In October, the City of Lexington and the CSPDC received an award notice for a $50,000 Community Development Block Grant from the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). The awarded planning grant will allow the City to complete a city-wide housing conditions and infrastructure windshield survey and needs assessment. The awarded grant will build off the momentum gained in the past two years through the CSDPC’s regional housing study and the City’s local efforts to address housing. Additionally, the assessment will help to guide the future direction of grants and programs.

In August, CSPDC staff met with Lexington’s Threshold Housing Commission to discuss the proposed CDBG Planning Grant and potential future activities related to housing conditions in the City. Threshold has a long history of identifying housing rehabilitation needs in Lexington, and plans to use the proposed CDBG Planning Grant as an updated assessment of the City’s current needs. The proposed grant will provide both the City of Lexington and Threshold with recommended priority neighborhoods for future investment.

The City will need to complete a Facilitated Planning Session with DCHD before moving forward with the project. Once complete, the City will work with the CSPDC to release an RFP and identify a consultant to conduct the windshield survey and needs assessment.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a notice of award on September 28 to Bath County for $2,000,000 in funding under the Rural Emergency Medical Communications Demonstration Project (REMCDP) grant. The REMCDP seeks to leverage existing technologies and engage non-medical professionals to help establish or sustain statewide medical communications systems and use existing infrastructure to improve the delivery of rural medical care.

This funding stream will assist the Bath and Highland region with their efforts to modernize operability and interoperability systems within a unique geographical and federally restrictive communication setting. Both counties lie within the National Radio Quiet Zone which makes for a challenging environment to garner licensing for public safety and private radio systems. Each jurisdiction is also near the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and the National Security Agency Sugar Grove Listening Station. This proximity creates additional hurdles for the area’s communication strategy. The region’s population of approximately 6,350 is served by the Bath Community Hospital (a Critical Access Hospital) and the Highland Medical Center (a Federally Qualified Health Center).

The project period runs through September 2025. For more information on the DHS REMCDP program visit: https://www.cisa.gov/resources-tools/services/rural-emergency-medical-communications-demonstration-project-remcdp, or contact the CSPDC at (540) 885-5174.

In partnership with the Community Foundation of the Central Blue Ridge, Augusta Health, Valley Community Services Board, and Valley Homeless Connection, the CSPDC is coordinating community conversations focused on pressing housing issues in our region.

These community conversations are intended as a follow-up to the SAW Housing Summit, held on October 11 and 12. The conversations will focus on topics that were not able to be included in the Summit agenda, but that have emerged as important housing topics to stakeholders in the region.

The first community conversation will be a ‘Sip & Speak’ session at the Embrace Waynesboro Community Center (932 Fir Street) on October 26^th at 9am. Participants will be joined by Elizabeth Coltrane with Blue Ridge Legal Services to discuss challenges that renters in the Valley face and landlord-tenant concerns. Coffee will be provided. The second session will be a brown bag ‘Lunch & Learn’ at the Staunton Innovation Hub on November 9^th at 12pm. At this session, Lydia Campbell with Valley Community Services Board will share her expertise on the Housing First model, and discuss innovative approaches to addressing homelessness in our community.

The SAW Housing Summit partners plan to hold additional future community conversations based on participant interest. We hope you are able to join us!

On October 16, the CSPDC adopted the 2023 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS). As the region’s 5-year plan for economic development, the CEDS provides a vision and a blueprint for greater economic prosperity and growth. Through extensive research and data analysis, an evaluation of regional trends, and a thorough community engagement process, the CEDS leverages and capitalizes on the region’s assets to create an action-oriented plan that promotes quality, sustained economic growth. The updated CEDS defines a renewed Vision for the region, along with revised goals, objectives, and strategies that were determined through the stakeholder engagement process. The primary areas of focus over the next five years include: 1) Workforce Development; 2) Business Attraction and Retention; 3) Housing; 4) Placemaking and Community Building; and 5) Resilience. The plan can be found HERE.

Since 2017, the Charlottesville-Albemarle, and Staunton-Augusta-Waynesboro Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) have had an agreement in place to coordinate planning activities of mutual interest to both regions. A Memorandum of Understanding documents the collaboration between the two regions, with a focus on transportation-related projects along the I-64 and U.S. 250 corridor.

The formal agreement between the two MPOs dates back to September 2017, but the MPOs have been discussing projects of regional significance at joint Policy Board meetings since 2015. The two Policy Boards met annually from 2015 to 2019. The meetings were placed on hold in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and did not occur until September 27 of this year, when the two groups came together to revive the meetings. Traditionally, the location of the meeting alternates between the two regions. This year’s meeting was hosted by the SAWMPO and held at the Fishburne Military School in Waynesboro.

On the agenda were presentations on three projects of regional interest – the Afton Express bus service presented by Paula Melester (Regional Planner, CSPDC) and Kendall Howell (Asst. Director for Transportation, UVA Parking & Transportation); the restoration of the Crozet Blue Ridge Tunnel presented by Dwayne Jones (Director of Parks & Recreation, City of Waynesboro); and an update on the Three Notched Trail, presented by Jessica Hersh-Ballering (Principal Transportation Planner, Albemarle County) and Allie Hill (Chair of the Three Notched Trail Planning Group). District leaders from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) Sean Nelson and Todd Stevens provided updates on projects in each of the two regions. Zach Trogdon and Tiffany Dubinsky made remarks on behalf of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT).

The meeting was a success with over 50 people from both regions in attendance. The guests enjoyed the presentations and appreciated the opportunity to gather with colleagues. One attendee said they enjoyed how celebratory the meeting felt with each region sharing news of projects they had been working on in the three years since the last meeting was held.

During the meeting, each Policy Board held a vote to reaffirm the Memorandum of Understanding. Both votes resulted in unanimous support for the continued partnership. The next joint meeting will be held in the fall of 2024 and will be hosted by the Charlottesville-Albemarle MPO at a location to be determined.