JPA Pedestrian Improvements – The City has assessed the community opinion of the pedestrian crossing improvements along Jefferson Park Avenue at Stribling Avenue and Cleveland Avenue. While ranked as one of the top priorities, the latest version of the draft budget eliminates most of the new funding for sidewalk and safety improvements. The FSNA board has and will continue to advocate for funding for the JPA and Stribling pedestrian improvements at all the public meetings leading up to the adoption of the next year’s budget, but we need to support of the residents of the neighborhood. To coordinate an effective campaign, the FSNA Board is setting up a petition page where you can sign on to show your support for full funding for the JPA and Stribling Pedestrian safety improvements, and/or find templates for letters to send directly to the City Councilors, Planning Commissioners and staff. Please be on the lookout for a separate email with the links and instructions!
Fry’s Spring Parking Zone – Following the vote by the members at Oktoberfest, the FSNA Board has requested the City Traffic Engineer to prepare the request to City Council for the Fry’s Spring Parking Zone. We were told it will likely be placed on consent agenda sometime in March. In the meantime, the FSNA Board is preparing to collect signatures to request a traffic study for Robinson. If you live on a different street and are willing to serve as a street captain, to lead the collection of signatures from the property owners, please let the board know at fsna-board@googlegroups.com
- Parking zone that defines the hours of restrictions is requested and approved by City Council for the area.
- Residents collect signatures of the majority of property owners on the street requesting the study.
- Study finds that the majority of the cars during the proposed times of restrictions do not belong to the residents.
- Then, permit parking can be implemented.
Leaf Season Curbside collection: A vacuum truck will continue to remove loose leaves that have been raked to the curb. Leaves should not block the storm drains, vehicular, bicycle or pedestrian travel ways, curb ramps or crosswalks. Leaves should be raked no more than 3 days before the collection date. You can find your collection date at: www.charlottesville.org/
Holiday Market – The popular Holiday Market returns to downtown Charlottesville Saturday, November 30th. The festive outdoor market features over 100 local vendors with a variety of unique gifts, decorations, food and crafts. All items are handmade, homegrown or home baked by local farmers, artists or bakers. Holiday Market occurs every Saturday, November 30 – December 21 from 8:00 am – 1:00 pm at 100 E. Water Street in downtown Charlottesville. One hour of free parking is available at the Water Street parking garage directly next to the market. For more information, please visit www.charlottesville.org/
2020 Bus Lines Community Poetry – Now Accepting Entries! Charlottesville Area Transit (CAT) in partnership with Bus Lines Community Poetry is pleased to announce the 16th Bus Lines Community Poetry Contest. Each year, local writers of all ages and abilities submit their poetry for a chance to be featured on CAT buses that travel around the city. Along with traveling poetry, winners are invited to showcase their work at a special event hosted by CAT and the Virginia Festival of the Book, held at the Downtown Transit Station in Charlottesville, VA. This year’s theme is “Poetry by You”, which seeks to extract inner creativity and inspiration from all areas of life. The theme continues to build off of the Bus Lines program itself – an experience that fosters personal development and community togetherness.
All winning poems are archived in the UVA permanent collection through a special partnership with Special Collections at the University of Virginia Library. To date, 600 winners have been displayed on CAT buses. The program itself has received a total of 3,218 submissions from 2,157 poets in Charlottesville.
The poetry contest runs from October 15, 2019 through December 21, 2019. The poems should be no more than 10 lines; flash fiction works are limited to 100 words. The contest will accept up to 3 entries per person. For more information about the contest, please visit: www.charlottesville.
Trail Improvements Underway – The City has contracted to have a trail cut in along the old farm road on the new parkland across from Azalea Park. The trail being built/improved utilizes portions of an old farm road and is being built for proper drainage a safe tread. It will be 3-4 feet wide, natural surface. No live trees are being removed for construction and the alignment was chosen to avoid the roots of large trees as much as feasible. There is also an effort to remove invasive autumn olive shrubs and vines from trees on the property. Singletrack/AT style trails in the upper portions of the property will be planned and built in a later phase. For questions or comments, please call Chris Gensic – Charlottesville Parks Department: 970-3656.
Central Virginia Regional Housing Partnership – Regional Housing Survey: This survey is being conducted by the Central Virginia Regional Housing Partnership of the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission as a component of the Regional Housing Plan. Your responses are voluntary and will remain anonymous.
City Operations Website – The City of Charlottesville maintains an interactive web map of active projects: https://gisweb.
DMV Select now open in Charlottesville City Hall – The City of Charlottesville has opened a DMV Select office in the main lobby of City Hall. The public can now complete various vehicle-related transactions such as license plates, titles, and registrations with the help of City employees during weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Home Improvement Incentives, Credits and Rebates
- A list of current federal and state programs is available on the DSIRE website: http://programs.
dsireusa.org/system/program? zipcode=22901. - LEAP’s webpage of incentives and rebates for residential energy efficiency improvements: http://leap-va.
org/tips/incentives-and- rebates-for-residential- energy-efficiency- improvements-in-virginia/. New this year is their No Cost Home Weatherization program with income-qualified homeowners (and renters with property owner approval) in the City eligible for up to $5,000 in energy efficiency upgrades! - City of Charlottesville rebates: http://www.
charlottesville.org/ departments-and-services/ departments-h-z/utilities/ charlottesville-gas/rebates
MyCville App -MyCville is a simple and intuitive online and smart phone application that enables the residents of Charlottesville to request services and identify quality of life and environmental issues and report them to the appropriate department for quick resolution. Learn more at: http://www.
Charlottesville City Crime Map – The new crime map can be accessed at: https://gisweb.