Monthly Archive for August, 2009

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UVA Eliminating Psych Beds

Published by Waldo Jaquith on August 16, 2009 in General News. 52 Comments

Chiara Canzi provides the alarming news in the current C-Ville Weekly that the university intends to eliminate half of its psychiatric beds from its total of forty, getting rid of eight next months and another twelve early next year. The PR director for the UVA Medical Center says that it won’t be a problem because “not all beds…are used,” but the folks I talked to who work for the facility tell me that’s absolutely not true. They’re basically the psychiatric equivalent of an emergency room, and one of very few available right now—folks are routinely brought down from upstate, where (a member of the General Assembly recently told me) there are generally no beds available. The state has a significant shortage of beds, and it’s becoming a problem. Obviously, we’re not talking about literal beds here, but rather the capacity to deal with an individual represented by it.

The result of this will not be good. This will leave people without care, instead winding up in jail (without the care that they need), on the streets, or with family who don’t know how to help them. Note that this coincides with the General Assembly passing a slew of new mental health laws in response to the Virginia Tech shooting, many of which will require more beds to deal with the more stringent standards. They’re stiffening the laws, but not providing the funding to actually follow through. That’s basically par for the course: legislators want to brag about how they’re tough on crime and cut taxes, but as we see here, the two are often in opposition.

Boyd Running Against Perriello

Published by Waldo Jaquith on August 16, 2009 in Politics. 10 Comments

Ken Boyd plans to run against Rep. Tom Perriello for Congress, Brian McNeill writes in today’s Daily Progress. Well, that’s not strictly true. McNeill writes that Boyd attended an informational session for the apparent hordes of Republicans who intend to seek the nomination to run against the freshman Democrat, and Albemarle County Republican Chair Christian Schoenewald tells McNeill that “he told us he was running”; Boyd tells McNeill that he’s “still considering it very seriously.” Boyd serves on the Board of Supervisors, representing the Rivanna precinct. He’s a sophomore, first elected in 2003, defeating Democrat Peter Hallock with 52.6% of the vote. The 5th congressional district is huge—the size of New Jersey—and Charlottesville is in the northern tip of the triangular district, which extends clear to the North Carolina border. I’d say that somebody from this far north is unlikely to win the district—since we have very little in common with the rest of it—but given that Rep. Perriello was born and raised in Ivy, that’s clearly no true anymore.

Crozet Citizens Want to Stop Population Growth

Published by Waldo Jaquith on August 8, 2009 in General News. 30 Comments
Crozet Hardware
Crozet Hardware. By Charlottesville Tomorrow. / CC BY 2.0

Crozetians believe overwhelmingly that their #1 priority is limiting growth, WCAV reports. The county surveyed Crozet’s citizens about the Master Plan—which currently calls for the population to more than double—and it was in that context that they volunteered their concerns about population growth. Specifically, they’re also looking to stop the 250 corridor from sprawling out, and instead build up downtown. A 2006 county report forecast a maximum Crozet population of 24,000 in 15 years, a number that left many Crozet residents horrified, no doubt spurring contributing to the strong support for a sustainable population that this survey has shown.

USPS Considering Shuttering Processing Facility

Published by Waldo Jaquith on August 8, 2009 in Government. 38 Comments
USPS Distribution Facility
The USPS Distribution Facility on Airport Rd.

It was just a few years ago that the USPS built their processing facility on Airport Road, but they’re already looking at shutting it down, Jason Bacaj reports in today’s Daily Progress. A study of their operations will be running for the next few weeks, which will determine whether they’re going to keep it open, move all of the operations to their new facility in Richmond, or do something between those two. The results of the study are due to be announced late next month. If they were to shut down this facility, my understanding is that all mail sent within Charlottesville would have to be routed through Richmond, though I certainly hope that’s not right. Charlottesville’s original mail sorting facility is now the home to the central branch of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library, which took it over in 1977; if abandoned, I wonder what the future holds for their current facility.

County Wants Developers to Cover Mud Expanses

Published by Waldo Jaquith on August 5, 2009 in Development, Government and Law and Justice. 4 Comments

The county is looking to stop developers from razing the land and then leaving a field of mud, Sharon Fitzgerald writes in today’s Daily Progress. The proposal is to require that cleared land be covered up within nine months, whether with grass, a structure, or some kind of paving. Developers who can’t get that done in nine months can apply for a three-month extension.

After land is graded, the denuded land can lead to terrible runoff problems, clogging storm drains and filling stream beds with silt. (Recall Hollymead Town Center, which was a sea of red earth for years, the runoff from which reduced Hollymead Lake to a mud puddle.) It’s in a developer’s best interest not to let that happen—dirt isn’t as cheap as the expression would have you believe, and if you let dirt start flowing around on your property, there’s no telling where it’ll move to, and that can make a mess. Wendell Wood, the developer of Hollymead Town Center, blames the multi-year moonscape on the county, for delaying his permits, but that doesn’t explain why he’d grade acre upon acre of land without the permits to do anything with it. Jay Willer of the Blue Ridge Home Builders Association opposes the proposal.

Disclosure: I’m in the awkward position of writing about this during the same week—the very day, I think—on which the county is going to consider whether I have to renew the bond for the swath of land that I had cleared last year, which is contingent in part on whether I have adequately covered the land in question. Though having gone through that process, I do think I’m in a good position to say that nine months ought to be enough time, especially if those nine months don’t include winter. (Mine did, which meant I couldn’t grow a blade of grass until March, despite my best efforts.) Anyhow, knowing that folks from that office read this blog, and wanting very much to be released from that bond, the assumption that I’m sucking up is, while incorrect, totally warranted.

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