Yes, it’s true that tension between students and “townies” is a problem common to all college towns.  It’s equally true that students bring with them such countervailing qualities as talent, vitality and youthful good will. And, there can be no institutional surrogate for well-developed I-Thou relations among neighbors.  Truisms aside, however, the hard work of establishing and maintaining public order and civility is a task that falls to every successive generation.

As a member of Town Council since 2008, my efforts have been directed toward securing neighborhood “Civility,” rather more than neighborhood “Protection.”   The emphasis on neighborliness remains constant, but I think it effective to focus more on behaviors  than geographic boundaries, enrollment status, residency or property ownership, per se. In other words, I want to cultivate civility among visiting football fans as much as the undergraduates across the street from me.

To this end, Blacksburg Town Council has directed staff to review recommendations and best practices for code enforcement of Over-Occupancy & related issues.  A report out by the Town Manager is slated for August, 2011.

Dear Mayor and Members of Council:

I attended the Blacksburg Corridor Committee this morning to get anupdate on the planned rerouting of the Huckleberry Trail for the VT airport runway expansion.  Matt Gart, with the Virginia Tech Architect’s office presented the plans as they are currently drawn.  This is a planned change that Town Council should stayinformed about.  The planning is ongoing and will likely be completedwithin the next year.  It will dramatically affect the route of the Huckleberry Trail.  It is up to all interested parties to be sure that we minimize any negative effects on the usability of the Huckleberry.  The VT Montgomery Executive Airport Authority and Michael St. Jean are planning the project . . .

. . . One significant omission is a tunnel for the Huckleberry where it will have a new crossing with the extension of Duck Pond Drive.  This road change will be the new access road for all traffic to the CRC and to the VT Airport, and the new road will end up becoming a bypass for downtown for many commuters.  It would be a major mistake, one that is completely avoidable at this time, if the Huckleberry has an at-grade crossing where it meets this new road.  That is what is shown on the current plans.

A second important consideration is that the new alignment of the Trail does not appear to comply with Federal Americans with Disabilities Act standards.  Federal funds, ISTEA grant funds, were used as the Huckleberry Trail was constructed.  It was a requirement as those funds were spent that the Trail comply with the ADA standards for trails.  It does not seem reasonable that an ADA compliant Trail would be changed to a non-ADA standard trail, if that is indeed what is being done.  Matt Gart did not have information on the grades or the length of the grades that would be present on the new Trail alignment, but he did say that to the best of his knowledge, the planners of the runway extension were not aware of the ADA standards or were not planning the Trail taking them into consideration.  We currently have no long grades on the Huckleberry, so it is very usable for people of all ages and ability levels.  The proposed new alignment will negatively affect its usability.

The Huckleberry Trail is one of the most used and treasured of the many parks that are within the Town of Blacksburg.  It is listed in every brochure that is sent out for tourism about Blacksburg and the New River Valley.  Please do not allow inaction on the part of Council or poor planning to jeopardize this great resource that the Town and community have invested so much time and effort into constructing.  It will be a shame if the Town does not keep a sharp eye focused on these planned changes to keep the Huckleberry the great resource that it currently is.

Bill Ellenbogen

Bill Ellenbogen, President
Friends of the Huckleberry, Inc.
PO Box 925
Blacksburg, VA 24063

Manager’s Notes – April Fools Edition

Old Blacksburg Middle School Sold to Hard Rock Casino – The Montgomery County Economic Development Authority announced the pending sale of the Old Blacksburg Middle School property to Hard Rock Casinos today.   The site qualifies as a gaming site due to its former status as the home of Blacksburg High School and the Blacksburg Indians.  Legal experts say that even though the site is not located on traditional Native American lands, the former presence of the Blacksburg Indian is close enough.

Virginia Tech Agrees to Pay Meals and Lodging Tax – Virginia Tech has agreed to begin paying meals and lodging taxes to the Town of Blacksburg.  University spokesman Larry Hincker, has also indicated that the University is very interested in finding away to help the Town implement an admissions tax for athletic events and a service fee that would be equal to property taxes if they were collected on campus.

Construction Begins on Hubbard Street Extension – In the dark of night, town crews began construction of the Hubbard Street Extension at the intersection of Hubbard Street and Airport Road.  Council received a firsthand view of the project at their quarterly work session this past Tuesday.

Citizens Group Advocates for Backyard Pigs – Sustainability groups in Town are advocating for permission to raise hogs in backyard pens.  Opponents are very concerned about foul odors, noise and the increased risk of swine flu.  Proponents claim that with proper cleaning and containment, and care in a loving environment, they do not smell so bad.  Advocates claim that bacon is the most perfect food and is really good on everything, even doughnuts.

Roundabout Plans Dropped - As a backlash of Mayor Rordam being accused by the Roanoke Times of being a Loyalist to the British Crown, plans for a roundabout at the intersection of Prices Fork Road and Main Street have been dropped.  Patriot groups are now advocating for a more “American alternative” and have submitted plans for a grade separated interchange with a strict prohibition on pedestrian and bicycle access.

Have a great April Fool’s Day!

There have been lots of figures tossed around for the total cost of three new schools in Montgomery County.  Over a half million dollars has already been spent to examine the safety problems at the old school.  $23 million was the threshold that made some County Supervisors balk and then reconsider their hasty vote in favor of repairing Blacksburg High School.  Of course, now that the extent of shoddy construction and unpermitted renovations has been made public, it’s clear that BHS is well beyond simple repair.

$125 million now seems to be the amount most often cited to build two new high schools and renovate the present Auburn High School for a middle school.  It’s a figure based on the traditional design-bid-build model for constructing public structures.   A proposal just submitted by English Construction, in partnership with Moseley Architects, represents a public-private partnership response.  Their partnership, which goes by the name First Choice Public-Private Partners, wants to build all three new schools using a process that looks to be faster and more efficient than the governmental standard.  And they bring the possibility of private financing, to boot.

But none of that gets to the real cost being born by the parents and children of Montgomery County.

My friend’s daughter will enter Blacksburg High School in fall of 2012, whether there is a school worthy of the name or not.  Her teachers are stressed; instructional time is reduced; and extracurricular activities are stunted. Boarding the bus each day before 7 am has become an unwelcome routine, but at least it’s predictable. If she’s lucky, attending high school in her home town will save perhaps an hour and a half of daily commuting time. But without an actual high school building, every fond thing Dad remembers from his own high school years will likely be a pale imitation:  the sports experience, trades education, labs, clubs, and all the other activities so important to young women and men on the cusp of adulthood.

Who can say how it will affect their prospects?  A student body of 1,200 will furnish the data eventually, but not in time to affect the outcomes for this cohort of students. Decades of short-sighted and self-serving negligence — masquerading as fiscal responsibility – will destine hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Montgomery County students to uncertain futures.

When every single thing – even our children’s safety – is made subordinate to county politics, we are doomed to live out the low expectations that elected officials barter for us and themselves.

“For children, the window is just so narrow,” this dad reminded me.  I recall the words and hear the helplessness in his voice.

Three or four years isn’t long for a government bureaucracy, but in the life of this man’s child, it will amount to her entire high school career.

If there’s an upside to all this, it’s that most of us have ceased to take our children’s education for granted.  There’s a heightened value placed on safe schools and a quality learning environment for our kids.  A host of citizens has grown more knowledgeable and interested in the public process.

The downside:  People are disgusted with what they’ve learned.

One parent I know put it this way:  Have you ever seen a more dysfunctional board?  It wasn’t clear to me whether he meant the school board or the Board of Supervisors . . . the short answer in either case is YES.

All over the state, we have powerless school boards at the mercy of town and county officials. Some of those officials value K-12 education, but not all and not reliably.  Yet, state guidelines call for school boards to handle policy alone, while the governing locality maintains fiscal hegemony. School superintendents and their boards may recommend, design, re-align, right-size and incentivize to their hearts’ content; but woe to those who fail at the “Mother, may I?” level.

In the late 1990s, Virginia Beach was one of the first cities to adopt a revenue-sharing formula with schools. The City Council developed the formula to avoid annual fights with teachers, parents and elected officials over how much money should go to education. Revenue-sharing also allows school administrators to plan.  As a bonus, the practice empowers school boards to make real choices which benefit students, families, and the wider public.

Enlightened leaders will acknowledge that a fundamental, unwavering commitment to education is imperative to the health of the communities they serve.  The public record will prove that most localities maintain a fairly consistent level of support for their schools systems over decades.  So, why exhaust time, energy and patience dickering over the exact dollar figure every year?

Of the several systems that have struck revenue-sharing agreements with their localities, the schools’ share typically ranges between 56 and 70 percent. Some places have agreements for sharing net revenue growth, that is, new tax income after a specified date. Other agreements are for sharing the proceeds of certain tax streams only, for example, the top five revenue sources. The possibilities are as myriad as the localities and schools involved, but the goal remains constant:

Healthy schools, healthy intergovernmental relations, high accountability.

The event is billed as “Blacksburg’s Premier Creative Professional’s Mixer.”  I have to confess that when the concept first presented itself, the young professionals at the heart of the endeavor were not my top concern.

In 2008, as Director of the Downtown Merchants of Blacksburg, I saw some disturbing trends working against the town’s central business district.  We had a lot more empty storefronts then. Young professionals with expendable income were largely sequestered on the CRC campus, whether they liked the corporate climate or not. More alarming yet, amenities like a mini-library, work-out space, an outdoor concert venue and a corporate cafeteria promised to keep them there, 24-7.

My main concern was to increase traffic at Kent Square, a wholly laudable example of New Urbanism that was struggling for acceptance at that time.  I wanted something that would draw a younger, more open-minded crowd to drive there, park there, and develop positive associations with it.  Hence the name — which as every Baby Boomer knows alludes to the Drifters’ 1963 smash hit.  An event named “Up on the Roof” would have cache.  More important, it couldn’t be moved on a whim . . . it would be indelibly associated with downtown and the top floor of Kent Square, which offers some of the most spectacular views of Blacksburg and surrounding mountains, bar none.

So, I put my intern, Amira Ismail, on the job of convening other young adults I knew and thought would be interested:  Scotland Leman, Stuart Meese, Cory Donovan, Julie Sanders, Leanna House, Krisha Chachra, Andy Arnette, Rachael Budowle and others.  I called Aaron Harris of Pointe West Management to lay the idea out and get the necessary permissions . . . the rest, as they say, is history.

Of course, it’s taken a good deal of work from a number of hard-working people, Krisha foremost among them.  And, there have been surprises.  My fondest hopes were that the group might become a gathering of dozens, not hundreds.  And, I imagined people of all types coming together for socializing and networking opportunities — not exclusively professionals, in other words.  I’ve learned more about the growing Creative Class in Blacksburg than I ever anticipated. Most surprising of all is that the eponymous hit “Up on the Roof” is not even known to most of the event’s attendees . . .

What a difference a few years make!

A “re-invented” North Main Street sprang from the Town’s 2001 Downtown Master Plan (http://blacksburg.gov/Index.aspx?page=596) and it’s part of a very broad overhaul of the district in terms of both aesthetics and function.

Red brick pavers; ornamental lighting; flower baskets; and signature benches were some of the first recommended improvements that were made were downtown. The private non-profit DMOB (Downtown Merchants of Blacksburg) contributed to these worthwhile improvements. Another recommendation made by the Downtown Master Plan was creation of the public-private partnership which ultimately created the Kent Square parking garage, with its associated shops, offices, and residences. More recently, private citizens have partnered with the Town to create a new Farmer’s Market structure and park.

Throughout, the aim is to integrate the areas that form our downtown into a visually unified, walkable, safe and attractive commercial district. The proposed North Main improvements have also been carefully evaluated in light of how they will dovetail with Virginia Tech’s planned Performing Arts Center. So, to put this project in context, it is part of a much larger vision which is going forward with healthy collaboration between many stakeholders: private citizens, businesses, non-profits, the Town of Blacksburg and Virginia Tech.

A 2003 resolution of town council requested that the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) begin putting aside urban allocations under the six-year program that funds transportation projects for localities. This is a sort of state-funded piggy bank that enables towns to plan and pay for significant projects. After vetting the topic with Town staff, consulting engineers, and the Town’s Corridor Committee, council approved the plan in 2004 without bike lanes. Instead, broad sidewalks, re-grading, pedestrian plazas and other landscape elements will allow people to eat al fresco, walk, shop, and otherwise enjoy this stretch of North Main.

One element of the North Main improvements that has received heightened attention is the planned roundabout. Because roundabouts are used to good affect all over the world, there is a quantity of research available about them.  Studies from this country indicate that roundabouts generally result in a total 80% reduction in serious/fatal accidents.  They can also be credited with a 40% reduction in overall accidents. Just as compelling, they are a highly effective way to reduce carbon emissions, as cars drive at calmer speeds and no longer spend time starting, stopping, and idling. This will become increasingly important to Blacksburg as we work to fulfill our Cool Cities pledge in the coming years.

I share a concern of many residents, and that is that public roadways should include bikeways – especially newly built roadways.  This project may be the sensible exception, however.  My research indicates that bicycle lanes in roundabouts are a really bad idea — they return the accident rate to nearly what it would be with no roundabout at all.  Also, in the stretch of North Main we are presently focused on, any new bike lane would be an “orphan” from the planning perspective — it would pick up bicyclists without ultimately having anywhere to route them.

To this end, the Town of Blacksburg’s Corridor Committee has been working energetically to plan and identify funding sources for a town-wide network of safe, well-marked bike lanes. They have been joined by members of the New River Valley Bicycle Association (http://www.nrvbike.com/), and their joint efforts have been substantially supported by Town staff.

Bookmark this link to keep up with all North Main Improvements: http://www.blacksburg.gov/index.aspx?page=709 You can also follow developments on the Town’s Facebook page, Twitter, and through Blacksburg Alerts http://egov.blacksburg.gov/BlacksburgAlert/login.aspx

That was when the local office of an international company was found to be conducting a major expansion project right on Main Street.  And what on earth could be wrong with that?  In tough economic times – or at any time – we ought to be united in approbation of prospering businesses in our town. Problem is, this company chose to undertake the work covertly, without pulling required building permits.

Maybe the permitting process was deemed to be too slow or costly.  But what does that reveal about a publicly traded company which employs engineers all over the globe?  Were they short on the cash? Or unprepared to conduct work in Blacksburg after the same manner and according to the same building code as they must in Richmond, Alexandria, or Norfolk?  How do they justify the deception to employees who work in a town with not one, but two public buildings off-line, with serious structural defects?

I’m going to hazard a guess that the decision was rationalized by the notion that the Town of Blacksburg is “unfriendly to business,” a vaguely disquieting charge that says very little but threatens much.  Council has heard this with some frequency in recent years, and it’s not to be lightly dismissed.  Especially because it’s a kind of self-fulfilling prophesy:  The more the charge is tossed around, the more antagonized all parties become. The building and development climate grows fraught with mutual distrust and negative expectations.

But the community can’t celebrate successes that are unreported, nor support businesses which treat the work of many hands as a private, even secretive affair.  A well-established development principle recognizes the compelling public interest in safe construction projects and practices.  Only view this Youtube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gAGpiN2lJw), or travel down Patrick Henry Drive for a graphic reminder of what the alternative looks like.

 This company acted in bad faith. If the Town of Blacksburg is to be held accountable for the quality of its business relations, members of the development and business communities must be mutually obligated to demonstrate as much.  

The bottom line is this:  A healthy business climate and safe buildings in which to work ought to be the concern of all who live here.

It’s a formula, adopted over the long course of time, that provides a good “fit” for an area where visitors and temporary residents constitute the largest number of people requiring public services. Real estate taxes for property owners remain relatively low and stable, while meals taxes help to shoulder the cost of public services.   

In concrete terms, this means that the vitality of the local food service industry is critical to the health of our communities.  In Blacksburg, estimates are that the meals tax will bring in over $3.5 million for FY 2010/2011. That’s 14.5% of our General Fund revenue. Business license taxes, also paid by restaurants, provide an additional 6.6% of town revenue.

Individual Blacksburg restaurants remit meals taxes ranging from $500 to $270,000 every month.  The “average” restaurateur contributes $30,000 – $70,000 to town coffers monthly, depending on the time of year.  As large as that sounds, it’s a figure that’s been flat for some time.  More competition from campus eateries, in combination with a down economy, has hit our restaurateurs hard. And in 2009, reductions were made to the small fee that restaurants historically retained as compensation for their work in collecting the taxes. (See video of my comments on this issue on my website at www.lesliehagersmith.com/videos.htm .)

Add to this the fact that Virginia Tech – alone among 14 state universities – undercuts private businesses by refusing to collect meals & lodging taxes, and it is easy to see trouble ahead . . . You can’t squeeze blood from a turnip.

The university community offers energy, talent, and bold spirit to the Town of Blacksburg. Virginia Tech’s cutting-edge research and teaching programs drive the regional economy and also attract new businesses to the area. Even so, 30,000 students, staff and faculty members not only enrich the community but encumber it. For decades, Virginia Tech has failed to compensate the town for the services it siphons: fire, rescue, policing, safe streets, rental inspections, bikeways, orderly sports events, clean parks, and more.

Tech’s behavior is both uncivil and self-defeating. Consider the fact that it collects the state sales tax and the local meals and lodging taxes at the Hotel Roanoke, while refusing to do so at the Inn at Virginia Tech. Why would the university act as an upright business citizen in Roanoke, but give the back of its hand to the town that embraces it?  Administration policy is out of keeping with the spirit of the Hokie Nation. 

Local restaurants and hotels already have many challenges. Virginia Tech would do well to adopt the practice of other state universities which voluntarily collect local taxes because they are part of the local community. When on- and off-campus businesses are put on an even playing field, the town and university may come together as a single community, unified by their allegiance to each other and magnified in stature.

Specifically, the university should (1) require Boston Culinary Group to collect the 6 percent meals tax on food and beverages sold at athletic events on campus; (2) arrange for the Hilton Hotels Corporation to collect the town meals tax and 7 percent lodging tax at the Inn at Virginia Tech; and (3) have Virginia Tech’s dining facilities collect the meals tax on non-student purchases.

When the historic district was established, a Historic or Design Review Board (HDRB) was created to administer it. The group conducts its reviews in two weeks or less, ensuring that the process is not an impediment to redevelopment. Town code proscribes that the HDRB will be a group of between five and seven people appointed by Town Council. One must be a member of Planning Commission; one must be a registered architect and at least two must have work experience and/or credentials in fields related to historic preservation. The HDRB reviews proposals for construction, reconstruction, alteration, restoration, or erection of any building or structure within the district. (Minor changes are reviewed by town staff.) 

By and large, the decisions made by town staff or the Review Board are advisory in nature.  Only decisions having to do with demolition or relocation of historic structures are binding; and these decisions may be appealed to Town Council, as well as in the court system. The rules came under scrutiny when the Bennett-Pugh House (Taylor’s Frames & Things) was offered for sale. The owner incurred multiple hardships over four years while trying to maintain and sell the property. [see video of my comments on my website at www.lesliehagersmith.com/videos.htm] Attention focused on the plight of other vacant but historic buildings which sit prominently on Main St. in the central business district, notably the former National Bank and Annie Kay’s.

Recognizing the potential impact that multiple vacant, deteriorating properties could have on the character of the Blacksburg Historic District, Town Council directed the Planning Commission to draft new rules for redevelopment. The result, Ordinance 1546, would have required mandatory review for redevelopment plans when historic properties were demolished or moved. This was met with vocal criticism from both residents and out-of-town owners of property in the district. People expressed concern that their individual property rights were being eroded (some, even as they accepted public funding to improve their buildings.) Others found the proposed ordinance variously subjective, confusing, or plain unfair. 

Council took note and voted to table Ordinance 1546 indefinitely.  At the same time, it created a task force to study the issue further and return an improved ordinance for council’s consideration. The task force is expected to complete its work and report to council by the end of Summer, 2010.  A list of task force members and information on their activities can be found on the Town of Blacksburg website at www.blacksburg.gov/index.aspx?page=1227 .