AdvanceChristiansburg

Virginia Municipal League's 2008 Conference was held in Norfolk from Sunday 19 Oct 08 thru Tue 21 Oct 08. The Virginia Municipal League is a non-profit organization that provides leadership and education to the leaders of Virginia's cities and towns in nearly every aspect of operations, governance, and community visioning. To me, this annual event has been the best single investment of time in effectively serving the citizens who trust us with their future.  Christiansburg is known for active support and involvement in VML, and this year was no exception. Our mayor and every council member was in attendance this year, as was Town Manager Lance Terpenny, who has also served for several years on the Executive Committee and was installed as the 2009 President-Elect. Other local partners in attendance were council members, mayor, and town manager from Blacksburg and Radford, and excellent attendance from our neighbors up the road in Salem and Roanoke. Notable talks from Governors Kaine,Warner and Gilmore added to the depth of perspectives (as you may recall, Governor Kaine was previously Mayor Kaine from Richmond).

So why is this such a great event? I think it's because we are saturated with concentrated doses of education, expertise, and tenured experiencewith topics of critical importance to effectively managing our affairs and serving the community. The event also provides ample opportunities to interact with elected officials from other Virginia localities to talk about things in a Dr. Phil-type manner ... "so how's that working for you?". Another noteworthy outcome is that each of our council members hears a lot of information together, and so when topics come up later there's often a more mutual base of knowledge on which to build a discussion and make decisions. I won't recap all of the sessions, but will touch on a few highlights that were especially significant to me.

The message of Sustainable Communities was a major thrust of this year's conference. VML's 2008 "Go Green"challenge was used as a recent success in encouraging localities to focus and lead in areas of resource and environmental conservation. Nearly 100 Virginia localities expressed interest in the "Go Green" challenge by requesting an application. Only 41 actually completed the energy inventory and submitted a plan for reducing consumption and emissions (Christiansburg was one of these). Award winners this year for measuring outcomes and meeting ambitious threshholds included the Town of Blacksburg (second place in thestate for localities from 5,000 to 90,000 residents), and the City of Roanoke (for localities greater than 90,000). A keynote address from Mr. Ed McMahon of the Urban Land Institute on this topicwas especially impactful. The following are some of my notes:

1. Sustainability means meeting our present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs as well

2. Sustainability means "Lasting - Enduring - Harmony between nature and man"

3. The"Sustainability Revolution" is Real

4. China invests 9% of its Gross National Product in infrastructure, Europe invests 5%, and the United States only 1.5%. This limits our ability to adequately take care of our present system, and cripples our ability to provide transportation choices (rail, public transit, and bike/ped).

5. Every community should have a Long-Range Conservation Plan. This plan should include aspects of predictability for alternative transportation, greenways, and energy consumption.

6. As for identifying public spaces and sustainable investments within a town or city, Ed challenged the group to adopt the philosophy of Joe Riley, Mayor of Charleston SC, "Give the Best of the City to the People."

And finally, 9 key steps a community can take and endorse to lead to a Sustainable Community:

1. Develop a shared vision for the future

2. Inventory regional and local assets

3. Build Plan around the enhancement of these assets

4. Use education, incentives, partnerships with private sector, and voluntary initiatives (emphasis was made that localities should not simply regulate, but participate as well)

5. Invest in infrastructure themselves

6. Pick and choose among development proposals

7. Cooperate for mutual benefit

8. Consider community character as well as ecology and economics

9. Have strong leaders and committed citizens

On the topic of downtown revitalization, McMahon emphasized that "Nothing succeeds like Success", and that small projects lead to great things. They develop sense of accomplishment, result in more ambitious goal-setting, and present more partnership opportunities.

Other significant presentations and roundtable discussions on Recycling, Freedom of Information, Baseline Carbon Emissions Inventory and "Town Section - Ask an Expert" where the inter-relationships between Virginia's counties and towns were explored and clarified.  There was plenty of information shared about the federal and state funding decreases that are looming and the uncertainty in store ... and resultant challenges.

And so, we're better equipped to face 2009 and I'm optimistic that we'll collectively put this knowledge to work for the betterment of the Town.  And thank you for the opportunity to attend.

As previously reported, the Huckleberry Trail - Christiansburg Extension did not receive Federal Transportation Enhancement Funding earlier this year.  Progress has continued, however, to expand this important community resource.  The Preliminary Engineering Report laying out the extension of the Huckleberry Trail from the present trail head at the NRV Mall behind Sears to the Christiansburg Recreation Center was completed in 2007 by Gay & Neel, Inc.  Final Construction Plans for extending the trail up to the crossing with Route 114 were also completed in February 2008 with funds provided by PREIT (Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust - owners of the NRV Mall).  This summer Town Council selected a bridge style for the Friends of the Huckleberry to include for the Route 114 Crossing.  All these are necessary steps and ensure that when funding is secured the project can move forward without delay ... which brings us to the point of this journal entry.

The funding application for the 2009 cycle of Transportation Enhancement Funding is due on Friday, October 31, 2008.  Many aspects of the previous application are the same, including broad-based support from local jursidictions and elected officials at state and federal levels, but we are now seeking additional letters of community support for the project to further strengthen this year's application.  These letters can be from businesses, civic clubs, neighborhood groups, bicycling and outdoor recreation associations, and any other group that represents grass-roots support from our area.  Significant efforts have been made this year, and will continue through December 2008, to line up administrative and political support for this year's application within the VDOT selection process by contacting and meeting with key personalities.  And so, consider this a call to action to consider what you can do to help hit  this one into the grandstands. 

All letters should be addressed to: Mr. Michael A. Estes, Local Assistance Division, Virginia Department of Transportation, 1401 East Broad Street, Richmond 23219.  They must be received by Tuesday, October 28, 2008, and can be provided in either hardcopy or digital form to one of the two following contacts:   

1.  Mr. Kevin Conner, CLA, Gay and Neel, Inc., 1260 Radford Street, Christiansburg 24073 (kconner@gayandneel.com)

2.  Mr. Lance Terpenny, Town Manager, 100 East Main Street, Christiansburg 24073 (lterpenny@christiansburg.org)

Thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide (letter and/or financial commitment to Friends of the Huckleberry, which can be earmarked for the Christiansburg Trail Extension and used for the 20% Local Match - http://www.huckleberrytrail.org/).  VDOT's Commonwealth Transportation Board will take this up in January 2009 and funding announcements are expected in March.  NOW is the time ...

The issue of whether to change the date of town elections from May to November has been resonating in our community, largely accentuated by the decision of Blacksburg to go this route beginning with the November 2009 elections.  The primary argument in favor of switching is to increase voter participation, and I'm convinced that this would happen (probably boosting registered town voter participation from 10 -12% to somewhere in the 30-33% range).  The primary argument against changing is that local town issues and the intimacy of having all candidates and voters turn out at the same place on election day would be diluted.  There are also financial considerations, with the basic summary being that changing elections to November would represent some up-front costs to the town, but result in a net decrease in town costs of recurrent future elections as the County would bear all costs of odd-year voting.  The break-even point would be somewhere about two voting cycles.  These are not large figures either way ($4,000 - $5,600 aggregate).   Both of these are valid perspectives and there are sentiments emerging from both camps, some of them strong.  

As for my personal views, I happen to enjoy our classical arrangement where there's one unique day in May where all town voters and candidates gather and interact at the Armory to exercise their right to elect individuals that have more impact on their daily lives than any state or federal candidate does.  On the other hand, I recognize the benefits of increased voter participation and in reducing confusion on the part of some voters that are either unaware of the May election or who intend to vote but show up at the wrong poll (the one they are familiar with for the other County/State/Federal elections).  There are also issues of confusing the non-partisan nature of local elections and Town issues with the partisan nature and candidates/issues for higher office.  In either case, the goal should be to make Town Government as strong as possible for representing the majority view of informed voters.  That being said, a sweeping change like this should come from the majority view of our voters and I would support such a view.  One method for achieving this would be by referendum; another would be by action of Town Council.  As we dig deeper into this, I would appreciate your thoughts as to what you think we should do.  Thanks.       

Last weekend was pretty special in our town.  On Saturday 23 Aug 08 we had three events going on - each significant in their own rite, but taken collectively amounted to something much greater.  The first was Montgomery Museum's Annual Celebration, complete with story-telling, a Civil War encampment, antiques, local historical books available for signing by the authors, arts and crafts, and even a visit from Will Rogers.  What fun!  Next, there was a 45th Anniversary Celebration of Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" speech in Washington, held at Rosa Peters Park.  At this we were invited to watch Dr. King's famous speech as a group, and then gathered outside to an 'Open-Microphone' session from members of our community who described their experiences from that pivotal time in our history and talk about the evolution of civil rights.  I was born the year following Dr. King's speech, and subsequent assassination, but it was stirring to listen to community matriarchs such as Elaine Carter speak first-hand about those times, being there in Washington, and the excitement, hope, uncertainty and even fear that came with participating in the equal-rights movement in those eventful days.  Lastly, we had our fourth and final Cruisin' Christiansburg in the Downtown Area with perfect weather and the same success that the first three had produced.  The coverage by our local newspapers has been both generous and positive for these events, and I believe there's little convincing necessary that these types of events are very worthwhile to continue into the future. 

As we celebrate our past and present, the message is that we should be planning future progress as a community by  creating more events to be TOGETHER - and to share history, experiences and ideas.  By all accounts, each of these events is evidence of a community on the move and is definitely something to be thankful for, get excited about, and to be involved with.      

Hooray for us !!  Christiansburg Parks & Recreation Director Art Price and Supervisor of Outdoor Sports Facilities and Parks Chuck Muncy were notified earlier this month of Dixie Youth Baseball's (www.dixie.org) decision to hold its 2010 World Series at Harkrader Sports Complex!  This directly on the heels of Christiansburg's own 11& 12 yr.old "O-Zone" Baseball Players winning the state title and representing Virginia at this year's 2008 World Series in Mississippi (congratulations to them!).   These wonderful announcements represent vision, perserverance, and LOTS of hard work and commitment by a wide swath of our community, and none is prouder than Chuck.  He's the former Christiansburg Supervisor of Athletics and in his new role manages the new Harkrader Sports Complex.  Chuck's goal, as expressed to the Dixie executives in Marshall, Texas is for Christiansburg to be the Youth Baseball Capital of Southwest Viginia.  Congratulations Chuck, Art, Recreation Department Staff, and to the MANY tireless coaches, parents and volunteers that support our youth programs.  Now is one of those times to say WOW!

Now, a Zoom Out to look at the bigger picture.  This is one more thing that puts us on the map and it makes good business sense.  It's estimated that this year's World Series in Mississippi resulted in $1.5M of direct revenue into the community.  And so Christiansburg stands to gain both in profile and financially.  That's in addition to the fact that Harkrader plays host to events nearly every weekend between April and October already this year. 

Another keystone is that the Harkrader Complex is but one more example of regional cooperation in action in that Montgomery County and the Town partnered together to make this whole thing happen.  And this type of cooperation is evident, and growing, throughout our town, county and in Blacksburg.  Other noteworthy symbols of this cooperation is youth football, basketball, baseball, the Huckleberry Trail, Senior Olympics.  Heck, the list goes on and on. 

So what does the future hold in working together with Montgomery County, Blacksburg, Radford and even Pulaski County on projects of mutual recreational benefit?  Who knows.  Likely candidates in my mind are more trails, parks, and facilities that pass two fundamental questions of logic --  "What can we do together that we probably couldn't - or shouldn't - do by ourselves?", and "Is it fair to all concerned?" 

I'm encouraged by the increasing cooperation on projects like this and in the growing togetherness that is evidenced by elected officials in our local governments.  A good example of this logic is the Huckleberry Trail ... of the thousands upon thousands of people who use it, I bet that there are precious few who care whether they happen to be in Christiansburg, Montgomery County, Virginia Tech, or Blacksburg.  Folks are HERE and they're just plain enjoying it.  Same goes for the other stuff.  So what are your thoughts? ...  what do you think should be next ?