Charlottesville City Council will hold the second reading tomorrow night on the reallocation of $215,000 in federal funding to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank to help the nonprofit organization purchase a larger refrigerator for their Harris Street distribution center.
“The limited capacity that they have for the storage often means for them to have to turn away donations of fresh produce,” said Anthony Warn, a grants analyst of Charlottesville’s Office of Community Solutions.
The organization covers 25 counties and has been busy the past few years with both the pandemic and with rising food costs due to inflation.
“Last year, we distributed about 27 million pounds of food through these community organizations,” said Michael McKee, the chief executive officer of the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. “That’s enough for about 23 million meals and about 30 percent of that food was fresh produce.”
McKee said the need for the organization is growing as has its need to use more of its resources to acquire food.
“In 2019, the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank spent $1.8 million buying food for distribution,” McKee said. “Last year we spent $5.3 million buying food for distribution.”
McKee said capital costs such as a new cold storage unit take away from the ability to deliver food to households in need.
If approved, Council would cover the entire cost of the project which would also include covering the loading dock area. The new infrastructure could also reduce energy costs because the current refrigerator runs almost constantly.
“I am ecstatic to support this,” said Vice Mayor Brian Pinkston. “I think the fact that we’re able to help ourselves and also help the network and to support our volunteers, I think it’s a great project.”
City Councilor Michael Payne referred to the presentation given by UVA students earlier in the afternoon on behalf of the Public Housing Association of Residents that asked for Community Development Block Grant funds to not be used for physical infrastructure like parks and sidewalks. He said this one makes the cut. (read that story)
“This kind of allocation is exactly the kind of allocations we should be making with CDBG, strategic, high-impact, long-term impact, and directly benefiting working and poor people in our community,” Payne said.
The majority of the money had been programmed for streetscape infrastructure including $155,247.20 from Fiscal Year 2022 that would have gone to a sidewalk project on Ridge Street. Payne supported the allocation.
“It highlights why we should not invest in capital projects because we can’t deliver them on time,” Payne said.
A February 2024 status report from the city’s transportation planner indicates there is no scheduled date for when two Smart Scale projects in the Ridge Street / Fifth Street Extended corridor would be completed.
In other items from Council’s February 20, 2024, City Manager Sam Sanders said the Belmont Bridge is nearing completion.
“The new traffic signals are now up and the old lights and mast arms have been removed,” Sanders said.
Utility work will continue this month as will work on the western sidewalk. Sanders did not mention the emergency contract or provide a new cost estimate.
“But the project is slated to be done in the middle of June,” Sanders said.
Sanders said a notice to proceed has been given to Nielsen Builders of Harrisonburg to begin work on a new bypass fire station.
“It’s a $7.5 million project and substantial completion should be finished in March of next year,” Sanders said.
Sanders said the Fire Department will begin operating out of the station in May 2025.
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