Copy
View this email in your browser

GOOD MORNING!

Happy 75th Birthday to Carl’s!
REMINDER
Please do not respond directly to this email, as the email address is not monitored. If you wish to reply, please email me at my City government email address.
Happy President’s Day! Please note that all City offices are closed today. To discover some interesting things happening in the City in celebration of President’s Day please click here

This edition covers:

  • Black History Month
  • Marine Corps Historic Half Registration
  • Tomorrow’s City Council Meetings and Other Upcoming City Meetings
  • The Budget Process - Where are We Now?
  • Brief Update on the School Conversation
  • Talking About the Hard Stuff
  • Proffers and Population Growth
  • The Crisis Intervention Response Team
  • What is the EDA?
  • DiverCity
  • FYI: Traffic Light Upgrades

CITY WINTER

February is Black History Month

There are many ways to celebrate and experience Black History Month in the City during February. I encourage you to click here to learn about some of them. Here are just a couple:

Determined: The 400-Year Struggle for Black Equality

Throughout February and until March 7th, the Central Rappahannock Regional Library is sponsoring a thought-provoking virtual exhibit that commemorates the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the first enslaved Africans in British North America, exploring the Black experience in Virginia from 1619 to 2020 and highlighting the pivotal role of Black Americans in the shaping of America's national identity and culture.
 
You can experience this rich and amazing exhibit in your own home. I highly recommend that everyone takes some time to expand their knowledge about the incredible journey of African-Americans in Virginia. Click here to get started.

Celebrating Black History in the City

There are many events, trails, and most importantly, stories to uncover in the City to honor and celebrate the contributions of our City’s African-American citizens. Some of these things go unnoticed, but they shouldn’t. Click here to learn more.  
 
The City has more work to do to fully explore and tell the richness of the City’s African-American history, and I look forward to what’s to come.
Marine Corps Historic Half Registration
The Marine Corps Historic Half, Semper 5ive and Devil Dog Double is back and in person on Sunday, May 22, 2022, here in Fredericksburg! This is the 15th anniversary of this event. The 13.1-mile Historic Half course starts at the Fredericksburg Expo Center and takes runners along the Rappahannock River, through the UMW campus, downtown, and the Historic District. This year, for the first time, it will end in front of the FredNats Baseball Stadium where afterwards, runners can come in and celebrate their achievement.

You can also do the Semper 5ive, which is a five-miler or combine the Historic Half with the Semper 5ive to complete the impressive Devil Dog Double.
 
Although the event isn’t until May, now is the time to register.
 
If running isn’t your thing, you can still participate by signing up as a volunteer here.

ON THE AGENDA

Tomorrow's City Council Meetings

You can attend the City Council meetings in person (please wear a face covering), or online. The agendas are here

Work Session

5:30 PM, Council Chambers, City Hall

Council will get an update from Public Works about the City’s FOG (Fats/Oils/Grease) Program and a very important Capital Impacts Report (more on this further down in this Newsletter). We will also be discussing some tweaks to the Ward Maps.

Regular Session

7:30 PM, Council Chambers, City Hall

At tomorrow’s Regular Meeting, among other things, we will:
  • receive the latest COVID update from Fire Chief Mike Jones
  • hear a proclamation recognizing James V. Skinner for his 25 years of service with our Fire Department
  • vote (on second read) on the appropriations of funds for the purchase of a fire ladder truck, the Learning lane culvert replacement project, and using carry-over funds from the FY 2021 budget for other capital projects
  • hear Boards and Commissions updates
  • appoint members to the Fredericksburg Arts Commission, Fredericksburg Clean & Green Commission, and the Memorials Advisory Commission
  • vote (on second read) on modifications to taxicab regulations
  • vote on amending the FY 2022 budget to appropriate funds for the Fire Department’s Defibrillator and the Sheriff’s Department Special Response Team gear and mobile data terminal devices (using grant funds and matches from City funds) 
We will also be going into closed session to discuss the possible future of the Mary Washington Lodge. 

About Public Comments

Citizens who wish to participate in the public hearing or public comment period during a regular City Council meeting (not a Work Session) will be able to speak in person or send their comments in writing. Please click here for public comment instructions.

Other Upcoming Meetings

  • School Board Meeting – Monday, March 7th at 6:30 PM (closed session) and 7:30 PM (open session) in the School Board Chambers at the Walker-Grant Center, 210 Ferdinand Street. You can access the agenda here when it becomes available.
  • Planning Commission Meeting: Wednesday, March 9th at 6:30 PM in Council Chambers at City Hall. When available, you can access the agenda here.
  • Architectural Review Board (ARB) Meeting: Monday, March 14th at 7:00 PM in Council Chambers at City Hall. You can access the agenda here when it becomes available.
  • Economic Development Authority Meeting: Monday, March 21st at 8:30 AM, location TBD. When available you can access the agenda here.
  • The next City Council Meetings are on Tuesday, March 8th, at 5:30 PM (Work Session) and 7:30 PM (Regular Meeting) in the City Council Chambers in City Hall. When available, you can access the agenda here
  • City Council and School Board Joint Meeting to discuss the Interim Agreement: Thursday, March 24th at 7:00 PM at James Monroe High School. More information can be found here.
  • The FY 2023 Budget Meetings Calendar is below.

ON THE ISSUES

The Budget Process - Where Are We Now?

FY 2023 Budget Calendar 
This will be short and sweet – At the last City Council meeting, Mark Whitley, the Assistant City Manager, announced that the City Manager’s proposed FY 2023 budget will drop on March 8th. We’re on track with the timeline, but it’s early yet. Some of the budget issues will require a lot of thought and discussion. Please stay tuned for updates, and if you can, attend or watch the process. Your input is more than welcome.

Brief Update on the School Conversation

You may recall that a few weeks ago, the EDA contributed $50,000 towards an Architectural, Engineering and Economic feasibility study with a scope of work that includes:
  • assessing 2300 Fall Hill Avenue as a site for a primary school, a secondary school/CTE Center, or an office building, and
  • assessing the City-owned property in Idlewild to see whether the property can support both a middle school and a Mary Washington Healthcare office building (and the possibility of shared costs associated with building both at the same time). 
That study is scheduled to be released on March 4th. A rescheduled public joint meeting between City Council and the FCPS School Board is set for March 24th at James Monroe High School to discuss the Interim Agreement with the contractor for constructing the new middle school. Executive City and School staff, members of both City Council and the School Board, and EDA officers have been meeting almost weekly to continue working through solutions, after having toured both 2300 Fall Hill Avenue and the Idlewild property with Moseley Architects (the company doing the study).

Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

Talking About the Hard Stuff

So, here’s the question: how do we talk about the serious issues our community is facing, such as school capacity, cost of living, raising taxes, affordable housing, equity, a healthy environment, etc. in a productive, respectful manner? It’s tough, but necessary, to address these complex issues directly. And in this time of unprecedented challenges, it’s important to create and maintain a healthy atmosphere for these discussions.
 
I’m talking about all of this now because we’re about to have some very difficult conversations. In the wake of some discouraging press and dialog online, I invite you to take this challenge with me. Please read my article here.  

Proffers and Population Growth

I often speak about population growth in the City. We’re expected to add around 10,000 new residents by 2040, meaning many more students will be attending our public schools. In short, the new Middle School we are talking about building today will not be the last public school we’ll build in the next 18 years. This projection is a wakeup call for long-term planning. 
 
We need to anticipate our future infrastructure needs and put a process into place now to help pay for them down the road. At tomorrow’s Work Session we are looking at methods City Planning staff can use to estimate the impacts that new development will have on our capital infrastructure in the areas of public schools and public safety. This will allow us to calculate the appropriate dollar amount needed from a developer to help offset those impacts, in the form of proffers and conditions. Capital impacts include a new school, new school buses, a new fire station, expansion of Fire Station 1, and related apparatus.
 
For background, the General Assembly relaxed the proffer standards in 2019, making it practical once again for the City to negotiate proffers with developers when land is rezoned. Years prior, we lost our ability to ask for proffers at all.

Proffered money can be used only for additional capacity, not operations or maintenance, and not to correct existing deficiencies. Also, since proffers do not occur in by-right development, these methods are limited to rezoning applications and special use permits. They are but a small part of an overall funding strategy, not a silver bullet for financing the cost of expanded infrastructure as our City grows.
 
This is an important conversion to be having, and I look forward to it. To learn more, click here.

The Crisis Intervention Response Team

You may recall back in August, I wrote a piece about the “Marcus Alert System”. (To be honest, I’d be impressed if you did recall – a lot has happened since then.) In short, in response to the tragic death of Marcus David Peters, a mentally challenged man who was killed by Richmond Police in 2018, the General Assembly enacted the Marcus Alert Law, requiring localities to implement a “Marcus Alert System”. The overall goal is to de-escalate a situation involving someone experiencing a mental health crisis and shift the first responder’s intervention away from law enforcement and towards a behavioral health response. The City became the first locality in our region to establish a Marcus Alert pilot program. If you want a refresher, click here
 
The City has now officially implemented a collaborative effort between the Fredericksburg Police Department and the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board (RACSB), calling it “The Crisis Intervention Response Team” (CIRT), with the goal of de-escalating situations with people in crisis and connecting them to resources that can address their needs. 
 
According to Chief Layton, “The CIRT will help people in crisis access the resources they need quickly, officers will experience less stress and trauma, and the RACSB will make an even bigger impact by reaching a broader audience. This partnership will make our community healthier and safer." To learn more, click here.
 

IN THE CITY

What is the EDA?

You may not know that the Economic Development Authority (EDA) is not a governmental body, although it is a public body. That’s because the EDA is funded, not by tax dollars, but from the revenue it receives from issuing bonds that are in the public interest.  
 
Although they work together on many projects, the EDA is not actually part of the Economic Development and Tourism Department - it can be confusing because the names are so similar. I thought you might like to know what the EDA has done recently to facilitate economic growth in the City. They’ve really stepped up and done some helpful and transformative things – and are working on some pretty big projects now. I invite you to watch this video to learn about the very innovative work the EDA is doing to promote the City’s economic health and vibrancy.  

DiverCity

FXBG Diverse City is an endeavor by the Fredericksburg Economic Development and Tourism Department (EDT) to tell the stories of the small businesses and owners of our wonderfully diverse City throughout the year. Twice a month, EDT will feature a different business in the City on the Economic Development and Tourism Department's social media pages (Facebook and Instagram), and through blog posts and videosSign up for the Fred Focus newsletter to see them all. The stories are fascinating!

COVID-19 Update

Click here to get up-to-date COVID information about Testing and Vaccination resouces, case numbers, and free mask distribution.  

FYI: Traffic Light Upgrade

You are likely to come across traffic light upgrades throughout the City from February 20th through March 3rd (except on Friday and Saturday nights) if you’re driving through the City overnight. The Police Department will be doing traffic control to ensure everyone’s safety.  

AND FINALLY...

Please feel free to reach out to me anytime. Note the email address from which this newsletter was sent is not monitored. If you wish to email me, please use my City government email address. I’d be happy to talk to you about your priorities for the City. Please be aware that all email correspondence to and from my City government email address is subject to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and to the Virginia Public Records Act which may result in monitoring and disclosure to third parties, including law enforcement.

Previous editions of my newsletter can be found here.
As always, take care and be good to each other.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.