2012-05-10May 10, 2012 (Adjourned Meeting)
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An adjourned meeting of the Board of Supervisors of Albemarle County, Virginia, was held on May
10, 2012, at 12:00 noon, to participate in the Rivanna River Basin Commission’s Tour de Stormwater.
The tour began at the Martin Luther King, Jr., Performing Arts Center (Charlottesville High School), then
traveled to Greene Community County Park, then to Library Avenue in Downtown Crozet, and ended back
at Charlottesville High School. This Board meeting was adjourned from May 9, 2012.
PRESENT: Mr. Christopher Dumler, Ms. Ann Mallek and Mr. Duane E. Snow.
ABSENT: Mr. Kenneth C. Boyd, Mr. Dennis S. Rooker and Mr. Rodney S. Thomas.
The meeting was called to order at 12:05 p.m., by the Chair, Ms. Mallek.
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Following is a brief synopsis of the m eeting:
The Tour de Stormwater educational stormwater tour was organized by the Rivanna River Basin
Commission (RRBC), an entity of local government, of which Albemarle County is a part. Albemarle
County has two elected representatives to the RRBC (Mr. Duane Snow and Mr. Dennis Rooker) and one
appointed citizen (Ms. Lizbeth Palmer).
Ms. Mallek, Mr. Snow, and Mr. Christopher Dumler were present for the tour, which started at the
Charlottesville High School at 12:00 p.m. Ms. Mallek reconvened the meeting of Albemarle County Board
of Supervisors at 12:05 p.m. (a quorum of the Board was not present). Mr. Marvin Moss, Chair of the
Rivanna River Basin Commission, then opened the RRBC meeting.
The purpose of the tour was to showcase three of the four stormwater best management
practices (BMP) that were funded in part by a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
(NFWF) to the RRBC and its local government partners. Each stop was designed to highlight a different
aspect of stormwater management. Ms. Leslie Middleton, Executive Director of the RRBC, and Mr. Dave
Hirschman, Program Director for the Center for Watershed Protection (CWP), were leaders of the tour.
Staff members from each locality where stops were made along the tour (Charlottesville, Greene County
Community Park, and Crozet Stormwater Wetlands) provided information about the specific BMP and
stormwater management in general.
Presentations on the Charlottesville High School Bioswale were provided by project partners: Mr.
Dan Frisbee, Stormwater Program Coordinator, City of Charlottesville; Dr. Teresa Culver, Associate
Professor, UVa Civil & Environmental Engineering; and Mr. Rick Wellbeloved-Stone, Environmental,
Ecology and Earth Sciences Teacher, Charlottesville High School.
The bioswale adjacent to the Martin Luther King Performing Arts Center collects rainwater runoff
from approximately four acres of parking lot and the adjacent neighborhood and treats the runoff by
filtering it slowly through engineered soil and native plantings. The excess is discharged to piping that
routes the clean water to the stream below the high school athletic field.
Part of the project required monitoring the effectiveness of the biofilter, and RRBC worked with
UVa's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (with the initial set-up and study coordinated by
the Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission). The bioswale has been found to remove 60% to
90% of the nitrogen, phosphorous, and sediment and reduce excessive and harmful flows to the receiving
stream. In addition, there is a rooftop rainwater harvesting system that collects rainwater from the roof of
the Martin Luther King Performing Arts Center and stores it in tanks for use in irrigating the adjacent
athletic fields.
Attendees boarded a chartered bus at approximately 12:50 p.m. and travelled to the Greene
County Community Park in Stanardsville, Virginia, where the RRBC project funded the design of a large
linear biofilter that collects and treats rainwater runoff (stormwater) from a large adj acent parking lot, the
adjacent soccer fields, and the impervious surface of the rooftop of a newly constructed comfort station.
The biofilter was designed by the Center for Watershed Protection with project funds, constructed with
project funds, and planted with native plants and shrubs using volunteer help from the Greene County
Ruritans. The group also toured a small stream restoration with adjacent riparian buffer plantings installed
downhill from the biofilter that slows the water velocity and is decreasing stream-bank erosion.
Discussions about these BMPs were led by Mr. Carl Schmitt, RRBC and the Greene County
Ruritans; Ms. Stephanie Golon, Greene County Planner, and Mr. Hirschman, Program Director, Center for
Watershed Protection. The tour departed the Greene County site at approximately 2:45 pm and travelled
to Crozet.
At the Crozet Regional Stormwater Wetlands construction site, there was a presentation and
discussion led by Mr. Gregor Patsch, Albemarle County Water Resources Engineer; and Mr. Greg Harper,
Water Resources Manager, about the project, which has been designed to collect and treat current and
future stormwater runoff from downtown Crozet. This project has been funded by Albemarle County,
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, and the RRBC NFWF grant, and is a creative solution to
encouraging in-fill development in Crozet by managing the stormwater offsite. The stormwater will be
treated in a series of wetlands cells that run adjacent to Powells Creek. The site will provide native habitat
for flora and fauna and have walking trails for local visitors.
At 3:30 p.m., the tour participants boarded the bus for Charlottesville, and returned to the
Charlottesville High School, where participants disembarked.
May 10, 2012 (Adjourned Meeting)
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At 4:00 p.m., Ms. Mallek adjourned the meeting of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors
and Mr. Moss adjourned the meeting of the Rivanna River Basin Commission.
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In addition to the above-listed Board members, the following persons were in attendance:
Mr. Julius Bates, Greene County Parks and Recreation Director
Mr. J. Robert “Bob” Brame, III, Culpepper Soil and Water Conservation District Director, RRBC
Treasurer
Dr. Teresa Culver, University of Virginia Civil & Environmental Engineering Associate Professor
Mr. Dan Frisbee, City of Charlottesville Stormwater Program Coordinator
Mr. Jim Frydl, Greene County Board of Supervisors, RRBC Vice Chair
Ms. Stephanie Golon, Greene County Planner
Mr. Greg Harper, Albemarle County Water Resources Manager
Mr. Dave Hirschman, Center for Watershed Protection
Mr. Mac Lafferty, Albemarle County Planning Commissioner
Ms. Jessica Lassetter, RRBC Program Development Coordinator
Ms. Danielle Martin, RRBC Summer Intern
Mr. Brendan McIntyre, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
Ms. Leslie Middleton, RRBC Executive Director
Mr. Marvin Moss, Fluvanna County, Appointed Citizen, RRBC Chair
Mr. Timothy Padalino, Nelson County Planner
Dr. Liz Palmer, Albemarle County Citizen
Mr. Gregor Patsch, Albemarle County Water Resources Engineer
Mr. Andrew Pompei, Fluvanna County Planner
Mr. Richard Randolph, Albemarle County Planning Commissioner
Ms. Kristel Riddervold, City of Charlottesville Environmental Administrator
Mr. Carl Schmitt, Greene County
Mr. Jeff Sitler, University of Virginia
Ms. Dede Smith, City of Charlottesville Councilor
Ms. Natalie Wilson, NBC29 Reporter
Mr. Rick Wellbeloved-Stone, Charlottesville High School Environmental Ecology and Earth
Sciences Teacher
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Chairman
Approved by Board
Date: 08/01/2012
Initials: EWJ