Albemarle Supervisors make brief announcements on Biscuit Run Trail, drought watch, and federal housing bill

This is the first of several stories from the July 15, 2026 meeting of the Albemarle Board of Supervisors and to understand why it is necessary to slightly peel back behind the curtain of how stories get made.

Many come through processing of government meetings into audio chunks arranged by topic. The Albemarle Board of Supervisors went for over six hours on July 15 and I still have to go through much of it.

One of the items to write up is the discussion of the sales tax referendum. I know there is at least one comment from matters from the public I’d like to use in that story and possibly more. But my brain sometimes insists on working through things periodically so I when it comes time to write, I start with opening announcements.

The July 15 meeting was the first since the beginning of the Fiscal New Year which came with an adopted state budget of $1.48 million for a new connector trail at Biscuit Run Park. Former Governor Glenn Youngkin had vetoed the spending as I reported for C-Ville Weekly in May 2025.

“The new trail, as you probably all know, will connect the Monacan Nation Tribute park in Southwood to the new Biscuit Run stream restoration project and the new pedestrian bridge which is under construction,” said Samuel Miller District Supervisor Fred Missel.

This week the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority declared a drought watch which calls for voluntary water conservation measures. Supervisor Ann Mallek of the White Hall District is on the RWSA Board.

“This is not mandatory yet, but it will be soon if people ignore the situation,” Mallek said. “So in order to prolong the ability to use any water for much of anything, we all need to conserve a lot and to not use water for anything that is not essential and to take care of our reservoirs.”

Supervisor Ned Gallaway of the Rio District noted that the 21st Century Road to Housing Act has passed the United States Congress and is now law. The new legislation will affect much of what gets reported in this newsletter.

“The fact that it passed with bipartisan support is probably enough to say that is the surprise,” Gallaway said. “But I’ve been pouring through it just to see how it would impact things that we do here locally and I’m sure we’ll be learning more and more about that as we go.”

Stay tuned to Charlottesville Community Engagement as I continue to try to figure out ways to bring you more and more stories. From this meeting I aim to bring stories such as an update on transportation projects, what Supervisors had to say about the sales tax referendum, and a public hearing on streaming the process to add rooftop solar to buildings in the entrance corridor.

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