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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-05-29ADJOURNEDAttendin~ Bob Tucker Walter Perkins Steve Murray Sam Lee Barnes Jodie Webber Peter Hallock Sally Thomas George Loper Forrest Marshall Karen Lilleleht J/m Eddins David Bowerman Susan Cabell Jim Gahres Kay Slaughter Charles Rotgin, Jr. Meredith R/chards Helen Poore Sandy Snook J/tn Peterson Cabell Lawton Deborah Murdock William Thomas Pete Bradshaw Jeffrey Lunsford Stu Armstrong Thomas Jefferson Venture Meeting May 29, 1997 Minutes o Localit~ Represented Albemarle Albemarle Albemarle Albemarle Albemarle Albemarle Albemarle Albemarle Albemarle Albemarle Albemarle Albemarle Charlottesville Charlottesville Charlottesville Charlottesville Charlottesville Charlottesville Charlottesville Charlottesville Fluvanna Fluvarma Louisa Louisa Louisa Nelson Staff: Nancy K. O~rien and Bonnie Fronfelter Public: Sara Cagle, Daily Progress; Babette Thorpe, Piedmont Environmental CoUncil The meeting was called to order by Ms. Thomas Public Hearing: Ms. Thomas opened the public hearing explaining that the advertisement for the public hearing listed the time from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., so if anyune fi.om the public came in during that time they could address the group. Babette Thorpe, representing the Piedmont Environmental Cotmcil, delivered a written statement. The statement lauded regional planning, but questioned the methods used to prioritize strengths and weaknesses and questioned whether the order of items in the draft reg/onal strategic plan reflected a pr/oritization. She noted tlmt at a previous meeting, members had scored beauty as the greatest strength and it was unclear whether or not beauty was the top prior/ty in the draft plan. Ms. Thomas relayed that a written statement had been received from the Regional Welfare Reform Steering Committee chair, V/rginia Daughtery. The statement supported the draft regional strategic plan, emphasizing both the Healthy Faro/lies and job training components. There being no other comments from the public, Ms. Thomas proceeded w/th the agenda. Bylaws: Ms. O~3rien reported that the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors had approved the Vemure bylaws at their second May meeting, with the understanding that a copy of the approved bylaws would be forwarded to the county's attorney and so long as there were no departnres from draft bylaws. Draft Regional Strategic Plan: Ms. O~3rien stated that it might be easiest to proceed with comments on the draft plan by moving through each section. Members agreed and proceeded accordingly. Economic Disparities (Employment Centers): Kay Slaughter suggested that language be added to the employment center project to specify that the area was meant to be mixed use and not a typical industrial park. This mixed use concept would include residential and commercial development and would adhere to local land use plans and zoning. Sara Barnes inquired as to whether anyone knew the impact of the Motorola plant on our region. Pete Bradshaw responded that there most certainly would be an impact in Louisa and Fluvanna Cotmt/es and that it would be prudent to tighten up building plans and prepare for anticipated growth, noting that Motorola would produce 57,000 jobs which included actual and spinoffemployment. Bob Tucker reminded members that specific planning activities were charged to the planning comm/ttee cfa specific project to be explored in Year 1 and perhaps should not be spelled out in the reg/onal strategic plan. Sandy Snook commented that she had toured a voeational/techulcal education program in the valley that performed specific wurkforce training and development for citizens residing in the region who needed assistance. Peter Halleck agreed that emphasis should be placed on training the workforce that exists in the region to prevent the necessity of compaxfies to import people to fill the jobs. Charles Rotgin stressed the importance of having private parmers involved in the early stages of such a project as the regional employment centers and that it was paramount for members to observe the wishes of localities involved in Such a project. Deborah Murdock expressed her des/re to have Fluvanna added to the list of participating localities_ Meredith R/chards suggested that them be further explanation in the Description of Action of Charlotteswitte's need to export workers to such an employment center and suggested that unemployment rotes should be cited, Sara Barnes mentioned the North Fork Industrial Park on Fontaine Avenue as an example of an employment base that did not place enough emphasis on local employment. Meredith Richards ended the discuss/un by stating that the projects did not appear be prioritized, but that priority areas were weighted according to the members casting votes for the two most significant strengths and weaknesses. Economic Disparities (ltealthy Families): Ms. O~Brien explained that them was a piece-meal program in place and that it might be wise to direct the study to the Health D/strict, MACAA, CYFS, and ARC - the groups who have worked on the program in place and have them report back in Year 1 of the project. Charles Rotgm noted that as managed care became more prevalent it would be wise to insure that UVA and MJH were collaborating partners in this program. Bill Thomas stated that the programs for provid/ng parents with assistance was hit or miss at best and 0-3 year olds needed to be reached. Jodie Webber asked if the intent was to cover all children or to identify children in need or all first children. Ms. O~3rien responded that the program had included ali newborn children in its implementation in Hawaii. Hous'mg: Deborah Murdock opened the discussion by asking if the housing component of the plan would use the plan developed for the Regional Consorfiarn HOME, including the trust fund already created. Ms. O~3rien suggested that the group should use existing plans as a springboard so that new projects and planning would not be dupl/cative. In the second "Description of Action," it was suggested that the wording be changed to speci~ a revSew of Virg/nia enabling legislation. It was further noted that affordable housing was not spread evenly among localities and it may be wise to include incentives to allow un-farm rentals and look toward model communities. George Loper commented that zoning needed to reflect the priority of dispersing concentration of low-income housfing and m/xed use areas. He further supported the concept of adding to the Regional Trust Fund using different pools of money, as some of these pools were not as highly regulated by the federal program. Meredith R/chards questioned whether 20 families as frrst-time homebuyers was a modest goal. Bob Tucker suggested that the number of families could be increased over the five-year work pla~ Race Relations: Sandy Snook delivered a summary of the race relatious section. Members agreed that the draft language was acccoptable. Sprawl: Jodie Webber began discussion of the section by stating that the draft stramgic plan did not reflect sprawl as the top priority. She presented members with a tentative rewrite of the section_ Steve Murray emphasized the importance of prey/ding flexible land use for agricultural and fomstal lands such as b/kc trails and tourism, noting that one of the barriers to main~a/ning these lands was the costly special use permit process. Meredith R/chards noted that the mferenee m growth areas did not include Charlottesville and could be reworked to also emphasize commemial and residential in-fill in existing urban areas. Beauty: Sara Barnes suggested the language in this section be strengthened to aceurately reflect the significance of this asset to the reg/on - beauty as an "irreplacable resource." It was suggested that the work program be accelerated so that Mountaintop Protect/on Ordinance be moved from Year 4 to Year 2. Sam Barnes noted that economic development in our region relied heavily on tourism and that historic preservation was an important component. Pete Bradshaw commented that money would be available from the state in coming years for conservation easements in the Chesapeake Tributary Strategies. Education: Meredith Richards asked staff to provide a clearer definition of distance learning in the strategic plan and suggested language. Members were reminded that PVCC was in the early stages of developing television technology. It was further suggested that career preparation and workforce training be added to the program in Years 3-5. At this time, Ms. Thomas noted that someone had entered after hearing the first public comments. The citizen, an independent job search consultant, suggested that the education section c/ting scholarships might allow such scholarships be available for entry level internships for high school students. Other Business: Sandy Snook announced a relevant program on CSPAN from the Brookings Institute on Tier 1 Suburbs. There being no add/t/omi business, the meeting was adjourned. 4