Funding for PDCs

General Assembly

“Amendments have been proposed in both the House and Senate to restore $70,000 in each year to the Department of Housing and Community Development for pass-thru funding to Planning District Commissions. The introduced budget proposed this pull-back of funding from DHCD as part of an executive management savings strategy, which also affects a host of other state agency programs."

~Writes David Blount, TJPDC Legislative Liaison

Elkton focuses on Gateway plan details

Central Shenandoah PDC:

“During its Jan. 20 meeting, the Elkton Town Council received an extensive report on the progress of the Gateway project from Erin Yancey, who is a regional planner with the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission.

Yancey’s presentation made clear that the Gateway project is much more than simple landscaping at the intersection of U.S. 33 and U.S. 340 (South Stuart Avenue) – the part of the project that has been frequently mentioned at council meetings. The intersection landscaping is a peripheral part of the full project, which is focused on ‘revitalizing’ and ‘restructuring’ the downtown area of Elkton, as Yancey explained. She began her presentation by noting that the intersection is scheduled for plantings in March. Then, she explained the full project.

Comission planners have been attending Gateway Steering Committee meetings and explaining what a major downtown revitalization project could look like and how the committee could make it happen.

The first step, Yancey explained, would be an application to the state Department of Housing and Community Development for a $35,000 Business District Revitalization Planning Grant, which would provide a professional planner for discussions with town representatives on the possible projects for downtown improvements. This discussion would be expected to lead to a refined list of final project choices, which the commission calls an “economic restructuring plan.””

~ Writes Ted Hayes of The Valley Banner

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Greenhouse Village Housing Project Receives CDBG Grant

Central Shenandoah PDC

“With the help of a $288,936 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), Rockbridge County has partnered with Rockbridge Area Habitat for Humanity to address a need for affordable housing in the Rockbridge area. The Greenhouse Village Housing Production Project will provide for the construction of eight homes for low- and moderate-income (LMI) families and the infrastructure required to serve them within a two-year period. The new infrastructure component of the project will not only serve the eight homes called for in the grant, but also serve 30+ future home sites in the Greenhouse Village neighborhood currently without access to public water, sewer or streets. The project also identifies a significant amount of down payment assistance available to eligible homebuyers, further reducing their cost of homeownership.

  

The CSPDC assisted Rockbridge County with the CDBG grant proposal and will provide ongoing grant administration services.  ”

~Central Shenandoah PDC

Buena Vista's Dickinson Well Project

Central Shenandoah PDC

“Construction on Buena Vista's Dickinson Well began in December 2013, thanks to a $1 million Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) through the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development.  Dickinson Well, the City's largest well source, was declared to be under the influence of surface water in November 2009.  At that point, the City shut down the Dickinson Well system and began the process of obtaining professional engineering services to bring the facility in compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act.  This meant that additional treatment of the water in the form of membrane filtration would have to be provided.  The CSPDC assisted the City in applying for and receiving CDBG funding and continues to provide grant administration services to Buena Vista for the project.  Dickinson Well is expected to be back online in the fall of this year.”

~Central Shenandoah PDC

Investments in the Region: $20 Million+ in Four Years

Central Shenandoah PDC

“One of the more important services provided by the CSPDC to its member jurisdictions is writing grants and finding ways to bring additional financial resources into the Region.  Over the past 40 years, the CSPDC has worked to help find and create investments for a multitude of public projects and programs including economic and community development, flood mitigation, disaster preparedness training, broadband, water and sewer projects, water resource planning, transportation planning, affordable housing, recreational facilities, and bicycle and pedestrian planning, just to mention a few.  Over the past four fiscal years, the CSPDC efforts have paid off in a big way bringing in more than $20 million in new investments to the Region.”

~Central Shenandoah PDC

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CSPDC Receives VTC Grant for Fields of Gold

Central Shenandoah PDC

“The CSPDC received a $3,250 grant from the Virginia Tourism Corporation (VTC) for its Fields of Gold program.  CSPDC was one of 42 organizations across the state to share in grant funds awarded by VTC.

Grant funding will be used to develop a marketing and advertising campaign to promote the Fields of Gold program and collectively promote the 150+ agritourism businesses participating in the Fields of Gold program. The purpose of the advertising is to direct visitors to the Fields of Gold website, and ultimately, to the region's agritourism businesses, destinations, and events.

Partners that provided matching funds for the VTC grant include: Farm Credit of the Virginias, Greater Augusta Regional Chamber of Commerce, Harrisonburg-Rockingham Chamber of Commerce, and Bath County Tourism.”

~Central Shenandoah PDC

Valley Disaster Mitigation & Preparedness Featured

Central Shenandoah PDC

“The CSPDC was recently featured in an article in Stormwater magazine focusing on community resilience through best practices for hazard mitigation and preparedness.  The article titled, Resilience: Communities Connect the Dots to Dodge Disaster covers the many ways the CSPDC is helping to build resilient communities in the Central Shenandoah Region through the implementation of mitigation projects that lessen the impacts of disasters and preparedness awareness programs that educate the Region's citizens”

~Central Shenandoah PDC

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Bike-Walk Summit Selected as Model Program

Central Shenandoah PDC

“The 2013 Harrisonburg-Rockingham Bike- Walk Summit was featured in the January issue of American Bicyclist, published by the League of America Bicyclists, as a model for  bringing diverse stakeholders together for better cycling and better communities.  The article titled, ‘United Spokes: When community stakeholders come together, the result is better cycling for all’ starts on page 16 and Harrisonburg is featured on page 20.”

~Central Shenandoah PDC

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CSPDC Updates All Hazards Mitigation Plan

Central Shenandoah PDC

“The Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission (CSPDC) and a committee of local government represent-atives from its 21 jurisdictions recently completed an ex- tensive update of the Central Shenandoah Valley Regional All Hazards Mitigation Plan.  Having an All Hazards Mitigation Plan in place is an eligibility requirement for certain federal hazard mitigation grant funding mandated by the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. The update has been approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) contingent upon adoption by the participating jurisdictions.

The All Hazards Mitigation Plan includes rankings of all natural hazards that impact the region, historical information about specific severe weather events, broad categories of mitigation strategies and a regional capabilities assessment. The Central Shenandoah Valley Plan was first approved and adopted in 2005, and the current update process began in 2010. Additions and revisions reflect additional weather events since the original plan was adopted, completed mitigation projects and applicable locality activity, as well as the results of public surveys and an overview of educational presentations throughout the Region.”

~Central Shenandoah PDC

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HRTPO Board supports a proposed commission to handle regional transportation funds

Hampton Roads

“The Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization's ad hoc legislation committee met Friday to discuss proposed General Assembly bills determining who controls new local transportation funding. The committee approved a letter supporting the creation of a new commission to handle local transportation money, but asking that such an entity not duplicate HRTPO efforts and not be given power to determine what projects get funded in the region.

The state's transportation law, passed in 2013 and known as House Bill 2313, is expected to provide $5.5 billion in transportation funds for the region over the next 20 years. Part would come from a portion of state sales taxes in the Hampton Roads area and part would be from wholesale gasoline taxes. The law requires that money be spent on roads, tunnels and bridges.

Legislation introduced by Senator Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach, and Del. Chris Jones, R-Chesapeake, establishes an accountability commission to manage the funds, with the ability also to issue bonds for construction work. But the legislation also would vest that commission with the ability to plan and prioritize projects that would receive the new transportation funds. And that worried the HRTPO Board, said Chair and Newport News Mayor McKinley Price.”

~Writes Cathy Grimes of Daily Press

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Planners look for ways to improve safety on Bedford County road

Bedford County

“There was time when 221 was a sleepy, two-lane road. Those days are long gone. ‘It has tripled in traffic!’ exclaimed Robbin Hutton, an assistant manager at M&M Cleaners who has worked along the road for 25 years. Her employer was one of a very few businesses in the neighborhood back in the early 90's.  Today, the community is packed with shopping centers, restaurants, and cars…

The Region 2000 Government Council is working with planners in Bedford County and Lynchburg, to study the road and look for ways to make it safer.”

~Writes Tim Saunders of WDBJ

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PUBLIC OUTREACH: 2040 Long Range Transportation Plan

Thomas Jefferson PDC

“The Charlottesville-Albemarle Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) is hosting a public outreach event to gather input regarding the 2040 Long Range Transportation Plan. This event will focus on developing the 2040 LRTP’s fiscally-constrained project list. All long range transportation plans are required to be fiscally-constrained, which means that a region cannot plan to spend more money than it is anticipated to receive over the 25 year life of its LRTP. This public outreach event will allow the public to provide input regarding which projects merit investment and which projects belong on the visioning list.

This event is currently scheduled for Wednesday, February 5, 2014 from 5pm to 7pm at the Water Street Center, 407 E Water Street. This will be the last 2040 LRTP Public Outreach Event. Two public hearings for the plan will be held in March and May at the MPO Policy Board meetings scheduled for those months.  The public can comment via the 2040 LRTP website or directly to MPO staff.”

~Thomas Jefferson PDC

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2014 VAPDC Training Conference: February 20

Virginia Association of Planning District Commissions

The VAPDC Strategic Plan calls for increased training opportunities for Planning District Commissions.  The purpose of this conference is to provide relevant information and networking opportunities to PDCs and promote, statewide, increased capacity to address current and emerging issues in regional planning and organization administration.

VAPDC will hold a training event for PDC staff from across the state on February 20, in Charlottesville.

Click here for a summary of the event and to register

PRESS RELEASE:HRPDC Releases 2014 Economic Forecast

Hampton Roads PDC

“Each January, the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission Economists release a regional economic forecast for the year ahead. The primary purpose of the forecast is to evaluate the region's current economic condition and provide an assessment of how we expect the region's economy to fare in the coming year.”

~Hampton Roads PDC

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Meadowlark Subdivision residents hopeful about getting grant for upgrades

Town of Appomattox

“Currently, the Region 2000 Local Government Council is conducting the study, which is being funded by a $25,000 planning grant that was awarded to the town last month. The study began last October and is expected to be completed in a couple of months, according to senior planner Scott Smith of Region 2000. The study incorporates the following roads: North Avenue, Patricia Anne Lane, Plant Drive as well as Stevens, Brown, Patterson, and Rose Streets.

Interim Town Manager Bill Gillespie said that funds from the planning grant will go toward hiring an inspector and interviewing people who are interested in getting repairs done to their home. Once the study is complete and it is determined that a revitalization of the neighborhood can be done, the town plans to apply for a Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development Block Grant, which is money awarded to communities to do construction housing projects. During a neighborhood committee meeting in November, Smith explained that the grant money could be used for other items such as streetlights and installing sewer.”

~Writes Stephanie A. James of the Times-Virginian

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Construction of Stanardsville Streetscape Substantially Complete

Thomas Jefferson PDC

“Work on the Stanardsville Downtown Streetscape Revitalization Project is substantially complete, with just a few minor items remaining: painting stripes at parking spaces, installing new street signs, and completing markings at the island at Celt Road. Representatives from the Town, Stanardsville Area Revitalization (*STAR*), the engineering firm of Draper Aden Associates, VDOT and TJPDC were on site with general contractor, Linco, Inc., on December 11 for the inspection.

The project includes improvements along Stanardsville's Main Street from Celt Road to Rectory Lane as well as at the entrance to Monroe Drive. Construction included sidewalks, crosswalks, curbs, landscaping and lighting. The work improves both the safety and aesthetics of downtown Stanardsville. TJPDC serves as the project sponsor.”

~Thomas Jefferson PDC

Free Bridge Area Congestion Relief Project: Second Stakeholder Meeting

Thomas Jefferson PDC

“The Charlottesville-Albemarle MPO will be hosting a stakeholder meeting for the Free Bridge Area Congestion Relief Project on January 15. This is the second stakeholder meeting in a year-long project funded by the Federal Highways Administration (FHWA) which is looking to identify options that will help address vehicular congestion issues in the Free Bridge Area. The upcoming meeting will focus on applying FHWA’s Eco-Logical process to transportation infrastructure planning to the Free Bridge Area. The meeting will be focused on demonstrating the Regional Ecological Framework (REF) tool developed by TJPDC. The meeting will also include a facilitated group discussion on expanding and improving the tool.”

~Thomas Jefferson PDC

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