Category Archives: News

Annual Joint MPO Meeting Held

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The Staunton-Augusta-Waynesboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (SAWMPO) and the Charlottesville-Albemarle MPO (CA-MPO) held their third annual joint meeting on Wednesday, September 27 in Crozet. The MPOs strive to maximize their resources and expertise to address shared transportation interests and projects, including multimodal needs along the I-64 Corridor, public transit between the two regions, and the restoration of the Claudius Crozet Blue Ridge Tunnel.
This year’s meeting covered the results of two recently concluded studies on which the MPOs have collaborated – an I-64 Corridor Study and an Inter-Regional Transit Study.  A presentation on “The Future of Transportation: Autonomous Vehicles,” by John Martin, CEO and Managing Partner of the Southeastern Institute of Research, Inc. and remarks from state and federal agencies rounded out the joint meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for fall 2018 in the SAWMPO region.

Greenhouse Village Grant Awarded

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Rockbridge County has been awarded a $476,693 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to add neighborhood infrastructure and 12 new homes to the Greenhouse Village Housing Production Project. This award will advance Phase II of the project, which is a cluster development of single-family homes completed in partnership with Rockbridge Area Habitat for Humanity (Habitat). The project is in a designated growth area where Rockbridge County has identified a need for safe and affordable low- to moderate-income family housing.
Phase II will bring the total number of homes to 27, and the additional infrastructure upgrades will allow Habitat to build eight more homes in the future. The funding also contributes to trade skill development in the region. Rockbridge Area Habitat typically builds four homes a year, one of which is a modular home built by students in the Building Trades Department at Rockbridge County High School.  The CSPDC has assisted Rockbridge County with the CDBG grant applications for both phases of the Greenhouse Village project, and will provide ongoing grant administrative services.

Governor’s Transportation Conference Coming Up

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CSPDC staff will be part of a panel at the Governor’s Transportation Conference on October 24-27, 2017, at the Omni Homestead Resort in Hot Springs. The Virginia Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations (VAMPO) panel will discuss regional and state partnerships. CSPDC staff will present the Inter-Regional Transit Plan that studied the feasibility of a transit system linking the cities of Harrisonburg, Staunton, Waynesboro, and Charlottesville.  The transportation conference provides a statewide forum for networking with public and private sector partners to advance transportation planning in our region.

Mobility Management Program Kickoff

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On October 3, the CSPDC hosted the kickoff meeting for the new CSPDC Mobility Management Program, a grant project funded by Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT).  Following the kickoff, DRPT held a Coordinated Human Service Mobility Team grant recipient meeting.  The event provided an opportunity for CSPDC to outline activities and goals for the grant and for human service organizations to give feedback on how the mobility program can best assist them. Goals for the grant include the coordination of existing transportation providers, the establishment of a central access point for human service providers, and an assessment of current gaps in transportation services in the region.

Rural Planning Caucus Scheduled for October

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The 39th Annual Conference of the Rural Planning Caucus of Virginia (RPC) will be held October 18-20, 2017, at the historic Berry Hill Resort & Conference Center.  The event will provide rural and small-town planning professionals an interactive forum in which to discuss important rural planning topics, gain efficient planning tools and techniques, and network to better promote and sustain resilient rural communities.
Bonnie Riedesel, CSPDC Executive Director, has been asked to serve on a panel that will discuss how rural communities can discover, capitalize, and showcase their local assets.  She will be presenting on the Shenandoah Valley’s award-winning Fields of Gold agritourism program.

I-64 Project Wrapping Up and MOU Signed

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In September 2016, SAWMPO and CA-MPO received a grant from the Federal Highway Administration  to study the Interstate 64 Corridor from Charlottesville to Staunton. The study examined operational and safety deficiencies along the corridor in an effort to identify opportunities to improve traffic flow and safety to increase the movement of people and goods safely through the corridor.
The project will be wrapping up in December 2017, and to support the two organization’s continued planning and project development efforts along the I-64 Corridor, a Memorandum of Understanding between the two MPOs was executed at the September Joint MPO Meeting.

Bridgewater Holds Open House for Main Street Study

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On September 28, the final public information meeting regarding the Main Street (Route 42) Corridor Study was held at the Bridgewater Community Center.  An engineering consultant from Kimley-Horn and Associates made a presentation on the existing conditions of the corridor, an operational field analysis, and the corridor improvements that could increase transportation safety, reduce congestion and enhance multimodal accessibility. Officials from the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Metropolitan Planning Organization, the Virginia Department of Transportation, and the Town of Bridgewater were present to answer questions.

Bath & Highland Join Forces to Create Network Authority

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Bath County, Highland County, and the Town of Monterey will join together to form the Bath-Highland Network Authority.  The group will facilitate the provision of affordable highspeed data, internet, and telecommunications services in the area.  Broadband communications will foster economic development, improve educational opportunities, ensure public safety, and enhance the overall quality of life of residents.
The creation of this partnership was supported by a Virginia Telecommunication Initiative(VATI) grant through the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development.  The CSPDC provided project management and grant administration services.

GO VIRGINIA REGION 8 COUNCIL NOW ACCEPTING PROJECT PROPOSALS

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The GO Virginia Region 8 Council is pleased to announce that it is accepting proposals for projects to be funded through the State’s GO Virginia initiative.

Region 8 is home to two planning district organizations, the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission (CSPDC) and the Northern Shenandoah Valley Regional Commission (NSVRC). The Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission includes the counties of Augusta, Bath, Highland, Rockbridge, and Rockingham, and the cities of Buena Vista, Harrisonburg, Lexington, Staunton, and Waynesboro.  The  Northern Shenandoah Valley Regional Commission includes the counties of Clarke, Frederick, Page, Shenandoah, Warren, and the City of Winchester.

The Region 8 Council has approximately $928,000 in GO Virginia funds to award to projects in the region.  In addition, approximately $11.3 million in competitive statewide GO Virginia funds is available for projects.

Successful projects will address one or more of the region’s five targeted industry sectors:

  •   Financial and Business Services
  •   Health Care
  •   Information Technology/Communications
  •   Light Manufacturing
  •   Transportation and Logistics

Projects funded will address one or more of the region’s framework initiatives developed around the following broad areas:

  •   Recruit and/or retain the talent needed in the region
  •   Grow existing businesses, develop existing clusters, and scale-up small and mid-size companies
  •   Establish start-ups from commercializing university-based research and supporting entrepreneurs
  •   Support potential joint economic development activities such as site development and training initiatives

Projects supported by GO Virginia funding must:

  •   Involve private sector employment that pays an annual wage greater than $41,000,
  •   Include the collaboration of two or more localities,
  •   Commit non-state sources of matching funds (50/50), and
  •   Generate new spending to the Shenandoah Valley (not just recirculating local spending)

To submit a proposal:

For a project to be considered by the Region 8 Council, complete this pre-application.  For a proposal to be included in the first round of review, the pre-application must be submitted to the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission at bonnie@cspdc.org no later than Friday, October 13, 2017.

For further information about GO Virginia Region 8’s project priorities, please refer to the Region 8 Economic Growth and Diversification Plan with appendices that is available on the Shenandoah Valley Partnership’s website.  Additional information about GO Virginia also is available on the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development’s (DHCD) website.

Project Impact Children’s Publication Makes Its Way to Hurricane Victims

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A Shenandoah Valley Project Impact publication created to help children understand disaster preparedness and navigate the stress of severe weather has been reformatted into a mini-guide that will soon be in the hands of children impacted by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Thanks to a collaboration of several organizations and volunteers, 25,000 copies of “Too Much Weather” Kids Disaster Activity Guide will be shipped to hurricane-affected areas this month. The eight-page book is designed to be completed with a parent, teacher, or adult helper, and contains activities to assist children in dealing with the trauma they have experienced.

“Too Much Weather” was originally published after Hurricane Katrina through grant funding received by Shenandoah Valley Project Impact (SVPI), which is a program of the Central Shenandoah Planning District Commission. James Madison University professor Dr. Anne Stewart worked with SVPI to create the materials that were included in the original guide, which also has information for kids about preparing for disasters, and what to do during severe weather.

The idea for creating a “mini-guide” edition sprung up when several people familiar with the guide decided it was critical to get it in the hands of the most recent young hurricane victims. Several organizations teamed up to quickly make it happen. Graphic design and formatting to make the guide accessible for the visually impaired were donated by Wightman and Associates, a training development firm in Florida.  Dr. Alessandra Jerolleman, a Community Resilience and Hazard Mitigation expert from New Orleans contributed the Spanish translation, and Kathryn Lebby and the Association of Play Therapy Foundation donated the printing of 20,000 English and 5,000 Spanish copies.

Word has quickly spread about the availability of the guide, and SVPI is starting to receive requests for copies from groups like the Virgin Islands Children’s Museum, located in St. Thomas. The museum is working with volunteers stateside to create 500 – 600 “trauma bags” that will be shipped by private plane to the children in the Virgin Islands. The group is also asking for donations of the following items to be included in the bags:

  • Notebooks/journals
  • Crayons, pens, pencils
  • Flashlights
  • Stress balls
  • Bubbles
  • Playdoh or silly putty
  • Power bars/snack bars

SVPI and Community Emergency Response Team members will be collecting the above items for shipment to the staging area along with copies of “Too Much Weather.”  Community members interested in donating can drop items at the CSPDC offices at 112 MacTanly Place in Staunton from 8:30am – 5:30pm on September 14 and 15, from 10:00am – 1pm on Saturday, September 16, and 8:30am – 5pm on September 18.

For more information about “Too Much Weather” Kids Disaster Activity Guide, contact Rebecca Joyce, (540) 885-5174, rebecca@cspdc.org.