The Supreme Court is finally taking up the lawsuit seeking to halt construction of the YMCA in McIntire Park, Sean Tubbs reports for Charlottesville Tomorrow. Two years ago, ACAC, Gold’s Gym, and Total Performance Sports & Fitness filed a pair of lawsuits against the city and the county, alleging that the municipalities failed to follow standard bidding practices when they awarded the Young Men’s Christian Association a $1/year ground lease to build an aquatic facility in the park, along with $3.3M for construction costs. The project has been on hold as a result. It was August of last year when the Supreme Court of Virginia agreed to hear the case, and is finally going to do so June 7, with a decision due in the summer.
News and meta-news about Charlottesville, VA, since 2001.
Monthly Archive for May, 2012
The 50-year-old city time capsule was opened today, Hawes Spencer writes for The Hook, in front of an audience of hundreds. It was…soggy. The ostensibly waterproof capsule turned out to be anything but, with its contents reduced to mush after its tar seal broke down over time. No word on whether its more interesting contents (especially the letters people wrote and placed in there) are salvageable. You might recall that the city had a heck of a time finding the time capsule, but managed thanks to one man’s film of its burial.
A new time capsule will be buried late this year. Any more ideas about what could go in there?
James C. Justice II has bought the financially distressed Wintergreen Resort, Nate Delesline III reports for the Daily Progress. The colorful coal baron was profiled by the Post when he bought The Greenbriar three years ago, after owner CSX put the money-losing West Virginia resort into bankruptcy. A remarkably warm winter put Wintergreen in a tough spot, presumably lowering its value enough to make it a tempting takeover target for Justice. The sale should close next month.
Justice also owns seven square miles of land in southern Albemarle, which he bought from MeadWestvaco last year. No word on why he bought it, or what he intends to do with it.
The construction bids are in for the Western Bypass, Sean Tubbs writes for Charlottesville Tomorrow, but it’s not yet clear whether they’re good news, or bad. Seven bids were submitted, ranging from $136M to $214M, all of which exceed the $125.6M budget. A Virginia Department of Transportation spokesman says that they’re all within the entire $139M design-build budget, but Tubbs points out that pretends that none of that additional $13.4M engineering budget has been spent when, in fact, $9.3M of it had already been spent as of June 17 of last year. That seems to make it pretty clear that all of these bids are beyond the state’s financial means, unless VDOT chooses to allocate additional funding to the project.
The Commonwealth Transportation Board is scheduled to name the winning bidder of the design-build contract on June 20, which is also when the public will be able to see the design that was submitted.
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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