Charlottesville City Council to get decarbonization update, review of social and human services

The Charlottesville City Council meets at 4 p.m. for a work session followed by a regular meeting at 6:30 p.m. Perhaps the easiest way to review the information is through the link to the meeting overview page. There are links to individual items. 

There are two items in the work session and the first is an overview of three city agencies. These are part of the development process for the budget for Fiscal Year 2025. If you really want to know how city government functions, these briefings will be invaluable for you. 

First up is the Human Services Department. 

“The Department includes all of the foster family and community-based services of the Community Attention Programs and a variety of human services programs and initiatives,” reads the overview presentation Council will receive. 

Human Services has 42 staff members with 29 involved in direct services for youth, seven who provide direct services for adults, and six handling administrative tasks. The direct services for adults include housing navigators, staff for the Community Resource Hotline, emergency hotel stays, and the Westhaven CARES Clinic. 

There are many more details in the presentation. (view the presentation)

Next up is the Department of Social Services.

“DSS administers benefits programs to help meet the basic needs and promote self-sufficiency for low-income individuals and their families and family services programs to protect children and adults from abuse and neglect to promote and support the development of healthy families,” reads the briefing notes.

Programs include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the refugee assistance program, child protective services, adult protective services and the Energy Assistance Program. 

“The department has 110 regular positions,” reads the more detailed presentation. “Currently, eight positions are vacant and  recruitment is in process for all of them.” 

And then there’s the Office of Community Solutions.

“[The] Office of Community Solutions (OCS) coordinates, manages, and serves as a liaison to housing and redevelopment projects in the city including affordable housing programs, commercial revitalization, redevelopment, and development activities; as well as neighborhood, and constituent services, Federal Entitlement Administration (CDBG/HOME), MyCville, and other key Services,” reads the main briefing.

The Office of Community Solutions has a large portfolio in a time when Charlottesville is moving forward with a lot of big moves to increase the amount of below-marketing housing in the community. 

Here’s one piece of information from the briefing. (view the briefing) 

“Of the ten projected ‘Housing Investment Project’ applications received in 2022 totaling $33,364,535, City Council committed to five projects for approximately $25.2 million, 76% of the requested assistance.

The second item at the work session will be an update on the decarbonization study. The city of Charlottesville has been operating a natural gas utility for over 150 years but the city has the greenhouse reduction goal to be fossil-free by 2050. Earlier this year, the city hired the firm Black & Veatch to study how decarbonization of the public utility might work. (Charlottesville studying whether to end provision of natural gas, March 24, 2023)

In 2023, the city’s natural gas system has 16 industrial customers, 2,411 commercial customers, and 18,873 residential customers in both Charlottesville and Albemarle. 

Councilors will learn that demand for natural gas in Charlottesville from 2011 to 2021 with usage decreasing 35 percent since then. The city’s utilities division has already been reducing its carbon footprint by purchasing carbon offset credits and taking other steps. (view the presentation)

One thing noted in the presentation is that 99 percent of the distribution lines are made of plastic rather than cast iron. That means there is less leakage. 

The study is not expected to be completed until March. Council will get a briefing on potential alternatives and examples of the costs to households to switch to different ways of heating and cooling their house. For anyone interested in climate action, the details in here will give a good sense of what’s possible for the future. 

The regular meeting begins with consideration of the consent agenda. Items include:

• This includes the minutes from meetings of August 7, 2023, the August 29 joint work session with the Planning Commission, and the September 27 work session on the Development code.  
• Second reading of an appropriation of $800,000 for the Meadow Creek Trail. Learn more in the staff report or in the story I wrote earlier this month.
• There is second reading of a resolution to appropriate $452,704 from a grant enabled by the Virginia Juvenile Community Crime Control Act. (staff report)
• There’s the first of two readings to appropriate $382,352 from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development for a grant applied for by the Department of Human Services with the Blue Ridge Area Coalition on Homelessness and the Service Provider Council. This comes from The Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS/H.I.V. program from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (staff report)

Next up is the City Manager’s report. I’ll have more from that in a regular newsletter and podcast later this week but here it is if you want to take a look now.

There are only two items on the regular agenda. The first is an amendment to the city code to reflect state law that now requires drivers to stop when pedestrians are crossing the road. 

“The community was not engaged because this is a mandatory State law to which the City needs to conform with by amending its City Code,” reads the section of the staff report.

SB1069 introduced by Senator Richard Saslaw passed the Senate on a 32 to 8 vote and passed the House of Delegates 83 to 16. 

Next is another housekeeping item related to changes in state law. Another bill prevented localities from banning towing companies from charging fuel surcharge fees. Charlottesville has not allowed the charge, but Council must now amend the city code to allow a charge of up to $20. (staff report)

HB1649 introduced by Delegate Scott Wyatt narrowly passed the Senate on a 21 to 19 vote and the House of Delegates on a 50 to 45 vote. 

The final item before the second round of Community Matters is a quarterly report from the Rivanna Authorities. While there has been rain recently, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality classify much of this region as under a “watch” status for groundwater. 

“Precipitation is 19.06 inches below normal over the past 33 months,” reads the presentation. “We are expediting a major water supply piping project, and will propose an accelerated increase in the water storage volume at the Ragged Mtn Reservoir (700 million gallons), to best prepare for the next significant drought.” 

That project has an $85 million price tag and the cost-share agreement requires the Albemarle County Service Authority to cover 80 percent of the bill. 

Before you go: The time to write and research of this article is covered by paid subscribers to Charlottesville Community Engagement. In fact, this particular installment comes from the October 16, 2023 Week Ahead. To ensure this research can be sustained, please consider becoming a paid subscriber or contributing monthly through Patreon.