[0:33] Okay, I'm just fine.

[0:36] How are you looking for Brian?

[0:38] It's usually.

[0:39] Yeah, that's what I'm looking for.

[3:24] You're taking advantage of the break in the action to try to get my computer booted up the proper way.

[3:46] Okay, I guess we're ready to roll.

[3:50] The May 1st, 2023, Charleston City Council meeting, please come to order.

[3:54] Mr. Thomas, do you call the roll?

[3:56] Councillor Paine.

[3:57] Here.

[3:58] Councillor Pinkstone.

[3:59] Councillor Perth here may have smoothed here nice Mayor Wade here okay all here

[4:04] President County for is there a motion to approve or to amend the agenda

[4:10] move to approve the agenda is there a second second now is this the time we get

[4:17] to use our buttons we'll try it all right first time in two years three years please

[4:23] cast your vote on approving the agenda.

[4:28] All right.

[4:29] It works.

[4:31] Miracles of modern technology.

[4:33] Motion passes five not.

[4:34] Or not modern technology.

[4:39] OK, so this meeting will be divided into two sections.

[4:43] Normally we have a closed session at 5.30, but we don't have any closed session business tonight.

[4:49] So first is a work session to hear and discuss a presentation that will not involve a council vote.

[4:57] Then we will recess and we will come back for the business meeting as regularly scheduled at 630.

[5:04] So the first item on the 4 o'clock agenda is a discussion of homelessness, the state of the unhoused and unhoused services.

[5:12] and I see a number of people, and I'm not sure who's in charge here, but I will leave it to someone to stand up and start.

[5:31] Members of Council, can you hear me?

[5:33] Yeah. Thank you for your time. This afternoon.

[5:37] We do have a presentation as well, and does that?

[5:40] I'm not sure if that's able to be brought up.

[5:45] Kind of, do you know if that?

[5:46] There we go.

[5:46] There we go. Oh, perfect. Thank you so much.

[5:49] Okay, amazing.

[5:52] So, you can progress to the next slide.

[5:55] So, today, I'm going to talk to you about Blue Ridge area coalition for the homeless for a bit.

[6:01] And then we have some of our main homeless service provider partners here as well, and just

[6:06] for the record you are.

[6:07] I'm sorry about that.

[6:08] My name is Anthony Harrow, and I'm the director for Blue Ridge area coalition for the

[6:12] homeless.

[6:13] Thank you.

[6:14] Of course.

[6:16] And I want to talk to you a little bit about our organization, what we do, brought up update about the current state of homelessness, and some information about what's been working and also what's needed to move forward properly on homelessness in our community.

[6:35] And then I'm really excited for you to hear from our direct service provider partners as well.

[6:39] So, we are what's called a continuum of care, lead agency.

[6:45] And what that means is that we are dedicated to providing coordination for a continual of services that are addressing homelessness.

[6:55] From street outreach to homelessness prevention to emergency shelters to housing programs that help people find and move into housing,

[7:03] and also the support of services that help people connect to basic needs and also to things like employment or mental health, substance abuse services, to find housing stability.

[7:14] So across the whole gamut of services, our organization was set up to provide coordination for that system of care.

[7:22] We are not a direct homeless service provider, and we are dedicated to serving basically our clients are the direct homeless service providers themselves.

[7:29] So, we exist to try to make sure that the services that do exist in the community are coordinated

[7:33] effectively and efficiently as possible.

[7:37] You can move on to the next slide.

[7:40] So to do that, you know, our vision at Brack is that homelessness is rare, brief, and non-recurring.

[7:49] And our mission is to collaborate with communities to serve individuals and families, to help

[7:56] some fine housing stability, financial, wealth or health,

[8:00] and improved quality of life.

[8:02] And so to do that, we work in these different areas.

[8:06] Again, like I said, homeless services coordination.

[8:08] So what does that look like on the ground?

[8:10] It focuses a lot on ensuring the connection points

[8:13] between homeless service providers, like shelters

[8:15] or housing services, or street outreach.

[8:18] Those are being made properly.

[8:20] People reaching out for homeless services

[8:22] who need help because they're falling into homelessness,

[8:24] get connected properly to the care that they need.

[8:28] And that looks like a coordinated entry system

[8:31] is the name that we call it.

[8:33] So how do people actually reach out?

[8:35] How are we taking care of that properly?

[8:37] And how are we connecting people to the resources

[8:39] as best we can?

[8:40] Policies that govern that?

[8:43] Our responsibility of our organization,

[8:45] our board of directors.

[8:47] As well as the just the processes,

[8:50] what's the best way to have this set up?

[8:53] That's our area is the system approach, as well as things like coordinating case conferencing.

[9:02] So, shared case conferencing.

[9:03] So, focusing on clients, you need help, we bring in partners from across the community

[9:07] to focus on individuals and help those individuals move forward housing plans.

[9:13] No one organization can solve homelessness in a silo, and so we must work together as a community.

[9:21] And that's what organizations dedicated to working towards.

[9:26] There is no such thing ultimately as one organization's clients versus

[9:30] another.

[9:30] It's really our whole community, communities clients, essentially,

[9:35] that we're all working towards helping live into housing.

[9:38] Quality program development is another area that we focus on,

[9:42] where we work with organizations to either create new programming

[9:45] to address homelessness or improve existing programs

[9:49] that address homelessness, and we do that through a number of ways

[9:54] through meeting one-on-one with organizations, technical assistance,

[9:59] and sharing best practices or connecting their staff with training.

[10:03] Another big way that we make programs possible is through grant management.

[10:07] So I help apply for funding.

[10:10] Largely we focus on federal funding and state funding,

[10:13] And, you know, outside of pandemic-related relief funding,

[10:18] Black brings in around $1 million annually to homeless service providers in the community

[10:23] to address homelessness.

[10:26] And during the pandemic, we also were able to bring in and manage about $2.5 million annually

[10:31] that was just related to the COVID relief effort for homelessness.

[10:36] So, we focus on the grant writing, grants management, budgets, grant reporting,

[10:41] all those types of activities that keep federal funding and state funding coming to the community for

[10:46] homelessness. And then finally we focus on leadership on ending homelessness. And what that

[10:52] looks like is we partner with providers, people have experienced homelessness, get feedback

[10:58] to provide a coherent vision for what it looks like to actually not only manage the crisis that

[11:04] people fall into of homelessness but have actual vision for a functional end of homelessness.

[11:09] And that's what leads to things like focusing on collaborative efforts with affordable housing

[11:16] developers, like the premier circle project.

[11:20] Where other affordable housing developers to try to bring more subsidized housing opportunities

[11:25] to people experiencing homelessness, so larger term or larger focus on bigger scale partnerships

[11:31] to really address homelessness at a greater scale is also what Brock focuses on.

[11:36] So currently, on the executive director, they only staff member, and so recently, hops funding

[11:44] has allowed us from the city as allowed us to increase our administrative capacity, so

[11:48] thank you very much for that support.

[11:50] You can move on to the next slide.

[11:54] So real quick about the point in time count, you can move on to the next one.

[11:58] Point in time count is a snapshot of homelessness, and this is the numbers of people experiencing

[12:03] homelessness at a given point in time.

[12:05] And you can see under 2023, hope it's not too small, there's a total of 191 individuals

[12:11] that we identified in the community experiencing homelessness on one night, January 25th,

[12:17] 2023. 143 people were in shelter programs locally.

[12:22] 34 were living outside, un Sheltered in the downtown area.

[12:26] 14 were in transitional housing projects.

[12:30] You can see a spike in 2022, and a decrease from 2022 to 2023 in the sheltered count.

[12:37] That's the orange line.

[12:39] And in the middle of 2022, we were in the height of the pandemic as it were.

[12:43] And we had a number of people at the Premier Circle Emergency Shelter Projects, that was

[12:50] at its height as well as additional people we were focusing on sheltering and hotel programs.

[12:55] Since then we are working towards Sunsetting the Premier Circle Shelter Program and we do not

[13:00] longer.

[13:00] We do no longer have as much funding for the hotel sheltering and so you can see a decrease

[13:04] in the sheltered individuals from 2022 to 2023 as a result of that.

[13:10] And also because of that decrease in some of the shelter capacity, we did see a small but definite

[13:16] increase in the number of people out living outside in the downtown area from 26 to 34 individuals.

[13:22] So, you can move on in the next two questions about that.

[13:26] I was actually participating in the point-and-time counter on the night, one of the night-time

[13:32] sessions, and I was struck by how few people we saw, the weather was awful.

[13:38] It was cold.

[13:39] It was rainy.

[13:41] I suspect that some people who might otherwise have been more visible had gone into a deeper

[13:49] shelter of some sort.

[13:51] did you have a sense that the numbers that night were accurate or

[13:56] driven by weather or why?

[13:59] It's a great question.

[14:00] First of all, thank you, Mr. Mayer, for helping out with the

[14:02] pick count.

[14:03] It means a lot.

[14:06] I think it's accurate for the downtown area.

[14:09] That's where we focused on for the unsheltered point in time count.

[14:14] But it is difficult to get a true accurate count of

[14:19] individuals that may be in cars scattered throughout the community. That's more difficult for us to identify.

[14:26] But I think for the downtown area, I feel like this is a, I feel confident in that number. Yes.

[14:31] So, yep.

[14:33] This is the number of chronically homeless individuals in the community and that over time.

[14:38] It decreased, it's on a decrease since 2021.

[14:42] And again, I attribute this primarily to a premier circle emergency shelter program, which she'll hear a little bit more from Jason about.

[14:48] But we were our sheltering a number of chronically homeless individuals in that shelter and have focused a lot of housing assistance to help people move out of that program and into housing and you can see

[15:00] What I believe is evidence of that decrease. So you can move on to the next slide.

[15:08] That is a snapshot of homelessness at a point in time, but this is the number of people who have fallen into homelessness over a year, 459 total people over a year from April 2022 to 2023.

[15:21] And again, at any point in time throughout the year, it's around 200. So not too different from the night that we also documented in January.

[15:28] I can move on to the next slide.

[15:32] This is, I think, an interesting piece of data

[15:35] that I wanted to share with you as well.

[15:36] Of all the people that experienced homelessness

[15:38] in this area, April 22, 2223, 77% of those,

[15:46] so large vast majority, three quarters just about,

[15:49] had not experienced homelessness in our area

[15:51] in the two years previous to that.

[15:53] So essentially, it was their first time experiencing homelessness

[15:56] here locally.

[15:58] So, it may look visually like it's the same individuals but that's a very small percentage relative of the whole population of people falling in the homelessness over time.

[16:07] You can move on to the next slide.

[16:10] Okay, so what holds us back, you can move on to the next slide.

[16:16] You know, in a nutshell, it's the number of units that people can move into that are affordable.

[16:20] And I know this isn't new information, but it is the truth.

[16:26] And it is the largest variable holding us back from addressing homelessness properly.

[16:32] Two hundred and six days was the average like this day in emergency shelters from April 2022 to 2023.

[16:38] And you can move on to the next slide.

[16:41] And it was only 48 in 2019, so a significant difference.

[16:46] Largely attributed to the lack of housing options for people to move out of shelters

[16:50] and into housing. Shelter programs work when there are options for people to move into housing.

[16:56] Shelter programs don't work as well, meaning there's not turnover for new people to move into

[17:01] the shelters when housing options are so low like they are currently and you can see it has a

[17:06] significant impact on the length of stay that people then staying in shelters and therefore staying

[17:11] homeless. You can move on to the next slide. The other variable holding this fact like I said

[17:17] It is the number of shelter beds as well, so our community needs around 60 to 70 additional

[17:22] year-round emergency shelter beds to adequately meet the need, and I'll say this as

[17:28] well that shelter needs are directly related to the number of housing options that people

[17:33] have access to.

[17:34] You need less shelter if you have more opportunities for people to move into housing, because

[17:40] when people move out of shelters that creates an open bed for someone to move into that shelter

[17:43] program.

[17:45] Yes, ma'am.

[17:46] So, are you saying that we need 60 to 70 more additional beds?

[17:55] That does not equate to 60 to 70 more actual buildings, but 60 to 70 more beds in locations

[18:07] that we currently have, or are you saying we need another location that will have 70 to

[18:15] 100 people. What do you want to say?

[18:19] It can come in different ways, but essentially we need opportunities for 60 or 70 additional,

[18:25] or 60, 70 people on a given night to find shelter in the community.

[18:30] Year-round. Potion provides seasonal shelter.

[18:32] I'm familiar.

[18:33] But in the summer months, essentially we lose.

[18:36] We need that capacity kind of year-round as what I'm saying.

[18:39] And it can come in different places, obviously different ways,

[18:42] But, at the end of the day, that's essentially the number that we feel like would meet the need for emergency shelter for people living outside.

[18:52] So what would that look like?

[18:55] It could look a number of ways, and I think I would, if it's okay, defer to, maybe fall up with you afterwards for more details about how that could look, but it could look like renovating an existing building.

[19:07] You see capacity, you know, at existing shelters, finding a new building, it can look like a number of different options.

[19:15] I'm an example person.

[19:17] So if you say, that means two homes that will house 35 people each, that's an example.

[19:24] I'm not saying that that's what's happening, but what I need is an example.

[19:29] I know how many 60 to 70 beds is, but in your mind, how would that best be achieved

[19:38] given the current climate of homelessness in this area?

[19:47] Probably renovation of an existing building, purchasing or building new right now with construction

[19:54] costs. In my opinion, if you're going if the city or another entity or a foundation is going

[20:00] to invest that level of money into a new building, I think what's most needed are new permanent

[20:08] units. If you're going to invest that level of money into the issue. Because like I was saying,

[20:14] the number of shelter beds you need is very much related to the number of opportunities you have

[20:19] for people to not have shelter into housing. So I think renovation is probably the most realistic

[20:24] and cost effective option to increase saltic capacity.

[20:28] Anthony, so this number does not include the Haven, is that correct?

[20:33] The Haven is a day-shelter, because people do not sleep there overnight.

[20:36] This does not include that correct.

[20:39] Or reflects the fact that the Haven is just a day-shelter.

[20:43] Correct. Correct.

[20:44] Yeah, I shouldn't say just.

[20:48] Next slide, yes.

[20:49] I'm so sorry, you may want to provide

[20:51] a council of the public with members, shelter beds,

[20:53] we currently have such a thing.

[20:55] You need an additional amount.

[20:56] I apologize about that.

[20:57] Sorry, yes, yes, thank you, thank you, Ms. Marshall.

[21:01] So it's about 143 at the height,

[21:05] like we've had in the point in time count, in the winter,

[21:07] and we lose about 40 or show in the summer,

[21:14] so about 100 in the summer, in terms of shelter programs.

[21:18] And I can follow up more in detail after I apologize I don't want to take up too much time from my colleagues at also need to need to present

[21:26] But I'd be happy to follow up more information about the detailed programs or numbers of shelter beds we currently have.

[21:32] That would be greatly appreciated.

[21:34] Okay, we'll do it.

[21:35] You can move on.

[21:38] Next slide.

[21:40] So rental assistance and permanent support of housing work, even in a housing constrained market

[21:45] We have seen with the Pimera Circle program that you'll hear a little bit more about

[21:50] Pretty incredible progress and helping people move out of shelters into housing because we had focused

[21:55] Rental assistance programs like the C-SRAP or the Charlcephal Supplemental Rental Assistance Program. That's funded by City Council

[22:02] That has been instrumental in helping people move out of

[22:05] Homelessness in a housing and other subsidy programs like that like the Havens Rapid Rehousing program and

[22:10] and, like, Region 10's permanent support of housing program and Virginia support of housing

[22:16] program at the crossings are all working, but we do need more units to be able to help people move in.

[22:25] Many people had vouchers and still do in the community and wait long periods of time finding units,

[22:31] even though they have run a system available.

[22:34] And Virginia support of housing is building a new permanent support of housing development a year away.

[22:41] and they need help because of rising construction costs with capital costs to help

[22:47] that program as well as project-based vouchers. So I just wanted to also make that

[22:52] clear that that is coming. We're lucky lots of communities are scrambling to

[22:55] figure out how to create new housing. We do have a program that's coming and it

[23:00] and it still does need help. You can move on to the next slide. Just a quick

[23:05] Because of those rental assistance opportunities and our coordinated focus on target populations,

[23:13] we've been able to decrease the number of homeless veterans from around 20 to 25 annually to six currently.

[23:19] And we're almost ready to move to four homeless veterans, which is a milestone for us actually in this community.

[23:25] So, just wanted to provide an update that it's possible. It's not a mystery.

[23:29] we had to address homelessness, but it takes, you know, community focus.

[23:36] And so thank you so much, I'll move on onto the next portion, which is the Homeless Information

[23:41] Line.

[23:42] You can move on next slide.

[23:43] And I look forward to following up with you all afterwards, too.

[23:45] Thank you.

[23:49] Hello, everybody.

[23:50] I'm Miss D. Graves, Director of the Department of Human Services.

[23:53] One of the pieces of the coordinated entry system that Anna will talk about in a little bit

[24:00] is how folks get into one of the doors

[24:03] when folks get into the coordinated entry system.

[24:06] If they're experiencing homelessness,

[24:08] or at risk of experiencing homelessness,

[24:10] where do they go as like a one place

[24:12] that they can call ticket serve?

[24:13] So the Department of Human Services operates

[24:16] that hotline homeless information line.

[24:19] You can go to the next slide.

[24:21] We do that from 2 to 5 Monday through Friday

[24:25] with funding from BRAC. It's basically a place where they can speak to a person that calls

[24:34] them back, talking about volume, which is important for you all to note that this from this

[24:41] first three-quarter section of time, we've received 755 calls from 2509 unique callers. One of the

[24:49] additional things that we do is if they're not eligible for homelessness funding or programs,

[24:54] we can refer them to other resources and organizations in the community that can.

[24:59] The next few sides, I'm not going to spend much time on, it's just more demographics.

[25:05] I will share that next fiscal year we will be able to expand the time in which the

[25:13] homeless information line is operational.

[25:16] It will go from nine to five Monday through Friday and it's going to switch from, we're

[25:20] going to hand it off from our organization to the haven to operate that on a full-time

[25:24] capacity. And like I said, the next few slides, if you want to move through those, where

[25:29] they're calling from, we see majority of the callers are from the city of Charlotte still,

[25:35] other in Elmau County, and some of the outline localities. Next slide, racial demographics

[25:42] about who's calling in are collected there. And the next is the area medium income. So just

[25:52] kind of looking at a snapshot of who those callers are and what they're looking for.

[25:59] And I think that's it, when a pass it off to Anna Mendes from the Haven.

[26:11] You know, if you walked up graphic.

[26:13] She did.

[26:14] It's my first slide.

[26:15] Thank you so much.

[26:17] Members of City Council.

[26:19] Thank you so much for your time this evening.

[26:21] My name is Anna Mendes.

[26:23] I have had the privilege of supporting the team at the Haven since November.

[26:27] Before I begin my remarks, I would like to acknowledge two of our board members that are in the room here supporting us, thank you, thank you very much for being here.

[26:39] Before I jump in to explain the role that the Haven plays and addressing the needs of people experiencing homelessness here in Charlottesville today, I would like to provide you with a little bit of history and background about how we came to be the exceptional organization that we are today.

[26:57] In late 2005 and early 2006, a group of diverse community members came together and voiced

[27:06] a desire to open a shelter downtown, where people experiencing homelessness were regularly

[27:13] hanging out.

[27:14] The following year in 2007, Hollywood producer and UVA alum Tom Shadyak was in town filming

[27:22] the movie Evan Almighty. Mr. Shadyak ended up purchasing the property that is now the haven at

[27:29] 112 West Market Street and donating its use to the community group. Producer Shadyak and the

[27:37] community groups vision was to open a low barrier full service year round overnight shelter

[27:46] and downtown Charlottesville.

[27:49] Unfortunately, NIMBYism resulted in this city restricting use

[27:53] of our 20,000 square foot four story building

[27:56] to providing day shelter services only in our basement

[28:00] and only from the hours of 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

[28:06] After two years of extensive renovations paid for by Mr. Shadyak,

[28:11] the havens day shelter opened to the public in 2009

[28:15] under the restrictions of our special use permit. Next slide please. I feel like I have so much

[28:22] power. I just speak and let's let in this slide's changed. Since our day telltale opened

[28:28] in 2009 we have been opened 365 days a year every single year. Last year in 2022 we provided support

[28:40] to over 440 unique community members experiencing homelessness in Charlottesville, they visited

[28:49] us a total of over 19,000 times. We provided over 17,000 warm and nutritious meals,

[29:00] over 3,000 showers, over 2,500 loads of clean laundry. Got washed and dried at the

[29:08] last year. Additionally, the haven serves as the legal address of record for over 500 community

[29:17] members experiencing homelessness or housing instability. As such, we sort and distribute

[29:23] over a thousand pounds of mail annually. Just think for a minute how difficult it would be to be

[29:29] a member of a community if you did not have a reliable and stable place to receive your mail.

[29:35] The haven also stores the personal belongings of 80 people experiencing homelessness in the Charlottesville area every year.

[29:46] We were able to accomplish all of this great work last year in large part to over 5,600 volunteer hours provided by community members.

[30:00] And tears that are hearing my voice, either in this room or in the Zoom world, thank you so much for your service to our community.

[30:09] We have begun to do some projections for service numbers in 2023, based on first quarter data, and we anticipate that 2023 will be our busiest year yet at the haven.

[30:25] we anticipate serving over 500 unique individuals who we believe will visit us over 20,000 times,

[30:34] and that we will provide over 20,000 meals. We are seeing demand increase for our services

[30:45] because homelessness is really a housing problem, and Charlottesville is increasingly experiencing

[30:53] a housing problem. Greg Colburn, who was a professor in housing expert at the University

[30:58] of Washington, has very conclusively established that wealth inequality and lack of housing

[31:05] availability are the root drivers of homelessness in the United States. And unfortunately,

[31:11] we see both of those things colliding here in Charlottesville making the perfect conditions

[31:17] for increased homelessness. Next slide please. As proud as we are for all of the services that we

[31:26] the haven directly provide to people experiencing homelessness in our community, we also know that we

[31:34] are not the experts in everything and we cannot be the solution to all of the unmet needs of people

[31:40] experiencing homelessness. We also know that not having stable housing is a barrier to accessing

[31:46] supported services. That is why we are really proud to open our doors and partner with community

[31:53] agencies who are best positioned to provide some of that support. So every single week

[31:59] department, the City's Department of Social Services is at the Haven, helping people with their

[32:05] food stamp applications, Medicaid research applications are an incredibly big deal right now. That

[32:10] is happening at the Haven, Thanks and Large Participities Support. The Blue Ridge Health District

[32:15] is here at the Haven on a regular basis, offering HIV testing, hepatitis C testing, distributing

[32:22] narcan to individuals and flu shots. The UVA Health System runs two clinics, weekly out of the

[32:29] Haven, a primary care clinic for people experiencing homelessness, as well as a psychiatric clinic

[32:35] for people experiencing homelessness. UVA Health System also provides COVID testing and vaccinations

[32:42] at the Haven as well as foot care and blood pressure screenings. We're also really grateful for the

[32:48] home to Hope TM and Region 10 who know that they can use our space as a base to connect with

[32:53] individuals as well. Next slide please. The Haven is certainly most well known for our day

[33:05] shelter services and actually many people in Charlottesville think that that is all we do that we

[33:11] only provide day shelter services. In reality, 50% of what the haven does is our housing

[33:19] department. The reason that we are so committed and invest such a significant portion of our

[33:29] time, energy, and revenue into our housing department is because the mission of the haven is

[33:36] end homelessness in Charlottesville. People who are sleeping outside, people who are sleeping

[33:42] in places not fit for human habitation, stretched for example, structures that lack plumbing

[33:48] or electricity, and people who are sleeping in shelters are all people who are still homeless.

[33:57] People who are sheltered are still people who are experiencing homelessness.

[34:02] Sheltering people is a crucial, crucial, crucial aspect of harm reduction, but sheltering

[34:10] people alone does not reduce homelessness, and that is why we have invested so heavily

[34:16] in our housing department.

[34:18] Every single year, the haven through the work of our housing department helps 200 local households

[34:25] exit or avoid the experience of homelessness.

[34:29] We do this in fidelity with the housing first model, which is an evidence-based intervention

[34:35] proven to reduce homelessness and a financially responsible way.

[34:40] The five principles of the housing first model are access to housing with no pre-defined readiness

[34:46] requirements, choice and self-determination, a recovery orientation, individualized support,

[34:55] and meaningful community and social integration.

[35:00] With the advocacy of the Haven's Housing Department,

[35:03] I am really excited to report that three Charlottesville residents

[35:08] experiencing chronic homelessness signed leases for permanent housing

[35:14] effective today. May 1st. So that is really, really wonderful news.

[35:20] Unfortunately, demand continues to far exceed the Haven's capacity.

[35:28] I'm really grateful to be able to report that the Haven has received an additional $200,000

[35:33] for our rapid re-housing project in 2023, but even with this increased funding,

[35:40] we are still following incredibly short of being able to meet the full community need.

[35:47] I'm really, really grateful for your time in listening to all of the services that the

[35:54] haven provides both in our day shelter and in our housing program and I'm looking forward

[36:01] to following up with email to answer your questions and perhaps after Jason and Potchim have

[36:07] had their opportunity to present Anthony and I can come up and answer additional questions

[36:11] that you may have.

[36:13] It's possible to ask a question now.

[36:16] It is, it is your progative council member.

[36:20] What is the status of the conversation

[36:23] on allowing the haven to be a night shelter?

[36:29] That's a, that's a good question.

[36:30] Because you make an MDism from 25.

[36:32] I would say many of those same folks now would be happy to have

[36:37] a shelter that's open at night.

[36:39] Yes, and interesting, this is a phenomena

[36:41] that is not happening only here in Charlottesville. There are many communities across the

[36:46] United States in which certain groups were very active at preventing overnight shelter from

[36:52] happening and those same groups are now some of the loudest supporters of increasing access to

[36:58] overnight shelter. We're seeing this right now happening in Asheville, North Carolina, is probably

[37:03] the closest example to us here in Charlottesville. We are very committed to housing

[37:15] people and people who are sheltered are people who are still homeless and a barrier to

[37:24] housing people in fidelity with the housing first model is there must first be housing

[37:29] available. So the Hayden has had initial conversations where we've indicated a willingness

[37:38] to explore the idea of opening our doors to provide year-round overnight shelter. As

[37:48] as we had originally envisioned by the Hayden back in 2005 and 2006.

[37:58] And are currently in the process of securing a consultant to provide a feasibility study around

[38:08] what location would, all kinds of questions around what, how would that move.

[38:14] It's called, it's called, it is, we no longer have a patron who's willing to write blank checks.

[38:20] At the snap of the finger, unfortunately, but we are in the process of looking to do a feasibility study to answer that question directly.

[38:33] Were we to become a year-round overnight shelter?

[38:38] We would also want that to come with a significant investment in our housing department,

[38:46] because as Anthony alluded to earlier, people like our shelter system is only as effective

[38:52] as our ability to move people out of shelter into housing. One of the ways that we envision

[39:00] could be very successful in doing that is with the launch of a master leasing program. So that would

[39:06] look like the Hayden, we would enter into the lease with a landlord. We would assume all of

[39:14] the responsibility for the unit and would also pay the rent for that unit in exchange for

[39:23] us being able to sub-least to anyone we wanted to, regardless of past credit, history, past

[39:30] eviction, history, or past criminal background. And these are all things that we are seeing,

[39:35] preventing people from being able to use vouchers that they that they already have.

[39:40] I would basically extend what you're able to do physically in that location.

[39:44] Absolutely. Yeah.

[39:46] Thank you.

[39:47] Yeah, I would just add to that briefly that I think city council is ready and willing to amend that

[39:54] SUP at any time. I know it's something that me and Councillor Pinkstone have discussed briefly a little bit.

[40:00] And we've floated before.

[40:02] So, definitely, you know, don't think of us as a barrier, we're willing to absolutely work

[40:08] on that, whether it be your organization of partnership with Potchum or whoever else in

[40:12] order to provide shelter at that location, if that's the best path forward, and would also

[40:20] just say, at least for myself, I absolutely don't see the permanent shelter versus housing

[40:28] as an either or a conversation but a hundred percent both and and that's just where I'm coming

[40:34] from so I wouldn't view any investment in overnight shelter as being saying oh that's the

[40:39] solution rather than providing housing but it's necessary yeah thank you thank you very much thank you

[40:57] my name is Jason Whitehead and I'm the director of Potchum and it's good to be here today I also

[41:03] I wanted to acknowledge a few pots and board members that are here as well.

[41:12] Oh, that's fascinating, I hope.

[41:14] This first slide, I'm going to return to at the end of the presentation so if we can move to the next slide, that would be great.

[41:24] So just to give a brief organization overview of Potchum for those who might not know is Potchum is established in 2004.

[41:34] and four, the only shelter in town at that point is the Salvation Army, which is what you

[41:41] would call medium barrier. Potion is established as a low barrier shelter so that we

[41:46] could serve folks who substance abuse mainly. And so it is designed as a winter overnight

[41:58] emergency shelter. Initially starts as just a men's shelter but soon they are after

[42:05] sets up a women's shelter as well and it's based on a model where we collaborate with the

[42:11] faith community, a number of congregations around the area that act as the actual host sites for the

[42:17] shelter and so we usually have a men's shelter at one church or a women's shelter at the local

[42:24] in a God, for instance, and since it's been around since 2004, we've been able to establish

[42:36] amazing partnerships with faith congregations, as it says here, we're up to 80 plus faith

[42:44] congregations that we partner with in one way or the other, because the food effort we serve

[42:50] dinner every night at Potchum as well is a really big piece and then as we

[42:56] progressed along the years and I'll get into this a little more later but we've

[43:01] also started to add specialized housing programs really focusing on homeless

[43:08] women and homeless seniors. If I could have the next slide please.

[43:15] So this slide

[43:16] Right here, what you'll see is the darker blue line is unique guests, unique individuals

[43:25] that we've served over the years, and then the lighter blue line is bed nights.

[43:30] That's actual nights where folks have stayed with us.

[43:36] As you can see, we're starting at 2004 on the left and coming up to current time.

[43:46] As far back as 2011, unfortunately, we were serving a minimum of 200 unique individuals a year

[43:59] and that's for just our winter shelter season, which was at that point only November 3 March.

[44:07] And then you see that we actually peak, we actually, I think we served 250 unique individuals

[44:15] in the 2018-19 season, and by then we had expanded from end of October and to mid April.

[44:25] If you can do the next slide, please.

[44:31] Like all organizations,

[44:36] the pandemic really affected us and took us vastly different way.

[44:45] The different colors here are yellow as in our congregate.

[44:50] Church-based shelters, lighter blue, the Kinta-Darker blue, premier circle.

[44:54] You can see in January 20, we would have served

[45:00] 111 guests, just in our congregate shelter, but by April, once the pandemic has set in, we're actually

[45:09] moving out of congregate spaces. We actually did partner with the city to continue to provide congregate

[45:17] shelter. You all made the key rec center available to us, but by July, we have shifted our

[45:26] services to this hotel model. We were at the Lakinta through April of 21 and had a max.

[45:42] We were completely cool at the Lakinta with 65 individuals. This was a special type of shelter.

[45:49] And basically, you saw it in some low cows around the country,

[45:53] a kind of a new type of shelter, to serve folks that were more medically vulnerable

[46:00] to the coronavirus.

[46:02] And the really big thing for Potchum was that it rather than being seasonal,

[46:07] we were suddenly 24-7.

[46:09] So folks were at the hotel all day every day over the year.

[46:15] And then, in May of 21, as I'm assuming you all know, our community, various parties have come together to purchase the old red carpet site, which became known as premier circle, and we open that in May of 2021, and transition everybody from the Lakinta over there, and but as a much larger site.

[46:45] So,

[46:48] by, say, a year later, we actually have almost 100 people staying at the Rick Harp

[46:53] at that again, it was 24-7 where folks were, it was still a shelter, still very much

[47:00] run by a shelter,

[47:03] but folks, you know, were able to know where they were staying every

[47:09] And then that yielded some amazing results that I'll get into a little later.

[47:15] And then it was still really important to us during that stretch to provide what I'll call

[47:22] traditional pochum.

[47:24] So we were still operating in churches this overnight emergency option.

[47:32] you know, or folks are dropping in or, you know, the UVA, my discharge somebody that day

[47:38] or police my calls at 2AM and they've located somebody out in the cold on the corner

[47:44] that needs a place to stay that night.

[47:48] If you go to the next slide, please.

[47:53] And so, what you see here is kind of some different numbers and I'll take you through a few

[48:00] layers here. Of course, running the hotel and having that amazing capacity for folks really

[48:11] impacted the number of guests we were serving in congregate. So you can see that 2020-2021,

[48:19] we only served 84 in our current shelter. And part of that also was we were having to follow

[48:26] Covid-specific restrictions, all of sudden, six feet in everybody's between everybody's sleeping

[48:33] station, so that really kind of impacted.

[48:37] We went from serving, say, 45 men a night, only a accommodate 25, so.

[48:45] And then by the time we get to premier circle, we've actually served 177 total guests, since

[48:55] opened in May of 2021 and like I said we are still doing Congress. So we had

[49:05] Pete numbers say in January of last year and this year where we're

[49:12] sheltering around 150 people a night during the winter stretch. As you can see

[49:20] And this is a national trend as well,

[49:25] but our number of seniors has been really rising.

[49:30] I mean, you can see from how many we ended up with

[49:35] a premier circle.

[49:38] But one really neat thing about being able to do premier circle

[49:44] was the ability we had to really develop relationships

[49:49] with our guests, and really dig down, really deep dive with them. What are their housing barriers?

[49:58] What are the challenges to them getting housed? And even the, the, the, the, the, the, the

[50:03] the, the premier circle offered our folks, and then on top of it, this past year, especially

[50:12] once it was announced the premier circle would be closing this year. And, and unusual amount

[50:19] of housing resources were made available to us.

[50:22] It's usually pretty slam-pickens for overnight emergency shelter.

[50:29] So, our case managers and I have Sada Heather and Liz here

[50:33] from our case management team, incredible work, seemingly impossible,

[50:39] but we've transitioned 75 individuals to permanent housing

[50:44] since Primer Circle opened, which has been really incredible to see, and the lesson I've

[50:54] really taken from that, which has been echoed by some other folks, is just how important

[51:01] it is, particularly with shelter to make housing resources available from us, Anthony Gave

[51:07] that earlier about like length of stay. Folks aren't supposed to live at a shelter. We're

[51:14] a safety net. They land with us and we're hoping to move them on to something better.

[51:21] So I would encourage whether it's the city, the county, to keep investing resources and

[51:27] particularly with shelter. The next slide, please.

[51:32] And so, this is really, this is a few of the folks that we've been able to get housed

[51:40] particularly in the past year, as you can see there.

[51:45] They're all really happy to have keys in their own place, and really, the last thing I'll

[51:55] That is just, you know, premier served with premier circle sun setting at the end of June,

[52:02] Potchum, we're really busy planning the next season, overnight shelter, kind of getting

[52:10] back to where we were pre-pandemic, which is being able to serve a more expanded number of

[52:17] people, so between like 15, 60 folks and night and also getting back to having an expanded

[52:24] season so we're looking forward to part in with the city and the broader community about addressing

[52:29] homelessness.

[52:31] But thank you.

[52:32] Thank you.

[52:41] Thank you.

[52:41] Thank you Anna and Jason and Missy so that concludes our presentation but we'd love to entertain

[52:47] if there's time to allow for any questions that you all may have.

[52:51] Yeah, how do you all coordinate together you have each other like a speed dial and calling

[52:57] back and forth, or something like that, yeah, text messages, or just at least four organizations

[53:02] represented here, the City, Brake, Haven, and Potchum.

[53:08] And we also fund families and crisis, which is a program that helps in lieu of physical,

[53:14] family shelter, helps families experiencing homelessness with hotel stays.

[53:18] And we also work closely on funding with, in terms of, we apply for funding on behalf

[53:22] of Region 10 for their permanent support of housing program as well.

[53:25] And what is that program I didn't know that Regent Hill was in that business?

[53:29] They are. Actually, Regent tens housing program in gender program at large is very large.

[53:35] Hundreds of hundreds of housing vouchers, opportunities about 34 of which are funded by HUD to focus on chronically homeless individuals.

[53:45] So people living outside and shelters for long periods of time, at least a year, with a disabling condition.

[53:53] So, Regent 10 has, we call it scattered site, but basically it's a housing choice voucher with support services, so that someone can live in the community.

[54:03] And so yeah, they have that program.

[54:07] I want to jump in to add a bit of an answer to that question.

[54:11] I think one of the really exciting bright spots around collaboration has been over the last year.

[54:20] I mentioned the Haven's housing programs and we have three unique programs.

[54:27] One of which is called Rapid Rehousing and for the last year we had dedicated...

[54:34] People can hear me in the Zoom World.

[54:37] The Haven in partnership with Brock and Waste Pachum has dedicated 80% of our Rapid Rehousing

[54:45] to individuals who are transitioning out of premar circle that Jason told you about. So it's just a way for us as the administrator of rapid re-housing funds to be able to help get people out of a temporary housing situation in exiting into a more like permanent solution.

[55:10] and that has been an incredibly bright and strong partnership. Heather is here. She is like the primary

[55:17] case manager on that effort on behalf of Pachum and just want to make sure that she gets acknowledged

[55:22] for her, all of her hard work and helping to make that happen.

[55:27] Really, we're concrete. We also thank you, Anna, and that's so true that partnership

[55:32] between organizations is key, and we help facilitate those kinds of agreements or partnerships or

[55:38] policies about who to work with in terms of prioritizing people with health conditions or other types of

[55:44] you know, prioritization policies.

[55:47] We work on that, but we also kind of more concretely manage data-based system that's shared

[55:51] among all the homeless service providers in the community as well as other homeless service providers

[55:56] that we don't fund and that allows for a lot more detailed collaboration between case managers

[56:02] there's programs because it's definitely takes a village and so the database system is a

[56:07] crucial piece of that coordination as well as frequent meetings as well.

[56:15] Sheila, given, or Sheila Washington, I'm sorry, at the Haven is a coordinated entry manager

[56:19] host, so weekly meeting with homeless service partners.

[56:23] We also do case conferencing, so we focus on individuals and we work on housing plans and we

[56:29] do that twice a month.

[56:30] So those are some practical ways that we decordination.

[56:34] Mr. Mayor?

[56:35] As I understand your presentation, and thank you,

[56:38] it was excellent.

[56:40] The bottom line is we need 60 additional shelter beds,

[56:48] and your recommendation is renovate an existing building,

[56:54] and that's been the money and building, a new shelter

[56:58] and keep investing in housing.

[57:04] Well, I would say that I agree with Councillor Payne,

[57:09] that it should be seen as a both-and,

[57:13] because we need housing, housing, and homelessness.

[57:17] And if we as a community only invest in shelter opportunities,

[57:22] it doesn't improve our ability to actually end homelessness.

[57:25] And you can see, actually, in our data, that peak was representative of us increasing

[57:28] shelter capacity only and not a capacity to help people move into housing, so it should

[57:34] be seen as a both and, but I think renovation is a compelling way to increase shelter capacity

[57:41] because it uses resources I think in a more effective way, but that's,

[57:51] I don't know, that's

[57:55] And I would say I think that if we're able to move forward with a feasibility study around offering year-round overnight

[58:04] shelter, I think that is one of the key like one of the key questions to answer is like what is the way?

[58:11] I mean, it's very tempting to say there's a building at one 12 west-market street that was originally envisioned for this very purpose and

[58:18] And that was 15 years ago, right, and so we want to make sure that the solution that we come up with today is the solution that best fits the environment that we have now and that we anticipate having having in the future.

[58:37] Okay.

[58:38] So we're talking about 50 however many beds during that time we actually don't know the demand for that.

[58:49] I'd also add the Salvation Army is not present for this discussion and they're currently under way of trying to expand with their

[58:58] What they're able to provide so they should definitely be leaped into this as well

[59:03] So have a couple of comments where they were I really appreciate all of the work that you all are joined in the community

[59:10] It's really vital because it's hard for anyone to really thrive if you don't know

[59:16] You know where you're gonna lay your head that night and and it's just really vital since a couple of comments one is

[59:25] You know, it's just ironic that today

[59:27] with my head on as a career counselor for the county and just working with a lot of different people.

[59:33] Lady was new into town today from Decay to Georgia.

[59:39] And needed a place, didn't have a place to live.

[59:43] I referred her to David.

[59:45] I mean for the services, she was the county getting some other information.

[59:51] But I know that other social services in the state

[59:54] for, you know, give people tickets to Charlottesville because of the services day.

[1:00:00] We offer, so this is one of those things. I know we want to provide more, but I think that if we bill a temple, we might get a lot, you know, and I'm not saying we shouldn't do it, but it's going to be difficult for the city of Charlottesville to do it all by itself. We're doing, I think, that we're really hitting above our weight class and what we're providing in social, I mean, in this arena and I think it's good that we're, you know,

[1:00:30] position that we can do it, the haven with the being able to provide an address. I can't

[1:00:40] even count the number of people that I've helped with their resume, helpful software job

[1:00:44] that they were able to put down, not address as their place of, you know, their residence

[1:00:52] because you just have to have that when you fill in out an application. So thank you so much

[1:00:57] for providing that service.

[1:01:01] It's vital.

[1:01:04] And same with the opotium, with the overnight service

[1:01:06] that you provide, how sure it's we haven't done it for a few

[1:01:10] years, because we're way out in the rural areas.

[1:01:13] And I think that I think with your new program,

[1:01:16] you want to have them to be on bustline.

[1:01:20] And I'm just a way of doing that.

[1:01:22] I understand sometimes it was difficult when people

[1:01:25] like they had to go, but they couldn't,

[1:01:29] because it was nothing out there, but darkness is like no.

[1:01:34] But I was able to help many of them,

[1:01:37] because I was an overnight person to attend 11 o'clock at night,

[1:01:42] because with their resumes and job search,

[1:01:44] and it was great, you know, they could get a lot of service.

[1:01:47] So it's a big need out there in the community.

[1:01:50] Now, I'm glad we have this collaborative spirit.

[1:01:53] We're going to need it to address the issue because housing, as I was even

[1:02:02] work today, so when it was coming, and I worked with a county social service,

[1:02:06] someone else is coming up to the windows saying that they had just lost their housing

[1:02:10] and seeking help from them, and I'm sure that they will probably be referring them to them

[1:02:15] or we have a housing office as well.

[1:02:16] So this is a big need and it's really hard for people to thrive, again, if they don't have

[1:02:26] a place that later had and I think it's one of our vital services that I think that a

[1:02:30] city needs to be part of, as well as the University of Jason mentioned, Salvation Army.

[1:02:36] I think the University needs to be part of that as well and they're trying to play a part

[1:02:41] in it.

[1:02:42] So I just want to thank you all for your important work.

[1:02:44] I just think that if the organizations that send this room today, the board members, the

[1:02:49] volunteers, 5,600 hours, I think you mentioned, that's incredible.

[1:02:54] So you need to give your continued to give them kudos for their work because I just feel

[1:02:59] like with all of the volunteers and the agencies that we have that this community would

[1:03:04] just look and feel and just be a lot different.

[1:03:07] It wouldn't be, I think, what people think it's special.

[1:03:12] So thank you all for your work and I'm looking forward to the city

[1:03:16] continue to partner with you all and whatever we can do.

[1:03:21] Thank you.

[1:03:25] One question.

[1:03:26] Do you have a sense once Premier Circle is finished?

[1:03:30] How many more additional units of permanent support of housing would be necessary in order

[1:03:34] to at least have enough units for everyone

[1:03:37] who's homeless to move out of emergency shelter

[1:03:41] into permanent housing.

[1:03:45] So permanent, permanent support of housing right now,

[1:03:48] essentially focuses on chronically homeless individuals,

[1:03:51] so those individuals with long history of homelessness,

[1:03:55] disabled conditions, and usually the most barriers

[1:03:57] to housing as well.

[1:04:00] Currently, in our point of time count,

[1:04:02] it was there was 53 individuals as of today,

[1:04:04] or as of January.

[1:04:06] It's like who we're chronically homeless, and people do become chronically homeless over time

[1:04:12] and that's one problem with long shelter stays and not enough housing options is because

[1:04:18] people will become chronically homeless over time and then the need for permanent support of housing

[1:04:22] increases. It is something that should be invested in on going in similar ways to housing in general.

[1:04:31] There needs to be housing across a spectrum of income sources, there needs to be similar

[1:04:35] opportunities for people experiencing homelessness to access housing, whether that's through

[1:04:39] a development like premier circle, permanent supportive housing or the crossings, to something

[1:04:44] like Region 10's housing choice voucher based system where they have, you know, the rent units in the community.

[1:04:50] So there's a number of ways to increase permanent supportive housing opportunities over time

[1:04:54] that aren't building new units except and building new units is also very much needed, but we do have a lot of housing

[1:05:02] that's new coming in our community and if there are ways, there should be ways to carve out a number

[1:05:08] of those units, whether that's through vouchers or product-based vouchers, to be designated

[1:05:13] for people with experiencing chronic homelessness or just homelessness in general.

[1:05:17] That's important because programs like the C-Cera program, we were able to partner with

[1:05:22] the C-RHA to focus and prioritize those units for households who were experiencing homelessness

[1:05:27] and that kind of access to housing assistance is crucial.

[1:05:31] So, in terms of numbers, permanent support of housing at Premier Circle, that's coming in about a year,

[1:05:37] we'll provide about 80 units of permanent support of housing, and that will get us to the door

[1:05:44] of ending chronic homelessness. But we will need those types of opportunities that are designated

[1:05:51] set aside for people experiencing homelessness to continue on ongoing, because, like Anna mentioned,

[1:05:59] I mean, in, like, Councillor Wood was saying, I mean, the housing crisis, we experience it

[1:06:04] now, but we, unfortunately, won't see the effects of its own homelessness for, you know,

[1:06:08] it's going to continue over time when we need to continue battling it by continuing to invest

[1:06:13] resources into housing in general, but then a part of that needs to be set aside for experiencing

[1:06:19] homelessness.

[1:06:20] So, I can follow up with you more about, in terms of detailed numbers, that might, you

[1:06:24] know, that might speak to your question.

[1:06:28] But at premier circle, we'll get us close to the door of reaching a functional end for chronic,

[1:06:37] but again, we'll only continue to use sources after that.

[1:06:41] Josephine, and add something to that.

[1:06:43] I come back around before I was at the Haven always in mental health and huge proponent of

[1:06:49] permanent supportive housing, and I also just want to ground us in the room, minor that

[1:06:55] permanent supportive housing while it is completely evidence based and effective, it is also

[1:07:00] our latest and most expensive housing intervention. And that is because it first requires

[1:07:07] someone to become chronically homeless in order to be eligible to receive it. And so I'm hoping

[1:07:14] that as a community, we can work towards a future where we don't ever have anyone who qualifies

[1:07:23] for permanent supportive housing because they never experienced homelessness for 12 months

[1:07:29] in a row in order to qualify as someone who is experienced chronic homelessness. And just

[1:07:38] to address one of the comments that Council Member Wade made, you know, absolutely, we see new

[1:07:46] faces in the day shelter like every single day from places that are not a Charlottesville.

[1:07:52] is 100-100% true. What is also true and equally more in true is that the vast majority of people

[1:08:02] who are regularly using haven services are individuals who have, who they themselves or

[1:08:11] their families have incredibly long histories in the city of Charlottesville. That was a surprise

[1:08:19] to me. I have been at the Haven for six months and some like the hyper locality of the people that we see

[1:08:27] at the Haven was really and truly a surprise to me. So I don't want us to lose sight of the fact that

[1:08:36] this is an issue that is affecting people who have been here for generations. I would also say that

[1:08:44] and when someone shows up in our community if we don't have a shelter for them or if we don't

[1:08:48] have housing for them, then they're in our community homeless, which is which then creates

[1:08:54] other challenges that we then like that we have to address as well.

[1:08:58] If I could ask something real quick to just to speak to the folks that are currently a

[1:09:03] premier circle right now, we're actually down to basically around 30 folks that are still

[1:09:09] there and I'm hoping that it's under 20, let's say, by June, but one thing that we really

[1:09:17] experience particularly the case management team and trying to transition, folks

[1:09:21] the housing is we actually have folks that have housing subsidies and hand, but

[1:09:26] there's so many other challenges to them securing housing, basically criminal

[1:09:31] records, evictions, there's so many barriers so you can have the money you can

[1:09:37] even find the place but then they're turning you down so. So I guess which is kind of

[1:09:44] The point of my question is, if the city is going to create a plan to make a meaningful

[1:09:51] difference, what is kind of the number of units we need to be investing or partnering to

[1:09:57] build, because at least it's correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is whether it

[1:10:01] be permanent supportive housing or technically it's not permanent supportive housing,

[1:10:04] typically someone is going to need a voucher and they're going to need that find to

[1:10:09] place to live and in order to avoid those barriers a lot of times it's going to need to be

[1:10:14] housing units or development that government

[1:10:18] proactively partnered and investing and

[1:10:20] creating to intentionally remove those barriers.

[1:10:23] I don't know if that makes sense.

[1:10:24] But it's kind of, with that in mind,

[1:10:26] what is the number of units?

[1:10:28] We need as a goal to try to figure out

[1:10:30] what additional sites do we need to purchase?

[1:10:32] What additional?

[1:10:35] No, it definitely makes sense.

[1:10:37] It is based, you know, the number of

[1:10:39] fluctuates based on the housing market.

[1:10:42] It fluctuates face on the population of people experiencing homelessness.

[1:10:46] And we actually had a study done with cooperation for support of housing in 2021 that looked

[1:10:53] at our kind of existing resources we have in the community, looked at the housing market

[1:10:56] and they gave us a whole rundown that I'd love to share with you about what they see as the

[1:11:01] need over time and it looks like I said it looks diverse in terms of opportunities.

[1:11:07] Some of it is new development, some of it's like what Anna talked about and what Jason's

[1:11:11] talking about, which is basically a master leasing program, helping lease a unit, so then

[1:11:19] you can overcome housing barriers, because there are individuals with rental assistance

[1:11:23] in hand, who can't even get into the existing units to more simple things like CSRAP programs.

[1:11:30] So across the board, you need different amounts, and we have worked with consultants to help

[1:11:36] provide that, and I'm happy to follow, but I don't have any specific numbers on the top

[1:11:40] had right now, but we do have some information, I can assure you.

[1:11:43] And just at a curiosity, even just at like a high level, how closely

[1:11:47] do you, or what ways do you work with CRHA, because I know they've talked about when

[1:11:52] they've purchased the duplexes that those were used to move people out of homelessness

[1:11:56] and that they at least consider themselves to be kind of one of the big, quiet background

[1:12:02] partners in ending homelessness.

[1:12:04] Well, I would definitely agree with that, you know, while CRHA had not previously had

[1:12:10] preference for homeless preference for housing choice vouchers, they have agreed to implement

[1:12:15] one and then also keep the housing choice voucher weight list indefinitely open for people

[1:12:20] experiencing homelessness, which I was very very happy about and that is exactly the type of

[1:12:25] partnership that leads towards, you know, functionally ending homelessness. The other huge partnership

[1:12:32] was the C-SRAP program. The Charleston Self-Mental Rental Assistance Program that we

[1:12:37] Brad was able to enter into agreement with them to prioritize those vouchers for individuals who were homeless.

[1:12:45] It was about 75 over a year and we focused a lot on Premier Circle.

[1:12:49] Huge part of that was helpful for those numbers that you saw.

[1:12:54] As well as the emergency housing program or sorry the emergency housing voucher program.

[1:12:58] That was a COVID relief effort from HUD.

[1:13:01] So, since the pandemic in particular, our partnership with CRHA and there has been really

[1:13:07] blossomed, and so, yes, absolutely, it's been a huge support.

[1:13:13] And final question for Jason and Potchum, as we've discussed, you know, the possible need

[1:13:21] of investing in a permanent year-round overnight shelter.

[1:13:24] I'm just kind of curious, even just like a high level, given that you all have been in

[1:13:28] business for years of providing overnight shelter, what are you seeing as some of the needs

[1:13:34] or challenges and achieving that or?

[1:13:39] Yeah, I mean definitely running a year-round shelter like we've been doing basically since April

[1:13:48] of 2020, definitely have come to really appreciate what it does for our guests and and

[1:14:01] and what it allows us to partner with them.

[1:14:08] So I think you're asking about challenges

[1:14:11] of setting of permanent shelter.

[1:14:15] Yeah, I guess if the city is,

[1:14:18] if we're going to have any kind of conversation

[1:14:19] about that as a goal, what are some things we should be thinking

[1:14:23] about in terms of how to make it happen, what

[1:14:27] should be prioritized?

[1:14:30] Yeah, I mean, location and how to do it is definitely a big thing, the numbers needed.

[1:14:40] I mean, you know, we traditionally would have served like around 45 men and 15 women at night, so space.

[1:14:48] And definitely the support services that really need to be married with shelter,

[1:14:56] whether it's the UVA health clinic that's supposed to fit.

[1:15:00] I've been very involved at Premier Circle and the haven has been great but definitely like we're talking about being able to attach housing resources as well.

[1:15:10] I would say one real lesson that Potchum took from doing year round for the last three years is I think really recognizing the need for it and so we have begun to look into that and even meet with a consultant.

[1:15:29] And it definitely, I think our whole community recognizes the need for that, so yeah, I do agree.

[1:15:39] Yeah. So yeah, that's it. And just echo what others have said.

[1:15:45] I guess one of the takeaways from this presentation, at least in my mind, is thinking of

[1:15:51] collectively as a city, not just city government.

[1:15:53] We have to invest in a permanent year-round shelter.

[1:15:55] And that is safety net entry point to connect people with permanent housing, which I think

[1:16:02] Potchum housing 75 people shows how critical it is to achieving that and kind of how do we become a partner

[1:16:10] and helping us get there?

[1:16:12] And I don't know all those answers, but this was really helpful and I hope that all of us

[1:16:17] city government, Potchum, Brak, the Haven, Salvation Army are all able to kind of get together

[1:16:24] the same table and figure out how to get there because obviously we're not going to get there

[1:16:28] in silos but really helpful and appreciate the presentation. I have one final question, Ms.

[1:16:35] Mendes.

[1:16:37] What do you see is the path for the haven moving to an overnight shelter?

[1:16:48] I will answer that question before I forget the thread of Council members, Payne's question,

[1:16:55] which, as I would say, one thing that we absolutely must, that our community must prioritize

[1:17:00] if we move to offering year-round overnight shelter is an incredibly strong commitment

[1:17:06] to being as low barrier as possible. If we are really and truly interested in moving 36 people

[1:17:15] off of the downtown mall, we need to make sure that our services are accessible to them as possible

[1:17:21] which means being as low barrier and as appealing and trauma-informed as possible.

[1:17:29] So, which segue is nicely, city manager Rogers, and to answering your question, which

[1:17:35] is first and foremost, I have a follow-up meeting with the National Alliance to end homelessness on Friday,

[1:17:44] where they are going to tell us if they themselves are capable of doing a feasibility study,

[1:17:49] if they're going to refer us to kind of an outside, an outside contractor, and I think first

[1:17:55] answering the question of, um, where does it make sense to do it? We have a building, we

[1:18:03] have 20,000 square feet of space, but that does not necessarily mean that building is the best

[1:18:16] I know some of you came to Art Open House if you didn't come to Art Open House come visit.

[1:18:21] It would require a significant renovation of the physical space before we could open our doors.

[1:18:28] It could in fact make more sense to think about hosting year-round overnight shelter somewhere else.

[1:18:37] And I think doing a feasibility study to answer the question of how could we do this in the most cost-effective way?

[1:18:44] is absolutely like the first responsible step.

[1:18:47] I would also imagine that as excited as I am to hear

[1:18:53] Council's energy around year-round overnight shelter,

[1:18:56] this is an undertaking that is gonna require

[1:19:00] more than moral support.

[1:19:02] I would also say financial support from big players

[1:19:07] that are in this room and potentially including UVI,

[1:19:10] Certainly, Albalmoral County, the Brakh, the Blue Ridge Coalition for the Homeless, has a

[1:19:18] catchment area, not just of the city of Charlottesville, and Albalmoral County, but also

[1:19:23] green, Nelson, Louisa, and Fluevanna.

[1:19:26] And I think that we're going to need their investment and buy in as well, because when someone

[1:19:33] is experiencing homelessness in Aston, maybe they're already working in Charlottesville.

[1:19:40] So then they just come to Charlottesville and live out of their car in Charlottesville.

[1:19:47] But they think of themselves as a Nelson County resident.

[1:19:53] So really bringing that intergovernmental collaboration to bear.

[1:19:58] Once we have a sense of like what is the financial cost,

[1:20:03] both of creating year-round shelter and also having a significant investment

[1:20:07] and novel housing interventions, perhaps like the masterly same program that's been talked about earlier.

[1:20:15] So one question I had, I don't know who the right person is to answer maybe everybody collectively.

[1:20:23] There have been studies that have shown that, you know, the one I like to refer to because it is so seemingly improbable as out of Utah,

[1:20:35] showing that when you house people, you save a lot, you save more money than you spend because

[1:20:45] they're not having emergency room visits, they're not having all of the other services

[1:20:49] that we're offering. Has anybody tried to do even a rough assessment of what that would

[1:20:56] look like in the Charlottesville area?

[1:20:57] We have, I will say that this is pre-pandemic numbers and when and it always actually

[1:21:07] khaki-demic.

[1:21:10] So, I'm a crash course in history lesson, Brach, which used to be known as T-jack, and

[1:21:16] the hate that actually used to be one entity that for a hot second was run by khaki-demic,

[1:21:21] out of 112 West Park Beach Street, and while she was there, she and I will send this chart to

[1:21:30] all of you this evening. She was able to ship for one human being, right? So she's not, we're not

[1:21:38] doing any type of randomized control, but she just looked at one human being that the haven was

[1:21:44] able to get into out of shelter and into permanent housing,

[1:21:50] and the cost to the community dropped by over $20,000 annually.

[1:21:57] This is one human being that is not a randomized control study.

[1:22:02] Like, I'm not going to encourage anyone

[1:22:04] writing a dissertation to cite that as a source.

[1:22:07] But I do think that that is encouraging to show what

[1:22:13] the national data alludes to, which is that housing, if people who are unsheltered, actually

[1:22:22] in the long run, saves community as money. I would say it's the right thing to do whether

[1:22:29] it saves community as money or not, but I also understand the balanced budget are important,

[1:22:36] so I'm grateful for you raising that point from there.

[1:22:38] But let me just say as I sometimes get into political discussions with shall we say folks who don't agree with me?

[1:22:49] And that's one of the points that people always ask him.

[1:22:52] Why are we spending this kind of money murmuring?

[1:22:55] And the most effective answer I can give is this, you know, the quote from the folks out in Utah that say, basically, it saves money to do this.

[1:23:07] And if we can localize that data, it makes the point more credibly.

[1:23:15] So I'll follow up with some research in Richmond, which I know is not Charlottesville,

[1:23:18] but pretty close VC that a study had found around on average costs for chronically

[1:23:24] homeless individuals to the community were around $35 to $40,000 per year, well.

[1:23:30] But providing support of housing was around $15 to $20,000 a year per person.

[1:23:36] I mean, one night at the EED at the EED is a couple of thousand dollars if I understand it properly.

[1:23:43] That's one threat in one day.

[1:23:45] So, you can see how that extrapolates out.

[1:23:49] And, you know, the EED, I would love for EED to be a part of that discussion as well, obviously.

[1:23:53] But, yes, it's morally the right thing and also physically the right thing to do.

[1:23:58] Well, I would assume for us that the biggest practical step would be advancing our ability as a government to purchase land,

[1:24:05] purchase housing units as the first step to investing in them to create that's

[1:24:10] proof of housing but especially ten and half-square miles we're not going to

[1:24:13] get there unless we get involved in the business of purchasing land but

[1:24:16] or us in partnership but I'll leave it there.

[1:24:20] Beat that drum some more on there.

[1:24:22] Every time I can.

[1:24:26] You have the questions, comments, and you those of you all in the audience want to say,

[1:24:31] If they didn't talk about my program, okay, all right, hearing nothing further, thank you

[1:24:40] all so much for coming, thank you for the work that you do, it's important.

[1:24:47] Folks, it is now time we're done with the four o'clock agenda.

[1:24:53] We will now recess until the 630 business session for those joining on Zoom, there is a separate

[1:24:59] Zoom link for the 630 PM session and so come back and see us in an hour and as I noted before

[1:25:07] this is one week when we do not have a closed session so we're just in recess until the

[1:25:15] 630 session begins. Thank you all anybody online thanks for tuning in those of you who came

[1:25:22] Thank you for coming. We're in recess.

[2:30:29] Okay, wait a minute,

[2:30:34] yes,

[2:30:44] yes. I don't, but it's okay.

[2:30:58] Brian, we have something in particular. I was going to say something.

[2:31:03] Okay. Okay. Let's take that up in the right conditions.

[2:31:12] Okay, I'm going to do it in the city man's room.

[2:31:15] Oh, well, you can do it there.

[2:31:16] Yeah, that's fine.

[2:31:22] We're going to one, two, three, four, five.

[2:31:29] The Rogers are ready to go.

[2:31:30] Ready to go?

[2:31:32] All right.

[2:31:33] Okay, folks, it is 6.30.

[2:31:35] And we are going to begin the 630 p.m. business meeting.

[2:31:40] Start off with a moment of silence.

[2:31:52] Thank you.

[2:31:54] Announcements, Councillors.

[2:31:55] Any announcements?

[2:31:57] First, we have a proclamation.

[2:32:00] First, announcements.

[2:32:02] Yes, I have an announcement.

[2:32:05] Mr. Alexander's my help list award winners, 2023.

[2:32:09] May a holiday, second grade home school, Fluvena County, Eli Johnson, fourth grade

[2:32:16] Orange County Elementary School, Ellison Rake, Rackness, seventh grade Charlottesville

[2:32:22] Catholic School, Lily Simpson, 12th grade Monticello High School.

[2:32:27] The award winners are gathering on May the 11th, 2023.

[2:32:31] Again, that's Mr. Alexander, my hope list of award winners, 2023.

[2:32:36] Thank you.

[2:32:38] And the other announcements for move on to proclamations.

[2:32:43] So first proclamation, older Americans month.

[2:32:47] Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

[2:32:48] It's my pleasure to make this proclamation.

[2:32:50] And also, as you know, as a report,

[2:32:53] grab my servo and job was boarded.

[2:32:55] And we're doing great work there.

[2:32:57] And I'll see you moderately.

[2:32:58] See you, thank you so much for your leadership.

[2:33:00] And may as older American month and where

[2:33:03] Charlottesville includes a growing number of older residents who contribute their time with

[2:33:08] them and experience drug community and whereas communities benefit when people of all

[2:33:14] ages, abilities and backgrounds are welcome, included and supported and whereas the theme

[2:33:20] of older American month is aging and bound recognizing the importance of not limiting or thinking

[2:33:28] about aging, exploring and combating stereotypes, emphasizing the many positive aspects of aging,

[2:33:37] inspiring older adults to push paths to additional boundaries and embracing our communities

[2:33:43] diversity and where a Charlottesville recognizes our need to create a community that offers

[2:33:49] the services and support that older Americans, the older adults may need to make choices about

[2:33:56] the age and whereas and now therefore the Charlottesville City Council here by

[2:34:03] proclaims May 2023 to be older Americans month. We urge every resident to

[2:34:09] celebrate our older citizens to help create an inclusive society and to accept

[2:34:15] the challenge of flexibility, a flexible thinking around age and sign this day

[2:34:21] May 1, 2023, J. Lloyd Hook, the third mayor, and a test of our clerk, Tina Thomas.

[2:34:30] And Ms. Keen is here to receive and if you would like to make a comment or two, we'd be happy to your prime, Ms. Keen.

[2:35:00] Thank you so much for recognizing the benefits and skills and wisdom of older Americans this month.

[2:35:07] And thank you for your constant support city council has always been and was the first of all the jurisdictions to be supportive of

[2:35:17] Java and older Americans and we appreciate your continuing to do that.

[2:35:23] And it's always a pleasure to come before you all and you'll be seeing lots of interesting and good things about seniors throughout the month as we pepper the air waves and social media with

[2:35:36] Please do remember it's older American's month, so thank you.

[2:35:40] Thank you.

[2:35:43] Next.

[2:35:46] Mr. Mayor.

[2:35:49] Mr. Breyer.

[2:35:51] It is an honor for me to read this proclamation as the daughter-in-law of our IV beyond the

[2:35:58] wall, Pauline Sims per year, our fourth Supreme Basilis.

[2:36:04] Whereas, AFI Omega Chapter of Alpha Cappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated was established on the

[2:36:11] principle of service to all mankind 60 years ago on February 10, 1963 by 13 college educated

[2:36:20] ladies in the local area and whereas the AFI Omega Chapter is one of over 1000 chapters

[2:36:28] of Alpha Cappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated an international service organization founded

[2:36:34] in 1908 on the campus of Howard University in Washington, DC, and which is the oldest Greek

[2:36:43] letter organization established by African-American college-educated women, which is comprised

[2:36:51] of more than 355,000 members in graduate and undergraduate chapters in 12 countries, including

[2:37:00] the United States, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Canada, Dubai, Germany, Japan, Liberia, Nigeria,

[2:37:12] South Korea, South Africa, and the United States Virgin Islands, and which is often

[2:37:19] called, quote, America's premier Greek-letter organization for African American women.

[2:37:26] And whereas Aetofio-MegaChapter supports higher education scholastics, providing scholarships annually,

[2:37:35] to six high school graduates in pursuit of a college education, and whereas Aetofio-MegaChapter

[2:37:43] over the years has contributed to and supported many local nonprofits and initiatives such as

[2:37:51] backpacks and snack packs for students.

[2:37:55] Coat drives over 2,000 pairs of shoes

[2:37:58] to the Salvation Army, alumni, Burly School Fund,

[2:38:02] the American Heart Association,

[2:38:04] volunteering at Jabba, the Thanksgiving turkey giveaway,

[2:38:08] and the Alzheimer's Association walk,

[2:38:11] just a name of view.

[2:38:13] Now, therefore, it be resolved

[2:38:15] that the Charlottesville City Council

[2:38:17] hereby it takes great pleasure

[2:38:19] recognizing the aid of file maker chapter of Alpha, Kappa Alpha,

[2:38:26] Sorority Incorporated. Upon its 60th year, Anniversary Celebration

[2:38:32] May 6, 2023, paying tribute to its charter members for their efforts and foresight in establishing

[2:38:40] this organization in our city and surrounding communities.

[2:38:44] Signed and Seal, this first day of May, 2023, Jay Lloyd, slipped the third mayor and

[2:38:52] Keena Thomas, Clerk of Council.

[2:38:55] We ask that our Basilis Pamela Brown, please come forward.

[2:39:27] I am Pam Brown and I have the honor of serving as the President of 85 Omega Chapter of

[2:39:33] AlphaCap Alpha Sworty Incorporated, first and foremost I want to thank the City Council

[2:39:39] of Charlottesville for bestowing this honor on our chapter we're very proud of our 60 years

[2:39:45] of service and this is quite an honor. As stated before, 85 Omega chapter was founded on February

[2:39:54] 10th, 1963 and one of our charter members still lives in the city of Charlottesville so we're

[2:40:06] Council and working with City Council and for the city.

[2:40:11] Our chapter is 45 dynamic and motivated women strong.

[2:40:17] And we live by our motto, service to all mankind.

[2:40:22] So I would like to ask at this time for all of my sisters in the room to stand.

[2:40:26] Whether you're an A to five maker or not.

[2:40:32] So I just would like to acknowledge all of my sisters.

[2:40:36] Thank you so much and we really appreciate the honor.

[2:40:40] Thank you for all the good work that you do.

[2:40:43] And I believe in this prayer, you've got another one.

[2:40:46] Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

[2:40:49] As a charter member of the Charlottesville chapter of the Lynxon Corporation,

[2:40:54] it is my honor to read this proclamation.

[2:40:58] Whereas, the Charlottesville chapter of the Lynxon Corporation was charted on March 28,

[2:41:07] 1998,

[2:41:08] based on the tenets of friendship and service 25 years ago by 20 African American women

[2:41:15] from Charlottesville and the Central Virginia area who endeavored to provide much needed

[2:41:21] services to our community. And whereas the Charlottesville chapter of the

[2:41:27] Lynxon Corporation is one of over 299 chapters of the Lynxon Corporation with

[2:41:35] over 17,000 members is an international not-for-profit corporation established in

[2:41:44] 1946. It is one of the oldest and largest volunteer service organizations committed to enriching,

[2:41:55] sustaining and enduring the culture and economic survival of African Americans and other people of African ancestry.

[2:42:06] Whereas, the Charlottesville chapter of the Lynxon Corporation supports five passive areas,

[2:42:14] the arts, services to youth, health and human services, national trends and services,

[2:42:22] and international trends and services.

[2:42:25] We support local African-American students and their families through mentorship, educational

[2:42:32] scholarships, health and wellness seminars, literacy, and other areas impacting our local

[2:42:39] children and families.

[2:42:41] Whereas the Charlottesville chapter of the Lynx Incorporated has sponsored author sessions

[2:42:47] for the Virginia Festival of the Book, given to the children's dental clinic,

[2:42:57] the Charlottesville

[2:43:02] local charitable organizations and food banks.

[2:43:05] Now, therefore, be it resolved that Charlottesville City Council, hereby takes great pleasure

[2:43:13] in recognizing the Charlottesville chapter of the links incorporated on its 25th anniversary

[2:43:20] today, May 1st, 2023, for the chapter's continuing commitment to provide quality leadership

[2:43:29] and service to Charlottesville and the Central Virginia communities today and in the years

[2:43:37] to come. Signed in seal this day, May 1, 2023, Jade Lloyd Snoop III Mayor and Kina Thomas Clark.

[2:43:52] Our President Deborah Bellbergs will come forward.

[2:44:19] Thank you so much City Council for this

[2:44:22] and recognizing our 25th anniversary.

[2:44:29] Our motto is linked in friendship connected in service.

[2:44:35] Our members, our friends, transformed communities through service.

[2:44:43] Our vision is to enrich communities and improve the quality of life

[2:44:48] for people of African descent through friendship and service.

[2:44:52] And our chapter has been doing this for 25 years and we hope to do it for many more.

[2:44:58] May have my links.

[2:45:00] Thank

[2:45:04] you

[2:45:12] all for your service. While we are speaking of service, we have a recognition as well.

[2:45:20] The recognition is for the 54th annual professional municipal clerks week, which we find ourselves in the middle of this week.

[2:45:30] Initiated 1969 by the International Institute of Municipal Clerks, and endorsed by its members throughout the US, Canada, and 15 other countries, this week is a time of celebration and reflection on the important role of the clerks' office.

[2:45:46] The earliest of public servants in local government along with the tax collector, the eminent political scientist Professor William Bennett Monroe, were out in one of the first tax books on municipal administration in 1934.

[2:45:59] or no other office in municipal service has so many contacts, contracts.

[2:46:04] It serves the mayor, the city council, the city manager, and all administrative departments

[2:46:09] without exception.

[2:46:11] All of them call upon the office, almost daily for some service or information.

[2:46:15] Its work is not spectacular, but it demands versatility, alertness, accuracy, and this is

[2:46:21] particularly important in Charlottesville, no end of patience.

[2:46:24] The public does not realize how many loose ends of city administration this office pulls

[2:46:30] together.

[2:46:31] These words have written nearly 90 years ago or even more appropriate today.

[2:46:37] And presidential proclamations were signed in 1984, 1994, 1996, declaring and confirming

[2:46:44] municipal clerks week to be the first full week of May.

[2:46:48] We take this time to recognize our professional municipal clerk, Keena Thomas and her staff

[2:46:53] for the values,

[2:46:59] for the value that they bring to the city of Charlottesville.

[2:47:03] Ms. Thomas achieved the designations of a certified municipal clerk in 2016,

[2:47:09] and Master Municipal Clerk in 2021.

[2:47:12] I'm curious to know what a Master Municipal Clerk does that's better or more important

[2:47:17] than a mere certified municipal clerk.

[2:47:21] All I know is doing a great job, and she continues to be an advocate for lifelong learning,

[2:47:26] happy municipal clerks week both to Keena, to Maxis Hillier, Robinson, to Monica Mallory, the

[2:47:32] other members of the office, and I just want everybody to know how lucky we all on Council

[2:47:40] feel to have the three of them trying very hard to keep us organized. And they do a great job

[2:47:50] with a lot of stuff, they deal with a lot of people, and virtually everybody

[2:47:56] that I've talked to has interacted with them has nothing but praise for them and we depend on them greatly and thank you very much

[2:48:02] Keena and congratulations to you and your office here in Municipal Thurps Week.

[2:48:10] Thank you.

[2:48:15] And I should have, when we were talking announcements, two quick announcements that are somewhat related,

[2:48:21] one there is announced a press release out today, if you were downtown on downtown Mall at all today you may have noticed

[2:48:29] that artwork from more than 500 childhood city school students from pre-K to grade 12 is now on display throughout the downtown mall.

[2:48:39] If you look in windows, you will see artwork from kindergarten on up.

[2:48:45] It's just a neat way to live and up the downtown mall and to recognize the artistic talents of our young people.

[2:48:53] Related to that at the McGuffee Arts Center is the all high schools art show which starts tomorrow, and the second floor gallery of the McGuffee Arts Center

[2:49:04] with artwork from Charltsville area high schools including CHS but not limited to

[2:49:10] including also Monochello, El Marl, Western El Marl, St. Ann's, the Renaissance school, and tandem friend school.

[2:49:16] So if you are inspired by the artwork that you see on the downtown Mall and you want to go over and look at the artwork in Muguffy,

[2:49:24] that's also pretty cool.

[2:49:27] Next, let's see.

[2:49:29] Okay, I guess we're through the announcements and recognitions and so on, and first let me just say is really great to have people back in this room.

[2:49:40] We have missed that for the last three years, and so glad we've got a good, a good crowd here.

[2:49:47] This Thomas, would you read the consent agenda please?

[2:49:49] Yes.

[2:49:51] Consent agenda.

[2:49:52] Number two minutes.

[2:49:53] April 3rd regular meeting.

[2:49:56] Three resolution.

[2:49:57] Twenty twenty three city climate protection program.

[2:50:01] Program support grant with leap.

[2:50:03] Seventy eight thousand eight hundred thirty three dollars.

[2:50:05] Second reading.

[2:50:07] Part A is an appropriating.

[2:50:09] Is appropriating seventy eight thousand eight hundred thirty three dollars.

[2:50:13] From the twenty twenty three climate protection program.

[2:50:15] Support grant to the leap.

[2:50:17] to leap, second reading. Part B, authorizing the city manager to

[2:50:22] sign a memorandum of understanding between the city and leap for grant funds to

[2:50:28] support the climate protection program and promote energy performance

[2:50:32] improvements. For resolution, there are five resolutions to award FY23 Charlottesville

[2:50:41] affordable housing funds, and they're all second reading. Part A is $187,500 to the

[2:50:49] Charlottesville redevelopment and housing authority for a public housing HVAC equity

[2:50:54] project. B, $67,800 to a community services housing incorporated for rehabilitation repairs

[2:51:03] to preserve community services housing properties.

[2:51:06] C, $225,000 for the Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville's transitions to home ownership

[2:51:14] 2023 project. D, $167,972 for a Pied Von Housing Alliance, anti-displacement through

[2:51:25] Prospect home ownership project. E, $186,722 for the Virginia Support of Housing

[2:51:34] Premier Circle, PSH Project, with conditions.

[2:51:39] Five resolution, appropriating rescue squad assistance funds, grant funding for AEDs in the

[2:51:47] amount of $14,550, one of two readings, six resolution, authorizing participation in

[2:51:55] a cooperative partnership application for state opioid abatement, authority grant funding,

[2:52:00] One reading, seven ordinance, a mending city code section 22-4, methods of procurement authorized to increase the bid bond limit from 100,000 to 200,000 dollars, one of two readings.

[2:52:17] All right, thank you.

[2:52:18] We'll now take public comment regarding items on the consent agenda that were just read by the clerk.

[2:52:24] Each speaker will have up to three minutes in the Zoom webinar.

[2:52:27] you may select the raise hand option to be placed in the speaker queue. If you've joined

[2:52:32] by phone and wish to speak on the consent agenda you may press star 9. We'll alternate in

[2:52:37] person and virtual speakers. If you are someone who has signed up to speak, that this is not

[2:52:43] your moment yet. That will come in a few minutes. This is just for the things that the clerk just

[2:52:48] read. Is there anybody in council chambers who would like to speak on a consent agenda item?

[2:52:56] Okay. Are there any virtual speakers? Anyone online who would like to speak on a consent agenda item?

[2:53:06] Yes, Mayor Snick. We have one raised hand.

[2:53:08] Ted A. Derfee.

[2:53:11] Ted A. You were on with Council.

[2:53:14] Hello. Can you all hear me?

[2:53:15] Yes, we can.

[2:53:17] Two all members of the, two all members of the Charlottesville City Council. My name is Ted A. Derfee.

[2:53:22] I'm a fourth year student at the University of Virginia.

[2:53:25] And I write to share my thoughts on investment in making Charlottesville a more walkable and bikeable city.

[2:53:29] I see both environmental and economic benefits to this legislation.

[2:53:34] From an environmental standpoint, you stated in your most recent climate action plan

[2:53:37] that on average around 70% of shaltful residents use a private vehicle to commute.

[2:53:43] This high percentage contributes to transportation sector that made up around 26% of

[2:53:47] shaltful total greenhouse gas emissions in 2019.

[2:53:51] The investment in more bike and walking access on roads could significantly reduce this number

[2:53:55] in data from your 2015 bike and pedestrian master plan update helps prove it.

[2:54:00] This plan surveyed Charltele residents and asked their comfort with biking on a road with cars.

[2:54:06] Although it seemed around half of residents would not be willing to participate in a more

[2:54:09] bike-able city, the rates at which residents responded enthusiastically were followed by a far above

[2:54:14] the national average. Based on conservative calculations, Charltele residents emit around

[2:54:19] 1,000 pounds of CO2 from their vehicles every year when they like to drive to work.

[2:54:23] With over 18,000 passels in Charlottesville just a small percentage of citizens venturing

[2:54:29] to bike to work would make a major difference.

[2:54:32] Beyond environmental issues, building a more bike-able and walkable city is good for

[2:54:35] the economy of Charlottesville.

[2:54:37] Our hubs of commerce and community grounds are all around the ability to navigate bike, but

[2:54:41] I think our historic downtown mall, XR Park and even the UVA corner are examples of these.

[2:54:47] These places give local merchants the foot traffic they need to thrive and welcome more customers.

[2:54:52] investment in a more walkable, like a little city will a lot this bit to more parts of our community.

[2:54:58] I feel that even limited investment in a more bikeable and walkable Charlottesville will go a long way

[2:55:02] for environmental and economic efforts.

[2:55:04] Thank you for taking the time to hear my thoughts and for your sacrifice serving on this council.

[2:55:09] Thank you.

[2:55:10] Anyone else, President?

[2:55:13] Anybody else online?

[2:55:17] We have another raised hand, Corinne Sweeney.

[2:55:22] Is this something specifically on one of the items on a consent agenda?

[2:55:30] No, I think.

[2:55:33] Nevermind.

[2:55:34] Okay, then the comment period for that will be in just a few minutes.

[2:55:39] So, hang on, call back, and we'll get you then.

[2:55:44] I should have said that through the last speaker.

[2:55:46] And one interrupt.

[2:55:48] Is there anybody else online who wishes to address a matter on the consent agenda?

[2:55:56] I see no other raised hands.

[2:55:57] All right, so we'll close that this portion of the public comment period. Is there a motion to adopt the consent agenda?

[2:56:05] I moved to adopt the consent agenda. Is there a second?

[2:56:09] Second.

[2:56:10] Any further questions or comments from Council?

[2:56:14] So now we get to, again, now for the second time, we get to push our buttons for the first time in three years.

[2:56:22] Go ahead and take the vote, please.

[2:56:26] And it passes five nothing.

[2:56:28] We actually hear it.

[2:56:29] That's right.

[2:56:31] We know that it has happened.

[2:56:33] Those criminals.

[2:56:36] Okay, Mr. Rogers is there a report from the city manager's office.

[2:56:39] Mr. Mayor Council, yes, there's a written report that I want to highlight a couple of items.

[2:56:45] Mayor Council and the Shalice Field Community.

[2:56:49] I want to take a moment to congratulate Paul Byer and his colleagues at the Tom Tom

[2:56:54] Tom Tom Foundation, on organizing and hosting another great event for our community.

[2:57:02] Paul provided me some highlights, the attendance about 23,000 people.

[2:57:08] The Black Party attendance was 9,000 on Friday night and 10,000 on Saturday.

[2:57:14] I was there on Friday night and I witnessed it. It was a great, great feeling.

[2:57:19] They had 187 speakers and 100 sessions, a number of partners participated in that event, including

[2:57:31] the City of Charlottesville being one of the sponsors.

[2:57:35] The Black Party was a great presentation of Charlottesville community.

[2:57:42] All segments of our city were represented and I commend Paul and his colleagues for doing

[2:57:48] outreach in making sure that everybody showed up. I look forward to working with you on making

[2:57:54] that a bit and even greater event in the coming years because I just think it's fantastic

[2:57:58] and a good thing for the community. I am as a public administrator, very favorable towards festivals

[2:58:06] in every community I've been in, a great cheerleader there. I want to shout out to the girls on the

[2:58:16] one at Burnley Moran School.

[2:58:21] They sent me this nice card.

[2:58:24] Don't always get the city manager,

[2:58:26] don't always get nice mail.

[2:58:28] All right.

[2:58:29] But this card says, dear city manager and staff,

[2:58:33] thank you for devoting your career to our community

[2:58:36] and keeping it in a working order.

[2:58:40] We appreciate you following through on the decisions

[2:58:46] that are made based on what the citizens desire.

[2:58:50] We are grateful that you've worked toward making our city a better place, and see

[2:58:55] Lee, Burnley, Moran, girls on the run, Spring Team, 2020-23.

[2:59:01] Thank you very much, young ladies.

[2:59:03] We wish you much success.

[2:59:05] I assume it's attracting, and I hope they win everything this year.

[2:59:10] Another point I want to make is that Mayor Council, we will conclude the interviews for City

[2:59:16] attorney this week, and my plan is to come to you for interviews in the intervening

[2:59:24] weeks so that you can make a decision at the next council meeting.

[2:59:31] We also want to announce that after six months, since last five chief permanent five

[2:59:38] people have been, and Chief Thomas serving as interim.

[2:59:43] I'm going to initiate the search, National Search with Barchie.

[2:59:48] Chief Thomas has done an excellent job, but I think it's a good practice

[2:59:52] always to have an open process, and I'm sure that he will apply.

[2:59:57] And we'll...

[3:00:00] We'll be very competitive candidate in the process, and we look forward to concluding that in the next

[3:00:06] hopefully within 90 days. Ashley, Sam, any points you want to highlight

[3:00:15] from your section?

[3:00:17] Yes, our

[3:00:23] patient process for the KM intern program did close today at 5 p.m. but any organization or

[3:00:31] business that would like to be a partner to receive and support a KF intern may still submit

[3:00:38] any information on that. You just simply go to the community attention youth internship

[3:00:44] website. That link is provided in the written document. So any business that would be interested.

[3:00:52] And then finally, in addition, just a reminder to the community that summer recreation sonups

[3:00:57] are open so please visit our Parks and Recreation Departments website and feel free to sign

[3:01:02] up for any classes you'd like to take this summer.

[3:01:06] I have two quick items.

[3:01:07] The first being that the new permitting software went live today so building permits can be

[3:01:12] initiated online.

[3:01:13] It's a soft process so we're working out the kinks.

[3:01:17] But soon all customers will be able to submit their applications online and track progress.

[3:01:22] That's what we wanted to also be able to do with this.

[3:01:24] And then the remaining aspects of permits will come in the fall.

[3:01:28] So we're just doing building permits for now, and then everything else will come alive

[3:01:31] in the fall.

[3:01:33] And then also wanted to single out our fleet division.

[3:01:36] They were recognized as honorable mention for the National Association of Fleet administrators.

[3:01:41] 100 best fleet awards are goal is to win next time.

[3:01:45] So we're going to make sure that we continue to improve on the things that we have available

[3:01:48] at their disposal.

[3:01:51] And I ask Gonzales, join us as Executive Director of the PCOB today.

[3:01:56] We welcome her to the team and Mr. Williams, what's it?

[3:02:00] Well, Williams, join us as the Housing Program Manager.

[3:02:03] We've been without someone leading our housing efforts directly.

[3:02:06] So he moved from Florida and arrived today.

[3:02:10] So Alex is ready to put him to work.

[3:02:11] We have a lot for him to do.

[3:02:13] So, you know, slowly,

[3:02:14] Lower that we all want, but surely we are making progress on filling some of the key positions in this next week.

[3:02:23] Solid progress.

[3:02:25] Thank you.

[3:02:26] Mr. Mayor, would you mind if Mr. Bier's came up and just gave a couple minutes?

[3:02:30] I didn't have a couple minutes.

[3:02:32] Just a couple of seconds about how you felt about the conferences year and any highlights for maybe for the future?

[3:02:41] Well, I'm honored that to be recognized, but, of course, I think it's really on behalf of a big team and a community that really wanted to tell a story about Charlottesville.

[3:02:55] So I accept that honor really on behalf of dozens or probably even hundreds of people in this community that made Tom Tom possible.

[3:03:03] and Michael I mean I saw you cheering it all on Friday night, and counselor Wade I saw you cheering

[3:03:10] it on and Brian you were there as well, Lloyd you were at a number of sessions and I saw

[3:03:18] you with the crowdfunding pitch night so I guess what I just want to besides passing that

[3:03:26] on or on to other people I would just like to say that I think with Tom Tom I'm optimistic

[3:03:32] like about the future of our city, and I think especially when we're friends, and we build

[3:03:39] trust with each other, and we see the interconnection that we all share.

[3:03:44] So Tom Tom this year arranged from tours of the prison to highlight restorative justice

[3:03:52] and reentry to many conferences from everything from psychedelics and yoga to the technology

[3:04:00] to creating a beloved community, to pitch nights, to block parties, to culture, and really it's like I think the message is just we all have us a sake in the future.

[3:04:14] And so I hope Tom Tom can be a platform that continues to have a broad and welcoming invitation.

[3:04:20] And particularly as it goes into the future, because I know that it's 11 years old.

[3:04:25] I don't know that everyone has always felt welcomed at Tom Tom, and that's something where

[3:04:30] I just, again, trying to change that as much as possible, make sure people know that

[3:04:36] you know we've all got to stake in the city and if we do it as friends, it's going to be

[3:04:40] a really positive one.

[3:04:42] So, thank you.

[3:04:42] Thank you.

[3:04:43] Thank you.

[3:04:44] Thank you for all your hard work.

[3:04:47] And while we're recognizing other community events that we're not worthy, I don't know

[3:04:53] anybody else other than me went out to the bike race on Saturday, trying to get to the hardware

[3:04:58] store and was stymied but briefly but it is just all I can say is even the slowest ones

[3:05:05] were going faster. It was impressive to me that they were able to pull it off and I wish

[3:05:13] them the best of luck in future endeavors because I think it's part of what we need to build energy

[3:05:19] for recycling and alternative forms of transportation other than just cars.

[3:05:28] So, let's now come to regular community matters.

[3:05:31] We have six pre-registered speakers, leaving ten slots for additional speakers on

[3:05:37] community matters.

[3:05:37] Each speaker will have up to three minutes to speak and we will now open the floor to

[3:05:43] the pre-registered speakers.

[3:05:46] Our first registered speaker is Jordan Perez is Mr. Perez here in the room.

[3:05:52] Come on up, you have three minutes, Mr. Perez.

[3:06:04] Good evening, City Council members.

[3:06:07] My name is Jordan Perez and I'm a first year undergraduate

[3:06:09] at the University of Virginia.

[3:06:12] I will be calling Charlottesville my home for the next few years.

[3:06:15] And I such I feel that it is my responsibility to represent students

[3:06:19] and advocate for a cleaner, safer way, to travel throughout the city.

[3:06:25] It is important to me that I can reach various locations

[3:06:27] without pumping greenhouse gases into the air we all breathe.

[3:06:32] Everyone travels, making it a particularly important aspect of focus on,

[3:06:37] whether it is to and from work, school, or other activities,

[3:06:42] we are always commuting in some way.

[3:06:44] According to the Congressional Budget Office,

[3:06:46] travel contributes to 38% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.

[3:06:51] The issue is not everyone has the ability to travel cleanly.

[3:06:55] As a college student with virtually no money in their bank account,

[3:06:59] the purchase of an electric vehicle is not feasible.

[3:07:03] Many low income families find themselves in similar situations

[3:07:06] where the purchase of any new car would be a huge financial burden.

[3:07:11] The Charlottesville Climate Action Plan states under the transportation section that electric

[3:07:18] vehicles are more affordable for low income families due to tax credits.

[3:07:22] However, when adding the federal and state tax credits totaling $10,000, the cheapest electric

[3:07:28] vehicle on the market, the Chevrolet Bull at $26,000 would only drop to $16,000.

[3:07:34] According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income for Charlottesville families

[3:07:39] and 2021 was $63,000. Most families cannot justify spending 26% of their annual income

[3:07:48] on traveling cleanly. Sustainability is about protecting the environment in an economically

[3:07:54] viable and fair way. The choice to be sustainable is not meant to be left to those with

[3:07:59] money to install solar panels and buy electric vehicles. Unfortunately,

[3:08:04] Charlottesville does not offer an easily traversable environment for walkers or

[3:08:09] bikers,

[3:08:11] which greatly limits the ability of low-income households to travel

[3:08:15] throughout Charlottesville cleanly. I urge you to follow through on your climate

[3:08:19] action plan and start making Charlottesville more accessible for walkers and

[3:08:23] bikers today. Thank you for your time and your service to the city.

[3:08:27] Thank you, Mr. Perez.

[3:08:30] Our second registered speaker is Kate Freyley.

[3:08:34] Mr. Freyley.

[3:08:42] Hi. I'm Kate Freyley. I live in Charlottesville.

[3:08:45] I come with hope today.

[3:08:47] I'm hopeful because I listen to some of the Virginia Behavioral Health Commission meeting last Friday.

[3:08:54] They discussed the shortage of mental health staff and the need to have workforce development and a pipeline.

[3:09:00] In February 2023, Mental Health and Wellness Newsletter, they outlined how very bad the shortage

[3:09:08] is already and the need to do something about it.

[3:09:13] Senator D's has successfully gotten into the budget, though, the final passenger hasn't

[3:09:18] yet been done, funds for raises for community service board employees and increased Medicaid

[3:09:24] coverage for behavioral health services.

[3:09:27] and a couple of pilot programs.

[3:09:30] This effort will help people get services

[3:09:32] than help people stay in their jobs.

[3:09:35] I don't think, though,

[3:09:36] that it helps create new behavioral health

[3:09:39] ready to work people.

[3:09:41] I'm hopeful that the widening recognition of this urgency

[3:09:45] in the crisis in staffing

[3:09:47] will lead Charlottesville to take an active approach

[3:09:50] supporting a pipeline for individuals

[3:09:52] interested in working in the behavioral health field.

[3:09:56] I believe there is still a COVID money, yet to be spent, and some of it, the interest money that has no strings attached.

[3:10:04] As I see right now, there are plenty of jobs and enough training programs and places to get required practice hours for peer support or recovery specialists,

[3:10:13] and there are jobs requiring a household diploma, some employers require additional specific trainings.

[3:10:20] I'll be sending you an email all about this later.

[3:10:22] The next step in the pipeline is where I see the biggest need and the potentially the quickest positive outcome.

[3:10:30] I found very few jobs that require an associated degree.

[3:10:33] UVA has some responsibility and increasing offering for the baccalaureate masters and pH-devil level prepared clinicians.

[3:10:43] But that is a much longer process.

[3:10:47] Right now I see opportunities in K-Tech and PVCC.

[3:10:50] K-Tech already has health-related programs, PVCC wants to help the community address workplace shortages.

[3:10:59] They could work together to be a help for training, and PVCC could count the trainings at K-Tech as part of the requirements for an associate degree.

[3:11:09] Thus developing a degree that would especially meet our current need for people ready to work in behavioral health services.

[3:11:16] I'm hoping that the city will organize a group of people that are employers, trainers, educators,

[3:11:25] service providers in our community to get together to figure out how to develop a pipeline.

[3:11:31] We need it locally, we need it now, we need it in a real big hurry.

[3:11:35] Thank you.

[3:11:36] Thank you, Ms. Frode.

[3:11:39] Our next prevention speaker is John Faultz.

[3:11:48] We told you it's good.

[3:11:51] We already know what you're going to say.

[3:11:54] Can I just sit down then?

[3:11:57] As you wish.

[3:11:59] I'm John Falls, a 15-0-1 rugby road.

[3:12:03] I just recently learned that the City Plan

[3:12:06] to build a multi-use path along the south side of the barracks road

[3:12:10] from Buckingham Circle to CVS, the corner of Emma Street.

[3:12:14] What are we thinking?

[3:12:18] It's too steep for bicycles to go up the path from CVS.

[3:12:22] It's over 10% and that's twice the I64 going up, which is only 5%.

[3:12:31] And it's impossible to use downhill without breaking the law,

[3:12:36] because it's on sidewalks at either end.

[3:12:39] I'm not anti-bike.

[3:12:41] I communicated to the university by bicycle for 35 years.

[3:12:47] I live near Darry Road.

[3:12:49] I know this route.

[3:12:51] The real problem is to manage the tricky left turn down there at CVS

[3:12:56] and get on to Emmett and get off as quickly as you can into the parking lot.

[3:13:01] This is not a easy place to bicycle and you can't get there from the south side.

[3:13:09] It's too steep.

[3:13:10] I never go back that way, I always go back by way of rugby road because that's a general grade and I get up to my area.

[3:13:22] I would never use this so-called multi-use path.

[3:13:26] The city wants more bike paths and there are better places to put it.

[3:13:31] Why don't we use the money to create a really internet network?

[3:13:37] I attached a map and there are details I tell you about because you can't see.

[3:13:47] We could connect existing portions of our multi-use path along the bypass into the

[3:13:58] entire park, we got a wonderful underpass, under the bypass, could connect with rugby road,

[3:14:07] Rose Hill, which has lanes on either side. That's where we should be spending our money.

[3:14:15] We claim to be an environmentalist-conscious city, building a short useless multi-use path,

[3:14:24] and cutting down 53 mature trees to do so.

[3:14:28] Doesn't strike me as being a environmentally friendly.

[3:14:35] Why are we doing this?

[3:14:37] Thank you.

[3:14:39] Thank you, Mr. Falls.

[3:14:45] Next speaker is Mila Ramila Ranota.

[3:14:53] Help me out with your name.

[3:14:54] Mila.

[3:14:55] No, I guess that is okay.

[3:14:57] Good evening, members of Charlottesville City Council.

[3:15:00] My name is Milo Renaga and I'm an undergraduate at the University of Virginia. I'm speaking today to comment upon the city's use of natural gas.

[3:15:08] Charlottesville's goal is to hold a temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius with a 45% reduction of CO2 emissions from the 20-time level by 2030.

[3:15:18] According to Charlottesville climate action plan, most videos have been taking many steps towards the school by investing in programs such as Charlottesville, gas, energy efficiency program.

[3:15:28] It hasn't been doing enough to efficiently transition to renewable energy sources.

[3:15:34] California's recent decision to end subsidies, expanding natural gas is a good example of a significant change as

[3:15:40] Charlottesville should be making.

[3:15:42] The change saves taxpayers approximately 164 million years in California.

[3:15:48] And contrast Charlottesville spent $250,000 in the past year installing gas lines for free.

[3:15:54] In addition to these costs, Charlottesville has been investing in technologies to advance gas efficiency

[3:16:01] such as gas meters for abnormal operating conditions or AOCs.

[3:16:06] The recent contract received a successful low bid of $1.7 million to reduce the backlog of AOCs.

[3:16:13] Although safety of gas pipelines is important, I've seen by the 90 gas pipe leaks and Charlottesville's system in the past year.

[3:16:21] this allocation of investments may lead to more stranded assets than investing in renewable energy sources.

[3:16:27] Rather than looking to spend money on clean resources, the city is requesting a federal grant

[3:16:30] of the next five years replacing low pressure gasp apes with high pressure for West Main Street.

[3:16:37] Estimates for the cost of these projects are between 1.2 and 1.5 million.

[3:16:41] Charlottesville should not continue to invest in projects such as these that are expensive and work

[3:16:50] and moving away from gas and towards renewable energy that will continue to serve the city past

[3:16:56] the next 30 years. Thank you so much for your time.

[3:17:00] Thank you. Our next speaker is Emily Johnson.

[3:17:04] Is Emily here? Is Emily online?

[3:17:11] Yes, Mayor Snook.

[3:17:12] Right, Ms. Johnson, you have three minutes.

[3:17:18] Hi, it's my name's Emily Johnson and I am a clinical social worker at University Medical

[3:17:24] associates, but I am here tonight as a community member wanting to support the efforts for

[3:17:35] the homeless population. Since January I have been working closely with the community and

[3:17:43] there has been a significant increase in those patients being evicted that are complex with

[3:17:53] medical care. And I just wanted to provide support in regards to what was addressed earlier,

[3:18:00] as far as the expensive that it is putting on the rest of the community members when somebody

[3:18:09] is homeless. A lot of what I see on a day to day basis is decline in mental health when they were

[3:18:23] maintain their care as well as access, simple resources, such as food, transportation,

[3:18:37] and

[3:18:37] down to like hygiene and laundry services.

[3:18:43] So I just wanted to provide that information from an outside standpoint of what I see

[3:18:49] looking in.

[3:18:52] Thank you.

[3:18:53] Thank you Ms. Johnson. Next up is Mara Asmat.

[3:19:00] Do I get that close?

[3:19:02] My role, so okay.

[3:19:05] Hello, I'm council. I am an undergraduate student at the University of Virginia.

[3:19:10] And like many of my peers, I'm here today to urge you to make Charlottesville more of a walkable city.

[3:19:16] In the climate action plan, it was indicated that we would like to increase and encourage

[3:19:20] are walking and biking and prioritized actions that support low income households and have

[3:19:25] intersectional benefits. I believe that prioritizing walkability will make sure

[3:19:29] it's full safer, more environmentally friendly, and be economically beneficial to the city.

[3:19:35] Walking is the cheapest for our transportation, and increased rates of commuting can save money

[3:19:40] for low income residents, especially through fuel costs, time spent commuting, and environmental

[3:19:45] damage. A study by the Urban Land Institute indicated that homes in

[3:19:50] lockable areas sell for up to 20,000 more than similar homes in non-lockable areas.

[3:19:56] And the federal office of technology estimates that homes built in urban areas,

[3:20:00] cost the city, and tax payers, 10,000 less in public services.

[3:20:04] I urge you to revisit the recommendations listed in the 2015

[3:20:08] by school and pedestrian master plan and update it to keep residents informed.

[3:20:13] As I believe that the implementation of many of those policies can increase the amount of

[3:20:18] sidewalks and bike lanes in Charlottesville, which was residents main concern with travel

[3:20:23] as recorded in 2022 by the Peedmont Environmental Council and presented to you all.

[3:20:29] The plan recommends the construction of a new sidewalk, starting at 6-3 in Star Hill, that will cost $92,000,

[3:20:37] which I believe should be prioritized due to its relatively low cost,

[3:20:40] and location in the low income neighborhood,

[3:20:43] as well as the economic benefits it will bring

[3:20:45] as mentioned above.

[3:20:47] I hope that this will be the first sidewalk bill

[3:20:48] out of many.

[3:20:50] And I thank you so much for your continued time

[3:20:52] and effort, investment to city council,

[3:20:54] and for listening to me today.

[3:20:55] Thank you so much.

[3:20:57] Thank you, Ms. Azman.

[3:20:59] All right, so now we have 10 remaining speaker slots,

[3:21:03] virtual attendees wishing to speak,

[3:21:05] may select the raise hand option

[3:21:07] in the Zoom webinar to be placed in the speaker queue,

[3:21:09] If you're on by phone, wish to speak during community matters, please press our nine and again, we'll alternate in person and online folks.

[3:21:20] We've had a fair amount of action in person. Does anybody online who would like to address us?

[3:21:25] Yes, Mayor Snick, we have Tanisha Hudson.

[3:21:27] Ms Hudson, you have three minutes.

[3:21:32] Good evening, thank you, Your Honor.

[3:21:33] Yes, we can.

[3:21:35] Okay, so I want to touch on a few things.

[3:21:37] Number one, Lloyd, you shot it out the bike event that occurred this weekend to place between

[3:21:45] Rose Hill and President Avenue.

[3:21:47] I got a lot of complaints from community members, and I'm sure you all have received the emails

[3:21:52] already that the bus route was altered, of course, because you had shut down the street from

[3:21:57] 9 to 430.

[3:21:59] So here's the thing is that the bus did not go to the top of Washington Park, which it could

[3:22:05] went to the top of Washington part.

[3:22:07] They could have had alternate bus routes for people who had to

[3:22:10] go to work.

[3:22:11] I feel like the lower-income community members in this community

[3:22:14] were completely left out on a planning.

[3:22:17] They were not thought of, it definitely shows that we

[3:22:21] tend to cater to the halves and not the halves.

[3:22:27] So many people complained that they were unable to catch a bus

[3:22:30] in normal places that they would catch a bus.

[3:22:32] And even though you had to move the bus routes for this event,

[3:22:36] you could have still had the bus come to certain spots

[3:22:40] that was close enough for people to walk to.

[3:22:45] That's number one.

[3:22:46] Number two, I wanted to talk a little bit about time time.

[3:22:50] You all are congratulating Paul Byron.

[3:22:53] It was a great event, not gonna lie as a great event.

[3:22:55] But this is why I was pushing for the unity days

[3:22:58] to be something that you all continue

[3:23:00] from a standpoint of it brings our city together.

[3:23:04] We've been so glad that here in the city,

[3:23:08] again, people on the bottom tend to feel like

[3:23:11] they are left behind and that you don't care.

[3:23:15] So with that being said, you should consider having

[3:23:19] some type of unity days programming,

[3:23:22] that the city sponsors and basically distribute the funds

[3:23:27] like you did in 2019.

[3:23:28] It's a great event. It brings the community together. I know different people even

[3:23:34] sitting up on the board right now that it's in to some of the community they have been

[3:23:37] back in 2019. I mean the unity they have been, I'm sorry, back in 2019. It

[3:23:44] gives every person in this city whether they're at the top, whether they're at the bottom,

[3:23:49] doesn't matter where they stand in the social economic standpoint, an opportunity to be at an event

[3:23:57] offered by this city. The last thing I want to talk about is we have an audit

[3:24:02] talk about climate change. Bus stop shelters. People riding the bus are choosing

[3:24:07] to ride the bus deserve to be covered from weather. You can not say that you care

[3:24:12] about people in your community and you do not have bus stop shelters. At the I'm

[3:24:16] in a source in institute and at the source in institute there was a big presentation

[3:24:21] about how the shelter for coverage for individuals right in the bus, why is the huge issue.

[3:24:28] Charlottesville was one that was a part of that as well as album Mark County.

[3:24:33] You should be protecting people from weather. If you're going to provide public transportation,

[3:24:38] it's your job to also provide coverage for them, whether it's rain, hail, sleigh, or snow.

[3:24:45] Thank you and have a good night. Thank you, Ms. Hudson.

[3:24:48] So anybody in person who would like to speak to us, let's take, I'm looking at the woman in

[3:24:58] a black sweater or black top of some sort, I can get it.

[3:25:04] You got it right, it wasn't sweaters, so I can get it out.

[3:25:07] Tell us your name, please.

[3:25:08] Thank you.

[3:25:09] My name is Evelle Gattuso.

[3:25:14] Good evening.

[3:25:15] So I was feel city council, I have the speed for it and I'm running today at the first

[3:25:20] year student from the University of Virginia advocating for increased walkability in

[3:25:24] the city.

[3:25:26] You know, we've had many people present on this tonight, so stop me if you heard this

[3:25:28] one before, but hopefully you can see how close this issue is to mine and many of my classmates

[3:25:34] hearts.

[3:25:35] I've recently been apartment hunting and I've noted that the more affordable housing options

[3:25:39] don't often correlate with like safer pedestrian routes, which is why I want to speak

[3:25:43] today, I'm making that accessibility available to a greater number of Charlottesville residents.

[3:25:47] The proposal solution that Charlottesville has offered in this climate action plan are terrific

[3:25:51] for lowering our carbon footprint.

[3:25:53] But the problem is with many long-term projects, plain developments such as mixed youth residential

[3:25:57] areas need to be constructed first.

[3:26:00] So this brings up two issues I wanted to ask.

[3:26:02] First expanded of mixed youth housing doesn't solve existing problems in infrastructure,

[3:26:07] bike lanes in the city and suddenly have no barriers against traffic lanes and or require

[3:26:11] micro is the turn on the oncoming traffic to get to a sidewalk. The

[3:26:14] climate action project mentioned investment in these areas, especially with

[3:26:17] shading on existing routes, but investments will require a connection between

[3:26:21] existing routes to maximize safety. As I show this little tomorrow article

[3:26:24] states, the walkability of a city is determined by the perceived safety of

[3:26:27] a street, which could be solved with consistent implementation of the civil

[3:26:31] plan together, Comprehensive Plan, with a focus on improvement in

[3:26:34] high-density areas. Second construction produces obstacles to walkability, so

[3:26:39] I'm echoing Miss Hubson a little here, but I'm a member of the Madison House walking

[3:26:43] bus and construction requires that we take a longer, more dangerous route, which is

[3:26:48] especially for anyone walking with younger children with smaller legs.

[3:26:52] A further construction on the Cormic Road blocks the vision of both drivers and students living

[3:26:56] in dorms where other construction runs is still my risk.

[3:26:59] According to a CNN article, drivers have become more reckless of the pandemic, which made

[3:27:04] that notions of danger in the streets have only increased, limited the ability of

[3:27:07] for those of the residents to give me,

[3:27:09] to walk to get these central they need.

[3:27:11] The council has said low income housing is a priority,

[3:27:15] and I respect that.

[3:27:15] So construction would be disproportionately hazardous

[3:27:17] for the same people as the council is attempting to help.

[3:27:20] In this aspect, I only ask the Charlottesville Stateville

[3:27:22] to join in making sure that construction standards

[3:27:23] are either timely or meet safety requirements

[3:27:25] for pedestrian crossings.

[3:27:28] I appreciate everything the council has done,

[3:27:30] and I thank you for the work you put in.

[3:27:32] I really do admire the work you do,

[3:27:33] and every time I can't daily article comes out,

[3:27:35] I'm like, wow, that is cool.

[3:27:36] I'm proud to be part of Charlesville, so all I ask today is that there's greater consistency in the implementation as we move towards a greener Charlesville.

[3:27:46] Thank you.

[3:27:46] Thank you very much.

[3:27:48] Do we have somebody online who would like to speak to us next?

[3:27:52] Yes, Mayor Snick.

[3:27:52] We have Robin Hoffman.

[3:27:54] This Hoffman, you have three minutes.

[3:27:58] Hello everybody. My first thought is first of all I want to honor and thank David

[3:28:04] Dillon so much. I'm actually tearing up just now. But anyway, he is a deputy director

[3:28:13] of communications but he has three hats and he has been so supportive of the city for 20

[3:28:20] years and more. And really, we need to put out there that he needs a communications director

[3:28:30] to help him do his job, which he only actually is getting paid for one. And anyway, I just

[3:28:42] want to say please make a concerted effort, maybe even talk with Chamber Commerce as I travel

[3:28:49] through shots, they'll doing different things.

[3:28:54] All of those speakers prior today to me have actually touched on things that people are

[3:29:01] talking about.

[3:29:03] I was petitioning for Michael Payne, and I walked around the neighborhood, and all those

[3:29:08] issues of safety and signage and things like that need to be addressed.

[3:29:14] But I was watching PBS and the Richmond Chamber, I mean the Richmond Council meeting.

[3:29:24] I don't know why, but anyway, they have designated counselors to different neighborhoods.

[3:29:30] I think that's a great idea. The different counselors and managers are designated to be responsible for events,

[3:29:40] for problems and things like that and come back to the chamber and talk to everybody, and that's

[3:29:47] what they do.

[3:29:48] They're counsel meetings and they're individually responsible.

[3:29:51] I thought that was really cool.

[3:29:53] They have their own districts.

[3:29:55] Also, I want to say that I've turned it.

[3:29:57] Botanical Gardens, I was a bomb.

[3:30:00] On to you for the Tom Tom, arts and crafts, and one of the girls on the run, we designed sort of a spiral thing that sort of, it's really cool.

[3:30:12] And she was really talented, and I sort of gave her the idea that she might be able to make some money for their efforts.

[3:30:26] But then also I want to say I have solar on my roof and I got that last Thursday and as

[3:30:34] matter of fact David Dillon has been going to help me put it on my show, my TV show because

[3:30:41] I actually a video of the whole thing for CPATV and I want to say that that's because I'm

[3:30:49] old and I don't I had an income under I think $50,000 I got it free from Dominion.

[3:30:55] So anybody who is in that category can do that.

[3:31:03] Thank you.

[3:31:03] Thank you, Ms. Hoffman.

[3:31:05] All right, now we come back to in person in the scalar.

[3:31:16] I want to pass you.

[3:31:20] So I'm Gallagher.

[3:31:22] I live in.

[3:31:23] I need to start the clock.

[3:31:25] I live in Charlottesville.

[3:31:28] And has as many of you probably may or may not know.

[3:31:33] The Westbound traffic on Barracks Road approaching

[3:31:35] Amit Street going down the hill on Barracks Road

[3:31:38] is often backed up pretty far.

[3:31:42] And this problem would probably be improved

[3:31:46] by adding another right turn lane.

[3:31:48] In fact, the city is proposed to add another right turn lane

[3:31:52] from Barracks Road to go north on Amit Street.

[3:31:56] And in fact, the city I'm bundled together this right turn lane

[3:32:00] from Barrack's dammit with a combined mixed use path.

[3:32:05] That's a path for bicycles and pedestrians

[3:32:08] going up to south side of Barrack's road.

[3:32:11] And the city was successful in submitting

[3:32:13] this proposal to the smart scale program of V dot,

[3:32:18] the Virginia Department of Transportation.

[3:32:21] So that also sounds great.

[3:32:22] The only thing that's wrong with this is

[3:32:24] that a mixed use path actually requires

[3:32:28] that the four foot wide sidewalk on the south side of Barracks would be replaced by

[3:32:35] three feet of barrier between the roadway and the path and ten feet of path.

[3:32:40] Okay, that's thirteen feet. So in other words, it moves the bank back by at least nine feet.

[3:32:47] So what does that mean? So what that means then is that the trees on the south side of Barracks

[3:32:52] get wiped out, as John Foster's already told you, there are 61 mature trees. I count of the trees

[3:33:00] that are eight inches or more in diameter, that's like this. And there are 81 of them along

[3:33:05] that stretch of barracks road, and God knows how many that are smaller. But the real point is not

[3:33:10] how many trees it is, it's what the effect is. And in fact, you have in front of you a picture

[3:33:15] taken looking down barracks road, so that what's on the left hand side of the picture is the

[3:33:21] outside of the street. So now there are trees there. If this, in fact, this program goes through,

[3:33:29] there will be no trees there and there will be essentially no canopy over the street,

[3:33:34] which there is right now. So, as has been pointed up by John Falls, this bicycle path, well,

[3:33:41] people walk out bears road now, they do not bicycle up it. And the bicycle path is basically useless

[3:33:47] because it's too steep. No one is going to go up it. So finally the city is getting its right

[3:33:55] turn lane by cutting down all the trees on the south side of Barrack's road. Is this what we

[3:34:00] want to do? I mean that's the question I'm asking you to consider one last time. Okay, thank you

[3:34:06] for your attention. Thank you, Mr. Gallagher. Next on line,

[3:34:14] we have a current Sweeney joining us again.

[3:34:16] Okay, Ms. Tweeney?

[3:34:20] Members of Charlottesville City Council, my name is Kren Sweeney.

[3:34:23] I'm an undergraduate student at UVA and I'm here to comment on the Charlottesville community's future and financing the Green Energy transition.

[3:34:32] A national transition to Green Energy is on the horizon.

[3:34:35] Not just for the well-being of the environment, but for the health safety and economic benefit of citizens.

[3:34:40] In reviewing the Charlottesville Climate Action Plan,

[3:34:42] I would like to highlight the noted strategy to advocate for and support a state-level green bank.

[3:34:47] Green banks use small amounts of public funds to prime the pump to attract private investment

[3:34:52] to clean energy, opening access to capital for a clean energy transition through a revolving

[3:34:56] fund.

[3:34:57] It's essential also to note that these are not public grants, but rather to create an incentive,

[3:35:02] under the bank we'll receive a rate of return.

[3:35:04] I understand that the Virginia General Assembly authorized creation in 2021, the implementation

[3:35:09] is not making progress that needs to.

[3:35:11] Given this, I would like to highlight that green banks can also be installed at the city level,

[3:35:15] and I urge Charlottesville to consider this option.

[3:35:18] Opposition to Greenbase often stems from high upfront costs.

[3:35:21] However, it's proven that overcoming this hurtable drastically decrease energy

[3:35:25] those later, making all housing more affordable.

[3:35:28] I would like to note that the Connecticut Greenbank launched a residential solar

[3:35:31] investment program that made installing solar panels more affordable for over 30,000

[3:35:35] households in low-income areas, specifically black and Hispanic neighborhoods

[3:35:39] to lower their cost of living.

[3:35:40] The program structure looked to 86% more solar installations and majority black neighborhoods

[3:35:47] than a majority white neighborhoods, making significant strides towards environmental equity,

[3:35:51] a pillar of Charlottesville's action plan. Additionally, regarding social benefits,

[3:35:56] the Fairfax County Green Bay feasibility analysis also highlighted the co-benefits of green banks,

[3:36:01] including improved air quality and job creation.

[3:36:04] Finally, implementing a local green bank will establish Charlottesville as a leader in Virginia's energy transition

[3:36:09] and help spark state what action.

[3:36:11] I believe the strategy will go far

[3:36:13] in improving sustainability in Charlottesville

[3:36:15] and cultivating an equitable environment.

[3:36:17] Thank you for your time.

[3:36:19] Thank you.

[3:36:21] Next in person, boy, what am I going to do here?

[3:36:25] Tell you what, let's go to this gentleman in the back here.

[3:36:41] We're good.

[3:36:42] Yep.

[3:36:43] Cool.

[3:36:44] Here to help drive home the point to little further

[3:36:48] What's so any? Good afternoon.

[3:36:50] Well, evening all. My name is Kanaya and I'm an undergraduate at the University of Virginia.

[3:36:57] I'm here to express and share my comments regarding the Clean Energy Transition here in the City of Charlottesville.

[3:37:05] As well as it's financing.

[3:37:06] There are a variety of challenges regarding this particular topic.

[3:37:09] Still, I believe that overcoming these challenges will allow for present and future prosperity.

[3:37:15] serving as a learning experience that future cities may apply to their own infrastructure.

[3:37:21] In order to become a city worthy of its motto, a great place to live for all of our citizens,

[3:37:27] I ask that you consider some of the topics I share with you.

[3:37:32] On the 10th of September, in the year 2020, the American Council for Energy Efficient Economy reported that

[3:37:38] low-income households spend three times as much of their income on energy costs than low-income

[3:37:44] households, which are in twice as much as the federal poverty level.

[3:37:49] In 2021, the American Community Survey used five-year estimates to determine that 23.1%

[3:37:55] of Charlottesville population was impoverished.

[3:37:59] Though these estimates published by the U.S. Census Bureau are not comparable to certain geographic

[3:38:03] levels of health estimates, the number to be strive for zero.

[3:38:10] This past March, Charlotte's Will's Climate Action Plan detailed the section around funding

[3:38:14] climate action.

[3:38:16] Some of the challenges listed included a limit in loan availability to clean energy projects,

[3:38:22] difficulty in acquiring loans based on eligibility, the possibility of loan defaults,

[3:38:28] the generation of initial capital.

[3:38:31] Further end, solution to these issues can be found through the use of green bakes and

[3:38:35] C-pays.

[3:38:37] The faults and lack of support and availability for loans can be resolved by green

[3:38:42] bakes, providing the capital to step up when people fall through, providing for those

[3:38:47] in a community who are less likely to be given loans.

[3:38:51] I believe that we are running out of time to make an effective difference in the lives

[3:38:55] of our present and the lives of our future.

[3:38:58] Our current society places great importance on money, allowing it to restrict the freedoms

[3:39:04] of those who are less fortunate than others.

[3:39:07] In order to take steps to close these class divides, we must unite for the common goal of

[3:39:12] bettering ourselves and our neighbors too.

[3:39:15] Thank you.

[3:39:16] Thank you.

[3:39:18] Next online.

[3:39:24] May your snook us see no more raised hands.

[3:39:26] All right, so in person, let's see, the cellm over here.

[3:39:44] Members of the Charlesville City Council, my name is AJ Farkis, and I'm an undergraduate student at the University of Virginia.

[3:39:50] I'm here today to comment on the future of the natural gas utility specifically in Charlottesville.

[3:39:55] According to the Charlesville Climate Action Plan, on age 72,

[3:39:59] since also thin, within the city of Charlottesville, 87.5% of the municipal gas utilities customers are provided natural gas service,

[3:40:07] including the installation of more than 100 new gas lines annually in recent years,

[3:40:10] just simply unacceptable. Further,

[3:40:14] charts will gas utility takes part in a carbon offset program,

[3:40:17] which, you know, whether suspicions are perfect,

[3:40:19] assuming that BP's offsets work perfectly.

[3:40:22] They only offset 25% of the greenhouse gas emissions,

[3:40:25] which does not align with charts fields plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that,

[3:40:29] as said, 45%. To meet this goal,

[3:40:32] the adoption of natural gas and charts flow sort of has to take its foot off the gas,

[3:40:36] but we're doing nothing but accelerating.

[3:40:38] According to some studies by B.HeardCVA, the majority of chargeful residents who do not have natural gas

[3:40:44] service are at least somewhat likely to buy an electric cooktop or range or something electric.

[3:40:51] When residents already have natural gas service installed, they are significantly less likely to consider an alternative.

[3:40:58] Of course, more we install, sort of make sense, less people are going to look at other things.

[3:41:02] The subsidization of natural gas insulation must be halted immediately, especially since this plan has been added.

[3:41:10] Except for instance, the climate action plan has been added as the amendment to the comprehensive plan.

[3:41:15] There are many options in terms of possible solutions that my colleagues have addressed.

[3:41:20] And how it's addressed in addressing other locations, but the bottom line is pretty simple.

[3:41:24] We need to take steps to halt the expansion of natural gas and the subsidization of natural gas in the city.

[3:41:31] A chance the city code needs to be inactive immediately and let us know can be proposed by any member of the council.

[3:41:38] Thank you.

[3:41:39] Thank you.

[3:41:41] So if we have anybody else online wishing to speak,

[3:41:47] there are no raised hands.

[3:41:49] All right. Next. Yes sir.

[3:42:02] Good afternoon.

[3:42:04] My name is Charles Melvin and I am a first year undergraduate at the University of Virginia.

[3:42:09] I am speaking tonight alongside a number of my student colleagues to further advocate on making

[3:42:17] the city of St. Charlotteville more accessible to bikes and being more pedestrian-friendly.

[3:42:23] Broken as a record as it may sound, it does show the gravity that our students face, especially because,

[3:42:30] as a full-time student who does not have a car or driver's license, I utilize the accessibility of biking and walking each day.

[3:42:37] This allows me to have a first-hand perspective in seeing the benefits that bike and pedestrian accessibility would bring in meeting the goals of the Charlottesville climate action plan.

[3:42:49] According to assessments from the Charlottesville action plan, approximately 30% of greenhouse gas emissions come from fuels used to power our vehicles.

[3:42:58] This is a vehicle fleet, transit buses, school buses, and mobile equipment.

[3:43:05] According to a 2021 study published in transportation research, part D, transport, and environment,

[3:43:11] cyclists have an 84% lower carbon dioxide emission from all daily travel than non-psychless.

[3:43:18] This means that making Charlottesville more accessible to bikes and being pedestrian friendly will have a positive impact

[3:43:24] on our carbon emissions and help meet the goals of the Charlottesville Action Plan.

[3:43:29] In order to promote use of bikes and walking, we need to improve our sidewalks and bike

[3:43:36] lanes. We need to add sturdier and more accessible bike racks in key locations around the city

[3:43:43] and especially on UVA grounds for students. We also need to make it easier for people to walk

[3:43:50] and bike to the key destinations such as schools, parks, and shops.

[3:43:55] This could be achieved through traffic calming measures such as speed bumps and roundabouts,

[3:43:59] as well as by improving the condition of sidewalks and crosswalks.

[3:44:04] Next, we need to raise awareness about the accessibility of biking and walking in the city of Charlottesville.

[3:44:10] This could be done through media campaigns, community biking and walking events such as five

[3:44:15] and partnerships with local businesses and organizations.

[3:44:20] In short, a bike-borne walkable city is not only possible,

[3:44:25] but I believe most essential for the environmental future

[3:44:29] of Charlottesville.

[3:44:31] Thank you for your time and your plan consideration.

[3:44:34] Thank you.

[3:44:36] Mayor Snick, we do have one additional raised hand.

[3:44:39] All right.

[3:44:39] Michelle Harnish.

[3:44:41] Miss Harnish, you have three minutes.

[3:44:47] Members of the Charlottesville City Council, my name is Michelle Harnit, and I'm an undergraduate

[3:44:51] student at the University of Virginia.

[3:44:54] I'm speaking tonight to comment upon Charlottesville's Tree canopy.

[3:44:57] I live near Emmett Street, which lights up bright red.

[3:45:00] A city's heat map. Star Hill and Tencent Page, also bright red, are home to many of Charlotte's lower income households.

[3:45:07] Notably, the tree coverage in these neighborhoods is sparse. These are the neighborhoods that will face the worst of our warming climate with average temperatures higher than the rest of the city, because they have no canopy to provide with grief from the sweltering heat. Something must be done.

[3:45:21] I would like to commend you for the goal you have already set forth to preserve the tree canopy and the Charlotte's low climate action plan.

[3:45:27] I'm especially fond of green bracelets, which would connect parts and natural resources to

[3:45:32] walkable and bikeable parts.

[3:45:34] Everyone in Charlottesville deserves access to green space.

[3:45:37] At the same time, a balance must be strong between high density, affordable housing, and

[3:45:41] urban forests.

[3:45:43] If correctly implemented, green bracelets are a great compromise.

[3:45:46] Even if the shade isn't directly in their backyard, it would still be easily accessible

[3:45:50] to residents of denser neighborhoods.

[3:45:53] In addition to green bracelets, I approve of the vast majority of your goals for

[3:45:57] urban forest outlined in the climate action plan. As of now, though, they are just that. Only plans.

[3:46:04] Change will not come unless you devote the right workforce, funding, and attention to your project.

[3:46:09] Your actions speak louder than a 96-page PDF ever will, so I am for you to strive for tangible

[3:46:15] progress as soon as possible. Lastly, I would like to thank you all for your time. I recognize that

[3:46:21] the climate action plan to passion and effort to complete. I appreciate your commitment to

[3:46:25] and I encourage you to keep going.

[3:46:29] The road ahead is well planned,

[3:46:30] but I want to remind you to line up

[3:46:32] with trees.

[3:46:33] Thank you and good night.

[3:46:34] Thank you, Miss Orange.

[3:46:36] Next in person.

[3:46:38] Oh dear.

[3:46:40] Let me get the woman up front here.

[3:46:52] Good evening.

[3:46:52] Members of Child Social City Council.

[3:46:54] My name is Dylan Jaron,

[3:46:55] and I am also an undergraduate at the University of Virginia.

[3:46:58] I'm speaking tonight to comment

[3:46:59] upon the future of the city's

[3:47:01] and natural gas utility.

[3:47:02] As it stands,

[3:47:03] According to the Climate Action Plan, the City of Charlottesville provides national gas services to 21,300 customers.

[3:47:10] It is simply not feasible for Charlottesville residents to continue to rely on natural gas utilities as they currently do.

[3:47:16] As combustion of national gas is not only incredibly environmentally harmful, but also among the most expensive and inefficient forms of energy production.

[3:47:24] The 2022 gas mitigation survey report conducted by UVA's Center for Survey Research on the only 26.4% of respondents feel that it is extremely important that they have natural gas available to their home.

[3:47:37] This indicates to me that the harmful impacts of natural gas combustion are not sufficiently justified by public one and need for the service.

[3:47:45] Furthermore, the same survey as respondents who did not have natural gas services how likely they would be to consider buying an electric cop or range.

[3:47:52] Over 50% of respondents would be very likely or likely to do so.

[3:47:57] These results indicate the Charlottesville residents would explore alternative

[3:48:00] peating options if they did not automatically have access to national gas.

[3:48:04] The climate action plan cites the valid concern that a move away from

[3:48:07] national gas may initially increase energy prices, having an outsized impact on

[3:48:11] economic and marginalized communities. However, the simply means that the

[3:48:15] move away from national gas must be accompanied with an increase of subsidies to

[3:48:22] hydrogen, as well as electrification, for as potential ideas for

[3:48:26] censorship.

[3:48:29] I would suggest based on the newly available funds released in the

[3:48:34] inflation reduction act by federal efforts, this might be a

[3:48:38] great opportunity for a local community to move forward in

[3:48:41] step with our federal government in terms of providing greener

[3:48:44] energy subsidies.

[3:48:46] There's imperative that the city council acts on these

[3:48:48] questions and passes legislation that would allow for decreased subsidies to natural gas

[3:48:54] and increased support for renewable energy.

[3:48:57] Thank you for your time and dedicated service.

[3:48:59] Thank you.

[3:49:00] Unfortunately, that gets us to 16.

[3:49:03] So we will not have any more public comment right now.

[3:49:07] If you want to stick around, there will be another public comment here at the end, or you

[3:49:11] can go home and zoom in and comment when that time comes.

[3:49:16] I'm guessing looking at this thing is probably going to be an hour or so, but do what you all want.

[3:49:22] I'm sorry I couldn't get to all of you.

[3:49:24] So let's move on to our action items.

[3:49:27] The next action item.

[3:49:28] First action item is the TJPDC home consortium five year consolidated plan.

[3:49:35] And we have, there we go.

[3:49:38] Alex is with us.

[3:49:43] Good evening, Mayor. Members of the City Council, City Manager and the

[3:49:46] Deputy City Manager. Tonight, staff in partnership with Thomas Jefferson PDC will be

[3:49:54] presenting to you the five-year consolidated housing and community development plan as

[3:50:01] mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

[3:50:07] To make the presentation

[3:50:09] is a lower agenda, but before she will come up here to make the presentation, I just want

[3:50:18] to provide some overview for the city council.

[3:50:22] As an entitlement community, the city is a required by U.S. Department of Housing and

[3:50:27] Urban Development to prepare a more-time housing and committee development plans.

[3:50:32] some communities do 3 years, but the city opted to do 5-year consultative plan.

[3:50:39] Our current plan is scheduled to expire June 30th, and with that we are required to prepare

[3:50:46] an order of 5-year plan to end 23-227.

[3:50:52] What you have before you tonight is the 5-year plan with the one-year action plan which basically

[3:50:59] This pairs out the community development and entitlement and also the home phone that the

[3:51:08] city receives as part of the consortium.

[3:51:13] What you have in the packets, it's staff reports and you also hear from Laura Jean tonight

[3:51:20] and then finally after the presentation on the questions, Council will have three resolutions

[3:51:26] to act on.

[3:51:28] One is for the CDBG.

[3:51:31] The next one will be for the home phones.

[3:51:34] And then, finally, approval of the five-year

[3:51:37] console, the third plan on the why-year action plan.

[3:51:40] And then, with that, I would like to introduce Laura Jin,

[3:51:43] who will make the presentation on the five-year action plan.

[3:51:48] And then, perhaps, a moderate cap of the presentation

[3:51:52] that you guys had when you had a joint

[3:51:57] a public gathering, which is actually the first reading for this particular

[3:52:01] plan tonight. So with that, I will introduce a large

[3:52:05] board.

[3:52:06] Thank you.

[3:52:12] Good evening, 3 Hanslers. My name is Lori Jean Toulune. I'm coming tonight from

[3:52:18] TJPDC. Thank you for this opportunity to speak to you about the consolidated plan that

[3:52:24] we've developed. If we could advance the slides.

[3:52:29] So as you are aware, these are funds that come down from HUD that Charlottesville receives as part of the home consortium, our regional consortium that involves six different jurisdictions including Charlottesville, which is the lead jurisdiction.

[3:52:45] The goal of these funds is to address the housing needs of people household to make less than 80% of area median income.

[3:52:53] If we can advance the slide, the amount of funding that we'll be coming to the consortium this year for home programs is right here before you $785,000 total.

[3:53:06] And then that is split up as shown on this graph for this coming year and then each year is split up fairly similarly.

[3:53:14] a certain portion goes to TJPDC to administer the funds.

[3:53:19] A certain portion is set aside for what is called Choto,

[3:53:21] which are basically housing non-profits.

[3:53:26] And then all of the remaining funds are split evenly

[3:53:29] among the six jurisdictions.

[3:53:31] So as you can see, so Charlottesville will be receiving the 98,000

[3:53:35] as well as the Choto funds for this coming year,

[3:53:39] because that is on a rotation every six years.

[3:53:43] All right, we can go on to the next slide.

[3:53:46] So the consolidated plan, as Mr. McKiff and I explained, is a helpful moment for us to

[3:53:53] just stop and make sure that these funds that HUD does give to us for home and CDBG are being

[3:53:59] used in ways that reflect what the community needs, so this is a chance for us to listen to

[3:54:03] the community here, what they're needing, understand where the gaps are and if anything needs

[3:54:08] to change and how we administer this.

[3:54:10] The full plan, I'll be very brief tonight, but the full plan can be found on the TJPDC website

[3:54:16] TJPDC.org for anyone who wants to review it.

[3:54:19] Of course, you all have seen it and have the summary of the consultations that we did as well.

[3:54:26] If we could advance the slide.

[3:54:29] This is a long list of organizations and leaders that we consulted with in order to help develop this plan.

[3:54:36] Everyone who is listed here, we spent 60 to 90 minutes listening to, sometimes one individual

[3:54:43] representing the organization, sometimes multiple individuals.

[3:54:48] So we really appreciated so much community input throughout the whole process of trying to

[3:54:53] understand what folks are seeing.

[3:54:56] We also reviewed available data that was pertinent to our region into these topics, and

[3:55:01] And then we also surveyed the community we received almost 500 participants on that survey.

[3:55:07] And so all of those different sources for information have been incorporated into that

[3:55:11] plan, which, as I said, could be found on the website.

[3:55:14] And I'll quickly summarize some of the findings here.

[3:55:17] Next slide, please.

[3:55:20] So this is probably not surprising to anyone, but this is what we found.

[3:55:24] The most common housing problems, first of all, are cost burden in our region.

[3:55:29] a great number of people are paying more than 30% of their income on housing and housing

[3:55:34] related purposes, so specific to Charlottesville 29% of Charlottesville households are paying

[3:55:41] more than 30% of their income on housing. The second item that kept coming up again and again

[3:55:47] in the data is very clear about is that there is not affordable rentals available. When it comes

[3:55:53] down to renters, 50% of Charlottesville renters pay more than 30% of their income on housing.

[3:55:58] And then we also found that there was a fair amount of substandard housing, including rentals,

[3:56:02] especially rentals that are more affordable to low-income households, and so that needs

[3:56:08] assistance as well as a lack of accessibility features for people who have disabilities or

[3:56:14] aging. Next slide, please.

[3:56:18] Really quickly, the population's disproportionately affected by the

[3:56:22] lack of affordable housing are those who are extremely and very low income, so below 50% of area

[3:56:28] media income, those who are renting households with children, special needs, populations,

[3:56:33] folks with disabilities, or who are aging, often on fixed incomes, black and African-American

[3:56:38] households formerly incarcerated individuals and their families are all disproportionately

[3:56:43] affected.

[3:56:45] Next slide, please.

[3:56:48] In our market, we see that the population is growing faster than the housing supply, a lot

[3:56:53] of new units that are being built are often not affordable to a large portion of our residents.

[3:56:58] We're seeing smaller and smaller household size and we have extremely low vacancy rates.

[3:57:04] We have 3.4% here in Charlottesville in 2021 whereas nationally it was 5.8%.

[3:57:11] Next slide, please.

[3:57:15] In the survey, these priorities were identified there in order but also this is only the top priorities that people gave us.

[3:57:22] There were many, many priorities listed as well as in our consultation.

[3:57:26] And so again, if you want to read that, please read the full plan.

[3:57:30] But affordable rental housing is top priority for so many people.

[3:57:35] I think it was about 80% of those who completed the survey.

[3:57:38] That was their highest concern.

[3:57:40] And in our consultations, it was almost every single consultation that we had.

[3:57:44] And then you can see the rest of this slide also has a long list of other things.

[3:57:50] But on the survey, mental health and transportation often came up very close,

[3:57:55] actually to affordable rental housing even though it's on the bottom here.

[3:58:00] Next slide, please.

[3:58:01] And we can probably jump past this one because I think it's the same graphic end.

[3:58:06] Thank you.

[3:58:06] So this is the Chado rotation that I mentioned earlier.

[3:58:09] Charlottesville, a receiving the funds this year.

[3:58:11] PHA will be building affordable home by our homes.

[3:58:16] And we can jump forward again when we're aside.

[3:58:18] Thank you.

[3:58:19] So over the course of the next five years with every single jurisdiction included,

[3:58:23] this was our estimation of the funding and how it would be split up by $1 a month, so the

[3:58:29] greatest portion will be going to producing rental units over the course of five years. Next slide, please.

[3:58:37] And these are the activities that Charles was committed to for the next five years using the home funds.

[3:58:44] So as I said, you're one, almost $200,000 will be going from Charlesville to PHA to develop

[3:58:51] six to nine homes that can be purchased by low-income home buyers and then in the remaining

[3:58:57] four years you can see the rest of what Charlesville has committed to and that is done

[3:59:01] through an RFP process and so they will be designating who will be providing these services

[3:59:07] using these funds. Next slide please. Oh I'm sorry. What I wanted to add was that

[3:59:15] There are also the CDBG funds will be available that Anthony will come so you can

[3:59:21] out in a minute, and that will cover coordinated entries to the homeless system of care

[3:59:25] for 20 people per quarter, living wage jobs which involves workforce development with the

[3:59:31] literacy volunteers, micro enterprise, which is through the Charlottesville Investment Collaborative,

[3:59:37] and Home Rehab, which will produce four units or, I'm sorry, rehabilitate four units.

[3:59:41] And then the CRHA redevelopment projects, so CDBG funds will also be dedicated to those and that is part of both the five-year plan as well as the one-year action plan.

[3:59:52] And I wanted to just add to that home ARP funds, which is a whole different subset of funding that's coming down through HUD that is...

[4:00:00] It's connected to the home program, but it's through the ARPA funding. It's going to be $347,000, and then

[4:00:08] Charles Will has selected to commit that to developing new rental units for low-income households.

[4:00:15] Thank you very much. I'm going to pass it to Anthony Warren.

[4:00:21] Good evening, Mayor Suck.

[4:00:23] I'm Mayor Wade, Council members, Miss Thomas.

[4:00:27] My name is Anthony Warren.

[4:00:28] I am the Korean Sandalists with the Office of Community Solutions.

[4:00:32] And we're here to ask you to consider and approve three resolutions

[4:00:39] as my boss and Mr. Foon said before.

[4:00:42] One to approve the five-year consolidated action plan,

[4:00:45] the one-year action plan, which is specifically what the next set of slide

[4:00:49] I'm just going to talk about and then two resolutions to appropriate the funds there.

[4:00:57] So the City of Showsville receives its allocation from HUD as an entitlement community,

[4:01:06] this action planning process that we're engaged in helps us maintain our eligibility for

[4:01:11] those funds and while the home funds are managed by down the surface of the planning

[4:01:17] to circummission. The city receives all the CDBG funds. We get our allocation from HUD, and

[4:01:26] then we engage in a deliberative process of reviewing applications request for funding from

[4:01:32] area non-profits based on if you want to go to the next slide. The series of priorities that

[4:01:41] Council has spelled out last year, including micro enterprise

[4:01:45] assistance and focusing on housing in our own particular way,

[4:01:50] workforce development, access quality child care, homeowner

[4:01:54] rehabilitation, down payment assistance.

[4:01:57] Council also set out two set of sides to ensure

[4:02:02] funding to core goals around economic development.

[4:02:06] And another $89,000 set of side for public facilities

[4:02:09] improvements. We will come back and talk to you about that at a hopefully soon date if and

[4:02:18] then at the end CDBGA admin and planning budget shall be set at a cap of 20% and that money

[4:02:26] is used for a variety of different purposes and we can talk about those later. If you want

[4:02:32] to go to the next slide this year we brought together various members of the community, all

[4:02:38] whom we're appointed by Council to review these applications, we received a number of applications

[4:02:44] that fell into certain categories.

[4:02:48] The task force members came together.

[4:02:50] We developed some evaluation criteria and they went and scored on a scale of one to four.

[4:02:58] On each of these 13 criteria brought those scores back together and created kind of a composite

[4:03:04] score for each application, and then the hard part started.

[4:03:10] If you can go to the next slide, please.

[4:03:14] This is an overview of the applications that we received.

[4:03:18] If you, the numbers are kind of small on the screen.

[4:03:20] But if you add them all up, the amount of number, the amount of money that was requested

[4:03:24] to meet community needs for our past, the amount of money that we had available.

[4:03:29] So, I do not envy the task force members, they had to make some very difficult decisions.

[4:03:37] They did so with a dedication, attention to detail, and a focus on maximizing the impact of this limited amount of money on the greatest number of shots for residents.

[4:03:49] I was very impressed by their work.

[4:03:51] At the end of which they made funding recommendations which we bring before you tonight in one of the resolutions.

[4:03:59] And if we could go to the next slide, these are the funding,

[4:04:04] overview of the funding recommendations that were made at the very top.

[4:04:08] You see the amount of money that we estimate from HUD.

[4:04:11] With the provides though, because their federal money administered by HUD,

[4:04:16] these numbers could change at any time for any reason based on their preference.

[4:04:22] We have the two set of sides at the very top.

[4:04:25] I've left aside the public facilities improvements because that was not recommended for funding

[4:04:30] against the project because we are still evaluating several possibilities for the use of that money.

[4:04:36] The task force at the end recommended funding, these programs, the Charlesville Critical rehab program by the Albumara Housing Improvement Program,

[4:04:47] the Residence Center to redevelopment with Charlesville Public Housing Association of Residents,

[4:04:52] Micro Enterprise Entrepreneur programs by the community investment collaborative beginning-level workforce development by the literacy volunteers of Charlottesville album mark counties and the coordinated entry into homeless system of care by the haven at first and market street and

[4:05:08] the just by way back around the task force began to deliverations, looking at the home funding

[4:05:15] recommendations because it had a smaller pot of money and we received one application from

[4:05:20] our child's full-based Choto organization. The Piedmont Housing Alliance, which is going to

[4:05:27] pool, the $98,000 that they were awarded with money from the home art allocation and some

[4:05:34] funding sources to try to really maximize their impact there. You should have before you

[4:05:42] somewhere if not, I have copies of it. The resolutions that we're asking you to review and

[4:05:49] prove tonight and with that I'll take any questions. So I just had one, maybe as to Sam's. And

[4:05:57] we're going to update those priorities again. I guess we do every September is that for a couple

[4:06:03] years or. I think Alex will take that.

[4:06:13] Oh, the council doesn't have to

[4:06:14] update those priorities. However, you can. If you're thinking you're a

[4:06:19] wisdom, they are some new ten staff can consider. Then at that point you guys

[4:06:26] can make adjustments. Okay. And so my own comment is that we got a report on

[4:06:33] earlier, some of us, some background information, and it was really excited, Laura Jean,

[4:06:40] when you showed me the consultations that you all did, and the fact that you stood in,

[4:06:45] you know, 60 to 90 minutes, I think you said, with, you know, that long page, you know,

[4:06:51] just having those discussion meeting 101 or with groups to get real authentic inputs.

[4:06:58] So thank you so much for making an effort, I know that it took a lot of work, but I think

[4:07:05] the result is an incredible product that I'm ready to endorse.

[4:07:13] I agree.

[4:07:17] I'm trying to fund the resolution though.

[4:07:22] Yes, likewise, I agree.

[4:07:23] I know I've often been critic of this CDBG recommendation sometimes, but I think this has

[4:07:29] been a process that really worked and resulted in really great

[4:07:34] recommendations that maximize impact, and I'm prepared to support it as well, and just a comment.

[4:07:43] This is something I'd raised at the Planning Commission meeting, but I'll just highlight it again.

[4:07:47] It's in the consolidated report that is not surprising, but it's just striking to see the data you have there that the median household income

[4:07:57] of black residents and Charlottesville is $39,000,

[4:08:01] whereas for white households at numbers, $85,000.

[4:08:07] So I know it's just striking to see that in there

[4:08:10] that our median income for black households in the city

[4:08:14] is about 50% of very mean income,

[4:08:17] about a majority of our city, 60% AMR below.

[4:08:21] And that just really struck me,

[4:08:22] because so many of the housing solutions we discuss

[4:08:24] We'll historically have been 80% AMI or maybe we'll get down to 60% AMI, and yet that leaves

[4:08:31] out the majority of our community or your average black household in our city.

[4:08:37] Anyway, I just wanted to highlight in that report.

[4:08:39] That's correct.

[4:08:50] And I suppose there were others who have said that it's an impressive quantity of work,

[4:08:55] and I appreciate the attention to the public input and to the detail.

[4:09:01] So we have three separate resolutions.

[4:09:05] Do we have to have three separate votes then?

[4:09:07] Is that the idea?

[4:09:09] I would like to hear from the attorney.

[4:09:12] I didn't realize there were three separate resolutions.

[4:09:15] So it wasn't listed on the agenda that way.

[4:09:18] And whether this can pass with one or if it has to be two readings.

[4:09:24] And this is the second rating.

[4:09:27] Public error.

[4:09:29] Right, the public hearing was held at the Planning Commission meeting when there was a joint

[4:09:32] council on the Planning Commission meeting.

[4:09:38] I think the attorney might be on.

[4:09:41] No.

[4:09:42] Mr. McRoberts.

[4:09:43] Yeah, there is.

[4:09:45] Well, what has been two readings, so really what you're talking about is a personal preference.

[4:09:49] I think the motion can be to adopt all three, as long as the motion is clear, or you can

[4:09:55] have three separate motions.

[4:09:57] And I believe I have all three, I don't know, do we want to just do them all three?

[4:10:04] Sure, there's one that says pages.

[4:10:06] Sure, 71 and 72 and 73 and 74 and 75.

[4:10:15] Mr. Panger, are you going to read them individually and we vote them then collectively?

[4:10:19] Is that what you're going to do?

[4:10:21] Short.

[4:10:23] Yeah, that's what you do.

[4:10:24] That's fine, do we need to open a public hearing first, you said?

[4:10:27] It was listed on the agenda as a public hearing.

[4:10:29] That's true, it is a public hearing.

[4:10:31] All right, we'll open the public hearing.

[4:10:36] And as before, you have three minutes.

[4:10:39] If there's anybody in the room here who would like to speak,

[4:10:41] we'll alternate between you and folks online.

[4:10:44] Anybody here who would like to speak on these issues?

[4:10:49] All right, anybody online who would like to speak to us

[4:10:52] on these matters?

[4:10:55] Mayor Sniff, there are no raised hands.

[4:10:57] All right, now I will close the public hearing, and now is there a motion?

[4:11:04] I would move to adopt the resolution for the appropriation of community development,

[4:11:09] block grant funds, anticipated from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development,

[4:11:14] as part of the city's FY 2023 to 2024 annual action plan in the amount of approximately

[4:11:21] $410,460, and should I read the other two, or that's fine, sure.

[4:11:30] As well as to adopt the resolution of a preparation of home investment partnership program

[4:11:34] funds anticipated from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of

[4:11:38] the city's FY 2023 to 2024 annual action plan in the amount of approximately $98,161, as

[4:11:45] as well as to adopt the resolution of proving the Thomas Jefferson area home consortium

[4:11:50] five year consolidated plan FY 2023 to 2027 in the city of Charlottesville one year annual

[4:11:57] action plan FY 2023 to 2024 there's second second any discussion comments questions anything else

[4:12:09] are we ready to vote then all right please vote

[4:12:16] get in motion passes five nothing and all

[4:12:18] three resolutions are there by approved.

[4:12:22] Mr. Mayor, before we leave, I just want to shout out to our staff, Antonio Juan, the

[4:12:30] grant analyst and Laura Jean, you know, they were new, a lot of work was hired in November

[4:12:38] 2022,

[4:12:41] and Anthony came to the city in December, and they were dumped on, you know, in terms

[4:12:49] of this plan that they need to help us to meet the timeline, and they walked really hard,

[4:12:56] and today we've got a city council acting, not emotionally to approve this plan, so we

[4:13:01] transmit that to heart and with to hear from them. So I want to shout out to them. Thank you,

[4:13:07] Thank you. Thank you, your work. Thank you. Okay. Next action item is a resolution, Mr.

[4:13:15] Colin and will present.

[4:13:19] Good evening, Mr. Mayor. Members of Council and press

[4:13:21] column in the city's director of finance. This agenda item is a resolution requesting

[4:13:26] approval to transfer $1,7010,854 of an allocated American rescue plan or funds.

[4:13:34] Staff request funds be transferred for the following uses of the following amounts.

[4:13:40] Number one, $1,375,854 for our Human Resources Department to purchase and implement success

[4:13:48] factors, human resources, information system, or HRIS, $240,000 uptake the city's ADA

[4:13:55] transition plan, and $95,000 for the fire department, including $30,000 for public outreach,

[4:14:02] or public safety messaging materials, $5,000 for stop-to-bleed kits, training and outreach,

[4:14:08] and $60,000 for ballistic vests, pursuant to departmental policy for responding to certain

[4:14:14] calls. Again, these are existing ARP funds, which have been unappropriated from both our revenue

[4:14:21] replacement account, as well as our main trunch of ARP funds. When you, if you adopt or if you

[4:14:32] $2 million left in our ARP funds, roughly 10% of our original allotment.

[4:14:41] Staff continues the process of identifying needs resulting from the impacts of COVID-19 virus.

[4:14:47] Resolution requires to support public health response, address negative economic impacts,

[4:14:53] cause the public health emergency and provide eligible general government services.

[4:15:00] With that, that concludes my presentation. We have to answer any questions. We need some more specific discussion about any of these items. I could answer some of those. We've got some other folks in the room who probably have a little bit more information. We would be happy to answer any questions you might have.

[4:15:15] Questions, comments?

[4:15:19] Sure, this is one. Others have, but reading this report is the first time I've ever heard anything about this.

[4:15:26] success factor HRIS system, what is this, what justifies a cost of $1.3 million.

[4:15:34] I can, I can fill in some of those blanks and then, I know Mr. Rogers can as well.

[4:15:38] So our human resource department, quite frankly, is in the need of an information system to manage all of this

[4:15:46] these human resources information, employee information, compensation, learning, management,

[4:15:52] training, all of those things, we've had that need for quite a while. With collective

[4:15:57] bargaining on the horizon, there's a greater need to make sure we can centrally collect

[4:16:03] that information, manage it, understand it, be able to understand all the different inputs

[4:16:08] and outputs resulting from that. Success factors is an SAP product which

[4:16:12] Mary's up with our current ERP system while of our financial management system, so the two systems

[4:16:17] will be able to interact with each other, which is especially critical in things like time management,

[4:16:23] compensation, managing, collective bargaining contracts, those sorts of things.

[4:16:28] So, this is a key piece of technology that, again, has been in need for quite a while, but, again,

[4:16:34] with collective bargaining and authorizing, kind of brings that to the forefront and makes that

[4:16:38] need more urgent than perhaps maybe it has in the past.

[4:16:43] Mr. Rogers, I'm not sure if you want anything.

[4:16:44] Thank you, Chris, you outstanding explanation.

[4:16:49] This is one of our highest management priorities.

[4:16:53] We've got to provide support to strengthen our human resource department.

[4:16:59] It's been languishing for years.

[4:17:02] And as we are going forward with the new SAP system, it makes total sense to me that

[4:17:08] we get a human resource system that is compatible with that legacy system, and I think it

[4:17:15] would strengthen human resources tremendously and save time and create a great accuracy

[4:17:23] in terms of processing those issues.

[4:17:28] This is a similar question I've had with all of these art allocations.

[4:17:33] What was the process for these to jump out as the top uses of those limited funds where there

[4:17:41] solicitations taken from every department.

[4:17:45] So the process has been with both the art money and with the CARES money is that all departments

[4:17:51] are aware of those.

[4:17:52] And so the way the process has worked as proposals come forward, we, you know, they come

[4:17:57] in different, different waves, so to speak.

[4:18:00] So these have come over the last several weeks, several months, so we collect those together.

[4:18:04] The first filter is just simply one of, does it meet our requirements as an eligible

[4:18:10] use as a fine by the U.S. Treasury. Once it gets passed through that filter, it then goes

[4:18:16] to the city manager and his team that from a policy perspective, from a strategy perspective,

[4:18:21] from the other needs of the city, where do these fall out? And so with those two's peace

[4:18:27] of information, they then come to you as the final deciders of Isis, the highest and best.

[4:18:33] This is certainly to ask recommendation as such. And so that comes to you with that recommendation

[4:18:39] behind it, but at the end of the day you are the governing body, which then allocates those funds

[4:18:44] for these uses.

[4:18:46] Yeah, and then I have a question that's connected to yours.

[4:18:52] So just speaking hypothetically, if we didn't have this ARP money, is this something that would

[4:18:57] have been part of next year's budget probably, because it's that critical, it would have

[4:19:04] because of the size of the project, but it would have been a priority.

[4:19:11] I mean, even if we had to put it on layer weight plan, it's something that we would

[4:19:16] have allocated funds for.

[4:19:18] And likewise, another example is the ADA transition plan.

[4:19:21] This is something that we have to do as needed.

[4:19:24] If we were using ARP funds for, we would be using CIP dollars, which we would like to use for

[4:19:29] construction for bricks and mortar, as opposed to doing this efforts.

[4:19:34] So this allows us to leverage these our dollars to do this while maintaining our CIP

[4:19:39] dollars to actually build and implement the things that come out of that plan.

[4:19:42] You know, one thing that I think would be helpful at some point is to have, and

[4:19:50] I'm not saying we have to do it now, but I do think it would be helpful for the public

[4:19:54] and for us to from your IT department or your heads of departments to just sort of lay out what

[4:20:02] SAP does for you as an ERP, and it sounds like it's basically that what nits the city

[4:20:10] together in terms of informational information, technology, everything from accounts receivable

[4:20:17] to buying gas or whatever for your fleet, and as I understand what's being proposed here,

[4:20:23] It sounds like this is a module or some sort of addition

[4:20:27] on to this framework.

[4:20:31] So are you trying to improve and modernize your legacy

[4:20:35] framework?

[4:20:37] Because there were some SAP additions in the budget,

[4:20:41] I remember it called.

[4:20:42] Then at the same time, while you're doing it,

[4:20:44] they also want to have this extra module that

[4:20:46] takes care of human resources.

[4:20:49] Right, they're with alpha funds that

[4:20:51] use to supplement the funds that have been in a savings bank over a period of years to upgrade the SAP system.

[4:21:01] The system that it will current system will not be supported any longer.

[4:21:07] We're trying to, I guess, what we have about three years.

[4:21:11] About three or four years to make that transition.

[4:21:14] And so we pull the trigger now, make sure that we're not under the gun at the time, and that we have plenty of time to acquire, implement, and train the staff on the operation of the system.

[4:21:30] So, you're right. We're using the success fast factors at the part of the human resource.

[4:21:38] It's a human resource module. It helps build one to SAP.

[4:21:44] Is that something similar to like workday?

[4:21:47] It is. It's another, it's the SAP HRS module.

[4:21:52] And what do we have now?

[4:21:53] We don't have anything.

[4:21:55] Okay, really.

[4:21:57] As AP does our payroll system, it does the benefits of administration, but in terms of managing

[4:22:02] things, you know, just personnel files, training, those sorts of things, it's my understanding.

[4:22:10] It's a bit of a problem.

[4:22:10] So just to step on on a soapbox just a second,

[4:22:15] this is connected not directly, but I think

[4:22:19] fairly closely. The issue we had a year ago with the employee that was got involved in things

[4:22:27] that he shouldn't have and not having the sort of policies and procedures and employee feedback

[4:22:38] and all of those things in a normal, you know, entity would. And you know, really grateful

[4:22:44] for Ms. Marion Hardy and for from his Marshall in terms of pushing those things for because

[4:22:52] if you don't have those kinds of systems in place, policies and procedures and then the IT to

[4:23:00] to hold people accountable to set policy and to hold people accountable with things as simple

[4:23:05] as you know, performance reviews every year. You need to, you need to software our systems

[4:23:11] in place to do that. So I'm not saying if we had this, we would not have had the other issue,

[4:23:16] but I am saying you are connected. If you want to have a well organized, well operating personnel,

[4:23:24] you've got to have systems. I similar to this. That's enough.

[4:23:32] You all ask me to often wear. Specifically with success factors, the first two lenses that our team has worked with IT,

[4:23:40] as well as in partnership with Budget and Management and Finance to implement

[4:23:44] our performance evaluations and learning.

[4:23:48] So that not only gives an opportunity for staff to be able, like,

[4:23:51] because I know you're familiar with Workday Sir,

[4:23:54] I haven't had a spouse that works at EVA Health Sub,

[4:23:56] so I've been able to see inside of it,

[4:23:58] you can see your evaluations.

[4:24:00] We will be able to do that as well,

[4:24:03] which adds a lens of equity,

[4:24:05] because it no longer will be this paper black box.

[4:24:08] individuals will be able to see what is being said about them, provide their own evaluations,

[4:24:14] as well as going to that system and have an opportunity to learn and to grow in the work

[4:24:19] that they're doing for opportunities like promotions or management, etc. With the ADA transition plan,

[4:24:26] this is really DOJ. We have to, we should want to. And by, well, budget and management as well as

[4:24:38] money in the CIP, that means I can't make a curb cut. I can't do a fix if we spend that.

[4:24:45] So the R$2 have really saved us the opportunity to not only update that plan, which is an equity

[4:24:50] plan that just happens to be required. But to be able to preserve those dollars to act on that plan

[4:24:57] once it's completed and to really make a plan, make it further plan as to how to go about making sure

[4:25:04] our city assets are accessible for anyone no matter what.

[4:25:09] So, those two specific requests, just to give a different lens, it's really an equity lens,

[4:25:15] and right now as Dr. Colin noted, HR doesn't have anything and down to because systems

[4:25:23] don't talk to each other, someone at HR has to go in and manually enter certain things,

[4:25:29] which then can also accidentally cause error, not because they want to, but because they're

[4:25:33] So having the systems integrated and talking, number one makes my IT director very happy.

[4:25:39] But number two, also again, gives that ability for more seamless work and takes something

[4:25:46] off someone's plate so that they can focus in on perhaps providing assistance with policies or grievances or

[4:25:52] any other thing that is needed in HR.

[4:25:54] The bottom line is that this is another step on modernizing our internal infrastructure to make

[4:26:01] us a better functioning organization, and this is a critical piece of that.

[4:26:07] So Mike has been finished, he's kind of sorry.

[4:26:11] Go Michael.

[4:26:13] So I guess one of the process questions, so this is just one reading we're passing tonight.

[4:26:21] And then for the remaining 2 million, what is the process for determining how that 2 million

[4:26:26] has been?

[4:26:27] Is it going to be the same?

[4:26:28] or we're part of no discussions and just get a final recommendation with one vote and

[4:26:32] expected to pass it then.

[4:26:35] No, so the two million, just to refresh your memory on the timelines prescribed by the American

[4:26:40] Rescue Plan is we have to the end of calendar your 2024 to obligate the funds and so what

[4:26:45] is obligation mean?

[4:26:47] It means appropriated on a purchase order on a contract that we've taken some sort of formal

[4:26:54] action to to and comber obligate those funds, and we have to the end of calendar year 2026 to actually spend the money to cut the check.

[4:27:02] But the question is, do they have to be, we have to come back to council to appropriate that.

[4:27:09] We have to come back to council to get similar sort of action. All the money has been appropriated.

[4:27:14] Yes, well, there are, but there are buckets which are in contingency or unallocating for those funds.

[4:27:20] Like tonight, we will come back to you with those recommendations.

[4:27:25] And so as we go forward with the, like I said, there's approximately 2 million as still in those unallocated buckets.

[4:27:32] And so we still have some time to make those decisions.

[4:27:36] We're still trying to understand the impacts of COVID.

[4:27:39] And so as we come forward, we'll be soliciting recommendations from other city departments.

[4:27:45] City departments are reaching out to their various constituencies in folks that they work with.

[4:27:50] Our human resources department has certainly been very active with things like the Pathways Fund.

[4:27:56] We've come back several times for additional Pathways funds to get us through the end of this fiscal year, which we think we are.

[4:28:01] So there are multiple entry points for folks to make those kind of request and then start

[4:28:07] through that process.

[4:28:08] I described earlier.

[4:28:10] The other piece of this is that of the money that we are, that you have already appropriate

[4:28:15] that we've been spending, there are some things which we've finished and have some balances left

[4:28:22] over.

[4:28:22] So we need to come back to you to reallocate those as something else.

[4:28:25] There are also some allocations that were made, we're just simply not going to do because

[4:28:29] we're just in a very different place. For example, we originally set aside half a million dollars

[4:28:34] for employee COVID testing. We spent about half of it, but the other half we are not going

[4:28:40] to spend as we need to come back to you with that remaining balance to re-allocate that to

[4:28:45] again. Excuse me, let's get that for more to get that used up and get it obligated before those

[4:28:54] timeline so you know this is this you know my hope is come back to you and about we're just

[4:28:59] finishing the third quarter of this fiscal year. We're heading into the last fiscal quarter

[4:29:02] of the year end. We're going to clean up those accounts figure out where those balances are.

[4:29:07] What are projects we simply aren't going to do. Another one I can give you an example of

[4:29:12] take on COVID tests for employees. Again a year and a half ago is a very different world where

[4:29:18] those tests were hard to find. Now it's very different and so this is going to be an ongoing process

[4:29:23] as we complete projects, new things come to the forefront, projects are completed, the

[4:29:28] we're going to keep coming back to you to make sure that we're responding as quickly as

[4:29:32] we can to need in the community, the organization, and we know we do have this clock that's

[4:29:39] ticking in terms of its uses. It seems like it's far away, but it will probably be here before

[4:29:43] we know it.

[4:29:44] Chris, when can we come back with the council after we sweep those accounts?

[4:29:51] So what I'm here in the council so we I'm required to do report to the U.S. Treasury every quarter

[4:29:57] I just submitted the last one this past Friday

[4:30:00] I would like to go through another quarter of that so we can also do any sort of internal cleanup we need to do of moving some monies around for things that we used it for.

[4:30:10] And so I'm thinking probably, and some of them in July timeframe, I love a much better handle and kind of where we are with.

[4:30:16] The citizens have already been made, projects have been underway, completed, where they stand and give you a better idea of where we are with those remaining funds.

[4:30:25] Yeah, and I guess I appreciate all that and I'm aware of all that and the question is with that

[4:30:32] 2 million in the report references and obligated it is whether there's other

[4:30:36] accounts which will have unspent money will counsel be it involved at all in the discussions

[4:30:42] of how to eventually spend it beyond us just getting final recommendations when that strikes me.

[4:30:49] This is an opportunity to discuss right here.

[4:30:51] No, it doesn't, and also I think I hear what you're saying and I'm feeling that, so it's an opportunity to when we have our strategic planning session for Council to express any other priorities that we have.

[4:31:07] Yeah, and I'll leave it at this final comment. I know of express this in previous RP allocations, but I still feel the same and will express it again.

[4:31:17] I have an issue with the overall process of how we've gotten to our recommendations with no malice towards any of the recommendations, which are all very reasonable.

[4:31:26] But we never got to see what other possible allocations were left on the table.

[4:31:32] We've heard just tonight from homelessness, health care workers, climate change and implementation, they're all arpe uses, and I just feel we've left opportunities on the table as a city throughout.

[4:31:44] I can tell you, as we haven't left any on the table, I can't think of one that has come

[4:31:50] before, as not ultimately made it to you.

[4:31:54] I think the point that Councillor Payne is making is that I think he and probably the rest

[4:32:01] of us, too, would like to have a chance to think about it before being presented with something

[4:32:07] four days before the vote.

[4:32:12] With no opportunity to weather that could decide whether there are

[4:32:16] other ideas that we might want to. With the last two million we've got the spend that may

[4:32:20] be a more important spend than it is now. And I agree with that. I agree with that. I agree with the

[4:32:25] air point. I mean is it would you feel a little better about this if we brought this back to the

[4:32:31] consent agenda two weeks from now? We had a chance to chat about it. I mean, I get the sense that

[4:32:37] the joys ready to move forward with these recommendations. My bigger... I've already expressed it,

[4:32:42] but the issue is beyond even just recommendations that may come from internally departments.

[4:32:48] There's all kind of creative uses for community priorities that I just feel were never part of

[4:32:54] the discussion about what could have been spent but was left on the table in favor of these others.

[4:33:00] So we get to weigh the benefits of all these investments and we don't compare them against anything else.

[4:33:05] I don't know if that makes sense, but that is not.

[4:33:07] No, it makes sense.

[4:33:09] And it may be a little bit confusing.

[4:33:11] Use the phrase left on the table because that implies something isn't being spent.

[4:33:14] The problem is being spent.

[4:33:16] Right.

[4:33:16] Yes.

[4:33:17] He's talking about the balance.

[4:33:19] Right.

[4:33:21] So in the presentation, you indicated that there would still be some

[4:33:25] Arprepons available.

[4:33:27] And at another time, you would come back and say,

[4:33:31] What it is, you're guessing it now is 2 million.

[4:33:34] But there are also some funds that have not been extended.

[4:33:37] So your guess of two million could probably go up.

[4:33:40] And I think what I hear Mr. Payne saying is,

[4:33:44] if there's an opportunity for those funds,

[4:33:50] which are our funds to be utilized in a way

[4:33:55] that will not only help the city like HR,

[4:33:59] but also address some of the other concerns

[4:34:02] that keeps swirling around in the atmosphere.

[4:34:07] And they may rise to the top, they may not.

[4:34:10] But if I'm hearing him correctly,

[4:34:14] wants to make sure that all of those things

[4:34:15] are swirling around in the atmosphere are considered.

[4:34:19] And that's not to say you have not considered them,

[4:34:22] but so that the public can hear them as well.

[4:34:26] Yes, I agree.

[4:34:28] However, I can poorly express it.

[4:34:31] So, are we ready to vote, or is there any unreddinous, as something we'd say?

[4:34:42] Actually, there is not a public hearing.

[4:34:48] Council, are we ready for motion or discussion?

[4:34:52] I'm happy to make the motion.

[4:34:56] All right.

[4:34:56] I move the resolution transferring funds for American Rescue Plan for eligible local activities of 1,710,854 dollars in the manner listed here in the packet in terms of the categories.

[4:35:15] Okay.

[4:35:17] So, a second?

[4:35:18] Second.

[4:35:19] Any discussion?

[4:35:21] Other than we've already had?

[4:35:22] Have another question.

[4:35:23] Yes.

[4:35:24] So, in this million dollars, when we do everything that you've indicated, it's going to

[4:35:29] happen, if there are money's left, they flip over to the other money that are left for reconsideration.

[4:35:36] Am I hearing you correct?

[4:35:38] So, after if this is approved, at least 2 million that's unallocated.

[4:35:42] Okay.

[4:35:43] And then on top of that two million, as we refer, is a referenced money that we're already

[4:35:48] appropriated, which we're probably not going to use.

[4:35:52] So you made the point of it, it's probably going to be two million plus it will be two million.

[4:35:55] So you don't feel that any of this million seven is going to be left.

[4:35:59] It's going to be all allocated and spent before 20 to 20.

[4:36:04] That's the plan.

[4:36:06] Once things are paid, you know, you may have a few dollars left over here there and then again,

[4:36:10] will come back through the same process of sweeping those balances once it's finished and

[4:36:14] bring it back.

[4:36:15] All right.

[4:36:16] My plan is not to return any money to Washington, and at the end of the day.

[4:36:19] It's always when my plan is worth it.

[4:36:23] Okay, are we ready?

[4:36:26] Any discussion?

[4:36:27] Let's go ahead and vote.

[4:36:32] Passes 41.

[4:36:34] Thank you.

[4:36:35] Thank you.

[4:36:37] So next is $2 million for the Capital Improvement Program for a Stripling Avenue

[4:36:43] side walk and view for the School of Reconfiguration Projects, Mr. Sanders.

[4:36:49] Councils, so you have multi-year funding plan that's been put together by staff in past

[4:36:54] year, so in regards to the Struggling Avenue sidewalk and the view for school Reconfiguration

[4:37:00] Projects. And both instances we have been working with staff identified a need to make sure

[4:37:06] that funds are available in this fiscal year. So as it relates to the Struggling Avenue

[4:37:11] project, we're ready to move into the design phase. So there's a need for $500,000 to be made available in FY23.

[4:37:19] I'd brought that up during our budget conversation so that you all would be aware of that particular need.

[4:37:25] And that is adding $500,000 to the proposed budget for that sidewalk project, making it $5.4 million to be able to do it eventually.

[4:37:33] So that's one resolution that you're going to be you're considering tonight and the second is a

[4:37:39] $1.5 million more or less in advance of CIP allocation so that the funds are made available as the team is working.

[4:37:47] They finalize the contract.

[4:37:50] This is not changing the budget amount that you've already approved of $91,813,410.

[4:37:56] dollars. It's just reorganizing kind of where the money appears so that the staff could continue to do their work and keep the project on time and moving forward for our July 2023 start.

[4:38:09] So I must have any questions. There's just two separate resolutions that you're approving at this time.

[4:38:14] So the first question I have is on the Stribbling Avenue project.

[4:38:19] Given that there is still litigation going on about that, what's the current status of the litigation of the construction?

[4:38:28] So the litigation has not actually made it to court yet, so it has not gone as a hearing at this time.

[4:38:34] It doesn't prevent us from the work that we still need to do.

[4:38:37] There's a lot of preliminary work in regards to the design and working out some of the many conflicts that were identified by the city engineer.

[4:38:45] So where our goal is to move forward, and the litigation is only in regards to the instrument that you all would that you approve that we could use with Southern development.

[4:38:55] So whether that happens or not, you allocated the funds.

[4:38:58] So we're really not in a position that we have to hold up on that, based on that particular litigation.

[4:39:03] It's just a matter for some resolution.

[4:39:06] Okay.

[4:39:08] Folks have other questions.

[4:39:09] So,

[4:39:14] this is just a first of two readings, do we have agreement to move this to the May 15th meeting for a second reading?

[4:39:22] Oh, it's a consent agenda.

[4:39:24] It's possible to feel about that.

[4:39:25] Is that a agenda?

[4:39:26] Yes, for me.

[4:39:28] Yes.

[4:39:28] All right.

[4:39:29] Yes.

[4:39:30] Consent agenda approval to move it to the next meeting.

[4:39:33] Thank you.

[4:39:35] A next is an ordinance for a continuity of government,

[4:39:38] considering the COVID-19 disaster, we're hopefully going to have one reading with a four-fifths

[4:39:45] vote.

[4:39:46] If not a four-fifths vote, we would have two readings.

[4:39:50] Mr. McRoberts.

[4:39:52] Thank you.

[4:39:53] Good evening.

[4:39:54] May our members of Council, before you tonight is a continuity of government

[4:39:59] or on its continuity of government ordinances or not new to you, this Council has adopted

[4:40:07] to number of them during the COVID-19 emergency.

[4:40:11] This ordinance is intended to clean things up a little bit

[4:40:17] that were thrown up in the air by a recent Supreme Court

[4:40:21] case, Bailey versus County of Fairfax.

[4:40:25] One thing to know about that case is it fundamentally

[4:40:29] could potentially change the law on, I say, potentially,

[4:40:33] because the case is not yet final.

[4:40:35] It's under reconsideration.

[4:40:37] It may be affected by neither judicial or a personal smile

[4:40:41] or a legislative process is at the state level.

[4:40:44] And so as a result, we're not sure exactly

[4:40:46] what it's going to do, but it has already caused

[4:40:50] a number of situations in which people are asking,

[4:40:55] all of things that have been between the pandemic

[4:40:57] valid has the e-counsel affected in a way

[4:41:00] that's inappropriate, has the planning commission

[4:41:03] made recommendations appropriate.

[4:41:05] I could go on. The answer is, they acted in good faith, they acted for someone to your approvals

[4:41:12] in your continuity of government ordinances, and they acted for someone to recognize the

[4:41:18] exemptions under FOIA. Well, given the new sort of direction that Barry has taken the law,

[4:41:27] It's the staff's recommendation to adopt this ordinance to retroactively put into place policies very similar to the ones that you put into place already, but expressly making sure it covers the entire timeframe that you and the other public bodies in the city were acting.

[4:41:50] We believe that this is as broad as we can make it.

[4:41:55] We believe that it is authorized by law,

[4:41:58] and we believe that it is an appropriate action

[4:42:01] for council to take.

[4:42:04] The co-section to authorize continuity of government

[4:42:07] ordinance is 15.2-1413 is very broad.

[4:42:12] And it authorizes you to adopt a method

[4:42:16] without describing what that method is.

[4:42:18] In case of an emergency disaster, which of course the pandemic was, and so during that period of time,

[4:42:26] you could adopt any method that was reasonable, really. And so certainly, the ones in this

[4:42:32] ordinance are reasonable, again, they're very similar to the ones that you followed anyway. And the

[4:42:36] intention is to try to, the best we can, protect the actions of the council and the other public

[4:42:45] to look during the pandemic and going to say,

[4:42:48] to try to keep government moving and to make sure

[4:42:53] that they are valid and to try to reassure the public,

[4:42:56] the businesses, the citizens, and others that the city

[4:43:02] of sure will still act at appropriately during the pandemic.

[4:43:07] If you have any questions, I'd be glad that they answer them.

[4:43:12] Any questions from Mr. McCrovers?

[4:43:13] Yeah, I think the, I understand basically what we're doing here and grateful for your guidance.

[4:43:23] If you could speak a little more to the whole notion of retroactive actions.

[4:43:30] Yes sir, it's not done as often at the local level, but legislative bodies have the inherent

[4:43:36] ability to act retroactively to go and adopt the legislation for a time frame that has

[4:43:42] passed. It's matter-backed local governments do it all the time, they don't call it

[4:43:47] retrolective, but when you adopt a tax rate for the year in April or May, you're actually

[4:43:54] adopting a tax for a period of time that's already passed, and that's retrolective. The general

[4:44:01] assembly does it all the time, and the general rule both for the general assembly, local legislators,

[4:44:08] and really across the country, is if the legislature expresses and express intent for legislation

[4:44:16] to be retro-elected, and expresses that they are acting retroactively, which this ordinance

[4:44:22] does, then they do, in fact, have that authority.

[4:44:25] Now, it's not unlimited.

[4:44:27] Retractivity, for example, can't act unconstitutionally.

[4:44:32] It can't create an ex-post facto law and put people in criminal jeopardy.

[4:44:37] For things they've already done.

[4:44:39] It cannot unsettle vested rights.

[4:44:42] But with those kinds of real common sense exceptions,

[4:44:46] it's a fairly authority to act retroactively.

[4:44:50] And that's exactly what is what we call for here.

[4:44:53] because the things that are now on settled are things that are in the past

[4:44:58] in so a ritual.

[4:45:00] People ordinances, the only real way to look back down.

[4:45:07] Other questions?

[4:45:10] No questions, as I understand it, it seems necessary for the functioning of local governments around

[4:45:17] the state to take either this action or something similar.

[4:45:20] So, I'm prepared to vote as a support of it.

[4:45:23] I have nothing to question.

[4:45:24] To me, it's an important piece to this, the number one that we were acting in good faith

[4:45:32] at the time that we were being advised that this was a perfectly legitimate ordinance to

[4:45:38] have adopted back in 2020, 2021, and so on. Number two, that it doesn't, that our action

[4:45:47] doesn't change anybody's rights or change any action that we were taking, it simply ratifies

[4:45:56] that, which we had already done pursuant to our normal procedures.

[4:46:01] So I'm all in favor of it.

[4:46:04] Again, traditional caution while I'm a lawyer on council.

[4:46:08] I'm not a lawyer for council.

[4:46:10] And I trust Mr. McRoberts and the others who have been working on this issue to

[4:46:14] steer us right.

[4:46:17] Is there a motion?

[4:46:20] I would move to approve an ordinance to assure continuity of government during the COVID-19

[4:46:25] pandemic disaster by enacting an authorized and supplemental temporary changes in certain deadlines,

[4:46:30] modified supplemental and remedial public meeting and public hearing practices and procedures,

[4:46:34] and other emergency actions necessary to assure safe and efficient and effective government

[4:46:38] operations.

[4:46:39] And if we get four fifths vote and we'll take it as one reading.

[4:46:44] Second.

[4:46:45] Any other discussion?

[4:46:48] If not, council vote.

[4:46:52] Five nothing.

[4:46:54] So it is adopted with one reading.

[4:46:56] Thank you, Mr. McRobberts.

[4:46:59] Thank you.

[4:47:00] So the last action item is

[4:47:03] Mending the budget, the 2024 budget,

[4:47:07] to reflect the city's contribution to John Mushamel.

[4:47:13] This item is largely a housekeeping item for you.

[4:47:16] If you recall early on in our budget process through the work sessions,

[4:47:21] we had John come and speak to you.

[4:47:23] There were a few issues that play there that we wanted to highlight

[4:47:26] to get Council's feedback on the most noticeable one that was that John's budget request for FY24 displayed an increase of just over $530,000 or $36.7% increase over FY23.

[4:47:45] In addition to that increase, John reported that they had a large surplus at the end of FY22 and that some funds were going to be returned to the partner localities.

[4:47:55] And there was some question on how those dollars were going to be distributed.

[4:48:01] We talked about this.

[4:48:02] We teed it up with Council.

[4:48:04] What we did not do was to come back to you and get a specific buy-in or feed-in.

[4:48:11] So as part of the budget, we put in a level funding for FW23 and we put the difference in the reserve account.

[4:48:19] And so this item will basically clean that up and move the funds out of the reserve account and put it in

[4:48:25] to John for FY24.

[4:48:30] So my question is, I'm trying to figure out what exactly we are moving, is it $530,000.

[4:48:43] There's on page 113 of the packet.

[4:48:47] there's a line, a line that has been drawn, a blue line through 531 dollars. Is that just an artifact of?

[4:48:59] I think that's just a PDF issue. We are, we're not increasing the budget, we're just transferring 530,000 from the citywide reserve account to the John account.

[4:49:10] And the amount we're transferring is 530 131.

[4:49:15] Correct.

[4:49:15] Okay. And at what point we receive our refund for the F, our portion of the F,

[4:49:20] 22 surplus.

[4:49:22] We'll come back and ask that you replenish the city water reserve with that amount.

[4:49:27] All right.

[4:49:28] I was puzzled by the blue line.

[4:49:29] Yeah, I hadn't seen that to be pointed out.

[4:49:32] So I'm not sure what that is either.

[4:49:36] Do you know when we may anticipate

[4:49:40] the excess distribution of the next 60 days. I would say. And then, Chris, could you tell me again,

[4:49:50] it's going to go back to where you took the five 31. I got it. Lemon, I got it.

[4:49:56] Yeah, so what this basically does is there were two options as well as determining how they were

[4:50:02] going to do the refund. We also had the option of asking them to issue a check to provide us with a

[4:50:08] If they provide us with the credit, and assuming that their budget is somewhat level for next year,

[4:50:15] we'd be starting next year with a $280,000 deficit.

[4:50:19] So this way allows us to get them in the budget and then we will use those funds as a result.

[4:50:25] They said a cleaner transaction.

[4:50:27] Yes, ma'am.

[4:50:28] And more transparent.

[4:50:30] Just got it quickly to help you try to understand this.

[4:50:35] So it would be one perspective could have been that the process John used to allocate there

[4:50:44] their surplus was unfair to the city and it was held level and now we're giving them

[4:50:56] that money anyway even though they didn't adjust their process for how the city would

[4:51:02] be allocated their surplus.

[4:51:03] So just one point, I'll let Mr. Rogers jump in, but to be clear, we basically did the same thing that the county did.

[4:51:11] They had similar questions.

[4:51:13] They put in John's contribution level initially until they had a work session with John and cleared up questions that they had.

[4:51:22] The board of John voted on the process for how the refund was to be handled and I'll let Mr. Rogers pick it up from there.

[4:51:29] And, of course, as I reported to Council earlier, I raised a question with a jot, and when we had the meeting, lost the vote.

[4:51:39] So, they did not change the opposition on how they chose to allocate the funds.

[4:51:47] They felt that the way they were doing it was the most equitable way, though we disagree.

[4:51:54] So,

[4:51:58] my personal opinion, I still feel like the way John made that allocation for the city was unfair to the city.

[4:52:03] I have questions about us having more robust representation on the board, but I guess even though if I have that perspective, is it basically a mood point for us at this point?

[4:52:14] I think that for 24 years, I recommend that we find the money just go forward for 24, but it remains a question in terms of your board representation. That's a discussion for council.

[4:52:34] Yeah. Definitely agree with that, and we have not had our work session with John yet, so I look forward to that conversation and anticipation of the next year.

[4:52:41] But that's all I have.

[4:52:43] All right.

[4:52:46] So there's a remotion.

[4:52:48] Yeah.

[4:52:48] I moved the resolution to reallocate funds in the FY2024 for John.

[4:52:55] $530,151.

[4:52:57] Okay.

[4:52:57] Is there a second?

[4:52:58] Second.

[4:53:00] Any discussion?

[4:53:04] Should we vote?

[4:53:09] A pet motion passed.

[4:53:10] It's five nothing.

[4:53:11] Thank you, Ms. Hamilton.

[4:53:12] All right.

[4:53:13] Are there any other business items for consideration?

[4:53:16] I see none on the agenda?

[4:53:19] Council, there's any questions for a city management to follow up on.

[4:53:26] Okay? So we're now at the final speaking opportunity for members of the public.

[4:53:30] As I told folks about an hour ago, we would probably be getting here in about an hour.

[4:53:34] So it was a pretty good estimate.

[4:53:36] Speakers will be given up to three minutes.

[4:53:38] You may join the speaker queue by raising the raise by selecting the raise hand option in the zoom

[4:53:43] webinar or pressing star nine or by raising your hand in council chambers.

[4:53:47] We will alternate between in-person and virtual speakers.

[4:53:51] Are there any speakers here in chambers?

[4:53:54] Is really?

[4:54:04] I just wanted to follow up on the art funding and what I said about mental health, career

[4:54:09] ladder, pipeline, and the idea that all the departments know there are our funds and that

[4:54:17] they should submit it.

[4:54:18] When I looked up the job of the Charlottesville Human Services Office, it says additional

[4:54:26] work focuses on advancing the work of a variety of local and state human services, planning

[4:54:31] organizations working in the following areas, including but not limited to two, and then

[4:54:38] one of them that's mentioned is mental health. So I would ask and community health,

[4:54:43] I would ask that you all, maybe the city manager, direct the department that was Department

[4:54:52] human services to the in contact with the mental health and wellness coalition, which has

[4:54:58] members from all the people in this area that work with mental health. So the women's initiative

[4:55:06] region 10 on our own, all those people are represented in that coalition. They have addressed

[4:55:13] this issue and they have some ideas, maybe not the same as mine, but they might, but it seems

[4:55:19] to me that that department might not voluntarily or as a purpose from their department initiate

[4:55:27] this since they're supposed to be because there's no Charlottesville Department of Health.

[4:55:33] There's no Charlottesville Department of Mental Health.

[4:55:36] They are regional departments, so any request for Charlottesville financial contribution

[4:55:43] wouldn't be an automatic request.

[4:55:46] I don't know if that's true or not.

[4:55:48] But it seems to me that might be one of the reasons it hasn't happened already.

[4:55:54] And I think that two and a half million dollars that's left and the interest, all this

[4:56:00] money is making interest, and it's Mr. Colin told me that it's not designated for specific

[4:56:07] things.

[4:56:08] COVID was a health problem, created tons of mental health issues for everybody, employees, and individuals

[4:56:16] with mental health problems to start with, not having resources, not having people to go to that would take Medicaid.

[4:56:26] You know, it's been a real problem and I think there's money.

[4:56:29] And you all should make that money useful for people with problems with mental health.

[4:56:34] Thank you.

[4:56:35] Thank you, Ms. Fairly.

[4:56:37] Is there anyone online who would like to speak to us?

[4:56:41] Yes, Mayor Snickway of one raised hand, Robin Hoffman.

[4:56:44] Give us Hoffman?

[4:56:45] Yeah, I'm sorry. I just wanted to sort of continue a conversation.

[4:56:53] I was a tester for the

[4:56:56] pandemic as a nurse, as an RN, with UVA and Blue Rich Health Department. Very early on, everybody

[4:57:05] kind of was not really sure that we're having a pandemic. But I want to say by 2021, I became

[4:57:14] a CBS employee, and we went to the nursing homes.

[4:57:19] I don't know that you want to review this in your head, but you know people were on the

[4:57:25] land about taking the vaccine, et cetera, but also the community was scared to death about their

[4:57:34] housing, all that stuff, and it was a cutely parent that we had these issues that we've had

[4:57:43] for ages.

[4:57:45] I mean, at the time Medicaid was not an issue.

[4:57:52] So people who were poverty just didn't have any health care.

[4:57:56] And it's true today, but people now are kind of embarrassed

[4:58:02] by the fact that they are homeless, that they don't have health care.

[4:58:07] And now it's even worse because they have people in government positions

[4:58:12] who are becoming medical authorities, and they shouldn't be.

[4:58:21] And so it's even worse because now the medical community doctors and nurses are free

[4:58:27] to give care for women.

[4:58:30] So what I want to say is that I just quickly went through a lot of friends and gatherings

[4:58:38] because we weren't wearing masks and there are people in my age 67 and older who are now going

[4:58:45] to nursing homes and the nursing homes still don't have staffing and these are people who

[4:58:52] were pillars in our community. I mean I was surprised first of all that they had to go to assisted

[4:58:57] living. You know like I'm surprised about my age even. But this is the housing and the assisted living

[4:59:06] is not, it's not, they can't afford it.

[4:59:12] So they're going into places that don't have enough care.

[4:59:17] So this whole thing with maybe tying it in with TDMA community college,

[4:59:23] and all the land they have there.

[4:59:25] I was thinking, why not make a housing there?

[4:59:29] And make a multi-generational, make it, you know, for vet texts,

[4:59:32] to actually practice there, to put the solar on there, you know, they have a lot of property

[4:59:39] in Piedmont Community College, and it's a beautiful area, and I was just an idea,

[4:59:44] but I just want to say, I'm seeing this in the community, and we have to figure out how to do things,

[4:59:53] and the Dean of Architectural UVA had a million ideas.

[4:59:59] And

[5:00:00] I'm just hoping that you will discuss your problems with them because they're there for you.

[5:00:07] Thank you. That's all I have to say.

[5:00:08] Thank you, Ms. Hoffman. Anybody else online?

[5:00:13] Actually, it's anybody else in the room.

[5:00:16] Anybody else online?

[5:00:20] I still do additional raised hands.

[5:00:23] All right. So we will close the community matters. Council.

[5:00:27] Any reason not to adjourn?

[5:00:30] No.

[5:00:31] And we're adjourned. Thank you all.

[5:00:34] Thank you.

City Council Meeting

Agenda

Transcript