City Hall has reopened for business after major water leak in 2023 

City Manager Sam Sanders did not say too much about the written report for the August 5, 2024 meeting, but there was one thing he wanted to make sure members of the public know.

“The City Hall Lobby has reopened for business,” Sanders said. “The City Treasurer, the Commissioner of Revenue, and utility billing office are in their home ready to serve your needs.”    

A water leak in City Hall last July forced the closure of the office. I’ve got a question in about how repairs cost and whether insurance would cover the damages.

Some items of note from the written report: 

• Charlottesville hosted a quarterly “Town Gown Meeting of the City, Council and UVA” on July 18, a body and meeting I’ve not been aware of until reading this report. I asked what that was and got this written response from the city:
  
  ”Town & Gown is a quarterly meeting of the highest level officials (Mayor/City Manager, Chair of BOS/County Executive, Exec VP & COO/Sr. VP Govt Affairs) from the three jurisdictions. It is not public. There are no minutes. It is an information exchange and discussion of issues in common. During certain times of year there are briefs shared on budget overviews, construction/infrastructure projects, and news affecting either entity.”
  
  Until 2019, there was a public body known as the Planning and Coordination Council that was an open meeting but it was discontinued by the City Council and the Planning Commission late that year.
• Charlottesville’s AAA bond rating has been reaffirmed by Moody’s and S&P. A sale of $58,465,000 in General Obligation Public Improvement Bonds was scheduled for yesterday. Details on that are here. 
• The Commissioner of Revenue’s office is taking applications for the Charlottesville Homeowner Assistance Program through September 2. Visit this website, but click on the second tab to access CHAP. 

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