The city staff’s budget includes $24M for capital projects, Seth Rosen writes in the Progress, including the cost of the new pools, a Fontaine fire station, and the Downtown Mall structural overhaul, among other things. That’s a 12.6% increase over last year’s spending on capital improvements, part of an overall proposed 5% increase in the budget.
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Monthly Archive for November, 2007
The couple roughed up by a police officer on Water St. have been acquitted, Lindsay Barnes reports for The Hook. One was charged with public drunkenness, the other obstruction of justice. The allegation of police brutality surfaced six weeks ago. Judge Robert Downer ruled in favor of both of them, but also held that the officer was “entirely justified in reacting immediately to prevent any interference.”
Albemarle supervisors have asked our legislators to let them assess developers with proper impact fees, Bob Gibson and Jeremy Borden write in today’s Daily Progress. Right now the county has a tough time getting developers to pay for the enormous cost of upgrading public infrastructure to support new developments, which is why we lose money on every new resident. Though similar legislation passed the General Assembly last year, but it’s not all it was promoted as, and so no localities in the state have bothered with it. The next General Assembly session starts in January.
Seth Rosen writes in the Progress that two councilors’ plans for a tax rebate were shot down by Council last night. Dave Norris and Julian Taliaferro proposes giving back the $1M excess in property taxes to all 14k property owners, or ~$75/person. City staff explained what would go into the process, including getting the social security number for every property owner and finding what’s become of those who sold their homes during the year and giving them pro-rated checks. Norris agreed that it seemed like more trouble than it’s worth, and figures it’s best to put the money into the city’s tax relief program for low-income residents.
Council also turned down a school request for $1.58M for new technology and instructed staff to make next year’s budget no more than 5% larger than the current budget.
City Council approved a plan to replace Smith Pool last night, Seth Rosen writes in the Progress. They’ll shut down Crow Pool and rebuild an expanded Smith, in hopes of compensation for the loss of Crow. The renovation will cost $10M.
Sideblog
Police announced this afternoon that their investigation into what was initially believed to be a fatal fire on Rugby Avenue is now a homicide investigation. #
The Virginia Supreme Court has denied George Huguely’s appeal. His second-degree murder conviction will stand, WRIC reports. #
In a carefully worded story, and not citing specific sources, WTVR reports that forensic evidence belonging to Jesse Matthew Jr., the main suspect in the disappearance of Hannah Graham, matches forensic evidence collected during the investigation of Morgan Harrington’s 2009 murder. #
In the wake of Hannah Graham’s disappearance, and the evidence that came from private security footage, city officials are revisiting the question of installing security cameras on the downtown mall. #
Both Charlottesville Registrar Sheri Iachetta and former Electoral Board member Stephanie Commander have turned themselves in to the police on
foursix and four felony counts of embezzlement, respectively. #Ten years ago, the National Institutes of Health budget doubled and schools like the University of Virginia built massive new research facilities. A decade later, those buildings remain largely underutilized. NPR visits UVA in this story on the effect of federal binge and spurge spending in the sciences. #
In 2012, Council approved a new student housing complex on West Main—now some council members are questioning whether what they were shown matches what was built. #
The Architectural Review Board has approved a bike-themed mural on West Market, below the McGuffey Art Center, although at least one member expressed concerns that it might look like the bicyclists were riding away from Charlottesville’s downtown. #
City Police Chief Tim Longo is meeting with city leaders to work on protocols regarding the use of military surplus police weapons in Charlottesville. #
A 100-year-old Colonnades resident received military honors for her service in the WWII Women’s Army Corps #
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