Albemarle panel to review Misty Mountain camp expansion
The Albemarle Agricultural and Forestal District Committee will meet at 5:30 p.m. in Room 246 in the County Office Building at 401 McIntire Road. They will consider an addition to the Hatton AFD, review the Blue Run District, and get briefings on two special use permits near AFD’s. (meeting info)
The first special use permit is for Misty Mountain Camp Resort to expand by 53 campsites to a total of 158, permit 19 cabins, and to be able to rent out cabins year-round with a 30-day occupancy limit. The Board of Supervisors will make the final decision by the AFD is being asked to weigh in on whether the expansion would be contrary to the purpose of the districts. (staff report)
In the second, Pippin Hill seeks a special use permit to expand a historic structure called Crossroads Tavern at the intersection of U.S. 29 and Plank Road. (staff report)
I think it would be useful to search Albemarle County agendas and meeting minutes for matters that affect Crozet. Weekly. Anyone interested in helping me do this? Please contact me.
Example: I heard that the Greenwood cell phone tower was approved, but I haven’t made time to seek out those meeting minutes, and with limited local journalists, I think we the community need to take on some of this research.
Update. I’m thinking about stuff like this.
I just got the email from Albemarle County for their Wednesday 19 October meeting. A quick scan through the agenda items, searching each attachment for “Crozet”, and I see this re: the Water Supply. These are little, incremental items, that will affect us all when these things come to fruition. (bolding mine)
From the ACSA update
• Crozet Phase 4 Water Main Replacement – Our Strategic Plan calls for the eventual replacement of all asbestos-cement water mains in our system, as they are older and made of a weaker material than the current industry norm. This project continues our systematic program to replace the aging and undersized water mains in the Crozet Water System. This is the fourth of five phases that have been defined to carry out these improvements. The design phase is complete and easement acquisition is under way.
Avon Street Maintenance Yard – The Avon Street property has long been held as a future location to build additional facilities in a central location, as needed. The current Maintenance Yard at our Pantops Operations Center is becoming overcrowded with equipment and materials, causing us to relocate some equipment and larger materials to the former ACSA Maintenance Yard at the Crozet Water Treatment Plant, which we lease from RWSA. This project will develop the ACSA owned Avon Street property into a satellite facility for larger vehicle and materials storage. This site creates the opportunity for some sustainable and conservation oriented applications. Design of the site is under way at the 65% stage, and the initial site plan has been submitted to the Albemarle County Planning staff. This site and drainage work is being coordinated with a County sidewalk project on Avon.
From the RWSA update
22-461 – RWSA Quarterly Report (October 2022)
- Beaver Creek Dam Spillway, Pump Station and Piping Modifications
Scope: Provide modifications to the dam to control the flow of water across the spillway during major storm events, as required by Virginia Dam Safety Regulations. Replace the existing pumping station and piping which convey untreated water to the Crozet Water Treatment Plant. Construction of a temporary road to maintain traffic on Browns Gap Turnpike during construction of the spillway is included in the project.
Completion: 2024 – 2027
Cost: $31 million: 100% ACSA Federal funding (65%) will be requested
……
3. Urban wastewater flow for September 2022 (9.8 MGD), including flows from Crozet, was below the five-year average for September (10.4 MGD), as shown by the following graph:
From the Facilities and Environmental Services Department report
(there’s a lot more in the report about Mint Springs)
FES is leading a project, in partnership with the Parks and Recreation Department, to assess and make any necessary improvements to the middle dam – and possibly the upper dam – at Mint Springs Valley Park.
The dams – creating the upper (swimming) and middle
(fishing) lakes – are regulated by the Virginia Department of
Conservation and Recreation (DCR) – Dam Safety program.
Due to a recent reassessment of the flooding consequences
of a hypothetical dam failure, the hazard potential of the
dams was raised from significant to high. As a result, the
middle dam does not have sufficient spillway capacity to
safely convey the prescribed flows associated with dams
having high hazard potential. In addition, the condition of
the middle dam’s spillway (shown to the right) is poor. The
upper dam does not seem to have any deficiencies but will be assessed as part of the project.
Phase 1 of the project will consist of an existing conditions survey, environmental studies, a geotechnical engineering study, and dam break inundation analyses. This phase, expected to be completed this winter, will conclude with a preliminary engineering report describing needed improvements and illustrating any design alternatives. Phase 2, consisting of full design of any improvements and permitting, is expected to be completed next summer. Bidding and construction will immediately follow, depending on funding.
The project will likely result in the construction of a wider concrete spillway and a low flow drain at the middle dam.
Useful and relevant article from today’s Washington Post.
My vision for addressing the huge decline in local journalism involves hiring 87,000 new journalists for about 1,300 news organizations with more than $10 billion in funding. Such a massive investment in local news isn’t going to happen next week and probably not next year, either.
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But it is also not a pipe dream. There is a growing recognition that the collapse of local news and information is a crisis undermining the United States’ politics and communities. Ten billion isn’t much money for the United States to spend on something the nation defines as a crisis. Millions of dollars are already being pumped into reviving local journalism, although right now that’s largely limited to a few major cities such as Chicago and Philadelphia.
…
Having well-staffed news organizations in every community isn’t just about making sure city council and school board meetings get covered. It’s a way to build stronger communities. News organizations should be a forum through which communities hash out their goals and priorities. They can, through their coverage and selection of writers and columnists, elevate voices who aren’t rich or powerful.
I think Corzet-Local news is the job of the Gazette. If interested locals want to do their own sleuthing fine but I think it should be funneled to the Gazette.
They absolutely do an amazing job; I’m thinking more along the lines of meeting minutiae and such. There is so much that happens in BoS, PC, Soil, etc that it would be useful to at least copy/paste from minutes and agendas.
Full write-up and context from the Gazette, but with the decimation of the Daily Progress, asking Gazette to cover all meetings as well is a heavy ask.
That said, I do subscribe to the Gazette. 🙂