighborhoods. From there I went on to Planning Commission and Council. Tom joined me on Council two years after I was first elected so he has served since 1998. Tom’s approach has been a thoughtful one, balancing all views, while always being true to his core belief in transparent government and neighborhood and historic preservation.

We owe Tom a great deal of thanks because he has agreed to stay very active in town government and continue his service to the Housing Authority and Museum initiatives. These are causes Tom feels very passionate about.

Tom and I also have one other thing in common – we are both history majors. But, Tom did have one semester of engineering. I am also proud to call Tom friend.

Mike Rosenweig stepped into a very difficult situation. Derek Myers had passed away and we needed someone to fill his seat. When Mike’s name was mentioned I only knew him by his reputation as a neighborhood advocate who not only talked about sustainability but practiced it.

Mike was the right person at the right time. He not only filled the seat but added thoughtful comment to our discussions. We owe him a debt of gratitude for his service and how he performed his duties.

As Mike and I got to know each other, we realized we had a connection to the past. Mike grew up in Croton-On-Hudson, New York. My Aunt from New Orleans lived in Croton-On-Hudson. As we talked, Mike realized he passed their house every morning going to school. Their last name was Smart and, when Mike saw the mail box, he thought about Get Smart the T.V. show. It is a small world.

I will miss working with all three of these good people. And, I look forward to working with the new Council members. I will post some thoughts about that next week.

Historic District and Public Hearings.

As you may have read in today’s Roanoke Times, Blacksburg Town Council voted to delay action on Ordinance 1546 to give us more time to study certain provisions.

The point I would like to make here is that public hearings work and are important in the decision making process of an elected boday.

When we began discussing this provision dealing with demolitions in the town’s historic district, we realized that we had not heard from as many people as we would have expected. So many times with an ordinance like this people talk and momentum gathers for an opinion one way or another. Since town council did not sense that momentum, we opened our public hearing in November, but elected not to take action until December. We felt sure that after our public hearing, more would know about this new provision to the ordinance.

And, eventually, people did respond. In those responses some questions were raised which caused town council to rethink our action and to gather more information to answer those questions before proceeding.

This is why we have public hearings – to gather information before making a decision. This is what town council did. We listened, thought about the questions and concerns, and realized we wanted to know more before proceeding.

This I the way public hearings are suppose to work.

Town Council Meeting Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

I decided to put this in a separate entry for this meeting because I did not want this information to be lost in the Week in Review for December 7.

Here is the agenda.

Of note is the New Business section. We will consider Ordinance #1546 – An Ordinance To Amend The Regulations Governing The Blacksburg Historic Overlay District To Require An Approved Redevelopment Plan When A Historic Landmark, Building Or Structure Is Razed, Relocated Or Demolished And To Amend Related Provisions In Zoning Ordinance Sections 2103 And 3277.

We held the public hearing on November 10, 2009 and delayed the vote until tomorrow night to give people a chance to send us their thoughts. I have received two emails concerned about the district and appreciate the input. If anyone would like to comment tomorrow night, you may do so during the Citizen Comment Section which is before new business.

The agenda is long so please review it and pass on remarks or come and speak tomorrow night.

Update for December 7, 2009

Today is Pearl Harbor Day. We need to remember all those who lived through WWII and the contributions they made to our society today. Thank you.

Friday night was Blacksburg’s annual parade and Festival of Lights. What a success! Thanks to the Downtown Merchants who made this happen and to Blacksburg Parks and Rec. The parade was well attended, the weather perfect to start the season and the atmosphere was festive. Al Leighton, who has been on Council for over 30 years and his wife Fran were our Grand Marshals. If you see Al, be sure to say something to him as he finishes this term. His is certainly a remarkable record of Public Service.

It was the first chance we had to use Blacksburg Market Square Park – the new Farmer’s Market. I was excited about the opening but it was more impressive than even I imagined. If you have not been to the new market park, make the trip. It is worth it. This area will be used for more than the farmer’s market two days a week. It will be a gathering place for events downtown. As you stand in the middle of the park, slowly look around and you can begin to imagine the possibilities. Thanks to all those who made it possible.

Also, new this year, LED lights will illuminate the mature trees Downtown and contribute to significant energy savings.

The Sustainability and Environmental Division recently held a number of focus groups with nonprofit organizations, residential neighborhoods, and apartment complexes to identify how the Town can reduce green house gas emissions. On Thursday December 3rd from 7-9 pm, a public meeting was held at Blacksburg Transit, located at 2800 Commerce Street, to receive public comment on how best to develop a long term climate action plan. Included in these discussions was how best to spent a $186,900 federal grant to support local energy efficiency and conservation.

In January, the Town of Blacksburg will receive wayfinding signs in Downtown and at the entrance to Virginia Tech’s Corporate Research Center, the Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine, and the Virginia Tech-Montgomery Executive Airport. The information provided on these signs will direct visitors to the Town’s many featured amenities and provide directions to nearby parking. Construction is anticipated beginning the second week of January. While every effort will be made to minimize disruption to vehicular and pedestrian traffic during this installation, please anticipate some delays.

The economy may be catching up with us here in Blacksburg. Staff have indicated that they have seen a noticeable decline in single family home construction this past month. We will keep a close eye on this trend and plan accordingly.

A meeting with local apartment managers was held this week to facilitate enacting the Apartment Recycling Ordinance for the Town of Blacksburg. This ordinance requires all apartment and condominiums to provide a recycling program for their tenants and owners. The Town will look at various options for these apartments to come into compliance with the ordinance as part of the Town’s goals for environmental sustainability.

Have a good week.

Update for November 30, 2009

Usually in this entry, I would look back at the week before and make comments. Since the week before was a short week and I was gone for Thanksgiving, I will look ahead. There are some exciting town events coming up that deserve attention.

The Town’s Parade and Winter Lights Festival will be held this Friday with events beginning at 4:00 p.m. and the parade beginning at 7:00.

Details include the use of Market Square Park for the first time. To see all the details, click here.

Smithfield Plantation is also having a celebration this week. Smithfield needs our community support and I encourage everyone to be part of this wonderful town asset.

More details here

Leaf Collection Continues – Leaf collection continues this week on the west side of town. Heavily forested areas will be revisited next week, concluding leaf collection for the year.

On December 1, 2009 we are having our usual work session.

Here is the agenda

Our regular December meeting will be busy as you can see from the work session review topics. Also we will begin our detailed discussion of the Capitol Improvement Projects. Money is tight this year, so the discussion will be short. Hopefully we will start to see an uptick soon, but we cannot predict when.

I hope to see everyone at the parade Friday night, on Market Square Park, or at Smithfield. It promises to be a great week ahead.

Roanoke Times Q&A

In case you missed it this morning, the Roanoke Times ran a question and answer session dealing with development and Blacksburg Motor Company. I am not sure of using the word “muse”, but besides that…..You decide!

Here is the link

State Budget Woes

Each year, Montgomery County hosts a dinner with our state legislators to discuss the upcoming session in Richmond. Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, Montgomery County School Board, Constitutional Officers and Social Services were all represented. This meeting is one of the many ways the various localities cooperate and I want to thank Montgomery County for being such fine hosts.

Blacksburg has drafted a legislative agenda. There are several points in that agenda but last night we focused on two that are the most important to the town this year. The first dealt with money the state has traditionally sent to the local communities to support our local police. It is referred to as “599″ money based on the bill number that established the expenditure but in reality it is police support money. We made our traditional plea that as the legislature goes through this very tough budget, please do everything to leave this money in place and fully funded.

The second point on our legislative agenda that we discussed dealt with a bill that is supported by the Virginia Municipal League that establishes landlord liability for excessive tenant behavior. This bill will allow localities to pass an ordinance that will give the locality the ability to bring a landlord to court, through civil action, if there are numerous violations at their property such as noise, drunk in public, etc. In order to bring the landlord to court, there would have to be three violations by tenants and the burden of proof is on the locality.

Our hope is that this bill, if passed, will give responsible owners an extra tool in regulating what goes on at their property and will allow the town an avenue to work with owners who may not have been aware of the situation in rental properties that they own. The Virginia Municipal League has worked with Apartment Owners, Realtors and others across the state in drafting this legislation.

The main impression we all took away last night was the state does not have money and will even have less money next year. The situation will not improve anytime soon. As a consequence, all local governments will face some pretty tough times and will have to be very careful when dealing with budget issues.

Our thanks to Senator John Edwards and Ralph Smith and Delegate Jim Shuler and Dave Nutter for spending and evening with us last night.

Weekly Update: November 16, 2009

I thought it might be interesting to have a weekly wrap up of town activities which may be of interest. I will also list some of the activities coming up that you might want to know about. We will give it a try and see what happens. And, in the interest of full disclosure, some of this information will be directly lifted from other town information, written by others.

Harding Avenue Elementary Safe Routes to School – A public open house on the School Travel Plan will be held on Monday evening, November 16, 2009 from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm at Harding Elementary, Theater 2. The open house will complete the public input process for this school travel plan. For further information please contact Adele Schirmer, Director, Engineering and GIS Department.

Erosion and Sediment Control Educational Session – Town Engineers and Inspectors will be hosting an educational session on Thursday afternoon, November 19, 2009 in the Recreation Center regarding recent changes in the Town’s Erosion and Sediment Control Ordinance, and Storm Water Management. This session will be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.. This program will be open to everyone, however the first hour will be geared to contractors, owners and responsible land disturbers and the second hour will be geared to design engineers. This program is being offered as part of the implementation of recommendations by the Town Council’s Storm Water Management Task Force to improve storm water quality and erosion and sediment control practices associated with land development. For further information please contact Randy Formica, Town Engineer.

Our hats off to Virginia Tech as they were honored for Sustainability Practices. The College Sustainability Report Card for the 2010 year gave transportation a “A” for the third year in a row. University programs include carpools, bike, bus and walk; fare-free boarding for Blacksburg Transit; discounted Smart Way Bus passes and most recently U Car Share. (As an aside, I have tried U Car Share and it is an easy to use program)

The town partners with the university on some of these ventures and we are proud to be part of these services supplied to the citizens of Blacksburg.

This leads right into the Christiansburg Bus Service. We are also very proud to partner with the Town of Christiansburg to help them provide bus service to their citizens. The ribbon cutting and the grand kick off of the service will be Monday, November 23 at 8:30 at the NRV Mall food court entrance. For more information on these routes please visit our website at www.btransit.org or call 540.961.1185.

At our council meeting on November 10, we did hold our public hearing for the change to the Historic Architecture Review Board’s powers dealing with demolition and will probably act on this in December. I have had a couple of follow up emails and questions which have been helpful in my review of the ordinance.

At our work session tomorrow there will be an update of the Christiansburg bus service, a discussion of the Blacksburg Museum and Cultural Foundation, and a review of our 2010 Legislative agenda. In our legislative requests, we ask the state to help the town, sometimes by doing something and sometimes by no doing anything!! On Wednesday we will meet with state legislators at the Montgomery County Government Center to give each locality a chance to present their requests. The County has hosted this event for several years and we appreciate that they take the lead in this important meeting. Just one more way the three governments work together.

Here is a copy of our work session agenda.

Now that this is done, feed back would be appreciated. Too long? Not the right information? Let me know.