Crozet's community blog
via press release –
All first, second and third graders at Crozet Elementary School recently received tennis racquets and balls from QuickStart Tennis of Central Virginia, Inc. (QCV) thanks to a generous grant from the Smyth Foundation Fund in the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation.
Continue reading “Quick Start Tennis gives Balls and Raquets to Crozet Elementary Kids”
As noted on the Crozet Calendar.
Agenda after the break. (bolding mine)
Anyone going interested in live-tweeting the meeting? The Streetscape information will be quite informative. Continue reading “CCA Meeting this Thurday – 14 November 2013”
I know that break ins happen and we have relatively low crime in our somewhat insular world of Crozet, but this still sucks.
via email –
The Crozet Gazette have a good report on the coming state of renovations on Crozet Avenue.
Linco, Inc., a Lyndhurst–based construction company, is the apparent low bidder for the “streetscape” project that will add storm drains, curbs, wide sidewalks and buried utility lines on Crozet Avenue between Tabor Street and The Square.
Read the whole thing.
Remember the now-seemingly-mythical sidewalks to Crozet Elementary? Announced in May 2010, news was silent about the sidewalk grant for years. We’ve discussed for years the need for sidewalks to Crozet Elementary.
Looks like we’ll be waiting for sidewalks for longer than expected. Even last month it seemed that the funds were in place.
via email last night from Jack Kelsey with Albemarle County (thanks, Jack for keeping us informed):
The bids for the Crozet Elementary School “Safe Routes to School” sidewalk project (Crozet ES to Ballard Dr.) were received and opened on Oct 29th. I will be providing a brief status update to you and the PTO Wednesday night, but I wanted to give you a heads-up that the bids came in substantially higher than the estimated construction cost and the project budget.
Based on the stipulations that came with the SRTS Grant funds, the project must be re-advertised/re-bid. Prior to re-advertising we must try to determine the reasons for the higher bids – for example: error in estimating; lack of clarity in the plans & specifications; season or time period for construction; market conditions or amount of work already lined-up by bidders. We will address the reasons in the plans & specifications, reduce the scope of the improvements as necessary to stay within the budget, and then re-advertise the project. We will work to resolve this matter and re-advertise as soon as possible, but I wanted to give you advance notice that there will be additional delay.
When I asked how much higher the bids were, Jack responded –
As for how much higher were the bids, all I can say at this time is that they were greater than 10% of the construction cost estimate.
I asked Jack if we were at risk of losing the funding. He replied:
We need to rebid the project so at this time I cannot share the difference between our estimate and the bids received. We are not at risk of losing the grant funding. Also want to make certain you understand that the SRTS project (Crozet ES to Ballard Dr) had to be advertised/constructed as a separate project from what is described below (ed note: referencing the funding noted here ). This is because the SRTS is Federal funding and there are specific Federal design, bidding and construction requirements to which we must adhere that do not apply to the State (Revenue Sharing) fund portion of the Crozet North Sidewalk project that runs from St George Ave. to the Crozet Elementary School.
Notes:
– The above is posted with permission.
– Anyone on Crozet PTO want to write a story/update for RealCrozetVA after the PTO meeting?
– I’m wondering if those bids can be public. I’d think they could/should be so we can see the scope of work and where the discrepancies/overruns are.
Just wondering … with the pending redevelopment of the Barnes Lumberyard, how will (and will?) the 240 side of Crozet be connected to Downtown Crozet?
I’ve been driving and cycling around the work for days and finally thought to stop and ask one of the guys working what they were doing.
He answered.
And then I contacted CenturyLink via Twitter.
And I emailed them. And they answered.
Thanks for the opportunity to respond to your inquiry into the work being done in Crozet.
The work taking place is in preparation for the Crozet (Streetscape) project, which requires relocation of CenturyLink’s fiber and copper facilities along Crozet Avenue, between “The Square” and Tabor Street. Overall, the facility relocation is a major undertaking and CenturyLink is working extra hours to complete this work as soon as possible.
So … I was tired of wondering.
via email: (bolding mine)
Knowing that you have a following in the Crozet Area, I am asking for your help to let the community know some happenings in the Crozet Shopping Centers and Olde Towne Shoppes (Great Valu and Over The Moon complexes).
I am the manager of these properties and would like to let people know that there will be some construction in the next few weeks, but the stores will remain open during their regular hours.
Continue reading “Be Aware – (More) Construction Coming to Downtown Crozet”
Update 4 November – I changed the title from “No Calendar” to “NEW Calendar” to accurately describe the updates.
For the next few days I’m going to have the Crozet Calendar down. The plugin I was using has taken down RealCrozetVA at least twice and that’s not viable. If anyone has suggestions for a great calendar plugin for WordPress, please let me know. I know there are a couple that cost between $50 and $100 dollars and I’m willing to pay for something that will provide consistent, won’t-take-down-my-blog access for the Crozet community.
Thanks for the understanding.
Also, Blue Ridge Internetworks rocks. If you need web hosting, look at them.
Update 28 October: I’ve installed a new calendar plugin. But as the previous plugin broke the blog and it was deleted without saving any of the previous data … if you’d like an event listed on the Crozet Calendar, please email me again. Better yet, I went ahead and spent the $65 for the license as it’ll allow for more functionality for the community.
Crozet Library needs more books.
Two of the things I love about Crozet – Fardowners and the Crozet Library.
Fardowners restaurant in the Crozet Square has designated October 28, 29 and 30 as Library Days in support of the new Crozet/Western Albemarle Library.
Patrons can help provide needed funds for new book purchases by simply dining at Fardowners. For every meal purchased during Library Days, Fardowners will donate a percentage of the meal—15 percent of lunch food orders and 10 percent of dinner food orders—to the Crozet Library. Patrons will have the opportunity to make direct donations to the library as well.
Click through to see the press release from Fardowners.
(and here I thought once the new Crozet Library opened, the “library” tag would be unused. 🙂 Continue reading “Crozet Library Days at Fardowners – 28-30 October”